WASHINGTON, May 11, 2008

Obama Mulls Over McCain Debate Proposal

Frontrunning Candidates Begin Hinting At Plans For Joint Town Meetings Over The Summer

  • Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., wears protective goggles as he tours PV Powered Plant, a manufacturer of photovoltaic inverters, in Bend, Ore., May 10, 2008.

    Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., wears protective goggles as he tours PV Powered Plant, a manufacturer of photovoltaic inverters, in Bend, Ore., May 10, 2008.  (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

(AP)  Barack Obama's campaign is considering a suggestion from John McCain's campaign for the two presidential hopefuls to participate in joint town meetings and debates around the country starting this summer, Obama's chief strategist said Sunday.

John McCain is the expected Republican presidential nominee. Obama is closing in on the Democratic nod.

Asked about the suggestion and how seriously it was being considered, David Axelrod, Obama's chief campaign strategist said: "Very seriously."

"We believe that is the most significant election we've faced in a long time," he said on "Fox News Sunday."

"We're at war. Our economy is in turmoil. And we've got so many challenges that the people of this country deserve a serious discourse, and it shouldn't be limited necessarily to three kind of very regimented debates in the fall," he added, referring to those sanctioned by a presidential commission.

Axelrod declined to discuss details. So did aides to McCain, saying they would rather wait until they have an official opponent.

"We ought to begin sooner, and we ought to have a free-flowing conversation about where we want to take this country," Axelrod said. "So you know, we're interested in that proposal and eager to sit down and talk about it."

© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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by whitepicks2 May 13, 2008 4:04 AM EDT
A civil yet intense discussion of the issues between two candidates running for president? This is a McCain trick since it would cause Hillary''s supporters to turn to dust and blow off with the wind....On second thought, perhaps this is Obama''s plan.
Reply to this comment
by rowdytexan2 May 13, 2008 3:32 AM EDT
Obama STILL can''t figure out how to get his teleprompter in there so somebody can type the answers into it for him?
Reply to this comment
by omaar-101 May 13, 2008 12:18 AM EDT
A President that Really & Truly Cares about Americans and their home plights.


The U.S. House of Representatives opened debate on Wednesday on a bill (HR 5830) that would create a $300 billion fund to save homeowners from foreclosure, but President George W. Bush threatened to VETO the legislation which he said would "reward speculators and lenders."


The plan looks certain to pass the Democrat-controlled House and the bill''''s sponsors expect many Republicans will defy the president and back their measure in the face of the current housing crisis.

Declining home values and rising foreclosures over the past 12 months have darkened the mood of U.S. consumers and pushed the economy toward recession. Recent reports show consumer confidence hit a five-year low in April, while home prices booked a record drop in February.

The Democratic plan combines a variety of new measures as well as some already-passed legislation in a bulky bill largely crafted by Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services committee.

Significantly, nearly a third of Republicans on Frank''''s committee voted for his portions of the housing bill.

Late on Tuesday, the White House threatened to veto the housing plan and took particular aim at a provision that would deliver $15 billion of federal grants to cities and towns so that they could buy foreclosed homes that are in disrepair.




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by omaar-101 May 13, 2008 12:07 AM EDT
McCain won`t back Webb`s GI Bill plan


Oh Yeah...John McCain is a ''True Patriot'' US Veterans can Depend On...Huh


WASHINGTON - Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has suggested he would OPPOSE a Bi-Partisan measure by Virginia Sen. Jim Webb to expand college Tuition Benefits for (Military Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan).


McCains new move comes as a blow to Webb, a freshman Democrat and former Navy Secretary who had been Quietly building Bi-Partisan support for months.



Note: Webbs GI Bill, a centerpiece of his 2006 campaign, would pay the college tuition of many Military Veterans who have served since the (Sept. 11, 2001, Terrorist Attacks). The amount of tuition paid would not exceed the cost of the most expensive state school in a Veterans Home State, in most cases.

The Current Montgomery GI Bill pays only a SMALL FRACTION of the COST of COLLEGE TODAY.
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by kstar42 May 12, 2008 11:03 PM EDT
Everyone will be eye balling barack come november...check out this site..

http://littlegreenfootballs.co
m/article/29729_Michelle_Obamas_Name_Rem
oved_from_Terrorist_Fundraisers_Web_Page

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by taotxzen May 12, 2008 9:49 PM EDT
Earth to Einstein - where are you?
Reply to this comment
by rowdytexan2 May 12, 2008 8:33 PM EDT
RowdyTexan - How does anything Obama has or ever been claimed to do or insinuated to have done COMPARES to the stench from the other 2 candidates. Forget the vietnam pow gulag claims or the loan banking mess - Imagine how you''''d feel when or if you eventually find out McCain''''s wife has been donating heavily to liberal causes and the fact that she ain''''t bailing him out (his own family ain''''t either) - what exactly is she hiding in her returns ? Donations to Planned pArenthood perhaps ?? That''''ll really make my Day. Cheers!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by parrot123 at 03:34 PM : May 12, 2008

Frankly if Cindy McCain is a liberal donating to Planned Parenthood, good for her! Women are no longer tied at the hip to their husbands, or to their brains.

I don''t think donations to Planned Parenthood compare at to total involvement and support in corruption with Ishlamofascists and the Bush administration.
Reply to this comment
by taotxzen May 12, 2008 7:58 PM EDT
Im constantly amazed at how average citizens can be counted upon to vote solidly Republican and possess a deep animosity toward the left. This is a pretty self-defeating phenomenon, given that the policies of the Republican Party benefit the wealthy and powerful at the great expense of the average worker. The conservative establishment has tricked these people, playing up the emotional touchstones of conservatism and perpetuating a sense of a vast liberal empire out to crush traditional values while barely ever discussing the Republicans'' actual economic policies and what they mean to the working class. Thus the factory worker who listens to Rush Limbaugh will repeatedly vote for the party that is less likely to protect his safety, less likely to protect his job, less likely to protect his families health care and less likely to benefit him economically.

(CONT)
Reply to this comment
by taotxzen May 12, 2008 7:58 PM EDT
(CONT)

The working class continue to buy into the rhetoric that the right wing is in touch with the blue collar worker and his/her family.. that the Republican party is the Party of Values.. that the Left is merely a bunch of stuffy elitist who "just don''t get it." All the while jobs continue to fly out of the country, standards of living continue to fall, and the blue collar worker, by the love of his country and his otherwise stoic nature, will find solace in the fact that he is a person who represents true America. This being true, the Republican party will cater to this emotion by pumping up family values, bashing anyone who disagrees with their in-your-face foreign policy as "unpatriotic" (just like former Senator & triple amputee Max Cleland, right?), and pretending to be looking out for the average Joe. When in reality, Bush said it himself at a black-tie, $800/plate fundraiser with millionaire attendees, "This is an impressive crowd - the haves and the have-mores. Some people call you the elites; I call you my base."

Amazing!

Reply to this comment
by taotxzen May 12, 2008 7:35 PM EDT
Are you changing the subject out of admission or dismissal of the fact that you were dead wrong about the "rich/poor" argument?

Posted by bigjer2008

OK Einstein, show me where the middle-class and working poor are better off today than 8-years ago. And, how the top 10 percent have lost ground in the same time period.

You and McCain seem to be the only ones that believe that.
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