Time's Mark Halperin is reporting that John McCain will choose former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) as his running mate.
Two Republican sources told Halperin that McCain has settled on his former rival but has yet to offer the job to him.
Romney was McCain's most serious competitor for the Republican presidential nomination. Romney's candidacy was championed by conservatives skeptical of McCain. Though Romney won contests over McCain and other GOP candidates in Nevada and Michigan, he ended his campaign after losing California and other large states to McCain in February. Romney said that he didn't want to give the Democratic presidential candidates an advantage heading into the general election.
John McCain's campaign last night jumped into the ad war over McCain's uncertainty of how many houses he owns.
Several hours after Barack Obama's campaign put out its own ad on the gaffe, McCain's campaign had readied its response, which focuses on Obama's ties to fundraiser, real estate developer, and convicted felon Antoin "Tony" Rezko, who raised money for Obama's 2004 U.S. Senate run and helped Obama buy his Chicago home.
Rezko is emerging as the primary comeback to liberal attacks over McCain's comment, as the Republican National Committee sought to highlight Obama's Rezko ties in a new website it launched yesterday, circulating a fact sheet about Obama and Rezko to reporters as well.
McCain's new TV ad will air in "key states," according to the McCain camp.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is blasting the Chinese government for arresting Chinese citizens who have applied for permits to protest at the Beijing Olympics.
"Instead of living up to their commitments it made to be allowed to host the Olympic Games, the Chinese government is using the Olympics as a justification to crackdown on peaceful human rights activists, censor foreign and domestic journalists, and displace Chinese individuals and families who have no legal recourse to protest the seizure of their homes or their land," Pelosi said in a statement released by her office last night.
"From media reports, we are now learning that the Chinese government-designated
Read more...
Republican Congressman Christopher Shays (Conn.) is trying to conjure the best of both presidential candidates, telling voters in a new ad that he combines the hope of Barack Obama and straight talk of John McCain.
"The hopefulness of Obama, the straight talk of McCain, it's what Christopher Shays has always stood for," the announcer begins, as the ad shows pictures of Obama and the word "hope," moving to a picture of McCain and "straight talk."
"He goes where the truth takes him, never afraid to take a stand or oppose his own party. In a sea of partisanship, Shays is different. It's not what is Republican or Democrat, it's what is right for America. Everyone has a congressman, we have Christopher Shays."
The Connecticut lawmaker, a moderate Republican, is facing a tough challenge from Democrat Jim Himes. Himes has raised over $2 million, while Shays has brought in $2.3 million.
Shays is currently the only Republican member of the Connecticut delegation after Democrats beat two of the state's House incumbents in 2006. Shays won narrowly in 2006, 51 percent to 48 percent.
Shays is following in Republican Sen. Gordon Smith's (Ore.) footsteps, who earlier in the cycle put out an ad linking himself with Obama on energy.
The American Issues Project, an independent conservative group, has launched a new television ad that highlights ties between Barack Obama and William Ayers, a former member of the subversive Weather Underground group.
"Why would Barack Obama be friends with someone who bombed the Capitol
Read more...
The Republican National Committee (RNC) launched a website this afternoon dedicated to Barack Obama's ties to fundraiser, convicted felon, and real estate developer Antoin "Tony" Rezko, looking to hit back as the Obama camp hammers John McCain for telling reporters he's not sure how many houses he and his wife own.
Obama's ties to Rezko, who raised money for Obama and helped the senator buy his Chicago home, have been a cornerstone of their response to the "houses" gaffe. The RNC sent an e-mail to reporters, dubbing the Rezko association "Obama's Housing Problem."
The website accuses Obama of hypocrisy in criticizing McCain's gaffe, offers links to news articles about Rezko and Obama, and alleges a "shady deal" between the two. Rezko and his wife purchased an adjacent plot of land to Obama's Chicago home from the same seller, then sold some of it to Obama, according to news reports. Rezko has also raised money for Obama's U.S. Senate campaign.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) said that John McCain should avoid picking former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) as his running mate and should instead look to Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R).
Huckabee, on Fox News Wednesday, told host Sean Hannity that he's hesitant about Romney "because of the shift of positions on all the issues." Romney has changed his stance on "everything from the Reagan tax cuts to abortion to same-sex marriage," added Huckabee, who was competed with Romney for social conservatives' votes during the GOP presidential primaries.
Romney, who ran as a pro-life candidate, supported abortion rights during state-wide races in Massachusetts.
"But Tim Pawlenty," Huckabee said, "I think, is fresh, and he doesn't have, you know, some of those other issues. I think there are other people. I mean he could go with somebody that we haven't even talked about. A Frank Keating from -- former governor of Oklahoma."
John McCain's campaign has released a follow-up ad to its TV spot facetiously comparing Barack Obama to Moses, posting a new video to YouTube earlier this afternoon that revisits the Obama-as-Messiah theme.
The video features the same clips of Charlton Heston in "The Ten Commandments" and says, "The faithful are ready to gather, one mile high."
The web ad also hits House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for saying that "God has blessed us with" Obama.
Before Barack Obama gets to Denver to accept the Democratic presidential nomination next week, he'll campaign in swing states in the Midwest, his campaign announced Thursday.
He kicks off the campaign swing Saturday in Springfield, Ill., where he's expected to appear with his still-to-be-announced running mate.
On Sunday, Obama will be in Eau Claire, Wis. On Monday, he goes to the Quad Cities area in Iowa. On Tuesday, he's in Kansas City, Mo. He'll be in Billings, Mont., on Wednesday and is scheduled to accept the nomination Thursday, Aug. 28.
His campaign said that Obama will highlight plans to help middle-class families "burdened by the tightening economy and high gas prices."
Now both presidential campaigns have dialed up the rhetoric in the wake of John McCain's remark that he didn't know how many houses he owned.
The McCain campaign responded Thursday to an attack ad by Barack Obama noting that the Democrat himself has an expensive home. In the response, McCain's spokesman Brian Rogers also referenced Obama's comment about "bitter" voters, originally used by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) during the primaries to attack Obama's standing with working-class voters.
Here's Rogers's statement:
"Does a guy who made more than $4 million last year, just got back from vacation on a private beach in Hawaii and bought his own million-dollar mansion with the help of a convicted felon really want to get into a debate about houses? Does a guy who worries about the price of arugula and thinks regular people 'cling' to guns and religion in the face of economic hardship really want to have a debate about who's in touch with regular Americans?"
"The reality is that Barack Obama's plans to raise taxes and opposition to producing more energy here at home as gas prices skyrocket show he's completely out of touch with the concerns of average Americans"
Most Viewed RSS Feed »
