John McCain may soon find it even harder to differentiate himself from Bush. Earlier this week, he advocated a lift on the 26 year ban on offshore drilling in the United States. President Bush followed suit, pressuring congress to lift the ban. Both have had a history of opposing offshore drilling, but apparently changed their minds owing to the dire political need to reduce oil prices.

You've probably had to make changes in the way you go about your life because of high gas prices, and the Department of Transportation has found that you aren't alone: American drivers reduced their time on the highway in April by some 1.4 billion miles.

As first reported in the blogosphere here at The Texas Blue, the Texas GOP convention button story has taken a turn for the comic: The Dallas Morning News' Trailblazers blog has asked its readership to post their own slogans for the Texas G.O.P..

As you might imagine, chaos follows.

The DNC has no intention of letting McCain slide for his on-again, off-again approach to campaign finance and federal matching funds: they are actively pressuring the FEC for an investigation.

It isn't Texas politics or American politics, but this sort of thing has a huge effect on American foreign policy, so you should know about it: Israel and Hamas are reportedly very close to declaring a truce.

I'm going to venture a guess that all of us who write for The Blue have never known a political campaign without negative advertising in our voting lives. I'm fairly certain I can say this because I'm the geezer of the group, clocking in at the dusty old age of 34, and there's never been an election in my voting life that didn't have some negative advertising in it.

Cross another name off the list of high-profile VP possibilities: former Virginia governor Mark Warner will not accept the vice presidency. Warner cited his commitment to his U.S. Senate candidacy, saying that he will neither seek nor accept any other opportunity.

I didn't bring those, did you?

Professionally made "KBH for Gov" lapel stickers mysteriously appeared at a coffee reception Friday morning hosted by U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Her staff denied any knowledge. But at the Texas Republican convention, this bit of speculation is undoubtedly the largest elephant in the room.

Republican candidate John McCain held the first of a series of much-touted "Town Hall" meetings on Thursday. In this year's contentious, divided election season, these meetings are a welcome sign of transparency and goodwill. McCain met with Democrats, independents, and Republicans and engaged in a real dialogue on the issues.

The Supreme Court again repudiated Bush's Guantanamo policies on Thursday. In a contentious decision, the Supreme Court ruled that detainees at Guantanamo can appeal their imprisonment, and allowed them the right of habeas corpus.