Barack Obama and John McCain have narrowed their choices of running-mate to just a handful of names, with both candidates poised to announce their decisions possibly as early as next week.
Neither candidate wants one of the biggest decisions of their general election campaign to compete with the Beijing Olympics. The announcements may be made before the Olympics begin on August 8, or in the few days between the closing ceremony and the start of the Democratic and Republican nominating conventions in late August and early September.
ll be a factor in his selection process.

By Kenneth R. Conklin, Ph.D., 7/27/2008 12:06:07 PM Senator Obama delivered an inspirational speech in Berlin a few days ago, in the shadow of the Berlin

Pollster.com has at the top of its front page a chart suggesting that the presidential election is all but over.
The public opinion experts who run the site say states with 284 electoral college votes - 14 more than the 270 needed to win - lean to or firmly support Barack Obama; states with 147 lean toward or are in John McCain's camp; and 10 states with 107 electoral votes are tossups.
no exaggeration to say that the political environment this year is one of the worst for a party in the White House in the past sixty years. You have to go all the way back to 1952 to find an election involving the combination of an unpopular president, an unpopular war, and an economy

Nate with a great explanation of the importance of Obama's trip overseas and the impact him acting like he's President has.
But there is something even more powerful at work here. Namely, when Obama does the things that a President might do -- going abroad and meeting with foreign leaders and military commanders, or delivering a speech to an international audience -- it no longer becomes difficult to contemplate the idea of him as President. We might not know exactly what would happen if Obama were elected. But we have some idea what an Obama Presidency would look and feel like. We might not agree with everything that Obama has to say. But we can imagine him standing in

By BRIAN KNOWLTON After returning from a seven-country foreign tour, Senator Barack Obama prepared Sunday to turn his attention to the biggest domestic

Cable talking heads accuse broadcast networks of liberal bias - but a think tank finds that ABC, NBC and CBS were tougher on Barack Obama than on John McCain in recent weeks.
By JAMES RAINEY, ON THE MEDIA
nd. And when network news people ventured opinions in recent weeks, 28% of the statements were positive for Obama and 72% negative.

By LARRY EICHEL Barack Obama has come home from overseas. There are still 100 days left to go. The polls remain close. And the contrast in political imagery

Despite the most challenging environment for Republicans in years and an overwhelming advantage in attention paid by the media, Barack Obama remains unable to open the lead against John McCain that many pundits predicted.
With nearly 100 days remaining until Election Day, very little separates the two candidates.
ssen survey in Ohio shows John McCain opening a 10-point lead.

EVEN as his turn on the global stage hit an emotional peak in Berlin, Barack Obama faced evidence of stubborn election challenges back home.
Fresh polls show he has been unable to convert weeks of extensive media coverage into a widened lead. And some prominent Democrats whose support could boost his campaign are still not enthused about his candidacy.
d and the first four days of his trip.

While Barack Obama took a premature victory lap today in the heart of Berlin, proclaiming himself a "citizen of the world," John McCain continued to make his case to the American citizens who will decide this election.
And of course there's John at Powerline reviewing the speech and observing:
arack Obama, whose father is from Kenya and who attended school in Indonesia, now appears before a crowd of 200,000 cheering Germans in Berlin to proclaim himself a "citizen of the world." It makes you wonder whether he's running for president of America or secretary general of the United Nations, and it is reminiscent of Senator Kerry's ill-fated 2004 debate pledge to subject American policies to a "global test."

By Howard Lesser In the 14 years since its genocide, Rwanda has made one of the most remarkable postwar comebacks of any poverty-level country in history

In his interview with NBC's Kelly O'Donnell, which will air on NBC's Nightly News tonight, McCain questions whether Obama should have given a speech in Berlin before becoming president.
"I would rather speak at a rally or a political gathering any place outside of the country after I am president of the United States," McCain told O'Donnell. "But that's a judgment that Sen. Obama and the American people will make."
party. He doesnât understand that the consequences of failure in Iraq would have disastrous consequences for America's national security. And he still doesnât acknowledge that the surge succeeded, which is remarkable any rational observer who saw the conditions two years ago and sees them now.

Timeline, time horizon, timeframe ........... time to cut through the simplistic semantics of media sound bites and campaign slogans.
The policy differences between the candidates could not be clearer regarding Iraq and the surge, despite the daily contortions that each has gone through trying to one-up the other, and despite the fact that both are claiming ideological victory. I reject any analysis that says their two Iraq policies are converging.
n it, but he did show loyalty and deference to the President's plan. He also asked hard questions in many Senate hearings and seemed somewhat unconvinced, increasingly so as time went on. It seems to me that the most he can