Obama Gears Up for GOP Smears

McKinnon doesn't want to work against Obama

(NEWSER) - John McCain's top media adviser is keeping his promise and stepping down from his role in the senator's campaign, the Washington Post reports. Mark McKinnon said last year that he had no desire to work against Barack Obama if he became the Democratic nominee. Insiders say the departure of the former Bush campaign aide will be a heavy blow to McCain's campaign. More»

McCain team wrote 'palling around with terrorists' line: book

(NEWSER) - Sarah Palin was actually on message when she attacked Barack Obama’s relationship with former Weatherman Bill Ayers during last year's campaign, the Atlantic reports. A new book, The Battle for America, reveals that Palin received an email from top McCain staff suggesting she use the Ayers attack. It even specified the approved language. Strategists also planned to run a similar TV ad. More»

(NEWSER) - The man who ran John McCain's campaign said his defeat was nearly preordained, reports Politico. It was "the strategic equivalent of throwing a football through a tire at 50 yards,” said Steve Schmidt. Given the ascendancy of Barack Obama—"the unfinished Bobby Kennedy campaign"—the unpopularity of George Bush, the economy, and the splintered GOP, McCain would have needed a miracle. More»

Joe says Obama never called back; politicos talk bailouts on TV

(NEWSER) - Joe Lieberman told Meet the Press today that he regrets "some things I said in the heat of the campaign that I wish I'd said more clearly," and hopes Barack Obama will put, er, "country first" by leading in a bipartisan fashion. Lieberman said he called Obama during the campaign, but, oddly, never heard back from him, Politico reports. In other talk shows:

• On Fox News Sunday, Obama adviser David Axelrod urged the next Congress to create a new multi-billion-dollar bailout plan to create jobs, The Hill reports. “We don’t have time to waste here,” Axelrod said.

(NEWSER) - The economy is the top issue for voters, today's exit polling confirmed, with 62% of those interviewed saying it was their No. 1 priority. Iraq was most important to 10%, and terrorism and health care were each named by 9%. For those most concerned with the economy, CNN said, more supported Barack Obama than John McCain. Nine out of 10 of voters interviewed said economic conditions in the country are “not so good” or “poor," MSNBC reports More»