News politics 2008-07-11 Andanh.com

McCain disagrees with adviser's 'whiners' remark Fri, 11 Jul 2008 02:19 EDT
Republican John McCain distanced himself from an economic adviser who dubbed the United States "a nation of whiners" in a "mental recession" as Democrat Barack Obama turned the remarks against his rival.

"I strongly disagree" with Phil Gramm's remarks, McCain told reporters in Belleville, Mich. "Phil Gramm does not speak for me. I speak for me."

The Republican presidential hopeful said a person who just lost a job "isn't suffering from a mental recession."

"America is in great difficulty. And we are experiencing enormous economic challenges as well as others," McCain said, seeking to stem the fallout of Gramm's comments.

Gramm, a former Texas senator who is a vice chairman of the Swiss bank UBS, made the remarks in an interview with The Washington Times. Gramm has a doctorate in economics.

McCain: Mortgage giants can't be allowed to fail Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:03 EDT
Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Thursday the government cannot let mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac go under.

The two government-sponsored companies have been operating under a cloud of uncertainty in recent weeks, and their shares have plunged to levels not seen since the early 1990s.

McCain said while campaigning in Michigan that Fannie and Freddie "have been responsible for millions of Americans to be able to own their own homes, and they will not fail, we will not allow them to fail."

Concerns surfaced this week that an accounting rule change would force Fannie and Freddie to raise as much as $75 billion in new capital. While those concerns subsided amid reassurances from the companies' chief government regulator, fears remain that housing troubles will continue to worsen. Analysts say that could possibly force the mortgage giants to raise capital by issuing additional stock, which would dilute their value for current shareholders.

Former St. Louis Federal Reserve President William Poole told Bloomberg News that chances are increasing the government may need to bail out the two companies.

No missing parts or tampering found on Obama plane Thu, 10 Jul 2008 14:53 EDT
An initial examination of the plane that had maintenance problems while carrying Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama found no evidence of missing parts or tampering, federal investigators said Thursday.

The Midwest Airlines MD-81 made a precautionary landing in St. Louis on Monday after leaving Chicago for Charlotte, N.C.

The National Transportation Safety Board released some preliminary findings from the on-scene investigation Thursday.

The pilots of the Midwest Airlines MD-81 felt it took more than the usual amount of force to manipulate the aircraft controls, NTSB spokeswoman Bridget Serchak said.

The federal agency stated that an emergency evacuation slide located in the tail cone of the plane partially inflated and that an inflation bottle, typically containing a mix of nitrogen and carbon dioxide, was empty.

Cindy McCain, Huckabee to travel to Rwanda Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:43 EDT
Cindy McCain and Mike Huckabee are among a bipartisan group headed to Rwanda next week to see how U.S. investments have helped some of the world's poorest people and what steps the next president can take to fight global poverty.

Former Senate Majority Leaders Tom Daschle, D-S.D., and Bill Frist, R-Tenn., will lead the delegation for the ONE campaign, an organization that uses grass-roots efforts to pressure world leaders to address poverty and preventable diseases.

Cindy McCain is the wife of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, and Huckabee is a former Arkansas governor who challenged McCain during the GOP presidential primaries. The two will join John Podesta and Leon Panetta, both of whom served former President Clinton as chief of staff. Former Rep. John Kasich, R-Ohio, will also make the trip, which is planned for July 17-23.

The ONE campaign announced the trip Wednesday. The organization says it will not endorse a candidate for president.

Obama targets women's issues with Clinton at hand Thu, 10 Jul 2008 22:06 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 a few are even 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.

McCain has best fundraising in June, $22M Fri, 11 Jul 2008 01:19 EDT
Republican presidential candidate John McCain raised more than $22 million in June, his best fundraising performance of the year, and ended the month with nearly $27 million cash on hand.

Campaign manager Rick Davis said Thursday that McCain and the national Republican Party together entered July with about $95 million in the bank. The Republican National Committee, which has been raising money jointly with McCain, collected nearly $26 million in June and had nearly $69 million on hand, officials said.

The campaign's fundraising has given McCain the ability to spend more on television advertising than Democrat Barack Obama in key battleground states. Davis said about half of its income had been spent on television advertising.

Obama has not revealed his June fundraising.

In announcing McCain's fundraising, Davis portrayed the campaign's financial position as far brighter than ever before. He said the joint RNC-McCain fundraising through direct mail is now exceeding President Bush's direct mail fundraising in 2004.

For Obama, McCain, varied paths on women's issues Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:09 EDT
It's women's week on the presidential campaign trail, judging from the attention that Barack Obama and John McCain are lavishing on female voters and issues especially important to them.

Obama, campaigning here Thursday with former Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton, criticized McCain's 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," Obama said at a "Women for Obama" breakfast fundraiser.

McCain, the Republican from Arizona, planned a similar day Friday when he will meet with female business owners in Minnesota and then hold a women-oriented town-hall meeting in Wisconsin. Asked about women in an interview this week, McCain said he wants to "make sure that any barriers to their advancement are eliminated."

Obama makes similar remarks, but the two differ sharply on their approach to several key issues. Obama would require employers to expand family and medical leave, for example, while McCain said Thursday it should "be subject to negotiations between management and labor."

Swing voters keep race uncertain Fri, 11 Jul 2008 02:47 EDT

WASHINGTON . The presidential race remains volatile and unpredictable, largely because of a huge bloc of undecided swing voters.

.The middle of the electorate is reasserting itself in this election,. according to a Pew Research Center survey released Thursday.

Among all voters, Democrat Barack Obama leads Republican John McCain by 48 to 40 percent. Pew polled 2,004 people by land line and cell phone from June 18 to 29. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

The White House hopefuls face an unusual number of variables and, as a result .the outlook for the presidential election in midyear is substantially different than at comparable points in time in recent campaigns,. the survey found.

Obama seeks info on Dodd in vice president search Fri, 11 Jul 2008 02:19 EDT
Barack Obama's presidential campaign has requested information from Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd as part of its search for a possible vice presidential candidate.

The former White House hopeful and Connecticut lawmaker indicated Wednesday that he has been approached by the campaign. "There's been some inquiries, yeah," Dodd said. "They ask for a lot of stuff. I'll leave it there."

Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton and Dodd's Senate office declined comment Thursday.

Recent moves by Obama have stoked speculation about the search for the No. 2 on the Democratic ticket. On Wednesday, Obama made an unscheduled stop at the building housing the law firm of one of his search committee members, Eric Holder. Obama also traveled to New York with another member of the search team, Caroline Kennedy.

Dodd, 64, is a five-term senator with a lengthy foreign policy resume. A fluent speaker of Spanish, Dodd served in the Peace Corps and has had a strong interest in Latin American affairs throughout his career. A longtime member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he's been able to wield a heavy influence on U.S. involvement in the region.

McCain adds to war chest Fri, 11 Jul 2008 02:47 EDT

WASHINGTON . Republican presidential candidate John McCain raised more than $22 million in June, his best fund-raising performance of the year, and ended the month with nearly $27 million cash on hand.

Campaign manager Rick Davis said Thursday that McCain and the national Republican Party together entered July with about $95 million in the bank. The Republican National Committee, which has been raising money jointly with McCain, collected nearly $26 million in June and had nearly $69 million on hand, officials said.

The campaign's fund-raising has given McCain the ability to spend more on television advertising than Democrat Barack Obama in key battleground states. Davis said about half of its income had been spent on television advertising.

Obama has not revealed his June fund-raising.

Chinese Dir