The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is taking off the gloves to combat a new book from a former leader of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
In an email to 3.4 million voters, the DNC calls Jerome Corsi, the author of a new unflattering book about Democratic candidate Barack Obama, a "vile smear peddler."
The DNC email contains what it says are the facts on Obama that Corsi, a well-known enemy of 2004 nominee Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), is trying to distort in an effort to harm Obama.
"We cannot afford to let Corsi get away with the same dirty tricks that fooled so many people in 2004," the email, signed by the DNC's rapid response team, reads. "We can't rely on the media to hold him accountable -- in fact, the sheer brazenness of the lies is attracting even more coverage. The media have shown that they aren't going to stop him."
Rev. Jesse Jackson said he's embarrassed by his lewd remark about Barack Obama several weeks ago, but he added that divisions between new and old generations of black politicians aren't healthy.
Jackson, in an interview with Essence magazine, stressed that he shouldn't have talked about castrating Obama, something he was caught doing last month by a hot mic while waiting to appear on television . Jackson, who believed he was speaking in private, made the statement while also criticizing Obama for "talking down to black people."
"What was private talk became public controversy, and I am embarrassed by that," Jackson said. "There is no virtue in that kind of talk, and it should always be discouraged. My appeal even then was that responsibility is a significant message, but our needs require real government intervention and private sector incentives to address the issues of unemployment, building affordable housing and making education more affordable, which really was my point. It was a very painful period for me to have gone through that."
Jackson, a former Democratic presidential candidate, said, however, that the division between older black leaders and a new generation of leaders led by Obama is unhealthy.
"Politics must be inter-generational," he said. "You need Barack on the one hand to talk, you need Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.), chair of the House Ways and Means [Committee], and John Conyers (D-Mich.), chair of our House Judiciary [Committee]. In politics you grow by adding and multiplying, not by subtracting and dividing. So "old guard vs. new guard" is not a healthy combination. The reality is that we achieved the right to vote, we achieved freedom, but we didn't achieve equality, and that is the remaining civil rights work."
Barack Obama has received more donations from U.S. troops than John McCain, according to a report by the Center for Responsive Politics.
Obama, an opponent of the Iraq war, has received about $350,000 in campaign contributions from members of the U.S. military while McCain, who has based his campaign largely on his support for the U.S. military surge in Iraq, has received about $280,000.
The study was sent out to reporters by the Obama campaign Friday.
Obama and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), another presidential candidate who campaigned against the Iraq war, have both received more donations from U.S. troops abroad than McCain, according to the report.
Obama has received about $60,000 and Paul has gotten about $40,000 from military members deployed abroad. McCain has received less than $11,000 in donations.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R-N.Y.) will speak on the second night of the Republican convention, according to the New York Post.
Giuliani is slotted to speak on Tuesday, Sept. 2, at the convention in St. Paul, Minn., the newspaper reports. He spoke on the first night of the GOP convention when it was held in New York City in 2004.
He has been a staunch backer of John McCain's presidential bid ever since he ended his own campaign in January.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) blasted Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) Wednesday as "totally irresponsible" for his attacks against Barack Obama, adding that after the election Democrats "won't need him."
"Joe Lieberman has said things that are totally irresponsible when it comes to Barack Obama. Here we have a leader for the future, really a great leader for the future and one that comes along only every now and then, and they know it so they have to undermine him. And one of their best weapons, of course, is someone who is considered by some to be a Democrat," Pelosi said on a San Francisco radio show.
Lieberman, the former Democratic vice presidential nominee, has been highly critical of Obama including a suggestion this week Obama had not always put his country first.
But despite the remarks, Pelosi said there is little Democrats can do, for now.
"The Democrats in the Senate are in a tough spot. They have 51 votes. Joe Lieberman organizes with them," Pelosi said.
"In 85 days or something, they will have five more Democrats they won't need him to make the majority. And it will be interesting to see what the leadership in the Senate, the Democratic leadership in the Senate, does at that point in terms of Joe Lieberman's chairmanship of his committee."
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell is blasting Weekly Standard Editor Bill Kristol for declaring that Powell will endorse Barack Obama at the Democratic Convention later this month.
"I do not have time to waste on Bill Kristol's musings," Powell told ABC. "I am not going to the convention. I have made this clear."
Powell's spokeswoman Peggy Cifrino echoed the former Secretary of State, saying there is "no truth" to Kristol's claim.
"I have no idea why Bill Kristol would be making this statement. There is no imminent endorsement," Cifrino said.
Weekly Standard Editor Bill Kristol told FOX Thursday that former Secretary of State Colin Powell will endorse Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention.
"He may well give a speech at the Democratic convention explaining his endorsement of Obama. For whatever reason I think he has decided he's going to endorse Obama," Kristol said citing sources. "This is not an absolute done deal, but these people are very confident that Powell will endorse Obama."
Kristol added that Powell's speech will occur Wednesday, the same night as Obama's vice presidential selection and former President Bill Clinton.
"The Obama people are quietly trying to line up a pretty strong convention," Kristol said. "I think the Obama campaign shouldn
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