News politics 2008-07-25 Andanh.com

Israelis, Palestinians: Mixed feelings about Obama Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:40 EDT
Both Israelis and Palestinians came away from Barack Obama's visit to the Holy Land with the feeling he would do more for Mideast peace than President Bush has. But neither side seemed fully convinced that Obama would have their interests at heart.

Israelis fear that an Obama administration would be too soft on Iran and too hard on them, and his visit didn't seem to fully dispel those concerns. And Palestinians spoke of a clear bias toward Israel.

"Instead of running away from the Middle Eastern issues, he intends to place them on the top of his diplomatic list of priorities," Israeli commentator Nahum Barnea wrote in the Yediot Ahronot daily.

The Democratic presidential candidate toured Yad Vashem's Holocaust memorial, where he donned a skullcap, and he stopped in an Israeli town that has been barraged by Palestinian rocket fire. Obama also visited the Western Wall - Judaism's holiest site - where he touched it and prayed. His one stop in the West Bank was the headquarters of moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

"What if Obama had put a Palestinian headdress on his head, as he put on a Jewish skullcap yesterday? What if he took off his shoes and stepped into the Al-Aqsa mosque, as he did at the Western Wall? That would be balanced behavior," wrote editor Hafeth Barghouti in Thursday's edition of the West Bank newspaper Al-Hayyat al-Jedida.

Rice unconcerned by freelance campaign diplomacy Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:30 EDT
If Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is worried that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is complicating the Bush administration's foreign policy with freelance campaign diplomacy, she isn't showing it.

In her first public comments about Obama's overseas jaunt during which he has contrasted his international approach to that of President Bush in meetings with foreign officials, Rice said the trip was part of the election cycle and would not affect the administration.

"Everybody knows that we are in a presidential campaign, so this a part of America's democratic process," Rice told reporters aboard her plane as she flew from an Asian security conference in Singapore to Australia.

"Sen. Obama is a senator, let's remember. He sits on the Foreign Relations Committee and he is a candidate for president. He is all of those things," she said. "But he has said, and we continue to act on the basis, as do our foreign partners, that this government remains in power until January 2009."

Rice last week reminded U.S. Embassy staff around the world that they should provide only minimal assistance to candidates on campaign trips abroad, but she noted that both Obama and Republican hopeful John McCain had pledged not to run a shadow foreign policy on the stump.

Obama urges Europeans, Americans to defeat terror Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:55 EDT
Cheered by an enormous international crowd, Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama on Thursday summoned Europeans and Americans together to "defeat terror and dry up the well of extremism that supports it" as surely as they conquered communism a generation ago.

Obama said he was speaking as a citizen, not as a president, but the evening was awash in politics as the first-term U.S. senator sought to burnish his international credentials for the fall campaign at home. His remarks before a crowd estimated at more than 200,000 inevitably invited comparison to historic speeches in the same city by Presidents Kennedy and Reagan.

Now a presidential candidate himself, Obama borrowed rhetoric from his own appeals to campaign audiences this year in the likes of Berlin, N.H., as he spoke in one of the great cities of Europe.

"People of Berlin, people of the world, this is our moment. This is our time," he declared.

"The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand," Obama said, speaking not far from where the Berlin Wall once divided the city.

Concerns in Europe despite Obama's warm welcome Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:16 EDT
The warm welcome that washed over Barack Obama during his Berlin appearance Thursday made it abundantly clear that Europeans have a strong desire to heal the trans-Atlantic rift and the Democratic president candidate is a good choice for the job.

Obama headed on to France and Britain, where he also was expected to be welcomed warmly, but perhaps by not as many people as the 200,000-plus who jammed a rally in the German capital to cheer his calls for change.

His hailing of America's long partnership with its Western allies was well received. But analysts said some parts of Obama's message may not go down well here, particularly his warning that "Americans and Europeans alike will be required to do more - not less" on security.

Most notably, he insisted that "we must renew our resolve" to defeat the Taliban and declared that Afghanistan needs "our troops and your troops."

That could prove awkward the German governments and others that are trying to balance their commitment to the war in Afghanistan against polls saying that the mission is unpopular with Europeans.

Voters greet Obama trip with praise, skepticism Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:21 EDT
Calculated political ploy. Timely foreign outreach. A dash of each? Ask voters across the country about Barack Obama's image-packed week of foreign travel and you'll get a mix of admiration, suspicion, even a couple of bored shrugs.

"I didn't know they could vote in our elections," Phil Wadlind, 62, deadpanned as he worked the children's train at The Mall of New Hampshire in Manchester, N.H.

Interviewed this week in bus stops and coffee shops, bookstores and shopping malls in six battleground states, these voters ranged from wide-eyed enthusiasts to gimlet-eyed skeptics and many viewed the trip through their own ideological lens.

Ronald Loring, a Miami Beach eye doctor, spoke for many when he observed that Obama had no choice, politically, to make a trip to counter Republican rival John McCain's perceived strength on foreign policy and national security.

"I'm impressed with his ability to communicate," he said. "I don't think that (the trip) will particularly make him a better president." Will he vote for Obama? "I'm sort of torn."

Poll: Obama holds slight lead over McCain Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:30 EDT
THE RACE: The presidential race nationally

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THE NUMBERS:

Democrat Barack Obama, 40 percent

Republican John McCain, 37 percent

Obama scraps visit to wounded US troops in Germany Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:25 EDT
Sen. Barack Obama scrapped plans to visit wounded members of the armed forces in Germany as part of his overseas trip, a decision his campaign said was made because the Democratic presidential candidate thought it would be inappropriate on a campaign-funded journey.

A campaign adviser said the U.S. military saw the visit as a campaign stop.

"We learned from the Pentagon last night that the visit would be viewed instead as a campaign event," the adviser, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Scott Gration, said in a statement. "Senator Obama did not want to have a trip to see our wounded warriors perveived as a campaign event when his visit was to show his appreciation for our troops and decided instead not to go."

Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign immediately criticized the move.

"Barack Obama is wrong. It is never inappropriate to visit our men and women in the military," said Brian Rogers, a spokesman for the Republican contender.

McCain, too, goes German Fri, 25 Jul 2008 02:24 EDT

COLUMBUS, Ohio . Republican presidential candidate John McCain had his own German experience Thursday . at a restaurant in Ohio. He asserted that he was happy to devote his time this week to touring the nation's heartland.

.I'd love to give a speech in Germany. But I'd much prefer to do it as president of the United States rather than as a candidate for president,. McCain told reporters after a meal of bratwurst with local business leaders at Schmidt's Sausage Haus und Restaurant in Columbus' German Village neighborhood.

As Barack Obama delivered a high-profile speech in Berlin, McCain said he was focusing his attention this week on economic issues, including soaring food and fuel costs. He has been busy campaigning and raising funds in key battleground states like Ohio.

In what was clearly not a coincidence, McCain spoke with reporters shortly before Obama began his speech at Berlin's Victory Column.

Obama greeted by huge crowd for public address Fri, 25 Jul 2008 02:24 EDT

BERLIN . In a highly unusual move for an American presidential candidate, Barack Obama staged a foreign policy speech Thursday before a huge overseas audience, calling for renewed trans-Atlantic cooperation to rein in Iran, fight religious extremism and terrorism, and address global warming and poverty.

.People of Berlin, people of the world, this is our moment, this is our time,. the Democratic hopeful told an enthusiastic outdoor crowd, which local authorities estimated at more than 200,000.

Turning a critical eye on the United States and implicitly criticizing President Bush, Obama said, .I know my country has not perfected itself. and .we've made our share of mistakes and there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions..

The Europeans roared with approval.

Task force to study future of horse industry Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:54 EDT

Gov. Steve Beshear created a task force Thursday to study the future of horse racing, charging its members with making recommendations to give Kentucky horse racing on a .more sound financial future..

A news release announcing the Governor's Task Force on the Future of Horse Racing does not mention casino gambling, but many of its members have advocated for casinos at race tracks.

In an executive order, Beshear told the task force to study the economic soundness of the industry, the effectiveness and quality of drug testing, the proper role of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and the adequacy of state laws and regulations.

.It is imperative that we examine all facets of Kentucky's signature horse racing industry to make certain that it builds on its past success in the commonwealth,. Beshear said in the news release.

Lunsford backs oil shaledrilling, gas tax holiday Fri, 25 Jul 2008 02:24 EDT

LOUISVILLE . To lure voters weary of high gas prices, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Bruce Lunsford is embracing a GOP-led push for oil shale drilling, one policy goal Congress already achieved and one proposal that received mixed reviews from both parties.

Lunsford, who is challenging Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell in the November election, unveiled an eight-point strategy to reduce prices at the pumps in the short and long terms.

.I want action. The public wants action,. he said at the United Auto Workers local union 862.

McConnell is running television ads highlighting the fact that Lunsford pushed for automatic state gas tax increases as an aide to Democratic Gov. John Y. Brown Jr. in the early 1980s.

Panel looks to future of horse racing Fri, 25 Jul 2008 02:24 EDT

Gov. Steve Beshear created a task force Thursday to study the future of horse racing, charging its members with making recommendations to give Kentucky horse racing a .more sound financial future..

A news release announcing the Governor's Task Force on the Future of Horse Racing does not mention casino gambling, but many of its members have advocated for casinos at race tracks.

.I gave them a broad charge of looking at the health and the future of horse racing in Kentucky,. Beshear said in an interview. .If they choose to look at expanded gaming, they can..

In an executive order, Beshear told the task force to study the economic soundness of the industry, the effectiveness and quality of drug testing, the proper role of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and the adequacy of state laws and regulations.

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