September 7, 2008
Election 2008: Barack Obama in the news
Candidates weigh in on Fannie, Freddie
WASHINGTON - The historic takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which could come as soon as today, moved to the forefront of the presidential campaign yesterday as candidates and congressional leaders seized on the implications for taxpayers and the economy.
Palin questions Biden's record as 'agent of change'
COLORADO SPRINGS - Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin yesterday challenged the reform credentials of her Democratic counterpart, Joe Biden, contrasting his many years and many friends in Washington with her reputation as a reformist outsider.
Obama, McCain spar over Social Security
NEWARK - Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama criticized Republican John McCain's approach to Social Security yesterday, saying it would undermine the government program aimed mainly at retirees. McCain said he would preserve Social Security.
Examining key differences between Obama and McCain
COLORADO SPRINGS - With just two months to go before the Nov. 4 election, the presidential race has been dominated recently by an intraparty drama, a surprise running mate, two historic nominations, duels over judgment and experience - and the occasional issue.
Lynn Brenner: Preparing for likely tax hikes in 2009
I've been reading predictions that taxes are likely to rise no matter who wins the presidential election. If that's true, is there any year-end tax planning I should be doing? I'm 61, and I earn $175,000 a year. My portfolio (mostly mutual funds) is worth about $1.3 million.
Parties over
The last colorful balloon has dropped in St. Paul. The faux-Greek columns have been struck in Denver. The Republican and Democratic conventions, with their silly hats and swooning partisans, are history. We've had our diversions. Will Hillary Clinton get with the program? Can Sarah Palin deliver red (moose) meat? Will Barack Obama's stagecraft dwarf his message? Can John McCain spark it up?
GOP's unwed mother should not be joy, roses only
Cindy McCain told "Good Morning America" on Wednesday that "It's wonderful" that Sarah Palin's 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, is pregnant. "What a joy. They're going to have a new grandbaby - I mean, a new life. It's wonderful."
McCain and Obama to appear together at Ground Zero on Thursday
WASHINGTON - Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama said they will put aside partisan politics for a joint appearance at Ground Zero to mark the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
FASHION WEEK SPRING '09: WANDERLUST
Whether their thoughts are in Rio (Nicole Miller), the Côte d’Azur (Lacoste) or workingclass London (Rag & Bone), designers are thinking faraway places in the
No quick fixes for economy from either McCain, Obama
No matter who wins the presidential election in November, it is unlikely American investors will be singing "Happy Days Are Here Again" for a while.
Post-convention, Palin a popular draw at rallies
CEDARBURG, Wis. - If there was any doubt that John McCain's surprise pick of Sarah Palin has grabbed the attention of many Republicans, Barbara Falk, a retiree born and raised in this quaint small town, put it to rest yesterday: "I came out to see her."
Obama: McCain speech out-of touch with middle class
DURYEA, Pa. - Democrat Barack Obama called Republican rival John McCain's acceptance speech the final piece of an out-of-touch convention that focused on its nominee's biography instead of the struggles of the middle class.
How they rated on TV
John McCain and Barack Obama are in a virtual dead heat - in the TV ratings. The McCain and Obama figures include Nielsen Media Research numbers for broadcast and cable and additional figures supplied by PBS. They exclude C-Span. The Biden and Palin numbers are just the Nielsen figures.
Saul Friedman: Age and the presidential candidates
A few weeks ago, I rejected age as an issue in the presidential campaign. But I added, "If age is to be a factor in the coming race ... perhaps the most important issue may be whom Sen. John McCain chooses as a running mate."
ON THE TRAIL
Democrats are calling on a Republican congressman from Georgia to apologize for referring to Barack and Michelle Obama as "uppity," but the lawmaker stood by his comments and said he meant no offense. Speaking to reporters Thursday, Rep. Lynn Westmoreland of Grantville, Ga., described the Obamas as members of an "elitist-class ... that thinks that they're uppity," according to The Hill, a Capitol Hill newspaper. Asked to clarify whether he intended to use the word, he said, "Yeah, uppity." In a statement Friday, Westmoreland - a white man who was born in 1950 and raised in the segregated South - said he didn't know that "uppity" was commonly used as a derogatory term for blacks seeking equal treatment. Instead, he referred to the dictionary definition of the word as describing someone who is haughty, snobbish or has inflated self-esteem. "He stands by that characterization and thinks it accurately describes the Democratic nominee," said Brian Robinson, Westmoreland's spokesman. "He was unaware that the word had racial overtones and he had absolutely no intention of using a word that can be considered offensive." The Obama campaign had no immediate response.
Edwards cancels all appearances, including at Hofstra
Former Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards is canceling all public appearances until after the November election - including a Monday event at Hofstra University - because he doesn't want to be "a distraction."
Change, his way
ST. PAUL, Minn. - John McCain launched a crusade against Washington last night in his bid for the White House, saying he and his running mate Sarah Palin have the kind of track record needed for reform, but that his Democratic opponent, Barack Obama, doesn't.
McCain pitches himself as a sturdy leader, real agent of change
ST. PAUL, Minn. - After being overshadowed by a hurricane and a hockey mom, John McCain last night used a steady, no-glitz speech to turn the spotlight back to himself - and he did it with an act of political larceny so brazen that Republicans hope it just might work.
RNC NOTES
The Republican National Convention's dominant theme of John McCain as war hero was reinforced with a documentary-style film shown to convention delegates before the senator came to the stage to accept his party's presidential nomination. The narration and pictures vividly summed up arguments people had made for McCain's election throughout the week, describing him as a "common-sense conservative ... and a voracious opponent of pork-barrel spending." It traced the deep family roots, including service time in top Navy command positions by McCain's father and grandfather and described in detail his time as a prisoner of war held in a North Vietnamese facility known in wartime as "Hanoi Hilton." "What a life!" the narrator intoned.
September 5: Vice presidential pick, capping health care, Lindsay Lohan's troubles
Critical qualities in November pick
BEST OF SPIN CYCLE
During his speech last night, McCain was interrupted several times by protesters. The crowd chanted "USA" to drown them out. Cameras showed them being dragged out. McCain handled it with aplomb: "Don't be diverted by ground noise and static!"
Obama, on O'Reilly, eyes national security issues
In a national security focused interview, Barack Obama sat down with Fox's Bill O'Reilly yesterday, vowing to be tough on the nation's enemies, including Iran; put pressure on Pakistan in the hunt for Osama bin Laden; and to engage Europe in dealing with the war on terror.
Change, his way
ST. PAUL, Minn. - John McCain launched a crusade against Washington last night in his bid for the White House, saying he and his running mate Sarah Palin have the kind of track record needed for reform, but that his Democratic opponent, Barack Obama, doesn't.
Could Palin handle 9/11 attacks? Depends who you ask
When ex-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said yesterday that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's experience as a mayor and governor gave her the experience to handle a disaster such as the 2001 terror attacks, the comment didn't surprise the Port Authority police union president.
PALIN PITCHES: VP hardball
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Capping a five-day rise from near-obscurity to the cusp of history, Sarah Palin accepted the Republican vice-presidential nomination last night with a wry but blistering attack on Barack Obama - while portraying herself as a no-nonsense PTA mom who will help John McCain put the "Washington elite" on the run.
Giuliani's spirited attack on Obama: 'He led nothing'
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Ridiculing Sen. Barack Obama, citing the Sept. 11 attacks anew and suggesting that freedom and safety depend on John McCain's election, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani stirred the convention hall as a buildup to Sarah Palin, the vice-presidential candidate, last night's main event.
Palin pick expected to boost Clinton's role for Obama
The naming of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as Republican presidential candidate John McCain's running mate has boosted the importance of New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's help to his Democratic opponent, campaign operatives say - but not for the reasons you might think.
BEST OF SPIN CYCLE
The themes of this convention continue to be focused, to an extraordinary degree, on character rather than issues. Rudy frames it as a choice between two job applicants: "John McCain is a true American hero. ... He has proven his commitment to this country with his blood." Obama? Rudy cites Hillary and Biden questioning Obama's experience during the primary. "He is the least experienced candidate for president in at least the last 100 years ..." Why cut it off at 100 years? Well, you know, there was Abraham Lincoln, that completely inexperienced Republican. - John Riley
McCain needs to take the reins at GOP podium
ST. PAUL, Minn. - When John McCain steps up to the podium tonight to accept the Republican nomination for president, he must make one thing clear: The "maverick" is back and it's his party now.
TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS
Republican presidential nominee John McCain delivers his acceptance speech as the national Republican convention concludes a tumultuous week.
Five things McCain must do in his speech
1 Drive home he is not President George W. Bush and that he and his running mate, Sarah Palin, are the exciting reformers and mavericks who truly represent "change" in this election.
Obama focuses on women's issues in Ohio
NEW PHILADELPHIA, Ohio - Seeking to capitalize on the inroads he's made with Hillary Rodham Clinton Democrats, particularly women, Barack Obama yesterday held a small economics forum centered on women's issues in this swing state, signaling that his campaign isn't going to cede any ground or momentum to the Republican ticket.
Noonan, Murphy trash Palin pick over open mikes
Two GOP icons - former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan and former McCain strategist Mike Murphy - were caught trashing vice-presidential pick Sarah Palin yesterday when they kept talking after they thought the audio was off during an interview on NBC, and a YouTube version of their off-off-message exchange rocketed around the Internet at light speed.
THE REACTION ON LI
Newsday asked Long Islanders for their opinions of GOP vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s speech.
McCain, Obama to attend 9/11 forum
Organizers say Columbia University will host a Sept. 11 community service forum featuring John McCain and Barack Obama.
Much hinges on Sarah Palin's RNC speech
ST. PAUL, Minn. - When Sarah Palin takes the stage here, Republicans want voters to see a steely God-and-family conservative with heart, a lifetime NRA member ready to take aim at Washington - a sort of Annie Oakley of the tundra.
RNC delegates rally behind McCain, Palin; target Obama
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Republicans assailed Barack Obama as the most liberal, least experienced White House nominee in history last night as President George W. Bush led a convention chorus of praise for GOP candidate John McCain.
James Klurfeld: Palin stunningly wrong choice by McCain
Sometimes you just have to say that the emperor has no clothes. That's the case with Sen. John McCain's reckless selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate. Palin is utterly unqualified for the job of vice president. Period.
McCain campaign struggles to regroup at RNC
CLEVELAND - John McCain and his presidential campaign struggled yesterday to shift attention away from questions about his running mate, Sarah Palin, and her vetting process, which threaten to overshadow the storm-delayed Republican convention trying to regroup in St. Paul, Minn.
Polls: Obama makes inroads with Clinton voters
CHICAGO - As Barack Obama prepares to resume campaigning today, polls show that he has made inroads with former Hillary Rodham Clinton backers and hit the 50 percent support mark among registered voters for the first time.
Lohan talk politics, teen pregnancy on her blog
Lindsay Lohan is getting political.
Punchlines
Bill Maher, "Real Time with Bill Maher": "Thirty-eight million people watched Barack Obama at the stadium in Denver. There were 84,000 full-throated supporters who turned out there at the field. The Republicans fired back today. They say, 'We can also fill a stadium with thousands of screaming people. For example, the Superdome during Hurricane Katrina.'"
THE BEST OF SPIN CYCLE
You expect the Republican convention to, pretty relentlessly, keep attention on Obama's readiness to lead. The convention has become a Palin test. She may still pass it with a bang-up speech expected tonight, and answers to all the questions about firing an official who wouldn't fire her brother-in-law, raising the sales tax, shifting position on the bridge to nowhere and all the rest. But it's hard to see how they can turn the focus back on Obama by tomorrow. - John Riley.
McCain's VP pick reveals teen daughter's pregnancy
PHILADELPHIA - John McCain's running mate Sarah Palin yesterday revealed that her 17-year-old unmarried daughter is five months pregnant, a stunning announcement that swept a Republican convention already subdued and scaled back on its opening day by Hurricane Gustav.
Republicans open storm-shortened convention
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Republicans, determined to propel John McCain to the White House, yesterday opened their storm-shortened national convention with a shortened speakers list that included first lady Laura Bush and Cindy McCain, wife of the expected GOP presidential nominee.
In Gustav's wake, Obama, Biden scale back campaigning
MONROE, Mich. - Barack Obama scaled back his campaigning in battleground states yesterday, turning his message to American workers into a call for service and prayer for the Gulf states hit by Hurricane Gustav.
Palin pregnancy news knocks GOP team off-message
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Sarah Palin was on a roll, fresh-faced and fiery, just the boost of energy John McCain's slow-but-steady campaign needed.
McCain and Obama change plans as Gustav hits Louisiana
As Hurricane Gustav howled into Louisiana yesterday, John McCain and Barack Obama abridged their schedules, trading convention festivities for storm watching, and speeches for prayers.
Big August boosts McCain campaign by $47 million
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Republican presidential candidate John McCain raised at least $47 million in August, his biggest haul of money so far and a sign that he is dispelling doubts about his campaign among conservative donors.
McCain could spell tax relief for Long Island
As the Republican Party faithful continue their convention in St. Paul, it's time for deepest-blue New York to take another look at this race.
Biden got 5 draft deferments during Nam, as did Cheney
DOVER, Del. - Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden received five student draft deferments during the Vietnam War, the same number of deferments received by Vice President Dick Cheney, and later was disqualified from service because of asthma that he suffered as a teenager.
Experts: McCain had no choice but to pare convention
ST. PAUL, Minn. - For one day at least, John McCain's political rival is named Gustav, not Obama.
Hurricane spurs McCain to scale back GOP convention
ST. LOUIS - The anticipated impact of Hurricane Gustav today will reverberate all the way from the Gulf states to Minnesota, where GOP presumptive nominee John McCain dramatically scaled back the GOP convention and left open the question of whether he would even attend.
Obama: I can raise volunteers for hurricane relief
TOLEDO, Ohio - Campaigning here yesterday alongside Joe Biden, Barack Obama said he was ready to mobilize an army of volunteers to assist with hurricane relief in the Gulf states and could go there, his aides said, if it becomes clear that his presence won't drain much-needed local and state resources.
MORE IN ISLIP GOP WANT TO OUST TRUNZO AS LEADER
Paterson won't join party's disparaging of Sarah Palin
ISLIP GOP: More want Trunzo to yield reins
Key role for America's mayor
Rudy Giuliani, the fast-moving conventional wisdom now has it, is the wrong choice to deliver the keynote address at the Republican convention in St. Paul this week. The New York and Long Island native who's never been more than a mayor was debunked as a national figure, goes the thinking, by his poor performance in the GOP primaries, where he'd once been the favorite.
August surprise
Who? That had to be a common reaction to presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain's choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. He presented her in Ohio Friday as a maverick and a reformer. But Palin, 44, is also a neophyte on the national political stage, has no foreign policy experience and is a relative unknown outside her home state.
Local civil rights advocates hopeful about Obama
Energized by the emergence of an African-American as a major party's presidential nominee, Suffolk civil rights activists promised each other at a barbecue in Wheatley Heights yesterday to help propel Barack Obama into the White House.
Analysis: Clinton does her part for Obama, party
DENVER - Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived in the Mile High City last week viewed by many as the bitter also-ran, a lurking threat to steal Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's limelight and spoil his big week.
Dems rally for Obama at Ohio congresswoman's memorial
DUBLIN, Ohio - A memorial service for an Ohio congresswoman turned into a rallying cry for party unity and a strong show of support for Barack Obama yesterday, as the Clintons and Obama flanked the stage and took turns at the podium.
Ex-LI woman thrust into DNC spotlight
Former Long Island resident Janet Lynn Monaco said she simply pretended the more than 75,000 people at Denver's Invesco Field - and the millions more watching on nationwide TV - weren't there Thursday night when she delivered a short talk just before Barack Obama took the stage.
5 things McCain must do at convention
PITTSBURGH - John McCain has given people a reason to watch the Republican Convention this week - to find out just who is this hard-charging Alaskan governor that McCain made his historic choice as the first woman on a GOP presidential ticket.
Why Obama treads carefully on GOP's veep pick
PITTSBURGH - With one calculating ad and a surprising vice-presidential nomination, Republican John McCain is seeking to turn the tables on Democrat Barack Obama.
Looks like Niese will start for Mets Tuesday
MIAMI - As the Mets continued to discuss their options to fill the rotation hole for Tuesday in Milwaukee, Jon Niese made his scheduled start Friday for Triple-A New Orleans.
LI Republicans praise McCain's choice of Palin
Top Long Island Republicans praised John McCain's vice presidential choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Friday though some admitted they knew next to nothing about her.
Obama's reversal
MONACA, Pa. - Barack Obama's spokesman fired off a fast criticism of Republican John McCain's new running mate Friday, but the Democratic candidate himself quickly stepped in to offer her congratulations and praise.
Tuskegee pilot airborne again
He is 86 years old now, a little slower, a little grayer and perhaps a tad less sharp-eyed than he was on a fateful day in the skies over Berlin in March of 1945.
McCain running mate Palin makes history for GOP
JUNEAU, Alaska - In two short years, Sarah Palin moved from small-town mayor with a taste for mooseburgers to the governor's office and now - making history - to John McCain's side as the first female running mate on a Republican presidential ticket.