News politics 2008-07-14 Andanh.com

Magazine cover featuring Obamas draws criticism Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:51 EDT
Barack Obama's campaign says a satirical New Yorker magazine cover showing the Democratic presidential candidate dressed as a Muslim and his wife as a terrorist is "tasteless and offensive."

The illustration on the issue that hits newsstands Monday, titled "The Politics of Fear" and drawn by Barry Blitt, depicts Barack Obama wearing traditional Muslim garb - sandals, robe and turban - and his wife, Michelle - dressed in camouflage, combat boots and an assault rifle strapped over her shoulder - standing in the Oval Office.

The couple is doing a fist tap in front of a fireplace in which an American flag is burning. Over the mantel hangs a portrait of Osama bin Laden.

"The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Senator Obama's right-wing critics have tried to create," said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton. "But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree."

In a statement Monday, the magazine said the cover "combines a number of fantastical images about the Obamas and shows them for the obvious distortions they are."

Palestinians: Obama to visit West Bank Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:46 EDT
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will visit the West Bank next week as part of a swing through the Middle East, a Palestinian official said Monday, giving an important diplomatic boost to the Palestinians at a sensitive time in peace talks.

The Palestinians expressed satisfaction over the planned meeting with the presumed Democratic nominee, which comes months after Obama's likely Republican opponent, John McCain, passed on meeting with the Palestinians during a brief visit to Israel.

Obama is scheduled to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during his July 23 stop in Ramallah, said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who was in Paris for a Mediterranean summit.

"We welcome this meeting," Erekat said. If Obama is elected, he added, "we hope he will stay the course between Israel and the Palestinians in reaching peace and a two-state solution."

During the same visit, Obama is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and other Israeli officials. The Obama campaign declined to comment.

Young Native Americans mull Obama, McCain at event Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:46 EDT
Hundreds of young Native Americans gathering for a five-day conference here are being urged to become politically active because the American Indian vote could make a difference in this year's presidential election.

Jackson Slim Brossy, legislative associate of the nonpartisan National Congress of American Indians, said the Indian vote - which traditionally has been Democratic - is up for grabs this year as Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain both try to woo it.

He said the Indian vote was a factor in Obama's defeat of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in June's Montana primary, as well as in past victories of U.S. Sens. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., and Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M.

"The Native American vote has been overlooked in the past, but there's a trend of it making a difference and I think 2008 will continue the trend," Brossy told The Associated Press.

"The vote will go to the candidate who reaches out more to Indian country and has the best policies for Indian country," he added.

For some, Republican John McCain is 'too old' Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:46 EDT
So how old is John McCain? Six-packs, automatic transmissions and the American Express card were all introduced after he was born, not to mention computers which McCain admits he doesn't use.

McCain, himself, jokes that he's older than dirt. And while his age is being raised as a campaign issue, medical experts say voters shouldn't be concerned that, if elected, McCain would be the oldest man to assume the presidency, at 72.

In politics and other fields, they explain, it's not unusual for talented people to do signature work late in life, when they can apply the cumulative wisdom of experience, and leverage personal connections cultivated over time.

Nonetheless, a significant slice of the electorate has qualms about McCain's age. The presumed Republican nominee will celebrate his 72nd birthday shortly before his party's convention. Polls show the age question isn't going away, despite the Arizona senator's efforts to deflect it with self-deprecating humor, or disprove it by keeping a grueling schedule.

"Sure, people live to be 90, but you are not as sharp," said Virginia Bailey, 73, a retired administrative assistant who lives near Schenectady, N.Y., and is a Republican. "I'm not as sharp as I was ten years ago, and I'm sure (McCain) isn't either - even though he wouldn't admit it."

Today on the presidential campaign trail Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:46 EDT
IN THE HEADLINES

Controversial New Yorker cover depicts Obama as Muslim, wife as armed terrorist ... Palestinian official: Obama to visit West Bank during Middle East trip ... Medical experts say candidate's age should not be a factor in voters' decisions ... At Nevada conference, American Indian youth focus on presidential race, consider Obama, McCain

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Magazine's 'satirical' cover stirs controversy

WASHINGTON (AP) - Barack Obama's campaign says a satirical New Yorker magazine cover showing the Democratic presidential candidate dressed as a Muslim and his wife as a terrorist is "tasteless and offensive."

Obama mourns US troop deaths, swipes at McCain Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:46 EDT
Barack Obama mourned the death of nine U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan on Sunday, even as he said John McCain's numerous visits to the region don't leave the Republican better equipped to deal with its volatility as president.

Preparing to embark on only his second visit to Iraq, as well as his first to Afghanistan, the Democrat told reporters: "I will recall the visit he made last year in which he was surrounded by helicopters and SWAT teams and he came back and reported how safe everything was in Baghdad. And I don't think that that was indicative of what was actually happening on the ground at that time."

McCain, a Vietnam War veteran, has chided Obama for the dearth of time he has spent in the region, failing to meet with Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and not holding a congressional oversight hearing on U.S. security matters.

Asked about such criticism, Obama said: "John McCain has been in Congress 25 years, no doubt about that. If this is a longevity measure, then John McCain wins. On the other hand, before we went into Iraq, I knew the difference between Shia and Sunni."

That was a dig at the Arizona senator, who once confused the majority and minority ethnic groups in Iraq.

NAACP head: Obama win won't solve racial injustice Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:41 EDT
Racial disparity will remain an issue in America, regardless of whether Barack Obama is elected as the nation's first black president, the chairman of the NAACP told the organization's national convention Sunday night.

Julian Bond, a veteran civil rights leader, said Obama's candidacy doesn't "herald a post-civil rights America, any more than his victory in November will mean that race as an issue has been vanquished in America."

But he drew loud applause when he said the country, and "all of us here," are taking pride in the success in this year's campaign by a candidate who couldn't have stayed in some cities' hotels a few decades ago.

"We know that Obama's electoral success - even if he should win the ultimate prize - won't signal an end to racial discrimination, but it does mark the high point of an interracial movement that dates back to the Underground Railroad," Bond said, referring to Cincinnati's historical role in helping fleeing slaves reach freedom.

Obama plans to address the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's convention Monday night, and Republican presidential candidate John McCain plans to speak Wednesday.

Williams and Beshear at odds again? Mon, 14 Jul 2008 09:32 EDT

It's hardly news that Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear and Republican State Senate President David Williams don't get along . or as Williams puts it: .I don't have any relationship with him..

But two of Kentucky's most powerful officials might be stuck with each other for at least three years, meaning that this fall's election season becomes a crucial juncture for the two men.

Williams will be working to keep his job as his chamber's president by helping Republican Senate candidates.

Beshear, the highest-ranking Democrat in Kentucky, also is expected to get involved on behalf of his party's Senate contenders in a bid to topple Williams. He has enthusiastically called for Democrats to .take back the Senate. in party rallies dating back to November.

Obama suggests business tax credit Mon, 14 Jul 2008 07:47 EDT

SAN DIEGO . Barack Obama on Sunday proposed up to a 50 percent tax credit for small businesses providing health insurance to their employees, a program he hopes has special appeal to Hispanics and other minority groups struggling for a toehold in the U.S. economy.

The idea had been championed by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, whom Obama vanquished in the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination.

.We know that small businesses are the engines of economic prosperity in our communities, especially in Latino communities,. Obama said in an address to several thousand Hispanics attending the annual convention of the National Council of La Raza.

.My plan won't impose any new burdens on small businesses. Instead, we'll help them not just create new jobs, but good jobs . jobs with health care, jobs that stay right here in America, the kinds of jobs we need in our communities,. the Illinois senator said.

Governors gather, joke about campaign Mon, 14 Jul 2008 07:47 EDT

PHILADELPHIA . For more than three decades, the National Governors' Association has assembled on presidential election years as one of its members made a bid for the White House . a Carter or a Reagan, a Dukakis, a Clinton or a Bush.

Not this time.

With two senators as the presumed nominees of their respective parties, the governors have been consigned to the running-mate heap.

So no wonder that the governors and former governors who gathered this weekend for the NGA's centennial congregation eyed one another for telltale hints. Would this be a showcase for Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, the outgoing NGA chairman who is often mentioned as a possible pick for Republican John Mc.Cain? How about Pennsylvania Democrat Ed Rendell, the host of the confab and its incoming chairman?

How Kentucky lawmakers voted Sun, 13 Jul 2008 03:32 EDT

House

Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-Hopkinsville: (202) 225-3115; (270) 885-8079

Rep. Ron Lewis, R-Cecilia: (202) 225-3501; (270) 765-4360

Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Louisville: (202) 225-5401; (502) 582-5129

Fancy Farm could be presidential campaign affair Mon, 14 Jul 2008 09:32 EDT

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is considering a cameo appearance at this August's Fancy Farm picnic in Western Kentucky, which would add national flair to the storied political event.

Talks between the campaign and picnic organizers heated up Friday, with Obama aides calling twice that morning to check on logistical details, said Mark Wilson, co-chairman of the annual event that's famous for its smoky barbecue as well as its spicy political speaking and theatrics.

.They think the chances are better than 50-50 that he'll come,. Wilson said. .They're definitely mulling it around in a serious way..

The Obama campaign wouldn't confirm interest in the event, saying only that the Illinois senator's schedule isn't set more than five days in advance.

Obama would send 2 more brigades to Afghanistan Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:51 EDT
Democrat Barack Obama said Monday that as president he would send at least two more combat brigades to Afghanistan, where U.S. soldiers face rising violence and endured their deadliest attack in three years on Sunday.

The proposed force increase is part of Obama's plan to pull combat troops out of Iraq and focus on the growing threat from a resurgent al-Qaida in Afghanistan.

"As president, I would pursue a new strategy, and begin by providing at least two additional combat brigades to support our effort in Afghanistan," Obama said in an op-ed published Monday in The New York Times, a day before he plans a speech here on his vision for Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We need more troops, more helicopters, better intelligence-gathering and more nonmilitary assistance to accomplish the mission there," Obama said. "I would not hold our military, our resources and our foreign policy hostage to a misguided desire to maintain permanent bases in Iraq."

Republican John McCain's presidential campaign said the Arizona senator will be speaking about his plan for Afghanistan on Thursday. His advisers declined to say whether he agreed with Obama's Afghanistan proposal before the speech.

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