Presidential Issues
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10/27/2008 | Presidential Issues
Media's Presidential Bias and Decline
ABC News
The traditional media are playing a very, very dangerous game -- with their readers, with the Constitution and with their own fates. The sheer bias in the print and television coverage of this election campaign is not just bewildering, but appalling. And over the last few months I've found myself slowly moving from shaking my head at the obvious one-sided reporting, to actually shouting at the screen of my television and my laptop computer. But worst of all, for the last couple weeks, I've begun -- for the first time in my adult life -- to be embarrassed to admit what I do for a living. A few days ago, when asked by a new acquaintance what I did for a living, I replied that I was "a writer," because I couldn't bring myself to admit to a stranger that I'm a journalist.
Recommended Guests:
Chuck Colson, Prison FellowshipTom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyRick Green, President, Torch of Freedom FoundationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USADr. Janice Hollis, Bishop, Progressive Believers MinistriesBishop Harry R. Jackson, Senior Pastor, Hope Christian ChurchGary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation NetworkJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)10/20/2008 | Presidential Issues
A Role for Parents in the Election
Townhall.Com
The Obama Campaign has infiltrated college and graduate school campuses throughout the United States. One day last week, on my way to class I was asked if I wanted to sign-up to volunteer for the Obama Campaign. On my way to my seat, I passed a student with an Obama button pinned to her shirt. Before my evening seminar, one of my fellow classmates handed out Obama bumper stickers. Even away from law school in the comfort of my home I am told that as a young person I should be voting for Obama. In a spoof of ads encouraging parents to talk to their children about drugs, smoking and sex, Penn Badgley and Blake Lively, stars of Gossip Girl, along with some other young people implore young people to, “talk to your parents about John McCain.” Sponsored by MoveOn.org, the ad opens with Badgley saying, “Mom, Dad, I found this in your room today,” as he holds up a trucker hat that reads, “Drill Baby Drill, McCain-Palin 2008.” It ends with Lively offering, “And if you’re ever out somewhere and you’re considering voting for McCain, just call me, and I’ll pick you up. No questions asked.”
Recommended Guests:
Chuck Colson, Prison FellowshipTom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyRick Green, President, Torch of Freedom FoundationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USADr. Janice Hollis, Bishop, Progressive Believers MinistriesBishop Harry R. Jackson, Senior Pastor, Hope Christian ChurchGary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation NetworkJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)10/20/2008 | Presidential Issues
McCain suggests Obama tax policies are socialist
Yahoo News
CONCORD, N.C. – Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Saturday accused Democratic rival Barack Obama of favoring a socialistic economic approach by supporting tax cuts and tax credits McCain says would merely shuffle wealth rather than creating it. "At least in Europe, the Socialist leaders who so admire my opponent are upfront about their objectives," McCain said in a radio address. "They use real numbers and honest language. And we should demand equal candor from Sen. Obama. Raising taxes on some in order to give checks to others is not a tax cut; it's just another government giveaway." McCain, though, has a health care plan girded with a similar philosophy. He proposes providing individuals with a $5,000 tax credit to buy health insurance. He would pay for his plan, in part, by considering as taxable income the money their employer spends on their health coverage. McCain leveled his charge before a pair of appearances aimed at restoring his lead in critical battleground states. In both North Carolina and Virginia, where McCain was to speak later in the day, his campaign has surrendered its lead to Obama in various polls. President Bush, a Republican, won both states in 2004.
Recommended Guests:
Chuck Colson, Prison FellowshipTom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyRick Green, President, Torch of Freedom FoundationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USADr. Janice Hollis, Bishop, Progressive Believers MinistriesBishop Harry R. Jackson, Senior Pastor, Hope Christian ChurchGary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation NetworkJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)10/20/2008 | Presidential Issues
Shock Poll: McCain Gets Within The Margin of Error
The Bulletin
Gallup's traditional likely voter model shows Sen. John McCain within two points of Sen. Barack Obama, well within the poll's margin of error. The three-day sampling shows Mr. Obama leading 49 percent to 47 percent. Among registered voters, Mr. Obama leads 49 to 43 percent. Obama Tells Supports: Don't Get 'Cocky' The morning after the last presidential debate, Mr. Obama cautioned his supporters not to get "cocky" and said there was still a lot to be done before the election on Nov. 4. "For those of you who are feeling giddy or cocky and think this is all set, I just say one word - I guess it's two words for you - New Hampshire," Mr. Obama said during a high-brow fundraiser in New York City. After winning the Iowa caucus, Mr. Obama hit a road bump when Sen. Hillary Clinton won the New Hampshire primary a few days later. "I've been in these positions before where we are favored and the press starts getting carried away and we end up getting spanked ... and so we want to make sure we are closing strong, right through the tape." Ad Watch: McCain Targets Bush Mr. McCain is increasing his efforts to distance his campaign from President George W. Bush and released a new ad criticizing Mr. Bush and pledging to take the country in a new direction. "The last eight years haven't worked very well, have they?" Mr. McCain says in the new one-minute spot in which the Republican talks directly to voters. "I'll make the next four better."
Recommended Guests:
Chuck Colson, Prison FellowshipTom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyRick Green, President, Torch of Freedom FoundationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USADr. Janice Hollis, Bishop, Progressive Believers MinistriesBishop Harry R. Jackson, Senior Pastor, Hope Christian ChurchGary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation NetworkJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)10/16/2008 | Presidential Issues
National Press Call Audio – Presidential Debate
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Recommended Guests:
Chuck Colson, Prison FellowshipTom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyRick Green, President, Torch of Freedom FoundationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USADr. Janice Hollis, Bishop, Progressive Believers MinistriesBishop Harry R. Jackson, Senior Pastor, Hope Christian ChurchGary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation NetworkJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)10/16/2008 | Presidential Issues
Final Debate Centers On Tone Of The Campaign
The Bulletin
On the same date Abraham Lincoln battled Stephen Douglas in Alton, Ill. in 1858, Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama came to Hofstra University to engage in a debate where the stakes were clear: The White House. After weeks of bleeding in the polls, Mr. McCain came to Hofstra University to convince downtrodden voters he had the economic prowess to restore America's failing economy, and he was not George W. Bush, while Mr. Obama attempted to avoid political landmines that not only included policy issues, but also his past connections with radical figures. There was no doubt, Mr. Bush loomed large over Mr. McCain's head, as Mr. Obama repeatedly attempted to link Mr. McCain to the widely unpopular president. "On the core economic issues that matter to the American people ... you have been a vigorously support of President [George W.] Bush," Mr. Obama said. Mr. McCain, though, nipped the argument in the bud. "Sen. Obama, I am not President Bush," Mr. McCain said. "If you wanted to run against President Bush should have run four years ago."
Recommended Guests:
Chuck Colson, Prison FellowshipTom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyRick Green, President, Torch of Freedom FoundationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USADr. Janice Hollis, Bishop, Progressive Believers MinistriesBishop Harry R. Jackson, Senior Pastor, Hope Christian ChurchGary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation NetworkJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)10/16/2008 | Presidential Issues
Unspoken Issue of 2008: Federal Judges
Townhall.com
The economy is the only issue we should be concerned with for this election. Right? … Well, not if the Judicial Confirmation Network (JCN) has anything to say about it. Formed in 2005 to support the confirmation of President Bush’s judicial nominees, the JCN is now launching TV ads aimed at bringing judicial issues back to the forefront. Wall Street may dominate the popular imagination, but the JCN’s Gary Marx is quick to point out that other major issues simply cannot be put aside during the financial crisis. The stakes are, indeed, high. While today’s economic woes might well be resolved in two or three years, a Supreme Court Justice is appointed for life. The challenge, of course, is to remind voters that the person we elect in a few short weeks will make decisions that impact more not just the economy – but a variety of issues ranging from abortion to free speech.
Recommended Guests:
Chuck Colson, Prison FellowshipTom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyRick Green, President, Torch of Freedom FoundationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USADr. Janice Hollis, Bishop, Progressive Believers MinistriesBishop Harry R. Jackson, Senior Pastor, Hope Christian ChurchGary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation NetworkJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)10/16/2008 | Presidential Issues
National Press Call Transcript – Presidential Debate
NewsGuests.Com
FINAL-10-15-08-debate [Beginning of recorded material] Debbie Hamilton: News Guests would like to welcome and thank our panel of national leaders and the members of the press for joining our teleconference call tonight. I'm Debbie Hamilton, President of News Guests. Felicia Horton is our National Media Director, also on the call. NewsGuests.com is a public relations firm providing prepared guests on a wide variety of provocative topics to local, regional, and national media. The reason for our series of teleconference calls is to give the media the opportunity to hear the perspectives from top conservative leaders in the country. And tonight it is, of course, regarding the last presidential debate between the 2008 candidates, Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama. We ask that members of the press go ahead and ask questions. But importantly, because this conference call is being recorded and the caller announcement feature has been turned off, when asking a question please announce your name and media organization, and direct the question to one of our commentators by name. Our commentators tonight are Janet Parshall, national talk show host of Janet Parshall's America; Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform; Ken Blackwell, Chairman for the Coalition for a Conservative Majority, and Vice Chairman of the 2008 Republican Platform Committee; and Colin Hanna, President of Let Freedom Ring. And I will be your moderator on this press teleconference tonight. Some quick housekeeping rules. If you have background noise, you can mute your phones by pressing star six, and you can also unmute your phone by pressing star six. I'll have the commentators give their 30-second summary or impression of the debate tonight, and then when answering questions from the press, they will announce their name and give a one-minute response. We also have questions submitted via email, which I will try to ask if we have time. Just so the media knows, an entire written transcription and a full audio file will be completed and may be retrieved as early as tomorrow by noon Eastern Time at NewsGuests.com. We also will have a report of all the media that were on the call tonight, even though you cannot hear them being announced. Now we will go ahead and call upon our commentators for their 30-second summaries of the debate. Colin Hanna, we'll go ahead and start with you. Colin Hanna: Great, okay. Thanks, Debbie. On one level, I thought that this was a debate between smooth and not-so-smooth. Obama is clearly a skilled debater. McCain is not. He is passionate, he is earnest, but he is not polished. The difference in style easily overcomes -- unfortunately -- very real differences in substance. Now, smooth is not always a positive attribute. It's only half a step away from slick. And rough is maybe a half a step away from earnest. So, I think that who won the debate is going to largely depend on whether people really see it as a contest between smooth and rough, where you might expect smooth to win; or between slick and earnest, where you might expect earnest to win. By most points, I think Obama probably scored more points than sort of typical debate scoring. But I thought that McCain came away -- in my perspective, at least -- clearly the more trustworthy. But there were no knockout blows, and no true game-changing moments. Debbie Hamilton: Janet Parshall, would you care to comment, please? Janet Parshall: Yes, thank you. I would take a slightly different perspective, and that is Barack Obama went into tonight's debate understanding that the wind was at his back, and that he had -- according to most polls in America -- at least a single-digit lead. So, he had to be very careful not to make any mistakes. But you can be cautious to a fault, and tonight we saw that fault. John McCain, on the other hand, proved to us that many years on Capitol Hill spells experience. Yet again, Barack Obama was asked what he would do given our difficult economic times, what he would cut in terms of his ideas for spending for the future. And for the second debate in a row, he was unable to articulate exactly where he would draw those expenses, and where he would cut his funding. John McCain, on the other hand, was able to take off some stark distinctions between himself and John McCain. But even more important, one of the defining moments -- and it poked a big hole in the Barack Obama campaign machine -- was to say, "I'm not President Bush." The linkage drawn by the Barack Obama campaign of John McCain and George Bush has been a failed attempt, to try to say that there would be four more years of the same. Tonight, John McCain proved that the word "maverick" has new depth of meaning with his political career. Debbie Hamilton: Thank you very much, Janet. Excellent. Ken Blackwell, have you joined us now? Ken Blackwell: Yes, I have. Debbie Hamilton: Yes. Please comment. Give us your overview of the debate tonight. Ken Blackwell: I thought both of the debaters probably met their going-in objective. Obama was -- make no mistake -- if I can use an analogy in basketball, sort of a four corners offence. [It was the stall]. He was trying to [unintelligible] [the crowd]. John McCain tried to draw the contrast in a straightforward, diplomatic way. I think he accomplished that. [Unintelligible] tonight? No. But I do think that we set up the fourth quarter for a very robust contest. This is now coming down to the ground game. The last 10 days will be huge in the [targeted stage]. So, I think John McCain, one, accomplished his mission tonight. [Unintelligible] Barack Obama did, too. So, nobody was put out of the game on any technical foul or on point. But I think John McCain now has to match a machine, and I think he does that by doing what he did tonight and saying, "Look, on issues that matter, Mr. Obama [is on the wrong track]." Debbie Hamilton: Thank you, Ken. I appreciate that. Grover, are you on the line? Grover Norquist: Yes. Grover Norquist with Americans for Tax Reform. I agree with the sentiment that there wasn't a knockout punch. There wasn't even a sort of change of direction. I had expected to hear three or four times "Chicago political machine" from McCain in describing Obama. Obama kept talking about new spending programs that he wants. And he kept talking about his welfare program of sending everybody a $500 check as if it was a tax cut. I'm kind of waiting for either Senator McCain or the Establishment Press [unintelligible] wait longer for that second part, to mention that writing people a check is not a tax cut. But I think that they each went up there and made their case. There's no reason to think that Obama, who is sort of the incumbent at this point in terms of having the Establishment Press cheerlead for him, and people assume he's ahead -- he didn't do well enough to deserve that title. Debbie Hamilton: Okay, excellent points, Grover. Thank you. I would now like to call on members of the press to announce ourselves and your media organization. Please direct a question to one of the commentators, or to more than one at a time. Joe Murray with the Bulletin, the Evening Bulletin. Are you on the line and unmuted? Joe Murray: Yes. I am on the line, and I hope I'm unmuted. Debbie Hamilton: Okay. I will call on you for our first question. Why don't you kick it off for us? Joe Murray: Okay. I would like to ask a question to Grover. How are you doing, Grover? It's nice to talk to you again. Grover Norquist: Doing well. It's good to hear from you. Joe Murray: That's good. My question is John McCain made good use of Joe the Plumber tonight during this debate, trying to articulate how Barack Obama's plan has some of that redistribution of wealth/Robin Hood mentality. Do you think Joe the Plumber was the symbol McCain needed to drive this issue home? Grover Norquist: Well, he's certainly begun the conversation about how Obama's tax increases targeted on particularly small businesses [unintelligible] businesses are really a tax on the middle class. And up until now, Obama's been able to say, "I'm not going to tax you. I'm going to tax the grocery store. That's not you." It takes a little bit to explain to people, "Actually, if you tax the grocery store, you are taxing the employees of the grocery store and the consumers of the grocery store." So, yeah. He has expanded partially because Americans for Tax Reform went through the effort to get it professional done -- calculator -- on how Obama and McCain's taxes will affect your 401k. I was kind of hoping that McCain might have mentioned not only the way that Obama's tax increases will screw you if you're a consumer, or a worker, or a business, but what it'll do to the 50 percent of households that are in the stock market who've already lost some money, courtesy of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and Obama's economic advisors. But his policies will dramatically reduce the value of the 401ks of 50 percent of households in the country. Obama keeps thinking when he smashes small businesses in the head, and large businesses in the head, that he's not affecting most Americans. He misses the number of Americans who have mutual funds. Debbie Hamilton: Grover, thank you. Joe, did you have a follow-up question? Joe Murray: No, I think Grover did a good job. Thank you very much, Debbie. Thank you, Grover. Debbie Hamilton: Okay. Do any of our other commentators want to respond to Joe's question at this time? Colin Hanna: Debbie, this is Colin. There's an ancillary point that Grover briefly touched on, and that is the fact that I think McCain really missed an opportunity, when we were talking about the overall financial crisis, to identify Obama with the problem. Obama is deeply entangled and enmeshed in the very people who brought about this crisis, the people who mismanaged, and hyped, and misrepresented the public interest in running Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. There's an entanglement there that the average person doesn't know. And right now, this crisis seems to be accruing to the benefit of Obama, when in fact it really should be just the opposite way. Debbie Hamilton: Okay. Thank you, Colin. Okay. Do we have another member of the press that would like to ask a question of one of our commentators? Carmen Pate: This is Carmen Pate with Point of View Radio Talk Show. Debbie Hamilton: Hi, Carmen. Thanks for joining us. Carmen Pate: Hi, yes. This is a question actually for any of the commentators who would like to address it. I'll start with perhaps Janet Parshall. [Unintelligible] it has to do with the associations of Barack Obama. It seems that when there is an association vision, that it is quickly dismissed -- obviously, because Obama doesn't want to go there. But I felt that McCain missed some opportunities to not dismiss it; to really stay on guard, and to bring up additional [things] like Pastor Jeremiah [unintelligible], and others in the ACORN Association should have gone into further detail about what has been taking place there. I think associations are critical with the next president, who they surround themselves with. I would like to get your thoughts on that, Janet. Janet Parshall: Carmen, thank you for the question. It's a very good one, because what it really calls to do without is the question of character. And that's why the question of association becomes, particularly in this election, a very legitimate question. Barack Obama is a freshman senator. He hardly has a track record. He sat in his chair as a United States Senator 143 days. He voted "[Present]" 90 times. He doesn't have much of a record at all. That's why we have to [harken] back very often to the record that he had as an Illinois State Senator. So, there's no there there, unfortunately. We can't discover much about this man. That calls into account, therefore, his association. And here's the problem with John McCain. He really is, in every sense of the word, an officer and a gentleman. And so, he has said that there are certain issues that are certain issues that are going to be held out of bounds, and one of them, of course, is Jeremiah Wright. But he did talk a little bit about William Ayers, which I thought was very good, but he went even more pointedly and talked about John Lewis' comments, which I think was particularly problematic for John McCain. Because if you remember at the Saddleback Forum, he identified John Lewis as one of his heroes. So, for having Lewis making that statement, I thought it was very appropriate, but very difficult for John McCain to basically push him back again. By the way, again -- and this has gone back and forth in the campaign -- "These are acts that took place when I was 8 years old," says Barack Obama. John McCain says, "Your career was launched in [unintelligible]." And so, it's back and forth, back and forth. But I think the subtext of all of this, for the average American -- and that's where this discussion really has its importance -- is that people are saying, "Who do you know? Who are your friends? Who did you hang around with?" For example, I was just in Chicago and I discovered something very important there. Tony Rezko, as you know, has not yet received his sentence. He is in a safe house right now, and they're keeping him in a safe house until after the election, because [a grave] concern is that Tony Rezko might start -- in the words of Tony Soprano -- singing like a canary, and he might start talking about some of this other associations, which would obviously bode very detrimentally for the Barack Obama campaign. So, here's the conundrum for somebody like John McCain. He really and truly is not a dirty street fighter. He doesn't want to come back and do some bare knuckle boxing. And yet, at some point he has to decide when he's going to step in and say, "Your associations define you." For a lot of people, we adhere to an ancient idea that says that your friends define not only your future, but who you are. And for a lot of Americans right now, because we don't have a track record legislatively to harken back to, you associations, Senator Obama, are the definer of who you are. Therefore, in this go-around, it's a very legitimate series of questions. Debbie Hamilton: Absolutely. Thank you, Janet, very much. Colin, I was going to ask you to comment on this. I just wanted to remind our commentators, I do want to get to the questions that were in the debate tonight about the judges, Roe v. Wade, school choice. So, since we've got 12 minutes left -- we're going to end this call right at 11:30 -- if commentators could keep your answers to a minute, minute and a half, I would appreciate that. And Colin, would you like to address this question, as well, [unintelligible]? Colin Hanna: No, I'll go onto the next question. Debbie Hamilton: Okay, all right. Well, I'll put it out there to members of the press, if anyone has a question they'd like to ask? Okay. Then I will go ahead and ask the question. I have one that came in from an email. The question is, "They wanted to talk about the judges and the contrasting vision of the two candidates regarding the Supreme Court, and the Roe v. Wade question that were sort of hooked together." The question is a little vague, but I thought we could start out possibly -- Ken, can you address that question? Ken Blackwell: Well, again, I think Senator McCain missed an opportunity to crystallize the contrast. He was overly cautious on the issue of how pivotal Roe versus Wade is in first defining the level of creativity and activism on the court. And he eventually got back to the fact that he believes in [states' rights] in terms of the issue of abortion, and he underscored that he was against abortion himself. But he had an opportunity to crystallize the difference, and I'm not sure that he did it sharply enough. But look, I think he started down the path of a real serious contrast, and he was saying, "If you have an Obama presidency and you have Pelosi and Reed, and you give him the next three appointments, you could change the composition of the court, you would have the most one-sided government that we've experienced in this country in a very long time, if not ever. I think that in and of itself would've been a great mobilizer of not only the base, but many undecideds who believe that their interests are well-served by a split government, where no one party has a complete monopoly because when that's the case you can't hold your pocketbook and wallet tightly enough, because there's going to be a raid on the banks. We still have 20, 19 days left. There are some points that we're going to have to drive home, and I think the McCain campaign is going to have to polish the points of difference that he might have touched on tonight but didn't bring it home completely enough. Debbie Hamilton: Okay. Janet, would you care to follow up on that briefly? Janet Parshall: I would, indeed. I have to tell you, I think it was a seminal moment of the night, because the question was really asked about Roe v. Wade, and it naturally segue wayed into a discussion about judges, which was profoundly important, because the President, by constitutional restraint, can only serve eight years. The judges who sit in the Supreme Court could leave a legacy for my children and my grandchildren, as well. Articulated by these two candidates was a dramatically different idea about who judges should be. The constitutional directive to the Senate is to give their advice and offer their consent. Our founding fathers meant that that was simply a commentary on their character. Were they blasphemers? Were they adulterer? Were they wine-bibbers? Never in a million years would the founders have said, "Our job is to scrutinize their judicial philosophy." What you saw tonight was John McCain subscribing to that constitutional idea. That's why he's voted for judges that, in the end, some of us conservatives would have thought were anathema on the high court. But again, John McCain understood the box that he was given. The directive was, "Offer your advice, give your consent -- not on judicial philosophy, but on their character." Barack Obama did exactly the opposite, and proved what a post-modernist he is. He basically said exactly what he would do is pick judges that, "Had a sense of the real world." What in heaven's name does that have to do with judicial philosophy? You are to adjudicate within the parameters of the law, not to have a "sense of the real world." It was a bizarre moment. Secondarily, he talked about the right to privacy, which is tremendously shaky footing for Roe v. Wade to be decided on, and also said that it was a woman who should best be making that decision. That moment was so starkly defining about the distinction between the two. Barack Obama does not feel bound by the Constitution. His nominees for the court would not be bound by the Constitution. And remember, he said to Planned Parenthood in June of last year, his first thing is not to lower taxes, gets troops out of Iraq, or balance the budget; it would be to sign the Freedom of Choice Act, which would overturn with one swipe of the executive pen every pro-life piece of legislation from the state level all the way up to the ban on partial birth abortion. That was the defining moment of the debate. Debbie Hamilton: Thank you, Janet. Thank you very much. Okay. Let's move to healthcare. Colin Hanna: Let me throw in one thing on that, because Janet made a great point. This is Colin again. The one reference that Obama, the former constitutional law professor, made to the Constitution, was a right that in fact is not even in it. Everything else that he said was about judges and philosophy and so on. But his single reference to the Constitution was to the so-called right of privacy, which isn't even in there. Janet Parshall: Let me tell you something else, Colin, that John McCain did. John McCain picked up immediately on one of the favorite tricks of the pro-abortion community, and that is to draw the distinction between the health and the life of the mother. Barack Obama's record is clearly [before us]. He absolutely was dead wrong on voting against the Born-alive Infants Protection Act. But he talked about the nuanced phrase again about the life and the health of the mother. As a constitutional professor, he knows that the word "health" can mean everything from being depressed to being stressed, and it's a loophole big enough to drive an abortion through. John McCain picked up on it and drew the distinction between health and life. Colin Hanna: Yep, yep. Debbie Hamilton: Excellent, thank you. Let's talk about energy. Grover, can you please comment on what the candidates had to say about energy alternatives tonight? Grover Norquist: Well, there was an interesting moment where McCain pointed out that Obama had said he was willing to look at offshore drilling, which was very interesting because he hasn't been for it, he hasn't pushed for it, he's willing to look at it. Well, you can look at something while it doesn't happen. And it is very interesting that, of course, Obama has sided with the groups that want to ration energy, and who don't want to look for more energy. I thought at least the two of them were making the distinction between imported oil and imported oil from troubled regions, which is an improvement over what a lot of the world does; they treat imports from Mexico and Canada as if they were from some country that was at war with us. But clearly McCain is for more energy, and Obama's position is for rationing. Debbie Hamilton: Colin, would you like to add anything? Colin Hanna: No, I think Grover said that extremely well. Obama was talking about ephemeral, dreamy type things, and I thought McCain brought it right down to a very realistic level. Debbie Hamilton: Okay, I agree. Let's talk about school choice. Ken Blackwell, Senator McCain has stated that some of the worst schools receive the most money. Can you talk about that whole issue of school choice [night]? Ken Blackwell: Well, I think he drilled home the point that competition is key, and breaking up a monopoly that government schools have is essential. He has not only the advantage on principle; I think he has the advantage right on a point of practicality. What Senator Obama suggested was that because you can only deal with a percentage less than all, therefore we shouldn't be trying the alternative approaches to the education [unintelligible] competition. That's a bit like saying that the abolitionists, and the anti-slavery moment, and the Underground Railroad, should not have taken any slaves off the plantation until they could take all the slaves off the plantation. That's nonsense. So, I think McCain on this issue has the moral high ground, and he also has the practical considerations of the value of competition and choice, empowerment. I think there he was talking across income lines, class lines. People like choice; they like to be empowered. And they know a failing system when they see it. Debbie Hamilton: Thank you, Ken. Janet, any comments? Janet Parshall: Yes. This was a very important moment, as well, because it proved that Barack Obama [is the hold-in] to one of the most powerful unions in the nation, the National Education Association. John McCain rightfully pointed out that 9,000 parents in Washington DC wanted to sign up for school choice programs. We saw the same thing, by the way, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where they were literally standing in line to try to give their kids the opportunity for the best education they could possibly get. That's the wonderful thing about John McCain not being beholden to the NEA. He has the opportunity to say, "Look, it's free enterprise. It's a competitive market. Good schools will rise; bad schools will fall under their own weight." He also dared to touch on the idea of saying that we should have merit pay for good teachers; that we should open the door for charter schools, as well. And then he said something very important, and a lot of people in Washington don't get it -- that money doesn't always offer the cure. He talked about throwing money after a problem is not always the answer. And I can tell you in education, as a former schoolteacher, that is absolutely the truth. He also touched on the No Child Left Behind, and said, "Look, there were some unfunded mandates there, but at least it was a good start. And at the federal level, we were trying desperately to create some unified standards for performances. And in the end, it wasn't just about student performance; it was about teacher performance, as well." But as long as you're in a stranglehold from the NEA, you're never going to be able to swing open the doors of the local schoolhouse and say, "Mom and dad, you are the best Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. You make the choice. We, the community, will provide the opportunity." Debbie Hamilton: Okay, thank you. Ken Blackwell: Let me just underscore something. Debbie Hamilton: Sure. Ken Blackwell: I thought Senator McCain was very adroit in saying, "Look, I want for parents of low-income the same opportunity as the Obamas and the McCains had." And here's something he can build on as he closes out his campaign. Close to 50 percent of public schoolteachers in this country send their kids to nonpublic schools. An overwhelming majority of members of Congress send their kids to nonpublic schools. They have choice. I think what John McCain was driving is that he wants the same opportunity for the residents in public housing that the residents in the White House have. I think that's a sensible and positive notion. [It's putting him] on the side of the majority of Americans who don't like failure, and they love and respect freedom. Debbie Hamilton: Okay. Thanks to both of you. We have about two minutes left. So, I will go ahead and ask, in three sentences, if you can tell us who you think won the debate and why. Grover, we'll start with you. Grover Norquist: I think narrowly McCain won. At the end of the day, Obama was never able to explain one part of the left coalition that he [wouldn't do as told by]. And McCain made it clear that he was his own man, outlined his principles, and just made the case that he was more serious a player. I mean, obviously our friend Obama speaks well, but he's owned by the trial lawyers; he's owned by the big city political machine of Chicago -- he was created by them. And he did nothing to give you a sense that he isn't going to do their bidding on everything. Debbie Hamilton: Colin? Colin Hanna: I think McCain won because he was honest and earnest, and Obama was too slick by half. Debbie Hamilton: Thank you. Ken? Ken Blackwell: I actually thought it was a draw, but it revealed something that is very, very important. That is Barack Obama couldn't knock John McCain out in a ring that has dimensions that should make it very easy for him to do it. And so, in saying that, I think the point that Colin made is probably true, that at the end of the day, if it was a draw and McCain came across as being more authentic, more experienced, more concerned about getting the size of government right and out of our lives, I think you can say John McCain set himself up to win this on November the 4th. Debbie Hamilton: Okay. Janet? Janet Parshall: I think John McCain clearly was the winner tonight, because what we saw before our eyes was the distinction between shine and substance; between inexperience and a smooth phrase, and someone who's had experience even if he doesn't have the same eloquent tongue as his opponent. Barack Obama is new to the playing field, and there is this draw that the American public has toward charisma and persona. But what they saw tonight in John McCain was the fact that America lives in perilous times, and a nation that's still very much at war with two distinctively opposite worldviews fighting for predominance in the American culture. John McCain articulated what I think were the values and the hopes of the conservative movement in this country tonight. Debbie Hamilton: Thank you very much. This concludes our NewsGuests.com press teleconference tonight. [End of recorded material]
Recommended Guests:
Chuck Colson, Prison FellowshipTom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyRick Green, President, Torch of Freedom FoundationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USADr. Janice Hollis, Bishop, Progressive Believers MinistriesBishop Harry R. Jackson, Senior Pastor, Hope Christian ChurchGary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation NetworkJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)10/6/2008 | Foreign Policy, Presidential Issues
Biden's Fantasy World
The Wall Street Journal
In the popular media wisdom, Sarah Palin is the neophyte who knows nothing about foreign policy while Joe Biden is the savvy diplomatic pro. Then what are we to make of Mr. Biden's fantastic debate voyage last week when he made factual claims that would have got Mrs. Palin mocked from New York to Los Angeles? Start with Lebanon, where Mr. Biden asserted that "When we kicked -- along with France, we kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon, I said and Barack said, 'Move NATO forces in there. Fill the vacuum, because if you don't know -- if you don't, Hezbollah will control it.' Now what's happened? Hezbollah is a legitimate part of the government in the country immediately to the north of Israel." The U.S. never kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon, and no one else has either. Perhaps Mr. Biden meant to say Syria, except that the U.S. also didn't do that. The Lebanese ousted Syria's military in 2005. As for NATO, Messrs. Biden and Obama may have proposed sending alliance troops in, but if they did that was also a fantasy. The U.S. has had all it can handle trying to convince NATO countries to deploy to Afghanistan. Speaking of which, Mr. Biden also averred that "Our commanding general in Afghanistan said the surge principle in Iraq will not work in Afghanistan." In trying to correct him, Mrs. Palin mispronounced the general's name -- saying "General McClellan" instead of General David McKiernan. But Mr. Biden's claim was the bigger error, because General McKiernan said that while "Afghanistan is not Iraq," he also said a "sustained commitment" to counterinsurgency would be required. That is consistent with Mr. McCain's point that the "surge principles" of Iraq could work in Afghanistan.
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Chuck Colson, Prison FellowshipTom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyPaul "Dave" Gaubatz, Owner-Director, Wahhabi CT PublicationsRick Green, President, Torch of Freedom FoundationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USADr. Janice Hollis, Bishop, Progressive Believers MinistriesBishop Harry R. Jackson, Senior Pastor, Hope Christian ChurchCliff Kincaid, President, America's Survival, Inc.Gary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation NetworkJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)10/6/2008 | Presidential Issues
Palin Takes `Gloves Off' Against Obama, Fills Attack-Dog Role
Yahoo News
Republican Sarah Palin returned to the campaign trail with her ``gloves off,'' taking on the vice presidential candidate's traditional role of attack dog and lashing out at Barack Obama. At weekend rallies and fundraisers she criticized Illinois Senator Obama personally, particularly his association with Bill Ayers, a former member of the Weather Underground radical group, whom she described as a ``domestic terrorist.'' The Democratic presidential nominee ``is not a man who sees America as you see it,'' she said at a campaign rally in Carson, California. Her supporters said they liked the new tone. ``It's about time the pit bull got loose,'' said Ken Gow, a 47-year-old police officer who was among the more than 10,000 people at the Oct. 4 rally.
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Chuck Colson, Prison FellowshipTom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyRick Green, President, Torch of Freedom FoundationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USADr. Janice Hollis, Bishop, Progressive Believers MinistriesBishop Harry R. Jackson, Senior Pastor, Hope Christian ChurchGary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation NetworkJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)10/5/2008 | Presidential Issues
Vice Presidential Debate Press Conference
Transcript of Press Teleconference
I'm going to begin by asking the members of the panel a question and ask them to try to confine this to about 60 seconds on the response. Just as a basic -- what did each of the candidates need to do tonight, and to what extent did each of the candidates succeed in meeting that need? Let's begin with Richard Viguerie.
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Chuck Colson, Prison FellowshipTom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyRick Green, President, Torch of Freedom FoundationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USADr. Janice Hollis, Bishop, Progressive Believers MinistriesBishop Harry R. Jackson, Senior Pastor, Hope Christian ChurchGary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation NetworkJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)10/3/2008 | Presidential Issues
Thursday Night Teleconference Audio
Press Teleconference Call Thursday, October 2, 2008 11:00 P.M. ET
Nation's top conservative leaders - Senator Rick Santorum (PA), former Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference; Richard Viguerie Chairman, ConservativeHQ.com; Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform and Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring was the moderator.
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Recommended Guests:
Chuck Colson, Prison FellowshipTom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyRick Green, President, Torch of Freedom FoundationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USADr. Janice Hollis, Bishop, Progressive Believers MinistriesBishop Harry R. Jackson, Senior Pastor, Hope Christian ChurchGary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation NetworkJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)10/3/2008 | Presidential Issues
Thursday Night Teleconference Transcript
Press Teleconference Call Thursday, October 2, 2008 11:00 P.M. ET
10/3/2008 | Presidential Issues Nation's top conservative leaders - Senator Rick Santorum (PA), former Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference; Richard Viguerie Chairman, ConservativeHQ.com; Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform and Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring was the moderator.
Recommended Guests:
Chuck Colson, Prison FellowshipTom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyRick Green, President, Torch of Freedom FoundationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USADr. Janice Hollis, Bishop, Progressive Believers MinistriesBishop Harry R. Jackson, Senior Pastor, Hope Christian ChurchGary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation NetworkJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)10/1/2008 | Presidential Issues
How Did Palin Do -- Santorum, Viguerie, Norquist Sound Off Thursday Night
Press Teleconference Call Thursday, October 2, 2008 11:00 P.M. ET
For Producers, Hosts, Reporters & Bloggers Only
WHO: Nation's top conservative leaders - Senator Rick Santorum (PA), former Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference; Richard Viguerie Chairman, ConservativeHQ.com; Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform and Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring will be the moderator.
WHAT: Press teleconference call to gauge reaction of conservative leaders after the debate between Republican vice-presidential candidate, Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK) and Democratic vice-presidential candidate, Senator Joe Biden (D-DE)
WHEN: Press teleconference call takes place Thursday, October 2, 2008 at exactly 11:00 p.m. ET. Call in at least 2 minutes before: Toll-free - 1-888-296- 6828. Passcode is: 418647# (announce name and media organization)
INFO: This press teleconference call event provides an opportunity for an informed perspective on the vice- presidential debate in which Governor Sarah Palin and Senator Joe Biden will be participating at 9:00 p.m. ET, thus providing an expanded perspective on how conservative leaders see the relationship between conservatism, public policy and the leadership of America. The press conference call will give reporters, producers, hosts and bloggers access to alternative views from the nation's leading conservatives. NewsGuests.com is a public relations firm providing prepared guests on a wide variety of provocative topics. For more information, visit www.NewsGuests.com.
NOTE: For speaker bios, transcripts and/or audio versions of the interviews, please go to www.NewsGuests.com or email Felicia@NewsGuests.com on Friday, October 3, 2008 after noon ET.
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Recommended Guests:
Chuck Colson, Prison FellowshipTom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyRick Green, President, Torch of Freedom FoundationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USADr. Janice Hollis, Bishop, Progressive Believers MinistriesBishop Harry R. Jackson, Senior Pastor, Hope Christian ChurchGary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation NetworkJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)9/29/2008 | Presidential Issues
Clinton hesitant to call Obama a 'great man'
CNN
(CNN)– Former President Bill Clinton was hesitant to characterize Barack Obama as a "great man" Sunday, a phrase he had no qualms using last week to describe Obama's rival John McCain. Clinton told NBC's Tom Brokaw that it was only earlier this month in Harlem that he and Obama had their "first conversation." He said he had spoken with Obama before, but only in passing. Clinton then explained what he meant in characterizing McCain as a "great man." "I think his greatness is that he keeps trying to come back to service without ever asking people to cut him any slack or feel sorry for him or any of that stuff because he was a POW," Clinton said of the Republican presidential nominee.
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Chuck Colson, Prison FellowshipTom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyRick Green, President, Torch of Freedom FoundationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USADr. Janice Hollis, Bishop, Progressive Believers MinistriesBishop Harry R. Jackson, Senior Pastor, Hope Christian ChurchGary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation NetworkJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)9/29/2008 | Presidential Issues
Young voters, homeless targeted in Ohio's election
Townhall
Democrat Barack Obama's presidential campaign blitzed bars and advocates for the homeless have lined up vans to ferry potential voters from shelters. The prize could be thousands of traditionally elusive voters in hard-fought Ohio who would have the chance to register and vote on the same day _ if the courts don't intervene. One-stop voting, scheduled for Tuesday through Oct. 6, would be especially convenient for those Democratic-leaning voters who have traditionally had trouble getting to the polls. It's a reality not lost on two parties locked in a tight race four years after President Bush's 118,000-vote victory in Ohio gave him a second term.
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Chuck Colson, Prison FellowshipTom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyRick Green, President, Torch of Freedom FoundationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USADr. Janice Hollis, Bishop, Progressive Believers MinistriesBishop Harry R. Jackson, Senior Pastor, Hope Christian ChurchGary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation NetworkJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)9/27/2008 | Presidential Issues
National Conservative Leaders Weigh in on First McCain-Obama Debate
Transcript - Press Conference Call
News Guests would like to thank our panel of national leaders and the members of the press for joining our teleconference call tonight. Tonight, it is of course regarding the debate between the 2008 Presidential Candidates, Senators John McCain and Barack Obama. Our commentators tonight are: Senator Rick Santorum from Pennsylvania, former Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference; Dan Celia, financial expert, author, and host of the nationally syndicated radio show Financial Issues Live; Major General Bentley Rayburn, retired United States Air Force; and Colin Hanna, President of Let Freedom Ring. Martha Zoller, host of the Georgia News Network, will be our moderator tonight....
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Recommended Guests:
Chuck Colson, Prison FellowshipTom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyRick Green, President, Torch of Freedom FoundationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USADr. Janice Hollis, Bishop, Progressive Believers MinistriesBishop Harry R. Jackson, Senior Pastor, Hope Christian ChurchGary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation NetworkJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)9/25/2008 | Presidential Issues
McCain Suspends Campaign, Invites Obama To Do Same To Work On Economy
The Bulletin
John McCain jolted the campaign trail yesterday effectively suspending his campaigning, by calling for a postponement of the first presidential debate and encouraging Barack Obama to do the same so both could return to Washington to ensure a "consensus" by Monday on the bailout legislation. The request, just days before the debate, was resisted by Mr. Obama and met with a great deal of skepticism by congressional Democrats. Mr. McCain argued, "time was running out" and said this was a time to "temporarily set politics aside." He said he was confident a consensus could be met by the time the markets open on Monday. "I do not believe that the plan on the table will pass as it currently stands, and we are running out of time," Mr. McCain said in remarks delivered in New York City. "I will suspend my campaign and return to Washington after speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative. I have spoken to Sen. Obama and informed him of my decision and have asked him to join me."
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Chuck Colson, Prison FellowshipTom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyRick Green, President, Torch of Freedom FoundationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USADr. Janice Hollis, Bishop, Progressive Believers MinistriesBishop Harry R. Jackson, Senior Pastor, Hope Christian ChurchGary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation NetworkJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)9/25/2008 | Presidential Issues
Bill Clinton: Don't 'Overly Parse' McCain Request to Delay Debate
ABC News
ABC News' Nitya Venkataraman Reports: Former President Bill Clinton defended Sen. John McCain's request to delay the first presidential debate, saying McCain did it in "good faith" and pushed organizers to reserve time for economy talk during the debate if the Friday plans move forward. Appearing on Good Morning America Thursday, Clinton told ABC News' Chris Cuomo that McCain's push to postpone the debate would only be a good political move if both candidates agreed. McCain announced on Wednesday that he would "suspend" his presidential campaign to come to Washington to help negotiate a financial bailout bill "We know he didn't do it because he's afraid because Sen. McCain wanted more debates," Clinton said, adding that he was "encouraged" by the joint statement from McCain and Sen. Barack Obama.
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Chuck Colson, Prison FellowshipTom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyRick Green, President, Torch of Freedom FoundationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USADr. Janice Hollis, Bishop, Progressive Believers MinistriesBishop Harry R. Jackson, Senior Pastor, Hope Christian ChurchGary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation NetworkJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)9/25/2008 | Presidential Issues
Liberal PACs Ready Attack Ad on McCain’s Health
The New York Times
Two liberal groups – one of them directed by a brother of the Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean – will begin running a graphic attack advertisement Thursday morning raising questions about Senator John McCain’s health. Showing vivid and unflattering images of the fresh scar that appeared on Senator McCain’s face immediately after his last operation for melanoma skin cancer eight years ago, the commercial ends with a screen headline that reads, “Why won’t John McCain release his medical records?” (Mr. McCain, 72, did invite a limited group of reporters to inspect more than 1,100 pages of his medical records in May, though he gave them only a three-hour window in which to review the documents.) The commercial is among the harshest to run against Mr. McCain yet, seeking to exploit the sensitive issues of health and age. Officials with the groups running the ad, Brave New PAC and Democracy for America, said they were only showing the spot initially on MSNBC over the next few days, a limited run intended to draw news media attention on a network that has increasingly catered to liberal tastes.
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Chuck Colson, Prison FellowshipTom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyRick Green, President, Torch of Freedom FoundationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USADr. Janice Hollis, Bishop, Progressive Believers MinistriesBishop Harry R. Jackson, Senior Pastor, Hope Christian ChurchGary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation NetworkJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)