From NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli

THE SHORT LIST. Mike Allen says Mitt Romney is at the top of the list, but that a lack of "personal chemistry" may be the downfall. Allen also reports that McCain will announce his pick shortly after Obama's, to limit his bounce.

Adam Nogourney looks at the "tricky" timing of unveiling a running mate, given the Olympics and convention dates. "It would appear that of the two candidates, Mr. Obama has the more complicated road to navigate, given the fact that the Democratic convention opens up the day after the Olympics end. … That could mean looking to, say, Monday Aug. 4, which is Mr. Obama's birthday." Better still is late July, "a week or two before the Olympics."  
 
WHAT THEY'RE UP TO. MN Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) talks to David Brody about McCain's relationship with evangelicals, and encourages the campaign to do more outreach. "I think there are a lot of Christian leaders, evangelical leaders who haven't yet been contacted or who haven't been part of meetings who are feeling perhaps, are they going to reach out to me and at a minimum we want to make sure that he is speaking on issues of concern to them and I think you'll see perhaps more of that in the summer and fall." 

After loads of criticism and even a recall petition, LA Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) reversed course and decided to veto the legislative pay raise after all. "I made a mistake by staying out if it," he said, adding that he knows legislators "are going to be angry I broke my word to them." "Let them direct their anger to me and not the people of this state," Jindal said.  

The recall effort was then dropped.   

OH Gov. Ted Strickland (D) is in Florida for "party-building activities." He will be there tomorrow as well, and therefore will not be campaigning with Obama.

BUZZ METER. Jim Webb (D-VA) reportedly was referred to as "Mr. Vice President" by his Senate colleague, Claire McCaskill.  
 
VEEP VETTING. Today's distancing by Obama of Wes Clark "would seem to diminish his chances of being selected" for the ticket. 
 
CHATTERING CLASS. Steve Kornacki does a reality check on Pawlenty. His two terms came from narrow wins; he likely won't deliver MN "or any other Rust Belt states." And he "looks, sounds and acts like a generic, uninspiring and thoroughly forgettable politician." 

Andrew Romano says the odds of a Rob Portman choice are "pretty strong."  He's the most "feasible" GOP pick from Ohio, meets most of the typical running mate qualifications and "excels in a couple of categories where few (if any) other candidates can compete." 

An Alaska columnist, looking at a commemorative book on Alaska's 50 years of statehood, wonders why there is so much Gov. Sarah Palin (R) and so little Ted Stevens. 
 
E-VEEP. Joe Biden is looking for some donations for his re-election fund before the deadline. He talks about his recent doings, and adds: "As you know, it is imperative that each of us does everything we can to make sure Barack Obama is the next President of the United States."

From NBC/NJ's Adam Aigner-Treworgy

ALLENTOWN, PA -- While Obama used his speech this morning to distance himself from Wes Clark's comments criticizing McCain's military record, the McCain campaign spent much of the morning trying to tie Clark and Obama closer together.

After a conference call in which several of his supporters implied that Clark's comments were a part of the Obama campaign's strategy, McCain answered questions about the comments at a press conference, implying that Obama and his surrogates were participating in dirty politics.

VIDEO: Robert Gibbs, Obama communications director, addresses the recent comments made by General Wesley Clark, adding that no one should question the patriotism of either candidate, but rather the judgement each possesses.

"I'm proud of my record of service and I have plenty of friends and leaders who will attest to that," McCain said when asked about Clark's criticism. "But the important thing is if that's the kind of campaign that Sen. Obama and his surrogates and his supporters want to engage, I understand that. But it doesn't reduce the price of a gallon gas by one penny. It doesn't achieve our energy independence any -- make it come any closer. It doesn't help an American stay in their home who are in risk of losing it today, and it certainly doesn't do anything to address the challenges that Americans have in keeping their jobs, their homes and supporting their families."

McCain did not push for Obama to condemn the remarks, despite being asked about them several times. Instead, he said: "Gen. Clark is not an isolated incident, but I have no way of knowing how much involvement Sen. Obama has in that issue." And he said that he would "let the American people decide" if Obama was going back on his promise to practice a new kind of politics by letting Clark's comments stand.

In his speech today, Obama emphasized McCain's military service and patriotism. "We must always express our profound gratitude for the service of our men and women in uniform.  Period. Full stop," he said. "Indeed, one of the good things to emerge from the current conflict in Iraq has been the widespread recognition that whether you support this war or oppose it, the sacrifice of our troops is always worthy of honor."

From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones and NBC's Mark Murray
Obama and Bill Clinton spoke on the phone today, despite reports that the former president was still upset at Obama after the conclusion of the spirited and contentious Democratic primary.

"Sen. Obama had a terrific conversation with President Clinton and is honored to have his support in this campaign," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement. "He has always believed that Bill Clinton is one of this nation's great leaders and most brilliant minds, and looks forward to seeing him on the campaign trail and receiving his counsel in the months to come."

VIDEO: Presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama spoke to former President Bill Clinton for the first time since the primaries, asking him for help in his quest for the White House. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.

Added Clinton spokesman Matt McKenna: "President Clinton had a very good conversation with Sen. Obama today. He renewed his offer to do whatever he can to ensure Sen. Obama is our next President... The president believes that Sen. Obama has been a great inspiration for millions of people around the country and he knows that he will bring the change America needs as our next president."

Per Obama communications director Robert Gibbs, Obama and Clinton spoke for about 20 minutes during the Illinois senator's drive between Kansas City and Independence. Obama asked Bill Clinton to campaign with -- and for -- him in the fall.

"I believe the president wants to and was excited about it," Gibbs said.

From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones

INDEPENDENCE, MO -- No party or political philosophy has a monopoly on patriotism, Obama told the audience here Monday, spelling out his own definition of a concept increasingly at issue in this historic election.

Flanked by four American flags and wearing a flag pin on his lapel, the presumptive Democratic nominee used a variation of the word "patriot" some 35 times during his roughly 45-minute speech. He said the upcoming July 4th holiday was a good time to reflect on the meaning of the word, and argued it had been used "as a political sword or a political shield" since the birth of the Republic and in this election.

VIDEO: Barack Obama delivers a speech on patriotism in Independence, MO. Listen to the entire speech.

"It is worth considering the meaning of patriotism because the question of who is -- or is not -- a patriot all too often poisons our political debates, in ways that divide us rather than bringing us together," he told an audience of about 1,150 people in the Truman Auditorium here. "I have come to know this from my own experience on the campaign trail."

Obama said he had taken his own patriotism as a given all his life, but had seen it questioned this election season. "At certain times over the last 16 months, I've found, for the first time, my patriotism challenged -- at times as a result of my own carelessness, more often as a result of the desire by some to score political points and raise fears and doubts about who I am and what I stand for," he said. "So let me say at this at the outset of my remarks. I will never question the patriotism of others in this campaign. And I will not stand idly by when I hear others question mine."

Like his speech on race in Philadelphia during the primary campaign, political observers were likely to watch this address closely, along with those voters who are still uneasy about Obama because of his name, his background, and his upbringing.

The need for the speech highlights the traction that Internet rumors about the senator's faith and supposed lack of patriotism has had. Before the North Carolina and Indiana primaries, Obama was asked in several town halls about his resistance to say the Pledge of Allegiance. He repeatedly explained the rumor was false and talked about leading the pledge while in the Senate.

If Obama -- a non-typical candidate when it comes to his race and his upbringing in places like Hawaii and Indonesia -- is to expand the electoral map this election year, as his campaign has repeatedly said he aims to do, he has to gain ground with voters who worry that he is not like them and cannot relate to their concerns.

Today in this symbolically named town in a state he hopes to move to the blue column in the fall, Obama linked the notion of patriotism to his own life. "For a young man like me, of mixed race, without firm anchor in any particular community, without even a father's steadying hand, it is this essential American idea -- that we are not constrained by the accident of birth but can make of our lives what we will -- that has defined my life, just as it has defined the life of so many other Americans," he said to applause.

He talked about childhood memories and the lessons his family taught him about what it means to be an American and spoke of pasts presidents like Thomas Jefferson and John Adams (who had had their patriotism questioned) and others like Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt (who had used the notion of patriotism to justify unpatriotic or unconstitutional actions).

He called Martin Luther King Jr. and the Abu Ghraib whistleblower patriots for pointing out injustice, and he quoted Missourian Mark Twain to applause, saying: "Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it."

Obama also linked the today's debate about patriotism to the "culture wars of the 1960s," as he distanced himself from an attack made last fall by the liberal group MoveOn.org on Gen. David Petraeus.

"All too often our politics still seems trapped in these old, threadbare arguments -- a fact most evident during our recent debates about the war in Iraq, when those who opposed administration policy were tagged by some as unpatriotic, and a general providing his best counsel on how to move forward in Iraq was accused of betrayal," he said. "Given the enormous challenges that lie before us, we can no longer afford these divisions. "

MoveOn took out an ad last fall calling the then commanding general of the multinational force in Iraq "General Betray Us" as he testified on Capitol Hill about the situation in Iraq. Obama, though, refused to vote on a Senate measure condemning the MoveOn ad, calling it a stunt.

The senator was introduced by a young former army captain and Iraq war vet, and he cited the casualty rate in Iraq at the beginning of his speech, arguing it was important to reflect on what patriotism means when the country is in the midst of war.

He talked about the importance of honoring those who have served in the US military and made a point of rejecting -- albeit indirectly -- Gen. Wes Clark's remarks this weekend in which the general, a Democratic candidate in the last election and until recently a Clinton supporter, seemed to belittle McCain's military service.

Obama said that veterans who had "endured physical torment in service to our country" did not need to prove they had sacrificed for American and that "no one should ever devalue that service, especially for the sake of a political campaign, and that goes for supporters on both sides. We must always express our profound gratitude for the service of our men and women in uniform. Period. Full stop."

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Obama is up with his second general-election ad. It focuses on work -- his own and what he plans to do for others. He talks about his time as a community organizer and mentions that "He passed a law to move people from welfare to work, slashed the rolls by eighty percent." The word "work" (or some variation) is heard five times; the word "job" is heard three times.

The ad, according to the campaign, begins airing in Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Virginia.

 

Script for "Dignity"
OBAMA: I'm Barack Obama, and I approve this message. Announcer: He worked his way through college and Harvard Law. Turned down big money offers, and helped lift neighborhoods stung by job loss. Fought for workers' rights. He passed a law to move people from welfare to work, slashed the rolls by eighty percent. Passed tax cuts for workers; health care for kids. As president, he'll end tax breaks for companies that export jobs, reward those that create jobs in America. And never forget the dignity that comes from work.

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro, Caroline Gransee and Alex Wall
Following up on the McCain campaign's earlier call, here's something that's been picked up on -- one of the "Truth Squad" Members apparently was part of "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" which attacked John Kerry for his service in 2004.

"In hopes of nipping any criticism in the bud," Huffington Post writes, "the campaign brought on board a man quite familiar with how these types of attacks gain legs: Bud Day, a fellow POW who was part of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth squad that had worked so hard to defame Sen. John Kerry's own Vietnam record."

Day defended Swift Boats, Ben Smith and others note. "What the Swift Boat campaign was about was to lay out John Kerry's record. John Kerry has never produced any evidence to deny that," he said. "In contrast, he said, he and others on the call had produced 'evidence pointing out that [Clark's] remarks were completely inaccurate.'"

ThinkProgress was among those who pointed out Day's involvement in February.

McCain came out against Swift Boats efforts.

From NBC's Alex Wall and Caroline Gransee
Sen. John Warner (R-VA), Col. Bud Day, USAF (Ret.), Lt. Col. Orson Swindle, USMC (Ret.), Lt. Commander Carl Smith, USNR (Ret.) and McCain spokesman Brian Rogers responded in a conference call to Gen. Wesley Clark's (Ret.) most recent attack on McCain's military experience.

The McCain campaign held the conference call in order to "keep his reputation clean" and point out the inconsistencies between the Obama camps' actions and rhetoric.

"It is inconceivable that anyone take a shot at Senator McCain's military experience," Smith said.  "Gen. Clark is way off base on this one."
 
Day added that, "no one who fought in Vietnam would question McCain's credentials." The group argued that McCain's success in commanding the Attack Squadron Sixty-Five (VA-65) in Vietnam has given him the leadership experience to "assess risk" and make informed foreign policy decisions. 

Warner pointed out that, "McCain was one of the strong voices that spoke up [against Bush]" regarding the need for more forces in Iraq and noted that "he turned out to be correct."
 
The group went on to criticize Obama for "refusing to condemn attacks that have been leveled on Sen. McCain."

Rogers argued that Clark's remarks were another example where "his words don't match up with how he is running his campaign."
 
McCain's surrogates also noted that Clark's comment could have a greater effect on young voters who didn't live through Vietnam.
 
"Half of the people in this country were not alive during Vietnam," Orson said. "When you start spreading rumors on the integrity of a candidate it has a tendency to weigh in on those who do not know better…and young people…in many cases aren't familiar with Vietnam."

From NBC's Andrea Mitchell
Obama will talk about McCain's military record in his noon speech on "patriotism" in Independence, MO -- and contradict Wes Clark, without naming him.

VIDEO: Responding to criticism by retired Gen. Wesley Clark, John McCain says, "I'm proud of my record of service." Listen to his entire response.

Obama has frequently spoken of McCain's military record, but the campaign is making a point of it today in light of Clark's comments on Face the Nation (and similar remarks in recent weeks on Morning Joe) that "I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president".

Earlier today, on Morning Joe, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs distanced the campaign from Gen. Clark's remarks.

*** UPDATE *** Here's a statement from Obama spokesman Bill Burton on Wes Clark's controversial comments about McCain's military service. "As he's said many times before, Senator Obama honors and respects Senator McCain's service, and of course he rejects yesterday's statement by General Clark."

From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro
*** Entering the lull: This week begins what's essentially a two-month lull in the presidential race. Later this week is the July 4th holiday, next comes the Olympics in early August, and then we have the conventions -- the Democrats' ending on August 28 and the GOP one on September 4. Then the day after, the sprint toward the November finish line truly begins. During this two-month lull, neither Obama nor McCain can win the election. But they both sure can lose it. That happened to John Kerry in August 2004, when the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth effort began and when his campaign wasn't spending much money (saving its millions in general election funds to begin at the same time as Bush's kicked in after the September GOP convention). What these next two months in the Obama-McCain race are about is positioning for September 5. Obama begins that process by delivering a speech on patriotism in Independence, MO today and -- as Politico's Mike Allen reports -- a faith-based address in Ohio tomorrow. McCain, meanwhile, hits Pennsylvania, a battleground state Republicans haven't won since 1988. There are at least a combined four bounce opportunities: the two VP selections and the two conventions. McCain's goal for these next two months: to have this a low single-digit race by September 5. Obama's goal is more obvious: 1) to begin erasing character doubts about himself, 2) bankrupting McCain financially in the lean red states, and 3) building not only a national lead but double-digit leads in as many states as he can.

*** Patriot Games: Per his campaign, Obama today in Independence, MO -- just days after his event in Unity, NH -- will "discuss what patriotism means to him and what it requires of all Americans who loves this country and want to see it do better." NBC/NJ's Athena Jones notes that there haven't been a lot of town halls lately (cue the RNC hit on Obama for not just refusing town halls with McCain but with any voters at all, but we digress), so the all-but-certain Democratic nominee hasn't been asked about flag pins or the incorrect rumors about why he doesn't believe in pledging allegiance to the flag. Those are questions he used to get (especially in Indiana and North Carolina.) Jones adds that there are still a lot of people out there who are iffy about Obama because of his name, his background, and his upbringing. It may be true that a lot of these folks are probably not Obama supporters -- still this issue is an important one to address if his campaign hopes to expand the electoral map. And this patriotism stuff isn't just about flag pins; it's about attempting to counter the real hit that may be having an effect on Obama: the "is he one of us" question.

VIDEO: NBC Political Director Chuck Todd talks about John McCain and Barack Obama's patriotic messages this week and discusses McCain's trip to South America.

*** Patriot Games, Part II: Speaking of the topic of Obama's speech today, it seems American presidential politics can't quite get beyond this question: Just how big of a military hero were you? Yesterday on CBS's Face The Nation, it was Wes Clark questioning McCain's military record. "I don't think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president," he said, as well as this: "[McCain] has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee. And he has traveled all over the world. But he hasn't held executive responsibility. That large squadron in the Navy that he commanded -- that wasn't a wartime squadron." These comments weren't helpful at all to the Obama campaign, as Team McCain used them -- and made sure reporters were aware of them -- by issuing this statement from retired Admiral Leighton "Snuffy" Smith: "If Barack Obama wants to question John McCain's service to his country, he should have the guts to do it himself and not hide behind his campaign surrogates. If he expects the American people to believe his pledges about a new kind of politics, Barack Obama has a responsibility to condemn these attacks." Clark, of course, was a Clinton surrogate during the primary season. What makes us think we won't see Clark as an Obama surrogate again? Clark's folks tell First Read that the general honors McCain's service and would never disrespect it. However, they say that McCain is running for president "on his experience in national security, and Clark was talking about his qualifications in those terms." It's a tricky hit. On one hand, Clark was looking like he was doing a VP audition by proving he's comfortable attack McCain. But did Clark go too far since now even Obama supporters will have to acknowledge McCain's military service honorably?

*** Does Obama have an Iraq problem? When the New Yorker is asking this question, then that means he MUST really have a problem. This isn't the Weekly Standard writing about this. "With the general election four months away, Obama's rhetoric on [Iraq] now seems outdated and out of touch, and the nominee-apparent may have a political problem concerning the very issue that did so much to bring him this far," the New Yorker's George Packer observes. "The relative success of the surge is one of the few issues going McCain's way; we'll be hearing about it more and more between now and November, and it might sway some centrist voters who have doubts about Obama." Then again, 54% in the latest NBC/WSJ poll said that victory in Iraq isn't possible. The question on Iraq is whether Americans are paying attention to what's going over there or whether they've already given up on the five-year-old conflict, no matter the progress. Still, it does seem as if more and more Americans are coming around to the "Pottery Barn" rule: If we broke it, we now own it.

*** Does McCain have a Bin Laden problem? Well, President Bush sure does, but will that carry over to the presumptive GOP nominee? The New York Times front-pages that Al Qaeda's strength is growing in Pakistan. "[I]t is increasingly clear that the Bush administration will leave office with Al Qaeda having successfully relocated its base from Afghanistan to Pakistan's tribal areas, where it has rebuilt much of its ability to attack from the region and broadcast its messages to militants across the world." It's the type of national security reminder that can benefit the Democrats, even with someone supposedly as inexperienced on the issue as Obama who -- by the way -- was in the Illinois state senate on Sept. 11.

*** McCain's pluses and minuses among Latinos: If it hadn't been for those comments by Wes Clark, the chief political news from the weekend would have been Obama's upcoming European and Middle tour, as well as McCain's and Obama's duel speeches before the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO). During the Democratic primary season, the CW was that Obama had a Hispanic problem. But after the first round of national polls, it's not Obama who has this problem but McCain. Per the June NBC/WSJ poll, Obama got 62% of the Latino vote versus McCain's 28%. McCain has strong credentials among Hispanics -- he's from the border state of Arizona and he's championed comprehensive immigration reform (although the DNC will be sure to remind you that McCain later walked away from supporting his own legislation). But the problem that he's likely encountering is the Republican Party's anti-immigration crusade of 2006 and 2007. After all, ask yourself this: To which party does Tom Tancredo belong? And what battleground state does he live in? That said, McCain's upcoming trip to Latin America will get him lots of coverage in America's Spanish-language media. And that might help him distinguish himself from others in the Republican Party and start improving his standing among Hispanics, particularly in places like New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada and Florida.

VIDEO: This week, both Barack Obama and John McCain will be targeting the West, a key battleground in the race for the White House. NBC's Kevin Corke reports.

*** Speaking of western states: Both McCain and Obama targeting the west this week. McCain's doing it by heading south -- to places like Colombia and Mexico, hoping the Spanish-language media coverage gets him positive (and wall-to-wall) Spanish language media coverage. Meanwhile, Obama's spending most of his week out west, starting Wednesday in Colorado, then North Dakota on Thursday and spending the 4th in Butte, Montana.

*** Also worth pointing out: The centrist Democratic Leadership Council is holding its national meeting in Chicago. What's interesting is that Obama isn't attending. In addition, no Democratic presidential contender attended last year's meeting, either. Obama might be moving to the center on some issues, but he certainly isn't DLC-ing it….

*** On the trail: McCain makes two stops in Pennsylvania, touring and then holding a media avail at Turbine Airfoil Design in Harrisburg, and later conducting a town hall in Pipersville. Obama is in Missouri, hosting an event at the Truman Memorial Building in Independence.

Countdown to Dem convention: 56 days
Countdown to GOP convention: 63 days
Countdown to Election Day 2008: 127 days
Countdown to Inauguration Day 2009: 204 days
 
Click here to sign up for First Read emails.
Text FIRST to 622639, to sign up for First Read alerts to your mobile phone. 

"Obama, looking to bolster his expertise in foreign policy, will travel to Europe and the Middle East to consult on issues like terrorism and nuclear proliferation, his campaign said on Saturday," Reuters writes. "The trip to France, Germany, Great Britain, Jordan and Israel will take place before the Democratic convention in late August… Obama also plans to visit Iraq and Afghanistan this summer as part of a congressional delegation, but the campaign would not confirm those visits would be part of the same trip and would not give the exact dates of any foreign trips."

VIDEO: Barack Obama has announced he will be touring five European countries and the Middle East this summer. NBC Deputy Political Director Mark Murray reports.

The Wall Street Journal previews McCain's trip to Colombia and Mexico and notes it's an attempt to look like an international statesman.

John Harwood of CNBC and the New York Times writes, "Colombia hardly constitutes a general election battleground. Neither does France nor Jordan. But Senators John McCain and Barack Obama are heading to those countries and others because votes can be won there. The votes are the reward that Americans confer for gravitas — the stature and experience that reassures them their would-be president can safeguard them from unforeseen events. What helps the candidates in this effort are the images of them consulting with foreign leaders and giving speeches on the international stage, as well as the knowledge they glean during these travels."

"Appearing later before the same audience, Obama accused McCain of walking away from comprehensive immigration reform… The two spoke separately to some 700 Hispanics attending the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials conference. It's the first of three such appearances each is scheduled to make to Hispanic organizations in less than a month, underscoring the importance of the nation's fastest-growing minority group."

The Washington Post's Shear notes, "McCain's allies have seized on a new and aggressive line of attack against Sen. Barack Obama, casting the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee as an opportunistic and self-obsessed politician who will do and say anything to get elected." Shear adds that "the abrupt shift in tone among his paid staff members, volunteer surrogates and other Republican staples of the cable news circuit is unmistakable, and it resembles the unified message the GOP used to paint the 2004 Democratic candidate, Sen. John F. Kerry, as a flip-flopper. It also reflects a growing belief among McCain's strategists that the campaign for the White House will be won or lost based on voters' view of  Obama's character."

VIDEO: The Nation's Chris Hayes discusses the McCain campaign's recent efforts to cast Barack Obama as a partisan even though he's worked on numerous projects with GOP legislators.

"Targeting a politician's character flaws is a time-tested strategy, but it is a complicated argument for McCain, who has also shifted his positions in the course of the campaign. This month, with gasoline prices soaring, the Republican reversed his position on offshore oil drilling." And: "Craig Shirley, a GOP consultant and biographer based in Virginia, said substantive issues are sometimes more powerful during a campaign than a focus on character. 'Bush tried the same thing in 1992 and Dole tried the same thing in 1996 -- trying to make the election a character issue -- both failing, of course,' Shirley said of George H.W. Bush and Robert J. Dole. 'If these things were simply about character, then the two war heroes the GOP nominated in 1992 and 1996 would have beaten the draft-dodging, pot-smoking womanizer.'"

"In the matters of national security policy making, it's a matter of understanding risk," Gen. Wes Clark (Ret.) said on CBS' Face the Nation. "It's a matter of gauging your opponents and it's a matter of being held accountable. John McCain's never done any of that in his official positions. I certainly honor his service as a prisoner of war. He was a hero to me and to hundreds of thousands and millions of others in the armed forces, as a prisoner of war. He has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee and he has traveled all over the world, but he hasn't held executive responsibility. That large squadron in the Navy that he commanded -- that wasn't a wartime squadron." He added, "Well, I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president."
 
The McCain campaign responded this way: "If Barack Obama's campaign wants to question John McCain's military service, that's their right. But let's please drop the pretense that Barack Obama stands for a new type of politics. The reality is he's proving to be a typical politician who is willing to say anything to get elected, including allowing his campaign surrogates to demean and attack John McCain's military service record."

McCain visited with Billy and Franklin Graham yesterday. He didn't walk away with their endorsement, but McCain did earn their praise.

"Earlier this month, Barack Obama … met with the younger Graham, who was among some 30 evangelicals Obama met with in Chicago."

Despite being considered a hawk, the Boston Globe writes that "in the plush office towers of some of America's leading defense companies, the recipients of billions of dollars of Pentagon contracts each year, the presumptive Republican nominee for president has another label: persona non grata. For even as McCain has railed against cuts in defense spending and sought to increase soldier benefits and operating funds, he has been equally dogged in his efforts to cancel some of the industry's most prized weapons contracts and micromanage others that he believes are wasteful and come at the expense of more pressing needs, according to a Globe review of his Senate record.
 
"The result: Despite McCain's national security credentials and staunch support for continuing the war in Iraq, he has only slightly exceeded presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama in campaign contributions from the defense industry, according to the Center for Responsive Politics."

The New York Times looks at Obama's push to compete in the South. "Obama's Southern strategy relies on significantly increasing black registration and turnout, as he did in the primary season. Mr. Hildebrand said that by some estimates there are 600,000 unregistered black voters in Georgia alone. The higher the black share of the vote, the lower the requirement for garnering white votes. But the Obama camp argues that it can increase its share of the white vote as well by focusing on younger, more progressive whites."

Also: "In the Republican camp, strategists say that for all the difficulties the party is facing, the South remains deeply conservative. 'It would take an awful big shift in the electorate this year,' said Mike DuHaime, a senior adviser to the McCain campaign. 'It's not like we're talking about states that were won by one or two points last time. These Southern states, with the exception of Virginia and Florida, were double-digit wins.'"

Speaking of the South, the Wall Street Journal writes about Obama's voter registration campaign there.

The New Yorker's George Packer writes: "In February, 2007, when Barack Obama declared that he was running for President, violence in Iraq had reached apocalyptic levels, and he based his candidacy, in part, on a bold promise to begin a rapid withdrawal of American forces upon taking office. At the time, this pledge represented conventional thinking among Democrats and was guaranteed to play well with primary voters. But in the year and a half since then two improbable, though not unforeseeable, events have occurred: Obama has won the Democratic nomination, and Iraq, despite myriad crises, has begun to stabilize. With the general election four months away, Obama's rhetoric on the topic now seems outdated and out of touch, and the nominee-apparent may have a political problem concerning the very issue that did so much to bring him this far."

More: "The politics of the issue is tricky, because acknowledging changed ideas in response to changed facts is considered a failing by the political class. Accordingly, Obama, on the night that he proclaimed himself the nominee, in St. Paul, made a familiar declaration: 'Start leaving we must. It's time for Iraqis to take responsibility for their future.' His supporters claim that the polls are with Obama, that war fatigue will make Iraq a political winner for him in November. Yet, as exhausted as the public is with the war, a candidate who seems heedless of progress in Iraq will be vulnerable to the charge of defeatism, which John McCain's campaign will connect to its broader theme of Obama's inexperience in and weakness on national security. The relative success of the surge is one of the few issues going McCain's way; we'll be hearing about it more and more between now and November, and it might sway some centrist voters who have doubts about Obama."

Bill Clinton and Obama may talk in 24 to 48 hours, according to former Clinton fundraiser-in-chief Terry McAuliffe. " 'Is he somewhat angry, as I am, and others, at some of the treatment Hillary Clinton received from the press? Sure. But, you know, that's life,'" McAuliffe said in an interview with CNN. Clinton's trip to Europe was in deference to his wife, McAuliffe added. "What I think they wanted to do was, first of all, go through the event on Friday, the Unity event," McAuliffe said. "It was up to Hillary. As Bill Clinton will say, she is the political leader of their family."

Michelle Obama sat down with USA Today. "'I don't want to be a distraction. I want to be a part of the solution,' Obama told USA TODAY in a 27-minute interview Thursday. She said she hopes to help make America a place where 'more hardworking people feel they can carve out a life that makes sense for themselves and their kids."

Has Hillary Clinton worked her way back on the Obama short list? The New York Daily News' Goodwin thinks so.

The Los Angeles Times' McManus goes through the VP process for both campaigns and notes how few leaks have come out of late, particularly from the McCain side.

VIDEO: The New York Time's Mark Leibovich discusses his take on possible VP candidates and their role in the presidential race.

NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli's wrap of the Sunday morning shows: Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN) defended McCain on immigration on This Week, asking "when has Barack Obama stood up and taken on his party on anything of national significance?" "If you look at any argument that Senator McCain is an extension of George Bush, it does not hold water, in a whole bunch of categories," Pawlenty said. "He's the one who said we've got to change the conduct of the war. He's the one that says we have to take a different approach on energy."
 
Gov. Ed Rendell (D-PA) reiterated he wants to finish his terms as Pennsylvania governor. "Well, the national media didn't listen," he said on Fox News Sunday. "I said in 2011, it's my intention to walk out the door of the capital, the Lord willing, in January of 2011. I know that disappoints some people in the capital, but that's my intention." "And if there was a position open that I was interested in, like energy or transportation, I'd be honored to serve in an Obama administration, but not at the beginning, not until my time is finished," he said.
 
Former Rep. Rob Portman (R-OH), when asked about the vice presidency, said he likes being home in Ohio. "I don't know, and I don't expect to be asked, honestly," he said on Fox News Sunday. "I'm also, as you know, Chris, home after 15 years of commuting when I was in Congress and in the administration, and I've got three teenagers. It's time to be home. I love being home." "And public service is an incredible privilege and honor," he said. "And I hope some day to be able to get back and do something that's substantive to help people."
 
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) said John McCain is "more ready to be president on foreign and domestic policy because of his extraordinary experience." He said McCain, like Clinton, was ready to be president on day one. "Because our enemies will test the new president early," Lieberman said on Face the Nation. "Remember that the truck bombing of the World Trade Center happened in the first year of the Clinton administration. 9/11 happened in the first year of the Bush administration. John McCain is ready to take the reins on January 20th, 2009. He doesn't need any training." 
 
Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA) said social conservatives want McCain "to talk about is his role as president in selecting judges, nominating judges, especially the Supreme Court." Jindal also said there is still time to block the legislative pay raise that has gotten him into hot water in Louisiana. "We still have a week," he said on Late Edition. "And we still have many options to make sure that we don't see legislators take a pay raise that would be more than double what they currently make. I think that's excessive." 

The DCCC is going up with new radio ads in 13 GOP districts that link Republican incumbents to President Bush and high gas prices by using -- drum roll, please -- a Bush impersonator. "Wanted to thank you for continuing to support the Big Oil Energy Agenda," the impersonator says. "'Preciate you voting to keep giving billions in tax breaks to the big oil companies. Sure, gasoline is over four bucks a gallon and the oil companies are making record profits, but what's good for Big Oil is good for America, right? I guess that's why they call us the Grand OIL Party. Heh, heh, heh." The districts: Brian Bilbray (CA-50), Charlie Dent (PA-15), Thelma Drake (VA-02), Shelly Moore Capito (WV-02), Steve Chabot (OH-01), Phil English (PA-03), Scott Garrett (NJ-05), Jim Gerlach (PA-06), Virgil Goode (VA-05), Robin Hayes (NC-08), Patrick McHenry (NC-10), Peter Roskam (IL-06), and Jean Schmidt (OH-02).  

From NBC/NJ's Matthew E. Berger
McCain

today met with evangelical leader Billy Graham and his son Franklin, discussing his experience during the Vietnam War and praying for "God's will to be done in the upcoming election."

"I was pleased to have the opportunity to meet with Billy Graham and his son Franklin," McCain said after the meeting in Asheville, NC. "We had a very excellent conversation, I appreciated the opportunity to visit with him. Rev. Billy Graham recalled that during the Vietnam War when I was in prison, he visited my parents in Hawaii twice, and he and my father and mother prayed together for me, and I expressed my appreciation for that a long time ago."

The 45-minute meeting was expected to be just with Franklin, who is president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. But the frail elder Graham attended as well.

"My father and I were pleased to have an opportunity to meet and visit with Sen. John McCain today," Franklin Graham said in a statement. "Sen. McCain's office had requested a meeting in recent months, and we appreciate the effort he made to travel to my father's home. The senator and I both have sons currently serving in the military, and also have a common interest in aviation. I was impressed by his personal faith and his moral clarity on important social issues facing America today."

Speaking to reporters at Asheville Regional Airport, McCain said he asked for the meeting because the Grahams have known of him and his family for years.

"They're great leaders of this nation," he said. "I appreciate the opportunity to, to visit with them, and I am very grateful for the time they spent with me."

Asked how Billy Graham looked, McCain said "fine, fine."

McCain also met country music singer Ricky Scaggs, who had lunch with the Grahams and arrived early to meet the presidential candidate. They chatted and shook hands in the driveway as McCain was leaving.

The presumptive GOP presidential nominee also said he would be "surprised" if the United States was sending troops and personnel to Iran, as has been recently reported. McCain said he had no information about that.

From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Obama promised to be a partner and champion for America's Hispanics if he wins the White House.

In a roughly 45-minute speech and question-and-answer session at a conference of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Saturday, Obama highlighted his work with Latino leaders and called the Hispanics "an aspirational community that embodies the best of the American Dream."

VIDEO: When Barack Obama and John McCain spoke at a meeting of Hispanic voters in Washington D.C., they weren't side by side. But NBC's Lee Cowan reports that didn't stop them from sniping at one another.

The presumptive Democratic nominee hopes to win over Latino voters, a key voting bloc in several states, including places like Colorado and New Mexico, red states where he is campaigning in the hopes of turning them blue. The senator plans to address League of United Latin America Citizens national convention here on July 8 and the National Council of La Raza annual conference in San Diego on July 13.

"This election could well come down to how many Latinos turn out to vote, and I'm proud that my campaign is working hard to register more Latinos, and bring them into the political process," he told an enthusiastic crowd. "Because I truly believe that if we work together and fight together and stand together this fall, then you and I together -- not only will we change registration rolls, not only will I win the presidency -- but we are gonna change the political map. We are gonna change it from top to bottom. We will create the kind of empowerment in your communities that we have not seen ever in this United States of America."

Obama, whose speech followed rival John McCain's, was warmly received with a standing ovation and chants of "O-ba-ma" and "Si se puede!"

He began by acknowledging the historic nature of his own candidacy.

"I'm proud to be here today not just as the Democratic nominee for President, but as the first African-American nominee of my party, and I'm hoping that somewhere out there in the audience sits the person who will be the first Latino nominee," he said to applause.

He went on to restate his support for comprehensive immigration reform that focuses on both enforcement and providing a path to citizenship for the roughly 12 million people here illegally and he criticized McCain for changing his position on reform due to what he called "politics."

"There is one place where Sen. McCain and I agreed and we used to work together to offer change on immigration and I -- he deserves great credit as a champion of comprehensive reform. I admire him for it," he said. "I know that he talked about that when he just spoke before you, but what he didn't mention is that when he was running for his party's nomination, he walked away from that commitment. He said that he wouldn't even support his own legislation if it came up for a vote."

During the Q&A, Obama answered questions on the housing crisis, infrastructure issues, immigration reform, healthcare, education, the effect of globalization on jobs and about ending the war in Iraq, saying the Latino community has "borne the brunt of service and casualties" in Iraq and arguing that ending the war would free up more money for foreign aid to Latin America.

He closed his speech with a little bit of Spanish, saying  "We are all Americans. Todos somos Americanos."

While McCain's appearance was interrupted several times by anti-war protestors, none interrupted Obama, though about a dozen Code Pink protestors were posted outside the hotel holding signs that included, "Viva la paz" (long live peace.)

McCain campaign spokeman Brian Rogers sent this response to Obama's attack: "It's quite audacious for Barack Obama to question John McCain's commitment to immigration reform when it was Obama himself who worked to kill the Senate's bipartisan immigration reform compromise last year. Barack Obama voted for five 'poison pill' amendments designed by special interests to kill the immigration reform deal. These efforts were strongly opposed by Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), the Democrat who led the fight for immigration reform, because he understood they would have the effect of ending the bipartisan work toward immigration reform.

Rogers said Obama had "never reached across the aisle to lead in a bipartisan fashion on an issue of major importance to the American people when his own political interests were at risk" and called him a typical politician.

The Obama campaign, though, sent out its own rebuttal, saying McCain actually thanked Obama for his "commitment to this issue" on the Senate floor on May 25, 2006.

From NBC/NJ's Matthew E. Berger

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- McCain praised Iraq's president Saturday for "significant but fragile progress" and said he is committed to continuing the work that needs to be done in the country.

The Arizona senator met for 45 minutes with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in the morning, calling him an "old friend" and discussing plans for elections.

"I have the greatest respect and affection for the president," McCain said. "It's a great pleasure to get updated on the situation in Iraq."

Talabani said the two spoke of "national unity and reconciliation, and also having this year good economy and good budgets." He said the length of American presence in Iraq "depends on the United States" but said Iraq needs their presence.

"How much they will remain there in my personal opinion, we need to have some at least some military bases as a symbol for preventing others in interfering [with] internal affairs of Iraq," Talabani said. "Now, with the presence of United States of America, some neighbors interfering in our internal affairs, what will happen if they leave before preparing Iraqi Army and the Iraqi police forces?"

McCain said a certain date of withdrawal would lead to increased Iranian influence and described current success as "fragile." At one point, according to the pool report, McCain winked at the soft-spoken Iraqi leader.

"The point is, again, it seems to be missed, unfortunately, is that we are winning in Iraq, and we will withdraw," McCain said. "But we will withdraw with victory and honor."

He held a briefer meeting with Philippines President Gloria Arroyo after his speech to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. McCain said the two spoke of oil interests, as well as trade and the current situation in Burma.

"We have a longstanding friendship and it's one that we all appreciate very much, including the fact that there are four million Filippino-Americans who are in the United States of America who are our most valued citizens as well as allies," McCain said. "So it's a great opportunity to have the chance to discuss issues of mutual interest."

From NBC/NJ's Matthew E. Berger

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- McCain appealed to Hispanic voters Saturday with a message against raising taxes and highlighting his patriotism alongside Latinos during the Vietnam War.

McCain told the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials it is a "terrible mistake to raise taxes during an economic downturn" and said increasing business and individual tax rates could hurt Latino businesses.

VIDEO: During remarks at a conference of Latino leaders, presidential candidate John McCain's speech is disrupted by two demonstrators. MSNBC's Alex Witt reports.

"There are two million Latino-owned businesses in America, a number that will be three million in the next decade, and a number that is growing very rapidly," McCain said. "The first consideration we should have when debating tax policy is how we can help those companies grow and increase the prosperity of the millions of American families whose economic security depends on their successes."

McCain was interrupted four times by anti-war protesters during the speech. He joked that one was a "very familiar voice to me." Two others carried pink banners and accused McCain of being a war criminal.

In his prepared remarks, McCain talked openly about his time as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, and how he refused early release. It is a message the campaign has been ramping up in recent weeks, in an effort to highlight his patriotism and national service.

"My friend, my beloved friend, Everett Alvarez, a brave American of Mexican descent, had been shot down years before I was, and had suffered for his country much more and much longer than I had," McCain said of his experiences. "To leave him behind would have shamed us."

He acknowledged Hispanic men and women who have served the country, including those now serving abroad.

"When you take the solemn stroll along that wall of black granite on the national Mall, it is hard not to notice the many names such as Rodriguez, Hernandez, and Lopez that so sadly adorn it," he said. "When you visit Iraq and Afghanistan you will meet some of the thousands of Hispanic-Americans who serve there, and many of those who risk their lives to protect the rest of us."

He added that some are not citizens. McCain, who sponsored comprehensive immigration reform in the Senate, said the measure had failed because it did not include secure borders.

"We will not succeed in the Congress of the United States until we convince a majority of American people that we have border security," McCain said. "But that does not have to be in an inhumane or cruel fashion."

He also spoke briefly on education and healthcare. He suggested athletes like Shaquille O'Neal and Alex Rodriguez could talk in schools about physical education.

From NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli
THE SHORT LIST. New York Times gets to the bottom of John McCain's standard answer on potential veeps. Insert-name-here is part of the "the next generation of leadership" for the party.

WHAT THEY'RE UP TO. Sunday shows have their fill of potential VPs, including Wes Clark (D), Joe Lieberman (I-?), Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN), ex-Rep. Rob Portman (R-OH), and Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA).

UNITY! Hillary Clinton referred to the combined 36 million votes for her and Obama becoming an "unstoppable force for change" now that they're together.

ON THE RECORD. CNN has some more reaction from Portman yesterday on his potential selection: "Well, you know, I'm happy to be home," he said. "I commuted between Washington and Ohio where we are now for 15 years, and about nine months, so I made the decision to come home and it's been great. I've got three teenagers, so I'm not looking for a way back to Washington right now." 

BUZZ METER. Grover Norquist called Obama "John Kerry with a tan." For VP, he likes Jindal or Pawlenty for VP.

Chris Dodd "has emerged as a hero for the netroots and for opponents of the Dems' FISA cave-in because of his steady opposition to telecom immunity and his promise to filibuster it."

US News calls the VP decision the toughest one for McCain. Most of the names are familiar, with eBay CEO Meg Whitman listed as a wild card. And the piece includes one suggestion: to take a cue from Reagan and wait until the convention, after Democrats have made their picks.

The magazine also looks at Obama's decision ahead, saying his pick will likely try to offset some of his weaknesses.

ELECTORAL MATH. FL Gov. Charlie Crist (R) says Florida is going to be "tight." "These are two strong candidates and I don't know which way it goes." 

CHATTERING CLASS. Chris Cillizza makes the case against Hillary Clinton (as she spoke in Unity, N.H., with Obama). Among the reasons not to? She may turn off some indies, there would be concern about a co-presidency, and Bill Clinton.

E-VEEP. Bill Richardson fired up his email list and asked supporters to sign a petition urging Pres. Bush to sign the new G.I. Bill of Rights.

From NBC/NJ's Matthew E. Berger
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- McCain said he believes joint town-hall meetings with Obama are now "very, very unlikely."
 
Speaking to reporters on his "Straight Talk Express" bus Friday, McCain said he'll keep asking.
 
"I think there are some events where we are, organizations that we're supposed to both be speaking to, and I would hope that maybe he would join me at those," McCain said. "But it doesn't seem that -- we haven't gotten any more responses from his campaign, so I'm told."
 
McCain said he did not believe he would portray Obama as arrogant or an elitist in the general-election campaign.
 
"As the campaigning goes forward I will treat him with respect that the nominee of the party has earned," he said. "And it's not respectful for me to say that he is an elitist or, I am not saying that."
 
McCain said he references Obama's "bitter" comments because "that is not my view of the small towns in Pennsylvania that he was talking about." 
 
"So we just have a very different opinion," he said. "That doesn't mean to me that he is an elitist. It just means that he has a very different view of what his fundamentals of the heartland of America.''
 
McCain, who has been reaching out to conservative voters in recent days, said a meeting Sunday with Franklin Graham is not part of that effort.
 
"No, he is a man whose family is respected, incredibly respected, and I consider it a privilege to have the opportunity to meet with him," he said. "I think the Graham family really transcends politics in America. Billy Graham was an adviser to every president and, so I'm not sure that there is any -- there certainly is no political aspect to of the meeting that I will have.''

From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones
UNITY, N.H. -- Hillary Clinton called on the 36 million Americans who supported her and Barack Obama to join together "to create an unstoppable force for change we can all believe in", echoing the slogan of her former rival's winning campaign as the two shared a stage for the first time in months.

After battling for the Democratic Party nomination for more than a year, debating each other nearly two dozen times and trading barbs over healthcare, trade and who was ready to lead the country in uncertain times, the two hit the trail together Friday in this small New Hampshire town, chosen both for the symbolism of its name and the fact that the candidates split the votes in the January primary -- winning 107 each.

Despite several recent polls showing Obama leading presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, many in the party believed a joint event like this one was needed to begin to heal the wounds of the 18 million people who supported the former first lady.

Bill and Hillary Clinton both contributed the maximum amount of $2,300 each to Obama's campaign, a Clinton aide said, a move that seemed aimed at highlighting the sense of a coming together. Last night, the Obama's contributed the maximum of $4,600 together to Clinton to help retire her debt.

Senate candidate Jeanne Shaheen and New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch revved up the crowd of more than 4,000 gathered in the heat outside Unity Elementary School under a cloudy sky. Young children perched on shoulders as Obama and Clinton headed for the stage, many holding signs that read "Unite for Change" and a few holding some that read "Hillary for President."

Clinton introduced Obama, giving a 23-minute speech in which she acknowledged the long, tough primary and urged her disappointed supporters not to stay at home or vote for John McCain, who she said would bring more of the same, but to get behind the senator from Illinois.

"I was honored to be in this race with Barack and I am proud that we had a spirited dialogue," Clinton said as laughter rippled through the crowd. "That was the nicest way I can think of phrasing it. But it was spirited because we both care so much and so do our supporters – each and every one of you."

She called each vote cast for the two of them "a "prayer for our nation" and "truly a vote of confidence in the American Dream" as she repeatedly emphasized the theme of the day, one both candidates touted in the final days of the primaries.

"Sen. McCain and the Republicans may have hoped that we wouldn't join forces like this. They may have wished that we wouldn't stand united to fight this battle with everything we've got, but I've got news for them: we are one party we are one America and we are not going to rest until we take back our country and put it once again on the path to peace, prosperity and progress in the 21st century," she said to applause and chants of "Yes we Can."

Obama thanked Clinton and said she had broken barriers and served as a lesson to his daughters that women can do anything the boys can do "and do it better, and do it in heels" and he echoed the call for unity, while also hailing the influence and successes of her husband.

"I am proud to call her a friend and I know how much we'll need both Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton as a party and as a country in the months and years to come," he said, adding that the American people needed their service, their vision and their wisdom. "It is fitting that we meet in a place called Unity, because the truth is, that's the only way we can solve the challenges facing this country."

He made several references to sexism -- both the sexism many believe the New York senator faced during the campaign - from voters as well as the news media -- and the sexism that confronts women in general in America each day.

"When Hillary Clinton gets up in the morning -- even in the face of the toughest odds and the most vicious attacks -- she is doing so with the same motivation that took her and Bill Clinton to sign up for their first campaign in Texas all those years ago," he said. "The same passion that led her to work at the Children's Defense Fund and caused her to fight for health care as first lady; what has made her one of the finest senators that New York has ever seen, what has made her a historic candidate for the president -- an unyielding desire to improve the lives of ordinary Americans, no matter how difficult that fight may be."

Obama said he had admired Clinton as a leader and had learned from her as a candidate and when a woman in the crowd shouted "She rocks!" he repeated the phrase, saying that was the point he was trying to make.

Later in his speech Obama talked about the need to work for equal pay for women for equal work.

The emphasis on sexism came as some Clinton supporters and political observers argued that Obama needed to acknowledge that sexism had played a role in the race in order help to win over the women who had supported her.

Obama went on to lay out what he called choice in this election Iraq, healthcare, energy, education, economy, speaking for about 19 minutes.

Flying together, campaigning together
While the speeches lacked the usual energy seen at such events -- a sense the low volume of the speakers may have contributed to --, the atmosphere on the plane trip down appeared light and friendly and an aide described the journey to Unity on Obama's campaign bus as "festive."

The pair's day together began hours earlier when they greeted each other on the tarmac in Washington with a handshake, a few pats on the back and a kiss on the check. The former rivals were dressed similarly -- him in a light blue tie, her in a light blue pantsuit -- a coincidence that amused the reporters traveling with them but that aides said was accidental. They sat next to one another during the flight and joked as they ate sandwiches on the bus ride from Manchester to Unity, according to an aide.
 
Periodically throughout the speech an older woman near the back of the crowd chanted "Hill-a-ry V-P!", a sentiment shared by former Clinton staffer Sam Arora, who is now the communications director for the Vote Both effort that began about three months ago.

"You look at some of these polls, there is a 'Dream ticket' bump in a lot of these swing states. It's like a couple points, but it's the difference between a tight race points and a landslide," Arora said.

Arora, who said he believed the chances Clinton would be chosen as running mate were small, called the former rivals "the two most talented leaders in the Democratic Party" and argued adding Clinton to the ticket would give Obama a wide lead in a place like Ohio that would allow him to put a lot more money into expanding the electoral map and competing in a state like Montana.

Whether or not the two run on the same ticket, the Obama campaign has said it wants Clinton's help campaigning and Clinton has said she's ready to do all she can to get him elected.

Obama's Chief Strategist David Axelrod said she would be "a powerful advocate" out on the trail.

"She's got particular resonance around these economic issues and I think the economic issues are what's driving this election," Axelrod said on the flight from Washington.

After the event, Obama headed back to Washington. Clinton was headed to New York.

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
The unity continues... Obama has incorporated former Clinton policy director Neera Tanden into the campaign. Tanden "will help coordinate the domestic policy process under Heather Higginbottom, the campaign's Policy Director," according to an Obama campaign release.

VIDEO: Joining Hillary Clinton at a rally in Unity, N.H., Barack Obama says, "I've admired her as a leader; I've learned from her as a candidate. She rocks." Watch his entire speech.

Also joining the campaign is Melody Barnes, who currently serves as the executive vice president at the progressive group, Center for American Progress. Barnes will have the title of Senior Domestic Policy Advisor.

"Barnes also served as Chief Counsel to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy on the Senate Judiciary Committee," the campaign notes in its release. "In that role, she helped to fight for civil rights, women's health and reproductive rights, shape commercial law and religious liberties laws, and review executive branch and judicial appointments."

*** UPDATE *** From a March memo penned by Tanden on Obama's economic plan: "The contrast could not be clearer -- on Monday, Senator Clinton announced a detailed, specific plan to address the housing and credit crisis. On Tuesday, Senator McCain announced that he had no plan. And today, Senator Obama offered just words." Added at the bottom of the memo, research on how much money Obama has taken from various finance groups.

And, of course, there was health care: "By choosing to forgo a mandate, it's not universal," said Neera Tanden, Clinton's policy director. "It will leave 15 million Americans uninsured. Even with a generous subsidy, millions of Americans will not get health insurance."

From NBC's Chuck Todd
A day after Obama wrote a $4,600 check to Hillary Clinton, First Read has learned Bill and Hillary Clinton have returned the favor, donating the maximum to the Illinois senator's campaign, a Clinton spokesperson says.

From NBC/NJ's Matthew E. Berger

WARREN, Ohio -- McCain brought his energy message to a General Motors plant Friday, touting green technology and new energy sources while rejecting changes to free trade agreements or a bailout for the auto industry.
 
McCain toured GM's Lordstown Complex and learned how new models are getting more gas mileage than previous versions, and learned about a new Chevy Volt that will run predominantly on electricity, planned for 2010.
 
At a town hall meeting after the tour, McCain said the country needed to be more active in finding alternatives to gas-based vehicles, like hybrids and electric cars.
 
"We can lead again in the automotive industry and that can provide thousands of jobs," McCain said.
 
McCain said he was opposed to limitations on free trade agreements, but said enforcement of violations could increase.
 
"I don't believe that every trade agreement is totally fair, and we do have mechanisms in these agreements where you can bring suit where unfair practices exist," he said. But, he added that trade restrictions would have a ripple effect.
 
"When we practice protectionism and we erect barriers to the products from other countries, they do the same to us and then it leads to economic consequences," he said. "I think that was the case in the 1930s. I think that our protectionism and isolationism led from a recession to a deep depression."
 
Speaking to reporters, he also rejected calls for a bailout of the automotive industry, saying he preferred tax credits for research and development.
 
"I would assist in every way," he said. "Bailouts I don't think works."
 
McCain also said he believed the 45 day period would be sufficient to determine whether North Korea had done enough to warrant removal from the state sponsors of terrorism list.
 
"I'm not sure," he said. "I've been skeptical, obviously, about the North Koreans, because of past misbehavior and misleading in the six party talks."
 
McCain laughed when one reporter asked him whether he had a cold. He said he had the sniffles from traveling, but seemed agitated by the question. "You can't make it up," he said.

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
National Journal's Bara Vaida and Jennifer Skalka have the cover story of this month's magazine on Ellen Malcolm and Emily's List. (Kirk Victor also has a piece worth noting in the magazine called "Disbanded Brothers" about the "frayed, if not severed" ties that Kerry and Hagel "once had to John McCain." More after the jump.)

VIDEO: Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., who is with a group of ten women Democratic senators attempting to prevent Hillary Clinton supporters from voting for John McCain, talks with MSNBC's Contessa Brewers.

Vaida and Skalka write: "Although EMILY's List is not to blame for Clinton's narrow loss to Barack Obama, the group had a lot riding on her candidacy--politically and psychologically. Her defeat calls into question the very core of EMILY's List's strategy--that women will back female candidates in the interest of equality, and that gender and identity politics can trump issues, message, and personality. Clinton's failure, in many ways, is also a reflection of the divide between Baby Boomer women (the foundation of EMILY's List) and their daughters, who, according to exit poll data, came out in force in the primaries for Obama. Among women age 29 and younger, Obama routinely defeated Clinton in key primary states, even in contests that Clinton won, while Clinton overwhelmingly beat Obama among women age 45 and older.

"Clinton's fall from front-runner to runner-up capped a challenging few years for EMILY's List, which pioneered the use of direct mail and donor bundling to raise early money for Democratic women candidates. In the 2006 election, Democrats triumphed mightily, yet EMILY's List faltered, as 74 percent of the challengers it backed lost their general election contests.

"In the current campaign cycle, meanwhile, the group has drawn fire from other Democrats for employing divisive tactics--from pitting abortion-rights Democratic women against Democratic congressmen who also favor abortion rights, to feuding publicly with another high-profile abortion-rights group about its decision to endorse Obama.

"EMILY's List has won wide praise over the years for leveraging the power of women at the polls and building an unprecedented network of progressive female donors. But now some political observers say that the group's influence may be waning."  

Victor writes: "Although Hagel and Kerry remain friends with McCain, their political ties to him are frayed, if not severed. Hagel, who is not seeking reelection this year, has not even endorsed McCain, now the presumptive Republican nominee. Hagel's independent-spirited wife has contributed $500 to Sen. Barack
Obama of Illinois, McCain's Democratic rival for the White House. ... Kerry, meanwhile, has emerged as a leading surrogate for Obama and as one of the most aggressive counterpunchers to McCain. ...

"In the insular world of the Senate, where the importance of personal relationships
is magnified, the positioning of Hagel and Kerry in this year's presidential contest is especially striking. After all, they have worked with McCain on various issues over the years and, like him, are members of the so-called band of brothers, the small group of senators who saw combat in Vietnam."