SUNDAY ROUNDUP

by Walter Alarkon - 07/13/08 5:58 PM ET

With both Barack Obama and John McCain reaching out to Hispanic voters at the start of the week, bloggers on both sides are keeping a close eye on their statements on immigration reform. The upcoming issue of The New Yorker features a profile of Obama’s rise through Chicago politics, which fascinates liberal bloggers but provides more ammo for his conservative critics. And pundits on both sides try to read the vice presidential tea leaves.

Obama, in his speech Sunday to the National Council of La Raza, stressed the grassroots nature of his campaign, said that “the system is not working” and hit McCain for wavering in his support for comprehensive immigration reform, notes MyDD’s Todd Beeton. Ahead of McCain’s speech to the group on Monday, his campaign held a conference call to say that he still supports comprehensive immigration reform but only after the country’s borders are secured, writes Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey. If Townhall’s Carol Platt Liebau were Latina, she would vote for McCain because he has hewed to pro-Latino views in the face of intense criticism from his own party, she writes.

The 15,000-word profile by The New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza explains how Obama got ahead by criticizing the political system he was part of, which is something that McCain has also done, writes The Plank’s Isaac Chotiner. Lizza’s profile also shows Obama’s “adolescent grandiosity,” or his belief in himself above all else, according to Obama critic Scott Johnson on Power Line.

The most likely running mate for McCain is Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R), who would draw fewer objections from the right than other swing state candidates, while the most likely choices for Obama are Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D), who could help him in a red state, and Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), who would reinforce Obama’s midwestern appeal, according to The Next Right’s Patrick Ruffini. Someone else to watch is Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), who has foreign policy credentials and the respect of the military brass but may not have the necessary television skills, according to The Plank’s Jonathan Cohn.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Barack Obama at La Raza – Todd Beeton, MyDD
McCain’s La Raza Conference Call – Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
A Choice for Latinos – Carol Platt Liebau, Townhall
Obama’s Chicago Days – Isaac Chotiner, The Plank
The Resistable Rise of Obama – Scott Johnson, Power Line
VP: Pawlenty, Bayh, Sebelius on Top – P. Ruffini, Next Right
Veep Veep: Keep an Eye on Reed – J. Cohn, The Plank
Obama’s Economic Double Talk – Blackhedd, RedState
NYT Noticies ‘Far Left’ Obama Disgust – Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
Hagel Officially Announces Trip W/ Obama – Kleefeld, TPM EC
Gangs of DC – SusanG, Daily Kos
FISA Loss: Recommendations for Future – emptywheel, FDL
More Notes on Third Parties – Chris Bowers, Open Left
Pro-Twitter Coalition Gets Bipartisan – P. Ruffini, Next Right