John McCain

PRESCOTT -- Wednesday night, residents of the 1st Congressional District gathered to hear Republican candidate Dr. Sandra Livingstone inside her campaign headquarters, which occupy the corner of an office building that overlooks Courthouse Square.

Livingstone, who is challenging Republican Party-backed Syndey Hay and other candidates in the primary, filed her candidacy just before the June 4 deadline, and flew under the radar until her Federal Election Commission report came out, showing she had near-parity with Hay in cash on hand. Her June fundraising came in at $4,725 - well behind Hay's quarterly take of about $95,000 - but she has put up $200,000 of her own money, meaning she is very much in the race from a money perspective.

Around 20 people, mainly senior citizens, showed up for the Livingstone town hall, where they heard her discuss Second Amendment rights, energy policy and her recommendations for bringing the nation's finances under control.

U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Phoenix) received some welcome news Thursday in the form of a new Fox News poll that shows him trailing his Democratic rival, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) by one point. However, the day brought unwelcome coverage as well - both in the form of a New York Times article highlighting McCain's vulnerabilities in his home state, and a report that Obama raised more money in Arizona during June than did the state's senior senator.

Fox News released a poll showing the gap between Obama and McCain at one percentage point, with Obama leading 41-40. With independent candidates included, Obama's lead increases marginally, giving him the edge 40 to 37.

Thursday's Gallup daily presidential tracking poll also showed Obama with a slimmer-than-average lead, besting McCain 45 to 43. However, the new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows Obama leading the race 47 to 41.

The New York Times editorial page has denied John McCain from responding to an editorial from Barack Obama that ran last week because McCain refused to use timetables in his editorial.  “It would be terrific to have an article from Senator McCain that mirrors Senator Obama's piece," wrote David Shipley, the Op-Ed editor.  So much for political discussion. 

A new video from the presidential campaign of U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Phoenix) uses video clips of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) to form "a timeline of Barack Obama's political positioning on the most critical national security issue America faces today." The video, entitled "The Obama Iraq Documentary: Whatever the Politics Demand," is now up on McCain's YouTube channel.

In June John McCain had his best fundraising month to date when he took in $22 million.  While McCain and the RNC are having success in raising money, the NRCC and NRSC along with their candidates do not seem to be having the same success.  McCain’s success may be a direct correlation to the failures of the Republicans in Congress. 

Republicans who are looking to have an impact may be looking at the Congress and seeing a hopeless cause.  The only hope they might see for a Republican influence in the next government is with McCain.  The problems the NRCC and NRSC are facing may end up meaning even more money than before will shift from congressional races to the presidential race.  Republicans who fear a Democratic Congress to go along with a Democratic President may be rallying around McCain as the only hope to prevent a unified Democratic government.

PHILADELPHIA - If Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano has designs on a job in a Barack Obama White House, she isn’t advertising them.

“I don’t answer those questions,” she said when asked if she was interested in a job as United States Attorney General.

Napolitano, who is in her second term as governor, served one term as Arizona’s attorney general. Prior to that Napolitano was a U.S. Attorney for Arizona.

Napolitano was one of several governors who gathered here for last weekend’s National Governors Association conference who have been mentioned as possibilities for higher office. Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty are widely seen as potential candidates for vice president.

Ariz. Attorney General Terry GoddardArizona small business owners overwhelmingly favor a Democrat to replace Gov. Janet Napolitano, according to the Silver State Bank/Arizona Small Business Association/O'Neil Associates Arizona Economic Indicators Monitor.

The poll, conducted among the ASBA's 3,000 members, found that 43 percent of respondents supported Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard in the hypothetical race. Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon came in second with 21 percent.

Rounding out the list were U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters (10 percent), Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman (8 percent), Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne (8 percent), state Treasurer Dean Martin (7 percent) and Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas (5 percent).

John McCain may be the Republican nominee for President, but according to Right Wing News blog McCain is not a favorite among right wing bloggers. The blog sent out an email to right wing blogs asking them to name their least favorite elected Republican. Arizona’s senior senator came in 5th behind Chuck Hagel, Arlen Specter, Olympia Snowe and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Right Wing News had done an earlier survey asking bloggers for their favorite Republicans and four Arizona Republicans made the top 20.  Jeff Flake came in 11th, John Shadegg and Jon Kyl tied for 12th and McCain made that list too coming in 16th.

This week Tim Bee makes the list as both a winner and a loser, find out who joins Bee on this week's list.