Rep Caroline Cheeks Kilpatrick opened her mouth following a meeting with Obama’s Veep Vetters to let the world know Sam Nunn is one of the shortlisted names. But who is this former Georgia Senator – and what does this consideration say about Obama?
Congressional Credentials: 
Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Center for [...]

In this podcast we discuss (1) the shake up in the McCain Campaign, (2) Obama’s statement on revising his Iraq strategy, (3) Obama and his history with low income housing subsidies for private developers and (4) rumors about McCain’s VP announcement timetable…
[Listen Online] or [Download]
[Subscribe to 2008Central.net's Presidential Election Podcast]
Feel free to email us questions/suggestions [...]

Some Independence Day linkage…

Polling Average, McCain vs. Obama: Obama +5.7
Voters see both McCain and Obama as flip-floppers.
Obama calls for a new national service program.
President Bush’s deputy CoS is leaving the White House.
Tom Schaller throws water on Obama’s potential in the South.
The NRA dedicates $40 million to the election, $15 million to target Obama.
62,000 jobs were [...]

Obama gained one and McCain lost one today, after McCain had closed the gap significantly the previous day.

The details…
As would be expected from any methodology involving repeated sampling from a large population, there have been slight fluctuations in the daily reports of Gallup Poll Daily tracking rolling averages (each based on three days worth of [...]

I covered this back on June 27th, and at that time the group had around 550 members. What a difference a week makes, eh?
Not only that, this group is now the biggest on his website now.
TPM points to a story from USA Today about the group…
In recent days, Obama has criticized the Supreme Court [...]

With leaners
Obama - 49%
McCain - 44%
Without leaners
Obama - 47%
McCain - 40%
The “with leaners” numbers stays the same today, which represents 4 straight days with 0 movement, a fact that is freaking Rasmussen out. Seriously, pollsters don’t know what to do when numbers are steady. I hear they’re drinking…a lot.
However, Obama has gained 1 in the [...]

Obama - 52%
McCain - 35%
Connecticut is usually a pretty faithfully blue state, so the sole reason I post this is Obama only lead McCain by 3 points last month.
The demo details…
In Connecticut, Obama has a solid 58% to 30% lead among women, but just a five point advantage among men.
Among voters not affiliated with [...]

Obama - 48%
McCain - 43%
Well, how about that? A state that Bush won by 20 points in 2004 and 25 points in 2000 has the potential to go blue?
Also, last month the numbers were reversed, so this represents a +10 net gain for Obama in a state many wouldn’t think he has a chance to [...]

But just because these leaders are backing McCain doesn’t mean that their followers are going to fall in line lock-step. In fact, after reading this article, I think some may find a distinct distaste for how these folks are framing their decisions.
First, TIME has the details about who was there…
The group included leaders like Phyllis [...]

Not that this is any big surprise, but many claimed he would have problems with this voting bloc after the primaries. Gallup’s numbers prove otherwise…

As Gallup points out, these numbers are bigger than Kerry’s, but not as big as Gore’s, although this may just a shift from Democrats general over the past 8 years as [...]

McCain gets a net three gain today after Obama loses one and the Arizona senator gains two.

The details…
These slight Obama bumps have proven to be short-lived, and from a larger perspective there has not been a dramatic restructuring of the race in recent weeks.
For example, Obama has averaged 46% of the vote going back [...]

With leaners
Obama - 49%
McCain - 44%
Without leaners
Obama - 46%
McCain - 40%
Again, same story, different day. Absolutely no change in the numbers…so nothing new to report except that the race is very stable…at least according to Rasmussen. They even go so far as to call this stability “amazing.”
The 5 day w/leaners:
07/02/2008: McCain - 44%, Obama - [...]

I’m seeing more and more of these stories pop up, and I can’t help but think there’s a reason. If the GOP knows how to do anything, it’s seed the media with messaging aimed directly at a candidate saying “Hey, wake up!!!”, and these latest articles about McCain seem to be exactly that.
From Politico:
While the [...]

It’s not quite the beer question, but a new AP/Yahoo! News survey reveals that more Americans would rather barbecue with Barack Obama than John McCain. This must be crushing for McCain who made barbecuing a central component of his VP hunt.
McCain is currently losing the cook off by 7 points, an edge I suspect him [...]

And that number is pretty much exactly where Gallup says Bush’s historic disapproval numbers are at.
Coincidence? I think not…

In fact, McCain’s “maverick” brand is in real trouble with Independent voters…

Pretty much the exact same numbers as the combined for the entire sample. Hell, even 45% of Republicans are “Very” or “Somewhat” concerned.
Gallup then went on [...]

He was quoted yesterday…
“I love Kathleen Sebelius. I think she is as talented a public official as there is right now. Integrity. Competence. She can work with all people of all walks of life, but I promised that I am not going to say anything about my vice president until I actually introduce my vice [...]

Again, Rasmussen and Gallup show the same numbers today. A very steady race indeed.

No details of note today.
More tomorrow…

Keith Olbermann reverses himself (sort of) and expresses some mild criticism of Obama’s position on FISA (sort of) in a “Special Comment“

McCain - 50%
Obama - 44%
No change from last month with these numbers, but it should be noted that Bush won this state by 20 points in 2004, and 17 points in 2000.
The details…

While McCain has a solid 57% to 38% lead among men, Obama leads 49% to 44% among women.
Obama also dominates among the youngest [...]

McCain - 48%
Obama - 41%
This is down from a 10 point lead a month ago.
The details…

McCain leads by seventeen points among men but trails by two among women.
Obama has a huge lead among voters under 30 while McCain leads among those 30 and older.
McCain is supported by 85% of Republicans while Obama earns the [...]