In the Headlines

"Obama slams Muslim portrayal" (Mike Allen, The Politico) - Barack Obama's campaign is condemning as "tasteless and offensive" a New Yorker magazine cover that depicts Obama in a turban, fist-bumping his gun-slinging wife.

"McCain takes a Social Security risk" (Peter Wallsten, Los Angeles Times) - McCain, the presumed Republican presidential nominee, spoke several times last week about changing how the popular retirement program is funded, at one point calling it a "disgrace" that younger workers are forced to pay for a plan that, in his view, is unlikely to benefit them when they retire.

"Not All Democrats Want To Ride Obama's Coattails" (June Kronholz, Wall Street Journal) - The Illinois senator is likely to spur voter turnout among African-Americans and college students in some districts where Democrats hope to pick up House seats now held by Republicans or to fend off Republican challenges. But other Democrats facing tough re-election campaigns could see Sen. Obama's politics and his weakness among working-class whites as a liability.

"Candidates Pushing Hard for the Latino Vote" (Perry Bacon Jr. and Juliet Eilperin, Washington Post) - Sens. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) are aggressively courting Latino voters in the early stages of their election contest, as the presumptive Republican nominee looks to hold on to Latino-heavy states, such as New Mexico, that Obama hopes to turn blue.

On the Morning Shows

Fox and Friends - Mike Huckabee, on Hagel's VP chances: "I don't see it. If [Obama chose Hagel], I think it'd be a disastrous move for Obama. What does it get him? ... I don't see what advantage there is other than symbolic...There's no passion for Chuck Hagel out there."

On his own VP chances: "I have had no indication that I am [being vetting]. Nobody's called me to say, 'Send me some documents.'"

Good Morning America - James Carville, on the controversial new cover on the New Yorker: "The New Yorker has a history of being a great magazine and being a satire, this is not the Drudge Report.I think they know what they were doing. They were trying to do a satire."

On polls showing race becoming closer: "I am not at all convinced that there's any kind of severe tightening going on."

From Late Night

Leno:

(Greg Bobrinskoy contributed to the Morning Report.)