Race issues reared their head in the presidential race yesterday. The New York Times reports on its front page this morning that Sen. John McCain's campaign "accused" Sen. Barack Obama "on Thursday of playing 'the race card,' citing his remarks that Republicans would try to scare voters by pointing out that he 'doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.'" The Times notes that this is the first time racial politics have been "front and center" in the general election, after they "became a subtext" in the prolonged Democratic primary.
ABC World News, in its second story, showed McCain saying, "I'm very disappointed. And race will not have any role on my campaign. Nor is there any place for it. And I'm disappointed that he's using it." ABC added, "Today, McCain's campaign manager used even stronger language, accusing Obama of playing the race card. 'He played it from the bottom of the deck,' said Rick Davis. 'It's divisive, negative, shameful and wrong.' But this afternoon, Obama campaign manager, David Plouffe, denied outright that Obama was making a racial charge." David Plouffe: "We weren't suggesting in any way he's using race as an issue."
On the CBS Evening News, in its lead story, and on ABC World News, Obama was shown responding to the ad released earlier in the week by the McCain campaign hitting Obama for being a celebrity: "You'd think that we'd be having a serious debate. But so far, all we've been hearing about is Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. I do have to ask my opponent, is that the best you can come up with?" Reporting on McCain's "celeb" ad, the CBS Evening News noted McCain "today did not back off." McCain was shown saying, "All I can say that we're proud of that commercial."
Media accounts are generally casting yesterday's spat as a consequence of what they view as a conscious GOP strategy to go negative. In its lead story, for example,ABC World News reported, "It has become apparent in the past two days that...McCain intends, as a strategy, to criticize...Obama often and hard." ABC added, "What McCain seems determined to do is define Obama on his own terms, raise some doubts and, maybe, by process of elimination, you win. But it's a risky strategy." NBC Nightly News reported, "the risk for McCain, some say, it could hurt his good guy image."
Print coverage was similar. The AP reports, "McCain wants the presidential campaign to be about Barack Obama -- that's why he talks about him so much. To that end, McCain is helping frame a not-so-flattering portrait of Obama for voters. His ads have become increasingly tough; a third of his commercials portray Obama negatively, a new study concluded." The Wall Street Journal reports the McCain camp's charge that Obama had raised the "race card" added "to the growing negative tone of the general-election campaign." Plouffe "called the latest punches from the McCain camp 'character attacks' and said the campaign has opened a new Web site, LowRoadExpress.com, to address what he said were 'the falsehoods that the McCain campaign is putting out there.'" The Washington Times says "McCain's tone has become harsher after extensive media coverage of Mr. Obama's overseas trip and after changes within the campaign."
The Politico, however, notes that the race card attack, at least, is part of a larger McCain strategy. The Politico reports that McCain "aides say their goal is to pre-empt what they believe is Obama's effort to paint any conventional campaign attacks as race-based. Obama's aim, in the view of the McCain camp: 'to delegitimize any line of attack against him,' said McCain aide Steve Schmidt. He said he saw that potential trap being sprung when" Obama made his Missouri comments.
The AP reports this morning that Barack Obama "seized on a record oil company profit to argue that rival John McCain offers only tax breaks for Big Oil and 'short-term gimmicks' to consumers struggling with soaring gasoline prices." Obama "quickly incorporated news of Exxon Mobil's nearly $12 billion quarterly profit into his remarks at a town hall meeting" in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The Los Angeles Times reports Obama "called for reform of the nation's energy economy, accusing President Bush of 'letting the oil companies write his oil policy' and promising to send Americans gasoline rebate checks, double automobile fuel-efficiency standards and wean the United States from dependence on foreign oil."
Obama Attends High-Dollar Event At Home Of Natural Gas Magnate However, the Houston Chronicle reports Obama "collected more than $1.5 million in campaign funding Thursday night in two Houston neighborhoods built by oil and natural gas profits while telling his audiences that America needs to liberate itself from those fuels. Picture this: Standing on a platform just above the water level of a lighted indoor pool at a Memorial home, Obama said the nation needs to develop wind and solar energy and other alternative sources. He spoke to about 55 paying guests at candlelit, round dinner tables under skylights in the 18,000-square-foot home of John Thrash, chief of a natural gas infrastructure company, and wife Becca Cason Thrash."
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The Washington Times reports this morning that Sen. John McCain's "growing popularity among women is fueling speculation that he will select a female running mate, ripening talk about conservative favorite Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, and former Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive Officer Carly Fiorina, one of his top economic advisers." Pundits, strategists, and "even some Democrats say putting a dynamic woman on the Republican ballot would tip independents, especially the 'security moms' who helped President Bush win re-election in 2004."
A Pew Research Center poll of 1,241 registered voters taken July 23-27 shows Obama leading McCain 47%-42%, down from a 48%-40% lead in a similar poll in June. The AP runs a report on the Pew poll, noting Obama's lead "is about the same as in June, before he took his trip to the Middle East and Europe."
Obama Edges McCain In Tracking Polls After opening a lead of 9 points in the wake of his European swing, Obama's lead has all but disappeared in the latest Gallup daily national tracking poll. The survey of 2,679 registered voters taken July 28-30 shows Obama leading McCain 45%-44%. The Rasmussen Reports automated daily presidential tracking poll of 3,000 registered voters for July 31 shows Obama leading McCain 45%-43%, and 48%-46% if leaners are included, identical results to the previous day's.
A set of new polls out yesterday from Quinnipiac University shows Sen. John McCain narrowing Sen. Barack Obama's leads in the key swing states of Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. In Florida, Obama now leads McCain 46%-44%, down from a 47%-43% lead in a similar poll taken mid-June. In Ohio, Obama also leads 46%-44%, down from a 48%-42% in the June poll. In Pennsylvania, Obama tops McCain 49%-42%, down from a 52%-40% lead in the previous survey. The AP runs a brief report on these polls.
Obama Up 15 In California A PPIC poll of 2,504 California adults taken July 8-22 shows Obama leading McCain 50%-35%.
Race Tight In Montana A Rasmussen Reports automated poll of 500 likely Montana voters taken July 29 shows McCain leading Obama 45%-44%, but the race tied at 47% if leaners are included. A similar survey a month ago showed Obama leading McCain 48%-45%.
Rove Projections Show McCain Gaining Ground In Swing States Fox News' Special Report reported, "The latest Electoral College projection" from Karl Rove "shows Sen. McCain cutting into Sen. Obama's lead for the second week in a row. Colorado has gone...from the Obama side to tossup. Obama is now below the clinching number of 270 votes for the first time in a month. He is now projected at 263, that's a loss of 28 from two weeks ago. McCain had 183. 92 are listed as tossups, including those from battleground states Ohio and Florida. McCain is also closing the gap in new polls covering those key states and one other."
Obama Putting Massive Resources Into Florida Under the headline "After Trailing McCain In Fla., Obama Makes Up Ground," USA Today reports when Obama and McCain "visit Florida on Friday they'll find a split electorate in a state that's been eager to play a decisive role since primaries ended in June." Obama has "been playing catch-up with a vengeance after refusing to campaign here during the primaries because of a Democratic Party dispute over its January contest date. He has spent $5 million on TV ads in Florida, more than in any other state, and dispatched 200 staffers there." McCain "is not airing any TV ads in Florida and has 40 staffers." Justifying their headline, USA Today cites a May poll showing Obama trailing in the state by 10 points and contrasts it to yesterday's Quinnipiac poll, which shows Obama up by two. However, they only briefly mention that a June poll taken after he secured the nomination showed Obama up 4 points, and it would appear that he has lost ground there during the general.
On its front page, the Wall Street Journal reports this morning that Wal-Mart Stores "is mobilizing its store managers and department supervisors around the country to warn that if Democrats win power in November, they'll likely change federal law to make it easier for workers to unionize companies -- including Wal-Mart." The Journal adds that in "recent weeks," "thousands" of Wal-Mart managers and department heads "have been summoned to mandatory meetings at which the retailer stresses the downside for workers if stores were to be unionized."
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With few exceptions, the new gross domestic product (GDP) data issued yesterday by the Commerce Department is being portrayed as a negative development for the US economy. Though the economy grew at an annual rate of 1.9% in the quarter that ended in June, the less-than-stellar figure failed to meet economists' forecasts. Typical of the coverage was the New York Times, which titled its front-page story "More Arrows Seen Pointing to a Recession." The Times reports the US economy "expanded more slowly than expected from April to June, the government reported Thursday, while numbers for the last three months of 2007 were revised downward to show a contraction -- the first official slide backward since the last recession in 2001." USA Today, under the headline "Recession Worries Linger As GDP Rises A Scant 1.9%," also notes "the economy contracted at a 0.2% rate in the final months of 2007 -- its worst showing since the 2001 recession." The Wall Street Journal says GDP "grew at a modest pace in the second quarter, due to strong exports and government-stimulus checks, but a faltering labor market signaled there may be worse news to come." The Financial Times calls the growth rate "faster than earlier in the year but slower than economists were expecting."
The CBS Evening News reported, "The government now says the economy was receding, not growing, in the final quarter of last year. It picked up a bit in the first quarter of this year, but...in the second quarter when all these rebate checks were supposed to stimulate the economy, it grew less than 2%." The AP reports, "Armed with government stimulus checks of up to $600 per person, Americans boosted spending on food, clothing and other items in the second quarter, the Commerce Department reported. But the gross domestic product still increased...less than the 2.4 percent economists were looking for." The Washington Times refers to "a tale of two economies -- one propelled by robust growth in exports tied to strongly emerging markets overseas, the other mired in recession as consumers at home struggle to cope with record high debts, soaring energy prices and falling home prices."
Among the media outlets reporting positive signs in the Commerce data is McClatchy, which says, "The US economy doubled its first-quarter rate of growth to 1.9 percent from April through June...and some signs emerged that the US economy may have bottomed out." Similarly, the Washington Post reports the economy "grew at a solid pace...despite being buffeted by a financial crisis, a deep housing slump, high fuel prices and a weak job market." And Fox News' Special Report reported, "The US economy is making progress."
Paulson: Stimulus Helped The Wall Street Journal reports, "US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Thursday said new economic data prove that the economic stimulus plan has successfully propped up the US economy, but said it will take additional months for the housing market -- the biggest risk to the economy -- to fully recover." AFP notes the Secretary also said "he expects 'moderate' growth in the US economy this year and some stability returning to the housing market in a matter of months."
Democrats Call For New Stimulus Plan AFP reports, "The weakness in US economic growth, which mustered an annualized 1.9 percent pace in the second quarter, has sparked talk about a second stimulus package ahead of the November presidential election. ... A number of Democrats back the idea, including the speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi" and Barack Obama.
Stocks Fall On Jitters, Greenspan Remarks The AP reports, "Wall Street sank Thursday, after weak readings on economic growth and the job market touched off renewed concerns about the financial health of businesses and consumers." Wall Street "could not shake off its worries about the economy - particularly after sobering remarks from Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan on CNBC late in the afternoon. Greenspan said he would be more surprised if the United States did not enter recession than if it did." The Dow Jones "fell 205.67, or 1.78 percent, to 11,378.02, continuing its string of erratic, triple-digit daily swings." The Financial Times and Wall Street Journal also report the story.
In brief remarks at the White House yesterday, President Bush trumpeted the apparent military and political progress in Iraq. The President's remarks coincided with new data showing that the US death toll in that country continues to decline, and media reports this morning reflect a cautious optimism that the US may have turned a corner in Iraq. The Wall Street Journal notes "Bush said July was 'a month of encouraging news from Iraq,'" and that "violence is down to levels not seen since the spring of 2004 and the improvements are becoming consistent." NBC Nightly News said the President "made good on an earlier promise, confirming that starting tomorrow combat tours for troops heading to Iraq and Afghanistan will now be reduced from 15 months back to 12."
USA Today reports Bush also said that "falling violence levels in Iraq should allow troop withdrawals there to continue." The President added "progress in Iraq, while potentially reversible, has a 'degree of durability.'" In its report, the AP says that "assertion" by Bush "appeared to lay the groundwork for an announcement in coming weeks of further US troop reductions." AFP notes that in his statement about durability, the President appeared to be quoting Petreaus and US Ambassador Ryan Crocker. Bush, AFP reports, "said Petraeus...and...Crocker 'caution that the progress is still reversible, but they report that there now appears to be a "degree of durability to the gains we have made." Fox News' Special Report reports "some read that as a hint from the President that troop reductions are imminent, but Secretary Gates wasn't ready to pre-empt General Petraeus's recommendation."
The New York Times reports, "Bush and his aides have been reluctant to declare the sharp drop in ethnic and sectarian violence over the last year as irreversible. Still, he gave the clearest indication yet that conditions in Iraq would allow him to begin reducing the number of American troops there before he leaves office in less than six months." The Washington Post, meanwhile, sees Bush striking "a delicate rhetorical balance between asserting his view that sending additional troops to Iraq has been a success, while at the same time cautioning that withdrawing troops too rapidly could jeopardize security improvements." The Financial Times, AP, AFP and The Hill run similar reports.
McClatchy, meanwhile, reports that according to Lt. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin II, "the commanding general of day-to-day operations of the war, Iraq hasn't yet reached the point of 'sustainable security.' Many in the leaders of al Qaida in Iraq have departed, as have militant Shiite leaders, who're now believed to be hiding in Iran. But they don't plan to stay abroad, Austin said." Similarly, though it called the July statistics "remarkable," ABC World News said that "the threat level has gone down," but "soldiers...can't afford to let their guards down. Iraq may be quieter," but "it's not yet a country of peace" and "Gen. David Petraeus is determined not to declare victory early."
Negative Trend In Afghanistan Noted ABC World News reported, "While the number of US casualties in Iraq is declining, the number in Afghanistan continues to rise. 16 US troops were killed in Afghanistan in July. That's the second-highest monthly total since the war began."
McClatchy reports US District Judge John Bates "rejected the Bush administration's sweeping assertion of executive privilege and ruled that two White House aides must answer subpoenas from Congress." However, Judge Bates "said that the aides could cite executive privilege and refuse to answer specific questions once they were in front of Congress." The Wall Street Journal says "the ruling by US District Judge John D. Bates doesn't settle the larger question of whether" former White House counsel Harriet Miers and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten "can assert executive privilege to refuse to respond to specific questions from Congress." The AP, meanwhile, calls the ruling "a blow to the Bush administration's efforts to bolster the power of the executive branch at the expense of the legislative branch."
The New York Times reports, "Unless overturned on appeal," Miers and Bolten "would be required to cooperate with the House Judiciary Committee, which has been investigating the controversial dismissal of the federal prosecutors in 2006." The Washington Post reports, "Bates's decision will likely not end the squabble. The Justice Department, which represents the White House, is expected to appeal. Officials with the committee and the Justice Department could not be reached for comment." The Hill also notes Speaker Nancy Pelosi "said the ruling could give Congress a new impetus to hold Rove in contempt." The Los Angeles Times and Washington Times run similar reports.
The AP reports that in remarks in White Sulphur Springs, WV, "President Bush says he's using his last six months in office to push new energy plans that include electricity from coal." In a speech to "the West Virginia Coal Association gathered at The Greenbrier Resort," the President said "reliable sources of electricity must be part of a strong economy, and 'there is no more reliable source of electricity than coal.'"
Fox News' Special Report reported Bush "took another shot today at enticing, cajoling or shaming Democratic lawmakers into doing something about the energy crunch. Once again, there was much more talk than action on Capitol Hill and the stumbling block continues to be the Republican call for new domestic oil drilling." Bush "insisted his administration has been pushing a variety of new energy plans, including clean coal technology, and will continue to do so. For the third straight day, he said when it comes to oil and natural gas, Congress won't allow votes on practical solutions like domestic drilling."
Parties Jockey For Position On Drilling The Wall Street Journal reports, "As Congress begins a five-week break without passing legislation to address high gasoline prices, Democrats and Republicans are fighting for the political high ground in the energy debate." In a "flurry of ads and on the campaign trail, Republicans are pounding Democrats for failing to allow votes on lifting a federal ban on oil and gas drilling in offshore areas to boost domestic production." Democrats, meanwhile, "are accusing Republicans of blocking renewable-energy initiatives and protecting wealthy oil companies at consumers' expense."
The Hill reports, "Democrats will head into the August recess Friday with the shadow of gas prices hanging over them following a mix-up about whether House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had hinted that she might allow a vote on new oil drilling." The Democrats' "struggles to cope with the energy crisis threaten to obscure a string of victories it has racked up on other domestic issues, such as housing, Medicare, unemployment and veterans' benefits."
Florida Poll Shows 60% Back Drilling McClatchy reports, "With gas prices hovering at $4 a gallon, a majority of Floridians now support drilling for oil in protected areas offshore, according to a new poll. The survey finds support for drilling at 60 percent, with 10 percent of respondents telling pollsters that they'd opposed offshore drilling in the past. Thirty-six percent of respondents said they remain opposed to offshore drilling."
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Jay Leno: "Well, the campaign's starting to get nasty. ... Have you seen the new commercial? The McCain campaign compares Barack Obama to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. And today, the Obama campaign released an ad comparing John McCain to Zsa Zsa Gabor and Bea Arthur."
Jay Leno: "Obama's people are trying to portray McCain as cranky, and McCain is trying to portray Obama as arrogant, you see. And when Obama was asked what he thought about being called arrogant, well, he said he was 'above having to answer that question.'"
Jay Leno: "And when McCain was asked about being labeled cranky, he told the reporter to 'go to hell!'"
Conan O'Brien: "In a speech yesterday, Barack Obama said he's distantly related to the famous 19th century gunslinger Wild Bill Hickock. ... After hearing this, John McCain said, 'Big deal. I went to high school with him.'
Jimmy Kimmel: "President Bush is on the hunt for a new home. ... I guess his master plan of massive foreclosures and plummeting real estate prices has finally paid off, because he should get a good deal."
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