News politics 2008-06-05 Andanh.com

The price of a good time at political conventions: $500,000? Wed, 28 May 2008 20:20 EDT
Want a skybox perch to see John McCain speak at the Republican National Convention, passes to hot GOP parties that week, pampering from the concierge and private wheels to tool around town?

Want a chance to mingle with celebrities like Warren Beatty and Al Franken at the Democratic National Convention, and maybe even get face time with Barack Obama or Hillary Rodham Clinton?

It's yours, for a price.

Committees raising money for California delegations to the national conventions are asking wealthy donors to make six-figure donations in exchange for VIP-level treatment and seats to witness history. The top-price ticket package: $500,000, to be a "presidential host" at the GOP convention in St. Paul in September.

"We would be honored to have you and your clients participate," a fundraising pitch from the California Democratic Party says. It offers a "convention chair" position for $250,000 that includes dozens of tickets to convention parties and coveted floor passes to see speeches in person.

Music and Candidates: an Uneasy Alliance Wed, 28 May 2008 17:35 EDT
So let's say it's the early 1980s, and you're a rising young musician named John Cougar Mellencamp. You cut a song with a chorus that oozes Jeffersonian democracy and adds a touch of postwar suburban placidity. "Ain't that America - for you and me," you sing in your gravelly Indiana voice. "Ain't that America; we're something to see. Ain't that America: home of the free. Little pink houses for you and me."

Now let's say you're a strategist for Sen. John McCain, Republican candidate for president in 2008. You hear "Pink Houses" 25 years after it was recorded and think to yourself, hey - this is perfect. Let's blast this out at the big guy's rallies and hitch our wagon to Mellencamp's imagery.

That scenario proved problematic when it unfolded earlier this year. First, Mellencamp is a Democrat and activist who has supported John Edwards. He didn't like his work being co-opted and asked McCain to stop. Second, and just as important, "Pink Houses" is an edgy, melancholy song about chances lost and potential wasted:

"'Cause they told me when I was younger, said, 'Boy, you gonna be president.' But just like everything else, those old crazy dreams just kind of came and went."

For someone coveting the White House, that's not exactly staying on message.

Clinton argues that she's the strongest Democratic candidate Wed, 28 May 2008 17:19 EDT
Hillary Clinton's campaign tried again Wednesday to convince Democrats, especially those on the party's rules committee, that she's their strongest candidate this fall, while her rival Barack Obama talked compromise and calm.

Clinton's campaign sent a letter to the party's uncommitted superdelegates, who may have the final say on the nominee, telling them, "When you look at her wins in the important swing states and her strength against (presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John) McCain in head-to-head matchups, there's no question that Hillary is the strongest candidate."

Obama backers scoffed at the notion that Clinton was ahead in the popular vote, or is a better general election candidate. What's important, said campaign manager David Plouffe, is to resolve a dispute over whether and how to seat convention delegates from Florida and Michigan and move on.

"The attention of voters," he said, "is quickly turning to the general election."

Clinton and Obama face four tests beginning Saturday: The rules committee, which will discuss and possibly decide the fate of the disputed convention delegations; Sunday's Puerto Rico primary and the season's last contests Tuesday in South Dakota and Montana.

Obama offers students pointers on public speaking Wed, 28 May 2008 17:04 EDT
Public speaking is tough enough when the audience is just your eighth-grade class. Try doing it as cameras flash, reporters scribble in their notebooks and one of the nation's best orators, Barack Obama, judges you.

The Democratic presidential candidate played critic Wednesday at a Denver-area school as two students made brief classroom presentations on what they'd learned over the last year at the Mapleton Expeditionary School of the Arts.

Obama praised their brief performances but made sure to offer a little constructive criticism.

Theodore Rodriguez, 13, got high marks for his warm personality but was advised to look at his audience more and make sure to finish his thought before moving on to the next point.

"You got a little nervous. It's understandable. It's not every day you have to speak in front of the national press," Obama said.

Clinton touts electability in South Dakota Thu, 29 May 2008 00:05 EDT
Hillary Rodham Clinton touted her electability before separate audiences Wednesday, saying her wins in swing states and strong vote margins among certain voting blocs give her the best chance of defeating Republican John McCain in November.

Clinton argued her case on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in remote southwest South Dakota while campaign aides in Washington peppered uncommitted superdelegates with data indicating why she should be the Democratic presidential nominee.

"What we have to do is determine who will be the best president and the stronger candidate against Senator McCain," she told a couple hundred residents of the reservation. "I believe I am, and I believe the states I have won and the electoral votes I will win make a very strong argument for that."

To bolster the argument, her campaign sent uncommitted superdelegates a letter, a memo and a compilation of state polling data demonstrating how she would run stronger than Barack Obama - who is closing in on the nomination - in the fall. Among other things, they pointed to her wins in primaries in such swing states as Ohio and West Virginia, and her strong margins among certain voting blocs, such as older women, Hispanics and rural voters.

"I hope you will consider the results of the recent primaries and what they tell us about the mind-set of voters in the key battleground states," Clinton said in the letter. "I hope you will think about the broad and winning coalition of voters I have built."

Beshear issues ethics order Wed, 28 May 2008 06:28 EDT
Though the state legislature this year did not approve changes in ethics law pushed by Gov. Steve Beshear, the Democratic governor signed an executive order Tuesday to initiate some of them.

But Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesvile, called it "glaringly absent" that Beshear did not limit statewide officials from accepting campaign contributions from lobbyists and state contractors -- a move the Republican-led Senate backed this year.

Williams said Beshear, who vetoed the legislature's road plan and intends to present a substitute plan before July 1, has personally solicited owners of road-building companies for campaign contributions "not only for the state but for the national Democratic Party." He did not identify them.

Beshear spokesman Dick Brown dismissed Williams' comment as "ridiculous."

Beshear, who ran last year for governor on a platform of ethics reform, said in a statement, "As Sen. Williams well knows, I supported placing restrictions on contractors donating to the campaigns of constitutional officers as long as those restrictions applied also to the legislative branch. But Sen. Williams obviously did not want to go there.

Clinton looks for fun on final primary days Sat, 31 May 2008 23:46 EDT
The candidate is on an outdoor stage, her shoulders bobbing and weaving as two reggaeton performers dance around her. Welcome to Hillary Rodham Clinton's most excellent adventure.

She had just given a mercifully short 10 minute speech and would soon wade into the rope line, all smiles, signing T-shirts, taking pictures and otherwise mugging with a crowd that had waited more than four hours to see her.

Party leaders are demanding a quick end to the Democratic contest. Yet her legions of loyal backers have no qualms about pressing on. With the end of the primaries able to be counted by the clock - 72 hours away - Clinton appears unflappably amused.

"Campaigning in Puerto Rico is like one long Puerto Rican Day parade," she said cheerfully on Saturday, invoking the annual New York City event that is a staple for politicians.

Clinton and her aides publicly say she remains determined to win the Democratic nomination. But with rival Barack Obama on the verge of becoming the party's nominee, they are clearly prepared for finality next week. Senior aides say they enter these last days believing, in the words of one campaign official, that they have "left it all on the field."

Analysis: Iraq squabbling previews campaign Sat, 31 May 2008 23:26 EDT
John McCain tore into Barack Obama over a two-year Iraq absence. The likely Democrat nominee then said he was considering a war zone trip. Point: McCain.

Obama assailed the GOP nominee-in-waiting over his comment that troops "have drawn down to pre-surge levels." McCain wasn't exactly accurate. Point: Obama.

Score on Iraq: Even - at least for last week.

McCain, a four-term Arizona senator who supports a continued military presence, and Obama, a first-term Illinois senator calling for withdrawal, engaged in a weeklong spat over the war. They're jockeying for the upper hand on a campaign issue each thinks works to his advantage.

Previewing a dispute certain to continue through the general election, each presidential hopeful is claiming that he has exhibited better decision-making on Iraq than his rival, and, thus, would be the stronger commander in chief. The voters will decide in six months.

Timeline of the Mich., Fla. primary scramble Sat, 31 May 2008 23:26 EDT
Key dates related to the Democratic National Committee's handling of the 2008 Michigan and Florida primaries:

2006:

-July 22: The Democratic Party's Rules and Bylaws Committee recommends to the DNC that a Nevada caucus be held in 2008 between Iowa's Jan. 14 caucus and New Hampshire's Jan. 22 primary. The committee also suggests that South Carolina have an early primary after New Hampshire's and that other states cannot hold their contests before Feb. 5.

-Aug. 19: The DNC approves the committee's recommendations and penalties against presidential candidates who campaign in states that cut in line. Candidates would be denied delegates from those contests.

2007:

Obama angles for showcase win in Montana Sat, 31 May 2008 12:11 EDT
The Rocky Mountain region represents friendly terrain for Barack Obama, who is angling to add Montana to his string of victories on Tuesday.

Demographically, the state would seem to suit rival Hillary Rodham Clinton almost perfectly - overwhelmingly white and rural. But political observers and a statewide poll suggest Obama has the advantage here.

The Illinois senator has outperformed Clinton in Rocky Mountain states, winning contests in Colorado, Idaho, Utah and Wyoming. Clinton won Arizona and a cliffhanger in New Mexico.

Only 16 delegates are at stake in Montana's primary, but depending on several other factors - what the Democratic National Committee rules panel decides this weekend about seating Florida and Michigan delegations and Puerto Rico's primary Sunday - the state could put Obama over the top for the nomination. He was about 40 delegates shy of victory on Friday.

South Dakota holds its primary the same day, but Montana's polls close an hour later, giving the state bragging rights to the finale in an epic marathon that has stretched from Jan. 3 to June 3, pausing in every state and spanning the globe as Americans living in dozens of countries cast ballots.

Obama says his ears too big for Rushmore Sat, 31 May 2008 12:11 EDT
Democrat Barack Obama paid an unscheduled late-night visit to Mount Rushmore Friday, visiting the national memorial at closing time and joking that his ears were too big to ever be included in such a display.

Two days after rival Hillary Rodham Clinton made a campaign stop here, Obama joined a group of reporters and staff members for an after-dark sightseeing visit to the national memorial, where the faces of four presidents are carved into the mountain. South Dakota and Montana hold their primary elections on Tuesday, the final ones in the nation, and Obama was campaigning in both states.

Asked by a reporter if he ever envisioned himself carved into the mountain, he said, "I don't think my ears would fit. There's only so much rock up there."

On her visit, Clinton also batted away reporters' questions about whether she or her husband, former President Clinton, might one day be immortalized there. "Why don't you learn something about the monument?" Clinton said.

Obama said it was his first visit to the landmark.

Obama, Clinton camps seek end to delegate dispute Sat, 31 May 2008 22:36 EDT
Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton bargained and bickered through intermediaries Saturday over the fate of 368 convention delegates from Florida and Michigan, a lingering dispute that threatened Democratic hopes for party unity at this summer's convention and in the fall campaign for the White House.

Committee members met privately and struggled to hammer out a deal after hearing five hours of arguments from representatives of both states and from the campaigns. Although they agreed to seat the Florida delegation based on the outcome of the January primary - with each delegate getting half a vote as a penalty - they tussled over how to distribute delegates in Michigan where Obama's name wasn't on the ballot.

Clinton's camp insisted Obama shouldn't get any pledged delegates in Michigan since he chose not to put his name on the ballot. Obama's team insisted the only fair solution was to split the pledged delegates in half between the two campaigns.

No matter the outcome of the convention Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting, the front-running Obama projected undiminished confidence he would wrap up the nomination shortly after the final primaries of the campaign on Tuesday.

Clinton trails Obama by about 200 delegates in a tally by The Associated Press, and her supporters pressed the convention panel to award her as many delegates as possible from the two disputed states. Aides also cautioned she might not accept the committee's word as final, raising the prospect of a disruptive dispute at the convention in August.

Pension task force members Fri, 30 May 2008 06:17 EDT
Pension task force members

Finance and Administration Secretary Jonathan Miller (chairman)

State budget director Mary Lassiter (vice chairwoman)

Auditor Crit Luallen

Attorney General Jack Conway

Chief public defender takes case to judges Thu, 29 May 2008 06:01 EDT
The state's chief public defender is asking judges to order the state Finance and Administration Cabinet to pay for private lawyers for some poor criminal defendants because his agency can no longer afford to represent them.

In a letter to judges released Wednesday, public advocate Ernie Lewis warned that public defenders will begin refusing certain types of cases starting July 1 as a result of the $2.3 million budget cut approved this spring by the General Assembly.

Lewis said the Department of Public Advocacy cannot afford to fill about 40 vacancies. With caseloads already at unethically high levels, Lewis said, public defenders cannot take on additional cases.

"The dilemma that now exists is that the Commonwealth of Kentucky is obligated to provide counsel to poor people charged with crimes, but the legislature has failed to fund that obligation," Lewis wrote. "DPA will assert that the solution to this is for courts to enter orders requiring the Commonwealth to pay for private counsel."

Cabinet spokeswoman Jill Midkiff said the cabinet received the letter from reporters on Wednesday. She said officials have not had time to review the letter and have no comment at this time.

State Senate offices to be expanded, renovated Thu, 29 May 2008 05:51 EDT
The Kentucky Senate is renovating its offices at the state Capitol Annex in Frankfort, while public health programs, law enforcement, education and other state services face cuts.

On Tuesday, the state requested bids for construction on the Annex's second floor to build new Senate offices, caucus rooms with kitchens, a press conference room and a Senate lounge. The 5,250 square feet of space previously was used by executive-branch agencies, which are slowly being evicted as the General Assembly claims more space in the Annex. New furniture, appliances and electronics will be purchased.

Senate President David Williams said he won't know the project's cost until bids are opened next week. But lawmakers can afford it. While the legislature this winter told Gov. Steve Beshear to cut $230 million from the executive branch's $9.1 billion budget, it awarded itself 13 percent more over two years, taking it up to $55.6 million in 2010. It tucked about $1.4 million for capital projects into this year's budget.

"It's nothing very extravagant," said Williams, R-Burkesville. "Each one of the senators will have an appropriate office now. We have at least one senator who has a rather small office."

But critics said Wednesday that they were stunned to learn that senators are making themselves more comfortable as the rest of Kentucky sacrifices.

Beshear considers special session Thu, 29 May 2008 02:05 EDT
Gov. Steve Beshear will meet with House and Senate leaders Thursday morning to discuss a possible special legislative session -- maybe before July 1 -- to overhaul the state's retirement systems.

House Speaker Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, said he expects Beshear to offer a proposal for the legislature to consider and to create a commission that would study additional retirement-related issues that remain controversial. The commission, which would be created through an executive order, could make recommendations to the 2009 General Assembly.

Beshear spokesman Dick Brown declined to say what the governor's proposals involve, but did say Beshear plans to hold a news conference at 10 a.m.

The pension systems, which serve about 445,000 state and local government workers and teachers, face an unfunded liability of more than $26 billion. Without action, the largest system could go broke in as little as 14 years.

When asked if a special legislative session is needed, Richards said he will meet with the governor at 9 a.m. "to listen to what he has to say. I'm open to his ideas.

Conference promises to be 'spectacular' Thu, 29 May 2008 02:05 EDT
Political aficionados across the country are swarming to Lexington to attend The Council of State Governments' celebration of 75 years of service to 50 state governments and six U.S. territories.

Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich will be a featured speaker at the national conference, along with presidential historian Michael Beschloss and Larry Sabato, founder and director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics.

Topics for more than 17 workshops and sessions to discuss the most pressing issues facing state governments include the emergence of public-private partnerships to fund state transportation projects, the growing prison population nationwide and the importance of state investment in higher education.

"This conference promises to be truly spectacular," says Kentucky Senate President David Williams, a Burkesville Republican who is vice chair of the state governments council that has been in Lexington since 1969.

More than 860 state officials and guests are expected to attend the conference that begins Thursday and runs through Sunday at the Marriott Griffin Gate and Embassy Suites. That is more than the 790 who attended the conference last year in Puerto Rico, said council spokesman Jack Penchoff

Florida, Michigan delegates will get half-votes Sun, 01 Jun 2008 05:21 EDT
Democratic Party leaders agreed Saturday to seat Michigan and Florida delegates with half-votes at this summer's convention with a compromise that left Barack Obama on the verge of the nomination but riled Hillary Rodham Clinton backers who threatened to fight to the August convention.

"Hijacking four delegates is not a good way to start down the path of party unity," said adviser Harold Ickes.

Clinton's camp maintains she was entitled to four additional Michigan delegates.

The decision by the party's Rules Committee raised slightly the total delegates Obama needs to clinch the nomination. Clinton advisers conceded privately he will likely hit the magic number after the final primaries are held Tuesday night, but said the ruling threatened to dash any hopes of a unified party.

"Mrs. Clinton has told me to reserve her right to take this to the Credentials Committee" at the convention, said Ickes, who is a member of the Rules Committee that voted Saturday.

Battle brewing over House leadership Fri, 30 May 2008 02:05 EDT
After a General Assembly session that revealed fractures among top-ranking House Democrats, Rep. Joni Jenkins of Shively announced she'll challenge one of those leaders -- Speaker Pro Tem Larry Clark of Louisville --for his position in January.

Adding to the political intrigue, House Speaker Jody Richards took the rare step of publicly endorsing in an internal party leadership race by picking Jenkins over Clark, who has served in the leadership team with Richards for the last 14 years.

"I plan to support Rep. Jenkins," Richards said in an interview with the Herald-Leader. "I think we need a more cohesive leadership. This is an unusual situation and a situation where we need to be cohesive. That's why I'm taking this unusual step."

The intraparty legislative leadership elections in January come after a particularly turbulent General Assembly session, and at a time when the state legislature is saddled with a historically low approval rating.

A Herald-Leader/WKYT Kentucky Poll taken earlier this month showed that just 22 percent of voters gave a thumbs-up to lawmakers' job performance.

Pension system session planned Fri, 30 May 2008 06:19 EDT
Gov. Steve Beshear plans to call a special legislative session June 23 if lawmakers in the next three weeks can nail down details of a compromise fix to the state's financially strapped pension system.

Beshear said major pension reforms could save taxpayers $500 million a year and produce immediate savings of $50 million for city and county governments and school districts.

Legislative leaders say they are guardedly optimistic about the likelihood of a special session to overhaul the state's retirement systems, which face a $26 billion unfunded liability.

But labor leaders expressed concern about changes to the systems that cover more than 445,000 people, including state and county employees and public school teachers.

"I'm fearful that the state is going to shift its pain to school employees," said Sharron Oxendine, president of the Kentucky Education Association.

Details for the Mont., SD primaries Sun, 01 Jun 2008 17:36 EDT
Only two states have yet to hold Democratic presidential contests. Here are the details for Tuesday's races:

--

Next stop: Montana primary

At stake: 16 Democratic delegates

2004: George W. Bush won the state with 59 percent in the presidential election.

Obama quits Chicago church steeped in controversy Sun, 01 Jun 2008 19:01 EDT
Barack Obama said Saturday he has resigned his 20-year membership in the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago "with some sadness" in the aftermath of inflammatory remarks by his longtime pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and more recent fiery remarks at the church by a visiting priest.

"This is not a decision I come to lightly ... and it is one I make with some sadness," Obama said at a news conference after campaign officials released a letter of resignation he sent to the church on Friday.

"I'm not denouncing the church and I'm not interested in people who want me to denounce the church," he said, adding that the new pastor at Trinity and "the church have been suffering from the attention my campaign has focused on them."

Obama said he and his wife have been discussing the issue since Wright's appearance at the National Press Club in Washington last month, which reignited the furor over remarks Wright had made in various sermons at the church.

"I suspect we'll find another church home for our family," Obama said.

Adwatch: Clinton popular vote claim debatable Sun, 01 Jun 2008 17:26 EDT
TITLE: "17 Million"

LENGTH: 30 seconds

AIRING: Montana and South Dakota

SCRIPT: Announcer: "Tuesday, it's up you. You can join over 17 million people who've voted for a leader to fix the economy. 17 million for a commander in chief to bring our troops home from Iraq. 17 million who want to beat John McCain. 17 million Americans have voted for Hillary Clinton. More than for any primary candidate in history. Some say there isn't a single reason for Hillary to be the Democratic nominee. They're right. There are over 17 million of them.

Clinton: "I'm Hillary Clinton and I approved this message."

Chicago priest apologizes for Clinton comment Sun, 01 Jun 2008 17:31 EDT
The Chicago priest whose comments mocking Hillary Rodham Clinton reignited the controversy over Barack Obama's former church stood before his own parishioners Sunday and apologized.

The Rev. Michael Pfleger said he isn't racist or sexist and called the past few days "the most painful" of his life.

"I apologize for anyone who was offended and who thought it to be mockery," he said at his church, St. Sabina's. "That was neither my intent nor was it my heart."

Pfleger said he's received more than 3,000 angry and threatening e-mails since he was a guest preacher last Sunday at Trinity United Church of Christ, Obama's former church.

During that sermon, Pfleger, a Catholic priest, pretended he was Clinton crying over "a black man stealing my show."

Obama plans to celebrate victory at site of Mondale's concession Sun, 01 Jun 2008 16:16 EDT
It was with a bit of fanfare that Barack Obama's campaign this weekend announced that the Illinois senator would hold his final primary night rally of the year Tuesday on Republican turf.

A symbolic shot across their bow, if you will.

But the site they chose might have Democratic ghosts.

As the final primary votes are cast Tuesday in Montana and South Dakota, Obama and his wife will travel not to one of those places but to St. Paul, Minnesota, where they will attend a rally at the Xcel Energy Center, a downtown arena where the Republican National Convention will be held this summer.

The campaign hopes it's a potent sign of how he will take the fight to the Republicans on their own turf, assuming he wins the Democratic nomination. They also think it's a sign of his he'll fight for closely competitive states such as Minnesota.

Clinton wins easily in Puerto Rico Sun, 01 Jun 2008 16:16 EDT
Hillary Clinton easily won Puerto Rico's presidential primary Sunday, according to network projections, a win she hoped would give her a desperately needed boost.

But Barack Obama's camp shrugged off the result and predicted he'd soon clinch the Democratic nomination.

Clinton was expected to win Puerto Rico by a wide margin, and the long-anticipated outcome should do little to change the dynamics of the race.

Obama began the day with 2,052 delegates to Clinton's 1,877, with 2,118 needed to nominate after Saturday's party rules committee decision to give Michigan and Florida's delegates a half-vote each.

Despite Clinton's win Sunday, her camp was still seething over that ruling and continuing to make a case for her nomination.

Polls are at odds in race for Senate Mon, 02 Jun 2008 02:05 EDT
Everything about Kentucky's U.S. Senate race so far suggests that observers should have a Ph.D in mathematics to make any sense of it.

Last week, two polls with seemingly conflicting results became public. One, from the Rasmussen Reports opinion polling firm, showed Democratic challenger Bruce Lunsford ahead of Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell.

McConnell's internal campaign polling, meanwhile, showed the senator with a double-digit lead.

So how can one figure out which candidate starts with the inside track to victory?

Simple. More numbers.

Clinton wins Puerto Rico but Obama gains delegates Mon, 02 Jun 2008 04:16 EDT
Hillary Rodham Clinton won a lopsided, but largely symbolic victory in Puerto Rico's presidential primary, the final act in a weekend of tumult that pushed Barack Obama tantalizingly close to the Democratic presidential nomination.

The former first lady was winning roughly two-thirds of the votes as she continued a strong run through the late primaries.

Before cheering supporters Sunday, she predicted she would have more combined votes than her rival when the primaries end Tuesday night, claimed victories in key swing states and said that no contender will command enough delegates to claim the nomination.

"In the final assessment I ask you to consider these questions. Which candidate best represents the will of the people who voted in this historic election?" she said in an appeal to some 200 uncommitted superdelegates who hold the balance of power in the fight for the nomination.

"Which candidate is best able to lead us to victory in November and which candidate is best able to lead our nation as our president in the face of unprecedented challenges at home and abroad?"

Obama's moment also a major juncture in US history Tue, 03 Jun 2008 16:02 EDT
The principle that all men are created equal has never been more than a remote eventuality in the quest for the presidency. But with the Democratic nomination finally in Barack Obama's grasp, that ideal is no longer relegated to someday.

Someday is now.

It is a history-making moment - though Obama is not necessarily the candidate many might have expected to make that history. He is the son of a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas. He's too young to remember the civil rights struggle, let alone to have been a soldier in the fight.

"He was impossible to anticipate," says Shola Lynch, director of a documentary about the 1972 campaign waged by Rep. Shirley Chisholm, the New Yorker who was the first black woman to vie for the presidency.

In a country whose self-identity has been warped by racial prejudice since the beginning, this moment has taken an eternity to arrive. Or, viewed over the spectrum of a long, painful history, relatively little time at all.

Barack Obama: Finding common bonds in different worlds Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:35 EDT
He arrived in the city more than two decades ago, a young idealist with an ambition to help the poor - and maybe, to become a writer.

Barack Obama knew nothing of the city's bare-knuckle politics, but he was a good listener and a quick learner. And he liked to talk about social change.

He entered politics on the very bottom rung of the ladder. As a low-paid community organizer, he agitated for jobs in a depressed steel community, better city services, anything that would help poor people improve their lives.

Now a generation later, Barack Obama, the one-time outsider who not long ago was knocking on doors and pounding the pavement just to be heard, is making history - as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and first black candidate representing a major party.

It is a giant leap in his already improbable journey from the exotic corners of Hawaii and Indonesia to the halls of privilege of Cambridge, Mass., the poverty-wracked streets of Chicago and finally, the corridors of power on Capitol Hill.

Former President Carter says he will endorse Obama Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:35 EDT
Former President Carter says he'll endorse Democrat Barack Obama after the polls close on the final primaries.

Carter told The Associated Press on Tuesday: "The fact is the Obama people already know they have my vote when the polls close tonight." Carter spoke to the AP after addressing the Georgia World Congress Center.

Carter, a superdelegate, has remained officially neutral in the race but has offered high praise to Obama. Carter has noted that his children, grandchildren and their spouses back the Illinois senator.

South Dakota and Montana hold primaries Tuesday.

Clinton says she's open to being Obama's VP Tue, 03 Jun 2008 17:28 EDT
Hillary Rodham Clinton told colleagues Tuesday she would consider joining Barack Obama as his running mate, and advisers said she was withholding a formal departure from the race partly to use her remaining leverage to press for a spot on the ticket.

On a conference call with other New York lawmakers, Clinton, a New York senator, said she was willing to become Obama's vice presidential nominee if it would help Democrats win the White House, according to a participant who spoke on condition of anonymity because this person was not authorized to speak for Clinton.

Clinton's remarks came in response to a question from Democratic Rep. Nydia Velazquez, who said she believed the best way for Obama to win key voting blocs, including Hispanics, would be for him to choose Clinton as his running mate.

"I am open to it," Clinton replied, if it would help the party's prospects in November.

Clinton also told colleagues the delegate math was not there for her to overtake Obama, but that she wanted to take time to determine how to leave the race in a way that would best help Democrats.

Clinton set to concede delegate race to Obama Tue, 03 Jun 2008 13:32 EDT
Hillary Rodham Clinton will concede Tuesday night that Barack Obama has the delegates to secure the Democratic nomination, campaign officials said, effectively ending her bid to be the nation's first female president.

Obama is 37.5 delegates shy of clinching the nomination, but he is widely expected to make up the difference Tuesday with superdelegate support and votes in South Dakota and Montana. Once he reaches the magic number of 2,118, Clinton will acknowledge that he has secured the necessary delegates to be the nominee.

The former first lady will stop short of formally suspending or ending her race in her speech in New York City.

She will pledge to continue to speak out on issues like health care. But for all intents and purposes, the two senior officials said, the campaign is over.

Most campaign staff will be let go and will be paid through June 15, said the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to divulge her plans.

Clinton's governors set to sell switch to Obama Tue, 03 Jun 2008 14:18 EDT
Eleven of the nation's governors will have to perform some political sleight of hand now that Barack Obama has effectively clinched the Democratic nomination for president. After months of supporting Hillary Rodham Clinton, they will have to convince voters they're just as happy with her rival.

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland repeatedly has said Obama is less experienced than Clinton. Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said the election was not about choosing a rock star.

"He needs a little more seasoning," Gov. Mike Beebe of Arkansas said at a rally last August where he announced his endorsement of Clinton.

Nonetheless, an Associated Press tally of convention delegates found that Obama had effectively locked up the nomination as of Tuesday.

Other governors supporting Clinton include Jon Corzine of New Jersey and Ted Kulongoski of Oregon, along with the chief executives of Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New York and North Carolina.

Pension system talks to continue Tue, 03 Jun 2008 02:03 EDT
Legislative leaders plan to meet again next Monday in an effort to find common ground on overhauling the state's financially strapped retirement systems in anticipation of a special lawmaking session later this month.

After the leaders met for nearly six hours Monday behind closed doors in the Capitol, Senate President David Williams said he is "disappointed that we aren't going to be able to make more progress than it appears."

Unless more sweeping changes are made, Williams said he has doubts about the "justification of a special session." Williams, R-Burkesville, said he would like to see Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear "give the green light" to leaders in the Democratic-led House so that more changes to the pension system could be made in a special session tentatively scheduled to begin June 23.

Williams declined to say specifically what he and Senate leaders want done beyond Beshear's proposal. The Republican-led Senate has been backing a defined contribution pension plan, a 401(k)-style retirement program.

House Speaker Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, said such a program won't happen. He also said the House will not move classified school employees, such as school bus drivers and cooks, into a new retirement system.

Beshear bans discrimination for sexual orientation Tue, 03 Jun 2008 02:03 EDT
Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear on Monday reversed several worker-related decisions made by his Republican predecessor, most notably by reinstating a ban on discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation.

Beshear signed an executive order that bars state officials from making hiring or firing decisions based on sexual preference or gender identity.

"Experience, qualifications, talent and performance are what matter," Beshear said in a statement.

Democratic former Gov. Paul Patton signed an executive order in 2003 aimed at protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender state employees. The policy also bars discrimination based on race, gender, ethnicity, age and religion.

But Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher removed sexual orientation from the list of specifically protected characteristics as part of an executive order he signed on Diversity Day in April 2006.

Obama nears magic number of superdelegates Tue, 03 Jun 2008 16:02 EDT
Barack Obama inched closer to clinching the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday, as talk swirled that Hillary Clinton would soon end her bid.

As voters in Montana and South Dakota went to the polls in the year's final primaries, Obama's campaign estimated Tuesday afternoon that it was only 33.5 delegates short of the 2,118 needed to nominate. The Associated Press said he needed fewer than 40.

Earlier Tuesday, AP quoted anonymous campaign officials saying that Clinton would say later in the evening that Obama had secured enough delegates to win.

The Clinton campaign quickly issued a one-sentence statement saying flatly, "The AP story is incorrect. Sen. Clinton will not concede this evening."

Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe told CNN that the campaign expects to continue trying to convince superdelegates that Clinton has won more popular votes than Obama and that she'd be the strongest candidate this fall against presumptive Republican nominee John McCain.

Beshear's former law firm to represent him Tue, 03 Jun 2008 02:03 EDT
Gov. Steve Beshear has turned to his former law firm of Stites & Harbison to represent him and the governor's office in the lawsuit brought by Senate President David Williams over road funding.

After deciding to outsource his legal representation, Beshear tasked his general counsel, Ellen Hesen, with spearheading the bidding process that included "several" firms.

He dismissed a notion that hiring his former employer could give a perception that he played favorites.

"If there is, there is," he said. "I wanted to get who I considered to be the best lawyers to represent me on such an important issue."

Williams, a Republican from Burkesville, filed the suit last month because he said Beshear improperly vetoed a bill outlining how road funds could be spent.

State Medicaid system criticized in study Tue, 03 Jun 2008 02:03 EDT
Many Kentuckians struggle with a Medicaid system plagued by confusing rules, poor communication and lousy customer service, according to a study released Monday by a non-profit children's advocacy group.

The report -- based on a series of focus groups held in nine counties by Kentucky Youth Advocates -- concludes that the Medicaid system, known as Kentucky Health Choices, does not give the parents of enrolled children enough information about their coverage or benefits.

It also found that a toll-free service number provides inadequate answers to benefits questions.

In addition, parents had negative reactions to their experiences seeking help in regional Department of Community Based Services offices and expressed frustration with cumbersome processes required to get pre-approval for medical treatment and to fill "non-preferred" prescriptions.

To remedy the issues, the report makes several suggestions, including:

Obama names a Kennedy to help pick vice president Wed, 04 Jun 2008 23:40 EDT
Barack Obama turned to the hunt for a running mate Wednesday, with Hillary Rodham Clinton's supporters urging him to put her on the ticket now that she's decided to back his inevitable nomination.

Obama indicated he would at least consider his long-running rival for the No. 2 slot. "Senator Clinton would be on anybody's short list, obviously," he told CBS News, adding they agree on most all the issues.

Obama's campaign announced the vetting of potential running mates was to be managed by a three-person team of one-time first daughter Caroline Kennedy, former Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder and Washington insider Jim Johnson.

Clinton has told lawmakers privately that she would be interested in the vice presidential nomination. Under pressure from Democratic leaders to step aside, a campaign official said Wednesday evening that she has decided to end her candidacy now that Obama has more than enough delegates to win the long primary race. She scheduled her announcement for Saturday.

News of Clinton's decision broke as Obama attended a $2,300-per-person fundraiser on Park Avenue that he called "our first post-nomination event." Attendees included "Sex and the City" actress Sarah Jessica Parker, President Kennedy's speechwriter, Ted Sorensen, and Caroline Kennedy, with Obama noting her role in his vetting team before the crowd of about 200 supporters.

Obama's next task: Heal rift with female voters Wed, 04 Jun 2008 18:50 EDT
Barack Obama has some urgent making up to do among a lot of angry white women - lifetime Democrats who spurned him for Hillary Rodham Clinton in the primaries and now are threatening to stay home or even vote for Republican John McCain in November.

Amid all the talk about a first black president, many women are deeply disappointed, in some cases furious, that Clinton's own historic campaign fell short and that Obama's campaign undercut her along the way. Her loss was painful for women who have encountered sex discrimination themselves, especially older women who saw her as the best hope for electing a female president in their lifetimes.

Obama himself must heal the rift with women, said Clinton fundraiser Susie Buell of San Francisco, or a new brand of "stay-at-home moms" might sit out the election.

"I know that women are very worked up right now," she said. Obama "has never apologized for the way Hillary has been treated."

"Worked up" could describe Cynthia Ruccia, a Democratic activist in Ohio who got a phone call from party chief Howard Dean about her concerns last week.

Kenyans' hopes are high after Obama seals nomination Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:09 EDT
Hoisting plastic cups of "Obama" beer and gathering around television sets, Kenyans celebrated Wednesday as Barack Obama laid claim to the U.S. Democratic presidential nomination.

Some hoped for promises of more U.S. aid to Africa, while others simply wanted to bask in the glory of a successful black politician with Kenyan roots. And in this region of western Kenya, where the candidate is seen as a local son, Obama's Kenyan relatives described him as a great hope for both Kenya and the United States.

"It would be good if he becomes president of the United States," Obama's step-grandmother, Sarah Hussein Obama, told The Associated Press in her tribal language, Luo. "Barack could help build schools in Kenya, hospitals, help the orphans here. It would be a blessing."

The Democratic senator was born in Hawaii, where he spent most of his childhood raised by his mother, a white American from Kansas. He barely knew his late father, an economist from the western Kenyan village of Nyangoma-Kogelo. But his presidential bid has sparked excitement here - and his most recent visit in 2006 attracted thousands.

"God willing, I would like Mr. Obama to be the first black African to be president of the United States," said William Ochieng, who was among a crowd in Kisumu toasting Obama with a brew called Senator Keg - nicknamed "Obama" beer since the U.S. senator's presidential campaign took off.

Thirst for change trumped Clinton's experience Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:09 EDT
On her first campaign visit to New Hampshire in February 2007, Hillary Rodham Clinton was confronted by a voter who demanded she explain her 2002 Senate vote authorizing the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

"I want to know if right here, right now, once and for all and without nuance, you can say that war authorization was a mistake," Roger Tilton asked Clinton. "I, and I think a lot of other primary voters - until we hear you say it, we're not going to hear all the other great things you are saying."

Clinton replied, as she would repeat in the ensuing months: "Knowing what we know now, I would never have voted for it."

Her refusal to admit error failed to satisfy Tilton, a 46-year-old financial analyst from Nashua even though he loved her position on health care and capping Iraq troop levels.

That exchange, pounced upon by some reporters to the displeasure of Clinton's aides, foreshadowed her demise. Her refusal to back off that vote tied her to the past and to an unpopular war. It embodied her campaign's fundamental miscalculation: the decision to present her as the standard-bearer for Washington experience, ready for office on Day One.

From Greek mythology, Obama learned a lesson Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:09 EDT
To understand how Barack Obama won the presidential primary, you have to look at what he learned when he lost.

Obama defeated Hillary Rodham Clinton solidly in the Iowa caucuses in January, but five days later she beat him, painfully and unexpectedly, in New Hampshire. That loss showed him that toppling the royal family of Democratic politics would not come easily.

"I think this was meant to be," Obama said privately the next day, recalls adviser David Axelrod. "I think we were flying too close to the sun, like Icarus. When you're fighting for change, it's not supposed to be easy."

In Greek mythology, Icarus' father gives him wax wings that empower him to fly, but warns of the danger in soaring too high. Obama got similar warnings. When he arrived in Washington, Senate dean Robert Byrd cautioned him not to be in too much of a rush to leave for the White House.

But like Icarus, Obama wouldn't heed his elder's advice. Icarus would crash into the sea. Obama would learn from his own crash in New Hampshire and make history.

Poll: Country more receptive to female president Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:09 EDT
People are more receptive to a woman running for high office than two decades ago, a poll showed Wednesday. Yet women are seen as facing a tougher time than blacks running for the White House.

Nearly nine in 10 said they were glad to see a woman make a serious run for president this year, the CBS News poll said a day after Hillary Rodham Clinton's run for the Democratic nomination fell short. In 1984 when Geraldine Ferraro was the Democrats' vice presidential pick, about six in 10 said they were pleased a woman had been nominated.

Asked if the country is ready for a female president, six in 10 said yes. That's less than the seven in 10 who said the U.S. is ready for a black in the Oval Office - perhaps reflecting how close Barack Obama was to winning the nomination when the survey was taken days ago. He clinched the nomination Tuesday.

In another measure of the difficulties reaching the White House, 46 percent said women face more hurdles winning the job while 32 percent said blacks do. Women were likelier than men to say females face the tougher path.

About seven in 10 said Clinton's candidacy has made it easier for other women to run, including majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents. The same number said they expect a female president in their lifetime - with women slightly more optimistic about that than men.

Obama clinches nomination Wed, 04 Jun 2008 02:07 EDT
Barack Obama clinched the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday, seizing a place in American history on the final day of a grueling five-month primary that forced him to battle rival Hillary Clinton to the very end.

The 46-year-old senator from Illinois becomes the first African-American ever to win a major political party presidential nomination and lead it into a general election.

He'll face Republican Sen. John McCain, 71, of Arizona, at a time when Americans are anxious about the economy at home and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Their campaigns are certain to offer very different visions. Obama opposed the Iraq war from the start; McCain, a heroic former prisoner of war, is the steady supporter of invading Iraq who pushed for more troops, not fewer, when the long conflict looked increasingly dire. McCain embraces the Bush administration's economic policies favoring private-sector leadership and low taxes, while Obama favors higher taxes on the wealthy, lower taxes on the middle class and more government intervention in economic affairs.

Obama wrapped up a majority of delegates needed to win the nomination at the party's August convention in Denver as a tide of unelected super delegates came out for him throughout the day Tuesday.

A front-runner's road to runner-up Wed, 04 Jun 2008 02:02 EDT
Hillary Clinton's quest for the Democratic presidential nomination began with an air of inevitability and ended with the inevitable reality that she could never make up the ground she lost to Barack Obama through a series of miscalculations and wrong turns by her campaign.

As Clinton considers her next move in the presidential sweepstakes, a number of campaign staffers and confidants close to the New York senator offered a postmortem on a campaign that started with $133 million war chest but ended millions in the red, that won the big state primaries but scoffed at delegate-rich caucus contests, that didn't have a Plan B after the Feb. 5 Super Tuesday contests failed to secure her nomination, that misread a country's mood and underestimated her young, upstart rival and his message of change.

"He measured the mood of the country; our message did not resonate, Barack's did," said one Clinton campaign official, who like others interviewed requested anonymity in order to speak frankly about why their candidate lost. "His message was at 30,000 feet; ours was at 5,000 feet. We had a much better candidate than we did a campaign."

Clinton herself had a hand in her loss, however. A candidate who claimed to be ready on Day One committed several gaffes on the stump. Her exaggerated claim of visiting Bosnia under sniper fire and her comment about her appeal to hardworking white people raised eyebrows and reinforced her already high negatives.

Some early decisions seemed to seal Clinton's fate. First was the strategy to run her as an incumbent, a White House insider with a firm grasp of the nuts and bolts of policy.

No rest for the Democrats Wed, 04 Jun 2008 02:02 EDT
Tracy Wilkerson, an electrical lineman, sums up the Democratic Party's problem in a nutshell. "After eight years of having it taken away from you, it's hard to be enthusiastic about anything in politics," he said.

Democrats are still seething about 2000, when Al Gore won the popular vote but lost to George W. Bush after a Supreme Court ruling. They're still irked, too, about 2004, when many think that their nominee John Kerry should have won at a time when the nation was split over whether Bush was managing the Iraq war wisely.

On paper, everything points to a big Democratic rebound in 2008. An April Opinion Research Corp. poll found that 56 percent of those surveyed had favorable opinions of the party. President Bush's approval numbers, as well as the percentages of Americans who think the country is on the right track, have hit historic lows.

The nation is reeling from a sluggish economy and mired in a deeply unpopular war, two factors that usually have turned voters away from the incumbent White House party. In addition, the presumptive Republican nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain, who'll turn 72 in August, is the oldest major party candidate ever to seek a first White House term.

Still, Democrats enter the general election less than confident that their party can heal the wounds of the long and divisive primary battle between Sens. Barack Obama of Illinois and Hillary Clinton of New York in time to defeat McCain.

Clinton to end historic candidacy, support Obama Wed, 04 Jun 2008 23:25 EDT
Hillary Rodham Clinton is ending her historic bid to become the first female president and will back rival Barack Obama on Saturday, capping a 17-month quest that began with the words "I'm in it to win it" with a more humble plea for party unity.

Hours after Barack Obama sealed the nomination, Democrats coalesced around his candidacy, sending a strong signal to Clinton that it was time to bow out. The former first lady told House Democrats during a private conference call Wednesday that she will express support for Obama's candidacy and congratulate him for gathering the necessary delegates to be the party's nominee.

"Senator Clinton will be hosting an event in Washington, D.C., to thank her supporters and express her support for Senator Obama and party unity. This event will be held on Saturday to accommodate more of Senator Clinton's supporters who want to attend," her communications director Howard Wolfson said.

Also in the speech, Clinton will urge once-warring Democrats to focus on the general election and defeating Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

The only degree of uncertainty was how. Clinton is exploring options to retain her delegates and promote her issues, including a signature call for universal health care.

KENTUCKIANS LIKE OBAMA/CLINTON IDEA Wed, 04 Jun 2008 02:02 EDT
Although U.S. Sen. Barack Obama clinched the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday, staunch Kentucky supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton quickly brightened at the thought of the two candidates teaming up.

Terry McBrayer, a strong Clinton supporter and Democratic superdelegate from Kentucky, said after he spoke Tuesday with "a number of her top people," he considered the likelihood of an Obama-Clinton ticket "pretty high."

"For Obama to win at this point, he really needs her. She's done very well in states he needs to win," McBrayer said, adding that Kentucky would be among those states in which Clinton's presence on the ticket makes a difference. "Sure, it puts us back in play, without question," McBrayer said.

The Associated Press reported that Clinton told key supporters she was "open" to serving as Obama's running mate.

Jonathan Hurst, political director for Clinton's Kentucky campaign, said that statement is a continuation of a sentiment Clinton expressed when campaigning in Kentucky last month. "She has always said she will do whatever it takes to help the nominee, and I think what she said affirms that," Hurst said. "In Kentucky, Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama together could go a very long way in making this a competitive election cycle."

Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Next

Chinese Dir