US Election 2008 Blog

Barack Obama was recently accused by FOX News and other right wing organizations of being raised a muslim and attended a madrassa

But Candidates Have Taken Positions Exceeding Mainstream of a Few Years Ago

Perry Bacon Jr., Washington Post

After Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, publicly declared in March that homosexuality was immoral, gay supporters of Sens. Barack Obama of Illinois and Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York were furious when neither presidential candidate was very critical of Pace.

They let both campaigns know it, and the next day Clinton and Obama said they do not consider homosexuality immoral.

The tentative reactions suggest the caution with which the two leading Democratic contenders approach gay rights issues when they are publicly debated. “The antenna goes up,” acknowledges Ethan Geto, an informal adviser to Clinton on gay rights issues. “It’s a measure of how volatile gay rights issues are in national politics.”

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Presidential hopeful Fred Thompson is labelled by former flames as a charmer who could bring home the female vote

Sarah Baxter, Times Online

IN the battle for the women’s vote, Fred Thompson has a secret weapon against Hillary Clinton - the legions of former girlfriends who still adore him and who want him to be president.

The Hollywood actor and former Tennessee senator racked up an impressive list of conquests during his swinging bachelor days in the 1990s, but he appears to have achieved the impossible and kept their friendship and respect.

Lorrie Morgan, a country singer who dated Thompson and considered marrying him in the mid1990s, told The Sunday Times: “I couldn’t think of a bad word to say about Fred if somebody put a gun to my head.

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YouTube

Albanian police say the reports of President Bush’s watch being stolen while greeting the crowd in Tirana are untrue.However, video from the presidential visit shows that while he began to work the crowd with a timepiece on his left arm, within seconds it was gone.

“The story is untrue and the president did not lose his watch,” a spokesman for the embassy in Tirana said.

Some newspapers, television stations and websites carried reports that Bush’s watch vanished on Sunday when he was greeted by ecstatic crowds in Fushe Kruje, outside the capital Tirana.

“It is not true,” said Albania’s police director, Ahmet Prenci.

Photographs showed Bush, surrounded by five bodyguards, putting his hands behind his back so one of the bodyguards could remove his watch. (more)

Associated Press

WILMINGTON, Del. - Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, in an indirect swipe at President Bush, said Thursday the overwhelming attitude that the U.S. is headed in the wrong direction reflects a lack of leadership.

The nation’s bleak mood was evident in the most recent Associated Press-Ipsos poll in which only 21 percent said they believe things in the U.S. are heading in the right direction, the worst mark since the AP-Ipsos poll began in December 2003.

Speaking at a Flag Day rally in Wilmington, Del., Giuliani told more than 200 supporters: “What we’re lacking is strong, aggressive, bold leadership like we had with Ronald Reagan.”

The same AP-Ipsos poll found public approval with the job Bush is doing at 32 percent, matching an all-time low.

The former New York mayor said he’s running for president to keep the United States on offensive against terrorist and to challenge big government.

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By Dante Chinni, Christian Science Monitor

Washington - A debate, as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is “a contention by words or arguments … as a regulated discussion of a proposition between two matched sides.”

If you have watched any of the “debates” among the 2008 Democratic and Republican presidential hopefuls, you might be wondering if US news media read the dictionary much. The events featuring eight potential Democratic and 10 possible Republican nominees, each lined up on their respective stages, look and feel less like debates than talent shows. Each candidate wants to stand out and be noticed, without saying or doing something that might embarrass himself or herself.

As painful as they can be to watch, these early debates are nothing new. The Democrats’ first primary debate for the 2004 presidential race was held on May 3, 2003 – there were nine candidates in that one. You probably don’t remember it because it wasn’t televised until hours after it ended and not televised at all in some parts of country.

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By David M. Halbfinger - New York Times Blog

LOS ANGELES — Steven Spielberg’s exploratory phase is over: He’s a Hillary Clinton man.

After a flirtation with Senator Barack Obama in February, and maxing out his contributions to both Mr. Obama and former Senator John Edwards, the famous filmmaker today threw his support formally behind Senator Clinton.

It’s the most significant indication yet that Hollywood luminaries are returning to what was expected to be their default position at the start of the campaign, before Mr. Obama suddenly grew white-hot.

In a statement that her campaign splashed across its home page, Mr. Spielberg cited Mrs. Clinton’s “experience and strength.”

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Associated Press

NEW YORK - Presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton has won the endorsement of New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez , a prominent Hispanic Democrat and leading political voice in the vote-rich state.

The endorsement was scheduled to be announced Tuesday in Washington, two Democrats familiar with the situation said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the planned formal announcement.

Menendez, a Cuban-American and former member of the House leadership, was appointed in December 2005 to fill the Senate seat of Gov.-elect Jon Corzine. Menendez was re-elected in 2006, defeating Thomas Kean Jr., the son of the former Republican governor, in a hard-fought and expensive race.

Clinton raised money and campaigned for Menendez during his re-election bid.

Menendez is one of just three Hispanics in the Senate, along with Republican Mel Martinez (news, bio, voting record) of Florida and Democrat Ken Salazar (news, bio, voting record) of Colorado.

The Menendez endorsement follows that of another prominent Hispanic Democrat, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Both California and New Jersey are among several large states hosting primaries Feb. 5.

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By George F. Will, Washington Post

Early in George W. Bush’s presidency, liberal critics said: The economy is not growing. Which was true. He inherited the debris of the 1990s’ irrational exuberances. A brief (eight months) and mild (the mildest since World War II) recession began in March 2001, before any of his policies were implemented. It ended in November 2001.

In 2002, when his tax cuts kicked in and the economy began 65 months — so far — of uninterrupted growth, critics said: But it is a “jobless recovery.” When the unemployment rate steadily declined — today it is 4.5 percent; time was, 6 percent was considered full employment — critics said: Well, all right, the economy is growing and creating jobs and wealth, but the wealth is not being distributed in accordance with the laws of God or Nature or liberalism or something.

Last Sunday, eight Democratic presidential candidates debated for two hours, saying about the economy . . . next to nothing. You must slog to Page 43 in the 51-page transcript before Barack Obama laments that “the burdens and benefits of this new global economy are not being spread evenly across the board” and promises to “institute some fairness in the system.”

Well. When in the long human story have economic burdens and benefits been “spread evenly”? Does Obama think they should be, even though talents never are? What relationship of “fairness” does he envision between the value received by individuals and the value added by them? Does he disagree — if so, on what evidence? — with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that “the influence of globalization on inequality has been moderate and almost surely less important than the effects of skill-biased technological change”?

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 News.bg

Rangers from Bulgarian mission in Iraq and honorary guard were at the square of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral for the official receiving of the American president George Bush.

Around 8.25 AM the American delegation retinue arrived in front of the cathedral.

The US president and the first lady were received by the Bulgarian president Georgi Parvanov and his wife Zorka Parvanova.

The guard orchestra performed the American and the Bulgarian anthems, after which Bush greeted the Bulgarian guard in Bulgarian language.

George and Lora Bush greeted the officials among whom were the Foreign Minister Ivaylo Kalfin, Bulgarian ambassador to the USA Elena Poptodorova, Minister of Defense Georgi Bliznakov, Sofia mayor Boiko Borissov, US ambassador in Bulgaria John Beyrle, representatives of the American embassy and the administration of president Parvanov.

Bush laid a wreath to the Monument of the Unknown hero and paid tribute to the memory of the heroes who have died for Bulgaria.

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