Barack Obama: Latest News on the Former President - Page 272

OPINION

Mar 28, 2008 1:55 PM CDT

Al Gore, Dems' Back-Up Plan

In spring's silly season, inconvenient nominee doesn't look impossible: Klein

(Newser) - If the Democratic nomination isn’t wrapped up before August's convention, the party might have a third choice: the one they crowned in 2000. If Barack Obama is too bloodied and Hillary Clinton too divisive, Joe Klein writes in Time, a superdelegate coup could yield an Al Gore-Obama ticket on...

Obama Takes Image Rehab
to The View

Mar 28, 2008 1:02 PM CDT

Obama Takes Image Rehab to The View

Candidate says he was gone from church if pastor Wright wasn't

(Newser) - Barack Obama "wouldn't have felt comfortable staying there at the church" had Jeremiah Wright not retired this year, he said today on The View. Obama reiterated his denunciation of his ex-pastor’s sermons, saying Wright had “deeply offended people,” CNN reports. He also told Barbara Walters &...

Pa. Senator to Endorse Obama

Mar 28, 2008 9:05 AM CDT

Pa. Senator to Endorse Obama

Backing represents big break; Casey had vowed to stay neutral in crucial race

(Newser) - Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey will endorse Barack Obama today, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports, in what could be big break for the presidential hopeful who's been trailing Hillary Clinton in polls there. Not only can Casey help Obama with Keystone State Democrats, says Politico’s Ben Smith, but his endorsement could...

Obama Plan: $30B Stimulus, More Regulation

Mar 27, 2008 2:29 PM CDT

Obama Plan: $30B Stimulus, More Regulation

Democrat blasts lax Bush oversight, McCain's laissez-faire approach

(Newser) - Barack Obama called today for stricter financial regulations and laid out a $30 billion stimulus plan, the Wall Street Journal reports, including measures aimed at the foreclosure crisis. The Democratic candidate said President Bush had “a generally scornful attitude toward oversight and enforcement,” and proposed expanding Fed powers...

Feds Must Ward Off Stagnation, Clinton Says

Mar 27, 2008 11:15 AM CDT

Feds Must Ward Off Stagnation, Clinton Says

Says buying mortgages might be necessary to avoid prolonged skid

(Newser) - The government should step into the mortgage mess on a broader scale, Hillary Clinton told the Wall Street Journal yesterday, suggesting monetary policy alone can’t ignite a recovery and warning that procrastination could lead to stagnation similar to Japan’s weary economy. Clinton said the Federal Housing Administration should...

Superdelegates Ask: Which Candidate Has the Coattails?

Mar 27, 2008 9:38 AM CDT

Superdelegates Ask: Which Candidate Has the Coattails?

Undecided Pa. Dems look to own reelection

(Newser) - Ten of Pennsylvania's superdelegates have yet to back a Democratic presidential candidate ahead of the April 22 primary. And while Clinton is expected to win the balloting, Bloomberg writes, some—especially several freshman congressmen up for reelection—are concerned that her "high negatives" might inspire more Republicans to come...

Clinton Slips to New Low in Poll

Mar 27, 2008 6:51 AM CDT

Clinton Slips to New Low in Poll

37% approval rating worst of campaign; Obama appears to weather pastor storm

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton is suffering some of the worst poll numbers of her political career, according to an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll. Clinton chalked up a personal approval rating of just 37%, the lowest since March 2001, two months after her election to the Senate. And of Clinton, Barack Obama, and...

Cash-Strapped Papers Take Scribes Off Trail

Mar 26, 2008 8:02 PM CDT

Cash-Strapped Papers Take Scribes Off Trail

Some mourn loss of perspective; others find blogs are OK substitute

(Newser) - The decline in the number of writers attached to presidential campaigns is “striking,” the New York Times reports—with only five newspapers trying to follow the candidates full-time. With per-person travel costs at $30,000, or more, a month, cash-strapped outlets are choosing not to foot the bill....

28% of Hillary Fans Would Pick Mac Over Obama

Mar 26, 2008 1:39 PM CDT

28% of Hillary Fans Would Pick Mac Over Obama

And, poll finds, 19% of Barack-backers would rather go Republican

(Newser) - In a troubling sign for Democratic odds of overcoming the primary bloodbath, a poll finds 28% of Hillary Clinton supporters say they would vote for John McCain over Barack Obama, and 19% of Barack boosters would go GOP over Clinton. It’s great news for the crossover-friendly Republican, the Chicago ...

Experts Deride McCain’s Mortgage Crisis Fix

Mar 26, 2008 12:52 PM CDT

Experts Deride McCain’s Mortgage Crisis Fix

Current woes not comparable to '01 factors that prompted GM to offer 0% financing

(Newser) - Economists, and rivals, are scoffing at John McCain’s ideas for countering the nation’s foreclosure crisis, taking aim at the suggestion that top lenders follow the post-9/11 example of General Motors—which offered 0% financing on new cars. But experts note that GM had its own interests in mind—...

Reid: Race Will
End Before
Convention

Mar 26, 2008 11:12 AM CDT

Reid: Race Will End Before Convention

Big Dem expects Michigan, Florida delegates to play role—without new votes

(Newser) - The top Senate Democrat says his party's presidential nomination will be wrapped up before the Aug. 25-28 convention. “It will be done,” majority leader Harry Reid declared of the race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama—adding mysteriously, Politico reports, that he’d spoken to party chairman Howard...

Superdelegates Should Hold Superprimary: Tenn. Gov.

Mar 26, 2008 9:34 AM CDT

Superdelegates Should Hold Superprimary: Tenn. Gov.

Superdelegate says Democratic party needs to settle nomination soon

(Newser) - Democrats should hold a superdelegate superprimary to settle the race before the summer, says Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen. “You’re going to spend this whole summer—and lots of money and time and effort—trying to convince people that whoever isn’t eventually nominated, isn’t electable,” says...

Foes Tag Obama With L-Word

Mar 26, 2008 8:59 AM CDT

Foes Tag Obama With L-Word

Critics say new-style candidate is an old-style liberal

(Newser) - Barack Obama's campaign says the candidate is beyond labels but the senator's critics think they've found one that fits: liberal. The McCain campaign has branded the candidate an "old-style liberal," while the Clintonites say Obama's positions could alienate moderates—and wonder how the candidate National Journal rated as...

Obama Pastor Cancels Speeches

Mar 26, 2008 8:05 AM CDT

Obama Pastor Cancels Speeches

Churches in Texas, Fla. cite Wright's safety, 'media circus'

(Newser) - Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama’s controversial former pastor, has canceled scheduled appearances this week, citing security concerns. Wright was due to lead a Tampa, Fla., church's three-day revival beginning yesterday, and visit several Houston-area churches Sunday. "As much as I hate for him not to come I think it's...

Obama Posts
Tax Records Online

Mar 25, 2008 7:49 PM CDT

Obama Posts Tax Records Online

Democrat has pressed Clinton do same for months

(Newser) - Barack Obama's campaign posted his tax returns from 2000-06 online today in another attempt to portray the Clinton campaign as secretive, the Chicago Tribune reports. Obama has hounded Clinton to make her post-White House tax records public; she has said she will do so soon. The Obamas' income ranged from...

Wright 'Would Not Have
Been My Pastor': Clinton

Mar 25, 2008 6:30 PM CDT

Wright 'Would Not Have Been My Pastor': Clinton

She'd have left church over racial remarks by Obama's ex-preacher

(Newser) - After a week’s silence, Hillary Clinton spoke today on the Jeremiah Wright flap, saying the ex-minister at Barack Obama's church “would not have been my pastor,” the Washington Post reports. She said “getting up and moving” would have been the right choice for Obama. “You...

Candidates' Family Trees Have Far-Flung Limbs

Mar 25, 2008 5:49 PM CDT

Candidates' Family Trees Have Far-Flung Limbs

Jolie-Pitt family could be split by ties to Clinton, Obama, genealogist finds

(Newser) - The Angelina Jolie-Brad Pitt household might have trouble choosing a Democratic candidate: It turns out Barack Obama is a distant cousin of Pitt’s and Hillary Clinton is a relative of Jolie’s. The author of a new genealogical survey cautions voters not to be too swayed—but it seems...

Obama's Foreign Policy Would Be Radical Overhaul

ANALYSIS

Mar 25, 2008 3:03 PM CDT

Obama's Foreign Policy Would Be Radical Overhaul

Advisers talk up breaking from orthodoxy with 'dignity' doctrine

(Newser) - Barack Obama provides “the most sweeping liberal foreign-policy critique” from a presidential contender in decades, writes Spencer Ackerman in the American Prospect—focusing not on fear, but rather on what advisers call “dignity promotion.” Ackerman credits the candidate's brain trust with cutting through “Democratic timidity” to...

Will the Losers Rebound,
Try Again, or Retire?

Mar 25, 2008 11:58 AM CDT

Will the Losers Rebound, Try Again, or Retire?

Clinton seen as Senate heavyweight, Obama a future contender, Mac a retiree

(Newser) - Very different futures await the two candidates who don't reach the White House, watchers say, with Barack Obama viewed as a future White House candidate, Hillary Clinton seen as a likely party leader in the Senate, and John McCain expected to retire in 2010. If Hillary doesn’t win, and...

Pa. Primary Turns Politics of Race On Its Ear

Mar 25, 2008 10:23 AM CDT