John McCain's ad accusing Obama of cancelling a visit to wounded troops in Germany, because he couldn't turn it into a media circus, has been shown hundreds of times on television. But how often did the McCain campaign actually pay for it to be screened? About a dozen. [New York Times]
Oh, and by the way, that accusation, the Washington Post reports today in a fairly definitive takedown, is, as widely suggested, totally untrue. Meanwhile, the Chicago Sun-Times blogger whose work the Republicans used to support the claim says they were wrong to do so.
"I would say that his career is over": Pundits seem largely agreed that Ted Stevens, the Alaska senator indicted yesterday on corruption charges, stands little chance of re-election. If Democrats were to win a Senate seat in Alaska in November, it would be the first time they'd managed it since 1974. [Anchorage Daily News]
Former Hillary Clinton chief strategist Mark Penn (who I interviewed a few weeks ago) says women over 65 are the crucial demographic category up for grabs this November. The man responsible for identifying 'soccer moms' as the key vote in the 1996 election says this time it's all about 'active grannies'. OK. [Politico]
"President Obama Continues Hectic Victory Tour," reads the headline on Dana Milbank's sketch in the Washington Post today, referring to a closed-door meeting with House Democrats yesterday at which the candidate reportedly said: "I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions." Conservative bloggers cry arrogance and hubris. But as Jack Shafer explains, Obama's lack of any significant track record has been the very reason, so far, that attacks from parts of the media haven't stuck to him. This won't keep working as the general election approaches, Shafer argues. [Slate]
UPDATE: On the "I have become a symbol" quote, already being trumpeted by the Republicans, a Democratic source tells Politico: "His entire point of that riff was that the campaign IS NOT about him. [The Post] left out the important first half of the sentence, which was along the lines of: 'It has become increasingly clear in my travel, the campaign, that the crowds, the enthusiasm, 200,000 people in Berlin, is not about me at all. It's about America. I have just become a symbol...'"
