Thu, June 19, 2008 - 12:27 PM

WASHINGTON – Barack Obama’s campaign says the Tampa Bay area market will be among those targeted in its first television ad for the general election, announced today.

The sixty second ad, entitled “Country I Love,” will also air elsewhere in Florida, and 17 other states.

The aim of the ad, according to the campaign, is “to highlight how our shared values have shaped Senator Obama’s life.”

Campaign spokesman Josh Earnest said the campaign will not disclose exactly for how long the ad will run, and how much money will be spent to air it in the Tampa area.

Tucker Bounds, a spokesman for the McCain campaign responded: “Barack Obama wants more taxes from 21 million small businesses, 10 million seniors and he’s confessed that his economic proposals could damage the economy – we’re confident the more Americans know about Barack Obama the less likely they are to support him.”

Here’s the script:

OBAMA: I’m Barack Obama.

America is a country of strong families and strong values. My life’s been blessed by both.

I was raised by a single mom and my grandparents. We didn’t have much money, but they taught me values straight from the Kansas heartland where they grew up. Accountability and self-reliance. Love of country. Working hard without making excuses. Treating your neighbor as you’d like to be treated. It’s what guided me as I worked my way up – taking jobs and loans to make it through college.

It’s what led me to pass up Wall Street jobs and go to Chicago instead, helping neighborhoods devastated when steel plants closed.

That’s why I passed laws moving people from welfare to work, cut taxes for working families and extended health care for wounded troops who’d been neglected.

I approved this message because I’ll never forget those values, and if I have the honor of taking the oath of office as President, it will be with a deep and abiding faith in the country I love.

-- Billy House

Forget Pennsylvania and Ohio.

If this interesting article in Time holds up, the South could be a major player in the presidential race.

And if Barack Obama is able to bring Southern states into play as the article suggests, it could also have implications on congressional races as well.

-- Amy Dominello

Sen. Barack Obama’s decision this morning (see his video announcement here) to forego public financing for his presidential bid put the Democrat’s campaign on the defensive after his earlier rhetoric in favor of public financing.

Speaking to reporters within an hour of Obama’s Web video statement, Obama campaign aides repeatedly called the public campaign finance system “broken” and deflected questions suggesting Obama did not try to broker a campaign financing deal with Republican Sen. John McCain as Obama had pledged to do during a primary debate.

Click the play button to hear Obama communications director Robert Gibbs and counsel Rob Bauer on the slippery slope of trying to reign in third-party spending from so-called 527 groups, like the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth who helped derail John Kerry’s 2004 candidacy.



McCain’s campaign spokeswoman fired back in a statement.

“The true test of a candidate for President is whether he will stand on principle and keep his word to the American people. Barack Obama has failed that test today, and his reversal of his promise to participate in the public finance system undermines his call for a new type of politics,” Jill Hazelbaker said.

-- Neil Simon

Wed, June 18, 2008 - 3:42 PM

WASHINGTON – In a just-released statement, Florida’s nine Democratic congressional members say they are unified in opposition to expanding offshore oil drilling off the coasts of the state.

The note that they are particularly concerned that Gov. Charlie Crist seems to be on board with the plan.

Here’s their statement, in its entirety:

“We, the Democratic members of the Florida delegation, stand together in our opposition to the Bush/McCain proposal to severely expand drilling for oil in the coastal waters of the State of Florida. We view it as a political gimmick that will not lower gas prices for consumers but could have real and tragic consequences for Florida’s economy and natural environment. We are especially concerned that our Governor, who ran on a platform that included opposition to offshore drilling, a position stated even in his 2007 inaugural speech, has now opted to support the Bush/McCain efforts to support this gift to Big Oil.

“While President Bush, Senator McCain, Big Oil, and perhaps even our Governor are willing to put Florida’s vital tourism and fishing economies at risk for a small amount of oil and gas, we are not willing to do so. We cannot sacrifice Florida’s billion-dollar tourism and fishing industries, our beaches, coastal environment and marine resources due to the Administration’s wholesale failure to produce sound energy policy. Florida’s hard working families have enough to contend with - the high cost of insurance, record prices at the gas pump, trying to access affordable health care and keeping up with their mortgages. A blow to tourism and our fishing industry is certainly something we cannot afford.

“There is an inherent fallacy in the argument that offshore drilling would significantly lower gas prices. 68 million acres of leased federal lands and waters are currently open to drilling but are not being tapped. Over 80% of offshore oil and gas reserves are already available. In fact, since President Bush took office in 2000, the number of wells in federally-leased areas has increased exponentially, but gas prices have doubled during that same time.

“Instead of calling for drilling just off the beaches of Florida, President Bush and Senator McCain should join us in support of Democrats’ ‘Use It or Lose It’ legislation, which directs oil companies to use the 68 million already open acres before they build rigs just off our coastline. The oil companies have had every incentive to drill in these locations because they are not paying the royalties to American taxpayers as they should.

“Big Oil interests have unfortunately been more important to this Administration than the concerns or our neighbors. Now all Americans are paying the price.

“We urge President Bush and Senator McCain to engage in a genuine conversation with us and our neighbors about real ways to lower the price of gas, on energy conservation and new renewable technologies, and to help us in our efforts to end the massive, wasteful taxpayer subsidies to the Big Oil companies.”

-- Billy House

Few journalists in Washington had as much pull as Tim Russert, so it wasn't surprising to see the list of dignitaries that attended his funeral. The list included both Barack Obama and John McCain, who put aside some of their battling of the past week and sat next to each other, MSNBC reported.

--Sean Mussenden

States rights?

John McCain’s about-face this week in calling for an end to the federal ban on offshore oil drilling is the latest in a line of positions he’s taken declaring that states should be allowed to make more of their own decisions.

But Democratic North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley, in a conference call with reporters on behalf Barack Obama’s campaign, says he wonders if McCain, in using that argument for more oil drilling, has fully thought it out.

“The bigger problem is that if the state above you (or) below you has a problem, it affects your shores, as well,” said Easley, referring to oil spills or other environmental mishaps that don’t oblige state boundaries.

During the same call, former Florida Gov. Bob Graham also said “there’s no state’s rights issue here,” because current law already allows states to drill in their own state waters.

“Florida has the option today, if it chooses, to drill on its own property,” said Graham.

“I’d be interested to see which state legislators line up to be the first to say we should be drilling closer to the shore,” said Graham.

-- Billy House

WASHINGTON – Most Floridians don’t want or don’t care if Gov. Charlie Crist or Sen. Bill Nelson join their parties’ presidential nominee on a national ticket, according to a new poll that has Barack Obama leading in the state over John McCain.

Democrat Obama edges Republican McCain 47 percent to 43 percent among registered voters in the state, shows the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute poll of 1,453 registered voters.

The margin of error of the Florida poll, conducted from June 9 through Monday (June 16) was plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.

The poll also has Obama leading McCain in two other traditional presidential swing states, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

At this early point in the campaign, Obama’s lead in Florida should be viewed with some historical perspective, said Peter Brown, assistant director of the polling institute.

In June of 2005, Democrat John Kerry held a similar edge in the state over President Bush, who eventually carried Florida, he noted.

The poll also shows that picking a Floridian for vice president apparently won’t help either nominee carry the state’s 27 electoral votes.

Crist and Nelson have been among those mentioned as possible vice presidential picks for their respective parties.

The poll shows that 86 percent of Floridians say the vice presidential candidate is very important or somewhat important to them.

But only 16 percent said they’d be more likely to vote Republican if Crist were McCain’s vice presidential candidate, while 21 percent said they be less likely to do so. Another 58 percent said it would have no bearing on their vote.

As for Nelson, only 8 percent said they would be more likely to vote Democratic if the senator is on the ticket with Obama, while 15 percent said they would be less likely to do so. Another 69 percent said it would not it would not have any bearing on their vote.

Both men are seen favorably by state voters in their current roles, but “seeing someone as a governor or a senator is different that seeing them as a president,” said Brown.

-- Billy House

Tue, June 17, 2008 - 1:56 PM

Barack Obama talked basketball this week with Jimmy Kimmel. Obama, whose high school basketball team won the Hawaii state championship in 1979, diplomatically said he was a Bulls fan when asked if he was rooting for the Celtics or the Lakers in the NBA finals. The presumptive Democratic nominee said he manages to play a pickup game about once a week while on the campaign trail and (jokingly?) said he'd replace the White House bowling alley with a basketball court if he's elected.

To Amy's likely dismay, the interview ended with a via-satellite fist pound between Kimmel and Obama.

-- Mark Young

WASHINGTON – Florida Sen. Bill Nelson has just lashed out at John McCain’s call for an end to a federal ban on new drilling off the shores of Florida and other states.

In a conference with reporters on behalf of Barack Obama’s campaign, Democrat Nelson at one point said McCain’s positions shows his “coziness with oil companies and Wall Street investment banks that are fueling this run up in (gas) prices …”

“John McCain has flip-flopped on drilling off the coast,” said Nelson. “He used to be against it. He’s now for it.”

But the problem, said Nelson, is that “drilling off shore does not lower oil prices.”

“Now, if you really want to bring down prices, then you have to go after the speculators so they cannot use these schemes to keep running the price up and up,” said Nelson.

-- Billy House

Mon, June 16, 2008 - 9:26 PM

Neither presidential candidate will bode well in November if they don’t court rural voters, pollsters said Monday night.

At the second annual gathering of the National Rural Assembly, the audience gleaned more insight on a poll done in rural battleground states in May.

Despite Republican John McCain’s nine-point lead in the poll, the race will hinge on how much attention the two candidates devote to issues affecting rural voters, such as high gas prices.

McCain or Democrat Barack Obama each has weaknesses with rural voters and neither holds a strong edge with that voting bloc.

“Rural America is going to be a very interesting fight,” said Anna Greenberg, a pollster who helped conduct the survey. “… They don’t really like anybody much.”

And that will force the two candidates to talk about the issues that affect people in rural areas.

“The candidates are obligated to do a little more than spread homilies about rural America,” said Bill Greener, another pollster who worked on the survey.

-- Amy Dominello

At a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Arlington, Va., Sen. John McCain said today he wants the federal moratorium lifted for states who choose to drill for oil or other energy-related natural resources.

He renewed his call for Sen Barack Obama to join him in town hall forums, suggesting the candidates meet jointly with voters once a week between now and the political conventions which begin in late August. McCaain specifically suggested the two turn their confirmed separate speaking engagements into a joint town hall at an upcoming Hispanic convention in San Diego.

He contrasted himself with Obama repeatedly on the war in Iraq, saying Obama advocates a set withdrawal 5ate without consulting the top generals or Iraqi government officials.

Speaking at his national headquarters in Arlington, Va., McCain said "we'll have to work hard" to win Virginia, acknowledging the state as one of "rapid change" and "rapid growth."

"We'll have an organization everywhere," McCain said, declining to say how much time his campaign would dedicate to the state. McCain promised a large contingent in the Tidewater area, where he once lived while in the Navy.

When asked to explain recent remarks from Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid that McCain was hard to work with, McCain rattled off a list of Democrats he partnered with on major legislation from immigration reform to campaign finance and environmental issues. Stiill, "I was not elected Miss Congeniality," he said.

--Neil Simon

Thu, June 12, 2008 - 2:32 PM

Thu, June 12, 2008 - 3:40 PM

How do you know it’s going to be a tough year for the GOP? When trying to put a stop to the hemorrhaging is the goal of the man in charge of getting Republicans elected to the Senate.

“It’s probably the toughest election cycle going into it … since 1974,” Sen. John Ensign of Nevada said Thursday at a luncheon sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor.

Ensign, the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said it would be “fairly miraculous” for Republicans to get back into the majority this year and that if Republicans lose three Senate seats on Election Day it will be a good night.

Twenty-three Republican seats are up, while 12 Democratic seats are up. Of the 10 races Ensign said are competitive, nine are held by Republicans.

"That basically means we're on defense," he said

He said that the House is likely to become more Democratic, giving Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi additional clout.

“Senate Republicans really will be the firewall,” he said.

His goal: to give Republicans 45 Senate seats so they remain an effective minority.

The committee will target races where they can be competitive. Although what seats will be targeted has not been decided because, he said, a lot can change between now and Election Day.

“You don’t know when something is going to be created in a race,” he said.

Ten competitive races he’s watching closely: Alaska, Colorado, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon and Virginia.

Ensign said he expects gas prices to dominate the political climate throughout the country. He said Republicans have the advantage there because they have continually pushed for developing new supplies.

Click the play button below to hear Ensign’s opening remarks.



-- Amy Dominello

Wed, June 11, 2008 - 2:06 PM

MSNBC and other cable networks are reporting that James A. Johnson, who was running Barack Obama’s vice presidential search committee, has resigned from the campaign.

Johnson, a former CEO of Fannie Mae, had been the subject of a flurry of news reports about low-interest personal home loans from Countrywide Financial.

-- Marsha Mercer

Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., remained non-committal on the V.P. question this week. In an appearance to tout his new book, “A Time to Fight,” on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” Webb talked up his GI benefits bill, took a mild swipe at Sen. John McCain, and dodged a segment-ending question about whether he’d like to be Sen. Barack Obama’s number two on the Democratic ticket.

Stewart asked, “Are you going to be the vice president? Do you know?”

“After watching your introductory segment, I’m not so sure,” Webb said, shaking his head amid cheers and laughter from the studio audience.

The Webb interview is about 14 minutes into this episode. It followed satire about pre-war intelligence and the media’s incessant questioning of whether Obama needs to put Sen. Hillary Clinton on the ticket.

Webb's minor lunge at McCain came on the GI bill discussion. “My thoughts about John were, he is fine voting for $600 billion to send these people off. The least we can do is give them a chance at a first class future."

McCain sponsored a GI bill aimed more at retention than Webb's, which passed the Senate with broad support.

--Neil Simon

WASHINGTON – Would the John McCain of 2000 vote for the John McCain of 2008?

The Arizona senator may continue to press his media-tagged image as an independent-minded political maverick.

But Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean said today that he doesn’t see it that way. He portrayed McCain as still backtracking on the ideals he championed as a reformer and moving closer to the views of the GOP’s conservative base, particularly on issues like campaign-finance reform and immigration.

“I don’t think the John McCain of 2000 would consider voting for the John McCain of 2008,” said Dean, during a breakfast with reporters here sponsored by The Christian Science Monitor.

Dean asked mockingly: “What is John McCain’s position on immigration? He’s had several.”

“He did say he wouldn’t vote for his own bill,” added Dean of McCain, referring to a failed immigration-reform bill McCain co-sponsored last year with Florida GOP Sen. Mel Martinez and others. “I thought that was kind of backing away.”

That bill would have allowed some immigrants now in the country illegally to go through a process to gain citizenship.

McCain has since said he would focus on enforcement first -- a battle cry of many conservatives in his party and what Democrats see as his shift in emphasis.

On campaign finance, Dean suggests the “McCain-Feingold” law that now in place to restrict the corrupting influence of big money in politics should be known only as “the Feingold Law,” noting that McCain reversed his decision to use public funding for his presidential campaign.

-- Billy House