Tag: 2008 (page 5)

The debate transcript is here. What were your favorite parts? I'll add the clips to this thread.

Updates below.

CNN just conducted an Opinion Research telephone poll. Obama beat McCain by big margins:

• The debate: 52% to 38%
• Iraq: 52% to 47%
• Economy: 58% to 37%

Update: More than 60% of the CNN focus group in Ohio said Obama won. 64% said they thought he would be the next President.

Update: CBS poll finds more undecideds thought Obama won.

Via Huffington Post, Sen. John McCain canceled his taped appearance on Dave Letterman's show today as part of his announcement he was suspending his campaign, but instead went down the street to be interviewed by Katie Couric.

Bump and Update: The New York Times reports the Bush meeting was "precipitated" by McCain:

The meeting with Mr. Bush on Thursday was precipitated by a call from Mr. McCain, who cast his request as a matter of urgent national priority. “Following Sept. 11, our national leaders came together at a time of crisis,” he told a small group of reporters, while reading the brief statement from a teleprompter, in a small ballroom at the New York Hilton Hotel. “We must show that kind of patriotism now.”

Could it be any more clear that McCain just made his second Hail Mary pass of this election? Is there anything he won't put second to his personal ambition of becoming President? At least his desperation is becoming transparent to all but his base -- even the media gets it.

Original Post

Bush Invites Obama to Bailout Meeting Tomorrow

ABC News reports:[More...]

Quinnipiac released new poll results today:

By 19 - 24 point margins, voters in Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin say Democrat Barack Obama, not Republican John McCain, is the candidate of change, helping lift Sen. Obama into the lead in these battleground states, according to four simultaneous Quinnipiac University polls of likely voters in these battleground states, conducted in partnership with The Wall Street Journal and washingtonpost.com and released today.

More...

Two weeks ago I did a preliminary assessment of Colorado voters, trying to assess the impact of the state's evangelical voters. I began with the 2004 presidential results. There were 2.1 million voters and Bush won by 100,000 votes. We have 9 electoral votes.

The Colorado Secretary of State has these voter registration numbers (pdf) by county, current as of September 2. There are 3 million registered voters in the state.

As I've written many times over the past 18 months, Sen. Barack Obama and Joe Biden are not my cup of tea on criminal justice issues. Neither are particularly progressive. Today I received an invitation to a conference call with Joe Biden.

Today, the Obama-Biden campaign is holding a conference call with Senator Joe Biden to proudly announce the endorsement of the National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO). NAPO President Tom Nee will join Senator Biden on the call and the two will talk about Senator Obama’s strong track record on law enforcement issues, support for law enforcement officers and commitment to keeping our communities safe.

NAPO represents more than 2,000 police unions and associations, 238,000 sworn law enforcement officers, 11,000 retired officers and more than 100,000 citizens who share a common dedication to fair and effective crime control and law enforcement.

More...

Sen. Barack Obama's campaign has confirmed he is closing up shop in North Dakota.

An Obama spokeswoman, Amy Brundage, confirmed Sunday that the campaign's North Dakota staffers were being sent to Minnesota and Wisconsin, where recent polls have shown a tight race between Obama and Republican John McCain.

McCain has no offices or staffers in the state, which has gone Republican since 1964 when it voted for Lyndon B. Johnson.

Obama's campaign is stressing the benefits of its presence since July to the downticket races: [More...]

Speaking in North Carolina today, Sen. Barack Obama said there should be no blank check for Wall Street.

Obama charged that Republicans have run the economy "into the ground," as he outlined some broad concepts for reform of the financial industry.

"First, there must be no blank check when American taxpayers are on the hook for this much money," Obama said. "Second, taxpayers shouldn't be spending a dime to reward CEOs on Wall Street while they're going out the door."

Obama also said taxpayers must be protected, be able to recoup some of the investment they might make in a bailout and provide assistance for homeowners at risk of losing their homes.

More...

Update: The Washington Post reports Obama will fight big in Florida, spending at least $39 million in the state. He says if the Dems win Florida, it will be almost impossible for McCain to win the election.

In a Florida poll taken after last Monday's economic tumble, the Miami Herald reports John McCain has a statistically insignificant 2 point lead over Barack Obama.

If you scroll through the graphic of results, you will see that McCain leads on commander-in-chief issues but Obama leads on economic issues. That's good news for Obama because 43% believe the next president's most important issue will be fixing the economy while only 14% think Iraq is the most important and only 12% think managing terrorism is most important.

How big a role will race play in the presidential election? Via an AP poll out today:

According to the poll released Saturday, a little over one-third of white Democrats and independents agreed with at least one negative adjective about blacks, and they are less likely to vote for Obama than those who don't hold such views.

....statistical models derived from the poll suggest that Obama's support would be as much as 6 percentage points higher if there were no white racial prejudice.

Full poll results are here (pdf.) AP analysis is here. [More..]

If you compare the records of Barack Obama and John McCain, it’s clear that Barack Obama stands with women on the issues that are important to them: equal pay for equal work, the right to choose, comprehensive health care reform. Examples, as received from the Obama campaign, below: