News politics 2008-06-24 Andanh.com

Political Play: Obama carries lucky charms Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:17 EDT
Presidential campaigns use all sorts of sophisticated operations against their opponents, but Barack Obama is also relying on some good, old-fashioned lucky charms.

The presumptive Democratic nominee said Monday that he carries around a few trinkets supporters have handed him at campaign appearances along the way - including a "lucky poker chip" and a Native American eagle.

"They'll hand it to you and they'll say, 'I want you to be well, but I want you to fight for me,'" Obama said at a campaign stop here, where he pulled some of the items from a pocket. "And they'll talk about not having health care for their family, or they'll talk about being laid off."

He said those are the moments when he knows the exhaustive campaign is worth it.

"If you've been talking to somebody like that, then you want to work harder if you're asking them to vote for you," he said.

McCain disavows aide's comment about terrorism Mon, 23 Jun 2008 23:13 EDT
A top adviser to John McCain said another terrorist attack on U.S. soil would be a "big advantage" for the Republican presidential candidate, drawing a sharp rebuke Monday from both the presumed GOP nominee and Democrat Barack Obama.

Charlie Black, already in the spotlight for his past lobbying work, is quoted in the upcoming July 7 edition of Fortune magazine as saying such an attack "certainly would be a big advantage to him." Black said Monday he regretted the comment.

Black is also quoted as saying the "unfortunate event" of the assassination of former Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto in December 2007 "helped us."

Questioned about Black's comments during a news conference, McCain said, "I cannot imagine why he would say it. It's not true. I've worked tirelessly since 9/11 to prevent another attack on the United States of America. My record is very clear."

Citing his work to establish a commission to investigate the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and his membership on the Senate Armed Services Committee, McCain added: "I cannot imagine it, and so, if he said that - and I don't know the context - I strenuously disagree."

Cindy McCain to headline fundraiser in London Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:22 EDT
Cindy McCain, wife of Republican presidential hopeful John McCain, was hosting a campaign fundraiser in London on Thursday after she completes a humanitarian visit to southeast Asia.

The evening event was expected to raise more than $500,000 for the Arizona senator's presidential bid, a person familiar with the planning said Monday. Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was scheduled to join Cindy McCain as a headliner of the event.

The event was open to U.S. citizens living abroad. Under law, foreign nationals cannot contribute money to U.S. presidential campaigns.

John McCain was criticized for holding a campaign fundraiser in London in March, shortly after he clinched the GOP nomination, as he returned from a Senate trip to Europe and the Middle East. He reimbursed the U.S. government for part of the cost of the trip, under terms reviewed by the Federal Election Commission and the Senate Ethics Committee.

A wealthy beer company heiress, Cindy McCain was touring Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia to promote charitable causes, including Operation Smile, which provides reconstructive surgery to children born with cleft palates and other facial deformities in developing countries. Cindy McCain has been actively involved with Operation Smile since 2001 and is a member of its board of directors.

Obama tells women he supports equal pay Mon, 23 Jun 2008 21:38 EDT
Democrat Barack Obama, determined to win over female voters, talked Monday about the women who helped shape his life in arguing that he would be a better proponent of equal pay than Republican John McCain.

The presumed Democratic nominee toured a bakery and chatted with female workers about their economic challenges.

Sen. Obama told how he was raised by a single mother and his grandmother, who made sacrifices to support their family. He told them that Sen. McCain opposed legislation earlier this year that would have made it easier for women to sue their employers for pay discrimination. Obama supported the bill.

"I'll continue to stand up for equal pay as president - Senator McCain won't, and that's a real difference in this election," Obama said.

McCain has said he supports equal pay for women but had said the measure would lead to more lawsuits.

McCain gets scrape after run-in with auto rooftop Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:48 EDT
Sen. John McCain sported a bandage atop his head after a run-in with an automobile rooftop.

The Republican presidential candidate said he banged his head while getting out of his vehicle during a visit to Canada last Friday.

The Arizona senator has suffered from skin cancer, prompting a reporter's question at a news conference at Fresno State University on Monday.

"I was getting out of the car in Canada and I hit the roof a teenie bit," McCain said. "The car was much smaller than the one I'm usually being ferried about in by our beloved Secret Service."

He said, "oh no, it was a brush with a low-hanging door," when asked if the bandage visible atop his head was related to skin cancer.

Obama corners the market in Hollywood Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:37 EDT
For Hollywood, there's only one star left in the presidential campaign.

Barack Obama's gala fundraiser Tuesday will attract the mandatory lineup of big-screen talent and boldface names - actors Samuel L. Jackson and Dennis Quaid, model Cindy Crawford and boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard - and confirm again that the entertainment industry remains one of the most reliable and abundant sources of Democratic campaign cash.

The party's 2008 presidential candidates pocketed eight of every $10 coming from movie, TV and music businesses, and Hillary Rodham Clinton's withdrawal from the race all but guarantees a Hollywood windfall for Obama as the party begins to unite around its presumed nominee.

The glitzy gathering will be an early test of Obama's ability to enlist Clinton's financial backers, many of whom are still nursing some pain from the grueling primary contest. Obama will meet with Clinton and some of her top fundraisers on Thursday in Washington and the two will campaign together for the first time on Friday in New Hampshire. Meanwhile, Obama and his campaign have been coaxing Clinton's numerous fundraisers to join his finance operation, which raised more than $287 million as of the end of May.

Among prominent Clinton supporters in Southern California, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa - a Clinton national co-chair - met with Obama in Miami on Saturday and has committed to work for his election. Director Rob Reiner has reached out to the Obama campaign. And Ron Burkle, a close friend of former President Clinton known for holding lavish fundraisers at his Beverly Hills estate, "is happy to do whatever the campaign asks," said spokesman Frank Quintero.

Former rivals to meet in Unity, N.H. Mon, 23 Jun 2008 23:08 EDT
Former rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton plan to campaign together Friday in the small New Hampshire town of Unity, their first joint appearance meant to ease tensions over the closely fought Democratic primary.

The location, announced Monday, was chosen not only for the symbolism of its name, but because each candidate received exactly 107 votes there in the Jan. 8 primary. Obama spokesman Dan Pfeiffer said the campaign was still finalizing the location for the rally, which will be open to the public.

Independent-minded New Hampshire is a critical battleground state in November. Bush won the state in 2000, but Democrat John Kerry narrowly captured it in 2004. The state also has one of the most competitive Senate races this year, with former Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen looking to oust GOP Sen. John Sununu.

The Obama campaign's goal is to win all 19 states Kerry carried and it considers New Hampshire the most competitive among them. John McCain has been a popular candidate in the Republican primaries - he won New Hampshire in his unsuccessful 2000 presidential bid and prevailed again this year.

McCain also won the town of Unity with 81 votes, 11 more than GOP rival Mitt Romney. To even further the symmetry, Clinton and Obama each got one write-in vote on Republican ballots.

Barr seen as McCain spoiler Mon, 23 Jun 2008 02:06 EDT
A fiery former GOP congressman who gained national prominence for doggedly pursuing impeachment of President Clinton has some Republicans worried he'll play spoiler in a tight presidential contest.

Bob Barr's Libertarian Party bid for the White House is the longest of long shots, but political experts say he may be able to exploit the unease some die-hard conservatives still feel about Sen. John McCain, the Republican nominee-in-waiting. Combined with the surge in turnout among Democrats during the primaries and a difficult political climate for Republicans, they see what could be a recipe for trouble for the GOP.

"Bob could be the Ralph Nader of 2008," said Dan Schnur, a GOP consultant in California who worked on McCain's 2000 campaign but is not involved in this year's contest. Consumer advocate Nader is the third-party candidate many Democrats blame for helping George W. Bush narrowly win in 2000.

Rep. John Linder, a Republican who defeated Barr in 2002 after Georgia's Democratic-controlled legislature redrew congressional boundaries to put the two lawmakers in the same district, said he didn't think Barr would top 4 percent of the vote.

"But in some states that may be enough," Linder said.

Dobson accuses Obama of 'distorting' Bible Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:22 EDT
As Barack Obama broadens his outreach to evangelical voters, one of the movement's biggest names, James Dobson, accuses the likely Democratic presidential nominee of distorting the Bible and pushing a "fruitcake interpretation" of the Constitution.

The criticism, to be aired Tuesday on Dobson's Focus on the Family radio program, comes shortly after an Obama aide suggested a meeting at the organization's headquarters here, said Tom Minnery, senior vice president for government and public policy at Focus on the Family.

The conservative Christian group provided The Associated Press with an advance copy of the pre-taped radio segment, which runs 18 minutes and highlights excerpts of a speech Obama gave in June 2006 to the liberal Christian group Call to Renewal. Obama mentions Dobson in the speech.

"Even if we did have only Christians in our midst, if we expelled every non-Christian from the United States of America, whose Christianity would we teach in the schools?" Obama said. "Would we go with James Dobson's or Al Sharpton's?" referring to the civil rights leader.

Dobson took aim at examples Obama cited in asking which Biblical passages should guide public policy - chapters like Leviticus, which Obama said suggests slavery is OK and eating shellfish is an abomination, or Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, "a passage that is so radical that it's doubtful that our own Defense Department would survive its application."

Beshear quiet, for now, on casinos Mon, 23 Jun 2008 02:06 EDT
Around this time last year, Steve Beshear the candidate began backing off his pitch to allow casino gambling in Kentucky after receiving criticism from his Republican opponents.

Now, Beshear the governor appears to have walked away again from a push for casino gambling after watching the collapse of his first attempt to pass a constitutional amendment during this spring's legislative session.

He has rarely mentioned the subject over the last two months.

Aides and some lawmakers, however, say they don't think Beshear has completely abandoned his central campaign platform from 2007, especially in light of increasingly bleak state budget figures and the pain those numbers can inflict on education and health programs.

"I think the governor ought to stick with it," said state Rep. Carl Rollins, D-Midway.

In and out in five days, they say Mon, 23 Jun 2008 02:06 EDT
Two months after wrapping up legislative business with a spectacular midnight collapse of several high-profile bills, lawmakers return to Frankfort on Monday to take another crack at retooling the state pension system.

This time, however, legislative leaders and Gov. Steve Beshear insist they have an agreement and can be in and out of this special legislative session in the minimum five days.

"We do believe collectively that this bill is worth having a five-day special session over because of the impact it will have overall," Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, said earlier this month when he and House leaders announced they had reached a compromise deal on the pension bill.

The state retirement systems, which have been chronically underfunded, face a $26 billion shortfall.

One of the key tenets of the proposed legislation would be to set a timetable for the General Assembly to build up the amount of state money paid into the systems until it reaches its full obligated annual payment by 2025.

AFL-CIO getting ready to endorse Obama Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:04 EDT
The AFL-CIO is preparing to give its stamp of approval to Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

The leaders of the nation's largest labor organization started voting Tuesday on whether to endorse the Illinois senator. The election, which is being done by fax, is scheduled to end on Thursday.

Obama's name is the only one on the ballot sent to the AFL-CIO's 56 unions.

The AFL-CIO's endorsement is virtually certain now that Obama is the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. It has already started its campaign against Republican presidential candidate John McCain, and its biggest rival, the Change to Win labor organization, already has endorsed the Democratic senator from Illinois.

A strong AFL-CIO endorsement could help Obama with blue-collar workers and union members in industrial states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan. The AFL-CIO expects to spend about $200 million on the presidential and congressional elections, much of it on Democrats.

Bill Clinton offers support to Obama Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:16 EDT
Former President Clinton on Tuesday offered to help Barack Obama win the White House, although what work he'll do for his wife's former rival remained uncertain.

The Obama campaign is still smarting over some of Bill Clinton's criticism in the primary race, while the last Democratic president remains a popular political draw. But before the two can work together, they have to speak.

Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton have taken steps to join efforts in the last three weeks - she met with him privately, endorsed his campaign and will campaign with him Friday. But the former Democratic president and the man running to be the next one haven't talked since the campaign ended.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton said the 42nd president came up in a phone call between Obama and Hillary Clinton on Sunday. They talked about how Obama should connect with Bill Clinton in the future, Burton said.

Bill Clinton extended his support to Obama for the first time Tuesday in a one-sentence statement from spokesman Matt McKenna.

Clinton returns to Senate after presidential race Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:16 EDT
She came, she saw, she hugged.

Hillary Rodham Clinton returned to Congress Tuesday for the first time since suspending her presidential campaign, to a loud round of applause and hugs from Democrats as they try to bridge the rifts left by a long, bruising presidential primary.

The return of the New York senator had been much anticipated since she suspended her race for the White House earlier this month after Barack Obama clinched the necessary number of delegates to secure the party's nomination.

"Glad to be here, my friends, glad to be here," she said as she entered the building, adding later: "We have a lot ahead of us and I am rolling up my sleeves and getting back to work."

She was immediately surrounded and hugged by three of her closest supporters: Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.

Today on the presidential campaign trail Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:04 EDT
IN THE HEADLINES

Former President Clinton says he'll do whatever he can to help Obama become president ... AFL-CIO leaders preparing to endorse Obama for president ... McCain choice to help with veep known for discretion

---

Bill Clinton offers support to Obama

WASHINGTON (AP) - Former President Clinton said through a spokesman Tuesday that he is committed to helping Barack Obama become president, his first comments in support of his wife's former rival since their primary ended three weeks ago.

McCain veep helper is discreet lawyer Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:59 EDT
The search for John McCain's running mate is such a mystery that few people even know who's in charge.

The Republican is leaning on a consummate behind-the-scenes player in Washington - attorney Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr. - for this maximum-discretion, minimal-disclosure assignment. In Culvahouse, a one-time White House counsel to President Reagan, McCain gets someone whose work mostly has been so obscure that he likely isn't recognized outside Washington's Beltway.

Culvahouse has been involved in vetting people for positions at all levels of government for three decades, roles he's gotten partly because of his reputation for under-the-radar maneuvering.

McCain has turned to him in recent weeks as he sorts through a list of some 20 or more would-be No. 2s - not that you'd know it. The Arizona senator, like every nominee-in-waiting, is demanding privacy and trying to keep the search under wraps, including the involvement of the man who goes by A.B.

McCain's advisers, the few in the know, are under strict orders not to even discuss the search. McCain, at times, has violated his own rule, including mentioning he wanted to consult with Culvahouse and disclosing he had a preliminary names list.

Obama and Clinton set to campaign together Tue, 24 Jun 2008 09:26 EDT

Former rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton plan to campaign together Friday in the small New Hampshire town of Unity, their first joint appearance meant to ease tensions over the closely fought Democratic primary.

The location, announced Monday, was chosen not only for the symbolism of its name, but because each candidate received exactly 107 votes there in the Jan. 8 primary. Obama spokesman Dan Pfeiffer said the campaign was working to finalize the site of the rally, which will be open to the public.

Former President Clinton does not plan to appear with his wife and Obama, ceding the spotlight to the two former foes.

The rally will be the day after Obama and Clinton meet privately Thursday at a Washington hotel with former Clinton donors. The former first lady will introduce Obama to her financial backers who have been slow to embrace her one-time opponent.

Lawsuit could be power shake-up for Obama, McCain Tue, 24 Jun 2008 08:47 EDT
Barack Obama and John McCain, two senators who want to become president, are trying not to pick sides in the White House's court fight with Congress over executive privilege.

That's ironic, since they have the most to gain - or lose - depending on the outcome of a hearing held Monday in U.S. District Court in Washington.

The groundbreaking case pits Congress, which wants testimony and documents from two of President Bush's top advisers, against the White House, which refuses to honor the subpoena.

Regardless of the outcome, if the judge wades into the dispute, Bush will be out of office before it's resolved. By then, the flap over fired prosecutors and politicization at the Justice Department will belong to a former president. Maybe the next Congress will still want documents from the Bush administration and demand to bring former White House counsel Harriet Miers in for questioning.

Or maybe not.

Special session on pensions kicks off congenially Tue, 24 Jun 2008 02:06 EDT

FRANKFORT . Gov. Steve Beshear and key lawmakers spent much of Monday congratulating each other for finally coming together to prop up the financially teetering state employee pension system.

They marked the first day of what is essentially a do-over legislative session with speeches and procedural formalities that greased the skids for a compromise bill to clear the General Assembly by Friday. Beshear even invited lawmakers and their guests to the Governor's Mansion for a cook-out.

.Today we have the opportunity . indeed, the obligation . to come together to address a growing financial problem threatening the long-term viability of state and local governments,. Beshear said in a 14-minute speech to House and Senate lawmakers Monday evening.

He glazed over the acrimony and finger-pointing that swept through Frankfort this spring when a tentative deal to bolster the state-worker retirement systems broke down in the waning hours of the regular General Assembly session.

Tiny NH town readies for Obama-Clinton swarm Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:21 EDT
No one cared much about Unity - the town or the ideal - back when more than a dozen candidates were competing in the New Hampshire primary.

"We've had state senators and congressmen and people like that who've walked in our Old Home Day parade when they were campaigning, but I don't remember having any presidential candidates here in my time," said Roberta Callum, who has lived in the tiny western New Hampshire town for all but 12 of her 84 years.

That will change on Friday, when former rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton campaign together for the first time since he won enough delegates to secure the Democratic presidential nomination. As they try to ease tensions and bring their party together, they are seizing upon both the town's symbolism and symmetry - each received 107 Democratic votes in Unity on Jan. 8, plus one write-in vote apiece from Republicans.

Friday's rally will be held outside the Unity Elementary School, where Principal Chip Baldwin first thought the Obama staffer who showed up last week was just another photocopier salesmen.

"My initial reaction was one of awe, and also, 'C'mon, you're pulling my leg,'" Baldwin said Tuesday as several campaign workers took measurements of the school's field. He pointed out the classroom the school's 120 pupils in kindergarten through 8th grade use as their "gym" and said he hopes the weather cooperates Friday, given that there are no indoor options.

Beshear counters Williams' suit Tue, 24 Jun 2008 02:16 EDT

FRANKFORT . Gov. Steve Beshear responded to Senate President David Williams' road-plan lawsuit with his own lawsuit Monday.

Williams, R-Burkesville, sued the governor last month in Franklin Circuit Court, alleging that his veto of the legislature's six-year road plan was unconstitutional. Beshear failed to veto House Bill 79 within the legally mandated 10 days after the General Assembly approved the road plan, waiting 11 days instead, Williams said.

But on Monday, Beshear asked the judge in a countersuit to dismiss Williams' case, in part because the road plan passed the legislature after midnight April 16. The state constitution required the General Assembly to adjourn its 60-day session by April 15.

The House and Senate had not finished their work and ordered the clocks stopped in their chambers in the final hours of the 2008 session, so that midnight would not technically happen until they were ready for it. They passed about a dozen bills .. including the road plan . from midnight to about 1 a.m. on the 61st day.

Chinese Dir