Sen. Hillary Clinton suspended her campaign for the presidency in a 28-minute speech in Washington Saturday afternoon, endorsing Sen. Barack Obama but keeping her 1,915 delegates for now. Clinton's exit after an extended and hard-fought campaign led both network newscasts that aired Saturday evening, and dominated the front pages of most major daily newspapers Sunday morning. The CBS Evening News reported Clinton said, "Well, this isn't exactly the party I'd planned, but I sure like the company," adding, "I congratulate him on the victory he has won and the extraordinary race he has run. I endorse him and throw my full support behind him." NBC Nightly News says Clinton added, "The way to continue our fight now, to accomplish the goals for which we stand, is to take our energy, our passion, our strength, and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama, the next President of the United States."
A major topic for speculation in the media this morning is the extent to which Clinton's supporters will now rally around Obama. The Wall Street Journal says "questions linger" about "how soon and how sincerely her campaign and her supporters will rally behind" Obama. USA Today reports Obama's campaign "says female voters will respond to Obama's life in a 'female-centric' family, as he discusses the influences of his mother, grandmother, wife and mother-in-law."
However, McClatchy reports that many Clinton backers remain embittered, and have "said they thought that unfair news coverage" from sources such as MSNBC's Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann put Obama over the top. Other "common culprits were the Democratic National Committee and the party superdelegates, who helped swing the nomination to Obama in the last few weeks."
With the Democratic primary completed, the focus for the candidates (and the media) is turning to general election strategy. The AP reports John McCain and Barack Obama "will be focused on strategy, fundraising, shoring up weak spots and exploiting opportunities to prepare themselves for the sprint to Nov. 4." This campaign, "like the last two, will focus on about 15 competitive states," and the "magic number is 18. That's how many electoral votes Obama must add to Kerry's 252, from four years ago, to secure the presidency."
In contrast, on ABC World News, Matthew Dowd said, "I think what you're going to see on both sides of the campaign, Obama going after states that have been traditionally red or Republican, John McCain going after states that have been traditionally blue or Democratic. The playing field is going to be much broader." The New York Times reports Obama's "general election plan calls for broadening the electoral map by challenging Senator John McCain in typically Republican states - from North Carolina to Missouri to Montana - as Mr. Obama seeks to take advantage of voter turnout operations built in nearly 50 states in the long Democratic nomination battle, aides said."
Obama Kicking Off Tour Of Swing States The Financial Times reports Barack Obama, starting today, will seek to "put an early stamp" on the general election contest "when he kicks off a 17-day 'economic tour' of key swing states that will focus on voters' 'pocket book' concerns and America's declining competitiveness." The AP reports that Obama "plans to rally in North Carolina on Monday as his campaign begins to expand operations in the state, hoping to become the first Democratic presidential winner here in three decades." The Raleigh News & Observer says Obama "stops in Raleigh today, planning to use a populist economic message and a hefty campaign war chest to capture North Carolina's independents, newcomers and Hillary Rodham Clinton voters."
U.S. News and World Report reports Obama "will focus on swing states where he was defeated by Clinton in the primaries, including Florida, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. ... Obama also has much work to do to appeal to voting blocs that he will need in November but have flocked to Clinton in the primaries, especially older women and working-class whites."
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The media is also starting to focus on the policy differences between Barack Obama and John McCain. NBC Nightly News reported, "It's on policy where the real battle lines will be drawn. Take health care. Obama wants the government to guarantee insurance to everyone who wants it. McCain wants less government intervention, but offer people more choices. On taxes, Obama hopes to increase them on the wealthy. McCain wants to make George Bush's tax cuts permanent." On foreign policy, their differences "are just as stark." In his New York Times column today, John Harwood writes that the two primary campaigns "have given way to a broad clash of familiar product lines: Republican conservatism and Democratic liberalism." The differences "extend to every area of federal policy: troop levels in Iraq, America's confrontation with Iran, levels of taxes and spending, strategies for expanding health coverage, the shape of the judiciary, and social policy."
However, Bloomberg News reports that both Obama and McCain "are surprisingly often in agreement" on such issues as global warming, immigration reform, government transparency, and the continued disposition of the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
There are also issues the media sees both wanting to avoid. For example, the AP reports that though McCain and Obama both favor "giving legal status to millions of illegal immigrants," they are simultaneously "wary of alienating white conservatives and blacks who oppose granting legal status or benefits to people who broke the law to come to the United States."
McCain, Obama Said To Bring "Vivid" Personal Contrasts The Dallas Morning News reports, "it is the vivid personal contrast Mr. McCain, a 71-year-old white male, former prisoner of war, veteran legislator and conservative Republican, and Mr. Obama, a 46-year-old black freshman senator and liberal Democrat that so clearly defines the contours of the race." In a story headlined "McCain and Obama: The odd candidates," The Politico also focuses on the personal differences between the two, saying McCain "enjoys a good Henny Youngman one-liner and the 1970s Swedish pop group ABBA," while Obama "professes to 'love the art of hip-hop. ... Chicago is 'ChiTown,' sneakers are 'kicks' and knuckle bumps are at times his greeting of choice."
The New York Times reports the campaigns of Barack Obama and John McCain "on Sunday rejected an invitation for a town-hall-style meeting in Manhattan that had been proposed by ABC News and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York." The invitation "came in the form of a joint letter on Sunday to the campaigns from Mr. Bloomberg and David Westin, president of ABC News. The two had proposed a 90-minute session at Federal Hall National Memorial in Lower Manhattan that would be moderated by Diane Sawyer, one of the hosts of 'Good Morning America' on ABC." The AP adds that Mayor Bloomberg "has sought to hold onto the spotlight that began to fade after he ultimately decided against a White House run." The Politico says the offer keeps Bloomberg, "a centrist who is a vice presidential possibility for tickets, at the center of the campaign conversation."
U.S. News and World Report reports, "Democrats overall have paid close to $135 million for TV ads, with Obama spending about $75 million and Clinton shelling out $46 million, according to data from TNS Media Intelligence/CMAG with analysis by the Wisconsin Advertising Project." On the other side of the aisle, the GOP spent about $58 million, although John McCain accounted for only $11 million of that.
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In a front-page article, USA Today reports that "whipsawed by plummeting home values, $4-a-gallon gas, rising food prices and gyrating financial markets, Americans increasingly fear...that their once-steady march toward affluence has derailed." A USA TODAY poll by the Pew Research Center found that "54% of those surveyed say their standard of living is no better today than five years ago" and "only 45% expect their children to live better than they do." Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody's Economy.com, quoted in USA Today, said Friday's announcement that the May unemployment rate was 5.5% "has recession written all over it. It's a big job decline, a large increase in the unemployment rate across all industries and across the country." The Christian Science Monitor says the US is "now in a jobs recession. For five consecutive months, there has been a steady loss of jobs, mostly in construction and manufacturing. Now, the job losses are spreading to restaurants, retailers, airlines, and even professions such as accounting."
$6 Gas Within Months? On Friday the CBS Evening News reported, "The national average for a gallon is $3.99 now, and oil stands at almost $139 a barrel after a record one-day jump of nearly $11. ... And if you think what you pay at the pump is pricey now, just wait. This gasoline comes from oil when it was 90 bucks a barrel. Now that oil is almost $140 a barrel, economists say you can expect to see gas top six dollars a gallon, and that's in the next few months."
Over the weekend, the AP reported that on Friday Senate Republicans "blocked a global warming bill that would have required major reductions in greenhouse gases, pushing debate over the world's biggest environmental concern to next year for a new Congress and president." Democrats "fell a dozen votes short of getting the 60 needed to end a Republican filibuster on the measure and bring the bill up for a vote, prompting Majority Leader Harry Reid to pull the legislation from consideration. ... The 48-36 vote fell short of a majority, but Democrats produced letters from six senators...saying they would have voted for the measure had they been there." On Friday, the CBS Evening News noted both Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama "said they supported the bill." Noting both Senators' support, the Los Angeles Times editorialized, "Regardless of who wins the November election, our next president will back a cap-and-trade program, eliminating the worry that good legislation in this area will die by veto." The Washington Post says that "although the bill...enjoyed bipartisan support, the week-long floor debate devolved into partisan bickering over which party was most responsive to the plight of Americans trying to cope with rising gas prices." Reid "charged that Republicans were 'refusing to address one of the most important issues of our time.' ... Republicans, for their part, accused Democrats of seeking to limit the number of amendments GOP senators could offer by constructing a convoluted 'amendment tree' that would have circumscribed the debate." The Hill, Roll Call and The Politico all published articles on the vote Saturday.
Today, the Wall Street Journal, in an editorial, says that once Democrats "had to defend an actual piece of legislation and once it was subjected to even preliminary scrutiny, the Democrats crumpled faster than you can say $4 gas." The Journal concludes, "Maybe a vast reordering of the American economy in the name of solving a speculative problem isn't as popular as the greens believe."
Did GOP Tactics Backfire? Roll Call reports, "With Senate Democrats tied in knots over a major global warming bill...several Senate Republicans said their leadership made a tactical mistake...with an unrelated fight over judicial nominations." According to the article, the arguments against the bill had been focusing on the bill's impact on gas prices, until Minority Leader Mitch McConnell asked for the bill to be read in "retaliation" for a lack of movement on circuit court nominations. "Once the debate turned to judges...Republicans might have helped to unify Democrats who were turning on each other," according to a senior Senate Democratic aide, who was not named in the piece. Democrats had "initially expected fewer than 45 Senators," but on Friday, "48 Senators, Democrats and Republicans, voted for it." However, on Saturday, the Wall Street Journal noted that some Democratic Senators who voted with their leadership on Friday "have indicated that they might not support the climate-change bill." Sens. Evan Bayh and Sen. Ken Salazar "are among those who followed party leaders but indicated they had concerns." The Washington Times says "a group of 10 [Democrats], including some who voted to keep the bill alive, say it will fail next time as well unless it protects industries that are big producers of greenhouse gases but also major local employers. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a freshman Democrat from Ohio and among the chamber's more liberal members, said on the floor that [the] bill would doom his state's economy."
The Financial Times reports President Bush "will push Europe to step up financial sanctions against Iran when he travels to the continent on Monday in what is likely to be his last extended presidential visit to the region. Amid signs that Tehran is accelerating its nuclear programme, Mr Bush will lobby European Union leaders to build on recent United Nations sanctions against Iran, take speedy action against Iran's Bank Melli and further reduce both export credits linked to Iran and financial institutions' dealings with the country, according to US officials." In an interview with Italy's RAI television, Bush said: "I will continue to work on this trip to talk about the dangers of a nuclear Iran...we've got to work to stop them from learning to enrich [uranium]." However, "diplomats from both sides of the Atlantic say that, although states such as the UK and France identify Iran's nuclear programme as among the most pressing international issues, much of the EU gives a higher priority to energy security. Many states are alarmed by their dependence on Russian gas, making Iran's proven gas reserves more important."
Last night NBC Nightly News and ABC World News both reported that First Lady Laura Bush made a surprise visit to Afghanistan. According to NBC, Mrs. Bush hopes to "highlight progress made in stabilizing that country." In Kabul, she met with President Hamid Karzai "before going to Baghram Air Base to personally thank hundreds of US troop fighting the war on terror." ABC noted that the trip "was shrouded in such secrecy that not even President Karzai knew" she was coming "until less than 24 hours before her arrival." In an exclusive interview with ABC News, Mrs. Bush "defended President Karzai from criticisms that his government has not done enough to fight corruption and drug trafficking." Mrs. Bush told ABC: "I just don't agree with that. You're coming from a totally decimated country. He was elected overwhelmingly. Elected in a real, free election." The New York Times adds, "As on her two previous visits to Afghanistan, Mrs. Bush emphasized her support for women's development and educational and training projects." The AP reports Mrs. Bush "saw a police academy where female recruits are trained." The Christian Science Monitor describes Bamian, "the only province in the country headed by a woman governor, Habiba Sarobi."
Karzai Loses Support The New York Times, in a Saturday front-page article, reported, "After six years in which Hamid Karzai has been the darling of the United States and its allies, his luster may be fading. ... There is a growing concern in Europe, the United Nations and even the Bush administration that Mr. Karzai...is not up to addressing Afghanistan's many troubles." However, "one senior Bush administration official said that Mr. Bush remained enamored of Mr. Karzai." The Financial Times adds that "for weeks, the government of President Hamid Karzai has been warned that donors have grave doubts about the viability of the Afghanistan National Development Strategy."
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Jay Leno: "Well, according to 'The Wall Street Journal,' a lot of Republicans are very excited about the idea of Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal for McCain's running mate." Jindal is "a child of immigrants from India. His parents came from India, and he can bring youth to the ticket. And of course, McCain's excited because he wants to learn how to use e-mail."
David Letterman: Top Ten Signs Your Neighbor Is an Alien. "1. He's bald, gray and creepy, but he's not Dick Cheney."
Conan O'Brien: "An article in 'USA Today' reports that Barack Obama and John McCain have two very different visions of the world. That's what it said. Yeah. Biggest difference is that John McCain's vision makes it impossible for him to drive at night."
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