Morning Road Map

McCain will tour an oil rig platform near New Orleans today at 11am. He had to cancel a planned visit last month due to weather.

Obama will address the Veterans of Foreign Wars National Convention in Orlando, Fla., today at 9am ET. He will also speak to members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union via satellite from Orlando. Later, he hosts a town hall meeting in Raleigh, N.C. at 6:30pm ET.

VEEPSTAKES
NY Times' Nagourney and Zeleny, "Obama Ready to Announce Running Mate This Week"

Washington Post's Balz, "Who's No. 2? Obama Keeps Everybody Guessing"

Politico's Allen, "Exclusive: McCain to name VP on Aug. 29"

NY Times' Healy, "The Lingering What-if Question – Clinton?": "No power brokers in the Democratic Party are openly campaigning for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton as their vice-presidential nominee this year, and even Mrs. Clinton's closest aides have stopped talking her up. Yet privately, some Democrats continue to see her as exactly the partner that Senator Barack Obama needs."

NY Daily News' Bazinet and McAuliff, "Evan Bayh, Joe Biden and Tim Kaine on short list to run with Barack Obama"

amNewYork's Freedlander, "Who will Barack Obama choose as VP?"

Boston Herald's Wedbe, "Sen. John F. Kerry dismisses Barack Obama veep rumors"

KDKA-TV's Delano, "Ridge On McCain's Short List For VP?"

Bloomberg News' Burger, "Bayh's Running-Mate Chances May Be Hurt by Wife's Board Seats"

Boston Globe's Rhee, "Amid V.P. buzz, Biden opines on Georgia, Pakistan"

McCAIN vs. OBAMA
Washington Post's Murray and Weisman, "Obama Tells Allies He's Ready to Hit Back"

NY Times' Bumiller and Broder, "In V.F.W. Speech, McCain Attacks Obama on War"

Wall Street Journal's Chozick and Holmes, "Candidates Hone Messages In Convention Run-Up"

LA Times' Reston and Mehta, "McCain says he's prepared to be president and Obama isn't"

Politico's Vogel, "Vacation over, Obama in fighting form"

Associated Press' Hurst, "Obama takes McCain to task on withdrawal timetable"

McClatchy's Taley and Douglas, "Obama seeks women's support as McCain presses on surge"

Newsweek's Alter, "The Smear Gap - McCain's attacks on Obama go too far. He knows better."

CONVENTIONS
USA Today's Welch, "Denver readies for Democrats' convention"

NY Times' Wayne, "Ethics Thicket for Convention Parties Crimps Events"

LA Times' Willon, "L.A. mayor passed over for speaking role at Democratic convention": "Some speculate it's because Antonio Villaraigosa backed Hillary Clinton in the primaries. Others think it's because California is a given for Obama. And there are other theories."

NY Times' Hakim, "Democrats Get Big Gift For Denver": "Tom Golisano, the Rochester billionaire and registered Republican, donated $1 million on Friday to the host committee of the Democratic Party's convention in Denver, making him one of the largest donors to the planning efforts surrounding the expected coronation of Barack Obama as the party's nominee next week."

Wall Street Journal's Schatz, "Google Will Offer Services for Bloggers at the Conventions"

Washington Post's Birnbaum, "That's Entertainment -- or is it?": "Whatever you do, do not call the events at the upcoming presidential conventions that feature Kanye West and the band Daughtry 'concerts.' They are not, according to their sponsor, the Recording Industry Association of America. They are multi-hour educational exhibitions at which the artists, well, sing, but only for a short while."

IN THE STATES
Miami Herald's Reinhard and Klas, "Storm's wind, rain upstage McCain, Obama campaigns"

NY Daily News' Sisk, "Winning over Hillary Clinton voters won't be easy for John McCain"

USA Today's Page, "Suburbs: New shortcut to White House?": "The presidential contest between John McCain and Barack Obama this fall is likely to be settled in places such as Clackamas, Arapahoe and Geauga. Suburban counties including these — outside Portland, Denver and Cleveland, respectively — have become the hardest fought and most closely won battlegrounds of national elections."

Washington Times' Miller, "Obama serves up Southern strategy"

CAMPAIGN FUNDRAISING
Associated Press' Elliott, "McCain nets $1.75 million at Reed-linked event"

Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Sheinin, "Protesters mark McCain's visit to Atlanta for fund-raiser"

NY Times' Bumiller, "The Man Who Wasn't There"

FAITH & RELIGION
Washington Post's Bacon and Shear, "Candidates Got Advance Look at Questions": "Responding to questions about whether Sen. John McCain had an unfair advantage over Sen. Barack Obama at Saturday's forum on faith at the Saddleback Church in California, a spokesman for the Rev. Rick Warren said both candidates had an advance look at a few questions. Spokesman A. Larry Ross said the candidates had agreed that McCain would not listen to Obama's interview, which came first by a coin-flip agreement. But Ross said Warren gave them both a sense of what to expect."

Washington Post's Dionne, "The New Evangelical Politics": "Anyone who still doubts that the evangelical Christian world is going through a political revolution was not watching Pastor Rick Warren's presidential forum this weekend. The era of reducing Christianity to a narrow set of ideological commitments is over."

ALSO:
NY Times' Brooks, "The Education of McCain": "When McCain and his team set out to win the presidency in 2008, they hoped to run a campaign with this sort of spirit. McCain would venture forth on the back of his bus, going places other Republicans don't go, saying things politicians don't say, offering the country the vision of a different kind of politics — free of circus antics — in which serious people sacrifice for serious things. It hasn't turned out that way. McCain hasn't been able to run the campaign he had envisioned. Instead, he and his staff have been given an education by events."

NY Times' Herbert, "A World of Difference": "Presidential elections always have their share of foolishness, hypocrisy and, let's say, elasticity when it comes to facts. This is what comes to mind whenever I hear John McCain and other Republicans reverentially invoking the name of Theodore Roosevelt. Senator McCain will tell you outright: 'I am a Teddy Roosevelt Republican.' That's about as elastic as the facts can get."

NY Post's Lowry, "Obama's Extremism - His Abortion Record Is No Lie"

Washington Post's Kaufman, "Obama Suggests $2 Billion In New Funding for NASA"

Wall Street Journal's Ferrara, "Obama's Tax Plan Is Really a Welfare Plan"

NY Times' Bosman, "Early Sales of a Book on Obama Angers Stores"

NY Daily News' Parker, "Barack Obama offers campaign gear from Isaac Mizrahi, Derek Lam, others"