Reuters - Along with TV cameras and funny hats, the 45,000 Democratic and Republican convention-goers will bring something more important to Denver and Minneapolis-St. Paul: their credit cards.

AP - John McCain may have created his own housing crisis. Hours after a report that the Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting didn't know how many homes he and his multimillionaire wife own, Democratic rival Barack Obama launched a national TV ad and a series of campaign stops aimed at portraying McCain as wealthy and out of touch.

Reuters - Along with TV cameras and funny hats, the 45,000 Democratic and Republican convention-goers will bring something more important to Denver and Minneapolis-St. Paul: their credit cards.

Reuters - When Democrats gather in Denver next week to nominate Barack Obama for president, they'll be joined by such uninvited guests as Republicans Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney.

AP - Sen. Barack Obama isn't just inspiring black voters to register in large numbers as he gets closer to being the Democratic presidential nominee. Evidence indicates that he's motivating some black Republicans to switch parties.

AP - Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Democratic Party's vice presidential candidate in 2000 and now an independent who is one of John McCain's strongest supporters, will speak at the Republican National Convention, an official said.

AP - McCain says he questions Obama's judgment, not his patriotism, on how to deal with Iraq war ... Former NY Mayor Giuliani to keynote GOP convention; other former McCain rivals also to speak ... Traveling by bus in Virginia, Obama pushes for more union jobs ... AFL-CIO jabs McCain on his economic record in new mailer

AP - Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani will give the keynote address at the Republican National Convention next month and Democrat-turned-independent Sen. Joe Lieberman also will take center stage at the GOP gathering.

AP - President Bush, nearing the end of two terms dominated by war, said Wednesday his decision to increase U.S. troop levels in Iraq early last year brought security to a now resurgent nation and he criticized those who said his plan was flawed.