PUMA stands for "People United Means Action!" You may know that there is another, more defiant meaning for the acronym P.U.M.A. There will be no unity in the Democratic party until the voices of the 18 million voters who support Hillary Clinton are heard and heeded.
We are motivated to action by our shared belief that the current leadership of the Democratic National Committee has abrogated its responsibility to represent the interests of all democrats in all 50 states. They are misleading our party and aim to mislead our country into nominating an illegitimate candidate for president in 2008. Our goals are fourfold:
1. To support the candidacy of Hillary Clinton in 2008 / 2012.
2. To lobby and organize for changes in leadership in the DNC
3. To critique and oppose the misogyny, discrimination, and disinformation in the mainstream media, including mainstream blogs and other outlets of new media
4. To support the efforts of those political figures who have allied themselves with Hillary Clinton and who have demonstrated commitment to our first three goals
DAILY Rasmussen Poll:
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday shows Barack Obama attracting 49% of the vote while John McCain earns 46%.
Larry Johnson of NOQUARTER asks whether or not the Obama Campaign may have used information about Edwards affair to secure his endorsement. The following is reposted from his website:More...
On a personal level I have the greatest empathy for Elizabeth Edwards. John? Well, the revelation of the affair has not exactly boosted his political prospects. The real salience of this matter is whether or not the Obama campaign knew about it or used the information to secure Edward’s endorsement.
Let’s look back to the day after the West Virginia primary. Hillary had drubbed Obama, garnering 67 percent of the vote. So what did Obama promise John Edward to get his endorsement on that day? Attorney General? You can bet the house that Obama promised Edwards a cabinet post for his well timed endorsement. Whatever promises were made, Edwards is toast.
I don’t care whether John Edwards is the father of an illegitimate child. That’s a private matter and something he must sort out with his wife and his paramour. But as far as dealing with Obama, that’s something we have a right to know. Will Edwards now come clean and tell us what Obama promised him. That’s dirtier than a sordid little affair in my book.
Mark Bennett, Attorney General 425 Queen Street Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
Telephone: 808-586-1500 Fax: 808-586-1239
E-Mail: hawaiiag@hawaii.gov
Attorney General Bennett,
This letter requests the attention of your office in the investigation of Barack Obama’s birth certificate. More...
In June, Sen. Obama published an image of a Hawaii Certification of Live Birth (COLB) on his campaign website next to the words “the truth about Barack’s birth certificate.” It is still there (see http://my.barackobama.com/page/invite/birthcert).
Since that time, at least two forensics and documents experts have concluded that this image of a COLB, proffered by Sen. Obama as his true birth certificate, is a forgery (references below). Because these experts are working with an Internet image rather than an actual paper document — their work has been highly technical and difficult to document.
As you well know, the falsification of COLB-style forms is relatively simple because of technological advancements in digital and computer applications. The very existence of the computer-generated black block where the Certification Number should be is suspect and, in accordance with the document’s own language about alterations, would invalidate the certificate. For this reason alone, investigation is warranted.
While the two experts (combined 50+ years of relevant experience) differ somewhat on the means involved in performing the forgery, they are both unwavering in their conclusion that the COLB on Obama’s website is fake. Because of the intimidation and threats that Obama’s critics face, these experts have thus far remained anonymous. However, your office should have other means of verifying the authenticity of their reports, and possibly you could consult with them upon request under appropriate conditions.
Researchers believe that Sen. Obama’s birth records in Hawaii may reveal a different legal name, perhaps as a result of an adoption and subsequent Indonesian citizenship, and that Sen. Obama may be intentionally concealing these facts from the electorate.
As Attorney General of the State of Hawaii, please investigate the possible forgery of a Hawaii Certification of Live Birth, and report your findings to the public immediately. In a few weeks, the Democratic National Convention will decide whether Sen. Obama will be that Party’s official nominee for U.S. President.
If there is information about Sen. Obama’s truthfulness related to his birth and citizenship, it is in the public’s interest that such information be fully disclosed without delay.
I look forward to your response to this request for investigation.
It's almost as if they take pride in being ignorant," Barack Obama mused the other day, blasting Republicans for ridiculing his exhortation to the nation to make sure its tires are properly inflated.
Ah, behold the open-mindedness and cross-partisan understanding. Remember two years ago, when Obama was only a media darling and not yet The Anointed One? More...
Back then, his appeal was the extraordinary sensitivity he had for the views of others. His best-selling campaign book, "The Audacity of Hope," was carefully unaudacious in its on-the-one-hand, on-the-other-hand weighing of the issues of the day, giving the impression that nothing pained him so much as not being able to agree with the other side, though he thoroughly understood and respected its arguments.
That iteration of Obama was tossed under the bus long ago (no word on whether the tires were adequately inflated). It's been replaced by an Obama who - between pauses gazing regally into the middle-distance during his orations - betrays a dismissive contempt for all differences of opinion.
"Nobody really thinks that Bush or McCain have a real answer for the challenges we face," he said, responding to a John McCain attack ad.
Nobody does? Are all those people who vote Republican simply delusional? Or are they pretending to believe things that they really don't to conceal unseemly motivations - power-hunger, bitterness, racism?
The most elemental act of political civility is to concede the good motives of your opposition. Obama lately can't even muster that.
Of course, sharp elbows will inevitably be thrown in a hotly contested election, but it's no accident that Obama's comments reading his opposition out of polite company (or almost entirely out of existence) came in response to mockery.
Obama is now such a puffed-up figure that he's vulnerable to the pinprick of ridicule.
The most devastating hits against him in the Democratic primaries were made by "Saturday Night Live," which made fun of him as an earnest empty suit propped up by a fawning media. Having failed to get much traction against Obama heretofore, the McCain campaign scored recently with a pointed but lighthearted ad comparing him to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton and the distribution of tire gauges to mock his tire-pressure comments.
"They're making fun of a step that every expert says would absolutely reduce our oil consumption by 3 to 4 percent," Obama said of the tire gauges, suggesting that the making-fun particularly bothered him. Of the Spears/Hilton ad, Obama complained: "They got me in an ad with Paris Hilton. You know, [I] never met the woman."
As if the McCain campaign were literally suggesting that he and Paris coordinate on their Sidekicks about what clubs they're going to frequent after a long day of campaigning. (Hilton, in contrast, got the joke and went up with a Web ad lampooning McCain that was defter and more effective than Obama's earnest plaint.)
It has to be hard for Obama to maintain a sense of proportion. First, it's become Democratic dogma that, in reply to any Republican attack, a Democratic candidate has to hit back twice as hard. This makes it impossible to calibrate a response - the only option becomes the nuclear option. Second, given the idolatry of the press and his most fervent supporters, Obama would need prodigious reserves of humility to keep from taking himself too seriously.
On the question of tire pressure, he was wrong when he said that properly inflating tires would save enough gas to make up for whatever oil we might get from more offshore drilling. Only an estimated 27 percent of cars have underinflated tires, and having properly inflated tires saves at most only 3 percent on gas consumption, so the number gets quite small.
Obama's estimate of an overall savings of 3 percent to 4 percent on gas consumption is wildly optimistic. But it's his critics who are ignorant (and proud of it!).
The new Obama is displaying the audacity of haughty.
Just when you thought Obots and their cult couldn't possibly get any creepier, they up the ante and prove us all wrong. The latest unsavoury symbol of the Oborg's embrace of the Leaderprizip has just been unveiled: the special "Obama movement salute."
Essentially a new-age remix of the old school Roman Salute, the Oborg version replaces the austerity of its 1930's German predecessor with a more "inclusive" feeling. Instead of a Nazi fanatic holding a single arm straight out and ahead, the Oborg salute is formed by an enthusiastic Obot holding both its arms up and joining its cupped hands to form an "O" (for - what else? - O-ba-ma!). More...
In further dreary confirmation that there really isn't anything new anymore, and that we're all just living out endless re-runs of previous generations' fantasies, the Oborg salute wasn't actually invented by the Obama campaign. It was lifted from old Star Trek re-reruns, albeit ones from the 1960s - before the Borg made their appearance in the later series and inspired a whole generation of Democratic political marketeers.
It's really too bad this latest public display of Oborg submission to the Dear Leader wasn't crowd-tested in Berlin when He spoke to His adoring fans. 200,000 German Obots standing with arms raised, glazed eyes focused on the blip on the stage, and chanting "O-ba-ma! O-ba-ma!" is a mob scene with visuals that Leni Riefenstahl would have killed for. Especially if the rally organisers could have also got the Obots to do a bit of energetic marching around the square, which just happens to be packed with 100 year old Prussian war monuments.
And some people wonder why elderly Jews -- and others who lived through the horrors of inter-war fascism -- might have some reservations about supporting this man and his "movement"?
Then, we had Obama proudly standing behind His cartoonish make-believe "presidential seal," complete with faux-Latin "Vero Possumus" slogan. (My Aussie friends asked is this was because Obama wanted to prove how much smarter he is than Dame Edna by showing he can write "Hello Possums!" in Latin; you can imagine how disappointed they were to find out that he wasn't quite that camp. )
Rules of the convention require a roll-call vote and stipulate that "delegates may vote for the candidate of their choice whether or not the name of such candidate was placed in nomination." The national committee can decide how to handle those votes.
By Allison Sherry and Anne C. Mulkern The Denver Post
Brenda Krause is tired of fearmongering among the Democrats.
The 55-year-old delegate to the Democratic National Convention doesn't think the party — or its unity — is in any way compromised by her voting for Hillary Rodham Clinton at the roll call.
When Clinton dropped out of the running, Krause mourned that her generation probably isn't going to see a woman claim the Oval Office.
That day, she vowed to stick with the New York senator. More...
I'm not going to be coerced into something I don't believe in," said Krause, who lives in Colorado Springs and owns a real estate office. "That makes me less unified. If they let me have my voice, I'll feel more unified."
So go the voices of dozens of national delegates across the country, pledged to Clinton, who say they are flummoxed about what to do when they are asked to cast a vote in a few weeks.
Though the majority of the Democratic Party backs Sen. Barack Obama, an undercurrent of staunch and loyal Clinton supporters say they'll fight all the way to the national convention, which begins Aug. 25 in Denver, to put her name on the ballot.
Jenny Backus, a senior Obama adviser and convention liaison in Denver, said that across the country, Obama and Clinton delegates have forged ties.
"Sen. Clinton will obviously play a critical role during this convention," Backus said. "Already, we've seen a tremendous reaching out. I've heard of Obama delegates going to Clinton debt-reduction parties. We're one party."
But for many Clinton delegates, it is about principle.
Because they were chosen by her supporters in districts across the country, many say they won't feel that they have fulfilled their duty until they cast a vote for her — however futile that might be.
"I will come on board the unity train with a first-class ticket if, before doing so, I get the opportunity to vote for my candidate," said Daniel Kagan, a property developer and lawyer from Arapahoe County. "On Aug. 28, when Obama accepts the nomination, I will be there cheering along with the rest of them, but only if I have had the chance to vote first."
Kagan is among a small group of people working to garner 300 signatures from national delegates to complete DNC rule requirements to put Clinton's name back on the ballot. Even if they get enough signatures, Clinton must agree to have her name placed on the ballot.
Dean: Choice up to Clinton
Rules of the convention require a roll-call vote and stipulate that "delegates may vote for the candidate of their choice whether or not the name of such candidate was placed in nomination." The national committee can decide how to handle those votes.
Asked whether Clinton's name would be on the ballot, Democratic National Convention Committee spokeswoman Natalie Wyeth said that DNC chairman Howard Dean "has said that's up to her, whether she will put her name in nomination."
Clinton has said in YouTube postings and in a Web chat Thursday that she is working with the Democratic National Committee and the Obama campaign to find a solution.
Texas delegate Linda Figueroa, a 53-year-old paralegal from Corpus Christi, said the pledged Clinton supporters were told in a delegate conference call this week that they would not get to vote for her. Figueroa said the senator's scheduled speech on the floor of the Pepsi Center on Tuesday evening, Aug. 26, was "not enough."
"We (the Clinton delegates) are really having our ups and downs," Figueroa said. "She deserves more than what she's going to get."
Other Clinton delegates said privately that they were afraid to speak out against the Democratic National Committee or Obama, for fear of getting their credentials yanked at the convention.
Debra Bartoshevich, a Wisconsin delegate who, after Clinton dropped out, said she planned to support Republican John McCain, already has been kicked off the national delegation.
Yet, the Obama campaign says it is working hard to solidify the party.
"I think the Obama campaign has tremendous respect for Sen. Clinton and the millions of Americans who supported and worked for her candidacy," said Obama spokeswoman Shannon Gilson. "We've been reaching out to her supporters to join this campaign for change and are struck by how unified Dems are."
One of the olive-branch Clinton delegates is Hector Balderas, the 34-year-old state auditor of New Mexico. He supported Clinton because he liked her policies surrounding high school dropouts. Now he's traversing the state pushing the message for Obama.
"I wouldn't see it as a coronation if we were unified with a particular candidate," Balderas said, adding that putting the party together "would be preparation to do battle" against McCain.
The grassroots group of Clinton supporters says it has nearly 200 signatures notarized to put her name on the convention ballot, with commitments from at least 100 more.
In an attempt to inspire the masses, Kagan, a delegate from Colorado's 1st Congressional District, borrowed from French philosopher Voltaire.
"I don't agree with the way you intend to vote, but I'll fight to the death for your right to vote," he said.
Others, like Will Bower, a founder of Project Unity My A--, or PUMA, are not ready to support Obama.
"Most of us are still working toward getting Hillary the nomination," he said. "We still see a path for victory in Denver."
Anti-"coronation"
At the convention, vociferous Clinton supporters will protest and hold signs that will read "Denounce Nobama's Coronation."
"My group and I are not looking to be arrested," said Simone DuBois, who lives in northern California and filmed the YouTube video from a Clinton fundraiser last week that is madly circulating the country.
DuBois plans to protest in Denver and said she'll probably vote for McCain. "I always thought the Democratic Party had my values until this."
A political action committee called The Denver Group is raising money to pay for newspaper advertisements calling on the Democratic National Committee to allow a vote on both primary candidates and "not a coronation."
Another group plans to air a documentary called "The Audacity of Democracy," which highlights voter confusion during the 2008 Democratic primaries.
Allowing delegates to vote for their chosen candidate gives them an opportunity to celebrate that candidate and their work on the campaign, said former Colorado Sen. Gary Hart, who ran for president in 1984 and 1988.
At the convention in 1984, Hart said, each of his 1,200 delegates voted for him "with no defections."
"My people put on a massive demonstration. It went on for 10 or 15 minutes," Hart said. "They felt very good about it afterward."
Hart thinks Clinton, a longtime party loyalist, will want to prevent protests and help Obama get elected.
"She has a future in the party," Hart said. "She has very little interest, nor does her husband, in wrecking Obama's chances because it will be held against them very, very strongly. She has a lot of reasons to pull an oar, and I think she will."
Since July, Obama staffers say they've reached out to Clinton delegates by phone and e-mail and have invited them to community events and local platform meetings.
Yet some delegates say the process has left them bruised.
Awilda Marquez, a Colorado delegate, said she feels like his campaign has been dismissive of Clinton supporters.
"They say they don't need us. . . . I don't spend 30 seconds a day thinking about that," Marquez said. "When I see a top woman being called a whore and a she-goat, . . . I can't forget that."
Former Georgia Sen. Max Cleland was an icon of Sen. John Kerry’s 2004 campaign, a badly wounded war hero who lost his seat, Kerry deplored, after a television advertising campaign questioned his commitment to national security.
But to the Obama campaign, Cleland has another qualification: Registered lobbyist.
So Cleland — despite his iconic status — was abruptly disinvited from appearing with Obama in Atlanta July 8, three sources familiar with the incident said. More...
"This was a hard decision regarding Senator Cleland," said Obama's deputy campaign manager, Steve Hildebrand, in an email. He cited Obama's policy of banning lobbyists from participating in fundraising or giving money.
"If we make exceptions, we will open ourselves to criticism," he said.
Cleland has told associates he was asked to appear at an Obama fundraising event in Atlanta on July 8, only to be told at the last minute that he wouldn’t be welcome.
The policy has been a key symbol of Obama’s outsider status, but many Democrats have also quietly questioned whether it goes too far when prominent party figures like Cleland, who an associate said has never actually lobbied in Washington, are left out in the cold on a technicality.
Cleland is registered to lobby for a company whose products are aimed at helping soldiers recover more quickly from battlefield injuries, Tissue Regeneration Technologies.
“Sen. Cleland is definitely not doing lobbying work. He gives speeches and campaigns for a few friends, but mostly he’s spending his time taking care of his father," said Cleland advisor John Marshall, who said that Tissue Regeneration Technologies was the only company on whose behalf he lobbies.
He declined to comment on the incident in Atlanta.
In a brief telephone interview, Cleland also declined to comment on his treatment by the campaign.
"I’m pretty much retired from politics," he said. "I don’t really want to get into that at all."
But Cleland told others he was unpleasantly surprised when, after an invitation to the event for Obama — whom he supports — he was told at the last minute by an Obama aide that he wouldn't be welcome.
Obama spokesman Bill Burton also declined to comment on Cleland's exclusion from the Atlanta fundraiser.
"Sen. Obama has nothing but respect for Sen. Cleland's service to our country and appreciates his support," he said.
UPDATE: A Cleland spokeswoman says he was invited by a friend, not the campaign itself, and has no hard feelings.. The Times has more.
Posted on August 5, 2008 by riverdaughter and reposted here to share:
Mega Kudos to Katiebird for catching this on FOX this morning. Diane Mantouvalos sent this clip through the JSND network this afternoon of Gary Mauro, former head of Hillary’s campaign in Texas. He’s saying it’s not over until he gets a chance to vote for Hillary for nomination. This just proves how viral the movement is. We had no idea this was coming. As far as I know, Mauro did this without any prompting from us. Click here to watch the video.
CHICAGO — Yes, Bill Clinton will have a role at the Democratic convention.
After a curious week of back-and-forth between the Obama and Clinton worlds, the former president was offered an invitation to speak on the second-to-last night of the party’s convention in Denver. He will take the stage on Aug. 27, three Democratic senior officials said, before the address by the party’s vice-presidential nominee.More...
The offer was extended by the Obama campaign on Thursday to Mr. Clinton, who accepted it.
So with Mrs. Clinton speaking on Aug. 26, followed by her husband, the Obama campaign is giving two nights of prime time coverage to the Clinton family. While the invitation was only extended on Thursday, officials said a speaking role for Mr. Clinton had long been in the works.
The matter was so sensitive that no one was willing to speak about it on the record. Democrats on all sides, though, said it’s a do
ANDY MARTIN DEMANDS THAT OBAMA MAKE FULL DISCLOSURE OF CONNECTION TO ALLEGED COMMUNIST
ANDY MARTIN Executive Editor ContrarianCommentary.com
'Factually Correct, Not Politically Correct'
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
ATTENTION DAYBOOK/ASSIGNMENT EDITORS
ANNOUNCEMENT OF WASHINGTON, DC CONFERENCE August 8th
OBAMA AUTHOR ANDY MARTIN HOLDS A WASHINGTON, DC NEWS CONFERENCE TO DEMAND THAT OBAMA MAKE "FULL DISCLOSURE" OF HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH PUTATIVE CHICAGO/HAWAII COMMUNIST FRANK MARSHALL DAVIS More...
MARTIN EXPRESSES CONCERN THAT THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WAS USED TO "LAUNDER" THE OBAMA/DAVIS CONNECTION
(WASHINGTON, DC)(August 8, 2008) Legendary Chicago corruption fighter, columnist, media critic and Obama adversary Andy Martin will hold a 2:00 P.M. Washington, DC news conference Friday, August 8th to demand that Senator Barack Obama make a full disclosure of his relationship with leftist and putative Communist Frank Marshall Davis. Martin is concerned that Obama has used the Associated Press to "launder" the Davis/Obama relationship. Martin is the author of the controversial bestseller Obama: The Man Behind The Mask.
"Frank Marshall Davis was acknowledged by Obama as perhaps the most significant mentor in Obama's adolescent years," Martin says. "The Obama/Davis connection is a ticking time bomb for the Democratic Party. The matter has not received the attention it deserves. A recent story by the Associated Press seems to be an effort by the Obama campaign to launder Davis' alleged Communist Party connections. Once again, Senator Obama appears to be trying to deflect attention from the peculiar influences which shaped his childhood.
"My column, which will be released at the news conference, calls on Senator Obama to make a full disclosure of his relationship with Davis," Martin states.
FULL DISCLOSURE FROM ANDY MARTIN: I am opposing Senator Obama's election and have become Executive Director of The Stop Obama Coalition, StopObamaCoalition.com. By default, I have become the national leader of the independent anti-Obama movement. I am not acting as either a Democrat or Republican. I have had no contact whatsoever with the McCain Campaign. I am acting as an independent American citizen who sincerely believes Obama is not the man we need in the Oval Office. We are going to run a very dynamic and aggressive campaign against Obama. I will continue to write my columns for ContrarianCommentary.com.
Book orders: www.OrangeStatePress.com. Immediate shipment from the publisher now available.
NEWS CONFERENCE DETAILS:
WHO: Chicago Internet Columnist-muckraker-Obama opponent Andy Martin
WHERE: Public sidewalk 1225 19th St., NW (sidewalk in front of The Palm) Washington, DC
WHEN: Friday, August 8, 2008 2:00 P. M.
MEDIA CONTACT: Andy Martin cell (917) 664-9329 Hotel phone (703) 435-2700 (ask for Martin's room)
In yet another slap to Hillary and her supporters, the new platform does not appear to address eliminating the unfair caucuses and many of the other issues Hillary supporters have wanted...
By Jonathan Weisman
Barack Obama's takeover of the Democratic Party is nearly complete.
A draft of the Democratic National Committee's 2008 platform was sent this morning to platform committee members, and aside from some nods to the losers, Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Edwards, the 54-page document reads like a compilation of Sen. Obama's stump speeches. There is a section on fatherhood, a definition of patriotism (not only to declare our love of this nation, but to show it), a section detailing Obama's newly rejiggered economic stimulus plan, a call for more service, through an expanded AmeriCorps and Peace Corps, and a whole lot of hope. More...
"It is time for a change," declares the draft's preamble.
The Democrats commit themselves to a comprehensive overhaul of the nation's immigration laws, including a commitment to bring illegal immigrants "out of the shadows" and to allow them to "get right with the law." A party at times riven over the issue of abortion will state it "strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman's right to choose a safe and legal abortion, regardless of the ability to pay." That piece of the platform appears to favor doing away with restrictions on the use of taxpayer funds to help finance abortions.
And the party promises to turn away from the intrusive police apparatus of the post-9/11 world of President Bush's War on Terror.The platform pledges to "reject illegal wire-tapping of American citizens," so-called national security letters issued by the FBI that leave citizens little legal recourse, and "torture."
"We will restore our constitutional traditions, and recover our nation's founding commitment to liberty under the law," the draft platform states.
For Edwards, who has bigger issues to deal with at the moment, the DNC makes good on Obama's pledge to him to elevate poverty eradication as a policy goal. "Working together," the platform states, "we can cut poverty in half within ten years."
And Clinton is the star of the platform's section on expanded opportunities for women.
""We have produced [the] first woman Secretary of State, the first woman Speaker of the House of Representatives, and, in 2008, [with] Hillary Rodham Clinton, the first woman in American history to win presidential primaries in out nation," the platform states.
Apparently Ohio is still using the Diebold (now "Premier Election Solutions") electronic voting machines ...More...
Mary Pat Flaherty
The voting machine wars in Ohio continue.
Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is assuring voters in the battleground state that November's tally will be accurate even as she asserts -- in court filings Wednesday -- that there is a problem with the touch screen machines that will be used in half of the state's 88 counties.
Premier Election Solutions, formerly Diebold, said in May that its machines had some problems tabulating votes. But the company has contended in court filings that it had fulfilled its contract to deliver an electronic system.
During the May primary, Brunner said officials in Butler County, north of Cincinnati, realized that 150 votes were dropped when they were being transferred from memory cards. When Brunner looked into it, she found that the software problem had come up in 11 counties. No vote was lost, she said, because local officials had caught the discrepancies.
Voters "should not be alarmed," Brunner said in an interview today, because the state will develop and pass on to counties ways to detect and resolve the problem.
Premier investigated the Butler County incident and said in May that the problem could have been caused by the interaction between its software and an anti-virus software.
Calls to a Premier spokesman were not returned today.
Brunner, saying the machines were delivered with the antivirus software in place, is seeking punitive damages from the company. She has advocated converting Ohio to paper balloting, arguing that it is more reliable, but was rebuffed by the state legislature.
As we close up a week wherein Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, on the stump and in a TV ad accused rival Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., of being "in the pocket of big oil," and doing the industry's bidding -- not to mention a week during which the Democratic National Committee launched an Exxon-McCain '08 website to drive home this Democratic talking point -- the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics points out that the issue is a bit more complicated than it first would appear. More...
McCain has received three times more money from the oil industry in general -- $1.3 million for McCain compared to approximately $394,000 for Obama. But that said, Obama has received more campaign cash than McCain has from the employees of some of the biggest oil companies -- Exxon, Chevron and BP.
This might seem to complicate Obama's continual use of Exxon-Mobil on the stump.
In Youngstown, Ohio, this week Obama said that McCain is "offering $4 billion more in tax breaks to the biggest oil companies in America -- including $1.2 billion to Exxon-Mobil...a company that, last quarter, made the same amount of money in 30 seconds that a typical Ohio worker makes in a year."
In Lansing, Michigan, Obama said Exxon-Mobil "is the company that, last quarter, made $1,500 every second. That’s more than $300,000 in the time it takes you to fill up a tank with gas that’s costing you more than $4-a-gallon. And Senator McCain not only wants them to keep every dime of that money, he wants to give them more. So make no mistake – the oil companies have placed their bet on Senator McCain."
But based on data downloaded electronically from the Federal Election Commission on July 29, 2008, reports CRP: "Through June, Exxon employees have given Obama $42,100 to McCain's $35,166. Chevron favors Obama $35,157 to $28,500, and Obama edges out McCain with BP $16,046 vs. $11,500."
McCain himself has tried to push back against the Obama charge, telling votes at a town hall in Lima, Ohio, today, that he "spoke up against the Administration and Congress and Senator Obama when they gave us an energy bill with more giveaways to Big Oil and really no solution to our energy problems," and Obama did not.
Discussing the 2005 energy bill, which passed the Senate overwhelmingly, McCain said "I think Senator Obama might be a little bit confused. Yesterday, he accused me of having President Bush's policies on energy. That's odd because he voted for the President's energy bill and I voted against it. I voted against it, had $2.8 billion in corporate welfare to Big Oil companies, and they're already making record profits, as you know. Senator Obama voted for that bill and its Big Oil giveaways. I know he hasn't been in the Senate that long, but even in the real world, voting for something means you support it and voting against something means you oppose it."
The Obama campaign disputes that the bill was "the president's" energy bill, and in Lansing told voters that McCain voted "against an energy bill that – while far from perfect – represented the largest investment in renewable sources of energy in the history of this country." ~ END ~ _______________
Is this the type of "compromise we can expect from Obama? - YIKES!
Regarding having her name put in for nomination at the convention “I’ve made it very clear that I’m supporting Senator Obama and we’re working cooperatively on a lot of different matters,” she says. “But delegates can decide to do this on their own, they don’t need permission.” More...
By Katharine Q. Seelye
Senator Hillary Clinton asked the question herself on the night of the last primaries in early June: “What does Hillary want?”
That’s still a bit of a mystery, particularly as she and Senator Barack Obama negotiate over her role, and possibly that of her husband, at the Democratic convention in Denver and beyond.Mr. Obama has given Mrs. Clinton a speaking role on the Tuesday night of the convention. But she made it clear in a recent chat with supporters — which is now on YouTube — that she is steeped in negotiations over how to salve the wounds of her disappointed supporters so that they don’t stray in November. She suggested she may allow her name to be placed in nomination, and also that her supporters don’t need her permission to do that on their own.
It is not clear whether Mrs. Clinton is also bargaining for her husband and what role he may play at the convention or in the fall campaign; Mr. Clinton has talked with Mr. Obama since the end of the primaries.
There is no new news so far today, as Mrs. Clinton wrote in a live Web chat on her personal blog.
“While no decisions have been made yet, I will make sure that we keep you up to date and involved with all of the Convention activity,” she wrote.
Mr. Obama also told reporters today that some matters were unresolved. “As is true in all conventions, we’re still working out the mechanics, the coordination,” he said while flying to his home in Chicago.
In the video, taken July 31 at a unity event in Palo Alto, Mrs. Clinton described her bargaining position at the table:
“We will come out stronger if people feel that their voices were heard and their views were respected,” she said. “I think that is a very big part of how we actually come out unified.”
Whatever she is asking for, she described the process aptly:
“It’s as old as Greek drama,” she said.
She was referring to the “catharsis” that her supporters are seeking after enduring her roller-coaster ride through the primaries.
But she could have been referring to the Clintons themselves, the leading lady and erstwhile leading man of Democratic politics, and their knack for remaining at the center of the drama even if they do not hold center stage. That is evident in the outpouring of comments on The Caucus and elsewhere in the blogosphere.
The Clintons are entering an extremely sensitive stage of the election cycle _ and of their ongoing process to shape their legacies. It is not just about their roles at the convention or the campaign but about how history will treat them both and will in turn influence her future.
While the video of Mrs. Clinton plays across cable TV and the Internet, a new video of her husband, in an interview with ABC News, is also playing in its own endless loop. He was not quite able to say that Senator Barack Obama, the party’s all-but-certain nominee, is qualified to be president.
Mr. Clinton appears and reappears, swatting at the same furies he has tried to bat back all year _ that he used race in subtle and not-so-subtle ways during the primaries. “I am not a racist,” he says. He makes clear that any friendship with Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina, a leading black politician who despaired of the Clintons during the primary, is over.
Mrs. Clinton came very close to winning the nomination, of course. She won eight of the last 13 primaries, back when she was warning in a full-throated voice that she would be a better general-election candidate than Mr. Obama.
Interestingly, as she surely knows, she remains just as popular among Democrats these days as Mr. Obama, despite his having been campaigning for two months as the party nominee. The most recent New York Times poll puts her favorability rating among Democrats at 70 percent and Mr. Obama’s at 66 percent.
Now Mr. Obama is struggling in the polls to maintain parity with Senator John McCain. In the video, she calls for the party to unify behind Mr. Obama, even as she nurses the disappointment of her supporters _ and carefully shields any feelings of vindication.
At one point, a woman asks Mrs. Clinton what happens if her name is placed in nomination at the convention and she actually wins.
“That’s not going to happen,” Mrs. Clinton replies. “What we want to have happen is for Senator Obama to be nominated by a unified convention of Democrats. And as I have said, the best way I think _ and I could be wrong, but the best way I think _ to do that is to have a strategy so that my delegates feel like they’ve had a role and that their legitimacy has been validated. It’s as old as Greek drama. There is a catharsis. I mean, everybody comes and they want to yell and scream and have their opportunity, and I think that’s all to the good. Because then, everybody can then go (whew), great, now, let’s go out and win. That’s what we want people to feel.”
Her goal, she says, is this: “We do not want any Democrat in the hall or in the stadium or at home walking away saying, ‘I’m just not satisfied, I’m not happy.’ That’s what I’m trying to avoid.”
Her supporters in the video seem a bit puzzled by this process. Is it normal, one asks, for all of this to be negotiated back and forth?
Mrs. Clinton responds:
“If you look at recent history, I have moved more quickly and done more on behalf of my opponent than comparable candidates have. Most of them didn’t endorse until the convention, Teddy Kennedy, or Gary Hart, Jerry Brown, just a lot of people held out until the convention, kept their delegates, often waged platform or rules or credentials fights.”
But then she seems to give a green light to her supporters to go ahead and make whatever mischief they might:
“I’ve made it very clear that I’m supporting Senator Obama and we’re working cooperatively on a lot of different matters,” she says. “But delegates can decide to do this on their own, they don’t need permission.”
Still, she concludes, “it would be better if we had a plan and we put it in place and executed it.”
In an online chat today on her Web site, former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton assured supporters that she and Sen. Barack Obama are committed to making the party "fully unified heading into the November election."
Obama clinched the Democratic presidential nomination after a bruising primary battle with Clinton. Both Democrats have since sought to publicly ease tensions between the campaigns.
As Democrats near the Aug. 25 start date of their party convention, Clinton acknowledged in her chat that "excitement and curiosity is certainly starting to build" but that "no decisions have been made yet." More...
Clinton said, "I will make sure that we keep you up to date and involved with all of the convention activity."
Flying from Minneapolis to Chicago, Obama described working with Clinton's staff as "seamless".
Asked whether or not entering Clinton's name into nomination would heal party rifts, Obama said, "I don't think we're looking for catharsis. I think what we're looking for is energy and excitement about the prospects of changing this country."
Obama provided no further detail on Clinton's convention activities, stating only that "it is getting worked out by our staffs" and stressing their shared enthusiasm "for a unified party".
A Convention Nomination?
Asked whether or not her name would be placed into nomination at the convention, Clinton did not rule out the possibility and said, "Senator Obama and I share the goal of ensuring that the voices of everyone who participated in this historic process are respected."
Clinton's Thursday Web chat follows remarks she made to a gathering of supporters last week during which the New York senator said she's looking for a "strategy" for her delegates to have their voices heard and "respected" at the Democratic National Convention.
"I happen to believe that we will come out stronger if people feel that their voices were heard and their views were respected. I think that is a very big part of how we actually come out unified," Clinton said at a California fundraiser last Thursday, in a video clip captured by an attendee and posted on YouTube.
"Because I know from just what I'm hearing, that there's incredible pent-up desire. And I think that people want to feel like, 'OK, it's a catharsis, we're here, we did it, and then everybody get behind Sen. Obama.' That is what most people believe is the best way to go," she said.
"No decisions have been made. And so we are trying to work all this through with the DNC and with the Obama campaign."
Clinton's comments shed some light on a fierce behind-the-scenes squabble between the Clinton and Obama camps over how to recognize Clinton and her achievements in the primaries without overshadowing or detracting from a convention that belongs to Obama.
Clinton's Role Being Negotiated
The New York Daily News reported Friday that Clinton has decided not to submit a signed request to the DNC to have her name put into nomination; party rules require such a move for a candidate to be voted on.
But Clinton aides continue to say publicly that such details are still being discussed in consultations among the Clinton camp, the Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee.
"No decisions have been made," Clinton spokeswoman Kathleen Strand said.
"Sen. Clinton is 100 percent committed to helping Barack Obama become the next president of the United States," Strand added. "She is very appreciative of the continued commitment of her supporters and understands there are passionate feelings around the convention. While no decisions have been made at this time, they will be made collaboratively with Sen. Clinton and her staff, the DNC and Sen. Obama's campaign and released at the appropriate time."
Hillary Clinton Holds Convention Bargaining Chip
Sources close to both Obama and Clinton told ABC News that the New York senator is highly unlikely to allow her name to be formally submitted for a roll-call vote on the convention floor. The Obama campaign wants to avoid such a vote, since it would underscore the party's splits and remind voters of the divisive primary campaign between the two Democrats.
The refusal to publicly announce her intentions is widely seen as a bargaining chip Clinton is holding on to as party officials negotiate logistics regarding her convention speech and other activities, according to several Democrats who are closely involved in the matter.
Clinton plans to hold a Web chat with supporters Thursday afternoon where she might clarify her convention role. In announcing the Web chat, she urged her supporters to continue to stay tuned to her Web site for updates about her convention activities.
But the very fact that details of her convention role remain unresolved less than three weeks before the Democrats descend upon Denver is a fresh sign of the difficulties the party will face at a convention when nearly half the delegates were chosen because of their support for a candidate who will not be the nominee.
History provides little guidance: In the modern convention era, the delegate count for the two leading candidates has never been this close.
Lanny Davis, a longtime friend and supporter of the Clintons, called the idea of putting Clinton's name into nomination a "completely idiotic idea that leads to nothing but party disharmony."
Still, the fact that some Clinton supporters are clamoring for a chance to vote for her at the convention is partly Obama's fault, he said. Davis, who described himself as "100 percent behind Obama" in the general election, said Obama should be doing more -- in symbolic and substantive gestures -- to make clear he values and needs the support of former Clinton supporters.
"It's a reflection of genuine frustration by Hillary Clinton supporters that Sen. Obama seems to have forgotten about 18 million voters," Davis said. "My concern about Sen. Obama is he doesn't recognize that the outreach to the Clinton grass roots has to be more visible, more overt, as well as more symbolic."
The two camps have worked cooperatively on a draft of the party platform, and Clinton is set to hit the campaign trail for Obama on Friday, appearing by herself at an Obama event in Nevada.
The campaigns also issued a joint statement late today, reiterating that there is no division.
"We are working together to make sure the fall campaign and the convention are a success," the joint statement said. "At the Democratic Convention, we will ensure that the voices of everyone who participated in this historic process are respected and our party will be fully unified heading into the November election."
Clinton Delegate Gathering Signatures
And party leaders are coming together to help retire her campaign debt, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid scheduled to headline a fundraiser on her behalf Sept. 17.
Still, some Clinton loyalists have complained that Obama hasn't done enough to help Clinton pay off the debt she amassed during the primaries.
Davis said that if Obama won't name Clinton as his running mate, he could at least designate her the convention's keynote speaker. Clinton will get a choice prime-time slot Tuesday night, but no decisions have been announced regarding the keynote address.
"Her supporters want -- after 18 million votes, and the record of success from March 1 through June 1 -- to feel recognized, and I think we should," Davis said.
Clinton is facing pressure from some of her die-hard supporters to request that her name to be placed into nomination.
Several groups of Clinton supporters are organizing marches and demonstrations in Denver. Major events are being planned for Aug. 26, the date Clinton is slated to speak at the convention -- which happens to be the 88th anniversary of the ratification of the constitutional amendment guaranteeing women's suffrage.
Susan Castner, a Clinton delegate from Portland, Ore., is gathering the 300 signatures from delegates that Clinton would need in case she decides she wants to be part of convention balloting.
"We will have this in hand for Sen. Clinton, should this be needed," said Castner, who said that she's already gathered about half the necessary signatures.
Castner said she and many other Clinton supporters will only feel as if their voices are being heard if they are allowed to vote for Clinton on a first ballot.
"It's been a tradition since the late 1800s -- it's a nominating convention, you vote, you nominate someone, and you come out unified. I don't see how alienating 1,800 delegates gives you party unity when we walk out of the stadium," she said. "Hillary delegates feel like we're not welcome, needed, or valued."
"I cannot believe that Sen. Clinton, after putting in that much time, energy and effort, would just say, ' Nah, take my name out,' " Castner said.
Obama Campaign Downplays Reports of Tension
Some Clinton backers have even speculated that a roll call could result in a Clinton victory, though Clinton herself has said such an outcome is nearly impossible. Many Clinton delegates have followed their candidate's lead and are fully supporting Obama's candidacy, so Clinton will likely wind up with fewer votes in a roll call than her delegate total as of the final primaries June 3.
"What we want to have happen is for Sen. Obama to be nominated by a unified convention of Democrats," Clinton said at the California fundraiser last week. "And as I have said, the best way I think -- and I could be wrong -- but the best way I think to do that is to have a strategy so that my delegates feel like they have a role, and that their legitimacy has been validated."
She added: "It's as old as, you know, as Greek drama. You know, there is a catharsis. I mean, everybody comes and, you know, they want to yell and scream and have their opportunity, and I think that's all to the good. Because then, you know, everybody can go, 'OK, great, now let's go out and win.' "
"And that's what we want people to feel. We do not want any Democrat either in the hall or in the stadium or at home walking away saying, 'Well, you know, I'm just not satisfied, I'm not happy.' Because, I mean, that's what I'm trying to avoid."
The clear challenge for Clinton, Obama, and the DNC is to allow for the Clinton delegates to feel satisfied and energized without undermining the legitimacy of Obama's nomination.
Nick Shapiro, an Obama campaign spokesman, downplayed reports of tension between the two camps.
"Sen. Clinton will play a critical role in this convention and is also playing a critical role in the campaign," Shapiro said. "She has campaigned for Obama, raised money for him and spoken on his behalf on several occasions. We appreciate and look forward to her continued support."
ABC News' John Berman and Sunlen Miller contributed to this report.
Scarlett Johansson embarrassed over Barack Obama e-mail furor By ELOISE PARKER DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Updated Wednesday, August 6th 2008, 11:02 PM
Scarlett Johansson says the hubbub over her e-relationship with Barack Obama was an embarrassing product of "extreme sexism."
The movie hottie set the political and Hollywood press atwitter with her giddy boasts of trading e-mails with the Democratic star - only to have Obama pour cold water over the notion of their online chats.
"I kept thinking to myself, 'God, if this was just like ... George Clooney or any of the other [Obama] surrogates or supporters ... there wouldn't be [any] question about it. Nobody would even talk about it.'" More...
She added, "It seemed to me to be like a product of extreme sexism."
The 23-year "Lost in Translation" star insisted she was merely expressing her delight over Obama's "wonderful and refreshing" campaign when she opened up to Politico.com in June.
She told the Web site that she traded e-mails with Obama.
"You'd imagine that someone like the senator, who is constantly traveling and constantly 'on' - how can he return these personal e-mails?" she said. "But he does."
She said Obama even responded to one e-mail about a debate, noting it was "one silly question after another."
But Obama later told reporters Johansson didn't have his e-mail address.
"She sent one e-mail to Reggie, who forwarded it to me," Obama said, referring to his personal assistant, Reggie Love. "I write, saying, 'Thank you Scarlett for doing what you do,' and suddenly we have this e-mail relationship.""
The 2008 Democratic primaries left a rich trove of quotes that are now being mined by John McCain's campaign. This video (the second in two days) just starts to scratch the surface. The effect will be to strengthen McCain's "Maverick" image and further highlight Obama's lack of substance. The real zinger comes at the end.More...
For all the forced talk about "party unity" it will be hard for anyone to forget the brutal tactics of the Obama campaign during the primaries. They slimed Hillary Clinton, former President Bill Clinton, and Hillary's backers as "racists," "low-information" "rednecks," "post-menopausal banshees" and "faggots." The bureaucratic losers in the DNC and their friends in the progressive blogosphere were quick to call out other demographics that "don't matter" anymore: people who have to work for a living, latinos, asian-americans and anyone else who didn't fit into Barack's voting bloc of young voters, black voters, upper-mid-income "progressives" and PC Republicans.
Just as in 2000, when she mismanaged Al Gore's campaign and managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory by doing her best to distance Gore from the two-term Clinton presidency, the unspeakably vile Donna Brazile was at the centre of the destruction this year. Through her actions - such stating on national TV that Democrats don't need no stinking FDR coalition with white working class voters to win, her promotion of fag-baiting inside the DNC (now the subject of a lawsuit) and her incredible prediction of race riots at the beginning of the primary season if Obama didn't get the nomination - she has been a one-woman wrecking ball bashing the centre of the Democratic Party.
1) Write a certified & return receipt requested letter to the DNC demanding a meeting of the Rules and Bylaws Committee (RBC) to strip Donna Brazile of her superdelegate status.
2) Have the letter notarized.
3) Mail to this address:
Democratic Nat’l Committee Credentials Committee Attn: Alexis Herman 430 S. Capitol St. SE 2nd Floor Washington, DC 20003
After so much damage has been done, and the DNC has almost succeeded in foisting Obama on an unwilling Democratic electorate, Republicans are rubbing their hands. They've noticed how little it took for McCain to deflate Barack's hot-air balloon. The One can't withstand ridicule. Each passing day shows just what an Achille's heel the Oborg's humourless arrogance really is.
Even Obama's pal Tom Daschle, in an interview with the FT, noted that it was McCain's "Celeb" ad that cost Barack his entire lead in the polls this past week. You know, the video that the Oborg called "juvenile" in their best prissy fashion.
Here, via RealClear Politics, is Victor David Hanson's gleeful take on how the "Democratic" nomenklatura managed to saddle us with yet another loser in 2008 and his sigh of relief that Barack was selected over the candidate who can win: Hillary. Read it and weep. Remember how it happened.
And join us in saying NO DEAL. Before it's too late: we want an open convention.
WASHINGTON — Sixteen years ago, the Democratic Party refused to allow Robert P. Casey Sr., then the governor of Pennsylvania, to speak at its national convention because his anti-abortion views, stemming from his Roman Catholic faith, clashed with the party’s platform and powerful constituencies. Many Catholics, once a reliable Democratic voting bloc, never forgot what they considered a slight.More...
This year, the party is considering giving a speaking slot at the convention to Mr. Casey’s son, Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, who like his late father is a Roman Catholic who opposes abortion rights.
The likely shift reflects concern among Democrats that they need to do more to regain the allegiance of Roman Catholic voters, who broke decisively for President Bush in 2004 and could be crucial to the outcome in a number of battleground states this year. Senator Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, lost the Catholic vote badly to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, who, like Mr. Obama, is a supporter of abortion rights, during the primaries in states like New Hampshire, Missouri and Ohio. In Pennsylvania, Catholic voters preferred Mrs. Clinton to Mr. Obama by a 40-point margin.
The Obama campaign is being close-mouthed about its convention plans and would not confirm whether Mr. Casey would be given a prime-time speaking slot. Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said that the call was Mr. Obama’s, but that a prominent speaking role for Mr. Casey would assist in the candidate’s efforts to woo Roman Catholic voters.
Mr. Casey, who endorsed Mr. Obama early and campaigned extensively for him in Pennsylvania, said there was no formal offer yet from Mr. Obama or the party. But, he said, “I think we’ll get something worked out.”
Mr. Casey’s appearance would be an important signal to Catholics, especially those who follow church teachings and oppose abortion. Mr. Obama could also use his choice of a vice-presidential running mate to reassure Roman Catholics. Among those that his campaign is vetting is Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia, a Roman Catholic whose faith has been part of his political identity. At least three other Catholics have also been mentioned as possible running mates: Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, Senator Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut and Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas.
Although abortion is central to the political crosscurrents around Catholics — Ms. Sebelius has vetoed a number of bills that would restrict abortion rights in Kansas, prompting the archbishop of Kansas City to suggest that she stop receiving communion — part of Mr. Obama’s strategy is to emphasize that there are other issues on which they can base their votes. It would be a way to address the perception that Mr. Obama has a “Catholic problem.”
Douglas W. Kmiec, a conservative Catholic legal scholar at Pepperdine School of Law, said that although the formal teachings of the American Catholic bishops put primacy on the sanctity of life, including fetuses and embryos, doctrine allows for voting on other grounds, including the Iraq war, which the Vatican has opposed from the start.
Mr. Kmiec, a Republican who served in the Justice Department under President Ronald Reagan, said he was supporting Mr. Obama because his platform met the standard of justice and concern for the poor the church has always defended. This year, Mr. Kmiec was denied communion by a priest at a gathering of Catholic business people because of his support for Mr. Obama. Mr. Kmiec said, “The proper question for Catholics to ask is not ‘Can I vote for him?’ but ‘Why shouldn’t I vote for the candidate who feels more passionately and speaks more credibly about economic fairness for the average family, who will be a true steward of the environment, and who will treat the immigrant family with respect?’ ”
He urged Mr. Obama to invite Mr. Casey to speak as an answer to those who believe they cannot vote for someone who supported abortion rights.
Mr. Kmiec’s and Mr. Casey’s views put them in conflict with millions of lay Catholics, for whom abortion is a nonnegotiable issue, and many Catholic clerics, including Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Denver, the site of the Democratic convention.
Archbishop Chaput, who has stopped short of telling his flock how to vote, has called abortion a “foundational issue.” He has said that a vote for a candidate who supports abortion rights or stem-cell research, like Mr. Obama or Senator John Kerry in 2004, was a sin that must be confessed before receiving communion. Mr. Obama’s Republican rival, Senator John McCain, an opponent of abortion rights, met last week in Denver with Archbishop Chaput.
The archbishop declined an interview request but his spokeswoman, Jeanette DeMelo, said that his views had not changed. In a column this year, Archbishop Chaput wrote that Catholics could support a politician who supported abortion only if they had a “compelling proportionate reason” to justify it. “What is a ‘proportionate’ reason when it comes to the abortion issue?” the archbishop wrote. “It’s the kind of reason we will be able to explain, with a clean heart, to the victims of abortion when we meet them face to face in the next life — which we most certainly will. If we’re confident that these victims will accept our motives as something more than an alibi, then we can proceed.”
That is a tough standard for Mr. Obama, or any supporter of abortion rights, to meet. Republicans are gearing up campaigns to depict Mr. Obama as a radical on the question of abortion, because as a state senator in Illinois he opposed a ban on the killing of fetuses born alive.
Mr. Obama has said he had opposed the bill because it was poorly drafted and would have threatened the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade that established abortion as a constitutional right. He said he would have voted for a similar bill that passed the United States Senate because it did not have the same constitutional flaw as the Illinois bill. Mr. Obama has opposed the federal ban on so-called partial-birth abortions for similar legal and constitutional reasons.
That explanation did not wash with many abortion foes and most Republicans.
“When you look at his opposition to the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act in Illinois and the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban, which many Mass-attending Catholics view as bans on infanticide, Obama’s more extreme than any other Democratic presidential candidate,” said Leonard Leo, who directed Catholic outreach for Republicans in 2004, and is an informal adviser to the party and the McCain campaign.
Mr. Leo also said that the appearance of Mr. Casey on the dais at the Democratic convention would not be enough to address the concerns of faithful Catholics.
“He might get a slight bump from Casey among Catholics generally, but it doesn’t get him all the way there because Casey-the-Younger isn’t his father, and Mass-attending Catholics have figured that out,” Mr. Leo said.
William A. Galston, a domestic policy adviser to President Bill Clinton and now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said Catholics were the quintessential swing voters. Mr. Galston said they were roughly a quarter of the electorate but lived in disproportionate numbers in the swing states of the Midwest. Polls show them closely divided between the two candidates. Mr. Galston said Mr. Obama could improve his standing with Catholics by, like Mr. Clinton in 1992, conferring with a group of Catholic leaders and then giving a substantive speech at Notre Dame or another Catholic institution.
Mr. Obama should also speak out in favor of legislation now before Congress to provide financing for alternatives to abortion like free prenatal care and adoption assistance, Mr. Galston suggested. Mr. Obama should also invite Mr. Casey to speak at the convention, he said.
“I spend a lot of time with Catholic intellectuals, and no matter how liberal they are and inclined to support Democrats, they speak with vehemence about the exclusion of Casey’s father from the 1992 convention,” Mr. Galston said. “They don’t accept any of the explanations. I think it would be a dramatic act of historical rectification that would resonate with Catholics.”
By TOM RAUM, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 20 minutes ago
CHICAGO - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Thursday dismissed suggestions that the nominating convention could be marred by tensions between his supporters and the die-hard backers of Hillary Rodham Clinton. ADVERTISEMENT
Obama told reporters that their staffs were working out mutually agreeable convention logistics. At the same time, Clinton was assuring her supporters in an online chat that she and Obama were "working together to make sure it's a big success." More...
Neither directly answered questions about whether Clinton's name should be placed in nomination so that her backers could record their votes.
Obama clinched the nomination after a sometimes bitter primary contest with Clinton. Amid reports that some Clinton backers hope to raise her profile at the convention or even continue to push her candidacy, Clinton and Obama were publicly trying to ease the strained relations that exist between some of their supporters.
Flying home to Chicago, Obama told reporters on his campaign plane that he talked separately this week to Clinton and her husband, the former president, and that they were enthusiastic about having a smooth convention at the end of the month in Denver.
"As is true in all conventions, we're still working out the mechanics, the coordination," Obama said. One such issue is whether there will be a convention roll call on Clinton's nomination, he said.
"I'm letting our respective teams work out details," he said. Asked if that meant he wouldn't object to her name being placed in nomination and a vote taken, Obama said: "I didn't say that. I said that they're working it out."
Clinton has not said whether she will seek a formal vote on her bid for the nomination. For the online chat on her Web site, she wrote that she and Obama will ensure Democrats are "fully unified."
Clinton was expected to deliver a prime-time address to delegates on Aug. 26, the second night of the convention. With the delegate roll call planned for the next evening, Obama was set to accept the nomination with a speech on its fourth and final night.
"We will ensure that the voices of everyone who participated in this historic process are respected and our party is fully unified heading into the November election," Clinton wrote. "While no decisions have been made yet, I will make sure that we keep you up to date and involved with all of the convention activity."
Obama was asked whether allowing Clinton's name to be placed in nomination might lead to a catharsis for the party, an emotional coming together that relieves pent-up stress.
"I don't think we're looking for catharsis. I think what we're looking for is energy and excitement," he said.
In the Web chat, one person asked Clinton directly: "Are you truly supporting Sen. Obama and encouraging your supporters to do the same or are you just saying what you have to?" Clinton insisted she was sincerely behind Obama.
Another questioner wanted to know if there was "any possibility" her name would be placed in nomination, arguing that doing so "would at least give your supporters a voice in the choice for the party's nominee." She was noncommittal.
As to those avid Clinton supporters who still haven't warmed up to him and may even resent him, Obama said, "We're not talking to those people, we're talking directly to the Clinton campaign people and staff."
Another participant in the Clinton chat posted a note saying he hopes Clinton becomes Obama's running mate. In her response, Clinton repeated that she will do whatever Obama asks her to do but it is his decision "and I am going to respect the privacy of that process by not discussing it."
The Clintons' stance toward Obama's candidacy is being closely scrutinized as the convention nears — particularly after remarks Bill Clinton made earlier this week during a trip to Africa. Asked whether Obama was prepared to become president, the former president replied, "You can argue that nobody is ready to be president," and said he himself learned a lot in his first year on the job.
The remark was widely viewed as tepid and unenthusiastic, particularly in light of Republican candidate John McCain's frequent criticism that Obama is not ready to be president.
___
Associated Press writer Devlin Barrett in Washington contributed to this report.
Paris Hilton may think John McCain is just a “wrinkly white-haired guy,” but the Republican presidential candidate apparently has figured out the younger generation just fine. Over the past two weeks, his “celebrity” attacks have stomped Democratic presidential opponent Sen. Barack Obama in YouTube hits. More...
Mr. McCain has pumped out a series of brutal yet entertaining attack ads and Web videos mocking the press and Mr. Obama, and the combination of wit and insult has pushed his YouTube channel to the sixth most watched on the site this week. Mr. McCain has beat Mr. Obama's channel for seven straight days and 11 of the past 14 days, in a signal he intends to compete for the YouTube vote.
That is a giant reversal. Mr. Obama had been quadrupling Mr. McCain's YouTube views and beat him every day since February, according to TubeMogul, which tracks online video viewing.
“I want to know who he hired. They went from recycling their TV ads to like putting out these witty shorts,” said David Burch, marketing manager for TubeMogul.
The McCain campaign said it was simply a decision to have fun with commercials, like the “Celebrity” ad released last week that compared Mr. Obama to Miss Hilton and Britney Spears, and “The One” Web ad that mocks the adulation from Obama supporters and compares the Democrat to Moses as he parts the Red Sea.
The videos were linked on key sites such as the Drudge Report and broke into mainstream coverage through television and celebrity blogs, expanding viewership to people Mr. McCain has never reached before.
“I think we knew it would draw some attention. I don't think we knew it would be as big a hit on YouTube,” said spokesman Brian Rogers.
Among the attention it drew was a rebuke from Miss Hilton's mother, a McCain campaign contributor. Even some Republicans said it was beneath Mr. McCain, who had promised a campaign on the issues.
Miss Hilton responded with her own Web video Tuesday night comparing Mr. McCain to "Star Wars" character Yoda and calling him “old enough to remember when dancing was a sin.”
While basking in the sun in a bikini, Miss Hilton says that since she's been dragged into the race, she would offer up some ideas of her own to combine both candidates' ideas: “We can do limited offshore drilling with strict environmental oversight while creating tax incentives to get Detroit making hybrid and electric cars. That way the offshore drilling carries us until the new technologies kick in.”
“It's actually surreal,” Mr. Rogers said about the attention and the response from Miss Hilton. “I know that Senator McCain watched Paris Hilton and thought it was hilarious.”
Mr. Obama's YouTube channel beat Mr. McCain's every day from February through mid-July, when Mr. McCain's new style began to show. That was when the campaign launched “Obama Love,” mocking press coverage of the Democrat, set to Frankie Valli's “Can't Take My Eyes Off You.”
That video was pulled after Warner Music Group lodged a copyright claim, but not before it helped Mr. McCain to several YouTube viewership victories.
The Republican followed it up late last month with the celebrity ad featuring Miss Hilton and Miss Spears and announced another commercial Wednesday continuing the celebrity attack, with the announcer wondering: “Is the biggest celebrity in the world ready to help your family?”
Mr. Obama's campaign has studiously avoided talking about Mr. McCain's celebrity attacks, instead responding to the substance of the attacks included in most ads.
But Mr. Obama himself couldn't resist, telling voters last week that the Spears-Hilton references were demeaning to the election.
“Given the seriousness of the issues, you´d think we could have a serious debate,” he said in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. “But so far, all we´ve been hearing about is Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. I mean, I do have to ask my opponent, is that the best you can come up with? Is that really what this election is about? Is that what is worthy of the American people?”
Overall, Mr. Obama's YouTube channel still dominates, with 51 million all-time video views. Rep. Ron Paul, Texas Republican, is second with 15.3 million views and Mr. McCain trails in third with 8.3 million views.
“The Obama folks get it,” said Mr. Burch at TubeMogul. He said they always have new material coming out to keep continually peaking.
But Mr. McCain is catching up, with 4.1 million views this month compared with Mr. Obama's 2 million as of Wednesday evening.
“He made a smart move because he jumped out of the political blogosphere and chattering class, and got into the celebrity chattering class, and that's where most of the energy is,” said David All, a Republican strategist who runs Slatecard.com, an online contributions site.
Mr. All attributed the change in attitude to the elevation of Steve Schmidt at the McCain campaign. The former Bush White House aide and campaign aide to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger took over day-to-day operations at the McCain campaign a month ago and brought an aggressiveness that put the campaign beyond the usual political talk.
“The [Stephen] Colberts, Jon Stewarts, Saturday Night Lives, all of those things do a really great job of helping humanize a really great candidate, a really authentic candidate,” Mr. All said.
Joe Trippi, a Democratic consultant credited with bringing campaigning into the Internet age when he managed Howard Dean's 2004 presidential bid, said the ads are the best entry Republicans have made in competing for YouTube attention.
“Look, they've entered the fray. These are clearly successful - the right take on humor, the right mix,” he said. “Any time you take items out of the pop culture, like Paris Hilton or someone who's in that world, there's a chance it'll go viral.”
He also said Mr. Obama is right not to get baited into talking about the celebrity charges.
“It's a classic strategy. Push off and get back to your issues. It's not a good idea to dwell on the turf McCain wants you to dwell on,” he said.
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In the space of 5 days, the Precious One's 9 point lead over Mccain in the
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