Morning Road Map
By Steve Chaggaris
McCain visits Iowa and Arkansas today. First he'll stop by the Iowa State Fair before attending a fundraiser in Des Moines. Later this afternoon, he'll hold a press conference in Rogers, Ark., before heading to a fundraiser.
Obama heads to Hawaii for a week-long vacation with his family. He'll have a "Welcome to Hawaii" event later when they arrive in Honolulu. But other than a reported fundraiser next Wednesday and perhaps a rally, it's expected there will be very little campaign activity from Obama between today and next Friday.
Hillary Clinton will speak at a rally for Obama this afternoon in Henderson, Nev., at 3:15pm ET.
On the Sunday shows: CBS' "Face the Nation" has Gov. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Karl Rove; ABC's "This Week" features Govs. Bill Richardson, D-N.M., and Bobby Jindal, R-La.; NBC's "Meet the Press" has Treasury Sec. Henry Paulson.
OBAMA & THE CLINTONS
NY Times' Seelye, "Roles of Clintons at Convention Start to Clear"
Washington Post's Kornblut, "Democratic Aides Working To Keep the Peace At the Convention"
LA Times, "Bill Clinton to speak at Democrats' convention"
Newsweek's Alter, "A Catharsis in Denver? Don't kid yourself. With Hillary planning a 'Greek drama,' the Clinton-Obama rivalry will go on."
Denver Post's Sherry and Mulkern, "Clinton backers want vote"
Washington Times' Lambro, "Obama, Clinton try to downplay their rift"
CAMPAIGN FUNDRAISING
NY Times' Luo, "McCain to Give Back $50,000 Under Scrutiny"
Washington Post's Mosk, "McCain Campaign Returning $50,000 From Fla. Bundler"
Palm Beach Post's Bender, "McCain returns suspect money"
Wall Street Journal's Cooper and Farnam, "Candidates Name Half-Million-Dollar Teams": "The 2008 presidential campaign has led to a new category of mega-fund-raiser: the $500,000 political bundler. Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain have between them released the names of 98 supporters who each have raised at least half a million dollars for their campaigns from relatives, associates and employees."
NY Times' Luo, "Group Plans Campaign Against GOP Donors"
McCAIN vs. OBAMA
Politico's Vogel, "McCain, Obama claims stretch the truth"
USA Today's Lawrence, "Flip-flops more fashionable this election"
Newsweek's Fineman, "Don't Laugh. Paris Is Right. - What Ms. Hilton could teach Messrs. McCain and Obama about our energy crisis."
Associated Press' Fouhy, "McCain seeks to define himself and Obama"
VEEPSTAKES
LA Times' Hook, "McCain, Obama tiptoe across vice presidential minefield": "Economic conservatives cringe at Mike Huckabee. Conservative evangelicals like Huckabee but wince at Mitt Romney. Gay rights activists are trying to rule out Sam Nunn. The women's movement is wary of several prominent Democrats who support abortion restrictions. That's the minefield Barack Obama and John McCain are tiptoeing across as they choose their vice presidential nominees."
NY Times' Davey, "Minnesota Governor Looks To National Stage"
McCAIN IN OHIO
Wall Street Journal's Roth and Holmes, "McCain Takes On Populist Tone Over Job Cuts in Ohio"
Washington Post's Shear and Barnes, "McCain Pledges To Help Ohioans"
LA Times' Drogin, "DHL deal gone sour haunts McCain in Ohio"
Washington Times' Seper, "Sheriff questions McCain on illegals"
OBAMA'S HAWAIIAN VACATION
Time Magazine's Newton-Small, "When Obama Goes Home To Hawaii"
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, "Obama to hold rally today"
Financial Times' Luce, "Democratic jitters as Obama heads home": "Few people are more likely to need a holiday than Barack Obama. Yet as he heads off on Friday for his first week-long break since he launched his presidential bid 19 months ago, Mr Obama is dogged by rising angst about his campaign's direction. Although he has run what is widely acclaimed to be one of the most impressive campaigns in years, Democrats live in fear of Mr Obama falling prey to the kinds of accident that derailed predecessors in earlier cycles."
Bloomberg News' Chipman, "Obama's Grandmother, No 'Typical' Woman, Broke Her Own Barriers"
CAMPAIGN ADS
Wall Street Journal's Belkin, Simon and Sataline, "McCain Web Ad Is Accused Of Linking Obama to Antichrist": "An Internet ad launched last week by the McCain presidential campaign has attracted more than one million hits by appearing to mock Barack Obama for presenting himself as a kind of prophetic figure. The ad has also generated criticism from Democrats and religious scholars who see a hidden message linking Sen. Obama to the apocalyptic Biblical figure of the antichrist."
LA Times' Reston, "McCain ad plays up Democrats' praise of him"
NY Daily News' Hinckley, "Candidates go for the bold with ads"
BATTLEGROUND STATES
Wall Street Journal's Cook, "Pennsylvania, Iowa, Nevada: Are They Really Battlegrounds?"
ALSO:
Politico's Martin, "After shake-up, McCain ground game revs up"
Associated Press' Pettus, "White supremacists hope Obama win prompts backlash": "He'd be a 'visual aid,' says former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, in trying to bring others around to their view that whites have lost control of America. Obama's election, says another, would jar whites into action, writing letters, handing out pamphlets rather than sitting around complaining."
NY Post's Lowry, "Watch the Ego, O": "Remember two years ago, when Obama was only a media darling and not yet The Anointed One? Back then, his appeal was the extraordinary sensitivity he had for the views of others. His best-selling campaign book, "The Audacity of Hope," was carefully unaudacious in its on-the-one-hand, on-the-other-hand weighing of the issues of the day, giving the impression that nothing pained him so much as not being able to agree with the other side, though he thoroughly understood and respected its arguments. That iteration of Obama was tossed under the bus long ago (no word on whether the tires were adequately inflated). It's been replaced by an Obama who - between pauses gazing regally into the middle-distance during his orations - betrays a dismissive contempt for all differences of opinion."
Washington Times' Curl, "Obama persona inspires comedians": "Barack Obama's carefully choreographed persona as an unassailable agent of hope has come into the cross hairs of a dangerous foe - the late-night comic."
Wall Street Journal's Noonan writes in "Political Cycles", "What Mr. Obama has been doing, and this started before the European trip and continued throughout, is making people see him as president. He's doing this when he ambles back to the back of the plane and leans over the reporters, in his shirtsleeves, speaking affably into their held-up mics and recorders, at the end of the victorious tour. That's what presidents do. He speaks to rapturous crowds in foreign capitals. That's what presidents do... It's not vanity, it's strategy. However. Mr. Obama consistently shows that he doesn't know what he doesn't know. It's a theme with his talented, confident staff. They don't know what they don't know either. Because they're young and they've never been in power and it takes time to know what you don't know. The presidential-type seal with OBAMA on it, the sometimes over-the-top rhetoric about healing the earth and parting the seas. They pick the biggest, showiest venue for the Berlin speech, the Brandenburg Gate, just like a president, not realizing people would think: Ya gotta earn that one, kid. Going to Europe was fine, but they should have gone in modestly, with a modest venue, quietly spread word that his speech was open to the public, and then left the watching world awed by the hordes that showed up. For they would have. "We couldn't help it, they love him!" It would have looked as if Europe was coming to him, and let that sink in back home. Anyone can carp like this in retrospect, but when you know what you don't know, you can plan like this in advance."
Washington Post's Krauthammer, "No Will To Drill": "Let's see: housing meltdown, credit crunch, oil shock not seen since the 1970s. The economy is slowing, unemployment growing and inflation increasing. It's the sixth year of a highly unpopular war, and the president's approval rating is at 30 percent. The Italian Communist Party could win this election. The American Democratic Party is trying its best to lose it."
NY Daily News' Katz, "John Edwards' fellow Democrats see silence as a bad move"
Philadelphia Inquirer's Fitzgerald, "Casey might get speaking role at convention"