MORNING READ

Barack Obama’s decision to announce his veep pick via text message receives plaudits from conservative bloggers, but the move’s timing puzzles others. An upcoming John McCain fundraiser hosted by a former Jack Abramoff associate gives liberal bloggers a chance to question McCain’s reformist credentials. And bloggers on the right keep after Obama and Russia, linking the two by highlighting their similar criticisms of McCain.

Obama’s text message ploy is all about adding to his database of supporters and furthering the connection between them and his campaign, writes Robert Stacy McCain. While Obama is taking his strategy of using the Internet to the next level, The Next Right’s Patrick Ruffini wonders if McCain will do something similar. But Obama would be mad to announce his veep pick soon, when the Olympics, the war in Georgia and revelations about former Sen. John Edwards’s (D-N.C.) affair are dominating the news cycle, writes The Campaign Spot’s Jim Geraghty.

McCain, who will benefit from a fundraiser organized by former Abramoff pal Ralph Reed, has talked about reform while embracing Reed and others with ties to the jailed lobbyist, writes Jonathan Singer at MyDD. Not only has Reed worked closely with Abramoff, he has written a novel featuring female characters who have drinking problems, are eager to use sex to get ahead and are belittled as intellectual lightweights, notes TalkLeft’s Jeralyn.

Attacks on McCain by Russia, whose forces are pushing into central Georgia, won’t help Obama, who already has a reputation for “dictator-coddling,” writes The Next Right’s Josh Kahn. Obama has already moved toward McCain’s harsher stance toward Russia, but he hasn’t apologized for attacks on McCain adviser with lobbying ties to Georgia, an American ally, writes RedState’s Erick Erickson.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Obama Marketing Savvy – R.S. McCain, The Other McCain
Will McCain Announce His VP Online? – P. Ruffini, The Next Right
Why Announce During Olympics? – J. Geraghty, Campaign Spot
Discover Obama’s VP By Text Message? – E. Morrissey, Hot Air
McCain: The Ties That Bind – Jeralyn, TalkLeft
McCain to Accept More Abramoff-Linked $ – Jonathan Singer, MyDD
Russia Helps McCain by Attacking Him – Josh Kahn, The Next Right
Obama on Russia and Georgia – Erick Erickson, RedState
Is Georgia ’08 Like Hungary ’56? – see-dubya, Michelle Malkin

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Georgia Conflict Tests Candidates on Foreign Policy – Wall Street Journal
For a Week, McCain Has Trail to Himself – New York Times
McCain Adviser Was Lobbyist for Georgia – Wall Street Journal
Bush, Cheney Increasingly Critical of Russia – Washington Post