Political Hot Topics
(Today's top political stories from news organizations across the country)

Compiled by Mary Grace Lucas
CNN Washington Bureau

CNN: Russian president calls halt to Georgian war

Russia's president has ordered an end to military operations against Georgia, the official Russian news agency Interfax reported Tuesday.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/08/12/georgia.russia.war/index.html

CNN: Memos show Clinton camp lines of attack, disarray

Sen. Hillary Clinton's one-time chief strategist wanted to attack Sen. Barack Obama for lacking "American roots" during the Democratic primary battle, according to a magazine article set to be published online Monday evening.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/11/atlantic.clinton.staff/index.html

WSJ: Obama Floods Florida Airwaves

In Florida's living rooms, the presidential contest so far has been a landslide — Barack Obama, 9,785; John McCain, zero.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121850408634131921.html

LA Times: Longtime Republican voters are airing new views

Many struggling families in the normally comfortable cul-de-sacs outside U.S. cities are thinking of switching parties.

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-exurbs12-2008aug12,0,6209867.story

CNN Radio: Georgia on their Minds

Conflict in the Caucasus catch the candidate's eyes as they add their own rhetoric to the crossfire. Meanwhile, a Clinton confidant can't let go of the past. CNN's Steve Kastenbaum has today's CNN Radio Political Ticker.

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/08/12/cnnradiopoliticalticker081208.mp3

Washington Post Op-Ed: Mikhail Gorbachev: A Path to Peace in the Caucasus

The past week's events in South Ossetia are bound to shock and pain anyone. Already, thousands of people have died, tens of thousands have been turned into refugees, and towns and villages lie in ruins. Nothing can justify this loss of life and destruction. It is a warning to all.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/11/AR2008081101372.html

CNN: Ron Paul's wife hospitalized in Iowa

Rep. Ron Paul's wife was hospitalized Saturday morning, the Texas Republican's presidential campaign announced shortly before voting was to begin in the Ames GOP straw poll.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/08/11/ron-pauls-wife-hospitialized-in-iowa/

Politico: Mark Penn: Negative ads: They really do work

Clever negative advertising works. That is reality. The tactic meets with media and pundit disapproval and spawns accusations of negativity, but the reality is that a clever negative ad can be devastatingly effective.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12455.html

Boston Globe: McCain targeted as D.C. 'celebrity'

Barack Obama, pummeled for weeks by Republican rival John McCain as an out-of-touch celebrity, tries to turn the tables in a new TV ad that portrays McCain as "Washington's biggest celebrity" playing the "same old Washington games."

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/articles/2008/08/12/mccain_targeted_as_dc_celebrity/

Washington Post: In a Changing Corner of Pa., a Glimpse of Obama's Age Problem

When Gene Rutherford, 65, tries to make sense of the meteoric rise of Barack Obama, and the rampant enthusiasm for him among younger Americans, he thinks of the local mall, where as director of operations he often deals with teenagers.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/11/AR2008081102203.html

CNN: McCain campaigns with VP contender in battleground state

Sen. John McCain on Monday is campaigning through Pennsylvania with former governor and vice presidential contender Tom Ridge.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/11/campaign.wrap/index.html

Politico: 'Chameleon' Reid looks to 2010 election

As the leader of Senate Democrats looking to expand their majority in November, Harry Reid has become a darling of the left, bashing President Bush, confabbing with liberal bloggers and relishing his role as a national target for conservative ad campaigns.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12462.html

WSJ Op-Ed: Texas Gov. Rick Perry: Texas Is Fed Up With Corn Ethanol

At what price will corn be so expensive that the federal government will decide that it is time to stop driving up the price of food?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121850115460131741.html

Politico: For politicos, books are hard business

If the launch party was any indication, Sen. Harry Reid’s new book was going to be a hit. On a balmy May evening, hundreds of politicians, lobbyists, reporters and congressional staffers filed into The Source, the sleek new Wolfgang Puck restaurant at the Newseum, and enjoyed pizza with cream cheese and their choice of Reid-themed specialty drinks.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12463.html

NY Times: Candidate Shocks Party and Himself

What about Bob? That is the head-scratching question in Montana this election season, especially here in Butte, a tough old mining city that is home to Bob Kelleher, the surprise Republican nominee in the race against Senator Max Baucus, the longtime Democratic incumbent.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/us/politics/12montana.html

NY Times: An Indiana Democrat Offers Risks and Rewards

As the Senate debate on the use of force against Iraq neared its climax in October 2002, Senator John McCain turned on the floor to Senator Evan Bayh to ask what had led him to take such “a visible, as well as important” role in seeking Congressional consent for military action.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/us/politics/12bayh.html

AP IMPACT: Bush to relax protected species rules

Parts of the Endangered Species Act may soon be extinct. The Bush administration wants federal agencies to decide for themselves whether highways, dams, mines and other construction projects might harm endangered animals and plants.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hXBV9U9SBb_hysHw0UpNdHvcmx4gD92GDKFO0

The Hill: Pelosi indicates openness to offshore drilling vote

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday night dropped her staunch opposition to a vote on offshore oil drilling in the House.

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/pelosi-indicates-openness-to-offshore-drilling-vote-2008-08-11.html

WSJ: Voter Registration Is the New Battleground

As Barack Obama tries to draw hundreds of thousands of new voters to the polls, Republicans are beginning to scrutinize registrants' eligibility as both sides draw a major battle line over voting rights.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121850477150231953.html

CNN Navarrette Commentary: Media didn't conspire to protect Edwards

For several weeks now, a friend — who happens to be a fellow journalist with a good nose for news — has been hounding me to be among the first columnists in the country to write about L'Affaire Edwards.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/11/navarrette.edwards/index.html

Washington Post: Edwards's Mea Culpa Merits a Mere Blip Against NBC and Beijing

How clever of John Edwards to make himself available last Friday to do his did-I-ever-make-some-kind-of-serious-mistake-or-what? wife-cheating confession exclusively for ABC News, which would then air it in the teeth of NBC's broadcast of the Beijing Summer Olympics Opening Ceremonies.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/11/AR2008081102946.html

Washington Post: In a Harsh Climate for Lobbyists, the Forecast Calls for . . . More Lobbyists

To hear the presidential candidates talk, you'd think that lobbyists were about to be exiled from the capital city.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/11/AR2008081102039.html

WSJ: New Front in Abortion Battle

Activists on both sides are awaiting a comprehensive report reviewing two decades of published research on mental health and abortion, to be presented this week at the American Psychological Association's annual conference in Boston.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121849764993731541.html

WSJ: South Dakota Vote Draws Attention

Two years after a strict abortion ban here was overturned by voters, backers have brought a similar measure — but one laced with complexities that could bode well for its passage, and ultimately could bring about the challenge to Roe v. Wade desired by abortion foes nationwide.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121848559101430821.html

Washington Post: In Tiananmen of Games, No Trace of '89 Massacre

The Tiananmen Square that Liu Xiaobo knows is not the same one Olympics fans are seeing on television.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/11/AR2008081102280.html

NY Times: Next U.S. Commander in Iraq Cautious on Troop Cuts

As he prepares to become the senior American commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno said Monday that over the next year he hoped to recommend significant reductions in the number of American troops stationed there. He acknowledged, however, that political developments — like the recent delay in scheduling regional elections — would influence the troop reductions as much as the level of attacks.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/washington/12odierno.html

Washington Post: Sovereign Funds Become Big Speculators

Sovereign wealth funds, the massive investment pools run by foreign governments, are now among the biggest speculators in the trading of oil and other vital goods like corn and cotton in the United States, according to interviews with brokers who handle their investments at leading Wall Street banks, veteran traders and congressional investigators.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/11/AR2008081102462.html

NY Times: F.B.I.’s Use of Phone Records Shows Need to Protect the Press, Senators Say

Two leading senators said Monday that they were troubled by the F.B.I.’s collection of the phone records of four reporters at The New York Times and The Washington Post and that the episode showed a “pressing need” for legislation pending in the Senate that would provide greater legal protection for journalists.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/us/12fbi.html

CNNMoney.com: Dollar makes more strides vs. euro

U.S. currency reaches highest level in nearly 6 months amid continuing concern about Europe's economy.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/11/markets/dollar_write/index.htm?postversion=2008081116

AP: Cindy Sheehan qualifies to run for Pelosi's seat

Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan has qualified to run as an independent against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in November's general election.San Francisco election officials on Monday said they have verified enough signatures of registered voters on Sheehan's petitions.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5it8jTtD17SXY_SKpIt_9UX22mwcwD92GCAHO0

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On the Trail
Compiled by Mary Grace Lucas
CNN Washington Bureau

* Sen. John McCain holds a town hall meeting at The Toyota Arena in York, PA.

* Sen. Barack Obama has no public events.