Rudy Giuliani emerges as a surrogate for John McCain on, what else? September 11.

Here’s the former mayor speaking today: “The Democrats want to go back to a pre-September 11th view of terrorism … The Democrats, led by Barack Obama, want to go back to being on defense.”

Yesterday McCain’s campaign called Obama “a perfect manifestation of a September 10th mind-set.”

Obama responded: “He’s also going to use the Bush-Cheney political playbook that’s based on fear.”

All of this on the day that the Dow Jones industrial average dipped briefly below 12,000 for the first time since March.

The economy anyone?

PHOTOS: Rudy Giuliani (AP Photo/Matt Rourke); Barack Obama (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

An investigation by the McClatchy newspapers finds that the United States subjected innocent men to abuse and allowed militants to turn Guantanamo Bay into what it called a school for jihad.

You can read the series “here.”:http://www.mcclatchydc.com/259/story/38773.html

McClatchy, by the way, announced today that it was cutting its workforce by 10 percent. Full story in the “Wall Street Journal.”:http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB121362225451977195.html?mod=blog

A follow up on my column about the Hummer from the Detroit Free Press: Mark Phelan details the competing factors General Motors must consider as it decides whether to continue making the Jeep on steroids.

“No brand in the auto industry evokes stronger feelings than Hummer,” he writes. “Some people despise it as the embodiment of wasteful arrogance. Others—not as many, but they’re the ones who buy Hummers, so their vote counts more—love the vehicle’s extraordinary capability and styling braggadocio.”

More “here.”:http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080615/COL14/806150601/1014/rss13

PHOTO: A Hummer drives through the flooded Sprague Road in New Rochelle Sept. 8, 2004 as remnants of Hurricane Frances pass through the Northeast. ( Rory Glaeseman / The Journal News )

Some “pictures”:http://www.hillaryclinton.com/feature/book/?sc=1901&utm_source=1901&utm_medium=e from the campaign trail—and can you spare a dime?

PHOTO: (AP Photo/Bradley C Bower)

Another blow for the Bush administration and its arguments on the law and terrorism:

WASHINGTON (AP)—The Supreme Court ruled today that foreign terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay have rights under the Constitution to challenge their detention in U.S. civilian courts.

In its third rebuke of the Bush administration’s treatment of prisoners, the court ruled 5-4 that the government is violating the rights of prisoners being held indefinitely and without charges at the U.S. naval base in Cuba. The court’s liberal justices were in the majority.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the court, said, “The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times.”

Kennedy said federal judges could ultimately order some detainees to be released, but that such orders would depend on security concerns and other circumstances.

It was not immediately clear whether this ruling, unlike the first two, would lead to prompt hearings for the detainees, some of whom have been held more than 6 years. Roughly 270 men remain at the island prison, classified as enemy combatants and held on suspicion of terrorism or links to al-Qaida and the Taliban.
The court said not only that the detainees have rights under the Constitution, but that the system the administration has put in place to classify them as enemy combatants and review those decisions is inadequate.

The administration had argued first that the detainees have no rights. But it also contended that the classification and review process was a sufficient substitute for the civilian court hearings that the detainees seek.

Today I wrote about two young men from this area who will heading south in the next few days to campaign for Sen. Barack Obama.

I quote some findings from a spring poll by Harvard University’s Institute of Politics about revived interest in the political process among those 18 to 24 and particularly in Obama’s candidacy.

Here are some other findings.

For the first time since the poll began asking the question, the economy surpassed Iraq as the top issue. Thirty percent of the young people surveyed cited it, compared to 20 percent who pointed to the war. Other issues included health care, the environment and foreign policy.

Immigration is another key topic. The institute concluded that as a group they generally believed in amnesty and the idea that immigration was a core American value, but also supported limits to prevent illegal immigrants from becoming a burden on government resources.

But, the poll pointed out, about a quarter were unsure about their opinions on the topic and could tip the scales depending on what they decide.

Asked who would be the world’s leading economic power in 20 years, 40 percent answered China. Only about a quarter thought it would be the United States.

But a clear majority agreed the United States would be the dominant military power.

You can find more “here.”:http://www.iop.harvard.edu/Research-Publications/Polling/Spring-2008-Survey

PHOTO: Traders at the New York Mercantile Exchange deal in crude oil futures today. Oil prices soared as the dollar fell and the Energy Department issued a mixed report on the national fuel inventories. At the pump, gas prices rose to a new record over $4.05 a gallon. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

and still insists she got the most votes—“more votes than anyone has ever won who has run for the presidential nomination of any party in our country’s history.”

Watch it “here.”:http://www.hillaryclinton.com/home/?splash=1

PHOTO: Sen. Hillary Clinton shakes hands in Washington on Saturday after she suspended her campaign for president. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Laura Bush has kind words for Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama.

She admires Clinton’s grit; defends Obama.

More “here”:http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/06/09/laura_bush_defends_and_praises.html?hpid=topnews in The Washington Post.

PHOTO: First Lady Laura Bush walks through downtown Ljubljana, Slovenia, today. She arrived Sunday in Ljubljana to meet her husband. (AP Photo/ Denis Sarkic)

I’ve covered fundraisers for politicians before, many of them in hotels or other formal settings where the politician in question gives a speech and the whole affair lasts an hour or two.

But yesterday’s in Mamaroneck for Barack Obama had the feel of an afternoon party, an open house with kids in the pool and tables of food, a vegan selection included.

Eric Rosenberg opened his house on the Long Island Sound for the gathering, which I wrote about in my column today.

A lawyer for Merrill Lynch for 20 years who now teaches businesses how to avoid lawsuits, he first met Obama in May of last year at a lunch in New York organized by a group of lawyers.

“I got to shake his hand, talk to him very briefly and hear him talk,” Rosenberg said. “And I was impressed with him. I was impressed with the group of Chicago based people who were organizing for him. And the next step was to get my wife interested.”

She had started out as supporter of Hillary Clinton, but both were early opponents of war in Iraq.

And so here they were on the weekend celebrating Obama’s victory.

PHOTO: Barack Obama shakes hands after his speech about the economy at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds in Raleigh, N.C., today. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

An early Hummer in my neighborhood would sometimes pull up at a manicure salon.

It was bright yellow and the driver was ferrying the manicurists home to Queens.

It was such a funny picture. You could not ask for a more macho vehicle outside a more feminine shop.

This week, General Motors announced it was re-evaluating its production of Hummers. The so-called Jeep on steroids may be up for sale. Gas prices are just too high.

I write about Hummers for tomorrow and I’ll admit it: Their appeal remains a mystery to me.

PHOTO: A Hummer H2. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, file)