Barack Obama addressed a gaggle of reporters this afternoon to discuss the latest goings-on with Hurricane Gustav. After brief opening comments on the much-hyped, overly politicized hurricane, reporters were curious about one thing: 17-year-old Bristol Palin’s pregnancy, made public today.

“I have heard some of the news on this and so let me be a clear as possible: I have said before and I will repeat again, I think people’s families are off limits, and people’s children are especially off limits. This shouldn’t be part of our politics,” the Democrat said forcefully. “It has no relevance to Governor Palin’s performance as governor, or her potential performance as a VP. And so I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories,” he continued.

The candidate who himself was born to a teenage mom, reminded reporters, “You know my mother had me when she was 18, and how a family deals with issues and you know teenage children, that shouldn’t be the topic of our politics and I hope that anybody who is supporting me understands that’s off limits.”

When asked about an “unnamed McCain advisor” accusing the Obama campaign of spreading despicable rumors surrounding Bristol Palin online, Obama interrupted the reporter mid-question. “I am offended by that statement. There is no evidence at all that any of this involved us,” he said directly. “Our people were not involved in any way in this, and they will not be. And if I ever thought that it was somebody in my campaign that was involved in something like that - they’d be fired,” he added.

With that, Obama boarded his airport-bound bus to head to Milwaukee for a rally.

Barack Obama had no response to the cover of the July 21st issue of The New Yorker Magazine, seen below, except to shrug incredulously and tell reporters, “I have no response to that.”

The cartoon features Barack and Michelle Obama celebrating with a fist bump in the Oval Office in front of a portrait of Osama bin Laden and an American flag burning in the fireplace. Mrs. Obama is portrayed as a militant radical, while Obama appears foreign. The image reflects, some might say mocks, the rumors that have plagued the couple over the last 18 months.

While the candidate declined comment, his campaign did not. “The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Senator Obama’s right wing critics have tried to create. But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree,” spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement.

The magazine features a lengthy article on “how Chicago shaped Obama.”

Mayor Mike Bloomberg spoke to Jewish voters today in Boca Raton, Florida, to assure the community that both presidential candidates have expressed a commitment to Israel, and believe that Iran poses a threat to the nation.

Bloomberg, the Independent mayor of New York City who has yet to endorse a candidate (and has appeared at events alongside both candidates), had another reason for addressing Jewish voters. “Let’s make sure that we, as Jews and as voters, keep the conversation focused on the facts and not let it descend into false rumor and innuendo.”

Barack Obama  has been fighting  rumors that he is Muslim since he announced his candidacy. Occasionally voters would ask Obama on the trail if the allegation was true, forcing Obama to try to dispel them, which only amplified the story in the mainstream press. Just a few days ago, the campaign announced a new website dedicated to “fight the smears,” including snuffing out the Muslim myth.

Mayor Bloomberg today lashed out against emails circulating that push that message. “There are plenty of emails floating around the Internet targeting Jewish voters and saying that Senator Obama is secretly a Muslim, and a radical one at that.  Let’s call those rumors what they are: lies.  They are cloaked in concern for Israel, but the real concern is about partisan politics.  Israel is just being used as a pawn,” he said, adding the religion question is “wedge politics at its worst,” and asked the Jewish voters to “reject it – loudly, clearly, and unequivocally.”

Moreover, he said, such tactics will only exacerbate relations between the Jewish and Muslim communities, as well as with African Americans. “It threatens to undo the enormous strides that Jews and Muslims have made together in this country – and the enormous strides that Jews and African-Americans have made together,” he concluded.

Read his full remarks as prepared for delivery below the jump.

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The Obama camp unveiled its new plan to fight rumors that have dogged the candidate and his wife, Michelle, since the Dem jumped into the fray. The website, http://www.fightthesmears.com, is a forum for the campaign to contest notions that, thus far, the candidate has attempted to swat away along the campaign trail.

He was most recently had to assure Jewish voters in South Florida at a town hall meeting that he’s not a Muslim, for example. “If you get one of these emails that says I’m a Muslim, not true, never been a Muslim, this is just stuff that is designed to make people suspicious and I watch this - I’m amazed that people are reading this stuff. By the way, if you get an email from a Nigerian whose trying to, who says you can make a lot of money if you send him a thousand dollars, don’t send your money or your bank account,” he joked.

Since he announced his candidacy, Obama has on occasion been characterized as Muslim, unpatriotic, and worse in emails circulating online whose claims are false and often taken out of context. For example, many blogs cite Obama as having written in his book, Audacity of Hope, “I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.”

The new site informs readers that this quote is inaccurate when placed in its original context. Referring to Arab and Pakistani Americans who, after 9/11 felt the affects of racial profiling, Obama the author wrote, “They have been reminded that the history of immigration in this country has a dark underbelly; they need specific assurances that their citizenship really means something, that America has learned the right lessons from the Japanese internments during World War II, and that I will stand with them should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.”

While these emails may seem nefarious in nature - they are sourceless and their claims are often far-fetched - they often find their way into the mainstream media. Just one day after his securing the Democratic nomination, a reporter aboard his campaign jet asked Obama about a long-standing rumor that his wife spoke at their former church Trinity United Church of Christ, and used the word “whitey.” According to rumors, the moment is caught on tape.

An irritated Obama responded, “There is dirt and lies that are circulated in email and they pump them out long enough until finally you, a mainstream reporter, asks me about them. And then that gives legs to the story.
” He challenged, “If somebody has evidence that myself or Michelle or anybody has said something inappropriate, let them do it.
”

The new website is described by the campaign as “an action center” where web surfers can upload their address books and send emails to their contacts that distributes the truth. For example, of Michelle’s alleged use of the word “whitey,” the new site states, “No such tape exists. Michelle Obama has not spoken from the pulpit at Trinity and has not used that word.”

Said a spokesman of the new site, “The Obama campaign isn’t going to let dishonest smears spread across the Internet unanswered. Whenever challenged with these lies, we will aggressively push back with the truth and help our supporters debunk the false rumors floating around the Internet…It’s not enough to just know the truth, we have to be proactive and fight back.”

Check out what Obama Communications Director said about the site:

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Barack Obama spent about seven minutes out of his stump speech today in Columbus, Mississippi, responding to the Clintons effort to woo voters by hinting at a Clinton-Obama ticket.

The short answer - no way! Obama spent considerably more time shooting the rumor down, however.

First, the junior Senator from Illinois claimed, he’s in first place. “I don’t know how somebody who’s in second place is offering the vice presidency to someone who’s in first place. I mean, I’m just wondering, I’m just wondering because, if I was in second place, I could understand it, but I’m in first place right now,” he said to a crowd of about 1500.

Obama also pointed out that the Clinton campaign has been making the argument that he is not fit to be Commander-in-Chief. Based on the premise that the veep is a “heartbeat away from the presidency,” why would the Clintons pick a so-called inexperienced running mate?

“I don’t want anybody here thinking that I—that somehow maybe I can get both. Don’t think that way. You have to make a choice in this election. Are you gonna go along with the past or are you gonna go towards the future? Are you gonna do the same old thing or are you gonna try something new? I am not running for VP. I do not believe Senator Clinton is about change, because in fact, this kind of gamesmanship — talking about me as VP, but maybe he’s not ready for Commander-in-Chief — that’s exactly the kind of double speak, double talk that Washington is very good at, that people who spent a long time in Washington have a lot of experience at, but is not gonna solve the problems of this country. Have I been clear? I want to make sure I’m clear to everybody.”

Watch Obama’s rant here:

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