Thursday, June 5, 2008

Would the dream ticket be a nightmare?

Should Barack Obama choose Hillary Clinton as his running mate? Does he have to? Would she be better off without it?

... If Hillary has baggage, Bill is a Samsonite factory. Forget about the old stuff. Look at his diminished status with voters, especially black voters, in this election. Look at his drama. “I have never seen anything like it,” he said recently, referring to his wife’s treatment in the primaries. “I have never seen a candidate treated so disrespectfully just for running!” And is the White House really big enough for one president in the West Wing and another in the East Wing?

The map for Obama & McCain

...the Illinois senator probably will battle McCain most fiercely in states around the Great Lakes and in the Southwest -- those with the narrowest vote margins between Bush and his 2004 Democratic challenger, Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry.

McCain stands a plausible chance of carrying perhaps half a dozen states that Kerry won. The Arizona senator's popularity with independents puts states such as Wisconsin and New Hampshire within reach.

Two other states that went Democratic in the last presidential contest -- Pennsylvania and Michigan -- are also top McCain targets, thanks partly to Obama's trouble bonding with working-class white voters.

Obama, McCain work together behind the scenes

Sens. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) are quietly working together on a good-government bill despite their campaign-trail battle over who is tougher against Washington’s special interests.

McCain’s Senate office contacted Obama’s office Monday night asking to sign on to a bill opening federal government contracts to public scrutiny, according to three knowledgeable sources.
 

Jewish voters could tip battleground states

Jewish voters made up about 3% of the electorate in 2004, according to surveys of voters as they left polling places. But high turnout among Jewish voters in November could make a difference for McCain or Obama in battleground states.

"If it turns out to be a close election, the Jewish vote could make the difference," said M.J. Rosenberg, director of policy with the Israel Policy Forum, a liberal think tank.

Rosenberg and other Jewish leaders say the Jewish vote could make a difference in Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

GOP fears Obama money machine

With Hillary Clinton’s campaign coming to an end this weekend, Barack Obama’s rise as the Democratic nominee brings serious bad news to a new group — John McCain’s finance team.

A review of campaign finance data offers not one ounce of good news and barely any hope for the McCain campaign’s ability to compete with Obama’s fundraising prowess.

Tony Rezko convicted

A federal jury Wednesday convicted developer Antoin "Tony" Rezko of corruption charges for trading on his clout as a top adviser and fundraiser to Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Rezko's guilty verdict on 16 of 24 corruption counts could have broad repercussions for Blagojevich, who made Rezko a central player in his kitchen cabinet. It could also prove a political liability for U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, who once counted Rezko as a friend and fundraiser, as the likely Democratic presidential nominee heads into the general election campaign against Republican John McCain.
 

Club For Growth scored in GOP primaries

The conservative, anti-tax Club for Growth had a big night Tuesday, as the two candidates it endorsed and funded prevailed in hotly contested Republican primaries in New Mexico and California...
 

Unless Barack Obama chooses her as his running mate, Clinton will find herself back in the Senate with some colleagues who know what it's like to have run and lost.

... "We're used to this," said Sen. Robert Bennett, a Utah Republican. "Granted, Senator Clinton is a little higher profile than some of those, but not all. And I think we'll just say, 'Welcome back.'"

Clinton's Senate colleagues say they expect a smooth transition, even though some senators backed Obama early in the race and more have endorsed the Illinois senator since he won the delegates needed for the nomination Tuesday.

...the Obama campaign convinced many superdelegates that they should follow the voters’ will in making their endorsements. To the puzzlement and increasing frustration of the Clinton camp, few flowed her way. Her campaign never recovered from its string of losses through February. By the time she started winning again, with Ohio on March 4, her support among superdelegates hardly inched up.

At the same time, Mr. Obama posted a small but steady increase, culminating in a flood that surged on Tuesday and helped him claim the nomination...

Barack Obama pivoted quickly to the general election campaign for the White House on Wednesday, naming a three-person team including Caroline Kennedy to lead his search for a running mate while expressing confidence that the Democratic Party would soon unify after a bruising battle for the presidential nomination.

"I'm very confident of how we're going to be able to bring the party together," Obama said after a brief conversation with Hillary Rodham Clinton, his vanquished rival.

Campaign officials said Kennedy, who is the daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy, as well as former Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder and longtime Washington insider Jim Johnson have already begun compiling information on potential running mates. They disclosed no names.