The McCain campaign is pushing back at press reports noting that his top foreign policy advisor Randy Scheuenemann has until recently worked as a lobbyist for the Georgian government, and is still a principal at his lobbying firm -- thus rendering the candidate's pronouncements on Russia's invasion of Georgia as arguably suspect.

The campaign's new line: The criticism of this apparent conflict of interest is proof that Barack Obama's campaign is "bizarrely in sync with Moscow."

Check out this statement released today by the McCain campaign:

"The Obama campaign's attacks on Randy Scheunemann are disgraceful. Mr. Scheunemann proudly represented a small democracy that is one of our closest allies in a very dangerous region. Today, many are dead and Georgia is in crisis, yet the Obama campaign has offered nothing more than cheap and petty political attacks that are echoed only by the Kremlin. The reaction of the Obama campaign to this crisis, so at odds with our democratic allies and yet so bizarrely in sync with Moscow, doesn't merely raise questions about Senator Obama's judgment--it answers them."

New Obama Ad In Nevada Attacks McCain On Yucca Mountain
The Obama campaign has a new negative spot airing in the perennial swing state of Nevada, hammering John McCain on the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. The ad warns Nevadans that John McCain is in favor of opening the repository in their state -- even though he'd be against nuclear waste being brought through his own home state:

Obama Arrives In Hawaii
Barack Obama and his family have arrived in Hawaii for their week-long vacation. Although the trip will be mostly rest and relaxation for the candidate, he did greet supporters at a rally to welcome his arrival: "I'm going to go bodysurfing at an undisclosed location."

McCain In Nevada Today
John McCain will be in Nevada today -- the same state where the Obama people are on the air attacking him -- giving an address to the Disabled American Veterans convention in Las Vegas. The speech is scheduled to begin at 4:45 p.m.

Obama: McCain's Pro-Bush Agenda Goes Against "Country First" Slogan
Barack Obama recorded this week's Democratic rebuttal to the president's weekly radio address -- the first time he has done so as the presumptive nominee for president. Obama used the speech to go after John McCain: "Senator McCain talks about putting our country first, but he is running for a third term of the very same policies that have set our country back. We can't afford to take that chance."

McCain: Obama Is Like "A Big Summer Blockbuster"
John McCain upped the rhetoric in his campaign's efforts to paint Barack obama as a vapid celebrity, using this line in his weekly radio address: "Taking in my opponent's performances is a little like watching a big summer blockbuster, and an hour in realizing that all the best scenes were in the trailer you saw last fall."

Poll: Dem Ahead For Missouri Governor's Race
A new Rasmussen poll of the Missouri gubernatorial race shows Democratic nominee Jay Nixon, the long-serving state attorney general, significantly ahead of Congressman Kenny Hulshof, the Republican nominee. The numbers: Nixon 53%, Hulshof 42%.

Edwards: Photo Of Man With Baby Might Be Me
During his interview yesterday with ABC News, John Edwards did not rule out the possibility that he is the man in the National Enquirer's blurry photograph of a man holding a baby -- alleged by the tabloid to be his own baby with Rielle Hunter. But Edwards said the photo doesn't necessarily mean anything: "Do you know how many pictures have been taken of me holding children in the last three years? I mean it happens all the time."

Elizabeth Edwards posted this statement tonight at Daily Kos:

Our family has been through a lot. Some caused by nature, some caused by human weakness, and some - most recently - caused by the desire for sensationalism and profit without any regard for the human consequences. None of these has been easy. But we have stood with one another through them all. Although John believes he should stand alone and take the consequences of his action now, when the door closes behind him, he has his family waiting for him.

John made a terrible mistake in 2006. The fact that it is a mistake that many others have made before him did not make it any easier for me to hear when he told me what he had done. But he did tell me. And we began a long and painful process in 2006, a process oddly made somewhat easier with my diagnosis in March of 2007. This was our private matter, and I frankly wanted it to be private because as painful as it was I did not want to have to play it out on a public stage as well. Because of a recent string of hurtful and absurd lies in a tabloid publication, because of a picture falsely suggesting that John was spending time with a child it wrongly alleged he had fathered outside our marriage, our private matter could no longer be wholly private.

The pain of the long journey since 2006 was about to be renewed.

John has spoken in a long on-camera interview I hope you watch. Admitting one's mistakes is a hard thing for anyone to do, and I am proud of the courage John showed by his honesty in the face of shame. The toll on our family of news helicopters over our house and reporters in our driveway is yet unknown. But now the truth is out, and the repair work that began in 2006 will continue. I ask that the public, who expressed concern about the harm John's conduct has done to us, think also about the real harm that the present voyeurism does and give me and my family the privacy we need at this time.

The Obama campaign signaled today that they'll be making a major issue of job losses in the big swing state of Ohio -- and aggressively tying John McCain and his campaign manager Rick Davis directly to the problems hurting voters there.

Earlier today the Obama campaign released a radio ad to run in the Cincinnati area, regarding the closure of a DHL facility in Wilmington. "It was McCain who used his influence in the Senate to help foreign-owned DHL buy a U.S. company and gain control over the jobs that are now on the chopping block in Ohio," the ad said.

The issue at hand involves Davis' work back in 2003, when he successfully lobbied Congress -- winning McCain's support -- to approve a buyout of Airborne Express by DHL. Five years later, DHL is planning to shut down the old Airborne Express hub in Wilmington, which would lead to the loss of 8,000 jobs.

On a conference call with reporters earlier today, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe made it clear that he thinks this issue will be haunting McCain's efforts to win this state: "His appearances in Ohio were completely overshadowed by this. And by November 4 in the Cincinnati and Dayton markets this is something that is going to be known by every voter in this area."

Plouffe also sees an opening to chip away at John McCain's clean image. "He was there a month ago in this community and was asked a question about this DHL issue and did not say one word about his role in this or the role of his campaign manager," Plouffe said. "That is the furthest thing from straight talk that we can imagine."

The McCain campaign has been trying to portray Obama as "grand" and out of touch with working folks because he's a "celebrity." The Obama campaign has its response: McCain's own campaign manager profited directly off lobbying that led to a job-killing deal in your state. Which will carry the day?

Here's a self-flagellating statement from John Edwards himself on his affair:

In 2006, I made a serious error in judgment and conducted myself in a way that was disloyal to my family and to my core beliefs. I recognized my mistake and I told my wife that I had a liaison with another woman, and I asked for her forgiveness. Although I was honest in every painful detail with my family, I did not tell the public. When a supermarket tabloid told a version of the story, I used the fact that the story contained many falsities to deny it. But being 99% honest is no longer enough.

I was and am ashamed of my conduct and choices, and I had hoped that it would never become public. With my family, I took responsibility for my actions in 2006 and today I take full responsibility publicly. But that misconduct took place for a short period in 2006. It ended then. I am and have been willing to take any test necessary to establish the fact that I am not the father of any baby, and I am truly hopeful that a test will be done so this fact can be definitively established. I only know that the apparent father has said publicly that he is the father of the baby. I also have not been engaged in any activity of any description that requested, agreed to or supported payments of any kind to the woman or to the apparent father of the baby.

It is inadequate to say to the people who believed in me that I am sorry, as it is inadequate to say to the people who love me that I am sorry. In the course of several campaigns, I started to believe that I was special and became increasingly egocentric and narcissistic. If you want to beat me up -- feel free. You cannot beat me up more than I have already beaten up myself. I have been stripped bare and will now work with everything I have to help my family and others who need my help.

I have given a complete interview on this matter and having done so, will have nothing more to say.

The McCain campaign has unveiled a new message today, amplifying their theme about Obama's life being "grand": When Obama talks about job losses, he's just exploiting the working class -- and they've rolled out a working-class supporter to make that very case.

On a conference call just now with reporters, held in response to an Obama radio ad in Ohio tying McCain and Rick Davis to local job losses, an area resident who supports McCain lambasted Obama for running the ad.

"Shame, shame on Barack Obama for making us and putting us in this sort of position to look like the sad little Wilmington people," said Mary Houghtaling, a local McCain supporter. Houghtaling later added, "He should be helping us, not harming us. He makes us look foolish, it's not right."

Obama, however, is and has been actually trying to do something to help those trapped in this situation. A little over a week ago, he called for the Bush Administration to take action against the deal in question.

Meanwhile, the McCain people have another radio ad out, set to air in "key states," essentially a radio version of their "grand" TV ad.

Late Update: Here's the audio of the McCain campaign's conference call:

Click To Play

This is interesting: A good government group is set to ask the Justice Department to open a criminal investigation into the two big McCain stories of recent days -- the bundled contributions from Hess executives, and the bundling by Harry Sargeant, the guy who raised cash for McCain from a host of unlikely donors.

The request, which will be made on Monday by Campaign Money Watch, which first flagged the Hess story to us, raises at least the possibility that such a probe could be initiated during the campaign. Barring that, it could keep the stories going in the press a bit.

David Donnelly of Campaign Money Watch confirms to me that they'll make the formal request on Monday, and MoveOn also is demanding a Federal probe in an email that just went out to supporters. Donnelly says that his group's request is being triggered by McCain's letter to the donors whose contributions had been bundled by Sargeant.

Donnelly said that the letter, which advised the donors of the legal ins-and-outs of such contributions, didn't go far enough in trying to determine what had happened.

"What he didn't say was, `Tell us who was responsible for giving you money to give to me, and we'll urge the authorities to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law,'" Donnelly said. "The letter raises the question, 'Is the McCain campaign covering for his bundlers?'"

Read more »

While you were watching that Jew-baiting House candidate go down in flames, another potentially far more significant contest played out last night: A GOP primary challenger ousted GOPer David Davis from his seat in Tennessee's first district, prevailing by less than 500 votes.

Davis' loss was a big deal, for two reasons: First, he's the first incumbent knocked off in this state since 1956. More important, he went down largely because his foe, in an unusual move for a fellow Republican, aggressively yoked him to "Big Oil."

This could have broader national significance, because it shows that championing offshore drilling, as Davis did with extreme enthusiasm, can't always be counted on as the sure winner the GOP thinks it is -- after all, he lost on the issue even among GOP primary voters.

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ABC News has the story from John Edwards himself:

John Edwards repeatedly lied during his Presidential campaign about an extramarital affair with a novice filmmaker, the former Senator admitted to ABC News today.

In an interview for broadcast tonight on Nightline, Edwards told ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff he did have an affair with 42-year old Rielle Hunter, but said that he did not love her.

Edwards also denied he was the father of Hunter's baby girl, Frances Quinn, although the one-time Democratic Presidential candidate said he has not taken a paternity test.

Edwards said he knew he was not the father based on timing of the baby's birth on February 27, 2008. He said his affair ended too soon for him to have been the father.

Edwards claimed in the interview that the affair began before his wife Elizabeth Edwards' cancer relapse...

Edwards made a point of telling Woodruff that his wife's cancer was in remission when he began the affair with Hunter.

But the affair may have continued well after her relapse had become publicly known:

Edwards today admitted the National Enquirer was correct when it reported he had visited Hunter at the Beverly Hills Hilton last month.

This obviously kills any hopes he had of speaking at the convention, if such hopes still even existed any longer in recent days.

Late Update: The Politico reports:

ABC News's Brian Ross tells us that Edwards says in the interview that he's still considering attending the Democratic National Convention.

Not in a speaking role, obviously.

Late Late Update: Here's a new statement from Edwards himself.

Still Later Update: Edwards' statement says the affair ended in 2006, so while he did admit in the interview to visiting her last month, he must be saying that that wasn't a continuation of it.

Looks like McCain's efforts to paint Obama as a "celebrity" have now gone bilingual! Here's the new Spanish-language McCain radio spot that dubs Obama a "celebridad":

"No hay duda que Barack Obama es alguien popular, una celebridad que dice lo indicado," the announcer says. "Pero hara lo correcto?"

Wow -- this makes two McCain ads in one day pushing the "celeb" smear. The ad will run in "key states," according to the McCain campaign's press release.

And here's the new Obama ad that will run during the Olympics, written to project the same sort of optimism about America that any patriotic sports fan should feel while watching the main program:

The Obama campaign is circulating this post from Marc Ambinder which asks a pretty good question:

If there were a group of questionable donations all with the name Abdullah that were funneled through a guy in Jordan who is a Jordanian national who is under investigation for war profiteering and it were Barack Obama instead of John McCain would this be a bigger deal?

Yes, of course it would, and the answer why is pretty dispiriting. It's unfortunate, but judgments by editors and campaign journalists about the newsworthiness of such things, and opinions from pundits as to how controversial they should be, are largely driven by preconceived notions -- sometimes arbitrary ones -- about the candidates' vulnerabilities.

Obama, for obvious (and some not so obvious) reasons, has been judged to be vulnerable to the charge that he's a terrorist sympathizer. John McCain is not seen as vulnerable to this charge. Thus, if Obama had received a bunch of shadowy contributions from a guy named Abdullah, it would have made it easier for the GOP to exacerbate a vulnerability that has already been presumed to exist. This alone would make folks treat it like a bigger story.

By contrast, because McCain has not been deemed vulnerable to this charge, this story does not make it easier for anyone to land that particular punch; indeed, no one would try. Because of that it isn't really deemed to have the same news resonance as it would if it were about Obama.

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The Obama campaign has launched a direct attack right at John McCain and his lobbyist connections, blaming those connections for job losses in a new radio ad blitzing the big industrial swing state of Ohio.

"But there's something John McCain's not telling you: It was McCain who used his influence in the Senate to help foreign-owned DHL buy a U.S. company and gain control over the jobs that are now on the chopping block in Ohio," the announcer says.

"And that's not all: McCain's campaign manager was the top lobbyist for the DHL deal...helped push it through. His firm was paid $185,000 to lobby McCain and other Senators."

Check out the ad here.

Wow. From the Denver Post:

Colorado's tickets to see Barack Obama's acceptance speech at Invesco Field at Mile High were more than spoken for within about 24 hours, officials said, and the application process closed Thursday for all but those willing to be put on a waiting list.

Obama's campaign set aside for Colorado half of the more than 60,000 seats available to the public for the final night of the Democratic National Convention. It turns out the battleground state could have filled the stadium, as the campaign ended applications after collecting more than 60,000 Thursday afternoon.

The last presidential candidate to deliver his acceptance speech in a stadium only managed to fill half the venue, and his name was John F. Kennedy.

Thanks to TPM Reader MA for sending this one in.

Here's the response to McCain's latest "celeb" ad from Obama spokesperson Hari Sevugan:

"This ad is a lie, and it's part of the old, tired politics of a party in Washington that has run out of ideas and run out of steam. Even though a host of independent, nonpartisan organizations have said this attack isn't true, Senator McCain continues to lie about Senator Obama's plan to give 95% of all families a tax cut of $1,000, and not raise taxes for those making under $250,000 a single dime. The reason so many families are hurting today is because we've had eight years of failed Bush policies that Senator McCain wants to continue for another four, and that's what Barack Obama will change as President."

It's really good to see the word "lie" not once but twice, and the "run out of steam" dig is a good one. But it still seems like the "celeb" sneer needs to be confronted head-on. Something along these lines, perhaps?

Take a look at this screen cap of McCain's latest "celeb" ad...

As TPM Reader ES notes, the mag covers appear to have been stacked to create the name "Mao." And as he says, this comes just when we're all watching the Olympics and seeing all of those bic pics of him, and it's the only cover stacked in that manner.

Hmmm. We're not sure about this one. After all, the two "Obama" names are end to end, so you can read each one.

But heck, we're posting this anyway, because with so many other McCain ad theories going around on other sites, we were starting to feel left out.

You may have heard by now that former MoveOn chief Tom Matzzie has set up a new third-party effort with the somewhat unorthodox goal of targeting big GOP donors who support Swift Boat Vet-style efforts on the right.

The group, called Accountable America, is firing off a letter to hundreds of would-be donors warning them of the downsides of supporting such efforts.

We've got a copy of the letter, which you can read right here.

"Many of the leading donors to 501(c) and 527 organizations have had their business and personal affairs closely scrutinized by the media and well funded watchdog groups," the letter says in a not-so-implicit threat. It continues that the result of such probes could be "fines" and "public disclosure of anonymous donors."

The letter also vows that the group "will publicize the political and business relationships and corrupt activities of donors" to such efforts, and it actually has emblazoned at the top the word "warning."

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The McCain campaign triples-down on its "celeb" sneer, releasing a third ad on the topic that hits the theme even harder than the last two...

"Life in the spotlight must be grand," the spot says, "but for the rest of us, times are tough." The ad will cycle into the McCain campaign's ongoing buy in 11 battleground states.

Love the use of the word "grand." As in, "you're so grand, dahling."

It's yet another effort to cheapen the Obama movement by painting it as an empty pop culture phenom and to get people to question whether their own temptation to support him is rooted in his celeb appeal and not in a genuine appreciation of his positions on the issues or of the sort of president he might make.

Clearly, the McCain camp thinks this is working, and they're going to keep hammering away at it for weeks, if not months.

What will Obama's response be?

Late Update: Camp Obama's response is here.

This falsehood, from a New York Times piece on Hillary, is just plain bizarre:

Mr. Obama is struggling in the polls to maintain parity with Senator John McCain.

Huh, I didn't know that. I thought that The Times's chart of its own polling shows that Obama has consistently held a lead of at least five points. And I thought Pollster.com's polling aggregate showed that Obama has been ahead for months.

Special thanks to TPM Reader CR for the catch.

Did McCain Web Ad Paint Obama As The Antichrist?
The Wall St. Journal reports this morning that the new McCain Web ad likening Obama to a messianic figure could have a hidden message: Obama is the Antichrist! "There are way too many things to just be coincidence," said Dem consultant Eric Sapp, pointing to common imagery between the ad and the popular Left Behind novels.

Obama On Vacation
Barack Obama is taking time off the trail for a week-long vacation in Hawaii with his family, starting today. "During the middle of a campaign you are always worried about taking some time off - that's the nature of the job," Obama told reporters this week. "But you know I have been going pretty much straight for 18 months now."

Hillary Campaigning On Obama's Behalf Today
Hillary Clinton is hitting the campaign trail today on behalf of the absent Obama, and you can bet her performance will be scrutinized for any hint of insufficient enthusiasm as she rallies her own supporters to his cause. Hillary will be holding a rally in Las Vegas, scheduled to begin at 3:15 p.m. ET.

McCain In Iowa And Arkansas Today, Will Speak With Media
John McCain is making a stop today at the Iowa State Fair, courting voters in a perennial swing state that went narrowly for George W. Bush in 2004 but where polls currently have Barack Obama ahead. Later on he'll be in Rogers, Arkansas, where he'll hold a media availability scheduled for 5:20 p.m. ET.

Clinton Delegates' Role At Convention Still Being Mulled
Democrats are still sorting through what accommodations will be made at the convention for Hillary Clinton and her delegates. One Hillary supporter told the Washington Post that a full roll call to symbolically allow Hillary to receive votes is still seen as an important goal: "Moving beyond the convention, if they were not allowed to vote there would be a lot of resentment."

Freshman GOP Congressman Defeated In Primary
Freshman Republican Congressman David Davis of Tennessee, who won his primary in 2006 with only 22% in a very crowded field, lost his fight for a second term last night in a two-way race. With 100% of precincts reporting for this safe seat, local mayor and 2006 candidate Phil Roe has won by a margin of 500 votes out of about 51,000 cast.

The New York Times has the details from unnamed Democrats:

Yes, Bill Clinton will have a role at the Democratic convention.

After a curious week of back-and-forth between the Obama and Clinton worlds, the former president was offered an invitation to speak on the second-to-last night of the party's convention in Denver. He will take the stage on Aug. 27, three Democratic senior officials said, before the address by the party's vice-presidential nominee.

The offer was extended by the Obama campaign on Thursday to Mr. Clinton, who accepted it.

So with Mrs. Clinton speaking on Aug. 26, followed by her husband, the Obama campaign is giving two nights of prime time coverage to the Clinton family.

Look for Bill's speech to be scrutinized endlessly by people searching for whatever hint of insufficient enthusiasm about Obama they can find.

Nikki Tinker, the Democratic attorney who based her primary challenge to first-term Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) almost entirely on appeals to race and religion, has gone down to an ignominious defeat.

With 67% of precincts reporting, Cohen leads with 38,491 votes, or 79%, to Tinker's 9,327 votes, 19%.

Cohen won a divided primary for this safe seat in 2006, becoming the only white Congressman to represent a majority-minority district in the South. Tinker, who also ran in that primary, based her challenge this time around on direct arguments that the state's African-Americans should have a seat in Congress, and also aired a particularly nasty ad attacking the Jewish incumbent Cohen for visiting "our churches."

But Tinker's attacks on Cohen don't appear to have even remotely caught on with the voters.

Late Update: With 87% of precincts reporting, Cohen's 79%-19% margin has held steady.

Late Late Update: With 98% of precincts reporting, Cohen's lead has still held at 79%-19%.

The McCain campaign is now returning $50,000 in donations that were bundled through Harry Sargeant, following reports that the money was solicited by Sargeant's business partner, a dual citizen of Jordan and the Dominican Republic.

It's illegal for foreign national to donate to American campaigns, though the law is unclear on how this would apply to bundling. Either way, it's not a question the McCain campaign would want to have to deal with.

The McCain campaign would also be eager to get rid of the money and put this whole episode behind them. McCain spokesman Brian Rogers told the Associated Press that is "just didn't sound right to us" when press reports showed that many of the officially-listed donors didn't actually have any intention of supporting McCain for president -- raising suspicions about whether those people in fact donated the money or were just a conduit for someone else to exceed contribution limits.

It appears the McCain campaign has gotten a bit of a break in the energy wars, with OpenSecrets.org issuing a new report that says Obama has received more from execs and employees at the very biggest oil companies than McCain has...

While McCain has raised considerably more money from this unpopular industry, CRP was surprised to notice that it's actually Obama who has received more from the pockets of employees at several of Big Oil's biggest and most recognizable companies. Tallying contributions by employees in the industry and their families, we found that Exxon, Chevron and BP have all contributed more money to Obama than to McCain.

The RNC quickly rushed out a statement hammering Obama over the report. "Barack Obama's attacks on John McCain demonstrate very poor judgment on his part, given that he voted for the 2005 energy bill and John McCain did not, and given that he has taken the most money from Big Oil's very biggest," emailed RNC spokesperson Liz Mair.

It isn't every day that the Repubs use the phrase "Big Oil" -- are we seeing mockery of Dem rhetoric, or the appropriation of it?

The methodology of the study is worth noting: It tallies up the contributions of people at three of the biggest companies (and their families), finding they were more generous to Obama. But at the same time, the study notes that overall, McCain has hauled in three times more money from the industry than Obama has.

Late Update: The Dems respond with a bit of mockery, issuing a statement from the "Exxon-McCain campaign."

Our political opponents can try to muddy the waters if they want, but Big Oil has steered more than $2 million to the Exxon-McCain 08 campaign for a reason. John McCain's promise of more of the same reckless giveaways and tax breaks for Big Oil and obstruction of alternatives to oil is exactly what Big Oil is looking for, which is why Exxon-McCain is their ticket this November.

Late Late Update: It's also worth noting that the sort of contributions included in this study from low-level employees at, say, Exxon is hardly comparable to the sort of exec bundling for McCain that went on at Hess.

A McCain campaign aide confirms that the campaign is going back and examining the contributions bundled by our new friend Harry Sargeant, who was the subject of that big Washington Post piece detailing how he stockpiled money for McCain from a host of unlikely donors.

It'll be interesting to see what they find. Meanwhile, it looks like the national press is starting to pick up on the stuff we reported here yesterday about that lucrative contract delivering fuel to the U.S. military in Iraq that was allegedly wired for Sargeant by a Jordanian connection.

Getting interesting.

Late Update: It's worth noting that the McCain camp's decision to go back and look at the contributions came after revelations that some of the bundling was done by his iffy business partner, Mustafa Abu Naba.

Late Late Update: The McCain campaign has sent a letter to all of Sargeant's donors, informing them of the legal ins-and-outs of donating to Federal candidates.

Late Late Late Update: The Huffington Post's Sam Stein uncovers still more about Sargeant's political interests and potential reasons for currying favor with McCain.

Guess what: The Democratic primary challenge by attorney Nikki Tinker against incumbent Rep. Steve Cohen -- you know, the one that has involved a seriously Jew-baiting TV ad -- will be settled tonight. The race has turned into a nationally-watched campaign, thanks to all manner of racial and religious tensions and all-around nastiness.

This primary suddenly exploded onto everyone's radar screen yesterday, when Dem challenger Nikki Tinker ran her ad lambasting Cohen -- who is Jewish -- for visiting "our churches." There have been a bunch of developments since.

For instance, the dust-up got so much attention that Barack Obama, in his role as the new leader of the Democratic Party, weighed in with a statement today, even though presidential nominees almost never dirty their hands in local primaries.

"These incendiary and personal attacks have no place in our politics, and will do nothing to help the good people of Tennessee," Obama said. "It's time to turn the page on a politics driven by negativity and division so that we can come together to lift up our communities and our country." That's effectively an endorsement of Cohen.

That's not all.

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Here's the DNC's Web ad responding to an earlier McCain Web ad that featured a bunch of Dems praising McCain...

The DNC response ad features the same Dems from the McCain ad making the point that he used to be a maverick, but is now a "maverick no more."

And the maverick wars -- in which the Dems work to tarnish McCain's maverick brand while McCain and the Repubs feverishly buff it -- continue apace.

Bill Clinton took a bit of heat for supposedly refusing to say in an interview the other day that Obama was ready to be president...

The former president said he would not divulge his full thoughts on the campaign until after the election, and also stopped short of saying that Obama was currently ready to be president.

"You can argue that nobody is ready to be president. I certainly learned a lot about the job in the first year," Clinton said.

But today, speaking to reporters on his campaign plane, Obama himself appeared to let Bill slide...

Obama also spoke with President Clinton this week. "He was very supportive. I thought he showed extraordinary restraint in a fairly provocative interview while he was on his trip."

Honestly, I don't really get why Bill's comments were even remotely controversial. After all, Bill also said this in the interview:

"He clearly can inspire and motivate people and energize them which is a very important part of being president. And he's smart as a whip so there's nothing he can't learn."

"There's nothing he can't learn." Even putting that aside, Bill's framing was obviously pro-Obama, in the sense that he was discounting the argument that experience can really prepare you for the job. That's McCain's argument -- that the more experience you have, the better prepared you are to be president.

Separately, Obama also denied today there was any friction between the Obama and Hillary camps over her role at the convention, saying discussions were going "seamlessly."

Okay, here's some more on the ties between the McCain campaign and the Hess Corporation, the company whose senior executives all dumped $28,500 apiece into the RNC-McCain fundraising committee at around the same time as McCain reversed his previous opposition to offshore drilling.

It turns out that two high-ranking McCain campaign officials, one of whom is also one of McCain's more prolific bundlers, were both were paid lobbyists for Hess for roughly three years, according to disclosure forms.

The two lobbyists are Wayne Berman, McCain's national finance co-chairman, and John Green, who's been the McCain campaign's chief Congressional liaison since March. Both men worked for a firm called Ogilvy Government Relations. The firm has been paid $800,000 by Hess from 2005 up to the present, including $720,000 during the period that both of the two lobbied for the company, the forms say.

Berman, a prolific fundraiser and bundler for McCain, appears to still be lobbying for Hess. The most recently filed form shows that he was lobbying for the company as late as mid-July. Green took a leave of absence from Ogilvy to join the campaign, but was still on the Hess account up through the first quarter of 2008, the forms show.

There's no suggestion of any wrongdoing here. And it's unclear precisely how the two lobbyists' work is linked to the recent Hess fundraising for McCain, or even whether there's any connection at all.

But their role is newly relevant in light of the recent scrutiny of Hess' bundling for McCain, suggesting more big-money ties between the McCain campaign and the company. And the lobbying raises fair questions, according to one campaign finance watchdog.

"That John McCain's campaign also has Hess lobbyists as two of its top advisers raises additional questions about how McCain and the RNC came to raise $300,000 from Hess employees, including the controversial contribution reported earlier this week," said David Donnelly of Campaign Money Watch.

"Hess oil would stand to make a killing from offshore drilling," Donnelly continued. "Berman and Green were their lobbyists. Did they play any role in lining up these contributions?"

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MoveOn is starting to put money into ads in the Congressional races for the first time this cycle, pumping a series of radio ads into the districts of six House Republicans.

The spots, which MoveOn just sent over to us, hammer each GOPer for taking money from Big Oil and backing offshore drilling. The ads describe drilling as a "gimmick," adding: "We wouldn't see a drop of oil from offshore drilling for at least ten years. By then, who knows what prices will be."

You can view a list of the targeted GOPers and listen to the ads here.

The GOP appears to be hanging on to an advantage in polls on this issue, so the more we see of efforts like this to persuade people that the drilling "solution" is a sham, the better.

It looks like John McCain won't be backing down from his campaign's attack on Barack Obama over tire pressure and energy conservation. At an appearance in Ohio just now, McCain mocked Obama for suggesting that people do such a thing as easily save money and energy by maintaining their cars.

"He's claiming putting air in your tires is the equivalent of new offshore drilling," McCain said. "That's not an energy plan, my friends -- that's a public service announcement."

The problem is that keeping your tires well-inflated is at least the equivalent of new offshore drilling in terms of how much money you'll spend on gas. In fact, as Time reported the other day, it could potentially be better than new drilling -- if everyone did it we'd consume three percent less gasoline, while drilling would only meet one percent of our overall oil needs.

"In other words," Time said, "Obama is right."

Hmm. Could we be catching another glimpse of that GOP "pride in being ignorant" that Obama noted the other day?

This, no doubt, will send you all stampeding over to John McCain's campaign Web site:

Spread John McCain's official talking points around the Web -- and you could win valuable prizes!

That, in essence, is the McCain campaign's pitch to supporters to join its new online effort...

People who sign up for McCain's program receive reward points each time they place a favorable comment on one of the listed Web sites (subject to verification by McCain's webmasters). The points can be traded for prizes, such as books autographed by McCain, preferred seating at campaign events, even a ride with the candidate on his bus, known as the Straight Talk Express, according to campaign spokesman Brian Rogers.

See? Who says McCain and the Republicans are trailing Obama and the Dems in online organizing?

Check out this new ad from Al Franken, going after incumbent GOP Sen. Norm Coleman: It's one of the first Dem ads of this whole cycle to go directly after a Republican incumbent over a story involving political muck. It's also a clear sign that Franken, who's trailing in most polls, knows he needs to really step up the attacks:

"Coleman is being investigated for paying only $600 a month rent to live in a million-dollar D.C. home owned by a Washington insider connected to powerful lobbyists," the announcer says, before hinting at more attacks to come. "And it gets even worse. Stay tuned for more."

Today's Washington Post front-pages a piece featuring assorted D.C. Dems wringing their hands about Obama and saying that he's not hitting back hard enough against McCain's attacks.

But it's worth recalling that late last year, in the run-up to the primaries, many of Obama's supporters were making similar noises and saying that Obama had to hit Hillary harder. Here's vid of Obama in October of 2007, promising to get tougher with her:

The Obama camp, of course, did start drawing a sharper contrast with Hillary, and his sense of timing proved to have been right. This isn't to say that Obama shouldn't be hammering back at McCain harder, just that it's possible that Obama and his advisers have a game plan in place and know what they're doing. Their pacing was pretty on target last time.

Daschle: McCain's Ads Having An Effect
Former Senate Dem Leader Tom Daschle told the Financial Times that he thinks John McCain's new round of attack ads painting Barack Obama as an empty celebrity have caused a slight dip in the polls for Obama. "To a certain extent the ads are having some effect," Daschle said. "But you can't be thrown off your game plan by a momentary dip in polls."

Obama Off The Trail Today, Preparing For Vacation
Barack obama does not have any public events today. The candidate will be leaving tomorrow for his week-long vacation in Hawaii, during which he will hold a private fundraiser and possibly hold at least one public event.

McCain Facing Touchy Job Loss Issue Today In Ohio
John McCain is visiting Lima, Ohio, where he has a town hall scheduled for 11:30 a.m. The Associated Press points out that McCain is being faced with an awkward issue as he visits: The closure of a DHL shipping site in southwest Ohio, which in turn is the result of a corporate merger that was lobbied for years ago by none other than Rick Davis, McCain's own campaign manager.

EMILY's List Condemns Jew-Baiting Ad
Democratic House candidate Nikki Tinker's new ad bashing Jewish Dem Congressman Steve Cohen for visiting "our churches" has been condemned in a new statement from EMILY's List, which has been supporting her primary challenge to Cohen: "We were shocked to see the recent ads run by the Nikki Tinker for Congress campaign. We believe the ads are offensive and divisive. EMILY's List does not condone or support these types of attacks."

House GOP To Continue With Shadow Energy Session
House Republicans aren't backing down from their protest energy session on the House Floor, with the leadership indicating that it will continue at least until the start of the Democratic Convention in two weeks. "Republicans will not rest until we have an honest, up-or-down vote on the American Energy Act," said Minority Leader John Boehner.

Hillary: No Inside Info On Obama's VP Search
Hillary Clinton said yesterday that she does not have any inside information on Barack Obama's decision-making process for picking his running mate. "I'm out there supporting him, doing everything I can to make sure he gets elected and I will do same for whatever ticket there is," she added.

Clinton Supporters Organizing Protest At Dem Convention
A group of Hillary Clinton supporters called "18 Million Voices" -- roughly the number of people who voted for her in the primaries and caucuses -- is planning to hold a march through Denver on August 26, the same day that Clinton is scheduled to address the convention. Expect them to advance the claim that Clinton won the popular vote when Michigan is factored in, and is thus the rightful nominee of the party.

The New York Times has elaborated on the story of Harry Sargeant, the McCain bundler who has collected some interesting donations from people who are either apolitical or actually profess to be against McCain. They uncovered an interesting new angle -- and in the process seem to have missed a bigger point.

It appears, however, that Mr. Sargeant, the finance chairman of the Florida Republican Party and the part-owner of a major oil trading firm, International Oil Trading Company, did not actually solicit the donations from the Abdullahs and their friends.

That task fell to a longtime business partner, Mustafa Abu Naba'a. Mr. Sargeant said in an interview that he has known Mr. Abu Naba'a for more than a decade and has worked with him on commercial ventures, including a contract with the Pentagon to supply fuel to the military in Iraq.

The point they failed to notice: That same contract to provide fuel for US troops in Iraq has been the subject of a lawsuit against Sargeant and Naba'a, coming from a business partner who is himself the brother-in-law of the King of Jordan. Their partner alleges that they shut him out of his rightful share of the profit after he arranged for the Jordanian government to only allow them in, despite having failed to give the lowest bid.

In other words, Sargeant and Naba'a are being sued for allegedly bilking their business partner out of his take on the deal.

The Obama and Clinton press offices put out this statement tonight, seeking to put a lid on press reports about party disunity:

"We are working together to make sure the fall campaign and the convention are a success. At the Democratic Convention, we will ensure that the voices of everyone who participated in this historic process are respected and our party will be fully unified heading into the November election."

Time is reporting that Clinton has failed to discourage her supporters from symbolically placing her name up for a vote on the convention floor. Even some of Clinton's staunchest former supporters in Congress, such as Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz of Florida, have said this would be a bad idea and that the convention should focus on party unity behind Barack Obama.

That said, it's not entirely clear what message this statement is supposed to communicate on any of the relevant questions.

The new CBS poll has an interesting result for all of us who have been thinking about the day-to-day variations of the campaign: The top-line numbers have not changed one bit since their last poll three weeks ago.

The numbers: Obama 45%, McCain 39%, with a margin of error of ±3%. Three weeks ago it was Obama 45%, McCain 39%.

The internals have some interesting demographic numbers. The two candidates are tied 40%-40% among independents. Obama leads 46%-42% among men and 44%-36% with women, and Obama has a 55%-33% lead with voters under age 45 to McCain's 44%-36% lead among voters over 45; And Obama is ahead 44%-32% among working class whites, a demographic that conventional wisdom had held he'd do badly with.

Also, an intriguing and worrisome stat for Democrats: McCain is now viewed as the more sincere candidate, with 49% of respondents answering that he says what he believes, and 44% thinking he says what people want to hear. Only 42% say Obama says what he believes, to 51% who think he says what people want to hear.

Is John McCain stuck in an "energy trap"? The Huffington Post's Sam Stein asked the question today, and it's a good one.

Polls show McCain's position of combining offshore drilling with other measures is favored over Obama's combo of energy reform and opposition to most, if not all, drilling. But there are increasing signs of political discomfort for McCain.

The trouble flows from the fact that on Friday, a group of 10 Senators unveiled a compromise bill that would open up some new territory to drilling while hiking taxes on oil companies. This put Obama in a bind. He announced he could back drilling as part of a broader compromise -- irking environmentalists and making it easy for the McCain team to brand the word "flip-flopper" on his backside.

But the measure also makes life very uncomfortable for McCain.

Read more »

Is the new Time poll -- which gives Barack Obama a narrow lead in the horse race but a steep deficit on national security issues -- in line with other polls? And can we figure that out easily, when every poll's methodology and released internals is slightly different from the other?

We took a look at a bunch of other surveys and their internals, and here's the deal: The Time poll is more or less on target on the national matchup. But while the polling in general gives John McCain an edge on security, the overwhelming edge Time gives McCain might be slightly overstated.

Read more »

Over at his new gig, TPM alum Paul Kiel has some more on our new friend Harry Sargeant, the top McCain bundler who was alleged to have relied on a Jordanian connection to swing a huge contract delivering fuel to the U.S. military in Iraq.

As Paul reports, Sargeant is also being probed by Dem Rep. Henry Waxman, the chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, over allegations that his company, IOTC, overcharged the U.S. military for the fuel his company sold.

In June, Waxman wrote a letter to Sargeant, raising his concerns about a previous press report that noted the potential overcharging.

Waxman demanded a range of documents to enable him to probe the potential overcharging. The letter also says Waxman is looking at the broader allegations over how Sargeant got the contract, even though he was not the lowest bidder, by being the only firm to secure the right to deliver the fuel by way of Jordan.

At the time no one knew that Sargeant was a major McCain bundler. Now that we do, this backstory is suddenly very relevant.

This really bears watching. I know that any results from Waxman's probe will immediately be dismissed as a partisan hit job, but if Waxman's committee finds that one of McCain's top bundlers overcharged the U.S. military for fuel in Iraq, that might be, you know, news or something.

Late Update: I should note that today's big WaPo piece on Sargeant had a bit on this part of the story.

A new poll just out from Time magazine shows Obama holding a five-point national lead over McCain, but the numbers are far from uniformly good for the Illinois Senator.

The poll finds him besting McCain in the national match-up, 46%-41% (with leaners factored in), which is just within the margin of error of plus or minus three points.

In some good news for Obama, the poll (take note, pundits) suggests that voters would much, much, much rather have a beer with him than with McCain...

Asked which candidate is most likeable, Obama beats McCain 65% to 20%; as for which is the real candidate for change, he leads 61% to 17%. Obama also beats McCain 48% to 35% on who understands voters' concerns best, another key indicator of appeal.

Voters continue to be far more enthusiastic about Obama. And the poll also finds that Obama is holding his own among key groups, tying McCain among men and losing to McCain among white voters by only seven points, far less than George Bush's 17-point victory among whites over John Kerry in 2004.

However, there's also some grim news from Obama: if this poll is to be believed, then Obama's trip abroad didn't do anything to boost voters' confidence in his commander in chief readiness in two key areas -- instead, he's declined in them:

The poll shows that voters have increased their faith in McCain's ability to manage the Iraq war, favoring him over Obama by a margin of 51%-36%, a five point jump since June. And voters boosted their belief that McCain would do a better job in managing the war on terror than they did in June, favoring the Arizona Senator over his colleague from Illinois by a 56%-29% margin, up from 53%-33% in June.

What's ominous about those numbers is that McCain has spent weeks attacking Obama's alleged desire to surrender to terrorists in Iraq and questioning his fitness to be commander in chief.

Separately, the poll also finds that Obama has lost ground on the economy, where he'd held a key advantage, with his lead slipping to four points, 43%-39%.

This brutal new attack ad from House candidate Nikki Tinker, who is challenging liberal Tennessee Rep. Steven Cohen in tomorrow's Democratic primary, just might be the nastiest, most race-baiting (and Jew-baiting) ad of the entire cycle:

"While he's in our churches, clapping his hands and tapping his feet ... he's the only senator who thought our kids shouldn't be allowed to pray in school," the announcer says, referring to an old vote against school prayer from when Cohen was a state senator. And remember, this is coming from a Democrat.

Cohen is the only white Congressman from a majority-minority district in the South, and was elected largely because of the divided field of black candidates in the 2006 primary, which included Tinker herself. Tinker never really stopped running against him, and has picked up the support of EMILY's List and a few members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Furthermore, Cohen is a Jew -- which makes the "our churches" line all the more suspicious. Tinker's campaign has not yet returned our call for comment on what message the ad is supposed to communicate.

Late Update: Tinker's campaign has pulled the ad from their YouTube account. We can only hope it's also been pulled from the local airwaves.

Ben Smith posts some good video of Barack Obama again mocking John McCain today over the tire-gauge stunt. It's worth a watch -- the scene illustrates again that the GOP doesn't hold the same advantage in the mockery realm that it did in the last two presidential elections:

In the vid, Obama notes that McCain has now said keeping our tires inflated is a good idea, even though the GOP has been ridiculing Obama for saying this, and adds:

"In the coming days it's going to be interesting to watch this debate between John McCain and John McCain."

Atrios says that mockery is "the way to drive McCain crazy." On that score I'd like to revisit the point I made yesterday: Obama is managing to strike a lighter tone than the GOP and McCain, a development that's strikingly at odds with what happened in 2004 and 2000.

If you look at the "celeb" ads and the tire-gauge stunt, it's clear that the effortless mocking tone Republicans struck against John Kerry four years ago -- in the wind-surfing ad, in Bush's ridicule of Kerry's tortured rhetoric -- is eluding them this time around.

Read more »

Today's Washington Post has a much-discussed piece about a top McCain fundraiser named Harry Sargeant, who has "bundled" a huge amount of campaign contributions for McCain from a host of unlikely donors.

But there's another huge piece of the story that WaPo didn't report on -- one that could create complications for McCain.

Sargeant is the owner of an oil-trading company that has a lucrative Pentagon contract to supply fuel to the U.S. military in Iraq by way of Jordan -- and he's also reportedly getting sued by the brother-in-law of the King of Jordan over that contract.

In the suit, the brother-in-law, who is or was Sargeant's business partner, alleged that he used his connections in Jordan to help get wire the Pentagon contract for Sargeant only to get subsequently defrauded out of profits for it. He alleges that he persuaded Jordan to allow IOTC to deliver the fuel through Jordan -- a necessary requirement for getting the Pentagon contract.

What this means for McCain isn't really clear. But the upshot is that one of the more prolific bundlers for McCain appears to have bagged a huge contract to deliver fuel to the U.S. military in Iraq, even though he wasn't the lowest bidder for that contract, allegedly by relying partly on a connection in Jordan to deliver it.

Not only that, but the lawsuit also reportedly alleged that this chief McCain bundler tried to exclude other competitors from the contracting process in order to maximize profits off the war, though these allegations are a bit vague. The lawsuit appears to be ongoing; if it's been tossed out of court, it hasn't been reported yet.

There's even a juicy connection to Florida governor Charlie Crist, a leading McCain surrogate who is talked about as a potential McCain Veep: It turns out that Sargeant has also raised tons of money for Crist and even was his fraternity brother in college.

Read more »

Obama spokesperson Bill Burton responds to McCain's latest "celeb" sneer ad...

"Is the biggest proponent of George Bush's tired, failed policies ready to bring about change? Another day brings another dishonest attack from John McCain. While Senator McCain knows that Senator Obama has proposed cutting taxes for 95% of American families, what he's not telling us is that he wants to give $4 billion in tax breaks to the oil companies, continue giving tax breaks to corporations that ship our job overseas, and provide no direct tax relief for more than 100 million middle-class families. It's time to retire these old policies and bring new energy to America."

I really wonder whether the Obama camp should be confronting the "celeb" thing a bit more directly, though I confess I'm not sure how one would do that.

The new survey of Florida by Public Policy Polling (D) shows John McCain retaking a narrow lead in this important swing state.

The numbers: McCain 47%, Obama 44%, with a ±3.5% margin of error. A month ago, Obama had taken a slim lead of 46%-44%.

They key internal number is that Democrats crossing over to vote McCain are disproportionately older white women -- identified in the pollster's analysis as "your prototypical Hillary Clinton supporters."

"Barack Obama still has some work to do getting those folks on his side if he wants to have any chance of winning Florida," the pollster adds.

Whoa. The McCain campaign is sticking with the "celebrity" sneer, releasing a new ad that again refers to Obama as the "biggest celebrity in the world" and develops the contrast a bit more by asking whether this big celebrity is really going to "help your family."...

Interestingly, Britney Spears and Paris Hilton don't make cameos in this latest spot, which will run in "key states," according to the McCain camp.

As I reported here the other day, the McCain team was devoting a third of its ad budget to the first celeb ad. That, combined with the fact that they're sticking with the "celeb" theme, suggests that internal polling shows it may be working.

The "celeb" epithet is all about cheapening the mass political support for Obama and redefining the Obama movement as one that's less about politics and issues and more about cult of personality. By asking whether this "celebrity" is prepared to help your family, the McCain team is trying to get people to see whatever temptation they may have to support Obama as somehow fundamentally misguided and not rooted in what's really important.

Late Update: The ad will be cycled into the McCain camp's buy in CO, IA, MI, MO, NV, NH, NM, OH, PA, VA (NoVA) and WI.

Late Late Update: The Obama campaign responds.

The McCain campaign is so confident that support for offshore drilling is a winning domestic issue that for the second day running the McCain team is attacking Obama for being consistent on the issue.

Today the McCain camp blasted out this video of Obama surrogate Evan Bayh arguing that Obama did not flip-flop when he expressed cautious support the other day for some kind of compromise on drilling -- a vid that's of course meant as an attack...

Bayh says that Obama doesn't believe drilling is "really the short-term or long-term answer to the problem."

A recent poll by the Dem firm Democracy Corps found that McCain's message on oil and energy is favored over Obama's, and yesterday the Repubs sent out a release attacking Obama for consistency on the issue.

It's not every day that a campaign goes out of its way to attack the opponent for being consistent, and this line of attack is another sign of how topsy-turvy the politics of offshore drilling really are.

New Obama Ad Uses McCain's Own Words About Supporting Bush
The Obama campaign has a new TV ad in response to John McCain's "Original Maverick" ad, rerunning a video from 2003 of McCain himself boasting that he's voted with President Bush more than 90% of the time:

Obama Campaigning With Evan Bayh In Indiana Today
Barack Obama is holding a town hall event today in Elkhart, Indiana, with the focus on energy issues. Accompanying him at the event is Senator Evan Bayh, whose name is enjoying a lot of media attention as a potential vice president -- indeed, this very event has been the cause of some speculation that he would be announced as the running mate.

McCain Visiting West Virginia And Ohio
John McCain has no announced public events for today. (Late Update: McCain is spending the day in West Virginia and Ohio.)

McCain Camp: Paris Hilton Supports Us On Energy!
The McCain campaign has responded to Paris Hilton's Web video from last night: "It sounds like Paris Hilton supports John McCain's 'all of the above' approach to America's energy crisis - including both alternatives and drilling. Paris Hilton might not be as big a celebrity as Barack Obama, but she obviously has a better energy plan."

Obama Camp Targeting Florida Voters Right At The Gas Pumps
Talk about targeting an ad: The Obama campaign will be running this ad, which was first rolled out yesterday, on a network of TVs that are placed on gas pumps throughout Florida. The ad tells viewers that John McCain isn't to be trusted on energy issues, because he's been around for 26 years and hasn't gotten anything done:

McCain: I Don't Disagree With Obama On Tire Pressure
John McCain is apparently backing down from his campaign's mockery of Barack Obama's call for Americans to keep their tires inflated. "I don't disagree with that. The American Automobile Association strongly recommends it," McCain said last night -- though he added that it's still not enough.

Michigan Congresswoman Kilpatrick Narrowly Survives Primary
Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, mother of the scandal-plagued Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, narrowly won her re-election battle in last night's Democratic primary. Kilpatrick won 39% of the vote over her closest challenger's 36%, with the fact that the opposition was split with another candidate almost certainly making the difference.

Poll: Dem Ahead For GOP-Held Seat In Ohio
A new SurveyUSA poll shows the Democrat narrowly ahead for the open GOP-held 15th Congressional District in Ohio: County commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy (D) 47%, state Sen. Steve Stivers (R) 44%. Kilroy previously ran in 2006 and just barely lost to incumbent Congresswoman Deborah Pryce, who announced her retirement last year.

Oh boy. Here's another Republican spreading the lie that China is working with Cuba to drill in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico -- this time coming in the middle of the House GOP's shadow energy session on the abandoned House Floor.

The latest is Rep. Frank Wolf of Virginia, who according to the Politico claimed that Cuba "has given a lease to the Chinese" to drill in the Gulf of Mexico.

In fact, Cuba has not given any such lease to the Chinese, who have kept their drilling activities to the more accessible shoreline areas of Cuba. Leases have been granted to companies from other countries for offshore areas, but no drilling has actually begun.

Paris Hilton has posted this Web video, responding to John McCain's "Celeb" ad:

The whole tire gauge dust-up is useful because it sheds light on the different species of mockery the two campaigns are directing at each other -- the realm of mockery being one where the GOP has enjoyed a distinct advantage in the last two presidential elections.

The GOP, of course, is mocking Obama as a "celebrity" and is lampooning his recent assertion that keeping your tires adequately inflated can save energy as well or better than offshore drilling. Today Obama himself sought to strike a mocking tone in response:

"So I told them something simple," Obama said. "I said, 'You know what? You can inflate your tires to the proper levels and that if everybody in America inflated their tires to the proper level, we would actually probably save more oil than all the oil we'd get from John McCain drilling right below his feet there, or wherever he was going to drill.'"...

"So now the Republicans are going around -- this is the kind of thing they do. I don't understand it! They're going around, they're sending like little tire gauges, making fun of this idea as if this is 'Barack Obama's energy plan.'

"Now two points, one, they know they're lying about what my energy plan is, but the other thing is they're making fun of a step that every expert says would absolutely reduce our oil consumption by 3 to 4 percent. It's like these guys take pride in being ignorant."

For the moment Obama is striking a lighter tone at times than the GOP is -- something that represents a change from the last election. The GOP's mockery of Obama this time around -- the celeb ad, the tire-gauge stunt -- has a kind of grating, adolescent, forced quality to it. Last time, the GOP's mockery of John Kerry had a kind of effortless quality that just isn't there right now.

This may simply reflect the fact that Obama is a tougher figure to mock than Kerry was. The GOP's main experiment in mocking Obama's personal qualities (the "celeb" ad) just didn't cut to the core of any perceived Obama character flaw as successfully the wind-surfing ad and other similar stuff did with Kerry.

Another factor: Pundits and opinion-makers, for a host of reasons, just don't seem to be as willing, or as able, to join in the GOP mockery of Obama as they were four years ago against Kerry. Sure, there's plenty of the usual media clowning, but it tends to come across as flailing. The punches just aren't really landing.

Who knows how much this will matter in the long run, but it's certainly a striking difference from four years ago.

You may not have noticed, but there are actually some key primaries going on today in a few states -- and the results will be coming in tonight. Two races in particular bear watching:

• In Michigan's 13th District, a safe Dem seat, the scandals facing Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick could end up spilling over and ruining a big name in local politics: His mother, Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, who has staunchly defended her son in the local press.

A recent poll from Michigan firm Epic/MRA shows Kilpatrick just narrowly ahead in a three-way primary: Kilpatrick 33%, former state Rep. Mary Waters 29%, and state Sen. Martha Scott 24%. If Kilpatrick does win, it will only be because of a divided opposition.

• In Kansas' Second District, Republican voters will be picking the nominee to go up against freshman Dem incumbent Nancy Boyda, who is among the most endangered Democrats this cycle. The two choices are right-wing former Rep. Jim Ryun, who Boyda defeated in a big upset in 2006, or the more moderate state treasurer Lynn Jenkins.

This race has become a major battle between the state GOP's moderate and conservative factions, and these things are never pretty. For example, the local chapter of the centrist Republican Main Street Partnership put out a press release attacking Ryun, charging that by aligning himself with the Family Research Council and its head Tony Perkins, Ryun was effectively in league with David Duke and the Ku Klux Klan.

The polls close tonight in both states at the same time: 8 p.m. ET.

Barack Obama's scheduled visit to Indiana tomorrow has ignited a bit of the usual Evan Bayh-Veep chatter, but Bayh himself told an Indiana paper today that there's nothing to it:

Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., told The Indianapolis Star today that Sen. Barack Obama has not asked him to be his running mate and that he's not expecting Obama to announce his vice presidential pick when Obama is in Indiana Wednesday.

Asked if he will be Obama's vice presidential choice, Bayh said: "I have no idea. You'd have to ask him."

Bayh will be introducing Obama at Wednesday's town hall meeting in Elkhart, but said he knows of no plans for a private meeting with Obama, even though both men are flying into northern Indiana tonight.

You probably already figured this out, but one reason we're linking to this is it gives us another excuse to point out that Bayh would be a bad pick, having co-chaired the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq with none other than John McCain and Joe Lieberman.

A new AP/Ipsos poll has some good news for Barack Obama, with him leading John McCain thanks to big advantages among his core demographics.

The numbers: Obama 47%, McCain 41%, with a ±3.1% margin of error. The two are tied among men, usually a GOP-leaning demographic, while Obama takes a 13-point lead with women. McCain has only a 10-point lead among whites -- compared to President Bush's 17-point lead in 2004 -- and Obama has a 55-point lead among non-whites.

Obama's lead also comes from his big advantage among younger voters, with him ahead by 30 points among voters under the age of 34.

This all runs contrary to recent polls from Rasmussen and Zogby that have shown him slipping behind McCain. Gallup also has Obama ahead today.

Here's another sign of the Obama camp's message shift in the direction of a full-throttle push on energy.

With no public announcement, the Obama campaign quietly started airing this ad yesterday in a few select states -- it's very similar to this spot released last week hitting McCain for taking the "low road," but the new spot adds a new introduction hitting McCain on gas prices.

A source sends along a copy...

Our source notes that it's on the air in Pennsylvania, where Obama surrogates have been going after McCain's negative campaigning very aggressively in the local media. It's also running in a couple of other battleground states, though it's unclear right now which ones. Anyway, it's another sign that the energy wars are in full swing.

Late Update: For a few minutes we had vid of the old ad posted. The new one is now above. Apologies.

Looks like we have yet another point in common between John McCain and George Bush: Both are responding to Nouri al-Maliki's inconvenient endorsement of Barack Obama's 16-month withdrawal timeline by saying that Maliki didn't really mean it.

From a new interview with the President...

SEOUL, Aug 5 -- President Bush said Monday he sees little distance between himself and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on how to approach troop reductions in Iraq, dismissing the suggestion that Maliki had effectively endorsed Democratic Sen. Barack Obama's plan to withdraw all U.S. combat brigades in 16 months.

"I talk to him all the time, and that's not what I heard," Bush said in an interview with The Washington Post aboard Air Force One on the start of a trip to Asia. "I heard a man who wants to work with the United States to come up with a rational way to have the United States withdraw combat troops depending upon conditions on the ground, that's all."

If that sounds familiar, that's because it is. Last month McCain was asked what he would do as president if Maliki persisted in saying what he said, which is that he wants the troops out in around 16 months.

McCain's reply: "He won't. He won't. He won't."

Maliki either didn't say what he said, or he didn't mean what he said. Life is so simple sometimes...

Hmmm. If you're a GOP candidate for Senate, you probably don't want your son to be putting up stuff on Facebook that mocks Barack Obama as a Muslim, a homosexual, and a terrorist. (On second thought...)

You probably don't want him to put up pictures of Jesus holding an M-16 in front of a Confederate flag.

And you definitely don't want him to put up a poster declaring that "slavery gets shit done."

And yet -- all this really happened to some poor sap who's dreaming of joining the Senate one day.

The poor sap in question is Colorado Senate candidate Bob Schaffer. You can get all the gory details on Schaffer's travails right here at TPMmuckraker. Enjoy.

A few stray bits of news floating around today:

* The Commission on Presidential Debates announced the dates and moderators of the upcoming debates:

-- The first debate between Obama and McCain, on Sept. 26th, will be moderated by PBS's Jim Lehrer

-- The second, a Veep debate, on October 2nd, will be moderated by PBS's Gwen Ifil.

-- The third debate, between Obama and McCain, on October 7th, will be moderated by NBC's Tom Brokaw

--The last debate, between Obama and McCain, on October 15th, will be moderated by CBS' Bob Schieffer

No word yet from the McCain campaign, but everyone expects McCain to agree to the schedule. More news...

* Hillary will be campaigning for Obama in Las Vegas on August 8th, and in South Florida on August 21st, the Obama campaign just announced. And...

* The McCain campaign has bought up $6 million of ad time on NBC during the Olympics, topping the $5 million recently blocked out by the Obama camp.

The Obama campaign responds to McCain's new ad saying we're worse off than we were four years ago by blasting out this video of McCain saying back in April that we are better off than we were eight years ago...

I think the real take-away here is that McCain's new ad suggests just how badly the GOP primary -- not to mention McCain's support for Bush over the years -- may have damaged his "maverick" brand. As a commenter noted below, the new spot -- which touts him as "the original maverick" -- is about reintroducing that brand to the public.

In this new ad, John McCain tries to achieve separation from George Bush by saying flat out that "we're worse off than we were four years ago." At the same time, McCain sidesteps direct criticism of the President and instead blames "Washington"...

"Washington's broken -- John McCain knows it," the announcer says, in what sounds like push-back against Barack Obama's frequent depiction of McCain as a creature of Washington. According to the McCain campaign, the ad will run in "key states."

The ad also tries to rekindle some of that old magic from 2000 by concluding that "he's the original maverick" -- another attempt to achieve separation from Bush by evoking distant memories of the pre-Bush-years McCain.

Late Update: Obama spokesperson Bill Burton responds:

"Senator McCain wants Americans to forget that during the Republican primary, he said that Americans were better off than we were eight years ago, and that he thinks we've made 'great progress economically.' He wants us to forget that he's fully embraced the Bush policies he once opposed, and bragged about supporting those policies 'more than 90 percent of time.' The truth is, being a maverick isn't practicing the same kind of politics we have seen from Washington for decades, it isn't having a campaign run by Washington lobbyists, and it's certainly not promoting the same policies that have led America down the wrong path these past eight years."

Note the reference to "eight years" to offset McCain's claim that we're worse off than we were four years ago.

Late Late Update: More response from the Obama camp, including a video flash-back, is right here.

Now this is some novel push-back. In a sign of just how worried Republicans are about Dem efforts to tie GOP Senators to Bush, the Minnesota GOP is charging that a new Al Franken attack ad linking Senator Norm Coleman to the President is illegal and must be pulled off the air:

The state party's press release says the ad is illegally using the image of the Presidential Seal on a campaign list of "10 Critical Issues" of the Bush presidency -- which the GOP says would create the impression that this is an official government document, in violation of federal law.

"Mr. Franken's campaign appears to have created a fake document and placed the presidential seal on it in an effort to make a political point ... On just the basic matter of law, Mr. Franken's ad must be pulled and corrected immediately." the release says.

Even if this ad did technically violate the law -- and that's a doubtful proposition -- it would almost certainly never be prosecuted, because doing so would create a chilling effect on political speech.

Late Update: We asked Franken spokesman Andy Barr if a reasonable person might think the use of the Presidential Seal here implied a real government document. "A reasonable person might note that we released extensive documentation with scores of votes detailing how Norm Coleman has voted with George Bush nearly 90 percent of the time," Barr told us via e-mail, "and the only complaint the Coleman campaign had was with the clipart."

It looks like McCain's recent attacks on Obama are working, in the sense that the McCain campaign is now getting as much media coverage as Obama, according to a new study from the Project for Excellence in Journalism:

For the first time since this general election campaign began in early June, Republican John McCain attracted virtually as much media attention as his Democratic rival last week.

Barack Obama was a significant or dominant factor in 81% of the campaign stories compared with 78% for McCain, according to PEJ's Campaign Coverage Index for July 28-Aug. 3. Not only was that a high water mark for McCain in the general election season (his previous best was 62% from June 30-July 6). The virtual dead heat in the race for exposure between the two candidates also marked the first time his weekly coverage had even been within 10 percentage points of Obama's total.

Via Jonathan Martin. There's little doubt that new McCain adviser Steve Schmidt's more aggressive approach is working, at least in the sense that it has resulted in McCain being perceived as the driver of the news.

For weeks and weeks the McCain campaign struggled in vain to be seen as the campaign on offense. With the "celeb" ad and the allegation that Obama played the "race card," it seems like the McCain camp is now gaining some traction in that regard. Indeed, the "race card" charge was the most covered story of the week, according to the study; the second most covered was "campaign ads" -- i.e., the "celeb" spot. Both were McCain-driven stories.

The Los Angeles Times digs up some more detail on the Hess Corporation-McCain story, reporting that the big fundraiser where all the Hess execs chipped in huge sums took place just before McCain reversed his previous opposition to offshore drilling:

On June 10, John B. Hess, a top executive at the oil company with his family name, summoned friends to the 21 Club, a former speakeasy in Manhattan, and delivered $285,000 to John McCain and the Republican National Committee.

A week later, McCain traveled to Texas and announced his support for offshore oil drilling...

Hess was one of half a dozen hosts who tapped friends for the maximum $28,500 donation to the GOP. Others included investor Henry Kravis and hedge fund mogul Paul E. Singer.

McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said there was no link between the money and McCain's stand. "Mr. Hess was fundraising before Sen. McCain made the announcement," he said.

Hard to know what to make of this. There's no source given for the info on the fundraiser itself, and the contributions were bundled and delivered to the RNC-McCain committee on June 24th. And as best as I can determine from other reporters, Hess has clammed up and is refusing to explain what happened.

But if the report is true, does this change the story? Not much. It raises at least the possibility that McCain had privately signaled a coming switch, though that's impossible to prove and it very well may not have happened. But even if the Hess donations weren't directly tied to the drilling flip, it doesn't change the fact that many oil company executives did reward McCain with huge contributions after his change in position

What's more, whatever the timing of the Hess donations with regard to the drilling flip, the larger point is that the oil companies like Hess have plenty of other reasons to shower wealth on McCain's candidacy. McCain's tax cut proposals would slash the corporate tax rate for, and confer other benefits on, the nation's largest oil companies, according to a report from the Center for American Progress, though it's unclear how precisely McCain's policies would affect Hess.

More on this later.

New Obama Ad: McCain Has Voted Against Fixing Energy For 26 Years
Barack Obama has a new ad on energy issues, following through on one of the key attack lines from his speech yesterday -- that John McCain can't be trusted on energy, because he's been around for 26 years and hasn't accomplished anything:

Obama Talking About Energy In Ohio Today
Barack Obama is in Ohio today, where he'll be holding town halls in the blue-collar areas of Youngstown and Berea, focusing on energy issues. "Unfortunately, in this election, Senator McCain has proposed an energy plan that's nothing but four years more of the same," Obama will say, according to pre-released excerpts."

McCain Visiting Nuclear Plant In Michigan
John McCain is set to visit a nuclear power plant in the swing state state of Michigan today, a play for a state that hasn't voted Republican since 1988. Expect McCain to hammer Obama on energy issues, falsely accusing him of opposing nuclear power because he doesn't want to relax regulations in the way McCain does.

Poll: McCain Takes Narrow Lead
Another national poll shows John McCain edging into a narrow national lead against Barack Obama. The new numbers from Zogby: McCain 42%, Obama 41%, and Barr and Nader at 2% each, with a ±3.1% margin of error. Three weeks ago, Obama was ahead 46%-36%.

Obama Celebrates Birthday With $4 Million Fundraiser
Barack Obama had a very happy birthday indeed, celebrating the occasion with mega-fundraising dinner in Boston last night. The Boston Herald reports that the dinner took in an estimated $4 million, with guests paying anywhere between $1,000 and $28,500 each.

Time: "Obama Is Right" And GOP Wrong On Tire Pressure
Time thoroughly debunks Republicans who are heckling Obama for telling people to maintain their tires in order to improve fuel efficiency. It turns out that expanded drilling would meet one percent of the nation's fuel needs, while better car and tire maintenance would lower fuel consumption by up to seven points if everyone did it. "In other words," the magazine concludes, "Obama is right."

GOP Registrations Declining Nationwide
The New York Times reports that Republican voter registrations have declined all across the country, while Democratic and independent registrations increased. The Times says that "voting experts say the registration numbers may signal the beginning of a move away from Republicans that could affect local, state and national politics over several election cycles."

A new SurveyUSA poll gives John McCain the lead in the perennial swing state of Florida -- a state where recent polls have given contrary outcomes, and which is sure to be closely contested through this November.

The numbers: McCain 50%, Obama 44%, with a ±3.8% margin of error. Age seems to be a factor here, with the internals showing Obama ahead 48%-46% among votes under the age of 50, but McCain ahead 53%-41% among voters over 50.

The Washington Post's Matthew Mosk turns up yet another interesting contribution to McCain from a Hess employee:

Rocchio is not the only person employed by Hess who made a large contribution to McCain. In addition to the top exectives, Charles Harris, who lists his occupation as a "driver" for Hess, gave $2,300 to the presumptive Republican nominee in March.

That's hardly $28,500, of course, and it's a perfectly feasible donation. Nonetheless, in addition to their big contributions to the RNC's committee, the Rocchios also both maxed out to the McCain campaign this year, each giving him $2,300, along with this "driver." So another question is how many low-level Hess employees maxed out straight to the McCain campaign.

Here's still more on the Rocchios, the pair of unlikely uber-donors to the RNC-McCain effort.

As noted below, Alice Rocchio, a Hess office manager, and her husband, Pasquale Rocchio, an Amtrak "track foreman," rent a house in Flushing, Queens, but managed to give $28,500 apiece to McCain Victory 2008 on the same day that eight other Hess execs and Hess family members did.

What do they earn? There are several jobs with the word "foreman" on this Amtrak job referral page. The lowest salary listed is roughly $50,000, and the absolute highest, for a top-level "road foreman" in Kansas City, is $119,000. But most of these "foreman" salaries are somewhere between $50,000 and $90,000.

Meanwhile, a reader points out that AllRailJobs.com lists a "foreman" position for Amtrak in the Chicago area that would pull down roughly $28 per hour -- in the neighborhood of $55,000 a year.

We're checking with Amtrak to see if they'll tell us the exact salary of a New York "track foreman" and we'll keep you posted.

Late Update: In fairness, the Rocchios may be better off than initial appearances would suggest. Real estate records show they purchased a North Carolina property in 2006, and in 2007 took out a loan to buy another property in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Here's a bit more on Alice and Pasquale Rocchio, the couple who each gave $28,500 to the RNC-McCain fund on the same day that eight Hess Corporation execs and/or Hess family members gave the same.

As reported below, Alice is a Hess "office manager," and Pasquale is an Amtrak "track foreman." The two live in a middle class neighborhood in Flushing, Queens.

Martin Bernstein, a city assessor at the New York Department of Finance
Queens Assessment Office, has just confirmed to us by phone that the Rocchios rent their home.

Late Update: There's a bit of dispute over whether Flushing, Queens, should be described as "middle class" or "lower middle class." It turns out that the median household income in the Rocchios' zip code is $58,069.

As we reported below, ten Hess Corporation executives and Hess family members each gave $28,500 to the RNC's committee to elect John McCain president, just days after he reversed his previous opposition to offshore drilling.

But the story gets better.

It turns out that Hess executives aren't the only ones who gave such huge sums to elect McCain -- generosity towards McCain apparently extends down into lower levels of Hess staff. A lower level employee gave the same, too, and so did her husband, even though he works for Amtrak.

The FEC filings show that Alice Rocchio, who's identified as a Hess office manager, and her husband, Pasquale Rocchio, who's described as an Amtrak "track foreman," each separately donated $28,500 to the RNC-McCain fund, which is called McCain Victory 2008. They gave the money on June 24th, the same day that eight other Hess execs and family members each shelled out the same amount.

So the Rocchios, who live in Flushing, Queens, donated a total of $57,000 to McCain's efforts.

I just reached Ms Rocchio and she insisted adamantly that the contributions were theirs.

"It was my option to give," she told me. "This is my favorite candidate...I fully acknowledge that [the donation] was done by myself personally, my own doing." She added that the same went for her husband.

When I pointed out that the Rocchios' job titles seemed to jar a bit with the size of their donations, Ms. Rocchio said that no one could guess the real income levels of other people.

"No one knows what someone's income taxes say," she told me.

Ms. Rocchio declined to say whether the contributions had been bundled by another Hess employee or who bundled them.

Late Update: It should also be noted that FEC reports have no record of any Federal political contributions for the Rocchios before 2008. They both gave the maximum of $2,300 to McCain's campaign this year.

Also, special thanks to TPM Reader AT for spotting this.

Late Late Update: Turns out the two rent their home.

Ten senior Hess Corporation executives and/or members of the Hess family each gave $28,500 to the joint RNC-McCain fundraising committee, just days after McCain reversed himself to favor offshore drilling, according to Federal Election Commission reports.

Nine of these contributions, seven from Hess executives and two from members of the Hess family, came on the same day, June 24th, the records show. The total collected in the wake of McCain's reversal for the fund, called McCain Victory 2008, from Hess execs and family is $285,000.

We were alerted to the contributions by Campaign Money Watch, a non-partisan group that tracks campaign contributions. The contributions were given a quick mention deep in a report the group issued late last week, but with no names or other details provided. The Hess contributions are clearly newsworthy on their own.

The Washington Post reported last week that campaign contributions from oil industry execs rose in a big way in the last half of June, after McCain drew a huge amount of attention by reversing his opposition on June 16th to the federal ban on offshore drilling.

These Hess contributions, however, hadn't been reported until now, and they will give more ammo to those arguing that McCain is being rewarded by campaign contributions in exchange for pro-industry positions. Here's a table detailing the contributions:

J. Barclay Collins	Hess Corp.	Attorney	$28,500	19-Jun
John B. Hess	Hess Corp.	Executive	$28,500	24-Jun
Susan K. Hess	Homemaker	Homemaker	$28,500	24-Jun
Norma W. Hess	Retired	Retired	$28,500	24-Jun
John J. O'Connor	Hess Corp.	Executive	$28,500	24-Jun
Lawrence Ornstein	Hess Corp.	Senior VP	$28,500	24-Jun
John Reilly	Hess Corp.	Executive	$28,500	24-Jun
Alice Rocchio	Hess Corp.	Office Manager	$28,500	24-Jun
John Scelfo	Hess Corp.	Senior VP of Finance	$28,500	24-Jun
F. Borden Walker	Hess Corp.	Businessman	$28,500	24-Jun

Norma W. Hess is the widow of oil magnate and company founder Leon Hess, and Susan K. Hess is the wife of Hess chairman and CEO John Hess.

Neither a spokesperson for Hess nor the McCain campaign immediately responded to requests for comment. More on this in a bit.

Late Update: It turns out that $28,500 is the maximum that can be given to the RNC, but because this particular victory fund collects money via various channels, an individual donor can actually give more than that to it. I've edited out "maximum" from the headline. Obviously this doesn't change the story in any way.

Late Late Update: A Hess office manager and her husband, an Amtrak worker, each chipped in $28,000 apiece, too.

Late Late Late Update: Turns out that the office manager and her Amtrak husband rent their home in Flushing, Queens.

Still Later Update: It's likely that the Amtrak worker makes considerably less than $100,000 a year.

Weaker and weaker. As you may have heard, the GOP is having a grand old time today mocking Barack Obama for making the perfectly reasonable suggestion last week that one thing Americans can do to save energy is keeping their tires inflated.

Now -- we're not kidding -- the McCain campaign is actually trying to raise money off this. From McCain campaign manager Rick Davis' latest fundraising email...

John McCain says we need offshore oil drilling and we need it now. Senator Barack Obama has consistently opposed offshore drilling -- calling it a "gimmick." Senator Obama's solution to high gas prices is telling Americans to make sure their tires are inflated.

Today, I'm asking for your help in putting Senator Obama's "tire gauge" energy policy to the test. With an immediate donation of $25 or more, we will send you an "Obama Energy Plan" tire pressure gauge. Will simply inflating your tires reduce the financial burden of high gas prices on your wallet?

Is it really possible that this of all things will open Republican wallets? Jeez.

Of course, as the Obama campaign pointed out today, two prominent GOP Governors -- Arnold Schwarzenegger and Charlie Crist, a major McCain surrogate who's sometimes discussed as a Veep possibility -- have also both appealed to people to keep their tires inflated.

Meanwhile, Steve Benen deftly skewers the falsehood at the center of this latest GOP attack: The notion that keeping tires inflated constitutes Obama's entire energy policy. Comically weak stuff...

The Obama campaign announces that Michelle Obama will hold a round-table discussion with military spouses on Wednesday.

The campaign is also launching "Blue Star Families for Obama," which it's billing as "a national military families council" that will keep the Obamas up to speed on issues facing military families and coordinate campaign events with them around the country.

It's a sign of a concerted push-back against the McCain campaign's efforts to "create a narrative" (still our favorite reigning euphemism) of Obama as indifferent to and insufficiently respectful of the military.

Now this is something. For the first time since Barack Obama officially won the Democratic nomination, John McCain has managed to eke out a narrow lead in the Rasmussen tracking poll.

The numbers: McCain 47%, Obama 46%, within the ±2% margin of error. McCain is viewed favorably by 55% of likely voters, compared to 51% who view Obama favorably.

In short, the recent mudslinging in the campaign may well have played in McCain's favor. Obama has not dipped from his usual range, but it appears that some undecideds have been pushed into McCain's column for now.

Now this should put the "Obama's working class whites problem" meme to rest. Buried in the new Washington Post poll is a startling number:

But even among white workers -- a group of voters that has been targeted by both parties as a key to victory in November -- Obama leads McCain by 10 percentage points, 47 percent to 37 percent, and has the advantage as the more empathetic candidate.

In an even bigger shocker, it turns out that Obama's advantage is partly driven by the fact that he's better on an issue of importance to these voters: Health care. Seven in ten working class whites polled say government should focus on getting people like them health insurance they can afford, a key Obama position.

If this poll is accurate, McCain is dramatically under-performing among these voters. Will we be hearing a "McCain's working class whites problem" meme anytime soon?

Late Update: Atrios on Obama's "problem" with these voters: "Nobody could have predicted that it's as real as his Latino and Jewish voter problems."

Obama Ad: We Can't Afford Another President In Big Oil's Pocket
The Obama campaign has announced this new TV ad, which ties John McCain to both the oil companies and to George W. Bush. "After one president in the pocket of Big Oil, we can't afford another," the announcer says:

McCain Camp: "Celebrity" Obama Is The One With Bush On Energy
The McCain campaign is quick out the gate with a statement responding to Obama's new ad: "Barack Obama's latest negative attack ad shows his celebrity is matched only by his hypocrisy, after all it was Senator Obama, not John McCain, who voted for the Bush-Cheney energy bill that was a sweetheart deal for oil companies. Also not mentioned is the $400,000 from big oil contributors that Barack Obama has already pocketed in this election."

Obama Giving Energy Speech Today In Michigan
Barack Obama is giving a speech scheduled for 11 a.m. today in Lansing, Michigan, where he'll lay out his energy plan -- an important step in maintaining his rapport with voters on economic issues. His plan will call for a windfall profits tax on oil companies, a $500 per individual energy rebate, higher fuel-efficiency standards, and investments in alternative energy sources.

McCain Attending Biker Rally In South Dakota
John McCain will be on hand for today's annual Sturgis Rally in Sturgis, South Dakota, a mega-gathering of motorcyclists. McCain might spend his time there discussing his call for a gas tax holiday and more oil drilling, in contrast to Obama's energy speech today.

McCain Supporters Ready To Heckle Obama Today
McCain supporters will reportedly hand out tire gauges at Barack Obama's speech today, in mockery of Barack Obama's call for motorists to take little steps like checking tire pressure in order to improve efficiency.

Report: McCain Will Wait For Obama To Pick Veep First
Jonathan Martin reports this morning that McCain advisers think the candidate will wait for Barack Obama to pick his running mate first before choosing his own. "We'd be stupid to pick before they do," said an anonymous McCain adviser. "If they go first, you have more information."

Obama: Give A Full Vote To Michigan And Florida Delegates
With the Democratic primaries over and done with, Barack Obama has now called upon the DNC to give a full vote to delegates from Michigan and Florida -- as opposed to the half-votes awarded in a tense compromise. "I believe party unity calls for the delegates from Florida and Michigan to be able to participate fully alongside the delegates from the other states and territories," Obama said in a letter to the credentials committee.

Paris Hilton's Mother Objects To McCain Ad
Paris Hilton's mother Kathy Hilton -- who has donated $2,300 to John McCain -- has responded to McCain's new ad using her daughter as a means of attacking Barack Obama. "It is a complete waste of the money John McCain's contributors have donated to his campaign," Mrs. Hilton writes for the Huffington Post.

Both Candidates Off The Trail Today
Neither Barack Obama nor John McCain have any public events scheduled for today. But don't think they're taking the day off: They'll likely be spending today actively strategizing and/or raising money.

McCain: We'll Respond If Obama Accuses Us Of Racism
John McCain made it clear that his campaign will continue to fire back at Barack Obama if they are accused of race-baiting against him. "We're not gonna allow racism to come into this campaign in any form," McCain told ABC News. "And so I'm gonna respond if it comes up again."

Lieberman: Obama "A Good Young Man"
Appearing today on Meet The Press, Joe Lieberman defended the Paris/Britney ad as "cute," and said the intention to raise questions about Obama's readiness for the presidency. "This is a good young man," Lieberman said. "Is he ready to lead or as ready as John McCain? The answer is no."

Obama Defends Shift On Drilling
Speaking to reporters yesterday, Barack Obama defended his shift on offshore drilling -- from opposing it to supporting a larger energy compromise proposal that includes it: "If we can come up with a genuine bipartisan compromise, in which I have to accept some things that I don't like, or the Democrats have to accept some things that they don't like in exchange for actually moving us in the direction of actual energy independence, then that's something I'm open to."

Obama's Long Indiana Stop Has Press Wondering About Bayh For VP
Press speculation seems to be growing about Evan Bayh as Barack Obama's running mate, due to an extra-long campaign stop in Indiana this week. Obama campaign spokesman Robert Gibbs told NBC that this is simply evidence that Indiana is a competitive state this year.

Report: McCain Team Vetting Eric Cantor For VP
The Associated Press reports that the McCain campaign is actively vetting Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor for vice president. Picking the ultra-conservative and Jewish Cantor would potentially help McCain among Jewish voters as well as right-wing activists -- and set up an interesting scenario if Barack Obama were to pick Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, giving the campaign two tickets where the running mates hail from the same state.