News politics 2008-06-20 Andanh.com

Hagel says he'd consider VP offer from Obama Fri, 20 Jun 2008 21:19 EDT
Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel said Friday he would consider serving as Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's running mate if asked, but he doesn't expect to be on any ticket.

Hagel's vocal criticism of the Bush administration since the 2003 invasion of Iraq has touched off speculation that if Obama were to pick a Republican running mate, it might be Hagel. Hagel said in an interview with The Associated Press that after devoting much of his life to his country - in the Senate and the U.S. Army - he would have to consider any offer.

"If it would occur, I would have to think about it," Hagel said. "I think anybody, anybody would have to consider it. Doesn't mean you'd do it, doesn't mean you'd accept it, could be too many gaps there, but you'd have to consider it, I mean, it's the only thing you could do. Why wouldn't you?"

In a book published this year, Hagel said that despite holding one of the Senate's strongest records of support for President Bush, his standing as a Republican has been called into question because of his opposition to what he deems "a reckless foreign policy ... that is divorced from a strategic context."

Hagel wrote in "America: Our Next Chapter" that the invasion of Iraq was "the triumph of the so-called neoconservative ideology, as well as Bush administration arrogance and incompetence."

Play of the Day: Obama debuts new seal Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:14 EDT
For anyone trying to picture Barack Obama as president, his campaign offered a visual aid.

A new seal made its debut on Obama's podium Friday as he held a round-table discussion with Democratic governors. The seal, with a blue background and an eagle in the center clutching arrows and an olive branch, might remind some of the presidential version.

But on closer look, the seal is full of symbols representing Obama's campaign of change.

The presidential seal has the Latin phrase "E pluribus unum" - "Out of many, one." In place of that, Obama's seal says, "Vero possumus" - a rough Latin translation of his slogan of "Yes, we can."

On podiums at the White House, the seal is encircled with the words, "Seal of the President of the United States." Obama's Internet-driven campaign lists his Web site address in that place.

Michelle Obama discusses experience as working mom Fri, 20 Jun 2008 18:19 EDT
Michelle Obama on Friday drew from her experience as a working mother to emphasize the importance of fairness in the workplace and her support for family friendly policies.

"It's time for the leaders of this country not only to champion these causes, but to fight for the issues every single day," Obama told about 1,000 people at the National Partnership for Women and Families' annual luncheon.

The nonprofit group advocates for equality in the workplace, access to health care and policies that help Americans balance work and family.

Obama, wife of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, said the group's work "is a cause that I carry deep in my heart. It's a cause that I have championed and will continue to champion no matter what the outcome of this election."

She spoke for about seven minutes, reading from notes. The crowd applauded and gave her three standing ovations - when she entered the banquet room, when she approached the microphone to speak and when she concluded her remarks.

Analysis: Will McCain's Carter link ring true? Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:05 EDT
Jimmy Carter has been among the country's most active retired presidents, but even the peripatetic Georgian might not have anticipated having his name bandied about in a presidential campaign 28 years after leaving the White House.

Sen. John McCain, who will carry the Republican presidential flag in this fall's campaign, has repeatedly invoked the former president's name on the campaign trail, and with it the less-than-stellar memories of his White House years. Some high-profile allies, including Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney, have done so as well.

The goal: linking Barack Obama to Carter, another Democratic newcomer elected on the promise of hope and change but whose presidency was marred by economic turmoil, high energy costs and a foreign policy widely derided as weak.

More subtly, McCain and other Republicans have criticized Carter for his criticism of Israel and meeting with Hamas leaders. This line has allowed the GOP to question Obama's support for Israel as he has struggled to win over some Jewish voters and donors, unnerved by the anti-Semitic views expressed by his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. The Illinois senator has disavowed Wright's remarks.

Welcome back Carter.

Critics say Fla. gov. flip-flops for McCain Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:45 EDT
A year ago, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist tried to influence the Republican presidential candidates who paraded through his office seeking an endorsement.

He told them he wanted a national catastrophe fund, a commitment to Everglades restoration and a promise to protect Florida's coast from offshore drilling. But now that Crist is mentioned as a potential running mate for likely Republican nominee John McCain, critics say it is McCain who is influencing him.

This week, Crist stunned many when he said he is now open to the idea of expanding oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, a reversal that's in step with McCain. Crist said Friday that he is not running for vice president and his recent comments weren't made to mirror the Arizona senator's.

"It's born out of a concern for the people of Florida and their pocketbook. I hear it all the time, that $4 a gallon gasoline is hurting families," Crist said, emphasizing that he only supports a study on expanded drilling.

Critics say it's the most striking example of Crist's positions shifting to meet McCain's.

Obama criticizes McCain on offshore drilling Fri, 20 Jun 2008 18:44 EDT
Barack Obama on Friday dismissed rival John McCain's proposal to allow offshore drilling as an election-year conversion, arguing that it will not lower gas prices for families "this year, next year, five years from now."

The likely Democratic nominee pledged to keep in place the federal government's 27-year moratorium on offshore drilling, and criticized McCain on changing his position on the matter.

Said Obama: "The politics may have changed but the facts haven't."

In McCain's 2000 campaign, the Republican said he favored the moratorium. This week, he said he supports lifting it to give states the option to drill, and cited as a reason alleviating the pressure on consumers facing high gas prices.

McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds responded that Obama is rejecting measures needed to lower gas prices. "The American people cannot afford Barack Obama's do-nothing, out-of-touch energy policy," Bounds said.

McCain criticizes Obama's opposition to NAFTA Fri, 20 Jun 2008 21:09 EDT
In a cross-border political attack, John McCain said Friday that Barack Obama's opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement is "nothing more than retreating behind protectionist walls."

The Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting added that if he wins the White House, "have no doubt that America will honor its international commitments - and we will expect the same of others."

McCain did not mention Obama by name as he spoke before the Economic Club of Canada, a business organization whose membership cheered his remarks.

Obama, on the campaign trail in Florida, shot back: "What's interesting to me is that he chose to talk about trade in Canada instead of in Ohio or Michigan. ... I think Senator McCain should have shared some of his views there to American voters."

McCain's trip to Canada was unusual if not unprecedented for a presidential candidate, one that his campaign paid for yet aides insisted was not political.

Obama: Terrorist won't be martyr Thu, 19 Jun 2008 02:05 EDT
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Wednesday he would bring Osama bin Laden to justice in a way that wouldn't allow the terrorist mastermind to become a martyr, but he might not be taken alive.

"First of all, I think there is an executive order out on Osama bin Laden's head," Obama said at a news conference. "And if I'm president, and we have the opportunity to capture him, we may not be able to capture him alive."

He said he wouldn't discuss what approach he would take to apprehend bin Laden. But he said the Nuremberg trials for the prosecution of Nazi leaders are an inspiration because the victors set a tone for the creation of an international order.

Obama was questioned about bin Laden after he met with a new team of national security advisers. The meeting came after rival John McCain's campaign said Obama had a pre-9/11 mindset for promoting criminal trials for terrorists.

Beshear's chief of staff resigns Thu, 19 Jun 2008 02:05 EDT
Gov. Steve Beshear's chief of staff, Jim Cauley, is resigning to pursue his own political consulting business and will be replaced by Adam Edelen, a Lexingtonian who heads the state Office of Homeland Security.

Beshear said in a statement Wednesday that Cauley "has been an integral part of my team and will be sorely missed," and would continue to be an adviser to the governor.

"Jane and I and the entire staff were lucky to bring this Kentucky boy back home for my political campaign," Beshear said of his campaign manager in last year's race for governor.

After winning a landslide victory last year against Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher, Beshear's administration has struggled to maintain momentum in the face of deep budget cuts and a disagreeable legislature.

By May, Beshear's job-approval rating had plummeted to 39 percent in a Herald-Leader/ WKYT Kentucky Poll.

Obama raises $22 million in May Fri, 20 Jun 2008 21:04 EDT
Democrat Barack Obama raised $22 million in May for his presidential campaign, his weakest fundraising month this year, and ended the month with $43 million cash on hand, the campaign reported Friday.

Though Obama has been the fundraising leader in the presidential contest, his May totals are just slightly above Republican rival John McCain's fundraising for the month. Overall, Obama has raised more than $287 million during the past 17 months, while McCain has raised a total of $115 million.

Obama, who is bypassing the public financing system in the general election, reported that nearly $10 million of his cash on hand was exclusively for the general election.

McCain and Obama have almost equal amounts in the bank to spend during the months between now and their party conventions in late summer - a level of parity between the two candidates that would have been unfathomable just a few months ago.

Obama reported spending $26.6 million in May, a month where he moved to end his Democratic contest with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Obama and Clinton traded primary victories during the month but Obama continued to build his delegate advantage. He secured the nomination June 3, winning that day's Montana primary but losing to Clinton in South Dakota. Clinton ended her campaign June 7.

Obama to forgo public financing Fri, 20 Jun 2008 02:06 EDT
Barack Obama is abandoning public financing for his presidential campaign, reversing his earlier stance in bold certainty he can raise millions more on his own as the first major-party candidate to bypass the tax-checkoff system that was hurried into place after the Watergate scandal.

Obama has shattered fund-raising records during the primary season, and he promptly showed off his financial muscle Thursday with his first commercial of the general election campaign. The ad, a 60-second biographical spot, will begin airing Friday in 18 states, including historically Republican strongholds.

Though it opens him to charges of hypocrisy, Obama's fund-raising decision was hardly a surprise, given his record in raising money from private sources. Some $85 million in public money is available to each major party nominee during the fall campaign if they agree to forgo other contributions.

McCain told reporters in Minnesota on Thursday, "We will take public financing." As for his opponent, McCain said Obama "said he would stick to his word. He didn't."

Obama has proved himself to be a prodigious fund-raiser who could easily raise more than the public fund supplies. Although he and his advisers know McCain and other Republicans will criticize his decision, they understand that issues of campaign finance do not rank high in most voters' minds.

Chinese Dir