Via the Wall Street Journal:

Barack Obama said a storm like Hurricane Gustav raises “bipartisan concerns” and it’s “fine” that John McCain visited Mississippi’s emergency operations center Sunday morning.

But he reiterated his worry that the security required for either presidential candidate could divert local law enforcement and other personnel from storm preparations. For that reason, Obama, the Democratic nominee, has said he has no immediate plan to travel to the area.

I’m trying to think of a good reason for McCain and Palin to visit the Gulf Coast before Gustav makes landfall that’s not political, but I can’t come up with one. Is his presence necessary? He doesn’t have any direct authority as a candidate to do anything, so other than photo-ops with Republican governors, why is he there?

Obama, on the other hand, is priming his donor network to donate money and supplies as requested (via Forbes):

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama said Sunday he will tap his huge political network of donors and volunteers to help U.S. victims of Hurricane Gustav after it comes inland.

“I think we can get tons of volunteers to travel down there, if it becomes necessary,” Obama told reporters after attending St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Lima, Ohio.

Obama is staying out of the way, but still expressing interest, concern, and planning to offer assistance when it becomes necessary. He’s not, however, diverting resources from first responders or tying up elected officials in the pomp of a presidential election campaign. Any person under Secret Service protection surely requires the input and cooperation of, at least, local and state police where he or she visits.

Admittedly, I am a partisan. Perhaps there’s a perfectly innocent explanation which requires McCain’s presence in the region. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

Hotline On Call: AFL-CIO Drops New Mailers In OH, MI, PA, WI: One of the mailers aims directly to dispel myths and rumors about the IL senator. The other features worker testimonials on Obama’s record on jobs, health care reform and workers’ rights.

Union officials tell On Call that the mailers mark the launch of a massive August campaign to clearly define Obama for millions of union voters, and to contrast the Democrat’s’ policies and plans with those of his GOP rival, John McCain.

(Via TPM Election Central.)

It’s good to see the unions step up to educate their members.

POLITICS: Bush Forced al-Maliki to Back Down on Pullout in 2006: WASHINGTON, Jul 28 (IPS) – Many official and unofficial proponents of a long-term U.S. military presence in Iraq are dismissing Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s demand for a U.S. timeline for withdrawal as political posturing, assuming that he will abandon it under pressure.

But that demand was foreshadowed by an episode in June 2006 in which al-Maliki circulated a draft policy calling for negotiation of just such a withdrawal timetable and the George W. Bush administration had to intervene to force the prime minister to drop it.

(Via IPS Inter Press Service.)

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has been consistently and regularly browbeat into toeing the administration’s demands on Iraq. It’s no wonder that he’s recently been using rhetoric seeking to establish his independence. For a “sovereign” nation, Iraq sure seems to cave a lot on questions of determining their own destiny.

Steve Chapman: Are the media biased against Obama?: A study by the Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University, which conservatives have always regarded as sympathetic, says the three broadcast networks have been more critical of Obama than of John McCain in their recent news coverage.

(Via Chicago Tribune.)

Not a surprise to many Obama supporters, who have noted a sustained negative campaign against their candidate for several months. As I noted in a Newsvine comment recently in response to someone who claimed Obama received universally positive coverage:

Rev. Wright? Terrorist fist jab? “Limping” across the finish line? Can he close the deal? Can he win over Hillary supporters? Just what is Obama’s probably with white voters, anyway? With Jewish voters? Incessant handwringing about Kentucky and West Virginia? How can Obama win if he doesn’t win the working class (never mind that a Democrat hasn’t won the working class in forty years)? Just why does Michelle hate America?

Every major story (e.g. those stories that go on for multiple news cycles), just about, except this one has been a highly negative one for Obama, except stories dealing with his fundraising (and perhaps the race speech, which itself was tied to the Wright flap).

In politics, there definitely is such a thing as bad publicity. Ask Mark Foley or Geoge Allen.

This, also: Much of what is perceived as media bias is simply bias toward what’s newsworthy, is a point I’ve been arguing regularly. McCain’s own narrative of this campaign, that he is the more experienced in foreign affairs due to his many trips to Iraq (and the many trips themselves), have served to make his overseas trips less newsworthy than Obama’s by dint if their admitted commonness.

The news organizations report what is newsworthy, not with an eye towards providing one Republican story for every one Democratic story. For a party that worked so hard to eliminate the Fairness Doctrine, they sure whine a lot about perceived unfairness in the media.

Key GOP senator won’t attend party’s convention: WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina won’t be attending the Republican national convention, which begins over Labor Day weekend.

(Via McClatchy.)

Whew. Is this another sign of a possible Republican Party meltdown? As noted in the article, Dole is the latest in a string of Republican Senators who won’t be attending their party’s convention in September, joining Ted Stevens (AK), Susan Collins (ME), and Wayne Allard (CO). Additionally, three others have not committed to an appearance: Roger Wicker (MS), John Sununu (NH), and Gordon Smith (OR). It’s simply incredible to me that some 15% of the Republican caucus in the Senate may not show up to support John McCain

Remember, also, that just two years ago Dole was head of the Republicans Senate campaign committee. She’s not a back-bench party member.

Combined with the current infighting of the state party GOP in Iowa which decided not to include their own Senator (Charles Grassley) in the state delegation, these are not good times for Republicans.

The Republican brand is toxic, and they aren’t doing themselves any favors.

Justice finds that Gonzales aides broke federal hiring laws: WASHINGTON — Aides to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales violated federal laws and Justice Department policies by illegally selecting employees based on their conservative and Republican leanings, a joint report by two department watchdog agencies reported Monday.

(Via McClatchy.)

I can’t say this is very surprising (more like a “Well, duh!” moment), but it’s good to see that even the IG in the DOJ can admit that the behavior by the political appointees at Bush Justice has been atrocious.

Baby steps. It’s just too bad Bush will be able to run out the clock.

That is not a competitive campaign. Including third-party options in polls right now clearly benefits Obama. An 11.5% victory for Obama would put him over 400 electoral votes, and put a whole swatch of red states either in play, or in his column. So, the question is, how can Obama go about raising the national numbers for third party candidates like Nader and Barr?

The answer, I think, is just to debate them. Next month, Obama should propose including Barr, Nader and McKinney in one of the presidential debates.

(Via Open Left.)

That’s an interesting idea, although I have to wonder how well it would play out for Obama. Although increasing the stature of the third-party candidates would seem to help Obama out in current polling, that benefit conceivably is contingent on their independence from the two major parties. If either major party is seen using the third-party candidates for tactical advantage, I think that could backfire for that major party in the minds of voters.

McCain: Ratcheting up the rhetoric – First Read – msnbc.com: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell reports that there was never a plan for Obama to take the press to Landstuhl, despite the claim by McCain folks and others. The plan was to go with his military aide, retired General Scott Gration. The Pentagon said Gration was off-limits because he had joined the campaign — violating rules that it not be a political stop.

Obama had gone to see wounded troops in Iraq earlier in the week, without even confirming he’d been there. No press, no pictures. He has done the same when he goes to Walter Reed — never any press.

(Via TPM Election Central.)

I can’t really say that this is a surprise. McCain has shown he’s willing to campaign dirty, even getting his own hands deep in the filth (despite his earlier claims to want a clean campaign). What’s surprising is that he’s advancing such complete falsehoods which are so easily demonstrated as incorrect, rather than relying on third parties and 527s. Either he really believes this tripe or he’s a political idiot. It’s hard to believe that constantly getting called on this will help him among the independent voters who are the whole reason he’s the nominee for his party.