Springfield, MO—

Senator John McCain surprised the press corps during his speech on energy today when he told the crowd that he will be going to Iowa tomorrow. He said he will be visiting the site where massive flooding all over the Midwest began and has turned into the worst domestic natural disaster since Hurricane Katrina.

“I’m here to learn about energy as well as to talk and this visit brings me here at a very difficult time for many folks in the eastern Missouri, Iowa and Illinois and tomorrow I am going to be in Iowa where the flooding began. People in the Midwest have a way of pulling together in adversity,” McCain said, “They are doing it right now and they are showing a lot of courage and they should have confidence that the government will help see them through this time of trial. Our thought and prayers go out to all those people all over these states that are experiencing such hardships today.”

The presumptive Republican nominee will be touring the flooding in Columbus Junction–a small town between Moline, Illinois and Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

On the tarmac at the airport in Columbus, Ohio, Barack Obama gave the following statement to cameras upon hearing about Tim Russert’s passing.

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“We all I think have heard the news about Tim Russert. I’ve known Tim Russert since I first spoke at the convention in 2004. He’s somebody who overtime I came to consider  not only a journalist but a friend.
There wasn’t a better interviewer in TV, not a more thoughtful analyst of our politics and he was also one of the finest men I knew. Somebody who cared about America, cared about the issues, cared about family.  I am grief-stricken with the loss and my thoughts and prayers go out to his family. And I hope  that even though Tim is irreplaceable that the standard that he set in his professional life and his family life are standards that we all carry with us in our own lives.”

Barack Obama told FOX St. Louis affiliate KTVI today he won’t make the same mistake Dems have made in the past by ignoring rural U.S.A.

“I think that in rural communities, the main job for any candidate including me is to show up and I think that people make a mistake. Democrats oftentimes are just focused on the big urban areas - St. Louis, Kansas City - don’t go to these rural communities, and people don’t get a chance to find out what you’re about,” he said.

The response came when the interviewer asked Obama if he was concerned about race impacting his chances this election. The questioner pointed out that the last African American to run statewide, Alan Wheat, lost by huge margins to John Ashcroft in certain districts, and many concluded the reason was race.

While Obama didn’t answer that aspect of the question, he did make it clear he intends to bring his campaign to rural communities. “Absolutely we are going to be doing that,” he pledged.

The candidate’s next scheduled event will be held Thursday in Kaukauna, Wisconsin - population 12,743, according to the city’s website.

(((UPDATE 5pm Sunday: The campaign will open up fundraisers to the press starting Monday.)))

The McCain campaign has decided to open up fundraisers to a print pool reporter in the near future, an adviser confirms to FOX.

The presumptive GOP nominee told reporters as recently as May 28 that he was keeping fundraising events closed because his donors requested privacy, but still pledged run “the most accessible campaign in history to the media.”

However, the campaign has come under pressure from it’s traveling press corps and media organizations of late to open up the events since Sen. Obama allows a print reporter into his events to document his remarks. The criticism also reached a new pitch after the joint President Bush-McCain fundraiser last month was closed to the press.

Closed fundraisers took center stage during the primary campaign after controversial comments Obama made at a closed San Francisco fundraiser leaked out. The IL Democrat told donors at the event that some Pennsylvania voters “cling” to guns and religion because they are “bitter.” McCain alluded to those comments during his May 28 press conference, telling reporters, “I say the same thing in fundraisers and closed events as I do in open events.”

The McCain campaign, like Obama, will strictly open the events to a rotating pool print reporter–no photo or video access– who will share editorial information with the rest of the press corps.

Given how important media access is to McCain–exemplified by his regular media availabilities aboard his campaign bus and almost daily on the campaign trail–campaign aides say the decision is consistent with GOPer’s pledge to run one of the most open and transparent campaigns in history. The move will also eliminate an issue that Democrats could use against McCain during the campaign.

BATON ROUGE, LA– Former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer had to be cut off today as he began what sounded like the full pitch for Sen. McCain to choose current Governor Bobby Jindal as his running mate.

“(McCain’s) vice president might be in this room today, his vice president might be a graduate of Baton Rouge High, his vice president might be the only guy I know who won an election for governor in the first primary-beating a lot of good candidates. He might be the only guy in America younger than my son-and I’m not that old-who is a great governor,” Roemer said as Jindal ran up on stage with a microphone.

“”I thought I’d better rush up here before he gets me in any more trouble,” Jindal said, avoiding any more VP talk.

McCain also stuck closely to his traditional talking points when asked by a supporter about the possibility that he would choose the 37 year-old Gov for his number two, praising him instead as a member of the “next generation” of American leadership.

Later on during the town hall though, following an eloquent Jindal comment about the education system, McCain did leave us with this line: “I’ve got to take him everywhere with me.”

The DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee ran 2 ½ hours past schedule not breaking for lunch until 2:55pm. The meeting will decide the fate of Florida and Michigan’s delegates and possibly the fate of Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

The committee members started at 9:45 this morning to try to figure out a way to reinstate the two states’ delegates which were stripped when the primaries in the two states jumped the line and scheduled them before the DNC regulations.

The meeting began with DNC chairman Howard Dean telling the 28 members (two are not here) and the public, “We are ready to win. The American people are ready for change and we will have that change.” Before turning the meeting over to the co-chairs of the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws committee he stressed that these deliberations are not about Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, but “restoring the greatness” of the country. He went on to say that the committee needs to respect the voters of Michigan and Florida and that the moving up of the primaries was not the fault of the voters.

The committee stripped the two states of all of their delegates, but by their own rules they only had to penalize 50 percent of the delegates. The committee’s co-chair Alexis Herman said they enacted the harsher penalty to send a strong message to other states that wanted to break the DNC’s calender.

The first to speak was Jon Ausman who is challenging the committee to reinstate Florida’s delegates. His compromise would send all of Florida’s superdelegates to the convention and all of the unpledged delegates with half a vote each or only half of the delegation. Next to speak was Senator Bill Nelson representing the Florida Democratic Party, but he has endorsed Hillary Clinton. He wants the entire delegation seated according to the votes cast during the Florida primary. That is something the Obama campaign says is unfair because both candidates pledged not to campaign in the state. He told the members, to huge cheers from the crowd, that voters do not deserve punishment, they deserve to be heard.

Next up was Florida state senator Arthenia Joyner representing Hillary Clinton. She told the committee that Florida has “suffered enough” and passionately urged members to “leave this room hand in hand” and “focus on victory in November.”

Joyner admitted to committee member and campaign manager for Al Gore’s 2000 run, Donna Brazile that she wants the delegates seated according to vote counts acknowledging that it is likely she may only get Ausman’s compromise, but passionately added, “I want it all!”

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The foxnews.com moderators have suspended comments on the embed blog. We were getting a lot of offensive posts here that didn’t have much to do with politics, and the powers that be decided to shut it down. They’ve asked us to approve comments individually if we want them posted, which a few of us have tried to do sporadically — but unfortunately, we probably won’t be able to post many of them. Apologies to those of you who used the forum as a place for healthy debate. Dotcom may bring comments back at some point, we’ll keep you in the loop if that happens.

MILWAUKEE, WI — Is it a silly scuffle over verb tense or a debate that speaks to larger differences on Iraq?

The McCain and Obama campaigns have been battling all day over comments the presumptive GOP nominee made at a town hall meeting in Wisconsin Thursday:

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“I can look you in the eye and tell you that (the surge) is succeeding. We have drawn down to pre-surge levels, Basra, Mosul and now Sadr City are quiet,” McCain told supporters in Greenville, WI.

The problem: There are currently about 155,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, 15,000 more troops than “pre-surge levels” of about 140,000. However, the McCain campaign was quick to point out that the last two brigades associated with the troop buildup are set to to leave Iraq in the next 60 days.

Democrats immediately pounced on the comments with Obama supporter, Sen. John Kerry questioning McCain’s judgment during a campaign conference call today.

“If you don’t know the numbers of troops, it’s very difficult to make a judgment on whether they’re overextended. It’s also very difficult to have an understanding, as a citizen, about what levels of troops he’s going to keep there. ‘Cause if he thinks 150,000 (troops) is pre-surge and that’s where he’s going to stay, that’s a deeply overextended military. And it raises serious questions about his comprehension of this challenge,” Kerry said.

For his part, McCain denied today that he misspoke, repeatedly telling reporters “I said we have ‘drawn down’” but carefully did not repeat his line about “pre-surge levels.”

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Asked twice during a press conference whether he misspoke, McCain insisted that he was right (video above), arguing that Sen. Obama was distracting the public from the fact that the Democrat was “completely wrong” about the surge.

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JEROME, AZ — We caught our first glimpse today of Sen. McCain and his weekend guests, as the presumptive GOP nominee and about two dozen friends and colleagues went out to lunch nearby his vacation home.

With a number of potential VP choices gathered at his home for the weekend, including LA Gov. Bobby Jindal, FL Gov. Charlie Crist and former MA Gov. Mitt Romney, national and local media interest has been extremely high with more than a dozen cameramen and producers staked out on the road outside his Page Springs, AZ ranch.

For his part, McCain has said the weekend will not include any running mate vetting and is strictly social.

At about noon Saturday, a three van, two suburban motorcade left his property and made the 30-minute drive to nearby Jerome for a meal at the Asylum, a restaurant located at about 5,000–with a phenomenal view of the red rocks of Arizona’s Verde Valley and nearby Sedona.

In video above, Jindal, Romney can be seen walking into the restaurant with their spouses before McCain’s arrival. Former EBAY CEO Meg Whitman, Sen. Lindsey Graham and campaign Senior Adviser Charlie Black are also seen entering with the group. Sen. Sam Brownback as well as FL Gov. Charlie Crist were also reportedly in attendance.

McCain then rolled up and exited his vehicle wearing an Arizona Diamondbacks cap and a green sweatshirt.

There was no comment from any members of group upon entry or exit, but a restaurant representative said the group dined at four tables on calamari, burgers and steak sandwiches as well as drank iced tea and water.

McCain and company are also set to go hiking and fish during the holiday weekend, though the weather has not been accommodating as a consistent rain has fallen for most of the weekend.

(Above: Cameraman await developments outside McCain home. Left: A view of the famous Sedona, AZ red rocks.)

Washington, D.C.-

As FNC has reported, Sen. John McCain will be meeting with several potential running mates this weekend at his ranch in picturesque Sedona, Arizona . Those on the rumored short-list who are attending McCain’s barbecue include Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, Lousiana Gov. Bobby Jindal,OMB Director Rob Portman and former opponent Gov.Mitt Romney.However, there had been a few notable exceptions to the list of BBQ attendees and possible veeps, like former AR Gov Mike Huckabee, who was one of the last standing rivals against McCain during the GOP primary season . Since first reported, several pro-Huckabee websites have been theorizing, and lamenting over the omission. So did Huck not make the cut for the much ballyhooed BBQ?

Fear not Huck supporters, says Sarah Huckabee, daughter and former high-ranking campaign aide for the Iowa caucus winner. Huckabee was in fact invited,she says.

Huckabee, along with a few others said to be considered by McCain for the GOP ticket , including Minnesota Gov.Tim Pawlenty, and NC Sen. Richard Burr, were invited but have prior commitments.

So what’s Huckabee’s prior commitment?

A long-planned trip with his wife, Janet, to celebrate their 34th wedding anniversary.