McCain and Obama on Iraq

(Newser) - Race has once again crept into the presidential race this week, and Barack Obama did his best to ignore it, the New York Times reports. John McCain’s campaign accused Obama of “playing the race card…from the bottom of the deck” when the Dem said McCain might attack him because he “doesn’t look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.” But Obama resisted retaliating, trying to prevent a racial firefight. More »

(Newser) - A new Obama campaign memo obtained by Time documents Republican disapproval of the McCain camp’s recent tactics. Some highlights: Pat Buchanan on the commercial juxtaposing Obama, Britney Spears, and Paris Hilton: "Look, this is not an effective ad.” Ed Rollins: “John needs to be the deliberate, experienced veteran and not the grumpy old man.” More »

(Newser) - No matter how long the 2008 campaign drags on, we'll never see Barack Obama as we did Bill Clinton in 1992: drenched in sweat and jogging into a McDonald's. Obama's fit—skinny, even—and a bit of a gym rat. The Wall Street Journal takes a look at the notion of presidential fitness and wonders if the typical American might find a "beanpole guy," as one voter described him, a little alienating. More »

(Newser) - Barack Obama unvield an "emergency" plan for the economy today that includes $1,000 rebates for families or $500 for individuals to defray rising energy costs, Politico reports. The money would come in part from "windfall profits from Big Oil," the campaign says. Obama would pump another $50 billion into state governments and the national infrastructure to repair roads, bridges, and schools. More »

(Newser) - John McCain’s policy cupboards are unusually bare for a presidential candidate, while his rival’s are unusually well stocked, Politico reports. McCain, for example, describes Social Security as "an absolute disgrace" but offers scant details for reforming it. "He has not offered very much in specifics that I have seen," said a budget analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation. More »

(Newser) - Ohio is the ultimate swing state: Since 1960 no president has been elected without winning its electoral votes, and in 2004, by the narrowest of margins, it delivered George W. Bush a second term. But this time around, Democrats are confident of their chances, the Economist reports. The state party has been rejuvenated after a long spell in the political wilderness. More »

(Newser) - Tinseltown is ticked over John McCain’s recent ad likening Barack Obama to Britney Spears—and to Paris Hilton, whose parents have donated the maximum to the senator's campaign. The problem isn't just looking ungrateful, reports the LA Times, but the fine distinction between a mere “celebrity” and a "rock star" like Obama. More »