US 2008 Presidential Campaign/Debate Discussion Thread - Part Catorce!

[ladywithspinninghead]

Wonder if the following will haunt Obama if it gets out before the Ohio primary:

Obama staffer gave warning of NAFTA rhetoric
Updated Wed. Feb. 27 2008 11:45 PM ET


Barack Obama has ratcheted up his attacks on NAFTA, but a senior member of his campaign team told a Canadian official not to take his criticisms seriously, CTV News has learned.

Both Obama and Hillary Clinton have been critical of the long-standing North American Free Trade Agreement over the course of the Democratic primaries, saying that the deal has cost U.S. workers' jobs.

Within the last month, a top staff member for Obama's campaign telephoned Michael Wilson, Canada's ambassador to the United States, and warned him that Obama would speak out against NAFTA, according to Canadian sources.

The staff member reassured Wilson that the criticisms would only be campaign rhetoric, and should not be taken at face value.

But Tuesday night in Ohio, where NAFTA is blamed for massive job losses, Obama said he would tell Canada and Mexico "that we will opt out unless we renegotiate the core labour and environmental standards."

Late Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Obama campaign said the staff member's warning to Wilson sounded implausible, but did not deny that contact had been made.

"Senator Obama does not make promises he doesn't intend to keep," the spokesperson said.

Low-level sources also suggested the Clinton campaign may have given a similar warning to Ottawa, but a Clinton spokesperson flatly denied the claim.

During Tuesday's debate, she said that as president she would opt out of NAFTA "unless we renegotiate it."

[ABEL]

so now it appears i won't get to vote in the primary at all.
i went down to early vote today.
apparently the computer already thinks i've moved out of the county.
i updated my drivers license with my parents address since i'm moving out of the country in a few days.
yay me for trying to think ahead.
if i want to vote in the primary i'd have to drive 600 miles to the county where my parents live.

[U2isthebest]

Originally posted by ladywithspinninghead
Wonder if the following will haunt Obama if it gets out before the Ohio primary:

Obama staffer gave warning of NAFTA rhetoric
Updated Wed. Feb. 27 2008 11:45 PM ET


Barack Obama has ratcheted up his attacks on NAFTA, but a senior member of his campaign team told a Canadian official not to take his criticisms seriously, CTV News has learned.

Both Obama and Hillary Clinton have been critical of the long-standing North American Free Trade Agreement over the course of the Democratic primaries, saying that the deal has cost U.S. workers' jobs.

Within the last month, a top staff member for Obama's campaign telephoned Michael Wilson, Canada's ambassador to the United States, and warned him that Obama would speak out against NAFTA, according to Canadian sources.

The staff member reassured Wilson that the criticisms would only be campaign rhetoric, and should not be taken at face value.

But Tuesday night in Ohio, where NAFTA is blamed for massive job losses, Obama said he would tell Canada and Mexico "that we will opt out unless we renegotiate the core labour and environmental standards."

Late Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Obama campaign said the staff member's warning to Wilson sounded implausible, but did not deny that contact had been made.

"Senator Obama does not make promises he doesn't intend to keep," the spokesperson said.

Low-level sources also suggested the Clinton campaign may have given a similar warning to Ottawa, but a Clinton spokesperson flatly denied the claim.

During Tuesday's debate, she said that as president she would opt out of NAFTA "unless we renegotiate it."

This story sounds incredibly suspicious to me. There's just something about it that does not seem credible at all. It reads more like it should be in The National Enquirer than a reputable news paper. And yes, if this article was about Clinton, even McCain, I would think the same thing.

[ladywithspinninghead]

Originally posted by U2isthebest


This story sounds incredibly suspicious to me. There's just something about it that does not seem credible at all. It reads more like it should be in The National Enquirer than a reputable news paper. And yes, if this article was about Clinton, even McCain, I would think the same thing.

at the comparison of CTV to the National Enquirer. It was actually one of the top stories on CTV, the most watched Canadian news broadcast. Pretty reliable, not comparable to Fox but it's not quite the CBC either

It's at CTV.CA if you want to check it out.

[onebloodonelife]

Originally posted by ABEL
so now it appears i won't get to vote in the primary at all.
i went down to early vote today.
apparently the computer already thinks i've moved out of the county.
i updated my drivers license with my parents address since i'm moving out of the country in a few days.
yay me for trying to think ahead.
if i want to vote in the primary i'd have to drive 600 miles to the county where my parents live.

Can you vote absentee? Or is it too late to request the ballot?

[U2isthebest]

Originally posted by ladywithspinninghead


at the comparison of CTV to the National Enquirer. It was actually one of the top stories on CTV, the most watched Canadian news broadcast. Pretty reliable, not comparable to Fox but it's not quite the CBC either

It's at CTV.CA if you want to check it out.

Oh, I realize it wasn't actually from a tabloid-like source, but the tone of the article reads much more like an Enquirer story than a professional piece of journalism that should be coming from an national news broadcast like CTV. I didn't actually think that CTV was a tabloid paper. Sorry, I should have been more clear!

[ABEL]

Originally posted by onebloodonelife


Can you vote absentee? Or is it too late to request the ballot?

too late unfortunately. deadline was last tuesday.

[onebloodonelife]

Originally posted by ABEL


too late unfortunately. deadline was last tuesday.

[BAW]

Originally posted by ABEL
so now it appears i won't get to vote in the primary at all.
i went down to early vote today.
apparently the computer already thinks i've moved out of the county.
i updated my drivers license with my parents address since i'm moving out of the country in a few days.
yay me for trying to think ahead.
if i want to vote in the primary i'd have to drive 600 miles to the county where my parents live.

Well, you can't blame the computer when you changed your address on your driver's license and re-registered to vote in another county.

You should just go permanent absentee since you'll be out of the country full time.

[phanan]

A new interview with Bruce Springsteen includes some of his thoughts on Obama:

In the current presidential race, "there are two really good Democratic candidates for president. I admire and respect them both enough to wait and see what happens." But while he won't endorse Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama yet, he specifically praises the latter, who cited Springsteen as the person he would most like to meet in a recent interview with People.

"I always look at my work as trying to measure the distance between American promise and American reality," Springsteen says. "And I think (Obama's) inspired a lot of people with that idea: How do you make that distance shorter? How do we create a more humane society? We've lived through such ugly times that people want to have a romance with the idea of America again, and I think they need to.

"The hard realities and how things get done are important, too, but if you can effectively convince people that it's possible to make things better, they get excited."

http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/n...ingsteen_N.htm

[ABEL]

Originally posted by Bono's American Wife



Well, you can't blame the computer when you changed your address on your driver's license and re-registered to vote in another county.

You should just go permanent absentee since you'll be out of the country full time.

i can blame the computer (or human error) when:
- new voter registration card never arrived.
- county elections website still has my listed as being registered in dallas and tells me what precinct to vote at.




and yes i will be voting absentee in the november election

[MrsSpringsteen]

Originally posted by phanan
A new interview with Bruce Springsteen includes some of his thoughts on Obama:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/n...ingsteen_N.htm

I read that in People, that Senator Obama most wanted to meet Bruce because he "seems like a genuinely good person". Can't get much better than that.

[U2democrat]

That seals the deal for you, doesn't it

[MrsSpringsteen]

Originally posted by U2democrat
That seals the deal for you, doesn't it

Well I've already voted last month but I will support the Democratic nominee regardless. Bruce for VP

Sen Obama dances again on Ellen-if you can call that dancing

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/0...i_n_88954.html

[U2democrat]

He's still a heck of a lot better than I am at dancing

[MrsSpringsteen]

Maybe he's like Bono and he dances better horizontally than he does vertically

[U2isthebest]

So much for the rhythm and soul sterotype.

[U2democrat]

Originally posted by MrsSpringsteen
Maybe he's like Bono and he dances better horizontally than he does vertically

[MrsSpringsteen]

politico.com

February 28, 2008
Read More: Barack Obama

Selling gay rights

Obama's rally in Beaumont today was the highest-energy of this Texas swing, with a crowd that was about three-quarters black cheering at almost every turn.

An interesting moment came when he was asked a question about LGBT rights and delivered an answer that seemed to suit the questioner, listing the various attributes — race, gender, etc. — that shouldn't trigger discrimination, to successive cheers. When he came to saying that gays and lesbians deserve equality, though, the crowd fell silent.

So he took a different tack:

"Now I’m a Christian, and I praise Jesus every Sunday," he said, to a sudden wave of noisy applause and cheers.

"I hear people saying things that I don’t think are very Christian with respect to people who are gay and lesbian," he said, and the crowd seemed to come along with him this time.

The moment reminded me of a conversation I had recently with a senior figure in the national gay rights movement, who noted that Obama's deference to some black Christian discomfort with homosexuality — his refusal to dump the "ex-gay" gospel singer Donnie McClurkin from a tour — angered some gays and lesbians; but conversely, that his ability to sell gay rights in the black church is unique and appealing.

[martha]

Pandering to Christian discomfort.