News politics 2008-08-05 Andanh.com

Mich. House race focuses on Detroit mayor scandal Tue, 05 Aug 2008 21:51 EDT
Voters on Tuesday weighed whether to nominate the Detroit mayor's mother for another term in Congress, deciding a primary that has focused in large part on a headline-grabbing sex scandal involving the mayor and a former top aide.

Voters also went to the polls in Missouri to pick nominees for governor, and in Kansas and Georgia to decide House and Senate races.

In Michigan, Democratic Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick has faced little opposition since first getting elected to the House in 1996 after nearly two decades in the state Legislature.

But the three-way primary campaign has been the toughest of her congressional career, forcing her to confront questions about Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's conduct and who could best represent the struggling Detroit district.

Because the district is heavily Democratic, the primary winner will be heavily favored in the November general election.

Newspaper: Black reporter booted from McCain rally Tue, 05 Aug 2008 21:41 EDT
A newspaper has asked John McCain's campaign why a black reporter assigned to cover a rally was singled out by security and told to leave a backstage area.

Stephen Price, a reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat, was among four Florida capital press corps reporters behind the scenes at a Panama City rally Friday when a Secret Service agent approached and asked if he were with the national media traveling with McCain. Price said no, and the agent told him he had to leave. Price said he then pointed out that there were other state reporters in the same area, but was still told to leave. The other reporters were white.

A Panama City police officer quickly approached with his hand on his holster and asked what the problem was, Price said. At the same time, Palm Beach Post reporter Dara Kam came to Price's defense and was told she also had to leave, Price said.

The other two reporters, Alex Leary of the St. Petersburg Times and Marc Caputo of The Miami Herald, weren't removed.

Caputo, however, said that initially he also was told he had to leave the area.

AdWatch: McCain now says country is "worse off" Tue, 05 Aug 2008 21:31 EDT
TITLE: "Broken."

LENGTH: 60 seconds.

AIRING: In the 11 states where McCain is running ads.

SCRIPT: Announcer: "Washington's broken. John McCain knows it. We're worse off than we were four years ago. Only McCain has taken on big tobacco, drug companies, fought corruption in both parties. He'll reform Wall Street, battle Big Oil, make America prosper again. He's the original maverick. One is ready to lead - McCain."

McCain: "I'm John McCain and I approved this message."

Obama, McCain diverge on solution for energy woes Tue, 05 Aug 2008 21:31 EDT
Democrat Barack Obama blamed Republican energy policies for some of the nation's economic woes Tuesday as his GOP rival John McCain advocated a large expansion of nuclear power.

Both candidates roamed the economically depressed Rust Belt touting their energy plans as concerns about $4-a-gallon gasoline and job losses have emerged as the presidential campaign's hottest issues.

Obama told an audience in Youngstown, Ohio, that the Bush energy policy, crafted in large part by Vice President Dick Cheney, an ex-oilman, tilted to provide tax breaks and favorable treatment for Big Oil and that McCain would expand oil industry tax breaks by $4 billion.

Obama has proposed an excess profits tax on Big Oil to finance a $1,000-per-family energy rebate to deal with high fuel costs.

Exxon-Mobil "makes in 30 seconds what the typical Ohio worker makes in a year," Obama said. "We need more jobs and economic development. Why don't we focus on clean energy and reopening factories and putting people back to work? Nobody is benefiting from jobs that are leaving the community," he said.

FBI used aggressive tactics in anthrax probe Tue, 05 Aug 2008 22:06 EDT
Before killing himself last week, Army scientist Bruce Ivins told friends that government agents had stalked him and his family for months, offered his son $2.5 million to rat him out and tried to turn his hospitalized daughter against him with photographs of dead anthrax victims.

The pressure on Ivins was extreme, a high-risk strategy that has failed the FBI before. The government was determined to find the villain in the 2001 anthrax attacks; it was too many years without a solution to the case that shocked and terrified a post-9/11 nation.

The last thing the FBI needed was another embarrassment. Overreaching damaged the FBI's reputation in the high-profile investigations: the Centennial Olympic Park bombing probe that falsely accused Richard Jewell; the theft of nuclear secrets and botched prosecution of scientist Wen Ho Lee; and, in this same anthrax probe, the smearing of an innocent man - Ivins' colleague Steven Hatfill.

In the current case, Ivins complained privately that FBI agents had offered his son, Andy, $2.5 million, plus "the sports car of his choice" late last year if he would turn over evidence implicating his father in the anthrax attacks, according to a former U.S. scientist who described himself as a friend of Ivins.

Ivins also said the FBI confronted Ivins' daughter, Amanda, with photographs of victims of the anthrax attacks and told her, "This is what your father did," according to the scientist, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because their conversation was confidential.

Obama leads McCain nationally in AP-Ipsos poll Tue, 05 Aug 2008 21:26 EDT
Solid margins among women, minorities and young voters have powered Barack Obama to a 6 percentage point lead over John McCain in the presidential race, according to a poll released Tuesday.

Obama is ahead of his Republican rival 47 percent to 41 percent, The Associated Press-Ipsos poll showed. The survey was taken after the Democratic senator from Illinois had returned from a trip to Middle Eastern and European capitals, and during a week that saw the two camps clash over which had brought race into a campaign in which Obama is striving to become the first African-American president.

McCain, the senator from Arizona, is leading by 10 points among whites and is even with Obama among men, groups with whom Republicans traditionally do well in national elections.

Obama leads by 13 points among women, by 30 points among voters up to age 34, and by 55 points among blacks, Hispanics and other minorities, the poll shows.

Independent Ralph Nader and Libertarian Bob Barr both won support from less than 5 percent of the registered voters surveyed. When people were asked who they would support if Nader and Barr were not on the ballot, Obama's lead over McCain was virtually unchanged.

Critical of McCain, Obama quiet on own energy vote Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:33 EDT
Democratic candidate Barack Obama criticized Republican John McCain on Tuesday for taking a page out of "the Cheney playbook" on energy, overlooking his own support of oil-friendly policies that the unpopular vice president helped to craft.

Vice President Dick Cheney, a former oilman, early in the Bush administration helped draft an energy policy that Obama asserted is biased in favor of tax breaks and favorable treatment for big oil. Obama's remarks were an attempt to capitalize on Cheney's unpopularity.

"President Bush, he had an energy policy. He turned to Dick Cheney and he said, 'Cheney, go take care of this,'" Obama said. "Cheney met with renewable-energy folks once and oil and gas (executives) 40 times. McCain has taken a page out of the Cheney playbook."

In stumping Tuesday in this key battleground state, Obama sought to link the troubled economy with Republican policies and offer his own energy plan in contrast. He has tried to cast McCain as more concerned about oil company profits and drilling than an overall energy strategy.

However, Obama himself voted for a 2005 energy bill backed by Bush that included billions in subsidies for oil and natural gas production, a measure Cheney played a major role in developing. McCain opposed the bill on grounds it included billions in unnecessary tax breaks for the oil industry.

Today on the presidential campaign trail Tue, 05 Aug 2008 02:03 EDT
IN THE HEADLINES

McCain visits motorcycle rally as he buttresses his campaign outreach ... Obama embraces some offshore drilling and tapping petroleum stockpiles ... Obama's 47th birthday celebration includes serenade from well-heeled, singer Harry Connick Jr.

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McCain visits motorcycle rally

STURGIS, S.D. (AP) - Thousands of motorcyclists greeted Republican presidential candidate John McCain with an approving roar Monday as he sought blue-collar and heartland support by visiting a giant motorcycle rally.

Young people finding Obama way cooler than McCain Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:58 EDT
Forget the war for the White House for a moment. Among young people, Barack Obama appears to be beating John McCain in the battle for "cool."

"Obama is a tad cooler than McCain on probably 57 fronts," said Emily Goulding, 25, of Los Angeles. "Obama's better looking than McCain, Obama's more stylish than McCain, Obama's more fit than McCain. He refers to better music than McCain."

"Obama's big with the kids, everyone knows that," said Tom Johnson, 21, of Norfolk, Va. "McCain - that guy's not cool. I just can't call McCain cool."

"It's got to be Obama," said David Munn, 20, of Keene, N.H. "He's younger, I think he has more of a connection with my generation. I just think he communicates better to my generation, especially with issues in Iraq. (McCain) is all right, but not as cool as Obama."

According to these members of Generation Y, Obama, 47, has the "cool" thing down. He's an avid basketball player, listens to Jay-Z on his iPod and was on the cover of this month's issue of Rolling Stone magazine.

McCain ad pushes independence, distance from Bush Tue, 05 Aug 2008 17:51 EDT
John McCain conceded in a new television commercial on Tuesday that "we're worse off than we were four years ago," and said he is the candidate best positioned to usher in an era of change.

"Washington's broken. John McCain knows it," says the commercial, which is implicitly critical of both President Bush and Barack Obama.

It is unusual for a presidential candidate to part company with an administration of the same party, but McCain has little choice, with public opinion polls showing the public is eager for change after eight years of the Bush administration.

Just seven months ago, McCain said in a debate that "Americans overall are better off" than eight years ago "because we have had a pretty good prosperous time with low unemployment and low inflation." Even so, he added that "things are tough right now."

Set to run in battleground states, the new commercial does not mention Obama but it suggests the first-term Illinois senator is unprepared to be president by saying McCain is the one "ready to lead." It also tries to seize Obama's message of change and cast McCain, a four-term Arizona senator, as a change agent.

Ads slam Lunsford's position on unions Tue, 05 Aug 2008 02:02 EDT

FRANKFORT . A Washington-based group with Kentucky advisers is running ads in the state against Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Bruce Lunsford for his support of a bill dealing with union workplace elections.

The TV and radio ads are part of a larger, eight-state campaign against candidates who support a bill that would allow a work force to unionize without holding a secret ballot election, said J. Justin Wilson, managing director for the Employee Freedom Action Committee.

He emphasized that the non-partisan, non-profit group is not associated with Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell's campaign against Lunsford.

The group's ads accuse .some union bosses and their politician friends. of wanting to do away with secret-ballot elections. They contend that employees could be .exposed to intimidation. in joining a union.

Beshear calls for frugal road projects Tue, 05 Aug 2008 02:52 EDT

State highway engineer Gilbert Newman recently stopped at a country store and told a surprised clerk that a bypass was planned for the area.

.Why,. the woman responded. .We don't have any traffic..

It's these kinds of projects . bypasses in areas with no congestion and four-lane roads for areas with little traffic . that Newman and the state Transportation Cabinet say need to be eliminated or scaled back.

In a news conference Monday, Transportation Cabinet officials unveiled an initiative to cut the fat out of road projects and save the state money without sacrificing safety. All planned state projects . about 600 . will be examined to see if they can be pared down, Newman said.

Bush encounters dueling demonstrations in Asia Tue, 05 Aug 2008 21:56 EDT
President Bush on Wednesday brushed off the raucous demonstrators as he opened a three-nation visit to Asia, saying it's a sign of citizens living in a country where they are free to speak their minds.

The dueling demonstrations by prayerful, flag-waving supporters and rowdy protesters doused by police water cannons reflected sharp political divisions in the U.S.-South Korean relationship, which has endured volatile moments this year, but is still reliable and vital for both sides.

"I enjoy coming to a free society where people are able to express their opinions - and your country is a free society," Bush told South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.

Lee sought to downplay the protests.

"The majority of the Korean people have been eagerly waiting for your visit," said Lee, who noted that thousands of people had gathered on Tuesday in Seoul to pray for Bush and the future of the U.S.-South Korea relationship.

Obama proposes tapping U.S. oil stockpiles Tue, 05 Aug 2008 02:02 EDT

LANSING, Mich. . Barack Obama put forward a broad energy plan Monday designed to end U.S. reliance on imported oil within 10 years and shore up his standing amid a tightening White House race and high-anxiety over gas prices.

Obama's proposal, though, includes two significant reversals of positions he has taken in the past: He had steadfastly fought the idea of limited new offshore drilling and was against tapping the nation's emergency oil stockpile to relieve pump prices that have stubbornly hovered around $4 a gallon.

In a speech in Michigan, the Democratic presidential nominee in waiting also endorsed long-term work on hybrid cars and renewable energy sources.

.Breaking our oil addiction is one of the greatest challenges our generation will ever face,. the Illinois Democrat told a supportive audience as he embarked on a week to focus on energy issues. .It will take nothing less than a complete transformation of our economy,. he said.

Six Republican senators to skip GOP convention Tue, 05 Aug 2008 19:11 EDT
Will he or won't he? Vice President Dick Cheney is one of the nation's most prominent Republicans, but there are doubts about whether he will attend the GOP convention.

Cheney press secretary Megan Mitchell left the question open on Tuesday, saying Cheney's schedule has not been set for September. Delegates are scheduled to meet in St. Paul, Minn., on Sept. 1-4., to nominate Arizona Sen. John McCain for president.

Separately, six Republican senators have decided to skip the GOP convention.

Sens. Ted Stevens of Alaska, Gordon Smith of Oregon, Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina and Susan Collins of Maine all face tough re-election campaigns. Two others, Wayne Allard of Colorado and Larry Craig of Idaho, are retiring.

Stevens was indicted last month on felony charges of concealing more than a quarter-million dollars in gifts and services from an oil company that helped renovate his home. His spokesman Charles Abernathy said Stevens normally campaigns instead of attending the convention in years he's up for re-election.

Audit: Park employee stole $75,000 Tue, 05 Aug 2008 02:02 EDT

FRANKFORT . A former employee stole $75,000 from Kenlake State Resort Park, according to an audit that recommends ways the state can strengthen its financial oversight of state parks.

The former employee, Amy Hall, 35, has pleaded guilty to theft. She was sentenced Monday in Marshall Circuit Court to five years of probation and restitution for the park's financial loss.

State Auditor Crit Luallen's office worked with state police to investigate Hall's activities.

Kenlake officials found funds missing earlier this year and contacted state police. Parks officials and state police asked Luallen to examine park financial rec.ords.

Chinese Dir