| 3:59 PM: | LAT/Bloomberg: A Statistical Dead Heat. The Los Angeles Times /Bloomberg poll out this evening shows the presidential contest tightening with Barack Obama leading John McCain , 45%-43%. A statistical dead heat. Natl Journal. | |
|
| 3:57 PM: | Obama: What We Know And Don't Know About Timing. Ambinder's assumptions about the timing of a running mate announcement Atlantic. | |
|
| 2:45 PM: | Veep short-listers mix positives and negatives. When Barack Obama shows up Saturday in Springfield, Ill., on his way to the Democratic Convention, chances are he'll have his new running mate grinning beside him. But that man or woman is still unknown, even as speculation rises to a fever pitch. AP. | |
|
| 2:32 PM: | Biden on Obama's VP Pick: 'I'm Not The Guy' As Delaware Sen. Joe Biden was leaving his house in Wilmington this afternoon, he slowed down and said to the gathered news reporters outside his home: "You guys have got better things to do. I'm not the guy." ABC. | |
|
| 1:41 PM: | McCain Still Reaching Out on Pro-Choice VP. Top aides to Sen. John McCain are continuing to gauge reaction from key supporters about the possibility of choosing a running mate who supports abortion rights, according to two Republican operatives with direct knowledge. ABC. | |
|
| 1:30 PM: | Kerry Shrugs off Veep Speculation. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) is dismissing the chatter that he is on Barack Obama's short list of vice presidential picks. "I wouldn't pay any attention to that," the 2004 democratic presidential nominee told the Boston Herald. "I'm interested in running for re-election, and that's what I'm doing." The Hill. | |
|
| 1:30 PM: | McCain, Obama Ads Analyzed. Barack Obama and John McCain continue to ratchet up their respective ad machines, with both candidates running national ads during the Olympics and going increasingly negative. NPR. | |
|
| 1:30 PM: | The big convention bounce. Nate Silver and Mark Penn argue that the conventions may be pageants, but they are pageants with payoffs. Salon. | |
|
| 1:25 PM: | Obama Suggests $2B In New NASA Funding. Barack Obama has detailed a comprehensive space plan that includes $2 billion in new funding to reinvigorate NASA and a promise to make space exploration and science a significantly higher priority if he is elected president. CBS. | |
|
| 1:25 PM: | Obama to visit Ill. capital where campaign began. Amid growing speculation on his choice of a running mate, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama plans a return to the city where he launched his campaign. AP. | |
|
| 1:24 PM: | New McCain Spanish Radio Ad Hits Obama on Taxes. Sixty-second spot "Recipe" slams Obama's "grand history of raising taxes" and continues "celebrity" theme. Mark Halperin. | |
|
| 1:24 PM: | University won't open Obama-related records now. The University of Illinois on Tuesday refused to release records relating to Barack Obama's service to a nonprofit group linked to former 1960s radical activist William Ayers. AP. | |
|
| 11:51 AM: | MoveOn's first Senate ad says Dole & McCain are in 'pocket of big oil' The liberal activist group MoveOn.org Political Action says it will have spent $500,000 to produce and broadcast this TV ad in North Carolina by the time it has finished its run. The spot aims to tie together incumbent Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole, presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain and "big oil." USA Today. | |
|
| 7:48 AM: | Netroots Lukewarm To Obama Veep Finalists. While opinions vary about the relative strengths and weaknesses of each candidate, it's clear that the netroots aren't thrilled about any of the alleged finalists, whom the New York Times identified last night as Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE), Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) and Gov. Tim Kaine (D-VA). Natl Journal. | |
|
| 7:46 AM: | Googling the conventions. Google steps up in '08. Politico. | |
|
| 7:38 AM: | Obama to McCain: Admit my patriotism. Obama tries to push back McCain's shots at his character, without impugning McCain's. Politico. | |
|
| 7:02 AM: | Election a study in U.S. patriotism. The U.S. presidential election presents a sharp contrast between two types of patriotism: John McCain stands as a war hero. His rival Barack Obama calls Americans back to the can-do spirit of the nation's founders. Reuters. | |
|
| 6:20 AM: | Rallies planned as if McCain will name VP. Several GOP sources said they are planning events with the assumption that Sen. John McCain will name his running mate August 29, the day after the Democratic National Convention ends. CNN. | |
|
| 6:20 AM: | Inflation Jumps 1.2% in July. Government statistics show producer prices at the wholesale level are running at the fastest annual pace since 1981, with a 9.8% gain over July 2007. Meanwhile: The number of new houses and apartments that builders obtained permits for or began building slumped to their lowest levels in 17 years. Mark Halperin. | |
|
| 1:03 AM: | The Education of McCain. John McCain and his advisers are running a much more conventional race, the kind he used to ridicule. The inescapable fact is: It is working. David Brooks. | |
|
| 12:58 AM: | Obama takes McCain to task on withdrawal timetable. Republican John McCain again insisted victory in Iraq "is finally in sight." So why, asked Democrat Barack Obama, does his presidential opponent still oppose a timetable for withdrawing American forces. AP. | |
|
