AP - Is Barack Obama close to being shadowed by giant flip-flops and, worse, having the image stick with people all the way to the voting booth?

Reuters - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama pushed deep into Republican territory in North Dakota on Thursday, saying he saw the potential for a significant political realignment in November's election.

AP - Kind of blue — Obama hopes to flip Republican red states ... McCain to meet Mexican president on Thursday at end of Latin American trip ... Obama, McCain competing for the center, an elusive, disengaged yet crucial crowd

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 - 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."

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.