Obama tagged again, McCain begins ad campaign
1. While the Democratic in-fight continues between Clinton and Obama, DNC Chairman and failed 2004 Presidential candidate Howard Dean has called on superdelegates to make a decision by July 1st. Dean’s concern is to not have the Democrats’ fight each other all summer and has consistently tried to just get the two candidates to wrap things up.
2. Also on the Democratic side, Hilary Clinton vowed to take her fight to the convention if necessary, pledging to fight for the right of Florida and Michigan to be seated. She has said that she will take that case to the credentialing committee, which, if she wins, could put her over the top in delegates. Thus the discussion of what to do about Florida and Michigan rages on, two states key to the November general election contest with a combined 44 electoral votes.
3. Also on the Democratic side, Obama has drawn fire for changing his positions from a questionairre he filled out on his views while in the Illinois state Senate. His campaign had previously stated he never filled out the earlier questionairre, but it now appears to have been written by him after all, as it is his handwriting. See http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0308/9269.html for the story. In short, he is now trying to moderate his views, perhaps to seem more electable in a general election. Among the more unpopular stances he has taken include his stance in opposition to parental notification, much less parental consent, for minors seeking abortion, even down to the ages of 12 or 13 years old, middle school age.
4. Continuing on Obama’s problems this week, the Washington Post fact checks section has criticized Obama for “inaccuracies” in the much-publicized speech he gave in Selma, Alabama earlier in this campaign. There Obama and Clinton, competing for the black vote and each trying to paint themselves as the candidate more of a continuation of the civil rights movement, spoke at a mecca site of the civil rights movement. Obama stated his father came over from Africa as part of JFK’s efforts to help educate young Africans and that he was “coming home to Selma” in the sense that the events of Selma enabled his black father and white mother to come together to have him. In fact, Obama’s father came to the U.S. in 1959 not by JFK’s efforts but by a program put in place by the leader of Kenya, a good 1-2 years before JFK was sworn into office. Also, Obama’s parents did not come together as a result of Selma, whose civil rights’ activity occurred in 1965, four years after Obama was born in 1961. Obama’s supporters suggest that he simply misspoke whereas Clinton’s supporters are calling him out as a pandering liar.
5. If that was not enough, Obama is also drawing some heat this week for his past activities in the Illinois state legislature. Other representatives have said that the Democrat in charge of assigning bills in the state congress, a fellow African-American, engaged in “bill-jacking” to help Obama appear to have pulled off legislative achievements that were already completed by the work of other representatives who had secured enough votes and support to pass legislation he was credited with. All in all, a bad week for Obama. This issue will likely get further explored in the next week or two.
6. If the week was bad for Obama, it did not go particularly well for Clinton either. She has been accused of “valor theft” over the “misstatements” regarding her trip to Bosnia. While more new issues adverse to Obama appeared in the news this week, it was Clinton’s flap that continued to dominate the coverage on CNN and other news outlets.
7. McCain’s ad campaign has begun, see http://www.johnmccain.com/service/intro.htm for the ad. McCain’s ad tries to define him as one who has dedicated his life to serving his country, in the tradition of his family, emphasizing his love for the country, why he believes in it, and the qualities he possesses that America should expect in a President. In short, the narration is to make him seem Presidential, emphasizing his virtues that contrast well against his Democratic rivals.
