News politics 2008-06-13 Andanh.com

McCain pushing free trade; plans speech in Canada Thu, 12 Jun 2008 20:24 EDT
John McCain is bullish on free trade. The country isn't. Yet McCain doesn't miss many opportunities to reproach Democratic presidential rival Barack Obama's emerging opposition to international trade deals.

McCain is such an avowed free trader that he is scheduled to address the Economic Club of Canada next week in Ottawa to assert his support for the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Such an appearance helps McCain burnish his foreign policy credentials. But trade can also carry great risks, especially in election battlegrounds such as Ohio and Pennsylvania where many voters blame trade deals for job losses.

Canadian officials are watching the election attentively, too. Obama, who four years ago declared NAFTA had been beneficial, recently talked about reopening NAFTA to strengthen enforcement of labor and environmental standards. McCain has been thumping Obama on that, arguing that such a step not only would hurt trade, but undermine the credibility of the United States abroad.

"You know what message that sends? That no agreement is sacred to him," McCain told reporters Thursday in Boston.

Poll: Many in world look to U.S. election for change Fri, 13 Jun 2008 02:09 EDT
People around the globe widely expect the next American president to improve the country's policies toward the rest of the world, especially if Barack Obama is elected, yet they retain a persistently poor image of the U.S., according to a poll released Thursday.

The survey of two dozen countries, conducted this spring by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center, also found a growing despondency over the international economy, with majorities in 18 nations calling domestic economic conditions poor. In more bad news for the U.S., people shared a widespread sense the American economy was hurting their countries, including large majorities in U.S. allies Britain, Germany, Australia, Turkey, France and Japan.

Even six in 10 Americans agreed the U.S. economy was having a negative impact abroad.

Views of the U.S. improved or stayed the same as last year in 18 nations, the first positive signs the poll has found for the U.S. image worldwide this decade. Even so, many improvements were modest and the U.S. remains less popular in most countries than it was before it invaded Iraq in 2003, with majorities in only eight expressing favorable opinions.

Substantial numbers in most countries said they are closely following the U.S. presidential election, including 83 percent in Japan - about the same proportion who said so in the U.S. Of those following the campaign, optimism that the new president will reshape American foreign policy for the better is substantial, with the largest segment of people in 14 countries - including the U.S. - saying so.

Today on the presidential campaign trail Thu, 12 Jun 2008 17:41 EDT
IN THE HEADLINES

Obama campaign creates Web site to debunk rumors ... Not waiting for McCain, Republicans assail Obama and score a win ... Ron Paul to end campaign, begin new effort to elect libertarian-leaning Republicans ... McCain to give speech on free trade during visit to Canada next week ... McCain's age wins him Berlusconi's backing

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Obama site confronts rumors

WASHINGTON (AP) - Democrat Barack Obama's campaign said Thursday that Michelle Obama never used the word "whitey" in a speech from the church pulpit as he launched a Web site to debunk rumors about himself and his wife.

One down, more to go for Republicans aiding McCain Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:24 EDT
Having worn down Barack Obama in one dispute this week, Republican operatives are helping John McCain hit other targets, sometimes without waiting for his cue.

Republican activists see the aggressive efforts as a way to help McCain's presidential campaign - which some regard as less nimble and opportunistic than it should be - compete with Obama's superior fundraising and well-regarded national organization.

To be sure, Democratic surrogates are helping Obama, their party's presumed nominee. But Republican activists scored the bigger win this week when they forced a top Obama adviser to step down. They are vowing to use it as a blueprint to hammer Obama on other issues.

The Republican National Committee was quick and relentless in jumping on an article published Saturday in The Wall Street Journal, which questioned favorable mortgage loans obtained by Jim Johnson. A former chairman of mortgage lender Fannie Mae, Johnson was leading Obama's effort to select a running mate.

Obama largely ignored the criticism on Monday and Tuesday. But on Wednesday, Johnson stepped down.

Political Play: Unlikely endorsement Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:41 EDT
Republican John McCain has won the backing of at least one foreign leader, but not because of his experience in international affairs.

Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi likes McCain because of his age.

Berlusconi, at a news conference in Rome with President Bush, was asked who he wants to see as the next U.S. president.

"I cannot express any preference with regard to an electoral campaign going on in another country," Berlusconi began.

"However, I suppose I could express my own personal preference for one of the candidates: the Republican candidate," Berlusconi said. "And this is for a very selfish reason, and that is that I would no longer be the oldest person at the upcoming (Group of Eight summits), because McCain is a month older than me."

Clinton's youngest supporters see glass half full Thu, 12 Jun 2008 20:09 EDT
For all the older supporters of Hillary Rodham Clinton who may have been depressed, deflated, wistful or angry about her exit from the presidential race, there's an upbeat 17-year-old who doesn't feel the dream of a woman in the Oval Office has slipped away.

Quite the contrary.

"I look at it as a glass half-full," says Bethanie Livernois of Coppell, Texas, at 17 just one agonizing year too young to vote. "This is somebody who could be shaping the way for me. The fact that she came this far shows me that definitely, in my lifetime, I'm going to see a female president."

This young Clinton fan, already contemplating a career in politics, seems to be taking some of the candidate's own words to heart: She's looking at that glass ceiling, not totally shattered but almost, and seeing 18 million new cracks, one for each of Clinton's hard-won votes.

Polls taken during the grueling primary season showed a clear generational trend among female Democratic voters: The older the voter, the more likely she was to have backed Clinton.

Analysis: Obama feels way in handling advisers Thu, 12 Jun 2008 15:11 EDT
One was gone within hours. Another lasted a few days. The most famous hung on for weeks.

In dealing with associates who have dragged him into controversies, Barack Obama has shown great patience with a longtime friend, but much less forbearance with those whose ties are weaker.

The varying approaches suggest the likely Democratic presidential nominee is feeling his way on how to handle staff crises. He also is learning that it's one thing to set high standards for conduct, and another to enforce them in the imperfect worlds of politics and personal friendships.

On Wednesday, Obama parted ways with adviser Jim Johnson, one day after shrugging off Republican criticism of the man who had led his search for a running mate. GOP aides denounced Johnson steadily after a weekend Wall Street Journal article cited loans he had received on favorable terms from a company embroiled in the nation's mortgage crisis.

Obama ignored them on Monday, and largely dismissed them on Tuesday. Johnson, who had conducted similar searches for previous Democratic presidential candidates, was an unpaid volunteer with a "discrete task," Obama said.

Military leaders on Obama VP list Wed, 11 Jun 2008 02:03 EDT
Barack Obama is considering former top military leaders among his possible running mates, according to senators who met Tuesday with the Democratic presidential candidate's vice presidential vetting team.

North Dakota Sen. Kent Conrad said that the team asked him about potential candidates from three broad categories -- current top elected officials, former top elected officials and former top military leaders.

Conrad would not disclose which names were discussed, and the Obama campaign has been keeping the process a closely guarded secret.

"We talked about many names," Conrad said, including "some that are out of the box, but I think would be very well-received by the American people, including former top military leaders."

Obama has a three-person team managing the vetting process that includes one-time first daughter Caroline Kennedy, former Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder and Jim Johnson, the former CEO of mortgage lender Fannie Mae.

McCain, Obama tout cures for system Wed, 11 Jun 2008 02:03 EDT
Susana Espinoza of San Diego is a poster child for what's wrong with American health care.

The 45-year-old mother of two earns about $39,000 a year, but can't afford employer-based health coverage for herself and her sons. And she earns too much for her children to get coverage under Medicaid or California's state children's health-insurance program.

So in an unfortunate compromise that leaves her feeling guilty, Espinoza covers only herself through her job-based plan; her children go uninsured.

When her older son broke his arm playing flag football several years ago, Espinoza borrowed money from friends and took out costly payday loans to cover the $1,800 medical bill. More than three years later, "I'm still paying off the loans," she said.

Presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John McCain think they have solutions to Espinoza's problem.

McCain slams foe's economic policies Wed, 11 Jun 2008 02:03 EDT
Presumptive Republican Presidential candidate John McCain blasted Democratic rival Barack Obama's economic policies on Tuesday, calling them bad for small business and American families.

While outlining his own economic plans to the National Federation of Independent Business, which represents small businesses, McCain criticized Obama for vowing to renegotiate provisions of the North America Free Trade Agreement, proposing a tax increase for Americans making over $250,000 and for advocating a greater government role in the nation's health care system.

"No matter which of us wins in November, there will be change in Washington," McCain said. "The question is what kind of change? Will we enact the single largest tax increase since the Second World War, as my opponent proposes, or will we keep taxes low for families and employers?"

Obama's campaign accused McCain of distorting the Illinois senator's proposals. Jason Furman, Obama's economic policy director, acknowledged that taxes would increase somewhat for families with annual incomes of more than $250,000.

But he added: "You're talking about less than two percent of the population" and said those impacted still would feel less of a tax burden than during the Clinton administration.

Cheney's false comment on oil drilling attacked Fri, 13 Jun 2008 01:24 EDT
Vice President Dick Cheney's office acknowledged on Thursday that he was mistaken when he asserted that China, at Cuba's behest, is drilling for oil in waters 60 miles from the Florida coast.

In a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Cheney said on Wednesday that waters in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, long off limits to oil companies, should be opened to drilling because China is already there pumping oil.

"Oil is being drilled right now 60 miles off the coast of Florida," the vice president said. "We're not doing it, the Chinese are, in cooperation with the Cuban government. Even the communists have figured out that a good answer to high prices is more supply."

He cited his source as columnist George Will, who last week wrote: "Drilling is under way 60 miles off Florida. The drilling is being done by China, in cooperation with Cuba, which is drilling closer to South Florida than U.S. companies are."

Congressional Democrats pounced on the vice president's remarks and were backed up by independent energy experts, who called the assertion hyperbole at best and a falsehood at worst.

Clinton backers warming to Obama Thu, 12 Jun 2008 02:03 EDT
They may not be falling in love, but they're falling in line.

Prominent supporters of Hillary Rodham Clinton are embracing Barack Obama, literally and figuratively, even though some remain bitter about her loss in a presidential primary process that they feel treated her unfairly.

In several key states this week, Obama is being joined on stages by top Democrats who, a few weeks ago, were working to deny him the nomination.

"I know I'm late, but I am on the train," North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley said Monday in introducing Obama in Raleigh. "I'd rather be a bum on the boxcar of the Obama train than at the front of the bus with John McCain," he said of Obama's Republican opponent.

A few in the crowd of 900 briefly booed Easley, whose endorsement of Clinton failed to stop Obama from an easy win in the May 6 primary, which all but doomed the former first lady's hopes.

Stage set for pension reform Wed, 11 Jun 2008 02:03 EDT
After months of on-and-off negotiations, House and Senate leaders finally shook hands Tuesday on a package of changes to Kentucky's public employees' retirement system that are aimed at staving off financial ruin.

The agreement paves the way for Gov. Steve Beshear to call lawmakers to Frankfort for a five-day special session starting June 23 so they can perform triage on the hemorrhaging pension fund.

But more invasive surgery could be in store as early as next year, legislators warned.

The deal's key tenets include raising the required age and years of service for state workers hired after Sept. 1, 2008, limiting the cost of living increase for all retirees to 1.5 percent each year and laying out a timeline for the legislature to make full payments by 2025 into these systems that have been short-changed in recent years.

The soon-to-be drafted bill wouldn't alter eligibility for current employees or retirees.

Chinese Dir