Silious950
Active Member
Here is an article in the NYT. It only reassures my support for Democratic Nominee Barak Obama. I think he is the most honest down to earth politician out of all of them. Heres the article :
November 21, 2007, 7:58 am
The Early Word: It’s All About Iowa
By Ariel Alexovich <http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/author/aalexovich/>
Most of the candidates are focusing on Iowa right now, and the state’s dedicated and not-so-dedicated voters. Lois Romano delves into the psyche of the fickle – or maybe just disenchanted – Iowa voter in today’s Washington Post <washingtonpost.com >. She looks at the solidly conservative town of Le Mars, where caucus-goers don’t feel strong loyalty toward any G.O.P. candidate, and frankly, they don’t even know if they’ll be caucus-goers, since the Orange Bowl will be held the same night as the Jan. 3 vote.
These days, there is an uncertainty about politics and their civic responsibility that is unsettling. This has been rock-solid Bush country. Conservatives and evangelicals were largely at peace in the knowledge that their president shared their Christian values. But this year, they aren’t at all sure anymore where to put their trust for 2008 — or whether they should even bother trying.
Iowa voters also worry more about globalization now than they did in the past, forcing presidential candidates to speak more cautiously about trade, reports the Wall Street Journal <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119560596756999923.html?mod=special_page_campaign2008_topbox>.
Trade has become such a hot subject that Democratic presidential candidates seeking support in Iowa’s influential Jan. 3 caucuses are turning into trade skeptics, and the issue is splitting traditionally free-trade Republicans.
Iowa’s ambivalence is all the more remarkable because the state is on the whole a big winner from global trade. "Iowa, as much as any other state, is on the plus side of the ledger," says James Leach, a 30-year Republican congressman from Iowa who now runs Harvard University’s Institute of Politics. "It would be highly ironic if pro-protectionist candidates prevailed in the Iowa caucuses." Trade wasn’t always such a high priority: In the 2004 Iowa caucus, Richard Gephardt, the most outspoken Democrat on the issue, attracted so few votes he subsequently pulled out of the race.
A new poll from the Washington Post/ABC News has another surprising statistic this week. With the support of evangelical Protestants, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee <Huckabee Gaining Ground in Iowa - washingtonpost.com > has blown past three of his Republican rivals to place just short of Mitt Romney in Iowa.
Huckabee has tripled his support in Iowa since late July, eclipsing former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, former senator Fred D. Thompson (Tenn.) and Sen. John McCain (Ariz.). Huckabee now runs nearly evenly with Romney, the longtime Iowa front-runner.
Huckabee’s rise from dark horse to contender in Iowa is one more unexpected twist in a race that has remained fluid throughout the year and adds another unpredictable element to the competition for the GOP nomination. His support in Iowa appears stronger and more enthusiastic than that of his rivals.
Mr. Giuliani picked up the endorsement of former Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar <http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...n_web_nov21,1,885834.story?ctrack=3&cset=true >yesterday in Chicago, despite their opposite views on driver’s licenses for illegal aliens.
Illegal immigration <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/21/us/politics/21campaign.html?ref=politics> also was the main issue of debate for Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Romney yesterday, as each sought to suggest the other has a soft record on the issue.
[Mr. Romney] has been broadcasting a television advertisement that declares a hard-line stance against illegal immigration and has sent out a mailing that rebukes the policies of Mr. Giuliani, though not by name.
Mr. Giuliani has fought back vigorously, portraying the issue as yet another in a long list, along with abortion, gay rights and gun control, in which Mr. Romney has shifted his position to score political points.
The news that scientists in Japan and the United States created embryonic stem cells <http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/11/21/romney_camp_is_buoyed_by_skin_cell_news/> from skin cells could be a coup for Mr. Romney, reports the Boston Globe.
As his presidential campaign contended yesterday, he may have been vindicated by yesterday’s announcement that scientists have created stem cells without having to make or destroy embryos. It pointed out that Romney has long called for a less ethically charged alternative, and it highlighted an opinion piece published online yesterday that praises Romney for his position.
On the campaign trail in Shenandoah, Iowa, yesterday, Hillary Rodham Clinton took a swipe at Barack Obama’s foreign policy experience <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/21/us/politics/21dems.html?ref=politics>, implying the four years he spent in Indonesia as a child are inadequate credentials for a president.
Mrs. Clinton’s experience was backed by a couple of unlikely supporters <Sign Up > – President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush.
Most unusual on Tuesday was the intervention of Bush and his wife in the Democratic contest. Calling Clinton a "very formidable candidate," the president told ABC News: "There is no question that Senator Clinton understands pressure better than any of the candidates, you know, in the race."
Laura Bush underscored a key rationale for Clinton’s White House run, saying her predecessor’s experience as first lady would be "very helpful" in the Oval Office. "You certainly know what it’s like," she said. "You know the pressure there is. You know the difficulties."
Mr. Obama rolled out his $18 billion education plan <Obama unveils $18 billion education plan - Boston.com > in Manchester, N.H., and criticized Mrs. Clinton and John Edwards for not fully financing the No Child Left Behind Act, reports the Boston Globe.
"It’s pretty popular to bash No Child Left Behind out on the campaign trail, but when it was being debated in Congress four years ago, my colleague Dick Durbin offered a chance to vote so that the law couldn’t be enforced unless it was fully funded," Obama said. "A lot of senators, including Sen. Edwards and Sen. Clinton, passed on that chance. And I believe that was a serious mistake."
The Illinois senator also stopped by a study hall <http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/N/NH_OBAMA_HIGH_SCHOOL_YEARS_NHOL-?SITE=NHMAL&SECTION=STATE&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-11-20-13-53-14> in Manchester Central High School to talk with students about his education plan and openly chatted about what he was like when he was their age. Not everyone was impressed with what he had to say about drugs <http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2007/11/21/2007-11-21_antidrug_crowd_says_barack_obamas_talk_w.html>, though.
"I will confess to you that I was kind of a goof-off in high school as my mom reminded me," said Obama, an Illinois Democrat who grew up in Hawaii.
"You know, I made some bad decisions that I’ve actually written about. You know, got into drinking. I experimented with drugs," he said. "There was a whole stretch of time that I didn’t really apply myself a lot. It wasn’t until I got out of high school and went to college that I started realizing, ‘Man, I wasted a lot of time.’"
The Obama campaign, which Ryan Lizza <The Political Scene: The Relaunch: Reporting & Essays: The New Yorker > of the New Yorker insists is in the midst of a relaunch, is counting on the youth vote for help in the Iowa caucus. Today’s Los Angeles Times <Sign Up > looks at how the Jan. 3 caucus – in the middle of college winter break – will either help Mr. Obama by spreading out his base, or leave him high and dry.
"It’s much easier to get kids to caucus if they’re on campus," said Gordon Fischer, former chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party and an Obama supporter. "But when they’re spread out, students can have a lot more impact."
What? Barak Obama isn't perfect? He screwed up in High School like most of us? Drinking? Drugs? I'm glad he's honest about it...
November 21, 2007, 7:58 am
The Early Word: It’s All About Iowa
By Ariel Alexovich <http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/author/aalexovich/>
Most of the candidates are focusing on Iowa right now, and the state’s dedicated and not-so-dedicated voters. Lois Romano delves into the psyche of the fickle – or maybe just disenchanted – Iowa voter in today’s Washington Post <washingtonpost.com >. She looks at the solidly conservative town of Le Mars, where caucus-goers don’t feel strong loyalty toward any G.O.P. candidate, and frankly, they don’t even know if they’ll be caucus-goers, since the Orange Bowl will be held the same night as the Jan. 3 vote.
These days, there is an uncertainty about politics and their civic responsibility that is unsettling. This has been rock-solid Bush country. Conservatives and evangelicals were largely at peace in the knowledge that their president shared their Christian values. But this year, they aren’t at all sure anymore where to put their trust for 2008 — or whether they should even bother trying.
Iowa voters also worry more about globalization now than they did in the past, forcing presidential candidates to speak more cautiously about trade, reports the Wall Street Journal <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119560596756999923.html?mod=special_page_campaign2008_topbox>.
Trade has become such a hot subject that Democratic presidential candidates seeking support in Iowa’s influential Jan. 3 caucuses are turning into trade skeptics, and the issue is splitting traditionally free-trade Republicans.
Iowa’s ambivalence is all the more remarkable because the state is on the whole a big winner from global trade. "Iowa, as much as any other state, is on the plus side of the ledger," says James Leach, a 30-year Republican congressman from Iowa who now runs Harvard University’s Institute of Politics. "It would be highly ironic if pro-protectionist candidates prevailed in the Iowa caucuses." Trade wasn’t always such a high priority: In the 2004 Iowa caucus, Richard Gephardt, the most outspoken Democrat on the issue, attracted so few votes he subsequently pulled out of the race.
A new poll from the Washington Post/ABC News has another surprising statistic this week. With the support of evangelical Protestants, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee <Huckabee Gaining Ground in Iowa - washingtonpost.com > has blown past three of his Republican rivals to place just short of Mitt Romney in Iowa.
Huckabee has tripled his support in Iowa since late July, eclipsing former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, former senator Fred D. Thompson (Tenn.) and Sen. John McCain (Ariz.). Huckabee now runs nearly evenly with Romney, the longtime Iowa front-runner.
Huckabee’s rise from dark horse to contender in Iowa is one more unexpected twist in a race that has remained fluid throughout the year and adds another unpredictable element to the competition for the GOP nomination. His support in Iowa appears stronger and more enthusiastic than that of his rivals.
Mr. Giuliani picked up the endorsement of former Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar <http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...n_web_nov21,1,885834.story?ctrack=3&cset=true >yesterday in Chicago, despite their opposite views on driver’s licenses for illegal aliens.
Illegal immigration <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/21/us/politics/21campaign.html?ref=politics> also was the main issue of debate for Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Romney yesterday, as each sought to suggest the other has a soft record on the issue.
[Mr. Romney] has been broadcasting a television advertisement that declares a hard-line stance against illegal immigration and has sent out a mailing that rebukes the policies of Mr. Giuliani, though not by name.
Mr. Giuliani has fought back vigorously, portraying the issue as yet another in a long list, along with abortion, gay rights and gun control, in which Mr. Romney has shifted his position to score political points.
The news that scientists in Japan and the United States created embryonic stem cells <http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/11/21/romney_camp_is_buoyed_by_skin_cell_news/> from skin cells could be a coup for Mr. Romney, reports the Boston Globe.
As his presidential campaign contended yesterday, he may have been vindicated by yesterday’s announcement that scientists have created stem cells without having to make or destroy embryos. It pointed out that Romney has long called for a less ethically charged alternative, and it highlighted an opinion piece published online yesterday that praises Romney for his position.
On the campaign trail in Shenandoah, Iowa, yesterday, Hillary Rodham Clinton took a swipe at Barack Obama’s foreign policy experience <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/21/us/politics/21dems.html?ref=politics>, implying the four years he spent in Indonesia as a child are inadequate credentials for a president.
Mrs. Clinton’s experience was backed by a couple of unlikely supporters <Sign Up > – President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush.
Most unusual on Tuesday was the intervention of Bush and his wife in the Democratic contest. Calling Clinton a "very formidable candidate," the president told ABC News: "There is no question that Senator Clinton understands pressure better than any of the candidates, you know, in the race."
Laura Bush underscored a key rationale for Clinton’s White House run, saying her predecessor’s experience as first lady would be "very helpful" in the Oval Office. "You certainly know what it’s like," she said. "You know the pressure there is. You know the difficulties."
Mr. Obama rolled out his $18 billion education plan <Obama unveils $18 billion education plan - Boston.com > in Manchester, N.H., and criticized Mrs. Clinton and John Edwards for not fully financing the No Child Left Behind Act, reports the Boston Globe.
"It’s pretty popular to bash No Child Left Behind out on the campaign trail, but when it was being debated in Congress four years ago, my colleague Dick Durbin offered a chance to vote so that the law couldn’t be enforced unless it was fully funded," Obama said. "A lot of senators, including Sen. Edwards and Sen. Clinton, passed on that chance. And I believe that was a serious mistake."
The Illinois senator also stopped by a study hall <http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/N/NH_OBAMA_HIGH_SCHOOL_YEARS_NHOL-?SITE=NHMAL&SECTION=STATE&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-11-20-13-53-14> in Manchester Central High School to talk with students about his education plan and openly chatted about what he was like when he was their age. Not everyone was impressed with what he had to say about drugs <http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2007/11/21/2007-11-21_antidrug_crowd_says_barack_obamas_talk_w.html>, though.
"I will confess to you that I was kind of a goof-off in high school as my mom reminded me," said Obama, an Illinois Democrat who grew up in Hawaii.
"You know, I made some bad decisions that I’ve actually written about. You know, got into drinking. I experimented with drugs," he said. "There was a whole stretch of time that I didn’t really apply myself a lot. It wasn’t until I got out of high school and went to college that I started realizing, ‘Man, I wasted a lot of time.’"
The Obama campaign, which Ryan Lizza <The Political Scene: The Relaunch: Reporting & Essays: The New Yorker > of the New Yorker insists is in the midst of a relaunch, is counting on the youth vote for help in the Iowa caucus. Today’s Los Angeles Times <Sign Up > looks at how the Jan. 3 caucus – in the middle of college winter break – will either help Mr. Obama by spreading out his base, or leave him high and dry.
"It’s much easier to get kids to caucus if they’re on campus," said Gordon Fischer, former chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party and an Obama supporter. "But when they’re spread out, students can have a lot more impact."
What? Barak Obama isn't perfect? He screwed up in High School like most of us? Drinking? Drugs? I'm glad he's honest about it...
