By: Kathryn Carlson Tuesday's Trail Mix focuses mainly on Sen. John McCain, who seeks to gain favor with America's voters by emphasizing offshore drilling. But a quip last Saturday about how much cash it takes to be considered "rich" these days may be coming back to haunt him.
Sure Enough, McCain's '$5 million' Quip is Used Against HimOn Politics
USA Today
By Mark Memmott
The words had barely left his mouth by the time he followed up with a "I'm sure that comment will be distorted" statement. Indeed, McCain saw it coming. According to Mark Memmott at the USA Today's On Politics, when the presidential hopeful said "Saturday evening during Pastor Rick Warren's 'civil forum' that it might take earnings of $5 million a year to be considered 'rich,' Republican presidential candidate John McCain predicted immediately that the quip would be used against him." Memmott notes that McCain said he didn't really mean it, but McCain did say he was "serious when he said he doesn't want to raise anyone's taxes, rich or poor." Sure enough, the DNC released a Web video featuring the comment -- check out Memmott's post for a viewing.
McCain Drills His Message HomeThe Trail
The Washington Post
By Perry Bacon Jr.
"McCain seems to have found an issue that polls well, contrasts with his opponent and is easy to describe, if not a short-term solution to high gas prices: of-shore drilling," said Perry Bacon Jr. of The Washington Post's The Trail. After canceling his July helicopter ride to an oil rig on the Gulf Coast citing weather (Bacon Jr. reminds that the cancellation also came after a "600-foot oil tanker collided with a barge on the Mississippi River, creating a 12-mile oil slick"), the Arizona senator heads out to a rig today with the task of touting offshore drilling. According to The Trail, "McCain, in case you missed it, has shifted over the last few months from being skeptical of offshore drilling to becoming one of its most vocal proponents."
Political Perceptions: McCain's Plan for Picking a VPThe Washington Wire
The Wall Street Journal
By Gerald F. Seib and Sara Murray
McCain may celebrate his upcoming 72nd birthday by doing much more than blowing out candles. According to Gerald F. Seib and Sara Murray at The Wall Street Journal's The Washington Wire, Mike Allen of Politico writes that the presidential hopeful "plans to celebrate his 72nd birthday on Aug. 29 by naming his running mate at a huge rally in the battleground state of Ohio, Republican sources said. That would be just one day after Sen. Barack Obama accepts the Democratic nomination at Denver's football stadium." Allen goes on to speculate who the Republican will name, citing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty as "prime contenders." According to The Wire, "even McCain's friends don't know precisely what he's planning, though. They say he "talks about the decision with almost no one, and could even change the announcement plans and go sooner," Allen writes.
Here's Johnny, AgainPolitical Intelligence
The Boston Globe
By Foon Rhee
With the DNC kicking off Monday night, McCain nailed down a "forum from which to compete for attention" -- at least for that first evening, according to Foon Rhee at The Boston Globe's Political Intelligence. The Republican contender will appear on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" alongside silver medal-winning swimmer Dara Torres. Rhee notes that Torres "made waves in the Olympics because she's 41 years old."
Fountain to Wow Denver Once AgainPolitics West
The Denver Post
By Christopher N. Osher
It seems that water will again flow from where it hasn't in nearly a decade. According to Christopher N. Osher at The Denver Post's Politics West, "onlookers will gather tonight to celebrate the refurbishment of the Prismatic Electric Fountain" -- a historic fountain that has sat unused in the middle of Ferril Lake. Said Osher: "Just before the 1908 Democratic National Convention, the city of Denver commissioned a fountain for City Park that fascinated onlookers much like the Bellagio fountain in Las Vegas entertains tourists these days," adding that now, on the eve of another Democratic National Convention, "the fountain will entertain with its 90-foot spires of water and a light display."
Trail Mix's Featured Blogs:Chicago Tribune:
The SwampLos Angeles Times:
Top of the TicketThe Boston Globe:
Political IntelligenceThe Denver Post:
Politics WestThe New York Times:
The CaucusThe Wall Street Journal:
The Washington WireThe Washington Post:
The Trail and
The FixUSA Today:
On Politics
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