Today's Gallup poll,  see the site, shows Obama at 48% and McCain at 42%. UPDATED

The thought of McCain trying to appeal to young people just makes me laugh hard.

This is the technology age and a technology election.
Youtube is not John McCain's friend.
Nor is the actual record of McCain.

I want to float something so obvious that it is probably already in place.
Even the existence of the remotest possibility that this isn't in place makes me want to put the thought out here.

I do in fact suck at photoshop.  So this is my lame attempt.  

Here is my snarky compilation of people who used to play mavericks.  

And although this doesn't quite meet the requirements of a diary, I didn't want to hijack someone else's.  

The Associated Press in an "analysis" piece where no analysis was actually conducted, proceded to blast Barack Obama for alleged "centrist positioning" that "gives the GOP ammo" to make the flip-flopping charge that undermined Kerry four years ago.

Here's the laundry list of supposed flip-flops:

Rumors are flying around the blogosphere about Obama possibly moving his DNC acceptance speech from the Pepsi Center to 78,000 seat Invesco Field.  Now there's word out that John McCain may be looking to move his RNC acceptance speech from the 19,000 seat Target Center to the Academy of Holy Angels, one of the finest christian high schools in the Twin Cities metro area.

What if, rather than just thinking about how a VP candidate balances a Presidential candidate's policy and experience, we paid more attention to how the candidates balance each other in their campaign roles?

The way I see it, a political campaign seems to be a lot like a ship: we have an engine (enthusiasm/motivation), a rudder (campaign and policy directives), a keel (respect and experience), the wind and sea currents (media coverage and public sentiment) and the occasional storms (scandals). In the case of the McCain campaign this year, we also have a serious boat anchor (the Bush legacy).

"The Change You Deserve"  Talk about the opposite, wow.  These clever slogans always sound great, and then deliver the opposite of what they present.
What about the opposite of the opposite bumper sticker?

I think this photo--the infamous McCain/Bush hug [see link below]-- is all that is needed to defeat John McCain in November. I would like to see it on posters everywhere.

I am looking for imaginative captions, so please feel free to blog your suggestions.

http://politicalhumor.about.com/...

This presidential campaign will sadly end up like so many others, decided by simplistic imagery and labels rather than an analysis of what the alternatives have to offer in the way of polices and likely actions.

The Obama campaign should make good use of this kind of imagery as it says in one photo so much about the McCain sell-out of his stated positions of principle.

There has been a lot of talk recently about patriotism -- what it is, who has it, etc.  I feel like a lot of it is self-serving and destructive and I just wanted to add my voice.

Friday's opinion page features at least two items of note.

Also in the A section, a well done piece on why the GOP has had to shift gears in dealing with the Obama campaign.

It does indeed seem we're seeing a shift in campaign coverage. On the part of, at least, NYT.

Its amazing to me how little commentary there has been on McCain's brief visit to Colombia.  

During the day of the visit people were trying to make sense of why McCain would go to Colombia, a country that rarely grasps the imagination or stokes the emotions of the American public, in the middle of the Presidential campaign in which the main issues have little to do with South American policy.

And then of course there ended up being a stunning hostage rescue operation that afternoon that transfixed Colombia and that was ready to be sold in a nice anti-terrorism package on American evening news with none other than John McCain in a guest-starring role.

What a coincidence!

They really detest this man.

This man who is the Republican candidate for President of the United States.

McCain followed the Times' strategy to a T. He called Jerry Falwell an "agent of intolerance." He called the Swift Boat Veterans "dishonest and dishonorable." He has denounced every Christian minister who tries to endorse him. Over the years, McCain has ostentatiously attacked every issue of importance to conservatives and embraced every crackpot liberal idea, including the left's latest plan to exterminate the human race, called "global warming."

yahoo

"Obama Softens on Iraq Withdrawal Timeline"

That’s the headline on the Washington Post website front page right now. The piece that follows could actually be headlined:

"Obama utterly unwavering on Iraq Withdrawal Timeline"

It’s actually a Johnathan Wiesman post that was filed earlier this afternoon from inside the touring Obama campaign bubble. Of course Wiesman didn’t report anything even close to backing up the outrageous headline that was likely composed by WaPo’s editorial staff back in DC. Here’s the lede of the actual post:

By Jwilkes from Eyes on Obama:

McCain's history of less-than-diplomatic behavior on the international scene is well-documented and alarming. This isn ’t a partisan issue. Had Reagan grabbed and accosted a Soviet diplomat at the height of the Cold War, there’s a good chance it wouldn’t have stayed cold.

Short diary, but I wanted to pass on the latest GA poll.  It's an Insiders Advantage poll and shows:
McCain   46
Obama   44
Barr        4

http://www.southernpoliticalreport.c...

The poll is of likely voters and was taken by telephone yesterday, July 2.  Georgia is the 9th largest prize for EV's, with 15.    

Along with today's Montana poll, it seems Obama is doing quite well in very different red states -- both west and south.      

" How I vote is based on whether the candidate is for or against life, period," Strang said.

Let's resist the temptation to have some fun with the name of the person who made the statement.

There are some who may tend to be single issue voters that Obama would like to win over (at least some of them). And No, I'm not talking about the single issue FISA Daily Kos voter, give me no FISA or give me McCain voter.

Why Bush and McCain let Osama bin Laden Escape

The answer is clear. Read on.