LIGHTNING ROUND: OBAMA'S CHALLENGE.

• Two of America's most loathsome politicians, Rudy Giuliani and Joe Lieberman, are getting speaking slots at the Republican National Convention, with Giuliani getting the keynote address (I'm guessing it will involve 9/11). Lieberman gets to share the night with George and Laura Bush, Dick Cheney and Arnold Schwarzenegger. I think Arnie got the raw deal on this one. (Eds. Note: Schwarzenegger hasn't officially accepted the speaking position yet.)
  
• Barack Obama has started to hit back against John McCain, starting with a new ad that criticizes McCain's coziness with corrupt lobbyists and power brokers.
  
• The new Republican VP buzz has it that McCain's testing of the pro-choice waters is just a way of preparing the "Romney rollout." Having Mittens back in the spotlight would absolutely make my day.
• Free advice to Democrats: McCain is open to reinstating the draft for the War on Terror (TM). Might be a good point to bring up during a presidential election.
• For what it's worth, Ralph Nader thinks Barack Obama will choose Hillary Clinton as his running mate. Far be it for me to agree with Nader on anything, but I've come around to the idea that Obama might deem Clinton's presence on the ticket a necessity at this point, and given that Biden is apparently "not the guy." Unlike Sam, I'm having trouble thinking of who else it could be that isn't as bland as Bayh or Kaine.
• Polls are looking none too good for Obama. Nationally, Zogby has him behind McCain by five points, 46-41, although some caveats are in order on this poll. A GWU Battleground poll has McCain ahead nationally by one point, 47-46, but CNN gives Obama a one-point, 45-44 lead. At the state level: In Indiana, Obama's one point lead in June's Survey USA poll has vanished, replaced by a six-point McCain lead, 50-44. Rasmussen has McCain maintaining a 5-point lead, 48-43, in Ohio, a three-point lead in Florida, 46-43, and a one-point Obama lead in New Hampshire, 47-46. Insider Advantage has McCain ahead by only two in North Carolina when Bob Barr is included, 45-43 (and a tie between Elizabeth Dole and Kay Hagen in the Senate race).
• Phil Klinkner splashes cold water on the notion that Obama's ground game will amount to anything more than a few points on Election Day, and won't be enough to overcome bad polling, noting that Karl Rove relied on this same thinking to incorrectly predict the outcome of the 2006 elections.
• Who's more patriotic? Americans say McCain, although when Obama "frames his idea of patriotism in terms that call on America to live up to its ideals and promise, respondents prefer his patriotism-centered argument over McCain's more traditional patriotic framing by 11 points." Gee, maybe questions whose answers fluctuate based on framing ought to be avoided in gauging public sentiment?

--Mori Dinauer