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McCain, Bush will be seen together only in fleeting shot at airport
By: on May 27, 2008 @ 8:01 AM



Good Tuesday morning. Albert R. Hunt, the executive editor for Washington at Bloomberg News, says in a commentary that “Kennedy Has Set Gold Standard for U.S. Senators”: “Historians will rank him with Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, Robert Taft and John C. Calhoun as a giant of the Senate.”

A week from today, the Democratic nominating contest will be over, at least on the calendar. The Puerto Rican primary is Sunday and the finale primaries – Montana and South Dakota – are a week from today. Saturday is the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting, where the disputed Florida and Michigan delegations will be hashed out.

USAToday.com: "Sen. Barack Obama has gone on the air in South Dakota with an ad that has former senator Tom Daschle making his case. 'He's rooted in the same values as most South Dakotans,' Daschle says."

Senator Clinton’s GOALS FOR THE WEEK, per a top aide: “Focus on getting a big vote in Puerto Rico and getting Florida and Michigan seated.”

That allows her to declare a final-days victory. She’s expected to do very well in Puerto Rico (she, President Clinton and Chelsea Clinton all campaigned there yesterday). And Obama chief strategist David Axelrod told Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s “Hardball” on Friday: “We're very committed to seeing Michigan and Florida participating in this convention.”

Lanny J. Davis outlines a Clinton-friendly Michigan-Florida scenario.

DRIVING THE DAY – Wall Street Journal A6, “McCain to Make a Rare Appearance With Bush,” by Laura Meckler: “President Bush and John McCain will appear together at a fund-raiser in Phoenix Tuesday, the first time in nearly three months that the Republican presidential candidate will be seen beside the man he hopes to succeed. … [T]he McCain campaign has made sure that television footage of the two men together will be minimal. … The maneuvering is the latest example of Sen. McCain's aggressive effort to separate himself from the White House ..

***“The pair will be seen together before TV cameras only fleetingly, at the airport as Mr. Bush departs on Air Force One, and there are no plans for either to formally say anything. A senior adviser to Sen. McCain said the campaign considered the risk of having the candidate appear with the president at all but concluded there was no way to avoid it given that the event was in Sen. McCain's home state.”

***EARLIER TODAY: Senator McCain talks NUCLEAR SECURITY, at the University of Denver. He’ll make news by charting a new course, continuing to try to reinforce the idea that he wouldn’t be 3.0. He’ll hold a town hall in Reno, Nev., on Wednesday.

OBAMA TODAY – Discusses the foreclosure crisis with a family in Las Vegas at the family’s home, then holds a discussion on protecting homeownership with 50 to 75 local residents, most of whom have been affected by the subprime lending crisis. The campaign points out that last year, Nevada had the highest foreclosure rate in the nation.

VEEPSTAKES -- DAVID BROOKS’ PICKS (NUNN, DASCHLE, PORTMAN, PAWLENTY): “Obama will need a vice president who knows the millions of ways that power is exercised and subverted in Washington. … Sam Nunn and Tom Daschle seem to fit the bill. … McCain seems to be looking at business leaders like Meg Whitman. But among politicos, the shining stars would seem to be Rob Portman and Tim Pawlenty. Portman is an Ohioan with the mind of a budget director and a mild temperament that is a credit to his Midwestern roots. His résumé is ideal: He directed legislative affairs for the first President Bush, served in Congress for more than a decade and managed the Office of Management and Budget under Bush the younger. He excelled in every role.”

AP: “CNN is starting a weekly talk show on international issues led by Newsweek's Fareed Zakaria that will debut next Sunday with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair as an interview subject. ‘Fareed Zakaria — GPS,’ which stands for ‘global public square,’ will air Sundays at 1 p.m. EDT and be rebroadcast at a yet-to-be determined time on CNN International.”

Gallup.com: “Democrats (61 percent) are much more likely than Republicans (39 percent) to express confidence that their party will win the presidential election.”

Reuters, “Obama says won’t guarantee Ahmadinejad a meeting,” by Caren Bohan: “Obama underscored his willingness to talk to leaders of countries like Iran that are considered U.S. adversaries but said Monday that does not necessarily mean an audience with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. … Obama … said Iranian presidential elections in 2009 would be a factor in the timing of any meetings, as would considerations of who wields the power. ‘There's no reason why we would necessarily meet with Ahmadinejad before we know that he was actually in power. He's not the most powerful person in Iran,’ Obama told reporters while campaigning in New Mexico. Under Iran's system of clerical rule, the Islamic Republic's religious establishment has final say in all state matters. The McCain campaign accused Obama of backtracking.”

***BREAKING TODAY: The RNC will seek to portray this as a REVERSAL.

“AP INTERVIEW: McCain says Obama should visit Iraq,” by Liz Sidoti and Barry Massey in Albuquerque: “Republican John McCain on Monday sharply criticized Democratic rival Barack Obama for not having been to Iraq since 2006, and said they should visit the war zone together.”

PUNDIT PREP -- POLITICO’S Ben Adler on the Dems’ education platforms: “Clinton’s approach follows liberal tradition, aligning philosophically with the teachers unions in her support of increased funding and universal pre-kindergarten. Obama seeks newer and what might be termed ‘neo-liberal’ solutions, such as being open to individual merit pay for teachers and a community service requirement for college students. McCain emphasizes giving education choices to parents, using programs such as private school vouchers. … While Clinton has proposed universal pre-kindergarten for all 4-year-olds, Obama would offer Early Learning Challenge Grants — modeled after an Illinois program — for states to use in a variety of ways.”

NETWORK PRODUCERS ALERT – Bloomberg News, “Foreclosures in Military Towns Surge at Four Times U.S. Rate,” By Kathleen M. Howley: “In the midst of the worst surge in mortgage defaults in seven decades, foreclosures in U.S. towns where soldiers live are increasing at a pace almost four times the national average, according to data compiled by research firm RealtyTrac Inc. in Irvine, California. As military families … signed up for the initial lower rates and easier terms of subprime mortgages, the number of people taking out Veterans Administration loans fell to the lowest in at least 12 years.”



McCain, Bush will be seen together only in fleeting shot at airport

AFP, “Buffett Tells German Magazine US Is Already In Recession”: “So Warren Buffett tells German magazine Der Spiegel in an interview to be published on Monday. ‘It is perhaps not a recession in the way that economists would understand it... but people are already feeling the effects and it will be deeper and longer than people think,’ Buffett said on a visit to Frankfurt. Buffett, the 77-year-old chief of the Berkshire Hathaway Inc., blamed financial institutions for introducing instruments ‘they can no longer control’ and said the ‘genie can no longer be put back in the bottle.’ “

LIKELY LESS SEVERE -- Financial Times lead story across its global editions – “Recession still likely in US, says Greenspan,” by Krishna Guha in Washington: “The US is still more likely than not to have a recession in spite of the relative stabilization in the economy in recent weeks, Alan Greenspan has told the Financial Times. The former chairman of the Federal Reserve said: ‘I still believe there is a greater than 50 per cent probability of recession.’ But, he said, ‘that probability has receded a little and I think the probability of a severe recession has come down markedly’.”

OVERSERVED: “the Republican brand.”

THE MAP:

--Politico’s Carrie Budoff Brown looks at THE MOUNTAIN WEST as Senator Obama’s ticket to ride: “The underlying goal of Obama’s trip this week through New Mexico, Nevada and Colorado is to lay claim to a region that Obama views as one of his best opportunities to pick off states in November. … President Bush picked up 19 electoral votes across these three states – the margin by which Democrat John Kerry fell short in the Electoral College in 2004. … ‘If we win these three states, plus the traditional Democratic base, he is president,’ [ New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said of Obama, in an interview Monday.”

--The Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader spotlights “Obama’s Appalachian challenge” and asks “Will Obama fight for rural votes?: “Last week, U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Virginia, who has been mentioned as a possible vice presidential candidate for Obama, made the point [on MSNBC] ]that the traditional Scots-Irish culture of Appalachia should be more of an ally than an enemy of the African-American community. (Hat tip: Jonathan Martin)

WHILE YOU WERE OUT – The New York Times’ Katharine Q. “Kit” Seelye posted the most detailed account of what was happening in the Clinton bubble when the RFK story broke on Drudge, linking to an inaccurate N.Y. Post dispatch about Senator Clinton’s interview with the Sioux Falls (S.D.) Argus Leader: “The initial N.Y. Post item read this way: ‘She is still in the presidential race, she said today, because historically, it makes no sense to quit, and added that, “Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June,” making an odd comparison between the dead candidate and Barack Obama.’ Mrs. Clinton did not make that comparison. …

“In the deli section [of a supermarket where she was campaigning], we were seeking reaction from Clinton aides. One of them, Mo Elleithee, who had been with Mrs. Clinton at the editorial meeting, said her comments were being distorted. A usually mild-mannered man, he was noticeably angry. He gave an on the record statement, saying that any attempt to portray her comment as anything other than a timeline was ‘inaccurate.’ He came back again to add the word ‘outrageous.’

“As the story picked up steam, Mrs. Clinton decided to try to tamp it down on camera, within about two and a half hours of the original comment (in contrast to her letting a week go by in March before addressing her misstatements about having been under sniper fire in Bosnia). She had not spoken to her traveling press corps in more than a week and in this case, did not take questions but simply appeared, against the backdrop of a grocery aisle, made a short statement and left.”

BLAKEMAN, PLOUFFE IN NEWSDAY – “Obama victory may assure political post for Cooper,” By Reid J. Epstein: “When Suffolk Legis. Jon Cooper publicly backed Sen. Barack Obama's Democratic presidential campaign early last year, he received a phone call from a member of the Long Island Congressional delegation who backs Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. The message: ‘Think of your future,’ the member of congress said. ‘Think of your constituents.’

“But Cooper (D-Lloyd Harbor), who has been the Illinois senator's most prominent Long Island supporter, may likely soon find himself in an enviable political position. … As almost every other elected official on Long Island and in the city endorsed Clinton early, complete with a bus ride to Albany for a Capitol steps photo-op at the campaign's outset, Cooper said he focused solely on the issues, particularly Clinton's 2002 Iraq war authorization vote.

“If Obama loses, said Bradley Blakeman, a Washington consultant who is a veteran of both Bush administrations, Cooper should watch his back. … Now as Obama edges closer to clinching the Democratic nomination, Cooper is joking about tropical island nation ambassadorships and planning six-figure summer fund-raisers in The Hamptons and in Nassau. He is also hosting a fundraiser June 12 at his Lloyd Harbor home with David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager. Cooper, who is co-chairman of Obama's national gay and lesbian outreach committee and sits on the campaign's national finance committee, said he's focused only on electing Obama, not on his own political future. …

“Blakeman was a new Adelphi University graduate in 1980 when he volunteered as a driver for Ronald Reagan's campaign. Once Reagan won, Blakeman, formerly of Valley Stream, parlayed his support into a presidential commission post and later a job working for Vice President George H.W. Bush. Blakeman said an Obama victory would make Cooper ‘the greatest thing since sliced bread.’ ”

OBIT – SYDNEY POLLACK, from Reuters: “Hollywood filmmaker Sydney Pollack, who won a pair of Academy Awards for the epic romance ‘Out of Africa’ and earned praise for acting stints in films including ‘Tootsie’ and ‘Michael Clayton,’ died on Monday after a battle with cancer, his spokeswoman said. He was 73. During a varied career spanning almost half a century, Pollack directed such stars as Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford in ‘The Way We Were,’ Tom Cruise in ‘The Firm’ and Dustin Hoffman in ‘Tootsie.’ Redford starred in seven of his films, including ‘Out of Africa,’ alongside Meryl Streep. Pollack died at his home in the coastal Los Angeles suburb of Pacific Palisades at about 5 p.m. local time. He was diagnosed with cancer about 10 months ago, but doctors were never able to determine the primary source of the disease, said spokeswoman Leslee Dart.”

SAT OPTIONAL AT WAKE FOREST -- Breaking this morning, from a release: “Beginning with the freshman class of 2009, Wake Forest University will make college entrance examinations optional for admission. Wake Forest will become the only top 30 national university with a test-optional policy. Students, who in the past were required to submit either the SAT or ACT as part of their applications, can decide if they want their standardized test scores to be considered.”

BUSINESS BURST – The Washington Post, “Selling In-Depth Research on Federal Doings,” by Thomas Heath: “Entrepreneur David Bradley is launching a Washington company aimed at acquiring intelligence on how federal activities will affect the private sector and then selling that information to investors such as big mutual funds, endowments and hedge funds. Called Potomac Research, the model is similar to Bradley's predecessor companies, the Corporate Executive Board and the Advisory Board, both of which sell deep research to corporations through a subscription-based service. … Potomac Research will not be affiliated with Atlantic's media business. … Potomac Research has hired several employees and is looking to expand aggressively, with the company evolving over time.”

DESSERT – USA Today, “ 'Indiana' whips up a frenzy at the box office,” by Scott Bowles: “Having proved over the weekend that he still cracks the whip at theaters, Indiana Jones' next mission may be the search for the next sequel. Despite a 19-year hiatus between installments, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull took in $126.1 million for the four-day Memorial Day weekend holiday, according to studio estimates from Nielsen EDI. The haul was the second-biggest Memorial Day weekend opening on record, behind only last year's Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, which earned $139.8 million. Throw in the $25 million that Indy grossed on Thursday, and the fourth episode of the Harrison Ford franchise has nabbed $151.1 million. Analysts had considered Crystal Skull a threat to the record holder, Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, which raked in $172.8 million in 2005. But Crystal Skull ended up No. 5 among biggest five-day debuts.”

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Replies: 6      
default avatar for user Katherine80
Party: NA
Reply #1
Date: May. 27, 2008 - 8:51 AM EST

Obama is being pushed on us by the media and the DNC. However, a growing anti-Obama movement is forming with a number of different groups. You can stream Steve Corbett's "Operation Turndown Obama" weekdays from 3-7 online at: http://wilknetwork.com/ It's an interesting show with callers from all over the U.S.
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default avatar for user Waltb31
Party: Independent
Reply #2
Date: May. 27, 2008 - 10:42 AM EST

Time to be pragmatic Hillary supporters. After reading some of the pro-Hillary posts, there seems to be an underlying theme of either advancing the popular vote argument, the electoral vote argument, the electability argument, or "Obama stole the election". The fact remains that Hillary started with the most money, the best campaign infrastructure, the most superdelegates and the most support by party insiders. Despite the claim of so much support, she finds herself, through her own incompetence, to be $20 million in debt, behind in superdelegates, pledged delegates, and popular vote. (If you want to count Florida, fine. Michigan was not a fair election. And you cannot ignore caucus states). The fact remains she is behind and not likely to win. Those are the facts. Now how do Hillary supporters change the outcome? Threatening to vote for McCain is a non-starter. If these threats are perceived to have an effect on the election, and Obama loses, Hillary can forget about 2012, or even her senate seat. It is ludicrous to think the Reagan Democrats, the so-called white working class will support Hillary over McCain. By your own protestation, you've complained of rampant sexism; what makes you think those white working class Appalachian voters will embrace white woman over a white man? If they won't embrace Obama because of their biases (according to your argument) the chance of them supporting a woman over a man is equally far-fetched. The next argument is the disaffected woman voters who feel "their chance" was stolen from them; so they will make a protest vote for McCain or not vote to "punish" the party. Say hello to inequalities of job salary, overturning Roe v Wade, tax rebates for the wealthy, and any political influence the Clintons have. Is that what you want? Really? There is one viable option that will advance the cause of Hillary; but this must occur quickly. Assuming for a moment that everyone who voted for Hillary in the primary season is a true Hillary supporter (a HUGE assumption) then an internet push to get those Hillary voters to donate at least $2 per person will eliminate her campaign debt. With the strident views of these posters, that minimal financial support should be easy. Anything short of that will brand this "advance Hillary, protest Obama" movement as just a cynical attempt by a minority of delusional Hillary fanatics, not to be taken seriously and thus ignored as we gear up for the general election.
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avatar for user Wodheila
Party: Conservative
Reply #3
Date: May. 27, 2008 - 10:50 AM EST

TeamPolitico: May. 27, 2008 - 8:03 AM EST

“Kennedy Has Set Gold Standard for U.S. Senators”: “Historians will rank him with Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, Robert Taft and John C. Calhoun as a giant of the Senate.”

Key word "historians". The legacy can say anything they decide when there's no one left that knew him. Till then there are too many people poorer and less free than they might have been that remember the truth of his reign. That truth will continue to be spoken till it's left to the historians.

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default avatar for user Donna1000
Party: NA
Reply #4
Date: May. 27, 2008 - 11:32 AM EST

Washington State Voters Take Their Power Back from the Republican and Democratic Parties with a Top-Two Primary System! As the Democratic Party elite and the MSM refuse to look at the will of the voters and continue to try to nominate Sen. Obama while Sen. Clinton polls as the candidate most likely to win the general election I am heartened by the voters of Washington state. They have taken control for nominating state level candidates away from the Democratic and Republican parties and placed it where it belongs, in the hands of the voters. In 2004, Washington State voters approved a referendum that implements a primary system where the top two vote getters for state level positions, regardless of party, advance to the general election. Both parties sued to prevent implemenation of the "top two" primary system and lost at the U.S. Supreme Court. Four years later, the will of the voters is being implemented. The top two vote getter system is being implemented at the state level in this election cycle. See http://seattletimes.nwsource.c... for more information. The voters of Washington State have taken their power back at the state level. I hope that voters in more states will do the same and that some day in the not too distant future voters will take their power back from the party elites and choose their presidential candidates as well. I don't need a superdelegate (or the MSM) to decide who I'm going to vote for. I want the candidates to clearly represent the will of the people.
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default avatar for user Salmon P Chase
Party: NA
Reply #5
Date: May. 27, 2008 - 1:08 PM EST

YES...Katherine80...............Obama is being pushed on us by the media and the DNC and.....the 17 million people who voted for him. Damn those 17 million latte drinking elitist who are are being lead around by the nose.

Oh, and by the way...Turn Down Obama is linked to a site called "Clinton Supporters Count Too"

hmmmmmmmmmmm

Please know that I agree, Clinton's supporters do count - a lot! And so Clinton supporters can avoid having to mail gift packages to their children and grandchildren on their 14th tours of duty somewhere in the Middle East ......we ALL hope you help us defeat McCain.

And to the Clinton supporters who won't vote, or, who vote for McCain - and McCain wins..well, you know the old saying..."You get the government you deserve".

God Bless America


Salmon P Chase
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default avatar for user foramerica
Party: Independent
Reply #6
Date: May. 27, 2008 - 5:33 PM EST

HEY JOHN F HARRIS, HOW ABOUT DOING A STORY ON THIS MESS.. GENOCIDE committed against a gentle people: the Di''neh (Arizona Navajo McCain, supported by Senators Kennedy and Kerry from Massachusetts, and Senator Rockefeller from West Virginia coal mining country, attains profits through massive business gained by McCain''s Wife and her Alcoholic Beverage Distribution business. McCain is backed by the very Nevada casinos and energy companies, who stand to gain the most from the Coal stolen from the Indians: money that fuels McCain''s campaign chest the excess of which he can pocket after every Campaign ends comes to him through street names in Nevada, according to Common Cause, a vastly well regarded public watchdog agency. where double the national average birth defect rate is found among newborns... Who''s behind these horrifying events? Press blackouts issued by McCain/Rockefeller/Kennedy interests at Peabody Group since 1987 have prevented the American Public from learning of the enormous international hue and cry for justice regarding the deprivation of Human and Civil Rights being committed by McCain, his fellow Senators Kerry and Kennedy, Bill Clinton, Al Gore and Peabody Western, against the Di''neh Navajo in Arizona. And now it has invaded the electoral process. http://acsa.net/cain2004.o rg/?gclid=CJeu m47l-pICFQ-WGgodriWUGQ


DAVID A BELANGER,U.S.ARMY VET,[email protected],978-618-3105
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