Sen. Barack Obama's campaign is retooling for the general election. McClatchy reports Obama has selected Jim Messina, who has experience in a number of Democratic Congressional offices, to be his campaign's chief of staff. But there is one new member of his team that is generating a lot more media buzz this morning. ABC World News reported, "Most noteworthy today the hiring of Patty Solis Doyle, who was at one time Hillary Clinton's campaign manager before being relieved of her duties. She will be the chief of staff to whomever Obama picks as his running mate." Fox News calls Solis-Doyle one of Clinton's "most loyal and trusted confidantes" and The Hill says the move is fueling speculation of an Obama-Clinton ticket.
On the other hand, the Washington Post reports Obama "sent a strong signal Monday that he is not considering" Clinton through his selection of Solis-Doyle, who was demoted by the Clinton campaign as it floundered. The Post says, "Since losing her job, Doyle is no longer a part of the Clinton inner circle and is barely on speaking terms with her former boss." Susie Tompkins Buell, a "prominent Clinton donor," said it "was a 'calculated decision' by the Obama team to 'send a message that [Clinton] is not being considered for the ticket.'"
USA Today reports this morning that Sen. John McCain yesterday called "for lifting a federal moratorium on offshore drilling for oil and gas -- a politically sensitive issue in such key states as Florida." McCain said states "should decide for themselves whether to permit drilling," but "they should be given the option to combat what he called an 'energy crisis' that saw gas prices reach an average of $4.08 a gallon on Monday." The Washington Post says on its front page this morning that McCain's move "is a reversal of the position he took in his 2000 presidential campaign and a break with environmental activists, even as he attempts to win the support of independents and moderate Democrats." The Politico adds McCain "will lay out his proposal in an address in Houston...that will serve as the first in a series of speeches, briefings and other campaign events centered around the country's need to lessen its dependence on foreign oil, an issue that will dominate the campaign's message for the rest of the month."
The Wall Street Journal reports, "In previewing his speech with journalists Monday," McCain "appeared to be making a play for votes in Virginia, whose Democratic governor, Tim Kaine, has expressed support for allowing exploratory drilling for natural gas off the state's coastline." Virginia's "13 electoral votes are widely seen as being up for grabs in the November presidential contest."
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The Detroit Free Press reports Sen. Barack Obama "brought his historic campaign to Ground Zero of the Rust Belt on Monday, asking 20,000 supporters at a raucous rally at Joe Louis Arena...to join him in his crusade of hope and faith." Obama was joined by Al Gore, who endorsed him. Gore said, "This election matters more than ever before. After 8 years of lost jobs, we need change. After 8 years of the worst, most serious foreign policy mistakes, we need change." The Detroit News adds Gore "compared Obama's campaign to John F. Kennedy's ability to inspire young Americans in 1960." The Washington Post calls the endorsement "no surprise" but says it has "triggered renewed speculation about whether the two might form a joint ticket."
NBC Nightly News says Gore made the first announcement of his endorsement a bit earlier yesterday "on his blog, e-mailing a very deep list of supporters telling them to get behind this ticket both with a little elbow grease and a little money. 'I've never asked members of algore.com to contribute to a political campaign before,' he said, 'but this moment and this election are too important to let pass without taking action.'"
The AP reports Sen. Barack Obama "says he is going to visit Iraq and Afghanistan before the November election." Obama said he "spoke with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari on Monday about the war and told him he looks forward to seeing him in Baghdad." Fox News' Special Report says, "Despite acknowledging progress, Obama said that he told the Iraqi official he still wants US troops out." Obama was shown saying, "I emphasized to him how encouraged I was by the reductions in violence in Iraq, but also insisted that it is important for us to begin the process of withdrawing U.S. troops." The Boston Globe quotes RNC spokeswoman Blair Latoff as saying in a statement, "The situation on the ground in Iraq has changed significantly since Barack Obama's last visit nearly 900 days ago. When Obama travels to Iraq, reality will confront him and he will realize that he was wrong to oppose the surge, wrong to continuously ignore our commanders' suggestions, and wrong to stipulate premature withdrawal."
The Washington Post reports in a front page story, "Buoyed by a public mood favoring Democrats," Sen. Barack Obama "begins the general-election campaign holding a narrow advantage over" Sen. John McCain, "with independent voters emerging as a constituency critical to the Republican's hopes of winning the presidency in November." The new survey "shows Obama running ahead of McCain by 48 percent to 42 percent among all adults. Among registered voters, the margin is essentially the same -- 49 percent to 45 percent."
In an analysis, ABC News says that Obama "leads McCain by more than a 2-1 margin among Americans under 30; that shifts to a tie among middle-aged adults, and a McCain advantage among seniors. Obama, more broadly, also faces significant unease with his resume, with just half of Americans, 50 percent, saying he's experienced enough to serve as president. Forty-six percent think that's not so, a large number to lose on the basic question of qualifications."
Sen. Barack Obama's campaign is looking to shake up the electoral math that has dominated the last two presidential races. The AP reports Obama's campaign "envisions a path to the presidency that could include Virginia, Georgia and several Rocky Mountain states, but not necessarily the pair of battlegrounds that decided the last two elections - Florida and Ohio." In a "private pitch late last week to donors and former supporters of Hillary Rodham Clinton, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe outlined several alternatives to reaching the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House that runs counter to the conventional wisdom of recent elections."
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Roll Call reports, "Newly released financial disclosure reports show at least a dozen House Members hold loans issued by Countrywide Financial, which last week was reported to have provided special treatment to" Sens. Kent Conrad and Chris Dodd. Rep. Jeb Hensarling has "called for a series of hearings to determine whether Members received similar perks." Fox News' Special Report notes Hensarling "wants an investigation into some Democratic senators who evidently got preferential and possibly prohibited treatment from a major mortgage lender."
A separate Roll Call story reports that despite his "potential ethics woes," Sen. Dodd, Chairman of Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, "appears ready to power through it this week" and seek passage of the housing rescue bill. Housing industry lobbyists "are stepping up the pressure on Congress to complete the bill within the next two weeks."
In an editorial, the Washington Post it was "good to be a 'Friend of Angelo' -- as favored VIP borrowers were known at Countrywide," and "it's worth figuring out exactly what is, and is not, wrong with this kind of help." One issue is if "the FOA treatment counts as a gift," and is therefore forbidden to members of Congress, "or fits into an exception for loans at terms generally available to the public." The Post calls for an investigation "to see all the questions answered."
Security improvements in Iraq appears to have reached a critical mass, attracting an influx of foreign capital. However, the positive developments are not attracting much notice in the US, and the nation continues to face challenges due to its war-torn infrastructure. The AP reports this morning, "Signs are emerging that Iraq has reached a turning point. Violence is down, armed extremists are in disarray, government confidence is rising and sectarian communities are gearing up for a battle at the polls rather than slaughter in the streets." But "those positive signs are attracting little attention in the United States, where the war-weary public is focused on the American presidential contest and skeptical of talk of success after so many years of unfounded optimism by the war's supporters."
USA Today reports, "European and Asian companies are beating their American rivals into Iraq now that security has improved the investment climate, Iraqi and US officials say." Paul Brinkley, the Pentagon official "who is leading US efforts to help Iraq rebuild its economy," said, "It's starting to turn," and "the people who are getting in on the ground floor are not American. ... It's ironic." "Foreign companies, including U.S. investors, have committed to deals worth about $500 million so far this year and Brinkley expects at least $1 billion in foreign investment by the end of the year."
The Financial Times reports that while Iraq's "oil exports rose last month to their highest levels since the fall of Saddam and officials predict the country will almost double its revenues this year," the government "is still struggling to keep the lights on and the taps flowing." Baghdad "residents complain that power and water supplies are poor, which has undermined confidence in the state and offset some of the improvements that have resulted from the decline in violence."
Iraqi Official Hopeful For Security Deal The Wall Street Journal reports Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari "said he was optimistic that Iraq and the US would be able to finalize a long-term security agreement by a July 31 deadline, crediting what he described as new 'flexibility' by the Bush administration." Zebari "said the US had made concessions such as dropping a demand for immunity for American security contractors and agreeing to create a US-Iraqi operations center that gives Iraqi officials more input into future American military moves there."
Liberal Commentators Pan Negotiations For US-Iraq Post-War Relationship. Columnist DeWayne Wickham writes in USA Today, "Instead of caving in to the demand for a long-term U.S. military presence in their country, Iraqi leaders would be wise to tell the Bush administration: Yanquis, go home." And Karl E. Meyer, a former member of the New York Times editorial board and the editor at large of World Policy Journal, writes in the New York Times, "The 'strategic alliance' that President Bush is proposing eerily resembles, in spirit and in letter, a failed 1930 treaty between Britain and Iraq that prompted a nationalist eruption in Baghdad, a pro-Nazi military coup and a pogrom that foreshadowed the elimination of Baghdad's ancient Jewish community."
President Bush is receiving largely positive marks from the media for his just-completed trip to Europe. USA Today for example, says the President "ended his week-long European trip Monday, carrying home commitments from Europe's major leaders on Iran, Afghanistan and even Iraq." During a joint press conference, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown "gave Bush the biggest round of support after two days of talks" by backing Bush's push for new Iran sanctions and announcing the UK would send additional troops to Afghanistan. The Los Angeles Times terms Brown's announcement "a boost" for Bush, noting the "net increase of 230 British troops in Afghanistan...takes the number of British troops in the Central Asian nation to its highest levels, with 8,030 forces now committed in Kabul, Kandahar and Helmand provinces."
ABC World News and the CBS Evening News both also briefly noted the two leader's united front on Iran and Brown's pledge to commit additional troops to Afghanistan. Moreover, says the Financial Times, Brown and Bush "presented a united front and played down tensions over Iraq strategy on Monday," and "dismissing speculation that the US was uncomfortable with Britain's plans for its troops in Basra, Mr Bush heaped on the praise, welcoming Mr Brown's decision to send more troops to Afghanistan and step up pressure on Iran." The AP also reports that Brown "notably showed no daylight with Bush on Iraq."
Assessing Bush's European trip, the Wall Street Journal says Bush "won enough support on two key issues -- sanctions against Iran and troops in Afghanistan -- to allow him to return home bearing gifts." While "most of the progress was made with the United Kingdom...the fact Mr. Bush returns with something can be viewed as progress for an administration that has spent much of its time at loggerheads with many countries in the region."
The Washington Times calls Brown's comments "a ringing endorsement of...Bush's freedom agenda in the Middle East." The New York Times also remarks on "Brown's strong support for Mr. Bush on Iran, Afghanistan and Iraq."
The Washington Post says Brown's announcement on Iran signaled "a growing willingness by Western allies to join President Bush in punishing Tehran for its nuclear enrichment program." Fox News' Special Report reported Bush got from "Brown what he got from none of the other leaders on this five-nation trip: the promise of specific tighter sanctions on Iran, and he was pleased."
AFP reports Bush "made his very last stop" before heading back home "in Northern Ireland, hailing the British province as a 'success story' and a model for reconciliation in other former troublespots around the world, including Iraq." Fox News' Special Report said the President "wants to apply northern Ireland's lessons to the Middle East, and in particular to the effort to craft a peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians, which he still says he thinks possible before the end of the year."
EU Threatens New Iran Sanctions The Financial Times reports the European Union "will impose new financial sanctions on Iran in the next few weeks if Tehran fails to respond positively to a fresh offer from the big world powers regarding its nuclear ambitions." Though EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Tehran "is considering the offer" after weekend talks, "EU diplomats remain pessimistic that Iran will give a positive response to the package."
In reporting the EU's move, the AP notes that targeting Iran's "vast oil and gas industries would be a much more significant blow" because Iran's "stumbling economy -- burdened by chronic inflation and unemployment -- desperately needs the foreign currency from its fuel exports."
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Jay Leno: "I had a nightmare last night, a horrible dream. ... I dreamed I got a subprime mortgage loan from a gas station selling tomatoes with salmonella. It was a nightmare."
David Letterman: "John McCain is going after the Hillary Clinton female voters. Yes, and as a matter of fact, today, he was campaigning in a pantsuit."
Conan O'Brien: "Today, at the US Open, 32-year-old Tiger Woods came back to beat 45-year-old Rocco Mediate. ... And apparently, when he heard that a younger African-American beat an older white man, John McCain said, 'Uh-oh.'"
Conan O'Brien: "Republican Congressmen Ron Paul has finally decided to suspend his presidential campaign. ... Paul said, 'There comes a time when you realize that you have no chance to win, and that time was six months ago.'"
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