News politics 2008-07-10 Andanh.com

Obama targets women's issues with Clinton at hand Thu, 10 Jul 2008 10:48 EDT
Going after the women's vote, Democrat Barack Obama chastised Republican John McCain on Thursday over his opposition to an equal-pay Senate bill, his support for conservative-leaning Supreme Court justices and his abortion-rights objections.

"I will never back down in defending a woman's right to choose," the likely Democratic nominee said, drawing a sharp contrast with his GOP rival.

"That's what's at stake," Obama added as he campaigned with his half-sister and Hillary Rodham Clinton, the pioneering former first lady he toppled during the Democratic presidential primary, at a "Women for Obama" breakfast fundraiser.

Obama packed his day with female-focused events in New York and Virginia, a reminder of his need to win over women who include some still smarting from Clinton's loss. She had tried to become the first woman to win the White House, and women were her base voters. They took her defeat hard, so much so that even a few are promising to vote for McCain.

Thus, to underscore his differences with McCain on women's issues, Obama cited Senate legislation from the spring that sought to counteract a Supreme Court decision limiting how long workers can wait before suing for pay discrimination.

Obama briefly forgets to urge help for Clinton Wed, 09 Jul 2008 23:43 EDT
It was all part of a careful arrangement: Democrat Barack Obama would get fundraising help from his erstwhile rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton, in exchange for his help retiring about $10 million of her campaign debt.

But Obama momentarily forgot his part of the deal at a major New York fundraiser Wednesday night, forcing him to retake the stage after he had concluded the event and said goodnight to the audience.

The Illinois senator spoke to about 1,000 donors in a Manhattan ballroom, all of whom had paid at least $1,000 to attend. Many were Clinton supporters until she dropped out of the race last month.

Obama praised the former first lady as tough and smart. "She wore me out," he said to laughs.

The Democratic nominee-in-waiting then wrapped up his speech and thanked the audience, moving to shake hands along a rope line.

Analysis: Obama's turn to middle on surveillance Wed, 09 Jul 2008 23:43 EDT
Sen. Barack Obama's vote in favor of anti-terrorist surveillance legislation on Wednesday marked an about-face on the issue that left him comfortably in the bipartisan middle, no matter the criticism from John McCain nor the discomfort among liberal Democrats.

"Given the choice between voting for an improved yet imperfect bill, and losing important surveillance tools, Senator Obama chose to support" the legislation, his office said, even though it contained a provision the Democratic presidential nominee-in-waiting had flatly opposed.

Translation: With the general election looming, preventing another terrorist attack trumped fears that privacy rights may be violated.

Ironically, the Democratic presidential contender cast his vote one day after telling a campaign audience that accounts of a shift toward the center on the Iraq War, guns, the death penalty and other issues were unfounded. "The people who say this haven't apparently been listening to me," Obama said in response to a question at a town hall-style event.

Legal immunity for companies such as AT&T is not an issue likely to affect many votes in November.

AFL-CIO mobilizing veterans to oppose McCain Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:13 EDT
The AFL-CIO is mobilizing union members who are military veterans to work against Republican presidential candidate John McCain and other office seekers it opposes, officials said Thursday.

John Sweeney, the president of the labor federation, planned to announce the creation of a Union Veterans Council in a teleconference Thursday. The union, which endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president last month, plans to form state councils of union veterans in key election battlegrounds, including Wisconsin, Minnesota, Colorado, Ohio and West Virginia. Later, it plans to organize in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Virginia.

"We're forming this Union Veterans Council to bring together union members who are veterans to speak out on the issues that matter the most to them - in this year's election and beyond," Sweeney said in a statement. "With the formation of the Union Veterans Council, veterans will be front and center in the effort to put our country back on track."

Sweeney said key issues will include money for the Veterans Affairs Department, health and education benefits for veterans, and job growth.

The union also launched an ad that will air Thursday that features a Vietnam combat veteran criticizing McCain's stance on the war in Iraq and on veterans issues. The ad will air for three weeks on national cable and in Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin, union officials said.

Analyst urges caution on electric car proposal Thu, 10 Jul 2008 06:01 EDT

SHEPHERDSVILLE . As Kentucky politicians stumble over themselves to tout a three-wheeled electric car as a financial boon to the state and their gas price-weary constituents, an industry analyst suggests they use caution.

Two Republican state senators urged Gov. Steve Beshear Wednesday to sign an executive order allowing the use of three-wheeled electric vehicles on Kentucky roads except interstates in hopes of landing a ZAP electric-car factory for Integrity Manufacturing in Bullitt County that might employ up to 1,000 people.

But some skeptics say the Santa Rosa, Calif.,-based company known as ZAP, which currently makes the Zero Air Pollution cars in China, has a history of over-promising and under-delivering.

ZAP strongly denies the criticism and claims it stems from its competitors.

Chinese Dir