Keeping track of all the falsehoods -- okay, "half-truths" -- coming from Palin is getting a bit dizzying. On the trail today in Virginia, Palin appeared to suggest that McCain would never, ever discuss his war service...

"Since my own running mate won't say this on his own behalf, I'm gonna have to say it for him," Palin said. "There is only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you. That man is John McCain."

Coming only days after McCain's convention speech, with its emphasis on his "scars," you really have to hold the reporters covering the event -- not to say the audience members themselves -- in very low regard if you're gonna try to slip one like this past them.

Here's the first round of excerpts from McCain's speech tonight -- they feature as direct a reference as you could possibly want to McCain's service, and Obama's lack of it:

"I'm very proud to have introduced our next Vice President to the country. But I can't wait until I introduce her to Washington. And let me offer an advance warning to the old, big spending, do nothing, me first, country second Washington crowd: change is coming."

"The constant partisan rancor that stops us from solving these problems isn't a cause, it's a symptom. It's what happens when people go to Washington to work for themselves and not you. Again and again, I've worked with members of both parties to fix problems that need to be fixed. That's how I will govern as President. I will reach out my hand to anyone to help me get this country moving again. I have that record and the scars to prove it. Senator Obama does not."

"I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else's. I loved it not just for the many comforts of life here. I loved it for its decency; for its faith in the wisdom, justice and goodness of its people. I loved it because it was not just a place, but an idea, a cause worth fighting for. I was never the same again. I wasn't my own man anymore. I was my country's."

"I loved it not just for the many comforts of life here" seems to hint at a contrast between McCain's suffering and a pampered "celeb" lifestyle enjoyed by Obama. Maybe we're a tad paranoid at this point and that isn't what it's about at all. But given the tenor of the previous paragraph, it sure sounds like it.

To our knowledge, this new ad from the South Carolina Republican Party is the first ad to focus exclusively on McCain's POW captivity.

The spot is set to run in Minneapolis starting tomorrow and through the GOP convention, a South Carolina GOP spokesperson confirms. It hits directly back at Obama for his criticism of McCain's number-of-houses flub:

"This is the story of a John McCain home you might not know about," the ad opens, and follows with footage dramatizing McCain getting shot down. After showing shots of a prison cell, the spot continues:

"This is where John McCain was starved, beaten, tortured, and maimed for life. So the next time Barack Obama talks about one of John McCain's homes, remember this one."

The spot suggests that surrogates in the states will soon start pushing the POW-POW-POWing in earnest, in a way that even McCain himself might not be willing to do.

( Via Palmetto Scoop.)

Late Update: South Carolina GOP spokesperson Rob Godfrey emails that the spot will run on cable in Minneapolis-St. Paul beginning tomorrow and will run through the GOP convention. I've edited the above to reflect this.

POW-POW-POW hyperinflation alert!

In an interview with KDKA radio in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, John McCain POW-POW-POWed when asked about charges that he's an elitist who's out of touch with the American worker on kitchen-table issues.

McCain: Well you know I have town hall meetings all the time, everywhere across this country, and I hear from people....

And in all due respect my friends, I know what it's like to not have a house, I know what it's like not to have a kitchen table. I know what it's like not to have a table or a chair. For five and a half years, I sat in a cell with nothing but concrete floor and three boards to sleep on.

This underscores again the degree to which the McCain campaign wants the discussion about the economy to morph into a conversation about character, rather than a discussion of, you know, actual policy differences. Dems say McCain's policies show that he's out of touch with the real needs of working people. McCain replies that his POW past shows he knows what it's like to struggle, which he hopes will settle the question of whether he's out of touch or not.

Once that question has been settled to McCain's satisfaction, there's no longer any need to meaningfully engage in an argument about what our understanding of what it's like to struggle should lead us to actually do to alleviate people's economic problems on a policy level.

John McCain is cranking up his attacks on Obama's internationalist approach to foreign policy by giving a speech today that hits Obama for not giving America enough credit for winning the Cold War -- which according to McCain reveals that Obama has confidence in himself but not in his country.

McCain's argument -- to be delivered at 1 P.M. at the 90th Annual American Legion National Convention in Phoenix, Arizona -- is based on some rather aggressive parsing of what Obama actually said. McCain is faulting Obama for saying in his Berlin speech that the Cold War proved that there's "no challenge too great for a world that stands as one."

The problem with Obama's formulation, in McCain's view, is that it doesn't hog enough credit for America. McCain alludes to this and to Obama's self-confidence in order to push the memes that Obama is too puffed-up for his own good and harbors views of our great land that are suspect in some way. Here's what McCain says in the prepared excerpts:

My opponent had the chance to express such confidence in America, when he delivered a much anticipated address in Berlin. He was the picture of confidence, in some ways. But confidence in oneself and confidence in one's country are not the same. And in that speech, Senator Obama left an important point unclear. He suggested that the end of the Cold War proved that there was, quote, "no challenge too great for a world that stands as one."

Now I missed a few years of the Cold War, as the guest of one of our adversaries, but as I recall the world was deeply divided during the Cold War -- between the side of freedom and the side of tyranny. The Cold War ended not because the world stood "as one," but because the great democracies came together, bound together by sustained and decisive American leadership.

All of this is more than an academic debate. For the sake of our own security, and the defense of our values in the affairs of the world, American leadership is critical.

You caught McCain's POW-POW-POWing in there, we trust.

To Obama, there are limits to what American power can accomplish, so genuine cooperation with other nations is in our interest. To McCain, there are no limits to what American might can achieve, and any calls for internationalist cooperation that fail to include the caveat of American "leadership" are tantamount to an admission of weakness -- a lack of "confidence."

More McCain excerpts after the jump.

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John McCain POW-POW-POWs yet again to deflect criticism of the number-of-houses crack, this time during a taped segment with Jay Leno that's set to air later tonight:

"You've got enough of those," Leno cracked. "You need a white one, too." Later, he asked McCain: "For $1 million, how many houses do you have?"

At that, McCain got serious, saying he had been imprisoned for five-and-a-half years during the Vietnam war, and that "I didn't have a house. I didn't have a kitchen table. I didn't have a table."

Dunno, seems to me that there's a pretty severe risk for McCain in POW-POW-POWing on Leno, of all places. McCain is already drifting dangerously close to late night comedy territory when he POW-POW-POWs in serious settings.

John McCain himself is now POW-POW-POW-ing to deflect criticism of his number-of-houses gaffe.

McCain slipped a reference to his war captivity into an interview McCain did with CBS that's airing today. He appeared to be referring to Joe Biden's crack yesterday that McCain has trouble considering people's kitchen table issues because he has to decide which of his own seven kitchen tables to use...

"I am grateful for the fact that I have a wonderful life," McCain said. "I spent some years without a kitchen table, without a chair, and I know what it's like to be blessed by the opportunities of this great nation...So the fact is that we have homes, and I'm grateful for it."

The McCain campaign appears to see that the Dem attacks on the houses gaffe risk being effective as character attacks, in that they are designed to portray him as out-of-touch and even pampered in a way that undercuts his down-to-earth war-hero bio and its intended contrast with Obama as an effete, untested celeb. Hence the frequent response invoking his war service.

But the "McCain-as-POW" currency the McCain camp is printing at such a furious rate -- and throwing wads of at every controversy that comes along -- is now losing value faster than the German Mark after World War I.

POW-POW-POW hyperinflation alert!

As all you regulars know, the McCain camp's constant evocation of his P.O.W. past as an all-purpose shield against any and all criticism is a singular obsession of this blog.

So it's gratifying to see that pundits and writers at the news orgs are really starting to turn the screws on McCain over this.

Newsweek's Howard Fineman, for instance, says that the McCain camp is in danger of "trivializing" McCain's sacrifice.

"I think they are going to it way too many times," Fineman told MSNBC, adding that "you can't help but have admiration and respect for the guy" but that "it's become a crutch in the campaign."

"I think he is in danger of trivializing it," Fineman continued. "By the time they get to the convention in St. Paul, there might not be much of it left to use."

Ouch. Time magazine's Ana Marie Cox was even harsher, writing that the constant P.O.W.-past spewing is "weird" and "bordering on irrational."

"It's a head-spinning non sequitur, designed to distract us from something mildly troubling with the assertion of something impressive," Cox wrote of the McCain team's use of the P.O.W. stuff to deflect criticism of the houses gaffe.

"It does seem like they're flirting with Giuliani/9-11 territory here," opined Politico's Ben Smith, "in which a subject that seems utterly immune to humor, used as a first resort, suddenly becomes a running joke among your political enemies and your late night comic friends."

Another way to put this is that if you print too much currency, it devalues it. The McCain campaign is cranking out all these bills with a little "McCain as P.O.W." logo on it and is trying to use them to buy their way out of every controversy that comes along. Pretty soon the McCain team's money won't be good anywhere.

The McCain campaign is road-testing a new argument in responding to Obama's criticism of his number-of-houses gaffe, an approach the McCain camp has never tried before: The houses gaffe doesn't matter because ... he was a POW!

"This is a guy who lived in one house for five and a half years -- in prison," spokesman Brian Rogers told the Washington Post.

For those of you who haven't kept track, the McCain campaign just recently cited McCain's POW years in explaining away the Miss Buffalo Chip gaffe, and in dealing with the allegation that he broke the rules and listened in on Barack Obama during the Rick Warren forum.

Also, Rogers made sure to play the anti-intellectual card: "In terms of who's an elitist, I think people have made a judgment that John McCain is not an arugula-eating, pointy headed professor-type based on his life story."

The Obama campaign is trying out a new message in response to McCain's endless discussion of his own POW experiences: Describe Obama's time as a community leader and public servant as akin to military service.

On a conference call with reporters moments ago, the Obama campaign rolled out a new effort called "Next Generation Veterans For Obama," a group of Iraq and Afghanistan vets who back Obama (the nod to the change message is a nice touch).

On the call, several of the veterans went out of their way to describe Obama's "service" to his country in various ways.

"The fact is, Senator Obama has served," said Koby Langley, a former Army JAG officer and Iraq and Balkans veteran. "He's served his community." Langley added that veterans like people who "actually legislate for change" and "serve" vets.

"Most of my friends and colleagues in the military look at Senator Obama's lifetime of service and they identify with that," added former Army military police Iraq veteran Philip Carter, who's now serving as the veterans director for the Obama campaign.

One interesting moment on the call: When the assembled vets were asked by a reporter if their fellow vets were resisting Obama because of his lack of military service, most said no, but one went a bit off message.

"Yes, I have had some resistance to it," that vet said. "Most times their views are based on inaccurate information they have heard. I try and give them the information that they need. They're not gonna change their minds sometimes."

Dem Party leaders call on Obama to run sharper race on economy
Some leading Dems, worried that the race against McCain looks tougher than they imagined, want Obama to sharpen his economic message and convert his popularity into a stronger sense among voters that he will improve their lives in concrete ways. "It's fine to tell people about hope and change," says Governor Ted Strickland of Ohio, "but you have to have plenty of concrete, pragmatic ideas that bring hope and change to life."

Obama in Nevada today; McCain off the trail
Obama is in Reno today and will attend a fundraiser tonight in California; McCain has no public events. Hillary is campaigning for Obama today in New Mexico.

Obama: By November, people will understand that this election is "not about me"
In an interview with CBN's David Brody, Obama responded to a question about the "celeb" sneer ads with an answer that sounded a bit like an acknowledgment that right now, the election is shaping up more as a referendum on his character than on his opponent or on their respective policies. "I think ultimately the American people are going to understand by the time they go into the polling place in November that this is not an election about me," Obama said. "This an election about them."

Kaine: It's unlikely I'll be Veep
Virginia Governor Tim Kaine is campaigning his heart out for Barack Obama, but he appears to have largely written off his chances of becoming Veep. "I don't have any illusions about it," Kaine said. "I don't think that's likely to happen."

Pundits: McCain won the day at Saddleback Church
Some on-air pundits say McCain was the winner last night when both men appeared at the Sddleback megachurch in Orange County, California. ABC's George Stephanopoulos said that McCain "solidified his ties to the evangelical community," while Jake Tapper said that McCain "won over this crowd" with tales about his POW captivity -- you know, the topic we keep hearing McCain is reluctant to discuss.

Obama outworking McCain in North Carolina
In yet another sign that the Obama camp is dead serious about broadening the electoral map, his campaign is vastly out-organizing McCain's in North Carolina, a state that hasn't voted for a Democratic president since Jimmy Carter in 1976. Although John Kerry lost to President Bush in this state by over 13 points -- with John Edwards on the ticket, no less -- the polling average finds Obama trailing McCain here by only around four or five points.

Bush: "Bullying and intimidation are not acceptable" in the conduct of foreign policy
Displaying his typically acute self-awareness, President Bush is now reacting to the Russia-Georgia crisis thusly: "Bullying and intimidation are not acceptable ways to conduct foreign policy in the 21st century."

The McCain campaign has offered a novel defense against critics who hit him for offering up his wife Cindy as a contestant at a topless biker beauty pageant: He was a POW!

This whole mess started when Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell, who is heading up an independent group of pro-Obama pastors -- and, by the way, officiated at Jenna Bush's wedding -- criticized McCain's remarks at the Sturgis rally: "My personal opinion, and based on my opinion of the Christian faith, that's not the type of expression a presidential candidate or anyone following the Christian faith ought to make."

The Wall St. Journal reports that McCain spokesman Brian Rogers fired back by saying that Americans "know that John McCain's faith and character were tested and forged in ways few can fathom."

Jim Webb spokesperson Kimberly Hunter sends us a statement rejecting the McCain campaign's accusation that he collaborated with the Obama camp to attack McCain's service...

I can tell you that Senator Webb has never spoken with Senator Obama about this issue nor has he spoken to Wesley Clark. Senator Webb's comments were not targeted at McCain's military service. He has consistently called for politicians not to insert politics into military service. This is the exact same argument that he used against Lindsay Graham last year in their Meet the Press interview regarding objections to giving troops adequate dwell time at home.

Senator Webb has never, and would never, demean the service of anyone who has stepped forward to serve our country. To the contrary, he was calling on those on all sides of the debate to refrain from implying that their political views are representative of the military writ large.

Of course, Webb is now in an argument about whether he demeaned McCain's military service.

Discuss.

The McCain campaign, keeping up the pressure over Wes Clark's comments, is holding its second conference call on this topic in two days -- but now the story has taken a new turn, with a McCain surrogate demeaning Clark's service.

Here's what Orson Swindle, a fellow POW of McCain's, said on the call, in a reference to generals, admirals, and other officers who back the Arizona Senator:

"General Clark probably wouldn't get that much praise from this group. I can't speak for them, but we all know that General Clark, as high-ranking as he is, his record in his last command I think was somewhat less than stellar."

Clark's last service was as the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO.

So does this count as demeaning Clark's service? This McCain surrogate actually lodged a direct criticism of Clark's service itself, whereas Clark's comments about McCain were, well, not this at all.

So does McCain himself agree with this? Will this be covered as an "attack" on Clark's service, as Clark's non-attack on McCain's service was?

Late Update: A McCain aide emails us to say that this wasn't an attack on Clark's service. The aide sends us this link to an article about Clark, and this statement:

It certainly was not an attack on his service - no one would ever disparage that. Everyone honors Gen. Clark's service and sacrifice -- he's literally bled for our country. It was about policy disputes.

Late Update: Here's the audio from the call:

Click To Play

So how far will the pundits go to protect McCain's reputation as a "maverick" -- and how far will they go to explain away his many reversals and flip-flops? The answer could help decide the presidential race.

Judging by Richard Cohen's column in today's Washington Post, the early returns are not encouraging. Cohen offers what has to be the most creative justification for doing this that we've ever seen -- he argues that McCain's flip-flops matter less than Obama's ... because McCain was a POW!

I'm not kidding.

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This is subtle. Take a look at John McCain's first ad of the general election:

"Only a fool or a fraud talks tough or romantically about war," McCain tells the camera. "I was shot down over Vietnam and spent five years as a POW. Some of the friends I served with never came home. I hate war. And I know how terrible its costs are."

The key to understanding this, I think, is that McCain is using his bio to achieve separation from George W. Bush. He's suggesting -- without saying directly -- that even if he's continuing Bush's war policies, he's different from Dubya in that he understands the costs in a way that Bush never did.

The subtext: "Even if that reckless chicken-hawk took us to war, someone who actually understands and has experienced the costs of war -- someone you can actually believe -- is here to tell you that we must continue it."

Tellingly, there's no mention of Iraq in this particular spot. The McCain campaign claims it's a significant buy, with the ad airing on cable and in key swing states. Details to follow later today.

It seems safe to predict that John McCain will soon be bringing up his torture experiences every single day.

Fhat for the past two days running now, McCain has gone out of his way to make apparent references to his POW past. From his statement attacking Obama today:

I have news for Senator Obama: I have met some very bad people before in my life.

From a McCain campaign spokesperson yesterday, responding to criticism from Bill Richardson:

John McCain has not only talked tough but been tough in encounters with more bad guys than Bill Richardson will ever meet.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's version.

To be clear, there's nothing wrong with McCain talking about his bio as much as he wants. But as Atrios notes, pundits continue to claim that he's uncomfortable bringing up his Vietnam experiences in political contexts.

That's a message that McCain obviously wants to promulgate -- and so the above references to his POW status are veiled ones

You really do need to watch this new video that the McCain campaign has just put out -- it's a neat preview of the sort of appeals we can expect in a general election.

The video is part of a fundraising appeal -- the campaign is raising money off of tomorrow being the 35th anniversary of his release from the Hanoi Hilton. That and his POW experience are the subject of the vid:

The campaign has also sent out a special e-mail promoting the video, and asking recipients to donate to McCain's campaign.

This is ugly even by South Carolina standards: John McCain is being targeted by a nasty flyer that lampoons McCain's POW captivity in Vietnam. The flyer, which was sent to local newspaper editors, depicts a manacled McCain in a cell with the phrase "POW for President," and "elect me" scrawled on the walls, suggesting that McCain is trying to ride his POW status into the White House.

The mailer also accuses McCain of collaborating with his captors and betraying his fellow POWs.

Click on the image below to enlarge:

Late yesterday, the McCain campaign publicly denounced the flyer, which appears to be the work of a group of unknown size and origin called " Vietnam Veterans Against John McCain."

The fact that the McCain camp has moved so aggressively to publicize and push back against the flyer suggests that the McCain campaign is taking a new approach in a state where such dirty tricks stopped his campaign in 2000. McCain advisers don't appear to believe that a rival campaign is behind the flyer. But nonetheless, this time around McCain is reacting much more quickly to such smears in hopes of knocking them down before they gain traction.