Democrats have cause to worry about Barack Obama

The death of Tim Russert, NBC's longtime host of "Meet the Press," stunned the national political community Friday. The debate over how many debates the presidential candidates should have, and the possibility that former Secretary of State Colin Powell may vote for Barack Obama also have bloggers talking.

Russert was by far the most influential journalist in politics, writes Chris Cillizza, who notes that most marked the end of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-N.Y.) campaign when Russert said so. Talking Points Memo posts the video of Tom Brokaw reporting the news and notes that Russert had a massive impact on the current presidential race among many others.

The John McCain campaign has found some leverage to get Obama to rethink his position on fewer debates, Marc Ambinder writes, pointing out that Nancy Reagan and the daughters of President Lyndon Johnson have offered up the presidential libraries for use. Open Left's Chris Bowers applauds Obama for rejecting McCain's offer of ten debates, noting that the high number of joint appearance does not offer Obama much to gain.

Powell left open the possibility that he will support Obama and some wondering if he is angling for a spot in Obama's cabinet or on the ticket. Hot Air's Allahpundit thinks Powell would be a powerful boost to Obama's military credentials if he did endorse, but notes that Powell's infamous presentation to the United Nations makes his support less than it once was.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Obama Leans on Team Daschle in Key States - The Fix
Just Keep Saying Success - Matthew Yglesias
Colin Powell May Back Obama - Allahpundit, Hot Air
McCain's Debate Gambit - Chris Bowers, Open Left
12 Steps for Recovering Liberals - Scott Johnson, Power Line
Tim Russert, 58, Has Died - First Read
ANWR Politics - Ramesh Ponnuru, The Corner
Jindal in Details - Top of the Ticket
McCain Slams Court - Swamp Land
FISA and Hoyer - Christy Hardin Smith, Firedoglake

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Tim Russert Is Dead at 58 - New York Times
Maliki Criticizes U.S. Demands - Washington Post
FISA Negotiators Near Deal - The Hill

Former Barack Obama VP vetter Jim Johnson was not the only Democratic figure to receive special loans from Countrywide

The Republican congressional campaign committees are in a heap of electoral, legal and financial trouble, according to bloggers on both sides. New polls give both Barack Obama and John McCain reasons to be more optimistic than pundits suggest, bloggers writes. And the Supreme Court ruling allowing Guantanamo Bay detainees to argue their cases in civilian courts has further split Democrats, Republicans and bloggers.

The report that the National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC) had $725,000 taken by a former employee and must now submit to a stricter accounting procedures doesn't bode well for House Republicans, who will now have trouble borrowing money to compete with Democrats this year, kos writes. In the race for the Senate, Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) has revised his worst-case target of 41 seats for Republicans to 45 seats, a low number that's evidence of how bad things are for Republicans this year, writes MyDD's Todd Beeton. Ensign, who has blamed paltry fundraising on "bad" donor mailing lists, should forget about campaign strategy and technology, and instead focusing on returning to the conservative policies of Ronald Reagan, according to Matthew Sheffield on The Next Right.

Despite the long Democratic nomination tussle, a new Hotline/Diageo poll shows that 68 percent of Democrats are satisfied with Obama as their nominee while just 52 percent of Republicans are happy with McCain, notes Eric Kleefeld at TPM Election Central. But McCain does better than Obama in an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll among white voters, always a key demographic, and the Republican trails by six percentage points among registered voters, a gap that should close in surveys of likely voters, writes RedState's Pejman Yousefzadeh.

The Supreme Court has correctly reversed two laws limiting detainees' court rights, and any member who heeds Sen. Lindsey Graham's call for a constitutional amendment risks earning another "moral stain," writes mcjoan at Daily Kos. But according to Power Line's Scott Johnson, the court decision is a vast expansion of judicial wartime powers, benefits foreign terrorists, and leaves open the option for the United States to send terror suspects to other countries for detention.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Fallout From NRCC Embezzlement - kos, Daily Kos
Sen. Ensign Revises GOP Hopes... to 45 Seats - Todd Beeton, MyDD
Ensign: Bad Mailing Lists? - Matthew Sheffield, The Next Right
Dems Satisfied W/ Nominee, Repubs Aren't - Kleefeld, TPM Elect.
Seems Awfully Close For A Landslide - P. Yousefzadeh, RedState
Obama Should've Picked Me To Econ Team - Dean Baker, TPMCafe
Cusack's Savage Satire Strikes Chord - A. Huffington, HuffPo
Right's Institutions Need To Talk To Country - S. Dayton, Next Right
The Case For A McCain Flip-Flop - Kathryn Jean Lopez, The Corner
Countrywide Loans For More Obama Backers - M. Lane, RedState
Morally Bankrupt: Sen. Graham and Detainees - mcjoan, Daily Kos
Boumediene The Day After - Scott Johnson, Power Line
Obama Fighting Smears Selectively - John Hinderaker, Power Line

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Justices Rule Terror Suspects Can Appeal In Civilian Court - NYT
Administration Strategy For Detentions Now In Disarray - Wash. Post
McCain and Obama Split On Guantanamo Bay Ruling - New York Times
Earmark Spending Makes A Comeback - Washington Post

Barack Obama's birth certificate disproves rumors that he was born outside the country, say bloggers who came to the Illinois senator's defense digging up the document. The results of an internal probe into a National Republican Congressional Committee financial scandal has bloggers shocked. And Obama moving much of the Democratic National Committee to Chicago is the subject of debate.

An unlikely pairing from Daily Kos and The Corner debunks the rumor that Obama was born outside the United States. Kos posts Obama's birth certificate and writes that he's glad to squash false rumors that Obama was born in Kenya under the first name Barry and middle name Muhammad. But the document does not prove anything to some, as suitably flip points out it is not attributed to any person or organization and says it is a certificate of birth, and not a birth certificate.

The NRCC's former treasurer pocketed $725,000 according to an internal audit, The Caucus reports. The blog points out this is the worst time for the report to come out as the committee struggles to keep pace with its Democratic counterpart. The report undermines any GOP demands that Democrats be accountable to get their house in order, Michelle Malkin writes.

And Obama moving much of the party fundraising arm to Chicago is a "major shake-up," writes The Trail. But Marc Ambinder isn't surprised, writing it was a natural move for the Illinois senator's presidential campaign.

FROM THE BLOGS:
DNC Merger with Obama Camp Continues - Marc Ambinder
Obama's Birth Certificate - kos, Daily Kos
Kos Tries to Pass off Obama's Certificate of Birth - Suitably Flip
Obama Shakes up DNC - The Trail
Dean Mum on Obama Using Public Funds - Top of the Ticket
SCOTUS Rules Detainees Can Challenge - Amanda, Think Progress
Jindal: Worse Than Katrina? - Isaiah Poole, Firedoglake
The NRCC Mess Revisited - Michelle Malkin
Slime Attack on Schaffer - Ben DeGrow, The Next Right
Waiting for 2012 for a Real Conservative? - Matthew E. Miller, race42008

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
NRSC Chief Predicts Toughest Election Year Since 1974 - Christian Science Monitor
Dems Attack Lobbying Record of McCain's VP Vetter - The Hill
Justices Rule Terror Suspects Can Appeal - New York Times

The Supreme Court has dealt a stunning blow to the Bush administration by extending habeas corpus rights to Guantanamo Bay detainees, liberals celebrate, while conservatives charge that American security and the rule of law are true losers from that decision. John McCain

John McCain has no explanation that will satisfy liberal bloogers regarding his latest remark about a U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq. One of McCain's possible vice presidential picks, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R), is getting more scrutiny for his role in an exorcism. And while Democrats should welcome Vice President Dick Cheney onto the congressional campaign trail, Republican candidates should see a bounce in poll numbers now that the Democratic primaries are over, bloggers write.

Backers of McCain, who responded Wednesday to a question about a withdrawal timeline by calling it "not too important," defended him by saying that the reference was to a deadline, not to the troops or a withdrawal. But failing to have an estimate for the end of U.S. military involvement in Iraq is still problematic, since one is needed if the troops are ever to return, according to Josh Orton at MyDD. McCain, however, shouldn't apologize, according to The Corner's Kathryn Jean Lopez, who finds it rash and more worrisome that Barack Obama is ready to pull troops out within 60 days. The Obama campaign is being misleading when it questions whether McCain is sufficiently concerned about troops' welfare, as McCain's remark showed that he cares more about troops' safety than about a troop pull-out, writes Pejman Yousefzadeh at RedState.

Jindal, a rising star in the Republican Party, once wrote about being involved in an exorcism back when he was in college, according to TPM Election Central's Kate Klonick and Eric Kleefeld, who link to Jindal's article. But if that's all that Democrats dig up, Jindal is in good shape, writes Hot Air's Allahpundit, who would welcome a "Democrats versus Catholics" debate.

When it comes to congressional races, Democrats should hope that Vice President Dick Cheney hits the campaign trail like he did in the recent Mississippi special election, since whenever he does, he reminds people of Republican ties to big energy companies, writes Daily Kos's smintheus. But now that the Democratic presidential primaries are over and activists' energy dissipates, Republicans should see an improvement in their poll numbers like the double digit jump Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) has seen, writes The Next Right's Patrick Ruffini.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Context We Can Believe In - Josh Orton, MyDD
McCain No Apologies - Kathryn Jean Lopez, The Corner
Tempest, Meet Teapot - Pejman Yousefzadeh, RedState
Is Bobby Jindal An Exorcist? - Klonick and Kleefeld, TPM Election
Bobby Jindal, Exorcist? - Allahpundit, Hot Air
NBC/WSJ Poll: Obama Up By Six - Todd Beeton, MyDD
Hit The Road, Joe - Josh Marshall, TalkingPointsMemo
The Case For Gore - Dayo Olopade, The Plank
Attacking Michelle Obama - Isaac Chotiner, The Plank
Tech Illiterate: McCain - kos, Daily Kos
Obama's Integrated New Marketing Campaign - J. Henke, Next Right
Down The Memory Hole: RNC on Immig. - M. Krikorian, Corner
I Endorse Obama For President - Erick Erickson, RedState
Code Pink Founder, Obama Bundler - E. Morrissey, Hot Air
Mr. President, Your Legacy Is More Awful - Bob Cesca, HuffPo
Rahm Offers To Pay For Cheney's Travel - smintheus, Daily Kos
Cornyn Holds 17 Point Lead - Patrick Ruffini, The Next Right

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
New Gang of 14 Won't Back McCain - The Hill
Leader of Obama's VP Search Team Quits - Washington Post
Union Critical of Obama's Top Aide - New York Times
Joe Lieberman Supports McCain, Causes Friction - Los Angeles Times

Barack Obama

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) has revealed her draconian side by keeping an