Obama Steps Up Assault on McCain

Clinton was still in contention in June: new memoir

(NEWSER) - The Obama campaign seriously considered Hillary Clinton for vice president, but ultimately the perception that her husband was "too big a complication" combined with bad memories from the primary campaign to sink her chances. Barack Obama “said if his central criterion measured who could be the best VP, she had to be included in that list," writes campaign manager David Plouffe in a new memoir, The Audacity to Win. More»

McCain team wrote 'palling around with terrorists' line: book

(NEWSER) - Sarah Palin was actually on message when she attacked Barack Obama’s relationship with former Weatherman Bill Ayers during last year's campaign, the Atlantic reports. A new book, The Battle for America, reveals that Palin received an email from top McCain staff suggesting she use the Ayers attack. It even specified the approved language. Strategists also planned to run a similar TV ad. More»

(NEWSER) - The man who ran John McCain's campaign said his defeat was nearly preordained, reports Politico. It was "the strategic equivalent of throwing a football through a tire at 50 yards,” said Steve Schmidt. Given the ascendancy of Barack Obama—"the unfinished Bobby Kennedy campaign"—the unpopularity of George Bush, the economy, and the splintered GOP, McCain would have needed a miracle. More»

Adviser who called Clinton 'monster' lands national security role

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama’s national security team seems to consist entirely of people known for speaking their minds, observes Ben Smith of Politico, and none moreso than new NSC staff member Samantha Power, best known for calling Hillary Clinton “a monster.” She was booted for the incident, but that was just a “political convenience,” says Smith. “She wasn’t some political operative who had played a dirty trick, but an academic who tripped up.” More»

Still ostentation averse, Plouffe credits teamwork and focus

(NEWSER) - Stepping out from behind the curtain where he directed Barack Obama's earth-shaking campaign, David Plouffe quietly professes pride in the historic achievement to Lloyd Grove in Portfolio, and talks about a race where stability and consistency won the day and "Clinton might have won the nomination if she had just competed in the far-flung caucus states." Plouffe, who jumped into Obama's corner in January 2007, points to the benefit of an impromptu run: having to make it up as you go along. More»