In the Headlines

"Hostage Rescue Is Happy Coincidence for McCain in Colombia" (Elisabeth Bumiller, New York Times) - Senator John McCain congratulated President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia on Wednesday for the Colombian government's rescue of 15 hostages, including three Americans, held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, a Marxist-inspired insurgency that Mr. McCain repeatedly criticized this week during a trip to Latin America.

"A dose of discipline for McCain's campaign" (Jonathan Martin and Mike Allen, The Politico) - Now, though, a year to the day after he laid off dozens of staffers in the campaign's first major shakeup, McCain has again turned to his favorite NCO, giving [Steve] Schmidt a battlefield promotion to commanding general at a moment when his campaign needed another dose of discipline.

"Obama Calls for National Service" (Jonathan Weisman, Washington Post) - Continuing to press the themes of values, faith and patriotism, Sen. Barack Obama exhorted Americans on Wednesday "to step into the strong currents of history" and volunteer for service to their country, pledging to dramatically expand opportunities for those accepting his challenge.

"Conservative evangelicals discuss backing McCain" (Eric Gorski, AP) - Conservative evangelical leaders met privately this week to discuss putting aside their misgivings about John McCain and coalescing around the Republican's presidential bid while urging him to consider social conservative favorite Mike Huckabee as a running mate.

On the Morning Shows

Fox and Friends - Robert Novak, on Colin Powell endorsing Obama: "I think it's nearly a sure thing."

On whether the Obama campaign is purposefully trying to undermine McCain's military heroism: "There's no doubt about it."