Hitting the Links

A selection of some of the top stories on the 2008 presidential campaign from around the nation.

New York Magazine: The Actor

"The Thompson bubble has floated skyward on several favorable updrafts. He's the newest man in the race--and one with celebrity name recognition. He's a Southerner and arguably the most conservative candidate in a field devoid of hard-liners. Despite his eight years in the Senate, people seem to buy the idea, for the time being anyway, that he's a Washington outsider. And all of his opponents have significant liabilities. But then again, so does Thompson. Among them are his work ethic and authenticity. Thompson is often compared to Ronald Reagan, not just because they are both actors, but also because of each man's almost preternatural affability. But Reagan was an unalloyed ideologue when America was looking for one, with eight years as the chief executive of what amounts to one of the world's largest countries. He wasn't elected until his third campaign, when he defeated a weak Democratic incumbent. Fred Thompson is in a different place. If he's going to be elected the leader of the Free World, he may have to do it on the strength of his not inconsiderable personal charm."

LA Times: Small donors playing bigger role in campaigns"

With the 2008 presidential campaign generating intense interest, candidates are finding that small donations are anything but chump change. They are raising unprecedented amounts in small sums, employing the Internet and traditional direct-mail and telemarketing techniques, and holding low-budget fundraising rallies. In a campaign expected to cost the two major-party nominees a combined $1 billion, a few bucks from Anchorage don't mean much on their own. But candidates hope to leverage those donations into more money and something at least as valuable: volunteer campaign workers.

Dodd campaign: Counting who got what