May 16, 2008
Election 2008: Barack Obama in the news
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Candidate profiles• Where they stand• Follow the money • Primary tracker |
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Newsday reports |
Coverage: Eye on the White House
McCain: Iraq War can be won by 2013
WASHINGTON - Sen. John McCain looked into the future yesterday and predicted that American troops would return home in victory by the end of his first term as president in 2013.
Obama blasts Bush for 'false political attack'
WASHINGTON - Barack Obama accused President George W. Bush of "a false political attack" yesterday after Bush warned in Israel against appeasing terrorists - early salvos in a general election campaign that's already blazing.
Troubling, tired tactic
There they go again. Republicans peddling fear. The most recent offender was President George W. Bush. Addressing Israel's Knesset yesterday, he took a moment to play down-and-dirty domestic politics, linking anyone who would talk with the nation's enemies to those who succumbed to "the false comfort of appeasement" in 1939 "as Nazi tanks crossed into Poland."
ON THE TRAIL
Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday backed away from her comments about support among "white Americans," saying she agreed with a top New York Democrat who criticized her remarks. Harlem Rep. Charles Rangel said Saturday that Clinton's comments were "the dumbest thing" she could have said. "Well, he's probably right," Clinton said on CNN last night. "Obviously I have worked very hard to get the votes of everyone ... And I know Senator [Barack] Obama has worked hard to reach out to every community and constituency." Clinton said she was referring to an Associated Press story about the primaries when she made the comments a week ago to USA Today, saying she was winning the support of "hardworking Americans, white Americans."
House Republicans vow change after losing 3rd seat
WASHINGTON - Stunned House Republicans vowed campaign changes yesterday and debated the wisdom of attacking Democratic presidential front-runner Barack Obama in congressional races after their third straight election defeat in once-friendly territory.
Punchlines
Comedy writer Janice Hough: "Despite her recent win in West Virginia, Hillary Clinton has almost no mathematical chance for the nomination, and almost no time left to catch up. Yet she still insists she will win. I guess she really did grow up a Cubs fan."
Edwards' long-sought endorsement goes to Obama
WASHINGTON - Former presidential hopeful John Edwards endorsed Barack Obama yesterday, giving him a boost with blue-collar voters - and delivering what Obama hopes will be a coup de grace to Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign.
James Klurfeld: Will gas prices kill suburban driving?
Iappreciate the argument that experts are making about why the various proposals to suspend gasoline taxes for the summer don't make any sense economically or from the point of view of a rational energy policy.
Obama apologizes for calling TV reporter 'sweetie'
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama apologized yesterday to a television reporter for calling her "sweetie" during a campaign stop yesterday in Michigan.
Pastor problems
This eventful 2008 contest for the White House is constantly rewriting the campaign rule books, and by now there must be a chapter on associations with firebrand pastors whose preachings can't survive national scrutiny.
West Virginia win propels Clinton to stay in race
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Hillary Rodham Clinton cited her lopsided 2-to-1 win in West Virginia last night as proof she should fight on for the next three weeks - but her celebration will be cut short when she's grilled today by supporters eager to know her rationale for remaining in the race.
Clinton win unlikely to derail Obama nomination
WASHINGTON - This isn't exactly the victory lap Barack Obama had in mind.
ON THE TRAIL
Sen. John McCain called for reductions in carbon emissions yesterday and criticized the Bush administration for failing to lead the fight against climate change. In a speech in Portland, Ore., the likely Republican presidential nominee proposed a "cap-and-trade" system to reduce greenhouse gases and allow the sale of rights to excess emissions by firms that reduce their own. He also said more international cooperation is needed. "I will not shirk the mantle of leadership that the United States bears," McCain said.
Clinton compares her campaign to JFK'sin 1960
CLEAR FORK, W.Va. - Hillary Rodham Clinton compared her underdog quest for the White House yesterday to John F. Kennedy's 1960 campaign - while her top strategist likened Barack Obama's sky-high confidence to George W. Bush's infamous "Mission Accomplished" declaration.
ON THE TRAIL
Representing the military regime in Myanmar has cost the man the John McCain campaign selected to run the 2008 Republican National Convention his post. Doug Goodyear resigned as convention coordinator yesterday - within a few hours of Newsweek posting a story online that his firm was paid $348,000 in 2002 and 2003 to represent the Burmese junta. In a two-sentence statement, the chief executive of lobbying firm DCI Group said he offered the convention his resignation "so as not to become a distraction in this campaign. I continue to strongly support John McCain for president, and wish him the best of luck in this campaign."
Rangel rips Hillary
One of Hillary Rodham Clinton's most important supporters, Charles Rangel, repudiated her claims she has broader support among "white Americans," calling the comments "the dumbest thing she could ever have said."
W.Va. still skeptical
MOOREFIELD, W.Va. - In Hardy County, Democrats outnumber Republicans more than 2 to 1. But there is little enthusiasm for Barack Obama in this mountainside enclave - a portent of trouble for the Illinois senator in this Tuesday's West Virginia presidential primary and the general election beyond.
Les Payne: And the rightful winner is...
With math, by-laws and the democratic process favoring her opponent, Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign options appear to be either attempting an intra-party coup d'etat or playing what in Alabama used to be called the "cracker card."
John Edwards says Barack Obama is "likely" nominee
Former Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards said yesterday he thinks Barack Obama will be the party's presidential nominee and that Hillary Rodham Clinton must be careful not to damage party prospects in November as she campaigns on.
President calls Jenna's wedding 'spectacular'
WACO, Texas - President George W. Bush spent months joking about being a father of the bride, but yesterday he was downright wistful about giving his daughter Jenna away to her longtime beau.
ON THE TRAIL
Arizona Sen. John McCain touted his environmental record in a morning campaign stop in New Jersey yesterday. He announced support for a Senate measure to limit greenhouse gases. The America's Climate Security Act would reduce industrial greenhouse gas emissions to two-thirds of 2005 levels by midcentury. Some pundits yesterday expressed the view McCain would annoy pro-business conservatives by supporting the measure.
Clinton's grip on superdelegates is slipping
WASHINGTON - It's not a stampede yet - but the superdelegates are starting to gallop toward Barack Obama.
Clinton, Obama hesitate to build "Dream Ticket"
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - There's only one problem with the idea of a Hillary Clinton- Barack Obama "Dream Team" ticket - neither member of the team is ready to buy the dream.
With party OK, will voters pick Obama in November?
DURHAM, N.C. - Even though it looks increasingly certain Barack Obama will be his party's nominee, his campaign still struggles with one nagging question that Tuesday's big win here did not erase: Can he beat John McCain in the fall with the voters who are powering his primary wins?
James Klurfeld: Long Island, our Senator has tough choice to make
The Hillary Clinton we've seen over the past few weeks of the campaign is the Hillary Clinton many of us have come to know in New York over the past eight years: Bright, tenacious, charming to a degree unexpected, indefatigable in her determination to demonstrate that a Midwesterner by way of Arkansas and Washington could represent New York with all its different regions and diversity.
Clinton supporters: It may be time to call it quits
INDIANAPOLIS - It ain't over 'til it's over, but a growing number of Hillary Rodham Clinton's closest friends now think it's really over.
Clinton nearly toast, so why is she still in race?
In political races, toast is a relative term.
ON THE TRAIL
Indy Series driver Sarah Fisher is backing Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic presidential race and she had planned to surprise the candidate yesterday morning by putting the campaign's "Hillary" logo on the team's powder-blue race car. Minutes before Clinton arrived at Fisher's garage on the grounds of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the panels bearing the logo were taken off. It turns out a free advertisement on an IndyCar car meets the definition of a corporate donation, and that isn't allowed under federal campaign finance laws.
State Senate pushes for gas tax holiday
ALBANY - With gasoline prices nearing $4 a gallon, the Senate planned to pass a bill today that would suspend the state's gasoline taxes for the summer months. But the Republican-backed measure faces opposition in the Assembly and reservations in the governor's office.
Obama celebrates double-digit North Carolina win
Reveling in his first major win in three months, Barack Obama returned to his major themes of change and unity yesterday, seeking to allay fears of a Democratic divide come November and position himself as the candidate who can win.
Obama's North Carolina win a blow to Clinton
Barack Obama scored a resounding win in North Carolina while Hillary Rodham Clinton clung to a narrow lead in Indiana last night - delivering a major blow to Clinton's White House hopes and intensifying a scramble for undecided superdelegates.
McCain says he'll appoint conservative judges
WASHINGTON - John McCain made a play to the GOP's right wing yesterday, vowing to appoint conservative judges like Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel Alito and blasting Democratic rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton for voting against them.
Clinton shifts from policy to populism
Hillary Rodham Clinton began the campaign in pearls, assembling a team of fundraisers that included luminaries from New York's financial services industry.
Actor Tom Hanks announces he's backing Obama
Tom Hanks is supporting presidential hopeful Barack Obama.
As race tightens, Obama tries to lighten up
As Barack Obama's campaign for president hit one of its toughest stretches in recent days, his two young daughters made their first appearance on the campaign trail since South Carolina.
ON THE TRAIL
Running out of high- dollar donors, Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign is stepping up its Internet appeals in hopes of attracting enough contributions to keep afloat financially in the last stretch of Democratic primaries, aides say. Clinton aides have sought increasingly to shadow rival Barack Obama's Internet juggernaut that has raised more than $112 million. A senior Clinton fundraising operative confided that big donors are nearly tapped out. "I think the tank is empty," said the fundraiser, who insisted on anonymity. "This is just unprecedented money raising. ... Where there is money left is on the Internet."
Obama can't shake Wright; Clinton defends gas plan
Hillary Rodham Clinton's name is on the ballot in Indiana and North Carolina tomorrow - but Barack Obama seemed to be running against the Rev. Jeremiah Wright yesterday.
Les Payne: Flagging Oval Office hope among African-Americans
'I think you can stick a fork in Barack Obama," said the patriarch of a respected middle class, Connecticut family Friday. "He is done."
May 4: Suffolk police, primary votes, boater safety, bag recycling woes
Highway needs patrolling
Hard to believe Hillary's still here
WASHINGTON - It's gone on for 16 months, longer than many jail sentences and most Hollywood marriages. Forty-seven states and territories with 30.7 million voters have cast ballots. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama have collectively raised and spent nearly a half-billion dollars on TV ads, millionaire consultants, flowers, rental jets and doughnuts.
Suddenly ordinary: Oprah, Obama
Marjorie Valbrun is a Washington, D.C.-based journalist. A slightly longer version of this article appeared in TheRoot.com, a magazine of commentary from a variety of black perspectives.
Scaling down the pitches
INDIANAPOLIS - Bringing the race for the Democratic nomination closer to home yesterday, both Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama opted to make closing arguments in small-scale, family-friendly settings where their climbs are steepest in Tuesday's primaries - North Carolina for Clinton and Indiana for Obama.
Clinton, Obama highlight differences over gas tax
MUNSTER, Ind. - Hillary Rodham Clinton called for a vote Friday in the Democratic-controlled Congress on a summertime suspension of the federal gasoline tax, a plan that Barack Obama dismissed as a political stunt that would cost thousands of construction jobs.
Expressway: Muslim stereotypes hurt us, one and all
In today's mixing world, with interracial couples becoming commonplace and Barack Obama having a shot at the presidency, it might seem silly to say that race is a problem in the United States. Still, people are exposed to racial stereotypes every day.
May 3: Rudy's Communion, the Rev. Wright, LIPA, syringe case
Communion a teaching moment
Poll reveals gas pump woes; politicians offer some relief
STATE ACTION? The State Senate is expected as early as next week to take up a Republican-backed bill to suspend the state's gasoline tax this summer, but Gov. David A. Paterson and the Assembly speaker have expressed reservations about it.
May 2: Age divide, adopted kids, driving age, Brookhaven politics
Thanks for helicopter quiet
James Klurfeld: Long, winding presidential campaign road no good
This campaign has gone on entirely too long.
Clinton superdelegate defects to Obama
WASHINGTON - Barack Obama gobbled up a major Hillary Clinton superdelegate yesterday - but he's suffering from a decline in the polls that coincides with the national tour conducted by his firebrand former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
Wright's comments likely to draw voters from Obama
With polls showing increasingly tight races in Indiana and North Carolina's Democratic presidential primaries, political experts in those states said yesterday that Sen. Barack Obama's renouncement of his firebrand former pastor may not be enough to stop his political bleeding.
ON THE TRAIL
Barack Obama's presidential campaign wants federal regulators to investigate fellow Democrats who are backing Hillary Clinton's candidacy, taking intraparty discord to a new level. Obama's campaign lawyer, Robert Bauer, filed a complaint yesterday with the Federal Election Commission, accusing the pro-Clinton American Leadership Project of violating campaign finance laws by running ads against Obama. The group is largely financed by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and is run by Democratic operatives, many of them based in California and who have past connections to Clinton or her husband. Its organizers say they are abiding by the law and a 2007 Supreme Court ruling.
Blacks who excel disprove notion America's racist
The unvarnished truth about Rev. Jeremiah Wright finally hit Sen. Barack Obama between the eyes. Reverend Wright is Reverend Wrong - the wrong man to be pastor to the candidate who is seeking to transcend racial divisions and to smash into smithereens the color barrier that has stymied equal opportunity in America.
Clinton and O'Reilly target Jeremiah Wright
WASHINGTON - Hillary Rodham Clinton and conservative commentator Bill O'Reilly don't agree on much.
Not just a test for Obama
One concern about Barack Obama is that he's never had to run the gantlet of sharp knives that come out in high-stakes national political fights. Now the knives are out. Obama is being sorely tested by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright imbroglio. But Obama isn't the only one who will be tested now that Wright's views on race and America are out there for all to hear. The nation's voters will be, too.
Punchlines
Conan O'Brien, "Late Night with Conan O'Brien": "Hillary Clinton says she's willing to debate Barack Obama. This is
Black pastors speak out on Wright's statements
The Rev. Sedgwick Easley of the Union Baptist Church in Hempstead was sitting in the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on Monday when the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. spoke and generated worldwide headlines.
Wright drives a wedge between Obama and whites
For weeks the Rev. Jeremiah Wright was right to castigate those who used sound bites from his fiery sermons to paint him as "some sort of fanatic." But his latest wounds are self-inflicted. And, as Sen. Barack Obama's recently retired pastor, Wright is taking the Illinois Democrat's presidential campaign down, too.
Huckabee: Rev. Wright needs for Obama to lose
Former Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee said yesterday Barack Obama's bid for the White House is being derailed because his former pastor does not want him to prove the country's race relations have progressed.
Review: 'The Soiling of Old Glory,' by Louis Masur
THE SOILING OF OLD GLORY: The Story of a Photograph That Shocked America, by Louis P. Masur. Bloomsbury, 224 pp., $24.95
Time on Murdoch’s side in Newsday buy
There is little the federal government can do to stop Rupert Murdoch from buying Newsday, despite some congressional opposition, objections from public-interest groups and a proposed deal that would violate even relaxed federal rules, media experts say.
Obama criticizes, rejects pastor in damage control
Seeking to stanch political wounds inflicted by his longtime pastor, Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama yesterday sharply criticized the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, calling his comments on race "ridiculous propositions," "outrageous remarks" and "a bunch of rants."
Move Democratic convention to end of June
Democratic Party Chair Howard Dean was right on Monday when he said that either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama should drop out of the race for President - for the good of the party - after the last votes are counted on June 3. When the time comes, he predicted, the untenable candidate will simply know that it's all over. "They don't need any pushing from me," he said.
Clinton to appear on O'Reilly show
He's a right-wing television commentator known for anti-liberal harangues.
Obama: Candidates' gas holiday proposal a 'gimmick'
Democrat Barack Obama dismissed his rivals' calls for national gas tax holiday as a political ploy that won't help struggling consumers. Hillary Rodham Clinton said his stance shows he's out of touch with the economic realities faced by ordinary citizens.
No such thing as a free tank
Soaring gas prices are hurting consumers and, for politicians, "consumer" is another word for "voter," and "hurting" is another word for "opportunity." So it's no surprise that presidential hopefuls Sens. John McCain and Hillary Clinton and some members of the New York State Legislature have proposed a summer gas-tax holiday. Bad idea.
ON THE TRAIL
Republican John McCain wants to change how Americans get their health insurance, shifting away from job-based coverage to an open market where people can choose from competing policies. McCain said yesterday that he would offer families a $5,000 tax credit to help buy insurance. Everyone would get the credit, even if they have a policy through an employer. "You simply choose the insurance provider that suits you best," McCain said in a speech in Tampa, Fla. "The health plan you chose would be as good as any that an employer could choose for you." To pay for the tax credit, McCain would eliminate the tax exemption for people whose employers pay a portion of their coverage, raising an estimated $3.6 trillion in revenues, aides said. Democratic rival Hillary Clinton said under McCain's plan, millions of Americans would lose their health care coverage through their jobs. "The McCain plan eliminates the policies that hold the employer-based health insurance system together, so while people might have a 'choice' of getting such coverage, employers would have no incentive to provide it," she said. A spokesman for Democrat Barack Obama said McCain was "recycling the same failed policies that didn't work when George Bush first proposed them and won't work now." --The Associated Press
Dean: Clinton or Obama must concede after June 3
WASHINGTON - Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean said yesterday that either Hillary Rodham Clinton or Barack Obama must drop out of the Democratic presidential race after the June primaries in order to unify the party by the convention.
High court approves state photo voter-ID mandates
WASHINGTON - States can require voters to produce photo identification, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday, upholding a Republican-inspired law that Democrats say will keep some poor, older and minority voters from casting ballots.
ON THE TRAIL
Hillary Rodham Clinton does better than Barack Obama when matched against Republican John McCain, according to the latest Associated Press-Ipsos poll. Clinton leads McCain 50 percent to 41 percent while Obama is ahead 46-44, within the margin of error, according to the poll taken after Clinton's Pennsylvania primary victory last week. But the matchups were closer in a Gallup poll released yesterday. Clinton leads McCain 47-44 while Obama runs even with him at 45 percent, the poll found.
Rev. Wright pops back up, much to Obama's chagrin
WASHINGTON - Barack Obama's backers say the Rev. Jeremiah Wright has resurfaced at precisely the wrong time - trumpeting his controversial racial and political views to reporters just as Obama is struggling to win over skeptical white voters.
Wright jabs back at critics
DETROIT - The outspoken former pastor of Barack Obama told an audience of 10,000 yesterday that despite what his critics say, he is descriptive, not divisive, when he speaks about racial injustice.
April 28: LIRR gap fix costs, school board spending bias, campaign issues
LIRR gap fix getting too costly
Trash talking ain't nothing this campaign season
After Hillary Clinton's surprisingly comfortable win in Pennsylvania last week, the Democratic primary moves on to North Carolina and Indiana. And so continues the dirtiest and most vitriolic political campaign in history - or so the mainstream media would have you believe.
National Democratic primary has an NYC flavor
Call them parochial, but some of the region's big-name Democratic pros are struck by the similarity between their party's ongoing presidential drama and your classic su- percharged New York primary.