al-Maliki praised Obama’s 16-month withdrawal plan in a newspaper report Saturday.

CRAWFORD, TX (CNN) – An embarrassing slip up for the White House press office Saturday, when an aide hit the wrong button and mistakenly sent to the news media a Reuters article saying Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki backs presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's troop withdrawal plan.

White House spokesman Scott Stanzel says, "It was a mistake. Clips list for staff was supposed to be the addressee."

The Obama campaign quickly took advantage of the mistake, forwarding an ABC report detailing the incident to its press list.

This is not the first time the White House has emailed in error. But its timing is particularly embarrassing as the Bush administration's recent agreement with al-Maliki on a "general time horizon" for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq is being cited by some as resembling Obama's proposal that U.S. forces should leave within 16 months.

McCain is counting on the RNC’s fundraising prowess.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican John McCain says he raised more than $21 million in June, his best month so far in terms of fundraising.

McCain's campaign also spent nearly $26 million, more than double what he spent in May. Most of that went toward advertising.

The influx of cash is due to a better performance by a joint fundraising committee that McCain set up with the Republican National Committee.

Because he's accepted public financing, McCain has to spend everything he raises between now and the Republican national convention in September.

Barack Obama hasn't officially filed his June report with the Federal Election Commission. He has until midnight Sunday, but earlier this week his campaign reported raising $52 million the month.

Sen. Barack Obama will visit several world leaders over the next few weeks.

(CNN) — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is in Afghanistan on a multistop overseas trip for meetings with international leaders but with an eye on the U.S. presidential race back home.

Obama's trip, which includes visits to Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Germany, France and the United Kingdom, is intended to bolster his foreign policy credentials before U.S. voters.

"This is the campaign trail via satellite — pictures for the rhetoric back home," CNN's Candy Crowley said, adding that the trip was intended to demonstrate that Obama was up to the job of taking a lead role on the international stage.

"The question is, is he tough enough to stand up for America but graceful enough to improve [its] image?" Crowley said.

In a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll, 48 percent of registered voters said Obama would make a good commander in chief, compared with 72 percent for his Republican rival, John McCain.

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McCain pretends to have a “senior moment.

NEW YORK (AP) – Republican John McCain has had another turn on the late-night TV comedy circuit, as a guest on NBC'S "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" last night.

Host O'Brien acknowledged that jokes about the 71-year-old McCain's age are themselves getting old. And as McCain pretended to nod off, O'Brien asked for some new material. Instead of "seniority," O'Brien wondered if maybe McCain has a kooky uncle or bad breath or webbed toes. To which McCain replied, "All of the above."

McCain also noted that at one point in his career he was able to "intercept a surface-to-air missile" with his plane. But O'Brien pointed out, "People don't really laugh at that."

New McCain ad hits Obama on foreign policy.

(CNN) – John McCain’s campaign continued to hammer Barack Obama on foreign policy ahead of the presumptive Democratic nominee’s upcoming overseas trip, releasing its first contrast television ad of the general election campaign Friday – a spot that that paints the Illinois senator as a flip-flopping opportunist who opposed fully funding U.S. troops.

The ad is the first negative spot released by the McCain campaign, although the Republican National Committee attacked Obama on energy policy in a $3 million independent expenditure earlier this month.

“Barack Obama never held a single Senate hearing on Afghanistan. He hasn't been to Iraq in years,” says the announcer in the 30-second spot.

“He voted against funding our troops,” he continues, as a picture of Obama appears alongside the words “AGAINST TROOP FUNDING.”

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CNN=Politics Daily is The Best Political Podcast from The Best Political Team.

(CNN) — As Sen. Barack Obama prepares to head overseas, attention is turning to what his rival Sen. John McCain plans to do to hold the public's attention during Obama's much anticipated trip.

In the latest episode of CNN=Politics Daily, Dana Bash reports on McCain's plan to focus on the economy while Obama is abroad focussing on foreign policy. 

Chief National Correspondent John King breaks down how Sen. Obama's policy on Iraq is likely to be received by leaders in Europe and the Middle East.

Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider takes a closer look at whether McCain is ripping a page from the political playbook of former President Bill Clinton.

A Congressman wants to know: why do we vote on Tuesday?  Internet Reporter Abbi Tatton has the story. 

Finally, earlier this week on CNN, you may have seen Brianna Keilar's interview with Cindy McCain.  In this week's podcast extra, we bring you something you probably haven't seen: more of Keilar's interview with the woman who may be the next first lady as McCain satisfies her need for speed.  Check it out.

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Former Sen. Phil Gramm looks on as Sen. McCain speaks at a campaign event in this file photo.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Former Republican Sen. Phil Gramm said Friday he is stepping down as co-chairman of Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign after comments in which he called Americans "a nation of whiners."

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Bud Day, shown in the 2004 Swift Boat Vets for Truth ad.

(CNN) — A leading John McCain surrogate stirred controversy Friday after defending the Iraq war in particularly stark terms, telling reporters "the Muslims have said either we kneel, or they're going to kill us."

Bud Day, who was a prisoner of war with McCain in Vietnam and often advocates for the Arizona senator's presidential bid, made the comments during a conference call with Florida reporters organized by the Florida Republican Party.

The Miami Herald has posted audio of the call

"I don't intend to kneel, and I don't advocate to anybody that we kneel, and John doesn't advocate to anybody that we kneel," he also said.

Asked to respond to Day's comments, the McCain campaign issued a short statement from spokesman Michael Goldfarb.

“The threat we face is from radical Islamic extremism," he said.

Corey Saylor, the national legislative director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told CNN Friday McCain should directly repudiate the remarks.

"CAIR would like to see Senator McCain come out and make a clear statement repudiating these remarks," he said. "We don't believe they're helpful at all in either putting out the campaign's message or winning the hearts and minds in the Muslim world that America needs to be winning."

"Earlier this year Sen. McCain in a similar situation said that there's no place in his campaign for that kind of rhetoric," he added. "I'd like to see him come out and reiterate that statement because obviously people in Florida haven't heard his position."

Day, a highly decorated retired U.S. Air Force Colonel who received the Medal of Honor for his actions in Vietnam, is a member of John McCain's "Truth Squad" — which his campaign says was launched to respond to unfair attacks on the Arizona senator's record of military service.

He was also a member of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth — the group that was created to attack 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry’s military service record and derailed his presidential bid.

"The bottom line is this: 527 groups can do very effective, truthful things, and the Swift Boat attack was totally truthful," Day also said in Friday's conference call.

The cost of the new Marine One fleet could run into the billions.

WASHINGTON (AP) — John McCain and Barack Obama vow to reform the nation's defense procurement if elected president, yet each is unwilling to take a firm stand against the skyrocketing cost of a plum White House perk: the new Marine One helicopter.

Originally carrying a hefty price tag at $6.1 billion, the fleet of 28 helicopters being built to fly the next president is now projected to cost $11.2 billion.

At $400 million apiece, the helicopters far exceed a prime example McCain uses on the campaign trail to rail against congressional pork-barrel spending, a $230 million "bridge to nowhere" in Alaska. The British have bought the same base model helicopter for $57 million each.

In separate interviews with The Associated Press, the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates pledged to look at the program but stopped short of saying whether it should be canceled. Any review after the next president takes office in January would butt up against the first deliveries of the helicopters, slated for 2010.

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Former Romney donors showed up to help McCain on Friday.

DETROIT, Michigan (CNN) – Several of Mitt Romney's top fundraisers anted up for John McCain on Friday afternoon in Detroit, and McCain returned the favor with some words of praise for his former rival.

"In case you missed it, as short a time ago as this morning, Mitt has been on the shows, not only defending, but standing up for the things that we believe in, are important to the future of the country," McCain told a small group of donors gathered at the Detroit Athletic Club, referring to Romney's efforts as a campaign surrogate.

The event raised over $1 million for his campaign.

McCain dined at a table with at least two of Romney’s top fundraisers — John Rakolta, Jr. and Ed Levy, Jr., both of whom were Bush "Rangers" during the 2004 cycle. They were joined by Romney's brother Scott, a Michigan attorney.

After a brief lunch, McCain spoke glowingly of not just of Romney, but also his wife Ann.

"I knew Mitt, and I knew what an outstanding individual he is and what a wonderful family person," McCain said, "but I hadn’t had the chance to get to know Ann, who we all know is battling a disease and she is a woman of courage and beauty and grace."

In the audience was Michigan GOP chairman Saul Anuzis, who said adding Romney to the Republican ticket would give McCain a major boost in Michigan.

Anuzis argued that Romney would also shore up GOP support in the swing states of Colorado, New Hampshire, Iowa, and Nevada, where Romney enjoyed strong support during the primaries.

McCain said he expects terror attempts to increase in Iraq.

(CNN) — John McCain said Friday he expects the presidential election this fall will increase the occurrence of "spectacular" terror attempts in Iraq.

Speaking at a General Motors facility in Warren, Michigan, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate touted the decrease of violence in Iraq, but said Al Qaeda is not yet defeated there.

"I predict that they will make an attempt as we get in to the election season to make more of these spectacular kinds of attacks which they're still capable of doing," he said. "The suicide bombers, et cetera, would not surprise me and we've already found out that they're going to try and step up their attacks and try and do things in a more spectacular fashion so that they can erode the support of the Maliki government."

Watch: McCain predicts terrorist attempt during election season

The comments come a day after the Arizona senator appeared to make a rhetorical shift in how he described conditions the war-torn country, telling reporters aboard his campaign bus that "we have succeeded in Iraq."

"I repeat my statement that we have succeeded in Iraq. Not 'We are succeeding.' We have succeeded in Iraq," he said Thursday.

Last month, senior McCain advisor Charlie Black stirred controversy in an interview with Fortune Magazine, when he touted the Republican presidential candidate's national security credentials and said another terrorist attack on the United States would likely boost his White House chances.

McCain repudiated those comments, and Black later apologized.

McCain said Obama's Senate record was more liberal than a self-described socialist's.

WARREN, Michigan (CNN) – John McCain on Thursday described Barack Obama’s Senate record as “more to the left” than Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont — an independent who caucuses with Democrats but has described himself as an “independent Democratic socialist.”

During his town hall meeting with voters in Kansas City yesterday, McCain said, “Senator Obama has the most extreme record of any member of the United States Senate.”

In an interview after the event, The Kansas City Star asked him to clarify the remark.

“His voting record … is more to the left than the announced socialist in the United States Senate, Bernie Sanders of Vermont,” McCain answered, according the paper.

Asked if he thought Obama was a socialist, McCain answered: “I don’t know. All I know is his voting record, and that’s what people usually judge their elected representatives by.”

Gore has ruled out being Obama's running mate.

(CNN) — Eight years in the No. 2 spot is enough for Al Gore.

The former vice president, who issued a challenge to the next President of the United States on Thursday to make the country's electricity output carbon-free in 10 years, said later that he will not under any circumstances serve as Barack Obama's running mate.

Unlike the office of the presidency, there are no imposed term-limits on the second highest office in the land. But Gore, who considerably expanded the role of vice president, said he's imposing his own term limits on the job.

“I have a personal term limit,” he told CBS News Thursday. “Only two terms as VP.”

Asked by interviewer Katie Couric whether he might reconsider if the Democratic presidential candidate "begged," Gore said his answer would remain no.

Buzz swirled around a possible Obama-Gore ticket last month after the former vice president — who remains a very popular figure in the Democratic Party — gave an enthusiastic endorsement of the Illinois senator after months on sidelines during the prolonged Democratic primary.

Obama said then he doubted Gore would be willing to serve as VP again.

“Obviously Al Gore is a great public servant, he was a great vice president," he said. He may not want to be vice president again, since he's already done that for eight years, but certainly he's somebody that I'll be getting advice from as we go forward and hopefully he'll help me when I'm president."

Gore said in December that he might jump back into the political fray – but only in a bid for the top spot. A third term as vice president would mean Gore had spent more time in the office than anyone in U.S. history.

McCain is expected to continue criticism of Obama while he is overseas.

(CNN)—Senator John McCain tends to follow the old adage “politics ends at the water's edge,” but his aides tell CNN they have every intention of continuing their attacks on Obama while the presumptive Democratic nominee is on his overseas trip.

When he was in Canada in June, McCain refused to talk about Obama — and CNN was told from top advisers that McCain got angry at campaign aides back at headquarters for sending emails hitting the Illinois senator while he was abroad.

But the McCain campaign considers Obama’s trip to Europe, Iraq and Afghanistan fair game. McCain aides says the Obama campaign and the DNC both set precedent for it, by attacking McCain while he was in Europe and the Middle East in March, and during his recent trips to Canada, Colombia and Mexico.

In an e-mail response to CNN, McCain spokesman Brian Rogers attached a list of quotes from Obama and DNC press releases during the presumptive Republican nominee’s trips, and said “we don’t feel there’s any restriction on drawing contrasts while he’s abroad.”

The trip has already drawn significant media coverage — so there’s no doubt the McCain campaign will be watching Obama very closely.

The campaign has already sharpened its argument in the past week, branding the presumptive Democratic nominee’s trip to Europe as a photo opportunity, and his visits to Afghanistan and Iraq campaign stops, not a fact finding missions, since Obama announced his policies before visiting.

“I was very interested that he articulated and announced his policies and approached Iraq before he went, not after. Remarkable,” Senator McCain told Missouri voters Thursday.

“I've been on a lot of trips around the world, usually at your expense, but I usually issue my policy statements when I get back.”

McCain is at a GM facility Friday.

(CNN) — John McCain ventures to a General Motors technology facility in suburban Michigan Friday morning, amid the car giant's struggle to regain its footing in the sagging vehicle market.

McCain is set to tour the facility and lay out a plan to support innovation in the automobile industry — including a commitment to a $5,000 tax credit for each and every customer who buys a zero carbon emission car. The facility he is touring is where GM is developing the Chevy Volt — a hybrid gas-electric vehicle. He'll also lay out his plan for creating jobs in the industry, following the news GM will cease production at four North American plants by 2010.

Michigan, whose economy has been badly hit because of the struggling automobile sector, is likely to play a key role in the presidential election. The Arizona senator lost the state's Republican primary in January to Michigan native Mitt Romney.

CNN=Politics Daily is The Best Political Podcast from The Best Political Team.

(CNN) — Sen. Barack Obama’s highly publicized trip overseas could very well be one of the biggest events during the presidential race.

As the presumptive Democratic nominee prepares to leave for the Middle East and Europe, he is facing questions about his limited experience, especially in the area of foreign policy. Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley has the story on the challenges and high expectations generated by Obama's planned trip abroad.

Meanwhile: Sen. John McCain is questioning Obama’s motives for making the trip and slamming Obama's Iraq policy. Dana Bash reports on the presumptive Republican nominee's efforts to make the most of his rival's much publicized and much anticipated trip.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sits down with Wolf Blitzer and has very harsh words for President Bush.  Pelosi also addresses Congress's low approval ratings.

Finally: Obama's ad buys show he is making a play for traditionally Republican states. Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider takes a look at Obama's red state strategy.

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McCain and Obama have been trading flip-flopping charges.

(CNN) – The McCain and Obama campaigns traded flip-flopping charges Thursday, as the McCain team continued its assault on Barack Obama’s Iraq policy ahead of his upcoming trip to that nation Thursday with a hard-hitting Web video that painted Obama as an opportunist on the issue — and a tough Democratic response accused the Arizona senator of dramatically shifting his own positions on the war.

“The Obama Iraq Documentary: Whatever the Politics Demand” had a Capitol Hill debut, flanked by several GOP senators including McCain’s fellow Arizona senator, John Kyl, and South Dakota Sen. John Thune. The eight-minute video uses footage of Obama expressing seemingly contradictory positions, and “explores Senator Obama's record of shifting political positions” on Iraq, Campaign Manager Rick Davis said in a message to supporters.

The film opens with 2007 footage of Obama saying "I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq is going to solve the sectarian violence there. In fact, I think it will do the reverse."

Obama is next shown earlier this year saying he had known the surge would be effective. "I said at the time, when I opposed the surge, that given how wonderfully our troops perform, if we place 30,000 more troops in there, then we would see an improvement in the security situation and we would see a reduction in the violence."

The screen then reads, "Translation: You're Never Wrong If You Pretend You Gave The Right Answer All Along."

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McCain and Obama praised Gore Thursday for his climate change initiative.

(CNN)– Both parties' presumptive nominees praised former Vice President Al Gore as he challenged the nation Thursday to transition completely to renewable and carbon-free energy within the next decade — but parted ways on some of Gore's recommendations.

"For decades, Al Gore has challenged the skeptics in Washington on climate change and awakened the conscience of a nation to the urgency of this threat," Obama said in a statement Thursday.

Obama's environmental proposals mimic many of Gore's own: he would implement an economy-wide cap-and trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and plans to make the United States a leader in the global effort to combat climate change.

But John McCain reminded reporters he and Gore hold very divergent views on the use of at least one renewable energy source.

"I've admired the Vice President on this issue," McCain said Thursday. There may be some aspects of climate change that he and I are in disagreement on but overall — I mean, I've always been a supporter of nuclear power and he has not agreed with that."

The Arizona senator co-sponsored cap-and-trade legislation introduced last year — but has criticized later versions of the bill for failing to include further incentives for nuclear power, saying the nation would not make progress in ending global warming unless nuclear energy was greatly expanded.

McCain also continued to contrast his environmental policy with Obama's.

"Let me just say again, Sen. Obama, no storage and no reprocess. And that's nuclear power. No drilling offshore. That's a way of finding oil and gas reserves. Dr. No," McCain said.

Biden is a powerful Senate ally of Barack Obama.

(CNN) – Joe Biden is quickly becoming a powerful ally for Barack Obama in the Senate.

The Delaware Democrat, who is rumored to be on Obama's shortlist for VP, came to the Illinois senator's defense Thursday over charges Obama has not adequately addressed Afghanistan as chairman of a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee.

CNN's Political Market: Biden's VP stock on the rise

Obama is chairman of the Subcommittee on European Affairs — a panel that has jurisdiction over NATO's operations, including its efforts in Afghanistan. The McCain campaign, like Hillary Clinton's, has noted Obama has yet to hold a hearing dealing with Afghanistan since he became chairman nearly two years ago. South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, the ranking member on that committee and an ardent supporter of John McCain, wrote a formal letter earlier this week to Obama criticizing his failure to hold hearings — a move seemingly designed to undercut the Democratic presidential candidate's foreign policy credentials before he embarks on a trip abroad.

But Biden, conveniently the Chairman of the full Senate Foreign Relations Committee, hit back at DeMint Thursday, writing in a letter to him that NATO's mission in Afghanistan has been dealt with at the full committee level.

Read full letter [PDF]

"Under my chairmanship the Foreign Relations Committee has addressed most Afghanistan issues at the Full Committee level," Biden wrote. "I believe that this is the best way of ensuring the most comprehensive examination of the complex issues involved, and of ensuring the highest-level Administration participation."

The move is likely to increase speculation Biden is being considered for the VP role, or another high-ranking post in an Obama administration. The veteran senator is considered an authority on foreign policy issues — an area where many voters have given the edge to McCain over Obama. Biden made news earlier this month when he acknowledged he would accept the VP position if it was offered.

Biden said the full committee has held three hearings over the last two years directly dealing with NATO and Afghanistan. But the Republican National Committee quickly noted Obama missed two of those hearings, and said Biden is "attempting to refine Obama's empty record on Afghanistan." (The RNC also noted Biden called Obama a "Johnny come lately" on the issue of Afghanistan last August when he was battling for the Democratic nomination.)

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McCain is continuing to paint Obama as naive on foreign policy.

(CNN) — John McCain’s aides may not like it, but they know it's inevitable: Barack Obama's trip overseas is guaranteed to generate a lot of coverage.

And they say while Obama is abroad, McCain will spend the week sticking to issues that voters care most about, namely the ailing economy.

But now, McCain is using every opportunity he can get to come down on Barack Obama's Iraq policy.

While at a Kansas City town hall Thursday, unprompted, the presumptive Republican nominee tweaked Obama for his upcoming trip abroad.

"I know that Senator Obama is going to Iraq," he said. "I was very interested that he articulated and announced his policies and [approach to] Iraq before he went."

Ironically, it was McCain himself who encouraged the Illinois senator to go.

"It's now coming up on 900 days since he last visited Iraq, since before the surge," McCain said last month in Pennsylvania. "I hope that he goes as quickly as possible, with or without me."

The Republican National Committee has a running clock on its Web site showing how many days, hours, and seconds it has been since Obama last visited Iraq.

Since the June 28 news that Obama was planning to make a trip to Iraq, the McCain campaign has been working up their response plan.

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