Barack Obama on negative campaigning at 12:33 PM ET Today:

“We have been consistent in this campaign in talking about the issues. Trying to have a different kind of politics. … In fact, I’ve been adamant to say we can’t run that kind of campaign. It’s contrary to our message. And I think it would actually erode support for me, in addition to not solving the problem the American people need solved.”  (CNN interview)

Barack Obama’s distorted, negative attack at 1:02 PM ET Today:

Repeated a distorted, negative attack on Senator McCain’s economic record that ABC News called an example of how to “twist the knife” and Chicago Tribune said was “only partially quoted”.

As we all turn on the TV tonight and it refresh on the election results online (ok, maybe that’s only me), let’s not overlook some important exit poll numbers:

Still petulant: more than 60% of Clinton voters say they wouldn’t be happy if Obama were the nominee; about half of Obama voters say the same. 25% of Clinton supporters say they’d vote for McCain in the general election; 17% of Obama supporters say they’d vote for McCain in the general election.

Courtesy of Marc Ambinder.

You really sorta have to watch this:

More specifically, the talented, long-time practicer of the “black arts” of politics goes through the strategy to beat Barack Obama on Tucker Carlson’s show:

By the way, Roger Stone is another College Republican alumnus. He was also recently in the news for some…investigating involving Governor Spitzer.

Former Senator Santorum was a hero to conservatives in nearly every wing of the movement during his time in the Senate. His record could rarely be questioned for the quality of judgment he exhibited for the people of PA, and his leadership is surely missed in the Senate.

He and Senator McCain butted heads from time to time on things like earmarks while they served together, but Santorum also recognizes the importance of the issues facing America with the War on Terror, the economy, and the battle for a culture of life.

In the Philadelphia Inquirer he offers his well-reasoned and emphatic endorsement for Senator McCain for president. He encourages all Americans and conservatives in particular to strongly support Sen. McCain and cites many reason for his decision, so of which I have listed below:

National Security:

McCain is clearly the candidate with the capacity, judgment, experience and will to confront America’s enemies. He’s served our country honorably - heroically - in war. I served eight years with him on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and I can assure you he knows our military. Importantly, he also knows our enemies. He understands their capabilities and their aims. He will not sugarcoat the human or financial commitment and cost needed to defeat this enemy.

Culture of Life

The most important social issue is life. […] he always voted for life and stood for the culture of life. In short, he’s been a reliable vote on life issues, which are critical to conservatives.

Gang of 14/Judges

Many conservatives have given McCain poor marks for his involvement in the Gang of 14. I was in leadership pushing hard for a showdown with the Democrats on using the “Constitutional Option” to end their filibuster of judicial nominations. The Gang of 14 broke the impasse, and it probably was for the best. I was the one counting votes on that issue, and I was much less certain of success than others. In the end, the Gang deal resulted in numerous confirmations of qualified conservative jurists.

…On judges, McCain has repeatedly made clear that he will, as his Web site states, “only nominate judges who understand that their role is to faithfully apply the law as written, not impose their opinions through judicial fiat.” Sounds good to me.

And on and on…

I’d also like to mention here that Senator Santorum is a CR Alumnus as well - he was the State Chairman from Pennsylvania back in the day.

Not really sure what to call them, but I’m referring to the swath of voters (GOP, Dem, and Indies) who pulled the lever for our team in 2004, switched to the Dems in 2006, and are again free-agents in the constantly evolving draft of voters that is American politics.

The bottom line is that these folks are coming back in droves to John McCain because they recognize his strong integrity and tremendous leadership skills are what our country needs during a time of war and economic uncertainty. So says the AP, who has been tracking the opinions of 2,000 of these voters for quite some time now.

Soren Dayton over at RedState.com has a great wrap-up of the progress.

…and out of his campaign.

Yes, that’s right - the campaign of the youth, where college/youth voters find their home, about which young voters are just so excited…just isn’t so excited about them.

You see, the Obama campaign doesn’t trust their youth supporters (even some of youth leaders) to exercise their voting rights when the going gets tough and they are striping them of the right to vote at the Democratic National Convention.

The hilarity (did I intend the pun - you will never know) of this disenfranchisement knows no bounds, and the irony can be measured only by the metric ton, but the truth stings. Even some liberals are up in arms about this one as the Obama campaign - champion of the youth, remember - has lied to its youth supporters. From FutureMajority.com:

…perhaps most importantly, the Obama campaign made promises to a number of youth leaders that the right of refusal would not be exercised against young supporters.

A brief explanation:

Young people running for delegate positions on behalf of their candidate at the Democratic National Convention in California were informed earlier this week that they had been cut from the process. This happened within both the Clinton and Obama campaigns, but the issue became particularly focused on the actions of the Obama campaign, which cut far more potential delegates and which relied heavily on young voters to secure victory in the primary contests held thus far.

This is apparently happening in more than just California and is affecting even some of the leadership in the Democratic youth movement as Young Democrats of America Southwest Regional Director Kevin Bondelli was one of the delegates purged from the campaign.

No wonder Obama thinks all voters are so bitter - when your campaign is constantly kicking them in the face, they must look pretty pissed.  Et tu Barack?

Charlie and I are in Albuquerque this week as guests with the RNC Chairmans Meeting. Up for discussion are potential plans to change the primary calendar schedule, as well as some presentations and speeches on the coming election.

The mood here is very positive. Party chairman and staff from all over the country are excited about Sen. McCain’s message. Enthusiasm about the campaign is palpable all over the hotel.

…also, Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton do not seem to get it.

By “get it” I mean national security. The public seems, however, to be more in line with reality and, coincidently, so does John McCain. Overwhelmingly in a new survey conducted by Gallup, the American public (let’s call them “voters”) agree with John McCain (and again, reality) when they say how we should deal with the situation in Iraq.

That is, voters want the US and our next president to behave responsibly and in the best interests of America:

 It gets worse for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Nearly two out of every three Americans surveyed (65%) believe “the United States has an obligation to establish a reasonable level of stability and security in Iraq before withdrawing all of its troops.” The reason is self-interest. Almost the same number of Americans (63%) believe al Qaeda “would be more likely to use Iraq as a base for its terrorist operations” if the U.S. withdraws.

Mr. Rove goes on to layout how the Dems have painted themselves into a corner of both political and foreign policy lunacy and describes how it will be perilous to their campaigns in November.

Elections are rarely decided over just one issue; to win, candidates don’t need to have a majority of Americans agreeing with them on every big issue. But when it comes to choosing a president, Americans take seriously the candidates’ views and experience on national security. Voters instinctively understand a president’s principal constitutional responsibility is protecting the country.

The Democrats have two candidates with less national security experience and fewer credentials than the presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain. And they are compounding these difficulties with positions on Iraq and terrorist surveillance that are shared by a shrinking minority of Americans.