Morning Must Reads

oil bird
(AP photo)

–President Obama will be in the Gulf again today – his second trip in a week. BP, meanwhile, says its latest attempt to contain the spill may be working, but will be a while until we know if this is really the beginning of the end of the disaster. Any oil that is collected with the cap now in place will be more than a public relations win for the company—it also stands to profit.

–The President has canceled his planned trip to Australia and Indonesia. First, it was health care and now the oil spill that’s keeping Obama from making the journey.

–The spill is providing some useful material for Democrats, as Jay explained yesterday.

–But still, Dan Balz says recent events show the White House strategy team is fumbling. Others agree.

–The U.S. economy added 431,000 more jobs in May, but most of them were temporary census worker positions. Private sector hiring, the “backbone of the economy,” is not booming.

–The Mark Kirk over blown military record sags continues with an apology. He blames “Pentagonese.” Hm.

–Michael Leahy tries to get to the bottom of why Michele Bachmann is a “hot property.”

No One’s Going to Beam You Out of This One, Mr. Kirk

Vice President Joe Biden, in his ever-loving, half-aware candor, has called it “The Blumenthal Mistake,” which is a pretty brutal epithet: Of all the deeds a politician wouldn’t want his name standing in for, lying about military service has got to be close to the top of the list. Perhaps the label won’t stick, but [...]

Dead Girl, Live Boy, Failed Bank: Alex Giannoulias Makes His Play

The Illinois Senate race is playing out like an academic case study in crises management. Imagine this: Your client, a former chief loan officer for a local bank, is a Democrat heading into a Republican election year, in a state long stained by political corruption. Amid enormous public outrage over the damage wrought by bank [...]

Let’s See How You Like It

This recess, a Democratic outside group is spending more than a $1 million on television commercials lambasting GOP lawmakers for voting against health care reform. The Foundation for Patients Rights, which is aligned with the Service Employees International Union, is planning ads in Delaware and Illinois against Reps. Mike Castle and Mark Kirk – both [...]