Stories related to: Barack Obama

Barack Obama was once a no-name politico on Chicago’s South Side with an Ivy League degree and few supporters, the New York Times reports. But he found allies by courting opposing groups, a balancing act that has proven effective on a national scale. “He’s looking for ways to make the tent as large as possible,” said one Obama mentor, dismissing claims that he’s “wishy-washy.” More »

John McCain is prepping for a smear campaign this summer while camp Obama, ever cool and controlled, awaits the first strike. "It's going to be Swift Boat times five on both sides," said one McCain adviser who expects Obama to return fire. McCain's challenge is to hit above the belt and not seem racist, while Obama needs to react fast without sparking endless fights, Newsweek reports. More »

Though he hasn’t yet clinched the nomination, Barack Obama indicated yesterday he was eager to campaign with John McCain and to hold joint town hall meetings with his Republican rival in the run-up to the election, Reuters reports. “I think that's a great idea," said Obama, referring to joint appearances. "Should I be the nominee, if I have the opportunity to debate substantive issues with John McCain, that's something I'm going to welcome.” More »

“Since McCain and Obama appear to have the nominations locked up,” it's time to start eyeing the veepstakes, Chris Cillizza writes in The Fix blog. Here are his top three for each presumptive nominee, GOP first: Tim Pawlenty: The Minnesota governor is a longtime McCain backer, and widely admired. John Thune: A handsome conservative who also beat then-senator Tom Daschle 4 years ago. Rob Portman: From Ohio, a crack economist, and not well-known—which could actually be a good thing. More »

With Barack Obama and John McCain continuing to roll out bipartisan rhetoric, this election may soon see the return of the political center, the Wall Street Journal reports. More voters are also registering as independents, and Internet donations from ordinary citizens make pols less beholden to special interests on the right or left. More »

Nobody knows what Hillary Clinton will do if she's not the Democratic nominee, but Politico's John F. Harris and Jonathan Martin list five reasons she shouldn't be Barack Obama’s VP: Clinton’s rep as a Washington insider will undercut Obama’s cool factor. Who says Clinton would take the job anyway? Her pride and contempt for Obama’s readiness may make a post as Senate Majority Leader seem more attractive. More »

Barack Obama would be wise to put Hillary Clinton on his ticket, write John F. Martin and Jonathan Harris in Politico. Here's why: Obama has no choice. He needs Clinton’s Catholic and blue-collar supporters, and he’ll be pressured to include her for the party’s sake. He may dislike Clinton, but that’s irrelevant. Picking her will show he really can overcome divisions and be a true uniter. More »

An informal Mideast policy adviser to the Barack Obama campaign has severed ties after critics made an issue of  meetings the adviser had with Hamas, the Times of London reports. The Obama campaign stressed that Robert Malley never had a formal role with them; Malley made it clear that his meetings with Hamas were part of his job with a conflict prevention group and had no connection to Obama. More »

Ted Kennedy vetoed a spot for Hillary Clinton on the Barack Obama ticket, saying their fellow senator needs a running mate “in tune with his appeal for the nobler aspirations of the American people.” He laughed off suggestions of a dream ticket, Politico reports, saying, “I don’t think it’s possible”—and following up, “If we had real leadership … in the No. 2 spot … it’d be enormously helpful.” More »

Barack Obama today moved ahead of Hillary Clinton among superdelegates for the first time. Obama picked up nine more by midday—one a defector from Clinton's camp, the Los Angeles Times reports. Both ABC and the New York Times put him ahead—the latter's count is 266-263—meaning he now leads in pledged delegates, states won, popular votes, money raised, and superdelegates. More »

Hillary Clinton wasn’t asking anyone to stand up and be counted as she met with superdelegates on Capitol Hill yesterday. Instead of trying to lock in public endorsements—with political risks for the supers involved—Clinton was just trying to get a private headcount, Politico reports. "We have to know where our numbers are,” said one Clinton staffer, “and there’s no other way.” More »

John Edwards again declined to endorse a candidate today, but he said on TV that it looked like Barack Obama would win the nomination—and that he'd be able to bring the Democrats together before Election Day. The former third wheel also refused to say who he voted for in this week’s North Carolina primary, adding that the power of endorsements was “greatly inflated," Reuters reports. More »

Now that Hillary Clinton has lost, Peggy Noonan writes in the Wall Street Journal , she’s busy tearing her party apart. Democrats "should be dancing in the streets" after the brutal campaign, but instead they’re holed up at DC bars, regarding the former first family with “depressed horror.” Hillary is sharpening every divisive tool in the shed, hiding behind her gender and insisting that white voters have chosen her. More »

John McCain has had the Republican nomination locked up for three months, and while the Democrats were busily duking it out, the Arizona senator was laying the groundwork for this fall's campaign—hiring new staff and stuffing the piggybank of a once-broke candidacy. As the Wall Street Journal writes, he has also tried to define his ideological stance: a reliable conservative, but at a distance from George W. Bush. More »

Much has been made of Barack Obama’s “Jewish problem,” but while it’s hurt him in the primaries—he’s done 10 points worse among Jewish voters—it will have little or no meaning in November, SV Date writes in the New Republic . The demographic is most politically meaningful in Florida, and 80% of Jews there dependably vote Democratic. More »

Hillary Clinton urged her supporters to stick by her today, telling a West Virginia audience that calls for her to step down are simply "deja vu all over again," the AP reports. Clinton also told USA Today that only she can deliver the broad base of voters, including whites, necessary to beat John McCain. Her campaign chief, meanwhile, suggested Clinton would not keep the fight going until the convention in August, notes the New York Times . More »

Barack and Michelle Obama invest their own money “very, very safely”—perhaps too conservatively, say Sam Grobart and Tara Siegel Bernard in Slate. The Democratic frontrunner and his wife only began rolling in the money recently and their portfolio—“for the most part, a collection of run-of-the-mill mutual funds"—shows a couple “who wants no risk of ever being middle-class again.” More »

Just about every political bigwig is calling the race for Barack Obama—but not the Democrat himself. "We've still got some work to do," he told CNN today, making sure to heap praise on Hillary Clinton. Asked whether she could be his running mate, he said it would be "presumptuous" to answer but noted, "Obviously, she'd be on anybody's short list." More »

With Barack Obama headed toward the Democratic nomination, the Clintons' long reign over the party looks likely to end, the New York Times reports. That could lead to a bold new era—or a divided party that Obama can’t reconcile. “It’s going to create an upheaval,” said one Democratic organizer. “The Clintons and their allies have been running the show for 16 years.” More »

Despite what has been hailed as a strong showing by Barack Obama in Indiana, his campaign claims he would’ve done better but for the sabotage of Rush Limbaugh, the Washington Post reports. Under his “Operation Chaos,” the conservative radio host urged Indiana Republicans to vote for Clinton in order to prolong the Dems' dogfight and "bloody up Obama politically." More »