TRAIL MIX: Tuesday's Best from Newspaper Political Blogs

By: Kathryn Blaze Carlson In today's highlights from newspaper political blogs, Barack Obama asks John McCain: If you like Hogs so much, why not "Buy American"?

Obama Radio Ad Asks Why McCain Opposes "Buy American" Rules if he Loves Harleys
On Politics
USA Today
By Mark Memmott

Obama's campaign has this question for McCain: Given the Arizona senator's penchant for Harleys, why does he oppose rules that the U.S. government "buy American"? In a recently released radio ad which hit airwaves in Milwaukee, Obama's camp points to the Sturgis motorcycle rally last week where the "Republican presidential contender John McCain told the crowd that if the choice is between 200,000 cheering Germans in Berlin or the sound of American-made Hogs, 'I'll take the roar of 50,000 Harleys any day,'" according to a post by Mark Memmott at USA Today's On Politics. Memmott's post points to The Journal-Sentinel's assessment of McCain's position and Obama's ad, which notes that "an ardent 'free-trader,' the Republican McCain has been a critic for many years of provisions that require the U.S. government to buy American products, saying they are costly to taxpayers and antithetical to open trade."


Clinton's Staff was Achilles Heel
Political Intelligence
The Boston Globe
By Foon Rhee

Based on a "raft of internal memos," a long-anticipated article on the Clinton campaign by Joshua Green of The Atlantic magazine was posted online Monday night and will appear in the magazine's September issue, according to a post by Foon Rhee at The Boston Globe's Political Intelligence. Rhee said the article "on Hillary Clinton's ill-fated campaign says that her divided staff didn't serve her well, that she didn't make hard choices, and that she rejected her chief strategist's suggestion to go after Barack Obama on his 'lack of American roots.'" Check out the Atlantic article here.


Leach to Endorse Barack Obama
The Swamp
Chicago Tribune
By John McCormick

"Sen. Barack Obama's campaign says former Rep. Jim Leach of Iowa will be among a group of Republicans endorsing the Illinois Democrat's presidential bid today," said John McCormick in a post at the Chicago Tribune's The Swamp. According to McCormick, "after three decades of representing portions of eastern Iowa, Leach lost a bid for re-election in 2006 and moved into academia. He was considered a moderate Republican in Congress and strong advocate for campaign finance reform."


Obama: "No Possible Justification" for Russian Offensive
The Trail
The Washington Post
By Shailagh Murray

"Sen. Barack Obama delivered a statement from Hawaii about the worsening crisis in Georgia, saying of Russia's aggression in the former Soviet republic, 'There is no possible justification for these attacks,'" according to a post by Shailagh Murray at The Washington Post's The Trail. Obama issued a similar response to that offered by McCain, calling for "active international engagement" which should include "a high-level and neutral international mediator, and a genuine international peacekeeping force." According to Murray, Obama "interrupted a family vacation to address the conflict and said he had spoken to Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili to convey 'my deep regret over the loss of life, and the suffering of the people of Georgia.'"