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YOU have to feel for John McCain. When he saw the clip of Barack Obama effortlessly sinking a three-point shot in front of the troops in Kuwait, he must've felt like Tiger Woods' opponent at this year's US Open who blurted: "I'm playing against a monster." The Politico reported that, even halfway around the world, "the Obama campaign machine appears as sprawling and seamless as it is on its home turf." Back home, McCain's team sputters along.

Republican John McCain is tightening the presidential race against Democratic rival Barack Obama in four key states, according to polls released Thursday.

(Second part of a three-part series) Here are more reasons to vote against Barack Obama. This part and the first part of the series, which ran on Thursday, can be found on The Bulletin's Web site at www.thebulletin.us. * This different kind of politician is different in still another way besides changing his mind on issues faster than any other politician in history. He doesn't want to be criticized, and doesn't respond to it. When criticized for associating with an anti-American, racist pastor or an unrepentant terrorist, he tries to fob that all off by saying that's the old politics....

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain is likely to announce his running mate before the media spotlight shifts to the Olympic Games in China next month. The Olympics begin on August 8, and McCain aides told The Washington Post the campaign is concerned that events in China — either athletic accomplishments or human rights protests — could divert attention from McCain’s vice presidential announcement if it doesn’t come before the Games begin. Traditionally, the running mate announcement is made in the days leading up to the GOP convention. But this year, the Democratic convention begins the day after the Olympics...

Among Republicans, Romney is the leading choice by far: 50% say they think he is the best running mate, and 47% think he will be picked by McCain. He is the top vote-getter among unaffiliated voters, too, with 34% expecting him to get the nod. Forty-four percent (44%) of likely McCain voters believe Romney is the best choice, with 45% sure he will be the one who is actually chosen for the vice presidential slot. Among all voters, 11% think another Republican presidential hopeful and former governor, Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, will be McCain’s pick. Ten percent (10%) say McCain...

Voters who have served in the U.S. military favor John McCain over Barack Obama by a 56% to 37% margin. This data, from a Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey, is based upon interviews with 3,000 Likely Voters, including 588 voters who have served in the military. Voters with no military service favor Obama 50% to 43%. The survey was conducted July 21-23 while Obama was on an overseas tour that included Afghanistan and Iraq. Overall, the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll showed Obama leading 48% to 45% (with leaners) over those three days.

He ventured forth to bring light to the world The anointed one's pilgrimage to the Holy Land is a miracle in action - and a blessing to all his faithful followers And it came to pass, in the eighth year of the reign of the evil Bush the Younger (The Ignorant), when the whole land from the Arabian desert to the shores of the Great Lakes had been laid barren, that a Child appeared in the wilderness...

MOSCOW - Russian strategic bombers may soon be deployed at airbases in Cuba, Venezuela and Algeria as a response to the U.S. missile shield in Europe and NATO's expansion, Russian daily Izvestia said on Thursday. Moscow has strongly opposed the possible deployment by the U.S. of 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and an accompanying tracking radar in the Czech RFepublic as a treat to its national security. Washington says the defenses are needed to deter a possible strike from Iran, or other "rogue" states...

"Too close to call." "Within the margin of error." "A statistical dead heat." If you've been following news coverage of the 2008 presidential election, you're probably familiar with these phrases. Media commentary on the presidential horserace, reflecting the results of a series of new national polls, has strained to make a case for a hotly contested election that is essentially up for grabs. Signs of Barack Obama's weaknesses allegedly abound. The huge generic Democratic Party advantage is not reflected in the McCain-Obama pairings in national polls. Why, according to the constant refrain, hasn't Obama put this election away? A large...

Barack Obama’s recent global tour may have been a media sensation abroad, but back home it was a punch line. “There was a huge reception for Barack Obama in the Middle East this past weekend,” quipped Jay Leno. “People were screaming, chasing him, hanging on his every word — and that was just the U.S. press corps.”

Fresh polls show that he has been unable to convert weeks of extensive media coverage into a widened lead. And some prominent Democrats whose support could boost his campaign are still not enthusiastic about his candidacy. Several new surveys show that Obama is in a tight race or even losing ground to Republican John McCain, both nationally and in two important swing states, Colorado and Minnesota. One new poll offered a possible explanation for his troubles: A minority of voters see Obama as a familiar figure with whom they can identify. Many voters still seem to be puzzling over who...

Americans should be outraged at the latest sweetheart deal in Washington. Congress will put U.S. taxpayers on the hook for potentially hundreds of billions of dollars to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It's a tribute to what these two institutions — which most Americans have never heard of — have bought with more than $170-million worth of lobbyists in the past decade. With combined obligations of roughly $5-trillion, the rapid failure of Fannie and Freddie would be a threat to mortgage markets and financial markets as a whole. Because of that threat, I support taking the unfortunate but...

The professional odds-makers favor Barack Obama two-to-one to win the election. It's no wonder. Americans overwhelmingly believe the country is on the wrong track. They can't stand the current Republican occupant of the White House. The economy is weak and shows little sign of getting significantly stronger before the election. The country is fighting an unpopular war. And Obama, as he reminds us every time he opens his mouth, is all about "change." So why hasn't Obama closed the deal? Most national polls show Obama ahead -- but by margins so thin it can hardly give comfort to the putative...

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." If Barack Obama, God forbid, is the one taking this oath on Jan. 20, does anyone seriously believe he will preserve, protect and defend the Constitution? It appears that his first loyalty is as citizen of the world. He has no problem whatsoever knocking our country.

WASHINGTON -- The housing and financial crisis convulsing the U.S. is powering a new wave of government regulation of business and the economy. Federal and state governments alike are increasingly hands-on in their effort to deal with failing businesses, plunging house prices, worthless mortgages and soaring energy prices. The steps add up to a major challenge to the movement toward deregulation that has defined American governance for much of the past quarter-century since the "Reagan Revolution" of the early 1980s. ... The U.S. has swung back and forth from a hands-on to hands-off regulatory approach over the past 230 years....

The original draft of John McCain’s speech at the Livestrong Summit Thursday evening made no mention of his own struggle with cancer. The text made a jab at Barack Obama, emphasized the need for improved health care and vowed to take on the tobacco industry — but excluded all references to the Arizona senator’s bout with melanoma.

Sen. John McCain will have his own international summit -- of a sort -- tomorrow when he meets with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama is the keynote speaker at a three-day seminar at the Aspen Institute in Colorado that will bring together scholars, teachers and others to explore Tibet's history and culture. McCain already had a speech scheduled in Denver, and will then fly to Aspen for a private meeting with the leader.

CONCORD – A federal judge dismissed Thursday a Nashua man's legal challenge that Republican presidential nominee-to-be Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., was ineligible because he was born in the Panama Canal Zone.

John McCain's vice presidential running mate selection should be put in perspective. In a presidential campaign, there are only a handful of occasions when a running mate has news value: the day of the announcement and the few days following; the nominee's convention speech debut; the joint kickoff rally; and the televised debate with the counterpart running mate. Otherwise, by mid-September John McCain's VP choice will be consigned to secondary media markets in critical electoral states, along with tours through solid red states for fund raising, party-building and local-candidate support. National television and cable networks will include the vice presidential...

I'm optimistic that in this election we are choosing between two good and uniquely qualified individuals seeking the job with a least a more inherent civility, let alone grasp of history, than we've experienced in the last eight years. This can only be a good thing. I like John McCain. I wouldn't walk across the street to shake George Bush's hand, but I'd walk a country mile, barefoot, to shake McCain's.

The McCain campaign is slamming Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., over a decision to cancel a visit with U.S. troops in Germany. The German magazine Der Spiegel is reporting online that Obama has “cancelled a planned short visit to the Rammstein and Landstuhl U.S. military bases in the southwest German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The visits were planned for Friday.” “Barack Obama will not be coming to us,” a spokesperson for the U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl told Der Spiegel. “I don't know why.” Obama senior adviser Robert Gibbs told ABC News in a statement, “During his trip as part of the...

Media sources such as CNN, and also several questionable academics have come out with a multi-pronged attack on John McCain's knowledge of the "Information Economy" this week. Amongst those is a media professor from American University named Steinhorn Comments By L. Steinhorn, Prof of Communications Steinhorn claims that McCain's funny syllogism of "A Google", his desire to avoid email, and lack of a MySpace webpage prove that McCain does not understand the Information Economy. He points to Barrack Obama's use of YouTube and MySpace to win over young voters as proof that he understands modern economics. This is false on...

Sen. John McCain pulled slightly ahead of Sen. Barack Obama in a new poll of likely Colorado voters, erasing a five-point lead the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee had a month ago. If the election were held today, 46 percent in Colorado would pick the Republican nominee versus 44 percent for Obama, according to the poll released today by Connecticut-based Quinnipiac University with the Wall Street Journal and Washingtonpost.com. Though the margin is a statistical tie, McCain has gained since June, according to the survey. Obama led in Colorado 49 percent to McCain's 44 percent a month ago. "Sen. Barack Obama's...

WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama has picked up support from nearly all the Hispanics who voted for his rival Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries, giving him a nearly 3-1 lead over John McCain, according to a new poll. Results of the Pew Hispanic Center survey show Obama with 66 percent of the Hispanic vote to McCain's 23 percent. The results represent a ''sharp reversal'' in Obama's fortunes from the primaries, when he lost the Latino vote to Clinton by nearly 2-1, prompting speculation that Hispanics were leery of voting for a black candidate, said Susan Minushkin, the center's deputy director....

As Barack Obama travels abroad, Americans seem to think most members of the media are in line with his message, according to the latest FOX News poll. Nearly 7/10 Americans (67%) say they believe most in the media want Obama to win the November election - while a scant 11 percent think the media are pulling for John McCain. ... When asked to rate the objectivity of media coverage of the campaigns, Americans feel Obama gets more of a positive spin by a better than 7-to-1 margin...

John McCain has gained ground on Barack Obama in Minnesota, while Sen. Norm Coleman is widening his lead over Democratic challenger Al Franken, according to a new poll. A Quinnipiac University poll released today found that Obama leads McCain 46 percent to 44 percent among the state's likely voters, a statistical tie. That tossup result is at odds with other recent polls showing Obama with an average lead of more than 5 percentage points. A Quinnipiac poll last month found a whopping 17 percentage-point Obama lead.

Here’s a quote from the “League of Democracies” speech by McCain back in June: "Since the dawn of our republic, Americans have believed our nation was created for a purpose. We were, as Alexander Hamilton said, a people of great destinies.' In the Revolution, the Civil War, in World Wars One and Two, and in the many struggles of the Cold War, our forebears met and overcame threats to our nation's survival and to our way of life. They believed they had a duty to serve a cause greater than their self-interest. They kept faith with the eternal principles of...

The 2008 presidential campaign promises to be one of the most memorable in United States history.

The first book to take a critical look about Barack Obama is hitting the streets in 11 days. * * * * *Talk about presumptuous. Not content to wait for the verdict of the voters, Senator Barack Obama, who is not even the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party yet, has already directed his aides to begin making transition plans for the first 10 years (ha ha) of the Obama administration, Marc Ambinder of the Atlantic reports. Ambinder quotes an Obama campaign official as saying: "Barack is well aware of the complexity and the organizational challenge involved in the...

Obama spends $5 mln to run ads during television coverage WASHINGTON, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has spent 5 million US dollars to run advertisements during U.S. television live coverage of the Beijing Olympic games, according to a news report on Thursday. The AdAge magazine report said that Obama's campaign ads would appear on the NBC network and its affiliated stations that are to broadcast the Olympic Games starting Aug. 8 in Beijing. It is the first significant network TV buy of any presidential candidate in at least 16 years, said the report. However, the Illinois...

Vanity Fair is not to be outdone by fellow Condé Nast publication The New Yorker in the arena of political parody. After The New Yorker's controversial cartoon satirizing views of Barack Obama and his wife, Vanity Fair has posted a cover online that pokes fun at rival presidential candidate John McCain. McCain is shown leaning on a walker with his head bandaged, bumping fists with his wife, Cindy. Cindy McCain is carrying an armful of painkillers, a sad portrait of George W. Bush hangs over the mantel and the constitution burns in the fireplace. Vanity Fair describes the cartoon by...

With less than six months to go before he would be sworn in as the nation’s 44th president, Sen. Barack Obama has directed his aides to begin planning for the transition. "Barack is well aware of the complexity and the organizational challenge involved in the transition process and he has tasked s small group to begin thinking through the process,” a senior campaign adviser said. “Barack has made his expectations clear about what he wants from such a process, how he wants it to move forward, and the establishment and execution of his timeline is proceeding apace.” Last month, the...

Who do you think would do a better job at building stronger international ties? McCain Obama

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. -- Supporters of John McCain here acknowledge that Democrat Barack Obama wins attention with his speaking style and charisma, but they say those qualities can't match the Republican candidate's stellar background. Some of those attending McCain's town-hall-style meeting Wednesday said the Arizona senator's biggest asset is his own life -- a military family, a quarter-century in Congress and the five-and-a-half years spent as an oft-tortured prisoner of war in Vietnam. "Anyone who can withstand what he did in Vietnam can certainly take the pressure of the presidency," said Joan Hendon, 67, a businesswoman from Lake Ariel, Pa. And...

Was watching ABC World News Tonight and a German interviewed called him his new "messiah".

Today we're launching a new feature called McCain Nation and we want you to be the first to know. McCain Nation is a powerful online tool, built exclusively for our supporters across the country to plan events to help spread John McCain's message. Through the McCain Nation online headquarters you can create events, upload and invite your contacts, send out invitations, get maps and directions, and much more. You can also search for events in your area and ask hosts to attend. Connecting with other McCain supporters on the ground is crucial to our grassroots strategy and will be...

Republican U.S. presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain has gained support in four key battleground states, polls indicate. McCain, R-Ariz., who likely will face Democrat Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois in November, leads Obama in Colorado, while narrowing the gap since June 26 in Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin, Quinnipiac University polls show. In Colorado, McCain leads Obama 46 percent to 44 percent. In Michigan, Obama leads McCain 46 percent to 42 percent, while in Minnesota Obama narrowly leads McCain 46 percent to 44 percent. In Wisconsin, Obama leads McCain 50 percent to 39 percent.

Batman may be the biggest comic book star of the summer, but he's about to get two new sidekicks on the magazine racks. Say hello to Barack Obama and John McCain, the candidate crusaders. IDW Publishing, the company behind the Transformers and Metal Gear Solid comics, will soon feature the White House hopefuls in a pair of graphic biographies: Presidential Material: Barack Obama and Presidential Material: John McCain. "We're tremendously proud of these books," says IDW president Ted Adams. "Comics and graphic novels speak to millions of people encompassing all demographic, social, cultural and economic stripes. It's a great way...

ARLINGTON, VA -- U.S. Senator John McCain's presidential campaign today announced that John McCain will speak at the 2008 American GI Forum of the United States National Convention on Friday, July 25th in Denver, Colorado.

"John McCain understands that high gas prices are squeezing family budgets and putting pressure on the small business, the job creating engine of the American economy. Senator McCain has proposed a comprehensive energy plan that will provide relief to American families through a gas tax holiday and will secure America's energy independence for the long-term through the development of alternative sources of energy and expanded oil exploration here at home." -- Taylor Griffin, McCain Spokesman Today, John McCain Will Talk With Local Small Business Owners About The Economic Challenges They Face And How We Can Create New Jobs In...

ARLINGTON, VA -- Today, McCain 2008 spokesman Tucker Bounds issued the following statement on Barack Obama's speech in Germany today: "While Barack Obama took a premature victory lap today in the heart of Berlin, proclaiming himself a 'citizen of the world,' John McCain continued to make his case to the American citizens who will decide this election. Barack Obama offered eloquent praise for this country, but the contrast is clear. John McCain has dedicated his life to serving, improving and protecting America. Barack Obama spent an afternoon talking about it." ###

John McCain is winning a paltry 23 percent of the Hispanic vote compared with 66 percent for Barack Obama, according to a large poll released Thursday by the Pew Hispanic Center. While Obama’s lead among Hispanics is not drastically ahead of where Democratic nominee John Kerry stood in the summer of 2004, McCain trails President Bush’s standing at this point four years ago. At that time, Pew found that Hispanics broke 62 percent for Kerry and 32 percent for Bush. Exit polls later found that Bush earned the support of about four in 10 Latino voters. That difference — from...

Sen. John McCain will visit with Michael Reagan this afternoon/evening, at 330pm Pacific/630pm Eastern. Michael has solicited questions for the Senator and will ask him about ANWR and the San Francisco Sanctuary Murders last week. Michael will demand that we cut funds to Sanctuary cities.

Editor’s Note: Newsmax Editor Christopher Ruddy is visiting Israel this week and met with Natan Sharansky. The former Soviet dissident spent more than a decade in the communist Gulag. He emigrated to Israel after his release in 1986, became a Knesset member and served in four successive Israeli governments, including time as deputy prime minister. In 2006, he resigned from Israel’s Knesset, but he remains active in the country’s political discourse. He has just authored his latest book “Defending Identity: Its Indispensable Role in Protecting Democracy.” Jerusalem — An Israeli businessman I met described Natan Sharansky as having an “inner...

John McCain is now winning among likely Colorado voters, helped by a surge of sentiment blaming Democrats for the soaring price of gas, new poll results show. The Quinnipiac University polls shows McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, the top choice among 46 percent of likely Colorado voters. Democrat Barack Obama is the top choice among 44 percent of likely voters. A month ago, Obama held a 49-44 percent lead over McCain in the same poll. And in the U.S. Senate race, Republican Bob Schaffer has closed the gap against Democrat Mark Udall. Udall was ahead a month ago by 10...

The first in a three part series on why to vote against Sen. Barack Obama and for Sen. John McCain. Will America elect an inexperienced Chicago machine politician, a radical, extremist, leftist, liberal, elitist, with no legislative or other accomplishments, who has demonstrated he is a world-class flip-flopping zigzagger? Will we go for someone with a painfully thin resume and body of experience, who has already demonstrated bad judgment by his selection of associates (racists, bigots, terrorists, and crooks) and by his output of ideas? This candidate is totally unfit to be our commander-in-chief and president in a time of...

If John McCain and his loyalists were hoping for something to brighten their day amid the blizzard of coverage of Barack Obama's foreign tour, they've gotten it with new poll results from four key states -- Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The survey by the Connecticut-based Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, conducted between July 14 and Tuesday, contains especially good news for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee in Colorado and Minnesota. In Colorado, the one state among the four that President Bush carried in 2004, the poll showed McCain ahead by 2 percentage points. That lead is within the poll's margin...

The significant news coverage Barack Obama is receiving on his foreign trip has not translated into a bounce in his numbers, a just-released FOX News poll shows. Obama now holds the slimmest possible edge over John McCain, leading by just 41 percent - 40 percent in a head-to-head contest. In fact, Obama’s support is down slightly from his 45 percent - 41 percent advantage last month. Opinion Dynamics Corp. conducted the national telephone poll of 900 registered voters for FOX News from July 22 to July 23. During that time Obama was traveling in Jordan, Israel and Palestinian territories. In...

If elections were held on YouTube, Barack Obama would win hands-down -- so far. But the McCain campaign is making inroads on the Web, aided by some good old-fashioned attack ads. McCain has beaten Obama in terms of viewers on YouTube (GOOG) on four of the last six days, thanks to the success of two ads: "Obama Love," a montage of press fauning over Obama, and "Pump", which blames Obama for high gas prices. The former has been viewed more than 176,000 times in two days, and the latter 140,000 times in three days. To get a sense of...

PHOENIX (Reuters) - Two-thirds of U.S. Hispanic voters support Democrat Barack Obama for president over Republican John McCain and the partisan gap among the United States' fastest growing voter bloc is broader than at any point this decade, a study found. The nationwide telephone survey by the Pew Hispanic Center released on Thursday said 66 percent of a sample of 2,015 registered Latino voters polled said they backed Obama, with 23 percent supporting McCain, a senator from Arizona. The survey said Obama's strong showing represented a sharp reversal in his fortunes from the primaries "when he lost the Latino vote...