Election 2008

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Patriotism Is Latest Plank in Balancing Act

Dem is battle-tested, yet he still needs to define himself in many voters' eyes

(Newser) - Barack Obama is still doing battle to define himself, with his patriotism the latest thrust, Dan Balz writes in the Washington Post. But as he wrapped himself in the flag yesterday, Obama was revealed as both “stronger and weaker” than earlier in the year—stronger because he’s battle-hardened,...

Obama Needs to Shift Iraq Strategy
 Obama Needs
 to Shift Iraq Strategy 
ANALYSIS

Obama Needs to Shift Iraq Strategy

Surge has made total withdrawal impractical; Dem's advisers have plan

(Newser) - “There will be no such thing as victory in Iraq,” George Packer writes in the New Yorker, “but the next President, if he remains nimble, may be able to keep the damage under control.” Packer argues that the dramatic improvement since the surge poses a problem...

McCain Would Tilt Split Court Right

Court now divided along political spectrum

(Newser) - America’s choice for president will likely ripple all the way to the halls of the sharply divided Supreme Court, the Washington Post reports. Since the next justice to retire is likely to be left-leaning, a Barack Obama victory would maintain the status quo of four conservatives, four liberals, and...

Forget Iraq, US Is in Need of Nation-Building

Healing country is top priority in November, Friedman writes

(Newser) - The key issue in the presidential election won’t be national security or Iraq, as many once believed—it will be how to fix our ailing nation at home, writes Thomas Friedman in the New York Times. “We are a country in debt and in decline—not terminal, not...

What's Up With the Prez Polls?
 What's Up With the Prez Polls? 
ANALYSIS

What's Up With the Prez Polls?

Expert explains why some surveys give Obama a double-digit lead

(Newser) - Voter polls on John McCain and Barack Obama are all over the map: Gallup has them neck-and-neck, while LA Times/Bloomberg and Newsweek say Obama leads by up to 15 points. What gives? One expert says the latter polls relied too heavily on Democrats. "We know that the best predictor...

YouTube Warriors Redefine Politics

Independent web ads for favored candidates are making an impact

(Newser) - A glut of political amateurs who produce popular videos on the cheap for YouTube and similar sites is redefining campaign politics. The New York Times takes a look at the phenomenon, in which partisans with nothing but passion and a computer produce often scathing videos about McCain and Obama. The...

Obama Just Wants Evangelicals Not to Fear Him
Obama Just Wants Evangelicals Not to Fear Him
ANALYSIS

Obama Just Wants Evangelicals Not to Fear Him

Reassuring those unlikely to vote for him will cool opposition, could win over undecideds

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s plan to cut the Democrats' evangelical deficit (68%-30% in 2000, 78-21% in '04)? Convince the religious right he’s not the devil. That’s a “radically different” course from the one taken by John Kerry and Al Gore, what Jeff Greenfield, on Slate, calls a “...

Clinton: 'We Stand Shoulder to Shoulder'

Dems unite in—where else?—Unity

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama finally took a stage in support of the same candidate today—with Clinton asserting that it was time for the “36 million Americans who supported us” to stand in solidarity behind Obama, the Washington Post reports. "We are not going to rest until...

Global Econ Puzzle Awaits New President
Global Econ Puzzle Awaits New President
OPINION

Global Econ Puzzle Awaits New President

Kick-starting economy means looking abroad, write Goldman chiefs

(Newser) - Whether it's John McCain or Barack Obama, the next president will confront a global economic landscape unlike anything his predecessor confronted, write Robert Hormats and Jim O'Neill. In an op-ed for the Financial Times, the two Goldman Sachs executives explain that the new president's greatest challenge will be the rise...

Time for Mac to Get Interesting Again
 Time for Mac to
 Get Interesting Again 
Opinion

Time for Mac to Get Interesting Again

Aides need to let candor shine through once more

(Newser) - John McCain is getting lost in the giant media shadow thrown by Barack Obama, but there's plenty of time to fix things, writes Peggy Noonan in the Wall Street Journal. For every two Obamania stories, there's one "deadly" boring report declaring: "McCain Unveils Proposal.” Now would be...

Hairsplitting Obama Shifts to the Center
Hairsplitting Obama Shifts
to the Center
ANALYSIS

Hairsplitting Obama Shifts to the Center

From gun laws to wiretapping, candidate tacks away from the left

(Newser) - When the Supreme Court struck down Washington, DC's ban on handguns yesterday, Barack Obama gave the opinion a muted welcome, endorsing both the right to bear arms and anti-gun laws. Obama's measured, even tortured response—after seeming to support the ban in February—is the latest in a series of...

Candidates Exploit Muslim-Jewish Divide
 Candidates Exploit
 Muslim-Jewish Divide 
OPINION

Candidates Exploit Muslim-Jewish Divide

McCain and Obama insulting Muslims to gain favor with Jewish voters

(Newser) - The presidential candidates are ignoring—even insulting—American Muslims in the hope of grabbing the Jewish vote, write Salam Al-Marayati and Steven B. Jacobs in the Los Angles Times. McCain and Obama have on several occasions snubbed Muslims, who seem to be the victims of modern McCarthyism—just substitute terrorism...

Mac Rests Up on Weekends
 Mac Rests Up on Weekends 

Mac Rests Up on Weekends

Some call it an error; others think it's best not to run candidate ragged

(Newser) - John McCain has held only one public weekend event since becoming the presumptive nominee in February, Politico reports. The downtime—used to rest, meet privately with donors, and bone up on policy—is frustrating to those who think the Republican hasn't done enough to take advantage of his early victory....

Dowd to GOP: The Elitism Crap Won't Work
Dowd to GOP: The Elitism Crap Won't Work
OPINION

Dowd to GOP: The Elitism Crap Won't Work

Rove's attempts to paint Obama as snooty a 'hypocritical comedy'

(Newser) - The Republicans have been unrelenting in their attempts to paint Barack Obama as an elitist—pretty rich stuff, writes Times columnist Maureen Dowd, coming from a party led by a Connecticut-born "Richie Rich" whose daddy has bailed out his snide self time and again. The cosseted conservatives' "hypocritical...

Obama's No Fool: He Made Right Choice on Funding

He opens himself up to being called hypocrite; that's better than naive

(Newser) - Barack Obama may be taking flak for opting out of public financing, but he would have been foolish to do otherwise, writes Charlie Cook in the National Journal. Cook is "relieved" that a potential president is savvy enough to hang on to a huge spending advantage. And in this...

Fall Gitmo Trials Could Present Campaign Landmine
Fall Gitmo Trials Could Present Campaign Landmine
ANALYSIS

Fall Gitmo Trials Could Present Campaign Landmine

But whether either candidate could find advantage remains uncertain

(Newser) - If everything goes right, the trial of the five Guantanamo Bay detainees charged in connection with the 9/11 attacks could begin within days of their seventh anniversary—and just as the presidential campaign begins its most heated stretch, Politico reports. Such a development would usually be a gift to Republicans,...

Can Obama Talk Smart to Dumbed-Down America?

Can Barack raise level of discourse without losing his audience?

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s trip to the DNC podium is expected to be the "rhetorical blockbuster of the summer," writes Sam Anderson in New York.  But is the senator up to using his oratorical sophistication to expand his popularity among Americans hooked on a junk-food diet of low-brow...

Muslims Disappointed as Obama Keeps Distance

Staffers say campaign embraces 'all religions'

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s campaign, welcomed by Muslim Americans as a harbinger of religious tolerance and a more diplomatic foreign policy, has been reluctant to return their enthusiasm, the New York Times reports, leaving some leaders disappointed and angry. The candidate has appeared at churches and synagogues, but no mosques; aides...

McCain Rips Aide's Remarks on 'Helpful' Terror Attack

Aide claimed terrorism would boost campaign

(Newser) - John McCain has denounced comments from one of his most senior political advisers that a terrorist attack would be "a big advantage" to the Republican candidate politically, the Washington Post reports. Aide Charlie Black also said in an interview in Fortune that Benazir Bhutto's assassination, while "unfortunate,"...

GOP Has Female VP Possibles, Too
GOP Has Female VP Possibles, Too
analysis

GOP Has Female VP Possibles, Too

Mulling Alaska Gov. Palin, ex-HP exec FIorina, Texas Sen. Hutchison

(Newser) - In a post-Hillary age, a female candidate comes as less of a surprise on the national stage. Here are three women who could stand for John McCain’s vice-presidential slot, per Politico:
  • Carly Fiorina: The former Hewlett-Packard exec is already a trusted adviser and constant McCain surrogate, but she’s
...

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