| 10:58 PM: | Op-Ed Contributor: How to Complicate Habeas Corpus. Issues as important as habeas corpus should turn not on fancy intellectual footwork but on a candid appraisal of the relevant facts and legal principles. NYT. | |
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| 9:54 PM: | Obama widens lead over McCain: Newsweek poll. Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama has opened up a double-digit lead over Republican John McCain two weeks after he clinched the nomination, a new poll published on Friday showed. Reuters. | |
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| 9:45 PM: | Dr. Barack and Mr. Obama. "Cunning and charisma." You don't have to be George Lakoff to know that, as slogans go, that's about as sticky as they come. CJR. | |
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| 9:33 PM: | Twitter Debate On Now! Mike Nelson (for Obama) and Liz Mair (for McCain) will be using Twitter to respond to questions each day that will be moderated by Ana Marie Cox. Huffington Post. | |
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| 9:21 PM: | Let's not trash Cindy McCain over her past drug problems. Cindy McCain's had painful back and knee problems her doctors did not effectively address. Huffington Post. | |
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| 9:11 PM: | Obamawitz. A longshot local candidate in New York, who is trying to unseat the state's Assembly Speaker in lower Manhattan, gets in on the action. Politico. | |
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| 8:06 PM: | The Small-Donor Fallacy. The idea that the Internet and grass-roots donations will somehow reinvigorate our democracy is appealing. But this notion is not borne out by the evidence. Jay Mandle. | |
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| 7:29 PM: | Bush didn't know about CIA leak, McClellan says. U.S. President George W. Bush did not know about a White House effort to leak the identity of a CIA agent but tried to protect staffers who were involved in one of the biggest scandals of his administration, former Bush spokesman Scott McClellan told Congress on Friday. Reuters. | |
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| 7:22 PM: | Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Barack Obama gave a preview of the campaign he thinks the Republicans are preparing to run against him. NYT. | |
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| 6:23 PM: | Journalism With Chinese Characteristics. There is real investigative reporting in China, it's just not done under a free press flag. Instead, practitioners mind an unstated set of rules, keeping themselves safe by employing tactics like using excessive jargon and exploiting government rivalries. It's an evolving dance requiring ingenuity, subtlety, courage and a willingness to be fired every day. On The Media. | |
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| 5:39 PM: | Obama raised $21.9 million in May. Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama raised $21.9 million in May, his campaign said on Friday. Reuters. | |
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| 5:36 PM: | Obama raised roughly $22 million in the month of May. The Obama campaign said Friday it had raised $21.9 million in the month of May, along with nearly $690,000 in general election funds. In its monthly campaign finance report filed with the Federal Election Commission, the campaign said its cash on hand figure was $43.1 million. CNN. | |
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| 5:25 PM: | Sunday talk show tip sheet. A week after the death of Tim Russert, the talk shows return to their regularly scheduled programming. Politico. | |
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| 4:37 PM: | Both McCain and Obama wobbled. Who will pay the price? This was the week for public backtracking. John McCain announced his support for offshore drilling, which he opposed as recently as January. Barack Obama reversed his pledge to accept federal financing for his presidential campaign by rejecting public funds. Slate. | |
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| 4:37 PM: | McCain: Aiming to Avoid the Dole-drums. McCain needs to learn from the mistakes of another honored war hero who ran for the White House and lost. Newsweek. | |
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| 4:37 PM: | The Gap Between Obama's Promise, Washington's Ways. What Obama promises. How Washington really works. Newsweek. | |
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| 4:37 PM: | Factcheck.org: Obama's Lame Money Claim. Obama says McCain is "fueled" by money from lobbyists and PACs, but those sources account for less than 1.7 percent of McCain's money. Newsweek. | |
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| 4:36 PM: | Poll: Obama Opens Up 15-Point Lead. The latest Newsweek Poll shows the Democrat with a 15-point lead over McCain. Newsweek. | |
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| 4:35 PM: | Clinton donors present a new lode for Obama. Barack Obama raised more than $265 million in 16 months. The question facing his presidential campaign is whether he can match or exceed that haul in the five months that remain before Election Day. AP. | |
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| 4:34 PM: | Obama: 'They're going to try to make you afraid of me' Barack Obama told supporters that Republicans will 'try to make you afraid of me' in remarks he made Friday at a Florida fundraiser. "The choice is clear. Most of all we can choose between hope and fear." CNN. | |
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| 4:33 PM: | Obama says Republicans will use race to stoke fear. Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama said on Friday he expects Republicans to highlight the fact that he is black as part of an effort to make voters afraid of him. Reuters. | |
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| 4:33 PM: | McCain's immigration zigzag. In an Ideas piece, Martinez says McCain's Hispanic loss looks to be Obama’s gain. Politico. | |
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| 3:16 PM: | What's happening this weekend: Obama to mayors. Democrat Barack Obama speaks to the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Miami tomorrow. He's down on Sunday in Chicago. Republican John McCain takes the weekend off in Arizona. USA Today. | |
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| 3:07 PM: | Advertising: How Political Candidates Market Themselves. In our advertising-driven society, political candidates have to carefully define their brands. A marketing expert explains how it's done--and how it can go wrong. Newsweek. | |
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| 3:06 PM: | Yes He Did. At a conference of Democratic governors today, Obama apparently crowned himself president, sitting behind his own Great Seal complete with a Latin motto -- Vero Possumus. John McCain. | |
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| 2:12 PM: | Obama 51%, McCain 36% WOW. Newsweek. | |
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| 2:08 PM: | Blitzer: What's wrong with a politician who changes views? There's nothing wrong with people changing their minds. We all do it -- all the time. But as Luke Russert reminded us at his father's funeral this week, politicians have a hard time admitting that they ever change their minds. CNN. | |
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| 2:06 PM: | Obama criticizes McCain on offshore drilling. Barack Obama says that presidential rival John McCain's proposal to allow offshore drilling will not lower gas prices for families "this year, next year, five years from now." AP. | |
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| 2:05 PM: | Hagel says he'd consider VP offer from Obama. Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel said Friday he would consider serving as Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's running mate if asked, but he doesn't expect to be on any ticket. AP. | |
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| 2:04 PM: | McCain-Lieberman Ticket Could Be Saltiest, Crustiest Combo Since Kettle Chips. Who would make the most terrible running mate for John McCain, an ill-tempered old fraud who is despised by everybody in the Republican Party? Joe Lieberman, of course -- another sour old geezer who is despised by everyone in the Democratic Party! Wonkette. | |
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| 2:01 PM: | McCain & Obama twitter debate. The Obama and McCain campaign have agreed to participate in a little experiment in micro-politics over the weekend, taking part in a "Twitter Debate," focusing on tech policy, as a preamble to this year's Personal Democracy Forum conference in New York. Time. | |
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| 2:01 PM: | Obama Unveils New Campaign Seal. Barack Obama unveiled a new campaign seal Friday. If Barack Obama's new campaign seal looks familiar, it should–it's a riff off of the official U.S. presidential seal. WSJ. | |
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| 1:23 PM: | GOP's Hagel: I'd consider Obama VP offer. Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel says he would consider an offer to serve as Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's running mate. USA Today. | |
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| 1:20 PM: | U.S. governors tell Obama of economic worries. Worries about the economy and higher fuel costs dominated talks on Friday among U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama and Democratic governors, some of whom have been mentioned as his possible running mate. Reuters. | |
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| 1:20 PM: | Obama says he supports FISA compromise. The presumptive Democratic nominee says he supports the latest bill on the issue, but will work in the Senate to strip a retroactive immunity provision. Salon. | |
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| 1:12 PM: | SurveyUSA California: Obama 53, McCain 41. Pollster.com. | |
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| 1:04 PM: | Pawlenty says he's not being vetted for McCain's VP. Gov. Tim Pawlenty said he did not talk about the possibility of being McCain's running mate during Sen. John McCain's Thursday visit to the Twin Cities. MPR. | |
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| 12:58 PM: | McCain's day in Canada. In an allegedly non-political visit to the Economic Club of Canada today, McCain defended the North American Free Trade Agreement and notably avoided any talk of his opponent. MSNBC. | |
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| 12:57 PM: | The Great Seal of Obamaland? What was that official-looking seal on display as Barack Obama spoke to Democratic governors? NYT. | |
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| 12:47 PM: | McCain visits Canada; Obama blasts him on drilling. Sen. John McCain was touting U.S.-Canada economic and energy ties in a visit north Friday, while Sen. Barack Obama hammered his GOP opponent for embracing offshore drilling and other energy policies. CNN. | |
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| 12:22 PM: | Analysis: Will McCain's Carter link ring true? Jimmy Carter has been among the country's most active retired presidents, but even the peripatetic Georgian might not have anticipated having his name bandied about in a presidential campaign 28 years after leaving the White House. AP. | |
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| 12:22 PM: | PdF2008 Hosts Obama-McCain Twitter Debate. Starting tonight, a designated representative of both of the major presidential campaigns are going to participate in a free-wheeling debate on technology and government, moderated by Time magazine blogger Ana Marie Cox and channeled via Twitter. PDF. | |
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| 12:09 PM: | Closing MoveOn's 527. It's been widely noted that MoveOn's 527 -- officially shuttered today, offering Obama a bit of campaign finance cover -- was already dormant. Ben Smith. | |
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| 12:09 PM: | Where's Obama on FISA? The reauthorization of the federal surveillance laws is the central issue on the Hill and on both sides of the political debate. Ben Smith. | |
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| 11:18 AM: | McCain camp strikes at Obama's honesty. It wasn't just the Obama campaign on the attack today. The McCain campaign got in a few shots of its own. "Because of his rapid ascent and the relative lack of record from which the American people can judge, the words that Barack Obama uses deserve a level of scrutiny befitting the importance that he places on them." MSNBC. | |
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| 11:16 AM: | Obama's challenge to the status quo. Obama's army of small donors represents a far more compelling challenge to the status quo than anything McCain is proposing. The Nation. | |
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| 11:16 AM: | The Audacity of Insiders. If Barack Obama is to fulfill his commitment to transform Washington politics, he must resist the cozy brotherhood of political insiders to chart his way to the White House. The Nation. | |
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| 11:15 AM: | MoveOn officially shutters its '527' MoveOn.org is closing the so-called 527 group it used in the 2004 campaign to collect large cash contributions for use in its efforts. Obama has said he doesn't want independent 527s. USA Today. | |
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| 11:13 AM: | I'm Sure He Didn't. On "Hannity and Colmes" and elsewhere, John McCain has said "I really didn't love America until I was deprived of her company." Commentary. | |
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| 11:13 AM: | USAToday/Gallup National Poll: Obama 50, McCain 44. USA Today/Gallup National Obama 50, McCain 44 - This survey is an entirely different sample from the Gallup Daily Tracking surveys. Pollster.com. | |
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| 11:03 AM: | Smith: McClellan Sold out His Friends. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) compared former White House press secretary Scott McClellan to Judas Friday, saying McClellan sold out "the president and his friends for a few pieces of silver." The Hill. | |
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| 11:00 AM: | Bush in Florida, NC for GOP fundraisers. President Bush raised money for Florida Republicans on Friday at a multimillion-dollar private residence near Naples Bay. AP. | |
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| 10:44 AM: | MoveOn shuts down 527. In another example of the Obama campaign wanting to show more control over Democratic independent groups -- and maybe more importantly, those groups listening -- MoveOn.org has shuttered its 527. MSNBC. | |
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| 10:37 AM: | Obama Considering Running Ads During Olympics. Barack Obama's campaign has asked NBC about running campaign ads during the Beijing Olympics in August, according to Advertising Age. The Hill. | |
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| 10:35 AM: | Follow the Leader. What kind of a country is it where, when the head of state asks you to do something that may well be illegal, but assures you that he considers it legal, you can't be held accountable for doing it? Washington Post. | |
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| 10:34 AM: | Campaign cash and presidential politics. Washington University political scientist Steven Smith joins Midday to explore the latest on the campaign trail. MPR. | |
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| 10:09 AM: | Gallup Daily: Obama 46%, McCain 44% Gallup Poll Daily tracking for June 16-19 shows Barack Obama with 46% of the support of registered voters and John McCain at 44%. Gallup. | |
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| 10:02 AM: | Expanding the Map. Obama will spend money in states that he has almost no chance to win, and he has money to burn now that he's broken his pledge to accept public financing. John McCain. | |
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| 9:23 AM: | Obama Silent as Democrats Give Bush More Spying Powers. Barack Obama has been mostly silent as the House caved into White House demands for more surveillance power this week. The Nation. | |
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| 9:18 AM: | McCain had nearly $32M 'in bank' at end of May. Many of the details about Republican presidential candidate John McCain's strong fundraising month in May were already known, but USA TODAY's Fredreka Schouten tells us at least one important number in today's stories is new. USA Today. | |
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| 9:17 AM: | When the President Likes Your Idea …. The conventional wisdom in Washington is that President Bush did not do John McCain any favors this week when the president jumped on the Arizona senator's new offshore oil drilling bandwagon. Here's why the conventional wisdom might be wrong. NYT. | |
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| 9:16 AM: | The 527 monster hiding under Obama's bed. Barack Obama justified his decision to opt out of public financing in part by citing the specter of independent Republican attack groups, but the threat seems overblown. Salon. | |
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| 9:15 AM: | Cable guys lust for Tim's job. Russert's body wasn't even cold in the ground before MSNBC anchors Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann started jockeying for his job, sources claim. NY Post. | |
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| 9:09 AM: | McClellan doubts Bush knew about CIA leak. A former Bush spokesman said Friday he did not think the president knew about the leak of a CIA agent's identity, but refused to give the same assurances about Vice President Dick Cheney. CNN. | |
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| 9:08 AM: | Hillary will return to Hill next week. Clinton's dance card quickly filling up with Senate and campaign events. The Crypt. | |
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| 9:08 AM: | Gates forces Pentagon changes through people. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is set to leave office in seven months, but he is trying to ensure his vision for the U.S. military will outlast him with a series of appointments to key posts. Reuters. | |
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| 8:42 AM: | Baby Boomers Could Be Key Swing Vote. Charlie Cook says Baby Boomers may decide the next presidential election -- a generation that came of political age during the "disappointing" Carter term and "popular" Reagan years. Political Wire. | |
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| 8:42 AM: | Ex aide: Bush, Cheney pushed false statement about leak. A former White House spokesman told Congress on Friday that President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney wanted him to say that Cheney's chief of staff wasn't involved in the leak of Valerie Plame's CIA identity, an assertion that turned out to be false. USA Today. | |
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| 8:40 AM: | McCain's Minnesota visit met by anti-war protesters. About 100 people peacefully demonstrated outside the Hilton Hotel in downtown Minneapolis on Thursday afternoon, during a fund raising event for John McCain. About a dozen more chanted outside McCain's townhall meeting at the Landmark Center in St. Paul. MPR. | |
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| 8:40 AM: | McCain Memo Questions Obama's Stances. McCain campaign senior adviser Steve Schmidt released a memo questioning the statements Obama has made on the campaign trail: Barack Obama's rapid ascent to the Democratic presidential nomination is nothing short of remarkable and historic. But when examined closely, more often than not these words are empty of any meaning in the light of his record and reality. Time. | |
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| 8:40 AM: | GA Poll: Obama Bounce. In a new Insider Advantage/PollPosition poll in Georgia, McCain and Obama are statistically tied, with Libertarian candidate Bob Barr winning 6% of the vote. In an I.A. poll from last month, Obama trailed by 10 points. Time. | |
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| 8:17 AM: | The Opinionator: Obama Going for the Gold? Reports that the Obama campaign is considering running ads during the Olympics coverage. NYT. | |
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| 8:17 AM: | Born again? John McCain woos uneasy evangelical Christians BBC. | |
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| 8:15 AM: | On the Sunday shows. Meet the Press (with Brian Williams): Sens. Biden, Graham This Week: Sen. Hutchison, Rep. Markey. Face the Nation: Gov. Richardson, Carly Fiorina Fox News Sunday: Daschle, Tom Ridge Mark Halperin. | |
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| 8:14 AM: | McCain: Pawlenty has 'big place' in GOP future. Presidential candidate John McCain says Tim Pawlenty has "a very big place" in the Republican Party's future. But McCain is not saying whether he's considering Minnesota's governor as a running mate. MPR. | |
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| 8:14 AM: | The effect on Bill Clinton's legacy. NBC/NJ's Matthew Berger, writing for National Journal takes a look at what, if any, harm former President Bill Clinton has done to his legacy. MSNBC. | |
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| 8:14 AM: | Huckabee decries Obama 'internet drivel' Mike Huckabee writes on his blog that the GOP should try to beat Obama on ideas. Politico. | |
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| 8:06 AM: | Bloomberg Criticizes ‘Whisper Campaign' Around Obama. Speaking in Boca Raton, Fla., New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg told an audience: "Let's call those rumors what they are: lies." NYT. | |
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| 7:47 AM: | Adding up John McCain's fundraising. By law, a law co-sponsored by presidential candidate John McCain, the most you can give a presidential candidate this year is $4,600. But by partnering with the Republican Party, McCain is able to ask Minnesotans to give as much as $50,000 at a fundraiser in Minneapolis on Thursday. MPR. | |
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| 7:47 AM: | Clinton, Obama to campaign together. Barack Obama's campaign hasn't provided details of the joint appearance yet, but it will happen next Friday. Salon. | |
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| 7:46 AM: | McClellan: White House hiding details of CIA leak. A former Bush spokesman Friday told a House committee investigating the leak of a CIA operative's identity that the White House is still concealing its involvement in the matter. CNN. | |
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| 7:46 AM: | A Peek at Obama's Veepstakes List. A Wednesday meeting with lawmakers in the Congressional Black Caucus provided a glimpse at some of the estimated 20 names on Barack Obama's short list for his running mate. WSJ. | |
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| 7:45 AM: | McCain addresses voters' questions, blasts opponent. At a forum in St. Paul Thursday night, presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain drew sharp contrasts between his Democratic opponent Barack Obama and himself. MPR. | |
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| 7:12 AM: | Meet The New Boss. If I were Barack Obama it's very possible that I wouldn't think giving the executive branch unlimited surveillance powers was a bad idea at all -- I'm going to be president in a few months. Yglesias. | |
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| 7:01 AM: | Is Indiana Really In Play? Sen. Barack Obama's campaign is calling Indiana a battleground state. Political Wire. | |
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| 6:52 AM: | No Swift Boats? Jonathan Martin surveys the GOP landscape, talks to key moneymen, and finds that there's nothing going on. Ben Smith. | |
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| 6:50 AM: | McClellan: 'White House has chosen to conceal' Plame details. Former White House spokesman Scott McClellan says there's a "cloud of suspicion over the White House" on Plame episode. The Crypt. | |
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| 6:49 AM: | NY Mayor Bloomberg defends Obama before Jewish audience. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is urging Jewish voters to denounce the online rumor that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is secretly a Muslim with a hidden agenda. USA Today. | |
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| 6:48 AM: | McClellan Heads to the Hill. The former Bush press secretary testifies about his account -- this time under oath -- of the administration's role in the CIA leak case NOW before the House Judiciary Committee. Watch it live here. Mark Halperin. | |
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| 6:47 AM: | Obama, Hillary Clinton to campaign together. Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama's campaign announced Friday that he will campaign with former rival Hillary Rodham Clinton next week, a step toward unifying a fractured Democratic Party after a bruising primary fight. AP. | |
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| 6:21 AM: | Clinton, Obama to campaign together. Obama campaign announces the two will hold a joint event next Friday. The two will also hold a meeting with Clinton's top fundraisers Thursday evening in Washington, D.C. Developing… Mark Halperin. | |
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| 6:11 AM: | The Big Pander to Big Oil. The only real beneficiaries will be the oil companies that are trying to lock up every last acre of public land before their friends in power -- Mr. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney -- exit the political stage. NYT. | |
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| 5:15 AM: | OPEC hike unlikely at Jeddah emergency oil talks. Eight-cylinder luxury cars will rumble along Jeddah's highways guzzling cheap Saudi gasoline as energy powers hold emergency talks in the Red Sea port this weekend to brake the free-wheeling rise in oil prices. Reuters. | |
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| 5:13 AM: | China raises prices for fuel, electricity. China raised prices for fuel by as much as 18 percent on Friday in a move intended to cool the nation's surging energy consumption. AP. | |
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| 5:12 AM: | Democrats, GOP agree to telecom immunity deal. House and Senate leaders have agreed to a compromise surveillance bill that would effectively shield from civil lawsuits the telecommunications companies that helped the government wiretap phone and computer lines after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks without court permission. AP. | |
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| 5:09 AM: | In U.S., Military Ranks Best, Congress Worst. Of 16 institutions, Americans express the most confidence in the military (71%) and the least in Congress (12%). Gallup. | |
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| 5:07 AM: | Saudi summit aims at oil prices. Saudi Arabia this weekend will convene a special summit on oil prices that could lead to cheaper crude on the world market. CNN. | |
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| 5:05 AM: | Sierra Club endorses Obama. Like yesterday's news that AFSCME had endorsed Democrat Barack Obama's presidential bid, the official announcement today from the Sierra Club that it supports the senator isn't much of a surprise. USA Today. | |
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