Be sure to check out the June 14 issue of WORLD Magazine, which is available online right now, and through our RSS feed.

The cover story by WORLD’s ace political reporter Jamie Dean talks about how the new phase of the presidential campaign we’re entering will mean an entirely new game plan for Democratic hopeful Barack Obama. Not only is it a great article, but the clever game board creation designed by WORLD illustrator Krieg Barrie brings the subject to life in a fun and colorful way. (The version in the print edition is even better.) Plus, Marvin Olasky writes that an Obama victory in November, if coupled with big Democratic wins in Congress, could take the country back to 1933. And find out what Lynn Vincent’s been up to lately by reading her preview of the “Trial of the century,” where she points out that as procedures against 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his co-conspirators begin this month, military commissions used throughout U.S. history also will go on trial.

WORLD is the ideal election season companion for the informed Christian. If you aren’t a subscriber, we’d love to have you join our family of readers so you won’t miss out on all WORLD has to offer, including great illustrations like Krieg’s game board from the current issue. To make it even easier for you to follow the candidates as they make their moves toward the convention and on to the general election, WORLD has a limited-time subscription offer for new subscribers: six months for only $18.95. And if you subscribe for a year at only $34.95, WORLD will send you a free copy of Albert Mohler’s book Culture Shift. Click here for more details. Subscriptions make great gifts, too!

John McCain, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, as he is known these days, is “getting together a list of names” of potential running mates and would like to announce his choice sooner than later. “I’d like to get it done as early as possible. I’m aware of enhanced importance of this issue given my age,” said the 71-year-old candidate, adding that the list was in the “embryonic stage” and contained “every name imaginable”— about 20 in all. “If I had a personal preference I’d like to [choose a running mate] before the convention to avoid some of the mistakes that I’ve seen made in the past as you get into a time crunch and maybe sometimes don’t make the announcement right or maybe they have not examined every single candidate.”

If you were John McCain, who would be at the top of your list?

The editors of WORLD have put together another great issue, and it’s now available online. Here are some highlights:

Cover story: Mark Bergin, Jamie Dean, and Lynn Vincent on how soaring foreclosure rates are devastating some communities and raising questions about how much imprudent lenders and borrowers should lose, how much taxpayers should pay, and what churches can do to help.

Campaign 2008 Special Report: Warren Cole Smith on the inability of the religious right’s leaders to unite behind a GOP candidate, and how they face a wilderness road to the White House. Plus, Jamie Dean and Marvin Olasky take a look at Barack Obama’s historic speech, which has not silenced all critics or lifted all polls.

Religion: Richard N. Ostling on the unending debate over gays, as mainline denominations prepare for a new round of potential standoffs and more dissatisfaction on all sides.

Entertainment: Megan Basham on how filmmaker Tyler Perry is taking Hollywood with loud themes of redemption.

Thoughts: Insightful columns by Joel Belz, Gene Edward Veith, Janie B. Cheaney, Mindy Belz, Andrée Seu, Marvin Olasky, and Andy Obrochta, who writes on obeying God from prison.

For all you non-subscribers out there, we’d love to have you join our family of readers and not miss out on all WORLD has to offer. Click here for more info. (Subscriptions make great gifts, too!)

Joe Klein in Time: “[I]f this race continues to slide downhill, the answer to the Democratic Party’s dilemma may turn out to be Al Gore.” Read Klein’s superdelegate scenario for drafting Mr. Green here.

Gore, by the way, will be featured on 60 Minutes this Sunday (coincidence?), where, according to the CBS News website, he tells Lesley Stahl that “those who still doubt that global warming is caused by man—among them, Vice President Dick Cheney—are acting like the fringe groups who think the 1969 moon landing never really happened, or who once believed the world is flat.”

As a North Carolinian, it’s good to have the presidential candidates finally paying attention to our state … at least the Democrats. Yesterday, Barack Obama was here in Greensboro, and right now Hillary Clinton is speaking in the Cap City, Raleigh. As I was heading into the kitchen to make my lunch, I turned on the TV and heard Hillary tell a joke—in a way only Hillary can, with her usual … measured … cadence: “If you want to move forward, you put the car in ‘D.’ If you want to go backward, you put it in ‘R.’” Hmmm … what other words could the letters “D” and “R” represent to describe the two political parties? … And keep it clean!

If you need a break from politics as usual and would like an offbeat, behind-the-scenes look at John McCain, his family, and his campaign, check out McCainBlogette.com, the blog of the GOP nominee’s daughter Meghan. Here you’ll find videos and photos of her dad being her dad, as well as posts about her mom, Cindy, such as “10 Things You Don’t Know About My Mom.” (For instance: “She’s a huge Cream fan and went to their reunion concert in London two years ago.” And “She can tell if a beer is fresh or not, depending on the taste.”) Sure, some of the content is a bit trivial and silly, but a lot of it is surprisingly intimate. At the very least, Meghan deserves some credit for taking a chance and opening herself up for scrutiny and criticism (although her site doesn’t allow comments). In a post from February 20, she writes:

Why do I choose to be involved in politics right now? Because my father is different. He’s compassionate, full of life, hilarious and is a beacon of integrity to myself and to so many others. Politics is rough, but I absolutely adore my Dad and this campaign and have never, ever stopped believing in him. It’s just that simple.

Last week, Barack Obama released a statement condemning the controversial comments of his retiring pastor, Jeremiah Wright. On Tuesday he gave a speech on race in light of the controversy. My question is: What does Barack Obama have to do with the comments of an independent, fully grown pastor 20 years his senior? Who cares about Rev. Wright? Why is Barack Obama accountable for another man’s words? Obama is not his clone. This is a classic case of political scare tactics intended to frighten white voters.

But this mode of political attack begs the question: What is so scary about Wright in the first place? Why are people shocked by Wright’s comments? I guess most whites (liberal or conservative) have not been in many black mainline churches during Black History Month and heard the preachers of the Jim Crow generation offer reflection. If they did they might notice what should be obvious—given the context—Wright’s comments are not unusual or extreme for the religious left.

Consider the generation from which Wright hails. As one of America’s Jim Crow generation, Wright grew up in a legally segregated, racist America. He has witnessed and was shaped by the turmoil of the civil-rights movement. The fact of the matter is that Rev. Wright sounds exactly like many, many other black pastors of his era. And while I do not support Wright’s comments, I understand why he feels the way he does.

The new pastor at Trinity United Church of Christ, the Rev. Otis Moss III, defended his predecessor in The New York Times: “It is an indictment on Dr. Wright’s ministerial legacy to present his global ministry within a 15- or 30-second sound bite.” We should not consider Wright’s words apart from what they are born of. Nor should we consider it the sum of his ministry. Rev. Moss continued in his statement, highlighting the focus of Wright’s ministry over the past 30 years, which included:

… places for senior citizens, day care for children, pastoral care and counseling, health care, ministries for persons living with H.I.V./AIDS, hospice training, prison ministry, scholarships for thousands of students to attend historically black colleges, youth ministries, tutorial and computer programs, a church library, domestic violence programs, and scholarships and fellowships for women and men attending seminary.

But that is Jeremiah Wright. And Wright is not running for president; Barack Obama is. Should we not be more concerned about $800 billion in new spending Obama has proposed? An exploding welfare state seems to be more of a threat to our republic than the isolated views of a retired pastor.

In a speech this morning in Philadelphia, Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama addressed racial division in America and related it to the controversial statements made by his pastor, Dr. Jeremiah Wright. Obama said he couldn’t “disown” Wright for those statements and added, “But the truth is, that isn’t all that I know of the man.” Blaming anger in black churches on racial injustice throughout American history, Obama said, “The fact that so many people are surprised to hear that anger in some of Reverend Wright’s sermons simply reminds us of the old truism that the most segregated hour in American life occurs on Sunday morning.”

The New York Times has the complete prepared speech from Obama’s campaign organization.

Florida Democrats have given up on a mail-in ballot as an option for a primary re-do in the state. What happens next with the delegates from the Sunshine state will be up to the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee. Hillary Clinton backers, of course, want the results from January’s primary, which Clinton won, to be counted, while Barack Obama backers want a “fair seating of the Florida delegates” and a do-over.

Meanwhile in Michigan, state legislative leaders are moving closer to setting up a privately funded, state-administered do-over primary on June 3. Maybe once they have it all figured out, they should head south and offer their assistance to Florida.