Morning Road Map
McCain begins his day in Wisconsin with a 1pm town hall meeting in Racine. This evening he's in Florida for a "tele town hall," where he'll take voters questions over the phone.
Obama is in Iowa today where he will meet with victims of this summer's floods. At 12:30pm he holds a town hall meeting focusing on the economy in Cedar Rapids. Later he will address the AFSCME Conference in San Francisco via satellite.
McCAIN vs. OBAMA
Obama claimed the McCain campaign is trying to scare voters away from him saying that Republicans "know that you're not real happy with them. And so the only way they figure they're going to win this election is if they make you scared of me," Obama said in Rolla, Mo. last night. "So what they're saying is 'well, we know we're not very good but you can't risk electing Obama. You know, he's new, he's got a funny name. He doesn't look like the other presidents on the currency."
Meantime, in Kansas City, Mo. last night, McCain jabbed Obama for having no military experience and criticized him for devising an Iraq plan before visiting the country and meeting with military officials: "Now for somebody who's had no military experience whatsoever, I would strongly recommend that Senator Obama at least listen, at least listen to our military leaders and not devise a policy before you leave."
Associated Press, "Obama says Republicans trying to scare voters"
Boston Globe, "McCain ads go negative early on Obama"
NY Times, "McCain Tries to Define Obama as Out of Touch"
LA Times, "Obama campaigns in Bush strongholds; McCain hammers on Obama"
Associated Press, "McCain tries to sow doubts about Obama"
USA Today, "McCain ad paints Obama as celebrity, not leader"
Chicago Tribune, "McCain ad fights rival's celebrity head on"
NY Post, "'Barack the Bimbo' - Mac Attack Ad Paints Obama With Blond Brush"
LA Times, "Obama emerges as major campaign issue -- for both candidates"
Wall Street Journal, "Roles Are Set, as Are the Perils": "Presidential rivals Barack Obama and John McCain both appear to be seizing the roles in which they have been cast: Sen. Obama as front-runner and Sen. McCain as underdog. The approach carries perils for both men."
Philadelphia Inquirer, "McCain, Obama turn up the heat over energy crisis"
NY Daily News, "Obama, McCain packin' heat for 'tax duels,' lobbing ads at each other"
Boston Phoenix, "It ain't over yet": "The press has already started inaugurating President Obama, but there are still quite a few hurdles left for the Democrat — including John McCain"
Washington Post, "'The One'? Take a Number, Sen. Obama": "Wags in John McCain's camp reportedly have taken to referring to Barack Obama as 'the One.' It's a sendup of the messianic devotion the Obamanauts sometimes display -- the huge crowds, the tears, the soaring hopes, the rapturous chanting of 'O-ba-ma!' and 'Yes we can!'"
VEEPSTAKES
NY Daily News, "Her pals still talk of Hillary Clinton for vice president"
Associated Press, "Obama-Clinton ticket group shuts down"
Politico, "Romney could lift McCain in West"
Chicago Sun-Times on Gov. Tim Pawlenty, R-Minn., "Possible VP pick mum in Chicago"
Wall Street Journal, "Alaska's Palin Faces Probe"
NY Sun, "Rivals Ready To Attack V.P. Nominee"
CAMPAIGN ADS
Philadelphia Inquirer, "No. 1 spots for campaign ads? Phila. and Pa."
Miami Herald, "Obama spending big on ads in Florida"
San Francisco Chronicle, "Political ads hit MTV, Comedy Central"
CAMPAIGN FUNDRAISING
USA Today, "In fundraising ranks, a gender gap is showing"
Houston Chronicle, "Richardson to help Clinton pay off debt"
Washington Times, "Watchdogs fault candidates - Seek more information on fundraising 'bundlers'"
ALSO
Washington Post, "As Aides Map Aggressive Race, McCain Often Steers Off Course": "McCain, who was most comfortable as an underdog in the unscripted environment of the New Hampshire primary, makes his advisers cringe as he delivers the attack line -- and then keeps talking. In that respect, he is no Bush, his handlers say."
Wall Street Journal's Karl Rove, "Obama's Iraq Fumble": "Mr. Obama's problem is he opposed the policy that created the progress that makes victory in Iraq possible. Mr. Obama's unbending opposition to the surge undermines his fundamental argument that he has better judgment on national security. Mr. McCain needs to use Mr. Obama's retrospective mistake to shape voters' prospective conclusion, convincing them that Mr. Obama's badly flawed judgment on the surge shows he cannot be trusted with major foreign-policy decisions."
Rocky Mountain News, "McCain talks up economy in Colorado swing"
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "Obama promises in Rolla to restore 'American Dream'"
Washington Post, "Obama Tries to Show Missouri Concern for Small-Town Issues"
NY Times, "Obama Camp Sees Potential in G.O.P. Discontent"
Washington Post, "Ludacris Provides Obama With More Unwelcome Help"