CNN called it a "symphony."

Fox News called it a "laundry list."

One thing is for certain, Obama mapped out his plans and at times spoke directly to John McCain, which is a change from the "let's all get along" speeches he has been making since announcing his run for presidency on Feb. 10 of last year.

On Friday, John McCain will try to quell Obama's convention momentum with the announcement of his running mate. Who will he pick? Bright Hall bloggers offer their predictions. Click here for our Veepstakes archive.



Megan Baker: Mitt Romney. He knows his stuff when it comes to the economy. He is popular among the moderate GOP. He probably won't die mid-term. And if you're asking me, he's pretty good looking. If the Republicans want to win and set up another era of Republican presidents, this would probably do the trick. With Romney on the bill, McCain should be able to pick up Colorado and Michigan. And to be honest, I don't think Romney dropped out of the running because he wanted to give up the presidency. I think there was something else in the works...and it would be a good choice for McCain.

Matt Negrin: Charlie Crist. This election, like every stupid election, is about swing states. This year, they are Virginia, New Hampshire, Michigan and -- big surprise -- Florida, whose charming governor is perfect for the GOP ticket for no big reason other than his territory. He's more popular in the Sunshine State than early-bird specials at the diner, and has championed a few causes -- like environmental sustainability -- for his constituency. McCain might not win Virginia's 13 electoral votes, or New Hampshire's four. But Florida has 27, and that number is bigger than both of those.

Joshua Sharp: Meg Whitman. Formerly the CEO of eBay, Whitman turned a simple auction site into an international success story. The Princeton graduate (in economics!) brings both economic expertise and executive experience, and her presence on the ticket could entice some Hillary voters -- who have long decided they want Experience on both parts of the ticket -- to vote for the first female vice-president in history. More than anything, though, selecting Whitman would shake up the race and highlight McCain's unconventional style. He started a furious buzz about Whitman just by mentioning her at the Saddleback Joint Forum.

She nailed it.

In the closing speech on the first day of the Democratic National Convention, Michelle Obama seemed to be the perfect first lady. Her speech (which she authored herself with only a little help from the campaign) was moving, intelligent and articulate.

She said what she needed to say, with several key themes: family, hard work and what it will take to make the world what it "should be." She spoke of how we should vote out of hope, not fear, which probably struck a chord with some voters still on the fence. She also gave Senator Clinton enough credit without too much sucking up to all of those die hard Clinton fans still out there.

It will be interesting to see if Cindy McCain will be able to even come close to making a statement like Michelle Obama did tonight. The Republicans better wish her luck...she is sure going to need it.

John McCain, who says he wants to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision that lets women get abortions, claims to be winning over disgruntled Hillary Clinton supporters in his new ads.

His new strategy is to convince these women that they should vote with their emotions and support him despite a nearly complete difference in policies.

Here's what a former Hillary "supporter" says in a new McCain ad: "She had the experience and judgment to be president. Now, in a first for me, I'm supporting a Republican, John McCain. I respect his maverick and independent streak, and now he's the one with the experience and judgment."

No one should be surprised by hearing this -- Hillary supporters have done everything from chant McCain's name at the Florida-Michigan delegate hearings to post half-legible comments on blogs, even this one, about how they are so annoyed that Barack Obama won the nomination, and the only way they can reconcile their feelings is to vote for his opponent.

On the same steps where Senator Barack Obama declared his candidacy 19 months ago, Obama introduced Delaware Senator Joseph Biden as his running mate on Saturday.

Biden - the former contender for the Democratic presidential nomination - was chosen 10 days ago while Obama was vacationing in Hawaii, according to The New York Times and was first made public through a text message to Obama supporters early Saturday morning.

Naysayers of the Biden choice were quick to highlight what they call a history of "insensitive, stupid, and counter-productive comments," his politics which are "more of the same," and a reputation that risks "alienating the working-class voters Obama so badly needs" (and those were just Bright Hall's own).

At the end of the day, though, Biden is the right choice to do what a vice president needs to do: bolster his running mate on policy issues without upstaging him and drawing away the spotlight.

The text message has been sent! Obiden '08 is the Democratic ticket! Our Bright Hall staffers weigh in on the decision. Click here for our Veepstakes archive.



Megan Baker: Biden's scathing remarks about Obama back in the good 'ol primary days are going to come back and bite Obama's campaign in the, well, you know...In fact, McCain's camp has already released an ad campaign featuring Biden saying he does not think Obama is "ready" to be president and that he would be "honored to run with or against McCain." Ouch. Biden has the foreign policy experience to help out Obama, but he is also more of the same, which will kind of hurt Obama's message of change. I still think Bayh would have been a better choice with his experience in economics, but Biden isn't too bad of a choice in the end. At least he didn't pick Hillary, right?

Joshua Sharp: Biden is a gift that keeps on giving -- for Republicans. His track record of insensitive, stupid, and counter-productive comments is well-known. More importantly, though, this pick shows that even Obama wants "Experience" over "Change." No matter who is president, the next Administration will have to fill positions in the White House, and Obama has shown he's willing to pick the ultimate "Washington insider" -- a Senator spanning four decades -- over any agent of change. Obama likes to allege that John McCain has been in Washington too long. Joe Biden has been there a decade longer.

Matt Negrin: The folly of the Biden selection lies only in who Obama passed over as his running mate. It is admirable in choosing someone from a non-battleground state, enforcing the idea that the Delaware senator's policies count more than his territory and political convenience. However, Biden's ideas are moot if the pair lose sin November, especially if states like Virginia (Kaine), Indiana (Bayh) and New Mexico (Richardson) and other western states don't vote Democrat.

I wouldn't be so concerned about Biden's previous and so-called gaffes in which he said Obama isn't ready to lead, or that he's the first clean and articulate black presidential candidate. I'd be more worried about his arrogance alienating the working-class voters Obama so badly needs.

Finally, Obama could have done worse. He could have gone with Clinton.

The State Employees' Insurance Board of Alabama announced this week that they approved a plan to charge state workers starting in January 2010 if they don't have free health screenings. This is one step being taken to fight obesity in Alabama, which with a rate of 30.0 percent, is ranked second in obesity levels nationwide.

Workers have to be screened for blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose or obesity. If any of these things show up, employees will have one year to see a doctor, enroll in a wellness program or take care of the problem themselves. If they fail to do so, they will be charged an extra $25 per month for insurance that would otherwise be free starting in January 2011. The board will apply the obesity charge to anyone with a body mass index of 35 or higher and is not making efforts to improve it.

Alabama currently has a program like this for cigarette smokers, and it seemed to be effective, but will this work as well?

Republican millionaire John McCain found out by reading news reports today that he owns at least seven homes.

The Arizonan is usually pretty good on his feet, speaking off the cuff about policy and laws and how Washington works. But when Politico reporters asked him how many homes he and his rich wife own, he said:

"I think -- I'll have my staff get to you," he bumbled. "It's condominiums where -- I'll have them get to you."

The matter is certainly personal, but Barack Obama has tied it in with McCain's claims that the economy's "fundamentals" are "strong" and that it takes $5 million a year to make someone truly rich.

"I guess if you think that being rich means you've got to make $5 million, and if you don't know how many houses you have, then it's not surprising that you might think the economy was fundamentally strong," Obama said in Virginia.

The Mac is back.

Buoyed by a performance at the Saddleback Joint Forum which critics called "commanding," "passionate, ... surprisingly personal," and "the clear winner," an international crisis in Georgia on which McCain delivered the correct response from the very beginning, a clear national consensus on responsible drilling, and growing doubts among even Democrats about Obama's depth, John McCain has taken a 5-point lead in the latest Reuters/Zogby poll.

Additionally, McCain now leads in RealClearPolitics' Electoral College map, and is leading in four of the six battleground states on the RCP front page, including Ohio, Colorado, Virginia and Florida. These are positive numbers the likes of which haven't been seen for months.

Leading into his convention, Obama has to find a vice-presidential pick who knows about energy, the economy, and foreign policy, since Obama is lagging on all three fronts (yes, even the economy). Traditionally, Democrats' populist rhetoric gives them the advantage on the economy, but Obama has done nothing to reassure voters he knows what he's doing.

So what's the outlook for the next couple of weeks?

In protest of administrative bureaucracy, policy changes verging on censorship and the appointment of a Publications Coordinator the former editorial staff of Macon State College's official student newspaper began publishing a new, independent newspaper earlier this week.

The editorial staff of The Matrix left to form the Student Free Press as classes started this week, striving to provide an unrestrained source of information to the College's student body.

"The necessity of an independent student press became apparent when MSC administration postponed printing of the school-sponsored student publication, Matrix," the new paper writes on its website. "While administration claims that motivation for the postponement is to ensure student rights, students believe this is yet another attempt to control the student press, thus violating our First Amendment rights."

Michael Phelps' agent told Access Hollywood that Phelps will not be another Wheatie eating athlete. While he did appear on Wheaties boxes in 2004, this time around he's much grrrrreater than that. Phelps' eight gold medal winning self will be seen on Kellogs brand cereals Frosted Flakes and Corn Flakes. The boxes are expected to hit shelves in mid-September.

So, Frosted Flakes rather than Wheaties...no big deal, right? Well, some people don't feel that way.

Would you be surprised if I told you that Fox News, the alleged "news organization" you can always turn to for complete coverage of President Bush's birthday, may be airing images of Barack Obama that make his skin look darker than it really is?

One Denver Westward blogger doesn't think that's very far-fetched, reading a lot into Fox's use of pictures in this story and elsewhere. Remember, this isn't the first time Fox flacks have doctored photos (or used very specific selection methods) to make people they don't like look bad. There's reason to be suspicious, though we're certainly not in TIME/O.J. territory here.

We're in an election that is supposed to be beyond race, that can be about where the real people want to take this country, but unfortunately race doesn't seem to be going away any time soon.

And it may become an even bigger factor on election day.

In almost an open letter to Presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama, director/writer/lunatic? Michael Moore mapped out what not to do in order to beat Senator McCain in November. "How the Democrats Can Blow It In Six Easy Steps" is featured in the August 21 issue of Rolling Stone magazine, as well as his website.

So, how does Michael Moore think the Democrats can blow it? Glad you asked!

"Step 1. Keep saying nice things about McCain."

Basically, stop saying he is a brave war hero. Don't focus on that aspect of him at all. It will "send a mixed message to the uninformed."

That's good advice. During the primary, Obama kept saying what a great competitor Senator Clinton was. He is a little too nice when it comes to addressing his opponents. Sure he is trying to shy away from the whole "dirty politics" thing, but a little jab here or there is what he is going to need.

"Step 2. Pick a running mate who is a conservative white guy or a general or a Republican."

It may seem like a good idea in order to pick up some swing states or to make up for some aspects Obama lacks, but as Moore says, "THAT IS NOT THE WAY PEOPLE THINK. IT IS THE WAY PUNDITS THINK."

True. Most people who are voting for Obama are voting for him because they want something different. And hell, if he is going to change things, why go with a vice president that looks and acts like John Kerry? At least pick someone with a personality...too bad Edwards cheated on his wife, he was a nice dude.

Newsrooms are buzzing that Barack Obama will announce his vice-presidential choice in the coming days. Who will he pick? Bright Hall bloggers offer their predictions. Click here for our Veepstakes archive.



Joshua Sharp: Bill Richardson. Richardson has experience in key areas: energy, foreign policy, and executive leadership, to name a few. He's been a member of Congress, Secretary of Energy, ambassador to the U.N. and Governor of New Mexico. Richardson is widely respected across party lines, and can help the ticket in the West and among Hispanics. He only has to shave that beard.

Megan Baker: Evan Bayh. Bayh has that white middle class appeal that some say Obama simply does not have. He is currently a senator in Indiana, which could swing Democrat for the first time since 1964 if Bayh is in the VP spot. He also has expansive experience in economics, as he is a member of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship and the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. He is moderate enough for those skeptical voters, but is someone that most Obama supporters should be happy with, if they can forgive him for supporting Senator Clinton in the primary.

Matt Negrin: Bill Richardson -- As if there's any other choice. The New Mexico governor fits with Obama's theme of changing Washington politics. During the early presidential debates, Richardson portrayed himself as the perfect outsider with unmatched diplomacy, total knowledge of the world and a resume to match it. But that's all meaningless compared to his territory; big wins in the West are a sure win for the Obama campaign.

JJ Colao: Tim Kaine -- Alright, if I was a betting man I might not put the keys to the Ferrari on the line for this guy, but he's still a damn good pick and I'm hoping he gets the call. He supported Obama before it was cool and enjoys substantial popularity as the governor of Virginia, that traditionally conservative swing state with a lot more votes than New Mexico. He's Harvard Law with a working class background, worked with Jesuits in Honduras, and might help Obama in neighboring North Carolina too - that's twenty-eight electoral votes right there which effectively nullify a potential McCain win in Florida. The math is just too beautiful. Kaine Train for Veep, no doubt.

Nearly 100 college presidents from institutions of higher education around the country have joined together, looking to lobby congress to lower the drinking age from 21- to 18-years-old.

The presidents represent many of the nation's most well-known universities including Duke, Dartmouth and Ohio State. The movement is known as the Amethyst Initiative and had been working to gain support for nearly a year.

"This is a law that is routinely evaded," John McCardell, former president of Middlebury College in Vermont who started the organization, told the Associated Press. "It is a law that the people at whom it is directed believe is unjust and unfair and discriminatory."