McCain to NYT: Don't Mess With the Missus

13 rides pack McCains' garages, including 2 Jeeps, a pickup, Caddie and foreign cars

(NEWSER) - The McCains own almost twice as many cars as they do houses, and a few members of the fleet are foreign—despite John McCain’s recent assurances to Detroit that "I've bought American literally all my life.” Thirteen cars are registered to John and Cindy McCain, Newsweek discovered in a search of public records.The number of vehicles registered to Barack and Michelle Obama? One. More»

AK gov. steals Dems' after-glow; could attract indy, Hillary voters

(NEWSER) - John McCain turned heads by choosing Sarah Palin today as his running mate, and the Weekly Standard explains why she’s the right woman for the job.

• Democrats just wrapped their glitzy convention, but the Sunday talk shows will be abuzz with Palin chatter.
• The mother of five softens McCain’s “crotchety” image and revives his reputation as “fly-boy and gambler."

Campaign takes issue with divided-country thesis

(NEWSER) - The Obama campaign has fired back at a front-page New York Times story, which concludes from a poll today that the Dem isn’t healing racial division. The campaign uses stats from the paper's own survey, Talking Points Memo reports. The article “ignores…some straightforward points from their data,” an Obama memo charges. Perhaps chief among them, “More white voters say Obama cares about people like them, than say the same thing about McCain." More»

Pundit advises the wannabes on how to play it cool

(NEWSER) - Dear wannabe running mates, here’s how to campaign for the No. 2 job, per Mark Halperin in Time: DO:

• Prove you can be an attack dog while maintaining “eloquence.”
• Suck up to Michelle/Cindy. They’ll have the final say before the final say.
• Notify the campaign of every appearance you plan to make.
• Prove you’ve got something the future nominee needs.

Details of Jodi Kantor book continue behind-the-scenes look

(NEWSER) - Details from The Obamas, by New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor, continue to trickle out , and ABC News reports on revelations of a personal nature. According to Kantor, Michelle Obama felt "frightened and alone" during her first days in the White House. The first lady wanted to stay behind longer in Chicago with her two girls, and worried about living in a bubble and her daughters bumping into White House tourists during playdates. And the pressure was enormous. "She saw the responsibility, the impact, the potential of her role,” writes Kantor. And "everyone was waiting for a black woman to make a mistake,” an adviser told the author. More»