• Obama’s “Bush state” strategy is real and is set to be implemented in about 14 red states where George W. Bush won in 2004, according to deputy campaign manager Steve Hildebrand. And the campaign will spend time and money in other states considered even bigger long-shots for Obama; not for electoral votes, but to pull up Democrats in local and state races in GOP strongholds like Texas and Wyoming. They figure that a glut of cash and the trademark organizational skills of the campaign will transfer into turnout for Dems for in-state elections that have the ability to change the color of state legislatures or pack more Dems into Congress. A campaign able to compete in a wide variety of states was seen as a plus for Obama all along in the primary. But will this even more ambitious plan, concentrating on lots of states and lots of race, drag him down in the key locales of Florida or Ohio? Some Dem strategists are worried that Obama’s plan is an overreaction to John Kerry’s immense failure to branch out from blue states in ‘04.
  • Is Obama’s promised trip to Afghanistan and Iraq beginning to come together? His Senate office has put in a request for an intel briefing on the two countries from the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The briefing is considered a common ritual for any members of Congress or other politicians who plan on traveling to the region. Obama has been promising to make the jaunt overseas ever since his public tussle with McCain and his campaign over Obama’s lack of “experience” in seeing the situation in Iraq on the ground: He hasn’t been there since a short trip in 2006. This would certainly grab the summer headlines…
  • Yesterday saw Bill Clinton finally break his awkward silence on Obama’s nomination and express support for man who defeated his wife in the Dem primary. While Hillary has long since made peace with Obama - at least superficially, Bill had been silent and remained (remains) angry at Obama and how he was portrayed by his campaign. His standing in the African American community is trashed, and most young Democrats see him as a stodgy relic on the road to progress via Obama. But Bill put that aside yesterday with an unbelievably short press release yesterday.  - Relations between the last Democratic president and the candidate who wants to be the next one are frosty — they still haven’t spoken in the aftermath of the heated campaign. But Bill Clinton extended an offer to help in a one-sentence statement from spokesman Matt McKenna. “President Clinton is obviously committed to doing whatever he can and is asked to do to ensure Senator Obama is the next president of the United States,” McKenna said.
  • Seeking damage control on the environmentalist front after reversing position on offshore drilling, McCain has been putting out a slew of “green” proposals that would be implemented in a McCain administration. There was the $300 million prize for the developer of a more efficient electric car battery that would make such vehicles a viable car of the future. And now comes a more ambitious - and very expensive - outline from McCain to make the federal government “greener.” JMac wants to replace tens of thousands of gas guzzling government cars and trucks with hybrid versions to cut emissions and fuel costs, as well as undergo renovations to government buildings throughout Washington to make them more energy efficient. -  “Every year, the federal government buys upwards of 60,000 cars and other vehicles, not including military or law enforcement vehicles,” McCain said as he campaigned with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a prominent GOP environmentalist. “From now on, we’re going to make those civilian vehicles flex-fuel capable, plug-in hybrid, or cars fueled by clean natural gas. -Interesting to note that President Bush has already put efficiency standards in place for many D.C. federal buildings. And Obama has a slightly more dramatic energy saving plan for the government. So was this just copied to take heat off from drilling?
  • Mitt Romney continues to push hard for McCain’s Veep slot. After praising McCain’s health care proposals, Mitt also tried to defend his guy from the uproar over Charlie Black’s terror comments. Mitt disparaged the actual remarks, but said that McCain should not be “characterized by punditry.” Whatever that means…
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