May 17, 2008
Election 2008: John McCain in the news
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Candidate profiles• Where they stand• Follow the money • Primary tracker |
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Photos: On the
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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.
Next president must have world view with allies
If there is one issue on which the three remaining presidential candidates seem to agree, it's the need to repair relations with our key allies, badly damaged by the Bush administration's toxic combination of arrogance and ineptitude.
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."
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."
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.
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.
0N THE TRAIL
John Hagee, a Texas televangelist who endorsed John McCain, apologized yesterday for his stinging criticism of the Roman Catholic Church and for having "emphasized the darkest chapters in the history of Catholic and Protestant relations with the Jews." Hagee's support for McCain has drawn outrage from some Catholic leaders who have called on McCain to reject Hagee's endorsement. McCain has said he disagrees with some of his past comments but did not reject his support. In a letter to William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights, Hagee wrote, "Out of a desire to advance a greater unity among Catholics and evangelicals in promoting the common good, I want to express my deep regret for any comments that Catholics have found hurtful." Said Donohue: "He's seen the light, as they like to say. So for me it's over."
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.
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.
May 10: Investigate Republic Airport, Manhattan suburbinizaton, gas tax debate
Do real Republic Airport reporting
Veterans: GI Bill falls short
WASHINGTON - Kevin Grafeld, of Levittown, joined the U.S. Marines hoping that when he got out he would be able to attend college, get a master's degree and teach history.
Cindy McCain says she'll never release her tax returns
WASHINGTON - Cindy McCain says she will never make her tax returns public.
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?
Punchlines
Craig Ferguson, "The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson": "John McCain admitted today that he didn't vote for George Bush. He did vote for George Washington, however."
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'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.
ON THE TRAIL
Sen. John McCain said yesterday the focus on illegal immigration during the Republican primary race harmed his party's image among Hispanics. Speaking in Phoenix at a news conference on Cinco de Mayo, McCain said Hispanic citizens want America's borders secured and undocumented immigrants to be treated humanely. He said low-income, Hispanic citizens are vulnerable to losing their jobs to the lower wages accepted by illegal immigrants. McCain also said local governments would not have to take on immigration problems had the federal government overhauled the country's immigration policies. - The Associated Press
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.
May 4: Suffolk police, primary votes, boater safety, bag recycling woes
Highway needs patrolling
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
McCain, Clinton for gas-tax holiday; Obama's not
For Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, who have scant policy differences between them, tackling record gas prices is shaping up to be one of those disagreements - and a potential pitfall for Obama.
Sports figures take sides with campaign donations
The world of sports is a multibillion- dollar enterprise that allows owners, team executives, head coaches and players to walk around with money clips filled with hundreds and investment accounts stuffed with millions. People with substantial money are likely to back up their political affiliations with donations. A quick search through the Federal Election Committee's public records shows contributions by several dozen sports figures.
Obama's new battleground: white working class
WASHINGTON - The morning after Barack Obama lost the white vote in the Pennsylvania primary by 26 points, his top strategist was on TV suggesting his candidate didn't necessarily need blue-collar whites to win the White House.
ON THE TRAIL
Taking the debate dispute to a new level, Hillary Rodham Clinton challenged Barack Obama to face off with her in a debate without a moderator, Lincoln-Douglas style. The Democratic presidential candidate said while campaigning in South Bend, Ind., yesterday the 90-minute debate would allow two candidates to ask each other questions. Clinton has been putting increasing pressure on Obama to debate her again before the Indiana and North Carolina primaries May 6. Responding later in the day, the Obama camp seemed to rule it out. "We have participated in 21 nationally televised debates, the most in primary history, including four exclusively with Senator Clinton," Obama campaign spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement, adding Obama wanted to spend time communicating with voters in the two states.
ON THE TRAIL
Democrat Barack Obama blamed high gasoline prices Friday on Washington and a political establishment, including his rivals for the presidency, that he says hasn't stood up to oil companies. Rival Hillary Rodham Clinton highlighted his vote for an energy bill she opposed and his campaign contributions from oil executives. "The candidates with the Washington experience ... mean well, but they've been in Washington for a long time and even with all that experience they talk about, nothing has happened," Obama said at an Indianapolis gas station. "This country didn't raise fuel efficiency standards for over 30 years." Clinton derided his promise to take on special interests. "When it came time to stand up against the oil companies, to stand against Dick Cheney's energy bill, my opponent voted for it and I voted against it," Clinton said at a rally at Indiana University in Bloomington.
ON THE TRAIL
Democratic Party officials may urge undecided superdelegates to choose a presidential candidate soon after the primaries end in June, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said yesterday. Reid said he is talking with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean about contacting superdelegates - party officials allowed to vote at the nominating convention - to ask them to decide between Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. "The three of us may write a joint letter," Reid said, reflecting concern by some officials that the lengthy Democratic contest is giving the party's nominee a late start in the general election campaign against presumptive Republican nominee John McCain. Any letter to superdelegates would go out after the last Democratic primary contest on June 3, said Rodell Mollineau, a Reid spokesman.
Obama's former pastor calls attacks 'devious'
NEW YORK - The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, former pastor to Barack Obama, said publicizing sound bites of sermons in which he condemned U.S. policies was "unfair" and "devious," and done by people who know nothing about his church, according to excerpts of a PBS interview released yesterday.
James Klurfeld: Will lack of national experience hurt Obama?
The political question of the day is why Sen. Barack Obama can't close out the Democratic nomination. He missed the opportunity in New Hampshire, and then again in Texas and Ohio, and now in Pennsylvania.
McCain asks North Carolina GOP to pull Obama ad
INEZ, Ky. - Republican John McCain yesterday asked the North Carolina GOP not to run a television ad that brings up the controversial former pastor of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
Change at the top in U.S. Iraq command
WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush is promoting his top Iraq commander, Army Gen. David Petraeus, and replacing him with the general's recent deputy, keeping the United States on its war course and handing the next president a pair of combat-tested commanders who have relentlessly defended Bush's strategies.
The vote goes on
The case for Hillary Rodham Clinton to fight on for the Democratic presidential nomination grew stronger Tuesday after her double-digit win in Pennsylvania. But there was never much reason for her to abandon the race before every primary vote is cast. This is a democracy. Voting is what we do. It's often a messy way to choose a leader. But it's the best way.
WORLD & NATION: AT HOME
The House voted yesterday to block the Bush administration from cutting federal spending on Medicaid health care for the poor by $13 billion over the next five years. President George W. Bush has threatened a veto, but supporters have more than enough votes in the House to override him, and maybe in the Senate, too. Two-thirds of the Republicans joined every voting Democrat in the 349-62 vote to impose a one-year moratorium, through next March, on seven rules changes that the administration argues are needed to rectify waste and abuse in the state-federal partnership to provide health care to the poor. The Bush administration instituted the rules with the aim of saving the Treasury about $13 billion over five years and $33 billion over 10 years in programs that provide health coverage and nursing home care to the poor.
For Democrats, still no resolution on nominee
WASHINGTON - Barack Obama may have the numbers on his side, but Hillary Rodham Clinton seems to own the map.
For Hillary, a race to raise cash - fast
PHILADELPHIA - Hillary Rodham Clinton celebrated a solid win in Pennsylvania yesterday, even as her tapped-out campaign raced to raise enough cash to compete in the do-or-die Indiana primary two weeks from now.
ON THE TRAIL
Former President Bill Clinton accused the Obama campaign yesterday of playing "the race card on me" after the South Carolina primary. Clinton told a Philadelphia radio station his comments were "twisted" after he likened Obama's primary victory to the Rev. Jesse Jackson's in 1988. Clinton was asked if he regretted that comparison. "No, I think that they played the race card on me," he said. "We now know from memos from the campaign and everything that they planned to do it all along." Obama scoffed at Clinton's remarks. "Hold on a second, so former President Clinton dismissed my victory in South Carolina as being similar to Jesse Jackson and he's suggesting that somehow I had something to do with it?" he said to reporters at a Pittsburgh diner. "OK, well you better ask him what he meant by that." He denied there was any plan to use the comments for political purposes.
Clinton's presidential bid faces math challenges
SCRANTON, Pa. - Hillary Rodham Clinton vowed to take her cash-starved campaign far beyond today's Pennsylvania primary - win or lose - saying she'll fight until voters in Florida and Michigan are seated at the Democratic convention.
Another record high for gasoline prices
Gas prices hit another record yesterday, leaving Long Islanders to wonder: Will it ever stop?
ON THE TRAIL
Barack Obama took a break from the real world of campaigning yesterday to sit down with the fake news anchor, Jon Stewart, on his fake news program "The Daily Show" to talk about real issues. Stewart told Obama what is really on voters' minds this election season, and pointedly asked him to level with the American people about his intentions: "The Rev. Wright controversy, the flag pin controversy ... Will you pull a bait-and-switch, sir, and enslave the white race. Is that your plan? And if it is your plan, be honest, tell us now!" "That is not our plan, Jon," Obama said, laughing along. "But I think your paranoia might make you suitable as a debate moderator."
Obama compliments McCain
Sen. Barack Obama paid the presumptive Republican nominee a backhanded compliment yesterday.
Letters, April 21: Israel and Carter, parental profanity, state troopers
Flags of our candidates
Rick Brand: One LI woman works for Clinton, another for Obama
Dolores Sedacca was back on the road yesterday.
Local candidate campaigns on social Web sites
WASHINGTON - Lee Zeldin of Shirley is using any resource he can to win a seat in Congress this fall - even if some might still be unconventional in the political world.
Saul Friedman: Saul Friedman: Why financial regulation is needed
Here is one difference between the generations:
McCain's tax returns reveal wealth, donations
WASHINGTON - Republican presidential candidate John McCain has a Senate salary, a Navy pension, monthly Social Security income, book royalties, and a wealthy wife.
When it comes to campaigning, gall is what counts
All three U.S. Senators running for president have begun sticking faster than glue to an unwritten rule of the campaign trail: Gall is a virtue, and the biggest shame is being ashamed.
Clinton, Obama, Edwards visit "Colbert Report"
PHILADELPHIA - Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards converged on Colbert Nation yesterday.
ON THE TRAIL
Rep. John Murtha, 75, said yesterday that Republican Sen. John McCain is too old to be president. Murtha, who is four years older than McCain, says the rigors and stress of the presidency are too much for men their age. "This one guy running is about as old as me," the Pennsylvania Democrat told a union audience in Washington, D.C. "Let me tell you something, it's no old man's job." McCain's campaign yesterday called Murtha's comments "nonsense attacks." If elected, McCain would be the oldest man to become president at age 72.
THE BUZZ
ROWLING JUDGE: SETTLE IT. J.K. Rowling and a publisher who wants to release an unauthorized lexicon to her Harry Potter novels should settle the copyright dispute out of court, a judge said yesterday, The Associated Press reports. U.S. District Judge Robert Patterson Jr. said the copyright infringement case was a legal close call, involving unresolved areas of American law, and almost certain to end in years of appeals.
ON THE TRAIL
The intern did it. That was the defense from John McCain's campaign yesterday after several blogs cited the presumptive Republican nominee's wife Cindy for plagiarism, or more precisely, recipe theft. As reported on The Huffington Post, a section of McCain's campaign Web site called "Cindy's Recipes," spied Sunday by eagle-eyed New York attorney Lauren Handel, revealed seven recipes attributed to Cindy McCain, each with the heading "McCain Family Recipe." At least three of those recipes were in fact, word-for-word copies of recipes on the Food Network Web site, another was a Rachael Ray recipe with minor changes. Hours after word broke, the campaign took down the recipes, faulting an intern. But there's a recidivist aura to "Recipegate" - Cindy McCain offered one of them, "her" Passion Fruit Mousse, for a Jan. 16 article in The New York Sun.