Mens Fitness magazine has come out with its 25 Fittest Guys Guys in America list for their June/July 2008 issue. Topping the list is Tiger Woods but interestingly enough the magazine listed Senator Barack Obama noting his stamina in the campaign trail, dedication to staying fit every morning, quitting smoking and more.

This has been flying around the more conservative side of the Internets the last few days. Specifically (Race42008.com, FOX Embeds)

It is a flier circulating around Kentucky touting Obama’s commitment to faith, declaring he is a “committed Christian” and contains the quote from Obama “My faith teaches me that I can sit in church and pray all I want, but I won’t be fulfilling God’s Will unless I go out and do the Lord’s work.”

While it is good to see Democrats reaching out to the faithful, something they have lacked in years, it is interesting to see a sect of Obama supporters who raised so many doubts about President Bush’s constant reference to his religion and its hand in guiding him race to someone doing the same thing.

If you haven’t been paying attention the major news in the race for the WH was President Bush’s not so veiled strike yesterday against Senator Obama and the Democrats in general. Speaking in Israel, Bush compared Obama’s stated willingness to meet with enemies of the United State unconditionally with Nazi appeasement. Yeah, pretty loaded right!

That set off a firestorm with the Democrats who attacked the president and his very notion. Senator John McCain did not back off saying:

Democrats and liberal bloggers and Former Bill Clinton alum James P. Rubin (see his op-ed piece) are attempting to change the tenor of Obama’s position, aligning it by statements made by McCain in the past and by Bush advisor’s. McCain has stated about Hamas:

“They’re the government; sooner or later we are going to have to deal with them, one way or another, and I understand why this administration and previous administrations had such antipathy towards Hamas because of their dedication to violence and the things that they not only espouse but practice, so . . . but it’s a new reality in the Middle East. I think the lesson is people want security and a decent life and decent future, that they want democracy. Fatah was not giving them that.”

So how is this different than the Obama vision? The distinction is pretty simple. While few doubt America needs to offer a dialog with everyone in the world in some form or another, Obama specifically has stated that HE as president and his administration would meet with terrorist organizations and America’s enemies unconditionally. Many believe such a move would be tantamount to lending the legitimacy of the Oval Office to dictators.

John McCain echoed that sentiment saying in response to Bush’s remarks:

“I think that Barack Obama needs to explain why he wants to sit down and talk with a man who is the head of a government that is a state sponsor of terrorism, that is responsible for the killing of brave young Americans, that wants to wipe Israel off the map, who denies the Holocaust. That’s what I think Senator Obama ought to explain to the American people.’’

The Obama campaign responded by saying:

“It is the height of hypocrisy for John McCain to deliver a lofty speech about civility and bipartisanship in the morning and then embrace George Bush’s disgraceful political attack in the afternoon. Instead of delivering meaningful change, John McCain wants to continue George Bush’s irresponsible and failed Iran policy by refusing to engage in tough, direct diplomacy like Presidents from Kennedy to Reagan have done,”

Democrats see the shot as a chance to align McCain to Bush’s foreign policy, to repudiate what they see as the politics of fear used against them in 2004 and to score media attention. Is it anymore fair to equate direct meetings with the president to suggestion a few diplomats figure out what Hamas wants? Probably no more than equating direct meeting with Nazi appeasement. The question is, which side will win out?

John McCain will meet with the National Rifle Association today during their convention in Louisville Friday at 4:30 pm ET. NRA head Wayne LaPierre says that even though the group and McCain don’t see eye-to-eye on every issue gun owners aren’t “foolish enough” to ignore their common ground.

From Marc Ambinder (found via TechRepublican:

Obama clearly intends to use the Web, if he is elected president, to transform governance just as he has transformed campaigning. Notably, he has spoken of conducting “online fireside chats” as president. And when one imagines how Obama’s political army, presumably intact, might be mobilized to lobby for major legislation with just a few keystrokes, it becomes possible, for a moment at least, to imagine that he might change the political culture of Washington simply by overwhelming it.

What Obama seems to promise is, at its outer limits, a participatory democracy in which the opportunities for participation have been radically expanded. He proposes creating a public, Google-like database of every federal dollar spent. He aims to post every piece of non-emergency legislation online for five days before he signs it so that Americans can comment. A White House blog—also with comments—would be a near certainty. Overseeing this new apparatus would be a chief technology officer.

Not to sound like a skeptic, journalists might want to give it a try, but I hardly think twittering and posting YouTube videos from the Oval Office is going to transform Washington. It is not like most of what Washington does isn’t already online. Hell you can look up where the money comes from, who is in your representatives bed, what people want and where we are moving. It is all just so, I don’t know, boring for most Americans.

So enter this online Army which already exists. Will Obama truly bring together teenagers and bloggers in a way that MoveOn, DailyKos and the rest of the netroots who act as party shills do not already? I am suspect. We’ve already seen what the fund raising machine can produce and though it has helped an obscure candidate become the nominee, the awesome power hasn’t resulted in wins in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, California etc. etc. etc. Outspending and out campaigning and some flashy Web video hasn’t moved the heartland of America in the campaign, will it really matter if it suddenly has the seal of the presidency on it? I don’t think so.

The Web, like all media, is an extension of the human senses and the traditional campaign. While it has helped transform the movement and spread the message, it isn’t going to suddenly turn us into a Utopian society anymore than radio or television did. How do I know? Because as McLuhan predicted it has instead moved us back to tribalism and further segregated our politics.

The RNC seems to be moving in line with John McCain’s forward-looking speech yesterday and have launched a new Web ad that shows what the future will look like if Republicans keep power.

Sorry but there are still no flying cars!

According to the Washington Post (found via TechRepublican) John McCain reached out to non-conservative bloggers yesterday inviting them on a conference call following a major address yesterday.

The strategy was in full swing yesterday when Mr. McCain invited non-conservative bloggers to join his regular blogger conference call, just hours after he delivered a major speech previewing his war strategy and other priorities for a first presidential term.

It already has started a war among liberal bloggers over how to react to Mr. McCain’s overture.

Mr. McCain’s campaign said the Web outreach is a logical extension of an attempt to reach voters beyond his base. It also builds on his successful use of conference calls with conservative bloggers during the Republican primary, which blunted many of the harshest criticisms of the senator.

I honestly have to say this is a wonderful strategy and the only complaint I have is that THEY NEVER INVITE ME on these things. Not that I am a liberal blogger, just that I want endless attention from people. SWEET endless attention. (Self promotion rant end)

Anyway, just as I have constantly said Democrats should be reaching out to FOX News, which they finally have, Republicans need to reach out to bloggers and those formulating opinion online regardless of which side of the isle they are on. Access is often one of the easiest ways to create good will. Heck it works for normal reporters and though it won’t stop liberal bloggers from spewing bile against the Republicans, over time it will at least might help them spew better informed (read your point of view) bile online.

Update: Video of Edwards denying VP desires.

Despite many leaks to the contrary ABC News reports that Edwards and his people are denying the former Senator has been looking for a VP slot or has been courting the possibility of becoming Attorney General in an Obama administration.

“I have no interest in running for VP,” said Edwards, arriving at an event in New York City Thursday evening.

On the possibility of being picked as an attorney general nominee, Edwards told reporters, “I don’t have any thoughts about any of that.”

My take? After many years of hearing politicians deny that they have higher aspirations for political office, only to hear them declare a day or two later, that they will drop out of a hard to fight race only to leave a day or two later and that they are leaving their heavily courted positions amid scandal “to spend more time with my family”, I would not be at all surprised to hear that Edwards will become Obama’s Attorney General pick or even VP.

If you have been wondering what Republicans were going to talk about all summer, California may have just given you an answer. In a 4-3 decision the state Supreme Court struck down a ban on gay marriage paving the way for legalization throughout the state. The ruling said that civil unions were not a good enough alternative and that language limiting marriage to between a man and a woman is unconstitutional.

“There can be no doubt that extending the designation of marriage to same-sex couples, rather than denying it to all couples, is the equal protection remedy that is most consistent with our state’s general legislative policy and preference,”

As the largest state in the union, this ruling will likely have repercussions throughout the union. Meanwhile it will undoubtedly become a major issue in the 2008 campaign. More information as it comes in.

The morning after John Edwards made his endorsement, fresh support made its way to the campaign trail. Obama picked up the backing of three of Edwards delegates in South Carolina and one in New Hampshire plus three superdelegates, Reps. James McDermott of Washington, and Henry Waxman and Howard Berman of California. In addition the United Steelworkers Union representing some 600,000 workers that had endorsed Edwards moved over to Obama.