| 11:56 PM: | Fineman: What Obama Needs From Democrats in Denver. Obama needs a smash hit in Denver to rally the Dems. Newsweek. | |
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| 10:40 PM: | Court Upholds Key Provision of the Voting Rights Act. A special three-judge court ruled in favor of requiring federal approval for changes in voting laws in areas with a history of racial discrimination. NYT. | |
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| 10:40 PM: | Will FL, MI delegates bring endgame for Democrats? The Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws Committee meets Saturday in Washington to consider what to do with Florida and Michigan, which broke ranks to hold primaries earlier than party rules allowed. CNN. | |
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| 10:38 PM: | Op-Ed Columnist: What George Forgot. Even now, Scott McClellan still appears to have trouble with the critical concept that deeds matter more than words. NYT. | |
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| 10:37 PM: | Obama Visits Mt. Rushmore. Amy Chozick reports from Mt. Rushmore National Memorial. Barack Obama made a surprise visit to Mt. Rushmore Friday night. WSJ. | |
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| 9:45 PM: | Friday Happy Hour: Caribbean Breeze. The islands breeze in Puerto Rico clearly helped soften even the most polished of candidates. Or was it that Presidente beer? NYT. | |
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| 9:44 PM: | Will a Woman Helm U.S. Intelligence Next Year? When the deliciously gossipy, Paris-based Intelligence Online newsletter reported recently that a woman was in line to become France's first female top spook, it got me thinking whether there were similar women who might be candidates to helm U.S. spy agencies in an Obama, Clinton or McCain administration. CQ. | |
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| 9:42 PM: | Q. & A. on Democrats and Disputed Delegates. Questions addressed on the issue of seating delegates from Florida and Michigan at the Democratic Party National Convention. NYT. | |
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| 9:42 PM: | 2 Campaigns Flare Up Over Iraq Troop Levels. Senators John McCain and Barack Obama are at odds over whether Mr. McCain misspoke when he said that American troops in Iraq had been reduced to âpre-surge levels.â NYT. | |
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| 9:42 PM: | Phoenix to Earthlings: I've Landed! Awesome! A NASA spacecraft has been sending pithy updates from the surface of Mars to users of Twitter, a Web microblogging service -- with the help of a human. NYT. | |
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| 9:11 PM: | States Seek Delay in California Marriage Ruling. Concerned about the national ramifications of same-sex marriages, attorneys general from 10 states have asked the California Supreme Court to stay its decision legalizing the marriages. NYT. | |
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| 9:10 PM: | Campaigning in Old San Juan. Hillary Rodham Clinton held a rally at a waterside plaza Friday night, arriving three hours late, speaking for nine minutes and dancing on stage for three during a brief performance afterwards by of the local reggae artist. NYT. | |
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| 9:10 PM: | Beginning the End to a Beginning. The longest, closest and most expensive campaign for any party's presidential nomination in recent memory now approaches conclusion. Democratic contender Hillary Rodham Clinton herself signaled as much on Friday, predicting that party superdelegates are now ready to render a verdict. Craig Crawford. | |
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| 8:35 PM: | Rasmussen: Back to a Tie in Minnesota. Last month , a lot of folks became worried when they saw that freshman Republican Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota had jumped to a 7-point lead over his Democratic challenger Al Franken. One month later, however, a survey from the same pollster that Coleman moving upward and Franken moving downward shows a statistically tied race. MyDD. | |
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| 8:35 PM: | North Korea fired short-range missiles off coast: Yonhap. North Korea fired three short-range missiles off its west coast on Friday, the South's Yonhap news agency said on Saturday, citing government officials. Reuters. | |
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| 6:58 PM: | Will Clinton or Obama be voted off the island? Puerto Rico may not provide Hillary Clinton with a national popular vote victory, much less those extra half-million votes Rob Reiner was talking about. Salon. | |
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| 6:52 PM: | Playing 'hardball' If there's one particularly absurd storyline about Obama's political career, it's that getting a rival knocked off the ballot in his first State Senate race. Ben Smith. | |
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| 6:52 PM: | End of Democratic White House race could be near. After five months of voting, 16 months of campaigning and more surprises, reversals and comebacks than any U.S. political race deserves, the grueling duel for the Democratic presidential nomination could be entering its final days. Reuters. | |
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| 6:51 PM: | Will Clinton or Obama carry the purple states? Analyzing primary results to see whether Obama or Clinton would do better. Newsweek. | |
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| 6:47 PM: | Obama plans election kick-off at GOP convention site. Sen. Barack Obama is likely to hold a huge rally Tuesday night in the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, the site of the Republican National Convention from Sept. 1 to 4. Ben Smith. | |
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| 6:40 PM: | Defense: Marine general to testify in Haditha case. Prosecutors will call a top NATO general to address a potential conflict of interest in the case of a Marine officer charged with failing to investigate the killings of 24 Iraqi men, women and children, defense attorneys said Friday. AP. | |
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| 6:39 PM: | Will Clinton or Obama carry the purple states? Analyzing primary results to see whether Obama or Clinton would do better. Newsweek. | |
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| 5:51 PM: | Two Florida Major Party Congressional Candidates Sue for Ballot Access. Two major party congressional candidates in Florida have sued the Florida Elections Division over ballot access. The two candidates had both been running active campaigns, for many months. They both submitted incomplete or incorrect paperwork, so both are being kept off primary ballots unless they win their lawsuits. Ballot Access. | |
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| 5:50 PM: | Bill Clinton's enemies list? The ex-president places the blame for his wife's troubled primary run at the feet of a vast left-wing conspiracy. Politico. | |
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| 5:50 PM: | How long will Clinton fight for the Michigan and Florida delegates? "Is Clinton going to make it easy, or is she going to make it hard?" That's how a longtime Democratic Hill staffer frames the dilemma that will face his party after Saturday's expected ruling on seating the delegates from Florida and Michigan. Slate. | |
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| 5:49 PM: | McCain Gaffery. Michael Kinsley's brilliant line about a gaffe being the accidental disclosure of a political truth is true more often than not--but not always. Sometimes a gaffe is the revelation of ignorance. Sometimes it's just... a gaffe. Time. | |
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| 5:48 PM: | Priest who mocked Clinton again draws spotlight. He's a white priest at a largely black church. He's held hands with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. He's been arrested dozens of times and battled anyone he thinks has wronged his parish - from gun dealers to a local Catholic sports league. Now the Rev. Michael Pfleger is something else: the latest thorn in the side of presidential candidate Barack Obama. AP. | |
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| 5:47 PM: | Fringe candidate stirs up San Diego mayoral race. A 26-year-old T-shirt designer could turn San Diego's mayoral election on its head. AP. | |
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| 5:46 PM: | Priest apologizes for mocking Clinton. Sen. Barack Obama said he was "deeply disappointed" by a sermon at his church this week that mocked Sen. Hillary Clinton. CNN. | |
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| 5:45 PM: | McClellan 'glad' to testify about White House. Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said Friday he would be willing to comply with a possible congressional subpoena to discuss the administration's handling of pre-war intelligence, telling CNN's Wolf Blitzer he'd be "happy to talk if I am asked to testify." CNN. | |
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| 5:45 PM: | Seat all delegates, Clinton lawyer urges. With three contests left in the primary season, Sen. Hillary Clinton is making a big push for votes. But her presidential hopes may now hinge on Saturday's meeting of a Democratic Party panel. Her chief lawyer says the committee is compelled to seat both the Michigan and Florida delegations fully and not award Sen. Barack Obama any Michigan delegates. CNN. | |
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| 5:44 PM: | Likely Montana GOP Governor Nominee Faces Tall Task This Fall. State Sen. Roy Brown is the heavy favorite to win the Republican primary for governor of Montana on Tuesday, a prize that would put him into a matchup with first-term Democratic incumbent Brian Schweitzer. His political experience and relatively high profile as a former state House majority leader give him big advantages over his sole opponent for the GOP nomination, Larry Steele, a computer company employee who previously staged unsuccessful bids for offices such as state legislature and mayor of Great Falls. CQ. | |
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| 3:07 PM: | Kerry Criticizes McCainâs Use of Petraeus Photo. On the heels of a directive to soldiers from America's top military official to stay out of politics, Senator John McCain acknowledged that his use of Gen. David H. Petraeus's picture in a fund-raising pitch was not appropriate. NYT. | |
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| 3:06 PM: | Pelosi wants race decided. After helping out at a food bank today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reasserted her opinion that the Democratic nominee must be determined well before the convention, calling it a "scorched-Earth approach" if the party waited until then. "I admire the enthusiasm of those who want to take this to the limit," Pelosi said in San Francisco. "I think if we take this to the convention, then we'll harm our chances to win in November. MSNBC. | |
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| 3:05 PM: | A look at the numbers in the presidential primary race. Numbers and more numbers from the Democrats' presidential primary campaign... AP. | |
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| 3:05 PM: | Bloggers on David Paterson's directive on recognizing gay marriage. Bloggers are wondering about New York Gov. David Paterson's directive to state agencies on gay marriage, and weighing the ruling handed down from the Texas Supreme Court on the seizures of children in the polygamy raid. Slate. | |
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| 2:45 PM: | RBC Meeting: Watch Carl Levin. The big unknown tomorrow is a man whose primary interest has nothing to do with the electoral success of Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. Sen. Carl Levin will be speaking on behalf of Michigan; he wants the entire delegation seated and given full votes, and if he does not get his way, he will likely challenge the RBC's ruling when the credentials committee convenes... Marc Ambinder. | |
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| 2:05 PM: | The Opinionator: Radical Pique. In Time magazine, Michael Kinsley reflects on Barack Obamas relationship with two former members of the Weather Underground. NYT. | |
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| 2:05 PM: | McCain Camp Continue K Street Courtship. The Arizonans campaign held second of three planned meetings between the campaign and members of D.C.s lobbying community Thursday. One attendee says McCains lobbyist policy was "the elephant in the room..." Time. | |
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| 2:04 PM: | Obama takes heat from Catholic League over Pfleger. The Catholic League sharply criticized Barack Obama Friday for his ties to controversial Catholic minister Michael Pfleger, saying in a statement the Illinois senator should have severed ties with him long ago. CNN. | |
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| 12:50 PM: | The RBC Meeting: The Challenge Process. When Hillary Clinton and friends say they might take the Florida and Michigan delegation challenges "all the way until the convention," what do they mean? Marc Ambinder. | |
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| 12:45 PM: | Frist: The Republicans' former leader in the Senate sends out a fund-raising e-mail warning of a possible electoral disaster. Salon.com. | |
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| 12:45 PM: | Clift: Why Hillary Shouldn't Whine About Losing. The sense of grievance that permeates the Clinton campaign hurts her and the Dems. Newsweek. | |
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| 12:03 PM: | And In This Corner... Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL) and former Rep. David Bonoir (D-MI) will represent Sen. Barack Obama at tomorrow's meeting of the DNC Rules Committee. Former Michigan Gov. James Blanchard (D) and Florida state Sen. Arthenia Joyner (D) will present Sen. Hillary Clinton's case. The meeting starts at 9:30 am ET with an introduction by DNC chairman Howard Dean. He will then pass the baton to Rules committee co-chairs Alexis Herman and James Roosevelt. Political Insider. | |
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| 11:53 AM: | McCain Pledges to be "Chief Negotiator" in Middle East. Vows to take a hands-on approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in interview with The Atlantic. Time. | |
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| 11:37 AM: | The case for the caucus. New numbers out of Texas give a lot of weight to supporters of the caucus system. Daily Kos. | |
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| 11:36 AM: | Why New Women's Group Is Protesting Democratic Meeting. One of the founders of a new group called WomenCount explains why her group is protesting the Democratic Party's rules committee meeting and answers charges that it's interested only in promoting Hillary Clinton's candidacy. Newsweek. | |
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| 11:35 AM: | Clinton Camp: Seat All Delegates With Full Votes. Clinton campaign senior advisors held a conference call Friday morning in advance of the much anticipated Democratic National Committee rules and bylaws committee meeting on Saturday at a Washington DC hotel. ABC. | |
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| 11:03 AM: | Congressman wants McClellan to testify. Former Bush spokesman Scott McClellan should testify under oath on Capitol Hill about his explosive new book in which he sharply criticizes his old boss, a Democratic congressman said today. CNN. | |
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| 10:54 AM: | McCain's Mighty Understanding. John McCain smacks Barack Obama around for not realizing that force levels in Iraq are already down to pre-surge levels. This shows, according to McCain, how Obama's not having taken a recent guided tour of Iraq makes him unqualified. But of course McCain's wrong about how many troops are in Iraq! Yglesias. | |
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| 10:53 AM: | McCain Camp Responds To Troop Level Comment. After responding earlier through a press release to the statements by Sen. John Kerry and Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, the McCain campaign held a conference call with reporters that casted McCain's statement that the troop level in Iraq was down. Time. | |
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| 10:00 AM: | Dennis Hastert to Join Gay and Transgender Inclusive Law Firm. Roll Call reported today that House Speaker Dennis Hastert is, like all good retired Republican officials, becoming a lobbyist. He's joining a senior staffer in his office and Al Wynn at Dickstein Shapiro, one of the largest law firms in DC and one with over 100 of the Fortune 500 as clients. Open Left. | |
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| 9:58 AM: | Weekend Lineup. Here are the scheduled guests for the Sunday public affairs shows and other weekend programs. Natl Journal. | |
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| 9:10 AM: | Ron Paul Wants A Speaking Slot At The Convention. And he'll probably get one. But here's betting it won't be in prime-time, early prime, or even afternoon drive. Marc Ambinder. | |
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| 9:08 AM: | Quote of the Day: Bob Dole. "There are miserable creatures like you in every administration who don't have the guts to speak up or quit if there are disagreements with the boss or colleagues. No, your type soaks up the benefits of power, revels in the limelight for years, then quits, and spurred on by greed, cashes in with a scathing critique. You're a hot ticket now but don't you, deep down, feel like a total ingrate?" -- Former Sen. Bob Dole (R-KS), in an email obtained by Politico to former White House press secretary Scott McClellan. Political Wire. | |
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| 9:07 AM: | Virginia Battleground: Warner vs Gilmore. New poll finds many more Virginians have a favorable view of former Gov. Mark Warner (D) than former Gov. Jim Gilmore (R) as the two prepare to face off in a U.S. Senate race. Political Wire. | |
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| 9:06 AM: | McCain & the Middle East. Here's a bit of a new angle on Sen. John McCain's policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Instead of a hands-back approach preferred by President Bush, McCain pledges to be the "chief negotiator" between the two sides from day one. Marc Ambinder. | |
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| 4:59 AM: | Ickes Warns of DNC Defections at Saturday Meeting. Top Clinton strategist says some Clinton-backing members of the Rules and Bylaws Committee arent planning on voting her way. If all of Clintons supporters on the committee arent in line, seating the two states entire delegations with a full vote each would face almost certain defeat. Time. | |
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| 4:58 AM: | Condoleezza Rice meets rock band Kiss. The Kiss Army fan club has an enthusiastic new recruit: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. AP. | |
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| 4:58 AM: | McCain's Web Problem. McCain is "taking a serious drubbing on YouTube," with scores of videos that arent "good for a candidate whos built his reputation on constancy and authenticity." Videos point to his flip flopping on the issues, gaffes, stumbling over debate questions, awkward moments, etc. Time. | |
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| 4:57 AM: | Obama looks west in electoral map play. The goal of his trip through New Mexico, Nevada and Colorado is to claim a region hehopes to swing blue. Politico. | |
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| 3:32 AM: | The media & the war. McClatchy was, with a few exceptions, the only major news media organization that before the war consistently and aggressively challenged the White House's case for war, and its lack of planning for post-war Iraq. The news media have been, if anything, even more craven than the administration has been in defending its failure to investigate Bush's case for war in Iraq before the war. McClatchy. | |
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| 3:28 AM: | McClellan: A Bush turncoat, or truth-seeker? Presidential spokesmen traditionally have worn cloaks of loyalty to their graves. But are they really honor-bound to toe the party line after they leave the White House?... AP. | |
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| 3:27 AM: | Obama campaign used party rules to foil Clinton. Clinton hinged her whole campaign on an early knockout blow, while Obama's staff researched congressional districts in states with primaries that were months away. What they found were opportunities to win delegates, even in states they would eventually lose.... AP. | |
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| 3:24 AM: | Gov. Jindal Auditions for VP. Potential McCain running mate and Louisiana Governor appears on Fox News and CNN. Says "Ive got the job that I want," but lays on praise for McCain and skepticism toward Obama... Time. | |
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| 3:23 AM: | Better left unsaid on the campaign trail. Politico creates a list of dirty words and phrases that are better left unsaid on the general election campaign trail. Politico. | |
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| 3:22 AM: | Dems set their sights on North Carolina. With closer-than-expected Senate race in the cards, Dem strategists look at pouring resources into Tarheel State. Politico. | |
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