In a speech in Raleigh, NC that is receiving largely positive coverage, Sen. Barack Obama sharply attacked Sen. John McCain's economic proposals, seeking to tie then to Bush Administration's policies. Media accounts generally describe Obama's remarks as a shrewd strategic move. The New York Times reports on its front page that the speech is the beginning of a "two-week assault" on McCain's "economic policies in a series of battleground states," in an attempt "to define the general election campaign by focusing on the economy as the central theme." The Hill adds that Obama "signaled...that he will push the country's economic woes as the prevailing theme of the general election," and notes Obama's speech "ticked off a list of economic ills, trying to tie them to...McCain at every turn." The AP says Obama "warned that McCain's policies on taxes, spending and energy would continue the nation's slump, which some fear is already a recession." ABC World News showed Obama saying, "Sen. McCain wants to turn Bush's policy of too little too late into a policy of even less, even later." Obama, noted ABC, "mentioned the current president almost as much as he mentioned John McCain," and "as important as what Barack Obama said, is where he said it."
The Washington Post reports that in response to Obama's speech, McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds "said that 'while hardworking families are hurting and employers are vulnerable, Barack Obama has promised higher income taxes, Social Security taxes, capital gains taxes, dividend taxes and tax hikes on job-creating businesses.'" The New York Sun reports that McCain "advisers defended their candidate's policy agenda yesterday after Mr. Obama's speech, saying that keeping taxes low would help the economy and that cutting the corporate rate would encourage businesses to add jobs in America, rather than overseas. They said Mr. Obama had glossed over his plans to raise taxes - such as those on capital gains and dividends - in areas that would hurt middle-income Americans, and not just the wealthiest, as he has claimed."
NBC Nightly News interviewed Sen. John McCain and asked him, "Is it going to be tough to run with an incumbent party for the White House given this economic backdrop?," McCain replied, "I think it's tough." McCain later added, "Sen. Obama says that I'm running for Bush's third term. It seems to me he is running for Jimmy Carter's second." Asked why he says that, McCain responded, "Because spend, spend, tax, spend. He has got a proposal that would raise taxes by $1.4 trillion over five years. Raise spending, excuse me, by $1.4 trillion over five years and no way to pay for his programs. That would put us further in debt."
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The AP reports Sen. Barack Obama "ramped up" his search for a running mate yesterday, "consulting with one congressional ally by phone and dispatching members of his vice presidential vetting team to the Capitol for meetings. Sen. Dick Durbin said he had spoken with Obama, his fellow Illinois senator." Members of Obama's VP search committee also met with top Democrats in Congress, none of whom are thought to be in consideration for the job, "suggesting that the day's conversations were designed to seek advice."
Two Washington Post columnists have suggestions for whom Obama should choose. E.J. Dionne suggests that Obama should pick Sen. Joe Biden to beef up his campaign's national security credentials, while Marc Fisher says that "three of the strongest candidates" are all Virginians former Gov. Mark Warner, Gov. Tim Kaine, and Sen. Jim Webb, saying they could help Obama in a variety of ways, not the least in putting their state in play.
As reported in the New York Sun yesterday, "Long-standing ties between a member of Senator Obama's new vice presidential search team and a prominent mortgage executive the senator has pilloried could become a political liability that hampers the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee's ability to tap into public ire over the subprime mortgage crisis." James Johnson, "one of three people tapped by Mr. Obama recently to oversee the search for his running mate, took at least five real estate loans totaling more than $7 million from Countrywide Financial Corp. through an informal program for friends of the company's CEO, Angelo Mozilo, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday."
The Washington Post reports that McCain on Monday "criticized" Obama for enlisting Johnson, saying on Fox News, "I think it suggests a bit of a contradiction talking about how his campaign is gonna be not associated with people like that." The Los Angeles Times notes "Republican officials" fired off "e-mails to reporters suggesting wrongdoing by Johnson and calling his loan terms 'highly questionable.'" Republican National Committee spokesman Alex Conant "charged that the issue 'raises serious questions about Obama's judgment when we learn members of his campaign leadership are receiving favors that the average American would never get.'" In a story headlined "Obama Vetter Draws Unwanted Scrutiny," The Politico reports, "In a presidential campaign where the subprime mortgage crisis and high corporate salaries figure to be staples of debate, Johnson is now at risk of becoming a political liability" for Obama.
The Wall Street Journal reports Democratic advocacy group Campaign Money Watch "launched a television ad and filed federal complaints Monday about Republican presidential candidate John McCain and his campaign's ties to lobbyists." Because the Federal Election Commission "can't act on the complaints until after the November election, they serve mostly to raise questions about the McCain campaign. The complaints and TV spot focused on Sen. McCain's support for a European aerospace consortium's bid to build aerial-refueling tankers for the U.S. Air Force." The AP adds that McCain campaign spokesman Brian Rogers "called the complaint 'baseless.' 'All campaign actions were carefully reviewed by legal counsel and were fully in accord with FEC rules and election law,' he said. 'These are fact-specific issues, and Campaign Money Watch, a pro-Democratic, anti-McCain group, does not know any of the relevant facts." The Hill further adds that the RNC "dismissed the complaints as 'a joke' and released a statement questioning Campaign Money Watch's credibility. The release said the group 'is a partisan organization that routinely attacks Republicans,' and noted that wealthy Democratic donor George Soros contributed $100,000 to it in 2006. The group received over $500,000 from other Democratic sources that year."
Sen. Barack Obama's lead over Sen. John McCain has slowly but steadily grown in the Gallup daily tracking poll since word broke last week that Sen. Hillary Clinton was exiting the race. Obama now leads McCain 48%-42% in a general election trial heat. Gallup surveyed 2,389 registered voters from June 6-8 for the current data set.
A Rasmussen Reports automated poll of 500 likely Wisconsin voters taken June 5 shows Sen. Barack Obama leading Sen. John McCain 45%-43%. In a similar poll taken a month earlier, McCain had led Obama 47%-43%.
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The deadlock between Congress and the White House on the renewal of the bill authorizing extensive government surveillance powers could produce intelligence gaps. The New York Times says Congressional and intelligence officials "are bracing for the possibility that the government might have to revert to the old rules of terrorist surveillance, a situation that some officials predict could leave worrisome gaps in intelligence." The dispute over renewing the FISA law "has dragged on," and "though both sides say they are hopeful of reaching a deal, officials have been preparing classified briefings for Congress on the intelligence 'degradation' they say could occur if there is no deal in place by August."
Reporting on the congressional talks, The Hill reports "tension is growing between" Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller and ranking Republican Kit Bond, who "shepherded" the "controversial rewrite of surveillance laws through the Senate, with each dismissing the other's role in closed-door negotiations to finalize a deal with the House and the Bush administration."
McConnell: Al Qaeda Down, But Not Out The Financial Times reports this morning Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell "told Congress as recently as February that al-Qaeda was attracting an influx of western recruits and said the terror group continued to pose significant threats to the US at home and abroad. But in the months since, evidence has been mounting that the organization...has suffered some serious reversals." McConnell noted the group "has weathered such setbacks before" and though it "appears to be down...it is not out."
In the week since Sen. Barack Obama became the presumptive presidential nominee of the Democratic Party, one of the campaign themes he has repeatedly emphasized is his intent to end the war in Iraq and bring US troops home. However, judging by the lack of coverage in the media, American voters might be excused for thinking the war is already over. The Wall Street Journal editorialized on Friday, "We are winning in Iraq. Indeed, we can now say with certainty that we will win, as long as we don't repeat our earlier mistakes and seek to draw down too soon."
If the Journal is right, a US News Political Bulletin analysis finds the American military will have achieved a largely anonymous victory: The only coverage of US military action in Iraq from the elite media -- the television networks (ABC, NBC, CBS), the major national newspapers (New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Wall Street Journal), and the Associated Press came last Wednesday via the AP which profiled in slightly fewer than 300 words the US capture and killing of al Qaeda in northwestern Iraq.
Coverage of military events in Iraq over the last week, outside of the above mentioned AP piece, has been scant and largely targeted at terrorist acts. Yesterday, in an 800+ word piece, the AP surveys the weekend's suicide bombings, al Qaeda executions, roadside bombings, and mortar attacks. The summary of US military activity came in two sentences. Over the weekend, coverage was equally sparse. Sunday's AP dispatch devoted three sentences to US military action while cataloguing the weekend's assorted violent incidents. The Washington Post provided Friday's only coverage, a 450-word interview with the number 2 commander of US military forces in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, who talked about the surge and the possibility of more US troops coming home.
However, on Tuesday of last week, the news that the US military suffered its lowest monthly death toll since the war began did earn coverage on ABC and CBS. The CBS Evening News reported, "In the lowest monthly death US toll since the war began, nineteen Americans were killed in May. The total US toll for the war is now 4,086." ABC World News reported, "Now to Iraq, where we learned today that just over 500 Iraqi civilians were killed in war-related violence last month. That's half the number from the month before. Also the Pentagon reported nineteen American troops were killed in May, that's the lowest monthly total since the war began."
By way of contrast, the fire at Universal Studios earned more than three times the combined coverage of the death toll story.
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President Bush travels to Europe to for an annual US-European Union summit, where he is expected to press his counterparts overseas to increase the pressure on Iran over its nuclear program. ABC World News reported Bush "is making what may well be his last high-profile visit to Europe before he leaves office." The New York Times says Bush "will be doing no walking tours in Berlin and giving no major speeches. Instead, he will use the time to talk to" Chancellor Angela Merkel, one of his favorite leaders in Europe, about the Middle East, energy security and, above all, Iran's nuclear program."
The AP also says that "mostly, Bush is visiting nations and leaders critical to a stepped-up US effort to get new and harsher measures aimed at preventing Iran from proceeding with a suspected plan to build a nuclear bomb." Britain, Germany and France, "along with the United States, Russia and China, are developing a package of fresh penalties and incentives aimed at reigning in Tehran's alleged atomic ambitions."
The AP reports, "Like many Americans, Europeans have Bush fatigue. His decision to invade Iraq stirred anti-American sentiment in many countries, although that has receded as Europeans watch the US presidential campaign and weigh prospects for change under a new president." Along those lines, the Financial Times says that "five years ago, the notion of spending even a week in western Europe would have been distinctly unappetising for" Bush, but "changes of government in Europe, conciliatory efforts by Washington and the decline of Iraq as the defining issue of the transatlantic relationship have made ties both more workmanlike and more congenial since the days when relations touched a historic low."
Iran Warns Against Israel Attack The AP reports, "Iran's defense minister warned of a 'painful response' if Israel attacks Iran, the official IRNA news agency reported Monday." Minister of Defense Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, in response to remarks made last week by Shaul Mofaz that "Israel will attack Iran if it doesn't abandon its nuclear program," said, "If somebody wants to do such a foolish job, the response will be very painful."
The AP reports, "Despite a recent spike in the nation's unemployment rate, the danger that the economy has fallen into a 'substantial downturn' appears to have waned, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Monday." Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports "Bernanke's remarks suggest the jump in the jobless rate to 5.5% in May from 5% in April won't much affect the Fed's interest-rate plans this year." The Journal adds "Fed officials expect the unemployment rate to stand in the range of 5.5% to 5.7% by the end of the year, according to their latest quarterly forecast, prepared at the end of April. They were surprised the rate had been so slow to rise before May."
USA Today notes Bernake "cautioned," however, that "soaring energy prices are creating new inflation risks that the Fed will 'strongly resist.'" The comments "underscore the Fed's growing inflation worry." The Washington Post runs a similar story under the headline "Bernanke's Inflation Concerns Intensify."
Bush Defends Strong Dollar, US Economy The AP reports, "President Bush, beginning a farewell trip to Europe, expressed both concern and confidence Monday about the US economy, shaken by soaring energy prices, rising unemployment and the credit crunch." Bush also "called on lawmakers to allow oil drilling in an Arctic wildlife refuge and offshore on the Continental Shelf to 'give this country a chance to help us through this difficult period by finding more supplies of crude oil, which will take the pressure off the price of gasoline.'"
The Hill notes Bush touted "some of the strengths of the US economy and also stressed the need to keep the dollar healthy." Said Bush, "A strong dollar is in our nation's interests. It is in the interests of the global economy." A separate AP story says "Bush's forceful call on Monday for a stronger US dollar in the world economy may be coming a little late for Americans fed up with gas prices topping $4 a gallon and steadily rising costs of other imported goods."
The New York Times reports, "The president's statement was meant as a signal to Americans that Mr. Bush's trip was to be focused not just on distant concerns, but also on the economy at home." It also "appeared to be aimed at reassuring European leaders increasingly upset about the dollar's decline, particularly against the euro."
The Wall Street Journal reports, "Bush's advisers said the president expected the dollar to come up in discussions with European leaders, many of whom are concerned about the weak currency because it is making their exports to the US less profitable."
The AP former Bush press secretary Scott McClellan "will testify before a House committee next week about whether Vice President Dick Cheney ordered him to make misleading public statements about the leaking of CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity." McClellan's lawyers said "he has accepted House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers' invitation to testify June 20."
The Washington Post notes that in his recent book, "McClellan writes that then-White House political adviser Karl Rove and then-vice presidential chief of staff I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby deceived him about their involvement in the leak -- prompting him to pass on inaccurate information to reporters."
In an interview with Italy's RAI-TV, President Bush was asked what he would do after leaving office. Bush said, "I haven't had much time to think about it, because I've got a lot to do. But I will probably write a book, talking about the decisions I had to make, precisely to make sure that history understands the conditions and the environment during which I had to make decisions. Start a freedom institute at what's called Southern Methodist University in Dallas, to talk about the universal values of freedom abroad and at home."
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Jay Leno: "Hey, did you see the Belmont Stakes? Big Brown finished last, dead last! To give you an idea slow he ran, at the end of race, he got a call from President Bush...saying, 'You're doing a hell of a job, Brownie!'"
Jay Leno: "Unemployment has hit 5.5%, the biggest increase since 1986 -- 49,000 people laid off recently. And those are just Hillary Clinton campaign workers."
David Letterman: Top Ten Answers To The Question "How Hot Is It?" "9. 'It's so hot, President Bush fanned himself with unread intelligence memos.'"
David Letterman: Top Ten Answers To The Question "How Hot Is It?" "8. 'It's so hot, Scott McClellan has written a scathing book criticizing the sun.'"
David Letterman: "Here's how hot it is today in New York City. ... It's so hot, over the weekend, Barack Obama enjoyed the chilly meeting with Hillary."
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