Barack Obama

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

Stories 5361 - 5380 | << Prev   Next >>

Obama Clashes With Philly Pols Over Payouts

Candidate won't pay 'street money,' riling local Democrats

(Newser) - Barack Obama has been expected to do well in Philadelphia in this month's Pennsylvania primary, but a test of wills between his campaign and local party bosses might jeopardize his chances. The Philadelphia political scene has a long tradition of "street money"—payment to Democratic operatives who dispense...

Obama Has Big-Money Donors, Too
Obama Has Big-Money Donors, Too
Apr 11, 2008 1:49 PM CDT

Obama Has Big-Money Donors, Too

Billionaires and so-called bundlers account for half

(Newser) - Barack Obama has made much of his grass-roots fundraising, but he’s no stranger to big-money donors, the Washington Post reports. Seventy-nine bundlers—deep-pocketed backers who use their contacts to drum up even more cash—have wrangled up more than $200,000 each for the senator. Five billionaires are on...

McCain Swerves, Says Feds Should Guarantee Mortgages

GOP candidate had previously said government can't 'bail out' borrowers

(Newser) - John McCain reversed his laissez-faire policy on the mortgage crisis today, saying government should indeed help subprime mortgage holders get guaranteed 30-year mortgages. “There is nothing more important than keeping alive the American dream to own your home,” the Republican said. McCain was criticized for his earlier stance...

Mac's Tour Aims at Dem Strongholds
 Mac's Tour Aims 
 at Dem Strongholds   
ANALYSIS
Apr 10, 2008 4:29 PM CDT

Mac's Tour Aims at Dem Strongholds

Town-hall-heavy trip is high-risk, must be sustained to avoid looking like a stunt

(Newser) - John McCain is planning a tour to visit core Democratic constituencies—inner cities, Appalachia, the black South—in what John Dickerson, in Slate, sees not as a direct appeal for votes, but rather a campaign to beam his authenticity, via the media, to the country’s independents. A McCain advisor...

Obama Wouldn't Give Chiefs Gay 'Litmus Test'

Says 'don't ask' hurts US military, but won't demand brass agree

(Newser) - Barack Obama said he wouldn't require top military appointees to support letting open homosexuals serve, stressing that his priority for Joint Chiefs of Staff is the ability to protect the country. Speaking to a gay magazine, the candidate called “don’t ask, don’t tell” a “counterproductive strategy,...

Obama Test-Drives Public Funds Opt-Out

Says Internet giving is the new populist space

(Newser) - Barack Obama has been taken to task for refusing to renew a 2007 pledge to use public financing in the general election, and a speech last night may have been a preview of the logic he’ll use to opt for private money instead. The candidate argued that Internet giving...

Meet Tonight's Superdelegates
 Meet Tonight's Superdelegates 
Apr 9, 2008 5:55 PM CDT

Meet Tonight's Superdelegates

All 3 White House contenders to appear on 'American Idol'

(Newser) - Tonight’s "American Idol" will boast cameos from Miley Cyrus, Brad Pitt, and both the Manning and Jonas brothers—but the most anticipated appearances could be by Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and Barack Obama, the New York Post reports. The charity episode is exhibition-only (no candidate will actually score...

Clinton Touts Leadership, but Her Campaign Lacks It

She's asked Dems to judge candidates by standard she hasn't met

(Newser) - If voters judged the Democratic candidates by the standard Hillary Clinton has been promoting—competent leadership—her own performance at the helm of her campaign isn't making her case, write Jim VandeHei and David Paul Kuhn in Politico. While Clinton’s had two major staff shakeups, major money problems, and...

Cleese Wants to be Obama Speechwriter

British actor offers comedic services to 'brilliant' candidate

(Newser) - British comedian John Cleese has endorsed Barack Obama and says he stands ready to be a speechwriter for his chosen candidate. "If Barack Obama gets the nomination, I'm going to offer my services to him as a speechwriter," the California-based Cleese tells the UK's Western Daily Press, "...

Elizabeth Edwards Sides With Clinton on Health Care

Former candidate's wife also joins Clinton loyalist think tank

(Newser) - Elizabeth Edwards said this morning she has “more confidence in Senator Clinton’s policy than Senator Obama’s” on health care, fueling speculation that the famous political spouse could endorse Hillary in the Democratic presidential race. Edwards has also become a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress,...

Penn Ties Still Hurting Clinton in Pa.

Pro-Obama unions attack Hillary for not dumping strategist

(Newser) - The demotion of Mark Penn in Hillary Clinton's campaign hasn't ended the problem the errant consultant is causing her in Pennsylvania, Bloomberg reports. Unions supporting Barack Obama have pounced on the strategist's advocacy of a Colombian free-trade deal, calling him pro-business and anti-worker. "She has to sever completely with...

Obama's Grannie Trumped Bias
 Obama's Grannie
 Trumped Bias 
Apr 9, 2008 8:00 AM CDT

Obama's Grannie Trumped Bias

Madelyn Dunham took on Hawaii's barriers to women, whites

(Newser) - Barack Obama wasn’t the first in his family to defy convention: His grandmother bucked prejudices in Hawaii against women and whites in the 1960s and '70s, USA Today reports. Madelyn Dunham, now 85, fought to become one of the Bank of Hawaii’s first female vice presidents. “Was...

Traders Predict Obama Victory
 Traders Predict Obama Victory 
Apr 8, 2008 6:16 PM CDT

Traders Predict Obama Victory

Dems will win presidency, they say

(Newser) - Futures traders are betting Barack Obama will be the Democratic nominee—and that the Democrats will take the White House. Although they expect Hillary Clinton to take three upcoming primaries, groups based in Iowa and Dublin give Obama an 86% chance of winning the party’s nod, compared to 12....

Candidates Seize Petraeus Moment

White House hopefuls flex rhetoric as general testifies

(Newser) - Today’s Capitol Hill appearance by Gen. David Petraeus was a golden opportunity for the White House hopefuls to flex their Iraq rhetoric, the Los Angeles Times reports. Hillary Clinton called for a troop withdrawal; though she agreed the decisions weren’t “easy,” she said the Bush administration...

Obama's Youth Army Takes Aim at Mom and Dad

Kids cajole elders on behalf of superstar candidate

(Newser) - Barack Obama has a secret weapon in winning over undecided voters: their children, who have glommed onto the Illinois senator as they would a rock star. Voters from both parties tell the New York Times that their issue has turned them around on the issues—or at least turned them...

McCain Blasts Dems on Iraq
 McCain Blasts Dems on Iraq 
Apr 7, 2008 3:05 PM CDT

McCain Blasts Dems on Iraq

Presumptive GOP nominee says departure calls are 'imprudent and dangerous'

(Newser) - John McCain slammed his Democratic presidential rivals today over their calls for an Iraq troop withdrawal, calling the notion “the height of irresponsibility.” Speaking to veterans in Kansas City, McCain said a quick departure would be “imprudent and dangerous." The remarks foreshadowed political heat over this...

Why Clinton Should be Winning
Why Clinton Should be Winning
Opinion
Apr 7, 2008 11:19 AM CDT

Why Clinton Should be Winning

If primaries were winner-take-all, she'd have a tidy lead

(Newser) - Barack Obama is beating Hillary Clinton in the delegate count only because of the eccentricities of the Democratic Primary system, argues Sean Wilentz on Salon. Like it or not, the general election will be a winner-take-all affair, and if the primaries were conducted the same way, Clinton would lead Obama...

Obama Doesn't Shy From Hard Truths: Sister

'Typical white' grandma OK with depiction in his speech on race

(Newser) - Barack Obama's diverse family has remained silent since the flare-up over his former pastor's sermons. But in her first public comments since Obama's speech on race in America, half-sister Maya Soetoro-Ng told the Telegraph their "typical white" grandmother, whose opinions on blacks sometimes made the candidate "cringe,"...

Wright Takes Cross Over Racial Divide

Rebel preacher aims to free gospel from 'whiteness'

(Newser) - Barack Obama pastor Jeremiah Wright built his Chicago church on black liberation theology, which directs Christianity at African Americans, Kelefa Sanneh writes in the New Yorker. The movement’s founder aimed to “emancipate the gospel from its ‘whiteness,’” but also from Frederick Douglass’ belief that antebellum...

No Deal on Mich., Fla. Until June: Dean

Party chief says hopefuls want to focus on final states

(Newser) - Florida and Michigan delegates will likely have to wait until June to see whether they can participate in the party’s convention, Howard Dean said on Face the Nation today. The DNC chairman said Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama would rather focus on the final primaries, which will end on...

Stories 5361 - 5380 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser