News

  August 11, 2008, 8:05 am

Chelsea Clinton to Introduce Hillary at Convention

By Walter Alarkon
Chelsea Clinton will introduce her mother on the second night of the Democratic convention, the New York Daily News reports.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is scheduled to speak Tuesday, August 26.

An official close to both Clinton and Barack Obama's campaigns said that the 28-year-old's appearance is a gesture for Clinton's female supporters who may be disappointed by their candidate's loss in the primaries.

"He has a problem with Hillary's more fanatical women supporters, and this is a way to help with that," the official told the newspaper.Former President Bill Clinton is scheduled to speak on Wednesday night of the convention.
Archived under: News, News/Campaigns, News/Campaigns/Presidential Campaigns
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  August 11, 2008, 7:31 am

Mass. College Still Expects Edwardses to Speak

By Walter Alarkon
Officials at Salem State College still expect John Edwards and his wife to speak at the school next month despite his admission that he had an extra-marital affair, reports the Boston Globe.

The former Senator from North Carolina and Elizabeth Edwards, a prominent healthcare advocate, have been booked to speak at the school in Northern Massachusetts on Sept. 23.

"We don't want to get into moral issues at this point," said school spokesman Jim Glynn told the Globe. "We are bringing them here to talk about the election and to talk about Elizabeth's battle with cancer, and that, to us, was more than enough to captivate an audience."

Glynn said, however, that the college is consulting with the event's corporate sponsors, who paid for the Edwardses speaking fees.
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  August 11, 2008, 7:14 am

Coming Obama Book Already Tops Pelosi

By Andy Barr
Sales for Barack Obama's new book "Change We Can Believe In: Barack Obama's Plan to Renew America's Promise" have been strong only hours after Obama's publisher announced its release Monday.

Pre-orders for the book have already pushed it to 2,257 on Amazon's sales rank, 3,902 spots ahead of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) book "Know Your Power: A Message to America's Daughters."

The book will lay out the Democratic presidential candidate's policy prescriptions for issues ranging from national security to healthcare and energy. It will also include the text of several Obama speeches.

300,000 copies paperback copies will be printed for the first order of the book, which has been priced at $13.95.

Several Obama staffers are writing the body of the 256 page book. Obama himself will only write the forward.

The book is being distributed by Crown Publishing Group, which signed the Illinois senator to a $1.9 million book three-book deal following his keynote address to the 2004 Democratic convention. Obama reportedly agreed to a $850,000 advance for two books each focused on policy and politics with another $200,000 advance for a coming children's book.

"We are proud to have published two best-selling books by Barack Obama and are thrilled to have the opportunity to continue to work with his campaign on such an important and inspiring book at this critical moment in our country," the publishing company's president Jenny Frost said.

Both of Obama's previous two books were top sellers.
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  August 11, 2008, 6:36 am

Campaigns Have Sought Angelina Jolie's Endorsement

By Chris Good
Both presidential campaigns have sought the endorsement of Angelina Jolie, Variety's Wilshire & Washington blog is reporting, though the actress has remained undecided.

Jolie's endorsement carries more significance than that of the average Hollywood star, due to her global human rights activism and affiliation with the United Nations (Jolie serves as goodwill ambassador for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees).

Both the Obama and McCain campaigns have reached out to her, but the actress says she is "waiting to see the commitments they will make on issues like international justice, refugees and how to address the needs of children in crisis around the world" before making a choice, according to a statement released through political adviser Trevor Nielson.
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  August 11, 2008, 6:35 am

McCain: Georgia's Fate Should Be of Grave Concern to Americans

By Walter Alarkon
John McCain released a statement Monday laying out the stakes for Americans in the burgeoning conflict between Georgia and Russia.

"Russia is using violence against Georgia, in part, to intimidate other neighbors such as Ukraine for choosing to associate with the West and adhering to Western political and economic values," McCain said. "As such, the fate of Georgia should be of grave concern to Americans and all people who welcomed the end of a divided of Europe, and the independence of former Soviet republics."

McCain called for a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Russian aggression and calling for the withdrawal of Russian forces from Georgian territory. He also proposed an emergency NATO session and a peacekeeping force in Georgia.

McCain began his statement acknowledging that Americans may wish to spend their August vacationing, perhaps a thinly veiled shot at his Democratic opponent, Barack Obama, who is spending this week on vacation in Hawaii.

Read McCain's entire statement below.
"Americans wishing to spend August vacationing with their families or watching the Olympics may wonder why their newspapers and television screens are filled with images of war in the small country of Georgia. Concerns about what occurs there might seem distant and unrelated to the many other interests America has around the world. And yet Russian aggression against Georgia is both a matter of urgent moral and strategic importance to the United States of America.


Read more...
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  August 11, 2008, 6:12 am

Obama Ad: McCain Is The Biggest Celebrity in Washington

By Walter Alarkon
Now Barack Obama is attacking John McCain for his celebrity.

In a new Obama campaign ad, a narrator says that McCain is the "biggest celebrity in Washington." It features images of McCain embracing President Bush, McCain on "Saturday Night Live," and McCain on the late night talk shows.

It also hits McCain for supporting tax breaks for oil and drug companies and for having lobbyists on his campaign.

"Lurching to the left, lurching to the right, the old Washington dance. Whatever it takes," the ad's narrator says.

Watch it below.

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  August 10, 2008, 12:19 pm

Kaine: McCain's Ads Funny, But So Is Wearing a Clown Suit

By Walter Alarkon
Virginia Gov Tim Kaine (D) dismissed John McCain's ads trying to tie Barack Obama to celebrities as "funny" but not overly effective.

"Well, some of the ads that Sen. McCain has been running, I just scratch my head at them," Kaine said on CBS's "Face the Nation" Sunday. "I mean, they really kind of seem out of touch with what the issues are."

Kaine, who is being considered as a running mate for Obama, took particular issue with specific comparisons between Obama and other celebrities.

"The whole ad about, you know, the Paris Hilton and the celebrity thing, I mean, it was funny, but wearing a clown suit and juggling would be funny, too, but it doesn't connect with the concerns Americans have about gas prices, about the war, about the economy," Kaine said. "So I think on things like that, shoot, I hope the McCain camp does more of those ads, and we'll just let him do those ads."

Kaine was responding to suggestions by other Democrats that Obama needs to hit back harder against the McCain attacks.

"Sen. Obama has shown that he's a very tough campaigner. He doesn't take a punch. He doesn't take anything laying down. But he always will spin it back to positives, because he's got a positive message and a positive record. And what Americans want to hear is about solutions," Kaine said.
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  August 9, 2008, 1:57 pm

MySpace to Let Users Watch, Sort, Share Debates on New Site

By Chris Good
In the latest new media partnership of the 2008 election, MySpace will team up with the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) to let voters watch debates live online and sort footage by issue, the two entities announced this week.

MySpace and CPD will launch MyDebates.org in early September (the first presidential debate airs Sept. 26) marking CPD Read more...
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  August 9, 2008, 1:55 pm

McCain is Vetting Lieberman

By Walter Alarkon
John McCain is vetting Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) as a possible running mate, reports the Financial Times.

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  August 8, 2008, 1:26 pm

Edwards: You Cannot Beat Me Up More Than I Already Have

By Walter Alarkon
Below is former Sen. John Edwards's (D-N.C.) statement in which he acknowledges having an extra-marital affair, via Marc Ambinder:

In 2006, I made a serious error in judgment and conducted myself in a way that was disloyal to my family and to my core beliefs. I recognized my mistake and I told my wife that I had a liaison with another woman, and I asked for her forgiveness. Although I was honest in every painful detail with my family, I did not tell the public. When a supermarket tabloid told a version of the story, I used the fact that the story contained many falsities to deny it. But being 99% honest is no longer enough.

I was and am ashamed of my conduct and choices, and I had hoped that it would never become public. With my family, I took responsibility for my actions in 2006 and today I take full responsibility publicly. But that misconduct took place for a short period in 2006. It ended then. I am and have been willing to take any test necessary to establish the fact that I am not the father of any baby, and I am truly hopeful that a test will be done so this fact can be definitively established. I only know that the apparent father has said publicly that he is the father of the baby. I also have not been engaged in any activity of any description that requested, agreed to or supported payments of any kind to the woman or to the apparent father of the baby.

It is inadequate to say to the people who believed in me that I am sorry, as it is inadequate to say to the people who love me that I am sorry. In the course of several campaigns, I started to believe that I was special and became increasingly egocentric and narcissistic. If you want to beat me up - feel free. You cannot beat me up more than I have already beaten up myself. I have been stripped bare and will now work with everything I have to help my family and others who need my help.

I have given a complete interview on this matter and having done so, will have nothing more to say.
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