Obama is running a TV ad in Ohio hitting McCain for "helping pave the way for foreign-owned DHL to take over an American shipping company and putting more than 8,200 jobs at risk in Wilmington, Ohio," according to a press release.

"Punch":

McCain is also up with a new ad in Ohio, which according to a press release, "highlights Barack Obama's 'false' and 'misleading' attacks in Ohio."

"Maybe":

Barack Obama and John McCain have run even once again in the Gallup Daily Tracking poll (August 12-14, 2690 RV, MoE +/- 2%) -- tied at 44% each for the third time in the last two weeks. According to Gallup, Obama has averaged a 3-point lead since securing the nomination in early June, and just two days ago Obama's advantage was at 6 points.

That is a large drop in two days, and Gallup suggests the narrowing of the numbers could be due to Obama's absence on the campaign trail this week. Another possibility -- which could be somewhat related to the first -- is the conflict between Russia and Georgia. McCain's admitted strength is his foreign policy experience, and he has been speaking up about the conflict on the trail since it was first reported a week ago. Obama has issued statements on it as well, though he has made no public appearances this week.

Both candidates' numbers have dropped over the last 10 days in the RCP Average (their August 5 numbers are highlighted in the chart below). Obama currently leads by 3.5 points in the RCP National Average, though his 45.2% average is his lowest since securing the nomination. Likewise, McCain's 41.7% puts him below 42% for the first time this month, after about 10 days of sub-42% in late July.

It may be the legendarily slow month of August, but in campaign land, it's a frenzy, John Dickerson points out at Slate. That's right--we have less than 82 days to go:

In campaign time, this means that when you're sleep-deprived and crazed, the race feels like it's never going to end--but the rest of the time it feels like you'll never accomplish everything you need to. The pace of a hyper-fast news cycle means that the back-and-forth between opponents that used to take up a week can now be dispatched with in an afternoon.

This week, the back and forth is all about the evangelicals...and, on both sides of the aisle, abortion. Next week, will it be the VP? We'll see.

In the VP Watch blog today:

*Which elder Democratic statesman is rising on Obama's short list?

*What nefarious McCain flip-flop does a New Republic blogger try to sniff out -- to no avail?

*Can we learn anything about Obama's choice from the list of speakers at the convention?

Campaign manager Rick Davis said today that the McCain campaign will report raising $27 million in July, when it files its FEC report next week. Speaking to reporters, Davis said July marks the fifth straight month McCain's fundraising increased from the prior month. With McCain accepting public financing, the campaign will be looking to spend the rest of the money in its primary account by the end of August.

"At the end of July, we still had $21.4 million cash on hand, which gives us plenty of money in addition to our ongoing fundraising to prosecute a very active campaign in the month of August," Davis said. "By the end of August...we will be able and happy to report that we have no more cash on hand in the old primary account. That being said, we will have access to over $100 million in the first week of September."

The $100 million figure includes $84 million from the government and more than $20 million from the Republican National Committee. Davis said the RNC will report next week that it raised about $26 million in July and has some $75 million cash on hand.

"We've had I think a pretty exciting summer for our campaign," Davis said. "I think that if anybody had asked us a couple of months ago when Obama first locked up the nomination on June 3 whether or not we would like to be where we are today, which from what we can tell is a pretty even race...we would have been pretty thrilled."

The McCain campaign released a new TV ad today that rips Obama on taxes, something it also did in a radio ad released a week ago. A press release stated that the ad would run "in key states."

"Taxman":

UPDATE: The Obama campaign has responded to the ad:

"This ad is just more of the same old false and discredited attacks that Senator McCain knows aren't true. Senator McCain will say or do anything to hide the truth: while Obama will cut taxes for the middle class, McCain will give a billion dollars in new tax breaks to America's eight largest corporations, while his plan provides no direct relief for more than 100 million American Families. And despite his rhetoric, he's refusing to support the bipartisan Senate proposal to expand production and invest in renewable energy because he wants to protect tax breaks for oil companies. We've seen what happens when we put the oil companies and their lobbyists ahead of working families, and that's exactly what Americans want to change in this election," said Obama campaign spokesman Hari Sevugan.

In the Headlines

"McCain alarms base with abortion comment" (Jonathan Martin, The Politico) - Top social conservative leaders in key battleground states are urging John McCain not to pick a running mate who supports abortion rights, warning of dire consequences from a Republican base already unenthused about their nominee.

"Obama Details Raising Taxes on Gains, Dividends" (Deborah Solomon, Wall Street Journal) - Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama sought to quiet critics by offering specifics about his tax plan, but his proposal to raise tax rates on investment income and expand payroll taxes is continuing to draw fire from some who say it will harm workers and the economy.

"Election panel sides with McCain" (AP) - Republican John McCain won a round against Democrats on Thursday when the Federal Election Commission rejected their contention that he violated campaign finance laws during the GOP primary.

"As a Tribute, Democrats Will Place Clinton’s Name in Nomination at the Convention" (Jeff Zeleny, New York Times) - Her name will not be on the general election ballot this fall, but Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential candidacy will receive one final tribute when her name is formally placed into nomination at the Democratic convention.

Over at VP Watch we're discussing the incoming news over when Obama and McCain will pick their running mates and the ramifications of the timing; whether Tim Kaine's stock is actually rising as the New York Times reported today; Huckabee's stern warnings against McCain choosing Romney as his running mate; and an analysis of the best and worst VP choices in recent history. Stay ahead of the curve and check it out.

The Obama campaign got the day started with a Wall Street Journal op-ed by the campaign's top economic advisers, and continued the discussion of taxes in a conference call and in the unveiling of a new page on the campaign website that details Obama's tax plan.

"Today we wrote this op-ed in order to set the record straight about some of the misleading claims based on inaccurate and misleading misrepresentations of Obama's economic plan," economic policy director Jason Furman said. Furman argued that Obama's tax plan ensures cuts for middle class families, something he said the McCain plan can't do.

The McCain camp kept the conversation going in a rebuttal conference call, in which McCain economic adviser Carly Fiorina claimed Obama's record during his "short time in the U.S. Senate" contrasted with his "shifting rhetoric" on taxes.

"What we have here is once again shifting rhetoric over time driven by his ambition to become President of the United States," Fiorina said. "It's useful to remember that even with the latest shift in his rhetoric, the reality is that what Barack Obama is proposing is not to raise taxes on everyone, to increase government spending. And he does not seem to have a particular emphasis on job creation." Fiorina contrasted Obama's plan with McCain's, which she said "has been consistent over time, and which lowers taxes for everyone."

On the Obama call, Furman was asked about the McCain camp's continued argument that Obama would raise taxes on those making as low as $42,000. "The McCain campaign's claims are completely false and have been rebutted by virtually every news organization and independent factcheck organization that has looked at them," Furman said. "Barack Obama's plan could not be clearer on these grounds, and the McCain campaign is just simply flat-out false."

This Saturday certainly could generate some interesting soundbites--it's the John McCain/Barack Obama dual event at the Saddleback megachurch in Lake Forest, California.

U.S. presidential rivals Barack Obama and John McCain target religious voters on Saturday when as guests of one of America's foremost evangelists they discuss faith in public life, AIDS, the environment and other issues...

The candidates won't debate each other at the Civil Forum which will be moderated by mega-pastor Rick Warren at his Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. He will interview each in turn, although they are expected to share the stage together briefly.

One of the hotter topics, one would think, would be abortion, particularly given McCain's recent hints that a pro-choice VP is not out of the question and recent noise about Obama's pro-choice past. But with the warm-and-fuzzy nature of this event--together with pastor Rick Warren's recent moves to "embrace a broader range of biblical concerns such as poverty and climate change, moving beyond though not excluding culture issues such as abortion"--it wouldn't be surprising to see the more challenging questions stay firmly in the holster. Stay tuned.