US News
As Clinton and Obama jockey, McCain seeks Republican unity (Roundup)
Feb 7, 2008, 0:19 GMT
Cindy McCain (L) looks on as her husband, US Republican presidential hopeful Senator John McCain speaks to a group of supporters at his Election Night Party on Super Tuesday in Phoenix, Arizona USA, 05 February 2008. EPA/ROY DABNER
Washington - With Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama deadlocked after the biggest-ever round of US primary votes, Democrats on Wednesday faced the prospect of a drawn-out nomination fight between the two presidential hopefuls.
Some analysts believe that weeks of infighting between Obama and Clinton may divide the party and weaken its quest to retake the White House, even as resurgent US Senator John McCain works to unite Republicans behind his presidential bid.
Obama, seeking to become the first African-American president, said he was not worried, a day after claiming Super Tuesday victories in 13 states to Clinton's eight.
'I think it would be a problem if Senator Clinton's voters disliked me, or my voters disliked Senator Clinton,' he said in Chicago. 'I don't think that's the case.'
Still, Clinton and her husband, former president Bill Clinton, have a reputation as tough campaigners. Obama's side has accused the Clinton camp of injecting race and personal attacks to try to undercut her rival's lofty talk of change and smoothing the nation's political divisions.
Clinton has also struggled to keep up with Obama's fundraising power, based on strong grass-roots organizing that has swept many voters into the political process. On Wednesday, she said she had loaned her campaign 5 million dollars of her own money.
'I loaned it because I believe very strongly in this campaign,' she told reporters. 'We had a great month fund-raising in January, broke all records. But my opponent was able to raise more money.'
In the jockeying for the slightest edge, Clinton's camp challenged Obama to weekly televised debates in the buildup to March 4, when Democrats cast presidential preference votes in two key states, Texas and Ohio. Before that, the next major contest is next Tuesday in Maryland and Virginia.
Clinton, 60, and Obama, 46, traded notably bitter attacks in a January debate.
'And we would hope that Senator Obama would accept some debates, as many as four, between now and March 4th,' said Howard Wolfson, Clinton's communications director.
Obama reacted cautiously, saying there would be more debates but 'it's very important for me to spend time with voters.'
On the strength of his Super Tuesday performance, Obama took a narrow lead over Clinton in the number of directly-awarded delegates to the Democratic Party's nominating convention in August, television networks reported.
The convention formally chooses the party's presidential nominee for the November 4 general election. But so-called superdelegates, which include Democratic elected and party officials and make up nearly 20 per cent of the total, may lean toward Clinton.
Obama insisted that he remains the underdog against the better-known Clinton, who spent eight years in the White House as first lady and is serving her seventh year as a US senator from New York.
She confidently reaffirmed her claim to front-runner status Wednesday, saying second place was not an option.
'I'm on the path to winning the nomination. We're in this, as I said at the very beginning, to win it,' she said. 'We are full speed ahead.'
On the Republican side, McCain faced a different challenge: winning over core party supporters sceptical about his conservative credentials.
'Do we have a lot of work to do to unite the entire party? Sure,' he said in his home state of Arizona. 'After the campaigns are over, you've always got the task of uniting the party behind the nominee.'
McCain, who would be the oldest US president to start a first term, staked a clear lead for the centre-right party's nomination, sweeping delegates Tuesday in the delegate-rich states of California, Illinois, New Jersey and New York.
McCain, 71, was the clear victor by percentage in nine of 21 Republican state contests. While the state victories give his campaign momentum, the bottom line is the number of delegates to the party nominating convention in September in St Paul, Minnesota.
He picked up 503 delegates Tuesday for a total of 615 since early January, CNN estimates showed. To win the nomination, he needs 1,191 delegates, or half the total.
Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, 60, took seven smaller states, leaving him a distant second with 268 delegates. The big surprise was former former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, 52, a southerner and one-time Baptist minister who swept four Southern states Tuesday.
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Older Talkback
page: 1
Once again we Americans are choosing leaders based on their personality and flash rather than on the issues or the qualifications of the candidates. Politics in America, despite the frightfully seriousness of election outcomes, is not take very seriously by the majority of Americans. At least part of the problem is the news coverage in America. Serious issues are deliberately overlooked or glazed over so that our major politicians can be given the same kind of treatment granted to the likes of Michael Jackson and Brittany Spears.
The news media should be closely questioning these candidates about their planned energy policies. Why? Because energy effects every other aspect of our lives including, the economy, national security and the environment. Those planned energy policies are available for your review at the following places:
Hillary Clinton:
www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/energy/
Completely unworkable from an engineering standpoint and will therefore fail as a public policy. Public policies MUST conform to the facts of reality or they become disasters.
Mike Huckabee:
www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Issues.View&Issue_id=21
Long on dramatic promises with a promised schedule that is nearly impossible. Governor Huckabee does not, however, reveal any details about how plans to reach his proposed goals. He is, in other words, saying that we should trust him and that he knows what he is doing. One suspects he intends to pray a lot over this issue.
John McCain
Has not posted a planned energy policy on his web site and even fails to mention it in his national security plans. This to me says a number of very bad things about Senator McCain's abilities as a strategist.
Barak Obama;
www.barackobama.com/issues/energy/
Almost wholly interchangeable with the Clinton's proposed policy and would be just as disastrously unworkable and ineffective.
Mitt Romney:
www.mittromney.com/Issues/ending-energy-dependence
Looked at from an engineering perspective, this is the ONLY energy policy proposed by any candidate that is reflective of sound engineering practice. Unfortunately, Governor Romney neglected to post enough in the way of detail for us to make rally good assessment of his plans.
This latter is no surprise. It is very much reflective of the choices made available to the American voter this time around. There are no candidates with whom anyone of good sense can feel comfortable. We have before us a list of less than desirable choices, but given that Governor Romney is the ONLY candidate to have made more than a half-hearted effort to address the energy needs of the United States, I am obliged to support him. I dislike the man intensely, but he is the ONLY candidate out of the lot to demonstrate a modicum of real thinking power.
' In addition he was a lousy pilot and a border-line coward....not a war hero at all.'
As a former aviator I can assure you that this guy was idolized and as a human being I can assure you that you are a piece of sh*t.
He is an agnry hand puppet of AIPAC.
One can only wish the 'hanoi' tapes surface and soon.
McINsane American Traitor.
This is like going to the largest toy store in the country and not finding a single box of LEGO bricks;
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_mccain
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_romney
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_huckabee
At least Romney seems to have competent engineer on his staff or consults with one.
John Kerry can get Swift Boated. But if someone tries to do it to the guy you like, then they are a piece of s--t. God bless you my friend, I love it, excellent entertainment.......unfortunately that's what politics has become in America.
BTW - I didn't know wether to vote for Clinton or Obama but, when the Clintons started trashing the man it sealed my vote for Obama.
cliton,obama or macanin makes no difference.
was hopeing jeb bush would run.
I think republicans are playing a trick to show that blacks have importance but party politics have brought the republican party down, other wise obama would have been the president.
is elected president, لنعترف جميع التحدث بالعربيه
The Billary loaned their campaign five million of their own money. Since 5 Feb 08, small contributors have given the Obama campaign some 7.43 million and as far as I know, that number is still rising.
my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/samgrahamfelsen/CGGpp
Here is an outside opinion worth reading:
www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/02/06/do0609.x ml
The murders in the USA by people who are frustrated with life and government is a strong indication that there is no strong honest leadership in America. Families are being torn apart and killing each other for reasons only god knows and understands. The American Republic and its candidate for President, Judah Ben-Hur can and will change the course of America without the consent of the corrupt Congress and Senate. New laws that govern and protect the People are in order. We offer the American people a new world order for peace, only after we fix America. America is finished as a nation of free people, and must be replaced with one for the People who wish to be free and treated as Earthlings!
As far as people in the U.S. killing each other - the percentage of that in relation to the MILLIONS of people living here is very small! When there is a killing, it usually gets big press if it's one out of the ordinary. I agree that McCain isn't the man for the job for various reasons - one being his age. 71 isn't decrepit, but he'll be over 72 when he takes office, then add 4 more years to that!!!!
Just too good to pass up:
www.iht.com/articles/2008/02/08/business/rustax.php
surprised when McCain turns out to be as dumb as a box of rocks. He might try to steer clear of debates with the last man/woman, of the other party, standing. He will be mowed down.
PS He's another Bush but more blood-thirsty.
page: 1
Old SchoolFeb 7th, 2008 - 01:38:22
Gee,,,,,,,,,,,,Not a 'Draft Dodger' and has 'Military Experience', Just what we need, a 'Manager to Manage a War that is in Total Chaos'
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