Election 2008

John McCain has already unveiled his campaign plan over the past few weeks, Michael Scherer reports in Time . Here's how it looks on paper: Pull Obama off his pedestal. Mac is not “blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save my country," he has said—unlike, no doubt, a certain someone. More »

Hillary Clinton and her supporters are canvassing heavily in West Virginia despite a 20-point lead and little competition, the Baltimore Sun reports. “We are all pretty inspired,” said one Clintonite on the eve of the state's primary. But Clinton and her family were the only politicos stumping across the Mountain State today: Barack Obama was MIA. More »

The long-tern effect of John Edwards’ early exit is that Barack Obama will wrap up the nomination by early June, a grateful Steve Kornacki writes in the New York Observer . A  slower withdrawal would have spelled trouble for the Democrats, who are having enough trouble making up their minds. "Imagine the comparative mess Democrats might be in if Edwards had opted to stick around," says Kornacki, who dissects the numbers. More »

John McCain might trumpet his climate-change bona fides—and voters might be giving him credit—but the Republican candidate's true green colors are far more mixed, the Washington Post finds in a look at how he treats environmental issues. McCain wants a federal limit on greenhouse-gas emissions, but voted against higher fuel-efficiency standards and requiring public utilities to boost output from renewable sources. More »

With Hillary Clinton’s chances of beating her rival all but shot, Ben Smith, on Politico, runs down the graceful and non-graceful ways to exit: Never say die: If Clinton can stomach shrinking coffers and departing supporters, she can bide time until the convention, ensuring that lightning hasn’t struck Barack Obama before she concedes. More »

Bob Barr is running for president as a Libertarian, the former Republican congressman announced today. Once a conservative superstar who headed the impeachment crusade against Bill Clinton, Barr grew into a vocal Bush critic, and left the GOP in 2006. Barr says America wants a choice outside the two parties—and he could be a Nader-esque problem for John McCain, CNN notes. More »

One of the strongest voices in Barack Obama's camp is that of longtime friend and confidante Valerie Jarrett, the Wall Street Journal writes. The woman who was once Michelle Obama's boss is now "practically a sister" to the couple, and her political savvy has proved invaluable to Obama's campaign—though Jarrett is hardly likely to make such a spotlight-grabbing claim herself. More »

To stoke interest in cutthroat election coverage, cable news networks and other outlets are recruiting political strategists with credentials and big-time party connections, the New York Times reports. One of the newest pundits? None other than Karl Rove, now an analyst for Fox News and contributor to Newsweek and the Wall Street Journal. A Newsweek editor said he hired Rove in part to “responsibly provoke.” More »

John McCain is prepping for a smear campaign this summer while camp Obama, ever cool and controlled, awaits the first strike. "It's going to be Swift Boat times five on both sides," said one McCain adviser who expects Obama to return fire. McCain's challenge is to hit above the belt and not seem racist, while Obama needs to react fast without sparking endless fights, Newsweek reports. More »

Though he hasn’t yet clinched the nomination, Barack Obama indicated yesterday he was eager to campaign with John McCain and to hold joint town hall meetings with his Republican rival in the run-up to the election, Reuters reports. “I think that's a great idea," said Obama, referring to joint appearances. "Should I be the nominee, if I have the opportunity to debate substantive issues with John McCain, that's something I'm going to welcome.” More »

While Democrats sparkle in the media glare, the Republican Party is quietly crumbling off-stage, Politico reports. President Bush’s numbers are lower than Richard Nixon’s before he resigned, and the GOP is losing House seats that it has held for 20 or 30 years. “The anti-Republican mood is fairly big, and it has been overwhelming,” said Michigan's GOP chairman. More »

“Since McCain and Obama appear to have the nominations locked up,” it's time to start eyeing the veepstakes, Chris Cillizza writes in The Fix blog. Here are his top three for each presumptive nominee, GOP first: Tim Pawlenty: The Minnesota governor is a longtime McCain backer, and widely admired. John Thune: A handsome conservative who also beat then-senator Tom Daschle 4 years ago. Rob Portman: From Ohio, a crack economist, and not well-known—which could actually be a good thing. More »

With Barack Obama and John McCain continuing to roll out bipartisan rhetoric, this election may soon see the return of the political center, the Wall Street Journal reports. More voters are also registering as independents, and Internet donations from ordinary citizens make pols less beholden to special interests on the right or left. More »

Nobody knows what Hillary Clinton will do if she's not the Democratic nominee, but Politico's John F. Harris and Jonathan Martin list five reasons she shouldn't be Barack Obama’s VP: Clinton’s rep as a Washington insider will undercut Obama’s cool factor. Who says Clinton would take the job anyway? Her pride and contempt for Obama’s readiness may make a post as Senate Majority Leader seem more attractive. More »

Barack Obama would be wise to put Hillary Clinton on his ticket, write John F. Martin and Jonathan Harris in Politico. Here's why: Obama has no choice. He needs Clinton’s Catholic and blue-collar supporters, and he’ll be pressured to include her for the party’s sake. He may dislike Clinton, but that’s irrelevant. Picking her will show he really can overcome divisions and be a true uniter. More »

An informal Mideast policy adviser to the Barack Obama campaign has severed ties after critics made an issue of  meetings the adviser had with Hamas, the Times of London reports. The Obama campaign stressed that Robert Malley never had a formal role with them; Malley made it clear that his meetings with Hamas were part of his job with a conflict prevention group and had no connection to Obama. More »

Ted Kennedy vetoed a spot for Hillary Clinton on the Barack Obama ticket, saying their fellow senator needs a running mate “in tune with his appeal for the nobler aspirations of the American people.” He laughed off suggestions of a dream ticket, Politico reports, saying, “I don’t think it’s possible”—and following up, “If we had real leadership … in the No. 2 spot … it’d be enormously helpful.” More »

Hillary Clinton’s tactics have been especially divisive in the last few days, and Katharine Q. Seelye writes in the Times that maybe she’s “veering into dangerous territory” to force her rival to bargain. Some suggestions on what she wants from him: More »

Barack Obama today moved ahead of Hillary Clinton among superdelegates for the first time. Obama picked up nine more by midday—one a defector from Clinton's camp, the Los Angeles Times reports. Both ABC and the New York Times put him ahead—the latter's count is 266-263—meaning he now leads in pledged delegates, states won, popular votes, money raised, and superdelegates. More »

Two actors from TV’s “West Wing” say John McCain did indeed claim at a party that he didn't vote for George Bush in 2000. The candidate angrily denied the charge when Arianna Huffington made it earlier this week, but now Bradley Whitford and Richard Schiff are adding their voices to the mix. Days before Bush’s first inauguration, they say, the senator told a group of Hollywood liberals he’d bucked the GOP, the Washington Post reports. More »