Hillary Appearing At YearlyKos Forum
Despite some initially confusing reports, Hillary Clinton be appearing at the YearlyKos convention after all, including the small meetings with activists. Initial reports had Hillary being the only candidate to not meet privately with activists — likely the reason for reports that she would not appear at all — but she has rearranged her schedule to accommodate the small Q&A sessions.

Report: Obama's Remarks Spurring Burning Of American Flag In Pakistan
Check this out: The Associated Press is carrying this photo with the caption: "Pakistani protesters burn a U.S. flag to condemn U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama's remarks, Friday, Aug. 3, 2007, in Karachi, Pakistan. Pakistan criticized Obama for saying that, if elected, he might order unilateral military strikes inside this Islamic nation to root out terrorists."

State Department To Candidates: Your Words Mean Nothing
A State Department spokesman said presidential candidates pronouncements should have no impact on current policy. In other words: Shut up. "Those who wish to hold office can speak for themselves and whoever is elected in 2008 and comes into office in 2009 will then be in a position to talk about what they intend or plan to do," said deputy spokesman Tom Casey. Casey's remarks were likely spurred by both Barack Obama's recent talk about crossing the Pakistani border to catch Al Qaeda, plus Tom Tancredo's colorful remarks about attacking Muslim holy sites.

Gerson: Romney Should Campaign Positively On His Religion
Former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson has a new column in the Washington Post making the case for Mitt Romney to Christian conservatives. Gerson discusses John F. Kennedy's approach of talking about how his religion would not dictate his actions in office — and then soundly rejects it. "Romney, however, should not make Kennedy's mistake and assert that all religious beliefs are unrelated to politics," Gerson writes. "What Mormonism shares with other religious traditions is a strong commitment to the value and dignity of human beings, including the unborn, the disabled and the poor."

Poll Confirms Giuliani's Strength On Terror And Weakness On Values
A new Gallup poll confirms the widely held belief that Republicans view Rudy Giuliani as too liberal on social issues, with 12 percent saying the worst thing about him is he is pro-choice and 10 percent saying it is that he is too liberal. Another 12 percent say he is inexperienced, though fully 18 percent consider his policies on terrorism to be one of the most positive aspects, more than any other category, plus 11 percent who list him as a "strong leader," an amorphous category that probably owes many of its responses to his image on terrorism.

Sidarth Backs Richardson
S.R. Sidarth, the former Jim Webb volunteer who helped change the direction of the Virginia Senate race when George Allen hurled a racial epithet at him, appeared at a YearlyKos forum to discuss his experiences in 2006, and what he's up to now. He now works in the communications office for Bill Richardson's campaign.

Sanders Holding Up Nussle Nomination For OMB
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), the Senate's lone self-identified socialist, says he has placed a hold on the nomination of former Congressman Jim Nussle (R-IA) to be the White House's Director of the Office of Management and Budget, on the grounds that the White House is "way out of touch with reality" on the economy, and that he "would love to hear from Mr. Nussle and the White House that instead of simply paying attention to the needs of the wealthiest people in this country that they are serious about addressing the concerns of the middle class and working families." In addition, one other senator has placed a hold on the nomination, but that senator's identity is unknown.

Murdoch Machine Takes A Clever Revenge On Edwards
Wingers favorite article of the day: John Edwards challenged other candidates to reject campaign contributions from employees of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, purveyor of the Fox News Channel, but seems to have neglected to consider the $800,000 book contract he inked with Harper Collins, another News Corp subsidiary, for a book of photographs published in November. Edwards' share of the money went to charity — but nevertheless, anyone buying the book was inadvertently giving money to Murdoch. The best part? this piece of information is being publicized by none other than The New York Post, which just so happens to be owned by Rupert Murdoch. How's that for revenge?