Crikey

Is McCain painting Obama as the anti-Christ? McCain’s “The One” video pokes fun at Oprah Winfrey’s hailing of Barack Obama as the chosen one, but a progressive evangelic blog suggests the the ad was a serious attempt to target at evangelical voters: “It is a professionally cut, edited, and produced ad full of sinister dog-whistles for evangelical ears. At best it is suggesting supporters of Obama are idol-worshipers. At its worst it is suggesting that Sen. Obama is some kind of anti-Christ.” — One Million Strong [via techPresident]

Obama to announce VP by SMS - Barack Obama’s camp has begun an email and SMS campaign [“Barack will announce his VP candidate choice through txt msg between now & the Conv. Tell everyone to text VP to 62262 to be the first to know! Please forward.”] to rev up interest in its VP announcement. The Washington Post notes three things: “the casual reference to the candidate (“Barack”); the call to “forward” the text (to friends, relatives, etc.); the perceived personal appeal of being ‘the first to know’; and the timing — the text was sent two weeks before the DNC kicks off. That gives plenty of time for the text to be passed around.” — techPresident

Should McCain announce his VP online? A right wing blog suggests a different online VP announcement for McCain: ”The premise is that the campaign would release the name of the VP nominee one hour in advance to 100 supporters selected at random from those who signed up for McCain e-mail list as a result of this campaign. This truly would have been “hearing it first” because no more than a few dozen ordinary people would actually “hear it first.”  — The Next Right

Obama camp responds to McCain tax attack - The latest ad says “Even though a host of independent, nonpartisan organizations have said this attack isn’t true, Senator McCain continues to lie about Senator Obama’s plan to give 95% of all families a tax cut of $1,000, and not raise taxes for those making under $250,000 a single dime.” — Barackobama.com

Could the ridicule tactic backfire for McCain? Obama’s pompousness has seen him become fair game for comics, pundits, and late night talk show hosts. But McCain needs to tread lightly. —  Rightwing Nuthouse

Hillary: The frontrunner’s fall - Hillary Clinton’s campaign was undone by a clash of personalities more toxic than anyone imagined. Emails and memos—published here for the first time—reveal the backstabbing and conflicting strategies that produced an epic meltdown.  — The Atlantic