The Republicans have suspended most of the convention activities scheduled for Monday, in light of both Hurricane Gustav and Tropical Storm Hanna. The only activity that will occur is "essential business," including adopting the party platforms and electing officers.
At today's 4:00 p.m. briefing on the state of the Republican National Convention, Sen. John McCain said that "The time for action is now." He used the briefing to also call upon fellow Republicans to dial back political attacks, while "we are facing a great national challenge and the possibility of a great national natural disaster." McCain expressed concern about the ability of emergency responders to communicate with each other, but said that, "I'm happy to report to you that the coordination and the work that seems to be happening at all levels looks excellent."
"I want to thank my fellow Republicans as we take off our Republican hats and put on our American hats" -- John McCain, on the need to focus on the potential disaster from Gustav and Hanna.
Campaign manager Rick Davis added to McCain's comments, saying that the convention would meet the minimal required functions to nominate the candidate. Davis said that the speculation that McCain wouldn't be there for the nomination was just that.
Davis said that all speakers are still expected to still speak at some point. Presumably, that statement doesn't extend to Pres. Bush, VP Cheney and Gulf Coast governors.
-- Michael Olson
4:14 PM ET | 08-31-2008 | permalink
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The Democrats are also changing their plans (and tone) with the onslaught of Hurricane Gustav. The DNC sent an email announcing the cancellation of its "media welcome reception" in St. Paul "in light of the situation along the Gulf Coast."
The tone of the cancellation note differs greatly from yesterday's snarky release that urged journalists to stop by the DNC "war room" called the "More of the Same Media Center." The Republicans also ran their own war room from Denver, as NPR's Jeff Brady reported last week, calling it the "DNC Rapid Response Headquarters" and staffing it with recognizable party figures such as former Mass. Gov. Mitt Rommey and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
-- Nancy Cook
3:53 PM ET | 08-31-2008 | permalink
We're diverting to assist with Gustav coverage and will update Take Me To Your Leader as events warrant.
-- Thomas Pierce & David Greene
3:38 PM ET | 08-31-2008 | permalink
NPR's Scott Horsley, who's traveling with McCain, passed along this pool report:
McCain said there would be dramatic changes to the convention, turning it from celebratory event to call for action. Standing with Haley Barbour. Palin did not speak. "We must redirect our efforts from the really celebratory event of the nomination of president and vice president of our party to acting as all Americans. We'll change our program and I'll be announcing details of it in the next few hours. But there's very little doubt that we have to go from a party event to a call to the nation for action, action to help our fellow citizens in this time of tragedy and disaster, action in the form of volunteering, donations, reaching out our hands and our hearts and our wallets to the people who are under such great threat from this great natural disaster. I pledge that tomorrow night, and if necessary, throughout our convention if necessary, to act as Americans not Republians, because America needs us now no matter whether we are Republican or Democrat.''
"We must redirect our efforts from the really celebratory event of the nomination of president and vice president of our party to acting as all Americans. We'll change our program and I'll be announcing details of it in the next few hours. But there's very little doubt that we have to go from a party event to a call to the nation for action, action to help our fellow citizens in this time of tragedy and disaster, action in the form of volunteering, donations, reaching out our hands and our hearts and our wallets to the people who are under such great threat from this great natural disaster. I pledge that tomorrow night, and if necessary, throughout our convention if necessary, to act as Americans not Republians, because America needs us now no matter whether we are Republican or Democrat.''
MORE AFTER THE JUMP
Continue reading "McCain on Gustav" »
1:54 PM ET | 08-31-2008 | permalink
It's official: both President Bush and Vice President Cheney will skip the Republican Convention here in St. Paul and instead turn their attention to Hurricane Gustav. In a press conference, Bush said he will travel to Texas tomorrow and then on to Louisiana, conditions permitting. Convention organizers and McCain aides are meeting in St. Paul as I write to figure out if the convention schedule will be altered. At this point, it's a go. But clearly the pressure to recognize and respond to Gustav's presence is mounting.
NPR's David Welna just got off the phone with Melissa Subbotin, spokeswoman for the RNC here in St. Paul. Here's what Welna writes, based on his conversation with Subbotin:
The McCain campaign has chartered a DC-9 in the Twin Cities to take those delegates here from the Gulf Coast who want to return to their homestates. The plane is going to Jackson, MS, where McCain and Palin met today with MS Governor Haley Barbour. It's not clear when the plane would fly down to Jackson. Subbotin says "details will follow." Subbotin also refused to confirm any changes in the RNC schedule or lineup. She went only as far as saying "no official changes have been sent out. " A statement on the state of play for the convention is promised for this afternoon, on paper.
Subbotin also refused to confirm any changes in the RNC schedule or lineup. She went only as far as saying "no official changes have been sent out. " A statement on the state of play for the convention is promised for this afternoon, on paper.
-- Sean Bowditch
12:02 PM ET | 08-31-2008 | permalink
4:28 AM ET | 08-31-2008 | permalink
One part hot chocolate and four parts stale coffee, the gas station mocha is a morning staple when you're on the road -- or even when you're at the laundromat. Tastiness: 3. Resourcefulness: 10.
6:35 PM ET | 08-30-2008 | permalink
John McCain has told Fox News that he is considering postponing the Republican National Convention. Via Politico's Mike Allen:
"It just wouldn't be appropriate to have a festive occasion while a near-tragedy or a terrible challenge is presented in the form of a natural disaster," McCain told Chris Wallace of "Fox News Sunday," in an interview taped for tomorrow. "So we're monitoring it from day to day and I'm saying a few prayers, too."
After the beating the Bush Administration took for its mishandling (or non-handling) of hurricane Katrina in 2005, the behavior of the GOP (and its nominee) will be under heavy scrutiny as Gustav makes landfall. And as our own Michael Olson noted the other day, having the country watch the Republicans fiddle while New Orleans floods could be election suicide.
But with all the facilities booked, the confetti cannons loaded, and delegate plane tickets purchased -- and with the party so reliant on the money they'll raise during the next five days of hobnobbing -- they can't really afford to cancel either.
One possible scenario: the show goes on in some kind of subdued form, with President Bush beamed in by satellite from the White House rather than speaking live from the podium. Downside: the GOP will suffer from divided news coverage, which will sting after last week's DNC media tour-de-force. Upside: McCain -- and Bush -- get credit for prioritizing the looming disaster over politics.
-- Evie Stone
4:26 PM ET | 08-30-2008 | permalink
-- Thomas Pierce
3:38 AM ET | 08-30-2008 | permalink
Glenn Morrison says good strong leadership has never been as important as right now, but he's not sure who he'll vote for this November.
Glenn Morrison comes from an old Arkansas music family. His twin cousins were well-known performers, and his father, Willie Morrison, sang at the 1963 music festival that put his town of Mountain View on the map. And so when we got to town to talk about music and leadership, everyone said we should go see Glenn.
Martin Darrell -- a fiddler in Mountain View who's trying to preserve traditional music of the Ozarks -- volunteered to take us.
Martin Darrell works to collect and transcribe old fiddle tunes -- some of which predate the Revolutionary War. He doesn't own a TV and doesn't care about watching the conventions.
Martin led the way over twelve miles of windy, dirt roads to Glenn's home, where we were invited in to chat about music and politics -- but mostly music. He even unpacked his fiddle and played us a song called Eighth of January.
We did manage to talk a little about the elections. Glenn is a lifelong Democrat, but this year he's not sure which way he'll vote. When asked about Obama, he said he doesn't know enough about him. Glenn says he hears a lot about what Obama's going to do and not so much about what he's done. And not knowing enough about Obama is "the only thing that causes [him] doubt."
At the same time, he's not a huge fan of McCain either. He doesn't like to hear McCain talk about Washington being broken because after twenty-plus years there, McCain "may have helped break it, if it is [broken]."
When looking for a leader, Glenn says people want someone they can trust -- no matter what level of office. And for him, trust begins with knowing and being comfortable with your candidate.
8:26 PM ET | 08-29-2008 | permalink
Nielsen Media Research reports that Obama's acceptance speech reached almost 40M people making it the most watched convention since Nielsen started counting in 1960. In 'o4 Kerry's acceptance speech drew 24.4M viewers, that same year Bush drew 27.5M (NYT). Michele Obama's Monday speech reached roughly half as many people as her husband's closer (Boston Herald). -- Michael Olson
5:08 PM ET | 08-29-2008 | permalink
Hillary Clinton released the following statement on McCain's selection of Palin:
"We should all be proud of Governor Sarah Palin's historic nomination, and I congratulate her and Senator McCain. While their policies would take America in the wrong direction, Governor Palin will add an important new voice to the debate."
4:51 PM ET | 08-29-2008 | permalink
All the planning, the fretting over the Clintons and move to a 2nd venue may have paid off. It is too early to know for sure, but the very initial post convention polling looks like a bounce could be in the making.
Not that you should place much stock in daily tracking polls, but the Gallup Daily has Obama up 8.
4:34 PM ET | 08-29-2008 | permalink
We made a late night convenience store run for a reliably delicious ice cream treat: the drumstick. Tastiness: 7.
2:31 PM ET | 08-29-2008 | permalink
McCain introduced his running mate Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) in Dayton, Ohio. The duo focused on bolstering each other as mavericks. Palin was joined by her husband and four of her five children.
Palin: "It was rightly noted in Denver this week that Hillary left 18 million cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling in America. But it turns out the women of America aren't finished yet and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all."
Continue reading "McCain-Palin Dayton Event: A Meeting Of Mavericks " »
1:30 PM ET | 08-29-2008 | permalink
Gustav is picking up power and could become a hurricane today before reaching western Cuba.
People along the Gulf Coast are preparing for the storm. Gov. Bobbie Jindal (R-LA) has put the state on alert for possible evacuations. Govs. Charlie Crist (R-FL), Rick Perry (R-TX) and Haley Barbour (R-MS) have also made emergency declarations. Republican leaders are considering a delay to the convention.
The Republican convention may go on without the Gulf Coast Govs, but the stage will be colder without the star power of Jindal and Crist. The governors would join a list of Republican candidates that are avoiding the convention at a time when the party's brand is hurting. It is unclear if the storm will keep President Bush away. At yesterday's daily news briefing WH press sec. Dana Perino said it was too soon to make scheduling changes. Bush's presence at the convention three years after Katrina while a hurricane looms off the coast can't be something GOP strategists are excited about.
UPDATE: Gustav becomes a hurricane (NWS).
12:16 PM ET | 08-29-2008 | permalink
In a response statement, Obama spokesman Bill Burton hits Palin on inexperience and echoes some of the talking points we heard at this week's Democratic Convention:
Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency. Governor Palin shares John McCain's commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil and continuing George Bush's failed economic policies -- that's not the change we need, it's just more of the same.
UPDATE: Obama and Biden have issued a more positive statement than spokesman Bill Burton's initial response to the Palin pick. It's a similar tactic to the juxtaposition of yesterday's congratulatory McCain ad and McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds's dismissive response to Obama's speech, allowing the candidates themselves to appear magnanimous as the campaign gets in a few oppo hits.
"We send our congratulations to Governor Sarah Palin and her family on her designation as the republican nominee for Vice President. It is yet another encouraging sign that old barriers are falling in our politics. While we obviously have differences over how best to lead this country forward Governor Palin is an admirable person and will add a compelling new voice to this campaign," said Senator Barack Obama and Senator Joe Biden.
11:53 AM ET | 08-29-2008 | permalink
After this week's historic nomination of Barack Obama to lead the Democratic ticket, GOP candidate John McCain made a little history of his own by picking Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running-mate.
Palin is the first woman to be on a Republican ticket (the Dems have only had one as well -- Walter Mondale's running-mate Geraldine Ferraro in 1984). Her choice is a potential lure to the disaffected Hillary Clinton voters that McCain has been endeavoring to win over.
She's also the only Alaskan candidate ever to grace a major-party ticket.
Palin doesn't bring much of an electoral boost (Alaska has 3 EVs), but she's got solid conservative credentials that should bolster McCain's standing with a group that's been wary about him so far. American Conservative Union chairman David Keene released a statement this morning calling her "a perfect choice for Vice President."
Expect the Obama campaign to exploit Palin's relative inexperience, especially since McCain's line on Obama has been that after only 4 years in the US Senate he's "not ready to lead". Palin has held statewide office for two years, and prior to that she was the mayor of the small town (well, medium-sized by Alaskan standards) of Wasilla.
11:37 AM ET | 08-29-2008 | permalink
Sarah Palin made history in November '06 when she was elected governor of Alaska. Palin was the first woman to win that office, and, elected at the age of 42 (she's now 44), she is the youngest governor in the state's history.
When Palin was first elected, reporter Elizabeth Arnold described her on NPR as "a moose-burger-eating, snow-mobile-riding maverick who's not afraid to take on fellow Republicans she disagrees with."
UPDATE: The McCain campaign's press release on Palin is after the jump.
Continue reading "McCain Picks Palin as VEEP" »
10:41 AM ET | 08-29-2008 | permalink
Before Barack Obama finished delivering his nomination acceptance speech, McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds was circulating this cutting response to reporters:
Tonight, Americans witnessed a misleading speech that was so fundamentally at odds with the meager record of Barack Obama. When the temple comes down, the fireworks end, and the words are over, the facts remain: Senator Obama still has no record of bipartisanship, still opposes offshore drilling, still voted to raise taxes on those making just $42,000 per year, and still voted against funds for American troops in harm's way. The fact remains: Barack Obama is still not ready to be President.
Leaving aside for now the allegations in the release, didn't McCain's earnest congratulatory ad say that he and Obama would be "back at it" tomorrow? So much for acceptance-speech goodwill...
4:02 AM ET | 08-29-2008 | permalink
UPDATE: MPR says Pawlenty won't likely be the VEEP, nor will he be at the Dayton event.
Folks over at RedState are picking up on the cues that Pawlenty is it. We're keeping tabs on developments and want to know who you think is the best pick for McCain. Share your take in the comment section.
2:27 AM ET | 08-29-2008 | permalink
Barack Obama accepted the Democratic Presidential nomination at Denver's Invesco Mile High Stadium in front of a screaming, flag-waving, standing-ovation giving crowd that his campaign estimated at 84,000. His big theme was individual and mutual responsibility, with a heavy dose of patriotism. The candidate, who has been painted by his opponents as an exotic and unpatriotic figure, mentioned America/American/Americans 52 times (by the count of our hardworking editor) in his remarks.
The first two-thirds or so of the speech focused on domestic issues, with a heavy emphasis on the economy -- a historically strong area for Democrats in presidential election years, and a particular weakness for John McCain, who has admitted that he's not an economic expert. This was essentially Obama's thesis statement, appealing to blue-collar voters and blaming the Bush administration for their current woes:
Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less. More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching your home values plummet. More of you have cars you can't afford to drive, credit card bills you can't afford to pay, and tuition that's beyond your reach. These challenges are not all of government's making. But the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W. Bush. America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.
These challenges are not all of government's making. But the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W. Bush.
America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.
Obama made wide-ranging classic-Dem policy promises, calling for stronger public education, affordable health care, middle class tax cuts, and (his most specific goal) an end to America's reliance on Middle East oil in 10 years. But after defining clear policy goals on those issues, he also mentioned a few more divisive subjects -- guns, abortion, and immigration -- and called on Americans to put aside their dug-in conflicts and find some respectful common ground.
Continue reading "Obama Accepts Dem Nomination with Wide-Ranging Speech" »
1:29 AM ET | 08-29-2008 | permalink
DNC chair Nancy Pelosi has gaveled the DNC to a close.
11:13 PM ET | 08-28-2008 | permalink
No balloon drop in the open-air stadium...but confetti cannons and a fireworks display make up for it.
11:04 PM ET | 08-28-2008 | permalink
Biggest cheer yet: "this election has never been about me. It's about you."
10:53 PM ET | 08-28-2008 | permalink
Emergency officials are preparing for the possibility that Tropical Storm Gustav could regain hurricane strength and hit the Gulf Coast early next week.
In part out of fear that politicking and partying while a potential Katrina 2.0 is underway, Republican officials tell the Washington Post they "are considering delaying the start of the GOP convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul."
10:40 PM ET | 08-28-2008 | permalink
Obama says if he's elected the US will end its dependence on Mid-East oil in 10 years.
10:35 PM ET | 08-28-2008 | permalink
Obama portrays his opponent as not exactly malicious...just out of touch: "it's not because John McCain doesn't care. It's because John McCain doesn't get it."
10:27 PM ET | 08-28-2008 | permalink
Obama: "America, we are better than these last eight years. We're a better country than this."
"We love this country too much to let the next four years look like the last eight."
10:22 PM ET | 08-28-2008 | permalink
Lengthy standing ovation as Obama walks onstage. Placards with the slogan "CHANGE" have been passed out to all levels of seating, and now intermingle with the American flags in the crowd.
Crowd chants "O-BA-MA" then switches to "Yes we can!"
Crowd is still standing as speech gets under way.
10:15 PM ET | 08-28-2008 | permalink
Obama's prepared remarks mention Hillary Clinton almost immediately after he officially accepts the nomination -- before he says the names of Joe Biden, Ted Kennedy, or his wife Michelle.
It's another example of the care being paid here to demonstrate that the rancorous days of the Democratic battle for the nomination are over.
--Evie Stone
10:05 PM ET | 08-28-2008 | permalink
MCCAIN POOL REPORT #2a 8/29/08
According to the pool tape, McCain can be heard to say "Wilfred Brimley" in response to veep shouts.
--Scott Horsley
9:55 PM ET | 08-28-2008 | permalink
Al Gore took the stage to a riotous welcome from the flag-waving crowd.
The former Vice President invoked his narrow defeat in the contested 2000 election with a cautionary tale. He told of voters who stayed home or chose third-party candidates that year, saying "eight years ago some said there was not much difference between the nominees of the two major parties, and it didn't matter who became President."
Gore pointed out that, back then, the country was at peace. But in 2008, he said, "hardly anyone would argue that election didn't matter." Gore then ticked off a list of issues that a Gore administration would have handled differently, beginning with the war in Iraq -- a war he said he would not have waged.
Gore told the crowd that the choice today is the same as in 2000, but "more obvious." Saying McCain would be a continuation of Bush/Cheney policies, Gore offered a snappy environmental one-liner: "I believe in recycling, but that's ridiculous."
He talked at length about his pet issues of energy and environmental policy, calling for "an end to carbon-based fuels."
And in looking ahead to the next administration, he also spoke in greater detail about the Supreme Court than we've heard yet from the podium here in Denver.
Gore's 2000 campaign rhetoric focused heavily on the potential threat to Roe vs. Wade from Bush-appointed conservative justices (slogan: It's the Supreme Court, stupid). During Bush's two terms, two seats have opened up on the Court, resulting in a net gain of one vote for what the GOP calls "strict constructionists." But, Gore pointed out tonight, as many as three Roe-supporting Justices could retire in the next President's first term.
8:50 PM ET | 08-28-2008 | permalink
Huge cheers and foot-stomping for popular western Gov Bill Richardson. (He still has the beard.)
Keeps up the assault on McCain's position changes.
"John McCain paid 500 dollars for his shoes. But we're the ones that will pay for his flip-flops"
Big cheers for promises that Obama will uphold U.S. Constitution, respect Bill of Rights, supports right to choose and will close Gitmo.
8:46 PM ET | 08-28-2008 | permalink
Stevie Wonder has the crowd on their feet and leads a call and response: "yes we can."
Then announces: I'm gonna do this song for the future president of the US and his wife -- it's Signed, Sealed, Delivered -- Obama often exits the stage to this tune at events.
The crowd is singing along, dancing, still waving those flags..
8:44 PM ET | 08-28-2008 | permalink
UPDATE(9:50 EST): Obama CO state director Ray Rivera: 30k txt signups in last hour.
Seats are quickly filling with more than 2 hrs to go. ... will.i.am and John Legend did a live performance of their song that went viral "Yes We Can" ...complete with video samples of Obama speeches. The crowd waved little American flags. As the song wound down a staffer came out to encourage the audience to text the campaign to sign up and volunteer. A massive graphic display conveyed which area codes were sending in the most texts.
7:46 PM ET | 08-28-2008 | permalink
Drudge headlines that all the McCain veepstakes finalists will gather onstage at the candidate's noon event in Dayton, Ohio tomorrow. The event, which coincides with McCain's 72nd birthday, is expected to be his running-mate rollout.
Sounds...awkward for the unchosen, no?
7:20 PM ET | 08-28-2008 | permalink
Baskin-Robbins is introducing two new flavors of ice cream in honor of the presidential election: "Straight Talk Crunch" and "Whirl of Change."
Reporters traveling with John McCain got to sample the former today: a tasty blend of white chocolate, caramel, crunchy nuts, and a bit of red hot peppermint.
(No Whirl of Change was served on McCain's campaign plane, so I can't offer an informed opinion of which is better. )
Baskin Robbins is partly owned by Mitt Romney's old firm, Bain Capital, but that may not be a signal of McCain's upcoming VP announcement.
-- Scott Horsley
7:11 PM ET | 08-28-2008 | permalink
A clever move by the Obama campaign and the DNCC...knowing tonight's audience (both in the stadium and in teeveeland) would be filled with non-insiders they've peppered the schedule with civilian-friendly acts to break up the political speeches and keep the crowd engaged.
Bluegrass jam band Yonder Mountain String Band opened the proceedings, Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson led the Pledge, and Dreamgirl Jennifer Hudson sang the national anthem.
Other acts tonight include live performances by Sheryl Crow, will.i.am (with John Legend), and Stevie Wonder. Al Gore is also scheduled to speak. Does he count as a politician or a rockstar?
Full podium schedule after the jump.
Continue reading "Star-Studded Cast" »
6:30 PM ET | 08-28-2008 | permalink
CNN Grill in Denver.
The undertaking included a gigantic CNN = Politics sign painted on two sides of the red brick historic building, beer tap handles replaced with white and red "CNN Brew: Red Ale" labels and a huge blue star sign constructed above the front door (with the CNN lettering, of course.)
FOX HQ in Denver.
5:35 PM ET | 08-28-2008 | permalink
McCain communications director Jill Hazelbaker promised this ad would be "historic." I don't know if I'd go that far, but it's definitely a departure from the McCain camp's recent negative efforts -- including rare DNC-week contrast spots. In it, McCain, talking directly into the camera, congratulates Obama and adds, "how perfect that your nomination would come on this historic day" (i.e. the 45th anniversary of "I Have A Dream"). McCain doesn't overtly mention race, but he's clearly talking about the ground Obama is breaking as he becomes the first major-party black nominee.
So...genuine gesture of goodwill or gambit to grab a little airtime on Obama's big night and revive a fraying reputation for high-mindedness? (Or, well, both? The two don't have to be mutually exclusive, do they?)
5:28 PM ET | 08-28-2008 | permalink
The chairwoman of the Snohomish County, WA Republican Party issued an apology yesterday after a party volunteer sold "$3 bills" at a state fair showing Obama wearing an Arab head covering. At the top of the bill, it reads: "Obamanation Note... The Concerned States of America... The Prince of Platitudes." It also shows a picture of a camel. Chairwoman Geri Modrell, who ordered the bills removed, told the Seattle Times: "I don't think it's funny. They were offensive. The volunteers are being told very clearly they must not do these sorts of things."
1:37 PM ET | 08-28-2008 | permalink
Always a good question in an election year, and over at the Secret Money Project, our colleague Will Evans traces the couldn't-make-it-up origins of one such ad: the Coalition Against Anti-Christian Rhetoric's spot from last June.
With its suggestions that Obama was a closet Muslim, it was the first truly inflammatory ad of the '08 campaign.
But it wasn't cooked up by high-priced DC consultants. The ad went on the air -- and into the blogosphere -- thanks to a hypnotherapist, a wedding videographer, a felonious fugitive... and an inattentive employee at a TV station.
Will uncovers it all, from missing money to disappearing devil horns. His tale of Weird Politics is here.
-- Peter Overby
12:26 PM ET | 08-28-2008 | permalink
NPR's Don Gonyea passed along this exchange between Obama's chief strategist David Axelrod and reporters. It took place on the flight to Denver. The transcript was written up by the campaign...
[Q] Is the speech written?
[DA] The speech is substantially written but as with all Obama speeches he'll be refining it, and buffing it up and working on it I'm sure right until the very end. So, I mean he's been thinking about it for a long time, he's been working on it for a long time so.
[Q] How long has he been thinking about it?
[DA] I think he started thinking about it before he left on vacation, and you know he's been working on it intermittently ever since with his speechwriters and...
THE REST OF THE INTERVIEW IS AFTER THE JUMP...
Continue reading "Axelrod Previews Obama's Acceptance Speech" »
11:28 AM ET | 08-28-2008 | permalink
From the pool report, c/o NPR's Don Gonyea:
Denver Athletic Club. Downtown. Obama in dark athletic pants. Brown t-shirt. Baseball cap.
Walks from SUV to club entrance and disappears inside. Pool kept far away on sidewalk. He did not say anything to pool.
Leaving the club:
Obama waves to crowd. No interaction or comment. Motorcade rolling.
11:10 AM ET | 08-28-2008 | permalink
Part of what makes any cross-country road trip so enjoyable is watching one landscape slide into the next -- the long stretches of farmland, the collections of fast food restaurants and gas stations off the highways, the Main streets with coffee shops and laundromats, the foothills that grow steeper and steeper until suddenly, you're in the mountains.
I think our fellow traveler, David Gilkey, has captured that amazingly with his photographs of what goes by outside the car window. He's taken so many that we've decided to start sharing them in a series of posts called Rearview Mirror. These are some the sights that we witnessed yesterday driving from Mountain View, Arkansas to Springfield, Missouri:
10:25 AM ET | 08-28-2008 | permalink
McCain is having a little fun with Obama's Veepstakes. Hillary Clinton's dramatic entrance -- prancing down the back stairs -- is a nice touch. But what's up with the woman tending to the stove in the background?
9:18 AM ET | 08-28-2008 | permalink
Politico's Jonathan Martin reports that Karl Rove may be trying to influence McCain's VP selection process. Citing three sources, Martin writes that Rove called Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) last week, asking him to withdraw his name from consideration. Lieberman apparently dimissed the request. Rove plays no formal role in McCain's campaign, but is viewed by many as a wily GOP strategist.
This comes on the heels of reports that McCain has now settled on a VP candidate and will make the announcement at a rally in Ohio tomorrow.
Others thought to be on McCain's list of possible picks: MN Governor Tim Pawlenty, former MA Governor Mitt Romney, former PA Governor Tom Ridge, and FL Governor Charlie Crist.
8:42 AM ET | 08-28-2008 | permalink
Newly-minted VP nominee Joe Biden addressed the DNC delegates tonight after an emotional introduction from his son Beau. Sen. Biden spent a good portion of his speech talking about family. His mother was in the convention hall, and the cameras showed her (to the delegates' delight) on the huge in-house monitors as Biden talked about the lessons she taught him:
Failure at some point in your life is inevitable, but giving up is unforgivable. As a child I stuttered, and she lovingly would look at me and told me: "Joey, it's because you're so bright you can't get the thoughts out quickly enough." When I was not as well dressed as the other kids, she told me: "Joey, you're so handsome honey, you're so handsome." And when I got knocked down by guys bigger than me, and this is the God's truth, she sent me back out the street and told me: "bloody their nose so you can walk down the street the next day." And that's what I did.
At one point Biden appeared to confuse the Republican nominee with the sitting President. Was it really a mistake?
You know, folks, that's the America that George Bush has left us, and that's the America we'll continue to get if George--excuse me if John McCain is elected president of the United States of America. Freudian slip! Freudian slip!
Continue reading "Biden Accepts Nomination, Dings McCain " »
1:02 AM ET | 08-28-2008 | permalink
Bill Clinton wrap, a few hours late...
After all the media speculation about how badly the bitter primary campaign damaged Bill Clinton's legacy, his reception from the crowd tonight showed no signs of residual tension.
Clinton acknowledged the hard-fought primary right off the bat:
What a year we Democrats have had. The primary began with an all-star lineup and came down to two remarkable Americans locked in a hard-fought contest to the very end. The campaign generated so much heat it increased global warming. In the end, my candidate didn't win. But I'm very proud of the campaign she ran: She never quit on the people she stood up for, on the changes she pushed for, on the future she wants for all our children. And I'm grateful for the chance Chelsea and I had to tell Americans about the person we know and love.
In the end, my candidate didn't win. But I'm very proud of the campaign she ran: She never quit on the people she stood up for, on the changes she pushed for, on the future she wants for all our children. And I'm grateful for the chance Chelsea and I had to tell Americans about the person we know and love.
But he quickly added this:
Hillary told us in no uncertain terms that she'll do everything she can to elect Barack Obama. That makes two of us. Actually that makes 18 million of us - because, like Hillary, I want all of you who supported her to vote for Barack Obama in November.
That makes two of us. Actually that makes 18 million of us - because, like Hillary, I want all of you who supported her to vote for Barack Obama in November.
Continue reading "DNC Crowd Loves Bill Clinton" »
12:58 AM ET | 08-28-2008 | permalink
Beef jerky, cheese, and Andy Williams collide in Branson, Missouri. Tastiness: 3. After-taste: -2.
12:33 AM ET | 08-28-2008 | permalink
Joe Biden's wife Jill introduced the nominee as "a very special surprise guest."
The crowd responded as you'd expect...leaping to their feet with a loud cheer as they have many times tonight.
Obama acknowledged the whole Biden clan and said he was "proud" to have the Delaware Senator on board. He also praised the speeches given so far by his wife and both Clintons, saying of his onetime primary rival's performance, "if I'm not mistaken, Hillary Clinton rocked the house last night."
Obama then explained tomorrow's change of venue from the Pepsi Center to Invesco Mile High stadium. He said the campaign is premised on the idea that "change in America doesn't start from the top down, it starts from the bottom up" and said they wanted "make sure that everybody who wants to come can join in the party and join in the effort to take America back."
("Everybody" is a bit of an overstatement; according to DemConWatch the Obama campaign burned through the 60,000 tickets allotted to ordinary Coloradans in less than 24 hours. So it's more of a metaphorical everybody. But it's a grand gesture nonetheless.)
10:55 PM ET | 08-27-2008 | permalink
NPR's Don Gonyea says Obama will make a surprise appearance on stage at the end of Biden's speech.
10:36 PM ET | 08-27-2008 | permalink
Joe Biden's son Beau, the Attorney General of Delaware and a soon-to-deploy National Guard Captain, introduced his dad tonight. Beau gave a moving first-person version of the story we've heard so many times since last weekend, about Joe's dedicated single fatherhood after his first wife and baby daughter died in a car crash that left his two sons badly injured. Senator Biden, who had been elected but not yet sworn in at the time of the accident, took his oath of office in Beau's hospital room and commuted home to Delaware by train every night after finishing his work in the Senate.
10:32 PM ET | 08-27-2008 | permalink
DNC Chair Nancy Pelosi called for Joe Biden's nomination for the Vice-Presidency by acclamation. The crowd seconded and approved the motion with a big cheer.
10:19 PM ET | 08-27-2008 | permalink
Politico is now reporting that McCain has chosen a running mate and will inform that person tomorrow. According to campaign aides, the two will then hit the road together and hold rallies over the weekend in the key battleground states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Missouri.
UPDATE: CNN is reporting the same. The network says McCain will go public with his pick on Friday at a rally in Ohio. No wire reports yet.
10:04 PM ET | 08-27-2008 | permalink
2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry was in a tough position as a DNC speaker. He had to deliver a speech criticizing his longtime friend -- a man he once considered as a potential running-mate -- John McCain.
He skirted the problem by differentiating between "Senator McCain" and "Candidate McCain" -- the "myth of the maverick" vs. "the reality of a politician":
Candidate McCain now supports the wartime tax cuts that Senator McCain once denounced as immoral. Candidate McCain criticizes Senator McCain's own climate change bill. Candidate McCain says he would now vote against the immigration bill that Senator McCain wrote.
Kerry then added this reference to a gaffe from his own campaign that turned into a huge Republican talking point as they painted him as a flip-flopper:
Are you kidding? Talk about being for it before you're against it. Let me tell you, before he ever debates Barack Obama, John McCain should finish the debate with himself.
Let me tell you, before he ever debates Barack Obama, John McCain should finish the debate with himself.
The bulk of Kerry's speech focused on foreign policy and shoring up Barack Obama's national security credentials. He asked repeatedly, "who can we trust to keep America safe?" to the crowd's response of "Barack Obama!" before favorably comparing Obama's foreign policy positions to McCain's. And he offered this scathing dismissal of McCain's anti-Obama talking points:
How insulting to suggest that those who question the mission, question the troops. How pathetic to suggest that those who question a failed policy doubt America itself. How desperate to tell the son of a single mother who chose community service over money and privilege that he doesn't put America first.
Kerry also referenced the Swift Boat ads that torpedoed his own candidacy with assaults on his military record and patriotism:
This election is a chance for America to tell the merchants of fear and division: you don't decide who loves this country; you don't decide who is a patriot; you don't decide whose service counts and whose doesn't. Four years ago I said, and I say it again tonight, that the flag doesn't belong to any ideology. It doesn't belong to any political party. It is an enduring symbol of our nation, and it belongs to all the American people. After all, patriotism is not love of power or some cheap trick to win votes; patriotism is love of country.
Kerry was badly stung by his 2004 loss, and his speech tonight revealed some lingering bitterness. His message seemed to be: don't let it happen again.
9:51 PM ET | 08-27-2008 | permalink
Bill Clinton compares Obama to another young candidate close to his heart...
Republicans said I was too young and too inexperienced to be commander-in-chief. Sound familiar? It did not work in 1992 because we were on the right side of history. And it will not work in 2008 because Barack Obama is on the right side of history.
Sound familiar?
It did not work in 1992 because we were on the right side of history. And it will not work in 2008 because Barack Obama is on the right side of history.
9:23 PM ET | 08-27-2008 | permalink
Clinton tells the delegates: "Barack Obama is ready to lead."
It's a direct response to the McCain campaign's negative ad slogan "not ready to lead" and backtracks Hillary Clinton's primary-season argument that she would be "ready on day one" and Obama would not.
9:12 PM ET | 08-27-2008 | permalink
Bill Clinton has taken the stage to the tune of his 1992 campaign song "Don't Stop" by Fleetwood Mac.
The crowd, waving little American flags, gave him a thunderous standing ovation, followed by chants of "Bill! Bill! Bill!"
Even more cheers after Clinton's opening line: "I am here first to support Barack Obama."
9:02 PM ET | 08-27-2008 | permalink
A slate of VP also-rans -- Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh, Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, and former South Dakota Sen. Tom Daschle -- have come up to bat in the past half hour. The delegates only seem moderately interested, applauding politely but mostly continuing to chat with their neighbors.
Hard not to imagine the different receptions these guys would have received if the choice had played out differently.
8:53 PM ET | 08-27-2008 | permalink
NPR's Ken Rudin, who is on the convention floor, has spotted Michelle Obama.
8:47 PM ET | 08-27-2008 | permalink
Senator Obama was at his hotel with his wife Michelle and his daughters Sasha and Malia as well as extended family when he learned that he was officially the nominee.
-- Don Gonyea
8:08 PM ET | 08-27-2008 | permalink
New Mexico yields to Obama's home state of Illinois, which yields to Hillary Clinton's home state of New York.
Everyone in the hall jumps to their feet as Clinton makes her way through the New York delegation to the state's microphone. Huge cheers erupt when she introduces a motion -- after noting that all delegate votes will be counted -- that the convention suspend the rules and give Obama the nomination by acclamation.
Convention Chair Nancy Pelosi calls for a second, and the delegates roar in assent as the song "Love Train" is piped through the loudspeakers. It's a brilliantly choreographed feel-good moment that was all but unimaginable just a few months ago.
6:43 PM ET | 08-27-2008 | permalink
After a bitter and protracted battle over their convention seating, Michigan and Florida have lined up behind the presumptive nominee. Since both states violated party rules by scheduling their contests too early, their delegates were not supposed to count at all. Neither candidate campaigned in the rogue states (in Michigan Obama wasn't even on the ballot), and Clinton "won" both primaries. As the closely-contested primary season drew to an end, Clinton's campaign fought hard to get the delegations reinstated, hoping to lessen Obama's margin of victory and muddy the popular vote tally. Clinton officials and surrogates said the punishment effectively disenfranchised MI and FL voters. The Obama camp argued for a compromise that would give the delegates half-votes each, and the DNC's Rules Committee agreed with them. Ultimately, both states' delegations were fully reinstated. And there didn't seem to be much lingering bitterness toward the Obama campaign today as both states gave Obama a healthy margin of victory.
Florida gave Obama 150 votes, and Clinton 61.
Michigan gave Obama 125 votes, and Clinton 27.
6:07 PM ET | 08-27-2008 | permalink
California and Illinois declined to announce their delegate tallies in their alphabetical spots in the roll call.
According to NPR's Ken Rudin, that's not unusual or a big deal. He says it may have to do with a mathematical calculation that would allow a particular state to put Obama over the top.
6:04 PM ET | 08-27-2008 | permalink
The roll call vote is under way after nominating and seconding speeches for both Clinton and Obama.
So far, Clinton is receiving a measure of support, but nothing reflecting the closeness of the primaries.
But there was heavy symbolism from Arkansas, where Clinton served 5 terms as First Lady. Clinton won 70% of the vote in that state's primary. Today Arkansas was the first state to go unanimously for Obama.
5:43 PM ET | 08-27-2008 | permalink
NPR's Don Gonyea reports that Obama's plane just touched down in Denver.
5:15 PM ET | 08-27-2008 | permalink
Never a dull moment here at the Convention... Walking to lunch, I passed a protest of about a dozen people. One guy was carrying a bullhorn. His plea: STOP BIRD-WATCHING... BIRD-WATCHING IS BIRD PORN.
I'm afraid to ask...
5:05 PM ET | 08-27-2008 | permalink
NPR's Ken Rudin, the network's resident political junkie, just shared this fascinating bit of history with me. Call it the six degrees of separation in Alaska politics...
Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, now the Democratic nominee for US Senate, is the son of the late Congressman Nick Begich (D-AK).
In 1972, Republican Don Young challenged the elder Begich. Joining Begich on the campaign trail that year was House Majority Leader Hale Boggs (D-LA). While en route to a campaign event in Juneau, their plane crashed, killing everyone aboard. Begich, whose name remained on the ballot, went on to defeat Young. When the seat was officially declared vacant, a special election was called in January of 1973. Young won the seat and has held it ever since.
Here's the eerie parallel. Ted Stevens ran for US Senate for a second time in 1968, but lost in the Republican primary. Then in December of 1968, Alaska's other US Senator, E.L. Bob Bartlett, died following heart surgery. Alaska Governor Walter Hickel, a Republican, promptly appointed Stevens to fill the vacant seat and he's held it ever since.
Now, fast forward to today... Ted Stevens will defend his Senate seat against Mark Begich in November. Both won their respective primaries yesterday by significant margins. Meanwhile, Don Young holds a razor-thin lead over primary challenger Sean Parnell, the current Lieutenant Governor of Alaska. But, as I write, the race is too close to call.
4:05 PM ET | 08-27-2008 | permalink
Every spare second counts on this trip. That's why we've set up our car as a command center: cables and converters litter the floor and seats. Blackberries and cell phones slide along the dashboard. We try to write and file stories as we travel. We also use the time to read all of the suggestions listeners have been sending us. That's what we did yesterday as we pulled out of St. Louis. There are so many excellent ideas that we honestly don't know where to begin.
We wave goodbye to St. Louis.
One listener thinks we should visit a Navajo leader in Fort Defiance, Arizona, who is an advocate for the religious rights of inmates. Another listener in Olathe, Kansas, says we should visit her pastor, who's a "brilliant storyteller and funny as heck." And then there's the yoga instructor in Kansas City who helps people apply the principles of yoga to their everday lives and the husband and wife middle school teachers in Fort Collins, Colorado who work to get art displayed in public places. I wish we had time to visit everyone of these people.
We continued reading letters out loud to each other all the way to Arkansas. Winding our way through the Ozarks, up and down the hills, we were forced to stop reading. Car-sickness. But we eventually arrived in a town called Mountain View -- a place suggested to us in one of your letters.
Even Panda the dog enjoys the music in Mountain View.
Spontaneous bluegrass jams happen all over this town. We braked in front of the Mountain View Music Shop, where a group of pickers gather every Tuesday to play Old Time music, which predates but sounds similar to bluegrass. So as Hillary Clinton addressed the crowds in Denver, we listened to traditional mountain music -- banjos, guitars, and fiddles -- in the state her husband once governed.
4:00 PM ET | 08-27-2008 | permalink
Via NPR's Obama campaign road warrior Don Gonyea, the candidate has left Montana, en route to Denver to join the convention.
Obama Woos Big Sky Vets
Senator Obama met with military families and veterans in a bucolic setting in Billings, Montana today. In front of a backdrop of a lazy river, trees, and a mountain, he pledged to do more for Americans veterans. Veterans' programs need to be better funded for the long term, he said. And veterans' hospitals need the resources to be able to provide the care and benefits vets have earned.
Despite the outdoor setting, this was a town-hall meeting. And overall it was a friendly crowd. The questions mainly focused on vets issues...but other topics came up too. One elderly gentleman suggested a higher gas tax to help fund infrastructure improvements like better roads and more passenger railroads. He noted that many veterans in a wide open place like Montana have a hard time getting to a veterans facility for care.
Senator Obama said he doesn't want to do anything to increase the burden on people already struggling to afford high priced gasoline. But he used the moment to pitch his call for greater auto fuel efficiency and for investment in alternative energy sources.
Another man stood up and greeted Senator Obama with a deep-throated "thank you, very much" and then noted that he must sound like Elvis. The candidate asked if he was about to break into song. Instead the man launched into a statement about nuclear waste. He is opposed to nuclear power and doesn't want any more waste produced, since it could wind up being stored in a spacious state like Montana or Nevada.
Obama said he was going to disagree with the man, "slightly". The Senator said nuclear power produces no carbon emissions, so it should be a part of the mix in a new energy policy for the country.
The Senator bid everyone a farewell, after noting that Montana has been his favorite discovery of the election campaign. (And after last night's dynamic speech from a bolo-tied MT Governor Brian Schweitzer he has more than one reason to feel that way.)
And off he went. Next stop: Denver.
3:07 PM ET | 08-27-2008 | permalink
Salon's War Room derides the Obama camp's Greek temple-style design for the candidate's nomination acceptance speech tomorrow at Invesco Mile High stadium, calling it ammunition for more McCain attacks on Obama's presumptuousness. The post speculates on one potential association:
The set is actually pretty reminiscent of the style used by Trinity Broadcasting, a Christian network. So maybe this is an attempt to draw in evangelicals, something the Obama campaign (and Democrats generally) has been trying really hard to do. But even if that's the case, the set design still seems like a very bad idea.
Meanwhile...a wise friend of Vox Politics points out another columned structure the Obama folks might be trying to evoke on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech...
What do you think? Too much?
2:44 PM ET | 08-27-2008 | permalink
In an interview with CBS's Katie Couric yesterday, '88 Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis took responsibility for the country's current state of affairs.
Katie: When you're here in Denver and you see all this hoopla do you ever wonder, gee, what if? Dukakis: Look, I owe the American people an apology. If I had beaten the old man you'd of never heard of the kid and you wouldn't be in this mess. So it's all my fault and I feel that very, very strongly. So this is an important election for us. Let me tell 'ya.
Dukakis: Look, I owe the American people an apology. If I had beaten the old man you'd of never heard of the kid and you wouldn't be in this mess. So it's all my fault and I feel that very, very strongly. So this is an important election for us. Let me tell 'ya.
While we're at it, just think if Alexander Hamilton had drawn his pistol in the duel with Aaron Burr...we might be spending this week blogging the Federalist National Convention.
h/t Folkenflik
1:43 PM ET | 08-27-2008 | permalink
Obama, along with wife Michelle, is kicking off a bus tour of key battleground states starting next week. Joe and Jill Biden will be along for the ride, marking the first time the two families will be together on the trail. The itinerary takes them through Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan. According to the campaign, the tour will focus on economic issues.
1:40 PM ET | 08-27-2008 | permalink
There's been some blow-back in the last few hours over McCain's new ad -- and not just from the Obama campaign. In addition to the lingering issue that Evie blogged about yesterday, some are claiming that McCain twisted Obama's comments on Iran, specifically his use of the word "tiny" to describe the Middle Eastern country. Here's the quote in question, taken from a speech Obama gave in Pendleton, OR on May 18, 2008:
Strong countries and strong Presidents talk to their adversaries. That's what Kennedy did with Khrushchev. That's what Reagan did with Gorbachev. That's what Nixon did with Mao. I mean think about it. Iran, Cuba, Venezuela -- these countries are tiny compared to the Soviet Union. They don't pose a serious threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us. And yet we were willing to talk to the Soviet Union at the time when they were saying we're going to wipe you off the planet. And ultimately that direct engagement led to a series of measures that helped prevent nuclear war, and over time allowed the kind of opening that brought down the Berlin Wall. Now, that has to be the kind of approach that we take. You know, Iran, they spend one-one hundredth of what we spend on the military. If Iran ever tried to pose a serio us threat to us, they wouldn't stand a chance. And we should use that position of strength that we have to be bold enough to go ahead and listen. That doesn't mean we agree with them on everything. We might not compromise on any issues, but at least we should find out other areas of potential common interest, and we can reduce some of the tensions that has caused us so many problems around the world.
Seems like the ad fails to consider the larger context of the comment. Jake Tapper of ABC's Politcal Punch uses stronger words, saying the ad "crosses a new line into dishonesty". The website TalkingPointsMemo also weighed in: "The new McCain ad ... rips Obama's words out of context so egregiously that it amounts to a distortion at best and an outright smear at worst."
Then came this from the Obama campaign, c/o spokesman Hari Sevugan:
John McCain is distorting Barack Obama's words to cover up for the fact that it's the failed Bush-McCain approach to foreign policy and the Bush-McCain war in Iraq that that have strengthened Iran and endangered Israel. While Barack Obama recognizes that Iran has been the biggest beneficiary of the war in Iraq and that the Bush-McCain fear of tough diplomacy has allowed Iran to spin 3800 centrifuges, threaten Israel, and fund terrorism, John McCain promises more of the same. If John McCain was serious about dealing with the threat from Iran, he would join Barack Obama's bipartisan effort in the Senate to step up sanctions on Iran instead of adopting the same tired, old Bush-Rove playbook.
Your turn... Was McCain out-of-bounds on this one? Or is Obama's Iran policy misguided? Or is it a bit of both?
11:45 AM ET | 08-27-2008 | permalink
The Anchorage Daily News reports today that embattled Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) cleaned up in yesterday's primary with 63 percent of the vote, easily defeating six challengers. Stevens was indicted on federal felony charges last month for failing to disclose more than $250,000 in gifts from the an oil field services company. He's pleaded not guilty. But his tangle with the law clearly didn't phase many voters. After his victory, Stevens told the AP the November election would be a "piece of cake". He'll now face off against Anchorage Mayor and Democrat Mark Begich, who captured 84 percent of the vote in his primary race. Check out NPR's Election Map for more info on this race.
10:20 AM ET | 08-27-2008 | permalink
McCain hit the airwaves today with another ad, this time attacking Obama's Iran policy. The timing is key as the Democrats here in Denver -- headlined by Veep nominee Sen. Joe Biden -- prepare to spend the day discussing national security and foreign policy. The ad accuses Obama of misunderstanding and underestimating Iran's intentions in the Middle East.
McCain has used this line of attack repeatedly on the campaign trail: portraying Obama as dangerously unprepared and naive. It's clearly been effective among certain sectors of the population. As the new Quinnipiac poll indicates, many voters favor McCain -- often by wide margins -- when it comes to handling conflict, natural disasters, and bristly foreign relations. Hard to say at this early stage whether Biden's presence on the Democratic ticket will change that opinion.
8:50 AM ET | 08-27-2008 | permalink
While perhaps not as architecturally impressive as the St. Louis Gateway Arch, this Super King Store Sugar-Coated Donut did not fail to deliver. Oh, wait, it did. Tastiness: 2.
8:27 AM ET | 08-27-2008 | permalink
On the drive to St. Louis, we took a ferry from Grafton over the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. That's where we met Kevin Nolle, the ferry boat captain. He says he's not happy with Obama or McCain but does look up to Ted Nugent and Jesus.
When the weather's nice, Captain Nolle lets his trainee drive so he can mingle with the customers. He says he loves his job because he sees sunsets most people only see on postcards.
2:44 AM ET | 08-27-2008 | permalink
If there was tension in the hall when Hillary Clinton took the podium tonight you'd never know it from looking at her face. After all the hand-wringing about whether Clinton supporters would "get over it", Hillary seemed to be the one person who was indeed over it. Rocking an excellent orange pantsuit, she opened her speech with an unstinting call for unity:
I am honored to be here tonight. A proud mother. A proud Democrat. A proud American. And a proud supporter of Barack Obama. My friends, it is time to take back the country we love. Whether you voted for me, or voted for Barack, the time is now to unite as a single party with a single purpose. We are on the same team, and none of us can sit on the sidelines. This is a fight for the future. And it's a fight we must win. I haven't spent the past 35 years in the trenches advocating for children, campaigning for universal health care, helping parents balance work and family, and fighting for women's rights at home and around the world . . . to see another Republican in the White House squander the promise of our country and the hopes of our people. And you haven't worked so hard over the last 18 months, or endured the last eight years, to suffer through more failed leadership. No way. No how. No McCain. Barack Obama is my candidate. And he must be our President.
My friends, it is time to take back the country we love.
Whether you voted for me, or voted for Barack, the time is now to unite as a single party with a single purpose. We are on the same team, and none of us can sit on the sidelines.
This is a fight for the future. And it's a fight we must win.
I haven't spent the past 35 years in the trenches advocating for children, campaigning for universal health care, helping parents balance work and family, and fighting for women's rights at home and around the world . . . to see another Republican in the White House squander the promise of our country and the hopes of our people.
And you haven't worked so hard over the last 18 months, or endured the last eight years, to suffer through more failed leadership.
No way. No how. No McCain.
Barack Obama is my candidate. And he must be our President.
The crowd (all of it, not just the nearly 50% of the delegates who were elected to support her) greeted Clinton enthusiastically, frequently interrupting her with applause and even a few standing ovations. And, in an indication that some of the wounds from the primary have begun to heal, they roared with approval whenever images of Bill Clinton appeared on the monitor.
Clinton turned next to her own failed bid for the nomination, reminiscing about some of the people she had met (she called her supporters "the sisterhood of the traveling pantsuits") and the issues she had vowed to fight for if elected. Those goals, she said, are the reason she supports Barack Obama over John McCain. And she urged her supporters to view the election in that light too.
I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me? Or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him? Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids? Were you in it for that boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage? Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?
She went on to hammer John McCain's positions on a litany of issues: the economy; health care; Social Security; equal pay for women; etc. And she followed the party talking-point of linking McCain with President Bush, firing this zinger:
With an agenda like that, it makes sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities. Because these days they're awfully hard to tell apart.
As NPR's Ken Rudin remarked, it was an Ann Richards moment.
And Clinton cast this year's election in the most urgent of terms:
We don't have a moment to lose or a vote to spare. Nothing less than the fate of our nation and the future of our children hang in the balance.
Nothing less than the fate of our nation and the future of our children hang in the balance.
Clinton's name will be put into nomination during the roll-call vote tomorrow night. Some reports indicate that the Clinton and Obama camps are working out a deal to prevent a cumbersome tallying of delegate votes from each state, commonwealth, district, and territory. For example, the roll-call could be cut short after a few states with a proposal -- maybe even from Clinton herself -- to nominate Obama by acclamation.
The speech was everything the Obama camp could have asked for, and more. Now it's up to her supporters to decide if they will follow her lead.
10:41 PM ET | 08-26-2008 | permalink
Former Virginia Governor (and current Senate Candidate) Mark Warner had a tough task tonight: follow Barack Obama's widely hailed 2004 convention keynote that ultimately catapulted him to the 2008 nomination. And Warner also had to try to make a mark on a night that ultimately belongs to Hillary Clinton.
Warner told reporters ahead of time that he wouldn't be going negative in his speech tonight. And he stayed true to that promise, offering only one mild rebuke to John McCain:
John McCain promises more of the same -- a plan that would explode the deficit that will be passed on to our kids. No real strategy to invest in our crumbling infrastructure. And he would continue spending $10 billion a month in Iraq. I don't know about you, but that's just not right. That's four more years that we just can't afford.
I don't know about you, but that's just not right. That's four more years that we just can't afford.
The speech mainly wove together self-biography (he was the first in his family to go to college and made his fortune as an early investor in wireless telecom); his own record as Governor of Virginia; and high-minded ideas about the American dream. He did mention Obama several times, as here:
Barack Obama has a different vision -- and a different plan. Right now, at this critical moment in our history, we have one shot to get it right. And the status quo just won't cut it.
But nonetheless the remarks somehow had the anticlimactic flavor of a stump speech for Warner's own Senate campaign, rather than a convention keynote celebrating the 2008 Democratic nominee for President. His successors at the podium, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland and Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, were both far more bombastic than Warner and were rewarded with greater enthusiasm from the crowd.
10:05 PM ET | 08-26-2008 | permalink
Tonight's theme is the economy -- the official title is "Renewing America's Promise". And Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey Jr.'s speech kept up the assault on George Bush and John McCain. Barack Obama, he said, is "one of us".
Casey summed up McCain's record of frequent votes in support of the President's policies with a quick one-liner: "That's not a maverick. That's a sidekick." And he twice led the crowd into rousing chants of "four more months!"
But Casey's appearance held significance beyond his ably delivered jabs at the GOP. His father, then-PA Gov. Robert Casey Sr., was famously denied a speaking slot at the 1992 Democratic Convention. Rumors at the time suggested that Casey Senior was persona non grata at the podium because he was pro-life, though the Bill Clinton campaign maintained that it was because he was not an early Clinton supporter.
Casey Jr. is pro-life as well, and was one of Obama's most active surrogates during this year's hard-fought Pennsylvania primary against Hillary Clinton. Casey made a veiled reference to the 1992 snubbing with this line:
Barack Obama and I have an honest disagreement on the issue of abortion. But the fact that I'm speaking here tonight is testament to Barack's ability to show respect for the views of people who may disagree with him.
Obama is pro-choice and highly rated by the abortion-rights advocacy group NARAL. But his campaign has made a point of reaching out to Catholics and moderate evangelicals whose positions on other social issues like war, poverty, and the death penalty align with the Democratic platform. Bob Casey Jr.'s appearance tonight is another olive branch to those voters.
9:27 PM ET | 08-26-2008 | permalink
Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius -- once considered a leading Veepstakes contender -- presented a biting ("John McCain believes in country club economics"), if rather soft-spoken, indictment of John McCain's economic and energy policies in her speech tonight.
Now, even though John McCain has spent 26 years in Washington voting over and over again against investing in renewable energy, John McCain does support some renewables. He wants to renew the failed Bush agenda for another four years. John McCain has also renewed the Bush-Rove style of politics built on bringing down your opponent instead of lifting America up.
The pointed language was muted by Sebelius's mild delivery -- suggesting that she might not have been an ideal veep choice; running-mates are traditionally used as attack dogs.
But she did serve up this memorable line, straight out of the heartland:
Now, I'm sure you all remember that girl from Kansas who said "there's no place like home." Well, in John McCain's version, there's no place like a home, or a home, or a home, or a home...
Well, in John McCain's version, there's no place like a home, or a home, or a home, or a home...
9:04 PM ET | 08-26-2008 | permalink
Out of the 10 Toss-Up states between Obama and McCain on the NPR/NewsHour Election Map: Obama is narrowly ahead in 6, McCain in 3 and they are tied in 1.
Not including the Toss-Ups, NPR's Ken Rudin projects: Obama with 210 electoral votes, McCain with 200. Pushing the Toss-Ups based on Real Clear Politics averages Obama comes up with 273 and McCain comes up with 252
CO: Obama +1.2 9EV IA: Obama +5.3 7EV MI: Obama +4.3 17EV NH: Obama +0.3 4 EV NM: Obama +1.0 5EV PA: Obama +5.0 21EV
FL: McCain +3.5 27EV NV: McCain +3.0 5EV OH: McCain +1.2 20EV
VA:TIE 46/46 13EV
9:00 PM ET | 08-26-2008 | permalink
Another chapter has been opened in the saga of Barack Obama and former Weather Underground member William Ayers.
How important a chapter isn't clear yet.
The University of Illinois at Chicago on Tuesday brought out the files of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a 1990s project to make Chicago's schools better. There's an on-line but cryptic 66-page listing of what's in the 132 boxes.
Continue reading "Obama and Bill Ayers -- The Document Dump" »
8:05 PM ET | 08-26-2008 | permalink
Two-time Presidential candidate OH Rep. Dennis Kucinich gave a fiery speech to the Democrats in Denver this evening, railing against the Bush Administration and repeating the energetic refrain, "Wake Up, America!"
Kucinich spoke in his trademark strident style, verging on conspiracy theory without quite crossing the line. The crowd ate up his Bush-bashing rhetoric:
Now, this administration can tap our phones; they can't tap our creative spirit. They can open our mail, but they can't open economic opportunities. They can track our every move, but they lost track of the economy while the cost of food, gasoline and electricity skyrockets.
Kucinich, a netroots favorite who never registered substantially in the polls, falls to the left of mainstream Democrats on most issues. He has introduced articles of impeachment against both President Bush and Vice President Cheney on the House Floor, arguing that they misled the country on the Iraq threat during the run-up to the war.
His speech tonight was a bonanza of populism, with little mention of Barack Obama; the single nod to the 2008 Democratic ticket came almost as an afterthought during his blazing conclusion, which he delivered with so much energy that he actually jumped up and down as he said it:
Up with the rights of workers! Up with wages! Up with fair trade! Up with creating millions of good-paying jobs, rebuilding our bridges, our water system, our sewer system, our port! Up with creating millions of sustainable energy jobs to lower the cost of energy, lower carbon mission and protect the environment! Up with health care for all! Up with education for all! Up with homeownership! Up with guaranteed retirement benefits! Up with peace! Up with prosperity! Up with the Democratic Party! Up with Obama-Biden! Wake up, America! Wake up, America! Wake up, America!
Wake up, America! Wake up, America! Wake up, America!
The speech did not mention UFOs.
7:24 PM ET | 08-26-2008 | permalink
The Obama campaign is circulating this WSJ report that John McCain's recent ads invoking Hillary Clinton have gotten very little actual airtime as paid advertisements:
In the press releases accompanying each new ad, the McCain team pledges to air them in "key states." But don't expect to see many show up in battleground state living rooms. According to the Campaign Media Analysis Group, which monitors political advertising across the country, only one of the three Clinton-themed ads has been broadcast so far --- and that ad, featuring a Clinton delegate who now endorses McCain, is only airing in Toledo, Ohio.
Which is not to say the ads aren't being watched. You, gentle reader, have seem them, in our postings and on other blogs and probably on cable TV as well. CMAG's Evan Tracey tells the WSJ they're akin to "video press releases."
So, are the media suckers, or is the McCain camp just taking clever advantage of the system? (Or both?) Remember that Obama and his supporters have made effective use of viral videos as well, with a big boost from blogs and the MSM. Ads, too. So are the campaigns playing the media or just using the tools at hand to effectively capture our attention?
6:39 PM ET | 08-26-2008 | permalink
While it's the Democratic Convention this week in Denver, some big-name Republicans are in the Mile High City to cast doubt on Barack Obama's ability to lead the country.
Former Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney was at his party's "Rapid Response Headquarters" just about a mile from the arena where the Democrats are conducting their business.
Romney seemed to slip easily into the attack-dog role. "Barack Obama is a charming and fine person--a lovely family--but he's not ready to be President of the United States of America." The former governor of Massachusetts, predictably, pointed to John McCain as someone who does have that experience.
Obama typically has responded to statements like this by saying experienced political leaders got the U-S into the Iraq War and it's the quality of a leader's judgment that counts.
After Romney, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani is expected in Denver Wednesday. Then it's Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty on Thursday. All three have been mentioned as potential vice president picks for John McCain. Could they be auditioning for the job?
-- Jeff Brady
6:26 PM ET | 08-26-2008 | permalink
For those of you who have tuned in to the wall-to-wall coverage of the Convention here in Denver, you've likely caught a few of the musical interludes. It's an impressive line-up: Lenny Kravitz, Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden...
Alas, that star-studded group is only here in spirit. The NYC-based band "Ray Chew & the Crew" is the one cranking out the covers. Chew is best known as musical director for the mainstay music program "Showtime At The Apollo". He's also in charge of the music for Donald Trump's various pageants.
The big-ticket acts come later...
4:30 PM ET | 08-26-2008 | permalink
Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor on McCain's new ad:
If John McCain wants to quote Hillary Clinton's 3 AM ads, he should go right ahead, because Senator Clinton made it clear that it's John McCain who isn't ready to be President. Hillary Clinton was right: John McCain has no plan to protect our homes or create jobs, and that spells even more pain for American families. Barack Obama will give middle class families a tax cut and an emergency energy rebate, and he'll invest in a green energy economy to create jobs and break our dependence on foreign oil. John McCain won't.
3:30 PM ET | 08-26-2008 | permalink
Obama held a public event this morning at an American Airlines plane overhaul center in Kansas City, MO. NPR's Don Gonyea is traveling with the campaign and captured this exchange...
WOMAN IN THE AUDIENCE: I heard George Bush can take your property away if you don't agree with him on his Iraq policy. That happened last year that the Supreme Court gave him that right. And I want to know if youre gonna get our rights back from the constitution. OBAMA: This has been a serious issue. Now, I have not heard of George Bush taking people's property away just because they disagree with his policies. That can't happen. That would be unconsitutional even under George Bush. [Audience chuckles.]
OBAMA: This has been a serious issue. Now, I have not heard of George Bush taking people's property away just because they disagree with his policies. That can't happen. That would be unconsitutional even under George Bush. [Audience chuckles.]
2:00 PM ET | 08-26-2008 | permalink
NPR's Dina Temple-Raston has a few more details on the incident:
One of the suspects -- 32-year-old Nathan Johnson, an out of work truck driver -- told a local CBS affiliate in Denver that the others involved in the case had discussed killing Obama on Thursday, when he accepts the Democratic nomination at Invesco Field. Law enforcement officials cautioned about putting too much stock into this being a "plot" to kill Obama. One official said the guys were white supremacists, who were "meth-heads trying to impress their girlfriends." The US Attorney will have a press conference about the arrests this afternoon. The trio are expected to face federal charges.
NPR's Jeff Brady has the back story here and here.
1:50 PM ET | 08-26-2008 | permalink
Democratic Vice Presidential hopeful Joe Biden said today he's excited to be on the team with Barack Obama, even though it's an unfamiliar role. "I've never been a team," Biden told members of the Delaware delegation. "I've sort of been a one-man band." During a breakfast meeting on day two of the Democratic National Convention, Biden said Democrats have a rare chance in the November election to capture the White House and send the country in a different direction.
"There's so much at stake," he said. "But there's such an incredible opportunity."
Biden will address the full convention Wednesday night, followed by Obama's speech on Thursday. But the Delaware Senator said Michelle Obama's speech Monday night will likely be remembered as one of the highlights of the event.
"She gave a window for the American people into who she is and who he is and what really is the American dream," Biden said.
Biden wiped away tears as he thanked Delaware's delegation for their support during his long public career. And he joked with the state's governor about the challenge of adjusting to round-the-clock Secret Service protection.
"This is new to me. I was kidding her. I said, 'This is the first time I've ever had security. Senators don't matter.'"
11:18 AM ET | 08-26-2008 | permalink
We've updated our road trip map. You can use the map to chart our progress and find the stories that have already aired. We have more stories to come from the southern Illinois area, and we'll update soon. As always, let us know where we should pull over. Comment below or email us at meetyourleader@npr.org.
View Larger Map
11:08 AM ET | 08-26-2008 | permalink
A new poll from Quinnipiac University shows that a majority of likely voters in the swing states of Florida, Pennsylvania, and Ohio want a Democratic president in 2009. The margins: 44-39 in FL, 50-32 in PA, and 44-35 in OH. But Quinnipiac's numbers on the head-to-head race between McCain and Obama don't necessarily reflect that sentiment. In Florida, McCain leads 47-43 percent; in Ohio, Obama clings to a one-point lead, 44-43; and in Pennsylvania, Obama is up by 7 points, 49-42 percent. Just two months ago, Obama led in all three Quinnipiac state polls. The disparity might indicate that some voters are uneasy about the idea of a President Obama. Another interesting finding: When it comes to addressing the energy crisis and the economy, a majority of respondents in all three states favor Obama. But when it comes to dealing with terrorism, a potential conflict between Israel and Iran, or relations with Russia, a majority in the same states clearly favor McCain.
10:51 AM ET | 08-26-2008 | permalink
"It's 3am... Your children are safe and asleep... Who do you want answering the phone?"
Hmmm. Sounds familiar...
It's back! A new McCain ad uses footage from Clinton's famous "3AM" ad she rolled out during the primaries to challenge Obama's national security credentials. It also features a clip of Clinton pointing to the "lifetime of experience" McCain "will bring to the White House".
The timing of the ad is strategic: Hillary Clinton is set to deliver a much-anticipated speech tonight at the Convention in Denver. The ad seems to up the ante for Clinton. She's under increasing pressure to bring her supporters into the Obama fold and to voice a strongly unifying, Obama-focused message tonight. Will this ad provide additional motivation?
As for McCain, his strategy is not without its risks. The ad could very well win him a few votes among discontented Clinton supporters, especially women. But the link could also backfire. A new ABC News poll suggests that, among all registered voters, Clinton's favorability rating is on the decline. It's especially weak at the political center. Among independents, only 41 percent rate Clinton favorably compared with Obama's 59 percent rating.
9:52 AM ET | 08-26-2008 | permalink
More celebrity news to chew on... No, not that kind. This round comes courtesy of Madonna. Over the weekend, the Material Girl took a major swipe at John McCain during a kick-off concert to launch her new tour. During the song "Get Stupid", an on-stage video flashed a succession of shots of Adolf Hitler, Zimbabwe's embattled dictator Robert Mugabe, and John McCain, along with images of environmental destruction. The video ended with shots of John Lennon, Al Gore, Mahatma Gandhi and Barack Obama. Subtle contrast, right?
The McCain campaign shot back yesterday. Spokesman Tucker Bounds called the comparisons "outrageous, unacceptable and crudely divisive all at the same time." He continued: "It clearly shows that when it comes to supporting Barack Obama, his fellow worldwide celebrities refuse to consider any smear or attack off limits."
8:30 AM ET | 08-26-2008 | permalink
We're learning more about some suspicious arrests just a few miles away from the site of the Democratic convention.
Here's how Aurora Police Detective Marcus Dudley described the events that happened very early Sunday morning. At about 1:30 a.m. police pulled over a man who was weaving across lanes of traffic. Tharin Gartrell, 28, had a suspended license and he was driving a truck that was rented under someone else's name. The officer found two rifles (one with a scope), boxes of ammunition, a bullet-proof vest, walkie-talkies and methamphetamine. One of the guns had been stolen in Kansas.
Aurora Police called in the FBI, Secret Service and ATF to investigate. A few hours later Gartrell led them to Nathan Johnson, 32, at a hotel. And then Shawn Robert Adolf, 33, at another hotel. "He jumped from the sixth floor window of the hotel to evade arrest and was eventually located in the area," said Det. Dudley. Adolf was treated for relatively minor injuries and then booked on $1,000,000 bond.
Authorities remain mum on whether the men had any plans related to the convention. "We can say this: We're absolutely confident there is no credible threat to the candidate, the Democratic National Convention, or the people of Colorado," said Troy Eid, U.S. Attorney for Colorado.
12:22 AM ET | 08-26-2008 | permalink
C-Span distributes the Ted Kennedy tribute video, produced by famed documentary filmmakers Ken Burns and Mark Herzog:
11:06 PM ET | 08-25-2008 | permalink
Michelle Obama's remarks to the delegates drew heavily on her biography, as well as her husband's, in a push to embed the story of the candidate's family firmly in the context of the American dream. The Clinton campaign in the primaries, and now the McCain campaign in the general election, have tried to paint Barack Obama as an out-of-touch Ivy League elitist. This speech aimed to debunk that message and make the Obamas relatable.
Mrs. Obama talked at length about her working-class roots on the Chicago's south side and her relationship with her late father, who worked at a water treatment plant and struggled for years with MS. And she discussed her own initial skepticism about husband's background, seemingly as a parable for voters who may view him as too different or exotic to understand what their families are going through:
And you know, what struck me when I first met Barack was that even though he had this funny name, even though he'd grown up all the way across the continent in Hawaii, his family was so much like mine. He was raised by grandparents who were working class folks just like my parents, and by a single mother who struggled to pay the bills just like we did. Like my family, they scrimped and saved so that he could have opportunities they never had themselves. And Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you're going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don't know them, and even if you don't agree with them.
She also hit the campaign's overarching theme of hope, and the importance of working to improve the world:
All of us driven by a simple belief that the world as it is just won't do -- that we have an obligation to fight for the world as it should be. That is the thread that connects our hearts. That is the thread that runs through my journey and Barack's journey and so many other improbable journeys that have brought us here tonight, where the current of history meets this new tide of hope. That is why I love this country.
That is the thread that connects our hearts. That is the thread that runs through my journey and Barack's journey and so many other improbable journeys that have brought us here tonight, where the current of history meets this new tide of hope.
That is why I love this country.
And in a move that clearly showed her political smarts, she also invoked Hillary Clinton's "18 million cracks in the glass ceiling" to some applause from the crowd. But she drew a bigger cheer when she mentioned VP candidate Joe Biden,
who's never forgotten where he came from, and never stopped fighting for folks who work long hours and face long odds and need someone on their side again.
Full remarks after the jump.
Continue reading "Michelle Obama: She's Just Like Us" »
11:00 PM ET | 08-25-2008 | permalink
Barack Obama joined the convention via satellite from Kansas City. Appearing on the huge LCD monitors just after his wife's speech, he told the crowd, "Now you know why I asked her out so many times, even though she kept saying no."
Sasha and Malia Obama had joined their mother onstage, and the candidate asked his daughters how they thought Mom had done. 7-year-old cutie Sasha's response to her daddy: "I think she did good."
10:56 PM ET | 08-25-2008 | permalink
Michelle Obama was introduced by her brother, Craig Robinson, the basketball coach at Oregon State. When Michelle and Barack Obama were first dating, she had him play ball with her brother so Craig could get a feel for Barack's character through his on-the-court style. Craig passed along his take in tonight's speech:
If you're looking for a political analysis based on his playing, here it is: he's confident but not cocky, he'll take the shot if he's open, he's a team player who improves the people around him, and he won't back down from any challenge.
10:37 PM ET | 08-25-2008 | permalink
NPR's Audie Cornish scored an interview with Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank on our live show right after Senator Kennedy's speech to the delegates. Congressman Frank didn't use any names when talking about what Kennedy's presence in Denver should mean to Democrats, but the message here was pretty clear:
In the face of his illness for him to come here, it makes it awfully hard for anyone else to weep and moan about anything else.
(Hmm...can you think of anyone who might be weeping and moaning about something this week?)
According to Frank, there is no time for things that are "trivial." He told Audie the stakes are high, and Democrats should "get off your rear end" and get to work for Obama.
10:06 PM ET | 08-25-2008 | permalink
As recently as yesterday, DNC officials were saying there was only a 50/50 chance that Senator Ted Kennedy, who has been battling brain cancer, would even make the trip to Denver. This afternoon they told reporters that he was here, but would not speak. But as Kennedy said in his speech, "Nothing -- nothing -- is going to keep me away from this special gathering tonight."
The audience was clearly thrilled by the surprise appearance. And Kennedy didn't disappoint. He didn't speak for long, but it was a barn-burner. (As the Chicago City Clerk who followed him in the program said, "How would you like to be me?")
Kennedy spoke with passion about his pet issue of health care, which he said should be a universal right for all, not a privilege for the few. He invoked his brother John's ambitious promise to put a man on the moon. And the ailing Senator promised -- to a standing ovation from the crowd -- to "be there in January" for Obama's inauguration.
Kennedy's closing lines echoed his defiant concession speech at the 1980 convention, when he promised the crowd that "the dream shall never die" after losing a hard-fought insurgent primary against incumbent President Jimmy Carter. Tonight, Kennedy ended with this:
The work begins anew, the hope rises again, and the dream lives on.
The crowd went wild.
9:43 PM ET | 08-25-2008 | permalink
A routine traffic stop by police in a Denver suburb has attracted the attention of federal investigators. The case comes as security in the city is very tight for the Democratic National Convention.
The traffic stop happened Sunday in Aurora, Colorado, which is just outside Denver. U-S Attorney Troy Eid in a written statement says firearms and methamphetamine were seized and a number of individuals are in state custody. Federal charges are anticipated but no further details are being released.
The F-B-I and the Secret Service are among the federal agencies investigating. Secret Service agents can be seen all over the city as part of their effort to protect high profile people attending the convention, including Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
9:26 PM ET | 08-25-2008 | permalink
The Gary Railcats, northwest Indiana's beloved Minor League baseball team, have made it to the playoffs. The stadium, situated near the US Steel works, was packed with fans yesterday afternoon. We stopped by for a couple of innings to watch their game against the Joilet Jackhammers.
The general manager of the stadium says running the place is like throwing 48 parties a year.
We profiled a few of the stadium employees -- including the general manager and a vendor named Ms. Fantastic -- for a piece today on All Things Considered. But we were bummed that we didn't have time to include a conversation we had with Railcats junior mascot, Rascal the Cat.
Rascal the Cat (AKA Antonio Taylor, 17) knows no speed limit on his tricycle.
Even though we weren't able to include our interview with Rascal in the piece, we did learn some valuable lessons from the experience. For example:
Lesson 1 Mascots have large, fake heads, and microphones don't pick up voices very well through 4 inches of foam and fur.
Lesson 2 Mascots aren't supposed to talk. A talking mascot is apparently very scary to a small child.
Continue reading "Who Do Mascots Look Up To? We Still Don't Know" »
8:45 PM ET | 08-25-2008 | permalink
An Illinois soybean farmer sold us these fried frog legs at the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. Turns out the legs were shipped from a frog farm in China. Tastiness: A surprising 5.
8:28 PM ET | 08-25-2008 | permalink
The Illinois delegation takes center stage tonight at the Democratic National Convention, but one of the office holders you'd expect to have one of the most prominent roles isn't even there.
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, State Comptroller Dan Hynes, Treasurer Alexei Gianoulious and Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr are all friends and colleagues of Illinois Senator Barack Obama who will give speeches tonight to help tell part of Obama's life story and his biography in Illinois politics.
Conspicuously absent from the event is Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Usually sitting governors are the de facto leaders of a political party's state delegation, but not Blagojevich, who is back home. The second term governor's administration has been up to it's eyeballs in corruption investigations. Blagojevich was named in media reports as "public official A" in the corruption trial earlier this year of one of his most prominent fundraisers, Tony Rezko. A handful of others with close ties to Blagojevich and his administration have been indicted; some have pleaded guilty, and many Illinois political insiders consider it only a matter of time until the scandal reaches up closer to the governor himself.
Continue reading "Mile Low: Public Official "A"" »
5:26 PM ET | 08-25-2008 | permalink
This afternoon the Hillary Clinton press office emailed reporters this statement, delivered by Senator Clinton to the New York delegation this morning.
Every one of us could stand up and recite all the reasons why we must elect Barack. The Supreme Court is at stake; our educational system needs the right kind of change. We've got to become energy independent; we have to create millions of new green collar jobs. We've got so much work to do around the world. None of that will happen if John McCain is in the White House. I just want to make it absolutely clear we cannot afford four more years of George W. Bush's failed policies in America and that's what we would get with John McCain. Now I understand that the McCain campaign is running ads trying to divide us and let me state what I think about their tactics and these ads: I am Hillary Clinton and I do not approve that message. So let there be the no mistake about it, we are united. We are united for change.
None of that will happen if John McCain is in the White House. I just want to make it absolutely clear we cannot afford four more years of George W. Bush's failed policies in America and that's what we would get with John McCain.
Now I understand that the McCain campaign is running ads trying to divide us and let me state what I think about their tactics and these ads: I am Hillary Clinton and I do not approve that message.
So let there be the no mistake about it, we are united. We are united for change.
The statement comes in response to two McCain ads that pitch woo to Clinton's supporters.
But NPR's Robert Smith was at that breakfast with the New York delegates, and he says that statement sounds a little more hunky dory than what he actually observed. Robert says Clinton's speech did stress the importance of electing Obama, but she never praised the Democratic nominee. And she didn't urge her delegates to vote for him during Wednesday's convention roll-call. After the event Clinton told reporters that she would be voting for Barack Obama, but the rest of her delegates will have to decide for themselves.
Not quite a full-throated call for party unity...yet. Maybe she's saving that for her primetime speech Tuesday night?
4:47 PM ET | 08-25-2008 | permalink
NPR's Steve Drummond notes an unexpected rhetorical convergence...
In a Politico story today, Mike Allen and John F. Harris cite this analogy:
One senior Obama supporter said the Clinton associates negotiating on her behalf act like "Japanese soldiers in the South Pacific still fighting after the war is over."
Meanwhile, Frank Rich in yesterday's NYT:
As Gen. David Petraeus returns home, McCain increasingly resembles those mad Japanese soldiers who remained at war on remote Pacific islands years after Hiroshima.
Maybe that explains the 27 percent?
4:19 PM ET | 08-25-2008 | permalink
Lunch was also on the mind of Senator Barack Obama today. At a campaign stop in Davenport, Iowa he met with a group of about 250 at the local fairgrounds. The campaign said most of those who secured seats at the invitation-only event were Independent voters. There were also some Republicans in the audience.
Anyway, getting back to the food...when small business owner Cynthia Friedhof stood up to ask a question, she noted that she and her husband run a restaurant called Ross's. Obama interrupted to ask what their best dish is. Friedhof said it's the Magic Mountain. "Magic Mountain? What's a Magic Mountain?" the candidate asked.
Freidhof answered, "Texas toast grilled, Maid Rite 'loose meat' on top of that. Then Hash browns. French Fries. With Cheddar Cheese sauce poured over the top."
Obama: "Ohhhhhhh! And then you have the antacid following right up there?"
Friedhof: "You were supposed to come there one day but your plane was delayed."
Obama: "We are going to get there and I will order the Magic Mountain."
(And you thought the end of the Iowa State Fair meant the end of exotic campaign food...)
Friedhof then explained that her husband Ron is on the fence in the election. That he's worried about what an Obama presidency would mean for small businesses. Obama asked her to get Ron on the phone.
She did. A conversation ensued. We could only hear one side of it. But Obama assured him that the two could talk more later if Ron had questions.
2:53 PM ET | 08-25-2008 | permalink
Democratic Veep hopeful Joe Biden created a lunch-hour stir on Denver's 16th Street Mall today when he stopped by Boney's Smokehouse Hickory Smoked Pit Barbecue for a bite to eat.
Biden, who was accompanied by several family members, ordered five pulled-pork sandwiches ($4.95 each) and a lemonade from the outdoor eatery.
He shook hands and posed for pictures with the small crowd of onlookers who'd been alerted to Biden's imminent arrival by a scrum of TV cameras.
"We're gonna give 'em the devil," Biden told one well-wisher when she urged him to "go get 'em.".
Boney's owner Trina Lynch said she'd been alerted this morning than a VIP was coming and urged to reserve some barbecued turkey legs. The turkey legs went uneaten, though.
-- Scott Horlsey
2:43 PM ET | 08-25-2008 | permalink
A new musical effort from the Obama campaign rewrites the Sam Cooke classic "Don't Know Much" to ding McCain on economic issues and link him to President Bush. Visuals include now-familiar shots of Bush and McCain acting chummy.
2:26 PM ET | 08-25-2008 | permalink
Today's convention activity will begin with some administrative business from the Credentials and Rules & Bylaws Committees, who we expect will officially reinstate the votes of the Michigan and Florida delegations. (In fact, according to the DNCC's Delegate Seating Map both contested delegations have garnered prime locations on the convention floor. An olive branch of sorts?)
We'll also see tributes to President Carter and Senator Ted Kennedy, who is expected to appear tonight but (via DNC sources) is not likely to speak. Kennedy made a last-minute decision to come to Denver despite his medical struggles.
The primetime speaker is Michelle Obama, and her husband will follow with brief remarks via satellite from his convention watchpost in Kansas City.
NPR will have special coverage of the convention starting at 8pm Eastern.
The full podium schedule is after the jump.
Continue reading "DNC Monday: 'One Nation'" »
12:50 PM ET | 08-25-2008 | permalink
The McCain campaign has released this new ad, featuring a former Hillary Clinton supporter saying she now supports McCain because "now he's the one with experience and judgment." The ad does not mention Barack Obama by name.
It's the third McCain ad in as many days, and the second that directly targets former Clinton voters. McCain has reason to see an opening with the Clintonites, given this data from a new CNN/Opinion Research Poll:
Sixty-six percent of Clinton supporters -- registered Democrats who want Clinton as the nominee -- are now backing Obama. That's down from 75 percent in the end of June. Twenty-seven percent of them now say they'll support McCain, up from 16 percent in late June.
The RNC is working the Hillary angle as well, with plans in the works for a Clinton supporters' happy hour in Denver tonight.
Clinton herself has disavowed the ads, telling a breakfast for the New York delegation in Denver this morning "I am Hillary Clinton, and I do not approve of that message."
Nonethless, one surefire way for McCain to break through the media noise surrounding the Democratic convention is with buzzworthy ads that will be played over and over on the news networks. These Hillary spots fit that description.
And don't forget that McCain has to burn through a pile of money before his public financing kicks in after next week's GOP convention. So there's no reason not to go for broke with the advertising now.
The Obama camp's task: to convince those disaffected Clinton supporters that a protest vote for McCain runs counter to their principles -- especially targeting those who feel Clinton was treated unfairly because she's a woman. Look for the keyword 'Supreme Court'. Newly minted VP candidate Joe Biden will be a natural for that job, given his former Judiciary Committee Chairmanship and strong record on women's issues.
12:45 PM ET | 08-25-2008 | permalink
NPR's Scott Horsley reports that VP candidate Sen. Joe Biden has arrived in Denver. He doesn't have any public events scheduled today, but will watch Michelle Obama's speech tonight from a box seat at the Pepsi Center.
12:33 PM ET | 08-25-2008 | permalink
The DNC opens in Denver today without the presence of two of Michigan's most-prominent Democratic party leaders. Governor Jennifer Granholm will miss a lunch in Denver today to honor the nation's 31 Democratic state and territorial governors. She's skipping the opening of the Democratic National Convention to focus on matters in Michigan -- especially requests and motions related to the hearing next week on removing Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
Much to the relief of Democrats, Kilpatrick is also a no-show at the convention. He can't travel out of metro Detroit because of bond restrictions related to two felony counts of shoving a police officer. He is also facing eight perjury and conspiracy charges in a separate case.
The mayor had already hinted he would not be going to Denver -- and a statement from his office says Kilpatrick's attention is on running Detroit and not on presidential politics. The Barack Obama campaign has been urging him not to attend the convention and cause a distraction. Kilpatrick is one of three super-delegates representing the National Conference of Democratic Mayors.
-- Rick Pluta from Michigan Public Radio Network
12:02 PM ET | 08-25-2008 | permalink
"In a last-minute surprise move," Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) "is expected" to speak at the DNC tonight. Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) "electrified the Massachusetts delegation when he broke the news at a party late Sunday night" (WBUR).
--Michael Olson
8:24 AM ET | 08-25-2008 | permalink
While in Gary yesterday we stopped by the Zion Progressive Cathedral International, where a couple of parishioners were gathered around a billboard outside the church.
What about second-hand smoke?
Inside a church pastor delivered a sermon to the youth. Sandra Younger, an associate pastor, stepped outside for a moment to chat with us about the church and leadership. She says a leader is someone who follows God -- a person who knows the word of God and asks for direction.
Sandra Younger doesn't think she'll pay a whole lot of attention to the convention but says it's important who's elected President as it pertains to whether or not that person will let God guide him.
Younger also told us that even though there's a feeling of hopelessness that's pervaded this city, God hasn't taken his eyes off Gary.
6:54 AM ET | 08-25-2008 | permalink
Smaller than advertised? Perhaps. This egg and sausage burrito was offered up by the McDonald's on the tollway between Chicago and Gary, Indiana. Tastiness: 4
1:00 AM ET | 08-25-2008 | permalink
We left Chicago bright and early and crossed the state line for a quick detour to Gary, Indiana. Exploring the city, we were struck by this:
A campaign poster finds life after primaries in Gary, Indiana.
This sign, nearly buried under weeds, was a stark reminder that not so long ago, Barack Obama almost overtook Hillary Clinton in the Indiana primary thanks in large part to voters here in Gary. David Greene was with the Clinton campaign that night and remembers as her staffers grew more and more nervous as the results in Gary trickled in. She won the primary -- but barely.
9:08 PM ET | 08-24-2008 | permalink
After months of build-up and planning meetings in the basement of Denver coffee house, the first protest outside the arena where the Democratic Convention is being held was a bit anti-climactic. About 1000 people showed up. At times it looked like there were more reporters than protesters.
A group called Recreate '68 was the main organizer of an anti-war rally and march. The group hopes to recreate the spirit of 1968 -- not the violence at the Democratic convention that year in Chicago.
Glen Spagnulo is one of the group's organizers. At a rally on the steps of the state capitol building, he blamed authorities for the low turn-out. He said police and the Secret Service had over-stated the risk of violence at the event.
"And then they're surprised the masses aren't here after they practiced the technique of scaring the crap out of every single American citizen," said Spagnulo.
At one point the marches passed a group of pro-war protesters, some of whom had sons and daughters in the military who were killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. Police formed a line between the two groups and, while there was a lot of yelling back and forth, there were no physical confrontations.
Leading the marchers was a police vehicle that looked like a cross between a golf cart and a Hummer. On the back was a big blinking sign that alternately read "Welcome to Denver" and "Follow Us".
7:26 PM ET | 08-24-2008 | permalink
The DNC credentials committee met in Denver today and fulfilled the request of the party's presumptive nominee by granting full voting rights to Michigan and Florida delegates. Delegates from the two states were initially stripped of their voting privileges for holding their primaries before February 5. The committee, in May, decided to seat all the disputed delegates, but to give each one only half of a vote.
Florida delegate Scott Maddox told the committee its time to put the controversy to rest and focus on winning in November, "We live through hurricanes in Florida and we know that, after the storm, the sun always comes out."
It appears to only be a break in the clouds. Democratic Party leaders from Michigan and Florida plan to resume challenges to Iowa and New Hampshire's claim on the first presidential nominating contests after the November election.
4:54 PM ET | 08-24-2008 | permalink
At least three-minutes of Biden's off-the-trail time this week was spent recording a message to reach out to supporters online.
He just released this video on Obama's website -- wooing the folks who have not necessarily supported Obama in the past, including Catholics, Clintonites and blue collar workers.
In the video, Biden emphasizes that he was the co-author of the "Violence Against Women Act" and says that he will fight for the middle class.
2:50 PM ET | 08-24-2008 | permalink
Now that the Obama-Biden merger is official, there's some serious money to be made. The internet entrepreneurs among us are already hard at work peddling various domain names. This eBay auction says it all. If you can come up with the $100K, the guy will cover shipping. But my question is: of what? A thank you note? Complimentary steak knives?
1:54 PM ET | 08-24-2008 | permalink
If McCain and Obama were Madagascar cockroaches vying for president of, say, a filthy kitchen, odds are McCain would take it. Just such a showdown took place recently at the New Jersey Pest Management Association's annual trade show. No, for real. See for yourself...
Apparently, a similar race was run in 2000. The Al Gore roach won by an antenna.
1:42 PM ET | 08-24-2008 | permalink
The McCain camp has released a new ad -- on the eve of the Democratic National Convention -- questioning why Obama didn't ask New York Sen. Hillary Clinton to be his running mate. Titled "Passed Over," the ad says that Clinton was dropped as a possible VP candidate because she "spoke the truth" about Obama's plans and attacks, calling them vague and negative. As NPR's Nancy Solomon reported in June, McCain has been wooing ex-Clinton supporters since Clinton left the race.
"Passed Over" takes a similar approach to McCain's ad from yesterday featuring Biden. Both ads use clips of former Obama challengers (now supporters) to emphasis the McCain camp messages that Obama is inexperienced.
UPDATE: Clinton's Spokeswoman Kathleen Strand provided the following response hours after the McCain camp released "Passed Over":
"Hillary Clinton's support of Barack Obama is clear. She has said repeatedly that Barack Obama and she share a commitment to changing the direction of the country, getting us out of Iraq, and expanding access to health care. John McCain doesn't. It's interesting how those remarks didn't make it into his ad."
-- Nancy Cook/Michael Olson
1:30 PM ET | 08-24-2008 | permalink
Marcus Lyons knows peanuts. He's been selling them for 14 years outside Wrigley Field. Tastiness: 6
5:09 AM ET | 08-24-2008 | permalink
We tried to be equitable in Chicago, hitting both the North Side and South Side. You'll hear from the South Side on Morning Edition Monday - our report from legendary Izola's, a soul food diner where just looking at the "candied sweets" (potatoes in their most divine form) makes your mouth water. But first things first - on Weekend Edition this morning, we'll tell you about two Cubs fans we met outside Wrigley Field.
Donna and Lindsay Keegan outside Gate-D at Wrigley Field.
Mother and daughter, they became the perfect people to help kick off our trip focusing on real leaders we look up to. As you can see, the daughter, Lindsay Keegan, was enjoying a bachelorette weekend with her mom, Donna, some other friends and her beloved first-place Cubbies.
Lindsay Keegan sports a baseball cap veil.
Oh, then there was Marcus Lyons. Been selling peanuts outside Wrigley for 14 years. He helped us snag another photo in our "Road Food" photo gallery that's going to tantalize your taste buds as we move from place to place!
-- David Greene
3:59 AM ET | 08-24-2008 | permalink
Millenium Park. Chicago, Illinois. Tastiness: 8.5
2:28 AM ET | 08-24-2008 | permalink
Watching TV in bed this morning, I noticed that everyone in the news business seems to be in Denver. Everyone except us.
Meet the team: Thomas Pierce, David Gilkey, and David Greene.
That's right, we're not going to Denver in search of senators and superdelegates. Instead, we are driving across America in search of other, less obvious leaders -- the high school Chemistry teacher or the street vendor who gives you dating advice. We've asked for your suggestions, and we're listening. Cynthia Nelms writes that we should come to Mobile, Alabama to meet Mayor Sam Jones, who works across party lines. Jessie Giambra and Emily Brown think we should visit their world history and geography teacher at their high school in Phoenix. Someone even suggested we come to Hawaii (and we very, very regretfully must decline).
We have officially begun our search in Chicago -- home of the Bulls and the Cubs and the White Sox, hotdogs with relish and pickles, deep-dish pizza, and Barack Obama.
(And don't worry: this is the last time you're going to see a photo of us. Gilkey made us do it and look whose face is conveniently blocked by the camera.)
8:02 PM ET | 08-23-2008 | permalink
Biden delivered his remarks with impressive fire -- arguably it was a better performance than Obama (who has been suffering from a cold) was able to muster today.
In the section of the speech most noteworthy to pundits and strategists, Biden acknowledged his long friendship with (and respect for) John McCain...
I'll say straight up to you -- John McCain and the press knows this, is genuinely a friend of mine. I've known John for 35 years. He served our country with extraordinary courage and I know he wants to do right by America.
...and then lengthily assailed the GOP nominee's policy positions -- establishing that he is ready to take on the traditional running-mate attack-dog role, even against a friend:
But the harsh truth is, ladies and gentlemen, you can't change America when you boast. And these are John's words, quote, the most important issues of our day, I've been totally in agreement and support of President Bush. Ladies and gentlemen, that's what he said. You can't change America when you supported George Bush's policies 95% of the time. You can't change America when you believe, and these are his own words, that in the Bush administration we've made great progress economically. You can't change America and make things better for our senior citizens when you signed on to Bush's scheme of privatizing social security. You can't change America and give our workers a fighting chance when after 3 million manufacturing jobs disappear, you continue to support tax breaks for companies who ship our jobs overseas. You can't change America and end this war in Iraq when you declare and, again, these are John's words, no one has supported President Bush in Iraq more than I have, end of quote. Ladies and gentlemen, you can't change America, you can't change America when you know your first four years as president will look exactly like the last eight years of George Bush's presidency.
Awkwardly, after several repetitions of "you can't change America if..." referring to McCain, the audience started chanting "yes, we can!" -- creating a bit of a mixed message. And there was another minor slipup, when Biden accidentally referred to Obama as "Barack America." (Though if we were Freudians we'd think that was not such a bad mistake.)
But for the most part the speech was a strong start to Biden's VP candidacy. As NPR's Ron Elving notes, Biden has a reputation for being egotistical -- but he may well be a terrific salesman if he turns his attention to a brand other than himself. Biden is a blunt guy, and in this speech he seemed genuinely enthusiastic, as in this expressive moment:
Ladies and gentlemen, I know I'm told I talk too colloquially, but there's something about this guy. There's something about this guy. There's something about Barack Obama that allows him to bring people together like no one I have worked with and seen. There's something about Barack Obama that makes people understand if they make compromises they can make things better.
The full text of Biden's remarks, as delivered, after the jump.
Continue reading "Biden's Speech" »
5:40 PM ET | 08-23-2008 | permalink
Call us juvenile, but...yikes! Where were the copy editors?
The Denver Post: Not Masters of the Double Entendre
(h/t Chris Nelson)
5:17 PM ET | 08-23-2008 | permalink
In his first speech as Barack Obama's running-mate, Sen. Joe Biden says people sit around their kitchen tables talking about their household budgets...but John McCain would have to "figure out which of the seven kitchen tables to sit at." Zing! And...a sign that Biden won't be pulling punches against his longtime friend and colleague during this campaign.
3:45 PM ET | 08-23-2008 | permalink
Obama opened with some Biden bio, including a long list of the hardships Biden has endured -- the childhood stutter; the car crash that took the lives of his wife and daughter shortly after he was elected to the Senate (Biden, then 30, was sworn into the Senate in his son's hospital room); the aneurysm that nearly killed him. It was a bit jarring -- making Biden seem a bit cursed? But all in service of this point:
Tragedy tests us -- it tests our fortitude and it tests our faith. Here's how Joe Biden responded. He never moved to Washington. Instead, night after night, week after week, year after year, he returned home to Wilmington on a lonely Amtrak train when his Senate business was done. (snip) Out of the heartbreak of that unspeakable accident, he did more than become a Senator -- he raised a family. That is the measure of the man standing next to me. That is the character of Joe Biden
(snip)
Out of the heartbreak of that unspeakable accident, he did more than become a Senator -- he raised a family. That is the measure of the man standing next to me. That is the character of Joe Biden
Obama also highlighted Biden's foreign policy gravitas -- arguably the key reason for his selection.
He looked Slobodan Milosevic in the eye and called him a war criminal, and then helped shape policies that would end the killing in the Balkans and bring him to justice. He passed laws to lock down chemical weapons, and led the push to bring Europe's newest democracies into NATO. Over the last eight years, he has been a powerful critic of the catastrophic Bush-McCain foreign policy, and a voice for a new direction that takes the fight to the terrorists and ends the war in Iraq responsibly. He recently went to Georgia, where he met quietly with the President and came back with a call for aid and a tough message for Russia. Joe Biden is what so many others pretend to be -- a statesman with sound judgment who doesn't have to hide behind bluster to keep America strong.
Joe Biden is what so many others pretend to be -- a statesman with sound judgment who doesn't have to hide behind bluster to keep America strong.
Full prepared remarks are after the jump.
Continue reading "Obama's Speech " »
3:21 PM ET | 08-23-2008 | permalink
Obama, introducing Biden:
Let me introduce to you the next President -- the next Vice-President! -- of the United States.
UPDATE: The McCain campaign was all over this, immediately issuing the following statement:
Barack Obama sounded as though he turned over the top spot on the ticket today to his new mentor, when he introduced Joe Biden as the next president. The reality is that nothing has changed since Joe Biden first made his assessment that Barack Obama is not ready to lead. He wasn't ready then and he isn't ready now.
3:14 PM ET | 08-23-2008 | permalink
From NPR's Ina Jaffe:
We are now told that Biden and Obama will NOT campaign together before the convention. Biden goes home to Delaware tonight. He was told he was the pick Thursday afternoon.
He was told he was the pick Thursday afternoon.
2:57 PM ET | 08-23-2008 | permalink
A quick Biden primer...
Senator Joe Biden is a (pro-choice) Catholic with strong working-class roots in his hometown of Scranton, PA. He's got impeccable foreign policy credentials, having served several terms as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations committee. During the Presidential primary, he often said he knows many foreign leaders by their first names -- "not because I'm important, but I've been there a long time." And Biden co-wrote the Violence Against Women Act, which created official support structures for victims of domestic violence and criminalized their batterers.
He was first elected to the Senate at age 29 (he's now 65). But before he even took office, his wife and baby daughter were killed in a car accident, leaving him the single father of two young sons. He married his current wife -- Jill, a teacher -- several years later, and they had another daughter.
Biden is an able and often funny debater with a reputation for verbosity (though he assured NBC's Brian Williams during an April 2007 primary debate that he is capable of verbal discipline). He also has an occasional tendency to stick his foot in his mouth. The gaffe we've already been reminded of several times this morning was his 2007 comment that Barack Obama is "the first mainstream African-American [to run for President] who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy." Obama accepted an immediate apology for the inelegant remarks and went on to defend Biden's civil rights record during the Des Moines Register debate in December, saying, "I have absolutely no doubt about what is in his heart and the commitment that he's made with respect to racial equality in this country."
You can read more about Biden's life and times in this profile, courtesy of NPR's Jennifer Ludden.
10:32 AM ET | 08-23-2008 | permalink
Hillary Clinton has issued this statement on Obama's selection of Sen. Joe Biden as his running-mate:
In naming my colleague and friend Senator Joe Biden to be the Vice Presidential nominee, Senator Obama has continued in the best traditions for the Vice Presidency by selecting an exceptionally strong, experienced leader and devoted public servant. Senator Biden will be a purposeful and dynamic Vice President who will help Senator Obama both win the Presidency and govern this great country.
10:07 AM ET | 08-23-2008 | permalink
ARLINGTON, VA -- Today, McCain spokesman Ben Porritt issued the following statement on Barack Obama's selection of Joe Biden as his running mate: "There has been no harsher critic of Barack Obama's lack of experience than Joe Biden. Biden has denounced Barack Obama's poor foreign policy judgment and has strongly argued in his own words what Americans are quickly realizing -- that Barack Obama is not ready to be President." (Release)
"There has been no harsher critic of Barack Obama's lack of experience than Joe Biden. Biden has denounced Barack Obama's poor foreign policy judgment and has strongly argued in his own words what Americans are quickly realizing -- that Barack Obama is not ready to be President." (Release)
The McCain campaign also immediately released this ad, citing a Biden comment from the primary season that Obama is not yet ready for the presidency:
7:37 AM ET | 08-23-2008 | permalink
UPDATED: The Obama text made it out a couple hours after the AP called it. Share your take in the comments.
UPDATED: at 1:15 EST
No text from Obamaland, but CNN, AP and NYTimes claim Biden as Obama VP.
12:21 AM ET | 08-23-2008 | permalink
John McCain, vintage 2000, was wary of trading on his history as a prisoner of war who had endured years of torture at the hands of his Vietnamese captors. You didn't see it in his campaign ads and he didn't tend to talk about it on the stump in his brief but intense bid for the GOP nomination.
McCain 2008? Hello, trump card!
When articles focused on McCain's inability to recall how many homes he owns, campaign spokesman Brian Rogers dismissed any criticism of senator's wealth, pointing to Democrat Barack Obama's home.
And then the McCain spokesman added: "This is a guy who lived in one house for five and a half years -- in prison."
When reporters questioned whether McCain really was in the promised "cone of silence" as the Rev. Rick Warren posed the same questions to Senator Obama that shortly he posed to McCain, campaign spokeswoman Nicole Wallace had a ready response:
"The insinuation from the Obama campaign that John McCain, a former prisoner of war, cheated is outrageous," she told the New York Times.
And earlier this summer, when McCain was criticized for jokingly suggesting his wife, Cindy, should participate in a topless beauty pageant at the biker rally he was addressing, Rogers said that Americans voters know "John McCain's faith and character were tested and forged in ways few can fathom."
Presumably that was an allusion to his POW experience too. There were four other senators in the Keating Five, a searing political experience that McCain has cited for his interest in campaign finance issues, so one guesses the others could have fathomed that.
McCain's experience in Vietnam -- and his resolute refusal to accept an early return ahead of some of his fellow captives -- clearly has informed his life in the decades since. Apparently his campaign hopes it will shield the candidate from all prickly questions about that life as well.
--David Folkenflik
5:22 PM ET | 08-22-2008 | permalink
NPR's Ina Jaffe reports that we got bupkis on the Obama VP pick. "But we are hearing that Sen. Obama could be working on his convention speech for the next three hours. The campaign is also telling us that we can go shopping."
Member station KERA in Dallas is staking out the Chet Edwards district office... just because.
4:32 PM ET | 08-22-2008 | permalink
A new edition of the It's All Politics podcast is ready for a listen. NPR's Ron Elving and Ken Rudin plunge into the abounding speculation about the candidates' vice presidential picks. Plus: The candidates spar on national security, and a judge rules that Sen. Ted Steven (R-AK) will have to face a jury of his peers.
You can also download it here.
-- Vox Politics
12:48 PM ET | 08-22-2008 | permalink
On the eve of the conventions, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) emailed the following desperate statement saying that GOPers aren't taking the Senate races seriously.
"I recently challenged my colleagues to step up to the plate and help me provide the resources our candidates need to compete in races across the country -- to match the DSCC [Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee] expenditures in targeted races. It has become clear that my call has gone largely unanswered. I have no control over the timing or content of IE [Independent Expenditure] ads, but I have had no choice but to decrease the total budget of our IE Unit. It is still my hope that my Republican colleagues will engage in this election and help match what the Democrats are doing. If they do, I will adjust our budget accordingly." (Release) Hat Tip: KUT
Senate Republicans have little to be happy about these days. A new poll by our friends at MPR indicates that with the entry of Independence Party candidate Dean Barkley and a high number of undecided voters that Republican incumbent Norm Coleman and Democratic challenger Al Franken neck and neck. Previous polls have show Franken trailing by double digits.
Republicans are looking weak and could lose their seats in Colorado, New Mexico, Mississippi's (Special), Virginia and Alaska. Republican's best hopes for a pick up at this point remains Louisiana.
11:23 AM ET | 08-22-2008 | permalink
Happy Friday! We're motivating towards Denver, so this will be a shortie.
Over at Secret Money Blog, NPR's Peter Overby takes a closer look at an independent ad bashing Barack Obama for his ties to former Weatherman Bill Ayers. This is an issue that was hashed and re-hashed during the primary, so we'll let you read-in elsewhere on the actual -- tenuous -- connection (this is a good place to start). More interestingly, this is the first real swift-boat style attack of the season, and it comes in spite of both campaigns' efforts to keep independent groups out of the character assassination business. Peter talked to Christian Pinkston from the American Issues Project, the group that made the Ayers ad. Pinkston says they're just getting started:
Pinkston says AIP has 167 pages of documentation for the ad. When I asked why they picked this topic for the ad, he said, "This is the first one."
Stay tuned to Secret Money today for an explanation of Huffington Post's suggestion that the ad may not even be legal.
In blatant gossip-mongering, via Mike Allen -- Time's Mark Halperin reported last night that McCain is picking Romney:
TIME's Mark "The Page" Halperin woke up reporters and operatives from Sedona to Chinatown to the Jersey Shore with his 11 p.m. blockbuster -- "2 GOP Sources: It's Romney: Two Republicans close to the situation say McCain has apparently settled on Mitt Romney as his running mate. Two additional GOP sources say McCain had not offered the slot to anyone as of Thursday night, and that he could still change his mind." MARK BETTER BE RIGHT -- One official e-mails: 'I was woken up three times ... (Thanks, Mark Halperin).'
MARK BETTER BE RIGHT -- One official e-mails: 'I was woken up three times ... (Thanks, Mark Halperin).'
Our minds would be officially boggled if McCain chose Romney, given the open contempt he showed for him during the GOP primary debates (did he learn nothing from the Kerry-Edwards animus?). But maybe time heals all wounds.
And finally, a little unanticipated hilarity based on the Obama camp's texting plan...Politico's Carrie Budoff Brown reports a proliferation of faux-Obama VP texts incited by the likes of Howard Stern and Wonkette. Pretend running-mates so far include (in order of viability) Michael Phelps, Suri Cruise, Mickey Mouse, and Eliot Spitzer.
You'll hear from my BFFs at NPR election central if news breaks...otherwise, no sleep 'til Denver!
10:00 AM ET | 08-22-2008 | permalink
NPR's Scott Horsley did a little research into the McCain family's California property holdings. Here's what he found:
The McCain family owns two beachfront condos in Coronado, Calif, just across the water from downtown San Diego. The McCain's "Dream Catcher Family" LLC acquired the first in 2004. The sales price wasn't disclosed, but Dream Catcher obtained a 2 million dollar mortgage. Feeling cramped, the McCain's acquired a second condo in the same complex this spring for just over 2.3 million dollars. (Coronado is home to a large naval airbase, and has a street named after Senator McCain's admiral grandfather.) Cindy McCain also owns a condo in La Jolla, Calif., occupied by an elderly relative. This is the property where the family fell behind on their taxes. The McCains said the bill had been sent to the wrong address. The taxes have since been paid.
Feeling cramped, the McCain's acquired a second condo in the same complex this spring for just over 2.3 million dollars.
(Coronado is home to a large naval airbase, and has a street named after Senator McCain's admiral grandfather.)
Cindy McCain also owns a condo in La Jolla, Calif., occupied by an elderly relative. This is the property where the family fell behind on their taxes. The McCains said the bill had been sent to the wrong address. The taxes have since been paid.
5:22 PM ET | 08-21-2008 | permalink
Politico digs up an 8th McCain residence. And don't miss this remarkable number:
The McCains increased their budget for household employees from $184,000 in 2006 to $273,000 in 2007, according to John McCain's tax returns.
According to the Census Bureau, in 2006 (a year of job growth and declining inflation), median household income in the U.S. was $48,201.
5:06 PM ET | 08-21-2008 | permalink
NPR's Ina Jaffe reports that Obama was asked about his VP choice this afternoon at a gift/peanut shop in Emporia, VA.
His coy answer: "I've made the selection and that's all you're going to get."
Well, that's a start. Now where's our text message?!
4:54 PM ET | 08-21-2008 | permalink
Should pro-Clinton/anti-Obama protestors get a little out-of-hand during the Democratic Convention, Clinton staffers, working alongside Obama's floor organizers, plan to dispatch a 40-person "whip team". According to Politico, the group will roam the floor, looking for potentially embarrassing demonstrations. When they spot one, the idea is to move in front of it and block any unsavory activity with lots of Obama signs. Organizers say the whip team will not try to persuade delegates to vote one way or the other. They simply want to "foster the image of a unified front".
To all you kazoo-blowing, air horn-toting Clinton lovers out there, heads up.
4:51 PM ET | 08-21-2008 | permalink
NPR's Ina Jaffe sent us some observations from Barack Obama's visit to Petersberg, Virginia today...
Irma Henderson, 72, was one of the people packing the Long Street Deli in the historic district of Petersberg when Barack Obama stopped by. Irma, an African-American campaign volunteer, said she wasn't going to try to talk to Obama or get a picture -- she just stood in the back, beaming. "I just want to be in the company of him," she said. In contrast, her friend Evelyn Jamison grabbed Obama's hand and held onto it for a good 3 minutes. I couldn't hear their conversation, but Irma said Evelyn "will be talking about this all night." Obama stopped to chat with Steve Overgard and Dawn Peterson. They resell foreclosed homes, and business is booming with the mortgage crisis. Inventory about a year ago would've been 10 or 15 houses, Overgard told Obama. Now it's 80 and not slowing down. "We've got to stabilize this situation," Obama said, beginning his foreclosure spiel. Overgard cut him off: "not for ten years so I can retire." Obama replied, "we'll put you in the business of selling new homes." The place is owned by Heather Takacs and her husband Chris. Heather waits tables on roller skates. "Makes the work easier," she said. "Everyone should wear skates." At one point Obama asked if he could give her a push. She said yes. He was gentle. Before he left, Obama gave Heather Takacs an autograph. "I'm going to try to win the Presidency, so this'll be worth something," he said as he scribbled. "If I lose, you can sell it on eBay."
Obama stopped to chat with Steve Overgard and Dawn Peterson. They resell foreclosed homes, and business is booming with the mortgage crisis. Inventory about a year ago would've been 10 or 15 houses, Overgard told Obama. Now it's 80 and not slowing down. "We've got to stabilize this situation," Obama said, beginning his foreclosure spiel. Overgard cut him off: "not for ten years so I can retire." Obama replied, "we'll put you in the business of selling new homes."
The place is owned by Heather Takacs and her husband Chris. Heather waits tables on roller skates. "Makes the work easier," she said. "Everyone should wear skates." At one point Obama asked if he could give her a push. She said yes. He was gentle.
Before he left, Obama gave Heather Takacs an autograph. "I'm going to try to win the Presidency, so this'll be worth something," he said as he scribbled. "If I lose, you can sell it on eBay."
4:17 PM ET | 08-21-2008 | permalink
NPR's Joanne Silberner was at McCain HQ in Arlington, VA recently speaking with one of his advisors about health policy. She returned with this unrelated gem...
It turns out McCain is a pretty superstitious guy. The proof: his campaign office. It technically starts on the 13th floor. But that floor is simply identified by the letter "M". After moving in, the campaign renamed the entire floor, including the elevator buttons. According to one staffer, McCain's #13-phobia is a hangover from his fighter-pilot days.
2:08 PM ET | 08-21-2008 | permalink
The Obama campaign keeps up the pummelling on McCain's real estate gaffe with a press release announcing "Events Throughout the Country on John McCain Losing Track of How Many Homes He Owns."
There are 17 "events" on the list (how much of an "event" can you really make out of this?), mostly in battleground states. Highlights include statewide searches in Florida and Pennsylvania for people who can't remember how many houses they own, and this from Michigan:
MI: Campaign for Change offices across Michigan are launching a "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: McCain Edition" contest where volunteers will be able to win a free "Exxon-McCain" bumper-sticker if they correctly guess the number of houses John McCain owns. Prizes will be only be awarded after McCain clarifies exactly how many houses he owns. To win, the answer must be specific -- "at least four" doesn't count.
As NPR's Ina Jaffe put it, "the Obama campaign is not looking a gift horse in the mouth." Political campaigns are not famous for their subtlety, but is this overkill? How long before that gift horse puts on a leather jacket and waterskis over a shark?
1:35 PM ET | 08-21-2008 | permalink
The short national nightmare is over. We now know definitively how many houses (including condos -- apparently they're confusing) the McCains own. The DNC has helpfully circulated Politifact's finding that the magic number is seven.
But despite the quick resolution, we surely haven't seen the last of this gaffe. Stay tuned for more crowing Dem press releases, snide surrogate comments, and negative ads like this one the Obama campaign's freakishly speedy team has already put together:
Recent polls, including the ones we wrote about this morning, show McCain trailing Obama on economic issues. This misstep provides the Obama camp with an opportunity to widen the pocketbook gap -- and they're more than happy to take it.
UPDATE: Brian Rogers of the McCain campaign counterpunches in a statement. It's an elitism-off!
Does a guy who made more than $4 million last year, just got back from vacation on a private beach in Hawaii and bought his own million-dollar mansion with the help of a convicted felon really want to get into a debate about houses? Does a guy who worries about the price of arugula and thinks regular people "cling" to guns and religion in the face of economic hardship really want to have a debate about who's in touch with regular Americans?
11:34 AM ET | 08-21-2008 | permalink
This morning the Obama and McCain campaigns sent out this joint statement on the Presidential debates. (Nothing is implied by our use of the McCain camp's formatting...we just don't know how to make bullet points in this blogging program.)
The Barack Obama and John McCain campaigns have agreed to hold three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate in September and October sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates. The campaigns have come to the earliest agreement on presidential debates reached in any general election in recent history. This announcement reflects the presidential campaigns' agreement on dates, locations, and the formats for the fall debates. Campaign-appointed debate negotiators House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) and Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said they were pleased to have reached an early agreement to provide the American people with the opportunity to see and hear the candidates debate the critical issues facing the country. The two campaigns have accepted sponsorship of the debates by the Commission on Presidential Debates, subject to the debates being conducted under the terms of their agreement.
Full terms after the jump.
Continue reading "Campaigns Issue Joint Statement on Debates" »
10:55 AM ET | 08-21-2008 | permalink
Good morning. Our phone remains sadly devoid of any Obama VP text messages. We will bravely soldier on.
Two more polls today (NYT/CBS and NBC/WSJ) show McCain gaining to within the margin of error with Obama -- commensurate with what we saw yesterday from Q-pac and LAT/Bloomberg.
We've yapped ad infinitum about the meaninglessness of national horserace numbers (and the NYT itself states -- in its national poll writeup -- that a head-to-head national matchup "is not predictive this early"). So we'll give you some internals, which are much more interesting: NBC/WSJ finds that the vast majority of voters (nearly 8 in 10) think McCain would stick with President Bush's policies, and only 18% think the country is headed in the right direction. NYT/CBS finds a less dramatic association between McCain and Bush (slightly less than half) but finds that voters are most worried about economic issues -- an area in which they claim more confidence in Obama.
Given that information, why is McCain gaining ground?
Continue reading "Thursday Morning: Poll Internals Keep it Lively, McCain's Economic Gaffe, and Remembering Stephanie Tubbs Jones " »
10:00 AM ET | 08-21-2008 | permalink
Via the AJC, this Obama ad will debut tomorrow in the Atlanta market. The ad accuses McCain of going easy on Ralph Reed during the Senate's investigation into Jack Abramoff's Indian gaming scandal. Reed recently sent out an invitation to a McCain fundraiser...but after the AJC reported on his involvement in a widely-linked blog item, Reed did not attend the event.
This is an ideally-executed negative ad, in the sense that there's nothing in it that's technically inaccurate -- see the backgrounder after the jump -- but it points the viewer to a more damning conclusion than the evidence really supports: an implied quid pro quo between McCain and Reed. (The McCain camp's blustery response, skipping a point-by-point refutation of the ad in favor of a subject-changing William Ayers jab, reinforces that fact.) In other words, it's exactly what Democrats have been saying they want to see.
Continue reading "Obama Ad Says McCain Gave Ralph Reed A Pass" »
4:38 PM ET | 08-20-2008 | permalink
Via the Cleveland Plain Dealer:
U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, the first African-American woman to represent Ohio in Congress, is in critical condition after suffering an aneurysm last night, officials said this afternoon. Tubbs Jones, 58, served as a Cuyahoga County judge and prosecutor before succeeding U.S. Rep. Louis Stokes. She has served five terms in Congress and is expected to easily win her sixth in November. A doctor and family members said she has limited brain function.
Tubbs Jones, 58, served as a Cuyahoga County judge and prosecutor before succeeding U.S. Rep. Louis Stokes. She has served five terms in Congress and is expected to easily win her sixth in November.
A doctor and family members said she has limited brain function.
Earlier this afternoon the Plain Dealer mistakenly reported, and several other news organizations echoed, that Tubbs Jones had died.
3:28 PM ET | 08-20-2008 | permalink
Via the AP's Liz Sidoti:
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani will give the keynote address at the Republican National Convention next month. First lady Laura Bush, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and John McCain's former Republican rivals will speak as well. The theme will be "Country First" with four days devoted to service, reform, prosperity and peace. President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and other dignitaries also get speaking roles at the convention in St. Paul, Minn.
First lady Laura Bush, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and John McCain's former Republican rivals will speak as well.
The theme will be "Country First" with four days devoted to service, reform, prosperity and peace.
President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and other dignitaries also get speaking roles at the convention in St. Paul, Minn.
Giuliani and Schwarzenegger are both pro-choice, as are other announced speakers Tom Ridge, Joe Lieberman, and Meg Whitman.
In the blog-combusting Weekly Standard interview in which he opened the door to a pro-choice running-mate, GOP nominee-to-be John McCain said there's room in the party for different views on abortion:
I think it's a fundamental tenet of our party to be pro-life but that does not mean we exclude people from our party that are pro-choice. We just have a -- albeit strong -- but just it's a disagreement.
McCain dodged running-mate questions from conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham this morning, and according to Scott Horsley he "offered no guarantees" when pressed on the issue at a town-hall in Las Cruces, NM today -- though he did say he would choose a running-mate who "shares my principles, my values, and my priorities."
There are two schools of thought on this whole mysterious episode: one is that McCain is just head-faking to reinforce his eroding maverick image and will ultimately go with someone safe and socially conservative (like Tim Pawlenty). The other is that he is seriously considering a pro-choice VP and thinks the payoff in independent support would balance out the rage from evangelicals.
Either way, five pro-choice speakers is a lot for a GOP convention. It certainly trumps the one pro-life speaker (Sen. Bob Casey Jr.) we've heard about at the Democrats' confab.
1:18 PM ET | 08-20-2008 | permalink
Good morning!
It appears that not much has changed during our brief absence...the polls are still close, the ads are still negative, and pundits are still atwitter with VP speculation. (CBS links 28 veep-related stories this morning. Yowsers.)
In a town hall meeting in North Carolina last night, Obama seemed to narrow the field slightly when he referred to his hypothetical VP as "he"...which would rule out Kathleen Sebelius. Elsewhere, apparently Mrs. Bayh has had her hair and nails done, Biden says "I'm not the guy," and Mark Warner lays it on thick for Tim Kaine. We suspect our text messages won't arrive until Friday night (a Saturday rally in Springfield, IL is rumored to be the VP rollout), so we have another 60-ish hours to stew.
On the GOP side, Jonathan Martin says Lieberman is being vetted -- another possible pro-choice pick to send El Rushbo into a further tizzy. But the Washington Times says prominent GOPers are working overtime to talk McCain out of a pro-choice pick. (As Sean pointed out this morning, the announcement that Lieberman will speak at the RNC could put a damper on some of the Lieberman speculation.) McCain will appear on Laura Ingraham's radio show this morning...no doubt he'll have to face down some tough questions on the subject.
Continue reading "Wednesday Morning: More Rampant Veepstaking, National Polls Tighten, and Haircuts for the Homeless " »
10:00 AM ET | 08-20-2008 | permalink
The AP is now reporting that Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut will speak at next month's Republican National Convention in St. Paul. The source is a GOP official who asked to remain anonymous. This likely means Lieberman has dropped off McCain's VP shortlist.
9:55 AM ET | 08-20-2008 | permalink
There's considerable hand-wringing on the left over McCain's attacks on Obama's character and lack of a Democratic counterattack. Now a Democratic consultant has produced a how-to memo: "McCain's actions in recent weeks have provided compelling evidence for three genuinely disturbing propositions about his character, core values and integrity."
The phrase "swift boating" comes to mind. Peter Overby has more, on our companion blog at the Secret Money Project.
5:23 PM ET | 08-19-2008 | permalink
Obama has announced plans to return to the State Capitol building in Springfield, Illinois this Saturday -- the same spot where he launched his bid for the White House 19 months ago. That has people betting he'll officially unveil his VP pick there. The same names keep popping up: Biden, Bayh, Kaine, and, sometimes, Sebelius. And yes it's true, more than likely one of them will become the Democratic Vice-Presidential nominee.
But what if all the pundits are wrong? What if Obama picks someone completely unexpected?
In the tradition of wild VP speculation, I've consulted my colleagues and humbly submit a few last-minute Dark Horses, some familiar, some resurrected, some....
1.) Gen. Colin Powell. He was a National Security Advisor to Reagan, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Secretary of State in the Bush's first administration. Also: everyone loves Colin Powell. Sure, he's a Republican, but he's nearly endorsed Obama's candidacy this year. One major con: he helped sell the invasion of Iraq in 2003. However, that's not exactly a criticism the McCain camp would be itching to use in a TV ad.
2.) Vice-President Al Gore. Would he want to be Vice-President (again)? Probably not. What's not to like about being a Nobel prize-winning, Powerpoint-toting, environmental visionary? But if Obama needs someone of his singular stature and he's promised more power this time around -- potentially as some kind of energy czar -- maybe he could be swayed to join the Obama team.
3.) Al Franken. After the New Yorker cover debacle, Obama was accused of not having a sense of humor. Naming Al Franken as his VP could solve that problem. Plus, considering how Franken is currently polling in his Senate race at this point, he'll probably be available for the job.
4.) Gen. Anthony Charles Zinni. He's a retired four-star General, and his four stars could go a long way to balance out Obama's lack of national security experience. Not exactly a household name, but in a memoir he co-authored with Tom Clancy, he offered some harsh criticism of the execution of the War in Iraq.
6.) Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland. Whenever he's asked about the VP slot, Strickland says it's not going to happen. But he did a bang up job as Obama's warm-up act two weeks ago, and, as the governor of an important swing state with appeal to blue collar voters, Strickland's denials should not discourage Obama's VP selection committee.
7.) Dick Gephardt. He was the Democratic leader in the House for more than a decade, but we haven't heard much from him since he unsuccessfully sought the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2004. On the downside, he did support the Iraq War resolution, and he's worked as a lobbyist since withdrawing from the 2004 race. Okay, so those are big cons...
Maybe it's back to Biden and Bayh. What do you think? Send us your picks.
5:19 PM ET | 08-19-2008 | permalink
If Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, who is up for re-election this year, is named as Obama's running mate, state law says HE MAY RUN FOR BOTH OFFICES AT THE SAME TIME -- a la Lieberman in 2000, Bentsen in 1988 and, the most famous one, LBJ in 1960.
The same goes for a less-likely (though my personal) pick, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island.
And if the Dems win in November, the governors of Delaware or Rhode Island (as well as the governor of Obama's Illinois) may name whomever they want to succeed the departing senator.
-- Ken Rudin
4:28 PM ET | 08-19-2008 | permalink
Not long ago, the Republican National Committee passed out tire pressure gauges, mocking Barack Obama's suggestion that properly inflating tires could save more oil than offshore drilling would produce.
Today, the Democratic National Committee is firing back with a gag gift of its own: the "Exxon-McCain '08 Campaign Kit," complete with buttons, bumper stickers, and a squeezable stress ball in the shape of an oil barrel.
The gifts were distributed today to reporters covering John McCain. They're meant to suggest that McCain's plan for increased offshore oil drilling--along with his opposition to increased taxes on oil companies--puts him in the pocket of Big Oil.
(Maybe it's just a coincidence, but the hotel where McCain's press corps is staying in New Orleans today is also hosting a meeting of Noble Drilling Services, Inc.)
2:11 PM ET | 08-19-2008 | permalink
Here is a rough sketch of the trip-- courtesy of Google maps. It's still a work in progress, and we haven't decided on all the stops. That's where you come in. Check out the map and let us know where you think we should go and who we should meet. Remember we are looking for folks in your community who are leaders and we don't just mean political leaders. So let us know if yours is a detour we should take? Comment below or email meetyourleaders@npr.org.Trust me: we're reading your ideas.
11:15 AM ET | 08-19-2008 | permalink
The temperature is a-rising in the VeeP hunt. But given how tight-lipped the campaigns have been up to this point, reporter types are left to pick through a remarkably small set of clues.
The New York Times reports this morning that Obama could announce a running mate as early as Wednesday (via text message, mind you). They say the list is down to three: Senator Evan Bayh (IN), Senator Joseph Biden (DE), and VA Governor Tim Kaine. Interestingly, a new CBS/NYT poll shows that, among Democratic delegates, Hillary Clinton is far and away the favorite for VP, followed by Biden, former NC Senator John Edwards, NM Governor Bill Richardson, and Bayh.
Meanwhile, Politico is reporting that McCain will go public with his choice on August 29th (his 72nd birthday, incidentally), potentially limiting any bump Obama might receive from the convention. But campaign aides say the date is not final and that McCain is waiting for Obama to make the first move. The finalists, according to Politico: former MA Governor Mitt Romney, MN Governor Tim Pawlenty, former PA Governor Tom Ridge, and Senator Joe Lieberman (CT). The National Review Online is now reporting that the McCain camp is contacting GOP officials around the country, feeling out the consequences of a pro-choice pick. So Ridge is moving up the list.
10:13 AM ET | 08-19-2008 | permalink
Both campaigns issued statements today, weighing in on the resignation of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. He quit office this morning to avoid impeachment charges. Here's what they had to say.
McCain:
The resignation of President Pervez Musharraf is a step toward moving Pakistan onto a more stable political footing. Pakistan is a critical theater in countering the threat of al Qaeda and violent Islamic extremism, and I look forward to the government increasing its future cooperation. There are serious problems that must be addressed. The situation in Pakistan's frontier regions requires immediate and continued attention, and I hope that the elections for President Musharraf's successor will serve to reconcile the Pakistani people behind a leader who can solidify their government internally. It is critical that the United States continue to work in partnership with the Pakistani people and their democratically elected government to tackle the many challenges we both face.
There are serious problems that must be addressed. The situation in Pakistan's frontier regions requires immediate and continued attention, and I hope that the elections for President Musharraf's successor will serve to reconcile the Pakistani people behind a leader who can solidify their government internally. It is critical that the United States continue to work in partnership with the Pakistani people and their democratically elected government to tackle the many challenges we both face.
Obama:
President Musharraf has made the right decision to step down as President of Pakistan. It is in the interests of his country and the Pakistani people to end the political crisis that has immobilized the coalition government for too long. I have long said that the central terrorist threat to the United States lies in northwest Pakistan and Afghanistan, and not Iraq. US policy must focus on assuring that all elements of Pakistan's government are resolute in shutting down the safe havens for al Qaeda and the Taliban. There can be no safehaven for terrorists who threaten the American people. A year ago, I advocated that the US move from a 'Musharraf policy' to a 'Pakistan policy.' I hope all of Pakistan's friends will now seize the opportunity created by Musharraf's exit to focus on the urgent issues of today: confronting the threat of extremist violence, dealing with food and energy shortages, and helping the Pakistani people build a stable, secure, democratic future.
A year ago, I advocated that the US move from a 'Musharraf policy' to a 'Pakistan policy.' I hope all of Pakistan's friends will now seize the opportunity created by Musharraf's exit to focus on the urgent issues of today: confronting the threat of extremist violence, dealing with food and energy shortages, and helping the Pakistani people build a stable, secure, democratic future.
5:04 PM ET | 08-18-2008 | permalink
Last week, NPR's Ted Robbins wrote a story about Cindy McCain's business and charity work, and in the story he referred to her as an only child. Robbins wasn't the first to call her that. News organizations from The New York Times to ABC have labeled her the same. Cindy McCain even called herself an only child on CNN last month.
But as it turns out, Cindy McCain has a half-sister. Her name is Kathleen Hensley Portalski, and she'd like to be acknowledged. After Robbins' story was broadcast, Portalski's son emailed NPR to set the record straight. Cindy McCain's father, Jim Hensley, had a child by a previous marriage. Robbins reports today:
Kathleen says she did see her father and her half sister Cindy from time to time.
"I saw him a few times a year," she says. "I saw him at Christmas and birthdays, and he provided money for school clothes, and he called occasionally."
Jim Hensley also provided credit cards and college tuition for his grandchildren, as well as $10,000 gifts to Kathleen and her husband, Stanley Portalski. That lasted a decade, they say. By then, Jim Hensley had built Hensley and Co. into one of the largest beer distributorships in the country. He was worth tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars.
However when Jim Hensley died, Cindy McCain was the sole inheritor of his fortune.
4:00 PM ET | 08-18-2008 | permalink
MN Sen. Norm Coleman would love to join the other 8+ GOP Sens skipping the RNC, but it just wouldn't be very Minnesota-nice of him. Coleman told MPR; "I think those who come here will have an extraordinary time. But the colleagues who don't come are staying at home only because they have tough races. If the convention wasn't in St. Paul, I wouldn't be at the convention."
10:45 AM ET | 08-18-2008 | permalink
Gentle Readers:
I'll be away Monday and Tuesday of next week. My able colleagues will keep you up to date on the news, but the AM Roundup will go on hiatus until I'm back from cooler climes. Have a great weekend, folks!
7:14 PM ET | 08-15-2008 | permalink
Late last month, McCain and Obama disclosed their top ten songs to Blender Magazine. Frankly, the two lists couldn't be any more different. Since then, McCain has taken a rash of crap from the press over two of his selections: Dancing Queen and Take A Chance On Me, both by the Swedish group ABBA. He ranked them #1 and #3, respectively.
In an interview this week with Walter Isaacson, president of the Aspen Institute, McCain again found himself defending the Euro-pop icons and his fondness for their '70s-era cuts. According to a McCain campaign press release, the exchange went something like this:
Isaacson: "What were you thinking?" McCain: "If there is anything I am lacking in, I've got to tell you, it is taste in music and art and other great things in life. I've got to say that a lot of my taste in music stopped about the time I impacted a surface-to-air missile with my own airplane and never caught up again. ... Now look, everybody says, 'I hate ABBA. Oh ABBA, how terrible! Blah blah blah. How come everybody goes to 'Mamma Mia?' Huh? I mean really, seriously, huh? 'I hate ABBA, they're no good, you know.' Well, everybody goes. They've been selling out for years. ... But I make no excuses for my taste in music."
McCain: "If there is anything I am lacking in, I've got to tell you, it is taste in music and art and other great things in life. I've got to say that a lot of my taste in music stopped about the time I impacted a surface-to-air missile with my own airplane and never caught up again. ... Now look, everybody says, 'I hate ABBA. Oh ABBA, how terrible! Blah blah blah. How come everybody goes to 'Mamma Mia?' Huh? I mean really, seriously, huh? 'I hate ABBA, they're no good, you know.' Well, everybody goes. They've been selling out for years. ... But I make no excuses for my taste in music."
In McCain's defense, he did enter an arena this week with Gonna Fly Now (of "Rocky" fame) blaring over the PA system. We're totally down with that.
4:36 PM ET | 08-15-2008 | permalink
This needs no introduction:
4:08 PM ET | 08-15-2008 | permalink
On the eve of the candidates' joint appearance at Saddleback Church, a new ad has appeared from the pro-Obama Christian group The Matthew 25 Network. It's called "Families."
The ad features a range of pastors and theologians talking about Obama's commitment to family. The don't-miss quote:
Throughout his entire career, Senator Obama has stood by families...including his own.
Steve Waldman at Beliefnet wonders:
Might this be intended to poke John McCain for committing adultery in his first marriage? Seems that way to me.
Seems like it might. Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell, an Obama supporter (and Bush friend -- he officiated Jenna's wedding in May), said this on a conference call with reporters this morning (via ABC news):
"His marital history has been duly recorded," said Caldwell, referring to McCain, "and as recently as yesterday I think it is, our pastor from Saddleback, Rick Warren indicated that he would not feel comfortable voting for an adulterer and I don't know exactly to whom he was referring but I think the data speaks for itself."
McCain's first marriage ended in 1980, and his relationship with now-wife Cindy McCain began before the divorce was final. McCain's first wife, Carol, has said she doesn't hold a grudge.
The veiled swipe would appear to be at odds with the group's stated philosphy. The name "Matthew 25" comes from the New Testament, Matthew 25:40, which reads:
'I tell you the truth, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did for me.'
4:02 PM ET | 08-15-2008 | permalink
Do you live between Chicago and Phoenix? If so, we may be coming for a visit.
Starting Friday, August 22, my NPR colleague, Thomas Pierce, and I are packing our suitcases (and audio equipment) and getting ready for an old-fashioned road trip.
We're starting in Barack Obama's hometown of Chicago. And we'll make our way to John McCain's hometown of Phoenix.
Thomas and I will be in rental cars, on trains... maybe catch a ferry or two.
We came up with the trip because as McCain and Obama accept their parties' nominations, there's going to be a lot of talk of presidential leadership. But leadership doesn't just live in the White House. There are leaders in every city and town, in every school and business and in every family.
This is where you come in. We want you to take us to your leader. Who do you look up to? Whose actions make a difference? It could be your mayor or your mom, your teacher or your pastor, your boss or your bartender. Whomever you suggest -- it's a person we may want to meet.
If you want to help, post a comment here on the blog, and everyone can see it. Or, email us personally at meetyourleaders@npr.org.
Meanwhile, we'll keep you updated on our itinerary. It's still pretty rough. But we've got a tentative plan for the first few days. On August 22-23, we'll be hanging out in Chicago. On August 24, we'll be stopping in Gary, Indiana. And on August 25, we're setting off across Illinois, perhaps stopping in communities like Joliet, Pontiac, Normal, Lincoln, Springfield, Carlinville or Alton. Then it's on to St. Louis, and westward from there....
Again, this is just a first draft. So whether you live in any of these places or not, tell us why we should stop in your community. Tell us about leaders we should talk to.
3:53 PM ET | 08-15-2008 | permalink
The McCain campaign has released another negative ad going after Obama on taxes and his celebrity status. It's the fourth ad in just over two weeks that pairs the rockstar theme with the suggestion that an Obama presidency would threaten your family's financial security.
But as McCain milks the free publicity from its spate of negative advertising, First Read reports that the Obama campaign has been quietly running negative ads in battleground states.
Continue reading "Campaigns' Negative Tactics Diverge" »
12:14 PM ET | 08-15-2008 | permalink
A new edition of the It's All Politics podcast is ready for a listen. NPR's Ron Elving and Ken Rudin talk this week about the new book that's attempting to swift-boat Obama, as well as discussing why John McCain knows so much about Georgia. They also interpret what the Dem convention speaking schedule means for the veep shortlist, and take a look at the tradition of placing vanquished candidates' names in nomination:
-- Laurel Wamsley
12:04 PM ET | 08-15-2008 | permalink
Happy Friday! Make that a VERY happy Friday for Nastia and Shawn. Congratulations, ladies!
Yesterday evening the Obama campaign struck back hard at Jerome Corsi's much-hyped critical book Obama Nation with this 41-page rebuttal PDF that they emailed to reporters. The document, titled "Unfit for Publication" nods to Corsi's 2004 attack tome against John Kerry, called Unfit for Command. The message: that the Obama campaign will not shrink from responding to swift-boat-style attacks as the Kerry campaign did (arguably costing Kerry the Presidency). The PDF not only makes point-by-point refutations of the "factual inaccuracies" in the book, it also takes pains to discredit Corsi himself, citing loony conspiracy theories about 9/11 and a looming "North American Union," as well as a range of anti-Catholic and anti-Muslim sentiments that the author has espoused on the internet and elsewhere. It's a decisive counterattack from a campaign that has lately been accused of pulling punches. The opening statement says it all:
Once again, bigoted fringe author Jerome Corsi is trying to make money off of an election, spinning garbage as journalism and relying on the right-wing echo chamber pump up sales. Make no mistake: "The Obama Nation: is nothing but rehashed lies.
McCainwise, the GOP nominee-to-be has been making the most of his Obamaless week. As images trickle down of Obama eating sno-cones and bodysurfing, McCain keeps hammering his tough stance on the Georgia conflict. Obama's visit to his grandmother was long-planned, and he has issued frequent statements on Georgia. And -- let's face it -- neither of these guys is actually President yet. (Not to mention that the REAL President leaves for vacation today too.) And surely the upcoming conventions will drown out this week's foibles. But, well...it's a tough contrast for Obama.
Continue reading "Friday Morning: Obama Camp Smacks Down Corsi, Preparing for Saddleback, and Predicting the Bounce " »
10:00 AM ET | 08-15-2008 | permalink
Via WP's The Trail:
Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, the authors of the hugely popular Left Behind books, a series that imagines the End Times, have issued an official statement saying they don't think Barack Obama is the Antichrist. As quoted in Christian Newswire:
"I can see by the language he uses why people think he could be the antichrist," adds LaHaye, "but from my reading of scripture, he doesn't meet the criteria. There is no indication in the Bible that the antichrist will be an American."
Why are we even talking about this, you ask? Well, it all started two weeks ago when the McCain campaign released a satirical web video portraying Barack Obama as "The One" -- complete with footage of Charleton Heston as Moses parting the Red Sea.
Then Time reported that some Christian Obama supporters saw signals in the video that seemed to draw a link between Obama and Left Behind's Antichrist figure, Nicolae Carpathia. And an internet tornado was born. As ridiculous as this all sounds, the activists' theory wasn't totally out of left field; there are a number of email chains that make the case for Obama-as-Antichrist. But there's no evidence whatsoever that the McCain campaign is linked to that kind of rumor-mongering. McCain and his press people have repeatedly said that the video was intended as a joke.
In case you don't believe LaHaye and Jenkins, the fact-checkers at snopes.com also did a thorough investigation on the subject this spring, and came to the same conclusion. (These people, however, are still not sure.)
We tend to agree with Ross Douthat's take (also quoted in the WP item):
The people who think Obama might be the Antichrist and the people who think the McCain campaign is cannily designing its campaign ads to exploit fears that Obama might be the Antichrist deserve each other.
5:20 PM ET | 08-14-2008 | permalink
Via a press release, Wednesday night speakers for the Dems will include Veepstakers Joe Biden and Evan Bayh. The list is a rough rundown for the 8-10pm Eastern time frame, with the Vice Presidential nominee expected to speak at 10. That doesn't necessarily rule out Biden or Bayh for the nod, since the organizers could always rearrange the lineup. But we note the absence (so far) of a few VP prospects from the published schedules: Tim Kaine, Chris Dodd, Jack Reed, Sam Nunn...
Also on the Wednesday schedule: Harry Reid, James Clyburn, Jay Rockefeller, Ken Salazar, Patrick Murphy, Tammy Duckworth, and of course Bill Clinton. The theme of the night is "Securing America's Future."
Full release after the jump.
Continue reading "Democrats Announce Wednesday Night Lineup" »
4:40 PM ET | 08-14-2008 | permalink
A new John McCain biography is set for release in early September, so mark your calendars -- if you're 7, that is.
My Dad, John McCain is a new children's book, written by Meghan McCain, the candidate's daughter and traveling blogger.
The book hits shelves September 2nd -- but advance copies have been making their way through the aisles of McCain's plane.
At just over 30 pages, the book is -- unsurprisingly -- flattering to the candidate.
It's more pictures than words -- illustrations of McCain from his days serving in the Navy, and from the campaign trail. (The illustrator is listed as by Dan Andreasen. The book notes he's also known for writing and illustrating his own book, A Special Day for Mommy.
Meghan has a few sentences of writing per page. She describes her dad's run for the GOP nomination in 2000. Meghan doesn't mention the bitter campaign against George W. Bush in South Carolina that was the beginning of the end of her father's candidacy that year.
"He campaigned hard in 2000 and met a lot of people all over the country," Meghan writes. "But he didn't get enough votes to win the nomination. Still he was proud of how hard he'd worked. And we were really proud of him too!"
Pages show illustrations of McCain parachuting away from his fiery fighter jet over Vietnam.
"He was alive," Meghan writes. "But both his arms and one leg were broken, and he'd been captured. He was now a prisoner of war."
She writes about how McCain could have been released early, because of his father's service as a Navy Admiral. "He said he'd go home only if everyone who'd been captured before him was set free too. And his captors said no. So my dad stayed in prison for five and a half years."
Meghan tells readers in the final pages that "It takes a great man to be President of the United States, and I know that nobody will work harder than my dad to convince people that he's the right person for the job."
The children's publishing division at Simon and Schuster is releasing the book. One percent of the proceeds will go to a charity serving members of the military and veterans who have suffered traumatic brain injury.
1:44 PM ET | 08-14-2008 | permalink
From a joint Clinton/Obama statement:
Since June, Senators Obama and Clinton have been working together to ensure a Democratic victory this November. They are both committed to winning back the White House and to to ensuring that the voices of all 35 million people who participated in this historic primary election are respected and heard in Denver. To honor and celebrate these voices and votes, both Senator Obama's and Senator Clinton's names will be placed in nomination.
The release adds the following to counter any nascent rumors that Clinton strongarmed her way into the nominating process:
Senator Obama's campaign encouraged Senator Clinton's name to be placed in nomination as a show of unity and in recognition of the historic race she ran and the fact that she was the first woman to compete in all of our nation's primary contests.
Marc Ambinder broke the story early this morning. He wisely notes that the roll call could be choreographed to provide a bit of unity theater:
It is possible that Sen. Clinton, having had her name submitted, would use the occasion to release her delegates to Obama; depending on how the roll call is staged, Clinton's released delegates could put Obama over the top.
Full press release after the jump.
Continue reading "Clinton's Name to Be Placed in Nomination" »
12:31 PM ET | 08-14-2008 | permalink
The Obama campaign has released a new economy-focused ad called "Three Bedroom Ranch" to air during the Olympics. It's a positive spot, focusing on job creation and tax cuts.
Obama's first Olympic spot talked about his energy plan.
Contrastingly, McCain's Olympic buy is a negative ad that hits Obama on taxes. We are not the first to note that it's a bit jarring to watch an attack spot during the unity-and-fellowship-fest of the Games and their attendant inspirational advertising. Negative ads tend to be more memorable than positive ones, and the Olympics is a huge audience, but McCain is taking the risk of looking like a sourpuss.
On a side note: for those of you playing the "that same stock footage of windmills" drinking game: SHOT!
11:03 AM ET | 08-14-2008 | permalink
Good morning, all.
The WSJ Op-Ed page is a veritable cornucopia of interesting stuff today:
John McCain keeps up his hardline pro-Georgia rhetoric, reiterating that "We Are All Georgians":
The world has learned at great cost the price of allowing aggression against free nations to go unchecked. A cease-fire that holds is a vital first step, but only one. With our allies, we now must stand in united purpose to persuade the Russian government to end violence permanently and withdraw its troops from Georgia.
This op-ed comes hot on the heels of the announcement that he's sending Senate colleagues Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Joe Lieberman (I/D-CT) to Georgia to report back on the conflict there.
The McCain and Obama campaigns have parried over the proper response to the Georgia crisis, with each trying to appear statesmanlike (McCain: tough; Obama: diplomatic) but apolitical...as their surrogates wield the hatchets about the other side's position.
Continue reading "Thursday Morning: Politicizing Georgia, McCain Considering Pro-Choice Veep, and A Closer Look at Corsi" »
10:17 AM ET | 08-14-2008 | permalink
The Democratic National Convention Committee has released the names of a few more Tuesday night convention speakers.
Assuming that anyone who's on the docket for Tuesday won't also speak Wednesday (and also assuming that this isn't some kind of elaborate fake-out) this information crosses a few names off the Veepstakes list. Among the speculated-about who appear to be out of the running: Kathleen Sebelius, Ed Rendell, and early favorite Ted Strickland (who firmly denied interest in the VP slot back in June).
Also noteworthy on the agenda: Bob Casey Jr., the pro-life Pennsylvania Senator whose appearance is a dog whistle of sorts for abortion opponents who may be considering Obama.
The full release is after the jump.
Continue reading "More Tuesday Names Narrow Dem Veepstakes" »
4:32 PM ET | 08-13-2008 | permalink
NPR's Martin Kaste is in Washington State, taking a look at the new primary system there.
A quick primer: the so called "top-two" system, which Washington voters overwhelmingly approved in 2004, allows voters to select any candidate on the ballot for each race. The top two finishers advance to the general election regardless of party affiliation. The local Democratic and Republican parties mounted a legal challenge on the basis of "free association," and the district court sided with them. But the US Supreme Court saw "no basis" for overturning the initiative. The top-two system will be used for the first time in the state's August 19th primary.
One kooky aspect of the new primary system that the party affiliation of the candidates is, as Martin Kaste puts it, "completely free-form" -- i.e. fill-in-the-blank rather than multiple choice. That freedom has exposed an interesting trend among members of the Republican Party...or, should we say, the GOP.
Continue reading "That Which We Call A Republican, By Any Other Name Would Smell As Sweet" »
3:18 PM ET | 08-13-2008 | permalink
In a new ad called "Book" the Obama camp hits McCain on ties to President Bush's economic policies, linking the costs of the Iraq war to US economic troubles and adding a dig about Iraq's oil-revenue surplus.
To put it less subtly, the message of this ad is as follows: Iraq is hoarding its huge oil profits while Americans fund the reconstruction efforts there and ruin our own economy in the process. Therefore, John McCain is destroying the US economy by supporting the Iraq war.
Let's put aside for now the question of what Iraq should be doing -- or is capable of doing at this point -- with that money, or whether they really have any control over global oil prices. (Or the fact that it's an important sign of progress that the Iraqi oil industry is back on its feet.) What about the suggested link between Iraq war costs and the faltering US economy? We asked NPR business correspondent Adam Davidson to weigh in. He said there's nothing outright wrong in the ad, but its juxtapositions are a bit misleading:
It's not incorrect to say the war has been a drag on us economic growth, but it's outweighed by many other factors. Oil prices, housing crisis, and the credit crunch are infinitely more significant...the Iraq war is a vanishingly minor character in the economic drama.
That doesn't mean voters won't make that connection anyway -- in a CNN poll earlier this year, 71% of respondents thought the war was hurting the economy. This ad is happy to nudge that perception along, in much the same way that McCain has embraced the fallacious link between Obama's stance on future offshore drilling and today's high gas prices.
On the upside, at least the ad isn't about famousness.
1:27 PM ET | 08-13-2008 | permalink
The DNC and Obama campaign email machines are going to town this morning on the news, first reported by the AJC, that Ralph Reed is a member of the "McCain Victory 2008 Team" and that he sent out an invitation to a McCain fundraiser in Atlanta later this month. Reed is the former head of the Christian Coalition (and novelist!) whose bid to be lieutentant Governor of Georgia fell apart because of his ties to corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff. But here's where it gets really weird: the Abramoff relationship came to light during a lobbying scandal investigation spearheaded by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, which was then chaired by John McCain. And McCain often invokes his leadership in the Abramoff investigation as an example of his toughness on corruption and Washington cronyism. So...what the? Reed tells the WSJ that he is not "a host or a co-chair but rather a run-of-the-mill attendee" of the fundraiser, and that he is willing to let bygones be bygones with McCain. So far McCain hasn't clarified whether the feeling is mutual...but if so this revelation probably won't help his eroding maverick brand.
McCain was on NPR's Morning Edition today talking about the conflict in Georgia, about which, the NYT observes, he has taken a notably harder line than Obama, Bush, or most other world leaders. He also told host Renee Montagne that he's not "sending a negative message" with his campaign. Um. Are you sure?
Continue reading "Wednesday Morning: Ralph Reed for McCain, Warner to Keynote DNC, and...Just Ew." »
12:01 PM ET | 08-13-2008 | permalink
Lots of hum this week about the new abortion language in the proposed Democratic platform, which was approved for submission this past weekend. Here's the old language:
Because we believe in the privacy and equality of women, we stand proudly for a woman's right to choose, consistent with Roe v. Wade, and regardless of her ability to pay. We stand firmly against Republican efforts to undermine that right. At the same time, we strongly support family planning and adoption incentives. Abortion should be safe, legal, and rare.
And here's the proposed change:
The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v Wade and a woman's right to choose a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay, and we oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right.The Democratic Party also strongly supports access to affordable family planning services and comprehensive age-appropriate sex education which empower people to make informed choices and live healthy lives. We also recognize that such health care and education help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and thereby also reduce the need for abortions. The Democratic Party also strongly supports a woman's decision to have a child by ensuring access to and availability of programs for pre and post natal health care, parenting skills, income support, and caring adoption programs.
As CBN's David Brody notes, the new language is an effort to make the Democrats' position on abortion more palateable to moderate Evangelical and Catholic voters who agree with the Dems on other issues. The longer sections on "family planning services" (i.e. birth control) and aid for women who choose to carry unplanned pregnancies are designed to emphasize the party's commitment to minimizing abortions (although the language on choice remains very strong -- NARAL President Nancy Keenan is a member of the platform committee).
Continue reading "Dems' New Abortion Language Courts Pro-Life Moderates" »
2:24 PM ET | 08-12-2008 | permalink
There are a few more signs out there that voters may be growing weary of "Obamamania"...
Anti-Obama books are flying off the virtual shelves, according to a recent Wall Street Journal story. It speculates that the recent uptick in sales may be a response to the media's apparent infatuation with Obama. Among Amazon's top-selling nonfiction books are Jerome Corsi's The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality (#1), David Fredosso's The Case Against Barack Obama: The Unlikely Rise and Unexamined Agenda of the Media's Favorite Candidate (#2), and Dick Morris' Fleeced: How Barack Obama, Media Mockery of Terrorist Threats, Liberals Who Want to Kill Talk Radio, the Do-Nothing Congress, Companies That Help Iran, and Washington Lobbyists for Foreign Governments Are Scamming Us... and What to Do About It (#9). At Barnes & Noble, the list is almost identical: Corsi (#1), Fredosso (#3), and Morris (#5). Interestingly, not one of the recently published anti-McCain books even cracks the top 100.
And McCain recently passed Obama in another key political arena: YouTube popularity. In the last month, McCain's YouTube channel has amassed more hits (4.9 million) than that of Obama (2.2 million). Among politicians, the next closest are "Kucinich2008" with 200,000 hits and "BobBarr2008" with 135,000. But when it comes to overall hits, it's no contest: Obama trounces McCain, 51 million versus 8 million. Republican Congressman Ron Paul, whose unsuccessful 2008 presidential campaign attracted a huge internet following, remains in second with 15 million.
2:07 PM ET | 08-12-2008 | permalink
Good morning.
Joshua Green's much-hyped Atlantic piece detailing the internal sturm und drang of the Hillary Clinton camapign (complete with a raft of leaked internal memos) arrived online last night, and it's got more juicy deets than your average US Weekly. Or anyway, it does for those of us who lapped up every twist and turn of this crazy primary season like starved wolves.
Green's thesis:
Above all, this irony emerges: Clinton ran on the basis of managerial competence--on her capacity, as she liked to put it, to "do the job from Day One." In fact, she never behaved like a chief executive, and her own staff proved to be her Achilles' heel. What is clear from the internal documents is that Clinton's loss derived not from any specific decision she made but rather from the preponderance of the many she did not make. Her hesitancy and habit of avoiding hard choices exacted a price that eventually sank her chances at the presidency.
Clinton's chief strategist Mark Penn takes a bit of a beating for being a divisive figure within the campaign and for pitching some sleazy (and ultimately rejected) ideas to attack Obama. But Penn also earns a measure of redemption for having a prescient understanding of Clinton's base: "women, lower and middle class voters" and for pushing a more aggressive strategy in Iowa, where Clinton ultimately came in third. (The article describes Clinton fuming after a meeting with the Des Moines Register editorial board, who asked her why her campaign was so passive).
Continue reading "Tuesday Morning: Clinton's Campaign Deconstructed, The Dems' Registration Push, and The March of the Obamacans " »
11:27 AM ET | 08-12-2008 | permalink
Another shot fired in the Great Celeb War of 2008.
This new McCain web ad, called "Fan Club" compares Obama to Elvis, the Beatles, and Bono, then calls Obama "dreamy" and quotes a fan saying he has "soft eyes." It also states declaratively that "we know he...isn't ready to lead." (Usually we get that as an ominous question: "but is he ready to lead?")
Is it just us, or is the fame war thing getting pretty tired?
4:49 PM ET | 08-11-2008 | permalink
Over at FiveThirtyEight, stats fiend Nate Silver throws some cold water on Howard Wolfson's suggestion that if Edwards had disapparated before the Iowa caucuses, HRC might have won Iowa and and rolled to the nomination. Silver says...unlikely:
The thing about Iowa, however, is that unlike virtually any other electoral contest, second choices matter, since Democratic caucus rules dictate that a voter may caucus for her second-choice candidate if her first choice does not achieve the 15 percent of the vote required for viability. As such, Iowa pollsters did a lot of work in trying to determine voters' second choices. And in virtually every survey, Clinton did rather poorly as a second choice: an average of several surveys in December showed that she was the second choice of about 20 percent of voters, as compared with 25 percent for Obama and Edwards (an even later version I have sitting on my hard drive showed the second-choice breakdown as Edwards 30, Obama 28.5, Clinton 23.5)
3:59 PM ET | 08-11-2008 | permalink
We wrote a bit about it in this morning's roundup...but for your ultra-simplified viewing pleasure, here's Barack Obama's response to John McCain's repeated digs at his celebrity status. The title of the ad is "Embrace."
1:19 PM ET | 08-11-2008 | permalink
The Democrats have announced the themes for each night of their convention, which starts two weeks from today. VP tea-leafing based on the Wednesday theme is welcome (nay, encouraged!) in the comments section...
Monday, August 25 -- One Nation Monday's headline prime-time speaker will be Michelle Obama. Tuesday, August 26 -- Renewing America's Promise Senator Hillary Clinton will be the headline prime-time speaker on Tuesday night. Wednesday, August 27 -- Securing America's Future The Vice Presidential Acceptance Speech The headline prime-time speaker on Wednesday will be Barack Obama's Vice Presidential Nominee. Thursday, August 28 -- Change You Can Believe In Barack Obama's Acceptance Speech On Thursday night, the DNCC will throw open the doors of the Convention and move to INVESCO Field at Mile High so that more Americans can be a part of the fourth night of the Convention as Barack Obama accepts the Democratic nomination. Obama will communicate the urgency of the moment, highlight the struggles Americans are facing and call on Americans to come together to change the course of our nation.
Monday's headline prime-time speaker will be Michelle Obama.
Tuesday, August 26 -- Renewing America's Promise
Senator Hillary Clinton will be the headline prime-time speaker on Tuesday night.
Wednesday, August 27 -- Securing America's Future
The Vice Presidential Acceptance Speech
The headline prime-time speaker on Wednesday will be Barack Obama's Vice Presidential Nominee.
Thursday, August 28 -- Change You Can Believe In
Barack Obama's Acceptance Speech
On Thursday night, the DNCC will throw open the doors of the Convention and move to INVESCO Field at Mile High so that more Americans can be a part of the fourth night of the Convention as Barack Obama accepts the Democratic nomination. Obama will communicate the urgency of the moment, highlight the struggles Americans are facing and call on Americans to come together to change the course of our nation.
12:45 PM ET | 08-11-2008 | permalink
Good morning, all. It's shaping up to be a refreshingly temperate day for all the Superman fans in our nation's capital.
The Democrats have revealed the list of keynote speakers at the convention in Denver later this month. Monday night will feature Michelle Obama in primetime; Tuesday will be Hillary Clinton; Wednesday will be the VP Candidate (still a mystery, though the campaign is pushing a sign-up to be text-messaged when the decision is announced); Thursday, of course, Obama himself.
HRC's placement as the keynoter may do some damage-control with her still-roiling base, though there remains no firm resolution to last week's speculation about whether her name will be placed into nomination in Denver. And Clinton will stay in the news this week as The Atlantic's Joshua Green spills juicy details from her campaign's internal memos in a much-anticipated curtain-raiser. One remarkable (discarded) tactic suggested by chief strategist Mark Penn: to paint Obama as a foreigner. From Mike Allen's Politico preview of the story:
The Penn memo suggesting that the campaign target Obama's "lack of American roots" said in part: "All of these articles about his boyhood in Indonesia and his life in Hawaii are geared towards showing his background is diverse, multicultural and putting that in a new light. "Save it for 2050. ... Every speech should contain the line you were born in the middle of America American to the middle class in the middle of the last century. And talk about the basic bargain as about the deeply American values you grew up with, learned as a child and that drive you today. Values of fairness, compassion, responsibility, giving back "Let's explicitly own 'American' in our programs, the speeches and the values. He doesn't. Make this a new American Century, the American Strategic Energy Fund. Let's use our logo to make some flags we can give out. Let's add flag symbols to the backgrounds."
"Save it for 2050. ... Every speech should contain the line you were born in the middle of America American to the middle class in the middle of the last century. And talk about the basic bargain as about the deeply American values you grew up with, learned as a child and that drive you today. Values of fairness, compassion, responsibility, giving back
"Let's explicitly own 'American' in our programs, the speeches and the values. He doesn't. Make this a new American Century, the American Strategic Energy Fund. Let's use our logo to make some flags we can give out. Let's add flag symbols to the backgrounds."
Continue reading "Monday Morning: Clinton Memo Dump Preview, McCain as Manager, and Costas Gets Tough" »
11:46 AM ET | 08-11-2008 | permalink
With Barack Obama on vacation, John McCain has the campaign trail all to himself. And he didn't even wait for the Monday rush hour to end before coming out to slam Russia for its actions in Georgia. You can decide if his opener was a swipe at his opponent's visit to sunny Hawaii:
Americans wishing to spend August vacationing with their families or watching the Olympics may wonder why their newspapers and television screens are filled with images of war in the small country of Georgia.
Speaking to reporters at a hotel in Erie, Pa., McCain called for the UN and NATO to swing into diplomatic gear to try and end the conflict, and he warned Russia's leaders that they must "understand the severe, long-term negative consequences that their government's actions will have for Russia's relationship with the U.S. and Europe."
As for questions from reporters - well, McCain isn't taking them often anymore. And when he finished his statement, the more disclplined McCain refused to play ball when a reporter asked about any necessary military preparedness if the Russian-Georgian violence continues.
"This is the total of my recommendations for right now," McCain said, before walking away.
10:42 AM ET | 08-11-2008 | permalink
NPR's Secret Money Project has launched a new blog. The project is a joint venture between NPR and the Center for Investigative Reporting that will be tracking the hidden cash that influences this election cycle.
Here, NPR's money, power, and influence expert Peter Overby takes a look at a new liberal organization called Accountable America. Tom Matzzie, the former Washington director for Moveon.org, launched the group Friday. Its mission is to kneecap potential Swift-Boat style attacks against Barack Obama by threatening to expose the identities of donors that pay for the negative ads. It's a controversial plan. As Peter writes:
This raises all sorts of questions about First Amendment rights, of donors and of Accountable America. Conservatives call Matzzie's strategy McCarthyism. Judicial Watch, a usually conservative watchdog group, promptly suggested that Accountable America had violated a law originally enacted to stop Ku Klux Klan intimidation of African-American voters.
The Secret Money Project will be keeping an eye on this organization and others throughout the fall. You can click here for a list of several of the most influential outside groups and a rundown of the important players.
4:08 PM ET | 08- 9-2008 | permalink
Elizabeth Edwards has posted a statement on the blog Daily Kos. In part:
Our family has been through a lot. Some caused by nature, some caused by human weakness, and some -- most recently -- caused by the desire for sensationalism and profit without any regard for the human consequences. None of these has been easy. But we have stood with one another through them all. Although John believes he should stand alone and take the consequences of his action now, when the door closes behind him, he has his family waiting for him. John made a terrible mistake in 2006. The fact that it is a mistake that many others have made before him did not make it any easier for me to hear when he told me what he had done. But he did tell me. And we began a long and painful process in 2006, a process oddly made somewhat easier with my diagnosis in March of 2007. This was our private matter, and I frankly wanted it to be private because as painful as it was I did not want to have to play it out on a public stage as well. Because of a recent string of hurtful and absurd lies in a tabloid publication, because of a picture falsely suggesting that John was spending time with a child it wrongly alleged he had fathered outside our marriage, our private matter could no longer be wholly private.
John made a terrible mistake in 2006. The fact that it is a mistake that many others have made before him did not make it any easier for me to hear when he told me what he had done. But he did tell me. And we began a long and painful process in 2006, a process oddly made somewhat easier with my diagnosis in March of 2007. This was our private matter, and I frankly wanted it to be private because as painful as it was I did not want to have to play it out on a public stage as well. Because of a recent string of hurtful and absurd lies in a tabloid publication, because of a picture falsely suggesting that John was spending time with a child it wrongly alleged he had fathered outside our marriage, our private matter could no longer be wholly private.
4:03 PM ET | 08- 9-2008 | permalink
John Edwards has released the following statement:
In 2006, I made a serious error in judgment and conducted myself in a way that was disloyal to my family and to my core beliefs. I recognized my mistake and I told my wife that I had a liaison with another woman, and I asked for her forgiveness. Although I was honest in every painful detail with my family, I did not tell the public. When a supermarket tabloid told a version of the story, I used the fact that the story contained many falsities to deny it. But being 99 percent honest is no longer enough. I was and am ashamed of my conduct and choices, and I had hoped that it would never become public. With my family, I took responsibility for my actions in 2006 and today I take full responsibility publicly. But that misconduct took place for a short period in 2006. It ended then. I am and have been willing to take any test necessary to establish the fact that I am not the father of any baby, and I am truly hopeful that a test will be done so this fact can be definitively established. I only know that the apparent father has said publicly that he is the father of the baby. I also have not been engaged in any activity of any description that requested, agreed to or supported payments of any kind to the woman or to the apparent father of the baby. It is inadequate to say to the people who believed in me that I am sorry, as it is inadequate to say to the people who love me that I am sorry. In the course of several campaigns, I started to believe that I was special and became increasingly egocentric and narcissistic. If you want to beat me up - feel free. You cannot beat me up more than I have already beaten up myself. I have been stripped bare and will now work with everything I have to help my family and others who need my help. I have given a complete interview on this matter and having done so, will have nothing more to say.
I was and am ashamed of my conduct and choices, and I had hoped that it would never become public. With my family, I took responsibility for my actions in 2006 and today I take full responsibility publicly. But that misconduct took place for a short period in 2006. It ended then. I am and have been willing to take any test necessary to establish the fact that I am not the father of any baby, and I am truly hopeful that a test will be done so this fact can be definitively established. I only know that the apparent father has said publicly that he is the father of the baby. I also have not been engaged in any activity of any description that requested, agreed to or supported payments of any kind to the woman or to the apparent father of the baby.
It is inadequate to say to the people who believed in me that I am sorry, as it is inadequate to say to the people who love me that I am sorry. In the course of several campaigns, I started to believe that I was special and became increasingly egocentric and narcissistic. If you want to beat me up - feel free. You cannot beat me up more than I have already beaten up myself. I have been stripped bare and will now work with everything I have to help my family and others who need my help.
I have given a complete interview on this matter and having done so, will have nothing more to say.
5:54 PM ET | 08- 8-2008 | permalink
From the AP:
David Bonior, Edwards' campaign manager for his 2008 presidential bid, said Friday he was disappointed and angry after hearing about Edwards' confession. "Thousands of friends of the Senator's and his supporters have put their faith and confidence in him and he's let them down," said Bonior, a former congressman from Michigan. "They've been betrayed by his action." Asked whether the affair would damage Edwards' future aspirations in public service, Bonior replied: "You can't lie in politics and expect to have people's confidence."
"Thousands of friends of the Senator's and his supporters have put their faith and confidence in him and he's let them down," said Bonior, a former congressman from Michigan. "They've been betrayed by his action."
Asked whether the affair would damage Edwards' future aspirations in public service, Bonior replied: "You can't lie in politics and expect to have people's confidence."
5:18 PM ET | 08- 8-2008 | permalink
The 30-second spot, called "Hands," talks creating jobs by building the alternative energy industry. It will air during Olympics coverage on national cable and on network affiliates in all 50 states. The Obama campaign reportedly plans to spend $5 million on ads during the Games.
This is a pretty safe ad -- it won't go viral on YouTube, but it also won't inspire controversy and a press release war with the McCain campaign. Maybe that's a good choice amidst the recent concerns that Obama is overexposed.
4:47 PM ET | 08- 8-2008 | permalink
