Presidential Issues

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Hillary-Obama feud alarms party officials

The Washington Times

So much for that truce. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama are increasingly going after each other, prompting top Democrats to warn they are muddying the party's image in advance of the general election. Sen. John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic nominee whose campaign was hurt by Republican-funded "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" ads, yesterday told voters he will help Mr. Obama fend off attacks. "The truth matters, but how you fight the lies matters even more. We must be determined never again to lose any election to a lie," he said in an e-mail to supporters. The message does not mention Mrs. Clinton, but notes the anonymous e-mails that are circulating that question Mr. Obama's Christian faith and said, "We're fighting back. "The fight is just heating up — we won't let them steal this election with lies and distortions," Mr. Kerry said.

Clinton, Obama dislike boils over at debate

Breitbart.Com

Personal antipathy and pent-up anger boiled over as Democratic foes Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama accused each other of twisting the truth, in a fiery 2008 campaign debate Monday. The two senators stared one another down, gesticulated and constantly interrupted one another, flinging accusations and counter-charges at a vital stage of their quests for the White House. Obama, the Illinois senator striving to be the United States' first black president, also lashed out at former president Bill Clinton, who is mounting a vociferous campaign on behalf of his wife. "I can't tell who I am running against sometimes," said Obama, for whom Saturday's South Carolina primary, the next round of the 2008 nominating marathon is a must-win after two victories in a row by Clinton. Obama all but accused the Clintons of lying about his opposition to the Iraq war and a comment he made that the Republicans had latterly been the party of ideas, and what was painted as praise for Republican icon Ronald Reagan.

Leading Democrats To Bill Clinton: Pipe Down

Newsweek

Prominent Democrats are upset with the aggressive role that Bill Clinton is playing in the 2008 campaign, a role they believe is inappropriate for a former president and the titular head of the Democratic Party. In recent weeks, Sen. Edward Kennedy and Rep. Rahm Emanuel, both currently neutral in the Democratic contest, have told their old friend heatedly on the phone that he needs to change his tone and stop attacking Sen. Barack Obama, according to two sources familiar with the conversations who asked for anonymity because of their sensitive nature. Clinton, Kennedy and Emanuel all declined to comment.

Michelle Obama, Chelsea Clinton visit same Midlands church

WISTV.com

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - Now that the Republican primary is over in South Carolina, it's onto the Democrats. Sunday Michelle Obama and Chelsea Clinton attended service at the same Midlands church, and News 10 was there. If you've ever visited Bible Way Church of Atlas Road, you know there's a lot of singing. Sunday morning the church had two extra voices: Michelle Obama and Chelsea Clinton. One on one side of the church, one on the other. And the congregation took note. "I don't know. It was kinda awkward," said Evette Brown. "Well to me I think it shows divide but I think once this is over on Saturday, I think our country will be united because we are all going to come together and rally behind whoever gets the nomination," said Sarah Brown.

Bill Clinton, Stumping and Simmering

The New York Times

Hillary Rodham Clinton may be the spouse running for office, but it is more Bill Clinton who appears to be feeling the heat. After weeks of complaining publicly about Barack Obama’s record, the news media’s coverage of the Democratic presidential race, or both, Mr. Clinton on Wednesday ripped into a television reporter who had asked him about a Nevada lawsuit concerning participation in the state’s caucuses this Saturday. Mr. Clinton believed the question had seemed sympathetic to Mr. Obama’s stakes in the suit, Clinton campaign officials said.

Huckabee vows to send all illegal aliens home

The Washington Times

TIGERVILLE, S.C. — Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee yesterday continued to move to the right on immigration during this year's presidential campaign, signing a pledge to enforce immigration laws and to make all illegal aliens go home. The pledge, offered by immigration control advocacy group Numbers USA, commits Mr. Huckabee to oppose a new path to citizenship for current illegal aliens and to cut the number of illegal aliens already in the country through attrition by law enforcement — something Mr. Huckabee said he will achieve through his nine-point immigration plan. "Some would say it's a tough plan. It is, but it's also fair and reasonable," Mr. Huckabee said. Mr. Huckabee signed the pledge in South Carolina, whose Saturday Republican primary is shaping up as the most important contest so far. Unlike the previous primaries and caucuses, which have been contested usually by just two candidates, four Republicans are making all-out efforts here: Mr. Huckabee, former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts.

Rove previews strategies against Clinton, Obama

The Hill

Karl Rove told a group of state Republican officials Wednesday that while the GOP primaries “are far from over,” each of the candidates can beat the top two Democrats — and the former White House aide then outlined a strategy how. While Rove, the man President Bush called “the architect,” might have retired from the White House, he is clearly still very much engaged in the day-to-day mechanics of the presidential contests on both sides. In an address to a group of state GOP executive directors at the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) winter meeting, Rove outlined talking points for ways to defeat leading Democratic candidates Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.).

Romney, Clinton Win Michigan Presidential Primary

Fox News

Mitt Romney could only savor his Michigan primary victory for so long before having to start all over again Wednesday with the rest of the GOP presidential candidate mix in South Carolina. Having won his second state in the Republican race for the White House, the Michigan native, who has emerged as the delegate and raw vote front-runner, was scheduled for a busy day beginning in Bluffton, S.C., and continuing until Saturday’s Republican primary. Romney was beaming Tuesday night after winning the affection of home state poll-goers, pulling out an upset against rival John McCain by appealing to the Republican base with a strong economic and values message.

King's son says Clinton erred

Boston.Com

Martin Luther King III, in Boston for an announcement that the city will build a statue to honor his parents, said yesterday that Senator Hillary Clinton made a mistake by saying his father's call for racial equality was realized only with a president's action. The statement has drawn sharp exchanges in recent days between the campaigns of Clinton and Senator Barack Obama. King, son of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, said he thought the controversy had been blown out of proportion. However, he also said that Clinton's words were potentially denigrating.

Red-state Dems sour on Clinton

POLITICO

Barack Obama in recent days has sprinted ahead in the endorsement derby against Hillary Rodham Clinton when it comes to a certain breed of Democrat—politicians who have won statewide in places where Republicans dominate presidential politics. Among a barrage of prominent statewide elected officials to back Obama publicly this month is Arizona governor Janet Napolitano, and U.S. Sens. Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Tim Johnson of South Dakota. What all three politicians have in common is that they are Democrats who have cracked the code in getting elected in states where Republicans historically have triumphed at the presidential level. George W. Bush won these states both times.

Clinton Receives Tepid Reception at MLK Event

The New York Times

Speaking to black and Hispanic New Yorkers this afternoon, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton tried to quell the controversy over race and the Democratic presidential nomination fight by crediting the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King for his “march for freedom and justice” that had benefited both herself and her rival, Senator Barack Obama. But Mrs. Clinton’s appearance and remarks, before the Local 32BJ union in midtown Manhattan, were not exactly a smash. The audience, made up mostly of security guards, applauded steadily when she entered but did not roar – and there were a few scattered boos. Much of her speech was met with silence. Less than half of the room gave her a standing ovation when she left.

Huckabee Eschews Politics for Preaching

My Way News

SPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP) - Republican Mike Huckabee spoke from the pulpit Sunday, not as a politician but as the preacher he used to be, delivering a sermon on how merely being good isn't enough to get into heaven. Huckabee is vying for support from the Christian conservatives who dominate the GOP in South Carolina, which chooses a Republican presidential nominee on Saturday. A former Baptist minister and Arkansas governor, Huckabee is competing for their votes with fellow southerner Fred Thompson. As in Iowa, where he won the Jan. 3 caucuses, Huckabee is rousing pastors to marshal their flocks for him. He pitches himself as someone who not only shares their views against abortion and gay marriage but who actually comes from their ranks. On Sunday in South Carolina, Huckabee avoided politics entirely, instead preaching about humility and trusting in Jesus to open the gates of heaven.

Bullet 333Karin Agness, Founder and President, Network of enlightened Women (NeW)
Bullet 333David Bossie, President, Citizens United
Bullet 333Rev. Clenard Childress, Jr., Assistant Director, Life Education and Resource Network
Bullet 333Chuck Colson, Prison Fellowship
Bullet 333Ward Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights Institute
Bullet 333Tom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of Representatives
Bullet 333Len Deo, President, New Jersey Family Policy Council
Bullet 333William Devlin, National President, Redeem The Vote
Bullet 333Chuck Donovan, Senior Research Fellow-DeVos Center for Religion a, The Heritage Foundation
Bullet 333Jessica Echard, Executive Director, Eagle Forum
Bullet 333Tim G. Echols, President/Founder, TeenPact
Bullet 333Steve Elliott, President, Grassfire.org
Bullet 333Joseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDaily
Bullet 333Todd Friel, Radio Host, Way of the Master
Bullet 333James Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Bullet 333Rick Green, President, Torch of Freedom Foundation
Bullet 333Colin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring
Bullet 333Dr. Janice Hollis, Bishop, Progressive Believers Ministries
Bullet 333Bishop Harry R. Jackson, Senior Pastor, Hope Christian Church
Bullet 333Peter Lillback, President, Westminster Theological Seminary
Bullet 333Gary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation Network
Bullet 333Alex McFarland, President, Southern Evangelical Seminary
Bullet 333Ryan Messmore, William E. Simon fellow in Religion and a Free Soc, The Heritage Foundation
Bullet 333Joe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin
Bullet 333Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)
Bullet 333Jesse Lee Peterson, Founder and President, Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny
Bullet 333Elizabeth Racine, Founder, Moralert.com
Bullet 333Phyllis Schlafly, President and Founder, Eagle Forum
Bullet 333Don Shenk, Executive Director, The Tide
Bullet 333Tony Strickland, Taxpayer Advocate
Bullet 333Lorianne Updike, President & Executive Director, The Constitutional Sources Project
Bullet 333Charl Van Wyk, Pastor/Author, “Shooting Back–The Right & Duty of Self-Defence"
Bullet 333Timothy Watkins, Producer/Director, Renegade Productions
Bullet 333David Wheaton, Author, Speaker, Radio Talk Show Host, TheChristianWorldview.com

Backers urge Thompson to 'get rough'

The Washington Times

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. — The hottest topic among South Carolina Republicans right now is the fire in Fred Thompson's belly. Unlike the other candidates who still are trying to convince voters of their philosophy and credentials, Mr. Thompson finds his biggest challenge is trying to convince voters he's serious enough about his bid for the Republican presidential nomination. It's a curious position for a candidate to be in — one where his supporters seem to want him to want it more than he does. "Get rough, Fred, get rough," shouted one woman at the beginning of a town-hall meeting Friday at Gilligan's, a restaurant in Moncks Corner. "South Carolina is yours for the asking," Jerry Wolf, a retired government employee, told him during the question-and-answer period. "We're asking you to step up to the plate and go for our hearts."

Obama, Clinton Go for Black Vote in SC

My Way News

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - In beauty shops, churches and living rooms, organizers for Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton are in a fierce competition for the support of black voters in the upcoming first-in-the-South presidential primary. Obama's campaign is counting on blacks who traditionally make up half of the Democratic primary voters here to deliver the state to him on Jan. 26, a victory that he hopes will help fuel momentum going into the "Mega Tuesday" voting in 22 states 10 days later. But he'll have to fend off Clinton, who comes with one of the most beloved political surnames in the black community. The outreach is especially targeted at black women, who are reliable voters and who both campaigns recognize may feel loyalties to each candidate. And so far women have made the difference in the campaign - Obama won a majority of women in Iowa and took the state, while Clinton took most women and most votes overall in New Hampshire.

Emotion Without Thought in New Hampshire

The New York Times

On the morning after the New Hampshire primary, CNN’s John Roberts interviewed Marianne Pernold Young, the woman whose coffee shop question — “How do you do it? How do you keep upbeat and so wonderful?” — is largely credited with setting into motion Hillary Clinton’s surprise victory on Tuesday. “When you asked her the question, what were you looking for?” Roberts asked the middle-aged freelance photographer from Portsmouth, N.H. “Because when [Hillary] talked to me . . . right after you had asked her the question,” he continued, “she said she was so genuinely taken aback and touched by the fact that someone cared about her. Is that the angle that you were coming at the question from?”

On Eve of Primary, Clinton Campaign Shows Stress

The New York Times

Key campaign officials may be replaced. She may start calling herself the underdog. Donors would receive pleas that it is do-or-die time. And her political strategy could begin mirroring that of Rudolph W. Giuliani, a Republican rival, by focusing on populous states like California and New York whose primaries are Feb. 5. Everything is on the table inside Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign if she loses the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday, her advisers say — including her style of campaigning, which shifted dramatically on Monday when Mrs. Clinton bared her thoughts about the race’s impact on her personally, and her eyes welled with tears. “I couldn’t do it if I just didn’t passionately believe it was the right thing to do,” she said here in reply to a question from an undecided voter, a woman roughly Mrs. Clinton’s age.

Speculation over Bloomberg candidacy grows

Financial Times

Michael Bloomberg, who is expected to decide sometime in the next eight weeks whether to launch an independent bid for the US presidency, is on Monday meeting leading members of both main political parties who have expressed deep frustration with the state of the campaign. Organisers of the forum, to take place on Oklahoma, say it is not meant to be a launching pad for a bid by Mr Bloomberg, New York’s mayor. But it will keep him in the national discussion ahead of Tuesday’s primaries in New Hampshire, while also giving him the chance to woo distinguished members of both parties who could add muscle to a bid if he chooses to run. The event’s planners – David Boren, a former Democratic senator from Oklahoma, and Sam Nunn, the former Democratic senator from Georgia – have raised the possibility of supporting a third-party bid. But both say they would do so only if the primaries yielded candidates who failed to commit themselves to ending the deep partisan divisions in Washington. Mr Boren said the goal of the forum was to pressure the current candidates to end partisan gridlock. “Our hope is that the candidates of the two parties will respond favourably to this challenge,” Mr Boren said.

Retracing Steps, McCain Is Feeling Rejuvenated

The New York Times

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign wheeled out a confetti gun on Saturday in Peterborough to boom a festive end to his 100th town-hall-style meeting. It was the same place he began his New Hampshire primary campaign of 2000. Mr. McCain, a Republican, is methodically returning in these last days before the New Hampshire primary to the same venues he visited in that campaign, in which he defeated George W. Bush by 18 percentage points. He is surrounded by many of the same New Hampshire aides, telling many of the same jokes, appealing to the same voters and promising what seems like unlimited access to the state’s residents and reporters. “It’s superstition,” Mr. McCain said Sunday. “And a bit of nostalgia.”

Obama victory leaves Clinton scrambling

Politico

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) heads out of Iowa as the biggest news story in the world and a force that strategists for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) are uncertain how to stop. With the New Hampshire primary just four days away, Clinton and her team now must convince voters that choosing Obama would be risky for the party and the country — but they must do it in a way that doesn’t make her look small or desperate. “Everyone underestimated this conflagration,” said a former Clinton administration official. “If people think he’s electable, they’ll vote with their hearts and not their minds.”

Romney seeks rebound in New Hampshire

Associated Press (AP)

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. - Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney reached into the sports metaphor closet Friday as he sought to give perspective to an Iowa caucus loss that put added pressure on him to win next week's New Hampshire primary. "This is still a nice, long process here," he told about 150 campaign workers who defied frigid temperatures and the 3 a.m. hour to greet his plane as it returned from the Midwest. "We've had, if you will, the first inning of a game that has, let's say, 50 innings in it." The businessman-turned-politician promised to rebound by selling voters on his outsider image and pledge to replace partisan bickering in Washington with government productivity.

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