News

  August 25, 2008, 12:15 pm

Jennifer Hudson to Sing National Anthem for Obama

By Emily Goodin
Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson will sing the national anthem on Thursday at Invesco Field before Barack Obama accepts the Democratic nomination.

"Access Hollywood" reports the former "American Idol" contestant agreed to sing at the request of the Obama campaign.

Hudson is best know for her role as Effie White in the 2006 film "Dreamgirls."
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  August 25, 2008, 12:09 pm

Daddy Yankee Endorses McCain

By Walter Alarkon
Daddy Yankee, the Puerto Rican hip-hop star best known for his 2004 single "Gasolina," has backed John McCain for president.

"I am here endorsing Sen. McCain because I believe in his ideals and his proposals to lead this nation," Daddy Yankee said at a McCain campaign event in Phoenix, Ariz., Monday. "And like I said before, he has been a fighter for the Hispanic community, and I know that for me personally, I chose him as the best candidate because he has been a fighter for the immigration issue. So for me he is the best guy to lead this nation."

McCain introduced the 31-year-old artist, born Ramon Ayala, as a "great American success story" to an excited crowd of teenagers at Central High School.

"As you know, he's from Puerto Rico," McCain said. "He's been married for 15 years. He has children aged 14, 12 and 10. One of his most famous songs, I know you're very familiar with, Gasolina."

Watch the must-see clip of the endorsement below, which includes audio of squealing teenagers and video of an amused McCain. For those unfamiliar with Daddy Yankee and Reggaeton, the music video of "Gasolina" is embedded below the endorsement clip.





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  August 25, 2008, 11:28 am

Clinton Stars in New RNC Ad

By Walter Alarkon
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) appears in yet another Republican ad that aims to undermine Barack Obama's candidacy.

The Republican National Committee spot features a sound-bite Clinton gave during the Democratic primaries in which she questioned Obama's experience.

"Sen. [John] McCain will bring a lifetime of experience to the campaign," Clinton said. "I will bring a lifetime of experience. And Sen. Obama will bring a speech that he gave in 2002."

She was referring to the anti-Iraq war speech Obama gave as an Illinois state senator .

The RNC is spending between $2 million and $2.5 million to air the ad in Colorado, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and western Pennsylvania this week. John McCain has released two television ads since last weekend that feature Clinton.

Read the transcript below and watch the RNC ad.

Title: "Right"

VO: Who has the experience to govern our nation?

Clinton: Senator McCain will bring a lifetime of experience to the campaign. I will bring a lifetime of experience. And Senator Obama will bring a speech that he gave in 2002.

VO: Barack Obama. He gives a great speech. But now Americans must ask ourselves: Should we elect the most inexperienced presidential candidate of our times? Or was she right?


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  August 25, 2008, 10:59 am

Volunteers Guard Trash Cans at Democratic Convention

By Chris Good
About 225 volunteers per day will stand by trash cans and recycling bins in and around the Pepsi Center in Denver this week, encouraging convention-goers to separate recyclables from trash when they throw things away, volunteer organizers say.

Convention trash receptacles are grouped in threes: each station has a regular or "landfill" trash can, a bin for biodegradable items like food and paper, and another for plastic. The convention's "Green Team" of green-shirt-wearing volunteers is standing by the clusters of bins, trying to preempt those who would throw their trash away randomly.

"The idea is that people are less likely to just throw it away if there's someome there," one volunteer said.

Though volunteers try to catch people before they use the wrong bins, each volunteer is equipped with latex gloves to reach into the bins and correct such errors. That activity is optional.

As far as convention-goers' reactions to the initiative, one Green Team member said "people are confused" to see her standing there.
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  August 25, 2008, 10:52 am

Lott Said He Can Help With McCain's 'Wild Tangents'

By Walter Alarkon
Former Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) has advice for John McCain: When the Republican presidential candidate gets mad, he should call him.

"'I just want one thing from you John.'" Lott told McCain, according to Lott's retelling of the story. "Will you let me talk to you some time before you take off on some of these wild tangents you get off on?'"

"And McCain said, 'I probably should do that anyway -- you've got it,'" Lott said, during an appearance before Alabama Republicans two weeks ago.

Lott added: "So I'm giving you the word I got from John McCain: if he gets a little bit too far out of line, he owes me a call and I can come back and say, 'John, don't do that.'"

Lott's remarks were reported by the Tuscaloosa News.

Lott, now a partner at a lobbying firm, is no stranger to talking about McCain's temper. When the Arizona Republican first ran for president eight years ago, Lott was accused of spreading rumors about McCain and his disposition.

"I'm passionate, but you don't have to get mad, you don't have to blow a gasket," Lott said when asked on a talk show about the McCain temper in 1999. "You don't have to use profanity."

Lott, however, is now a staunch McCain supporter, having backed his presidential bid early last year.

Lott said that he's even come around to McCain's position on earmarks, which Lott had used to bring money back to his home state.

"John used to harass me because I would get earmarks -- or pork barrel projects -- in
Mississippi
," Lott said. "And I would say, 'Well, yes, John, I'm a senator from
Mississippi and we're the poorest state in the nation.' ... But we're not anymore, that pork paid off."


Lott continued: "But you know what, in my heart I knew he was right. That's no way to do business, we shouldn't be doing all that earmarking -- it got completely out of control. It got out of control with Republicans and that's why we are being punished a little bit. Because we forgot how we got there, what we believed in, the principles that after 30 years put us in the majority, gave us the White House, the congress, the senate, the house."

"And then we ran out of ideas... But that was an aberration, that's not who we really are."
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  August 25, 2008, 10:27 am

Seeking BBQ, Biden Causes Traffic Jam

By Hill Staff
Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) caused a traffic jam in downtown Denver today when he made a stop for barbecue.

Hundreds surrounded the vice presidential candidate outside Boney's Smokehouse, a tiny stand serving hickory smoked barbecue on 16th Street, a pedestrian mall near the Pepsi Center, the site of the Democratic convention.

Biden said he was pleased Obama selected him as his running mate. Asked if he was having a good time in Denver, he responded, "So far."

As people realized it was Biden causing the crowd, dozens joined the throng and Secret Service agents struggled to create a path for Biden.

"We love you Joe. You're the next vice president," one woman shouted.

Biden ordered five pulled pork sandwiches and a lemonade before posing for pictures with the stand's workers.

"It was very exciting. Honorable," said worker Trina Lynch.

-Ian Swanson
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  August 25, 2008, 10:19 am

Bush Declares Minority Enterprise Development Week

By Chris Good
Next week will be "Minority Enterprise Development Week," by President Bush's decree. Bush made the announcement this morning with a statement promoting his administration's efforts to aid small businesses.

"My Administration has lowered taxes, supported pro-growth policies, and enacted an economic stimulus package to encourage small and medium-sized business growth," Bush said in his announcement.

"By keeping more money in the hands of families and small businesses, they can save, invest, spend, and give back to their communities.
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  August 25, 2008, 10:00 am

Asking for $100k, Obamabiden.org Getting No Bids

By Chris Good
The owner of the domain name obamabiden.org is asking at least $100,000 for the rights to the site, but there have been no takers so far.

Luke Freudenberg of New Hampshire, who registered the site and other sites like it in December 2007, has set up an auction on eBay for obamabiden.org asking a minimum bid of $100,000. As of Monday, there were no bids. The eBay auction ends on Aug. 28, the last night of the Democratic convention.

Meanwhile, obamabiden.com--a domain name registered in December 2006--is inactive. That site was registered by Lyle Dean of California.

Freudenberg stated, "At the end of last year, we created a matrix of potential presidential/vice-Presidential permutations for both the Republican and Democratic parties. With that information, we purchased a number of domain names that were available at the time. Today, we own 16 domain names that incorporate
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  August 25, 2008, 9:38 am

Clinton Takes Shot at McCain

By Emily Goodin
DENVER -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) fired back at Republican presidential candidate John McCain's ad about her on Monday.

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  August 25, 2008, 9:19 am

Congressional Black Caucus Begins to Mourn Rep. Tubbs Jones

By Hill Staff
The Congressional Black Caucus's opening dessert
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