New Hampshire News

N.H. becoming more affordable place to live

By Kevin Landrigan
Nashua Telegraph
Friday, July 18, 2008

CONCORD – A 12-year legislative campaign to break down barriers to build affordable housing became a reality Thursday. Gov. John Lynch said finding housing working families can afford remains a serious challenge, and he celebrated a ceremonial final step for three related measures...
 

NH gov. signs 3 bills to develop cheaper housing

Associated Press
July 17, 2008

CONCORD, N.H. --New Hampshire governor John Lynch has signed three bills to encourage developing more affordable housing for workers and their families. One...
 

Press Release: Governor Lynch Signs Housing Bills

Office of the Governor
July 17, 2008

CONCORD - Gov. John Lynch today signed several pieces of legislation aimed at encouraging more affordable housing for New Hampshire families...
 

Trouble brewing for local sex offender law?

By Aaron Sanborn
Foster's Daily Democrat
Thursday, July 17, 2008

DOVER — If a court ruling in New Jersey is any indication, the city's sex offender ordinance could be in danger. On Tuesday, an appeals court consisting of three judges ruled that two New Jersey townships cannot ban sex offenders from living near schools, parks or other places where children gather. The ruling upheld findings by judges at the Superior Court level who invalidated ordinances in the New Jersey townships of Cherry Hill and Galloway...
 

Lynch clears way for Clegg's surgery bill

By Kevin Landrigan
Nashua Telegraph
Wednesday, July 16, 2008

CONCORD – Health insurance companies in New Hampshire will now have to cover gastric bypass surgery, which shortens the digestive system by rerouting it to help obese people lose weight, if it is deemed medically necessary. The bill (SB312) was allowed to become law by Gov. John Lynch...
 

Panel reviews youth services schedules

Concord Monitor
July 17, 2008

The Executive Council has asked that a committee be set up to study the effect of changed work schedules for employees at New Hampshire's juvenile detention center. The council made the request after hearing from the workers' side at its regular meeting yesterday. The workers are upset with scheduling and staffing changes that went into effect July 4 at the Sununu Youth Services Center...
 

Council Meeting Notes

By Executive Councilor Debora Pignatelli
June 25, 2008 meeting

My notes here include items I think are of interest to our Council District 5...
 

Gov. extols Franklin and its successes

By Gail Ober
Laconia Citizen
Thursday, July 17, 2008

Calling Franklin one of the "best kept secrets in the state," Gov. John Lynch addressed an opera house packed with citizens, his Executive Council and department heads and city elected officials and their department heads Wednesday. Lynch spent the morning in Franklin, which hosted this month's Executive Council meeting, first joining local leaders for breakfast at the Franklin Public Library and later leading an awards ceremony at the Franklin Opera House...
 

N.H. Governor Visited Local Business Community and Students on Tuesday

By Claire Lynch
Colebrook News and Sentinel
July 16, 2008

New Hampshire governor John Lynch spent yesterday meeting with North Country residents, local officials and business and community leaders to discuss such several issues, and to celebrate some local accomplishments. Issues of the day included renewable energy needs, upgrading the state's electrical transmission lines, bringing new business to the northern reaches, and the growing need for home heating assistance in the coming winter...
 

NH Food Bank: 'This is the lowest we've seen'

By Garry Rayno
New Hampshire Union Leader
July 17, 2008

MANCHESTER – For those who help feed the state's poor and hungry, summer is a busy time, with children home from school, but right now the pantry is almost bare. The New Hampshire Food Bank, which supplies the state's soup kitchens, food pantries and shelters, has less food than it has had in many years. The food bank's executive director, Melanie Gosselin, said "This is the lowest we've seen, this is the worst"...
 

Film Office takes flight

By Dan Tuohy
Granite Slate
July 15, 2008

The search for the next On Golden Pond continues. The New Hampshire Film and Television Office is working with Southwest Airlines to promote the Granite State as a great place for lights, cameras, action. FTO Director Matthew Newton says in yesterday's announcement...
 

Dear ARGUS-CHAMPION READERS:

By Harvey D. Hill
Argus-Champion
Thursday, July 17, 2008 7:32 AM

It is with profound sadness that I advise you that the Argus-Champion will cease publishing on July 30, 2008. We see more and more of our readers and advertisers migrating to the Internet. This, coupled with the rapidly rising cost of newsprint is causing us to lose money each and every month. By Jan. 1, 2009, our newsprint will have risen by 49 percent in just 13 months. We are not alone...
 

Would Mass. gay-marriage move spark wedding rush?

By Jennifer Peltz
Associated Press
July 16, 2008

NEW YORK --Thousands of gay couples from New York and other Northeastern states are expected to marry in Massachusetts if the state follows through on a move toward letting them wed. But many others don't see any need to pack their bags and rush to the altar. They believe the expected change in Massachusetts will fuel momentum for legalizing gay unions in their own states. Both advocates and critics see the move as knocking down another important barrier for gay couples, emboldening efforts elsewhere to allow gay marriage. For same-sex marriage supporters, "it's certainly a step in the right direction. It does show how society is evolving," said Rick Trombley, a gay activist and former Democratic state senator in New Hampshire... "People appreciate the legal protections that civil unions bring, but, quite frankly, separate is not equal," said New Hampshire state Rep. Mo Baxley, D-Andover, executive director of the New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition. "Civil unions are not the same as being married." She predicted many same-sex couples would choose a Massachusetts marriage over a civil union in their home state. But other advocates expect most couples to hold off in hopes of being able to marry soon in their own states...
 

Dem Senate Challengers Best 4 GOP Incumbents in 2nd Quarter Fundraising

By Andy Barr
The Hill Blog
July 16, 2008

Democratic challengers in competitive Senate races beat several Republicans incumbents in second quarter fundraising. Republican Senators Mitch McConnell (Ky.), Ted Stevens (Alaska), John Sununu (N.H.) and Gordon Smith (Ore.) were all out raised by their Democratic challengers. Three other incumbent Republican Senators were able to edge challenging Democrats...

New Hampshire
Shaheen (D) - $1.6 million
Sununu (R) - $1.1 million
 

Medicare jabs traded
Senate candidates take different approaches

By Michael McCord
Portsmouth Herald
July 17, 2008

PORTSMOUTH — Less than 24 hours after Congress overwhelmingly overrode a veto by President Bush in a showdown over Medicare funding, the fight continued in the Granite State on Wednesday between U.S. Senate candidates Sen. John Sununu and former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen. In Portsmouth for a campaign stop at the Senior Citizen Center at Parrott Avenue Place, Shaheen criticized Sununu for supporting Bush and "(health) insurance company profits instead of standing with seniors." Sununu voted to sustain Bush's veto and didn't support the bipartisan legislation to stop reimbursement cuts to doctors who treat Medicare patients. He said it was bad for New Hampshire because it would cut funding for the Medicare Advantage private insurance plan...
 

SHAHEEN
 

Shaheen touts Medicare plan to area seniors

By Charles McMahon
Foster's Daily Democrat
Thursday, July 17, 2008

PORTSMOUTH — Seacoast seniors along with Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jeanne Shaheen broke out into a ballad of "God Bless America" on Wednesday, prior to the former Governor speaking on topics ranging from health care to the fuel crunch...Gathered at the Parrot Avenue Place Senior Citizen Center, Shaheen spoke to her potential constituents about the recent attempts in Washington to cut Medicare access for nearly 200,000 seniors statewide...
 

Shaheen takes aim at Sununu’s Medicare vote

By Brian Lawson
Politicker NH
July 16, 2008

PORTSMOUTH-- U.S. Senate candidate Jeanne Shaheen (D-Madbury) accused U.S. Sen. John Sununu (R-Waterville Valley) of standing up for insurance companies after Sununu voted to uphold President Bush's veto of a recent Medicare bill. Sununu said Shaheen is "out of touch" and that he supported legislation that would have protected Medicare Advantage...
 

GREGG / SUNUNU
 

Gregg bill doubles heat aid for NH

By John DiStaso
New Hampshire Union Leader
July 18, 2008

Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., yesterday introduced legislation that could more than double the amount of low-income home heating assistance that was available to New Hampshire last winter and nearly double the national total already included in a key 2009 appropriations bill...
 

Gregg, Sununu Call For Energy Summit

Associated Press
July 16, 2008

WASHINGTON -- New Hampshire Sens. Judd Gregg and John Sununu are part of a bipartisan group of senators calling for a national energy summit. Maine Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins also are part of the group that sent a letter to the president on Tuesday calling for a summit to come up with proposals to deal with the energy crisis...
 

Maine/N.H. delegations are pushing for $20m for shipyard drydock

Foster's Daily Democrat
Friday, July 18, 2008

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., John Sununu, R-N.H., Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Susan Collins, R-Maine, today announced that the Senate version of the Fiscal Year 2009 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs (MilCon-VA) Appropriations bill includes $20.7 million for the construction of a new Dry Dock #3 Waterfront Support facility at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard...
 

Senate agrees to triple anti-AIDS funding
U.S. to spend up to $48 billion in ambitious foreign public health program

Associated Press
Wednesday, July. 16, 2008

WASHINGTON - The Senate voted Wednesday to triple spending for a much-acclaimed program that has treated and protected millions in Africa and elsewhere from the scourges of AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. The 80-16 vote committed the United States to spending up to $48 billion over the next five years for the most ambitious foreign public health program ever launched by the United States...
 

How they voted: Senate roll call on AIDS bill

Associated Press
July 16, 2008

The 80-16 roll call by which the Senate on Wednesday approved spending $48 billion over the next five years to treat and prevent the spread of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in Africa and elsewhere around the world. On this vote, a "yes" vote was a vote in favor of the bill and a "no" vote was a vote against it. Voting "yes" were 47 Democrats, 31 Republicans and 2 independents. Voting "no" were 0 Democrats and 16 Republicans...

New Hampshire
Gregg (R) No; Sununu (R) Yes.
 

Federal funds target Berlin fire hazards

By Lorna Colquhoun
New Hampshire Union Leader
July 17, 2008

BERLIN – The city has spent years trying to deal with scores of dilapidated houses that long ago outlived their purpose and the effort could get a boost with federal funding earmarked in a bill approved by the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee. U.S. Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., this week said $300,000 is included in the next Transportation, Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill, which will now be considered by the full Senate...
 

FORRY
 

Gubernatorial candidate in it to win

By Kevin Landrigan
Nashua Telegraph
Thursday, July 17, 2008

Jaffrey Democrat Katy Forry insisted Wednesday that her campaign for governor gives voters a real alternative to change the state's tax structure bolic gesture. "I'm running to win. I've lived here 40 years, and I know people all over the state,'' Forry said during an interview with The Telegraph Editorial Board. Her only previous attempts at elective office were three unsuccessful bids for state representative...
 

HODES/SHEA-PORTER
 

Tripled heat aid sought in Congress

Associated Press
July 17, 2008

WASHINGTON – House members from the Northeast worried about rising energy prices asked yesterday to more than triple federal home heating aid this winter. The 21 lawmakers sent a joint letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asking for as much as $9 billion in heating aid to be included as part of a new economic stimulus bills. They also requested up to $1 billion for weatherization programs to help homeowners conserve energy and save money...
 

Hodes: NH needs to know more on Vt. Yankee problems

By Tom Fahey
New Hampshire Union Leader
July 18, 2008

CONCORD – U.S. Rep. Paul Hodes, D-N.H., said yesterday he will look at ways to ensure New Hampshire is updated on safety and other issues at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant. The 620-megawatt plant cut power output last week to less than 25 percent of capacity after a cooling tower not related to critical safety procedures sprang a leak. The plant, owned by Entergy Corp., was back to 50 percent production yesterday...
 

N.H. congressman wants more information

Associated Press
July 18, 2008

CONCORD, N.H. --New Hampshire Congressman Paul Hodes wants more information from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission about safety measures at Vermont Yankee nuclear plant. Hodes and State Sen. Molly Kelly met with federal officials Thursday to discuss a recent leak in one of the cooling towers at the 36-year-old reactor...
 

Freedom’s Watch begins robocalls

By Brian Lawson
Politicker NH
July 17, 2008

Freedom's Watch has begun a second round of robocalls in New Hampshire. The calls use the same script to target both U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-Rochester) and U.S. Rep. Paul Hodes (D-Concord) for opposing efforts to expand domestic oil drilling. In June the group conducted a similar round of robocalls against Hodes and Shea-Porter...
 

CD-01
 

Republicans Square Off in CD1 Debate in Manchester

By David Darman
New Hampshire Union Leader
Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Republican Congressional candidates Jeb Bradley and John Stephen last night went toe to toe in a debate in Manchester. The two candidates fought it out on Manchester Community Access Media, the city’s municipal cable station. As New Hampshire Public Radio’s David Darman reports, the rhetoric is heating up between them...
 

Bradley, Stephen debate funding for veterans programs

By Brian Lawson
Politicker NH
July 17, 2008

NEW CASTLE-Former U.S. Rep. Jeb Bradley (R-Wolfeboro) and former Health and Human Services Commissioner John Stephen (R-Manchester) had a heated exchange on federal funding for veteran programs at a Republican forum. Bradley said Stephen supported a federal budget plan that would have cut veterans programs, Stephen countered that the budget blueprint would not have cut programs...
 

First District candidates discuss unseating Shea-Porter

By Charles McMahon
Foster's Daily Democrat
Thursday, July 17, 2008

NEW CASTLE — As anticipated, Wednesday night's meeting of Republican First District Congressional candidates featured plenty of discussion and attracted a large enough audience that event coordinators were forced to change the venue at the last minute. The latest forum was sponsored by the Rye-New Castle Republican Committee and featured three out of the four candidates, which include former Commissioner of Health and Human Services John Stephen, relative newcomer Geoff Michael and former two-term Congressman Jeb Bradley...
 

Stephen has 12-step plan to help small businesses

BY Amie Plummer
Foster's Daily Democrat
Friday, July 18, 2008

PORTSMOUTH — John Stephen, Republican hopeful for New Hampshire's First Congressional District, held a press conference at Great North Property Management Thursday afternoon to announce his small business survival plan...
 

Stephen announces twelve point business plan

By Brian Lawson
Politicker NH
July 17, 2008

PORTSMOUTH-Standing with small business owners congressional candidate John Stephen (R-Manchester) unveiled a twelve-point business plan...
 

CD-02
 

Bosse announces ‘Bosse’s Posse’

By Brian Lawson
Politicker NH
July 16, 2008

Some might call it a campaign steering committee or a leadership team, but Grant Bosse (R-Hillsboro) has nicknamed his supporters "Bosse's Posse." The "posse" is a group of volunteers who have endorsed Bosse and will campaign for him throughout the 2nd congressional district. Members include Karen Cervantes, Jim Rubens and Walt Morse...
 

Clegg's House run well funded
2nd District candidate loans self $250,000

By Melanie Asmar
Concord Monitor
July 17, 2008

Congressional candidate Bob Clegg has the most money of the four Republicans looking to unseat Democrat Paul Hodes in the state's 2nd Congressional District, new campaign finance reports show. So far, Clegg has shown a willingness to spend his own money on his campaign. Of the $334,526 in contributions he reported on Tuesday, $250,000 came in the form of loans he made to his campaign...
 

SIMARD
 

Executive Council to hear public testimony

Nashua Telegraph
Thursday, July 17, 2008

The Executive Council will take public testimony Aug. 7 on the nomination of Bedford businessman Richard F. Simard to serve on the State Liquor Commission. If approved, Simard will replace retired Commissioner Tony Maiola of Newport and earn $81,642 a year...
 

Press Release: Gov. Lynch to Nominate Liquor Commissioner

Office of the Governor
July 15, 2008

CONCORD - Gov. John Lynch today announced he will nominate Richard Simard of Bedford as Liquor Commissioner at Wednesday’s Governor and Council meeting. The Executive Council must confirm the nomination...
 

PUBLIC FINANCE COMMISSION
 

Public finance commissioners selected

By Brian Lawson
Politicker NH
July 17, 2008

The New Hampshire Coalition for Public Funding of Elections has announced the appointments of commissioners who will serve on a commission to study the possibility of public financing for state elections. The commission, Public Funding of Elections Commission, was established by the state legislature to study the feasibility of public financing of elections and must issue a report by December 1, 2008. Selected were...
 

DODDS
 

'Unresponsive' Dodds headed back to his cell
Runaway candidate silent when spoken to

Concord Monitor
July 18, 2008

Former congressional candidate Gary Dodds will stay in jail, possibly after he is eligible to be released this weekend and monitored in home confinement. "Mr. Dodds will remain in the custody of the Strafford County Department of Corrections until such a time as I am satisfied that he can be safely - his own safety and that of the public - monitored in the community," Strafford County Jail Superintendent Warren Dowaliby said in a statement yesterday. He did not elaborate...
 

Dodds Returns To Jail After Hospital Trip
Officials Say Dodds Found Unresponsive In Cell

WMUR
July 17. 2008

DOVER, N.H. -- Former New Hampshire congressional candidate Gary Dodds is back in jail after a trip to a hospital when jail officials found him unresponsive in his cell...
 

Lawyer: Dodds in hospital, unresponsive

By Dave Choate
Portsmouth Herald
July 17, 2008

DOVER — According to attorney J.P. Nadeau, Gary Dodds was conscious but not responsive at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital on Wednesday night after being found unresponsive in his cell at Strafford County Jail. Nadeau, who has represented Dodds in court, said via cell phone that he had just tried to speak with Dodds at the hospital. While he appeared to be physically unharmed and was conscious, Nadeau said, he attempted to communicate with Dodds and got no response...
 

Dodds found unresponsive in his cell; taken to hospital

By Aaron Sanborn
Foster's Daily Democrat
Wednesday, July 16, 2008

DOVER — Gary Dodds was taken to Wentworth-Douglass Hospital this afternoon after authorities found him slumped over and unresponsive in his cell at the Strafford County jail. Fosters has learned that while Dodds' vital signs were normal and he was conscious when found in his cell, he was not communicative. Foster's has also learned the situation was not a suicide attempt...
 

DOYLE
 

Former state rep faces trial in fall

By Trent Spiner
New Hampshire Union Leader
July 18, 2008

BRENTWOOD – Accused of hitting a Windham town official during an election, a former state representative and selectman has gone through two law firms and an appeal to the state Supreme Court but is now out of options. Christopher Doyle, who could face up to 7 years in jail and a $4,000 fine, has already turned down a plea agreement with prosecutors that could have spared him jail time. He will now face a jury trial, most likely at the end of September, according to court records...
 

THE BROWNS
 

Judge doubts Brown ally's delusions
Lawyer raises issue after Riley's conviction

By Margot Sanger-Katz
Concord Monitor
July 18, 2008

A federal judge yesterday seemed skeptical of an argument that a man who was recently convicted of bringing bombs and guns to fugitives Ed and Elaine Brown is too mentally ill to continue participating in his case. Judge George Singal of Maine, who has presided over the cases of four Brown supporters after local judges recused themselves, said that he believes Daniel Riley of Cohoes, N.Y. was pursuing fruitless legal strategies, but the judge did not believe that Riley was unable to understand the nature of the proceedings or the possible consequences of his actions...
 

Primary News

NEW HAMPSHIRE
 

DNC sets up independent operation to help Obama

By Jim Kuhnhenn
Associated Press
July 17, 2008

WASHINGTON --The Democratic National Committee plans to target Republican John McCain and help Democrat Barack Obama with an independent ad campaign run by veteran Democratic strategist Jonathan Prince, Democrats familiar with the decision said Thursday. By law, the effort would be prohibited from coordinating with either Obama's presidential campaign or with the DNC. The ads would be financed with party money, however...The state parties are in...New Hampshire...
 

Carole King sings praises of Obama in Rochester

By Adam D. Krauss
Foster's Daily Democrat
Friday, July 18, 2008

ROCHESTER — Democrats turned to song Thursday to unite supporters of presumptive nominee Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton after a bruising primary battle. Singing on Obama's behalf was Carole King, who gained fame in the 1970s with songs like "I Feel the Earth Move" and "Where You Lead"...
 

Carole King sings the praises of Obama

By John Koziol
Laconia Citizen
Thursday, July 17, 2008

While they had some trouble singing along with her, most of the people who came to hear Carole King speak Wednesday at the Taylor Community were in harmony with her about one thing: Barack Obama should be elected the next president of the United States. The legendary singer-songwriter came to Laconia, and the Woodside facility to stump for Obama, a U.S. senator from Illinois and the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate...
 

Carole King: If Obama leads, nation will follow
Singer-songwriter/political activist draws crowd to The Met campaign appearance

By Tom Eastman
Conway Daily Sun
July 17, 2008

CONWAY—If you're on a course that will take you off a cliff, what do you do?

“Change direction, right? Well, that's where we are today — we need to change course, and that's what Barack Obama will offer,” said famed singer-songwriter and political activist Carole King, 66, now of Idaho, speaking as an Obama surrogate at a campaign rally attended by approximately 75 people at The Met coffee house in North Conway Wednesday afternoon.
 

OTHER NEWS AND VIEWS
 

A Cast of 300 Advises Obama on Foreign Policy

By Elisabeth Bumiller
New York Times
July 18, 2008

WASHINGTON — Every day around 8 a.m., foreign policy aides at Senator Barack Obama’s Chicago campaign headquarters send him two e-mails: a briefing on major world developments over the previous 24 hours and a set of questions, accompanied by suggested answers, that the candidate is likely to be asked about international relations during the day...Behind the e-mail messages is a tight-knit group of aides supported by a huge 300-person foreign policy campaign bureaucracy, organized like a mini State Department, to assist a candidate whose limited national security experience remains a concern to many voters...
 

Obama unveils plan to protect U.S. from 21st century threats
He calls for new thinking on national security. Some experts say his ideas are expensive, unrealistic or already underway.

By Josh Meyer and Peter Nicholas
Los Angeles Times
July 17, 2008

WEST LAFAYETTE, IND. — Sen. Barack Obama on Wednesday criticized the Bush administration for failing to protect the American people from weapons of mass destruction and said he would take aggressive measures as president to lessen the threat from nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and from cyber-terrorism. Obama unveiled what he described as a comprehensive national security strategy in a speech at Purdue University here, while leading a panel of academic experts and present and former politicians whose views of global threats largely tracked his own...
 

In Iraq, Mixed Feelings About Obama and His Troop Proposal

By Sabrina Tavernise and Richard A. Oppel Jr.
New York Times
July 17, 2008

BAGHDAD — A tough Iraqi general, a former special operations officer with a baritone voice and a barrel chest, melted into smiles when asked about Senator Barack Obama. “Everyone in Iraq likes him,” said the general, Nassir al-Hiti. “I like him. He’s young. Very active. We would be very happy if he was elected president.” But mention Mr. Obama’s plan for withdrawing American soldiers, and the general stiffens...
 

Barack Obama's fundraising roars to life
The Democrat raised $52 million in June, up from $22 million in May. Republican John McCain's June take was $22 million.

By Dan Morain
Los Angeles Times
July 18, 2008

Barack Obama and the Democratic National Committee revved up their money machine in June, outpacing their Republican rivals by almost $25 million, the Democratic presidential candidate's campaign said Thursday. Obama and the party have also all but caught up to Republican standard-bearer John McCain and the Republican National Committee in the amount they have available to spend...
 

Obama Raises $52 Million in June, Keeping Campaign on Pace to Its Goal

By Jeff Zeleny
New York Times
July 18, 2008

WASHINGTON — Senator Barack Obama’s campaign said Thursday that it collected $52 million in June, the second-best fund-raising month of the year, through an aggressive mix of small and large contributions that produced more than twice the amount raised by Senator John McCain...
 

Obama's windfall puts pressure on GOP

By Christina Bellantoni
Washington Post
Friday, July 18, 2008

AUSTIN, Texas | Sen. Barack Obama raised $52 million in June and had $72 million banked for the presidential campaign, showcasing a massive donor network that the Democratic candidate can continue to tap until the Nov. 4 election. "I know this isn't the first time we've asked you for money, and it won't be the last," Obama campaign manager David Plouffe told supporters Thursday when announcing the haul...
 

DNC rides Obama coattails
National panel's fund-raising rises with candidate's

By Brian C. Mooney
Boston Globe
July 18, 2008

Barack Obama not only revived his own powerhouse money machine after clinching his party's presidential nomination last month, he jump-started the sputtering fund-raising apparatus of the Democratic National Committee. That could be bad news for Republican rival John McCain, who is banking on a hefty advantage in national GOP money to help offset Obama's superiority in the money fight...
 

In Obama Fundraising, Signs of a Shift From Online to In-Person

By Matthew Mosk
Washington Post
Friday, July 18, 2008; A06

Sen. Barack Obama reversed a three-month fundraising slide by raising $52 million in June, a monthly total that has been surpassed only by his own performance in February in the history of presidential campaigns, aides announced yesterday. The Democrat's June effort easily topped that of Republican Sen. John McCain, who announced earlier that he will report raising $22 million for the month. The two are now nearly even in remaining resources. When combined with money gathered by their national party committees, they both began July with just less than $100 million in the bank...
 

Obama's $52 Million: What It Means

By Marc Ambinder
The Atlantic Blog
July 17, 2008 9:03 AM
 

Obama's Fundraising in Context

By Chris Cillizza
Washington Post The Fix
July 17, 2008

Sen. Barack Obama's $52 million haul in the month of June is nearly certain to quiet whispers that his vaunted fundraising machine had slowed, and seems to justify his decision last month to opt out of public financing for the general election...
 

The Obama Campaign's Spending Is Not Out Of Control

By Marc Ambinder
The Atlantic Blog
July 17, 2008

The RNC is distributing his blog post from the Weekly Standard with the provocative headline "The Obama Campaign's Out of Control Spending." Jaime Sneider argues that:...Yes, the Obama campaign has a lot of money to raise -- about $50 million per month over the next three months. But the Obama campaign announced its intention to opt out of the primaries on June 19; there is absolutely no reason to think that his donors are maxed out for the general election, or that they won't give when they are asked. Truth is...
 

Big Boston fund-raiser will be Obama's 47th birthday present

By Brian C. Mooney
Boston Globe
July 17, 2008

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will celebrate his 47th birthday in Boston with a giant fund-raising event at the State Room on Aug. 4. The event, which will include a dinner and an earlier reception for big-dollar donors, is expected to raise several million dollars for the campaign and Democratic Party. News of the event was announced via e-mail to members of Obama's New England steering committee...
 

Obama hopes you’ll spend time at his birthday ba$h in the Hub

By Hillary Chabot
Boston Herald
Thursday, July 17, 2008

They’ll be wishing Barack Obama a happy birthday in the Hub next week - and the gifts he gets will be pretty pricey. The presumptive Democratic nominee will celebrate his 47th birthday at a ritzy State Room fund-raising event Aug. 4. An invite to the birthday bash will cost you $1,000 a pop and is expected to raise millions of dollars for the campaign and the Democratic Party. Tickets to join the party and have your photo taken with the Harvard graduate cost $28,500 for a couple and $15,000 for just one...
 

Barack Obama tells Glamour: "Debate me, not Michelle"

Glamour Magazine Glamocracy Blog
July 17, 2008

On Wednesday Senator Barack Obama talked to Glamour's editor-in-chief Cindi Leive and answered questions from our readers about his policies and about women's issues. (Thanks to the many of you who submitted those queries!) Here is an excerpt from their conversation, held at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana; the complete interview will run in the October issue of the magazine...
 

Obama not quite his father's son
Friends and family note the similarities between the senator and his Kenyan father -- both idealistic, charismatic, eloquent and ambitious. But in many ways, he's 'quite the opposite.'

By Edmund Sanders
Los Angeles Times
July 17, 2008

NAIROBI, KENYA — During an emotion-packed visit to his father's homeland in 2006, Sen. Barack Obama took time from family reunions and official visits to chastise Kenya's government for failing to stem corruption and tribalism, irking his hosts in the process. It wasn't the first time an Obama had taken Kenya's elite to task. Forty years earlier, a rising star named Barack Obama -- tall, elegant and impeccably dressed -- attacked the nation's post-independence government, accusing leaders of betraying their ideals and replicating the nepotism of departing colonialists...
 

Obama Campaign V. The Times

By Marc Ambinder
The Atlantic Blog
July 16, 2008

At 7:09 CT this morning, Obama spokesman Bill Burton e-mailed the press with a blistering e-mail disputing a prominently displayed New York Times story this morning. Under the headline, "Poll Finds Obama’s Run Isn’t Closing Divide on Race," Adam Nagourney and Megan Thee write that Americans are "sharply divided by race" with "more than 80 percent of black voters" holding a favorable opinion of Obama compared to the"30 percent of white voters" who do...
 

Nagourney On The Times Story

By Marc Ambinder
The Atlantic Blog
July 16, 2008

Adam Nagourney, the Times's chief political correspondent, e-mails with some thoughts about his story:...
 

Management Secrets Of Barack Obama

By Marc Ambinder
The Atlantic Blog
July 16, 2008

Why is there not
In the land of Obama
only more than
A hint of drama?

Barack Obama's presidential campaign is a sight to behold for many reasons, but among the least appreciated is its allergy to the disunity and spatting that generally convulses even the most successful of endeavors. Obama, who never managed so much as a newsstand, has turned out to be a fairly remarkable leader of a what's becoming a billion dollar enterprise...
 

One More Management Secret Of B. Obama

By Marc Ambinder
The Atlantic Blog
July 16, 2008

Maybe the most important: No factions...
 

When Was The Last Time....

By Marc Ambinder
The Atlantic Blog
July 17, 2008

That a Democratic presidential candidate opened six campaign offices in Montana? As of Saturday, Obama For America will have 24/7 "Campaign for Change" outposts In Billings, Bozeman, Butte, Great Falls, Helena and Missoula.
 

Democrat centrists duel with 'netroots'
Soul of party staked as prize

By Christina Bellantoni
Washington Times
Thursday, July 17, 2008

There's an ongoing battle for the soul of the Democratic Party, and neither side is backing down. Progressive ideals and centrist governing have clashed during the Democratic presidential race and exposed party rifts when the presumptive nominee, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, joined with Republicans to hand President Bush a legislative victory. Markos Moulitsas is confident that the soul rests firmly on his side - the "netroots." He will make that case Friday when he discusses the party's future with Democratic Leadership Council Chairman Harold E. Ford Jr. They will square off at the Netroots Nation conference inspired by Mr. Moulitsas' Daily Kos blog, carrying out the second part of a pact forged last summer on NBC's "Meet the Press"...
 

Editorial: Obama's 'Judgment'

Wall Street Journal
July 18, 2008

Barack Obama departs for Iraq as early as this weekend, with a media entourage as large as some of his rallies. He'll no doubt learn a lot, in addition to getting a good photo op. What we'll be waiting to hear is whether the would-be Commander in Chief absorbs enough to admit he was wrong about the troop surge in Iraq...
 

It Should Be a Democratic Year

By Susan Estrich
Real Clear Politics
July 17, 2008

July polls don't tell you who's going to win in November. Just ask President Dukakis or President Gore, both of whom were well ahead in July and went on to lose in the fall (although Mr. Gore still doesn't quite see it that way). Or ask President Clinton, who was running third in some polls after clinching his party's nomination, and won comfortably in the fall. Polls are, at best, snapshots of the present, not predictors of the future. But that doesn't mean they're meaningless...
 

Obama's summer of success

By Scot Lehigh
Boston Globe
July 18, 2008

IT'S A tricky time, the period from the end of the primary season to the start of the political conventions. Sultry weather settles in, vacation beckons, and public attention wanes. Breaking through is hard to do. Still, Barack Obama has used the lazy days of summer to considerable advantage with a series of speeches aimed at rooting himself in mainstream American values...
 

Analysis: Sense of humor could hurt Obama
New Yorker cover might injure campaign, but not the way supporters claim

By John Mercurio
National Journal
July. 17, 2008

WASHINGTON - Put me down as one of those people who think the New Yorker magazine cover is hurting Barack Obama. But not for the reasons that have been widely, and wildly, articulated this week. The satirical cartoon probably won't give one swing voter second thoughts about the Obamas or the Illinois senator's presidential campaign. But his supporters' reaction to it could...
 

Memo to Obama, McCain: No one wins in a war

By Howard Zinn
Boston Globe
July 17, 2008

BARACK OBAMA and John McCain continue to argue about war. McCain says to keep the troops in Iraq until we "win" and supports sending more troops to Afghanistan. Obama says to withdraw some (not all) troops from Iraq and send them to fight and "win" in Afghanistan. For someone like myself, who fought in World War II, and since then has protested against war, I must ask: Have our political leaders gone mad? Have they learned nothing from recent history? Have they not learned that no one "wins" in a war, but that hundreds of thousands of humans die, most of them civilians, many of them children?...
 

Hysteria alert: Barack Obama starts world tour
The Illinois senator is no messiah but his appearance in Europe will inspire those disenchanted with America

By Gerard Baker
The Times
July 18, 2008

You have to go back to the Beatles' first US tour to find a transatlantic trip freighted with the sort of pregnant excitement that attends the one Barack Obama is about to make next week. The faces of the crowds expected in Berlin when he arrives on Thursday will be portraits of the same devotional ecstasy that greeted the Liverpool quartet on their way from JFK to Manhattan that February day in 1964. In London next weekend Gordon Brown will play Ed Sullivan to the Fab One, hoping to borrow, just for a day, a little of the superstar charisma to bolster his own ratings...
 

The Way To Box In Barack On Iraq

By Dick Morris & Eileen McGann
New York Post
July 17, 2008

THE shadow of the Iraq War still hovers over the 2008 presidential race. In deed, though it's the issue that made Barack Obama (giving him his running room to Hillary Clinton's left), it may now become his chief vulnerability. Weak on national-security issues, untried, inexperienced and (perhaps) naive, Obama can find the Iraq issue hard to handle - if John McCain plays it right...
 

The Audacity of Vanity

By Charles Krauthammer
Washington Post
Friday, July 18, 2008; A17

Barack Obama wants to speak at the Brandenburg Gate. He figures it would be a nice backdrop. The supporting cast -- a cheering audience and a few fainting frauleins -- would be a picturesque way to bolster his foreign policy credentials. What Obama does not seem to understand is that the Brandenburg Gate is something you earn. President Ronald Reagan earned the right to speak there because his relentless pressure had brought the Soviet empire to its knees and he was demanding its final "tear down this wall" liquidation. When President John F. Kennedy visited the Brandenburg Gate on the day of his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, he was representing a country that was prepared to go to the brink of nuclear war to defend West Berlin...
 

What Would Obama Die For?

By David Paul Kuhn
Wall Street Journal
July 18, 2008

Since securing the Democratic Party's nomination in June, Barack Obama has been busy redefining himself. He has come out for a government surveillance bill he once opposed. He's expressed support for funding religious programs with tax dollars. He reversed his stance on accepting public financing. He reversed his view of the D.C. gun ban. And he hinted that he will "refine" his position on Iraq, only to push back against himself this week and reiterate his Iraq withdrawal plan...
 

BIDEN
 

Biden comes to Obama's defense, raises VP buzz

By Alexander Mooney
CNN
July 17, 2008

oe Biden is quickly becoming a powerful ally for Barack Obama in the Senate. The Delaware Democrat, who is rumored to be on Obama's shortlist for VP, came to the Illinois senator's defense Thursday over charges Obama has not adequately addressed Afghanistan as chairman of a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee...
 

CLINTON
 

Bill Clinton Says He's Ready to Campaign for Obama

ABC News Political Radar
July 17, 2008 4:08 PM

ABC News' Kate McCarthy and Nitya Venkataraman Report: Former President Bill Clinton says he's ready to hit the campaign trail for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama "whenever he asks"...
 

The Clinton Complication

By Dean Spilitotes
NHPoliticalCapital
July 17, 2008

Earlier today, President Clinton announced that he was ready and willing to campaign for Barack Obama. This proffer of support comes only days after Obama privately (or so he thought) told a potential donor that the former president posed a complication for Hillary Clinton’s chances of joining the Democratic ticket. While the operatic relationship between Bill Clinton and Obama continues to be a fascinating one to watch, I would be surprised to see President Clinton do any campaigning with Obama before the Democratic convention, and certainly not before the vice presidential pick is announced...
 

Hillary Clinton Asks To Keep Donor Money for 2012

By Jason Horowitz
New York Observer
July 14, 2008

Hillary Clinton's campaign is sending out letters to donors asking permission to roll a $2,300 contribution to Clinton's 2008 general election coffers to her 2012 senate election fund instead of offering a refund...
 

GORE
 

Gore Urges Change to Dodge an Energy Crisis

By John M. Broder
New York Times
July 18, 2008

WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Al Gore on Thursday urged the United States to wean the nation from its entire electricity grid to carbon-free energy within 10 years, warning that drastic steps were needed to avoid a global economic and ecological cataclysm. Like a modern Jeremiah, Mr. Gore called down thunder to justify the spending of trillions of dollars to remake the American power system, a plan fraught with technological and political challenges that goes far beyond the changes recently debated in Congress and by world leaders...
 

Gore Urges Fast Energy Makeover
Power Grid Could Go Renewable in 10 Years, He Says

By Steven Mufson
Washington Post
Friday, July 18, 2008; A13

Former vice president Al Gore yesterday called on Americans to convert all electricity generation to wind, solar and other renewable sources within 10 years and end their reliance on fossil fuels for the sake of the U.S. economy and the world's climate. He said that Americans need to "shake off complacency" and "throw aside old habits," and he asserted that the falling cost of solar power, the ample winds of the Midwest and the high price of oil make the shift to renewable energy "achievable, affordable and transformative"...
 

Gore's Energy Oomph

By E. J. Dionne Jr.
Washington Post
Friday, July 18, 2008; A17

On the issue of gasoline prices, Republicans think they have a winner in their call for new drilling, and Democrats are playing defense. Democrats need -- this is a technical term -- a lot more oomph. Al Gore wants to help them. In a speech here yesterday and in an interview, Gore played his usual role of unpaid party visionary by arguing that we can ease the climate crisis, the economic crisis and the crisis of dependence on foreign energy all at once...
 

VEEP
 

The Running-Mate Question: Hill Veteran or Change Agent?
One Would Bolster Ticket Credentials, the Other Its Message

By Shailagh Murray and Chris Cillizza
Washington Post
Thursday, July 17, 2008; A06

Sen. Barack Obama campaigned in Indiana yesterday with a pair of potential vice presidential picks and will travel abroad with a third, the latest round of high-profile appearances coinciding with a search process that could be critical to his chances of winning the White House in November...
 

For Obama, Who's Being Vetted?

By Marc Ambinder
The Atlantic Blog
July 17, 2008

A simple exercise, based on public statements and some reporting...Confirmed...Almost certainly being vetted (based on my and other's reporting)...Unknown...Not being vetted...
 

Opposites attract: VP Hagel, Lieberman?

By David Paul Kuhn
The Politico
July 17, 2008 10:02 PM EST

That nervous laughter you hear is the sound of party activists responding to speculation that Barack Obama or John McCain might pick a vice presidential candidate from the opposing party. More specifically, it is reaction to talk that Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel (Neb.) is being seriously considered as a running mate for Barack Obama or that Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.), an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, is a potential choice for John McCain...
 

The running mate litmus test

By Dick Polman
Dick Polman’s American Debate
Thursday, July 17, 2008

The liberal Democratic base is already feeling edgy about Barack Obama's various centrist moves, but the big test is yet to come. Will he choose a running mate who amplifies and underscores his message of change (thereby triggering exhalations of relief within the base) - or will he pick somebody for the sake of "balance," who appears to contradict his message of change (thereby triggering cries of betrayal, and even some vows to sit out the November election)?...