July 8

A story in today's New Republic and trailed pretty well on CNN's Newsnight last night, claims that leading figures in Pakistani intelligence have been put under pressure by the Bush administration to kill or capture Osama Bin Laden or one of his key deputies ahead of the election and, preferably, during the Democratic convention.

The article - entitled 'July Surprise' - quotes an intelligence official as saying he was told by a "White House aide" that "it would be best if the arrest or killing of [any] HVT (high value target) were announced on twenty-six, twenty-seven, or twenty-eight July".

The White House, of course, denied that activities in the so-called war on terror are geared around the electoral calendar.

Elsewhere, there's a nice piece in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune profiling Jim Johnson, the man who led Kerry's VP search.

The Kerry-Edwards roadshow heads to the Radio City Music Hall in New York City tonight for a mega-fundraiser. The Boston Globe highlights some of the performers who've been active for the candidates, while Backstreets, the Bruce Springsteen fan site, identifies that both men share a liking for the Boss.

(We mentioned yesterday that Kerry had taken the stage to announce his choice of Edwards to the strains of Bruce's "Land Of Hope And Dreams".)

Fox News has been giving plenty of play to the newly-minted Democratic ticket, with the unflappable Carl Cameron doing his usual stand-up job. Back in the studio, though, the pundits are taking every available opportunity, it seems, to slip in that the Kerry-Edwards ticket is "the most liberal ticket since Mondale and Ferraro".

And, er, uh-oh....

July 5


With the nation - oh, ok, the bunch of folks who follow this sort of thing - on round-the-clock veep watch, everyone has their own ideas on who it might be and how and when the decision will come.

Speculation as usual centres around Edwards, Gephardt, Vilsack, and Graham. Maybe even Evan Bayh, as an outsider...

Nice angle from the Chicago Tribune, which asks Edwards what it was like going through the process four years ago.

The Trib also reports on the GOP's new battleground of choice - optimism vs pessimism.

Meanwhile, when was the last time a candidate on a national ticket publicly stated they might vote for their opponent?

According to the Portland (Maine) Press-Herald last week, Green Party VP nominee Pat LaMarche said she would vote for Kerry if her home state was "a toss up".

She said her priority was the defeat of President Bush:

"I love my country," she said. "Maybe we should ask them that, because if (Vice President) Dick Cheney loved his country, he wouldn't be voting for himself."

July 4

On Independence Day, the cornerstone of Freedom Tower is laid, and we remember those no longer with us, but who may yet end up being pivotal in this election.

Vice-President Dick Cheney continues his attacks on Kerry, and, er, right back at ya....

On Meet The Press today, former Clinton National Security Adviser Sandy Berger said that it "does Cheney no service" to politicize the war on terror, nor does it serve to unite the country.

Speculation continues, meanwhile, around Kerry's running mate announcement, expected this week; with ABC reporting that the Bush team is ready to steal their opponent's thunder by rolling out a new TV ad showing John McCain endorsing Bush.

Howard Dean's former campaign manager Joe Trippi is hitting the road in support of his book 'The Revolution will not be Televised', which is released on Tuesday.