Barack Obama

Read the latest post-presidency news about President Barack Obama on Newser.com

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Is McCain Closing the Gap? Not Fast Enough: Silver

Republican picking up little to no ground

(Newser) - John McCain isn’t moving up on Barack Obama in the polls—at least not fast enough to be significant, writes statistics guru Nate Silver at his blog FiveThirtyEight.com. The Republican appears to be about six or seven points back. While he’s picked up maybe a point in...

Two Distinct Americas Emerge on Campaign Trail

Party faithful split on politics but united in distrust

(Newser) - Vastly different crowds appear at the rallies of the candidates who started their campaigns calling for bipartisan unity, a roving New York Times reporter finds. Republican rallygoers shout to a country-pop soundtrack; the Democratic faithful dance to folk and Motown. Flag pins, pompoms, and patriotic songs define GOP gatherings, while...

Infomercial Smartly Put Feelings Before Facts
Infomercial Smartly Put Feelings Before Facts
ANALYSIS
Oct 30, 2008 6:27 AM CDT

Infomercial Smartly Put Feelings Before Facts

(Newser) - Barack Obama made few concrete proposals in his multi-million-dollar TV spot last night, but the infomercial wasn't about policy, writes Tom Shales; it was about "sensibility." For the Washington Post columnist, Obama's long-form advertisement succeeded as a soft-focus, optimistic simulation "of how it would feel to live...

West Wing Writers Get Election Déjà Vu

Politics imitates fiction imitating politics in closing days of the 2008 race

(Newser) - A minority Democratic candidate battling an older Republican maverick in an election overshadowed by national crisis sounds pretty familiar to the makers of The West Wing—who wrote that script 4 years ago. As the 2008 race enters the home stretch, the parallels between it and The West Wing's final...

Bill Clinton Joins Obama in Florida for Late Push

(Newser) - Bill Clinton and Barack Obama engaged in a mutual admiration fest tonight, their first joint appearance since their relationship soured during the primaries, the Boston Globe reports. "This man should be our president," Clinton told a Florida crowd at the end of a spirited endorsement. Obama then joined...

Obama Makes His Pitch in Prime Time

(Newser) - Barack Obama took to the primetime airwaves tonight with a 30-minute infomercial summing up his case for the presidency. The pitch, which cost more than $3 million and aired on seven broadcast and cable networks, blended images of the candidate, his family, and ordinary Americans, MSNBC reports. "I will...

Obama Abandons Principle by Hedging on Gay Marriage

(Newser) - Barack Obama and Democrats in general are "pretty squishy" on the issue of gay marriage, and that's a disgrace, writes Joshua Holland at AlterNet.org. The reticence to embrace full marriage rights for all is a betrayal of  the "very important progressive ideal that the law should apply...

Obama Court Would Threaten Foundation of US Democracy

'Left-wing ideologue' threatens representative governance if elected

(Newser) - Before electing a “left-wing ideologue,” Americans should reconsider who “moderate-posing” Barack Obama would put on the Supreme Court, Edward Whelan writes in the National Review. The Democrat will select ultra-liberals for a bench already “markedly to the left of the American public,” he cautions: “...

Obama Donors Get to Hang With the Big Kids

Fundraisers with Kerry, Buffett kept the fat checks coming in

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s money machine has kept rolling thanks, in part, to a series of intimate fundraisers headlined by his top advisers, Politico reports. In exchange for a mere $28,500, Obama supporters could snag seats at a dinner with Warren Buffett or a “Round Table Discussion” with Robert...

Obama Razing Mac's Lead in Arizona

Even Mondale won his home state

(Newser) - One Arizona poll indicates that the presidential race is within 2 percentage points in John McCain’s home state, the Arizona Republic reports. McCain leads 46% to 44%, but the 3-point margin of error makes the race a toss-up, according to the Arizona State University poll. Republicans have an edge...

Obama Infomercial: Shrewd Clincher or Another Berlin?

Analysts see little risk in appeal to undecideds

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s 30-minute infomercial tonight comes at a time when 11th-hour deciders start to look for information, Jeanne Cummings writes in Politico. There is some risk of overkill, analysts say, but the Democrat can afford the outlay. “It’s like football,” one GOP strategist says. “People...

Iran Faces Its Nightmare: Falling Oil
Iran Faces Its Nightmare:
Falling Oil
OPINION
Oct 29, 2008 9:24 AM CDT

Iran Faces Its Nightmare: Falling Oil

Suddenly negotiating is starting to look pretty smart, says Friedman

(Newser) - Barack Obama's promise to negotiate with Iran once seemed like a dubious idea to Thomas Friedman—pre-conditions or not, the US had no leverage. But everything's changed now that the price of oil is at $57 and falling, writes the New York Times columnist. Once the mullahs went on a...

Obama Dials Up SMS Blitz
 Obama Dials Up SMS Blitz 
Oct 29, 2008 7:01 AM CDT

Obama Dials Up SMS Blitz

Cell phone push in last days of campaign

(Newser) - Over the next seven days the Obama campaign will ratchet up its ongoing text messaging blitz, which has kept supporters in the loop and likely helped to pump up numbers at the 100,000-strong rally in Denver last week. Those who have opted in will get info about polling places,...

McCain Camp: LA Times Is Suppressing Obama Video

Paper accused of concealing candidate's links to Palestinian scholar

(Newser) - The McCain campaign is accusing the Los Angeles Times of shirking its journalistic duty by sitting on a tape of Barack Obama speaking at a 2003 dinner in honor of a Palestinian-American scholar and activist. The Times—which wrote about the tape in an April article on Obama's ties to...

Foreign Policy Drove Wedge Between Hagel, McCain
Foreign Policy Drove Wedge Between Hagel, McCain
GLOSSIES
Oct 28, 2008 7:25 PM CDT

Foreign Policy Drove Wedge Between Hagel, McCain

Fellow GOP senators and Vietnam vets 'fundamentally disagree' on key issues

(Newser) - Though Chuck Hagel and John McCain have plenty in common as Republican senators and Vietnam veterans, the Nebraskan says foreign policy is why he’s not on board. “In good conscience, I could not enthusiastically—honestly—go out and endorse him,” Hagel tells the New Yorker, “when...

Racism Will Blunt Obama's Lead: Barkley

Baller-turn-pundit calls polls 'absolutely useless'

(Newser) - Charles Barkley has news for the experts predicting the Bradley effect won’t undermine Barack Obama’s lead. “The polls are absolutely useless,” the former NBA star says, anticipating a race “down to the wire.” While he concedes some whites will vote Democrat for “their...

Texts Much More Effective Than Robo-Calls
Texts Much More Effective Than Robo-Calls
Analysis
Oct 28, 2008 1:39 PM CDT

Texts Much More Effective Than Robo-Calls

For now, texts are much more effective than robocalls, email

(Newser) - The candidates’ automated call campaigns have received a lot of attention, but text-messaging, which only the Obama campaign uses, is likely to have a much more potent effect on the race, writes Farhad Manjoo for Slate. Studies have shown that personal appeals are more effective at mobilizing voters than mailers...

McCain Running in Place: Polls

 McCain 
 Running
 in Place:  
 Polls
ANALYSIS
Oct 28, 2008 12:29 PM CDT

McCain Running in Place: Polls

Obama has a 96.7% chance of victory, 538 predicts

(Newser) - John McCain isn’t gaining any ground in the polls, according to FiveThirtyEight, which pegs Obama’s odds of victory at 96.7% to McCain’s 3.3%. As of yesterday, polls predict a final electoral score of 351-187, numbers unchanged from the day before. National tracking polls showed minuscule...

Israelis Favor Mac; US Jews Like Obama

Israelis wonder about Obama; former Bush aide campaigns among American Jews

(Newser) - Barack Obama may be surging at home, but Israelis prefer John McCain to the unfamiliar Democrat by a 12-point margin, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Israelis perceive Obama as dovish, and less likely to give Israel the green light on military action. “McCain is seen as a safe bet,...

Mind the 'If' Vs. 'When' I'm Prez
 Mind the 'If' Vs. 'When' I'm Prez 
ANALYSIS
Oct 28, 2008 9:38 AM CDT

Mind the 'If' Vs. 'When' I'm Prez

Seeming presumptuous turns off voters

(Newser) - Both presidential candidates try to stay humble about their chances, writes Mark Leibovich in the New York Times. They always say, “If I’m president,” even if supporters sometimes respond, “When!” Barack Obama, leading in the polls, has to take extra care not to seem presumptuous,...

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