FRANKFORT, KY – With the Democratic nomination all but wrapped up, Barack Obama has moved past his primary battle with Hillary Clinton, beginning to implement his general election strategy. But even as she slides towards irrelevance, the New York Senator has, in her own way, joined Obama in general election mode — increasingly aiming her rhetorical cannons not at her primary opponent, but at John McCain.
Clinton delivered her sharpest attack yet on McCain’s economic policies – saying the Arizona Senator is “laying out an agenda on the campaign trial that is nothing less than four more years of George Bush economics.” And that, as all Democrats know, is pretty bad. “I don’t know that we’ve had a worse president in American history,” Clinton said of Bush.
Two ads were released today featuring Senator John McCain, but the candidate approved only one. The ad, “Leading” will air in Iowa and aims to play on the still-ongoing battle for the Democratic nomination:
“While Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama argue and fight with each other, John McCain leads.”
The commercial says that the presumptive Republican nominee will “fight against wasteful government spending,” advocates a gas tax holiday, and explains how he wants his health care plan to provide tax credits.
Click here to watch the ad:
The other ad is sponsored by MoveOn.org and is a scathing attack on McCain’s senior advisor, Charlie Black. Black has come under fire during the campaign for his lobbyist history, but today McCain was adamant that Black and campaign manager Rick Davis are no longer practicing lobbyists.
This week the McCain campaign instituted a new vetting procedure to find out if any employees have lobbyist histories, particularly if they have lobbied for any foreign governments. In recent days, three McCain advisors have left the campaign because of embarrassing revelations of work outside the campaign. Newsweek revealed that two aides had lobbied for the military junta in Myanmar in 2002 and just yesterday another staffer left because he was also working for a 527 group opposing the Democratic candidates.
The ad reveals Black’s lobbyist history and calls for him to resign. The commercial says Black “made millions lobbying for the world’s worst tyrants” and names some of them including Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines, Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, and Jonas Savimbi of Angola—over very graphic images. The ad was sent to Move On members and concludes with asking members to, “Call John McCain and tell him to fire Charlie Black,” and includes the phone number for McCain headquarters.
Joining his former rival today, Governor Mitt Romney also addressed the crowd of thousands at the NRA annual convention. Even though he did not share the stage with Senator John McCain he praised him and went after McCain’s democratic rival, Senator Barack Obama, “This is a person who has not stood with us on second amendment issues. He is a man who I’m afraid of who he would put in place a court. It would not be a court that would stand up for the issues that are so dear to us.”
He told the NRA members that McCain might not be perfect, but he’s right on the issues that matter to them:
“Now I know everyone here doesn’t agree with John McCain on every issue. I didn’t. I ran against him! But, I believe that he is right on issue after issue that counts. He is right about fighting global jihad. He’s right about winning in Iraq. He’s right about keeping government small and taxes low and he’s right about the constitutional rights that were put in our constitution by your founding fathers. Barack Obama is one of those liberals who thinks he know what the founders would have written if they were alive today,” Romney said, “And I prefer a president like John McCain who believes in the plain words they actually wrote. “
It would be hard to imagine that praise just over three months ago when they were in a bitter battle for the GOP nomination. For Romney’s address today he revived most of his stump speech that he gave on the trail—sticking with many of the same issues and stories that he told crowds during his campaign.
During his failed battle for the nomination, Romney tried to woo gun owners by saying he was a lifelong NRA member—instead it turned out that he had just had wielded a gun at some “small varmints.”
Senator John McCain went to the National Rifle Association’s annual convention today to court gun owners—and go after his Democratic rival Senator Barack Obama.
McCain made an addition to his prepared remarks to respond to comments Obama made about the Arizona senator today:
Bush denied he was talked about Obama, but it started off a political firestorm which McCain addressed later yesterday. He went after Obama for saying he would sit down and talk with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahjmadinejad, which lead to the continued boiling over today where the Republican nominee-in-waiting went on to question Obama’s judgment:
“It would be a wonderful thing if we lived in a world where we don’t have enemies,” McCain said, “But that is not the world we live in, and until Senator Obama understands that reality, the American people have every reason to doubt whether he has the strength, judgment, and determination to keep us safe.”
McCain didn’t spare Senator Clinton either painting them both as wanting to limit the rights of gun owners, “Let’s be clear. If either Senator Clinton or Senator Obama is elected President, the rights of law-abiding gun owners will be at risk my friends and have no doubt about it. “
Senator Barack Obama reacted calling it a “false political attack” against him, but Bush denied his statements were about the Democratic frontrunner.
On Senator John McCain’s Straight Talk Express, McCain told reporters that he believed Bush when he said he was not talking about Obama. But, used the question to rail into his Democratic rival questioning his foreign policy judgment:
“I think Barack Obama needs to explain why he wants to sit down and talk with a man who is the head of a government that is a state sponsor of terror that is responsible for the killing of brave young Americans and wants to wipe Israel off the map and denies the Holocaust,” McCain said, “That is what I think Senator Obama ought to explain to the American people.”
McCain said he believes in “peace through strength” and sitting down with the Iranian president only gives prestige to the regime. The Republican nominee-in-waiting accused Obama of inexperience:
“It is a serious error on the part of Senator Obama that shows naivety and inexperience and lack of judgment to say that he wants to sit down across the table from an individual who leads a country that says that Israel is a stinking corpse, that is dedicated to the extinction of the state of Israel,” McCain said. “My question is what does he want to talk about?
BATH, SD — Hillary Clinton focused on agriculture at a farm in one of the final two primary states, blasting John McCain for supporting the president’s Farm Bill veto threat.
But she didn’t have much to say about the man she’s battling for the right to run against McCain in November - or the criticism President Bush seemed to be leveling at her Democratic primary opponent.
In Israel, Bush ridiculed those who would negotate with “terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along.” Calling the idea a “foolish delusion,” Bush compared such talk to the appeasement of the Nazis in 1939.
While the White House denies that the comments were aimed at Sen Obama, they’ve been widely interpreted as attacking his stated philosophy of meeting with foreign enemies of the United States, such as Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez and Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Democrats from Howard Dean to Joseph Biden have lashed out at Bush’s critique.
A Clinton spokesperson said it was unlikely that the New York Senator would do the same at this event, but promised a statement that would come down hard the president. The promised statement has yet to be released. In fact, Sen Clinton herself has criticized Obama for the same position — calling a promise of presidential meetings with dictators and despots without preconditions the height of naivite.
On the farm, Clinton tore into McCain for siding with Bush on vetoing the Farm Bill, saying “they’re like two sides of the same coin, and it doesn’t amount to much change.” And while she leveled some gentle criticism at Obama on health care and his “persuade Washington to come together” approach to ending special interest influence in government, she left his name out when criticisng opponents of her gas tax holiday, instead getting a bit defensive over opposition to the idea. “If you don’t have an answer to the problem, then keep your peace,” she said. “Otherwise, come up with your own answer.”
In general, the attacks on McCain are growing in frequency, while the attacks on Obama are delivered with less and less intensity. With even a 41 point win in West Virginia failing to change the game - and the Edwards endorsement of Obama stealing much of her thunder - even the Clinton campaign seems to have transitioned to a general election mode — but one in which her primary opponent is the Democratic nominee.
Senator John McCain continued his “green” tour of the Northwest today with a stop in North Bend, Washington. He was clear that he wants to be seen as a progressive when it comes to curbing climate change, “I will be a President of the United States for the environment. I have a long record of advocacy for our environment and I’m proud of that.”
The presumptive Republican nominee stressed many of the points in his speech on global warming yesterday, such as the importance of cap and trade, the reduction of greenhouse gases, and the link between stalling climate change and protecting America’s national security.
McCain made a clean break with President Bush on the issue of the environment. He was not shy in describing his conflicts with the administration on this issue:
“The President and I have disagreed on this issue for many years. It isn’t a recent disagreement. Beginning in 2002 or 2003 I held hearings as chairman of the commerce committee and I took great exception to the testimony by administration officials on this issue,” He told reporters, “So there’s a long-standing, significant, deep, and strong differences on this issue between myself and the administration. . .”
The Arizona senator said he would be a better protector for the environment than either of his Democratic rivals because his proposal is “doable” and he has been involved in the issue for many years, “They have never, to my knowledge, been involved in legislation, or hearings, nor engagement on this issue. I have a long history,” McCain said, “I traveled around the world and seen the impacts of climate change on the world. I’ve held hearings beginning back after the 2000 presidential campaign.”
The Obama campaign was quick to respond hitting McCain with his own words, “While Barack Obama has brought Republicans and Democrats together around plans to raise our fuel standards and invest in renewable energy, John McCain’s ‘long history’ involves opposing countless measures to invest in renewable fuels and alternative energy technology.”
Aiming to portray himself as the “greenest” Republican candidate for president in decades, Senator John McCain spoke today on climate change. He made the case that global warming is fact and without the limiting of greenhouse gases using free-market principals it will not just be the environment that will find itself in peril:
“Our economy depends upon clean and affordable alternatives to fossil fuels, and so, in many ways, does our security. A large share of the world’s oil reserves is controlled by foreign powers that do not have our interests at heart. And as our reliance on oil passes away, their power will vanish with it.”
McCain stressed that only the free-market system can help slow climate change, namely using a cap-and trade system:
“And we must do this in a way that gives American businesses new incentives and new rewards to seek, instead of just giving them new taxes to pay and new orders to follow,” McCain said, “The most direct way to achieve this is through a system that sets clear limits on all greenhouse gases, while also allowing the sale of rights to excess emissions. And this is the proposal I will submit to the Congress if I am elected president — a cap-and-trade system to change the dynamic of our energy economy.”
Cap and trade gives companies emission targets or caps and if they produce less emissions then they can trade the surplus. McCain set goals for emissions to be reduced by 60 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, “We will cap emissions according to specific goals, measuring progress by reference to past carbon emissions. By the year 2012, we will seek a return to 2005 levels of emission, by 2020, a return to 1990 levels, and so on until we have achieved at least a reduction of sixty percent below 1990 levels by the year 2050.”
In contrast, McCain’s Democratic rival, Senator Barack Obama has pledged to cut emission rates by 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.
The presumptive Republican nominee gave a swipe at President Bush for not doing enough to maintain the negotiations that lead to the failure of the Kyoto Protocols:
“I will not shirk the mantle of leadership that the United States bears. I will not permit eight long years to pass without serious action on serious challenges,” McCain continued, “I will not accept the same dead-end of failed diplomacy that claimed Kyoto. The United States will lead and will lead with a different approach — an approach that speaks to the interests and obligations of every nation.”
Even as the Democratic primary seems to be coming to a close, the delegate situation in Michigan and Florida remains unresolved. Today, both reporters and voters asked Senator Barack Obama about the on-going battle.
At a town hall in Bend, OR, a woman asked the Democratic frontrunner given the outcome of the race if he has “considered giving her Florida?” referring to Senator Hillary Clinton.
Obama chuckled at first, but then said the delegates will be seated, “Let me say this. I love Florida, I love Michigan. The people of Michigan and Florida they will be represented at the convention–their delegates will be seated and we will figure out a way where they are fully participating in the process.”
He defended his opposition to a re-vote explaining to the crowd that he stuck by the rules not to campaign in Florida and Michigan because both states broke DNC regulations and moved their primaries up, “Now as some people know we were told at the beginning of this race that we were not supposed to campaign in Florida and Michigan so we didn’t campaign in Florida and Michigan,” Obama said, “We played by the rules that everybody agreed to. We took our name off the ballot in Michigan because we weren’t supposed to be campaigning there. So obviously we don’t think that that was a fair contest and that it should count in the same way the other contests have counted.”
He did not agree to “give” Clinton Florida, but ended by assuring the crowd that the delegate situation would be resolved and that he knows how important those states will be in the general election, “But having said that, having said that I am confident that we will get this resolved and I have every interest because I intend to be the Democratic nominee, I have every interest in making sure that Florida and Michigan are happy. This is something that will get done. “
Senator Barack Obama responded to comments Oregon Congressman, Peter DeFazio made at a town hall yesterday while introducing the Democratic frontrunner. DeFazio mentioned Senator John McCain’s association with the Keating Five savings and loan scandal, “He says we need less regulation? Hello! Wall Street mortgage meltdown, Bear Stearns taxpayer bail out, Enron, but you know, I guess maybe for a guy who was up to his neck in the Keating Five and saving and loan scandal less regulation is better.”
When the superdelegate introduced Obama at a rally in Eugene, OR later that night he did not repeat the hit questioning McCain’s ethics.
Today, in Bend, OR, Obama was asked if the dig was fair game. He began by trying to separate DeFazio’s attack from himself, but said the information is out in the open and therefore appropriate to bring up, “I don’t have any doubt that John McCain’s public record about issues that he’s apologized for and written about is not germane to the presidency,” Obama continued referencing an earlier question, “You know, I was just asked previously about a whole host of issues and associations that were a lot more flimsy than John McCain’s relationship to Keating Five. What I’ve said is, you know, I can’t quarrel with the American people wanting to know more about that and me having to answer questions about that.”
Obama was asked about Republican attacks on his patriotism, something he brought up at the rally last night.
The McCain campaign’s Tucker Bounds responded to the Keating Five mention, “Apparently Obama’s lively calls for ‘new politics’ ended today and politics-as-usual emerged, because his campaign spokesman said just yesterday that this is an issue they didn’t intend to discuss. If Barack Obama doesn’t have the strength to stand up to his own standards, how is he going to stand up for hardworking Americans who need a strengthened economy? ”
The Democratic frontrunner may have an opportunity to have it out with McCain in person soon. Some of McCain’s advisers have suggested holding town hall style debates with Obama and today he agreed, “I think that’s a great idea–that’s a great idea. Obviously we would have to think through the logistics on that,” Obama told reporters, “But to the extent that I, should I be the nominee, if I have the opportunity to debate substantive issues before the voters with John McCain that’s something that I am going to welcome.
Survivor Found After 139 Hours in Collapsed China Hospital A “slightly bruised” man was pulled out alive from a collapsed hospital Sunday after being trapped for 139 hours following a massive earthquake in China, a state news agency reported.
Kennedy ‘Conscious’ After Suffering Seizures Sen. Ted Kennedy was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital after apparently suffering two seizures; his condition seemed to be improving.
Obama Focusing on Fall Obama may still be campaigning in primary states, but his campaign is shifting full-gear into general election mode• Obama Picks Up Delegates in 3 States• BRIEFING BOOK: Kentucky and Oregon (pdf)• GOP Unleashes on Obama Over Foreign Policy Views
Congress Fears Electronic Passports a Security Risk Electronic passports for U.S. travelers frequenting Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean soon will replace the old-style paper identification, but some think the cards could fall prey to counterfeiters, The Washington Post reported.
