Reactions to Barack Obama's speech in Berlin dominate the blogosphere as liberals applaud the Democratic presidential candidate and conservatives mock him and the media for overhyping the speech. Conservatives meanwhile are celebrating good polling news for John McCain while liberal point to a new ad attacking McCain for not supporting troop withdrawal.

Two clear lines of the thought are emerging following Obama's speech. Open Left's Mimikatz summarizes the liberal view, writing that Obama's speech was a "terrific reminder" of United State's ability to "lead" in the world. Conservative blogger Allahpundit pokes fun at what he says the media are calling "the greatest speech ever" pointing out that there was not an especially memorable line.

A new Quinnipiac shows McCain is making strong gains in several key swing states, Chris Cillizza reports. Powerline's John Hinderaker thinks the polls show McCain is closing the gap and speculates the bump comes from Obama's opposition to offshore drilling.

The new ad from VoteVets cuts at McCain's position on Iraq by showing a soldier saying that he will leave if asked to do so by Iraq, Matthew Yglesias writes. Daily Kos's mcjoan says the ad makes McCain look stubborn for sticking to a plan that doesn't have a whole lot of support in Iraq.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Best. Ad. Ever. - Chris Bowers, Open Left
The Speech, First Thought - The Fix
Christ Appears in Berlin -  Allahpundit, Hot Air
Freedom Is Just Another Word - Matthew Yglesias
McCain Closes the Gap - John Hinderaker, Powerline
McCain Makes Gains - The Fix
ACLU Obtains Key Torture Docs - Jeralyn, TalkLeft
Mac at His Best - Larry Kudlow, The Corner
McCain, Timelines & Freedom - mcjoan, Daily Kos

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Obama Stresses Gobal Unity in Berlin Speech - The Hill
Is Afghanistan a Narco-State? - New York Times
Unhappy America - The Economist

Former White House adviser Karl Rove issued a written denial that he had any involvement in the prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman (D) to the House Judiciary Committee and liberal bloggers are not buying it. Michigan Democrats are taking a preemptive strike against possible veep Mitt Romney and conservatives are mocking Barack Obama for claiming the Senate Banking Committee as his own.

Rove offered a written response to committee inquiry because he is refusing to testify, and he didn't provide a whole lot of new information, TPM reports. Firedoglake's emptywheel points out Rove's responses are carefully parsed, although many of the questions are not specific enough to warrant real answers.

Anticipating that John McCain will pick the former Massachusetts governor to be his VP, Michigan Democrats have put out a web ad painting Romney as a robber baron who profited by cutting blue collar jobs, Marc Ambinder writes. The Swamp says that the ad flies in the face of conventional wisdom in Washington, that Romney's business experience would help for McCain on the economy.  

Obama calling a Senate panel he doesn’t have a seat on "my committee" is part of a pattern of the Illinois senator trying to take credit for things he had no hand in, Hot Air's Ed Morrissey says. RedState's Moe Lane is confused why Obama felt the need to falsely claim the bill cleared his committee. Simply pointing out that it was his bill that cleared would have been enough.

FROM THE BLOGS:
'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' in Final Throes? - Daily Kos 
Michigan Dems Take on Romney - Marc Ambinder
An Embarrassing Spectacle - The Corner
The JV Team - The Swamp
Rove All But Confirms His Role in Siegelman Case - Firedoglake
Obama Says Banking Is 'My Committee' - Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
Cunningham Asks for Clemency - Think Progress
Why No Bounce for Barack? - Mark Kilmer, RedState
Bush Will Have Speaking Role - The Caucus
Obama Gets Blown Away By Hurricane Dolly - Top of the Ticket

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
House Passes Housing Bill - The Hill
Obama Meets Olmert & Abbas - New York Times
McCain's Closest Adviser - Newsweek

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee released a list of more scheduled media buys and bloggers find several of the GOP targets ambitious. Meanwhile, liberal bloggers back New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson’s (D) take that John McCain is “whining” about New York Times and reporters lash out against accusations that they favor Barack Obama.

House Democrats have set aside another $17.6 million for TV buys in 20 mostly Republican-held districts, TPM reports. Swing State Project points out the list includes 9 GOP House incumbents, and districts the committee didn’t put any money into in 2006.

More Democrats should call out McCain for whining about the Times not placing his op-ed, Open Left’s Matt Stoller writes. The Plank’s Josh Patashnik applauds Richardson, but is surprised that the New Mexico Democrat has been quiet and his name has been surprisingly absent from veep speculation.

And few members of the mainstream media are not taking well to McCain turning his fire on them. The Caucus points out that McCain has long been considered a media darling. ABC’s Jake Tapper writes that McCain saying the media is “in love” with Obama is like “Britney Spears complaining that the hype around Miley Cyrus far exceeds her talent.”

FROM THE BLOGS:
DCCC Reserves Airtime - TPM
McCain Complains About Coverage - Jake Tapper
The Media's Obama Bias - Lisa Schiffren, The Corner
DCCC Reserves Time in 20 Districts - Swing State Project
The Obama Paradox - Victor Davis Hanson, The Corner
Cindy's 'Perfection' - Matthew Yglesias
Obama's Gravitas - The Fix
Debate Over McCain Op-Ed Continues - Hot Air
McCain Surrogate Suggest Troops Could Leave Sooner - Marc Ambinder
Obama's Royal Chauffer - The Trail

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Loan Rangers - New Yorker
Obstacles for Obama in Meeting Healthcare Goal - New York Times
McCain May Be Zeroing in on VP - AP

After a weekend of good news during the opening stint of his trip abroad, Barack Obama is winning the Iraq debate, says a growing consensus of bloggers. John McCain is hitting Obama hard over gas prices and conservative bloggers zero in on one of their favorite targets, the New York Times.

The political class has determined that Obama is right on Iraq, Marc Ambinder writes. After meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Obama and the Iraqi leader appear to be on the same page, Top of the Ticket adds. And Firedoglake's Blue Texan writes that after staking so much of his candidacy on Iraq, it’s hard to see how McCain will recover from Maliki siding with Obama on troop reduction.

McCain’s new ad pummels Obama for opposing expanded offshore drilling sites, Chris Cillizza writes. The Caucus points out that the ad, consistent with other moves from the campaign, is trying to push a narrative that Obama’s mantra of "hope" is a "synonym for inaction."

And conservative bloggers are up in arms over a story leaked to Drudge that the NY Times spiked an op-ed written by McCain because it didn't "mirror" Obama’s previous op-ed. RedState's Mark Kilmer says the move shows the political bias of the Times, and doesn’t buy the papers explanation that it chose to run an Obama op-ed because it "went into detail." Hot Air's Allahpundit sides with Kilmer, but says this story is a gift to McCain’s campaign after a bad weekend of news.

FROM THE BLOGS:
State Senator Posts Osama-Obama Photo - Huffington Post
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