Compiled by Mary Grace Lucas, CNN Washington Bureau

WSJ: McCain to Make a Rare Appearance With Bush
President Bush and John McCain will appear together at a fund-raiser in Phoenix Tuesday, the first time in nearly three months that the Republican presidential candidate will be seen beside the man he hopes to succeed.

Washington Post: Bush Straddles His Hard Line in Engaging Sudan
Sometime in the next few weeks, a special envoy of President Bush plans to meet with Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, whose government sheltered Osama bin Laden and pursued a scorched-earth policy in southern Sudan that resulted in more than 2 million deaths.

LA Times: Women's combat roles are likely to be on next president's agenda
The drive to eliminate gender distinctions in the military appears to be entering a new phase, with debate likely to come to a head within a few years. The next president, whether presumptive GOP nominee McCain or a Democrat, almost certainly will face the question of women in combat.

Washington Post: McCain Breaks with Bush Over North Korea
Sen. John McCain broke today with President Bush's new policy on North Korea, co-authoring an opinion article with Sen. Joe Lieberman in which he called for a return to Bush's original demand of a complete, verifiable, irreversible disarmament of North Korea's nuclear programs.

Politico: A guide to undisciplined messaging
The furor over Hillary Rodham Clinton’s reference to Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination is just the latest flap in a presidential campaign that has at times seemed to careen from gaffe to gaffe. Sometimes it’s a loose-lipped surrogate capturing attention with an insensitive remark, other times it’s the candidate inserting foot in mouth. Either way, the result tends to be damaging — even if the comment itself was innocently intended.

LA Times: Obama, McCain are dueling out West
Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico are rich in prospects — but also pitfalls — for each presidential candidate.

Washington Post: Democrats' Convention Pool: Is It All Wet?
Forget the row over RFK, the latest superdelegate tally or Saturday's sure-to-be contentious meeting of the Rules and Bylaws Committee. With the Democratic National Convention less than three months away, and with Web pundits playing an even bigger role during the four-day event, a whole other drama is chewing up the blogosphere — and the often unmentioned Afrosphere.

WSJ: Candidates Compete For Tech Sector's Backing
John McCain and Barack Obama aren't waiting to be nominated to start a competition for votes and campaign cash from the technology industry. So far, despite Sen. McCain's long history of involvement with technology issues, it is his Democratic rival who appears to be scoring more points.

Washington Post: No Clear Map For Clinton's Political Future
Many Democrats are now pointing to the Sen. Edward M. Kennedy model as a path for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to reshape her own political career, assuming she is unable to wrest the nomination from Sen. Barack Obama.

WSJ: Obama Courts Seniors for Support
With the Democratic presidential nomination all but assured, Barack Obama has been looking to increase support for the general-election campaign among senior citizens — a bloc that has favored rival Hillary Clinton in the primaries.

Washington Post: Ron Paul's Campaign Is a Family Business, FEC Reports Show
Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) has built a national following largely by preaching an isolationist foreign policy. Stick with your own kind, says the maverick presidential candidate. And that's more or less what he has been doing over the past few months, putting relatives in a slew of key positions and paying them a total of $169,063, according to the latest campaign finance reports.

NY Times: On the Trail, One Aide Looms Over Obama
In the last year, Barack Obama has learned a thing or two about running for president, and Reggie Love has learned a thing or two about Barack Obama.

NY Times: G.O.P. Struggles to Replace a Favorite Son
Finding a candidate to replace Representative Vito J. Fossella, who will step down at the end of the year, is proving much harder than Republican Party leaders ever imagined.

Washington Post: Daschle Stars in New Ad for Obama
Former senator Tom Daschle has emerged as a leading surrogate and spokesman for Barack Obama. The latest proof: The former Senate Democratic leader is starring in a 30-second spot called "Straight" that's airing in Daschle's home state of South Dakota.

NY Times: Polishing for the Inauguration
A half dozen or so hotels in Washington are undergoing extensive renovations, in part to take advantage of business related to Inauguration Day. This is good news for executives visiting the city, for any reason.