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Just 14 percent of the stories about John McCain from the conventions through the final presidential debate were positive in tone, according to a study released today, while nearly 60 percent were negative—the least favorable coverage of any of the 4 candidates on the ticket. The study, by The Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism...took a “cautious and conservative approach,” only judging a story positive or negative if the slant was very clear.

Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., on Sunday guaranteed that if elected, Sen. Barack Obama., D-Ill., will be tested by an international crisis within his first six months in power and he will need supporters to stand by him as he makes tough, and possibly unpopular, decisions.

Today's results show Obama with a two-point advantage over McCain using this likely voter model, 49% to 47%, this is within the poll's margin of error

An editorial written by Republican presidential hopeful McCain has been rejected by the NEW YORK TIMES -- less than a week after the paper published an essay written by Obama, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned. The paper's decision to refuse McCain's direct rebuttal to Obama's 'My Plan for Iraq' has ignited explosive charges of media bias in top Republican circles.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama put himself on the opposite side of his party's leadership in the Senate yesterday by reversing course to support a compromise intelligence surveillance bill. His vote was the most dramatic in a series of moves toward the middle that have focused new attention on where he stands....

It may have taken years for army intelligence to infiltrate the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, and it may have been tough to convincingly impersonate rebels. But what seems to have been a walk in the park was getting the FARC to believe that an NGO was providing resources to help it in the dirty work of ferrying captives to a new location.

Barack Obama's decision yesterday to become the first presidential candidate of the modern era to opt out of public financing flies in the face of that tradition. It also happens to contradict his own past assurances. And it poses a real test for the media.... Are the media going to call Obama on the reversal?

Weeks after his presumptive Republican presidential competitor, Sen. Barack Obama is launching his first general election national television ad. And the subject -- patriotism -- shows where his campaign may feel he's weak right now.

House Democrats responded to President Bush's proposal to end the moratorium on drilling for oil offshore as well as in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge by telling the president to drop dead, although they used a lot more words to make the same point. The Democrats' main argument was that the oil industry is already in possession of 68 million acres of oil leases and that Big Oil should drill away on those before they come around asking the federal government for any more land or ocean floor. At a Capitol Hill press conference following Bush's White House Rose Garden...

Former Vice President Al Gore's decision to endorse Sen. Barack Obama drew wall-to-wall coverage across the media spectrum. But, will it carry significant weight with voters? As always, we return the to handy dandy Fix Endorsement Hierarchy for the answers. There's little question that Gore, given his current role as a global prophet on climate change and his past role as the man who "used to be the next president of the United States," ranks as a "symbolic endorser" -- the most important of all in the Fix hierarchy. "Take it from me, elections matter," Gore said last night in...

there was another chapter in Mr. Russert’s career that is less known, and that offers another insight into his personality. And it is one which he arguably thrived at nearly as much as he did sitting behind his desk at NBC News: as a political strategist and operative in one of the most brutal political environments in the country. Mr. Russert worked in the early 1980s as a counselor to Mario M. Cuomo, the Queens Democrat who had just been elected governor of New York; I was covering the new administration for The Daily News. Albany was a political roughhouse,...

The host committee for the Democratic National Convention faces a possible shortfall of $15 million, complicating logistics for the August event and forcing it to abruptly postpone a media walkthrough of the site scheduled for next week. The Democratic National Committee has asked the cash-strapped panel to raise $40.6 million by tomorrow to finance the event. Last month, the committee said it had just $25 million in cash, and it has failed to meet each of several fund-raising deadlines since signing a contract with the DNC last year.

As an avid supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primaries, Debra Bartoshevich is not alone in her frustration over Clinton's defeat. She’s not alone in refusing to support Barack Obama. And she’s not entirely alone in saying she’ll vote this fall for Republican John McCain instead. But what makes her unusual is that she holds these views as an elected delegate to the Democratic National Convention

Political conventions are known for a certain conviviality which often spills into the local watering holes when all the floor speeches are finished. But this is taking beer-power to a whole new level: Our colleagues at The Stew report that the official General Motors vehicles at the Democratic National Convention - the ones shuttling delegates, candidates and the rest from place to place - will not only be running on flex-fuel, but also will get their ethanol from a uniquely Coloradan source: The Molson Coors Brewing Company.

Commuters should expect major delays on Metro's Red Line this morning after a fire on the tracks near the Dupont Circle station, officials said. At the same time, a power outage in downtown Washington is affecting thousands of homes and offices, as well as traffic signals and Metro elevators and lighting.

The Chicago area Obama fund-raising elite gather Thursday at 5:45 p.m. at the home of Sara and James Hal for a high dollar fund-raising “special reception” with presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). The $28,500 per-person event benefits the Democratic White House Victory Fund. The hosts are the Illinois Finance Co-Chairs Jim Crown and John W. Rogers Jr. After that, Obama heads to the near West Side home of of Leah Missbach Day and F.K. Day for a 7:15 p.m. reception for his “Obama for America” warchest where donors are asked to give or raise $2,300. The co-hosts are...

In a new book about Bill Clinton, Clinton in Exile by Chicago author Carol Felsenthal, (Eric) Holder -- then the No. 2 man in the Clinton Justice Department, with responsibility for pardons -- was seen as "so ambitious to be attorney general in the expected Gore administration" that he "played ball" with a Gore confidant, Jack Quinn, who was Rich's lawyer.

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe is unrolling the general election campaign he has been shaping for months. For example, in May, the campaign unveiled a 50-state voter registration drive, the skeleton operation Plouffe is adding meat to now that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is officially the presumptive nominee. On Tuesday, Plouffe—on the Democratic National Committee e-mail—sent out a low-dollar appeal for money for Obama’s 50 state campaign. The letter demonstrates how strongly the Obama team is now running the DNC—and how DNC chairman Howard Dean now answers to Obama.

As the door begins to close on his tenure, Bush is increasingly drawing on selected events of the past to argue that history will vindicate him on Iraq, terrorism, trade and other controversial issues. Historical analogies have become a staple of Bush speeches and interviews this year, whether he is addressing regional leaders in Egypt or talking to workers at an office park in suburban St. Louis. ...

Scott McClellan’s controversial book, “What Happened,” jumped immediately to the No. 2 slot on this month’s political best seller list. And “Counselor” by Ted Sorensen, another title by a close adviser to a president, is No. 5.