| 11:05 PM: | News Analysis: A Diplomatic Success That Defies the Critics. North Korea's declaration of its nuclear activities is a triumph of the sort of diplomacy that President Bush and his aides once eschewed as American weakness. NYT. | |
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| 10:47 PM: | Op-Ed Columnist: Fuels on the Hill. Why are politicians so eager to pin the blame for oil prices on speculators? Because it lets them believe that we don’t have to adapt to a world of expensive gas. Paul Krugman. | |
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| 10:43 PM: | Editorial: Lock and Load. The Supreme Court's ruling on gun rights is a decision that will cause immeasurable pain and suffering and turn America into a more dangerous country. NYT. | |
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| 10:41 PM: | The Political Ramifications Of Heller. My guess is that, if the McCain campaign is smart about this, it can make this an important linchpin of its fundraising ("imagine what would happen to your rights if Justices Scalia and Kennedy retire soon and are replaced by Barack Obama"), of its attempts to energize the base, and of its attempts to bring over swing voters in swing states where the middle of the electorate tends to be pro-gun. Redstate. | |
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| 10:10 PM: | Latino vote 'up for grabs,' could swing election outcome. Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama plan back-to-back appearances Saturday before the annual meeting of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. The non-partisan group represents more than 5,500 officeholders and the fastest-growing voting bloc in the nation.
USA Today. | |
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| 9:27 PM: | Political Punch. Lieberman said he wasn't interested in being McCain's vice president and had not been contacted about the job by the McCain campaign. "If he ever asked me I'd urge him to think about that, he can find somebody much better," Lieberman said. ABC. | |
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| 8:47 PM: | Congress passes Iraq war spending bill. Breaking News: Congress on Thursday night approved a $162 billion spending bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. MSNBC/AP. | |
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| 8:39 PM: | Modern Maturity? McCain's campaign touts his 'grown-up' energy plan. In a neat bit of campaign jiujitsu, the McCainiacs are trying to change the candidate's age from a liability into a strength. The perfect example is his "grown-up" energy policy. Newsweek. | |
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| 8:31 PM: | U.S. Stocks Tumble, Sending Dow to Worst June Since Depression. U.S. stocks tumbled, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its worst June since the Great Depression, as record oil prices, credit-market writedowns and a slowing economy threatened to extend a yearlong profit slump. Bloomberg.com. | |
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| 8:24 PM: | McCain takes aim at Obama over court gun ruling. Republican presidential candidate John McCain accused Democratic rival Barack Obama on Thursday of reversing his position on a gun ban in the nation's capital and said it was part of a pattern of flip-flopping by the Illinois senator. Reuters. | |
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| 8:18 PM: | After The Press Leaves, Some Edgy Questions. The pooler was ushered out of the meeting room where about 200 of Clinton's top donors -- those who had raised a combined $230m -- had gathered to watch the Democratic nominee try to build a bridge. But a few minutes later, a few, less happy donors asked pointed questions. Marc Ambinder. | |
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| 8:17 PM: | Campaign Memo: For Obama, a Pragmatist’s Shift Toward the Center. In the last week, Barack Obama has taken calibrated positions on issues that include electronic surveillance, campaign finance and the death penalty for child rapists. NYT. | |
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| 8:17 PM: | Clinton Donors Meet Obama: A Pool Report. From the Washington Post's Shailagh Murray: Quick summary: The 30-minute event was emotional and upbeat. Both candidates warmly received, generous to each other, and very focused on winning. Marc Ambinder. | |
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| 7:53 PM: | Confirmed: Final FISA Votes on July 8. Russ Feingold and Christopher Dodd managed to win us a 12 day reprieve on FISA. Firedoglake. | |
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| 7:53 PM: | Michelle Obama speaks to gay Democrats. Michelle Obama won a standing ovation on Thursday when she paid a campaign visit to gay and lesbian Democratic activists to promote her husband Barack Obama's presidential quest. Reuters. | |
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| 7:14 PM: | What The Obama Campaign Is Really Saying. Never will a campaign predict a landslide, but if only, say, half of the assumptions that guide Obama's general election strategy are true, his campaign is, in essence, preparing for a landslide in the popular vote. Marc Ambinder. | |
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| 6:46 PM: | Ambitious California Emissions Plan Could Boost Economy, Chart National Policy. California's blueprint for slashing greenhouse-gas emissions could transform the world's seventh-largest economy -- and be a model for a nationwide plan in 2009. The state presented its plan Thursday morning to cut greenhouse-gas emissions by about 30 percent by 2020. Wired. | |
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| 6:42 PM: | Citing Need for Assessments, U.S. Freezes Solar Energy Projects. The freeze has caused widespread concern in the industry, forcing fledgling solar companies to wait just as demand for alternative energy is accelerating. NYT. | |
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| 6:34 PM: | Impact of Gun Ruling Limited, Experts Say. The Supreme Court’s historic decision on the right to bear arms will have little practical impact in most of the country, legal experts said. NYT. | |
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| 6:00 PM: | Obama Campaign: Alaska Is A Battleground State. Not only does a recent Rasmussen Reports poll show McCain up by just 4 points (within the margin of error) but the Obama campaign has set its sights on the state, having already put its ad up on the air there and now signaling that Obama may even visit Alaksa later this summer, the first time a presidential candidate has campaigned there since Kennedy in 1960. MyDD. | |
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| 5:55 PM: | Obama's goals. "If I haven't gotten combat troops out of Iraq, passed universal health care and created a new energy policy that speaks to our dependence on foreign oil and deals seriously with global warming, then we've missed the boat. Those are three big jobs, so it's going to require a lot of attention and imagination, and it's going to require the American people feeling inspired enough that they're prepared to take on these big challenges." Daily Kos. | |
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| 4:44 PM: | House GOP concludes they failed to sway voters. House Republicans reviewing their recent election defeats have concluded their customary campaign themes failed to sway the voters and their candidates could not overcome negative perception of the national party. AP. | |
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| 4:38 PM: | Obama, FISA, and the Dawn of the Post-Netroots Era. The netroots' break with Barack Obama on FISA is the first taste of what's to come in a stormy relationship between the netroots and the White House if Obama wins. Patrick Ruffini. | |
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| 3:57 PM: | How Obama and McCain Will Win the Presidency — Or So They Think. Strategists for the two top presidential candidates laid out competing scenarios Wednesday for how their candidates could win the November election. McClatchy. | |
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| 3:46 PM: | Under debate plan, Obama loses height advantage. McCain and Obama would sit at a table at two of three presidential debates this fall, according to a formal proposal unveiled Thursday, which, perhaps unintentionally, would neutralize Obama’s height advantage. McClatchy. | |
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| 3:37 PM: | Color at the Mayflower. There are about 50 protestors outside the Mayflower Hotel on Connecticut Avenue, where Clinton and Obama are to hold a meeting with fundraisers tonight. Most of the protestors are from Code Pink and are protesting the Iraq war. MSNBC. | |
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| 3:33 PM: | How technology is revolutionizing democracy. Technology is changing the face of American politics, say many experts, and at least one Web pioneer calls it the biggest change since the American Revolution. [Includes video reports from PDF Conference] CNN. | |
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| 3:01 PM: | McCain reaches out to gay Republican group. An official from the Log Cabin Republicans organization says the group representing gay Republicans has had a series of meetings with presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain. The meetings, however, were not disclosed to the press by the McCain campaign. CNN. | |
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| 2:58 PM: | I'm Forever Yours, Faithfully. CINCINNATI, OH - Sen. John McCain told conservative leaders during a closed-door meeting today that he would do more to highlight his pro-life record and views on other social issues to garner more Christian conservative support, according to several who attended the gathering. Natl Journal. | |
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| 2:44 PM: | Where They Are Friday. McCain: Warren, OH. Obama: Unity, NH; Washington, DC Mark Halperin. | |
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| 2:31 PM: | Addington Tells House Committee He Can't Talk About Torture Because 'Al Qaeda May Watch C-SPAN' David Addington, the former chief counsel to Vice President Dick Cheney, told a House committee Thursday that he could not discuss specific torture techniques with the committee because "al Qaeda may watch C-SPAN." Addington was being questioned by Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.) who asked if water boarding was specifically approved for CIA interrogation of suspected terrorists. The Hill. | |
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| 2:28 PM: | Schwarzenegger says feeding oil addiction no answer. MIAMI (Reuters) - Republican California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said on Friday that politicians who suggest that lifting a ban on offshore oil drilling would ease rising fuel prices in the United States were "blowing smoke." Reuters. | |
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| 2:18 PM: | Poll: Should McCain Learn To Use A Computer? John McCain admits that he's computer illiterate. Does it matter that the Republican presidential candidate is clueless when it comes to technology? Wired Top Stories. | |
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| 1:38 PM: | Obama: U.S. must fix crumbling roads, bridges. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Thursday pushed a plan for $60 billion fund for road construction, bridge repair, high-speed rail and other projects, saying such spending was crucial to the economy. Reuters. | |
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| 1:18 PM: | Court ruling highlights fragile balance. Once again, the U.S. Supreme Court has reached a 5-4 decision with Justice Anthony Kennedy as the decisive swing vote. CNN. | |
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| 1:16 PM: | McCain backs gun decision, Obama straddles issue. John McCain welcomed a Supreme Court decision invalidating a District of Columbia handgun ban. Barack Obama sought to straddle the subject by saying he favors an individual's right to bear firearms as well as a government's right to regulate them. AP. | |
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| 12:38 PM: | Me, Bob Barr and FISA. Bob Barr and I did Bloggingheads TV yesterday. We had a great time. Firedoglake. | |
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| 12:37 PM: | Oil hits $140 a barrel for 1st time. Oil reached $140 a barrel for the first time ever Thursday following reports that Libya may cut production and an OPEC official said crude could hit $170 a barrel this summer. CNN. | |
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| 12:37 PM: | Obama, Clinton to Appear Together in Unity. Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will campaign together Friday in the New Hampshire town of Unity. NPR. | |
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| 12:13 PM: | McCain and Obama on North Korea. John McCain and Barack Obama both called North Korea's nuclear declaration a 'step forward,' but the senators also warned that the tense relations with the reclusive dictatorship are far from resolved. NYT. | |
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| 11:23 AM: | House to vote on energy market speculation bill. The U.S. House of Representatives was scheduled to vote on Thursday on legislation that directs the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to use all its authority, including the agency's emergency powers, to "curb immediately" the role of excessive speculation in energy futures markets. Reuters. | |
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| 10:58 AM: | Court: Trigger Lock Requirement Also Unconstitutional. In the Supreme Court's decision against D.C.'s handgun ban today, the court also ruled that trigger-lock requirements are unconstitutional. The Hill. | |
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| 10:43 AM: | Your Website Doesn't Matter. The cognitive surplus is now coming to be defined by the time we spend creating content and interacting online. The Next Right. | |
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| 10:15 AM: | McCain's theme: Bravery trumps politics. A new GOP message portrays McCain as a patriotic risk-taker and Obama as a conventional pol. Politico. | |
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| 10:07 AM: | Barack Obama during an economic competitiveness summit. Democratic presidential candidate Illinois Senator Barack Obama during an economic competitiveness summit at Carnergie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. AFP. | |
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| 10:06 AM: | Gallup Daily: Obama, McCain Still Tied, Now at 44% Gallup Poll Daily tracking from June 23-25 shows Barack Obama and John McCain tied at 44% in voter preferences for the fall election. Gallup. | |
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| 9:56 AM: | Supreme Court rules. In a 5-4 vote, the court struck down a provision of a campaign finance reform law that allowed candidates to collect larger contributions when facing self-financed opponents. Salon. | |
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| 8:34 AM: | Part of McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Law Struck Down. On June 26, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled part of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law unconstitutional. Davis v Federal Election Commission, 07-320. Ballot Access. | |
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| 8:32 AM: | Our Individual Right to Bear Arms. Today's decision is a landmark victory for Second Amendment freedom in the United States. John McCain. | |
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| 8:31 AM: | Lautenberg Looks Likely to Hold Senate Seat. According to a new Public Mind Poll , Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) is way ahead of rival Dick Zimmer (R) in the New Jersey U.S. Senate race, 44% to 29%. Political Wire. | |
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| 8:31 AM: | Barack Obama and economic advisers. US Democratic presidential candidate Illinois Senator Barack Obama talks during an economic competitiveness summit at Carnergie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on June 26, 2008. AFP. | |
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| 8:28 AM: | Rove, critics try to pin 'arrogant' label on Obama. Critics of Sen. Barack Obama are trying to build a case that the presumptive Democratic nominee is arrogant, and former Bush adviser Karl Rove is leading the charge. CNN. | |
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| 8:07 AM: | Romney: Obama Can't Reach across the Aisle. Barack Obama has been unable during his Senate career to reach across the aisle and work with Republicans, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) alleged today on CNN's American morning. The Hill. | |
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| 7:29 AM: | Supreme Court finds individual right to own guns. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Thursday, for the first time in the nation's history, that individual Americans have the right to own guns for personal use, and struck down a strict gun control law in the nation's capital. Reuters. | |
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| 7:28 AM: | Supreme Court Strikes Down D.C. Handgun Ban. The Supreme Court has ruled against Washington, D.C.'s ban on handguns and that Americans have right to own guns for self-defense and hunting, the Associated Press reports. The Hill. | |
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| 7:25 AM: | For Obama, Clinton, Cash Needs are Intertwined. Obama is famous for his army of small donors, but big donors are still vital to his campaign efforts. At an event in Washington, Obama will welcome a bevy of bundlers -- people who round up contributions for campaigns -- once loyal to his former rival, Hillary Clinton. NPR. | |
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| 7:25 AM: | Obama leads in Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin. Four surveys conducted by Quinnipiac University for the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, fielded June 17-24. Pollster.com. | |
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| 7:24 AM: | The Obamacons Who Worry McCain. The Obamacon syndrome is based on hostility to Bush and his administration and on revulsion over today's Republican Party. The danger for McCain is that desire for a therapeutic electoral bloodbath could get out of control. Robert Novak. | |
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| 7:23 AM: | The Obama Bounce Seems to Continue. Poll shows Obama leading McCain in four battleground states. MSNBC. | |
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| 7:22 AM: | What Patriotism Means to Obama, McCain. The two presidential candidates pen op-eds in this week's Time Magazine to explain what being an American means to them. Peter Beinart says both parties have it wrong, explores how they can fix it. Mark Halperin. | |
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| 6:06 AM: | Such sweet sorrow. Mr Bush is worse than a failure in European eyes. He is yesterday's failure. The Economist. | |
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| 5:57 AM: | McCain Takes Weekends Off. Presumptive Republican nominee has held only one public event in the 20 weekends since Romney left the race. Mark Halperin. | |
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| 5:54 AM: | US economy logs better growth, but still subpar. The economy turned in a better - but still subpar - performance in the first three months of this year, mostly spurred by stronger sales of U.S. products overseas. AP. | |
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| 5:47 AM: | The Obama strategy emphasizes down-ballot races. We know quite a bit about the Obama campaign's intention to 'stretch' the map and compete in red states that a) Dems would be expected to skip; and b) the McCain campaign doesn't want to have to fight for. Crooks and Liars. | |
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| 5:23 AM: | McCain seeks to reassure supporters. McCain on Wednesday sought to reassure supporters in the face of some polls showing a widening lead for Democrat Barack Obama ahead of the November election. Reuters. | |
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| 4:41 AM: | Top McCain Advisor Has Found Success Mixing Money, Politics. Davis provided McCain free tactical advice that rescued his White House bid and helped him clinch the GOP nomination. In the political offseason, Davis turned the relationship into a business asset. Mark Halperin. | |
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| 4:38 AM: | Sebelius Predicts GOP Will Play Race Card. Kansas Governor and Veep prospect says Republican critiques of Obama will be full of 'code words' in an effort 'to try and frighten people about him.' "I don't think anybody's going to go directly at the race issue, but that's going to be an underlying theme." Mark Halperin. | |
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| 4:37 AM: | California unveils ambitious climate plan. California on Thursday took a major step forward on its global warming fight by unveiling an ambitious plan for clean cars, renewable energy and stringent caps on big polluting industries. Reuters. | |
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| 4:37 AM: | McCain Camp: Obama Puts Politics First. Top aide Steve Schmidt sends out a Thursday morning memo chastising the Illinois Senator, saying he fulfills his personal self-interests when it comes to campaign finance, joint town halls, Iraq and energy. Mark Halperin. | |
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| 4:37 AM: | The Importance of Christian conservatives to McCain. If Christian conservatives stay on the sidelines during the fall campaign, presidential hopeful John McCain probably stays in the Senate. AP. | |
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| 4:37 AM: | Bush Praises McCain in Detroit. At a fundraising event, the President emphasized foreign policy, telling GOP supporters McCain "has been tested and will not flinch" from making tough decisions. "We need a commander-in-chief who understands that we must defeat the enemy overseas so we do not have to face him here at home, and that man is John McCain." Mark Halperin. | |
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| 4:36 AM: | John McCain doesn't work weekends. Even as his schedule is a sensitive topic because it is suffused with the looming question of his age, there has only been one public weekend event since Feb. Politico. | |
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| 4:36 AM: | Novak Sees Colin Powell Defection to Obama. "McCain strategists. . .wince in anticipating headlines generated by Powell's expected endorsement of Obama." Mark Halperin. | |
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| 4:36 AM: | Bush administration to lift North Korea sanctions. The Bush administration on Thursday will lift some trade sanctions against North Korea and move to take it off the U.S. terrorism blacklist - a remarkable turnaround in policy toward the communist regime, which President Bush once branded as part of an "axis of evil." AP. | |
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| 4:35 AM: | Obama, Clinton Anticipation Builds. The two will meet up in Washington, D.C. Thursday night to woo Clinton's top donors to Obama's side. Friday they will hold their first joint campaign event in Unity, New Hampshire at a local elementary school. Mark Halperin. | |
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