Will Hillary Clinton be Obama's Secretary of State?
The big rumor going around political circles today is that Barack Obama has offered the Secretary of State position to Hillary Clinton. Chris Matthews was babbling all kinds of incoherent nonsense this evening: something about she was offered the job but first demanded that Joe Biden wouldn't get in her way and that she know who all the other cabinet positions are. It was absurd. Here's what we know: Hillary and Barack met in Chicago privately today. At a transit gathering in Albany, Hillary said she would be making no comment about the President Elect's selection process: all questions should be posed to the transition team. Period.
It's possible he offered her the job and she wants the weekend to think about it. It's also more plausible that the meeting was to sound her out about her interests over the next four years: that's what ABC is reporting. ABC also reports that no formal offer was made, but that they will speak again. That seems more likely to me. Does Hillary even want the job? That is the question.
Voting turnout today was very high across the nation. Although there were the usual reports of broken voting machines, incorrect voting rolls (activist and actor Tim Robbins was turned away from his polling location), and long lines, generally speaking things went smoothly.
As of 9:26 pm central time, Obama appears to be sailing ahead to an easy victory. Both CNN and Fox have called Ohio for Obama. He's also projected to have won New York, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Connecticut, New Jersey, Maine, Delaware, Maryland and Delaware. With California and the west coast still to be counted, it looks like we have a President-Elect Barack Obama. The Senate races are looking interesting. Elizabeth Dole (R - North Carolina) lost her senate seat to Kay Hagan (despite the Godless ad) and so did John Sununu (R-New Hampshire). It doesn't look like the Democrats are getting to 60 seats. In the House of Representatives, John Murtha did manage to hold on to his congressional seat, despite calling his own constituents a bunch of racists.
CNN has the latest
electoral map
with projections and popular vote counts. As for television coverage, the CNN coverage is competent: we always perk up when James Carville starts ranting. That's always fun. Alex Castellanos looks horribly depressed. The coverage took a sci fi tone when Jessica Yellin beamed in via hologram from another planet to talk about...something. That bit was so odd, I totally missed what she was saying.
Over at Fox News the tone is positively funereal. Bill Kristol literally had his head in his hands at one point. He looks miserable: he can't seem to summon up the energy to make his usual snide remarks. He is, of course, the one who convinced McCain to pick Sarah Palin as his running mate. The other day he was talking about how Palin will be president in 2012, which seems highly unlikely to me.
Fox has a new set and everyone seems confused about where they are supposed to sit and/or stand. Karl Rove predicted the result last week when he said that McCain would need a miracle to pull this off. No miracle today. As for MSNBC, Rachel Maddow appears to be drinking cocktails which surely violates some kind of FCC rule. Then again, it's election night so hey -- go ahead and have a celebratory (or consoling) drink.
Update: Fox News has called the race for Barack Obama, referring to him as the President-Elect as it is now mathematically impossible for John McCain to win.
On the eve of the presidential election Barack Obama learned that his beloved grandmother Madelyn Dunham had died. She passed away early this morning in Hawaii at the age of 86. She has been suffering from cancer. Barack called her "Toot" which is short for Tutu, the Hawaiian name for grandparent. Barack Obama and his sister Maya Soetoro-Ng issued this statement:
"It is with great sadness that we announce that our grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, has died peacefully after a battle with cancer. She was the cornerstone of our family, and a woman of extraordinary accomplishment, strength, and humility. She was the person who encouraged and allowed us to take chances. She was proud of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren and left this world with the knowledge that her impact on all of us was meaningful and enduring. Our debt to her is beyond measure.
"Our family wants to thank all of those who sent flowers, cards, well-wishes, and prayers during this difficult time. It brought our grandmother and us great comfort. Our grandmother was a private woman, and we will respect her wish for a small private ceremony to be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, we ask that you make a donation to any worthy organization in search of a cure for cancer."
What a sad day for Barack and his family. Mrs. Dunham sounds like an extraordinary woman who raised Barack for a large portion of his childhood. May she rest in peace.
After his infomercial last night, Barack Obama appeared via satellite on The Daily Show. But that wasn't all. After that, he had two more rallies to attend. Considering his grueling schedule, he seems amazingly upbeat and rested. Being ahead in the polls will do that for you. Take a look:
"Taste we can believe in." This is a yummy interpretation of Barack Obama's logo. Donuts and bacon is a breakfast that a lot of people would vote for. (via Cynical-C Blog and J-Walk)
All eyes will be on the first presidential debate tonight in Mississippi. No one was really sure whether there was even going to be debate after McCain's political stunt. Suspending his campaign to focus on the bailout deal that no one in Washington wanted him involved in was a mistake.
It really wasn't a bad idea to have a meeting between the current president and the next president (McCain and Obama had a meeting with President to discuss the situation), but the timing was off. Polls showed that the public wanted the debate to go on and so McCain had to suspend his suspension and head for Mississippi.
The topic tonight ostensibly is foreign affairs, but the economy is sure to play a large role in the questioning given current events. McCain has to make sure not to lose his temper and his sarcasm will not be welcome tonight. The mood of the public is ugly -- they don't like the bailout and sniping between the candidates won't go over well. As for Obama, his challenge is to seem calm, in control of the facts and ready to lead. McCain's best argument is that he has faced many big crises such as the current one and that he's captain our ship of state through the stormy waters ahead. Both candidates must show a full command of the economic facts at hand. If either candidate makes a major gaffe that makes him look as if he doesn't understand the economy, he's toast.
The debate is on most major channels at 9:00 p.m Eastern/8:00 p.m. Central time.
Michelle Obama appeared on Ellen and -- as is traditional on the show -- she danced her way onto the stage. She even vogued a bit. She says she's a better dancer than Barack, and I think she's right. Take a look:
John McCain is under fire for not properly vetting Sarah Palin before picking her as his running mate. For one thing, he's completely negated his argument that Obama doesn't have the experience to be president. Sarah Palin, who could be a heartbeat away from being the most powerful person on the planet, has been on the national political stage for all of six days. She's clearly not qualified: she's served as mayor of a tiny town and then for a mere twenty months has been governor of a state with a population less than that of the District of Columbia. This is obvious to GOP insiders. But McCain's choice has forced them to grit their teeth and rally to the cause, with hilarious results. Take a look:
Wearing a bright orange pantsuit, Hillary Clinton took the stage at the Democratic convention and gave the speech of her life. She was focused, inspiring and really made the case for Barack Obama. She was really amazing. The only problem with this speech was that it pointed out how much more qualified she is to be the nominee than Barack Obama. It seems clear she didn't intend to do that: she gave it her all to convince her supporters to vote for Barack in the fall. But the reality is, when she speaks she radiates purpose and strength. She should have -- at the very least -- been the VP pick. Here's the video.
The Democratic National Convention began today and so far the highlight was the surprise, live appearance by Senator Ted Kennedy. Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg introduced a tribute film to the senator, and he appeared when it ended. He looked quite well, actually. He gave a speech echoing famous speeches he has made in the past, including the theme that all Americans have a right to healthcare, that it is not a privilege for the wealthy. He talked about passing the torch to Obama as a new generation and echoed Obama's general campaign themes. He also promised to be on the Senate floor in January.
California's first lady, Maria Shriver, was crying during the speech and Caroline looked pretty misty too. Clearly they were all wondering if this is the senator's last major speech. It was a moving moment. After a few more speakers and two breaks, Michelle Obama will speak. The released text of her speech indicates a very mild, generic speech. It's sort of the "Michelle as Soccer Mom" speech -- no fiery rhetoric, no telling Americans that Barack won't let them sit home and be complacent. Will she add some punch to the prepared text? We'll see.
Update: Claire McCaskill's three kids are urging everyone to text "change" to 62262 to be sure to get all the updates (at 3 a.m. or otherwise) from the Obama campaign. Now they're introducing their mom.
Update: Michelle Obama is now speaking. She looks fantastic, but why in the world didn't her stylist fix that bra strap that's showing? It's a wide necked turquoise blue dress: the strap should have been secured. Someone needs to get fired for that. Ok, I'm trying to ignore the white bra strap peeking out, but it's driving me crazy.
She's the best speaker tonight, next to Ted Kennedy. I've seen the text of this speech and she's really selling it: it sounds unscripted. She's so much better as a speaker than Claire McCaskill. The video and the speech were carefully crafted to make her seem softer, focusing on her role as a mother. She gave a shout out to Hillary Clinton for putting "18 million cracks in the glass ceiling, which will inspire our daughters and sons." She also talked about how she loves the country. Her daughters Sasha and Malia then came out and talked to Barack via videofeed. Sasha stole the show saying hello to her dad, telling him she loved him and generally being adorable.
Overall, it was very well-done. I can't help but compare this speech with the disastrous self-centered diatribe given by Teresa Heinz Kerry at the last Democratic convention. The Obama campaign will be happy with her performance.
Obama's 3 AM Phone Text Message: A Last Swipe at Hillary
Barack Obama's campaign sent out a text message at 3:00 a.m. this morning announcing that Joe Biden is his VP pick. John McCain's blog immediately pounced on the news and had this devastating ad out by 6:00 a.m., in which Biden says how Obama is too inexperienced to be president. As for that 3:00 a.m. text message: that was clearly one last swipe at Hillary Clinton for her 3:00 a.m. phone call ad. It was a juvenile move that could have repercussions. Hillary supporters are not amused, to say the least.
All the hysterical speculation about who Barack Obama will pick to be his vice presidential nominee is about to come to an end. CNN is reporting
that the Obama campaign confirmed that it will announce the VP pick tomorrow morning via text message.
Sen. Barack Obama's choice for running mate will be announced to supporters in a text message Saturday morning, senior Obama campaign officials told CNN on Friday night, and a senior party official said it won't be Sen. Hillary Clinton.
Obama called some people on his short list for the vice presidential slot Thursday night to tell them he had not selected them as a running mate, a highly placed Democratic Party source said.
A senior Democratic official who had spoken with Clinton told CNN late Friday that the Obama campaign has communicated to her through private channels that she will not be Obama's vice presidential pick.
Also, sources close to Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine said he has been informed he was not selected. One source told CNN that Obama personally made the call to Kaine. Another source said Kaine has flown to Denver, Colorado, for the Democratic National Convention. See who's in the running
It is not known who else may have gotten calls.
However, late Friday two Democratic sources confirmed that Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh is also out of the running.
Most of this week's buzz had been around Bayh of Indiana, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware and Kaine. The contenders kept a low profile and Biden has avoided any lengthy interviews.
Rep. Chet Edwards said Friday that the campaign had vetted him but that he hasn't talked to Obama. VideoWatch panelists weigh in on top VP contenders »
Edwards, 56, is a nine-term congressman representing the Central Texas district that includes President Bush's ranch near Crawford.
So, it's not Clinton, Bayh or Kaine. That leaves Biden, Sebelius or the Other Edwards. Joe Biden? It's looking good for him. CNN even has a live webcam outside his house tonight, which is just beyond creepy.
Update: Jake Tapper at ABC says the Secret Service is on its way to Biden's house to begin protection duties. He's the guy.
Rusty Ward heads to Comic-Con in San Diego to find out who who the comics, science fiction and fantasy fans are voting for in the upcoming presidential election. There are surprisingly diverse political opinions among the superhero and monster demographics. Take a look:
In light of his round the world summer of love and comments about putting a basketball court in the White House, many people think Barack Obama is getting a little ahead of himself. He's not president quite yet. David Letterman presented the Top Ten Signs That Obama is Overconfident. You can find the printed list here. Here's the video:
McCain Ad Calls Obama the Biggest Celebrity in the World
A new John McCain ad shows Britney Spears and Paris Hilton and then Barack Obama - calling him the biggest celebrity in the world. It also says the real Obama is "higher taxes" and "more foreign oil."
Polls Show McCain Gaining Ground With Likely Voters
The presidential polling is showing some odd results. In the Gallup tracking poll of registered voters, Obama is up by eight. But in another, more recent USA Today/Gallup poll of likely voters, McCain is up by four. What does it all mean?
The Friday-Sunday poll, mostly conducted as Obama was returning from his much-publicized overseas trip and released just this hour, shows McCain now ahead 49%-45% among voters that Gallup believes are most likely to go to the polls in November. In late June, he was behind among likely voters, 50%-44%.
Among registered voters, McCain still trails Obama, but by less. He is behind by 3 percentage points in the new poll (47%-44%) vs. a 6-point disadvantage (48%-42%) in late June.
Results based on the survey of 791 likely voters have margins of error of +/- 4 percentage points -- so McCain's lead is not outside that range. Results based on the survey of 900 registered voters also have margins of error of +/- 4 percentage points.
Gallup editor Frank Newport tells Jill that "registered voters are much more important at the moment," because Election Day is still 100 days away, but that the likely-voter result suggests that it may be possible for McCain to energize Republicans and turn them out this fall.
Who is a likely voter? In this poll, Frank says, that was determined by how much thought people have given to the election, how often they say they vote and whether they plan to vote in the election in November.
He says the number of likely GOP voters is up for now, probably in part because of Obama's trip and the "laudatory" media coverage of it. "At least in the short term it may have had the side effect of energizing Republicans," he says. Also, he says that McCain's sharp words about Obama and the media last week may have energized his faithful.
What it means is that polls aren't going to be much help in this election, which has too many unknowns to predict.
Here's a new ad from the McCain campaign which takes a look at the media's infatuation with Barack Obama. New polls show that Americans overwhelmingly believe that the media is helping Obama against McCain. But will the media's love translate into a win in November?
Barack Obama visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem early this morning. He seemed to be having a bit of trouble placing a prayer he had written in the wall, but eventually succeeded. A rabbi read a psalm calling for peace in the holy city.
Some worshippers chanted "Obama, Obama" but others yelled "Obama, Jerusalem is not for sale" and "Jerusalem is our land". Today he speaks to a very large crown at the Victory Column in Berlin's central Tiergarten park. That location has been controversial because Hitler moved the column to its present location to celebrate German nationalism and the country's victory over other countries.
Jon Stewart on New Yorker Cover: It's Just a $%@!! Cartoon
Jon Stewart gives his take on the New Yorker cover which purports to satirize the far right's view of Barack Obama and his wife. Stewart says: "It's just a [expletive] cartoon!" He also says that the better response from the Obama camp would have been: "It's just a cartoon and the only people who get up in arms about cartoons are extremist Muslims, which Barack is not." He has a point. Take a look:
Barack Obama is
not happy
with the new cover of The New Yorker. The cover shows Obama in some kind of African garb. He's doing the fist bump with his wife Michelle, who's portrayed with an afro and an AK-47. The American flag is burning in the fireplace and Osama bin Laden's portrait is on the wall. The New Yorker says it's a satirical portrayal of the misinformation about Obama and his wife.
The Obama campaign quickly condemned the rendering. Spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement: "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."
McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds quickly e-mailed: "We completely agree with the Obama campaign, it's tasteless and offensive."
Howard Kurtz said: "I talked to the editor of The New Yorker, David Remnick, who tells me this is a satire, that they are making fun of all the rumors." The New Yorker's audience will certainly get that the cover is satire over the wild rumors, even if they think the cover is in poor taste. But will the rest of America see it that way? I'm thinking... not. And kudos to the McCain campaign for being on the ball and condemning the cover immediately. Now if they could just put some duct tape over Phil Gramm's mouth....
Jesse Jackson Apologizes for Saying He Wants to Cut Obama's Nuts Off
Jesse Jackson has really done it this time. He was speaking to a Fox news reporter in what he thought was a private conversation and let it drop what he really thinks of Barack Obama. Jackson said that Obama talks down to black people and that he'd like to "cut his nuts off." Ouch!
The Rev. Jesse Jackson apologized Wednesday for saying Barack Obama is "talking down to black people" during what he thought was a private conversation with a FOX News reporter Sunday.
Jackson was speaking at the time about Obama's speeches in black churches and his support for faith-based charities. Jackson added, "I want to cut his nuts off."
Jackson called a hastily arranged press conference in Chicago late Wednesday, where he said he supports Obama "unequivocally" and that he hopes to "get this behind me."
"I have great passion for this campaign and traveled across the country ... arguing the case for the campaign," Jackson said. "And this thing I said in a hot-mic statement that's interpreted as a distraction, I offer apology for that. I don't want harm or hurt to come to this campaign."
Jackson told CNN that his remarks were regarding Obama's recent speeches about black culture and families in which Obama took black men to task for failing in their responsibilities and lectured the black community about morality.
One thing's for sure: Reverend Jackson will not be offered a prestigious speaking gig at the Democratic National Convention in Colorado. And if he wants to be in the audience, no doubt the Secret Service will first make sure he's not carrying any sharp implements.
Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton held a rally today in Unity, New Hampshire, where they both received 107 votes. She wore a blue pantsuit: he wore a matching tie. They hugged on the tarmac. They sat together on the plane. Every move was perfectly orchestrated to shout "Unity!!"
She gave an excellent introductory speech, weaving his campaign themes into her stump speech. He applauded and even led a chant of "Thank You Hillary!" It was perfectly executed. Will it bring unity in the Democratic party? It's too soon tell.
Barack Obama has refuted Scarlett Johansson's recent claim the she trades frequent emails with the Democratic nominee. The Washington Post's blog The Trail says Obama says they only exchanged a single email and now they "suddenly we have this email relationship."
But speaking to reporters aboard his campaign plane, Obama said the actress doesn't have his personal email address. "She sent one email to Reggie, who forwarded it to me," Obama said, referring to his 26-year-old personal assistant, Reggie Love. "I write saying, 'thank you Scarlett for doing what you do,' and suddenly we have this email relationship"
The Campaign Spot received a funny comment from a reader who said Obama is "denying textual relations" with the actress. Obama might have been wiser to just let this story die out instead of letting it flame up again by knocking down her emailing claim.
Jon Stewart Tells Viewers It's Ok to Laugh at Obama's Foibles
Jon Stewart pokes fun at the Great Seal of Obama and Obama's flip flop on taking public financing for the general election. He also reminds the crowd that it's ok to laugh at him. Which is certainly true: he is, after all, a politician just like everyone else in the race.
Barack Obama made some female members of the Congressional Black Caucus pretty angry. When asked about what he was going to do to reach out to Hillary's supporters, he said that it was up to them to help him heal the divide and that women should really just "get over it."
A Thursday afternoon meeting between Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus grew tense and emotional for a moment -- perhaps illustrating that weeks after Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., suspended her presidential campaign, some nerves remain frayed.
Sources at the meeting said that Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, a Clinton supporter, expressed the desire that Obama and his campaign would reach out the millions of women still aggrieved about what happened in the campaign and still disappointed that Clinton lost.
Obama agreed that a lot of work needs to be done to heal the Democratic Party, and that he hoped the Clinton supporters in the room would help as much as possible.
According to Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., Obama then said, "However, I need to make a decision in the next few months as to how I manage that since I'm running against John McCain, which takes a lot of time. If women take a moment to realize that on every issue important to women, John McCain is not in their corner, that would help them get over it."
Rep. Diane Watson, D-Calif., a longtime Clinton supporter, did not like those last three words -- "Get over it." She found them dismissive, off-putting.
"Don't use that terminology," Watson told Obama.
Good grief. "Get over it??" Somehow I can't imagine John McCain (or Bill Clinton -- or even George Bush for that matter) using that line on a room full of angry women. They would know better. It sounds to me like the Messiah needs to work on his "female community organizing" skills. Because this is one community that's not happy.
Barack Obama unveiled a new campaign logo today (seen on the right), which adorned his podium while he spoke Democratic governors in Chicago. It looks quite a bit like the official U.S. presidential seal (seen on the left). The new Obama seal has the Latin words "Vero Possumus" which Time magazine says translates
into "Yes We Can." Doesn't this seem a bit arrogant? I mean, he hasn't won yet, so it's a bit early to be handing out presidential seals.
Michelle Obama co-hosted The View today as part of her "polishing up her image" tour. It seems to be working. They put her in a lovely sundress; her hair and makeup were flawless. She was clearly watching every word, realizing that the media is ready to pounce on any gaffe. She said nice things about Hillary, which was smart. She said she was grateful to Laura Bush for defending her over the "first time I'm proud of my country" flap. She was calm. Whoopi Goldberg, on the other hand, needed a tranquilizer.
This certainly came out of left field. James Carville told Wolf Blitzer that Obama really needs to pick Al Gore as his vice president and make him the Energy Czar. I don't think Al Gore is in the least bit interested in being vice president, no matter what kind of "czar" you made him. But take a look:
Hillary Clinton crushed Barack Obama in the Puerto Rico Democratic primary today, 68% - 32%. She beat him in all demographics. Meanwhile the DNC Rules Committee decided to seat Florida and Michigan, but give their delegates only half a vote each, which is absolutely absurd. They divvied up the Florida delegates fairly, but stole some of Hillary's Michigan delegates and gave them to Obama. The whole thing was a bad joke: Florida and Michigan's voters have now been officially disenfranchised by Donna Brazile and her ilk. Hillary's supporters are not happy, to say the least.
Hillary is now leading in the popular vote -- more than 17 million people have voted for her, more than any candidate has ever received in a primary. Here's Hillary's new ad in Montana:
Chris Matthews gets a thrill running up his leg when Barack Obama speaks. But these reporters on Obama's press plane really take the "I've Got a Crush on Obama" syndrome to a whole new low. CNN had this breaking news video to announce that Barack Obama decided to wear jeans. The reporters ooh and ahh and leer at the candidate, yelling at another passenger to sit down and get out of the way of their oglefest, as Obama strikes a wide-stanced pose for them. It's absolutely nauseating.
Joe Scarborough and Tucker Carlson have a scathing discussion about the crush that most of the news media has on Barack Obama. It's funny and it's dead on accurate.
After a mild rejection of Reverend Wrights' comments yesterday at an impromptu press conference, Barack Obama has now held a full formal press conference today to try to do damage control over his former pastor's recent speeches. Obama threw Wright under the campaign bus, then backed up and rolled over him a few times, just to be sure.
But isn't this all too little, too late? To say that this is not the man Obama knew for twenty years is ridiculous. Wright's act is a very polished, perfected one that he's been preaching for years. How could Obama not know what Wright was all about, when the rest of America knew after seeing his sermons?
Here's the video of the press conference:
After his big speech on race -- in which he said he could no more disown his pastor than he could disown the black community or his white grandmother -- Barack Obama may be regretting his words. Because Jeremiah Wright has decided to speak out -- and it's not pretty.
Wright is on some kind of Tour of Racial Divisiveness, speaking to churches, Bill Moyers, the NAACP and the National Press Association. Wright and Obama have repeatedly said that Wright's hate-filled video rants were taken out of context, that we should listen to the entire speeches. We did, and frankly they're even worse than the video clips.
Here's some fun highlights: Wright mocked the accents of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Baines Johnson (you know, the guy that got the Civil Rights Act passed), he reiterated his claim that the U.S. created AIDS to exterminate people of color, that the U.S. is the same as Al-Qaeda, that Louis Farrakhan is one of the greatest people of the 20th and 21st centuries, that black people and white people have different brains, that black people have better rhythm than white people (complete with clapping examples!), that Obama only criticized Wright's speeches because it polled well and he wanted to get elected, and that American deserved to be hit on 9/11 because of our own terrorist acts (the chickens have come home to roost!).
Yes, it was full-bore, hate-filled, vile nonsense. The full transcript Wright's speech to the press corps is here.
Rev. Jeremiah Wright was interviewed by Bill Moyers: the interview will air on PBS on Friday night at 9:00 p.m. ET. Snippets of the interview have leaked out and they aren't pretty. This is the very last thing the Obama campaign needs, heading into an Indiana primary. Chris Matthews of MSNBC calls Jeremiah Wright "Barack Obama's Iraq."
And here's Obama's victory speech from last night, which no one listened to because of Fitchgate. So who are the three dimwits wearing Abercrombie and Fitch t-shirts standing behind Obama? And how did they get past his advance team?
Barack Obama appeared on The View and had to suffer through having Barbara Walters tell him he was sexy. Jay Leno pointed out that -- like most male guests on that show -- he seemed a bit uncomfortable with all the attention. Jay pointed out that he was constantly rearranging his clothing. It's pretty funny: here's the video.
In an interview today, Hillary Clinton was asked
what she would do if her pastor made the kind of remarks that Obama's former pastor Wright had made.
"He would not have been my pastor," Clinton said. "You don't choose your family, but you choose what church you want to attend."...
The Clinton campaign has refrained from getting involved in the controversy, but Clinton herself, responding to a question, denounced what she said was "hate speech."
"You know, I spoke out against Don Imus (who was fired from his radio and television shows after making racially insensitive remarks), saying that hate speech was unacceptable in any setting, and I believe that," Clinton said. "I just think you have to speak out against that. You certainly have to do that, if not explicitly, then implicitly by getting up and moving."
Her response was very measured, and appropriate. It also cuts to the essential point that was lost during Senator Obama's word blizzard of a speech in which he talked and talked and talked, but never gave a good explanation as to why he would let his little girls grow up in a church where the pastor preached hate speech.
Reverend Wright's statements can't be explained away to mainstream voters with platitudes. Wright spews vile, disgusting, racist Anti-Americanism propaganda and is a conspiracy nut, to boot. He actually "preaches" that the U.S. government created the AIDS virus to exterminate black people. And Obama thinks somehow it's sufficient simply to say that he "disagrees" with that statement. It's not.
After the Jeremiah Wright scandal broke wide on Friday, Senator Obama did the rounds of the talk shows Friday night to try to stem the bleeding. Obama appeared on Anderson Cooper 360, on Fox News with Major Garrett and on MSNBC with Keith Olbermann. Garrett grilled Obama, who looked like a deer in the headlights. Olbermann lobbed mostly softballs at him. The best interview by far was by Anderson Cooper (see the video here
and the transcript here). Obama's defense was really pathetic. After saying earlier that he didn't think his pastor was particularly controversial, he now said he condemned the statements that are upsetting everyone. "If it offends you then I condemn it." How bold of him.
His next defense was that he was never in the church when Wright was making his horrible statements that we saw in the tapes. You know, the statements by Wright that the U.S. created the AIDS virus to commit genocide upon the black race, how FDR lied to the American people, that he knew Pearl Harbor was coming and allowed servicemen to die intentionally, that we deserved to be hit on 9/11 and that blacks should sing "God Damn America" instead of "God Bless America."
He then previewed what will most likely be his argument in the coming weeks: that Wright is part of an older, angrier black generation and that he is the new generation that can bring us all together. What a load of nonsense. He seemed like a typical uncomfortable, triangulating, disingenuous politician who has been caught in a big lie. And he has. How can he expect voters to believe that he spent twenty years being mentored by this guy -- who he said brought him to Christ and is a spiritual advisor -- and not know about his hate-filled, divisive philosophy?
Reverend Wright married Michelle and Barack Obama. He baptized his two children. He blessed his house (you know, the one involved in the Rezko transaction). Coop got Barack to admit that when he was at Harvard Law School he would listen to tapes of Rev. Wright over and over. His book is based on one of Wright's sermons and he has clearly picked up his oratorical style.
Wright's rants are un-American, racist and full of hate speech, the kind of hate speech that is banned in Germany and France. And the new minister is just as confrontational: Sunday he accused the media of "crucifying" Rev. Wright. Wright crucified himself with his appalling, vitriolic speeches. Now Barack Obama has decided to give a big speech tomorrow about race. Will he defend Wright? Most likely, he'll try to position himself as the great healer, the great savior of America. But it's too late. We've seen he's just another politician. Not much Change there.
Now here's what we've all been hoping and praying for: another debate between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Both campaigns have now agreed to a debate in Philadephia on April 16th, to be hosted by ABC News. But wait, there's more! Obama has agreed to another debate just three days later on April 19th in North Carolina. This one would be hosted by CBS News, with Katie Couric and Bob Schieffer as moderators. You may recall that CBS had a debate lined up earlier in the primary season, but a strike by the news writers sunk that one. Clinton hasn't accepted the debate, but she probably will.
In the meantime, here's a lovely video with some of the greatest hits of Barack Obama's pastor, Jeremiah Wright. Wright has some choice words for America (of which he is clearly not in the least bit proud). My favorite part is where he says blacks shouldn't sing "God Bless America" -- that instead they should sing "God Damn America." Nice, really nice. The racial tirade at the end is also a barn burner -- the crowd loves it.
To refresh your recollection, this is the pastor whose sermon inspired Obama's book The Audacity of Hope. The Obamas donated $20,000 to this church, to which Barack has belonged for over twenty years. Denounce and reject, anyone?
Barack Obama has won Mississippi, as expected. The exit polls show that race played a very large factor. 48% of voters were white. Hillary won 70% of white voters; Barack Obama won 26%. 50% of voters were black. Obama won 92% of black voters, Clinton won only 8%. According to CNN's exit poll, 13% of the voters were Republicans, 77% of whom voted for Hillary. Indpendents favored Obama slighlty, 51%-48%. Those numbers are a huge improvement for Hillary.
Barack Obama talked to Wolf Blitzer after CNN called the race for him and he sure didn't seem happy. He didn't smile hardly at all; perhaps he's exhausted. Or perhaps he's still grumpy about that 3 am Saturday Night Live skit. In any event, he didn't have much to say really. He rebuffed Wolf's attempt to find out if he would ask Hillary to be his VP if he won, saying that's it's too early to tell and "Hillary would be on anyone's short list."
So, Mississippi is over. Obama's surrogates are going negative big time on Hillary calling her untruthful, deceitful etc. Is this what it's going to be like until Pennsylvania? I suppose we can debate what's going to happen with the Florida and Michigan delegates. That's always good for some angst.
Saturday Night Live: Hillary's 3:00 a.m. Phone Call From President Obama
Saturday Night Live dove into the fray once again last night. Amy Poehler plays Senator Hillary Clinton receiving yet another 3:00 a.m. phone call from President Obama, who needs some advice on foreign policy and how to turn on the heater at the White House. The meta frame is that the skit is an attack ad from Clinton, but still...Obama takes more hits from this one than she does. Priceless: Hillary wearing cold cream, curlers and a 1950s housecoat while coolly rattling off detailed foreign policy advice.
This really was the funniest bit on Saturday Night Live this past weekend. It's a short animated film by Robert Smigel called "The Obama Files" and it goes deeper into the mystery of why Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are never allowed to campaign for Barack Obama.
Over the weekend some conservative blogs pointed out this photo of Barack Obama in traditional Somali apparel, which he wore while visiting Kenya. The blogs said that someone should send it over to Matt Drudge, which someone eventually did. Drudge ran the photo all day, claiming a Clinton aid sent it. But the Clinton camp said they didn't send it, and what was the big deal anyway? That senators and presidents have to wear all kinds of unusual outfits when they visit other countries. Clinton's campaign manager said the whole thing was ridiculous, that Senator Clinton has had to don native dress herself many times.
The Obama camp freaked out, the press dithered and then eventually most people came to their senses. Obama himself then said it sounded like a lower level staff dispute to him. Turbangate was a non-starter. There's also a picture of Obama with a camel, but he's wearing sunglasses and a red shirt in that one, so it wasn't as exciting to the tabloids.
Not again. Barack Obama 2.0 lifts some more rhetoric from Barack Obama 1.0, better known as Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick. Does political guru to both candidates David Axelrod have a factory where he clones Hope and Change candidates upon demand? Video is below.
John McCain won the Wisconsin primary tonight and in his victory speech said that as a superstitious navy pilot he was finally ready to announce that he will be the Republican nominee in the fall. He also indirectly alluded to Michelle Obama's narcissistic and obnoxious remark that "for the first time in her adult life" she is proud of America (apparently the bringing down of the Berlin Wall, the placement of two women on the Supreme Court, the election of a black women to the U.S. Senate and a successful rover landing on Mars were nothing to be proud of). McCain said that he has always been proud to be an American and that he didn't feel that America owed him anything, that she had already given him more than he deserved. He also said some nice things about Huckabee, who is remaining in the race even though he cannot win the nomination. Cindy McCain had her First Lady game face on in a big way: she looked really happy.
On the Democratic side, Barack Obama won Wisconsin as expected. It looks like he will win it by a larger margin than was predicted, most likely because of the 29% of voters who were not Democrats (it was an open primary). Hillary is in Youngstown, Ohio tonight at a rally and sent out a memo earlier today noting when she would speak and that she was launching a major new speech which would contract her positions with those of Obama's. So what does Obama do? He waited just a few minutes into her speech, then began his speech to a crowd in Houston right when she started into the meat of her speech. This caused quite a bit of consternation at the cable news outlets, because the accepted courtesy is to let your opponent who lost speak first. After some hemming and hawing, the anchors apologized and cut away from Hillary's speech to Obama's.
It was a deliberate, obnoxious and very discourteous thing of Obama to do that immediately put me in mind of his "you're likable enough, Hillary" snipe during an earlier debate. Luckily for Hillary, he didn't cut her off before she told listeners that "we can still win this." She then asked listeners to go to her website and make a contribution -- even just $10 as one supporter did who "wanted her two little girls to know that anything is possible." Hillary has been raising $1 million a day this month and her statement tonight was a clear signal to those who aren't buying into the Obama hype: if she has the cash she can win on March 4th.
In 1988 Joe Biden's run for the presidency was obliterated when he was found to have lifted words from a British politician's speech. Now Barack Obama has done the same thing. Here's a side by side video showing Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick's "Just Words" speech in 2006 and a recent speech by Barack Obama using the exact same words. Obama never attributed the speech to Governor Patrick.
Obama's entire campaign is premised on the fact that it's not "politics as usual" or the "tired politics of the past." Apparently, it's based on the plagiarism of past speeches.
John McCain barely fought off Mike Huckabee to win Virgina in a surprisingly close race. He also picked Maryland and D.C. On the Democratic side, Barack Obama has picked up Virginia, D.C. and Maryland.
Neither Barack or Hillary stayed in the Northeast; both flew out and are already having rallies in other states. Hillary is speaking to a very large crowd in El Paso; Barack is in Wisconsin at a big rally. After tonight, Barack will hold a slight lead over Hillary in Delegates. Wisconsin is expected to go to Barack. Hillary is focusing her attention on the mega states of Texas and Ohio.
Mike Huckabee's strong showing gives him hope for a Texas win. But mathematically it's not possible for him to beat McCain.
The race is really neck and neck for the Democrats. Hillary will be working hard to win Texas in the next few weeks. A win in Texas and Ohio would make her the "comeback kid" once again and push the nomination into the hands of the super delegates. Also brewing is the fight over whether to seat the delegates from Florida and Michigan. If they are seated, Hillary benefits greatly.
Barack Obama had a good weekend. He won the caucuses in Washington, Virgina Islands and Maine. He also won the primary in Louisiana. All were expected wins for him. Tomorrow are the Virginia, Maryland and District of Columbia contest, which he is also expected to sweep.
On the Republican side, Mike Huckabee was the winner, taking Louisiana and Kansas. Washington was called for McCain, but Huckabee refused to concede and the count continues.
The big contests with lots of delegate are coming up on March 4th: Texas and Ohio will be crucial contests on the Democratic side. You can see a roundup, with estimated delegate counts here. Most outlets have Hillary Clinton ahead in the delegate count by a small margin.
Bottom line: McCain will be the Republican nominee and the Democratic nomination is a toss up.
Jack Nicholson is making robocalls for Hillary Clinton today. Alas, he didn't say "You can't handle the truth about Barack Obama!!" which would have been much funnier. But Jack plays it straight, talking about how Hillary would make a great commander in chief. Scarlett Johansson is making robocalls for Obama, but we haven't heard the audio yet.
In other celebrity endorsement news, John Mellencamp told John McCain to quit using his songs at rallies (he's a Democrat, not sure who he supports though).
All eyes will be on the first presidential debate tonight in Mississippi. No one was really sure whether there was even going to be debate after McCain's political stunt. Suspending his campaign to focus on the bailout deal that no one in Washington wanted him involved in was a mistake.
Barack Obama's campaign sent out a text message at 3:00 a.m. this morning announcing that Joe Biden is his VP pick. John McCain's blog immediately pounced on the news and had this devastating ad out by 6:00 a.m., in which Biden says how Obama is too inexperienced to be president. As for that 
All the hysterical speculation about who Barack Obama will pick to be his vice presidential nominee is about to come to an end. CNN is 
Jesse Jackson has really done it this time. He was speaking to a Fox news reporter in what he thought was a private conversation and let it drop what he really thinks of Barack Obama. Jackson said that Obama talks down to black people and that he'd like to "cut his nuts off." Ouch!
Barack Obama has refuted Scarlett Johansson's 
Over the weekend some conservative blogs pointed out this photo of Barack Obama in traditional Somali apparel, which he wore while visiting Kenya. The blogs said that someone should send it over to Matt Drudge, which someone eventually did. Drudge ran the photo all day, claiming a Clinton aid sent it. But the Clinton camp said they didn't send it, and what was the big deal anyway? That senators and presidents have to wear all kinds of unusual outfits when they visit other countries. Clinton's campaign manager said the whole thing was ridiculous, that Senator Clinton has had to don native dress herself many times.
