|
|
NEW HAMPSHIRE
On Iraq, Obama emulates Bush's worst mistake
By Sen. John McCain
New Hampshire Union Leader
July 23, 2008
IN JANUARY 2007, when Gen. David Petraeus took command in Iraq,
he called the situation "hard" but not "hopeless." Today, 18
months later, violence has fallen by up to 80 percent to the
lowest levels in four years, and Sunni and Shiite terrorists are
reeling from a string of defeats. The situation now is full of
hope, but considerable hard work remains to consolidate our
fragile gains. Progress has been due primarily to an increase in
the number of troops and a change in their strategy. I was an
early advocate of the surge at a time when it had few supporters
in Washington. Sen. Barack Obama was an equally vocal opponent.
"I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq is
going to solve the sectarian violence there," he said on Jan.
10, 2007. "In fact, I think it will do the reverse"...
McCain: Rival ill-informed on war
In Rochester, GOP candidate has harsh words for Democrat
By Margot Sanger-Katz
Concord Monitor
July 23, 2008
As Sen. Barack Obama toured the Middle East, presidential
candidate John McCain used a town hall meeting in the state
yesterday to offer sharp criticism of his rival's foreign policy
views. Speaking yesterday to a rowdy and supportive crowd at the
Rochester Opera House, McCain described Obama's policies on the
Iraq war as ill-informed and incorrect. McCain, a Republican
senator, has stressed that troop withdrawals should be tied to
conditions on the ground in Iraq and not to external timetables,
pointing to successes achieved during the recent so-called troop
surge. Obama, in contrast, has said that he would begin removing
troops from the country shortly after taking office, with a goal
of removing most American forces within 16 months...
Energy plan: McCain would open 45 nuclear reactors across
country
By John DiStaso
New Hampshire Union Leader
July 23, 2008
MANCHESTER – On his third visit to New Hampshire in four months,
John McCain yesterday defended his energy and tax cut plans, his
votes on home heating assistance and said the United States is
clearly winning the war in Iraq. McCain, placed by two recent
state polls in a dead heat with Barack Obama in this
battleground state, said he would consider the viability of
uncapping the long-closed Seabrook Unit 2 to determine if it may
fit with his plan to open 45 nuclear reactors across the country
by 2030 to help the nation become energy independent...
McCain bashes Obama, fires up 700 supporters
By Robert M. Cook
Foster's Daily Democrat
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
ROCHESTER — As much as Ariz. Sen. John McCain loves his home
state, he told 700 supporters at the Rochester Opera House
Tuesday "coming back to New Hampshire is also like coming home."
The Republican presidential candidate also wasted little time at
the Town Meeting event before he again went on the attack
against Ill. Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic
presidential nominee...
McCain in spotlight
A big day in must-win N.H.
By Michael McCord
New Hampshire Union Leader
July 23, 2008
ROCHESTER — It's never a dull day with John McCain in the state.
Especially when you can catch him on his vaunted Straight Talk
Express bus. While Democratic presidential rival Sen. Barack
Obama was continuing his highly publicized tour through the
Middle East, McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, and his
campaign were multitasking — undermining anything positive Obama
might gain from the trip by calling him a no-substance showboat
and accusing the media of "a bizarre fascination with Barack
Obama"...
McCain not taking N.H. or any state for granted
By Robert M. Cook
Foster's Daily Democrat
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
ROCHESTER — John McCain smiled and laughed when he saw a voter
hold up a mock photo of him titled, "The Emperor Has No
Clothes." The 71-year-old Arizona Republican senator marveled at
the depiction of his muscular physique as he, members of his
staff and four members of the media drove out of the Rochester
Opera House parking lot aboard the Straight Talk Express bus...
Marc Ambinder Live Blogging from Rochester
McCain gets more than he bargained for
By Adam Aigner-Treworgy
First Read / MSNBC
Tuesday, July 22, 2008 2:55 PM
ROCHESTER, NH -- During a return trip to the state that he won
in the 2000 primaries and that launched him on the road to this
year's GOP nomination, McCain got more than he bargained for
from the independent-minded voters he is so complimentary of on
the campaign trail. Before opening up to questions from the
audience of several hundred that crowded into the Opera House
downtown here, McCain picked up on his campaign's message of the
day: Obama and Iraq...
With the Mideast a Priority for Both Campaigns, McCain
Intensifies His Attack
By Elisabeth Bumiller
New York Times
July 23, 2008
ROCHESTER, N.H. — Senator John McCain and his campaign sharply
stepped up criticism of Senator Barack Obama on Tuesday as a
craven and naïve traveler to the Middle East who, as Mr. McCain
put it at a raucous town-hall-style meeting here, “would rather
lose a war in order to win a political campaign.” Mr. McCain,
the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, vigorously
condemned Mr. Obama for refusing to say, even as Mr. Obama
acknowledged that security in Iraq had improved, that the surge
in United States troop strength he opposed during the primaries
had worked...
McCain hits rival sharply on Iraq
Speculation grows about Romney
By Michael Kranish
Boston Globe
July 23, 2008
ROCHESTER, N.H. - Senator John McCain yesterday launched one of
his toughest attacks yet on Senator Barack Obama, saying his
Democratic rival "would rather lose a war in order to win a
campaign," and intensified speculation that he could name a
running mate soon, heaping more praise on former rival Mitt
Romney. Asked whether he had forgiven the former Massachusetts
governor for his attacks during the primary campaign, the
presumptive Republican nominee told a packed town hall meeting
in New Hampshire that Romney "has been a tremendous help to my
campaign"...
Dems focus on McCain's LIHEAP votes
By Brian Lawson
Politicker NH
July 22, 2008
ROCHESTER-- Over the past two days, Democrats have been
criticizing U.S. Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) votes against
increasing funding for a home heating assistance program. The
Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) provides
funding to citizens who need help paying their home oil bills.
Democrats say McCain has voted against increased funding five
times...
Update: McCain begins airing new ad
By Brian Lawson
Politicker NH
July 21, 2008
U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has begun airing an ad attacking
U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) position on oil drilling. The
ad, titled "Pump," is a thirty-second-ad and is now airing on
WMUR...
Adwatch: McCain ad blames Obama for gas price hike
Associated Press
July 21, 2008
McCain and the anti-war questioner
By Drew Cline
New Hampshire Union Leader Blog
Tuesday July 22, 2008
At his town hall meeting in Rochester, John McCain just took a
question from a woman strongly opposed to the Iraq war. She gave
a monologue against the war, and the crowd started to boo and
heckle her. McCain immediately shut them up. He hushed them and
reminded them that this was exactly the point of a town hall
meeting, then he asked the woman to continue...
More on John McCain in Rochester
By Bill Duncan
Blue Hampshire
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Clearly, I'm more easily entertained than Dean. But it's true,
John McCain's town hall meeting was was very....well, small
bore, I guess. It's hard to say. The 600 supporters there were
reverential, much as if they were in church. There were a lot
of standing ovations for vets and for lines about winning the
war. There is no doubt they were sincere, but there was also
something of the Kabuki about it all...
OTHER
NEWS AND VIEWS
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's favorable comments about
Barack Obama's plan for withdrawal from Iraq have placed John
McCain in a difficult spot.
By Ross Douthat
The Atlantic
July 21, 2008
When John McCain, out of money and plunging in the polls, staked
his Presidential campaign on his support for the surge of
American forces in Iraq, he no doubt did so out of a sincere
belief that the policy would dramatically improve conditions on
the ground. But he probably never dreamed that only a year
later, conditions would have improved so dramatically
that Barack Obama's "out in 16 months" plan, drawn up as a way
to extricate the U.S. as rapidly as possible from a costly
fiasco, would look instead like a potentially appropriate
response to American success - or that the
feeling-his-oats Iraqi Prime Minister would be more or less
endorsing it...
McCain gaffes pile up; critics pile on
By Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei
The Politico
July 22, 2008 1:10 PM EST
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said “Iraq” on Monday when he
apparently meant “Afghanistan”, adding to a string of mixed-up
word choices that is giving ammunition to the opposition. Just
in the past three weeks, McCain has also mistaken "Somalia" for
"Sudan," and even football’s Green Bay Packers for the
Pittsburgh Steelers. Ironically, the errors have been
concentrated in what should be his area of expertise: foreign
affairs. McCain will turn 72 the day after Sen. Barack Obama
(D-Ill.) accepts his party’s nomination for president at the age
of 47, calling new attention to the sensitive issue of McCain’s
advanced age three days before the start of his own
convention...
For McCain, the surge is a losing strategy
Its success in quieting Iraq may make it easier for voters to
choose Obama.
By Jonah Goldberg
Los Angeles Times
July 22, 2008
'Sen. Obama didn't support the surge, wanted to pull out, said
that it would fail. I supported it when it was the toughest
thing to do. I believe that my record on national security and
keeping this country safe is there. And the American people will
examine our records, and I will win." That's John McCain
explaining why he'll win. He's wrong...
Analysis: McCain's dark days in Obama's shadow
Where he's slipping up — and how he can get it all back
By Howard Fineman
MSNBC
Tuesday, July. 22, 2008
WASHINGTON - John McCain and Mark Salter, his friend and aide,
share a love of grim, plucky humor. “Life is darkest,” they like
to joke, “just before it turns completely black.” That would be
approximately now. McCain needs all the pluck (and luck) he can
muster to win this presidential race...
McCain's factually inaccurate op-ed
By Dan Kennedy
Media Nation
July 22, 2008
The
John McCain op-ed piece that was
rejected by the New York Times contains at least one bit of
factually inaccurate information about Barack Obama. That alone
is sufficient reason to send it back for a rewrite. Instead,
McCain has chosen to go public and claim that the Times refused
to publish what he had written despite having run
a commentary by Obama last week. Here is the inaccuracy:...
VEEP
McCain may be zeroing in on a running mate
By Tom Raum
Associated Press
July 22, 2008
ROCHESTER, N.H. --Yet another town-hall meeting isn't doing the
trick. Neither is dropping in on a former Republican president.
So just what can John McCain do to draw attention away from his
showy Democratic rival? Pick a running mate, perhaps.
Speculation swirled Tuesday that McCain might name his vice
presidential partner within the next few days -- right in the
middle of Barack Obama's overseas tour. McCain aides were not
helping tamp down the speculation with their comments, often
made late in the afternoon, of "no announcement today"...
Mitt Romney ‘near top’ of John McCain’s veep list
By Hillary Chabot
Boston Herald
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Amid increasing buzz John McCain will pick a candidate for vice
president this week, a source close to former Bay State Gov.
Mitt Romney say he is “near the top of a very short list” of Big
Mac’s choices. The Republican presidential contender whipped up
speculation about an impending VP decision but declined to give
a straight answer during his New Hampshire visit yesterday...
For Romney, now's the time to sweat
By Peter S. Canellos
Boston Globe
July 22, 2008
WASHINGTON - Mitt Romney is a shrewd businessman, known for his
cautious approach to the nerve-rattling takeover business.
Romney's colleagues even came up for a name for what happened
when Romney's inner worries began to ruffle his carefully
groomed appearance - "pitting," for when the armpits of his
expensive blue shirts would start to darken from perspiration.
So the news last week that Romney was giving up any chance of
recouping the $45 million he loaned his presidential campaign
immediately raised the question: What does the cautious, but
shrewd, dealmaker think he's going to get for this money? The
answer, apparently, is his selection as John McCain's running
mate...
Is the veep buzz for real?
By Dick Polman
Dick Polman’s American Debate
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Now that Barack Obama is embarked on his glitzy global tour,
having already won the Nuri al-Maliki primary, the McCain people
are quite unhappy with their predicament. During all those weeks
when they were baiting Obama as a rookie with scant war-zone
exposure, they apparently never figured out that, if Obama did
go, he would surely garner an outsize share of public attention.
So now, until Obama returns home, they're stuck with the onerous
challenge of competing for the spotlight...
|
|
|
|
|
Libertarian appeals to decisive voters
To some Republicans, Barr is roadblock to presidency
By Lauren R. Dorgan
Concord Monitor
July 23, 2008
Squeezing his thumb and forefinger together in the back of a
Manchester bar last night, Libertarian presidential nominee Bob
Barr told a crowd of 80 that when it counts, there's that much
difference between the Republicans and Democrats. Americans, he
argued, are looking for something new...
Libertarian Bob Barr campaigns in Manchester
By Mark Hayward
New Hampshire Union Leader
July 23, 2008
MANCHESTER – Although he's yet to secure a spot on the New
Hampshire presidential ballot, Republican-turned-Libertarian Bob
Barr visited Manchester yesterday, drawing attention and,
possibly votes, away from Republican John McCain. Barr visited
Murphy's Tap Room in downtown Manchester, where about 90 people
listened to his calls for small government and personal freedom,
and nodded agreement to his notion that the country's two major
political parties are headed in the same direction...
Barr pays visit to Queen City
By Brian Lawson
Politicker NH
July 22, 2008
MANCHESTER -- Libertarian presidential nominee Bob Barr (L-Ga.)
paid his first visit to New Hampshire where a recent poll shows
him with 10 percent of the vote. Barr, a former Republican U.S.
House member from Georgia, was nominated at the Libertarian
National Convention in Denver over the Memorial Day weekend...
Nader, Barr, Phillies trying for NH prez ballot
By Norma Love
Associated Press
July 22, 2008
CONCORD, N.H. --Third-party candidates Ralph Nader and Bob Barr
are working to beat a deadline to qualify for New Hampshire's
presidential ballot as alternatives to Republican John McCain
and Democrat Barack Obama. Nader spokesman Chris Driscoll said
Tuesday the campaign has gathered about 3,000 signatures of
registered voters and hopes to have 6,000 by the Aug. 6 deadline
to submit them to town checklist supervisors. The third-party
presidential candidates need 3,000 certified signatures -- 1,500
from each congressional district -- to qualify for the ballot.
The Secretary of State's office must receive the certified
signatures by Sept. 3...
He’s Bob Barr, and he’s running for president
The Libertarian Party candidate thinks the GOP, which he once
served with gusto, has run off the rails. Some Republicans worry
their quirky former colleague will spoil McCain’s chances.
By Faye Fiore
Los Angeles Times
July 22, 2008
WASHINGTON — When Bob Barr called a news conference last month
to discuss his idea of the perfect Supreme Court justice, a
phone booth could have accommodated the reporters who showed up.
Nonetheless, the Libertarian Party's candidate for president was
no-nonsense: Cuff links fastened, mustache trimmed, he ripped
into John McCain's interpretation of the Constitution, words
like "penumbra," as in "outside the penumbra of Sen. McCain's
misunderstanding," rolling off his famously tart tongue...
|
|
|
