Election 2008 – News Stories About Election 2008 - Page 59

Aug 24, 2008 3:35 PM CDT

Michelle Embraces Jill on Trail

Biden's wife says the political counterparts 'have chemistry'

(Newser) - Michelle Obama eagerly backed her husband's veep pick this week and welcomed Jill Biden with an embrace at yesterday's rally, People reports. "I've stayed out of this process," Michelle said, "but when he told me his choice I said, 'That's the right choice.' I was like,...

Biden By the Numbers: A Solid Choice

Aug 24, 2008 11:18 AM CDT

Biden By the Numbers: A Solid Choice

VP will bring Dems together and garner Independent votes

(Newser) - Some argued Hillary Clinton was Barack Obama’s best VP choice because she could unite the Dems. But in crunching Rasmussen's favorable-unfavorable numbers, the New Republic finds Joe Biden can do that almost as well, while pulling in more independent voters and keeping Obama backers in the fold. Biden scores...

McCain Cheapens
the POW Card

OPINION

Aug 24, 2008 8:20 AM CDT

McCain Cheapens the POW Card

Sets up dangerous land mines for campaign

(Newser) - John McCain’s campaign refers to his prisoner-of-war past so much that it’s becoming a “punch line,” writes Maureen Dowd in the New York Times. “By flashing the POW card to rebut any criticism, no matter how unrelated,” McCain “is cheapening his greatest strength,...

Hard to Know Which Gaffes Will Hurt Most

ANALYSIS

Aug 24, 2008 5:27 AM CDT

Hard to Know Which Gaffes Will Hurt Most

Goofs slid off Biden, but Gore and Quayle were ruined

(Newser) - Joe Biden’s reference to Barack Obama as “clean” won’t do the Democrats much harm. But Obama’s description of religious, rural folk as “bitter” just might. You just never know which political gaffes will do the most harm, Jonathan Alter writes in Newsweek. “Modern campaigns...

5 Things Revealed by Biden Pick

Aug 23, 2008 8:26 PM CDT

5 Things Revealed by Biden Pick

Obama ready for a tough campaign, aware of own policy weaknesses

(Newser) - Presidential running mates rarely decide an election, but a candidate's VP choice can reveal his plans, Politico reports. Here's what Joe Biden shows about Barack Obama:

Obama is ready for battle: “Biden is a brawler—and the Obama camp is eager to unleash him.”
Surprise! Obama is more

...

Biden Comes Out
Swinging in Rally

Aug 23, 2008 3:13 PM CDT

Biden Comes Out Swinging in Rally

(Newser) - Barack Obama officially introduced Joe Biden as his running mate today, and the newly minted VP candidate wasted no time attacking John McCain. Biden said he was a friend of McCain’s, but McCain had given in to the GOP's right wing. He poked fun at McCain’s house gaffe,...

McCain Ad Strikes Quickly—
Using Biden's Own Words

Aug 23, 2008 12:52 PM CDT

McCain Ad Strikes Quickly— Using Biden's Own Words

Dem veep choice praises McCain, doubts Obama in 30 sec spot

(Newser) - The McCain campaign hit hard and fast at the newly minted Obama-Biden ticket, releasing an ad early this morning that makes use of the Delaware senator’s own comments, the Wall Street Journal reports. The ad includes footage of Biden casting doubt on Obama’s readiness, then later reaffirming the...

The Cons:
Biden
Known
for Gaffes

analysis

Aug 23, 2008 8:37 AM CDT

The Cons: Biden Known for Gaffes

Senator has a risky tongue and lobbyist ties

(Newser) - Republicans strategists don't have to look too deep to find ammunition to use against Joe Biden, Politico reports. It's all a matter of public record. For starters, he called Obama's foreign policy views "naive" last year and said the presidency is not the place for "on-the-job training."...

What Biden Brings to the Party

analysis

Aug 23, 2008 7:51 AM CDT

What Biden Brings to the Party

Delaware senator has what Barack lacks

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s choice of Joe Biden as a running mate looks like fairly simple calculus, notes Massimo Calabres in Time: his strengths bolster Obama’s weak points. Biden has logged six terms in the Senate; he’s a foreign-policy expert; and he’s a Catholic popular with blue-collar white...

Obama Texts, E-Mails VP News to Supporters

Aug 23, 2008 5:59 AM CDT

Obama Texts, E-Mails VP News to Supporters

Asks backers to watch rally, write 'welcome notes' to Biden

(Newser) - Barack Obama's choice for a running mate was texted and emailed to supporters shortly after 3am this morning, though word had leaked out to reporters a couple of hours earlier that he'd chosen Sen. Joe Biden, a veteran lawmaker from Delaware. The text message: "Barack has chosen Senator Joe...

'Relic' Conventions to Host Huge Political Shifts

OPINION

Aug 23, 2008 12:16 AM CDT

'Relic' Conventions to Host Huge Political Shifts

Obama, McCain both aim to redirect parties

(Newser) - The presidential nominees are already decided—so why have conventions? “Money and publicity," Bill Schneider writes on CNN. Gala events are prime opportunities to milk donors, and high visibility has led “both parties try to control every minute of the convention as if it were a television...

GOP Losing
Its Hold on Evangelicals

Aug 22, 2008 4:43 PM CDT

GOP Losing Its Hold on Evangelicals

One reason: Popularity of overseas missions to see poverty up close

(Newser) - Republicans can no longer bank on the evangelical vote. Most still tilt toward the GOP, but the Wall Street Journal reports that a sizable number—40% by one estimate—are open to voting Democrat. Reasons vary, but one factor in particular seems to be paramount: overseas missions. More evangelicals are...

McCain's a Mystery Even
to Himself

OPINION

Aug 22, 2008 12:10 PM CDT

McCain's a Mystery Even to Himself

He's fuzzy on number of houses, unreliable as his own spokeman

(Newser) - A mystery called John McCain lurks at the heart of the presidential race, Eugene Robinson writes in the Washington Post. The candidate remains "undefined" and "full of contradictions," Robinson writes. In fact, with McCain's bizarre admission that he isn't sure how many houses he has, "there...

Candidates Differ Most
Widely on Wealthy

ANALYSIS

Aug 21, 2008 3:58 PM CDT

Candidates Differ Most Widely on Wealthy

McCain says tax cuts for wealthy will fuel economy; Obama sees taxing as means to an end

(Newser) - John McCain and Barack Obama both target the very wealthy in plans to overhaul the tax code, to the opposite effect: Obama would raise their taxes and McCain would cut them. It's the most profound difference in their dueling proposals to stimulate the economy, the Los Angeles Times notes in...

Limbaugh:
Obama is 'Little
Black Man-Child'

Aug 21, 2008 3:12 PM CDT

Limbaugh: Obama is 'Little Black Man-Child'

Conservative talk-show host says Dems, media afraid to pick on 'victim' candidate

(Newser) - Rush Limbaugh struck out yesterday at the national media, for pitying “little black man-child” Barack Obama beset by attack ads he termed “benign,” Media Matters reports. “Even the Britney Spears/Paris Hilton ad was funny,” said the conservative radio host, who’d previously excoriated “girl”...

McCain Can't Quite Say How Many Houses
He Owns

Aug 21, 2008 12:40 PM CDT

McCain Can't Quite Say How Many Houses He Owns

Also nixes one-term idea in interview

(Newser) - John McCain isn’t quite sure how many houses he owns, Politico reports. The presumptive Republican nominee responded to the question in yesterday’s interview with “I think—I’ll have my staff get to you.” He and wife Cindy are estimated to own between four and seven...

Clinton to Police Her Devotees
in Denver

Aug 21, 2008 11:53 AM CDT

Clinton to Police Her Devotees in Denver

Former candidate sets up 'whip team' to curb protests from loyalists

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton is deploying a 40-member "whip team" at the Democratic convention in Denver to make sure her supporters do not cause a ruckus with anti-Obama demonstrations during the roll-call vote, reports Politico. The symbolic floor vote on Clinton's nomination is supposed to be an emotional "catharsis" for...

Lieberman
Shakes Both
Sides of Aisle

ANALYSIS

Aug 21, 2008 10:53 AM CDT

Lieberman Shakes Both Sides of Aisle

Connecticut senator stands at the middle of Republican/Democrat divide

(Newser) - Had things gone just a bit differently in Florida in 2000, Joe Lieberman might be ending his second term as a Democratic vice president. Instead, the now-Independent is delivering a primetime RNC address and again being bandied about as a potential veep—this time for John McCain. The Boston Globe...

McCain Wins Unlikely Support in Vietnam

Aug 21, 2008 10:30 AM CDT

McCain Wins Unlikely Support in Vietnam

Ruling class thinks former POW would increase trade

(Newser) - John McCain has won admiration from an unlikely place: Vietnam, the nation he bombed 23 times during the war there. Including politicians, newspaper editors, and even his former captor, Vietnamese are voicing support for the candidate. The Republican pushed to restore ties with the country a decade ago, and many...

D&D Tee Swipes Back at Mac

Aug 21, 2008 9:57 AM CDT

D&D Tee Swipes Back at Mac

Staffer's comparison of liberal bloggers to basement-dwelling gamers triggers backlash

(Newser) - Dungeons & Dragons players don’t just like gaming and their mothers—they like Barack Obama, too. After a John McCain staffer described liberal blogging community Daily Kos as “the pro-Obama Dungeons & Dragons crowd” swiping at his candidate “from the comfort of mom's basement,” one designer...