Aug
29
White House hopeful Barack Obama says the U.S is facing one of its periodic defining moments as he vowed to mend the economy and restore the nation’s moral leadership.
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In his acceptance speech at Denver he said we meet at one of those defining moments when our nation is at war, our economy is in turmoil, and the American promise has been threatened once more.
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Jul
24
Obama begins European tour
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Barack Obama, the presumed Democratic presidential candidate, has arrived in Berlin, the German capital, starting the European leg of an international tour.
Obama, whose flight arrived at Berlin’s Tegel airport at 9:50am (0750 GMT) on Thursday, is due to meet Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, during his visit.
He will also meet Frank-Walter Steinmeier, German foreign minister, and Klaus Wowereit, Berlin mayor, before making a speech in Tiergarten park.
Tens of thousands of people are expected to fill the park to see Obama’s address.
The Illinois senator will go on to France and Britain after concluding his Germany visit.
‘Two state’ commitment
On Wednesday, Obama said he that he back Israel’s decision not to negotiate with the Palestinian group Hamas, in a visit to Israel and the West Bank.
In focus
In-depth coverage of US presidential election
Speaking in the Israeli town of Sderot, which has been hit by rocket attacks from Hamas-controlled Gaza, Obama said the US also supported Israel’s right to defend itself “against those who threaten its people”.
He also reiterated his position that Jerusalem “will be” the capital of Israel.
But the Illinois senator said that he believed the city to be a “final status issue” that must be decided by negotiation and said he remained committed to a two-state solution to the conflict.
The status of Jerusalem remains one of the most contentious parts of any solution to the Middle East conflict.
In June Obama caused anger in the Arab world when he said that Jerusalem should be Israel’s undivided capital.
The international community, including the United States, does not recognise Israel’s claim that Jerusalem is its undivided capital and Palestinians hope to have East Jerusalem, currently occupied by Israel, as the capital of any future Palestinian state.
Iran ‘threat’
Obama also said that he would take “no options off the table” with regards to Iran, saying the country posed a “grave threat”.
“A nuclear Iran would be a game-changing situation, not just in the Middle East but around the world,” Obama said.
The Illinois senator, who had earlier held talks with Palestinian leaders in the West Bank city of Ramallah, said that if he was elected he would adopt a policy of “big sticks and big carrots” regarding the Iranian government.
“I would at my time and choosing be willing to meet with any leader if I thought it would promote the national security interest of the United States of America,” he said.
Obama travelled to the West Bank,
unlike his rival John McCain [AFP]
Obama travelled from Jerusalem to the West Bank city on Wednesday for talks with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, and Salam Fayyad, the prime minister, before heading to Sderot.
Mustafa Barghouti, the secretary of the Palestinian Initiative, told Al Jazeera that as the candidate of change, Obama should also bring change to the Middle East.
“He cares a lot about the Jewish vote but it is time to care about the Arab vote and the Muslim vote,” he said.
“The whole stability of the Middle East depends on resolving the Palestinian issue.”
Later Obama told Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, that he had an “unshakeable commitment to Israel’s security”.
The Illinois senator’s Middle East tour has been an attempt by the Democratic presidential candidate to bolster his foreign policy credentials ahead of the US’s presidential election in November.
The visit is in contrast to John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, who did not visit the West Bank during his time in the region.
Some goodwill
Earlier on Wednesday, while meeting Shimon Peres, the Israeli president, Obama pledged that that as president he would preserve the close ties between the US and Israel, and that Israel’s security would be a top priority in his administration.
“I’m here on this trip to reaffirm the special relationship between Israel and the United States and my abiding commitment to Israel’s security and my hope that I can serve as an effective partner, whether as a US senator or as president,” Obama said.
At Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, he laid a wreath, lit a memorial flame, and deemed the place to ultimately be “a place of hope”.
Obama’s visit in the West Bank has generated some goodwill, particularly since his Republican rival, John McCain, did not visit the Palestinians during a Middle East trip earlier in the summer.
Nour Odeh, Al Jazeera’s corrrespondent in Ramallah, said: “The Bush administration only began to be engaged in the Middle East peace process in November 2007 at Annapolis. That peace process is yet to yield any results and is not expected to conclude with a Palestinian state - as promised - at the end of 2008.
“There were a lot of Palestinian frustrations right before Barack Obama came to Ramallah … but keep in mind that this visit to the West Bank town [was] only for 45 minutes,” she said
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Jul
20
Obama meets Karzai, vows steadfast Afghan aid
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KABUL, Afghanistan - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama pledged steadfast aid to Afghanistan in talks Sunday with its Western-backed leader and vowed to pursue the war on terror “with vigor” if elected, an Afghan official said.
On the second day of an international tour designed to burnish his foreign policy credentials, Illinois Sen. Obama and a pair of colleagues held two hours of talks with President Hamid Karzai at his palace in the capital.
Obama has chided Karzai for not doing more to build confidence in his government, which remains weak after the ouster of the Taliban in 2001.
He made no public comment after the meeting, but said in a written statement that his main purpose was to see U.S troops, thank them for their “extraordinary service” and let them know the United States is proud of them.
Obama said he and his colleagues were talking to military and diplomatic leaders, and Afghanistan’s leaders about whether the U.S. has the right strategy and resources to defeat the Taliban and al-Qaida.
“Our message to the Afghan government is this: We want a strong partnership based on ‘more for more’ - more resources from the United States and NATO, and more action from the Afghan government to improve the lives of the Afghan people,” Obama and Sens. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., and Jack Reed, D-R.I., said in a joint statement. “We need a sense of urgency and determination.
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Jul
18
Obama Faces His Overseas Audition
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Even though the details remain sketchy, it’s clear that Barack Obama’s upcoming trip to the Middle East and Europe is an audition on the world stage. But the most important critics will not be the foreign leaders who will be sizing him up as a potential member of their ranks or the cheering throngs that are likely to greet him at every stop. The audience that matters most will be the voters back home, where many Americans have yet to be convinced that this young man of relatively little experience is the right person to fill the role of their Commander in Chief. “This,” says Ken Duberstein, who was Ronald Reagan’s White House chief of staff, “is an absolute opportunity to get over the acceptability threshold.”
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Polling suggests that Obama still has a way to go in that regard. In the latest Washington Post/ABC News survey, only 48% of registered voters said Obama would make a good Commander in Chief, with an equal percentage saying he wouldn’t. By comparison, 72% said John McCain would be a good one.
The campaign has thus far provided only the barest outline of his itinerary. On Monday, Obama will be in Amman, Jordan; on Tuesday and Wednesday, Israel and the Palestinian territory of the West Bank. Thursday, Friday and Saturday will be a sprint across Europe, with stops planned for Berlin, Paris and London. And somewhere in all this, Obama plans to make a much-anticipated visit to Iraq and Afghanistan with two Senate colleagues, Democrat Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Republican Chuck Hagel of Nebraska.
Every step of Obama’s trip will be as fraught with symbolism as it will with substance. The biggest public event will be a speech in Berlin, though the Obama campaign has yet to say whether he will give it at the historic Brandenburg Gate, near the former site of the Berlin Wall. (Campaign staffers reportedly were looking for alternate sites after Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her displeasure about the prospect of a presidential candidate speaking where Ronald Reagan in 1987 demanded, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”) Campaign officials are not even divulging which officials Obama plans to meet with, though some details have begun to leak. A diplomatic source tells TIME that King Abdullah II of Jordan plans to press Obama to promise that, if elected, he would place a higher priority than Bush has on the Arab-Israeli peace talks. (The presence in Obama’s entourage of Dennis Ross, the lead negotiator in those talks for Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush, is a signal that Obama is thinking along the same lines.) In Israel, the New York Times has reported, he will meet with President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and the head of the opposition, Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu. He is also expected to see Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
All indications are that Obama can expect an exuberant welcome wherever he goes, but that can be a double-edged sword. It didn’t help John Kerry that Europeans seemed so eager to embrace him. In a famous put-down, then Commerce Secretary Don Evans declared that Kerry “looks French.” For his part, Obama has already been portrayed by opponents as an out-of-touch élitist (see “Bittergate”), and recently McCain surrogates such as Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani have suggested that the Democrat has more of a European worldview than the Arizona Senator does.
After eight years of go-it-alone foreign policy, however, that line of attack may not be successful. In a June poll by the Pew Research Center, 71% of respondents said they believe the U.S. is less respected in the world than it used to be; for the first time since Pew began asking that question in 2004, a majority said they view this loss of international respect as a major problem.
Regaining some of that international respect (and admiration) is one thing. But just as crucial for Obama is whether all the diplomatic theater can persuade American voters that he is capable of taking the helm of a superpower. That depends, to some degree, on how comfortable Obama seems standing shoulder-to-shoulder among those he would be dealing with as this country’s President. “It’s not a knowledge quiz. It’s more visceral than that,” says Council of Foreign Relations president Richard Haass, who was director of policy planning at the State Department during the early years of George W. Bush’s presidency, and also served as a top official on his father’s National Security Council staff. “Americans need to have a sense that this person can hold his own.”
And doing that means showing, in his words and interactions overseas, that he is no pushover. “We would like to demonstrate in this trip his comfort and his capacity to deal with the serious challenges that face this country - that he’s comfortable and he’s sure-footed, and he knows what he is doing,” says one of Obama’s foreign policy advisers.
But that is, in many ways, little more than stage management. What will be far harder to discern will be what Obama himself is getting out of his trip. As Haass notes, “The real question is what he learns and ultimately incorporates into his thinking.”
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Jul
15
Obama vows to end US role in Iraq
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Barack Obama, the Democratic contender for the US presidency, has said his main priority as US president will be to end the US involvement in Iraq.
In a foreign policy speech, Senator Obama said “our single-minded and open-ended focus on Iraq is not a sound strategy for keeping America safe”.
His second priority would be to take the war to al-Qaeda and the Taleban in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
He criticised the policies of his Republican rival in November’s poll.
John McCain says events on the ground must govern any Iraq pullout.
Earlier, President George W Bush rejected any “artificial” timetable for withdrawing US troops, saying a decision must be made “as conditions permit”.
Mr Obama’s speech comes ahead of a tour that will include Iraq and Afghanistan.
The dates of the trip have not been disclosed for security reasons.
‘Unacceptable’
In the speech at the International Trade Center in Washington, Mr Obama said: “This war diminishes our security, our standing in the world, our military, our economy, and the resources that we need to confront the challenges of the 21st Century.”
Al-Qaeda has an expanding base in Pakistan that is probably no farther from their old Afghan sanctuary than a train ride from Washington to Philadelphia
Excerpt from Barack Obama speech
He said the conflict in Iraq must be brought to an end as “the central front in the war on terror is not Iraq, and it never was”.
Mr Obama said that as president he would take the US in a new direction, and his priority would be to finish the fight against al-Qaeda and the Taleban.
He said that the situation in Afghanistan had deteriorated to such an extent that the Taleban were able to launch a brazen attack on one of America’s own bases there.
Mr Obama said a withdrawal of US forces from Iraq would allow much needed reinforcements to be sent to Afghanistan.
He said sustained co-operation was needed between Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nato to root out al-Qaeda and the Taleban.
“It is unacceptable that almost seven years after nearly 3,000 Americans were killed on our soil, the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 are still at large,” he said.
“Osama Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahari are recording messages to their followers and plotting more terror. The Taliban controls parts of Afghanistan. Al-Qaeda has an expanding base in Pakistan that is probably no farther from their old Afghan sanctuary than a train ride from Washington to Philadelphia.”
“And yet today, we have five times more troops in Iraq than Afghanistan.”
On other issues he said he would use all tools not to allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon, and would invest $150bn over the next 10 years to end America’s dependence on foreign oil.
Timetable for withdrawal
BBC diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus says the war over the war in Iraq is moving into high gear.
The essential difference between Mr Obama and his Republican rival, John McCain, is that the Illinois senator wants to set a clear timetable for a withdrawal from Iraq - some 16 months - while Mr McCain insists that the situation on the ground, not timetables, must govern the pace of any withdrawal, our correspondent says.
It is not just a political argument, he adds - it has a huge bearing on the signals that the next US president will send to the Middle East and at root it is a test of their capacity to be Commander-in-Chief.
Opinion polls suggest that Americans remain deeply divided on the best strategy in Iraq, with almost equal proportions opting for a clear timetable or for no timetable for a withdrawal.
Mr Obama may not necessarily need to win this argument outright, our correspondent says, but in setting out his foreign policy stall he needs to show that he has credible, concrete positions that make sense of a complex world.
Jul
13
Schwarzenegger: I’d be Obama energy czar
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California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in an interview aired Sunday that he would be open to the idea of serving as energy czar in a Barack Obama administration.
Regardless of whether he takes that particular job, Schwarzenegger, a Republican, added on ABC’s “This Week” that he’s now committed to continuing public service even after he leaves Sacramento.
Schwarzenegger endorsed John McCain at the end of January, and McCain has appeared with “the Governator” to praise his efforts to deal with climate change.
A Schwarzenegger appointment would add even more star power to a hypothetical Obama administration, and would allow Obama to make an appointment from across the aisle that would not upset his core supporters.
When George Stephanopoulous asked Schwarzenegger about the idea on “This Week,” the governor replied that he doesn’t “think about taking on a national role.”
“It’s hypothetical,” he added. “I’m always ready to help in any way I can, the United States. I’ve committed myself to be a public servant. I said to myself, ‘This country has given me everything. It’s my time, now - I’m through with the acting and all of those things that I’ve done, body building.
“Even though I love all of those things still, for me, it’s important to give something back, do my work without getting paid and give something back, no matter what I do. If I have this position or not, I will be traveling around the world and I will be promoting [energy independence], renewables, solar, windmills, … protecting the environment, protecting the oceans.”
Stephanopoulos followed up about Obama: “If he were president and he called, you would at least take that call?”
Schwarzenegger replied: “I would take his call now, I will take his call when he’s president - any time. Remember, no matter who is president, I don’t see this as a political thing, I see this as we always have to help, no matter what the administration is.”
Stephanopoulos said his question was prompted by a news report that he attributed to Newsweek.
Jul
13
Obama, McCain and their awkward Hispanic outreach
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ORLANDO, Fla. - Like eager but awkward suitors, Barack Obama and John McCain are working hard and sometimes fumbling in their efforts to court Hispanic voters who could swing November’s presidential election.
Obama and white Anglo McCain, the problem is less one of language than of trying to understand a group whose own diversity can make it a mystery to others. It’s not a simple matter of saying, “Take me to your leaders.”
But that, in essence, is the ground game the presidential candidates and their campaigns have been playing in pitching to voters who could form decisive constituencies in critical battleground states.
“They just come to me and say, ‘Who are the bosses of the Latin community?’” said Patrick Manteiga, who runs a family-owned newspaper for Hispanics in Tampa’s historic Cuban neighborhood of Ybor City. “That’s like coming and asking, ‘Who are the bosses of white America, of the soccer moms?’”
Both candidates are pressing their case in three speeches in as many weeks to Hispanic umbrella groups and working in other ways to make their outreach more sophisticated. Republicans have opened an office in Orlando, where most of the state’s Puerto Ricans live, and Obama opens one this week in Ybor City.
They’ve both got their work cut out for them in appealing to a large and growing segment of the population that has leaned Democratic but has not always been motivated to vote. A recent AP-Yahoo News poll found Obama leading McCain 47 percent to 22 percent among Hispanic voters, with 26 percent undecided.
McCain is respected by many Hispanics for refusing to pander to anti-immigrant sentiment over the years. Yet he is viewed in some Latin quarters as a sequel to the unpopular President Bush, a problem he has with voters at large, too.
Obama’s vitality and soaring oratory appeal to Hispanics just as they do to others. Whoops of approval were heard throughout his speech this week to the League of United Latin American Citizens’ convention.
Yet Obama emerged from Democratic primaries a distant second to rival Hillary Rodham Clinton among most Hispanic groups. Like voters at large, Latino voters question the one-term senator’s experience. And there are tensions between blacks and Hispanics.
Hispanic voters are hardly monolithic. Some in the West have roots going back more than two centuries, while others were sworn in as citizens last week. Some consider themselves white and some black, and many represent every shade in between.
During the last presidential election, Hispanics in key swing states such as Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and Florida represented anywhere from 8 percent to more than 30 percent of voters, according to exit polls, and their numbers are only expected to grow this year.
THE CLINTONITES
Clara Apodaca, 73, of Las Cruces, N.M., is among the Clinton supporters who quickly made the shift to Obama. The longtime Democrat was hoping to see a woman in the Oval Office, but she now believes Obama would be the best candidate to handle the economy, the war and the country’s reputation.
“We’re so badly thought of throughout the world,” she said. “We need to shore up our relationships.”
Yet 64-year-old Denver resident Paul Sandoval, who was also a Clinton supporter, has yet to make up his mind.
“Obama has not sold me that he’s the best candidate, regardless if he’s a Democrat,” the Mexican restaurant owner said as he served up eggs for the morning crowd. “I’m going to wait. I’m going to see how they perform on that stage, answering those hard questions.”
And then there is Fernando Romero, a former casino executive and longtime political organizer in Las Vegas. Romero advised Democratic candidate Bill Richardson, but he calls Obama’s relationship with Hispanics shallow. For now, he’s backing McCain.
“Unfortunately (Obama) is the one that we know nothing about and has made little effort to communicate with us,” Romero said. “There are so many good qualities that Senator McCain has - and proven qualities.”
THE REPUBLICANS
The McCain campaign is counting on such voters, hoping they will judge him as an individual and not a fixture of the Republican Party.
But the Republicans are seeing their own defections among Hispanic voters, especially in Florida, where for the first time more are registered as Democrats than Republicans.
McCain remains popular among Cuban-Americans in Miami, who tend to vote Republican and admire his military record and his support for U.S. policy toward Cuba. The campaign unveiled its Florida Hispanic steering committee last week with names of roughly 100 active Hispanic supporters from throughout the state. But a crowd of nearly 1,000 people, many of them Cuban-Americans, turned out to hear Obama speak at a private luncheon in May. An Obama campaign sticker briefly peaked out from the wall outside Little Havana’s famed Versailles restaurant last month, a traditional gathering point for Republican hard-liners.
Jesus Mendoza, 51, owner of the Tijerazo barber shop in Tampa, explained his change of heart as he wielded his scissors.
I’m a true Republican,” said the Puerto Rican native. “I believe people should work hard and get less help. But the Republicans have been in power for eight years, and I don’t think things are better. Obama, he’s a young candidate, but he’s intelligent. Even though I’m a Republican, I’m not blind.”
In Orlando, Angie Thillet, 38, who voted twice for Bush, is leaning toward Obama because he proposes to get the country close to universal health care.
Thillet went without insurance coverage for years, despite white-collar jobs. She has insurance now through her employment at a funeral home, yet she was afraid to go to the doctor after she hit her head in the bathtub because her deductible is more than $1,200.
She doesn’t like the hype surrounding Obama, especially comparisons to John F. Kennedy. Still, she says, “I won’t be voting for McCain.”
If talk radio is any measure, Obama is making inroads. Magda Yvette Torres, a two-time Bush supporter and host of a Spanish-language program in central Florida, fielded calls heavily in favor of the Democrat on one recent show.
“Most of my listeners supported Hillary Clinton, and a few months ago, you would have heard a lot of these same people calling in to criticize Obama, more than a few talking about his race,” Torres said.
TEXAS IN FLUX
Although Texas Hispanics have tended to vote Democratic, in the 2004 presidential election, Bush, the state’s former governor, split their vote with Democrat John Kerry. Now their support may be up for grabs again - not enough perhaps to swing the state but enough to force McCain to spend more resources there.
Obama’s personal appeal won over San Antonio office manager Naomi Mathews, 35. The Mexican-American considers herself a Republican but is leaning toward Obama. She was impressed that he held a town hall across the street from the coffee shop where she works.
“Maybe it’s the whole change thing,” said Mathews. “He made an impression on us. Maybe we can trust this person.”
Mathews was one of many Hispanic voters, among dozens interviewed by The Associated Press, who said they wanted more of a direct pitch from the candidates.
Angelette Aviles, 32, an active supporter of McCain, believes he will help the economy and be tough in the international arena. But she was frustrated by a recent South Florida radio ad highlighting a former Cuban political prisoner’s support for McCain.
“It’s like, OK, I think the hardcore voters in Miami are going to vote for the Republicans no matter what,” she said. “The younger generation, they’re more concerned about bread and butter issues. You need to reach out to us.”
Manteiga, a Democrat, said Hispanics want more than Obama’s stadium speeches or McCain’s town-hall meetings.
“No one is meeting with the 40 Latin ministries, as they would in the black community,” he said. “Latins want a hug. They want a touch. If 300 or 400 people shake the candidate’s hand, that translates exponentially into votes when they talk to their family and friends.”
MATTERS OF RACE
Manteiga said a personal connection is most important for Obama because he must convince Hispanics who are uncomfortable voting for a black candidate.
Many Hispanics interviewed by the AP acknowledged tensions on that front, because of competition over jobs and services or because of prejudice. Yet many also said these issues would not be the deciding factor for them, especially in a year when the economy and the war in Iraq loom large.
“To me, being Hispanic, the government caters to blacks,” said Eddie Martinez, 51, of Las Vegas. “Anything the government is giving away goes to blacks first.”
Even so, Martinez plans to vote for Obama because he believes the Illinois senator would be the best at bringing jobs to the area.
Manny Genao, a Dominican native, has run the popular Cafe Madrid in east Orlando for years and proudly displays portraits of local Republican leaders across his walls.
Genao said people in his neighborhood complained about an uptick in crime with the influx of “the diverse people” who poured in from New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.
In the next breath, he said the Bush administration was too close to the oil companies and that he views McCain as more of the same. Then he compared Obama’s speeches to those of Martin Luther King Jr.
“I’m still undecided,” he said.
Jul
9
Obama, McCain split on Iran’s missile tests
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WASHINGTON (AFP) - Democrat Barack Obama Wednesday called for aggressive diplomacy with Iran while Republican John McCain warned against making any concessions, as Tehran’s missile tests jolted the White House race.
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The presidential rivals used Iran’s test of a missile capable of reaching Israel to sketch sharply divergent approaches on foreign policy.
Senator Obama said Iran “must suffer threats of economic sanctions with direct diplomacy opening up channels of communication so we avoid provocation, but we give strong incentives for the Iranians to change their behavior.”
“We have to have a kind of aggressive diplomacy which unfortunately has been absent over the last several years,” Obama said in an interview with CNN.
Obama has drawn fire from McCain for his offer to talk directly to the leaders of Iran and other US foes, but the Illinois Senator said only a US backed carrot-and-stick diplomatic strategy could work.
“Part of the problem that we’ve got right now is that we’ve been basically farming out the diplomatic activity to the Europeans. We’ve got to be actively engaged,” Obama said.
Senator McCain issued a statement following the tests implicitly criticizing Obama’s engagement strategy, which Republicans argue is naive and dangerous.
“Working with our European and regional allies is the best way to meet the threat posed by Iran, not unilateral concessions that undermine multilateral diplomacy,” McCain said.
“Iran’s most recent missile tests demonstrate again the dangers it poses to its neighbors and to the wider region, especially Israel,” McCain said.
“Ballistic missile testing coupled with Iran’s continued refusal to cease its nuclear activities should unite the international community in efforts to counter Iran’s dangerous ambitions.”
McCain also said the tests shows the United States needs effective missile defense “now and in the future,” including the planned missile defense sites in the Czech Republic and Poland.
The long-range Shahab-3 was among a broadside of nine missiles fired off simultaneously at 8:00 am (0330 GMT) from an undisclosed location in the Iranian desert, state television showed.
State-run Arabic channel Al-Alam said the missiles test-fired by the elite Revolutionary Guards included a “Shahab-3 with a conventional warhead weighing one tonne and a 2,000-kilometer (1,240-mile) range.”
The firing comes at a time of growing tension over Tehran’s nuclear drive, which Iran insists is aimed solely at generating energy but the West fears could be aimed at making an atomic bomb.
The Bush administration, which has not ruled out military action against Iranian atomic facilities, condemned the missile tests.
“Iran’s development of ballistic missiles is a violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions and completely inconsistent with Iran’s obligations to the world,” White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.
He expressed concern that Iran’s ballistic missiles could be used as “a delivery vehicle for a potential nuclear weapon.”
Jun
27
Obama donates $4,600 to Clinton’s debt relief
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WASHINGTON - Barack Obama announced Thursday that he will help pay off Hillary Rodham Clinton’s more than $20 million debt, personally writing a check in a gesture meant to win over her top financial backers.
Obama met with more than 200 of Clinton’s biggest fundraisers at Washington’s Mayflower Hotel, the first step in a two-day push to bring her supporters onboard his general election campaign. Behind the scenes, the two sides were negotiating her future involvement with the campaign.
Some Clinton donors had been frustrated that the Democratic presidential nominee-in-waiting had not done more to help her pay the bills even as they are expected to help fund his campaign.
Obama received a standing ovation from the crowd of more than 200 when he said he would enlist his supporters to help pay off her debt.
“I’m going to need Hillary by my side campaigning during his election, and I’m going to need all of you,” Obama said, according to a report written by the only reporter allowed into the event and shared with other reporters afterward. He recounted how he had told his top fundraisers this week “to get out their checkbooks and start working to make sure Senator Clinton - the debt that’s out there needs to be taken care of.”
In a symbolic gesture, Obama delivered a personal check for $4,600, for himself and his wife, Michelle. The maximum individual donation allowed by law is $2,300.
Obama finance chair Penny Pritzker also wrote a $4,600 check for herself and her husband. Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe had it in his pocket and showed it to reporters waiting outside.
Clinton’s debt includes $12 million of her own money. She has said she is not asking for help paying that back.
She told her donors they must make electing Obama a priority, as she acknowledged that hard feelings remain on both sides.
“This was a hard-fought campaign,” the former first lady said. “That’s what made it so exciting and intense and why people’s passions ran so high on both sides. I know my supporters have extremely strong feelings, and I know Barack’s do as well. But we are a family, and we have an opportunity now to really demonstrate clearly we do know what’s at stake, and we will do whatever it takes to try to win back this White House.”
Obama asked the donors for their support, but recognized their hearts may remain with her.
“I do not expect that passion to be transferred,” he said. “Senator Clinton is unique, and your relationships with her are unique.”
But he added, “Senator Clinton and I at our core agree deeply that this country needs to change.”
Clinton and Obama plan to appear together publicly for the first time since the end of the primary on Friday in symbolic Unity, N.H. - where each got 107 votes in the state’s January primary. Clinton won New Hampshire in an upset that set the stage for their long campaign, and it is now a critical battleground for the general election.
Obama told reporters Wednesday that he thinks she’ll be extraordinarily effective in speaking for his candidacy and he’d like her to campaign for him as much as she can. “I think we can send Senator Clinton anywhere and she’ll be effective,” Obama said.
But the extent of her travel for Obama is unclear. Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said Wednesday that they have not scheduled any events after New Hampshire. “We don’t have any specific knowledge of her schedule past Friday,” Plouffe said.
Three Clinton confidants - Cheryl Mills, Minyon Moore and Robert Barnett - are in talks with Obama’s campaign to work out details of her future involvement, including travel, her role at the national convention and resolution of her debt. Part of their argument has been that Clinton can spend more time helping Obama if she isn’t raising money to pay her bills.
Obama told reporters Wednesday he wouldn’t send an e-mail asking his small-dollar contributors to donate to Clinton because “their budgets are tighter” and they probably couldn’t make much of a dent.
One of the biggest outstanding questions is Bill Clinton’s role. The former president issued a one-word statement through a spokesman Tuesday offering to help, but the two men have not yet spoken.
McAuliffe said he spent Monday with the former president, who said “he will do whatever is needed.”
“He will go 24/7 if he has to,” McAuliffe said. “He’s willing to do whatever it takes. Winning the White House is of paramount importance, not only to Hillary but of course to President Clinton.”
An Associated Press-Yahoo News poll out Thursday shows Obama has won over slightly more than half of Clinton’s former supporters. About a quarter of Clinton’s backers say they will support McCain over Obama.
Obama ended Thursday’s meeting by taking a few questions from the group, according to attendees. He didn’t answer a question about whether he would support putting Clinton’s name in for a roll call vote at the convention, but promised she would play a prominent role in Denver.
He also sidestepped a question about whether she would join him on the ticket.
He was asked about “misogyny” in the campaign and said his wife, Michelle, was now experiencing it and that he was sensitive to it, attendees said. He said his 86-year-old grandmother had been very inspired by Clinton’s historic run and that his daughters now don’t think it’s a big deal for a woman to be president.
Bernard Schwartz, a New York businessman and longtime Clinton donor, said Obama won his support.
“You know how it is when somebody says to you, I’ll never forget my first love? Hillary was my first love, there’s no question about that,” Schwartz said as he left the meeting. “Am I going to be passionate for Obama, and can I say right now that I’m passionately supportive of Obama and passionately wish him to win? Absolutely without any equivocation.”
Hannah Simone, a Washington energy lobbyist and top Clinton donor, said she entered the meeting undecided but is now ready to help. She can’t donate herself because Obama does not accept lobbyists’ money, but she said she’ll start raising from others.
“It was a big step forward for some of us who were very passionate about her campaign,” she said.
But some attendees left feeling that Obama didn’t go much beyond his standard talking points, and could have done more to win over her supporters. They declined to quoted by name.
Jun
20
McCain attacks Obama for opting out of public financing
Filed Under CNN News, Most Pepular, News | Leave a Comment
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Sen. John McCain on Thursday accused Sen. Barack Obama of breaking a promise when the Democrat decided to forgo public financing in this fall’s campaign.
Sen. Barack Obama repeatedly broke campaign fundraising records during the Democratic primary season.
Obama told supporters in an e-mail message Thursday that he would not accept about $85 million in public funds when he becomes the Democratic presidential nominee.
In the e-mail, Obama said the public campaign financing system allowed “special interests [to] drown out the voices of the American people” and asked his supporters to “declare our independence from a broken system.”
McCain said that Obama’s move to drop out of the system “should be disturbing to all Americans” and that he may decide to opt out, too.
“Sen. Obama’s reversal on public financing is one of a number of reversals … that he has taken,” McCain said while touring flood-damaged parts of Iowa.
“This election is about a lot of things, but it’s also about trust. It’s also about whether you can take people’s word. … He said he would stick to his agreement. He didn’t.” Watch McCain’s attack on Obama »
He said his campaign will reconsider whether to opt out as well.
“We”l have to reevaluate in light of his decision,” he said. But he said he leans toward taking public money.
But Rep. Rahm Emanuel, an Obama supporter, argued that the Democrat had “more than realized the objective of public financing” by setting up a system to accept small donations over the Internet.
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“It has given the American people a voice in our political process and has forever changed politics in this country by inspiring record numbers of Americans to participate in bringing change to Washington,” Emanuel said.
Despite the heated back-and-forth, CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider said it is unlikely the controversy will influence voters.
“I’m not sure it’s a big deal for most voters. There’s not a lot of support for the public financing system.” Schneider said. “About a year ago, the polls asked people if they supported the idea that candidates and campaigns should be financed by taxpayer money … and most persons said no.
“They like the idea of financing campaigns through small contributions from a lot of individual contributors, which is what Obama has done,” he said.
Obama would be the first the major presidential candidate to drop out of the modern campaign financing system for the general election since its creation in 1976 in the post-Watergate era.
Under this system, candidates agree to spend only the public funds and cannot raise or spend money directly obtained from individuals.
Because he has decided not participate in the system, Obama will be able to spend an unlimited amount of money during the general election.
The two camps also bickered Thursday over whether they had held negotiations on public financing before Obama’s move to drop out.
Obama counsel Bob Bauer said he discussed the public funding issue for 45 minutes with Trevor Potter, his McCain counterpart, on June 6 when they met to talk about a possible town-hall appearance between the candidates.
Potter said the two “spoke in general terms about the public financing system, with Bob outlining reasons it could be considered ‘broken’ or irrelevant in 2008, and I explaining why Sen. McCain remained committed to it and thought it was good for the country.”
Given his record-breaking ability to raise donations over the Internet, the Illinois Democrat probably will be able to raise more than and outspend the presumptive GOP nominee. Watch CNN’s Candy Crowley explain the significance of Obama’s decision »
Since January 2007, Obama has raised more than $272 million, including nearly $31 million in April. During that time period, McCain has raised less than half that amount, roughly $100 million. In April, the Arizona Republican brought in about $18 million.
The FEC ruled unanimously in March 2007 that presidential candidates could accept general election public financing, provided that they return any money raised for the general election while following certain guidelines. At the time, Obama’s actions appeared to be a desire on his part to preserve the public financing option while enabling him to raise general election money.
After that ruling, spokesman Bill Burton said, “Sen. Obama is pleased the FEC took this important step in preserving the public financing system, which is why he sought the opinion. If Sen. Obama is the nominee, he will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election.”
However, Obama asked supporters Thursday to “declare our independence from a broken system, and run the type of campaign that reflects the grass-roots values that have already changed our politics and brought us this far.”
The Democrat also attacked McCain and Republicans for taking money from lobbyists and political action committees, and he faulted McCain for not checking the campaign spending of conservative groups independent from his campaign.
“We’ve already seen that he’s not going to stop the smears and attacks from his allies running so-called 527 groups, who will spend millions and millions of dollars in unlimited donations,” the e-mail said, referring to independent political advocacy groups that often purchase issue ads independent of the presidential campaigns.
These groups operate under Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Service tax code.
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