Mitch McConnell Lowers Expectations For Senate GOP In 2008

During a press conference today, Mitch McConnell said that the political map for 2008, with 22 Republican seats up for election compared to only 12 Democratic seats, means the odds are against the GOP getting back into the majority. "It would take an extraordinarily good day to get back up to 50," McConnell said. "So our goal is to stay roughly where we are."

The New York Times On The Ron Paul Campaign: Wackos?

Editor and Publisher gets an advance look at a feature on the Ron Paul campaign that's slated to run in this weekend's New York Times Magazine. The piece focuses on the, shall we say, eccentric sorts that have signed on to work with the Congressman. A prominent California Paul-Head has written to the campaign, "We're in a difficult position of working on a campaign that draws supporters from laterally opposing points of view, and we have the added bonus of attracting every wacko fringe group in the country." Paul himself seems to be unconcerned: "I have a lot of friends in the John Birch Society. They're generally well-educated and they understand the Constitution. I don't know how many positions they would have that I don't agree with."

Hillary's Attack On Bill O'Reilly — A Breakdown in Hillary-Murdoch Non-Aggression Pact?

Ben Smith makes a key point about Hillary's ongoing attack against Bill O'Reilly for smearing YearlyKos — it's decidedly out of keeping with the détente of sorts that exists between Hillary and News Corp.

CNN Falsely Asserts That Rudy Has A "Record On Terrorism"

CNN continues propagating the myth that the fact that Rudy was Mayor of New York on 9/11 means he has national security credentials.

CNN And Florida GOP To Host YouTube Debate

CNN has announced that the Florida GOP will co-host their YouTube debate, in which average people are invited to submit questions for the Republican presidential candidates. The GOP event will be held this September. And just a reminder: The Democratic YouTube debate will be broadcast this Monday night.

Whitehead Operative Admits Mistake: Don't Insult Constituents

An operative for the failed campaign of establishment GOPer Jim Whitehead in this week's Georgia special Congressional election admitted to The Hill that the campaign made a mistake by routinely insulting the district's liberal bastion of Athens, which turned out heavily for Whitehead's fellow Republican Paul Broun, himself an Athens resident, and propelled Broun to an upset victory. "There was a decision made early on to, basically, tell Athens to shove it and ignore them," said the source. "We didn't go to their debates; we got in a big confrontation with The Athens Banner-Herald. In retrospect, those things were a big mistake, because it really galvanized the Athens area against Jim Whitehead."

Blooper: Trying To Discredit Dems, Fox Accidentally Shows Dem-Friendly Poll

Great Moments In Fox News ... Oops. This afternoon on Fox News, host David Asman and Ann Coulter were reciting a standard litany of GOP talking points to the effect that Hillary Clinton and the Democrats being dragged down by those anti-war crazies in MoveOn. Then Asman was proceeding to the next talking point: "All right, let's talk about how all of this might be affecting the Democrats in Congress. I believe we have a poll that we can put up. Of course, it's true that George Bush's ratings are at an all-time low. But as bad as Bush's ratings are, look at Congressional ratings."

The problem is, the technical staff accidentally put up the wrong numbers — numbers showing Hillary Clinton moving into the lead over Rudy Giuliani. "Oh wait a minute, this is — this is the wrong poll," Asman blurted out. Confronted with poll data that ruined their whole thesis, Asman and Coulter simply continued asserting that the anti-war crazies were dragging down the Dems, as if nothing had happened.