The press is still buzzing about Sen. Barack Obama's globetrotting -- Spiegel Online had a "live ticker" for Thursday's events. And mid-day, the ticker announced "that Obama has cancelled a planned short visit to the Rammstein and Landstuhl US military bases in the southwest German state of Rhineland-Palatinate." How come?

The official reason (tip):

The senator decided out of respect for these servicemen and women that it would be inappropriate to make a stop to visit troops at a U.S. military facility as part of a trip funded by the campaign.

Paid for by the campaign? But I thought this trip wasn't a campaign (erh, political) event?

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Early this month, Iraq insisted on a withdrawal timeline as a condition of negotiating on permanent bases or the continued role of US forces. Iraq is a core issue among party actives, but is a distinctly second place issue among most voters, according to a recent Quinnipiac - washingtonpost.com - Wall Street Journal poll. It was named a priority "by less than one in five respondent" in Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin:

Asked whether they would prefer a "fixed date" for withdrawal or to "keep troops in Iraq until the situation is more stable," majorities in all four states preferred the latter option despite the fact that similar majorities in each state say that America was wrong to go to war in Iraq.

Read more about election coverage disparity from Justin Quinn @ Conservative Politics.

In the battle over "conscience rights" of pharmacists, a Washington State Board of Pharmacy rule that requires pharmacists to fill contraceptive prescriptions is making its way through federal courts.

In the battle over abortion, the Bush Administration's Health and Human Services Department has drafted a new rule, ostensibly to ensure that "doctors, hospitals and health plans would not be forced to perform abortions."

These two fronts are related. Trust me and read on!

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