John McCain is scheduled to appear in Cincinnati, Ohio, hometown of potential running mate Rob Portman, on the day before the Olympics begin.

McCain aides have said that the Republican is likely to announce his veep pick before the Olympics, which start Aug. 8. McCain is scheduled to appear at an Ohio Republican Party fundraiser Aug. 7 in Cincinnati, WHIO reports.

Portman represented Cincinnati in the House from 1993 to 2005. He later became the U.S. Trade Representative and the White House budget director.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) had kind words for both of the presidential candidates, but he did not endorse either during a much-awaited speech before Minnesota's Independence Party.

Bloomberg, a former Democrat who won two mayoral terms as a Republican, said that both candidates are capable of acting independently, Minnesota Public Radio reports. But he said that independents such as himself should press both candidates to engage in meaningful debate.

"I think independents should vote for whichever of the two major candidates that they think will do the best job," Bloomberg said. "They don't want to waste their vote, but independents as a bloc should demand answers, and that's what this is all about."

Before the Independence Party event, party officials had told Bloomberg, who also appeared on Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty's (R) radio show Friday, to balance praise for John McCain with praise for Obama, ABC News reports.

John McCain hit Barack Obama hard Friday for his opposition to the military surge in Iraq, saying that the Democrat failed a test akin to one a president would face.

According to prepared remarks, McCain said that the United States, before the surge, had "faced a crisis as profound as any in our history."

He continued: "Would we accept defeat and leave Iraq and our strategic position in the Middle East in ruins, risking a wider war in the near future? Or would we summon our resolve, deploy additional forces, and change our failed strategy? Senator Obama and I also faced a decision, which amounted to a real-time test for a future commander-in-chief. America passed that test. I believe my judgment passed that test. And I believe Senator Obama's failed."

McCain, at the American G.I. Forum in Denver, noted al Qaeda and Iran had been emboldened as violence in Iraq was increasing 18 months ago.

"We both knew the politically safe choice was to support some form of retreat," McCain said. "All the polls said the surge was unpopular. Many pundits, experts and policymakers opposed it and advocated withdrawing our troops and accepting the consequences."

McCain then highlighted his support for the surge despite warnings of the consequences on his presidential bid. He added that the surge succeeded and that the U.S. is now "winning this war."

"Sen. Obama made a different choice," McCain said. "He not only opposed the new strategy, but actually tried to prevent us from implementing it. He didn't just advocate defeat, he tried to legislate it. When his efforts failed, he continued to predict the failure of our troops. As our soldiers and Marines prepared to move into Baghdad neighborhoods and Anbari villages, Sen. Obama predicted that their efforts would make the sectarian violence in Iraq worse, not better."

McCain continued: "Fortunately, Sen. Obama failed, not our military. We rejected the audacity of hopelessness, and we were right. Violence in Iraq fell to such low levels for such a long time that Sen. Obama, detecting the success he never believed possible, falsely claimed that he had always predicted it."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (R-Nev.) blamed Republicans for holding up the housing bill and causing a delay that is hurting homeowners.

"The Republicans should be ashamed of themselves for causing the pain and suffering to the American people that they have," Reid said Friday at a news conference.

Reid and Democrats are pressing Republicans to allow passage of the bill, which would provide relief for homeowners facing foreclosure and for embattled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The legislation, which the House has passed and the president has said he would sign, would also strengthen oversight of the two government-sponsored mortgage companies and increase access to home loans in high-cost areas.

Reid said Friday that this week's reports of slower home sales and increased foreclosure filings show the import of the bill. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill Saturday.

"The stalling that has taken place for 18 months is evident in this housing bill as much as in any other one thing they've done," he said. "Six of their almost 90 filibusters have been on this one bill. And during this period of time, hundreds of thousands of people have received foreclosure notices, and thousands and thousands have had their homes foreclosed upon. It's damaged neighborhoods. It's devastated local governments and state governments with the tax revenues. And it's made the banking industry very, very shaky."

The Republicans have announced the schedule for their national convention. It will be held at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., from Sept. 1 to Sept. 4.

Monday, September 1: 2:30 - 10:00 p.m. CDT*
Tuesday, September 2: 6:20 - 10:05 p.m. CDT
Wednesday, September 3: 6:20 - 11:20 p.m. CDT
Thursday, September 4: 6:20 - 10:15 p.m. CDT
*Note: there will be a 30-minute break at 6:30 p.m. CDT

Barack Obama, who has been criticized for speaking in Berlin during an election at home, stressed that U.S. relations with Europe can affect the American economy.

"If we have more NATO troops in Afghanistan, then that's potentially fewer American troops over the long term, which means that we're spending fewer billions of dollars, which means we can invest those billions of dollars in making sure that we're providing tax cuts to middle-class families who are struggling with higher gas prices," Obama said in an interview that aired on CNN Saturday. "If we've got serious commitments from Europeans to deal with these energy issues in the same ways that we need to deal with them, that will have an impact on our economy."

He added that economic issues have become increasingly globalized.
"And so — but I also wouldn't underestimate the degree to which people in Ohio or people in Michigan or people in Missouri recognize that our long-term safety and our long-term security is going to depend on how we can interact with key allies," he said.

A federal investigation found that the 2007 Crandall Canyon mining disaster in Utah was the result of a faulty mine design. Nine people died in the mine collapse, which had been blamed on an earthquake.

The investigation report, released Thursday by the Labor Department's Mine Safety and Health Administration, called for the mine operator to pay $1.6 million in fines.

A spokesman for Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, said that the federal agency should have done more to prevent the mine collapse and to stop the mine's operation.

Download the report here. See the statement by Kennedy spokesman Anthony Coley below and download Kennedy's own investigative report here.

“Yesterday’s reports confirm the conclusions in Sen. Kennedy’s investigative report last March that Murray Energy recklessly disregarded the safety of its miners and that MSHA failed in its responsibility to protect the Crandall Canyon miners from that danger, with tragic results. The current laws themselves are also partly to blame because they leave too much to MSHA’s discretion. Sen. Kennedy believes that America’s miners deserve stronger mine safety laws and stricter enforcement and will do his best when he returns to the Senate to see that Congress acts.”

Barack Obama's speech in Berlin gets love from liberal bloggers, while conservatives see it as more evidence of his arrogance. In Congressional races, both parties have candidates competing in tough races who could serve as prototypes for others, according to a conservative and a liberal blogger.

Obama seemed presidential during his speech while John McCain looked petulant for knocking Obama's overseas trip after having traveled abroad as a candidate himself, writes Daily Kos's DemFromCT. What Rush Limbaugh, who attacked the speech for failing to convey "American exceptionalism," doesn't understand is that Obama and his supporters' disappointment over the past eight years stems from the belief that the United States is exceptional and should be doing better, writes Todd Beeton at MyDD. Democrats shouldn't be concerned by the lack of a bounce in Obama's poll numbers; the political point of the trip was to have Obama audition for the part of president - a point he could refer to in the election's final weeks, according to TalkingPointsMemo's Josh Marshall.

But many Americans, especially key Midwestern voters, could find the speech lacking in American pride and bordering on arrogance, Hugh Hewitt writes at Townhall.com. Obama's decision to cancel a visit with U.S. troops after his speaking to thousands of Germans reflects his misplaced priorities, according to Hot Air's Ed Morrissey. And though Obama has put much stock in his message of change, voters see him as risky and could be poised to vote for the safer choice, McCain, during these times of uncertainty, suggests Townhall's Carol Platt Liebau.

Democrat Ronnie Musgrove, who is virtually tied with Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) in their Senate race, may not become the most reliable Democratic vote, but his victory would show Republicans that they no longer have a lock on seats anywhere, writes MyDD's Jonathan Singer. Republican Lou Barletta, who is running against Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.), could prove to his party that a charismatic candidate with a fiscally conservative, anti-illegal immigration message can win in a blue collar, Democratic-leaning district, writes RedState's Soren Dayton.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Obama Not Arrogant or Presumptuous - DemFromCT, Daily Kos
Barack, Rush and I - Todd Beeton, MyDD
Long-Term Benefit of Trip Abroad - Josh Marshall, TPM
The BBQ Media Wants Obama to Win? - Bob Cesca, Huffington Post
Obama's Pride in Berlin - Hugh Hewitt, Townhall.com
Why Obama Snubbed the Troops - Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
Polls and Irrational Exuberance - Peter Kirsanow, The Corner
Obama: The 'Riskier' Choice - Carol Platt Liebau, Townhall.com
Bush Also Addresses U.S. Role in World - S.L. Myers, The Caucus
Miss. Sen. Well Within Range for Dems - Jonathan Singer, MyDD
Seeing the Future in Lou Barletta - Soren Dayton, RedState

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Obama's Path to Presidency Far From Clear - L.A. Times
McCain May Act Soon on VP Pick - Washington Post
Obama, in Berlin, Calls for Renewal of Ties w/ Allies - NYT
Obama, Vague on Issues, Pleases Crowd in Europe - NYT

While Barack Obama seems presidential during his trip abroad, John McCain looks petulant for knocking Obama's visits to Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries after the Republican had done the same and had initially complained that Obama hadn't, writes DemFromCT. Evangelical leader James Dobson appears ready to endorse McCain because Dobson knows that the only way to ensure a conservative Supreme Court is under a Republican president, writes DarkSyde, who finds that reason enough to vote for Obama.

Democrat Ronnie Musgrove is running neck and neck with Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) in recent polls and Democrats could win the race on the way to 60 Senate seats, writes Jonathan Singer. What Rush Limbaugh, who attacked Barack Obama's speech for failing to convey "American exceptionalism," doesn't understand is that Obama and his supporters' disappointment over the past eight years stems from the belief that the United States is exceptional and should have done better, writes Todd Beeton.