March 31, 2008

<><>DEMOCRATS<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

 

THE FIELD

 

Clinton Shouldn’t Feel Forced to Quit Race, Obama Says

 

By Michael Powell

New York Times

March 31, 2008

 

Senator Barack Obama had a few words of advice Saturday for his rival, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton: Do not drop out on my account…

 

CLINTON

 

Rosy Words for Clinton by ’90s Nemesis

 

By Michael Barbaro

New York Times

March 31, 2008

 

The billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife, once a fervid Clinton basher, complimented Hillary Rodham Clinton after meeting with her…

 

The Game’s Not Over, Clinton Backers Agree

 

By Jeff Zeleny

New York Times

March 31, 2008

 

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton likened this stage of the campaign to the final quarter of a close basketball game…

 

Clinton Vows To Stay in Race To Convention

She Stresses Finding Solution On Michigan, Florida Votes

 

By Perry Bacon Jr. and Anne E. Kornblut

Washington Post

March 30, 2008

 

NEW ALBANY, Ind., March 29 -- In her most definitive comments to date on the subject, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton sought Saturday to put to rest any notion that she will drop out of the presidential race, pledging in an interview to not only compete in all the remaining primaries but also continue until there is a resolution of the disqualified results in Florida and Michigan. A day after Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean urged the candidates to end the race by July 1, Clinton defied that call by declaring that she will take her campaign all the way to the Aug. 25-28 convention if necessary, potentially setting up the prolonged and divisive contest that party leaders are increasingly anxious to avoid…

 

Bill Clinton urges patience

The ex-president says the primary process should reach its natural conclusion before they start making nominee choices.

 

By Richard C. Paddock

Los Angeles Times

March 30, 2008

 

SAN JOSE — Former President Clinton told delegates to the state Democratic Convention today that the party's superdelegates and activists should be patient in selecting a presidential nominee and let the primary election process play out in the coming months. A vigorous campaign between his wife, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama is not going to damage the party's prospects of beating the Republican nominee in the fall, Clinton said. "Don't let anybody tell you that somehow we are weakening the Democratic Party," Clinton said. "Chill out and let everybody have their say. We are going to win this election." Before his speech, the former president met privately with more than a dozen superdelegates who will vote at the national Democratic Party convention in August on the party's nominee…

 

OBAMA

 

New Backing for Obama As Party Seeks Unity

 

By Jackie Calmes

Wall Street Journal

March 31, 2008

 

WASHINGTON -- Slowly but steadily, a string of Democratic Party figures is taking Barack Obama's side in the presidential nominating race and raising the pressure on Hillary Clinton to give up. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota is expected to endorse Sen. Obama Monday, according to a Democrat familiar with her plans. Meanwhile, North Carolina's seven Democratic House members are poised to endorse Sen. Obama as a group -- just one has so far -- before that state's May 6 primary, several Democrats say…

 

Who Are We? New Dialogue on Mixed Race

 

By Mireya Navarro

New York Times

March 31, 2008

 

Many multiracial Americans say Barack Obama’s speech about race rang with a special significance in their ears…

 

Endorsement of Obama Points Up Clinton Obstacles

 

By Adam Nagourney

New York Times

March 29, 2008

 

An endorsement of Senator Barack Obama by Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania underlined the ferment in the Democratic race…

 

Surprise Backing From Senator Reflected Frustration and Desire for Healing

 

By Katharine Q. Seelye and Michael Powell

New York Times

March 29, 2008

 

Senator Bob Casey’s endorsement may carry some weight, especially with white working class voters, who are known as Casey Democrats…

 

Obama Overstates Kennedys' Role in Helping His Father

 

By Michael Dobbs

Washington Post

March 30, 2008

 

Addressing civil rights activists in Selma, Ala., a year ago, Sen. Barack Obama traced his "very existence" to the generosity of the Kennedy family, which he said paid for his Kenyan father to travel to America on a student scholarship and thus meet his Kansan mother. The Camelot connection has become part of the mythology surrounding Obama's bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. After Caroline Kennedy endorsed his candidacy in January, Newsweek commentator Jonathan Alter reported that she had been struck by the extraordinary way in which "history replays itself" and by how "two generations of two families -- separated by distance, culture and wealth -- can intersect in strange and wonderful ways."

 

Obama draws thousands to rally on Penn State lawn, says he will win Democratic nomination

 

Associated Press

March 30, 2008

 

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Shivering in blankets of Penn State's colors, some 20,000 people filled a campus lawn today to hear Barack Obama say he can win the Democratic nomination even if rival Hillary Rodham Clinton stays in the race. Supporters stood in long lines for hours to hear Obama ahead of the April 22 Pennsylvania primary. On a sunny day with temperatures in the low 40s, most bundled up for the type of large-scale rally that has become the candidate's trademark…

 

Obama pastor's words spring from complex tradition

The Rev. Wright's mix of theology with race relations in America belongs to the 'prophetic' style of black preaching. Is he more outrageous than Frederick Douglass?

 

By Manya A. Brachear

Chicago Tribune

March 30, 2008

 

CHICAGO -- On the Sunday in 2003 when Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. shouted "God damn America" from the pulpit of Trinity United Church of Christ, he defined damnation as God's way of holding humanity accountable for its actions…

 

<><>REPUBLICANS<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

 

McCAIN

 

McCain Faces Test in Wooing Elite Donors

 

By Michael Luo and Griff Palmer

New York Times

March 31, 2008

 

Senator John McCain has so far managed to enlist only a fraction of the heavyweight fund-raisers who helped drive President Bush’s two runs for the White House…

 

McCain polls well amidst war, economic worries

 

Associated Press

March 31, 2008

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — He robustly backs the unpopular Iraq war. The U.S. economy is in a tailspin under the stewardship of President George W. Bush, a fellow Republican whose favorable ratings with Americans stands at 30% or lower. His stance on some hot-button American issues like immigration rankle his party's conservative base…

 

<><> PRIMARY CONTESTS<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

 

TEXAS

 

Clinton, Obama supporters wrangle over delegates

The acrimony is evident at district conventions in Texas this weekend, with each side accusing the other of underhandedness.

 

By Tom Hamburger and Peter Wallsten

Los Angeles Times

March 30, 2008

 

HOUSTON — Less than a month ago, Texas Democrats turned out in huge numbers for the presidential nominating contest between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, confident that, no matter who won, the party would have a popular, well-financed candidate. But that exuberance is gone now. Across the state this weekend, tense confrontations -- even shoving matches -- erupted as partisans for Clinton and Obama battled over how to interpret the March 4 election results and how to choose delegates to the Texas Democratic convention…

 

<><>RACE TO THE WHITE HOUSE<><><><><><><><><><><>

 

McCain's health plan fails her test

Neither Elizabeth Edwards, whose cancer is incurable, nor the presumptive Republican presidential nominee would be covered by his policy, she asserts.

 

By Rong-Gong Lin II

Los Angeles Times

March 30, 2008

 

ARLINGTON, VA. -- Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of former Democratic presidential contender John Edwards, said she and John McCain have one thing in common: "Neither one of us would be covered by his health policy."

 

<><>WAR/TERROR<><><><><>><><><><><><><><><><><><>

 

Iraqi Offensive Revives Debate for Campaigns

 

By Michael Cooper and Larry Rohter

New York Times

March 31, 2008

 

The war’s return to the public consciousness poses new challenges and opportunities for the candidates, particularly Senator John McCain…

 

<><>CONGRESS<><><><><>><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

 

Congress Raises Call for Data Safeguards

 

By Amy Schatz

Wall Street Journal

March 31, 2008

 

WASHINGTON -- The breach of presidential candidates' passport files has revived efforts to improve data security and require the government to notify people when someone has improperly looked into their private files. Congressional investigators say security for private data collected by the government remains uneven, despite improvements such as the system that alerted State Department officials that contractors had improperly snooped in the three major candidates' passport files…

 

<><>OTHER NEWS<><><><><>><><><><><><><><><><><><>

 

With Washington in Gridlock, Voters May Determine Oversight

 

By Gerald F. Seib

Wall Street Journal

March 31, 2008

 

America is about to find out what happens when a weakened financial system meets up with a weakened political system. The Treasury Department's proposal to overhaul the way the government regulates financial markets, to be formally unveiled Monday, represents an ambitious attempt by the Bush administration to rewrite rules that have prevailed for decades…

 

Paulson Plan Begins Battle Over How to Police Market

Amid Crisis, a Bid To Shuffle Powers; Fast Fixes Unlikely

 

By Damian Paletta, Greg Ip and Michael M. Phillips

Wall Street Journal

March 31, 2008

 

The Bush administration's plan to remodel the patchwork system of U.S. financial regulation, built piecemeal since the Civil War, is the biggest salvo in what will be a long-running debate about the role of government in financial markets…

No comments: