FTR News and More

Georgia Congressman Warns Of Obama Dictatorship

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:56:00 MST

A Republican congressman from Georgia said Monday he fears that President-elect Obama will establish a Gestapo-like security force to impose a Marxist or fascist dictatorship. "It may sound a bit crazy and off base, but the thing is, he's the one who proposed this national security force," Rep. Paul Broun said of Obama in an interview Monday with The Associated Press. "I'm just trying to bring attention to the fact that we may—may not, I hope not—but we may ha...

Palin Still Center Stage

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 11:16:00 MST

ABC News' David Chalian Reports: Gov. Sarah Palin is clearly not ready to relinquish the spotlight following her defeat with John McCain on the Republican presidential ticket last Tuesday. The Republican Governors Association has announced today that Gov. Palin will be the featured guest at its annual conference later this week in Miami, Florida. Gov. Palin is set to be a featured speaker at a panel discussion entitled, "Looking Toward the Future." Other featured speakers expec...

Hope Amid The Ruins

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 10:36:00 MST

I think that this is a well considered editorial, but how can the writer say that Republicans have been unpopular for years? They controlled the House, Senate, and the Presidency for most of the last 20-odd years! Get a clue! The public is unhappy with you because you let them down!!!!! All Americans should be glad that a black American has been able to make it to the presidency, and hope that President-Elect Barack Obama’s time in office will redound to the country’s long-term...

John Mccain'S Verdict On Sarah Palin: More Trouble Than A Pitbull

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 10:31:00 MST

So now we know what John McCain really thinks of his running mate Sarah Palin – and that's not just because of the awkward body language between them during his concession speech in Phoenix, Arizona. An exasperated McCain has been telling friends in recent weeks that Palin is even more trouble than a pitbull. In one joke doing the rounds, the Republican presidential candidate has been asking friends: what is the difference between Sarah Palin and a pitbull? The friendly canine ev...

Barack Obama President: Barack Obama Elected Our Next President

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 10:15:00 MST

Barack Obama won the presidency Tuesday, the first African-American to claim the highest office in the land, an improbable candidate fulfilling a once-impossible dream. A nation that in living memory struggled violently over racial equality will have as its next president a 47-year-old, one-term U.S. senator born of a Kenyan father and Kansan mother. He is the first president elected from Chicago and the first to rise from a career in Illinois politics since Abraham Lincoln emerged from front...

Voting Problems Roundup: Election Morning, Problems Are Popping Up In Several Key States

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 09:34:00 MST

Just a few hours into Election Day, problems are popping up in several key states with long lines and broken machines all against the backdrop of what is expected to be the largest turnout in history. As of right now, one national voter protection group says it has received 27,000 reports of problems. - In Virginia, problems at polling places have been reported from over ten locations all across the state, including Richmond, Portsmouth, Lynchburg, Chesapeake, Vienna, Newport News and Virgin...

Coal Diversion on Election Eve

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:06:00 MST

In the closing hours of the 2008 presidential campaign, John McCain attacked rival Barack Obama Monday over comments made in January about the coal industry. “We found out yesterday what Senator Obama really thinks about coal,” McCain said Monday during a campaign stop in Blountville Tennessee, which borders southern Virginia. “In a new video talking about his policies on coal, he told — guess who? — the San Francisco newspaper — and this is what he said, &...

Anchorage Daily News: Palin Not Helping On 'Troopergate'

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 16:51:00 MST

Gov. Sarah Palin's handling of Troopergate is getting more and more troubling. She has reneged on her pledge, made before becoming the Republican vice-presidential nominee, to cooperate with the Legislature's investigation. While stonewalling the independent inquiry, she is trying her side of the case in the press. Working on her behalf Monday, McCain-for-president operatives ripped into Walt Monegan and the legislators overseeing the inquiry. > Whatever happened to the "o...

Obama in Denver

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 23:28:00 MST

Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama, working to win over Latino voters in Colorado, chanted ``si se puede,'' or ``yes we can,'' in Spanish along with an outdoor crowd in Denver estimated at more than 100,000. > Obama has a 12 percentage-point lead over Republican rival John McCain among likely voters in Colorado, according to a Rocky Mountain NewsCBS4 News poll. The state hasn't picked a Democrat for president since 1992. Denver police chief Gerry Whitman est...

Hey, Sarah Palin, There Are Real American Heroes, Even Here In New York City

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 23:27:00 MST

This is what Sarah Palin said not long ago at a fund-raiser in North Carolina, as she once again decided she was ready to speak for America: "We believe the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all you hardworking, very patriotic, um, very pro-America areas of this great country ... those who are protecting us in uniform. Those who are protecting the virtues of freedom." Palin wou...

McCain a Weak Imitation of Bush

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 14:13:00 MST

Democrat Barack Obama portrayed Republican rival John McCain as a weak imitation of President George W. Bush on Sunday and warned a McCain White House would mean four more years of failed policies and broken politics. > "We're not going to let George Bush pass the torch to John McCain," Obama told a crowd of more than 100,000 supporters who jammed a downtown Denver park and sprawled up the steps of the Colorado state capital building.
The Illinois senator,...

Palin Stretches Facts In Effort To Paint Obama As Presumptuous

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 13:05:00 MST

You kinda get the feeling that Sara Palin is a liar... don'cha now? > Following a fiery introduction by "The View" co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who accused the media of being "deliberately sexist" in its coverage of Sarah Palin, the Alaska governor suggested that Barack Obama assumes he already has the election wrapped up.
"And you know that elections - they're not decided until the votes are counted," Palin said at a rally ...

Alaska’S Biggest Paper Backs Obama

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 12:15:00 MST

If it were up to the nations newspapers to decide, Barack Obama and Joe Biden would win in a landslide. According to Editor & Publisher - a journal covering the newspaper industry - the Democrats are favored over their GOP rivals by editorial boards 147 - 57 with just nine days until E-Day. > So it was really no surprise when papers like The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The LA Times came out for Obama for president — but the Anchorage Daily News? Governor Sarah Pa...

Palin Returned Most Gop Clothes

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 12:11:00 MST

I just have one thing to say... "SO WHAT!" Oh yeah, these people think Americans are stupid. Republican John McCain said Sunday that one-third of the $150,000 that the GOP spent on clothing and accessories for his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, and her family, "is given back." McCain strategist Mark Salter said "about a third of it was returned immediately" because they were the wrong size, or for other reasons. Salter's explanation was the first time...

If It Weren'T So Late, Would Mccain Push Palin Out Of His Sinking Ship?

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 09:27:00 MST

Ouch Sarah! According to yesterdays Washington Post - ABC News poll: > 58% of respondents said Sarah Palin is “insufficiently experienced” to be a good president.
51% of respondents said they have a negative impression of her. > Less than 46% said they have a favorable view of Palin. This is down from Palin’s favorable number of 59% in early September.
40% of all voters had a strongly negative view of Palin. > Obama now has a...

Party At War As Palin 'Goes Rogue'

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 09:21:00 MST

DAMAGING recriminations between aides to John McCain and Sarah Palin, who is being accused of "going rogue", are spilling out into public view. > Reflecting a bitterly divided campaign going into the final week of the presidential race, unnamed campaign insiders are starting to speak out in a traditional Washington game of "precriminations", where blame starts to be apportioned in the face of a likely defeat.
Ms Palin is making it obvious she is unhapp...

Palin ‘Going Rogue’?

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 01:05:00 MST

A widening split has developed between Sarah Palin and key campaign aides for John McCain, with one McCain adviser saying the Republican vice presidential candidate is going "rogue," two reports say today. > Some McCain sources wonder whether Palin is intentionally making public her disagreements with campaign positions, says a CNN story (http:/www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/25/palin.tension/index.html). > “She takes no advice from anyone,” CNN quotes one unn...

Republican Fears Of Historic Obama Landslide Unleash Civil War For The Future Of The Party

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 01:00:00 MST

Aides to George W.Bush, former Reagan White House staff and friends of John McCain have all told The Sunday Telegraph that they not only expect to lose on November 4, but also believe that Mr Obama is poised to win a crushing mandate. They believe he will be powerful enough to remake the American political landscape with even more ease than Ronald Reagan did in 1980. The prospect of an electoral rout has unleashed a bitter bout of recriminations both within the McCain campaign and the wid...

Gop In Blame Game Over Mccain Campaign

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 13:49:00 MST

With despair rising even among many of John McCain’s own advisers, influential Republicans inside and outside his campaign are engaged in an intense round of blame-casting and rear-covering — much of it virtually conceding that an Election Day rout is likely. A McCain interview published Thursday in The Washington Times sparked the latest and most nasty round of finger-pointing, with senior GOP hands close to President Bush and top congressional aides denouncing the candidate fo...

Barack Obama - Endorsement - Nytimes.Com

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 13:41:00 MST

Hyperbole is the currency of presidential campaigns, but this year the nation’s future truly hangs in the balance. The United States is battered and drifting after eight years of President Bush’s failed leadership. He is saddling his successor with two wars, a scarred global image and a government systematically stripped of its ability to protect and help its citizens — whether they are fleeing a hurricane’s floodwaters, searching for affordable health care or struggli...

Scott Mcclellan Bails On John Mccain

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 17:53:00 MST

Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, the consummate Bush loyalist no more, has a knack for dropping bombshells. > He did it with his tell-all book about life and lies in President Bush's inner circle.
And now comes his grinning declaration, taped for a new weekend CNN show, "D.L. Hughley Breaks the News," that he has a favorite in the presidential election, and it is not John McCain. > His face lighting up as bright as his French blue shirt, it i...

Palin'S Wardrobe Expenses Prompt Complaint To Fec

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 17:50:00 MST

A watchdog group filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission Wednesday alleging that the Republican Party broke federal campaign laws by buying Sarah Palin and her family about $150,000 in clothes for campaign appearances. > The complaint names as defendants Palin, the RNC, Larson and other operatives associated with the RNC.
The Federal Election Campaign Act specifically prohibits expenditures for such purposes, the liberal-leaning Center for Responsibility and Ethi...

Small Newspapers for Obama

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:08:00 MST

The Obama-Biden ticket has had an impressive showing so far in the race for editorial endorsements, and not just with the traditionally Democratic newspapers. The campaign has successfully changed the minds of close to 30 traditionally Republican newspapers, as we have shown in our daily update. > The Yamhill Valley News-Register (McMinnville, Ore.) is one of these papers, having recently published its first endorsement of a Democratic presidential candidate since at least 1928, when the l...

Donkey Wrong: Sarah Palin Wears 'Vote Democrat' Scarf At Republican Rally

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:02:00 MST

Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin has been photographed wearing a 'Vote Democrat' scarf at a rally in Nevada. > The photographs show Ms Palin in Reno on Tuesday wearing the scarf emblazoned with donkeys and the words 'Yes' and 'Vote'.
The donkey has become the established political symbol for the Democratic Party. Republicans are most commonly associated with the elephant. > Mr McCain's running-mate was criticised yesterday afte...

Gop Spent $150,000 In Donations On Palin'S Look

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 09:04:00 MST

John McCain's presidential campaign said thousands of dollars worth of clothing purchased by the Republican Party for running mate Sarah Palin will go to a "charitable purpose" after the campaign. The Republican National Committee spent about $150,000 on clothing, hair styling, makeup and other "campaign accessories" in September for the McCain campaign after Palin, the governor of Alaska, joined the ticket. The expenses include $75,062 spent at Neiman Marcus in Minnea...

Palin, N.C. Lawmaker Apologize For Comments

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 23:14:00 MST

Republicans were in mea culpa mode yesterday after comments in North Carolina suggesting that their supporters are more patriotic than Democrats. > At a fund-raiser in the Tar Heel state last week, vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said, "We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America . . . pro-America areas of this great nation."
Yesterday on CNN, Pa...

Obama Is The Way Forward For Women

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 09:14:00 MST

Women are at a crossroads in our struggle for legal equality as a means to social equality. Having women in politics matters, but it is crucial to have the policies women need. At this moment we risk losing ground gained, but we also have the opportunity to advance. At stake in this presidential election are the federal courts. > Despite inroads, women's status remains characterized by sex-based poverty and impunity for sexual abuse from childhood on. The next president will appoint sc...

McCain Goes Rove

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 08:54:00 MST

Trailing in the polls with the election barely two weeks away, John McCain has dug deep into the Lee Atwater/Karl Rove playbook, now portraying Barack Obama as a combination of class-warfare socialist, terrorist fellow-traveler and crooked pol. > McCain also has sought to tie Obama to ACORN, a controversial grassroots organization that has been registering voters. At the third presidential debate, McCain alleged that ACORN “is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the gre...

McCain Hypocrite... Who Knew?

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 19:44:00 MST

The night he officially accepted his party's nomination, just one month ago, John McCain was interrupted by a heckler. "My friends," McCain said, "don't be alarmed by the ground noise and static. I'll keep saying it. But Americans want us to stop yelling at each other." We will begin to find out Tuesday night in Nashville if McCain really believes that, when he and Barack Obama have the second of their three debates. We will find out if this begins the last chapte...

Palin Problem

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:43:00 MST

If at one time women were considered heretical for swimming upstream against feminist orthodoxy, they now face condemnation for swimming downstream away from Sarah Palin. > To express reservations about her qualifications to be vice president — and possibly president — is to risk being labeled anti-woman.
Or, as I am guilty of charging her early critics, supporting only a certain kind of woman. > Some of the passionately feminist critics of Palin who ...

Palin fails 3rd Interview

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 20:16:00 MST

Before this, I thought Palin was smart but isolated. Now I just think she's blatantly an IDIOT! Her first interview, with the ABC News anchor Charles Gibson, was too hard. The second, with Sean Hannity on the Fox News Channel, was too soft. The third, however, did not turn out to be just right for Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska. On the “CBS Evening News” on Thursday, Katie Couric asked Ms. Palin, Senator John McCain’s running mate, what she meant when she cited Alaska...

Palin Meeting With World Leaders Ahead Of VP Debate

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:48:00 MST

Gov. Sarah Palin met with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday, the first of nine major international leaders she will meet with in the span of just 30 hours. > The appearances with world leaders, taking place on the sidelines of the United Nation's General Assembly meetings in New York, come as the campaign of Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain tries to convince voters that Palin is ready for the world stage.
Palin is holding photo-ops with the leade...

Palin Media Blackout Continues

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 11:47:00 MST

It has been widely reported that Sarah Palin has yet to give a news conference or even answer a few questions from the traveling press that follow her from city to city on her plane. But, today the Palin camp went to new lengths to control the media, which is covering the GOP Vice-Presidential nominee. It was decided by the campaign that today’s meetings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Colombian president Alvaro Uribe, and Former Secretary of State Dr. Henry Kissinger would be pool...

Palin, Mccain Disagree On Causes Of Global Warming

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 22:24:00 MST

No one, including Gov. Sarah Palin, questions that Alaska's climate is changing more rapidly than any other state's. But her skepticism about the causes and what needs to be done to address the consequences stands in sharp contrast to the views of her running mate, Sen. John McCain, and place her to the right of the Bush administration and several other Republican governors....

Mccain Campaign Strategist Lambasts New York Times

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 17:47:00 MST

John McCain's campaign stepped up its assault on the media today as its chief strategist denounced the New York Times. The broadside was prompted by a Times report saying that campaign manager Rick Davis had been paid nearly $2 million by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to protect them against stricter regulations. Davis is no longer a lobbyist. In a conference call with reporters, chief strategist Steve Schmidt said: "Whatever the New York Times once was, it is today ...

Sarah Palin'S Florida Speech Draws Tens Of Thousands

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 23:24:00 MST

Terrifying... In the biggest event of the 2008 campaign in Florida so far, Sarah Palin drew tens of thousands of people Sunday to a Central Florida town square decked out like the Fourth of July for a speech aimed at pumping up the state's Republican heartland. > Palin focused her speech on her track record as governor of Alaska, John McCain's experience in wartime, and did not delve into the nitty-gritty of the ailing economy. That suited several people in the crowd who said th...

Adviser Calls Blackberry 'Miracle' Mccain 'Helped Create'

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 17:06:00 MST

Sen. John McCain's senior domestic policy adviser said Tuesday that the BlackBerry mobile e-mail device was a "miracle that John McCain helped create." The adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, discussing the nation's economic woes with reporters, said that McCain -- who has struggled to stress his economic credentials -- did have experience dealing with the economy, pointing to his time on the Senate Commerce Committee. Pressed to provide an example of what McCain had accomplish...

Once Elected, Palin Hired Friends And Lashed Foes

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 23:10:00 MST

Gov. Sarah Palin lives by the maxim that all politics is local, not to mention personal. > So when there was a vacancy at the top of the State Division of Agriculture, she appointed a high school classmate, Franci Havemeister, to the $95,000-a-year directorship. A former real estate agent, Ms. Havemeister cited her childhood love of cows as a qualification for running the roughly $2 million agency.
Ms. Havemeister was one of at least five schoolmates Ms. Palin hired, often at ...

Palin'S Record Questionable

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 19:41:00 MST

As the mayor of Wasilla, she hired a Washington lobbyist who secured $27 million in federal funding through 14 different earmarks. That brought an income of $4,000 per resident of Wasilla. When John McCain states he will expose pork barrel spending and special earmarks and he will call them by name, I would expect him to indict Governor Palin first. > Lastly, as a woman candidate, she needs to quit whining about the media scrutiny. She needs to reflect her own words about Hilary Clinton (m...

Expert: Palin Didn'T Look Confident

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:07:00 MST

Almost two weeks after John McCain announced she was his choice for a running mate, portions of Sarah Palin's first network television interview aired Thursday night. How did she do in her talk with ABC News anchor Charles Gibson? Democratic critics have assailed Republicans for keeping her from being questioned by the press, charging it's because the Alaska governor isn't ready to be vice president and GOP operatives don't want that to become known to voters. The McCain ...

Palin'S Climate Remarks Conflict With Past Views

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:02:00 MST

Vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's assertion that she believes humans play a role in climate change — made in her first major interview since joining the Republican ticket — is at odds with her previous statements. Palin said she didn't disagree with scientists that the problem can be attributed to "man's activities." "Show me where I have ever said that there's absolute proof that nothing that man has ever conducted or engaged in has had any eff...

Palin Clueless in the Spotlight

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:55:00 MST

The question of experience came up again last night: Was the man of the moment prepared for the difficult task at hand? Did he have the chops? ABC News anchor Charles Gibson got the get, the first mano- a-womano sit down with the Republican vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin. He had the chops. Palin may not have blinked when John McCain asked her to be his running mate. Last night, however, found her frozen in the Klieg lights as the dogged interlocutor set his sights on his visitor....

Palin Links Iraq To Sept. 11 In Talk To Troops In Alaska

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 21:58:00 MST

Gov. Sarah Palin linked the war in Iraq with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, telling an Iraq-bound brigade of soldiers that included her son that they would "defend the innocent from the enemies who planned and carried out and rejoiced in the death of thousands of Americans." The idea that the Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein helped al-Qaeda plan the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, a view once promoted by Bush administration officials, has since been rejected ...

Sarah Palin: Russian Offense Augurs War

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 17:12:00 MST

ABC News offers this headline for its exclusive interview with Sarah Palin, the Republican Party's nominee for vice president: > "GOV. SARAH PALIN WARNS WAR MAY BE NECESSARY IF RUSSIA INVADES ANOTHER COUNTRY.''
And the interview tonight supports the headline: "Perhaps so. I mean, that is the agreement when you are a NATO ally, is if another country is attacked, you're going to be expected to be called upon and help,'' Palin says in the inter...

Judge Warned Palin In 2005 To Back Off Brother-In-Law'S Job

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 20:55:00 MST

An Alaska judge warned Gov. Sarah Palin's family against trying to get her then-brother-in-law fired, according to court records. That warning came long before the controversy over her dismissal of the brother-in-law's boss, the state's public safety commissioner, records show. Palin, the Republican nominee for vice president, is battling allegations she and her advisers pressured Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan to fire her sister's husband, State Trooper Mike Woot...

Why All Of This Obama-Mccain 'Lipstick On A Pig' Noise Is Hogwash | The Dish Rag | Los Angeles Times

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 15:10:00 MST

When is it OK to talk about lipstick on pigs? It depends. Sen. Barack Obama is being lambasted for his statement about Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin's policies not being about change but "just calling the same thing something different." "You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig," Obama said during a town-hall style event in Virginia on Tuesday night. As you probably recall, Palin got applause at the Republican National Convention when she said...

Palin Backed 'Bridge To Nowhere,' Then Opposed It, But Kept the Money

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 10:46:00 MST

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's boast to have opposed the infamous "bridge to nowhere" is a staple of the Alaska governor's stump speech, but her record is more complicated than the one-liner. She repeated the line Tuesday in Lebanon, Ohio, telling supporters, "I told Congress, 'Thanks, but no thanks' for that bridge to nowhere up in Alaska. If our state wanted a bridge, we were going to build it ourselves." But Palin originally supporte...

Palin Switched Colleges 6 Times In 6 Years

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 20:45:00 MST

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin seems to have switched colleges at least six times in six years, including two stints at the University of Idaho before graduating from there in 1987. > Federal privacy laws prohibit the schools from disclosing her grades, and none of the schools contacted by The Associated Press could say why she transferred. There was no indication any were contacted as part of the background investigation of Palin by presidential candidate John McCain&#...

Cindy Mccain Wears $300,000 Outfit

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 23:11:00 MST

I'd say they're definitely in touch with the traditional Republican 'base'... Apparently, it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that bling. Vanity Fair is reporting that the potential First Lady Cindy McCain — known for her rhinestone lapel pins — wore three-carat diamond earrings estimated at $280,000 and a $4,500 Chanel watch on Tuesday night. Tally that with her $3,000 Oscar de la Renta dress. Here are VF's estimates: Laura Bush Oscar de la Re...

Palin Aides Peeked Into Trooper'S Files, Union Says - Cnn.Com

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 23:06:00 MST

Aides to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin improperly obtained her former brother-in-law's state police personnel files and cited information from those records to raise complaints about the officer, the head of Alaska's state police union said Thursday. "It's apparent to us that the governor or someone on her staff had direct access to his personnel file, as well as his workers' comp file, and those are protected," said John Cyr, executive director of the Alaska Public Safety ...

Is Palin Confronting A Sexist Double Standard?

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 14:26:00 MST

INTERESTING COMMENT ABOUT PALIN in the comments on this article. Some of the highlights... > CLAIM vs. FACT
Hockey mom: True for a few years PTA mom: True years ago when her first-born was in elementary school, not since NRA supporter: Absolutely true Social conservative: Mixed. Opposes gay marriage, BUT vetoed a bill that would have denied benefits to employees in same-sex relationships (said she did this because it was unconstitutional). pro-creationism: mixe...

Palin: Iraq War 'A Task That Is From God'

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 22:26:00 MST

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told ministry students at her former church that the United States sent troops to fight in the Iraq war on a "task that is from God." In an address last June, the Republican vice presidential candidate also urged ministry students to pray for a plan to build a $30 billion natural gas pipeline in the state, calling it "God's will." Palin asked the students to pray for the troops in Iraq, and noted that her eldest son, Track, was expected to be dep...

Republican Party Contradicts Self On Palin Family

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 22:19:00 MST

Sadly, this isn't self contradiction, but tactics... People: Make up your minds. For two days, the chorus from Republicans on TV news and in the halls of the convention has been resounding: Back off and let the Palin family be. "That's out of bounds," said Minnesota's Republican governor, Tim Pawlenty. "There's no need to be intrusive and pry into that." Yet Wednesday found the following scenes unfolding: _Sarah Palin's pregnant, unmarried 17-year-...

Some Gop Moderates Feel Left Out

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:19:00 MST

When John McCain locked up the Republican nomination months ago, conservatives took a look at his deviation from Republican orthodoxy and began to wring their hands. Since then, though, McCain has moved to the right on several key issues and allowed a staunchly conservative party platform to develop. And in the latest blow to middle-of-the-road Republicans, on the eve of the convention he selected an unyieldingly conservative running mate in Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Now it's moderates ...

Republicans Bashing Palin

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:58:00 MST

Prominent Republican analysts Peggy Noonan and Mike Murphy became the latest victims of an open microphone Wednesday, caught after a segment on MSNBC trashing John McCain's pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. > Noonan, a Wall Street Journal columnist and former speechwriter for Ronald Reagan, and Murphy, a campaign strategist and onetime aide to John McCain, can both be heard expressing disbelief with the pick of Palin after they apparently thought they were in a commer...

McCain Camp Plays Sexism Card For Palin

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:43:00 MST

The full frontal assault on investigative media and valid discourse about McCain's inexperienced VP selection is shocking in it's near slander of the capabilities and intent of our independent media. The complete irony is that the McCain campaign follows up an ad comparing Britney Spears and Paris Hilton to Barak Obama with a refusal to allow discussion of Sarah Palin's questionable family values and leadership history. > John McCain's campaign could be panicking or politick...

Betting On A Palin Withdrawal

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 10:59:00 MST

Now the Democrats aren't the only ones who can try to capitalize on the negative buzz growing around Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the prospective Republican VP candidate. Intrade, an online prediction market based in Dublin, created a contract Tuesday morning on the likelihood that John McCain will drop Palin as his running mate. After opening at a probability of just 3%, the odds on Palin being cut from the ticket hovered around 14% yesterday. Predictions plateaued today at 10%, perhaps in ...

Gay Republicans: Gop On 'Wrong Side Of History'

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 23:17:00 MST

A group of gay and lesbian Republicans has traveled to the site of the GOP convention this week to help convince its party that it is time to stop being on the "wrong side" of the same-sex marriage issue. "Clearly, the tide is turning," said Scott Tucker, communications director for the Log Cabin Republicans. "It's important for the Republican Party to be inclusive on this issue, because we are risk of being on the wrong side of history." Although the group'...

Anti-Abortion Group Says Palin 'Walks Her Talk'

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:59:00 MST

I love it... two entries in the Right Wing dictionary in one day. "Walks his/her talk" is the same thing as "Says and does whatever he/she wants." Example, I'm a religious conservative and I preach abstinence, but I can't keep my teenage children from having sex. The question has long been posed to conservative male candidates during presidential campaigns: What would you do if your teen daughter became pregnant? Most dodge the question, saying their family lives are...

Bush: Mccain 'Ready To Lead This Nation'

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:51:00 MST

In Republican doublespeak lingo, "ready to lead" translates as "you should just vote for him because I say so." John McCain's lifetime of service has prepared him to lead the country, President Bush will say Tuesday night at the Republican National Convention, according to excerpts released to the media. "He is ready to lead this nation," Bush will say via video link from the White House to the convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, according to the exc...

Mccain Campaign: 'This Election Is Not About Issues'

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:39:00 MST

Rick Davis, campaign manager for John McCain's presidential bid, insisted that the presidential race will be decided more over personalities than issues during an interview with Post editors this morning. "This election is not about issues," said Davis. "This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates." Davis added that issues will no doubt play a major role in the decisions undecided voters will make but that they won't ultima...

Palin Daughter Baby Daddy -- "Don'T Want Kids"

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:53:00 MST

This is why Obama wants his team to stay away from Palin's family... they're doing enough damage on their own. Who knew there were rednecks in Alaska? Apparently there are, according to Levi Johnston, the guy who impregnated the daughter of GOP veep nominee Sarah Palin. He says so himself, on his MySpace page (which is now offline): "I'm a f***in' redneck," he wrote. "I live to play hockey ... I'll kick ass." Somewhat more troubling for 17-year-old Brist...

John Didn'T Get What He Wanted, By Hilzoy

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:29:00 MST

As far as I'm concerned, the story about Sarah Palin is what John McCain's decision to make her his running mate says about his judgment. And what this tells us is stunning. It is basic, basic politics that before you ask someone to become your running mate, you vet them thoroughly. You want to know what you're getting into, and you don't want any unfortunate surprises. Apparently, McCain didn't bother to do this. That's astonishing. It's like starting surgery before ...

As Throngs Of Protesters Hit Streets, Dozens Are Arrested After Clashes

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:21:00 MST

Thousands of protesters, many of them demonstrating against the war in Iraq, marched on Monday through the streets outside the arena where the Republican National Convention is being held, with some smashing windows and battling with the police in clashes that led to more than 250 arrests. Although most of the protesters were peaceful, the police used pepper spray and long wooden sticks to subdue some; several demonstrators also said police officers fired projectiles at them. In one confr...

Surprise Pregnancy Has Republicans Off Balance

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:09:00 MST

It was not, in Weather Channel terms, a Category 5. But the Republican National Convention made landfall in the Twin Cities on Monday, its attention split between a hurricane smashing the Gulf Coast and a political storm over the vice presidential nominee's grandchild-to-be. Concerns over Hurricane Gustav cut the convention program short, even as television screens throughout the Xcel Energy Center showed the storm's damage did not appear as severe as Hurricane Katrina three years bef...

Is Mccain Another George W. Bush?

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 23:17:00 MST

Russia invades Georgia and President Bush goes on vacation. Our president has spent one-third of his entire two terms in office either at Camp David, Maryland, or at Crawford, Texas, on vacation. His time away from the Oval Office included the month leading up to 9/11, when there were signs Osama bin Laden was planning to attack America, and the time Hurricane Katrina destroyed the city of New Orleans. Sen. John McCain takes weekends off and limits his campaign events to one a day. He mad...

Would You Do That To Your Daughter? - Postpartisan - Quick Takes By The PostS Opinion Writers

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 21:46:00 MST

As I tried to make my way through St. Paul today – protesters managed to make driving, or even walking, anywhere pretty much impossible – people I ran into were asking one question: Is Sarah Palin doing what’s best for her daughter? This isn’t a sexist question. It would also be asked of a male politician in her position. Is it fair for any parent to put his or her pregnant, unmarried, 17-year-old daughter through the klieg-light scrutiny of a presidential campaign? Ac...

Evangelicals Rally Behind Palin After Pregnancy News

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 21:33:00 MST

If these people win the Presidency again, I'm going to have to stop voting. It's outrageous that Evangelicals will rally behind Palin, yet not rebuke her for her obviously poor parenting skills. Key evangelical leaders rallied to Sarah Palin's support Monday amid news that her 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, was having a child. "Before, they were excited about her, with the Down syndrome baby," conservative, anti-tax activist Grover Norquist said. "But now with thi...

Palin'S Teen Daughter Is Pregnant

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 21:31:00 MST

No wonder why John McCain ran that ad comparing Barak Obama to Britney Spears. He was jealous! So he went out and got himself a Vice President with a daughter who can be compared to Jamie Lynn Spears!!! How cool! He should really rake in the teeny bopper votes now! John McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin, dealt with two startling disclosures Monday. She announced that her 17-year-old unmarried daughter is pregnant and plans to keep the baby. And Palin has hired a lawy...

Would you back a gun-toting former beauty queen for vice-president?

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 10:44:00 MST

Sarah Palin sounded as though she had won the lottery. Only a month after letting slip that she did not think the vice-president's job was meaningful, Palin was accepting John McCain's offer to join him in the race for the White House. Some of life's greatest opportunities come unexpectedly, and this is certainly the case today. I never set out to be involved in public affairs ... My husband and I grew up working with our hands. I was just an average hockey mum in Alaska. Whic...

Palin on Foreign Policy: No Passport Until 2007

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 10:38:00 MST

There’s more out there about Sarah Palin and her foreign policy experience/views Saturday than Friday. Let’s review it, vague though it may be: --On Iraq, she made some remarks about not knowing “what the plan is to ever end the war,” but it’s hard to read too much into that. Thinkprogress.org, though, does have some thoughts on the subject. What’s more, Andrew Sullivan turned up an interview where she expressly said she wasn’t doing much thinking abo...

Palin And Mccain Share Enemies, Reformist Bent

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 10:26:00 MST

If the old adage is true that "the enemy of my enemy is my friend," then John McCain and Sarah Palin may have been friends long before the Arizona senator picked the Alaska governor to be his running mate. Three years ago next month, McCain joined with a few conservative Senate colleagues to suggest that $453 million that had been earmarked to build two bridges in Alaska -- including the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" -- be redirected to rebuild infrastructure in hurricane-ravag...

Obama Accepts Nomination, Promises Tax Cuts For Working Class, End To Mideast Oil Dependence

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 09:34:00 MST

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama formally accepted the Democratic nomination for president Thursday night in Denver, pledging tax cuts for the middle class and an end, within 10 years, to America’s dependence on oil from the Middle East. Repeatedly touching on pocketbook and economic themes in a 45-minute nationally televised address, Obama called for changes to bankruptcy laws to "protect pensions ahead of CEO bonuses" and an end to tax incentives for companies that send jobs oversea...

Historic Night: Democrats Unite Around Obama

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:00:00 MST

It was a scripted scenario, the outcome never in doubt. But when history arrived on the floor of the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday afternoon, it came with the full force of emotion. After an especially long primary season, after private wrangling and public battle, the Democratic Party became the first major party to select an African-American nominee for president in the nation's history. With a roar of approval and a sparkle of flashing cameras, the convention's deleg...

Obama-Biden Ticket Ready To Debut

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 09:07:00 MST

Thousands of supporters were expected at a Saturday rally in Springfield, Illinois, to see the debut of Sen. Barack Obama and Delaware Sen. Joe Biden as a presidential ticket. > Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, announced his selection of Biden as his running mate with a 3 a.m. text message and a statement on his official Web site.
"Barack has chosen Senator Joe Biden to be our VP nominee," the text message said. > "Joe and I will app...

Is Mccain Another George W. Bush?

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:15:00 MST

Who'S Rich? Mccain And Obama Have Very Different Definitions

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:46:00 MST

The rich may be different for John McCain and Barack Obama. > On almost every issue, the two presidential candidates have staked out opposing positions. Their contrasting views on wealth surfaced during their back-to-back appearances in Southern California on Saturday night when each was asked to define "rich."
Obama didn't hesitate. "I would argue that if you are making more than $250,000, then you are in the top 3, 4 percent of this country," he s...

Obama Snags More Republican Endorsements

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 20:49:00 MST

Barack Obama likes to talk about Obamacans disaffected Republicans who have pledged their support for his presidential candidacy. > On Tuesday he snagged an especially prominent one -- former GOP Rep. Jim Leach of Iowa.
Leach, who served 15 terms in the House, made his endorsement announcement during a conference call with former Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, who was a Republican while in the Senate but is now an independent. Chafee has supported Obama since the Democrat...

Obama 'More Renewal Than Departure' Says Goper

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 11:06:00 MST

Leach announced that he was backing the presumptive Democratic nominee while participating in the conference call launch of "Republicans for Obama," a group that is designing a website contrasting the records of the presidential candidates. Leach was joined on the call by two other Republican opponents of the Iraq war: former Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln Chafee and Rita Hauser, a lawyer who served on President George W. Bush's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board and the President...

Paris Hilton'S Mom Calls Mccain Ad Waste Of Money

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:50:00 MST

Paris Hilton's mother -- a John McCain donor -- on Sunday dismissed as a "waste of money" a television ad that used her daughter and Britney Spears to portray Democrat Barack Obama as more celebrity icon than chief executive. Kathy Hilton, the mother of the blond socialite-actress, lambasted the Republican presidential candidate's advertisement in a blog posted on the political Web site Huffington Post (www.huffingtonpost.com). "It is a complete waste of the money John ...

Military Says It Set Rules For Obama Hospital Visit

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 22:49:00 MST

Bad move by the Obama team not to follow through with this visit... U.S. military authorities told advisors to Barack Obama this week that he could not bring press or campaign staff on a visit to wounded troops from Iraq and Afghanistan at a hospital in Germany, a Pentagon spokesman said Friday. After advisors learned of the restriction, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee canceled his scheduled visit Friday to the military's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in southern Germ...

Hispanic Voters Prefer Obama Three To One

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:47:00 MST

Hispanic voters prefer Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama over his Republican opponent John McCain by nearly three to one, according to a survey released Thursday. Latinos also prefer Obama’s views over McCain’s on specific issues, such as education, jobs, healthcare and immigration., according to the Washington, D.C.-based Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan organization that researches the growing U.S. Hispanic population. The national survey of 892 registered Hisp...

Young Republicans Worry About Mccain'S Appeal

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 09:30:00 MST

At a town hall meeting in Ohio this month, a student told McCain that Republicans were a dying breed on his campus. "I understand the challenge I have, and I understand that this election is really all about the people of your generation," McCain said. Many young Republicans said Sen. Barack Obama -- the 46-year-old junior senator from Illinois -- is inspiring voters their age, but McCain -- the 71-year-old senator who has been in office since the early '80s -- is not. Eri...

Mccain: A Dukakis-In-A-Tank Moment?

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:47:00 MST

The New York Times' Maureen Dowd points out a visual contrast this week that's going to be remembered for some time. "The image of John McCain in a golf cart with Bush 41 in Kennebunkport — with Poppy charmingly admitting that they were ‘a little jealous’ of all the Obama odyssey coverage — was not a good advertisement for the future, especially contrasted with the shots of Gen. David Petraeus and Obama smiling at each other companionably in a helicopter surve...

Mccain Opinion Article Rejected By New York Times

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:40:00 MST

Republican presidential candidate John McCain's campaign said on Monday a McCain opinion article about Iraq offered to The New York Times as a rebuttal to Democrat Barack Obama had been rejected. The McCain camp had submitted the article to The Times as a response to a piece by Obama published by the newspaper last week. "My Plan for Iraq" had detailed Obama's goal of withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq in 16 months if he is elected on Nov. 4. The McCain article was largel...

McCain Adviser: US is ‘Nation Of Whiners’

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:31:00 MST

Barack Obama ridiculed a John McCain economic adviser Thursday who said the United States has become a “nation of whiners” suffering from a “mental recession,” as McCain distanced himself from the remarks. Phil Gramm, who now is the No. 2 at the Swiss bank UBS, told The Washington Times the U.S. has benefited from globalization but most Americans are misguided by constant reports that the economy is at its worst in 30 years. “You’ve heard of mental depre...

Medicare Pressure On Republicans

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 20:52:00 MST

Senate Democrats have scheduled a Wednesday vote on Medicare, aimed at enhancing discomfort for politically vulnerable Republicans who voted against the same bill before the July Fourth recess. It is unclear that the result will be any different — an identical measure fell one vote short on June 26 — but the political benefit of pitting GOP lawmakers against seniors and doctors seems to be enough for Democrats, at least for now. Still, the politics won’t help doctors stav...

New Group Linked To G.O.P. Unveils Ad Attacking Obama

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 22:20:00 MST

A newly formed Republican group broadcast its first commercial Sunday in four battleground states as part of a $3 million advertising campaign aimed at Senator Barack Obama. The advertisement opens with images of gasoline prices flying upward at the pump as a narrator says, “Record gas prices, a climate in crisis.” It then highlights Senator John McCain’s differences with his own party on energy policy. The commercial closes by summing up Mr. Obama’s positions on e...

Platform To Be A Hot Topic For Gop Conservatives

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 21:01:00 MST

Conservative activists are preparing to do battle with allies of Sen. John McCain before this summer's GOP convention in St. Paul, hoping to prevent his views on global warming, immigration, stem cell research and campaign finance from becoming enshrined in the party's official declaration of principles. McCain has not yet signaled the changes he plans to make in the 2004 Republican platform. But many conservatives say they fear wholesale revisions could emerge as candidate McCain see...

Kerry Says Mccain Lacks Judgment To Be President

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 20:57:00 MST

John Kerry says Republican John McCain doesn't have the judgment to be president. If that's the case, then it's probably a good thing McCain rejected overtures from Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, to form a bipartisan ticket and run with Kerry as his candidate for vice president. Kerry had no kind words for his Senate colleague Sunday, accusing McCain of poor decision-making on everything from backing tax cuts for the wealthy to making support for continuing...

Obama And Clinton Hold First Post-Primary Event

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:47:00 MST

Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton came to this tiny town of Unity on Friday for their first public appearance after a bitter primary fight. Less certain was whether Unity would come to them. “We had a spirited dialogue,” acknowledged Mrs. Clinton, speaking first before a crowd of roughly 3,000, many laughing. She was referring to the presidential nomination campaign, not the extended time the former rivals spent together Friday en route to the premiere of what th...

Obama And Clinton Scheduled To Campaign Together Next Week

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 00:17:00 MST

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will take the next big step in unifying the Democratic Party Friday, campaigning together for the first time, Obama's campaign announced yesterday. In a conference call with reporters, communications director Robert Gibbs declined to provide details of the joint event - such as what city it will be in - saying that the logistics are still being worked out. Thursday, the two are scheduled to appear in Washington with some of Clinton's major financial su...

Candidates Clash On Terrorism

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 21:56:00 MST

The campaigns of Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama on Tuesday engaged in a heated exchange over the rights of terrorism suspects, with each side accusing the other of embracing a policy that would put the country at risk of more attacks in the future. In a Tuesday morning conference call with reporters, McCain advisers criticized Obama as "naive" and "delusional" in his approach to the handling of terrorism suspects after he expressed support for last week's Supreme Court...

Gore To Appear With Obama

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:04:00 MST

Former Vice President Al Gore will appear in Detroit tonight for his debut campaign appearance with Senator Barack Obama, extending an endorsement and urging all Democrats to rally behind the party’s fall ticket. “A few hours from now I will step on stage in Detroit, Michigan to announce my support for Senator Barack Obama,” Mr. Gore said in an e-mail sent to his supporters. “From now through Election Day, I intend to do whatever I can to make sure he is elected Presi...

How Mccain And Obama Will Change Your Tax Bill

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 10:08:00 MST

Interesting breakdown: BREAKING DOWN THE NUMBERS Here's how the average tax bill could change in 2009 if either John McCain's or Barack Obama's tax proposals were fully in place. MCCAIN OBAMA ...

With Fall Vote In View, Obama Assails Mccain On Economy

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:27:00 MST

Senator Barack Obama, with the Democratic stage to himself for the first time, began a two-week assault on Senator John McCain’s economic policies in a series of battleground states on Monday, moving to define the general election campaign by focusing on the economy as the central theme. In a speech at the North Carolina state fairgrounds here, Mr. Obama assailed Mr. McCain, the likely Republican nominee for president, for what he characterized as a dangerous ignorance of economic matte...

Obama Attacks Mccain On Economy

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 14:05:00 MST

Just as Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama break from the starting gate in their race for the White House, zooming oil prices and unemployment rates are highlighting the economy as the nation's No. 1 campaign issue. Obama, who has eliminated Sen. Hillary Clinton as his last challenger for the Democratic nomination, today launched an 11-day campaign tour, starting in Raleigh, N.C., with a bareknuckle attack on his Republican rival. Obama ticked off a litany of economic woes: last week...

Obama Or Mccain? How Will America Fare Under The 44Th Commander-In-Chief?

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 20:49:00 MST

Up to a point he has been a success. As he formally kicks off his 2012 re-election campaign, Barack Obama is easily the most famous man in the world, still an icon of cool, still conveying the promise of better yet to come, even if the feeling persists that he has not fully delivered. He has pulled most US troops out of Iraq, and not only resisted Israeli pressure to attack Iran but – in the first far-reaching talks between the two countries in more than 30 years – struck an acco...

The Associated Press: Franken Wins Endorsement For Senate In Minnesota

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 20:46:00 MST

Al Franken won a resounding endorsement for the U.S. Senate on Saturday from Minnesota Democrats, quickly dispatching with concerns about jokes that offended some and promising a tough challenge to Republican Sen. Norm Coleman. "To the people of Minnesota, let me say this: I'm not a perfect person," said Franken, a former "Saturday Night Live" writer and performer. "I'm not going to pretend to have all the answers. But I'll tell the truth, I will keep my spine,...

For Clintons Women Fans, Mourning And Anger

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:37:00 MST

If there is any city where Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has a fan club, it is New York -– home of the well-paid and highly educated women who have been her backers and donors every political step of the way and who made up the base that helped get her elected junior senator from the state. So if Tuesday night was a bittersweet evening for Mrs. Clinton, it was even more so for these hard-core supporters, who came to cheer her on and pledge their fidelity, as Mrs. Clinton gave her final ...

Obama Urges Unity, Thanks All Who Made Victory Possible

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 10:57:00 MST

Sen. Barack Obama said Wednesday he can unify his party after a hard-fought primary that divided Democrats but helped teach America's children that the Oval Office was within anyone's reach. "I have heard from a number of people already, both black and white, that their kids -- 7, 8, 9 years old -- take for granted now that, of course, a black can run for president, that a woman can run for president," he said. "There is a matter-of-factness to it that I think bodes well ...

Obama Dogged By Praise From America’S Foes

Wed, 28 May 2008 20:10:00 MST

In a presidential race in which unwanted, damaging endorsements seem far more plentiful than endorsements that actually could help, Barack Obama has had the unfortunate distinction of being a magnet for such well-wishers. The latest unsought praise for the Democratic front-runner came from Fidel Castro, who wrote in a column for Cuba’s Granma newspaper Monday that Obama is “the most progressive candidate to the U.S. presidency.” Never mind that the column was used to crit...

Edwards Endorses Obama, Praises Clinton

Wed, 14 May 2008 22:10:00 MST

Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards endorsed Sen. Barack Obama on Wednesday at a campaign event in Grand Rapids, Michigan. "The reason I'm here tonight is because the Democratic voters have made their choice, and so have I," he told the boisterous crowd. "There is one man who knows and understands that this is a time for bold leadership. There is one man that knows how to create the change, the lasting change, that you have to build from the ground up,...

Mccain Is Full Of Hot Air On The Environment

Tue, 13 May 2008 11:48:00 MST

Yikes, it's really true. John McCain is running for president as a tree-hugging liberal. No, not an all-the-time environmentalist -- rather, as a swing-state-savvy, targeted-message-peddling, hoping-to-pick-up-the-votes-of-lifestyle-liberals- who-want-to-address-climate-change-on-the-cheap murky-shade-of-green Republican. So, today, in the battleground state of Oregon, where a reverence for the outdoors requires that Republican contenders greenwash their appeals, McCain's campaign ...

Opinion: Throw in the towel Hillary

Wed, 07 May 2008 20:31:00 MST

As a Hillary Clinton support and contributor, it is with great saddness that I have reached the conclusion that Senator Clinton should throw in the towel and conclude her presidential run. Given the great distress that the Democratic party still feels at the loss of our last significant chance to win the presidential election (2000), it would be a lost opportunity if we do not close ranks now behind Senator Obama and have a full 6 months to wage war against the real enemy of the American people...

La. Democrat Wins In Gop Stronghold

Sun, 04 May 2008 11:23:00 MST

A Louisiana Democrat captured a House seat held by Republicans for the previous 33 years, defeating a former GOP state legislator yesterday in a special election that Republicans tried to turn into a referendum on Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). With all precincts reporting, State Rep. Donald J. Cazayoux Jr. had 49 percent of the vote to Woody Jenkins's 46 percent, overcoming a barrage of ads from GOP committees that tried to paint Cazayoux as an ally of Obama, the front-runner for the Democ...

Clinton: Protect Reputable Home Lenders

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 12:43:00 MST

Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton proposed several remedies to the nation's home mortgage problems Monday, including one tool more often associated with Republicans than Democrats. The New York senator proposed greater protections for lenders from possible lawsuits by investors, a variation of so-called tort reform. For years, GOP leaders have called for restrictions on what they consider unwarranted lawsuits against businesses. Democrats have often resisted them on grounds they limit injur...

Clinton Wins Ohio, Texas, Cnn Projects

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 22:26:00 MST

Sen. Hillary Clinton got her campaign back on track with projected wins in the Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island primaries. Sen. Hillary Clinton claimed victory in Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island. Delegate-rich Texas and Ohio were considered must-wins for her campaign. Obama had won 12 straight contests since Super Tuesday on February 5. Obama won in Vermont. Texas also held Democratic caucuses Tuesday, but it was too close to declare a winner. "For everyone here in Ohio and acros...

Miscalculations Dogged Romney From The Start

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 09:40:00 MST

With Mitt Romney’s campaign for president nearly in tatters, he huddled with his senior advisers on Wednesday morning, jotting notes with pen and paper, to go over his options. By the time the meeting ended, he seemed to want to stay in the race. His campaign went ahead with voter-turnout calls in Kansas and Washington for caucuses on Saturday, and priced out what it would take to compete in primaries next week in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. His son Tagg, a senior campai...

Clinton Wins California, But Democratic Race For Nominee Is Far From Over

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 08:03:00 MST

Hillary Clinton re-established herself as the candidate to beat in the Democratic presidential primary Tuesday night, winning California and a string of key states across the nation. After taking states in the East and Midwest, early California results showed her with a double-digit lead over Barack Obama, powered by a record turnout by Latino voters, nearly 30 percent of the Democratic electorate, exit polls showed. Obama's wins came in a dozen states, mostly in the South and upper Midw...

After South Carolina: Can Obama Capture A Wider Swath Of Voters?

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 07:04:00 MST

With his victory in the South Carolina primary Saturday, Sen. Barack Obama offered convincing proof of his ability to appeal to black voters. But to stay on course for the Democratic nomination when 22 states vote on Feb. 5, analysts say, Senator Obama will need to reach farther and wider. African-Americans are a big part of the Democratic vote in Georgia, Alabama, and a few other Super Tuesday states. But experts say Obama's fortunes on Feb. 5 will hinge on the groups of voters responsi...

Clinton Defeats Obama In Primary; Mccain Takes Republican Contest

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 22:49:00 MST

After a fierce battle for the first-in-the-nation primary, New Hampshire voters chose Washington stalwarts Sen. John McCain and Sen. Hillary Clinton and their message that only decades of experience can bring about change -- the buzzword of this year's presidential race. The big battle here played out in the contest for the Democratic nomination between Mrs. Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama, who had soared on the momentum of his decisive win in the Iowa caucuses last week. Earlier today poll...

Huckabee, Obama Projected Winners In Iowa Caucuses

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 20:13:00 MST

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama won upset victories in Iowa's Republican and Democratic caucuses on Thursday night, U.S. television networks projected, sealing important wins in the first bout in the 2008 presidential election. Huckabee was leading his chief rival, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, while Obama was ahead of Sen. Hillary Clinton and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards. Thursday's party caucuses marked the first big test of the...

Truth Gets Rubbery On The Us Presidential Trail: Fact-Checkers

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 10:41:00 MST

With scam statistics, baseless criticisms, misquotes, and cockeyed memories, the truth gets a battering on the campaign trail in the hands of candidates for the White House. But imprecision is a venerable US political tradition, according to FactCheck.org, an independent watchdog which aims to "hold politicians accountable" for what they say. "Presidential candidates kept us busy" over the past year, said Brooks Jackson, director of FactCheck, an arm of the Annenberg Pu...

Gop Base Scatters To Rival Camps

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 15:39:00 MST

The long-standing coalition of social, economic and national security conservatives that elevated the Republican Party to political dominance has become so splintered by the presidential primary campaign that some party leaders fear a protracted nomination fight that could hobble the eventual nominee. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney aspires to build a conservative coalition in the mold of Ronald Reagan, but his past support of abortion rights gives many social conservatives pause. Mike ...

Huckabee Would Criminalize Abortion Providers

Sun, 30 Dec 2007 19:32:00 MST

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, locked in a tight GOP race in Iowa, said Sunday he would seek to punish doctors who took money to provide abortions to women if he succeeded in outlawing the procedure, as he has long advocated. "I think if a doctor knowingly took the life of an unborn child for money, and that's why he was doing it, yeah, I think you would, you would find some way to sanction that doctor," Huckabee said during an appearance on NBC's Meet the Press. "...

Opponent Of Illegal Immigration Ends White House Bid

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 14:25:00 MST

Rep. Tom Tancredo abandoned his long-shot bid for the Republican presidential nomination Thursday and endorsed Mitt Romney's candidacy, saying the Massachusetts Republican "can go the distance." Tancredo, a Colorado Republican, is a fierce proponent of stricter illegal immigration laws, but his campaign struggled to gain traction with Republican primary voters, despite many naming illegal immigration as a top concern. Noting the "incredibly long odds" when he launched h...

Giuliani Will Not Sever Ties To His Firm

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 07:27:00 MST

Rudolph W. Giuliani, seeking to stem a spate of bad news in his bid for the Republican nomination, defended himself Sunday morning from a vast array of questions about his personal integrity, his judgment and possible conflicts of interest because of business ties, among other issues. As the solo guest on “Meet the Press,” Mr. Giuliani was by turns defensive, apologetic and indignant under the questions of Tim Russert, but the interview never grew heated and at points Mr. Giuliani s...

Obama Blames Oil Woes On Family’S “Black Sheep”

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 13:52:00 MST

From America’s thirst for foreign oil to surging oil prices and record oil-company profits, Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama says the Bush administration is leading the country down the wrong path. But who’s to blame? The Illinois senator keeps it in the family, blaming his own relative. The “black sheep” in his family, he calls him: U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney. Cheney and Obama are distant cousins, and Obama played up the link in a stump speech at a ...

U.S. Commission Schedules 2008 Presidential Debates

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 15:20:00 MST

Top candidates for the White House should meet in three debates beginning on September 26, 2008, which would feature extended discussions and the chance to directly address each other, the panel sponsoring the debates recommended on Monday. The first debate would be at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, with the second on October 7 at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, and the third on October 15 at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. A debate between vice presidentia...

Ohio Governor Endorses Clinton

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 12:20:00 MST

Gov. Ted Strickland of Ohio, the first Democratic leader of that presidential swing state in 16 years, endorsed Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s bid for the Democratic nomination this afternoon. On a conference call with Senator Clinton and reporters, Mr. Strickland repeatedly vouched for Mrs. Clinton’s electability in next November’s general election, an issue that her rivals have tried to raise doubts about. He also indicated her nomination would not be a drag on congress...

Strains Between Mccain And Palin Aides Go Public

Fri, 06 Nov 1998 08:55:00 MST

Now that the defeated team of Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin have gone their separate ways, the knives are out and Palin is the one who is getting filleted. Revelations from anonymous critics from within the McCain-Palin campaign suggest a number of complaints about the Alaskan governor: Fox News reports that Palin didn't know Africa was a continent and did not know the member nations of the North American Free Trade Agreement -- the United States, Mexico and Canada -- when she...

Barack Obama Elected President

Wed, 04 Nov 1998 21:23:00 MST

Barack Obama has been elected the 44th president of the United States—the first time an African-American has won the nation's highest office and the rare occasion where a newcomer to national politics has captured the White House on his first try....

Obama'S Grandmother Dies

Tue, 03 Nov 1998 14:34:00 MST

The day took a tragic turn for Sen. Barack Obama when his ailing grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, died today. Obama spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Dunham died at home late last night in Hawaii, or roughly between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. Eastern. Obama learned of the news a little after 8 a.m. in Florida, where his campaign held a morning rally. The campaign released a statement from Obama and his sister Maya Soetoro-Ng this afternoon: "It is with great sadness that we announce that our grandmothe...

Daily Tracking Poll: Not Just Economy And Bush; Palin Is Trouble For Mccain Too

Tue, 03 Nov 1998 09:50:00 MST

Barack Obama's strong close in the 2008 campaign has been boosted by more than the shell-shocked economy and the Bush legacy. There's also Sarah Palin, and the concern she incites, especially among voters who are worried about John McCain's age. Forty-six percent of likely voters now say having Palin on the ticket makes them less likely to support McCain -- up 14 points in just the past month and more than double what it was in early September. And among those who call the candida...

Palin Costing Mccain, Poll Suggests

Mon, 02 Nov 1998 22:40:00 MST

A new national poll suggests Sarah Palin may be hurting Republican presidential nominee John McCain more than she's helping him. A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Sunday indicates McCain's running mate is growing less popular among voters and may be costing him a few crucial percentage points in the race for the White House. Fifty-seven percent of likely voters questioned in the poll said Palin does not have the personal qualities a president should have. That'...

Free Sarah Palin: She Did It

Mon, 02 Nov 1998 09:13:00 MST

We're off to Chicago to cover election night, but before we go, our final installment of Free Sarah Palin looks to be in order. Because it looks like GOP Gov. Sarah Palin actually did it -- ran out the clock to earn her spot as the first major party candidate to entirely sidestep a formal news conference and an appearance on the Sunday news shows, a traditional test for those hoping to ascend to the nation's highest offices. We began our campaign in the Chronicle to urge the Govern...

Palin’S Not Scoring In Republican States

Thu, 29 Oct 1998 16:26:00 MST

Dan Simon didn’t mince his words when asked to describe the Republican party’s vice-presidential candidate Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. “She’s an idiot. A politically immature woman. A complete idiot who just doesn’t get it. It is a joke that she is running for vice-president,” he said. Simon, a human resources manager who is attending the Human Society for Human Resource Management’s Diversity Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, is from South Dakota, ...

Palin Is Too Much Fun

Thu, 29 Oct 1998 16:22:00 MST

Just when things seemed darkest for the journalism racket the news gods smiled -- only briefly, as it turned out -- and bestowed Sarah Palin upon us. However the campaign turns out, we can't let her go back to Alaska. She's too much fun. Just recently she was the cause of a great new contribution to our political vocabulary -- "gone rogue." As in a McCain campaign insider's observation that in Palin's increasing tendency to depart from the script prepared for her th...

McCain and Obama trade more blows

Wed, 28 Oct 1998 09:53:00 MST

Republican presidential nominee John McCain teamed up with No. 2 Sarah Palin a week before Election Day on Tuesday to attack Democrat Barack Obama's economic plans, and they took heavy return fire from Obama. Amid news reports of some strains between the McCain and Palin camps as they trail in opinion polls to Obama, McCain said he could not be more pleased with the enthusiasm his vice presidential running mate has generated. "By the way, when two mavericks join up they don't a...

Denim Rogue Sarah Palin Too Risky For Republicans

Tue, 27 Oct 1998 16:57:00 MST

SARAH Palin stripped back to "hockey mom" basics yesterday, renouncing her expensive campaign couture for blue jeans and home-bought threads. At rallies in North Carolina and Florida she declared she would forgo the expensive outfits bought by the Republican Party that had caused such a kerfuffle. But in a further sign her campaign is sliding off track, her own hometown newspaper said yesterday that Ms Palin was not ready to be vice-president, and backed Barack Obama instead. Th...

Palin Pick Dogs McCain

Tue, 20 Oct 1998 15:14:00 MST

With the financial crisis dominating voter concerns just two weeks before election day, Republican John McCain is facing renewed criticism for his choice of Sarah Palin as a vice presidential running mate. Conservative commentators, late-night comedians and even retired Gen. Colin Powell have questioned the Arizona senator's judgment for putting the little-known Alaska governor on the White House ticket. Palin, a mother of five whose staunch opposition to abortion rights has energized ...

High Court Rejects Gop Bid In Ohio Voting Dispute

Sat, 17 Oct 1998 11:31:00 MST

The Supreme Court sided Friday with Ohio's top elections official in a dispute with the state Republican Party over voter registrations. The justices overruled a federal appeals court that had ordered Ohio's top elections official to do more to help counties verify voter eligibility. Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat, faced a deadline of Friday to set up a system to provide local officials with names of newly registered voters whose driver's license numbers or Social ...

Evidence Points To Acorn'S Sloppiness, But Not Fraud

Fri, 16 Oct 1998 13:07:00 MST

Republicans and their allies in the media and on the Internet are ramping up allegations that the liberal-leaning nonprofit voter registration group ACORN is trying to steal next month's presidential election for Democrat Barack Obama. Conservative media outlets and Web sites are focusing on ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. According to TVeyes.com, Fox News alone has mentioned ACORN stories 342 times in recent days. In nearly a dozen states, county regi...

Sorting Debate Fact From Fiction

Fri, 16 Oct 1998 12:58:00 MST

Spin and hype were apparent, once again, at the third and final debate between McCain and Obama: McCain claimed the liberal group ACORN "is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history ... maybe destroying the fabric of democracy." In fact, a Republican prosecutor said of the first and biggest ACORN fraud case: "[T]his scheme was not intended to permit illegal voting." He said $8-an-hour workers turned in made-up voter registration forms r...

Harsh Anti-Obama Imagery, Remarks Pop Up - On Sacto County Gop Web Site

Thu, 15 Oct 1998 20:08:00 MST

Violent anti-Barack Obama rhetoric - such as "Waterboard Barack Obama" - and images linking the Democratic presidential candidate to terrorist leader Osama bin Laden appeared this week on the official Web site of the Sacramento County Republican Party, the latest in a series of increasingly graphic attacks nationwide on the Illinois senator that seek to cast him as a terrorist sympathizer. California Republican Party officials asked Sacramento party leaders to remove the offensive mat...

Sarah Palin Dives In Poll Ratings As Tina Fey Impersonates Her On Saturday Night Live

Wed, 14 Oct 1998 21:14:00 MST

Three weeks from now, Sarah Palin may be the Vice-President elect of the United States of America. But today, few people would call her the most powerful woman in American politics. Arguably, that honour doesn't go to former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton or House Speaker Nancy Pelosi either. Today, the most influential woman in America is probably Tina Fey – a television comedienne. Since Palin's nomination as Republican John McCain's running mate for the White House...

How Valid Is Palin'S Abortion Attack On Obama?

Tue, 13 Oct 1998 17:17:00 MST

Palin said Obama had voted against providing medical care to babies who were alive after attempted abortions. "It's very appalling," Palin said. "If more Americans could understand how absolutely extreme that position is, there would be a heck of a lot more outrage than we have already seen." Hours later, in Wisconsin, she repeated the charge that Obama had voted against providing "health care for a child who was born alive as a result of a botched abortion." In ea...

Biden Calls Palin'S Criticism 'Mildly Dangerous'

Thu, 08 Oct 1998 08:53:00 MST

Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden said Wednesday that Republican rival Sarah Palin is injecting fear and loathing into their campaign with her criticism that Barack Obama is friends with a terrorist. He called the effort "mildly dangerous." Palin began last weekend telling supporters that Obama is close to '60s-era radical William Ayers, a founder of the violent group the Weather Underground. After first claiming that Obama had been "palling around with terrorists...

Seven Palin Associates to Testify

Mon, 05 Oct 1998 22:04:00 MST

Seven aides of Governor Sarah Palin have agreed to cooperate with an investigation into her firing of the state police chief after unsuccessfully fighting subpoenas to testify in the probe. The state employees said they will comply with subpoenas issued last month for their statements as part of an investigation by the Alaska Legislature, according to a statement today from the state attorney general's office. The case became one of national importance after Republican presidential nomine...

McCain and Keating Scandal

Mon, 05 Oct 1998 21:50:00 MST

Democrat Barack Obama, reacting to Republican charges about his links to a 1960s radical, fired back late Sunday with a Web video about John McCain's role in the Keating Five scandal from the early 1990s. The short video, being e-mailed to millions of Obama supporters, summarizes a 13-minute Web "documentary" that the campaign plans to distribute Monday, spokesman Tommy Vietor said. He said McCain's involvement with convicted thrift owner Charles Keating "is a window into Mc...

Palin Mauling McCain?

Mon, 05 Oct 1998 21:47:00 MST

SARAH PALIN’S post-Couric/Fey comeback at last week’s vice presidential debate was a turning point in the campaign. But if she “won,” as her indulgent partisans and press claque would have it, the loser was not Joe Biden. It was her running mate. With a month to go, the 2008 election is now an Obama-Palin race — about “the future,” as Palin kept saying Thursday night — and the only person who doesn’t seem to know it is Mr. Past, poor old John...

McCain Cedes Michigan

Fri, 02 Oct 1998 19:07:00 MST

Republican presidential candidate John McCain conceded battleground Michigan to Democrat Barack Obama on Thursday, a major retreat as he struggles to regain his footing in a campaign increasingly dominated by economic issues. In another sign of McCain's woes, his campaign signaled that it would counter Obama's efforts in Indiana, a state that hasn't voted for a Democrat since 1964. And, a New Hampshire survey showed the Republican trailing by double digits. With polls showing Obama...

Sarah Palin knows One Supreme Court Case

Fri, 02 Oct 1998 19:02:00 MST

SORRY to inflict another nightmare answer from Sarah Palin to Katie Couric on you, but this one, on the Supreme Court, probably tops the lot. After a bit of waffly chit-chat on Roe V Wade, the 1973 landmark ruling that legalized abortion in the US, Couric asks her to name any other SC rulings she has disagreed with. Palin is stumped. She can't name one. If any conservatives still believed in the wisdom of her selection this might be the moment when that belief evaporates. The only possibl...

Political Radar: Mccain Flub? Republican Says He'D Fire Sec Chair As President

Fri, 18 Sep 1998 22:32:00 MST

At a joint rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Thursday, Republican John McCain slammed the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) for being "asleep," saying that if he were president, he would fire Chris Cox, the chairman of the SEC since 2005 and a former Republican congressman. McCain said the SEC has allowed trading practices, such as short selling, to stay in place, that turned the "markets into a casino." "The regulators were asleep, my friends," McCain said. "Th...

Palin Staff Won'T Testify In Trooper Probe, Ag Says

Thu, 17 Sep 1998 23:07:00 MST

Aides to Gov. Sarah Palin won't comply with subpoenas issued by state lawmakers investigating the firing of Alaska's former public safety commissioner because Palin "has declined to participate" in the probe, her attorney general says. "As state employees, our clients have taken an oath to uphold the Alaska Constitution, and for that reason, they respect the Legislature's desire to carry out an investigation in support of its lawmaking powers," Attorney General Tal...

Obama Zings Mccain'S 'Old Boy Network' | The Trail | Washingtonpost.Com

Thu, 17 Sep 1998 23:06:00 MST

The rest of the Democratic establishment has been panicking in recent days over the upward trajectory of the McCain-Palin ticket -- but Sen. Barack Obama appears to be barely letting his blood pressure rise. He held two events today, one in Elko, Nev., another here. He chided Sen. John McCain some at both. "Yesterday, John McCain actually said that if he's president, he'll take on the, quote, old boys' network in Washington," Obama said in Elko. "I am not making thi...

Palin Takes Questions At Michigan Town-Hall Meeting

Thu, 17 Sep 1998 23:00:00 MST

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin took questions with her running mate Wednesday night, offering at one point to play "stump the candidate" with a mostly friendly Michigan crowd. Asked for "specific skills" she could cite to rebut critics who question her grasp of international affairs, she replied, "I am prepared." "I have that confidence. I have that readiness," Palin said. "And if you want specifics with specific policies or countries...

Obama'S August Haul: $66 Million. Mccain'S: $47 Million. Both Are Records

Mon, 14 Sep 1998 22:09:00 MST

Barack Obama reported a record $66 million fundraising haul last month, money that becomes increasingly vital after John McCain pulled even or edged slightly ahead in the polls with a significant boost from his choice of Sarah Palin as running mate. The Illinois senator's August fundraising total, announced on Sunday, outstripped McCain's take for the month by nearly $20 million. McCain had rolled up $47 million, his own personal best. Obama's campaign said he reached the new rec...