Today, Wolf Blitzer will interview Sen. Russ Feingold and now you can be part of the interview!
Feingold, a democrat, has been outspoken in his criticism of presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama. Last week he said Obama’s choice to opt out of public financing was a bad decision. Now Obama is supporting a domestic spying bill that many democrats, including Feingold, oppose. What do you think? Submit your video questions now!
Here's your chance to join the political discussion. We want to hear about the political topics and hot-button issues that are most important to you.
Send us your questions on video, and be sure to keep them clear and concise. Your videos could be used on air — and your views a part of the best political team on TV.
Filed under: I Report
From CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney
(CNN) — With just over four months to go until voters weigh in at the polls, a new survey suggests Sen. Barack Obama is holding a double-digit lead over Sen. John McCain among registered voters.
According to a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll, Obama holds a 12 point lead over McCain in a head-to-head match up, 49 percent to 37 percent. But when third party candidates Ralph Nader and Bob Barr are added to the list, Obama's lead over McCain extends to 15 points, 48 percent to 33 percent.
The survey is the second in a matter of days to indicate McCain may face a sizable deficit as the general election campaign kicks off. A Newsweek poll released four days ago showed the Illinois senator with a 15 point lead.
Watch: Obama leads McCain in critical swing states
According to a CNN analysis of five recent national surveys, Obama holds an 8 point lead over his presidential rival.
CNN Polling Director Keating Holland notes a substantial lead in June does not always lead to a decisive victory the following November.
“Historically speaking, when June polls show a tight race, the race usually remains tight all the way through November. But when June polls have shown a big lead for one candidate, that lead has often melted," Holland said.
"Bill Clinton was leading Bob Dole by up to 19 points in June, 1996; Clinton won by eight. Michael Dukakis had a 14-point lead over George Bush the elder in June, 1988; Bush won by seven. Jimmy Carter was up nearly 20 points in June, 1976 but in November eked out a two-point win. And Richard Nixon managed an even smaller victory in 1968 even though he had a 16-point margin that June," Holland noted.
Filed under: Barack Obama • John McCain • Popular Posts
Compiled by Mary Grace Lucas
CNN Washington Bureau
CNN: Obama asks contributors to help Clinton with debt
Sen. Barack Obama has asked top contributors to help his former rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Hillary Clinton, retire her debt, an Obama campaign source said Tuesday.
Washington Post: McCain Adviser May Have Struck a Nerve
Sen. Barack Obama and his surrogates continued to criticize Charles R. Black Jr., a top adviser to Sen. John McCain, on Tuesday for saying a terrorist attack before the November election would help the presumptive Republican nominee. But behind their protests lay a question that has dogged Democrats since Sept. 11, 2001: Was Black speaking the truth?
NY Times: No. 1 Faux Pas in Washington? Candor, Perhaps
It was the journalist Michael Kinsley who changed Washington’s understanding of gaffes with his observation that they occur not when people lie, but when they say what they really think.
Financial Times: Obama under fire over Iraq troop pledge
US presidents have a history of abandoning campaign promises by pointing out that “the world looks different from here” when they reach the Oval Office. A growing number of Democratic foreign policy wonks are hoping that Barack Obama will do just that with his Iraq election promises if he wins the race for the White House in November.
USA Today: McCain aides seek undecideds, non-partisans for town halls
Instead of picking crowds of committed supporters to fill his town hall meetings, aides to Republican John McCain say they are hiring specialists to find undecided and not overly partisan voters. That's a contrast from the last Republican presidential campaign in which President Bush's aides and the Secret Service screened out opponents and emphasized loyal GOP supporters.
WSJ: The Greenest Show on Earth: Democrats Gear Up for Denver
As the Mile High City gears up to host a Democratic bash for 50,000, organizers are discovering the perils of trying to stage a political spectacle that's also politically correct. Consider the fanny packs.
Filed under: Political Hot Topics
Compiled by Mary Grace Lucas, CNN Washington Bureau
* Sen. John McCain campaigns in Nevada, giving an energy speech in Las Vegas and attending an office opening in Henderson.
* Sen. Barack Obama holds a media availability in Chicago, IL.
Filed under: On the Trail
From CNN Associate Producer Martina Stewart, CNN's Sarah Parker
(CNN) – In the latest episode of CNN=Politics Daily, Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley reports on Hillary Clinton’s return to the Senate. The New York senator talks with reporters for the first time since suspending her campaign.
Presumptive Republican nominee John McCain looked to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to spotlight his energy plan in an event Tuesday, but the differences between the two on the topic of offshore drilling were never discussed. CNN’s Dana Bash reports.
Plus: Sen. Barack Obama under attack. Evangelical leader James Dobson accuses the Illinois senator of distorting the Bible and misinterpreting the Constitution. Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider has the latest.
Finally: CNN Internet Correspondent Abbi Tatton reports on Hillary Clinton’s online push for funds.
Filed under: Barack Obama • CNN=Politics Daily • Hillary Clinton • John McCain
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Tuesday confirmed five nominees for the Federal Election Commission, breaking a prolonged partisan logjam and allowing the agency to resume functioning.
The nominees were confirmed without dissent after drawn-out talks between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and a last-minute
hang-up over a demand from Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., a campaign finance crusader, to meet with all five nominees.
Though the FEC staff has been at work, the six-member commission has been inactive because it has not had a quorum to conduct business. The commission is the agency that regulates federal elections and campaign finance matters.
From CNN Political Producer Alexander Marquardt, CNN's Candy Crowley
(CNN) Barack Obama had an “ops-intel” briefing from the Pentagon scheduled last week but it was canceled because of Tim Russert’s death.
A source from the Obama campaign tells CNN's Candy Crowley that the operations and intelligence briefing with the Joint Chiefs of Staff's office, first reported by Politico, was to bring the Illinois senator up to date on the situation on Afghanistan and Iraq.
The source adds that Obama had a similar meeting “a couple of months ago.”
Obama told reporters last Monday that he hopes to visit Iraq and Afghanistan before the election. McCain regularly reminds voters that it’s been almost 900 days since Obama last visited Iraq, and the Republican National Committee helps out with a running clock on its Web site.
The campaign and Pentagon are working on rescheduling the meeting.
Filed under: Barack Obama
From CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney
(CNN) — Barack Obama's name is likely to help several Democratic candidates down ballot, but what about a Republican?
Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith, one of the most vulnerable Senate Republicans, is stressing his history of working with the presumptive Democratic nominee in a new campaign ad hitting airwaves Tuesday.
"Who said Gordon Smith helped lead the fight for better gas mileage and a cleaner environment? Barack Obama," the ad's narrator states. "He joined with Gordon and broke through a 20 year deadlock to pass new laws which increased gas mileage for automobiles."
The Obama campaign immediately made clear the Illinois senator is supporting Smith's Democratic opponent.
“Barack Obama has a long record of bipartisan accomplishment and we appreciate that it is respected by his Democratic and Republican colleagues in the Senate," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said. "But in this race, Oregonians should know that Barack Obama supports Jeff Merkley for Senate. Merkley will help Obama bring about the fundamental change we need in Washington."
Filed under: Barack Obama • Gordon Smith • Senate
From CNN Political Producer Peter Hamby
RIVERSIDE, California (CNN) – John McCain announced Tuesday that he will travel to Colombia and Mexico next week, firming up plans that have been the subject of media speculation in recent weeks.
McCain said he will meet with Colombian president Alvaro Uribe to discuss drug trafficking as well as the Colombian Free Trade Agreement, which has stalled in Congress and faces opposition from many Democrats, including Barack Obama.
As was the case with his trip to Canada last week, McCain said this foray will be paid for by his campaign.
“I want to assure [Uribe] that I believe in free trade between our two countries, that I believe our two nations can work together and fight back this scourge of drugs that has so much afflicted their country and ours,” McCain told reporters at a press conference. “And so I will be telling him that. I consider him a friend and I consider the people of Colombia my friends as well.”
He called Colombia a “vital ally” and praised the “enormous battle that they are waging against the drug cartels which have had such a damaging effect on their country but also on ours.”
Filed under: Barack Obama • John McCain
From CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney
(CNN) — Is Hillary Clinton done with presidential politics?
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi doesn't appear to think so.
The California Democrat suggested Tuesday that the former Democratic presidential candidate may yet mount another run for the White House.
"I think her candidacy was a just a bright, bright moment for us and she may run again," Pelosi said at a breakfast with reporters organized by the Christian Science Monitor.
Pelosi also appeared hesitant to blame sexism on Clinton's loss to Sen. Barack Obama in the prolonged race for the party's presidential nomination. Clinton, along with several of her supporters, have suggested sexist attitudes among members of the media contributed to the New York senator's eventual loss.
Watch: Pelosi on the Obama effect
“Sen. Clinton has advanced the cause of women in government and her candidacy has been a very positive tonic for the country and had a very wholesome effect on the political process," Pelosi said. "I really don’t know, I haven’t analyzed and the rest, I’m a victim of sexism myself all the time, but I just think it goes with the territory, I don’t sit around to say, ‘but for that."
Filed under: Hillary Clinton • Nancy Pelosi • Popular Posts
From CNN's Bob Costantini, Lisa Desjardins and Alexander Mooney
Clinton talked with reporters about her first trip back to the Capitol since ending her presidential bid. (Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (CNN) — After wrapping up the longest presidential primary campaign in modern history, Hillary Clinton told reporters Tuesday she is ready to turn her attention back to being the junior senator from New York.
"I look forward to being back with this great team," she said as she returned to the Senate at the end of a two-week vacation, taken after she conceded the 17-month-long primary contest to Sen. Barack Obama.
Watch: Clinton greeted with cheers
The second-term New York Democrat pledged to "immerse myself in there," pointing to the chamber.
She had just emerged from the party's weekly luncheon that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called "one of the most emotional caucuses" he's ever attended on Capitol Hill. He said the New York senator entered the event to a sea of high fives, cheers, and a standing ovation from her Democratic colleagues.
Clinton said the opportunity to run for the Oval Office allowed her to "immerse myself in the extraordinary resilience and resourcefulness that is the American people."
"And I come back with an even greater depth of awareness about what we have to do here in Washington," she said. "So many of the concerns that people have expressed to me over the course of this campaign are ones that they can't individually solve. They can't even really take it on just at the state or local level."
Filed under: Barack Obama • Hillary Clinton • Popular Posts
From CNN Political Producer Peter Hamby
RIVERSIDE, California (CNN) — On the day Hillary Clinton returned to the Senate for the first time since abandoning her presidential bid, her Senate Republican colleague John McCain said Clinton will probably come back to her day job with greater political clout.
“I think, if I had to guess, that the fact that the she ran an honorable and incredibly long and dedicated campaign for the nomination of her party would indicate to me that she would probably return to the United States Senate with enhanced prestige and enhanced influence,” McCain told reporters at a press conference here.
He also praised Clinton for her work on military matters since joining the legislative body in 2001.
“I think that Senator Clinton has already attained a position of leadership in the United States Senate,” he said. “She works hard at her job. She is a very important member of the Armed Services Committee and I have worked together wither her on a variety of national security issues.”
Filed under: Barack Obama • Hillary Clinton • John McCain
From CNN Political Producer Alexander Marquardt
(CNN) – In the ongoing back-and-forth between John McCain and Barack Obama over energy policy, the Arizona senator's campaign gave Obama a new nickname on Tuesday – Dr. No.
“It’s just very clear at this point that Senator Obama is Dr. No on energy security,” McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said on a conference call with reporters. “Today it was ‘no’ on the $300 million for a new kind of battery. Before it was ‘no’ on further exploration or possibility of further exploration of our coasts. It was ‘no’ on gas tax relief that can help this summer families that are hurting. It’s ‘no’ on expanded nuclear power investments that we can make.”
“So, we think we’re seeing a pattern here,” Rogers concluded.
Watch: McCain discusses his energy plan
On Capitol Hill, Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, echoed the list of energy initiatives Obama has disagreed with, adding, “It's a new law we might call Obamanomics. It would repeal half the law of supply and demand.”
Filed under: Barack Obama • John McCain
From CNN Anchor Wolf Blitzer
(CNN)–Barack Obama says he’s going to run a 50-state race for the White House. His aides say he will aggressively seek to make inroads in some of the traditionally Republican presidential states. It’s an ambitious quest but one that would be made easier if he raises hundreds of millions of dollars.
We’ll see in the coming weeks and months how that works out. My instinct tells me he won’t be spending lots of time in Utah and Wyoming, for example.
Still, I do think Obama will campaign actively in North Carolina and Georgia – two states with large numbers of African Americans. His campaign as well as the Democratic National Committee will try to get hundreds of thousands of new voters registered, especially African-Americans and young people. That is potentially very fertile ground for Obama and could make a critical difference in November.
Howard Dean, the chairman of the Democratic Party, was criticized in recent years by some fellow Democrats for spending scarce DNC money in some of the Republican states. He said he wanted the Democratic Party active across the United States. His critics thought that was a waste of money and time.
But now, that investment seems to have paid off. Witness the recent Democratic successes in those three special Congressional elections in Mississippi, Louisiana and Illinois where seats long held by Republicans, including the former Speaker Dennis Hastert, were captured by Democrats.
Filed under: Barack Obama • Wolf Blitzer
www.snetsolution.com
No comments:
Post a Comment