Miss Management

"But in general, folks really can't work themselves into too big a dither every time a pol makes a foolish attack."

And in the where-do-they-get-these-people category, the Chicago Sun-Times reports:

"Moving to nip in the bud some potential bad press, White House hopeful Barack Obama's campaign persuaded a delegate to step down after she was ticketed for calling her neighbor's African-American children 'monkeys.' "

Pointing out that McCain again had a momentary confusion about Sunnis and Shiites at this week's hearings, the Washington Monthly's Kevin Drum says:

"I suppose that eventually the press is bound to notice that McCain is seriously confused about the religious and political dynamics of Iraq and the greater Middle East, right? Maybe around December or so."

With recent polls showing Hillary's Pennsylvania lead shrinking from double digits to six points or so, Atlantic's Marc Ambinder offers a few reasons:

"1. Obama is on the air there now and his invisible army is organizing.

"2. Clinton has been the major focus of the national press and the local press; the coverage has been unflattering; her mistakes are accumulating. There has been no corresponding attention on Obama's fitness for the office.

"3. Obama spent five consecutive days in the state on a bus tour, and his campaign aggressively bracketed the visit with local news interviews and targeted local advertisements."

Some fascinating numbers in this Pew survey:

"While Obama's positive personal image plays an important role in his high favorable ratings, the polling found that his ratings are more influenced by how he makes voters feel than by specific characteristics they attributed to him. In particular, views that Obama inspires hope and pride are the strongest determinants of a person's opinion of him. In other words, he is a charismatic candidate who has made large numbers of Democratic voters feel good, and this is even more important to them than specific perceptions of him.

"In contrast, Clinton's image is more driven by opinions about her own qualities, rather than the emotions she engenders in others."

Sure, but look at these figures. Hard to like: 43 percent said Hillary, 13 percent said Barack.

Phony: 30 percent said Hillary, 16 percent said Barack.

That's tough to overcome.

What's this? News Corp. may join Microsoft's bid for Yahoo? Will Rupert Murdoch end up owning everything?

Mirthala Salinas, the L.A. anchor who had an affair with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, says it was a "learning experience." I'm sure it was. Plus, she's now engaged--to someone else.

And I've saved the hottest media news for last: Katie Couric and CBS are talking about the growing possibility that she'll give up the anchor chair after the election.