Throw the flag against: Michelle Obama. Call: Illegal shift

from the McClatchy Washington Bureau By Steven Thomma

What happened: In her Monday night speech to the Democratic National Convention, Barack Obama's wife said she gave up what sounded like a lucrative career for public service.

"In my own life, in my own small way, I have tried to give back to this country that has given me so much," she said. "See, that's why I left a job at a big law firm for a career in public service, working to empower young people to volunteer in their communities."

Why that's wrong: more

I'm not sure what's going on but even McClatchy is getting into the act. Is this really a turn in mainstream media bias or... could it be that Mrs. Clinton would like to run again and it would be a lot better for her if it was in four years rather than eight?

Dean: Obama will change message for general election

from TheHill.com by By Albert Eisele

Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean said Tuesday that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) will unveil “a different message for a different audience” in the general election campaign, as opposed to the one he used to capture the Democratic presidential nomination.

This article is the perfect example of why the Democrats are wrong. They spend too much of their time trying to figure out how to win elections and not enough time figuring out what to stand for. Changing the message to suit the audience shows a stunning lack of conviction.

Do You Know Enough to Elect Barack Obama?

A very effective ad from one of issues groups, American Issues Project. Apparently, the Obama camp felt this ad was impressive enough to issue an immediate response ad that, many now say, only highlights the issue with the electorate.

Gallup Daily: No Bounce for Obama in Post Biden Tracking

from Gallup

McCain creeps ahead, 46% to 44%

Gallup Poll Daily tracking interviewing from Saturday, Sunday, and Monday indicates that Barack Obama has received no bounce in voter support from his selection of Sen. Joe Biden to be his vice presidential running mate. The race remains virtually tied with John McCain now slightly ahead 46%-44%. More ...

Anyone that knows me knows how I feel about polls. I think any one particular poll is completely useless because of bias in the questions, the size of the samples and the variations between organizations.

However, I do believe that major trends can be uncovered by looking at many polls from several organizations over time. This poll from Gallup is released every day and is a rolling, three-day poll. Rasmussen reports is my other favorite of these 3-day rolling polls.

This is the first time that McCain has been ahead in the Gallup poll since he and Obama became their parties presumptive nominees and it represents an 8-point swing in the last couple of weeks.

Getting no bounce from naming Biden does not bode well for Obama. If there isn't a significant bounce following his acceptance speech at the Democratic convention - this race is over.

You read it right, this race will be over.

I'll be posting some additional polls and comparisons to 2004 to support this claim in the near future.

Obama Dogged by Links to 1960s Radical

from USA Today

Conservatives are stepping up efforts to turn 1960s radical Bill Ayers into a political liability for Barack Obama.

This spring, Obama's links to Ayers briefly became a campaign controversy. Now American Issues Project is spending $2.8 million to air a TV ad highlighting links between Obama and Ayers, a founder of the Weather Underground Organization, which opposed the Vietnam War and was responsible for several bombings.

This issue has finally gone mainstream and it will not go away. The Obama campaign wants to pretend this is about what Ayers did in the 60's - that Ayers is a changed man that regrets his actions. Nothing could be further from the truth.

3 AM - New McCain ad

You couldn't pay an advertising firm enough money to create what McCain is getting for free from the Democrats.