AP - An independent arm of the Republican National Committee plans to spend $3 million on an ad campaign contrasting GOP presidential candidate John McCain to Democrat Barack Obama on energy security.

AP - John McCain put a top adviser in control of day-to-day campaign operations Wednesday after weeks of private concerns among Republicans that the GOP presidential campaign had not made the transition for the general election.

AP - McCain to meet Mexican president on Thursday at end of Latin American trip ... Wary evangelical leaders discuss rallying around McCain, supporting Huckabee as VP choice ... RNC to run its first ad of presidential campaign

AP - McCain to tour Colombian drug interdiction efforts, says illegal drugs a major challenge ... With Obama atop Dem ticket, candidates from Mississippi to Wisconsin use race as wedge issue ... GOP Sen. Cochran says McCain roughed up a Sandinista on diplomatic visit to Nicaragua in 1987 ... AP-Yahoo News poll: More would invite Obama than McCain to barbecue; Public cool to Michelle, doesn't know Cindy

AP - John McCain denied a Republican colleague's claim that he roughed up an associate of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega on a diplomatic mission in 1987, saying the allegation was "simply not true."

U.S. News & World Report - Republican strategists trying to game Sen. Barack Obama's choice for a running mate are focusing more and more on the possibility that he might pick former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt, a friend of labor and blue-collar workers. "Gephardt is the one we're most afraid of," said a key GOP strategist and Bush ally.

AP - Retired Gen. Wesley Clark rejected suggestions he apologize Tuesday for saying John McCain's medal-winning military service does not qualify him for the White House. Elaborating, Clark said a president must have judgment, not merely courage and character.

AP - Ret. Army Gen. Wesley Clark said Democrat Barack Obama played no part in remarks he made about Republican John McCain's qualifications to be president that have been sharply criticized by the GOP candidate's supporters.

U.S. News & World Report - When Michael Varner attended historically black Howard University, he tried his best to rejuvenate Howard's chapter of the College Republicans, but he was a party of one. He debated politics with his mostly African-American and Democratic classmates, candidly discussing his views on personal responsibility and limited government as reasons for aligning himself politically with the GOP.