Day's End Round-Up

John McCain and Barack Obama's responses to the escalating conflict in Georgia reveal much about their foreign policies, according to bloggers. Former Sen. John Edwards's (D-N.C.) admitting he had an affair left several questions unanswered, bloggers write. And news that Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) is on McCain's veep short-list is sure to make conservatives unhappy, online pundits declare.

McCain is the right man to get tough with Russia, which is currently engaged in a conflict with Georgia, writes the American Spectator's Robert Stacy McCain. Obama has taken an inadequate "ho-hum" attitude toward the invasion of a U.S. ally, writes Contentions' Jennifer Rubin. But according to Balloon Juice's John Cole, McCain is acting with the same "manichean belligerence" the Bush administration has become known for.

Edwards may have finally acknowledged his extra-marital affair, but he hasn't cleared up why he visited his ex-mistress last month, writes TalkLeft's Jeralyn. A reason for Edwards to make the late-night visit is to see his baby, alleges Balloon Juice's Cole, who doesn't buy Edwards's denial that he's the father.

Lieberman, who is reportedly being vetted by McCain's team, has been slammed as a GOP veep nominee by Christian Right leader Richard Land, who won't accept a pro-choice running mate, notes DownWithTyranny!. Anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist has called Lieberman "completely unacceptable," which is how Democrats would feel about having him in their Senate caucus if he speaks at the Republican convention, writes TChris at TalkLeft.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Russians Bomb Georgian City - Allahpundit, Hot Air
Obama V. McCain on the Caucusus - R.S. McCain, AmSpecBlog
Third Bush Term - John Cole, Balloon Juice
What More Do You Need to Know? - J. Rubin, Contentions
A Shakedown Attempt on Edwards - Jeralyn, TalkLeft
The Baby - John Cole, Balloon Juice
MSM Handled Edwards Affair Appropriately - J. Klein, Swampland
Lieberman on VP Short List - TChris, TalkLeft
Radical Right Warns McCain - Down With Tyranny!
Trending to Tied - Jerome Armstrong, MyDD

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Edwards's Ex-Mistress Won't Pursue Paternity Test - WaPo
Lieberman 'on McCain Short-List' - Financial Times
Guaranteed Healthcare Key Plank in Dem Platform - AP

After John Edwards (D) admitted Friday that he had an extra-marital affair, the former North Carolina senator is derided by bloggers on the right and condemned by former blogging backers on the left. Suggestions that John McCain is resorting to subliminal messages about Barack Obama in a new ad is dismissed by conservative bloggers. And online opponents of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) overhaul begin a new effort aimed at unseating the members of Congress who supported the FISA compromise.

Edwards, who made the admission in an ABC News interview, is a "coward" for lying about the affair during his presidential campaign and then revealing it in a Friday news dump on the day of the Olympics opening ceremonies, writes BarbinMD on Daily Kos. The news is disappointing for Elizabeth Edwards and his family, writes D-Day, and because it will give the right so much satisfaction, writes MyDD's Todd Beeton. Despite the National Enquirer's reports and photos, Edwards had to confess before his affair covered by the New York Times, a newspaper that seemed much more eager to report the alleged infidelities of John McCain, writes Don Surber.

Though Christian backers of Obama say that a McCain ad featuring references to "The One" portrays Obama as the Anti-Christ, those suggestions are nonsense, writes Ross Douthat. A Google search of McCain and the Anti-Christ turns up almost as many hits as a similar search involving Obama, writes The Corner's Andrew Stuttaford. But the number of e-mails about Obama and the Anti-Christ on evangelical listservs suggests that the McCain campaign may be behind the connection, according to Little Green Footballs.

The new Accountability Now group will target incumbents in Congress, including Democrats, who have supported measures that infringe on Constitutional principles and civil liberties, announced Glenn Greenwald. With Democrats likely to control Congress for the foreseeable future, one of the best opportunities for citizens to end the "sludge-like caution" and unaccountability on Capitol Hill is to pressure incumbents such as House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) in primaries, writes Open Left's Matt Stoller.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Edwards Admits Affair - BarbinMD, Daily Kos
The Saddest Part - D-Day
Edwards Admits To The Affair - Jim Geraghty, Campaign Spot
Edwards Acknowledges Extra-marital Affair - S. Benen, Carpetbagger
Edwards Admits Affair - Allahpundit, Hot Air
Vicki Iseman 1,170, Rielle Hunter 5 - Don Surber
Not Such a Subliminable Message - Karen Tumulty, Swampland
Obama As Anti-Christ? - Andrew Stuttaford, The Corner
Obama the Antichrist? - Ross Douthat
McCain Ad Suggests Obama is the Antichrist? - Little Green Footballs
Slightly Paranoid McCain Ad Theory of the Day - G. Sargent, TPM EC
Accountability Now/Strange Bedfellows Moneybomb - G. Greenwald
Accountability Now - Matt Stoller, Open Left
$70,000 and Counting - Jane Hamsher, Firedoglake

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Edwards Admits to Affair; Lied as Pres. Candidate - ABC News
Clintons Try to Prove They Want Obama To Win - Associated Press
Bush Backs Georgia's Territorial Integrity - Reuters

John McCain's push to get supporters to praise him with blog comments receives ridicule from bloggers themselves. Slow sales of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) new book delight conservative bloggers. And McCain and Barack Obama's pop culture preferences serve as fodder for pundits looking for new insights.

McCain offered prizes such as autographed books and rides on the Straight Talk Express to supporters who spread his talking points on blogs. China's Communist government had a similar program, notes Ezra Klein. If the program is any indication of McCain's policies on the Internet, people who care about net neutrality, bloggers' rights and technological infrastructure should be wary of the Republican, writes Justin Gardner at Donkelephant. Though the program has been around since at least May, Open Left's Chris Bowers found only six McCain supporters who have participated.

Less than 3,000 copies of Pelosi's book, "Know Your Power," have been sold, notes Michelle Malkin, who suggests that it should instead be called, "Know Your Failure." The book's actual title probably isn't helping sales, since it sounds like a "self-help paean" that's "mindlessly positive," writes Hot Air's Allahpundit. While a source close to Pelosi said that House business has kept her from going on a book tour, she hasn't been very busy at trying to get energy legislation passed that could lower gas prices, according to RedState's haystack.

The 72-year-old McCain likes "24," the serial-killer drama "Dexter" and R&B singer Usher, while the 47-year-old Obama enjoys "M*A*S*H," John Coltrane and Frank Sinatra, notes Marc Ambinder, who suggests that their preferences should be reversed.

FROM THE BLOGS:
The Exciting World of McCain Astroturf Advocacy - Ezra Klein
McCain Wants You to Spam These Blogs - J. Gardner, Donkelephant
Trolling For Fun and Profit - D-Day
John McCain's Spam Squadrons - Jesse Walker, Hit & Run
Six People Take Up McCain's SpamBot Offer - C. Bowers, Open Left
Nancy Pelosi - Unimpressed, Unimpressive - haystack, RedState
Know Your Failure: Ask Nancy Pelosi - Michelle Malkin
Pelosi's Book Sales In The Toilet - Allahpundit, Hot Air
McCain Is A Pop Culture Freak - Marc Ambinder
Obama: Please, Anything But HGTV! - Holly Bailey, Stumper

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Gitmo Jury Gives bin Laden Driver Light Sentence - Associated Press
EPA Rejects Request to Waive Renewable Fuel Standard - The Hill

The conviction of Osama bin Laden

With some polls showing the presidential race tightening, bloggers and pundits wonder what

Barack Obama

House Republicans are getting cheered by conservative bloggers Sunday after announcing that they will resume their protest in the chamber on Monday. John McCain appears to be vetting Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and several liberal bloggers are outraged that Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) would would take a shot at retired Gen. Wesley Clark.

More than a dozen GOP lawmakers are planning to attend the protest Monday, which will push the momentum already building against Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) decision to block drilling legislation, Hot Air's Allahpundit writes. Michelle Malkin applauds the protesting Republicans, but blasts many in the media who, Malkin writes, don't get the significance of Friday's move.

McCain's campaign has reportedly asked for Cantor's personal documents, creating speculation that Cantor has moved onto the McCain veep shortlist, Taegan Goddard writes. Ed Morrissey believes Cantor would provide a boost to McCain on several fronts, especially in shoring up support among conservatives.

Recalling Clark saying that McCain's military experience was not a qualification to be president, Kerry rebuked the retired general Sunday, calling the comment "inappropriate" and praising McCain's military service, John Amato at Crook and Liars writes. Open Left's Matt Stoller, who recently helped launch obamaclark.com, is outraged that Kerry would "stab Clark in the back," especially since Clark has defended Kerry against numerous attacks.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Video: Hecklers Trail Lunsford - PolitickerKY
Who Played the Race Card? - Soren Dayton, RedState
John Kerry Throws Wes Clark Hissy Fit - Matt Stoller, Open Left
How 'Genre Politics' Hurts Progressives - Glenn W. Smith, Firedoglake
Obama Seeks Full Reinstatement of Fla., Mich. - The Swamp
Veepwatch: Cantor Gets Vetted - Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
McCain Vetting Cantor - Political Ticker
Pelosi Offers Veep Support for Chet Edwards - Political Ticker
McCain's Long Pause - The Jed Report
Are Bloggers Pundits or Operatives - Patrick Ruffini, The Next Right

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

GOP Energy Protests to Continue - The Hill
Obama Careful on Race - New York Times
Pelosi Pushes Texas Lawmaker - AP

Barack Obama switching positions on offshore drilling has conservative bloggers celebrating and liberals just plain confused. Dispatches from the "guerrilla Congress" continue to pour in and Obama pulling out the big guns by picking Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) to head his debate negotiations has conservatives wondering why the Democratic presidential candidate is so scared of debating John McCain.

Obama signaling a newfound support for offshore drilling Friday is a clear win for Republicans in Congress who have made expanded drilling a key campaign theme, The Next Right's Soren Dayton writes. MyDD's Jerome Armstrong thinks the move is a smart one, as it takes a key issue off the table for John McCain, but puts House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who has been holding up drilling legislation, in an odd position.

Republicans protesting on the House floor may be a turning point for a group that has not shown much fight recently, writes The Corner's Mark Hemingway, who hopes the GOP can keep the momentum created by the move. But while many conservatives applaud the lawmakers for protesting, others wish they had gone farther. Hot Air's Allahpundit points out that rather than leaving after Pelosi ordered Capitol Police to evict them, the protesting members could have refused, forcing either Congress to reopen or Pelosi to order their arrest.

And Obama pegged Emanuel to be his chief negotiator for the three presidential debates the campaign has agreed to, The Swamp reports. RedState's Moe Lane is surprised by the hard line Obama is taking on debates, calling out the Illinois Democrat as "too scared to face a 72-year-old torture survivor who can't even move his arms properly."

FROM THE BLOGS:
How It Works - Josh Marshall, TPM
Obama's 'Shift' More of a Gesture - Marc Ambinder
Obama's Drilling Flip-Flop - Soren Dayton, The Next Right
McCain Embraces Giuliani's 'Tough' Crime Stance - TalkLeft
The Guerrilla Congress - Mark Hemingway, The Corner
GOP Missed Opportunity - Allahpundit, Hot Air
Obama Opposes Reparations - Political Ticker
Veep Watch - First Read
And Obama Caves on Drilling - Matt Stoller, Open Left

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Obama Taps Emanuel - The Hill
AIDS Infections Higher Than Thought - New York Times
Obama Switches Positions on Offshore Drilling - Palm Beach Post

Though the House adjourned Friday for August recess, Republicans stuck around to press for domestic oil drilling, giddy conservative bloggers note. Now that an old-school scribe has turned on John McCain for his latest attack ad on Barack Obama, a liberal blogger wonders what the rest of the press will do. And Obama hears it again from conservative bloggers unimpressed with his response to the McCain ad.

House Republicans gave speeches on an empty House floor to protest the Democrats

The John McCain campaign insisting Thursday that Barack Obama is playing the race card has bloggers debating which candidate did or didn