IOWA
PRESIDENTIAL WATCH
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Where Presidents Begin
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(caricatures by
Linda Eddy)
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
GENERAL NEWS HEADLINES with excerpts
Obama and Bill Clinton finally speak
Seeking
to beat back reports of a continuing rift, the Obama campaign
announced today that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and former President
Bill Clinton have talked by phone.
Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said: “Senator Obama had a terrific conversation with President Clinton and is honored to have his support in this campaign. He has always believed that Bill Clinton is one of this nation’s great leaders and most brilliant minds, and looks forward to seeing him on the campaign trail and receiving his counsel in the months to come."
Bill Clinton spokesman Matt McKenna said
in a statement, "President Clinton had a very good conversation with
Senator Obama today. He renewed his offer to do whatever he can to
ensure Senator Obama is our next President.
... The campaign said the call lasted about 20 minutes.
Campaign flashpoint: patriotism and service
As
Mr. Obama delivered a speech here on patriotism that tried to defuse
attacks on his own background, he responded to the remarks of Wesley
K. Clark, the retired general and onetime Democratic presidential
candidate who suggested on Sunday that Mr. McCain had not been tested
as a wartime commander.
“For those like John McCain who have endured physical torment in service to our country, no further proof of such sacrifice is necessary,” Mr. Obama said. “And let me also add that no one should ever devalue that service, especially for the sake of a political campaign — and that goes for supporters on both sides.”
Asked if he wanted an apology, Mr. McCain said, “That’s certainly up to Senator Obama.” Later, he added, “I know that General Clark’s comment is not an isolated incident.”
The terse exchanges between the rivals, echoed even more vociferously by their campaign representatives and surrogates, underscored a central question both candidates are grappling with: How do they present themselves as practicing a new kind of politics, while they, and particularly their allies, are still pointing out flaws in each other?
see also:
Wesley Clark won't back down
McCain deseiged by slander
Obama: I will never question others' patriotism
'Drill Here, Drill Now' rallies the conservative right
May
20th Newt Gingrich,
posted a petition that called for increased drilling as a way of
lowering gas prices. “We… the undersigned citizens of the United
States, petition the U.S. Congress to act immediately to lower
gasoline prices (and diesel and other fuel prices) by authorizing the
exploration of proven energy reserves to reduce our dependence on
foreign energy sources from
unstable
countries,” it declared.
Within a week, the Web traffic for American Solutions skyrocketed, even beating out MoveOn.org for a couple of days, which led blogger Soren Dayton, who used to work for McCain, to ask, “Is Drill Now the conservative MoveOn?”
... “The Drill Here Drill Now mantra that
Newt came up with rapidly accelerated everyone coming together on the
issue,” said Erick Erickson, who runs redstate.org, an influential
conservative blog.
NRA
plans $40 million fall blitz targeting Obama
The National Rifle Association plans to spend about $40 million on this year’s presidential campaign, with $15 million of that devoted to portraying Barack Obama as a threat to the Second Amendment rights upheld last week by the Supreme Court.
THE CANDIDATES:
John McCain... today's headlines with excerpts
McCain says Obama's word 'cannot be trusted'
"This election is about trust -- trust in people's word,'' McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, told several hundred donors at a $2 million GOP fundraiser in Louisville, Kentucky, yesterday. ``And unfortunately, apparently on several items, Senator Obama's word cannot be trusted.''
McCain, a four-term Arizona senator, said Obama has gone back on his word by pledging to take public financing during the general election and then deciding not to do so.
McCain meets with Billy Graham and son
John
McCain met privately Sunday with evangelists Billy and Franklin Graham
at the family's mountaintop retreat in North Carolina.
It was McCain's first sit-down with Billy Graham and his son, although McCain and the elder Graham are acquainted.
With 89-year-old Billy Graham in poor health, McCain flew to North Carolina expecting to meet only with Franklin Graham -- president and chief executive of the group his father founded in 1950, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Assn.
McCain, who is courting religious voters and trying to reassure skeptical conservatives, said he had "a very excellent conversation" with the two "great leaders."
Franklin Graham issued a statement after the meeting praising the Arizona senator's "personal faith and his moral clarity."
He said he was not endorsing anyone for president, but was urging "men and women of faith everywhere" to vote and to be involved in the political process.
Wesley Clark slams McCain's military credentials
"I don't think riding in a fighter plane and
getting shot down is a qualification to be president."
-Wesley Clark
The
retired general Wesley Clark said McCain had not "held executive
responsibility" and had not commanded troops in wartime.
McCain's experience in Vietnam, where he was a prisoner of war for five years, has seemed at times almost to grant him invulnerability to criticism of his security background. But on Sunday he was assailed by a fellow military man, a highly decorated one who was once the NATO supreme commander.
McCain frequently points out that he led "the largest squadron in the U.S. Navy," but Clark said on CBS television that that was not enough to support a claim to the presidency.
"He hasn't been there and ordered the bombs to fall" as a wartime commander, the general said on CBS. Clark is mentioned as a possible Obama running mate, although he originally supported Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.
see also:
Left target McCain's war record
McCain addresses Latino officials, gets jabs from protestors
...
ten minutes into his speech, McCain was interrupted by the first of four
protestors.
“We want a peace candidate,” a woman yelled. As she was escorted out of the large room she continued to yell “He doesn’t represent Arizona! We want a peace candidate!”
“That’s a long trip out,” McCain laughed. The crowd cheered as he said, “The one thing Americans want us to stop doing is yelling at each other. That’s the one thing they want us to stop doing.”
The second and third protestors were escorted out just as quickly as the first, and the fourth protestor only made a larger stir among the press, as he had been seated within the press section.
McCain wrapped up his time by speaking about
immigration and the need to treat immigrants in a “humane fashion” and with
respect.
Barack Obama... today's headlines with excerpts
Obama addresses Latino officials
While
speaking at the the National Association of Latino
Elected and Appointed Officials Conference, Obama said,
“I have to have your help. This election could well come
down to how many Latinos turn out to vote.”
Obama, who spoke after John
McCain, received several standing ovations and cheers
from the group. He often used the key Spanish campaign
phrase, “Si Se Puede" (Yes, we can), and told the crowd
that he hopes there is a Hispanic nominee for president
soon.
Obama to take 7-nation tour this summer
Barack Obama will arrive in Britain this summer on a long-expected seven-nation world tour including Europe, designed to answer doubts among global leaders — and US voters — about the direction of his foreign policy.
Over the weekend his campaign confirmed plans to visit Israel, Jordan, France, Germany and Britain. The dates, as well as a full itinerary expected to include Iraq and Afghanistan, have not yet been disclosed for security reasons.
Obama
quietly visits wounded vets at Walter Reed
The presumed Democratic nominee, who was in Washington to speak to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, slipped into the facility shortly after 9 a.m. without stopping to speak to the small group of reporters who follow him. The visit wasn't on his public schedule.
Obama courts seniors with tax break
In a bid to shore up weak support among senior citizens, Barack Obama is offering them a big break. He promises to exempt anybody age 65 and older, and making no more than $50,000 per household, from paying income taxes.
Critics say the plan offers a break to households that don't face high taxes anyway and aren't really low-income, because they are often living off investments; creates a disincentive for seniors to work; and diverts money from younger households that tend to face higher debts and living expenses.
Vandals tag cars with anti-Obama messages, racial slurs
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Racial slurs targeting Barack Obama were discovered spray painted Saturday night on dozens of city vehicles in Orlando. The vandalism happened in a City of Orlando parking lot on the corner of South and Orange.
Phrases including "Oboma smoks crack" and other phrases with racial slurs were written in blue spraypaint on the white city cars and trucks. Other vehicles appeared to have had their gas tanks tampered with.
Obama supporters add Hussein to their names
Many US supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama are adopting the middle name Hussein in a symbolic act of solidarity against his political opponents' slur that he is a Muslim, or even a terrorist.
Emily Nordling, a 19-year-old student from Fort Thomas, Kentucky, who on Facebook has become ''Emily Hussein Nordling'', is one of the growing number of admirers of Senator Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, who are informally adopting his middle name, the
New York Times reported Sunday.
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