WASHINGTON _ The new Republican fundraising plan isn’t all that surprising once you understand that a campaign contribution, like water, always finds the cracks.

What’s a tad ironic is the beneficiary of this campaign cash: John McCain,  who has spent…

WASHINGTON _ John McCain’s POW years and deep military roots are a key selling point for his presidential candidacy. At the Republican National Convention this summer, expect the GOP to frame McCain as an American hero, and rightly so.

So when somebody…

WASHINGTON _ He may be making history with a face that shows up in most papers most days and on Web sites around the world. But could it be that Barack Obama looks different in person?

The Hill, a weekly that focuses…

WASHINGTON _ Barack Obama needs the votes of a whole lot of gun-owners if he expects to win in places like Missouri and Michigan, let alone in Colorado and Virginia.

That’s why his words today and before today are being parsed…

WASHINGTON _ Ralph Nader certainly isn’t making any friends in the Democratic Party these days.

And he doesn’t have a whole lot of  Democratic friends to begin with, considering that many in the party still blame him for Al Gore’s razor-thin loss…

WASHINGTON _ Maybe not, since John McCain has said similar things himself.

If you tuned into talking heads today, you’re probably hearing lots of teeth-gnashing over the remarks of Charlie Black, McCain’s veteran political strategist.

In an interview with Fortune Magazine, Black noted…

WASHINGTON _ At a gathering of GOP insiders today, Karl Rove may have previewed a new line of attack by Republicans: Barack Obama the elitist.

“Even if you never met him, you know this guy,” Rove said, according to an ABC News report.…

WASHINGTON _ Is Barack Obama breaking a promise to the American people?

Is the would-be Democratic reformer dooming hopes of those who want a publicly financed election unsullied by fat cats and influence-peddlers?

He’ll be deflecting such criticisms now that he…

WASHINGTON _ That’s what a column asserts today in Politico, the hard-charging new politics journal in Washington.

Writer Terry Michael makes the case in quite flattering terms that Barack Obama should pick Missouri’s junior senator for his running mate.

“A former cheerleader and…

WASHINGTON _ Yea, but until that happens they’ll be irritating us with their offers, counter-offers and silly clocks.

Barack Obama’s campaign said this afternoon that their candidate had offered to meet with John McCain at five joint appearances between now and Election Day, three…