2008 US Presidential Election.

A stiff vice president campaigns on his administration’s legacy of unprecedented prosperity. Looks terrible on TV. Bows out, following a disputed vote count. Then, two terms later, with no incumbent in the race, he re-enters the fray. Promises to change the course of a disastrous war founded on lies. And charges to victory. I’m referring, of course, to the 1968 campaign of Richard Milhous Nixon. But four decades later, history has a chance to repeat itself for Albert Arnold Gore.

If the Democrats were going to sit down and construct the perfect candidate for 2008, they’d be hard-pressed to improve on Gore. Unlike Hillary Clinton, he has no controversial vote on Iraq to defend. Unlike Barack Obama and John Edwards, he has extensive experience in both the Senate and the White House. He has put aside his wooden, policy-wonk demeanor to emerge as the Bush administration’s most eloquent critic. And thanks to An Inconvenient Truth, Gore is not only the most impassioned leader on the most urgent crisis facing the planet, he’s also a Hollywood celebrity, the star of the third-highest-grossing documentary of all time.

RollingStone

Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films released John McCain Vs. John McCain today— a hard hitting short documentary, being distributed for free via the website TheRealMcCain.com and across the country via You Tube. The three minute short reveals the Senator’s flip flopping on key issues such as the Iraq War, Gay Marriage and the Religious Right. The film uses McCain’s own words to destroy the myth of the Senator as a “straight talking” politician. John McCain Vs. John McCain shows the Senator as politician prone to frequent contradictions on key issues.

“This short illustrates, that John McCain is not a ’straight talker’ but a double talker. As a filmmaker and concerned American, I felt it was important to reveal this side of John McCain since this aspect of his leadership has not been portrayed in the press” said the film’s director Robert Greenwald. The length of the video allows for it to be distributed virally for free across the Internet. Blogs and websites around the world are picking up the video and You Tube users and concerned citizens are forwarding the short to friends.

Disinfo

‘This is going to be So Much Fun. Say what you will about the downsides of a Hillary Clinton v. Barack Obama smack-down; it has already delivered a shot of adrenaline to the oh-so-jaded journalists who cover–and shape–the presidential election season.

‘Case in point: Last Wednesday, almost by accident, I found myself with a front-row seat for Hillary’s press conference about her recent jaunt to Iraq/Afghanistan/Pakistan with Indiana Senator Evan Bayh and New York Representative John McHugh. The Senate TV studio was a zoo. In drooling anticipation of the senator’s arrival, a couple hundred reporters crammed together tighter than a can full of Pringles, with many more hovering just beyond the door, prompting multiple Hill veterans to marvel at how they had never, ever seen the place so crazy–not even during impeachment. Just think about that for a moment: Even before announcing her presidential plans, Hillary was already drawing bigger crowds than Bill did after getting busted playing hide-the-cigar with Monica. Now that is star power.

Disinfo

HONOLULU - He was known as Barry Obama, and with his dark complexion and mini-Afro, he was one of the few blacks at the privileged Hawaiian school overlooking the Pacific.

Yet that hardly made him stand out.

Diversity was the norm at the Punahou School, one of the state’s top private schools. The 3,600 students came from a wide variety of backgrounds, with a blend of Polynesian, Asian, European and other cultures. Everybody in Hawaii is a minority.

At Punahou, Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) was known primarily for his appealing personality, his honesty and his aggressive play on the basketball court.

“It was a good melting pot. There were people from all different races,” said Eric Smith, a friend and classmate of Obama’s in the 1970s. “Everyone seemed to meld together.”

Yahoo! News

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a Republican presidential contender acclaimed for his leadership after the September 11 attacks, took a step closer to an official White House run on Monday.

He filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission establishing a committee to explore a presidential bid, which allows him to raise money, travel and hire staff.

“We still have to formally announce it and do a few more things, but this is about as close as you’re gonna get,” Giuliani said on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity & Colmes.” “We did everything you have to do, I guess, legally to do it, then you still have to make a formal announcement.”

Yahoo! News

It used to be, there was truth and there was falsehood. Now, there is spin and there are gaffes. Spin is often thought to be synonymous with falsehood or lying, but more accurately it is indifference to the truth. A politician engaged in spin is saying what he or she wishes were true, and sometimes, by coincidence, it is. Meanwhile a gaffe, it’s been said, is when a politician tells the truth — or, more precisely, when he or she accidentally reveals something truthful about what is going on in his or her head. A gaffe is what happens when the spin breaks down.

Time

TIME: What surprised you about this first trip to Iowa? Is there anything you want to do differently the next time you go out?

CLINTON: I was really excited by the intensity of feelings that I encountered in all of the events, large and small, and the energy that people brought to the events they came to. People were really geared up. It felt more like a week before an election than a year before an election. There was that much emotion and intensity and energy. I was delighted with the whole weekend. I though it went extremely well, thanks to all the hard work that everybody put into it, and I was pleased that I got to go to so many different places, and not just stay in one place, and obviously, I’ll go to many more when I go back over the succeeding months.

Time

For all the predictable outrage Joe Biden’s recent comments about Barack Obama elicited, the gaffe put a spotlight on one of the more unfortunate forces fueling Obamania. Ever since Barack Obama first ascended the national stage at the 2004 Democratic convention, pundits have been tripping over themselves to point out the difference between him and the average Joe from the South Side. Obama is biracial, and has a direct connection with Africa. He is articulate, young and handsome. He does not feel the need to yell “Reparations now!” into any available microphone.

Time