Clyburn Is the Perfect Ally for Obama

Northeast, Midwest would lose seats if today's census was used

(NEWSER) - The South is gaining population and power at the expense of the Northeast and Midwest, according to Census Bureau estimates released yesterday. If House seats were distributed based on the estimates, which are believed to be a strong predictor of the 2010 census results, Texas would be the big winner, gaining three seats, with Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah, and Washington each adding one. More»

Obama coattails could mobilize enough to play decisive role in at least 10 districts

(NEWSER) - With black voters expected to come out in record numbers on Nov. 4, Democrats think a surge could flip as many as 10 hotly contested House districts in their favor, the Washington Post reports. “I was just thinking about the need to vote Democratic down the line,” said one black Barack Obama supporter, “because the president is going to need help in Congress.” More»

Too many in both parties let stabs at Muslim faith go unparried

(NEWSER) - Colin Powell's Barack Obama endorsement wasn’t the only, or even most, notable aspect of his Meet the Press appearance: equally crucial was his rejection of Islamophobia, an issue too long skirted in this country, Abed Z. Bhuyan writes in the Washington Post/Newsweek Faithbook blog. In doing so, “Colin Powell lived up to his billing as senior American statesman,” Bhuyan notes. More»

Obama 'has given faith more thought and reflection,' Cizik writes

(NEWSER) - The presidential race is a contest between different sets of philosophy, writes Richard Cizik, president of the National Association of Evangelicals. In an NAE newsletter, Cizik says Barack Obama is “a thinker who sees the grays in ethical choices” while McCain opts for the “clarity of moral opposites”—and that Obama “has given faith more thought and reflection” than McCain. More»

(NEWSER) - The Senate version of the bailout bill has ballooned to more than 400 pages as legislators flesh out details in hopes of gaining passage as soon as tonight, Politico reports. The marquee measure boosts FDIC coverage of individual accounts from $100,000 to $250,000, with numerous lower-profile provisions intended to speed passage and increase pressure on the House to get moving. More»