by Evie Stone

Happy Friday! Make that a VERY happy Friday for Nastia and Shawn. Congratulations, ladies!

Yesterday evening the Obama campaign struck back hard at Jerome Corsi's much-hyped critical book Obama Nation with this 41-page rebuttal PDF that they emailed to reporters. The document, titled "Unfit for Publication" nods to Corsi's 2004 attack tome against John Kerry, called Unfit for Command. The message: that the Obama campaign will not shrink from responding to swift-boat-style attacks as the Kerry campaign did (arguably costing Kerry the Presidency). The PDF not only makes point-by-point refutations of the "factual inaccuracies" in the book, it also takes pains to discredit Corsi himself, citing loony conspiracy theories about 9/11 and a looming "North American Union," as well as a range of anti-Catholic and anti-Muslim sentiments that the author has espoused on the internet and elsewhere. It's a decisive counterattack from a campaign that has lately been accused of pulling punches. The opening statement says it all:

Once again, bigoted fringe author Jerome Corsi is trying to make money off of an
election, spinning garbage as journalism and relying on the right-wing echo chamber
pump up sales. Make no mistake: "The Obama Nation: is nothing but rehashed lies.

McCainwise, the GOP nominee-to-be has been making the most of his Obamaless week. As images trickle down of Obama eating sno-cones and bodysurfing, McCain keeps hammering his tough stance on the Georgia conflict. Obama's visit to his grandmother was long-planned, and he has issued frequent statements on Georgia. And — let's face it — neither of these guys is actually President yet. (Not to mention that the REAL President leaves for vacation today too.) And surely the upcoming conventions will drown out this week's foibles. But, well...it's a tough contrast for Obama.

 

Over on another coast, the moment we've all been waiting for finally arrives tomorrow, when the candidates will make back-to-back appearances (with a brief moment onstage together) at Megapastor Rick Warren's Saddleback Church in Southern California.

McCain has some wooing to do among these traditional Republican stalwarts. USAT notes that a recent Pew poll gives McCain a healthy lead among evangelicals, but it's still 10 points behind George W. Bush's 2004 advantage with that group. McCain has a rocky past with religious conservatives. The campaign finance legislation he famously co-authored restricts political advertising by outside groups. Some pro-life activists see the law as a gag rule for their cause and view McCain skeptically despite his near-spotless pro-life voting record. And, as both the Washington Post and the Washington Times write this morning, younger evangelicals are not a done deal for McCain.

McCain has worked hard this year to shore up evangelical support, but he suffered a setback this week with his statement that former PA Governor Tom Ridge's pro-choice stance wouldn't necessarily rule him out as a running-mate. Another Veep possibility, Independent Democrat Joe Lieberman, is also pro-choice. (Incidentally, or not so incidentally, both Ridge and Lieberman feature prominently in a recent McCain Blogette photo series.)

Meanwhile, the Obama campaign has been courting pro-life moderates with expanded platform language on abortion. Warren's flock, with its 'Purpose-Driven Life' commitments to poverty, HIV/AIDS issues, and climate change, may be inclined toward Obama's positions on those and other issues. If Obama works the abortion semantics right tomorrow he could win some hearts and minds in Lake Forest (and teeveeland).

In an interview with CBN's David Brody, Warren said he'll give both candidates an opportunity to make their case to the group 2004 exit pollsters called "values voters."

The person who says well I'm going to put my faith on the shelf and not let it affect my decisions as President is either lying or they're ignorant because you can't do it.Every one of your decisions you make based on your world view. So I'm going to ask them about abortion. I am going to ask them about the definition of marriage, but I'm also going to ask them about more than that in that third section on 'World View'.

And finally, FiveThirtyEight goes all charty on the 'Convention Bounce.'