 |
 |
One Historic Night, Two Americas
by: Frank Rich, The New York Times
When Barack Obama achieved his historic victory on Tuesday night, the battle was joined between two Americas. Not John Edwards's two Americas, divided between rich and poor. Not the Americas split by race, gender, party or ideology. What looms instead is an epic showdown between two wildly different visions of the country, from the ground up.
On one side stands Mr. Obama's resolutely cheerful embrace of the future. His vision is inseparable from his identity, both as a rookie with a slim Washington resume; and as a black American whose triumph was regarded as improbable by voters of all races only months ago. On the other is John McCain's promise of a wise warrior's vigilant conservation of the past. His vision, too, is inseparable from his identity - as a government lifer who has spent his entire career in service, whether in the Navy or Washington.
Paul campaign puts plans in place for alternate convention
AUSTIN (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul has tentatively reserved a university arena in Minnesota, a school spokesman said Tuesday, as the campaign plans a separate gathering during the national GOP convention in September.
"We plan on having a large rally," said Paul spokesman Jesse Benton. "We want it to be a celebration of Republican values and what the Republican Party has traditionally stood for."
But Benton also said Paul wants to send a message to the GOP "that we need to return to our roots" of limited government and personal responsibility.
Senate GOP blocks windfall taxes on Big Oil
By H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Saved by Senate Republicans, big oil companies dodged an attempt Tuesday to slap them with a windfall profits tax and take away billions of dollars in tax breaks in response to the record gasoline prices that have the nation fuming.
GOP senators shoved aside the Democratic proposal, arguing that punishing Big Oil won't do a thing to lower the $4-a-gallon-price of gasoline that is sending economic waves across the country. High prices at the pump are threatening everything from summer vacations to Meals on Wheels deliveries to the elderly.
Obama begins general campaign in low-key style
By CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press Writer
ST. LOUIS - Barack Obama has shown he can pack 20,000 people into an arena and draw 75,000 to an Oregon river bank. Now he's trying to win voters' hearts a few at a time.
Having vanquished Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic presidential primary, Obama has entered the general election phase holding smaller, low-key events rather than the large rallies that have electrified fans but turned off some voters.
The change in pace and tone was obvious Tuesday when Obama visited Missouri , a classic toss-up state, and left by lunchtime without doing any events open to the public. He will campaign every day this week, but for the first time will hold none of the rallies that often draw 10,000 or 20,000 or more.
First Read
From NBC's Abby Livingston
Hear them roar.
At the DNC this afternoon, party leaders held a press conference to stress a message of post-primary party unity.
Flanked by Sen. Maj. Leader Harry Reid and DNC Chair Howard Dean, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, “Women and blue-collar workers, whatever their race, have the most to gain by the election of Barack Obama as president of the United States and the most to lose by the election of John McCain.”
Two Clinton primary supporters seized the opportunity to exhibit a consensus for Sen. Obama.
“We all worked hard,” Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan said. “It takes a little while. You have to take a deep breath. But the reality is, there is no doubt in my mind that there is such a clear difference and so much at stake for our country, that people are going to rally around Sen. Barack Obama.
Health insurance falling short
A spike in the number of 'underinsured' adults since 2003 startles healthcare experts.
By alexandra marks | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
New York - The economic downturn is speeding up the unraveling of America's healthcare system.
In what experts call a "startling" development, the number of people who have health insurance but not enough to pay their medical costs has spiked from 16 million in 2003 to 25 million in 2007, according to a new analysis.
They're called the underinsured – working Americans whose employers don't provide health insurance so they have to buy it on their own, or who have jobs that offer only catastrophic plans with high copayments and deductibles in the thousands of dollars. An increasing number are solidly middle-class.
New battlegrounds for McCain and Obama
Obama sees potential in traditional red states such as Virginia, Colorado, and North Carolina. McCain looks to target blue states including Pennsylvania and Michigan.
By Linda Feldmann | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
Washington - As the 2008 general election campaign kicks off, both major candidates are surveying the smorgasbord of states before them and see a table groaning with possibilities.
Both Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain see openings in states won by the opposing party in recent cycles. For Senator Obama of Illinois, demographic changes have made red states such as Virginia, Colorado, and North Carolina competitive. For Senator McCain of Arizona, Obama's poor primary showing among some traditional Democratic constituencies in crucial blue states such as Pennsylvania and Michigan has created an opening.
Anti-Bush protesters to defy march ban
Andrew Sparrow and agencies
guardian.co.uk,
Anti-war campaigners said today that they would defy a ban on a planned march to Downing Street at the weekend to protest against a visit by George Bush.
The Stop the War Coalition said that it would press ahead with the protest on Sunday, and stage a march from Parliament Square to the gates of Downing Street.
Protesters need permission to march near parliament and the police have told the campaigners that their march will not be allowed.
A Stop the War spokesman said: "It seems that when George Bush visits this country, traditional rights of assembly and movement are removed from the people.
"This would be unacceptable for the visit of any foreign leader, but for this one - a war criminal - it is doubly unacceptable and we will defy the ban."
Hillary Clinton steps aside, urges supporters to back Obama
By James Oliphant |Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON - She came. They wept. She conceded.
Hillary Clinton on Saturday said she was suspending her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination and throwing her full support behind her former rival, Barack Obama, ending 16 months of an intense and historic competition that seemed to cleave the party in half.
The question remains whether her most fervent supporters will follow her lead on Obama.
Clinton lavished praise on Obama, saying, "I have seen his strength and determination, his grace and his grit" and said it was time for the Democratic Party to come together as a "family."
Obama Confronts Lieberman on McCain Advocacy, Tone, on Senate Floor
by: Jake Tapper, ABC News
Sen. Joe Lieberman, the self-described "Independent Democrat" who caucuses with the Democratic party in the Senate even though he has endorsed Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz, got some tough talk from Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, yesterday about his advocacy for the presumptive Republican presidential candidate and the general tone of the campaign, Democratic sources tell ABC News. Returning to the Senate after his securing the Democratic presidential nomination, Obama and Lieberman greeted each on the Senate floor in the Well as they were voting on the budget resolution.
They shook hands. But Obama didn't let go, leading Lieberman - cordially - by the hand across the room into a corner on the Democratic side, where Democratic sources tell ABC News he delivered some tough words for the junior senator from Connecticut, who had just minutes before hammered Obama's speech before the pro-Israel group AIPAC in a conference call arranged by the McCain campaign.
Revealed: Secret Plan to Keep Iraq Under US Control
by: Patrick Cockburn, The Independent UK
Bush wants 50 military bases, control of Iraqi airspace and legal immunity for all American soldiers and contractors.
A secret deal being negotiated in Baghdad would perpetuate the American military occupation of Iraq indefinitely, regardless of the outcome of the US presidential election in November.
The terms of the impending deal, details of which have been leaked to The Independent, are likely to have an explosive political effect in Iraq. Iraqi officials fear that the accord, under which US troops would occupy permanent bases, conduct military operations, arrest Iraqis and enjoy immunity from Iraqi law, will destabilise Iraq's position in the Middle East and lay the basis for unending conflict in their country.
Kucinich Introduces Impeachment Articles Against Bush
by: Christopher Kuttruff, t r u t h o u t | Report
Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) introduced 35 articles of impeachment against President George W. Bush late on Monday during a speech on the House floor.
Kucinich, a former contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, pointed to "high crimes and misdemeanors" committed by the Bush administration, including misrepresenting intelligence in the lead-up to the war, violating domestic and international laws against torture, illegally spying on American citizens, obstructing justice and governmental oversight, and dozens of other violations.
McCain: I'd Spy on Americans Secretly, Too
by: Ryan Singel, Wired
If elected president, Senator John McCain would reserve the right to run his own warrantless wiretapping program against Americans, based on the theory that the president's wartime powers trump federal criminal statutes and court oversight, according to a statement released by his campaign Monday.
McCain's new tack towards the Bush administration's theory of executive power comes some 10 days after a McCain surrogate stated, incorrectly it seems, that the senator wanted hearings into telecom companies' cooperation with President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program, before he'd support giving those companies retroactive legal immunity.
Return to Top
Next | Home
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
|
|
|