MIXED BAG

Cindy on Newsweek cover -- Obama’s presidential seal, plus his 15-point lead over McCain … Play book weddings
By: MIKE ALLEN on June 21, 2008 @ 7:42 AM


Good Saturday morning. Cindy McCain, in a lovely pink suit, is on the cover of the Newsweek issue that closes today. “Behind That Smile: Understanding Cindy McCain,” by Holly Bailey tells about the time the McCain's adopted daughter, Bridget, Googles herself, learns about the South Carolina smears from 2000, and comes to Cindy to ask: "Why does President Bush hate me?"

Editor Jon Meacham quotes Holly Bailey, who covers McCain for the magazine, as saying: “People always talk about how rich she is or how plastic she seems. But watching her interact with people, especially her kids, it was always clear there was more to her than this caricature that has really come to define her over the years.”

Meacham writes: “Holly finished up her reporting in Vietnam last week. In a hospital, a little girl and her family ran up to Mrs. McCain and hugged her. Mrs. McCain told Holly later that she had taken the girl and her mother in a few years ago, letting them live with her in Arizona for several months while the girl’s cleft palate was fixed. (She had learned of the girl’s plight from a waiter at her favorite Vietnamese restaurant in Phoenix.)”’

FINALLY -- “Obama backs FISA compromise,” Politico’s Ben Smith: “Breaking with the Democratic left and many civil libertarians, while forestalling security-focused attacks from the right, Obama says he supports the compromise in the House on wiretapping legislation.” Passed 293-129.

Politico’s John Bresnahan: “The transformation of Scott McClellan is now officially complete. The former White House press secretary — once the bane of the left for his steadfast defense of President Bush's administration — was embraced by Democrats and vilified by Republicans on Friday as he testified, voluntarily, before the House Judiciary Committee. ‘I am very proud of you as an American,’ gushed Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), a Bush basher from way back.”

DRIVING THE CONVERSATION – The N.Y. Times courageously gives a 4-col. lead headline (“Big Gains for Iraq Security, but Questions Linger”) to its deeply reported version of the turnaround story done earlier by ABC’s Jonathan Karl and The AP:

“Violence in all of Iraq is the lowest since March 2004. The two largest cities, Baghdad and Basra, are calmer than they have been for years. … There is a sense that Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s government has more political traction than any of its predecessors. … The most obvious but often overlooked reason for the recent military success has been an increase in the number of trained Iraqi troops.”

I’VE GOT YOUR BOUNCE RIGHT HERE – Newsweek.com: “Barack finally has his bounce. … A new NEWSWEEK Poll shows that he has a substantial double-digit lead, 51 percent to 36 percent, over McCain among registered voters nationwide. … The NEWSWEEK survey of 1,010 adults nationwide on June 18 and 19, 2008, has a margin of error of 4 points.”


IT’S THE FIRST HEAD-TO-HEAD POLL TO REFLECT THE COUNTRY’S TACTILE DISCONTENT.

Spoilsport Salena Zito of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review points out that a Gallup poll released in May of 1988 had presumptive Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis enjoying a 54 to 38 percent lead over George H.W. Bush.

Politico’s Carrie Budoff Brown, “Obama campaign adds women to top ranks”: “After taking primary season criticism over the number of women in its upper ranks, the campaign of Barack Obama has significantly ramped up its hiring of women in senior staff positions. … Anita Dunn, a consultant who joined the Obama campaign in February as a senior strategist, acknowledged a problem but said it was one of perception, not reality. … In addition to Dunn, former television journalist Linda Douglass recently became a senior adviser and traveling press secretary …

“In the last week alone, three more women came on board: former Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle, who will serve as chief of staff to the vice presidential nominee; Stephanie Cutter, the communications director for Democrat John F. Kerry's 2004 campaign, who will serve as a senior campaign adviser and top aide to Michelle Obama; and Edwards' Iowa state director, Jen O'Malley Dillon, who will be battleground states director. The campaign has also hired, but not yet announced, a woman to serve as director of rapid response, Dunn said. Politico reported earlier this month that it would be Christina Reynolds, Edwards' former research director.”

OBAMA’S NEW LOGO, per AP’s Nedra Pickler: “A new seal debuted on Obama's podium Friday as he held a round-table discussion with Democratic governors. [It sports] iconography used in the U.S. presidential seal -- the blue background, the eagle clutching arrows on left and olive branch on right -- but with symbolic differences. Instead of the Latin ‘E pluribus unum’ (Out of many, one), Obama's says ‘Vero possumus,’ rough Latin for ‘Yes, we can.’ Instead of ‘Seal of the President of the United States,’ Obama's Web site address is listed. And instead of a shield, Obama's eagle wears his ‘O’ campaign logo with a rising sun representing hope ahead.”

Politico’s Ben Smith says it’s for “events meant to feel presidential.”

ABC’s Jake Tapper is waiting for “a remix of ‘Hail to the Chief.’ ”

National Review’s Greg Pollowitz: “Audacity defined: Changing the seal of the United States of America and inserting the ‘O’ logo for the American flag.”

Rich Lowry, channeling Jonathan Martin: “Obama's own presidential seal. With its own Latin slogan. You can't make this stuff up.”

BETSY FISCHER, executive producer of “Meet the Press,” writes in an e-mail to viewers: “Friday morning of last week, Tim Russert was hard at work preparing for Sunday's upcoming interview with Senators Lindsey Graham and Joe Biden. … This Sunday, both Senators Graham and Biden have graciously agreed to appear here to have that Decision 2008 debate. It will be the debate that Tim was so looking forward to and it is the debate that I think he would want us to proceed with. We are fortunate that NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams will be here to moderate. We will also have a political roundtable with Andrea Mitchell of NBC News and John Harwood of CNBC and the New York Times. And to close the show, in memory of Tim, we will have a special look back at this week's services and tributes to our leader and friend.” (Hat tip: Politico’s Michael Calderone)

THE MAP – The Cincinnati Enquirer front-pages “The Ground Warriors” about the skeletal get-out-the-vote forces already staging in Ohio: “Ohio's March 4 presidential primary turned out to be a significant event in the contest between Obama and Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination, which meant that the Obama campaign already has an army of tens of thousands of volunteers ready and waiting for their fall campaign assignments. … The McCain campaign, though, is catching up. It opened its regional headquarters Thursday in Columbus and, in the Cincinnati area, will soon begin working out of space in Rep. Steve Chabot's re-election campaign office in Cheviot and in storefront space the Hamilton County Republican Party has on Seventh Street downtown.”

NOTHING SUBTLE ABOUT DEBORAH SOLOMON’S WINKING AND NUDGING in her interview with Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who won’t be McCain’s V.P. pick but gets written about anyway: “You were married nearly 30 years ago, but the marriage lasted less than a year. … You can’t find one woman in all of Florida?”

CRIST: “Maybe I have. Stay tuned.”

BARRON’S SAYS OIL MAY BE PEAKING – Senior Editor Andrew Bary: “It's perilous to call the top in a booming market, but the price of oil may be peaking in the current range of $130 to $140 a barrel. Oil's sharp move up -- prices have doubled in the past year -- caught the world by surprise … In the next decade, oil indeed may hit $200 a barrel. But prices could fall to $100 a barrel by the end of this year if Saudi Arabia makes good on its pledge to increase production; global demand eases; the Federal Reserve begins lifting short-term interest rates; the dollar rallies, and investors stop pouring money into the oil market.”

N.Y. Post goes big with Mayor Bloomberg as “GAS BAG”: “Let the little people pay higher gas taxes. That was the harsh message for beleaguered motorists delivered yesterday by Mayor Bloomberg. With drivers around the country fuming about rising gas prices, Bloomberg dropped a bombshell into their tanks yesterday by calling for increased fuel taxes to cut consumption.”

NATION OF SISSIES? WORKING MAN’S TRUCK PUT ON ICE – Dallas Morning News, top of A1, “Ford's F-150 cutback hits heart of Texas”: “Friday, Ford Motor Co. put the brakes on the new F-150, delaying its much-anticipated launch until late fall. … The trucks symbolize the ‘the working man,’ said Brad Hawkins, general sales manager at Randall Reed's Prestige Ford in Garland. ‘These work horses are what a guy uses for his crops. He throws sheet rock in the back. You gotta have them.’ Michigan-based Ford blamed dwindling sales and higher gas prices for its cutback announcement, a move that not only hurts the automaker financially but also pains a state known as the truck capital of the world.”

NEXT ADMINISTRATION TO DECIDE BETWEEN NORTHROP and BOEING – Wall Street Journal A3 – “The Air Force is virtually certain to reopen its bidding on a mammoth tanker contract in the wake of a scathing government audit, which means that the service will be unlikely to meet a 2013 deadline for fielding the new planes, according to the Air Force's recently ousted civilian chief. Departing Air Force Secretary … said the Air Force would issue a new request for proposals from the two companies … [T]hese sweeping changes could take well over a year to implement, which means that the official who takes the reins at the Pentagon after the November elections will be charged with making the final decisions in a process that has dragged on for more than seven years.”

LOOKAHEAD, from AP's Matthew Lee: “Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice heads to Asia next week amid signs of an imminent breakthrough in efforts to get North Korea to abandon nuclear weapons and bring a formal end to the Korean War.”


MAY MONEY FIGURES OUT LAST NIGHT – L.A. Times’ Dan Morain: “For the first time in the presidential campaign, John McCain matched Barack Obama's monthly fundraising haul, as each presumptive nominee pulled in more than $21 million in May, campaign reports filed Friday show. … Political scientist Anthony Corrado, an expert in presidential campaign financing at Colby College in Maine, said he believed that May would be Obama's worst month of the campaign. Donations have probably flooded to the Illinois senator since he locked up the nomination when the Democratic primaries ended June 3, Corrado said.” He predicts “A MAJOR SURGE” in June and “expects that Obama will outspend his Republican foe and the GOP by as much as 2 to 1.”

Politico’s Jeanne CUMMINGS: “The surprising cash parity between McCain and Obama means the candidates begin the general more evenly matched than many experts expected, although things could change quickly given Obama’s ability to raise money quickly through small online contributions. According to Obama’s campaign, the drop in donations was caused in part by a shift in focus from bringing in big money to honing in on the delegates needed to clinch his party’s nomination. At the same time, he was forced to burn through his cash reserve in the final round of primaries, which were hotly contested by a significantly under-funded Hillary Clinton.”

AP’s $$$ CHARTS ARE PASTED AT THE BOTTOM.

THE BIG IDEA – OBAMA-CLINTON CAMPS STILL FROSTY – ABC’s Jake Tapper: “[W]hile the public face of the Obama-Clinton rapprochement is all smiles -- they will campaign together [next Friday] and Clinton will attend an Obama fundraiser [Thursday] at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC -- behind the scenes there remains much tension, sources involved from both camps tell ABC News. It didn’t go unnoticed in Hillaryland, for instance, that the first fundraising solicitation Obama sent out was not for Clinton but instead one to benefit the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

“To many Clinton supporters, Obama could easily send an email to his 1.4 million grassroots supporters asking them to help unify the part to retire Clinton's debt. … To Obama supporters, reaching out to Obama's email list would cheapen the brand of his grassroots appeal, and would likely offend some contributors who view Clinton -- and the campaign she waged against Obama -- rather unfavorably. … In short, though you will see smiles for the cameras next week, do not think smiles equal happiness.”

AP’s Jim Kuhnhenn: “Asked on Friday whether Obama's finance team had discussed ways to ease Clinton's debt when it met Thursday night in Chicago, Obama communications director Robert Gibbs said ‘those meetings have focused more on what these two can do together to bring the party together and move it forward than it has on these logistical details.’ ”

***TIME’s Mark “The Page” Halperin on why Obama opted out of public financing: “Obama will now be able to, say, spend $10 million on Texas television ads, giving McCain some tough choices to make. … No candidate has ever had as big a spending advantage as Obama will have for the final two months of the campaign.”

The NYT’s Michael Luo uses a FLOYD BROWN front-pager to reprise Jonathan Martin’s finding that Republican 527s are staying on the sidelines: “[I]f Mr. Brown’s struggles are any indication — he has so far failed to raise much money — it is not clear that Republicans will be able to repeat their successes in 2004, when independent groups like the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth had a significant role in undermining Senator John Kerry’s campaign.”

WashPost A1, top of page, “Big Promises Bump Into Budget Realities: New President Won't Have an Easy Time Paying for New Initiatives, Fiscal Experts Say.”
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“YOU” TRIUMPH: Jon Friedman, media columnist for MarketWatch.com, writes that he has “a confession to make”: “Time magazine was spot-on, dead-bang correct when it named ‘You’ as its Person of the Year for 2006. I knocked the inspired choice, and I was way off base. … Time magazine was clearly ahead of its time. … [T]hese 21st-century user-driven innovations - Facebook, Friendster, YouTube, MySpace, LinkedIn, Yelp (oh, yes) and others - are taking over the way people communicate with one another.”

Politico’s JAMES “SLASH” KOTECKI OPENS A BLOG: James, for once not dressed as Mr. Rogers, exults: “My title of ‘video blogger’ now finally makes sense!” To our befuddlement, it’s not called “Emergency Cheese,” but “James Kotecki,” which no doubt added a fortune to our NameLab tab. James opens what he likes to call “a new blogging frontier” right here, where you can see James with pipe and robe) in a “special blog intro video I made just for you (plural).”

MORE OBAMA CAMPAIGN:

--David S. BRODER’s Sunday column says Obama could be hurt by turning down McCain’s proposal for JOINT TOWN HALLS, which The Dean says “would be a real service to the public and that suspending the dollar-chase for the duration of the campaign, as McCain but not Obama will do, would be a major step toward establishing the credibility of the election process. By refusing to join McCain in these initiatives in order to protect his own interests, Obama raises an important question: Has he built sufficient trust so that his motives will be accepted by the voters who are only now starting to figure out what makes him tick?”

--Chicago Sun-Times Political Reporter Abdon Pallasch: “Noticeably absent from [Friday] morning’s panel discussion was the Democratic governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, who attended the private dinner of Democratic governors Thursday night but then left to tour flood damage in Downstate Alton during this morning’s public meeting. Did the campaign not want Obama photographed with the governor, referred to as ‘Public Official A’ in court papers that are part of an ongoing federal investigation of Blagojevich’s administration? A campaign spokeswoman said all 28 Democratic governors were invited. Blagojevich had already scheduled the Downstate visit, said his spokesman Lucio Guerrero.”

PRODUCERS/NATIONAL EDITORS – WashPost B2, “Class Action Filed Over Checkpoints”: “A civil rights group filed a federal lawsuit yesterday to halt the D.C. police department's new checkpoint initiative, arguing that it is unconstitutional to screen motorists and prevent some from entering certain neighborhoods. The Partnership for Civil Justice filed the suit on behalf of four District residents who alleged that the checkpoints, set up after a stretch of deadly violence in Northeast Washington, led to ‘widespread civil rights violations.’ The suit seeks to bar police from using the program anywhere in the city.”

MEDIAWATCH – AP, “Top European TV official says pre-game coverage problems could spill over to Beijing Olympics”: “Seven weeks before the Olympics open, television broadcasters are involved in a fight with Chinese organizers over coverage away from the sports venues. This involves moving satellite trucks around the city, deploying equipment and clear rules about where TV cameras will be able to film. … Shaken by protests on international legs of the Olympic torch relay following the outbreak of deadly rioting in Tibet in March, China's government seems to be backtracking on promises to let reporters work as they have at previous Olympics. … In recent months, the government has tightened visa rules, particularly targeting foreign students. The government fears many would side with activist groups if protests break out.”

SPORTS BLINK -- John Clayton of ESPN.com gives a rave to Brett Favre’s successor at QB, Aaron Rodgers, who “has a cannon”: “According to some teammates, Aaron Rodgers' throws have more velocity than Brett Favre's. … The football explodes off his hand on each throw in practice. … right arm sets up naturally, and the ball comes out unnaturally fast.”

Wall Street Journal A1: “Seeking to end an embarrassing dispute that kept live pro football games out of many homes, the National Football League's NFL Network is in talks to form a partnership with Walt Disney Co.'s ESPN cable sports network, according to people familiar with the situation. An agreement would represent a big shift in strategy for the NFL: abandoning its effort to force cable operators into carrying its own network and thus paying it lucrative monthly fees. It would also send a message to other professional sports, which have enjoyed rising television fees for years, that even the biggest and most powerful league in the U.S. cannot launch a new channel without the consent of giant cable operators such as Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable Inc.

“For fans, a deal could close a bitter standoff between the league and four of the nation's largest cable operators that has left live games on Thursday and Saturday nights unavailable to many cable subscribers. One scenario that has been discussed would involve combining the NFL Network with the ESPN Classic network, which has relatively low ratings but wider distribution. ESPN would broadcast eight more games per season on ESPN Classic, and then attempt to wring higher subscription fees than the 16 or 17 cents it currently receives for the channel, according to Derek Baine, a senior analyst for SNL Kagan. Under such a scenario, ESPN and the NFL could form a joint venture and share revenue, or ESPN could take an equity stake in the channel.”

THE SHOWS, from AP:

ABC's "This Week" — Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas; Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass.; American Petroleum Institute President and CEO Red Cavaney; Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University.

CBS' "Face the Nation" — Carly Fiorina, adviser to John McCain's campaign; Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M.

NBC's "Meet the Press" — Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Joe Biden, D-Del.

CNN's "Late Edition" — Govs. Tim Pawlenty, R-Minn., and Richardson; Reps. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., and Eric Cantor, R-Va.; former Labor Secretary Robert Reich; Douglas Holtz-Eakin, McCain adviser; Ahmed Rashid, author of a new book on Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia.

"Fox News Sunday" — Former Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D.; former Gov. Tom Ridge, R-Pa.; Earth Day Network President Kathleen Rogers.

AP’s “CAMPAIGN MONEY” CHARTS:

BARACK OBAMA

Total receipts to date: $295.52 million, including $10.72 million for general election.
Total contributions to date: $287.5 million.
Total spending: $252.4 million.
May contributions: $21.9 million, including $687,000 for general election.
May spending: $26.8 million.
May transfers or loans: none.
Cash on hand: $43 million, including $10 million for general election.
Debt: $304,000.

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON

Total receipts to date: $238 million, including $23.3 million for the general election and $12.2 million loan.
Total contributions to date: $209.4 million.
Total spending: $207.6 million,
May contributions: $12.6 million, including $395,000 for the general election.
May spending: $19 million.
May transfers or loans: $2.175 million personal loan from candidate.
Cash on hand: $26.7 million, including $23.3 million for the general election that can't be used.
Debt: $22.5 million, including $12.2 million personal loan.

JOHN MCCAIN

Total receipts to date: $121.9 million.
Total contributions to date: $110 million.
Total spending: $90.3 million.
May contributions: $16.6 million.
May spending: $11.7 million.
May transfers or loans: $4.3 million — money raised through joint victory fund with Republican National Committee.
Cash on hand: $31.6 million.
Debt: $1.3 million.