We here at dkos often complain, and rightfully so, about the media's tendency to treat John McCain with kid gloves and to be complicit in helping McCain maintain a bogus "maverick" image. So let's give kudos when the media actually do their job. Today the conservative-leading Tampa Tribune published a front-page story that blasts the "McCain maverick" myth and exposes the seedy underside of his closest adviser, Charlie Black (who was a University of Florida grad, who knew?).  The information in the article is nothing new to most kossacks, but I think it's significant that the media is starting to finally tell -- gasp! -- the truth about McCain -- and a conservative paper in Florida to boot.

A few days ago I wrote a diary about how John McCain and his toady VP wannabe Charlie Crist accomplished an impressive double flip-flop on the issue of offshore drilling in a span of just a few days.  It was breathtaking to watch.  Apparently the St. Petersburg Times noticed this too, and today published an editorial blasting McCain and Crist for spinning so hard and fast on the issue of drilling off the coast of Florida.

In yet another breathtaking flip-flop - a double flip-flop to be precise - the Tampa Tribune reports today that John McCain now says he supports a federal ban on oil and gas drilling off the coast of Florida, a week after saying he supported ending the federal ban on offshore drilling.  And his VP wannabe toady Charlie Crist has dutifully followed right along with the flip-flop-flip-flop. It's enough to make your neck hurt.

A friend of mine who works for the Social Security Administration (SSA) just shared with me an official SSA document regarding the agency's new policy on same-sex marriage, in light of the legalization of same-sex marriages in Massachusets and (as of yesterday) California.  SSA staffers received the new policy today.  As you'll see in the policy, the SSA is being forced to change its policies regarding same-sex marriage in subtle but signicant ways. But overall, the policy shows in stark detail that we have a long, long way to go before full equality will be achieved for GLBT couples.

Barack Obama clearly has a problem. Or should I say Obama has a problem with "problems." It seems that not a day goes by when the mainstream media isn't trumpeting a serious "problem" Obama has with a certain segment of voters. Sometimes it's a "problem" that the media has already been repeating ad nauseum for weeks or months on end; sometimes it's a new "problem" that media has just uncovered. If you only watched the 24/7 cable news outlets during the primary season, you could have reasonably wondered how Obama got any votes at all -- let along won the nomination -- since he seemed to have so many "problems" with so many different groups of voters -- much more so than Hillary Clinton. Obama's problem with "problems" seems to be repeating itself in the general election, and it needs to stop.  

In looking at some poll results over the past two days in states that are labeled "battleground states" for the presidential election on kos' battleground map, I think kos needs to do some updating. Two new polls show Obama with double-digit leads in two "yellow" battleground states on kos' map: Wisconsin and Massachusetts.  The Wisconsin poll in particular has nothing but bad news for McSame.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the greatest political battle this fall is not going to be between John McCain and Barack Obama, but between John McCain and John McCain. On issue after issue, John McCain-Version 2008 is finding himself battling against his own words and his own positions on issues, taking the concept of flip-flopping to a whole new level. Today's McCain v. McCain topic: social security.

This week we started to see signs of what is clearly going to be a big problem for John McCain in the general election: a gaping generation gap.  McCain doesn't seem to fully understand the 21st century world in which we live today, and it's going to hurt him big time with voters. This isn't really about McCain's age, because I believe people of any age have the ability to learn "new tricks" and adapt to societal changes. But over just the past week we've seen several examples of how McCain still seems to be partying like it's 1979.

Barack Obama received two important HRC endorsements over the past few days. We all know that on Saturday he received the all-important, strong endorsement of Hillary Rodham Clinton. What few people may know is that the day before, he received the strong endorsement of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest civil rights organization working to achieve GLBT equality. Also lost in last week's hubbub, the Human Rights Campaign released a report detailing John McCain's appalling record on GLBT rights (the title of the report is the same as the title of this diary). The brutal report prompted the Log Cabin Republicans (that dwindling group of gay Republicans) to announce their own plan to "educate" GLBT voters in the coming weeks about McCain's "record of inclusion." It's a short list.

If you're like me, you're already sick of the mainstream media's nonstop chattering about Hillary Clinton being Obama's VP.  I don't think this would be a wise move for Obama (for reasons I won't go into here but that have been mentioned ad naseum on dailykos already), and I don't think it will happen.  But in looking over all of the options for the next best step for Hillary Clinton's career, the one that makes the most sense to me is for President Obama to appoint Hillary Clinton to the nation's Supreme Court.  

I'm still coming off a high from last night, when Barack Obama won the Democratic party's nomination for president.  Even Hillary's lack of respect for Obama and his supporters -- and the media's decision to focus as much attention on Hillary's desperate VP ploy as on Obama's historic win -- couldn't dampen my enthusiasm.  After chasing superdelegate numbers for much of the day yesterday, I thought it would be helpful, in the stark reality of a new day, to look at the latest numbers from the nomination fight and from last night's final two primary contests.  It might help Hillary and the media get a grip on reality if they pay close attention to the hard facts.

Be careful what you wish for.  After enduring day after day of superdelegates dripping out for Obama, today is the day we finally get the flood.  It's hard to keep up, but in a good way.  Since BoBo2020's diary was getting long, I thought it was time for a later afternoon/early evening superdelegate Open Thread.  

The most memorable line from yesterday's DNC Rules & Bylaws Committee meeting came from Donna Brazile, as discussed in electicbrotha's diary today.  But for me the most pivotal moment of the day came from committee member Alice Huffman, a supporter of Hillary Clinton.  She displayed a great deal of grace and dignity, and showed us all how we need to act in order to unite our party behind Barack Obama.

I haven't seen the first official live blogging diary for the DNC Rules & Bylaws Committee meeting today, so I thought I'd put this up.  There are plenty of places where you can watch the committee proceedings live. Jump down for links and updates.

The results of a new Field Poll in California show Barack Obama with a huge double-digit lead over Hillary Clinton, and dispel the myth spread by Hillary that she's more electable.  The poll also shoots a hole in Hillary's argument that only she can win big states, that she would do better than Obama against McCain, and that she does better with women voters.  Yet more evidence to disprove Hillary's laughable claim that "every poll" shows that she would be the better candidate.

The day has started with another Oregon superdelegate endorsing Obama.  Gail Rasmussen, the vice president of the Oregon Education Association, said she will cast her vote for Obama "in honor of the support" he won from the state's voters.

Because of the holiday weekend, I'm a few days late in reporting my thoughts on Obama's recent three-day tour de force through Florida.  Let me summarize by saying that the reaction Obama received in Florida, backed up by a recent poll, show that he definitely has a shot at winning the Sunshine State this fall.  

Hillary Clinton's RFK assassination remark has sparked a swift and widespread condemnation across the country, not just in the blogosphere but in the mainstream media as well. Since we can sometimes get insulated in our corner of the Net, I thought it might be helpful to compile some of the reactions from prominent bloggers, commentators and editorial pages. We're not alone in being shocked and outraged. "Reckless," "Tasteless," "Awful," "Offensive," "Faulty," "Strange" are just some of the reactions.