|
Wednesday, May 14,
2008
GENERAL NEWS HEADLINES with excerpts
Edwards endorses Obama
At a rally in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Wednesday evening,
John Edwards
endorsed
Barack Obama,
who was on the stage with him, to be the Democratic nominee for
president.
Sounding a theme of a nation divided into parts by walls, Mr. Edwards
said, “The reason I am here tonight is that Democratic voters in
America have made their choice and so have I.”
Mr. Edwards then went on to say, “There is one man who knows in his
heart that it is time to tear down that wall and make one America,
Barack Obama.”
Mr. Obama, who had introduced Mr. Edwards as “one of the great leaders
we have in the
Democratic Party,
” responded by saying he was grateful to him for coming to Michigan
and giving his endorsement.
Mr. Obama also noted how Mr. Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, had
emphasized health care as an issue that is of primary concern, then
said it would be a major issue in his administration.
The endorsement comes at a time when the appeal of Mr. Obama appears
to be lagging among white, blue-collar voters, a group to which Mr.
Edwards openly appealed.
Mr. Edwards’s endorsement also brings in tow 19 convention delegates
he won in early party selections. He could certainly urge them to give
their support to Mr. Obama, though they would not be obligated by
party rules to do so.
West Virginia primary results:
Clinton 67, Obama 26
Hillary wins - does anybody care?
SHE WON THE WEST VIRGINIA PRIMARY BY A KAZILLION
PERCENTAGE POINTS TUESDAY NIGHT, AND THAT, SHE SAYS, HAS TO MEAN
SOMETHING!
Except the press doesn’t think so. The press is
unimpressed. This may be the first time in election history in which
the press has withdrawn from a race before the candidate...
Mountain landslide for Hope-less Hill -
W.Va. win is meaningless
When CNN flashed the exit polls showing Clinton
shellacking Obama among "white voters without college degrees," her
supporters here broke into wild cheers. But well before the polls
closed last night, four more superdelegates came out in favor of
Obama, widening even further his lead in delegates needed to clinch
the party's presidential nod.
"This race, I believe, is over," said former Colorado
Gov. Roy Romer, who was among the party bigs who endorsed Obama
yesterday.
Clinton's win brings little reward -
delegates gained in West Virginia offset by Obama
Hillary Clinton trounced Barack Obama in West
Virginia's Democratic presidential primary, as expected. But her
negligible payback in convention delegates illustrates why her rival
and her party are turning away from her candidacy to begin the fight
against Republican John McCain.
W.V. exit polls: the race factor
one-third of whites citing race in vote would support
Obama over McCain...
President Bush warns of Iraq disaster
 President
Bush warned in an interview Tuesday that the Democratic presidential
candidates' plans to withdraw abruptly from Iraq could "eventually
lead to another attack on the United States" and would "embolden"
terrorists.
In a White House interview with Politico and Yahoo News
— a president's first for an online audience — Bush said his doomsday
scenario for a premature withdrawal “of course is that extremists
throughout the Middle East would be emboldened, which would eventually
lead to another attack on the United States."
THE CANDIDATES:
John McCain... today's headlines
with excerpts
McCain backer Rev. Hagee regrets
comments on Catholics
The Rev. John C. Hagee, whose anti-Catholic remarks created a
controversy when Senator John McCain received his endorsement for the
Republican presidential nomination with fanfare, has issued a letter
expressing regret for “any comments that Catholics have found
hurtful.”
Stumping on climate, McCain faults
Bush
Senator John McCain intensified his criticism of
President Bush and the administration’s environmental
polices on Tuesday, taking a walk in the cold,
rain-drenched foothills of the Cascade Mountains and
asserting that in the effort to stem climate change,
“America can lead and not obstruct.”
Hillary Clinton... today's
headlines with excerpts
 Paglia:
Hillary 'won't stop manic tarantella until party whirls into ruins'
I'm puzzled by the optimism of so many commentators and Democratic
functionaries who are prophesying Hillary's graceful withdrawal by
mid-June. Is there anything in the Clintons' tawdry history to support
such a thesis?
Dana Milbank: "This is an ex-candidate"
It's Day 7 of the Clinton Campaign Death Watch -- a full week since
the official arbiter of the Democratic primary, Tim Russert, declared
the campaign over and Barack Obama the nominee...
Clinton woos party elders after W.V. landslide
“I want to send a message to everyone still making up their mind: I am
in this race because I believe I am the strongest candidate to lead
our party in November 2008 and the strongest president to lead our
nation in January 2009,” Mrs. Clinton said, a statement aimed
pointedly at superdelegates. “I can win this nomination if you decide
I should.”
W.V. blowout bolsters Clinton's resolve
"I am more determined than ever to carry on this campaign until
everyone has had a chance to make their voices heard," she said,
calling herself a stronger candidate in a general election and a
better-prepared president...
Wolfson taunts Obama campaign after win in W.V.
Wolfson, Clinton’s communications director, said Tuesday: “I think
superdelegates who have been moving toward Barack Obama in the last
week are going to wake up tomorrow and say, ‘I’m a little concerned
about the fact that our nominee, presumptive nominee, can’t win West
Virginia. I’m a little concerned that he can’t win Pennsylvania or
Ohio, or Michigan, or Florida.’”
Clinton victory does little to tighten
the delegate race
Clinton's resounding victory in a state that has
slipped away from Democrats in the past two elections added fresh
ammunition to her claim that she is better positioned than Obama to
capture critical swing states in November. But the primary win may
have come too late to have a significant impact on the trajectory of a
nomination battle in which Obama has an almost insurmountable lead in
delegates.
Women, churchgoers fuel Clinton win in W.V.
High turnout among female voters and regular churchgoers, combined
with widespread concern over the economy, propelled Hillary Rodham
Clinton to her overwhelming West Virginia primary victory on
Tuesday...
Clinton wins big in W.V., solidly
defeating Obama
While the thorough drubbing in West Virginia will
undoubtedly sting Obama, Clinton continues to trail him in pledged
delegates and superdelegates, and her campaign continues to bleed
money.
Women, churchgoers fuel Clinton win in W.V.
High turnout among female voters and regular churchgoers, combined
with widespread concern over the economy, propelled Hillary Rodham
Clinton to her overwhelming West Virginia primary victory on
Tuesday...
W.V. Clinton fans want her to stay and fight
Exit polls showed that West Virginia Democrats responded, as 78
percent said Clinton should stay in the race...
Barack Obama... today's headlines with excerpts
Obama to receive endorsements of 3
former SEC chairmen
Three former chairmen of the Securities and Exchange
Commission will publicly endorse Democratic Sen. Barack Obama's bid
for the presidency Wednesday, including one who served under President
Bush.
William Donaldson, who was SEC chairman for about 2˝
years from early 2003, along with Clinton and Reagan appointees Arthur
Levitt and David Ruder, will join former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker in
endorsing Sen. Obama, his campaign said. Mr. Volcker endorsed Sen.
Obama in January.
Obama defeat in W.V. amplifies
race, rural problems
Barack Obama’s stinging defeat in West Virginia brings a
sharp focus on the new coalition he may have to assemble
to win the White House in November.
West Virginians rejected the presumptive Democratic
nominee by a roughly two-to-one margin, one of the
widest margins of the primary season. The outcome was
the predictable result of familiar demographics: West
Virginia’s relatively poor white voters have been
Hillary Rodham Clinton’s base since February.
In a stark rejection of Obama in a state Bill Clinton
carried in 1992 and 1996, almost half of the Democratic
primary voters — typically the most partisan Democrats
in a state — said they’d vote for Republican John McCain
rather than Obama in November.
Obama may have his work cut-out
for him to draw independents
Barack Obama can't rest should he soon win Democrats'
presidential-nomination marathon. His next big
challenge: to introduce himself to the independents who
may well decide the November election, and dispel the
doubts and misinformation that have taken hold among
many.
A focus group of independent voters here Monday night suggested that
the Illinois senator is largely identified by his association with his
former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., whose much-publicized
sermons have been called racially divisive and anti-American. Yet Sen.
Obama is also identified by many -- incorrectly -- as a Muslim, and
suspect for that as well...
Almost-nominee status keeps Obama
in limbo
... on the flight here from Washington on Tuesday
afternoon, Mr. Obama’s aides acknowledged that, in
political terms, he is neither fish nor fowl, unable to
go after Mr. McCain quite the way he would if he had the
nomination clinched — lest he alienate Mrs. Clinton’s
supporters by seeming presumptuous — and unable to fully
dismiss her continued challenge.
Obama has to start from scratch in
Michigan
Barack Obama unofficially kicks off his campaign against
John McCain Wednesday in Michigan, a state the Democrats
have barely held onto in recent years and where they
start at a big disadvantage.
Because Sen. Obama, who appears close to wrapping up the Democratic
nomination, didn't compete in the Michigan primary, he needs to build
from scratch the kind of political operation he has been assembling
for months in other states. He also faces a state party that is
sharply polarized, behind schedule and hamstrung by an ill-timed
lawsuit...
Obama aims to curb '527s'
Sen. Barack Obama's top fundraisers have asked his
campaign donors to refrain from contributing to liberal
independent political organizations in hopes of
controlling the tone and message of the general-election
campaign.
At a meeting in Indianapolis on May 2, members of the
Democratic front-runner's finance committee made it
clear Obama (Ill.) is worried that overtly negative
advertising from outside organizations could undermine
his themes of unity and hope.
"If people want to support our campaign, they should do it through our
campaign," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said.
Ralph Nader... today's headlines with excerpts
previous IPW reports
Upcoming Primary/Caucus Dates
DEM goal 2,025
GOP goal 1,191 |
|
Tuesday, May 13 |
|
DEMS
GOP |
West Virginia (39) |
|
Tuesday, May 20 |
|
DEMS
GOP |
Kentucky (60) Oregon (65)
Kentucky (45) Oregon (30) |
|
Tuesday, June 3 |
|
DEMS
GOP |
Montana (24) South Dakota (23)
Puerto Rico (63)
New Mexico (32) South Dakota (27) |
|
click
on each candidate to see today's news stories
(caricatures by
