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CAMPAIGN SCORECARD [This article contains a table. Please see hardcopy of magazine.]

ROUNDS 1 2 3 4 ISSUE Party Unity Patriotism and Leadership Grass-Roots Support Foreign Policy ACTION Barack Obama holds a so-happy-together event with Hillary Clinton and snags a $4,600 contribution from the former First Couple. The left stays (mostly) mum as Obama jogs to the center on key social and security issues. John McCain has a warm photo op with Billy and Franklin Graham, but he still lags behind with Bush donors. Obama leads up to Independence Day vouching for his love of country while the media perpetuate a debate about patriotism and the candidates. Obama backer (and former NATO commander) Wesley Clark bumbles into the dustup by questioning whether McCain's years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam give him Commander in Chief credentials. It's a big trans--continental nation, but Obama's campaign intends to use volunteers to help turn out voters on Election Day as if he were running for mayor. It takes money and planning to harness all the energy Democrats are displaying these days, and Obama has both. Discouraging for Republicans: the absence of a massive, aggressive organization to mobilize their forces, as George W. Bush had in 2000 and 2004. Both candidates decided to take unusual international trips: McCain to Latin America, and Obama to Europe, Jordan, Iraq and Afghanistan. Bush's unpopular foreign policy record won't help McCain, but focusing the nation's attention overseas on trade, war and peace, and leadership credentials--and away from the U.S. economy and health care--can only aid the Republicans.

RESULTS [This article contains a table. Please see hardcopy of magazine.]

REPUBLICANS   x   x DEMOCRATS x   x   TIE        

WINNER OF THE WEEK: TIE

Obama cautiously sits on his lead while McCain rejiggers his staff for a fresh start. Meanwhile, Democratic errors lure the GOP into debating character questions when McCain wants to focus on policy. Week ends in a muddle.

NOT ALL ROUNDS ARE CREATED EQUAL The week's winner is based on the relative importance of each fight and by how much the winner takes each round.

WEEK BY WEEK [This article contains a table. Please see hardcopy of magazine.]

  JUNE       JULY         AUG.       SEPT.       OCT.         TOTAL WEEKS WON REPUBLICANS   TIE     x TIE                                 1 DEMOCRATS x TIE x x   TIE                                 3

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Sincere Flattery. Barack Obama borrows from Bill Clinton's playbook

The recent phone call between the two men the New York Post calls Bam and Bubba was by all accounts truly cordial. The former President and the current candidate chatted for 20 minutes on June 30 and agreed to share a meal and make a joint public appearance soon. Friends say Bill Clinton is still taking his wife's loss to Obama hard--and personally--but he appreciated the Senator's gracious tone. Clinton has begun to emerge from his combative crouch, but with a travel-packed schedule and the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting looming in September, he may best serve the campaign by example. Obama has already copied some smart tactical moves from Clinton's 1992 bid. After securing the nomination, he made symbolic statements to defuse cultural and defense issues that have been Democratic liabilities in the past--just as Clinton did. On welfare reform, capital punishment, faith and national security, Obama has taken positions intended to match his Republican opponent's or even outflank him on the right. One decision the Obama camp has yet to address, however: How big a speaking role should Clinton have at the convention?