Bush positively spins weak economic data

by Mark Silva

Andrea Mitchell of NBC News and Rick Davis of the McCain campaign mixed it up on the air today on questions of "playing the race card'' and accusing people of being celebrities.

Mitchell played tape of Obama at a campaign rally: "Nobody really thinks that Bush or McCain have a real answer for the challenges we face.... so what they're going to try to do is make you scared, of me....'You know, he's not patriotic enough. He's got a funny name. He doesn't look like all those other presidents on those dollar bills.'''

And she replayed Davis's own words for the manager of the McCain campaign: "Obama has played the race card and he played it from the bottom of the deck.''

"He said the same thing three different times in Missouri,'' Davis told Mitchell, in a lengthy telephone conservation broadcast on MSBNC. "He is claiming that what we're doing somehow has racial overtones... To be honest, I don't know how else you explain the quote that you just played other than that to believe that somehow Barack Obama was calling something we had done racist..''

So what about those ads that the McCain campaign is airing comparing the celebrity status of Obama to that of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton?

"What we did is we looked at three of the top celebrities of our time,'' Davis told Mitchell. "And if you look at the campaign that Barack Obama has waged, you'd have to say that he has become one of the global celebrities of our time... The reality is that he is a celebrity... I don't think anybody would deny that fact and I think you can compare him to two other people with global name recognition and a great fan base.

"I don't know if Brittany Spears could get 200,000 fans in Germany,'' he added.
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"Celebrity in this day and age has a tabloid, pejorative connotation,'' Mitchell suggested. "You're missing the important part of this,'' Davis replied. "Just because he's a great celebrity, doesn't mean he's ready to lead the country.''

How did this campaign get so negative, "so off-track,'' Mitchell asked of one candidate, McCain, who had been through a brutal campaign in 2000 and vowed never to do that again, and another, Obama, "new paradigm in American politics'' - basically, she suggested, two guys who have promised better.

"Every single day that Barack Obama has been out on the campaign trail he has attacked and attacked and attacked John McCain,'' Davis said

Has the whole tone of the campaign gone too negative?

"I think that's a lot of hyperactivity on the part of the media,'' Davis said. "We are running ads that we think attract attention to the issue that Americans care about.'' He also suggested this: "There's nothing more personal than a presidential campaign.''

For more on this exchange, see the video above, and see the full transcript that MSNBC has provided of Andrea Mitchell's interview of Rick Davis.

by John McCormick

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe charged today that Sen. John McCain's Straight Talk Express has taken a "nasty turn into the gutter" with a new ad that features pop stars Britney Spears and Paris Hilton.

Noting that McCain said he is "proud" of the campaign he is running for the presidency during a stop today in Racine, Wis., Plouffe added that he believes the Arizona senator ran into a "ravine in Racine."

"It seems like we hit another low note every day from this campaign," Plouffe said on a conference call with reporters, later adding, "This is not the John McCain voters thought they were going to be seeing in this presidential campaign."

The conference call was pegged to the release of yet another campaign web site. This one, called "Low Road Express," is sponsored by Obama's campaign and claims a mission of documenting and fact-checking McCain attacks.

Plouffe said McCain's campaign is using Republican operative Karl Rove's playbook, but has taken it to a "further extreme." He was joined on the call by Susan Eisenhower, a lifelong Republican and granddaughter of the former president.

"I don't think that these kinds of comments and innuendoes have any place in a presidential campaign of this importance," she said. "I also think that ordinary voters are tired of the kind of swift-boating attempt to bring out the negative side of -- the twisted ways -- that they can create negativity about people."

Eisenhower praised McCain, but suggested that he is acting in a desperate way.

by Rick Pearson

RACINE, Wis.--Countering criticism that his campaign has spiraled into negativity, Republican John McCain said Thursday he was "proud" of how he has run for the presidency while a top aide accused Democratic rival Barack Obama of injecting race into the contest.

Attending a town-hall meeting at the Memorial building of Racine's Civic Centre along Lake Michigan, McCain also defended running an ad mocking Obama's visit to Germany as akin to the celebrity worship that should be accorded to Brittany Spears and Paris Hilton.

"I admire his campaign," McCain said of Obama, "but what we are talking about here is substance and not style and what we're talking about is who has an agenda for the future of America."

Asked by an audience member whether the commercial and other hard criticisms of Obama were an abandonment of his promise to run a high-minded campaign, McCain said, "Campaigns are tough, but I'm proud of the campaign that we have run.

"I'm proud of the issues that we have been trying to address with the American people," the Arizona Republican told an audience of several hundred people. "All I can say is that we're proud of that commercial. We think Americans need to know that I believe that we should base this campaign on what we can do for Americans here at home and how we can make America stay prosperous and that's the theme of our campaign."

by John McCormick

On Day 2 of the saga involving Britney, Paris, John and Barack, Sen. Obama had a response ready for a new ad being run by Sen. McCain that features the two female pop stars.

"You'd think that we'd be having a serious debate," Obama told a midday audience in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he met earlier today with flooding victims.

"But, so far, all we've been hearing about is Paris Hilton and Britney Spears," he said. "I mean, I do have to ask my opponent: Is that the best you can come up with? Is that really what this election is about? Is that what is worthy of the American people?"

The crowd laughed and then responded with a "no."

The Illinois Democrat said McCain has not lived up to his campaign's pledge.

"Sen. John McCain, who started off talking about running an honorable campaign, has fallen back into the predictable political attacks, the demonstrably false statements," he said.

Obama ended his appearance with remarks similar to some he used a day earlier in Missouri, except he left out a reference to him not looking like "all those other presidents on those dollar bills," a phrase McCain's camp charges amounts to playing the race card.

"When you hear my opponent say, 'well, he's too risky'...what they're really doing, you know, what they're saying is, 'You know what, we know we don't have any good ideas, but you should be worried about him.' That's what they're trying to make this election about," Obama said. "And all I want you just to remember is this. Think about it. What is riskier? Taking a chance on change, or doing the same things that got us into this mess in the first place? That's a risk we cannot afford to take."

(Photo at left by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images. At right, AP Photo/Dan Steinberg)

by Rick Pearson

RACINE, Wis.--Presumptive Republican nominee John McCain's campaign accused Democratic rival Barack Obama of injecting "the race card" into the presidential contest on Thursday, further spiraling the negativity over the fight for the White House.

With the Arizona senator campaigning in Wisconsin, McCain campaign manager Rick Davis, accused Obama, an African-American senator from Illinois, of bringing race into the contest during comments the Democrat made during visits on Wednesday in Missouri.

"Barack Obama has played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck. It's divisive, negative, shameful and wrong," Davis said in a statement.

Specifically, McCain's campaign cited remarks that Obama made in which he accused the Republicans of trying to make the public "scared" and portray him as "risky."

"You know, he's not patriotic enough," Obama said, according to a transcript cited by the McCain camp. "He's got a funny name. You know, he doesn't look like all those other presidents on those dollar bills, you know. He's risky. That's essentially the argument they're making."

The McCain campaign has ratcheted up the heat of the campaign in recent days through an intensifying rhetoric and TV ads critical criticizing Obama and likening him to a celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Brittany Spears, prompting the Democrat to ridicule McCain's effort and question whether that's all the Republican have to offer.

by Amanda Erickson

Busted.

That must be how the 142 Illinois residents who may have paid an Internet-based diploma mill for 'proof' they graduated from high school or college must feel.

Their names were found on a list, released earlier this week by the Spokane Spokesman Review, that was compiled after an eight-month investigation by Washington State into an international forgery operation. The organization, which produced more than 9,000 degrees, earned $6 million between 1999 to 2005, the Washington Post reports.

The millers have already been convicted and are awaiting jail sentences. Meanwhile, the federal government will be reviewing the list and investigating any employees who appear.

See the full list here and the Washington Post's story here.

by James Oliphant

A Washington, D.C. federal judge ruled Thursday that members of the administration do not enjoy absolute immunity from the reach of congressional subpoenas.

This is an answer to a legal conundrum that has been developing for a long time, as the Democratic Congress has pushed for answers from the White House over the U.S attorney scandal, detainee interrogation methods and more.

But U.S. District Court Judge John Bates gave the matter some clarity today, saying that former White House counsel Harriet Miers and Bush chief of staff Joshua Bolten could not refuse to testify in response to congressional requests.

The White House had argued that staffers like Miers and Bolten were immune from congressional process. But Bates, in a 93-page ruling, said there was no legal foundation for that claim.

The White House position "is without any support in case law," Bates wrote, adding that the contention that "Miers is absolutely immune from compelled congressional process" is "unprecedented."

But the ruling was only a partial victory for Congress.

While ruling that Bolten and Miers had to testify, Bates said they were free to invoke executive privilege during that testimony for matters in which the privilege could apply. Meaning that it is likely if the two do appear, the matter will end up right back in front of Bates.

The administration is also expected to appeal to the federal appeals court in Washington, which will likely drag the case out past the end of this session of Congress. That would render the subpoenas moot.

Bates was appointed to the bench by President Bush in 2001. He is also a member of the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

by Sabrina Fang

by Mark Silva

Comic Stephen Colbert, making light of the indictment of Alaska's Sen. Ted Stevens this week, made even lighter of the comparative media coverage of it.

Picking up a copy of The Washington Post , Colbert complained in mock outrage: "'Look at their headline... 'Sen. Stevens indicted on seven corruption counts...' Classic liberal hit-job, printing the facts of a federal indictment.''

"Thank God for Rupert Murdoch and the objective journalists at the New York Post,'' said Colbert, on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report last night. "They put the Stevens story where it belongs, in the bottom corner of Page 17. "Alaska sen. indicted.'''

"Instead, the Post dedicated their cover to this breaking news,'' he said, hoisting the Post's front-page photo of a fat cat and the Ian Fleming-inspired headline: 'Pussy Galore...' "It's the breaking story of a 44 pound cat from New Jersey.''

"Yes, Stevens is the longest sitting (Republican, Stephen) senator and could be facing jail time,'' Colbert concluded, ''But this cat is enormous.''

by James Oliphant

Proponents of a bill that would help journalists protect confidential sources failed Wednesday to muster enough votes to move the legislation forward for a vote.

Supports still hope the move the bill, which has bipartisan support, by the end of the year. A compromise piece of legislation brokered by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) appears to have enough support to pass, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The bill fell victim to election-year politics. Republicans have vowed to block any legislation that doesn't address the nation's growing energy crisis, but neither party has been able to agree on a compromise energy bill. Wednesday, only five Republicans voted to cut off debate on the shield law, including the bill's sponsor, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.)

Schumer's compromise attempts to address Justice Department concerns about reporters who work with sources who divulge sensitive information pertaining to national security. Many of the recent flashpoints between the government and media have occurred in this context, including the leaking of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity and the dissemination of information from government sources that suggested former Los Alamos scientist Wen Ho Lee was a spy.

Large media organizations are overwhelmingly in support of the bill, which would create a qualified privilege if a journalist is presented with a subpoena asking for his sources.

This entry was also posted at Writ Large, the Tribune's new legal-affairs blog. Check out what else is there.

by Mike Dorning

Some conservative bloggers have been circulating claims that a warm-up concert by a German band may have been partly responsible for the more than 200,000 people Berlin police estimated attended a Barack Obama rally in their city. But for those present, it was clear that the crowd was inordinately excited by the appearance of the American presidential candidate.

From the media area next to the main platform, there were no visible signs that people were leaving after the band performed but before Obama spoke. As Obama walked onto the platform, cries rose from the crowd of "Yes, we can," his campaign slogan.

A handful of people in the crowd interviewed afterward expressed enthusiasm for Obama. None mentioned the warm-up band, Reamonn.

"I wondered: Is it true that he wants to travel the world, get to know the people and talk to them, even though we cannot vote?" said Max Zaher, 32, of Berlin, who came to the speech with his girlfriend. "It is true. I felt kind of [like] he was talking to me and not the cameras."

"I have big expectations and hope he will be changing lots," said Jorinde Kniper, 27, a Dutch-French woman living in Berlin who came to the speech with her German husband and their 3-year-old daughter, Riocha.

There were other signs of high interest in Obama as he made his way through Berlin. Crowds gathered behind barricades in the front and rear of the Democrat's hotel, apparently in hopes of catching a glimpse of him.

Gov. Sarah Palin speaks to reporters regarding the indictment of U.S. Sen Ted Stevens in her Capitol office in Juneau, Alaska Tuesday July 29, 2008. (AP Photo/Juneau Empire, Brian Wallace)

by Frank James

Among the names mentioned as potential vice presidential picks for Sen. John McCain has been Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the telegenic 44-year old mother of five.

Paiin, who earned the nickname "Sarah Barracuda" for her intensity as a high-school basketball player, a sobriquet some political opponents have kept alive, won election in 2006 as a reformer and was quickly seen as a rising star in Republican political circles. There was even a "Draft Sarah Palin for Vice President" movement or, at the very least, a website.

Palin has some awesome popularity ratings with Alaskan voters, something above 80 percent.

But now Palin is also caught up in a probe of her official conduct that probably nixes whatever long-shot chance she had to be on the McCain ticket. After all, she's only been a governor for two years.

Questions have arisen over whether Palin used her office to try and fire her ex brother-in-law from a state trooper's position. Palin asserts the charge is untrue but the Alaska Senate this week approved the hiring of an independent investigator to look into the charges.

Palin can take comfort in not having been implicated in the federal corruption investigation that has led to the indictment and conviction of some Alaskan politicians, like Sen. Ted Stevens who was indicted earlier this week.

Indeed, Palin made her reputation in Alaska by combating ethically challenged colleagues which didn't make her popular with her colleagues but did lead to the resignation of an Alaskan attorney general whose conflict-of-interest problems she helped to spotlight.

by Frank James

More evidence that Sen. John McCain is giving fits to many conservatives, like those who comprise The Wall Street Journal's editorial board: they're asking aloud if he's stupid.

What triggered this question? Recent comments by the Republican presidential candidate himself.

Daniel Henninger, the Journal's Wonder Land columnist, points to a few recent examples where McCain said things that were contradictory, that seemed illogical or not helpful to his party's chances:

Here's a snippet:

Is John McCain losing it?

What I'm asking is, does John McCain have the mental focus, the intellectual discipline, to avoid being out-slicked by Barack Obama, if he isn't abandoned by his own voters?

The point is obvious: McCain is giving many conservatives the blues.

by Jill Zuckman and updated

With a new television spot comparing Barack Obama to bubble-gum celebrities Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, John McCain is launching a new campaign aimed at portraying Obama as an international star without the heft necessary to become the American commander in chief.

A 30-second television ad that hit the airwaves Wednesday calls Obama "the biggest celebrity in the world," then asks ominously, "Is he ready to lead?"

McCain's strategy is to leverage the enthusiastic crowds and personal charisma that have created excitement around Obama's campaign and use this celebrity to raise questions about Obama's depth. Framing Obama this way also allows the McCain campaign to highlight what some view as Obama's presumptuousness and inability to relate to ordinary people.

Over the past week, McCain has begun sharpening his message against Obama. He suggested that Obama would be willing to lose the Iraq War in order to win the election. He ran a television ad blaming Obama for high gas prices and criticized him for skipping a meeting with injured U.S. troops in Germany because he couldn't bring television cameras along.

All of these charges were hotly disputed by the Obama campaign, and all have been criticized by independent fact-checking organizations. "Sen. McCain is an honorable man who is increasingly running a dishonorable campaign," said Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor. "He said he wanted a civil campaign about the issues. I think a lot of people are wondering what happened to him."

The harsher attacks create some risk for McCain, analysts said, because he may come off as overly negative. But McCain appears to be gambling that the public's image of him is firmly set and that its doubts mostly relate to Obama, who has been on the national stage a much shorter time.

But even some Republicans question the tenor of the critiques. "The point of this campaign is not about personalities, it's about the contrast on the issues," said David Winston, a Republican pollster. "Where's McCain on taxes, where's Obama on taxes? That's a good contrast for McCain. If he focuses on the personality side, he's not arguing from his strong suit."

Jill Zuckman writes for the Chicago Tribune. Read the full story about the Obama celebrity ad at ChicagoTribune.com.

by Mark Silva

President Bush, proclaiming "a degree of durability'' in security gains made in Iraq, today asserted that progress is being made toward his stated policy of "a return on success.''

The five Army brigades and three Marine units that Bush deployed for a "surge'' of forces in Iraq last year have returned, Bush said today, and the military will soon make decisions about further returns "as conditions permit.''

The Bush administration and government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki have been negotiating and had hoped to agree by today on the framework of a longer-term agreement on security - including deployment of U.S. forces there. But, in the absence of an accord, Bush stepped out this morning to assert that "progress" is being made.

"This has been a month of encouraging news from Iraq,'' Bush said, making a statement to reporters at the colonnade of the White House grounds before leaving for a weekend at his father's family compound at Kennebunkport, Me. "Violence is down from its lowest level since the spring of 2004.''

"Gen. Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker report that the progress is still reversible,'' the president said, but there "appears to be a degree of durability'' in that progress. A "significant reason for this sustained progress is the success of the surge,'' he said, "and increased capability of Iraqi forces.

by Richard B. Schmitt

Congress has been awash in corruption scandals, the latest being the indictment of long-serving Republican Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, but prospects for legislation to make questionable practices like Stevens' alleged acceptance of gifts illegal in their own right appear grim.

A year after a bipartisan group of senators proposed giving the Justice Department important new clout in pursuing official misconduct, the Public Corruption Prosecution Improvements Act is apparently blocked in Congress.

The legislation is aimed at stanching the stream of perks that lobbyists and companies give to members of Congress that fall short of outright bribes by making it a felony for lawmakers to accept gifts valued above those permitted by Senate rules and that are given to them because of their official status and access to power.

It would appear to cover the sort of gifts that Stevens stands accused of getting from a powerful oil industry figure in Alaska -- more than $250,000 in improvements to his home near Anchorage and gifts including a Viking gas grill and a Land Rover, according to an indictment handed down Tuesday by a federal grand jury in Washington.

Stevens is scheduled to make his first appearance in the case today in federal court in Washington.

Richard B. Schmitt writes for the Los Angeles Times. Read the full story about anti-corruption legislation at latimes.com.