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What Obama's Pick Means more similar news »
Politico examines Sen. Barack Obama's selection of Sen. Joe Biden as his running mate and says it tells us five things about the Democratic nominee:
1. He's fixing for a fight.
2. He's a lot more conventional than advertised.
3. He's insecure about security.
4. He's more worried about Lunchbox Joe than Bubba.
5. He doesn't hold a grudge -- or at least doesn't let one get in the way.
Sun Aug 24, 2008 more from this source»»
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WP/ABC Poll: Obama Leads By Four Points more similar news »
The latest Washington Post/ABC News poll shows Sen. Barack Obama leading Sen. John McCain, 49% to 45%.
"The results show little movement from the last Post-ABC survey,
conducted in mid-July, before Obama embarked on a highly publicized
trip overseas and prior to a series of fierce exchanges between the
campaigns. Other recent national polls also show only limited changes
in the overall race heading into the conventions, although several of
those surveys indicate an even-tighter race."
The poll was taken before Obama named Sen. Joe Biden as his running mate.
Sun Aug 24, 2008 more from this source»»
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Early Reactions to Obama's Pick more similar news »
Just as news broke early this morning of Sen. Barack Obama's choice of Sen. Joe Biden as his running mate, Sen. John McCain's campaign sent out a prepared attack ad using a quote from Biden saying that Obama was not "ready" to be president. It was predictable given that the two men were primary opponents; more interesting will be the Obama campaign's response this morning.
From a purely political perspective, no presidential campaign has ever handled the announcement of a running mate so deftly. The Obama campaign set a new standard that will be studied for years.
Other reactions:
New York Times: "Mr. Obama's selection ended a two-month search that was conducted
almost entirely in secret. It reflected a critical strategic choice by
Mr. Obama: To go with a running mate who could reassure voters about
gaps in his résumé, rather than to pick someone who could deliver a
state or reinforce Mr. Obama's message of change."
Politico:
"On foreign policy and national security, an area where John McCain
regularly assails Obama's lack of experience, Democrats offer few more
seasoned practitioners than Biden."
First Read: "On the Democratic side, it was a collective 'phew.' As the days got
nearer for the pick, it was hard to find a Democrat -- even savvy
Clintonites -- who weren't hoping it would be Biden. Only the most
strident Hillary supporters appear to be upset this morning. On the GOP
side, the sound you heard was disappointed silence. Of everyone on the
short list, the candidate many Republicans least wanted to see Obama
pick was Biden."
Mark Halperin: "Balanced against all of those unmatched qualifications is one quality
that has afflicted Biden for as long as anyone can remember: a persistent
tendency to say silly, offensive, and off-putting things. Over the next few
days (and, likely, weeks) some of Biden's ungreatest hits of gab will be
recycled by the media and Republicans aiming to take the luster off Obama's
choice of running mate."
Craig Crawford: "Obama-Biden works on several fronts, A longtime sentimental favorite among the Democratic faithful, Delaware Sen. Joe Biden provides a comfort zone for labor leaders, Catholics (he is one) and national-security voters. Although Biden's poor fundraising skills doomed his presidential campaigns, he performs extremely well in debates and demonstrated considerable skill at shifting from the arcane language of the Senate chamber to the street language of the campaign trail."
David Brody: "Time will tell if Barack Obama made the right choice in picking Joe
Biden but if you look at it on paper, it makes a whole lot of sense."
Marc Ambinder: "Obama-Biden will be a formidable ticket, and a risky ticket, and not a comfort zone choice for Obama."
Jonathan Cohn: "Conservatives will blast [Biden's] record, just as
surely as liberals will (or should) celebrate it. But one of the
virtues of having Biden as the vice presidential nominee is that he
won't take those kinds of attacks lightly. He'll fight back. He'll
remind people, rightly, that being a liberal Democrat means raising the
minimum wage, making sure everybody has affordable health care,
providing strong public schools, and protecting human rights. Then,
he'll ask why conservative Republicans don't want the same things.
That's exactly the kind of political debate this country needs. By
picking Biden as a running mate, Obama has signaled that he welcomes
this argument--and intends, finally, to win it."
Sat Aug 23, 2008 more from this source»»
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Bloomberg May Fight Term Limits more similar news »
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg "has quietly approached some of the city's most powerful media figures to assess whether their publications would endorse a bid to overturn New York City's term limits, which could clear a path for him to run for re-election next year," the New York Times reports.
"Such a move would upend New York's political world and be a dramatic reversal for the mayor."
Sat Aug 23, 2008 more from this source»»
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Activity at Biden's House more similar news »
CNN -- which has had a camera trained on Sen. Joe Biden's home all day -- reports there is now "a flurry of
activity" there.
"Cars have recently pulled into the driveway -- including a police car -- and Biden's daughter, son, and wife are now believed to be inside."
First Read: "Just asking, so which news organization is going to irresponsibly go
with Biden without confirmation from Biden or the Obama campaign --
even though they all have the same information we do? Some news org who
loves credit and hits has to be itchin'..."
Sat Aug 23, 2008 more from this source»»
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It's Not Bayh or Kaine more similar news »
Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) and Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D) have been told by Sen. Barack Obama's
campaign they will not be his vice presidential choice, NBC News
reports.
"Speculation
about Obama's choice has centered on Bayh, Kaine and Delaware Sen.
Joseph Biden. Other names in the mix include Kansas Gov. Kathleen
Sebelius, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, New Mexico Gov. Bill
Richardson and Texas Rep. Chet Edwards."
Campaign officials told the AP that they "had taken the trouble to print material bearing the names of several
potential ticketmates -- thereby minimizing the significance of a report
that a printing company in Kansas was churning out signs bearing Bayh's
name."
The AP confirms Kaine was told he's not Obama's pick.
CNN confirms Bayh was told he's not the pick either.
Sat Aug 23, 2008 more from this source»»
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More Running Mate Hints? more similar news »
A Kansas City television station reports a local company is printing Obama-Bayh bumper stickers. The design, however, looks very unlikely. A reader also notes there's no union label on the bumper sticker.
Marc Ambinder finds a charter flight from Chicago to Delaware. More information here. Could it be Joe Biden's flight?
The New York Times asked Sen. Hillary Clinton if she wanted to be Obama's pick, and she responded: "I have never said I did. I have always said I would do whatever I can
because I feel so strongly in making sure that we elect senator Obama
our next president. I'm going to do everything I can as I did yesterday
in Florida to make sure that happens."
The Hotline staked out Biden's home in Delaware: "We have not seen the senator or his wife, leading some to wonder if he may have snuck out overnight."
Dan Balz is impressed with the Obama campaign: "So far they've orchestrated the
vice presidential roll out deftly -- delaying it until the eve of the
convention to assure that they dominate the last days before opening
night with real news, while steadily ratcheting up the frenzy of
speculation in the days beforehand."
And so is Politico: "In dragging out the announcement of his vice-presidential nominee to almost the eve of the Democratic National Convention, Barack Obama has at once demonstrated his willingness to defy conventional political expectations--and to hold the news media in his thrall while doing it."
Sat Aug 23, 2008 more from this source»»
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