Day's End Round-Up

After a weekend of good news during the opening stint of his trip abroad, Barack Obama is winning the Iraq debate, says a growing consensus of bloggers. John McCain is hitting Obama hard over gas prices and conservative bloggers zero in on one of their favorite targets, the New York Times.

The political class has determined that Obama is right on Iraq, Marc Ambinder writes. After meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Obama and the Iraqi leader appear to be on the same page, Top of the Ticket adds. And Firedoglake's Blue Texan writes that after staking so much of his candidacy on Iraq, it

As the presidential campaigns battle back and forth over what Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki meant when he said he backs Obama's troop withdrawal plan, conservative bloggers come to aid of John McCain by pointing out Maliki now claims his comment was "not conveyed accurately." The White House meanwhile is dealing with some embarrassment after accidentally sending out a blast email to reporters informing them that Maliki agrees with Barack Obama, not President Bush.

The McCain campaign reacted to Maliki's statement by optimistically claiming that it was a sign the McCain-supported

News that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki agrees with Barack Obama's plan for a 16 month phased redeployment of troops out of Iraq has liberal bloggers hopeful that an end to the war may be around the corner. Bloggers mostly agree that former Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas) stepping down from John McCain's campaign was in the best interest of both sides and the netroots is taking aim at former Rep. Harold Ford (D-Tenn.).

Maliki agrees with Obama's plan for Iraq because it is very practical, writes Amanda at Think Progress. One of RedState's lone liberal bloggers believes that not only does Maliki think Obama's plan is better than McCain's, but takes the news as a sign that Maliki thinks Obama is going to win the race.

Gramm's exit from the campaign cuts McCain free of any future gaffes from one of his top economic surrogates, but leaves the Arizona senator a man down on his economic policy team, writes TalkLeft's TChris. The Corner's Ramesh Ponnuru believes the move best served both McCain and Gramm, but served Gramm's rivals within the McCain camp most.

And liberal bloggers turned on Ford during the Netroots Nation convention in Austin, Texas after the former congressman defended his work for Fox News, The Huffington Post's Sam Stein reports. Ford also didn't score any points by defending Obama's FISA vote, writes Big Tent Democrat.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Maliki Endorses Obama's Plan - Amanda, Think Progress
Iraq's Leader Back Obama - The Swamp
Maliki Likes Obama's Timeframe - Crabcakes, RedState
Flake Could Be Big Help to Fellow GOPers - PolitickerAZ
McCain Alerts Enemy to Obama's Travel Plan - Firedoglake
Gramm's Exit - Ramesh Ponnuru, The Corner
McCain Blows Obama's Cover? - Allahpundit, Hot Air
Obama Travels to Afghanistan - The Trail
Harold Ford Heckled Over Fox - Sam Stein, The Huffington Post
The DLC and the Netroots - Big Tent Democrat, TalkLeft

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Gore at Netroots - New York Times
Boehner Says Majority of Congress Wants to Drill - The Hill
U.S. Envoy Joins Nuclear Talks - Washington Post

John McCain saying

Barack Obama saying he is

The White House citing executive privilege when refusing to release FBI interviews of Vice President Dick Cheney surprises few bloggers Wednesday. John McCain

The war in Afghanistan is emerging as a major campaign issue, bloggers find, as both Barack Obama and John McCain focus on the conflict there Tuesday. An attempt by a liberal political action committee to challenge rival Freedom

John McCain proudly touting to the National Council of La Raza his failed immigration legislation has some conservative bloggers remembering why McCain made them uneasy during the primary. The American Civil Liberties Union marking the passage of one million names on the terrorist watch list and McCain veep speculation also drives conversation Monday.

Michelle Malkin accuses McCain of being a

With both Barack Obama and John McCain reaching out to Hispanic voters at the start of the week, bloggers on both sides are keeping a close eye on their statements on immigration reform. The upcoming issue of The New Yorker features a profile of Obama's rise through Chicago politics, which fascinates liberal bloggers but provides more ammo for his conservative critics. And pundits on both sides try to read the vice presidential tea leaves.

Obama, in his speech Sunday to the National Council of La Raza, stressed the grassroots nature of his campaign, said that "the system is not working" and hit McCain for wavering in his support for comprehensive immigration reform, notes MyDD's Todd Beeton. Ahead of McCain's speech to the group on Monday, his campaign held a conference call to say that he still supports comprehensive immigration reform but only after the country's borders are secured, writes Hot Air's Ed Morrissey. If Townhall's Carol Platt Liebau were Latina, she would vote for McCain because he has hewed to pro-Latino views in the face of intense criticism from his own party, she writes.

The 15,000-word profile by The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza explains how Obama got ahead by criticizing the political system he was part of, which is something that McCain has also done, writes The Plank's Isaac Chotiner. Lizza's profile also shows Obama's "adolescent grandiosity," or his belief in himself above all else, according to Obama critic Scott Johnson on Power Line.

The most likely running mate for McCain is Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R), who would draw fewer objections from the right than other swing state candidates, while the most likely choices for Obama are Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D), who could help him in a red state, and Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), who would reinforce Obama's midwestern appeal, according to The Next Right's Patrick Ruffini. Someone else to watch is Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), who has foreign policy credentials and the respect of the military brass but may not have the necessary television skills, according to The Plank's Jonathan Cohn.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Barack Obama at La Raza - Todd Beeton, MyDD
McCain's La Raza Conference Call - Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
A Choice for Latinos - Carol Platt Liebau, Townhall
Obama's Chicago Days - Isaac Chotiner, The Plank
The Resistable Rise of Obama - Scott Johnson, Power Line
VP: Pawlenty, Bayh, Sebelius on Top - P. Ruffini, Next Right
Veep Veep: Keep an Eye on Reed - J. Cohn, The Plank
Obama's Economic Double Talk - Blackhedd, RedState
NYT Noticies 'Far Left' Obama Disgust - Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
Hagel Officially Announces Trip W/ Obama - Kleefeld, TPM EC
Gangs of DC - SusanG, Daily Kos
FISA Loss: Recommendations for Future - emptywheel, FDL
More Notes on Third Parties - Chris Bowers, Open Left
Pro-Twitter Coalition Gets Bipartisan - P. Ruffini, Next Right

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Making It: How Chicago Shaped Obama - The New Yorker
Obama, McCain and Their Awkward Hispanic Outreach - AP
McCain's Conservative Model? Teddy Roosevelt - NYT

Former White House Press Secretary, who died Sunday after a bout with colon cancer, is being remembered by conservative bloggers as someone who was as gracious as he was talented. Barack Obama may have made a misstep by rejecting public funds, according to one blogger on the right, but it's John McCain's campaign who has been clumsy lately, according to liberal bloggers.

Snow's optimism, confidence and genuine interest in people was a breath of fresh air to a White House that needed it when he became press secretary in 2006, writes The Corner's Yuval Levin, a former White House staffer. Snow was the opposite of paranoid, as he assumed that everyone liked him, which was a rare quality for anyone in Washington, according to Contentions' John Podhoretz. The Associated Press took a "cheap shot" in its obituary of Snow by writing that he didn't always have command of the facts, writes Newsbusters' Tom Blumer.

Obama may have overestimated his fundraising capabilities and opted out of the public finance system because of his fantastic first quarter numbers, writes The Next Right's Patrick Ruffini, who suggests that McCain could have the money advantage. But McCain's campaign has stumbled by allowing its candidate and its surrogate, former Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas), to blame the country's real housing market and economic woes on psychology, suggests kos.

The housing bill passed by the Senate on Friday is based on circular logic, as it seeks to insure imperiled homeowners with revenue from new taxes on embattled mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, according to The Corner's Steven Spruiell. But what lawmakers have really failed to do is watch over greedy executives, who have profited under lax housing laws and may leave taxpayers holding the bag, writes Ian Welsh at Firedoglake.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Remembering Tony Snow - Yuval Levin, The Corner
Tony - John Podhoretz, Contentions
Tony Snow, Cont. - Byron York, The Corner
AP Takes Cheap Shot at Snow - Tom Blumer, Newsbusters
Obama's Miscalculation on Financing - P. Ruffini, Next Right
Obama More Reagan than Carter - A. Sullivan, Daily Dish
Should Nat'l #s Concern Obama? - Nate Silver, The Plank
More Psychology - kos, Daily Kos
Political and Other Realities About Drilling - N. Chart, MyDD
Collapse Doesn't Indicate Execs Failed - I. Welsh, Firedoglake
Freddie, Fannie and The Housing Bill - S. Spruiell, The Corner

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Protected by Washington, Fannie and Freddie Grew - NYT
Former WH Press Sec. Tony Snow Dies at 53 - Wash. Post
Obama Revels in Contrasts With McCain - Associated Press