Thu, July 17, 2008 - 4:32 PM

Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., and Republican colleagues unveiled a new anti-Obama documentary Thursday on behalf of Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign.

The nearly eight minute video, entitled “The Obama Iraq Documentary: Whatever the Politics Demand,” relies on archived news footage to show how Obama has shifted positions regarding U.S. troop levels in Iraq.

It starts with a 2007 clip showing Obama saying a surge of 20,000 troops in Iraq will not “solve the sectarian violence there. In fact, I think it will do the reverse.” A year later, the video shows, Obama said the surge “reduced violence and provided breathing room.”

Cantor credited McCain with that success in Iraq.

“It was John McCain and his leadership and his vision when he came out and proposed the surge that made that happen,” Cantor said.

Immediately after Cantor’s news conference, Democrats responded by unveiling a video series of their own called “McCain on Iraq: Wrong from the Start.”

“Senator McCain is for a permanent presence,” said Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash. “Obama is for a responsible withdrawal to better protect our national security interests.”

--Neil Simon

Wed, July 16, 2008 - 4:59 PM

Working to minimize the growing number of Republicans defecting to support Democrat Mark Warner’s Senate bid, Northern Virginia GOP activists wagged their finger Tuesday night at Republicans who have already strayed from the fold.

The Fairfax County Republican Committee passed a resolution at their monthly meeting stating “its disapproval of Republicans publicly supporting Mark Warner,” and encouraging “those that have already done so to discontinue their active support.”

The resolution passed by voice vote among the roughly 200 members present, committee chairman Jim Hyland said.

Earlier Tuesday Republicans had considered voting on other measures to punish Republicans who support Warner. One idea would have amounted to a censure of recently retired State Delegate Vincent F. Callahan (R-McLean), who has backed Warner. The final resolution did not name any Warner-backing Republicans, but did acknowledge the lack of enthusiasm some Republicans have for their own Senate nominee, Jim Gilmore.

“We know that any one Republican, at any time, may be dissatisfied with the nominee,” the resolution read, “but that dissatisfaction is best reflected in the privacy of the voting booth.”

Fairfax County Republican Committee chairman Jim Hyland said, “People had wanted something stronger. We have a lot of people who are upset about this series of Republicans endorsing Mark Warner.”

“We ended up with more of a consensus resolution,” Hyland said.

Gilmore’s and Warner’s campaigns did not immediately return calls Wednesday.

--Neil Simon

Mon, July 14, 2008 - 11:35 AM

Fresh back from Iraq and Afghanistan, veterans are jumping into the campaign battlefield.

Vets for Freedom went on the air with this $1.5 million ad buy on the Fourth of July.



The group plans to keep it on the air in the swing states of Ohio, Virginia, Michigan, Colorado and New Mexico through Veterans Day November 11. While it backs no candidate specifically, the ad is much more in line with Sen. John McCain’s Iraq war policy than Sen. Barack Obama’s out-in-16-months plan.

The same group hosted a rally with McCain this spring, supporting his alternative GI bill.

--Neil Simon

Fri, July 11, 2008 - 4:49 PM

Barack Obama's campaign plans to sponsor a race car in the August 3 Sprint Cup race in the Poconos, Sports Illustrated reported today, citing unnamed sources.

SI.com has learned that for the first time in history, a major presidential candidate may sponsor a race car in NASCAR's premier series. According to sources, Barack Obama's campaign is in talks to become the primary sponsor of BAM Racing's No. 49 Sprint Cup car for the Pocono race on August 3. Details of the agreement are expected to be worked out over the coming days.

A BAM spokesperson has revealed the team will hold a press conference July 23 in Miami to reveal the partnership, currently a proposed one-race deal with an option to continue. Obama will be at the briefing, which will be tied to the "Get Out The Vote" campaign message he spread throughout the 2008 primary season.

Racing sources claim one of the options being considered would allow individual campaign donors to get their name on the race car for as little as $100. Obama will also be present for a second private fundraiser on July 30 in Miami, in which team owners Beth Ann and Tony Morgenthau -- staunch Republicans -- will give the Democrat an opportunity to spread his message of change. Randy Moss and Fergie are among the celebrities confirmed to be a part of that fundraiser in support of the candidate and his venture into NASCAR.

--Sean Mussenden

Thu, July 10, 2008 - 12:58 PM

FAIRFAX, Va. – As a teacher, Cheryl Perry wanted to be able to tell her students she saw history in the making.

So Perry was the first one at the door of Robinson Secondary School this morning to see Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama as he campaigns in Northern Virginia.

“I’ll be front row and center,” said Perry, who arrived at 7 a.m. “Barack, here I am!”

Obama’s stop in northern Virginia is targeted toward women like Perry. The event, which is expected to begin at 1:15 p.m., is billed as one where he will talk about improving economic opportunities for women and balancing the demands of work and family.

About 2,000 people are expected to fill the Fairfax school’s field house. Attendees will be able to ask Obama questions. Tickets were distributed Wednesday.

Obama has been courting women voters since he captured the Democratic nomination over Hillary Clinton.

He has also been courting Virginia’s 13 electoral votes. On June 5, Obama kicked off his general election campaign in Bristol and in Prince William County.

Although Virginia has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964, both candidates are investing time and money in the state. Polls show Virginia could be a close contest between Obama and Republican John McCain.

McCain acknowledged in June that he still has "a lot of work to do" to win Virginia.

"I do not take it lightly," he said. "I watched the results of recent elections in this state, so I do have a lot of work to do."

-- Amy Dominello

Wed, July 09, 2008 - 12:43 PM

Barack Obama's travelling road show will return to Virginia Thursday for a town hall meeting with women focusing on "economic insecurity," his campaign said today.

The state could prove an important one in the November election, and Obama is mining for votes in Northern Virginia, increasingly friendly territory for Democrats.

--Sean Mussenden

Tue, July 08, 2008 - 5:21 PM

In a new campaign ad, John McCain refights the culture wars of the 1960s, contrasting himself at the time— a dashing young warrior surviving captivity and torture at the hands of the enemy—with hippies and protestors back home in the U.S.

“It was a time of uncertainty, hope and change. The ‘Summer Of Love.’ “ the ad begins, showing footage of hippies and protests.

“Half a world away, another kind of love—of country,” the ad continues, showing the young McCain.

In the ad, Obama's name isn’t mentioned. But the narration contains not-to-subtle swipes at him and his "message of hope."

The narrator says at one point:

"Beautiful words cannot make our lives better.

"But a man who has always put his country and her people before self, before politics can."

Equating Obama in voters’ minds to 1968’s protests, bell-bottoms, and legal or illegal tune-ins and turn-ons, with McCain's his own record in battle and as a North Vietnamese prisoner of war would be a striking contrast. Except that it's a false one.

Obama can't seriously be linked to a cultural divide dating from when he was still in elementary school. And aren't we past the Archie Bunker era?

Perhaps the ad was actually planned BEFORE Obama clinched the Democratic nomination and really designed for Hillary Clinton, who is 14 years older than Obama. Before Obama won the nomination, McCain used the same tactic against Clinton, with an ad about her support for a congressional earmark to help fund a Woodstock museum.

McCain also mentioned the museum in speeches, saying he didn’t go to Woodstock or revel in the 1960s because, “I was tied up at the time.”

Here’s a better idea. Maybe the McCain camp can put out another ad linking Obama to disco or those gaudy, weird 1970s major league baseball uniforms, leisure suits, gas shortages or even Jimmy Carter.

Here's the ad: here.


-- Billy House, Media General News Service and William March, Tampa Tribune.

In case you haven’t heard, gas prices are high.

And while they were back in their respective home states last week, at least two Republican senators heard an earful about it.

“This was the number one issue on people’s minds,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said at a press conference on Tuesday.

Cornyn was joined by Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla. Both said that high gas prices have become a crisis.

Martinez said Americans feel Congress is doing nothing to help them and that his constituents are asking him if Washington realizes just how bad the problem is.

Congress, the senators said, needs to pass a bipartisan measure before their August break to start down the path toward a long-term energy solutions.

Both said the country needs to look at ways to develop its own oil resources. Martinez said drilling in a national wildlife refuge in northeast Alaska is off the table because Democrats strongly oppose it.

“Let’s find those areas of common ground,” he said.

-- Amy Dominello

WASHINGTON – If John McCain’s vice presidential search team is seriously considering Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, wouldn’t its intensive vetting process include talking to the state’s Republican U.S. senator, Mel Martinez?

“I’m not going to talk about that,” said Martinez, when asked this morning by Media General News Service whether he’d been approached yet by the McCain Veep team about Crist.

Does Martinez’ silence mean they have approached him?

The senator declined to answer.

Martinez did add instructively: “It’s Sen. McCain decision.”

Martinez’ tight lips about Crist comes amid published reports that indicate that A.B. Culvahouse, who is supervising McCain’s search for a running mate, has begun to vet up to 10 candidates.

It also has been reported that Culvahouse, a one-time White House counsel to President Reagan, has already consulted with top Republicans in the House and Senate about potential McCain picks.

-- Billy House, Media General News Service

Mon, July 07, 2008 - 6:22 PM

WASHINGTON – The publisher of Florida Sen. Mel Martinez' soon-to-be-released autobiography has posted an on-line synopsis that reads like a thriller.

In fact, the book is described as “a riveting account of innocence lost, exile sustained by religious faith, and an immigrant’s gritty determination to overcome the barriers of language and culture in his adopted homeland.”

It was with “a hail of bullets” says the summary, that the “idyllic Cuba of his boyhood was shattered.”

“A Sense of Belonging” written by the Republican Martinez and New York City-based writer Ed Breslin is published by Crown Forum, among several books this year from members of Congress. The book is being released in its initial 256-page hardcover form on Aug. 5, at $26.95. The subtitle: “From Castro's Cuba to the U.S. Senate, One Man's Pursuit of the American Dream.”

The full synopsis from the publisher can be read here.

-- Billy House

There are several unwritten rules for would-be vice presidential nominees, but by far the most important is to never display any interest in the position in public, much less actively lobby for it.

It would be far more honest for all would-be VPs simply to admit interest in the job. But there’s a feeling in Washington that doing so would be gauche. Why? Your guess is as good as mine. But there it is.

With that in mind, consider the answer Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard and now a top economic adviser to John McCain, gave to the VP question this morning.

Fiorina’s name has been floated as a possible vice president for McCain, in part because of her business and economic experience. During the primaries, McCain famously revealed that he does not have as firm a grasp on economics as he does on issues of national defense and wasteful government spending.

At a breakfast with reporters Monday, Fiorina was asked not if she wanted the job. It’s a worthless question, since everyone denies it anyway. Rather, a reporter wondered, if she thought that someone with her background – lots of business experience, little government experience – would be suited for the vice presidency.

Fiorina responded by defending her qualifications for the job. She stressed her experience dealing with the federal government, lobbying them as a technology executive and more recent projects since leaving HP. She also argued that business experience would be very helpful in the job.

“John McCain is going to have a lot of highly qualified people to choose from,” she said.

“Let me also answer your question by saying the following: I’ve spent the last three plus years getting involved in a variety of issues in a variety of government departments, whether it’s the Defense Department, the Central Intelligence Agency or the State Department,” she said.

“I would certainly not consider myself an expert on government. But what I can tell you is that all aspects of the federal government reach out to business people, not just myself, because there are common elements in organizational challenges, there are some common elements in how you bring people together to make them more efficient and effective. And yes, there are things government can borrow and learn from business,” she said.

Press Play to listen to the whole clip:



--Sean Mussenden

In a move likely to promote the "rock star" label bestowed on Barack Obama by the media, the Democratic Party is giving their candidate a stadium gig.

The Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) announced today that Obama will officially accept the party's nomination not at Denver's Pepsi Center, the official site of the convention, but INVESCO Field at Mile High, the stadium where the Denver Broncos play.

INVESCO can hold more than 75,000 people. Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, the DNCC Co-Chair, said in a press release the move "will allow thousands of first-time participants a chance to take part."

Still undecided is who Obama's opening act will be. Political insiders say it is unlikely that it will be Ted Nugent.

Fun Fact: The "Bucky Bronco" statue that sits atop the scoreboard at INVESCO Field is the same statue that graced Mile High Stadium, the Broncos' former home. It was cast in 1975 from the same mold that was used to create a statue of Roy Roger's horse, Trigger.

Thu, July 03, 2008 - 8:49 PM

Gov. Charlie Crist has gotten engaged to his girlfriend, Carole Rome, a spokeswoman has confirmed to Tampa Tribune reporter William March.

March is reporting today that the spokeswoman, Erin Isaac, didn’t have any other information, such as when the pair will get hitched. According to a friend of Crist’s, the two were planning to go out for a romantic dinner in St. Petersburg tonight.

Crist and Rome have been dating for about nine months. Crist has been single since his divorce, after a brief marriage, in 1980.

Rome, a New York socialite who relocated to Miami in 2006, is president of her family’s business, Franco American Novelty Co., a costume business. She’s one of several women Crist has been reported to be linked to romantically or socially since he became governor, but the first he’s talked about publicly—and seriously.

Politically, a marriage could remove one obstacle to Crist’s political future, writes March. He notes that it's been widely said he wouldn’t make a good running mate for John McCain without a wife.

-- Billy House

In the wake of Barack Obama’s recent decision to reject public financing for the general election, Karl Rove (remember him?) argues in a piece in today’s Wall Street Journal that Obama’s fundraising prowess has been a bit oversold.

Really? Obama, of course, has mastered the use of the Internet as no other politician before him, raising a boatload of cash in small contributions. His operation has transformed the way campaigns, as least Democrats, will raise money going forward.

Rove points out, though, that his battle with Hillary Clinton was costly. His most interesting point: To date, Obama and the Democratic National Committee combined actually have less money to spend at the moment than John McCain and the Republican National Committee.

--Sean Mussenden

Wed, July 02, 2008 - 2:21 PM

Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., today criticized Barack Obama’s pledge to bring troops home from Iraq within 16 months of Inauguration Day as “disingenuous” or ignorant of the “reality on the ground.”

Cantor, speaking on a conference call with McCain campaign officials and reporters Wednesday afternoon, was responding to a statement made by the co-chair of Obama’s campaign, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., during a Tuesday appearance on MSNBC.

A host asked McCaskill whether Obama would change his war policy before November. “No. No, he will not,” McCaskill said.

Cantor said Obama’s unwillingness to change war policy, “given the facts on the ground and the progress that has been made over the last year,” is “disingenuous” and “ignores the reality on the ground.”

“Claire McCaskill responded emphatically, ‘No,’ that he would not change course. I just believe that raises serious questions as to the sensibility of that position given what’s going on in Iraq right now,” Cantor said.

An Obama foreign policy adviser, Susan Rice, also on MSNBC Tuesday, said Obama’s one-brigade-out-a-month plan was more flexible than McCaskill may have suggested. Rice called it a “timeline” for withdrawal, not a deadline.

“He will listen to his commanders on the ground; he will follow and heed their advice, as he decides how, at the strategic level, we must proceed,” Rice said.

The Obama campaign sent out an immediate reaction to Cantor’s call.

“Barack Obama has been clear and consistent in saying that we need to responsibly end the war in Iraq so that we can restore our military strength, finish the fight in Afghanistan and focus on the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11," spokesman Tommy Vietor said in a statement.

--Neil H. Simon