In their final debate before the Pennsylvania primary on April 22, both Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton were scrutinized over their past missteps and ties to questionable associates. While the media is portraying this generally as one of the most contentious debates yet, coverage this morning tends to see Obama as having been more on the "defensive," a term used by a number of media outlets, while Clinton was more often seen as being on the offensive. The New York Times reports Clinton "went on the attack against" Obama "on a variety of issues during a contentious debate Wednesday, warning that he would be deeply vulnerable in a general-election fight if he won the nomination." The Washington Post reports in a front page story that the two candidates "both defended their handling of missteps and misstatements on the campaign trail -- and directed sharp criticisms toward each other -- during a potentially pivotal Democratic debate here Wednesday night." The debate, "moderated by ABC anchors Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos, included pointed questions from voters delivered via tape, including one who asked Obama why he does not wear an American flag pin and another who told Clinton she lost his vote with her misstatements about coming under hostile fire in Bosnia." USA Today says the debate "began with a focus on more personal subjects: Obama's comments at the San Francisco fundraiser, Clinton's exaggeration of the perils of a 1996 landing to Bosnia, inflammatory remarks by Obama's former pastor, the perception that Clinton isn't honest or trustworthy, Obama's attitudes toward the flag."
The Philadelphia Inquirer describes the debate as "tense and grim," ands adds that Obama "seemed on the defensive for much of the conversation about personal vulnerabilities." The Politico says Obama "faced his toughest grilling yet" and "found himself in an unusual defensive posture." The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette also says Obama "was repeatedly placed on the defensive." The Baltimore Sun reports that Obama "was repeatedly thrown on the defensive" in an event "that spotlighted campaign gaffes, his association with a controversial former pastor and a '60s radical, and his reluctance to wear a flag pin in his lapel."
The Wall Street Journal says the roles "were clear from the start: Sen. Obama, the front-runner who resisted attempts to lay into his opponent; and Sen. Clinton, the challenger who needed to land some sharp, but subtle, blows in order to shake up the contest." The Washington Times reports Clinton "charged her rival has failed to fully explain his longtime ties to the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., calling it deplorable that Mr. Obama didn't leave the church after his pastor made disparaging remarks about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks." Long Island Newsday says that while "some in the Clinton camp had signaled she'd cut back on attacks" after sacking "hard-edged" strategist Mark Penn, "there was no sign of a strategic softening during the somber but sharp-edged two-hour debate." The Los Angeles Times reports in a front page story that the debate "exposed a seam of tension between two Democratic presidential contenders who previously sought to portray themselves as friends beyond the politics of the campaign."
Obama Viewed As Having Had Rough Night With few exceptions, political pundits see the affair as a bad night for Obama. In a blog posting at TheAtlantic.com, Marc Ambinder wrote, "Keeping the score card, there's no way Obama could have fared worse." In his New York Daily News column, Michael Goodwin writes that Obama's performance "will mean more doubts among voters and more concern among Democratic superdelegates about whether Obama is electable in November." In his column for The Politico (4/17), Roger Simon says that Obama is now "complaining about the process" of electing candidates, and adds, "There is an old saying: 'The person who can't dance says the band can't play.' And Obama does not like the way the band has been playing lately."
The Philadelphia Inquirer says in an analysis piece that it "could not have been the performance Obama wanted to have six days before" the Pennsylvania primary. In an analysis, the Boston Globe says Clinton "seemed to have an easier time" while Obama "was crippled by what is actually one of his strengths: a willingness to forgo sound bite in favor of nuanced thought."
In a post on 'The Fix' blog on the website of the Washington Post, Chris Cillizza says, "The first 45 minutes were Barack Obama's toughest time in any debate." In an analysis headlined "Nothing to Lose. Both candidates take a beating, but Hillary comes out the winner," Fred Barnes writes on the website of The Weekly Standard that the debate focused on Obama's gaffes and says, "No good can come to Obama when these issues dominate a nationally televised debate, as they did last night."
Some See McCain As Debate Winner A second theme this morning is that the debate highlighted so many negatives for both candidates that it will come back to haunt them in the general election. In his New York Post column, Charles Hurt says that "while Clinton may have won the debate because she did the least badly, the real winner wasn't onstage: John McCain. He could deck either of these featherweights." In his New York Times column, Nicholas Kristof says the Democratic fight is highlighting "the reasons why Senator McCain should be smiling as the Democratic campaign drags on."
The AP reports Sen. Barack Obama and his wife Michelle made $4.2 million last year "as widespread interest in the presidential candidate pushed the sales of his two books." In tax returns released yesterday, "the Obamas reported a significant jump in their income from the previous year as profits from the books 'Dreams From My Father' and 'The Audacity of Hope' accounted for some $4 million. The Obamas paid federal taxes of $1.4 million and donated $240,370 to charity." The New York Times notes Obama's returns show, "In 2004, before Mr. Obama was elected to the Senate, the Obamas reported $207,647 in taxable income. That compared with an overall taxable income of $1.6 million in 2005 and $983,826 in 2006, with the increase due to an advance and royalties from his books."
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Obama has scored endorsements from three Congressman in upcoming primary states. The AP reports that newly-elected Indiana Rep. André Carson has endorsed Obama, noting that he is "the first of the state's five U.S. House Democrats to announce support for a presidential candidate." Roll Call reports that North Carolina Reps. David Price and Mel Watt both also endorsed Obama yesterday. Indiana and North Carolina both hold their primaries on May 6.
Not all of Obama's endorsements yesterday were political. The Los Angeles Times reports, "With less than a week to go before Tuesday's Pennsylvania primary, where the votes of blue-collar Democrats could be pivotal, New Jersey-bred" rocker Bruch Springsteen endorsed Obama and "urged voters to consider 'the terrible damage done over the past eight years' of the Bush administration, and to undertake 'a great American reclamation project.'"
A Zogby International poll of 601 likely Pennsylvania Democratic primary voters taken April 15-16 shows Sen. Hillary Clinton leading Sen. Barack Obama 45%-44%.
The AP reports this morning that Rep. John Murtha (D), who is 75, said yesterday that Sen. John McCain, 71, is too old to be president. Murtha said, "Let me tell you something, it's no old man's job." McCain, in an interview with CNN yesterday, said, "All I can tell you is that I admire and respect Jack Murtha. Speak for yourself, Jack. I'm doing fine. Thanks."
The Hill reports Sen. John McCain's economic platform, laid out in a speech Tuesday, is not being universally accepted by Republicans in Congress. While "generally supportive," Republicans "in both chambers are split on some of the details, including a plan to stem the tide of foreclosures and another creating a summer gas-tax holiday." As the "agenda setter for his party, McCain's plan received little attention from GOP lawmakers even though it was considered the senator's biggest speech on the economy thus far."
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President Bush's new global warming proposals, outlined at a White House speech yesterday, are being poorly received by media analysts and environmental activists. ABC World News said Bush's proposals "fall short of what his critics wanted. The President announced a new goal of stopping the growth of the nation's greenhouse gas emissions by 2025. And he called on Congress to pass climate legislation that won't hurt the economy." The Financial Times calls Bush's speech "his opening shot in negotiations with the US Congress and international community about climate change." The Wall Street Journal notes "Bush called for halting the growth of greenhouse-gas emissions by 2025, and said his administration would be willing to commit the US to binding emissions targets if developing countries such as China and India would agree to such commitments as well." But Bush "provided few specifics on how to achieve his emissions-reductions targets and Democrats criticized Mr. Bush for declining to support legislation in Congress that attempts to halt emissions growth much faster."
The Christian Science Monitor reports that on Capitol Hill, "responses to Bush's speech ranged from lukewarm to frosty," but his remarks "drew a more sympathetic response from utilities." McClatchy also reports on Bush's strategy, which the "scientific community says is too little, too late, to prevent dangerous global warming." USA Today says Bush's plan "came under fire immediately from environmentalists and congressional Democrats who favor mandatory emission cuts, a position also held by all three presidential contenders."
Bush's "voluntary target," the Washington Post reports in a similar story, "fell well short of what most leading scientists say is needed to avoid dangerous climate change and was widely criticized by Democratic lawmakers and environmentalists." The Hill headlines its story "Bush Climate Goals Don't Impress," and quotes Gene Karpinski, president of the League of Conservation Voters, saying, "This proposal is too little, too late to effectively reverse global warming and too little, too late to save this president's record of failure."
On its website, Roll Call reports Democrats were "quick to point out the president's poor track record on combating climate change," and questioned his "sudden interest in combating global warming with only eight months left in office."
Bush's Speech Seen As Helping McCain The Politico reports, "If there's one political winner in...Bush's relatively modest rollout Wednesday of global warming principles, it may be John McCain. The losers: skeptical conservatives who think global warming is overblown and say the government should stay out of environmental mandates."
The Wall Street Journal reports, "Senators clashed with the Bush administration over Iraq funding after the White House threatened to block a war-funding measure if it contains billions in domestic spending." In a "contentious Senate hearing Wednesday, Democrats and Republicans expressed frustration with the administration's demand that Congress provide by Memorial Day $108 billion in an emergency-spending bill to cover operations in Iraq and Afghanistan -- without added domestic funds." White House Budget director Jim Nussle told senators that if they don't pass a clean bill, the President will veto their measure.
After Hearing, Byrd Tells His Critics To "Shut Up" The Hill reports Sen. Robert Byrd "took control of his own narrative Wednesday by managing a two-hour Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on the Iraq war that for the time being silenced critics who say he's no longer fit to serve as chairman." When the hearing ended, "his only words for his critics were, 'Shut up.'" Byrd "seemed to pass the test, convincing three Senate Democratic leaders that he's able to continue as chairman."
The AP also notes Byrd "performed steadily Wednesday, even though he relied on prepared statements when opening the hearing and asking questions of administration witness Jim Nussle, head of the White House budget office. But Sens. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, and Thad Cochran, R-Miss., did so as well."
Although Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Malaki's offensive against the Mehdi Army of Shiite cleric Moqtada al Sadr is being panned as a failure by US media, his willingness to take resolute action has apparently given him some useful political capital at home. The Wall Street Journal notes that while Maliki's "recent military campaign against militia-controlled Basra has been widely criticized as a military flop," he "appears to be enjoying a significant -- if temporary -- political boost here in the capital, thanks in part to the offensive." Iraqi politicians "from several of the country's factions and foreign diplomats in Baghdad now say the Basra offensive wasn't all bad news for Mr. Maliki. Sunni and Kurdish leaders have rallied behind Mr. Maliki, a Shiite Muslim, happy to see him going after a militia from his own sect" while other Shiite groups "were encouraged to see the government take action, however ineffectively."
Meanwhile, the UPI reports, "Iraq's central government and the Kurdish region have reached a deal on an oil law, including a method for weighing the validity of the oil deals the Kurds have signed with foreign firms, the top government spokesman said yesterday." Bloomberg News adds that Iraq is ready to "open at least six major oil and natural-gas fields for exploration and production in the first bidding for licenses since the US-led invasion in 2003." USA Today says al-Maliki yesterday "gave notice to the European Union on Wednesday that his nation is open for business, despite its fighting with Shiite militias and al-Qaeda in Iraq."
Media accounts of the situation in Basra and Sadr City, however, remain markedly negative. Typical of the media coverage, the Financial Times reports the Iraqi government "on Wednesday removed its top army and police commanders in Basra, three weeks after the beginning of an offensive in the southern port city widely seen as a military fiasco." The "operation saw some of the Iraqi units deployed performing well below expectations." The New York Times says the commanders led "the recent troubled operation" in Basra, and adds that "although some people close to the generals saw the government move as a rebuff, officials took pains to paint their action as part of the normal sequence of events." The Washington Post runs a similar report.
Maliki: Al Qaeda In Iraq Nearly Defeated McClatchy reports al-Maliki told European lawmakers Wednesday "that his administration is closer than ever to defeating al Qaida-allied Sunni Muslim extremists, a day after bombings attributed to the Iraqi version of the militant group killed about 60 people and wounded 120 north of the capital."
Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday visited the White House, where he and President Bush found common ground in their opposition to terrorism and abortion. However, the Pope did offer some muted criticism of US immigration policy and alluded to the war in Iraq. The AP reports the President and Pope Benedict "agreed Wednesday that terrorism is an unacceptable weapon for any cause or religion, standing strongly united on that issue but divided on others during a day of substance and symbolism at the White House." A joint US-Holy See statement "hinted that Benedict brought up his concerns about the damage caused by punitive immigration laws." Under the headline "Bush, Pope Voice Similar Themes," the Wall Street Journal notes Bush "invoked Pope Benedict's own words to tell the South Lawn audience of more than 13,000 that maintaining freedom sometimes requires sacrifice." The Pope "sounded similar themes. 'Freedom is not only a gift, but also a summons to personal responsibility,' he said, reading in English from a prepared text."
In his Washington Post column, Dana Milbank writes, "The president, who long ago shed the anti-Catholic taint of Bob Jones University, was on his best behavior. He dug up his compassionate-conservative rhetoric for the pope, talking about 'the weakest and most vulnerable among us' and the 'universal call to feed the hungry and comfort the sick and care for the infirm.'" He "did, however, enlist the pontiff's help in the war against 'some' people; the president did not identify this enemy, but he seemed to have in mind a combination of terrorists and Democrats."
The New York Times reports the Pope "found fertile ground for his conservative brand of faith in...Bush, who has made his own Christian faith a central tenet of his life as an American politician." The Washington Times reports "the private midday meeting in the Oval Office between the pontiff and the president also involved discussions of the Israel-Palestinian peace process at length, but little else was made public about the meeting."
CNN's The Situation Room reported that "in his earlier remarks, the Pope hinted at his displeasure with the war." Pope Benedict XVI: "I am confident that this concern for the greater human family will continue to find...support for the passionate efforts of international diplomacy to resolve conflicts and promote progress."
Bush To Pope: "Awesome" ABC World News and NBC Nightly News last night ran footage of Bush telling the Pope, after his remarks, "Thank you, your Holiness, awesome speech." NBC said "microphones caught the President complimenting the Pope."
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Jay Leno: "Anyway, when the Pope arrived at the White House, he was given a 21-gun salute. That's got to make Barack Obama a little uncomfortable. Guns and religion, you know, that kind of thing. Get a little bitter. I don't know about that."
Jay Leno: "Actually, one really embarrassing moment -- you see this on the news? When the Pope blessed the crowd with holy water, well, some of it splashed on Dick Cheney, burned his skin."
Jay Leno: "Did you hear what President Bush said to the Pope after his speech today? This is an exact quote. I'm not changing it. He said, 'Awesome speech, your Holiness.' ... See, he didn't want to say 'dude' because it was a formal affair."
David Letterman: "The Pope is in the United States. Flew in to Washington, DC. Hillary Clinton declined to meet the Pope at the airport," because "she was worried about sniper fire."
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