US News
McCain, Obama neck and neck in polls as Democrats open convention
Aug 25, 2008, 7:44 GMT
US Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama (L) and his wife Michelle join Vice Presidential selectee Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware (R) and his wife Jill (2-R) after Biden\'s introduction at a campaign rally on the grounds of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois, USA 23 August 2008. Obama introduced his choice in the same setting he used to launch his own campaign in January 2007. EPA/TANNEN MAURY
Denver, Colorado - The scramble for the White House was dead even between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain, according to two separate polls released late Sunday, the eve of the opening of the Democratic nominating convention.
The Gallup Poll showed each candidate with 45 per cent support from registered voters, while a CNN/Opinion Research Corp poll showed a 47-per-cent stalemate.
The polls delivered sobering prospects to Senator Obama, 47, as his party's delegates head to Denver, Colorado to formally nominate him and launch the final push to reclaim the White House from the Republicans.
They were the first national polls taken after Obama named Senator Joe Biden, a top voice on foreign policy in the Democratic Party, as his presumptive vice presidential candidate on Saturday. Normally, presidential hopefuls get a boost in the polls when they name their running mate.
Obama had edged ahead of McCain most of the summer, but his lead has narrowed since early August - to just 1.6 per cent late last week.
Pollsters raised the possibility that Obama has lost ground with women voters disappointed by his vice presidential announcement.
In June, 75 per cent of the backers of his chief rival in the primary campaign - Hillary Clinton - said they'd back Obama, according to CNN figures. That number has fallen to 66 per cent, CNN reported.
Gallup figures however showed that Obama still has 49 per cent of women polled in his corner, versus 39 per cent for McCain. McCain has more support from men - 48 per cent - than Obama, with 42 per cent.
During the four-day convention in Denver, in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, the party's 4,400 delegates will cast their votes for Obama and Clinton - who won more than 40 per cent of the primary vote - on Wednesday night.
Clinton, who has been campaigning for Obama this summer, is expected to release her delegates to support Obama.
Hundreds of demonstrators marched through downtown Denver on Sunday, under the watchful presence of dozens of mounted police officers and ground forces in full riot gear. They were protesting the war in Iraq and the inequities of the US two-party system.
Security officials were expected to release Sunday's arrest totals later Monday.
Obama is campaigning through the Midwest while his party meets in Denver, and won't appear until Thursday to make his acceptance speech before 75,000 people at Invesco Field.
On Monday, Michelle Obama, the candidate's wife, and other family members, and Senator Edward Kennedy, speaking via videotape, are expected to present the personal side of Obama, still a relative unknown for many Americans.
McCain will head to St Paul, Minnesota, for the September 1 opening of the Republican Party nominating convention.
General elections are November 4.
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Older Talkback
page: 1
the u.s. as a whole is a big laugh
Well, you both must be interested since you read and comment on articles about the U.S.
A statement read recently - 'McCain is peddling economic snake oil and a delusional world view more appropriate to a film script than the visible world'! And what about his ' tale about a Vietnamese prison camp guard drawing a cross in the sand on Christmas Day during his five years as a POW. Questionable - he never mentioned it until '99 after a similar story emerged about the late Russian novelist, Aleksander Solzhenitsyn.'
1. When the people learn to vote themselves money from the public trough, Obama will appear.
2. Obama is not exactly what he seems, nor is he otherwise.
3. Obama doesn't seek the truth, he puts an end to hurtful opinions.
4. It takes a wise man to use own words, but an even wiser man to use words spoken by others. And then there's Obama.
5. The beginner's mind sees many opportunities in America. The expert's mind sees few opportunities. Then there's Obama's mind.
6. To those who can correctly commiserate with the downtrodden, the whole universe surrenders.
7. To believe that America has no hope without Obama, and to grieve that it is so difficult to communicate it to Americans - this is the life of Obama.
8. Only Obama can see real need for change with his third eye that sees everything and yet nothing at the same time.
9. Obama's economic plan: No taxes, no progress. Little taxes, little progress. Great taxes, great progress.
10. The fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose that Obama is not an illusion.
11. There is no beginning to Obama nor end to Barack; There is no beginning to Barack nor end to Obama.
12. If you wish for true love, learn to love Obama.
13. There is nothing that you want that is not change; there is nothing you feel that is not hope.
14. Obama's message of hope: when you reach rock bottom, start digging.
15. Big government is like a thousand foot fishing line with a hook, but efficiency is always an inch beyond the hook. Every time you realize this, Obama wants you to believe that the government must grow an inch bigger.
16. To seek hope for hope's sake is like stepping onto a boat that is about to sail out to sea and sink. But as an inspirational leader with a focus on the community, Barack Obama is not afraid of such challenges - which is a refreshing contrast to the current administration.
Fellow POW: I Remember McCain Telling the 'Cross in the Dirt' Story [Byron York]
You've probably seen that there are some out there in the blogosphere questioning the authenticity of John McCain's 'cross in the dirt' story, which McCain told Saturday night at the Saddleback Summit. But there doesn't seem much mention of the fact that McCain had a lot of fellow POWs in Vietnam, and they can be asked for their recollections. So I called Orson Swindle, a fellow POW who is campaigning for McCain, to ask him about it.
'I recall John telling that story when we first got together in 1971, when were talking about every conceivable thing that had ever happened to us when we were in prison' Swindle told me a few minutes ago. 'Most of us had been kept apart or in small groups. Then, in 1970, they moved us into the big cell. And when we all got to see each other and talk to each other directly, instead of tapping through walls, we had 24 hours a day, seven days a week to talk to each other, and we shared stories. I vaguely recall that story being told, among other stories.'
'I remember it from prison,' Swindle continued. 'There were several stories similar to that in which guards — a very few, I might add — showed compassion to the prisoners. It was rare, and I never met one, but some of the guys did.'
As for the people who are questioning McCain's account, Swindle said, 'That's garbage. These people are desperate.'
THE lingering resentment from Hillary and Bill Clinton and their supporters over her loss to Barack Obama in the Democratic Party presidential nomination has flared again, marring the opening of the Democratic Party convention in Denver.
Democratic party officials have been urging the Clintons to maintain party unity, hoping both Senator Clinton and former president Mr Clinton would deliver passionate endorsements for Senator Obama over the next two days in keynote addresses to party delegates.
Senior party leaders arrived in Denver yesterday and spoke of little else but how the party would emerge unified from the convention, until reports started surfacing that Mr Clinton was upset over the topic of his speech, scheduled for Thursday afternoon, Australian time.
The online newspaper Politico reported that Mr Clinton was to address the theme of Securing America's Future - explaining how Senator Obama would be a more effective commander-in-chief than his Republican rival, John McCain.
But quoting associates of Mr Clinton, Politico reported that Mr Clinton was disappointed 'because he is eager to speak about the economy and more broadly about Democratic ideas - emphasising the contrast between the Bush years and his own record in the 1990s'.
Mr Clinton has been angered by what he claims has been disrespect from Senator Obama over the Clinton administration's economic successes. The Clinton camp was outraged when, at one point during the primary season, Senator Obama lauded how Ronald Reagan was able to tap into the mood of the electorate and enact political change, while never mentioning Mr Clinton.
Similarly, the Obama campaign remains miffed that Mr Clinton, particularly, appears to continue to nurse grievances and to see that they are aired publicly - despite the Obama camp giving both Clintons prominent roles at the convention.
While there have appeared to be signs in recent weeks that the convention would deliver a strong message of unity, over the past 24 hours Clinton spokesmen have publicly criticised Senator Obama for the way he treated Hillary Clinton in his vice-presidential selection process.
Senator Obama is said to have never fully vetted her as a possible candidate - a move considered to be a slight by her supporters - and some add it was discourteous that Senator Obama never called Mr Clinton to ask his advice on how he should go about selecting a vice-president.
'Look, he has a high regard for Senator Clinton,' Obama adviser David Axelrod said. 'But he felt that Senator Biden would be the best fit for him at this time.'
Politico quoted one senior Obama supporter as saying the Clinton associates acted like 'Japanese soldiers in the South Pacific still fighting after the war is over'.
The tension has also ratcheted up in the past week amid polls indicating slippage for Senator Obama, in part because 40 per cent of Clinton backers are refusing to back him and about a quarter of them say they will vote for Senator McCain.
[...]
People just need a laugh. 'Interest' doesn't enter into it.
It is great to see you and 'Judah Ben-Hur, Sui Juris' as the posters on any article, you two have about the same amount of clout and the same amount of credibility.
McCain has accomplished this, in the middle of the libnazi media feeding frenzy lovefest, and softball throwing contest, by simply stating his positions and being exactly who he is.
Think about it: the press has been all Obama...hell, two weeks ago, the NYT was talkiing about how McCain couldn't get enough exposure!
Sure you do............
If the republicants could pull a toothless bum named osama bin laden out of a mud hole in IRAQ, then McLame's election as president would be a
SLAM DUNK. Otherwise, mission NOT ACCOMPLISHED.
And McCain said he knows where he is and how to get him!! Why then is he keeping all this to himself??
..because when I want a person who personifies the successfull prosecution of these wars, I would run, not walk, to Barak Obama.....and his culture-of-defeat, wanna-fail democrat libnazis.
you are hilarious/delirious.........
Yup, sure do. After 8 years of Bush-sh*t, everybody needs a laugh. And the biggest laugh in town is McCain and the GOP(Graft Obfuscation Perfidy)
go back to selling Snake Oil. His sales pitch for McCain and the GOP just isn't working.
Ignore all the sock puppets Jeri, it is one sick waste of life.
Michelle Obama gave a tremendous speech tonight that showed great strength, intelligence and leadership - a powerful asset to Barak.
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GandhiAug 25th, 2008 - 07:48:18
Elections in the US are to laugh at. They are all fixed with corruption running rampant.
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