As he toured Israel and the Palestinian Territories, Sen. Barack Obama yesterday sought to reassure Israelis, and that nation's backers in the US, that he is committed to protecting their security. The AP reports Obama yesterday "professed 'an unshakable commitment to the security' of Israel, whether the threat comes from terrorists, Iran or elsewhere." Obama said, "The way you know where somebody's going is where have they been. And I've been with Israel for many, many years now." However, Obama "sidestepped a question of whether he would condone an Israeli attack to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon."
The Los Angeles Times reports, "With much of the fanfare of a visiting head of state," Obama "met today with top political leaders in Israel and the Palestinian territories." President Shimon Peres "urged Obama to strive 'to be a great president of the United States.'" The Washington Post adds that Obama pledged "to make peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians one of his highest priorities if he becomes president." The New York Daily News reports, "From all appearances, Obama's meetings with Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President Shimon Peres, went smoothly."
The visit received prominent coverage on the evening news programs, but less so than in recent days when it regularly led the broadcasts, being supplanted by coverage of Hurricane Dolly. ABC World News said, "This trip to Israel presented a number of pitfalls for Obama, for he has promised to make the search for a Middle East peace a top priority." In an interview with ABC, Obama said, "The main purpose of the trip from my perspective is looking at some of the most critical issues that the next president is going to have to deal with, and developing some relationships that I think can be useful about solving some of those problems." NBC Nightly News reported, "On a day filled with symbols, including a visit to Israel's Holocaust memorial, Barack Obama took a guided tour of the country's vulnerable borders to signal his support for Israel's security. With a message aimed both at Israelis and voters back home, he went to ground zero for Israel's conflict with Hamas Sderot -- barely a mile from Gaza. Until a ceasefire last month, it was hit daily by rockets and artillery shells from Gaza." The CBS Evening News adds Obama "did spend an hour with the Palestinian president, something John McCain did not do on his trip here. But the focus of the day was to try to reassure Jewish voters who are suspicious of him. It's an uphill battle."
The Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal also both report on how the trip figures into Obama's efforts to woo Jewish voters at home. The Post says the visit "is a testament to the presidential candidate's ongoing concerns about the Jewish vote this November, and the extraordinary lengths to which" Obama "is going to ensure support from that traditional Democratic constituency." The Journal says Obama, "seeking to woo Israel and Jewish-American voters," took a "hawkish line on Iran's nuclear program." The Los Angeles Times notes that while Obama "is comfortably ahead of" McCain "in polls among Jewish voters," he's "running more than 10 points behind where Democratic nominee John F. Kerry was in 2004, according to several recent polls. He is nearly 20 points behind where Bill Clinton finished in 1992."
Tough Talk On Iranian Nukes The Financial Times reports Obama said, "Iranians need to understand that whether it is the Bush administration or the Obama administration, this is a paramount concern to the United States. A nuclear Iran would pose a grave threat and the world must prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon." McClatchy reports that Iran and its nuclear program "was a recurring theme throughout" Obama's "private meetings" with Israeli leaders.
The New York Times writes this morning that Sen. John McCain "had splashy plans" today to "steal at least a little attention" from Sen. Barack Obama's "big speech in Berlin: He was to take a helicopter to an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico and meet with Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, who is being mentioned as a possible Republican vice-presidential pick." However, Hurricane Dolly "thwarted" his plans "to raise the issue of offshore oil drilling and the technology that he says has made it safe." The Politico says McCain "will now fly from Pennsylvania to Ohio. He had originally planned to fly tonight from Pennsylvania to New Orleans to be staged there for morning departure to the rig."
In a tone similar to that of the Times, the Washington Post writes, "It seemed like a great way to counter Obamamania." McCain "would board a helicopter in New Orleans today, skim quickly over the Gulf of Mexico and land on an oil rig -- a made-for-TV moment to highlight his call for offshore drilling, an issue that Republicans believe will be a big winner in November. ... In this campaign, it seems, McCain just can't catch a break."
The New Orleans Times-Picayune notes that the side-trip away from battleground states "had raised speculation McCain was courting Jindal to be his vice presidential candidate." But Jindal "has consistently thrown cold water on the idea. 'Let me be clear,' Jindal told Fox News on Wednesday. 'I have said in every private and public conversation I have got the job I want. I will say again on air, I'm not going to be the vice presidential nominee -- or vice president.'"
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McClatchy said Barack Obama "tried to boast about what he'd done to protect Israel" yesterday, saying, "Just this past week, we passed out of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee - which is my committee - a bill to call for divestment from Iran as a way of ratcheting up the pressure to ensure that they don't obtain a nuclear weapon." McClatchy adds, "Why that's wrong: Obama is not a member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. Ironically, a man who traveled with Obama to the Mideast this week, Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., is a member of the committee." On Fox News' Special Report's roundtable, Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard said the mistake "is something that certainly would have gotten John McCain in trouble," and noted that Obama didn't even vote on the bill.
The AP reports that Sen. Barack Obama "has decided to buy $5 million in national advertising on NBC during the broadcast of the Olympic games, an NBC spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday. The ads will appear on network and cable channels. ... The Olympics, to be held in Beijing, will open Aug. 8. Such an extensive purchase of ad time would give Obama wide exposure before the Democratic National Convention, to be held the last week in August." The Washington Post says the deal "is believed to be an unprecedented political media buy for an Olympics. National network advertising is highly unusual in politics, both because of its expense and because it reaches audiences that are not necessarily targeted by a campaign."
ABC World News reported Sen. Barack Obama "may be out of the country, but he's not been out of range from attacks by" Sen. John McCain. ABC adds that "day after day," McCain "has challenged Obama's domestic policies and been quick to point out his inexperience in foreign affairs." McCain is shown saying, "So apparently, Sen. Obama would rather lose a war in order to win a political campaign." ABC adds, "That's pretty strong language. Do you really think he's that craven?" McCain said, "I think that it's very clear that Sen. Obama has refused to recognize that the strategy in Iraq called the surge has succeeded." Fox News' Special Report reported the McCain camp is "now referring to Barack Obama's Iraq policy as 'unconditional withdrawal.'" McCain: "He still fails to acknowledge that we have succeeded, and he is in favor of an unconditional withdrawal." Fox adds, "Look for the buzz phrase 'unconditional withdrawal' to be in the lips of Republicans pretty much constantly between now and the Election Day."
The AP reports that at a town hall meeting in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania yesterday, Sen. John McCain talked about ways to bring down the price of oil, such as offshore drilling. McClatchy adds McCain also "pledged to build more nuclear power plants and support offshore oil drilling." The Wilkes-Barre Times Tribune reported McCain also talked about his gas-tax holiday plan, and "said his idea was rebuffed by congressional critics concerned that eliminating the 18 cents per gallon federal tax would reduce funding for their favorite pork barrel projects. 'I don't have to tell anybody here that every time you go to the gas station you are shocked at the cost of a gallon of oil,' he said. 'I wanted to give you a little gas tax holiday, so that you wouldn't have to pay for a while. But you know what they said: 'We might not be able to spend on some of those pork barrel projects that Congress likes to spend money on.'"
USA Today adds that backers at the meeting acknowledge that Obama "wins attention with his speaking style and charisma, but they say those qualities can't match the Republican candidate's stellar background. Some of those attending" the McCain event "said the Arizona senator's biggest asset is his own life -- a military family, a quarter-century in Congress and the five-and-a-half years spent as an oft-tortured prisoner of war in Vietnam."
McCain To Appear With Lance Armstrong Today The AP reports that McCain "plans a visit to Ohio Thursday for a town hall meeting on cancer hosted by cycling great Lance Armstrong." McCain "will talk about his plan to address cancer and take questions from audience members. The event is part of a four-day summit on cancer held by the Lance Armstrong Foundation at Ohio State University's James Cancer Hospital."
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Obama Leads By 6 In NBC News/WSJ Poll An NBC News/WSJ poll of 1,003 registered voters taken July 18-20 shows Sen. Barack Obama leading Sen. John McCain 47%-41%, the same margin he held in a similar poll last month.
Obama Up 4 In Gallup Tracking The Gallup daily presidential tracking poll shows Sen. Barack Obama leading Sen. John McCain 46%-42%, up from 45%-42% the previous day. The poll surveyed 2,640 registered voters from July 20-22.
Obama Up 3 In Rasmussen Tracking The latest Rasmussen Report daily presidential tracking poll of 3,000 likely voters shows Obama leading McCain 45%-42%. Including leaners, Obama's lead narrows to 47%-45%.
Obama Regains Lead In Florida A Rasmussen Reports automated poll of 500 likely Florida voters taken July 22 shows Obama leading McCain 46%-45%. A month ago, McCain led 48%-41%.
McCain Trails By Double Digits In Minnesota A Rasmussen Reports automated poll of 600 likely Minnesota voters taken July 22 shows Obama leading McCain 49%-37%, down from a 52%-34% lead last month. Including leaners, Obama leads 52%-39%.
Obama Up 2 In Virginia A Public Policy Polling (D) automated survey of 1,327 likely Virginia voters taken July 18-20 shows Obama leading McCain 46%-44%.
The Wall Street Journal reports on its front page that the presidential campaign "looks less like a race between two candidates than a referendum on" Sen. Barack Obama. The WSJ adds that the "key question in the contest isn't over any single issue being debated between" Obama or Sen. John McCain, it is "can Americans get comfortable with the background and experience level of Sen. Obama?" In a new WSJ/NBC News poll, "Fully half of all voters say they are focused on what kind of president Sen. Obama would be as they decide how they will vote, while only a quarter say they are focused on what kind of president Sen. McCain would be." On NBC Nightly News, NBC political director Chuck Todd said that according to the poll, "By a two-to-one margin, they're telling us basically that this election is a referendum on Obama. They're trying to figure this guy out and they're trying to figure out what these leaders overseas are doing."
In his Roll Call column, noted political observer Stuart Rothenberg writes, "The next 15 weeks in the 2008 presidential race will be primarily about whether American voters are comfortable" with Obama as president, although "that doesn't let" McCain "off the hook completely. His message and positioning will help determine whether he will remain a credible alternative to Obama."
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The House passed the Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008 on a vote of 272-152 Wednesday afternoon, just hours after President Bush dropped his opposition and signaled he will sign the bill after its expected passage in the Senate. Democrats were nearly unanimous in their support, with 227 in favor, just three -- Reps. Nancy Boyda, Peter DeFazio, and Marcy Kaptur -- against, and six not voting. The bill won 45 Republican votes, with 149 Republicans against and five not voting.
The AP says the legislation, "aimed at helping 400,000 strapped homeowners avoid foreclosure and preventing the collapse" of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, "sailed through the House." The White House "swallowed its distaste for $3.9 billion in grants for devastated neighborhoods. In return, the administration got both the power to throw Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac a lifeline and the legislation Republicans long have advocated to rein in the government-sponsored mortgage companies."
Many television and print reports focus on the Administration's change in position, and paint the bill itself in a positive light. ABC World News reported, "The measure includes refinancing help for homeowners facing foreclosure, and tax credits for first-time home buyers. It also calls for almost four billion dollars in grants for neighborhoods hardest hit by foreclosures. That was a provision that originally had President Bush threatening a veto."
The CBS Evening News reported, "Relief is finally on the way for hundreds of thousands of homeowners facing foreclosure, and for two mortgage industry giants." NBC Nightly News reported, "The House today passed a sweeping mortgage bill that's supposed to be aimed at stabilizing the mortgage market, but some opponents are already calling it a government bailout of epic proportions."
CNN's Situation Room reported, "The bottom line is that White House officials say they realize the American people, homeowners in particular, are hurting right now, and the President decided this is the best deal he could get." Fox News' Special Report reported the White House "signaled that its own operators on Capitol Hill will no longer oppose the Housing bill that passed the House this afternoon."
The Los Angeles Times described the White House change as "a sign of election-year anxiety over the economy," while the Financial Times says the "need rapidly to incorporate its request for the Treasury department to be given almost unlimited powers to invest in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, if necessary, had made the White House's negotiating position increasingly difficult to sustain."
The Washington Post says on its front page that the President was "persuaded" by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to rescind his veto threat, arguing that the "overall measure was urgently needed to stabilize the housing and credit markets." USA Today also says Paulson "said the bill's 'wasteful' provisions were outweighed by the need for expanded Treasury power to make emergency loans to, or buy stock in, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac."
In a front-page story, the Wall Street Journal reports that the "sprawling bill" will "now likely touch a vast array of borrowers, lenders, and investors: from owners in Colorado facing foreclosure to community banks in California and investment banks on Wall Street." The Christian Science Monitor says the "price tag of a banking crisis for ordinary Americans is large. It would rise if economic conditions worsen. And, for all the justifiable public outrage about bailouts for pinstriped bankers, the cost of not intervening to rescue the financial system would simply push the public costs even higher, finance experts say."
The AP reports, "Oil prices shed nearly $4 Wednesday, tumbling below $125 a barrel for the first time since early June on growing fears that high prices and the weak economy are destroying demand. Light, sweet crude for September delivery dropped $3.98 to settle at $124.44 a barrel" in New York. Bloomberg News says gasoline supply "rose 2.85 million barrels last week," according to the Energy Department.
The Wall Street Journal reports, "Top Fed officials have been betting all year that the rapid increases in crude-oil prices wouldn't be sustained as the world economy cooled. A continuing surge in prices has defied those predictions until recently." The Financial Times says the "dive," which "has already helped boost a rally in share prices on Wall Street, will also be welcomed by central banks facing rising inflation."
In related news, the New York Times reports, "Making it increasingly clear that the Congressional debate is more a matter of political positioning than policy creation, the Senate failed Wednesday to come to terms on the ground rules for considering an energy bill, delaying a proposal to curb speculation in oil futures and stymieing a broader review of energy initiatives."
The Hill reports Democrats are "marching through their legislative agenda as they near the fall election season, scoring several key victories and forcing President Bush to abandon his veto threats." The "latest triumph came Wednesday when Bush dropped his opposition to a massive housing-rescue bill and the House subsequently passed the measure, 272-152." The momentum "is a sharp difference from last year, when Bush infuriated Democratic leaders and shaped the legislative agenda on spending, Iraq policy and more by rejecting Democratic legislation and refusing to negotiate."
However, Roll Call reports Senate Democrats "still have a long list of priorities to slog through before they leave at the end of next week for the August recess, but the partisan stalemate over energy prices might prevent them from doing much." The "continuing impasse between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) over how to move forward on an oil market speculation bill threatens the entire Democratic agenda except for the housing measure, which for procedural reasons cannot be blocked from consideration."
USA Today /AP reports lawmakers "chided Attorney General Michael Mukasey on Wednesday for claiming national security concerns in opposing legislation that would allow reporters to protect the identities of confidential sources." Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., "defended the bill he said was carefully written to discourage leaks of classified or other sensitive information that could risk security. Without it, he said, long-standing press freedoms would be threatened." Mukasey "said he was open to considering compromises. But he said current laws limiting the government's ability to force reporters to reveal their sources are adequate."
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The Washington Times reports Rangel "took the unusual step Wednesday of filing an ethics complaint against himself, hoping an ethics probe will allay criticism he abused his office by using congressional stationery to solicit funds for a college center that bears his name." The Hill reports Rangel's letter "conspicuously failed to address a separate and possibly more serious issue raised in articles in The New York Times: Rangel's use of four rent-controlled apartments (one of them as a campaign office) in Harlem's Lenox Terrace building." Roll Call reports Rangel had "initially dismissed suggestions that he ask the ethics panel to examine his living arrangement, noting that he pays the maximum legal rent for the units. But spokesman Emile Milne said Wednesday that 'he thought about it some more and decided the best way to clear all of this up is to have that body look into it.'"
The AP reports top Pentagon leaders "are expected to recommend soon that Defense Secretary Robert Gates order hundreds of additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan over the next month or so, according to a senior military official." Officials have "not ruled out identifying a larger, brigade-sized unit before the end of the year that could either be shifted to Afghanistan from a planned deployment to Iraq or moved from some other location." US commanders in Afghanistan "have been asking for three combat brigades, or roughly 10,000 more troops, to help quash rising violence there."
USA Today reports Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell "said officials were studying ways to speed more forces to Afghanistan. Those troops would be in specialties including explosive ordnance disposal, route clearance and aviation, according to another military official familiar with the proposal who is not authorized to speak publicly about the issue."
The Christian Science Monitor reports the "success of the surge of American troops in Iraq is putting pressure anew on the Pentagon to build a surge plan to counter a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan. But experts warn that it will take more than just additional troops to turn things around there." A "surge for Afghanistan, analysts say, must also recognize that the insurgency there as well as the NATO command structure is not like that in Iraq. And without a new strategy, the deployment of more forces won't mean much, they say."
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Jay Leno: "Barack Obama was in Israel today," wearing "the traditional Jewish yarmulke. He looked very Jewish. In fact, Jesse Jackson said, 'I'd like to circumcise him.'"
Jay Leno: "And this week, NBC News defended their coverage of Barack Obama. They've been accused of giving him more favorable treatment than John McCain, and today, NBC News denied it. They said, 'That's ridiculous. We've never even heard of John McCain.'"
Jay Leno: "I don't want to...say McCain is running a lackluster campaign, but his Secret Service codename is 'Bob Dole.'"
Jimmy Kimmel: "Barack Obama is in the Middle East. He's in Israel today, while poor John McCain was stuck in" the "cold cuts section" of "a supermarket in Pennsylvania."
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