Politics

Obama Celebrates Fourth in Montana

BUTTE, Mont.-- Sen. Barack Obama's ongoing campaign theme fit the bill for the Fourth of July.

Obama Willing to 'Refine' Iraq Withdrawal Plan

FARGO, N.D. -- Wait, he’s gonna talk to us again?

That was the feeling among many of the press corps as we finished our lunches, and filed stories from a tent set up at a children’s museum here in beautiful Fargo, when we learned Sen. Barack Obama would make himself available for press questions for the second time in one day. As one reporter noted, there are some weeks where he doesn't make himself available twice in one week.

Sadly, this wasn’t an act of generosity by the presumed Democratic nominee for president to his campaign chroniclers. He was using this second appearance to, um, clarify earlier remarks when, fresh off a flight from Colorado Springs, he told the group he’d be willing to “refine” his withdrawal plan from Iraq.

N.D.'s Three Electoral College Votes, Ripe for the Picking

FARGO, N.D.--Standing on a tarmac in Fargo, N.D. this morning, the press corps traveling with Sen. Barack Obama had every reason to ask what in god's name they were doing there. Not only had George W. Bush taken the state during the last two election cycles, North Dakota has a paltry three votes in the electoral college. But here was the presumed Democratic presidential candidate, ready to give an address on veterans at a local children's museum, before leading the group to Montana -- which also has a whopping three votes to add.

Jeb Bush, McCain Visit Mexico

MEXICO CITY -- As reported earlier, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush accompanied Sen. John McCain on a tour of the Basilica of the Virgin Guadalupe this morning. During the visit, McCain received a blessing from the Basilica’s Monsignor Monroy.

Jeb Bush to Join McCain in Mexico

MEXICO CITY -- The McCain campaign just confirmed that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will join Sen. John McCain here today. Bush, the son of President George H.W. Bush and brother of President George W. Bush, will accompany McCain this morning on a tour of the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe -- the second most-visited Catholic shrine in the world, after St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.

Bush did not endorse any Republican candidate during the primaries, though he did contribute $1,000 to McCain's campaign in February -- his only donation to a presidential candidate this cycle.

McCain, One Year After Black Friday

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.--It seemed another life ago. Here was Sen. John McCain--the Esquire cover boy and the favorite to win the Republican nomination--letting go of many of his highly paid advisers, his campaign seemingly set amongst the ruins and smoldering rubble of great promise. This was July 2007 and the day everything came down was known to most people surrounding McCain supporters as Black Monday as campaign staff and advisers were sent packing. The money had simply run out.

In many ways it was a pivotal moment in the campaign. McCain--now streamlined and free of many financial burdens--returned to New Hampshire where he's treated as an adopted favorite son and proceeded to take the nomination on his terms, in his way. Mitt Romney had more cash. Mike Huckabee had the evangelical cred. Giuliani had, well, two kids who hate his guts. But McCain had experience and guile on his side and damn if he didn't find a way to outlast other candidates with bigger coffers to become the presumed Republican nominee. The Straight Talk Express was back baby!

Uribe Gives McCain a Going Away Present

MEXICO CITY -- Even though McCain campaign staff initially announced there would be no media avail during today’s Straight Talk Express flight from Colombia to Mexico -- because Sen. John McCain was napping -- there was still plenty of excitement. Approximately one hour into the flight, we received news that Colombian military forces had rescued a group of 15 hostages -- including three Americans and French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt, a former presidential candidate who had been held by FARC, left-wing insurgents, for six years.

 

McCain spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan came back into the press area and informed us that during last night’s meeting between McCain, Sens. Lindsay Graham and Joseph I. Lieberman, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos, Uribe informed the senators that the Colombian government had a plan to liberate the hostages. Buchanan said the rescue was a coincidence and McCain did not know in advance the rescue would take place today.

McCain on Free Trade in Colombia

CARTAGENA, Colombia -- After a closed press meeting with Colombian soldiers wounded while fighting FARC rebels, Sen. John McCain and his entourage, including his wife and Sens. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) and Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.), received a briefing on Colombian drug interdiction efforts. The Arizona senator and his wife toured a port by fast boat. The group later returned to the hotel for a press conference with international press.

McCain began the conference by praising the Colombian foreign minister, who had been held hostage by FARC for six years, and called for all hostages to be freed, including three Americans.

The Counter-intuitive Candidate

CARTAGENA, Colombia -- In at least one way, Sen. John McCain's two-day jaunt through Latin America encapsulates his unusual campaign strategy. Yesterday, he met with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to discuss human rights, drug trafficking and free trade. McCain, an ardent supporter of the Colombian Free Trade Agreement, finds himself in opposition to a majority of Americans, according to a new CNN poll.

Why Colombia?

It's the perfect place to flash your war-on-terror and free-trade bona fides, expose your rival's vulnerabilities and change the conversation from Iraq.

McCain Touts Colombian Drug Fight on GMA

CARTAGENA, Colombia -- Sen. John McCain appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America" from South America and echoed some of the statements he made last night at a press conference with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe on cooperative anti-drug trafficking efforts between the United States and Colombia. He cited the increased street price of cocaine as evidence of the success of drug eradication programs, like crop-spraying.

Notes from Cartagena

CARTAGENA, Colombia -- The Straight Talk Express touched down here at approximately 5 p.m. local time. Sen. John McCain, along with Sens. Lindsay Graham and Joseph I. Lieberman, were greeted by a small crowd of local press as well as the U.S. ambassador to Colombia, Bill Brownfield, and his Colombian counterpart, Carolina Barco. The senator and the press corps were whisked away at high speed down narrow roads, eventually arriving at Fort Manzanillo, where McCain met with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe for about one hour and 40 minutes.

As the press corps waited in the broiling heat for the scheduled media avail, valiantly fighting off hordes of hungry mosquitoes, they were treated to the world's longest sound check -- endless refrains of "Uno, dos, tres. Holaholaholaholaholahola." This went on for well over a half-hour.

TWI, Live From Colombia With McCain

CARTAGENA, Colombia -- En route to Colombia, aboard Sen. John McCain’s swanky new Straight Talk Express, a 747 with a custom paint job, the Arizona senator offered up a series of what can only be described as very cozy chats with the press corps. In shifts, reporters went up to the front of the plane to chat with McCain, who sat in a plush armchair. His colleagues, Sens. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) and Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.), sat on a small bench to McCain’s right. On his left sat his wife, Cindy, covered with a yellow fleece blanket.

In the cramped, cordoned-off section of the cabin, reporters strained to hear McCain over the jet engines. This was the first airborne edition of the regular impromptu press conferences that take place aboard the Straight Talk Express bus. It proved a learning experience. For example, as several reporters found, if you place a recorder on the floor of a moving jet, it picks up an extreme amount of background noise, making the recording unusable.

Obama's Faith Strategy

Sen. Barack Obama's speech on faith reveals both his campaign strategy and his plans for the Democratic party.

Wii the People

Yesterday, the Obama campaign revealed that the presumed Democratic Party nominee had a 20-minute conversation with former President Bill Clinton that, by their account, was cordial and forward-looking. Though Clinton's wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Obama had pledged their allegiance to one another in Unity, N.H., on Friday, the relationship between the junior Illinois senator and the former president might need more repair work. It was Bill Clinton, who, acting as his wife's surrogate, repeatedly came off as ill-tempered and angry about Obama's rise and the so-called audacity of Hope.

Clark Opens Discourse on Relevance of the Past

If there's one thing you can count on at every Barack Obama campaign event it's this: The presumed Democratic nominee for president, after thanking the crowd and local officials, begins by praising the military service of his counterpart, Sen. John McCain -- often calling him a genuine American hero. It's a way for Obama to diffuse anything that comes after if the Illinois senator acknowledges McCain's heroism in Vietnam a generation ago, and the suffering he endured as a young man there, before pummeling the candidate today. It comes straight from the playbook of George W. Bush, who would cite Sen. John Kerry's military service (while ads "swiftboated" Kerry's record in Vietnam), before he would call him a flip-flopper in issues like national security.

Thus, it's no surprise that Obama was quick to distance himself from the remarks of retired general and former presidential nominee Wesley Clark, who questioned whether McCain's harrowing time in Vietnam served as a qualification for him to be president. This, is after all, sensitive ground. McCain underwent unspeakable hardship during his time in captivity, and even today, when he speaks of those days, one gets the sense that those years will never really leave him.

Still, Clark has opened up a vein for a serious discourse on the nature of experience and of the acts of one's youth and the ability to lead a nation. We have seen how one's youth can either provide a compelling, successful narrative in the stories of John F. Kennedy in his PT-Boat and Teddy Roosevelt's exploits during the Spanish-American War.

McCain Talks Tough on Crime at Sheriffs' Convention

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Sen. John McCain returned to the Rust Belt today, paying a quick visit to the land of Hoosiers, corn and Mellencamp. In town for less than four hours, McCain gave a speech to the National Sheriff's Assn.'s 68th Annual Conference and attended a fund-raiser here before heading off to Colombia to promote free trade and meet with President Alvaro Uribe.

Indiana, a historically conservative state -- George W. Bush defeated Sen. John Kerry here in 2004 by a whopping 21 percentage points -- could be shaping up to be yet another Midwestern battleground. The political handicappers over at FiveThirtyEight.com are calling the state literally a tossup -- equally likely to go for McCain or Sen. Barack Obama in November. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton had pulled out a squeaker here in the May 6 Democratic primary, defeating Obama by just two points, amid reports that Rush Limbaugh's minions worked to tilt the election in her favor.

State of Play: McCain Heads to Colombia

In what is likely the first-ever flight from Indianapolis to Colombia, Sen. John McCain's campaign charter will head to South America today, where the presumptive Republican nominee will try to flex his foreign policy muscles.  McCain will meet with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and tour a naval base in Cartagena before flying to Mexico City for a meeting with Mexican President Felipe Calderon.  TWI Reporter Matthew DeLong is traveling with the McCain campaign and will give us frequent updates.

A handful of major media outlets previewed McCain's trip, including three which used an Associated Press story.

Full Slate Awaits Senate

Amid election year politicking, pressing issues stalled, including Medicare and housing.

Obama Among the Patriots

Today Sen. Barack Obama fired back at critics who have challenged his patriotism with a speech in Independence, Missouri. TWI's fellow network site Minnesota Independent has posted the text of the speech here.