MORNING READ

John McCain is either too close to lobbyists or the media is wrong, depending on which bloggers one reads on Monday. Democratic bloggers, however, agree that the end is near for Hillary Clinton and that they have little reason to listen to centrist members of Congress on intelligence or healthcare policy.

McCain is the senator to know for those interested in real estate, beer distributorships, phone carriers and mining companies, according to DailyKos’s BarbinMD, who notes recent reporting on land deals McCain helped push through that benefited campaign contributors.

Conservative bloggers defend McCain from recent media stories. A Newsweek report suggesting that McCain and Republicans are planning an “onslaught” on Barack Obama is yet another story that fails to account for Democrats’ “demagoguery,” seen in debates over healthcare, free trade and the economy, writes Pejman Yousefzadeh at RedState. McCain adviser Mark Salter is right to argue the media shouldn’t buy the idea that any issue raising doubts and questions about Obama’s policies and judgment is a “smear campaign,” writes The Weekly Standard’s Michael Goldfarb.

In the Democratic race, Clinton may be helping Democrats register more voters in West Virginia, writes MyDD’s Carnacki. But her campaign is wrong to argue that she’s more electable because she’s won the big states, has been vetted and will win the national primary and caucus popular vote, according to Transplanted Texan, also at MyDD.

Liberal bloggers also focus fire on Democrats they see as too willing to compromise. Blue Dog Democrats should think again before dealing with Republicans on a foreign intelligence surveillance bill that offers retroactive immunity for telecom companies, since those companies are funding under-the-radar efforts to pressure freshman House Democrats, writes Daily Kos’s mcjoan. And Obama supporters should spend less time trying to win over Blue Dogs like Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) — who hasn