Quotes From Around Yon Blogosphere

Kama Des-Gachons, a 28-year-old Frenchwoman, was one of about 600 young men and women flocking to a panel discussion in Paris on Tuesday about the "Obama Effect in France." Her eyes lit up when she spoke about Obama. Not because he is a Democrat or because he opposed to the war in Iraq. But because his father was an African immigrant, like hers.

"He makes me dream," said Des-Gachons, whose parents came to France from Mali. "I even bought a T-shirt with the American flag. America is the country where you can make it."

-- KATRIN BENNHOLD

[W]ith the battle against Hillary Clinton behind him, everything seems to be going swimmingly for Obama. Meanwhile, the McCain campaign dog-paddles along. And almost every Republican I've talked to is alarmed that the McCain campaign doesn’t seem up to the task of electing John McCain.

-- WILLIAM KRISTOL

I do not want Clinton as the Vice president, and I hope Obama doesn't either. However, she isn't going away, and she will want something in exchange for dropping her scorched earth campaign and getting herself, Chelsea and Bill out on the hustings stumping for the Junior Senator from Illinois. I have to think Obama and she came to some meeting of the minds during their tête-à-tête at Feinstein's house on Thursday night, even if that agreement is contingent on what she does for him from here on in. And she did deliver a good speech . . . as the first down payment, on her part, for whatever it is she does want.

-- BOOMAN

I'd like to interrupt this Unity Day message with a small reminder to the Barack Obama campaign and the Democratic Party — unless he picks Hillary Clinton as his running mate — the day he announces his Vice Presidential candidate will be a day of disunity.

-- BIG TENT DEMOCRAT

The Clintons struggled to adapt their successful formula to a new era against a new kind of opponent. They found their message of hope and change co-opted, and they found it hard to break out of the news media's old image of them. Mrs. Clinton variously tried presenting herself as the friend having conversations with the American people, then the experienced hand and tough warrior before settling on working-class heroine.

-- PETER BAKER and JIM RUTENBERG

If you’ve been saving old electoral college maps from the 2000 and 2004 election so you can follow the action in 2008, I would suggest you toss them on the rubbish heap of history. While both candidates will enjoy support from many of their base states – the GOP in the south and the Democrats along both coasts – the rest of the nation is literally up for grabs this time around. No less than 17 states by my count will be heavily contested by both candidates as they seek to raid each other’s territory in order to maximize their chances to hit the magic number of 270 electoral votes on election day.

-- RICK MORAN

Most current speculation on a mismatch between the popular vote and the electoral college currently focuses, for various reasons, on the prospect of McCain winning the election with fewer votes than Obama gets.

-- MATTHEW YGLESIAS

It's undeniable at this point – the McCain campaign is freaking out. In the last week, John McCain revamped his website to look almost exactly like Barack Obama's. McCain’s new slogan ("A leader we can believe in") is an obvious retread of the slogan that Obama has been using for most of the campaign ("Change we can believe in"). McCain’s painfully bad Louisiana speech spent most of its brimstone angrily denying the criticism that he’s running for Bush's third term. The McCain camp is so worried by that line of attack that they had the candidate repeat it verbatim, a major mistake in terms of messaging. When that didn't work McCain sent out a senior advisor to make the rubber-glue argument that it's Obama who is running for Bush's third term. So there!

-- TIM F.

The Republican nominee disclosed his heart's desire today.

"I am intrigued by a man on Mars and I think that it would excite the imagination of the American people if we can say, 'Hey, here's what it looks like," John McCain said.

Was he thinking of sending George W. Bush sometime before November?

-- ROBERT STEIN

Photograph by Alex Brandon/The Associated Press