News politics 2008-08-03 Andanh.com

Paris Hilton's mom takes offense at McCain's humor Sun, 03 Aug 2008 14:16 EDT
Paris Hilton's mother doesn't share John McCain's sense of humor.

McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, said last week that his campaign ad mocking Democrat Barack Obama with images of Hilton and singer Britney Spears was part of an attempt to inject humor into the presidential race.

On Sunday, Hilton's mother, Kathy Hilton, a McCain donor, registered her disapproval.

"It is a complete waste of the country's time and attention at the very moment when millions of people are losing their homes and their jobs," Kathy Hilton said in a short article posted on the liberal Huffington Post Web site. "And it is a completely frivolous way to choose the next president of the United States."

The ad plays on Obama's popularity by dismissing him as a mere celebrity, like Hilton and Spears. The Obama campaign has said the ad is proof that McCain would rather launch negative attacks than debate important issues.

POW status was key factor in McCain's first race Sun, 03 Aug 2008 14:16 EDT
A newcomer to Arizona, John McCain used his wife's wealth, ties to powerful Washington figures and, most of all, the emotional power of his five years in a Vietnamese prison to launch his political career 25 years ago.

Well-known today, McCain's harrowing experience during the Vietnam War was new to voters in his 1982 race for an open congressional seat. McCain saturated local TV with an ad focused on his military record that showed him getting off a plane on crutches shortly after his release as a POW.

"It showed he was a hero. It would bring tears to your eyes," said rival candidate Ray Russell, a veterinarian who finished second in the Republican primary that year.

In his 2002 book "Worth the Fighting For," McCain himself acknowledged his strategy: "Thanks to my prisoner of war experience, I had, as they say in politics, a good first story to sell."

The 1982 race to replace retiring Rep. John Rhodes launched McCain's political career. It cemented his reputation as a tireless campaigner and set the stage for things that would come back to haunt him, including his troubled relations with GOP conservatives and his ties to Charles Keating, a savings and loan financier later convicted of securities fraud.

New presidential campaign battleground states Sun, 03 Aug 2008 15:31 EDT
ALASKA:

Last voted for a Democratic presidential candidate: 1964

Electoral votes: 3

2004 margin: George Bush, 61 percent; John Kerry, 36 percent

2000 margin: George Bush, 59 percent; Al Gore, 28 percent

Obama makes bid in 7 longtime Republican states Sun, 03 Aug 2008 15:16 EDT
Alaska is young. Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia have growing populations and many black voters. Montana has seen recent Democratic inroads, and North Dakota has sent only Democrats to Congress since 1986. Indiana borders Barack Obama's home state.

The Democratic presidential candidate is putting money and manpower in all seven of these states - at levels unmatched by Republican rival John McCain.

For decades, these states have almost exclusively voted for Republican presidential candidates and have rarely seen any campaign action. Now, thanks in part to demographic and political shifts, they are emerging as new battlegrounds.

"We have the organizational ability and the financial ability to compete there," Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said recently. "There is not a head fake among them."

Undeterred, senior McCain strategist Steve Schmidt said: "We feel very confident about holding these states." He also expressed optimism that McCain can win several Democratic-leaning perennial swing targets.

Campaigns spar over drilling as leadership issue Sun, 03 Aug 2008 14:16 EDT
The different paths John McCain and Barack Obama have taken to support expanded offshore drilling for oil demonstrate how each would govern as president, their supporters said Sunday.

McCain surrogates contended on the Sunday news programs that the Arizona Republican's turn toward drilling, which he had once opposed, showed how McCain would respond decisively to a crisis. Obama's supporters argued that his willingness to consider a bipartisan proposal including more drilling showed how the Illinois Democrat would pursue compromise to achieve results.

Sen. Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut independent and ex-Democrat backing McCain, was skeptical of Obama's support of 10 senators, half of them Republicans and half Democrats, promoting compromise legislation including drilling and other energy-related initiatives.

"John McCain sees the crisis," said Lieberman, who also once opposed more offshore drilling.

"Barack Obama says this weekend, 'maybe,' 'eh,' 'and,' 'if,' 'but.' He did not endorse, he did not come out with a strong decision," Lieberman said on "Meet the Press" on NBC. "I predict to you he'll find reasons not to be for it if this comes to a vote in the Senate."

In veep search, McCain asks Cantor for records Sun, 03 Aug 2008 14:16 EDT
John McCain's campaign has asked Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor for personal documents as the Republican presidential candidate steps up his search for a running mate, The Associated Press has learned.

Cantor, 45, the chief deputy minority whip in the House, has been mentioned among several Republicans as a possible running mate for McCain. A Republican familiar with the conversations between Cantor and the McCain campaign said Cantor has been asked to turn over documents, but did not know specifically what records were sought.

The individual spoke on the condition of anonymity because neither the McCain campaign nor Cantor's office wishes to discuss the running mate selection process.

Cantor through a spokesman declined to comment. McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said the campaign would have "no comment on anything related to the vice presidential issue."

With just weeks till the national conventions, McCain and Democratic Sen. Barack Obama have knuckled down in their search for vice presidential candidates. They have been regularly huddling behind closed doors with a small circle of advisers to examine the backgrounds and records - and weigh the political implications - of at least a handful of prospects.

Democratic platform embraces Obama's change theme Sun, 03 Aug 2008 15:41 EDT
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's supporters lobbied Democratic leaders Sunday to include the failed presidential candidate's ideas on health care, even as officials fine-tuned the party platform for nominee-in-waiting Barack Obama.

The committee charged with updating the platform agreed to include suggestions from Clinton, whose campaign emphasized universal health care. Obama also campaigned on improved access to health care, although the two candidates often sparred over how to make it happen and whether it should be mandated.

In a draft of the platform, the party described health care as "a shared responsibility between employers, workers, insurers, providers and government. All Americans should have coverage they can afford."

Michael Yaki, an Obama aide who directed the platform meetings, said the new language was a recognition there may be more than one way to achieve the shared goal of universal coverage.

"There's no real consensus yet on which is the best health care reform to do other than we are committed to universality and we're committed to getting there," Yaki said. "We believe that as you make health care more affordable, people will be able to buy health care - that's the basic principle. How we get there is a matter of the legislative process."

Obama now wants standard 3 debates Sun, 03 Aug 2008 02:04 EDT

WASHINGTON . Democratic candidate Barack Obama on Saturday backed away from rival John McCain's challenge for a series of joint appearances, agreeing only to the standard three debates in the fall.

Obama's reversal on town hall debates is part of a play-it-safe strategy he's adopted since claiming the nomination and grabbing a lead in national polls. Advisers to the senator, speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss strategy, say Obama is reluctant to take chances or give McCain a high-profile stage now that Obama's the front-runner.

In May, when a McCain adviser proposed a series of pre-convention appearances at town hall meetings, Obama said, .I think that's a great idea.. In summer stumping on the campaign trail, .McCain has often noted that Obama had not followed through.

On Saturday, in a letter to the Commission on Presidential Debates, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said the short period between the last political convention and the first proposed debate made it likely that the commission-sponsored debates would be the only ones.

Obama, Clinton ideas in platform Sun, 03 Aug 2008 02:04 EDT

CLEVELAND . Platform writers for Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton worked side-by-side Saturday as the Democratic Party developed a policy statement to promote nominee-in-waiting Obama and keep Clinton backers involved.

The 20-member drafting committee heard Friday and Saturday morning from scores of party regulars, policy experts and hard-luck Americans before beginning a draft of the platform, which goes before the full platform committee Aug. 9 in Pittsburgh.

The committee, meeting through Sunday, reviewed a 44-page document principally written by Karen Kornbluh, who has worked on Obama's Senate staff. She said the draft included Obama and Clinton materials and was meant to highlight renewing core American goals.

Kornbluh said the Clinton materials in the draft include a commitment that .people who do the work in America will never be invisible to the Democratic Party,. echoing a common Clinton campaign theme.

Obama says would consider some offshore drilling Sun, 03 Aug 2008 02:04 EDT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. . Sen. Barack Obama said on Saturday that he would reluctantly consider accepting some new offshore oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico in exchange for stripping oil companies of tax breaks and extending several tax credits to spur the search for alternative fuels.

At the same time, Senate Republicans appear to have dropped their insistence on opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling.

Obama has until now opposed any new offshore drilling. But in a wide-ranging news conference Saturday morning, he noted that there have been .very constructive. talks in recent days, and he applauded an $84 billion plan unveiled by a group of Republican and Democratic senators to permit such drilling while supporting an effort to convert most vehicles to using alternative fuels in the next 20 years.

.If we come up with a genuine bipartisan compromise, where I have to accept some things that I don't like in order to get energy independence, that's something I will have to consider,. Obama said.

Television | news shows Sun, 03 Aug 2008 02:04 EDT

Fox News Sunday

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and former Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D.; actress Ashley Judd.

9 a.m., Fox-56

Meet the Press

And the award for the most melodic ... Sun, 03 Aug 2008 02:04 EDT

Political morsels from the 128th Annual Fancy Farm Picnic weekend:

Beshear warbles

The most melodic political comment came from Gov. Steve Beshear.

Not since the late Gov. A.B. .Happy. Chandler has a Kentucky governor entertained a crowd with such wistful warbling.

Beshear, Grayson, Bunning are gazing into the future Sun, 03 Aug 2008 02:04 EDT

FANCY FARM . While the 2008 U.S. Senate race was the onstage focus at the Fancy Farm Picnic, political intrigue offstage spread to 2010 and beyond.

Republican U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning insisted that he will seek a third term in 2010, which could divert GOP Secretary of State Trey Grayson into the race for governor the following year.

Grayson, who hails from Northern Kentucky along with Bunning, has long been tagged by Republican officials as a top contender for the U.S. Senate or governor's office.

.I would strongly consider a run. for governor, Grayson said Saturday before the Fancy Farm Picnic began. He later added: .That's a likely path. A lot of it is timing and opportunity. We'll just see..

Jeers, jabs and plenty of hot air all around Sun, 03 Aug 2008 12:14 EDT

FANCY FARM . In their first joint appearance of the 2008 campaign, the candidates for U.S. Senate did little more than survive their time in front of a crowd that was consistently more entertaining than most of the speakers.

.Some of them were very boring,. said state Rep. Brent Yonts, D-Greenville, who is a Fancy Farm Picnic regular. .I think the governor made probably the best speech for the Democrats..

Gov. Steve Beshear led off the political speaking at the 128th annual picnic by salting his remarks with quips aimed at a clever bunch of Republicans.

After being jeered for his fox-hunting hobby, Beshear fired back by pointing out that many of those Republicans were keeping cool with fans distributed by a local funeral home.

Eblen: Fancy Farm speeches unappetizing Sun, 03 Aug 2008 08:21 EDT

FANCY FARM . I was glad I had just filled up on barbecue, because the political speaking Saturday afternoon at the 128th annual Fancy Farm Picnic was anything but satisfying.

This year's focus was Democrat Bruce Lunsford's challenge of U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader who has held the seat for 24 years. It was no surprise that Lunsford and other Democrats would come out swinging . or that McConnell wouldn't even mention Lunsford's name, leaving that job to fellow Republican U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning.

As always, the thousand or so people who crowded around the stage were mostly partisans who came to shout down speakers from the other party. And, of course, there were costumed characters walking through the crowd.

Young Republicans dressed as Arab sheikhs, .thanking. Lunsford for higher oil prices, through some stretch of the political imagination. Young Democrats dressed as characters with the names .Texas Oilman Mitch. and .Bush's Lapdog Mitch..

Obama says give Fla. and Mich. delegates full vote Sun, 03 Aug 2008 17:41 EDT
Now that Barack Obama has clinched the Democratic nomination for president, he wants convention delegates from Florida and Michigan to have full voting rights at the party's national convention.

Obama sent a letter Sunday to the party's credentials committee, asking members to reinstate the delegates' voting rights when the committee meets at the start of the convention in Denver.

The delegates were originally stripped because the two states violated party rules by holding primaries before Feb. 5. The delegates from each state were given half-votes at a contentious party meeting in May, as part of a compromise designed to give two important states some role at the convention.

Obama's former Democratic rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton, had won both primaries, though Obama's name was not on the Michigan ballot and neither candidate campaigned in Florida.

"I believe party unity calls for the delegates from Florida and Michigan to be able to participate fully alongside the delegates from the other states and territories," Obama said in the letter.

Va. legislator of interest to McCain Sun, 03 Aug 2008 02:04 EDT

RICHMOND, Va. . John McCain's campaign has asked Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor for personal documents as the Republican presidential candidate steps up his search for a running mate.

Cantor, 45, the chief deputy minority whip in the House, has been mentioned among several Republicans as a possible running mate for McCain. A Republican familiar with the conversations between Cantor and the McCain campaign said Cantor has been asked to turn over documents but did not know specifically what records were sought.

The individual spoke on the condition of anonymity because neither the McCain campaign nor Cantor's office wishes to discuss the running mate selection process.

Cantor, through a spokesman, declined to comment. McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said the campaign would have .no comment on anything related to the vice presidential issue..

Opposing views on what's wrong with America Sun, 03 Aug 2008 02:04 EDT

MAYFIELD . U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell downplayed the effect negative news out of Washington might have on his re-election bid, saying that Americans are much more focused on the issue of high gas prices.

.Senate Republicans in the last few weeks have argued repeatedly that we need to stay on the subject of lowering the price of gas at the pump,. McConnell said. .Frankly, Americans don't care whether there's an election three months from now or not. They want a result..

McConnell sidestepped reporters' questions about what should happen to indicted Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, who was charged by the U.S. Justice Department last week for not disclosing $250,000 worth of home renovations allegedly paid for by an oil company.

.Look, this is a matter for Alaska and that legal process,. McConnell told reporters before the annual Fancy Farm Picnic in Western Kentucky. .I don't really have any other comment about it..

Chinese Dir