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.

The Republican National Committee has rolled out a search toolbar for Firefox and Internet Explorer that allows the committee to raise cash every time a supporter to conducts a Yahoo search.

When a supporter using the toolbar searches the Internet they automatically send a small donation to the RNC. Users pick the size of each donation, which averages three cents per search.

The tool also guides users to specific vendors which give the RNC a portion of the sales revenue generated by the searches. The money from the vendors is technically a payment back to the toolbar's user, like a commission on a sale, that the user then automatically donates to the RNC.

When supporters install the toolbar they sign off on a licensing agreement stating that the cash back they get for using vendors will get transferred to RNC coffers. Over 300 vendors have signed on, including Amazon and eBay.

Since the money from the vendor comes in the form of an individual contribution it does not violate FEC rules.

In addition to its fundraising capacity, the RNC will also use the toolbar to disseminate information. Messages from the RNC are delivered through a widget on the toolbar, which also includes an RSS reader.

The toobar was invented by FreeCause to raise funds for a breast cancer charity group and has since been employed by several other fundraisers. The RNC is the first political group to implement the fundraising tool. Several Democratic and Republican candidates and committees have contacted the company interested in creating their own version.

Pew Research Center has a new poll that appears to be good news for Barack Obama: it shows him leading John McCain 66 percent to 23 percent in support among Hispanics nationwide.

That poll has Obama doing better than Gallup's numbers from earlier this month, which showed Obama leading McCain 59 percent to 29 percent.

McCain has courted Hispanic voters hard with a series of ads targeting them. In one Spanish-language radio ad, which aired in Nevada and New Mexico, McCain's campaign questioned Obama's commitment to Hispanic voters, as McCain's former Naval Academy roommate suggested Obama has "just discovered the importance of the Hispanic vote."

Media Matters highlights this video of Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.) lashing out at conservative radio host Michael Savage for his offensive comments about autism.

"Autism spectrum disorders are real and they affect over a million Americans today," Doyle said on the House floor. "I suggest if Mr. Savage wants to find someone acting like a moron, he should simply look in the mirror."

Last week, Savage said that "in 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out."

"What do you mean they scream and they're silent?" Savage said. "They don't have a father around to tell them, 'Don't act like a moron. You'll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, idiot.'"

In a post Wednesday on The Hill's Congress Blog, Doyle urged radio stations to drop Savage, writing, "I understand that shock jocks get the big bucks for being as obnoxious and controversial as possible – but there's no reason we have to stand idly by and let Mr. Savage boost his market share at the expense of families who are dealing with a heartbreaking and financially draining health issue."

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."

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) was taken to the hospital Friday.

"Dr. Coburn is having tests for a common arrhythmia and has not been admitted to the hospital," said John Hart, the senator's spokesman. Hart said Coburn expects to return to the Senate for Saturday's 11 a.m. vote on housing legislation.

The 60-year-old Coburn, originally from Casper, Wyo., is an obstetrician and two-time cancer survivor known in the Senate for his penchant for putting "holds" on legislation. More than 80 holds are currently in effect, and the practice became a focal point of Senate debate this week when Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced he was bundling 35 of the most popular bills into a "Coburn omnibus" and initially threatened to hold the chamber in session through the weekend.

Coburn has consistently defended his habit as necessary to ensure proposals receive proper discussion and debate.

- J. Taylor Rushing

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

The Barack Obama campaign is now saying a Pentagon ruling stopped the Democratic presidential candidate from visiting wounded troops at a military hospital in Landstuhl during his trip to Germany.

"Senator Obama did not want to have a trip to see our wounded warriors perceived as a campaign event when his visit was to show his appreciation for our troops and decided instead not to go," retired Gen. Scott Gration, an Obama adviser, said in a statement.

Obama's chief strategist David Axlerod echoed Gration's explanation, telling the Chicago Sun-Times, that the Pentagon "viewed this as a campaign event and therefore they said [Obama] should not come."

A military official at the hospital said Thursday that he "didn't know why" the Obama camp canceled the trip.