By Tommy Christopher Larry Johnson, over at No Quarter, has worked himself into a lather over the new paint job on Barack Obama's campaign plane.

The one shining moment that keeps political rats going through this summer is waiting, salivating for a chance to find out who Barack Obama and John McCain are picking for their running mates.
They have been playing this game, mostly McCain's side, of waiting until the last possible moment to name a running mate. In fact, McCain's camp has gone so far as to say that no matter what, they will wait until Obama picks to make their own pick. Even a 5th grader would think that was childish.
hat is reprehensible, if true. We will find out if what I was suggesting was true or a scam."

It may only be July, and Election Day may still be 104 days away, but we’ve reached the point at which the McCain campaign is even willing to attack Barack Obama’s remembrance of the Nazi Holocaust.
Speaking today at Yad Vashem, Obama said, “Let our children come here and know this history so they can add their voices to proclaim ‘never again.’ And may we remember those who perished, not only as victims but also as individuals who hoped and loved and dreamed like us and who have become symbols of the human spirit.”
quence of ethnic strife — which we haven’t done,” Obama said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Here's a pretty good profile of John McCain's speechwriter, co-author of his five books, and Vulcan mind-melder Mark Salter, by The New Republic's Michael Crowley. Lots to chew on, but one part that jumped out in particular is the way that Salter (and, we can assume, McCain) is irritated to no end that Barack Obama in 2008 is sounding a helluva lot like, and receiving a similar reaction to, John McCain in 2000:
How do this work, again? All the more galling for Salter is his belief that Obama the candidate is lifting from McCain's oeuvre. Obama has recently described his transformation from a selfish young man who thought "life was all about me" to an adult who realizes "that

'The media is in LOVE with Barack,' McCain's camp says in a video that mocks the reporting on the Democrat.
By Maeve Reston, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
aints about media bias have galvanized conservatives, which could help McCain as he tries to solidify the Republican base. In February, the campaign sought donations by citing a widely criticized New York Times report about McCain's ties to a female lobbyist. That appeal set a campaign record for the amount raised online in one day to that point.

WASHINGTON - Election nights and campaign tours have spotlighted an elegant blonde in jewel-toned suits and a quadruple strand of pearls who stands beside her husband, Arizona Sen. John McCain, and says little.
w an influential player. She gives "advice and counsel" on many issues, her husband told USA Today. Such as? "Things she sees that she thinks are important to our family and our lives."
ry for the first time in her adult life, Cindy McCain had this to say: "I am proud of my country. I don't know about you, if you heard those words earlier. I am very proud of my country."

A group of local military veterans and Republicans gathered at John McCain’s local campaign office in Tampa this morning to watch his Town Hall Meeting in New Hampshire.
Although billed as a rally, organizer Chris Hart of Veterans For McCain, said it was also a way to discuss national security issues.
He feels good about keeping the county red this November.

by Mary Lyon Page 1 of 1 page(s) By Mary Lyon Is John McCain in a meltdown? Can this campaign be saved? Can the dots remain unconnected?

Conservative columnist Bob Novak's piece in which he suggested John McCain might well pick his vice president this week set off a firestorm around political Washington late yesterday afternoon as reporters and operatives scampered to follow the Prince of Darkness's reporting.
Subsequent reporting -- by The Fix, Jmart and others -- suggests that while McCain is in the final stages of making up his mind on who to pick, that no decision is imminent.
ng cable news and the blogosphere something else to talk about, the McCain campaign effectively changed the conversation -- albeit it for only 12 hours or so. (Obama's press conference this morning re-established his trip as the top political story of the day.)

Annoyed by wall-to-wall coverage of Obama's trip to the Mideast, the McCain campaign teased reporters about a potential VP announcement Tuesday. Stay tuned.
By Jonathan Alter | Newsweek Web Exclusive
d I had rushed the forward compartment of John McCain's campaign airplane, sitting on the tarmac in Buffalo, N.Y., Monday night, trying to chase down the hot rumor of the day, that McCain was going to announce his vice-presidential pick at a townhall meeting Tuesday in Rochester, N.H.