rimblr.com

By now, everyone’s heard of Sen. John McCain’s “Straight Talk Express,” on which Mr. Maverick routinely shoots the breeze with members of the press. What many Americans may not know is that Sen. Barack Obama has his own campaign bus, “The Expediency Express,” which is regularly deployed to flatten anyone who interferes with Obama’s quest for power. The Expediency Express knows no loyalty, so passengers board at their own risk. From low-level staffers , to longtime confidants, to senior advisors, to blood relatives, Obama has displayed an unflinching willingness to toss pretty much anyone under his bus as soon as they’re seen as a major liability to his campaign.
Let’s review the casualties thus far. The most prominent victim, of course, was Reverend Jeremiah Wright, whom Obama long regarded as a father figure and spiritual mentor. Wright married the Obamas and baptized their daughters. The words of one of his sermons inspired the title of Barack’s second autobiography, The Audacity of Hope. Even after Wright’s penchant for America-hating statements and conspiracy theorizing came to light, Obama stood by his minister of twenty years, insisting that the “snippets” pounced upon by the media misrepresented Wright’s worldview. Then came the infamous National Press Club performance, when Wright regurgitated all of his nuttiness within the span of an hour, then proceeded to suggest that his former congregant had only distanced himself because he was saying what he needed to say in order to get elected. Although this may have been Wright’s clearest insight in years, Obama perceived it as a show of “disrespect” to him and an “insult” to his campaign. Before he could blink, Wright had tire tracks down his back. The message was clear–say whatever you’d like about America, her people, and her leaders, but if you cross Captain Change, you’re toast.

townhall.com

Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., waits backstage before a rally in Sioux Falls, S.D., Friday, May 16, 2008. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
By brETT BARROUQUERE – 8 hours ago
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Republican Mike Huckabee responded to an offstage noise during his speech Friday to the National Rifle Association by suggesting it was Barack Obama diving to the floor because someone had aimed a gun at him.
Hearing a loud noise and interrupting his speech, Huckabee said: “That was Barack Obama. He just tripped off a chair. He’s getting ready to speak and somebody aimed a gun at him and he — he dove for the floor.”
There were only a few murmurs in the crowd after the remark.
The Obama campaign had no comment.
Later Friday, Huckabee issued a statement saying: “During my speech at the NRA a loud noise backstage, that sounded like a chair falling, distracted the crowd and interrupted my speech. I made an offhand remark that was in no way intended to offend or disparage Sen. Obama. I apologize that my comments were offensive, that was never my intention.”
Huckabee, who sought the GOP presidential nomination, won the leadoff Iowa caucuses and seven other states. But he dropped out after Sen. John McCain, the likely nominee, piled up a series of big victories. An ordained Baptist minister, Huckabee attracted strong support among religious conservatives.
He and former GOP candidate Mitt Romney addressed the NRA convention Friday as did McCain.
Huckabee’s comments came during a nearly 20-minute speech in which he suggested gun education should start early. He also criticized the Democratic presidential candidates, saying neither Obama nor rival Hillary Rodham Clinton would fight to defend an individual’s right to own a gun.
“I’m not sure Senator Obama or Senator Clinton really get it,” Huckabee said.

ap.google.com

WASHINGTON — A majority of American voters say the furor over the relationship between Senator Barack Obama and his former pastor has not affected their opinion of Mr. Obama, but a substantial number say it could influence voters this fall should he be the Democratic presidential nominee, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.
At the same time, an overwhelming majority of voters said candidates calling for the suspension of the federal gasoline tax this summer were acting to help themselves politically, rather than to help ordinary Americans. Mr. Obama’s rival for the Democratic nomination, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, has made suspension of the gasoline tax a centerpiece of her campaign in recent days.
Americans were divided over the merits of the gasoline tax suspension, which has also been backed by the likely Republican nominee, Senator John McCain, and condemned by Mr. Obama as political gimmickry.
The survey, conducted after Mr. Obama held a news conference on Tuesday forcefully renouncing Mr. Wright for making incendiary comments, found most Americans said they approved of the way Mr. Obama had responded to the episode and considered his criticism of Mr. Wright appropriate.
But nearly half of the voters surveyed, and a substantial portion of the Democrats, said Mr. Obama had acted mainly because he thought it would help him politically, rather than because he had serious disagreements with his former pastor. The broader effect of the controversy on Mr. Obama’s candidacy among Democratic primary voters was less clear-cut in the poll, but enough of them expressed some qualms about Mr. Obama’s relationship with the former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., to suggest it could sway a relatively small but potentially important group of voters in the remaining primaries.
The survey was taken in the days leading up to the primaries on Tuesday in North Carolina and Indiana.

nytimes.com

Isn’t it, um, elitist to ridicule people for wearing Abercrombie clothes? I suspect that it may not be a politically winning strategy to look down on the tastes of the suburban middle class. I know folks in Washington may lose sight of this, what with DC being the most formally dressed city in America, but most of America dresses very casually these days.
Besides, how is it "inappropriate" for one guy to wear an Ambercrombie t-shirt to a political rally, but not inappropriate for a third of the audience to wear AFSCME t-shirts to another political rally? It once again looked like AFSCME, not Hillary, is running for president last night. Hundreds of green AFSCME signs in the crowd, a dozen or so Hillary signs (all clustered around the podium, to give the appearance in close-ups that Hillary can afford to print her own rally signs).

blogs.tnr.com

Mr. Bush, speaking before members of the armed forces and defense officials at the Pentagon, said in his frankest acknowledgment yet that the costs of the war, in lives and money, had been higher and longer lasting than he had anticipated.
But he remained unwavering in his insistence that the invasion of Iraq, which began in March 2003, had made the world better and the United States safer.
“Five years into this battle, there is an understandable debate over whether the war was worth fighting, whether the fight is worth winning, and whether we can win it,” he said. “The answers are clear to me. Removing Saddam Hussein from power was the right decision, and this is a fight that America can and must win.”
The anniversary starkly illustrated the divide between Mr. Bush and Democrats, who control Congress — and between the Republican presidential candidate, Senator John McCain of Arizona, and the two senators seeking the Democratic nomination, Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton.
At a community college in Fayetteville, a military town in North Carolina, Mr. Obama noted that the war in Iraq had now lasted longer than the Civil War, World War I and World War II, though it has been fought on a scale far below those conflicts.
“Where are we for all of this sacrifice?” he said. “We are less safe and less able to shape events abroad. We are divided at home, and our alliances around the world have been strained.”
Mrs. Clinton, appearing at an American Legion post in Huntington, W.Va., argued for a cautious withdrawal of troops that would begin within 60 days of her taking office. “Every one of you who has served knows with drawing troops can be as dangerous as inserting them,” she said.
By contrast, Mr. McCain, who visited Iraq this week, issued a statement saying that the United States and its allies in Iraq stood “on the precipice of winning a major victory against radical Islamic extremism.”

nytimes.com

Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) — Barack Obama spent $250,000 for a 30-second commercial during this month's Super Bowl. At almost the same time, a four-and-a-half-minute, independently produced video, “Yes We Can,'' was released on the Internet.
While the TV ad may be forgotten, the video, featuring celebrities singing over an Obama speech, has been become a Web phenomenon, viewed some 10 million times. Obama's Democratic presidential campaign, which paid nothing for the film, quickly adopted it as its own, posting the clip on its Web site.
As Internet videos become a staple of the 2008 elections, “Yes We Can'' shows how outside parties are increasingly using them to spread a candidate's message in ways that can make TV ads look obsolete. That means campaigns have to share their image-making role with third parties, a risk worth taking, said media consultant Bill McIntyre.
“When it comes to the Internet, the candidates who are most willing to give up some control because the message is easy to understand are going to do better,'' said McIntyre, executive vice president of Washington-based Grassroots Enterprise, which advises clients on media strategy.
An e-mailed political video usually carries more weight than a TV commercial because it often comes from someone the recipient knows, said McIntyre.
“People, for the most part, will make their final decisions based on what friends and family say,'' he said.
On the Attack
The do-it-yourself video can be used to attack candidates, too.
A film produced by supporters of Representative Ron Paul, a Texas Republican, juxtaposes Arizona Senator John McCain's struggles to answer a question about economics with a Miss Teen USA contestant flummoxed by a question about geography. More than 500,000 people have seen the McCain clip on YouTube.com.
The emergence of Web-based video marks a turning point in the relationship between politicians and TV, said political strategist Tad Devine. Candidates are embracing the Internet to show a side of themselves that can't fit into a 30-second commercial.

bloomberg.com

"I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible," he said.
"It’s a story that hasn’t made me the most conventional candidate. But it is a story that has seared into my genetic makeup the idea that this nation is more than the sum of its parts — that out of many, we are truly one."
Obama mostly has avoided focusing on race during his campaign. His speech comes after spending the weekend on the defensive over his former minister’s statements. He was looking to explain his church and its worldview to voters who are aware only of Wright’s headline-grabbing comments.
The senator said that race only became a divisive issue in the campaign during recent weeks.
Obama admitted he had sat in church and heard his former minister make controversial remarks.
"Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely — just as I’m sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed."
The remarks that caused the most recent firestorm "were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity," Obama said.
Obama said that if he knew Wright only through clips played on television and YouTube, he also would see a reason to distance himself from the minister.
"But the truth is that isn’t all that I know of the man," he said.
"As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me," Obama said after describing his experience at Trinity United.
Obama insisted he was not trying to justify Wright’s comments.
"The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we’ve never really worked through — a part of our union that we have yet to perfect," he said.

cnn.com

The Nation — Sermons of Rev. Jeremiah Wright of Chicago 's Trinity United Church of Christ, otherwise known as Barack Obama 's pastor, are circulating wildly around the internet the last 24 hours. They show Wright passionately denouncing racism against blacks in America, in sometimes sharp language, and pointing out the ills of American foreign policy pre-9/11. Fox News and the right-wing blogosphere are outraged, the mainstream media is eagerly amplifying the selected sermons and the Clinton campaign is delighting that Obama's Chicago ties are receiving serious scrutiny.
Before delving into the specifics, there's a bit of irony here. Democrats have been told over and over that they need to get religion. And then when a candidate like Obama comes around–who regularly attends church and speaks about his faith in an inclusive, authentic way–he's attacked for which church he attends. It's a lose-lose situation! Before the primary Obama was accused of not being black enough. Now he's too black. To the right-wing and much of the media, Rev. Wright is just the latest evidence of Obama's radical black nationalist past. (See my latest Nation article, " Smearing Obama ," for an anatomy of the smear campaign hatched against Obama.)

read_more

by Mark Silva
The Ohio debate last night between Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama drew 7.8 million viewers, MSNBC reports — a record for the network.
The cable news network’s coverage of the debate ran “second only” to American Idol in its time slot. Not since the start of the Iraq war — a subject which played a role in the debate — have so many tuned in to MSNBC.
The debate was the most watched broadcast in the 11-year history of the network, according to Nielsen Media Research. It was the third most-watched debate of the season and the second most-watched on cable TV.
“Voters are incredibly engaged and passionate about the presidential election; it’s one of the most exciting in history. I’m proud that millions of viewers were able to experience the most anticipated debate of the season on MSNBC,” said Phil Griffin, senior viice president for NBC News and executive in charge of MSNBC, in a statement released by the network.
The debate was the No. 4 program of the night, broadcast or cable, in total viewers and ranked second only to “American Idol” in its time period. The debate was also the No. 1 cable program of the night among total viewers and adults 25-54.
The audience for the debate averaged 3.24 million adults 25-54, also a record for the network — the previous high for the network came on March 19, 2003, the start of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq which Obama opposed and which Clinton voted to authorize.
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swamppolitics.com

CLEVELAND, Feb. 26 (UPI) — Barack Obama renewed his blasts against Hillary Clinton Tuesday, saying during their presidential debate in Ohio her campaign has initiated “negative attacks.”
The 90-minute debate, a key confrontation ahead of the March 4 primaries in Ohio, Texas, Vermont and Rhode Island, began with questions about the recent negative tenor of the campaign involving the two Democratic contenders for the White House.
Clinton, the New York senator who went into the debate lagging behind Obama in national polls, criticized Obama, her colleague from Illinois, for a campaign mailer issued about her healthcare plan that she said was inaccurate.
“This is a contested campaign,” Clinton said. “I have a great deal of respect for Senator Obama, but we have differences.”
Obama stood by the mailer his camp sent to Ohio voters.
“Her campaign has constantly sent out negative attacks,” Obama countered. “We haven’t whined about it because I understand that this is the nature of these campaigns.”
The candidates also discussed a 2006 photograph of Obama in traditional Kenyan garments that appeared on the Web site The Drudge Report. The photograph was being circulated by “Clinton staffers,” The Drudge Report said.
Clinton told Obama she had no knowledge of her campaign being involved in the photograph’s dissemination.
“I take Senator Clinton at her word that she knew nothing about the photo,” Obama said.

upi.com