On this day in 1789 the House of Representatives, meeting in New York, elects the nation's first Speaker, Rep. Frederick Augustus Conrad Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania. On to today's top stories:

"Tricky Votes Loom For 3 Candidates" (Jonathan Weisman and Paul Kane, Washington Post) Over the next couple weeks senators from both parties will try to catch the candidates in tough voting situations. Democrats will try to catch McCain on housing legislation, while Republicans will try to catch Hillary and Obama on national-security measures.

"Obama, McCain Bicker on Iraq" (Maeve Reston and Peter Nicholas, Los Angeles Times) The back-and-forth continued, with Obama bringing up McCain's "100 years" remark and McCain retorting, "[Obama] has no experience or background in any of it," meaning national security.

"Democrats Hit the Campaign Trail in Pennsylvania" (Katharine Seelye, New York Times) Is Pennsylvania the new Iowa? It certainly will seem that way for the next couple weeks, but Obama trails Clinton badly and he needs to maintain his lead in other states.

"Clinton's Convention Strategy in Doubt" (David Paul Kuhn, The Politico) What do you know about the Democrats' Credentials Committee? If the answer is "not much," don't fret, no one else does either. But Hillary needs a majority of the committee on her side to decide the Florida/Michigan mess, and right now it doesn't look like she has it.

"Clinton Slipping on Trust" (Amy Chozick, Wall Street Journal) The last couple weeks have not been kind to Clinton's image. She earns the lowest favorability scores of all the candidates and quite a few Democrats (29% according to Pew) think she's "phony."

"Clinton Says Obama Wants to Stop Votes" (Beth Fouhy, Associated Press) Campaigning in Pennsylvania, Clinton is using calls for her to end the campaign as talking points on the trail. She accuses the Obama campaign of wanting to end the race to keep others from voting. The Obama campaign called the charge "laughable."

"GOP Aims to Blunt Democrats' Stance on Iraq" (S.A. Miller and Christopher Dolan, Washington Times) In advance of Gen. David Petraeus' and Amb. Ryan Crocker's visit to Capitol Hill next week, the GOP is gearing up for an assault on the Democrats' "misinformation" campaign against the war.

"Democrats Respond to Bush Plan" (Nick Timiraos, Wall Street Journal) The Bush administration's planned overhaul of the financial system, announced yesterday by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, got a full airing from the candidates.

"Obama’s ‘Baby’ Comment Draws Fire from Conservatives" (Sam Youngman, The Hill) Talking about teen pregnancy, Obama said he didn't want his daughters "punished with a baby." The sent a few talkers into a spin and the Obama campaign had to release a clarification.

Get today's other election stories at RCP's Politics and Election page.