| 9:56 PM: | Former Bush Donors: Still Hesitant About Backing McCain. John McCain may be the presumed Republican presidential nominee, but he's still not connecting with a critical group of donors the way President Bush did during his 2004 re-election campaign. CQ. | |
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| 9:37 PM: | President Met Disgraced Lobbyist At Least Six Times. The White House had stronger ties to disgraced superlobbyist Jack Abramoff than it has publicly admitted, according to a draft congressional report released Monday. ABC. | |
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| 7:51 PM: | Rep. Dennis Kucinich Introduces 35 Articles of Impeachment. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a former Democratic presidential contender, said Monday he wants the House to consider a resolution to impeach President Bush. Crooks and Liars. | |
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| 7:45 PM: | Rep. Kucinich calls for Bush impeachment. Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich defied his party leadership on Monday by calling for the impeachment of U.S. President George W. Bush for launching the Iraq war -- but his move was not expected to go anywhere. Reuters. | |
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| 7:39 PM: | Bush on farewell Europe tour seeks to pressure Iran. U.S. President George W. Bush goes into his farewell European summit on Tuesday seeking to work with allies to ratchet up pressure on Iran over its nuclear program but still at odds with them over climate change. Reuters. | |
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| 7:38 PM: | Diplomacy on the Distaff Side. Laura Bush, fresh off a trip to Afghanistan, showed that her well-honed diplomatic skills extend even to Democrats. NYT. | |
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| 6:20 PM: | Obama Says He's Partnering With Elizabeth Edwards On Health Care. More on this when we can establish the details. TPM. | |
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| 6:15 PM: | Obama Goes on Offensive on the Economy. "This was not an inevitable part of the business cycle that was beyond our power to avoid. It was the logical conclusion of a tired and misguided philosophy that has dominated Washington for far too long." Daily Kos. | |
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| 6:14 PM: | Bernanke: Danger of downturn appears to have faded. Despite a recent spike in the nation's unemployment rate, the danger that the economy has fallen into a "substantial downturn" appears to have waned, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Monday. AP. | |
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| 5:26 PM: | Abramoff to be sentenced in September. Imprisoned GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff will be sentenced in September The Crypt. | |
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| 4:31 PM: | Anyone but Webb. It's anybody's guess who Barack Obama wants to be his running mate, but the chattering class has fallen hard for Sen. Jim Webb, D.-Va. Slate. | |
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| 4:30 PM: | McCain opens fundraiser to media. The $10,000-per-ticket reception for the presumed Republican nominee, the national party and several state parties marked the first time McCain, a champion of open government, had allowed reporters into his fundraisers. USA Today. | |
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| 4:18 PM: | McCain hits Obama on Johnson 'contradiction' Sen. John McCain attacked his Democratic rival Monday for contradicting himself by naming an official to his campaign who allegedly received preferential loan treatment from a controversial mortgage company that Sen. Barack Obama has been criticizing on the trail. Fox News. | |
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| 3:39 PM: | Obama's VP Committee Meets with Pelosi. Two thirds of Barack Obama's newly appointed three-person vice presidential search team met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) this afternoon. The Hill. | |
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| 3:38 PM: | Bore-Gush, revisited. McCain is the eighth most conservative member of the current Senate. Paul Krugman. | |
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| 3:36 PM: | Obama camp reacts to Johnson story. In talking points given to campaign surrogates, Barack Obama's campaign says revelations about loans taken out by one of the people leading its veep search team have been "overblown." Salon. | |
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| 3:28 PM: | McCain: Obama means 2nd Carter term. In an interview to air later tonight on Nightly News, McCain tells NBC's Brian Williams that while Obama might criticize him for representing a third Bush term, Obama seems to be running for a second Carter term. MSNBC. | |
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| 3:16 PM: | State GOP fears grouchy voters won't go to polls. Many of the grass-roots Texas Republicans see presumptive presidential nominee John McCain as not conservative enough. Houston Chron. | |
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| 2:45 PM: | Obama taps former Clinton aide for economy team. Democrat Barack Obama is bolstering his economic team for the November White House race against Republican John McCain and has hired an official from President Bill Clinton's administration to be his economic policy director, the Obama campaign said on Monday. Reuters. | |
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| 2:08 PM: | History Rears Up To Spit In Your Face. Truman is viewed as a far-sighted president in retrospect. But the Korean War, which decimated his approval rating, is not viewed as a glorious crusade. Attackerman. | |
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| 2:00 PM: | The Truman Analogy. Harry Truman was hugely unpopular when he left office, but people love him now. This seems to give a lot of comfort to George W. Bush and other members of his administration. Yglesias. | |
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| 1:59 PM: | Bush administration destroying more evidence from interrogations. Kidnapping, the purchase of prisoners for "bounties", torture and abuse, coerced confessions, locking up known innocents for years at a time, secrecy and lies, destruction of evidence, poor access for lawyers and human rights watchdogs, prolonged imprisonment without trial, a series of kangaroo-court procedures, reprisals against military lawyers who uphold standards of justice, and the flagrant politicization of trials. Daily Kos. | |
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| 1:58 PM: | Obama Discusses Economy in N.C. Presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama addressed the nation's economy in a campaign stop in North Carolina today. NPR. | |
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| 1:58 PM: | For McCain Campaign, A Town Hall Of One. A McCain adviser says that two chairs will be on stage at Federal Hall, and one of them, presumably, will be empty. Marc Ambinder. | |
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| 1:57 PM: | McCain Lashes Out on Obama Veep Vetter. The presumptive GOP nominee responds to reports on former Fannie Mae CEO Johnson receiving a 30-year mortgage loan through Countrywide's chief executive in a Fox News interview to air around 5 pm ET. Time. | |
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| 1:47 PM: | The 'grumpy Republican' problem. Principled conservative leadership in Washington that has withered up, died, and been replaced by invasive weeds. Michelle Malkin. | |
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| 1:00 PM: | Top Obama-Clinton Officials Begin Reconciliation Process. The reconciliation process between the upper echelons of the Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton campaigns has already begun, as advisers and fundraisers look for areas of commonality in a somewhat disjointed party. HuffPost. | |
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| 12:58 PM: | The Clinton delegation to Chicago. Three Clinton negotiators - all confidantes of the Senator and her husband - have been dispatched to Chicago. Ben Smith. | |
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| 12:56 PM: | U.S. welcomes Chavez comments on Colombian rebels. The United States welcomed on Monday statements by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez urging Colombian rebels to free hostages. Reuters. | |
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| 12:54 PM: | Scenes from the Trail: Edwardses come out for Obama. John and Elizabeth Edwards made an appearance at Sen. Obama's speech in North Carolina Monday. CNN. | |
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| 12:42 PM: | 'Bush Lied'? If Only It Were That Simple. The phony "Bush lied" story line distracts from the biggest prewar failure: the fact that so much of the intelligence upon which Bush and Rockefeller and everyone else relied turned out to be tragically, catastrophically wrong. Fred Hiatt. | |
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| 12:41 PM: | Obama Camp Will Staff All 50 States. The Obama campaign will maintain a staff in each and every state. The Hill. | |
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| 12:41 PM: | Conyers Invites McClellan to Testify on June 20. House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) has invited former White House press secretary Scott McClellan to testify June 20. The Hill. | |
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| 12:21 PM: | McCain resurrects call for gas tax holiday. John McCain is planning to resurrect his call for a national gas tax holiday, which became a staple of his stump speech in late April and early May. CNN. | |
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| 12:14 PM: | Obama, McCain Spar Over Economy. Economic advisers outlined key principles of Sen. Barack Obama's economic agenda today, which was preemptively characterized as a 'tax and spend' policy by allies of Sen. John McCain. WSJ. | |
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| 12:14 PM: | Reid Meets with Obama Veep Team. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) met privately Monday with two of the three member group Barack Obama his selected to vet and pick a vice president. The Hill. | |
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| 11:49 AM: | Obama Takes Lead Over McCain, 48% to 42% Barack Obama is enjoying a modest bump in support following Hillary Clinton's exit from the presidential race. Gallup. | |
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| 11:46 AM: | Gallup: Obama takes lead over McCain, 48%-42% Gallup reports that presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has taken a national lead over presumptive Republican nominee John McCain. Obama has 48% to McCain's 42%. USA Today. | |
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| 11:21 AM: | Liberal interest group targets McCainints. A liberal-leaning interest group called Campaign Money Watch today filed two complaints with the Federal Election Commission against presumptive Republican nominee John McCain and started running a TV ad against him. USA Today. | |
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| 11:10 AM: | Polls suggest mixed effects of Clinton on ticket. Lots of Democrats love Hillary Rodham Clinton. Yet plenty of Republicans, conservatives and all-important independents can't stand her. AP. | |
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| 11:08 AM: | McCain's map. Rick Davis, in an online strategy briefing, makes the case that McCain's the one who can broaden the map. Ben Smith. | |
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| 11:07 AM: | Quote For The Day. "In reality there is only one candidate. Barack Obama. In November he will win or he will lose. John McCain is relevant only in so far as he is not Barack Obama." Andrew Sullivan. | |
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| 11:07 AM: | McCain: Obama won't be at first town hall. At a fundraiser in Richmond, McCain promises to keep up the pressure, says "We’ll keep asking." Politico. | |
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| 11:04 AM: | And Then There Were Two... It is ironic that Hillary Clinton received some of her best coverage from liberal bloggers on the day that she bowed out of the race. Natl Journal. | |
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| 11:03 AM: | Obama's vetting problem. James Johnson, one of three people charged with helping Barack Obama select his running mate, is the subject of some scrutiny over his connections to a controversial mortgage executive. Salon. | |
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| 11:02 AM: | Are Women Shunning Obama? Pollster Says No. There's been much written and You-Tubed about supporters of Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton who are having trouble making the switch to presumptive nominee Barack Obama. ABC. | |
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| 11:00 AM: | McCain lied to Newsweek... will the press notice? In an interview with Newsweek, John McCain tries to back away from his recent criticism of the media. Daily Kos. | |
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| 11:00 AM: | Poll: Obama Getting Nominee Bump. Obama now leads McCain 48 to 42 percent. The Hill. | |
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| 10:59 AM: | Fleischer Defends the Media. Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer jumping to the defense of members of the White House press corps against the charge by his successor, Scott McClellan, that they were "complicit enablers" in the run-up to the Iraq war. Washington Post. | |
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| 10:58 AM: | Democratic Party: Obama can win Virginia. The Democratic National Committee e-mailed a memo to national reporters Monday outlining why the state of Virginia and its 13 electoral votes could fall into Democratic hands in November. CNN. | |
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| 10:58 AM: | Obama backs oil profits tax, attacks McCain. Obama sought to tap into Americans' anxiety over high gasoline prices on Monday by saying he would impose a windfall profits tax on U.S. oil companies if elected. Reuters. | |
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| 10:48 AM: | When Mayhill Fowler Met Bill Clinton at the Rope Line. "Trust me because I mask my true feelings about the matter" is not an inherently better way to journalize or gain cred. Jay Rosen. | |
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| 10:24 AM: | Media suffers for doing a bad job. They pissed off both candidates with their shoddy debate moderation during the primary campaign, and so now they're being shunted aside from the bigger prize. Ezra Klein. | |
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| 9:23 AM: | Breaking news: There are crazy people on the Internet. Conservative bloggers are in an uproar over items posted to Barack Obama's Web site, even though it's clear the material had nothing to do with the official campaign. Salon. | |
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| 9:12 AM: | The curse of the third term. Americans don't like to hand the White House to the outgoing president's political party. Slate. | |
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| 9:12 AM: | McCain Campaign Renews Call For Gas Tax Holiday. John McCain adviser Carly Fiorina said that the Republican's proposal for a moratorium on the federal gas taxes would help Americans right now, when the price of a gallon of gas is rising beyond $4. The Hill. | |
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| 8:53 AM: | Meet The Nice Wife McCain Dumped For Cindy. John McCain is such a maverick that nobody believes he's really a Republican, but in the "abandoning your ailing wife for a new young wife" department, McCain is 100% GOP. Wonkette. | |
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| 8:53 AM: | Did Clinton Damage "Glass Ceiling"? Former Congresswoman Pat Schroeder and Huffington Post founder and Editor in Chief Arianna Huffington discuss Hillary and the Glass Ceiling. CBS. | |
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| 8:52 AM: | President, Congress offer no quick fix on gas prices. Before departing the White House early Monday for a farewell tour of Europe, President Bush stole a page from his predecessor and suggested he feels American consumers' pain. CNN. | |
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| 8:52 AM: | Bush Repeats Commitment to Strong Dollar Policy. President Bush Monday reiterated his commitment to a strong dollar policy, and in a nod to record-high oil prices, called on Congress to relax restrictions on domestic oil exploration. WSJ. | |
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| 8:38 AM: | Abramoff Influenced White House Actions. Imprisoned lobbyist Jack Abramoff influenced some White House actions and offered expensive meals and tickets to White House officials. He also had personal contact with President Bush. The Hill. | |
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| 8:37 AM: | McCain's Strategy Briefing. Here are more highlights from a 15 minute strategy briefing posted on John McCain's website. Marc Ambinder. | |
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| 8:28 AM: | Obama's own pitch to evangelicals. Obama is planning to unveil his outreach program to younger evangelicals and Catholics. MSNBC. | |
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| 8:27 AM: | Pending home sales jump. The number of homes under contract to be sold rose unexpectedly in April as buyers go bargain hunting, according to a report released Monday. CNN. | |
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| 8:27 AM: | Strickland Remains Popular in Hard Hit Ohio. The latest Ohio Poll from the University of Cincinnati suggests Gov. Ted Strickland (D) may be a leading candidate to become Sen. Barack Obama's running mate. Political Wire. | |
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| 8:25 AM: | Swiftboating From the Right. But not of Barack Obama. Time. | |
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| 8:22 AM: | Analysis: Bush trip could soothe ruffled feathers. His strength ebbs away daily as key players delay their decisions pending the outcome of the succession contest. CNN. | |
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| 8:11 AM: | Pelosi Backs Emanuel for Obama's Senate Seat. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "is reported to be privately talking about Rep. Rahm Emanuel, the House Democratic Caucus chairman, as the next senator from Illinois if Sen. Barack Obama wins the presidential election." Political Wire. | |
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| 8:04 AM: | Obama Veep Team Heads to the Hill. Two of his three official vetters will meet with members of the House and Senate leadership Monday afternoon to get recommendations as they start compiling a potential Veep list. Time. | |
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| 8:01 AM: | The return of Willie Horton. The ad man responsible for the notorious spot is raising money for a series of negative ads aimed at Barack Obama; the first has already been shown to be inaccurate. Salon. | |
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| 7:38 AM: | Ron Paul Revolution? The Ron Paul revolution is alive and well, and the implications could be far-reaching for the GOP. The Next Right. | |
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| 7:29 AM: | The Clintons' future. While the Clintons will almost certainly play a continuing role in national politics, and while Mrs. Clinton could yet emerge as this year's vice-presidential nominee, a major chapter in their vertiginous public biography was closed when Mrs. Clinton conceded the Democratic presidential nomination to Senator Barack Obama on Saturday. MSNBC. | |
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| 7:26 AM: | Bush heads to Europe for six-nation tour. President Bush traveled to Europe on Monday for an eight-day trip to highlight improved U.S. relations. CNN. | |
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| 7:26 AM: | The Rise Of The Obamacons. Bruce Bartlett has a must-read on the right-wing supporters of Barack Obama. Andrew Sullivan. | |
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| 7:26 AM: | The economy, stupid? For much of the primary season, McCain and Obama were known mostly for their positions on the Iraq war (McCain's support for it and Obama's opposition). MSNBC. | |
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| 7:24 AM: | Webb to Appear on Daily Show Tonight. Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.), seen by many as the leading candidate to be Barack Obama's running mate this fall, will appear on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" tonight. The Hill. | |
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| 7:24 AM: | Will Racism Affect Obama In Pennsylvania? Registered Democrats in highly competitive states are eager to replace George W. Bush - there's just one problem. CBS. | |
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| 7:23 AM: | The Race to Solidify the Base. As they gear up their general election campaigns, the first goal for Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain is to shore up support among base voters -- a task made more difficult by tough primary fights. Political Wire. | |
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| 7:23 AM: | A New Electoral Map? An early analysis suggests there will be new battlegrounds added to the map this year, with Virginia, Colorado and Nevada among them. Political Wire. | |
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| 7:22 AM: | Looking for Obama's Bounce. While many think it's too early to pay much attention to national polls at this point in the presidential race, it will be very interesting to see how much of a "bounce" Sen. Barack Obama received now that he's wrapped up the Democratic presidential nomination. Political Insider. | |
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| 7:20 AM: | Obama's Campaign Manager. Chicago Tribune fills in the details on the baseball-loving Obama campaign manager David Plouffe — who Obama says 'never gets any credit'¯ — and his winning primary strategy. Time. | |
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| 5:44 AM: | Ageism is the New Sexism. Democrats and media commentators who relentlessly mock his age could end up rallying elder votes to his side. Craig Crawford. | |
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| 5:40 AM: | Laura Bush Defends Michelle Obama. The first lady tells ABC she thinks Sen. Obama's wife "proud of my country" comment was misinterpreted. "I think she probably meant more proud," Bush says in Afghanistan. Time. | |
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| 5:39 AM: | Did Sexism Play a Role in Clinton's Loss? Did Hillary Clinton lose the Democratic nomination because she's a woman? NPR. | |
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| 5:38 AM: | Unemployment, Gas Prices on Congress' Minds. House Democrats hope to revive measure to increase unemployment benefits; Senate Republicans and Democrats feud over oil and energy bill. NYT. | |
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| 5:34 AM: | Hage: McCain "Threw Me Under the Bus" Bob Novak says all is not forgiven between the candidate and the pastor. Time. | |
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| 5:31 AM: | McCain and Obama want open press. Both Senators Barack Obama and John McCain are in agreement: any town hall meetings scheduled should be open to all press, and not sponsored by specific media outlets. Politico. | |
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| 5:29 AM: | Clinton's Role in Healing Party's Wounds. The party is trying to heal its wounds from the brutal nominating contest. NPR. | |
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| 5:28 AM: | The Early Word: Duel Over the Economy. The two presumptive party nominees will be addressing a top concern of voters -- the sour economy -- as the general election campaign kicks-off. NYT. | |
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| 1:59 AM: | The Good American and Monsieur Obama. In French eyes, there’s a single good American: the Democratic Party nominee, Barack Obama. NYT. | |
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| 1:59 AM: | McCain and Obama: The odd candidates. One grooves to Abba, the other flows to Jay-Z--but both want to be America’s next president. Two candidates with styles as different as their politics. Politico. | |
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