James Dobson delivers a rant about Barack Obama's version of Christianity.

Evangelical christianity (the religious right, if you will) has no central leadership, but James Dobson is probably the most respected person among those with influence among that group. His purpose here is to point out that, while Obama is nominally a Christian, he is not any kind of Christian that evangelicals are used to voting for. Votes on abortion, gay rights and Obama's position (consistent with liberal Christianity) that the Jesus is only one path among many to get to heaven are highlighted. This of course is diametrically opposed to mainstream evangelical Christianity, so Dobson has his dander up pointing that out.

Impact on the race is likely minimal. No real surprises here.. My guess is that, at best, this will help McCain stem the bleeding of independent evangelical christians, who are concerned about social welfare, the environment, etc. from floating over to the Obama camp.

No, this is not a good sign for the GOP.

Hat tip to Marc Ambinder.

I guess McCain is not playing that well in Oregon. Oh and note Gordon's lack of party identification.

RNC Hammering on the Free Trade Issue.

Tommy had a good post up earlier pointing out that there are a lot of shades of grey here. Which is correct. Obama was not nearly as against NAFTA as he wanted certain people to believe, and he is not as pro-NAFTA as Fortune makes him out to be. And therein lies the problem. It is simply that Obama words his issues carefully enough that anyone can read their preferred meaning into them, whether it's pro/anti NAFTA, or pro/anti public financing. It's a nice showcase for his skills as a rhetorician, because each of those statements sounded great as a standalone. It's when you put them together, as the RNC has done here, that you have a problem.

Uh-oh! Looks like some of Obama's ardent supporters (Moveon.org) are still using the "Politics of Fear&qutot;

This despite Obama saying quite clearly that we should not use fear to score political points. Or maybe that's just fear of terrorists. Fear of Republicans is apparently quite alright.

Hotair, from whence I was tipped to the moveon ad, has a good response for the worried mom:

mom here hasn't yet grasped that (a) President McCain won't be setting Iraq policy for the next 18 years, let alone the next hundred, (b) MoveOn's candidate of choice has himself been dropping some dark hints lately about "tactical readjustments," and (c) whether McCain and the military can have her son is, um, up to her son, not her. The left (or at least the segment that MoveOn represents) still hasn't quite accepted the idea of a volunteer military. If you enlist, it can only be because you were somehow forced - through a draft or, per Charlie Rangel and Waffles, through economic hardship.

Hillary's Postgame party is starting:

WASHINGTON -- They've just turned up the music in the backyard of Hillary Clinton's Whitehaven home. We've seen familiar faces come through in the last 15 minutes, mostly the press advance. A handful of young staffers are also making their way into the Clintons' house for a staff party.

Bill and Chelsea Clinton have joined Hillary, who we are told is dressed casually and already mingling with her guests. Bill will be heading out early, though, to speak at the City Year Convention in Boston tonight. And Chelsea also will depart a bit later to speak at a Texas State Democratic Convention. Both should be back tomorrow for the New York senator's formal concession.

The stakeout press is trying to keep cool and hydrated outside. It almost feels like covering the arrivals at an award show, without the red carpet and celebrities.

And thanks to youtube user 1001BG, we have the highlight reel:

Don't miss the cackle at 1:10. It would be a crying shame if she didn't get the VP nomination, I'm going to miss that cackle. But what he didn't include is Hillary going all verklempt:

"The Democratic Party threw us down the tubes?" No, no, no. It's throw under the bus Ms. Christian. And yikes, maybe there is something to those disenchanted Hillary supporters going to McCain. Make sure you stay with the clip to the end.

Again, this just underscores that there is no rational reason for Hillary to get out of the race. She's going to the convention and in the worst case, she loses there but gets the airtime and facetime of the national TV spotlight being gracious. It will be her 1976 Reagan moment. Her supporters will definitely support it and who knows, Obama may yet implode.

Readers of this blog know that I'm not a huge fan of what has come to be known as the "YouTube Gotcha!" This phenomenon turns any moderately tech-savvy individual (especially those with iMovie) into a veritable 527 political action committee. You scour YouTube footage for statements made on this or that topic, and then, ala Tim Russert, you juxtapose that material against other contradictory statements.

It's a classic, time-honored journalistic move meant to illustrate hypocrisy, and we've seen it time and time again in this campaign. Hillary Clinton's Bosnia visit, and Barack Obama's failure to cover heat with hand during the Star Spangled Banner would seem, if you believe the people posting such footage, to tell us everything we need to know about these two candidates. Of course, John McCain is by no means safe from this sort of attack. Case in point, filmmaker Robert Greenwald's latest hit job. Have a look:

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer Openers blog:

The gold standard of YouTube gaffedom was given to us from former Virginia Senator George Allen, whose odd "macaca" moment almost single-handedly sank his re-election bid. Yesterday, another video-taped snafu occurred on the campaign trail. Some would have you believe that, this time, Senator Barack Obama is on the losing end of the "loose lips sink ships" dictum. Have a look:



Ouch. That's no way to address a female news reporter. Even if she's firing out inane, persistent questions during your choreographed visit to a Detroit automaker. So, drum roll please, does this mean that we've finally "peeled the bark off" Barack Obama? Has this stealth misogynist been exposed for the world to see once and for all? I guess it all depends on what the meaning of the word "sweetie" is. Did Obama use it in an affectionate or condescending manner? Or was it simply a repetitive slip of the tongue from a family man who regularly calls his wife and two daughters by the same term?

I don't think it's that big of a deal, but some lefty blogs are worried that this behavior is a little too Bushlike for them.

Other lefty bloggers say grow up and get a life. Heh.