POLITICUSUSA
In a video posted on his website almost two weeks ago, Republican Rep. Ron Paul hinted at the obvious. With John McCain clinching the GOP nomination, his presidential campaign is over. The Ron Paul phenomenon of 2008 is interesting because it revealed a great deal about where the Republican Party has been, and quite possibly where it is going.
A new Quinnipiac University poll of the state of Pennsylvania released today found that Hillary Clinton has widened her lead over Barack Obama to 12 points. This represents a doubling over her lead in the previous February 27 poll, but Obama has still managed to cut into the 18 point lead that Clinton enjoyed on February 14.
After discussing America's racial history, and describing his mixed race background, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said that the concept that we are the sum of our parts is seared into his genetic makeup. He discussed the racial tensions surrounding his campaign. "This is not to say that race has not been an issue in the campaign.
The members of the new women's online community wowOwow.com voted on which four women they would like to see on Mt. Rushmore. As a man, I think that three of the choices make perfect sense. Eleanor Roosevelt, Susan B. Anthony, Rosa Parks would, to me, all be worthy of this type of recognition. They are all Americans who made great contributions to our society.
A new national study by HCD Research of 798 Democrats, Republicans, and Independents found that an across party lines majority said that they were less likely to support Barack Obama after viewing video segments of sermons given by his pastor Jeremiah Wright.
Today, House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi issued a statement urging the President Bush to do more to help Americans struggling under the weight of the current economy. "While there is no quick fix to repair our struggling economy, more must be done to begin to reverse the economic mismanagement of the past seven years.
Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton gave what was billed as a major policy address at George Washington University today on her three part plan for ending the war in Iraq. Clinton spent an unusual amount of time during the early part of her address attacking both John McCain and Barack Obama.
The White House wouldn't give any details on Cheney's trip except to say that he was there in an effort to build political unity in the country. Does anyone else find it ironic that an administration which has thrived on political division and secrecy, now finds itself in the position of having to unify Iraq?
The conventional wisdom says that the Clinton/Obama battle hurts the Democratic Party the longer it drags out, but I disagree. I think that whoever emerges as the nominee could be in a prime position to ride a wave of momentum the whole way to the White House.
In the new issue of Newsweek, which hits newsstands tomorrow, Howard Fineman interviewed Ralph Nader and asked him a wide range of questions about Eliot Spitzer, the Democratic candidates, and the role of reform minded politicians. Nader was asked if personal behavior should be a test of how we measure public officials and candidates.
Barack Obama continued his campaign based on the promise of emotional renewal for both the Democratic Party and the United States. Obama retold the story of Bobby Kennedy's speech in Indianapolis shortly after the death of Martin Luther King.
An HCD Research national study of 431 Democrats found that most of them disagree with Geraldine Ferraro's statement that, "Barack Obama would not have made it this far if he was a white man." The study was done to analyze voter perception of video segments of Ferraro on Fox News where she defended her comments about Obama.
Today, President Bush used his weekly radio address to defend his administration's policies towards the housing crisis and the economic stimulus package. The president continued to put a happy face on the terrible state of the economy.
Today the House of the Representatives passed a Democratic bill that would set the rules for the surveillance of the emails and phone calls of people within the United States. The bill was passed among mostly partisan lines, 213-197.
Four key Michigan Democrats have been discussing with the Clinton and Obama campaigns a plan to hold a do-over primary in the state of Michigan on June 3. The four Democrats include Sen. Carl Levin, Rep. Carol Cheeks Kilpatrick, the president of the United Auto Workers, and a member of the Democratic National Committee.
Ahead of Vice President Dick Cheney's trip to the Middle East Democratic Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) wrote him a letter asking him to negotiate with OPEC to reduce oil prices.
Today both the House and Senate voted to let many of the Bush tax cuts expire in 2010. The House Democrats budget plan would increase spending on domestic programs, and pay for it by letting all of the Bush tax cuts die. The Senate was much choosier. It extended $340 billion worth of tax cuts for middle and upper income people, businesses, and those inheriting large estates.
In 2004, President George W. Bush was able to win reelection in part based on his campaign's ability to characterize his opponent John Kerry as a flip-flopper, a.k.a. a politician who changes his views as easily as the wind blows. Bush famously characterized Kerry as being for the Iraq war before he was against it.
Geraldine Ferraro sent a letter to Hillary Clinton this afternoon informing her that she was stepping down from her post on Clinton's finance committee. "I am stepping down from your finance committee so I can speak for myself and you can continue to speak for yourself about what is at stake in this campaign," Ferraro wrote.
At a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, Committee Chair Rep. John Conyers said that net neutrality must be preserved, and stated that he is willing to propose legislation to do so. "I am concerned that if Congress stands by and does nothing, we will soon find ourselves living in a world where those who pay, can play (on the Internet), but those who don't are simply out of luck," Conyers said.