WASHINGTON, Aug. 22, 2008
VP Guessing Game Nears Conclusion
Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh Ruled Out; Sen. Joe Biden Reportedly A Leading Contender
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Obama's V.P. Selection
Millions have eagerly awaited word from the Obama campaign announcing the candidate's choice for his vice presidential running mate. Dean Reynolds reports on possible contenders for the position.
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Obama Seeks Strong V.P.
"Exclusive": Sen. Barack Obama responds to criticism and talks to Harry Smith about his choice for vice president.
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Sen. Obama's Birthday Greeting
"Caught On Tape": Sen. Barack Obama sings 'Happy Birthday' to Harry Smith, but doesn't deliver on Harry's wish for telling who his vice presidential pick will be.
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(CBS/ AP)
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Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., pulls into his home driveway and is met by the news media Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2008, in Greenville, Del. Biden, Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh and Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine are believed to be on Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's short list. (AP Photo/Bradley C Bower)
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In-Depth
VP Hot Sheet: Obama
CBSNews.com ranks the top contenders to be Obama's running mate.
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VP Hot Sheet: McCain
CBSNews.com ranks the top contenders to be McCain's running mate.
Virginia Gov. Tom Kaine spread word he had been ruled out and Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana was told he was not Obama's choice, according to party officials.
The normally loquacious Biden maintained a low profile as associates said they believed - but did not know - that he would be tapped. They added they had been asked to stand by in case their help was needed.
Additionally, several associates of Obama - including some at his campaign headquarters in Chicago - said they believed Biden was the choice, though they cautioned they had not been told directly.
Compounding the mystery, conservative Rep. Chet Edwards of Texas emerged - however briefly - as a contender.
Former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's chances remained uncertain on a day filled with them. Senior aides said the Obama campaign had never requested financial or other records from her.
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius rounded out the roster of likely contenders - a list that did not take into account any surprises that Obama might harbor.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, nooooo," Sebelius told reporters who asked for her latest thoughts on the months-long search.
Three days before Democrats open their convention in Denver, officials said the Obama campaign had taken the trouble to print material bearing the names of several potential ticket mates. The result was to minimizing the significance of a report that one company was churning out signs bearing Bayh's name. >
"I think right now they're just trying to tease us," said CBS News chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer. "They want to drag this out, build suspend into it."Read More On What Obama's Top Contenders Did Today
In an interview that aired Friday on CBS News' The Early Show, Obama talked about the process.
"Obviously, the most important question is: Is this person ready to be president?" he said. "Can this person help me govern? Are they going to be an effective partner in creating the kind of economic opportunity here at home and guiding us through some dangerous waters internationally?"
And, he added: "I want somebody who is going to be able to challenge my thinking and not simply be a 'yes person' when it comes to policymaking.
(Click here for the exclusive interview with Harry Smith).
Obama told reporters on Thursday he had made his choice, and aides used the prospect of a text-message announcement to try and attract additional supporters by soliciting their cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses.
Even that became occasion for intrigue.
Late Friday, several officials said the text message announcement would be distributed Saturday morning, a few hours before a scheduled rally at the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Ill., where the Democratic ticket would appear for the first time.
Hundreds of miles to the west, carpenters, electricians, sound stage gurus and others transformed the Pepsi Center in Denver into a made-for-television convention venue.
Tucked away in one corner were thousands of lightweight rolled cardboard tubes, ready-made handles for signs bearing the names of the Democratic ticket - once the identity of Obama's running mate was known.
Edwards, whom House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had touted for running mate, told The Associated Press in Waco, Texas, "I have had interactions with the Obama campaign over the last several months but I will not get into details."
VP Hot Sheet: CBSNews.com Tracks Veepstakes Buzz:McCain's Top 10 Contenders
Kaine, a moderate governor from a swing state, boarded a private plane at a small airport for a flight that aides said would take him to suburban Denver.
Bayh, a second-term senator, attended tennis camp with one of his sons, while Biden, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, evidently spent the day at his home in Delaware.
Clinton is apparently not under serious consideration and spent the day at the New York State Fair in Syracuse. Sources say she was not vetted by the campaign, but her supporters are still holding out hope Obama will pick her, reports CBS News correspondent Dean Reynolds.
"My answer to any question about the subject that I think you're referring to is that all inquiries should be directed at Senator Obama's campaign," said Clinton, the former first lady who came close to capturing the nomination in the primaries of last winter and spring.
Despite the advice, neither Obama nor his aides were saying.
Among those believed in the running, Edwards and Biden fit the mold of running mate with experience in defense or foreign policy - areas in which Obama is rated relatively poorly in the polls compared with Republican Sen. John McCain.
Clinton's credentials were forged in the primaries and caucuses where she ran a close second to Obama in the battle for the nomination. She maintains a loyal following among Democrats, many of whom have yet to swing behind the man who defeated her.
There was no shortage of other speculation, ranging from GOP Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, who traveled with Obama to Iraq and Afghanistan, to Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, to Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut.
The emergence of Edwards as a possible selection was the surprise of the day.
Edwards is a favorite of Pelosi, who praised his "extraordinary credentials" on ABC's "This Week" on Aug. 3 and said: "I hope he will be the nominee."
One Democratic official with knowledge of the conversation said Obama told Pelosi recently that she would be pleased with the choice. Other Democratic officials said he was on the short list. All spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss Obama's selection process. .
Edwards, chairman of the Appropriations Committee's military construction and veterans affairs subcommittee, is a nine-term moderate Democrat representing the GOP-leaning Texas district. He is well-known in Texas but does not have a national profile.
Several GOP officials said Friday that Arizona Sen. McCain, Obama's Republican rival, had not settled on a running mate - nor offered the job to anyone - although former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty were under serious consideration. It's likely McCain will wait to see who Obama selects before picking his running mate.
Officials said the campaign also was preparing for an "unconventional" nominee, an indication that oft-mentioned former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, an abortion-rights supporter, or Connecticut Democrat-turned-independent Joe Lieberman still could be in the running. That category also could include non-politicians whom McCain deeply admires, such as Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq.
Two officials close to Romney said he had not been offered the job. Pawlenty batted away questions Friday in a CNN interview, saying, "I'm sure he'll make a wonderful choice for our party and for our country, and we'll just have to wait until next Friday to find out the answer to those questions."
The GOP convention begins Sept. 1 in St. Paul, Minn.
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See all 257 CommentsReflecting his character as a Kerry-like shallow, arrogant, platitude-spouting, inexperienced, elitist, narcissistic, flip-flopping gas-bag, hussein will likely pick a running mate who is so bland, unknown and undistinguished he won''t even have a shadow. That is the only way the empty-suit hussein won''t be upstaged by a VP with all those things he doesn''t have, like experience, competence, skill, good judgment, accomplishments, etc.
AMNESTY-JOHN, on the other hand, needs desperately to have a competent, experienced running mate who can take over the Presidency when the inevitable occurs. That makes Romney the best choice.
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From CNN...
In his first race for office, seeking a state Senate seat on Chicago''s gritty South Side in 1996, Obama effectively used election rules to eliminate his Democratic competition.
As a community organizer, he had helped register thousands of voters. But when it came time to run for office, he employed Chicago rules to invalidate the voting petition signatures of three of his challengers.
The move denied each of them, including incumbent Alice Palmer, a longtime Chicago activist, a place on the ballot. It cleared the way for Obama to run unopposed on the Democratic ticket in a heavily Democrat district.
"That was Chicago politics," said John Kass, a veteran Chicago Tribune columnist. "Knock out your opposition, challenge their petitions, destroy your enemy, right? It is how Barack Obama destroyed his enemies back in 1996 that conflicts with his message today. He may have gotten his start registering thousands of voters. But in that first race, he made sure voters had just one choice."
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/05/29/obamas.first.campaign/
CHANGE?
From realclearpolitics.com on his record of voting "present" in the Illinois Legislature...
"For example, in 1997, Obama voted "present" on two bills (HB 382 and SB 230) that would have prohibited a procedure often referred to as partial birth abortion. He also voted "present" on SB 71, which lowered the first offense of carrying a concealed weapon from a felony to a misdemeanor and raised the penalty of subsequent offenses.
In 1999, Obama voted "present" on SB 759, a bill that required mandatory adult prosecution for firing a gun on or near school grounds. The bill passed the state Senate 52-1. Also in 1999, Obama voted "present" on HB 854 that protected the privacy of ***-abuse victims by allowing petitions to have the trial records sealed. He was the only member to not support the bill.
In 2001, Obama voted "present" on two parental notification abortion bills (HB 1900 and SB 562), and he voted "present" on a series of bills (SB 1093, 1094, 1095) that sought to protect a child if it survived a failed abortion. In his book, the Audacity of Hope, on page 132, Obama explained his problems with the "born alive" bills, specifically arguing that they would overturn Roe v. Wade. But he failed to mention that he only felt strongly enough to vote "present" on the bills instead of "no."
And finally in 2001, Obama voted "present" on SB 609, a bill prohibiting strip clubs and other adult establishments from being within 1,000 feet of schools, churches, and daycares."
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/02/the_everpresent_obama.html
CHANGE?
The now famous...
"You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing''s replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it''s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren''t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."
from the Chicago Sun-Times re: Rezko...
1. They met in 1990. Obama was a student at Harvard Law School and got an unsolicited job offer from Rezko, then a low-income housing developer in Chicago. Obama turned it down.
2. Obama took a job in 1993 with a small Chicago law firm, Davis Miner Barnhill, that represents developers -- primarily not-for-profit groups -- building low-income housing with government funds.
3. One of the firm''s not-for-profit clients -- the Woodlawn Preservation and Investment Corp., co-founded by Obama''s then-boss Allison Davis -- was partners with Rezko''s company in a 1995 deal to convert an abandoned nursing home at 61st and Drexel into low-income apartments. Altogether, Obama spent 32 hours on the project, according to the firm. Only five hours of that came after Rezko and WPIC became partners, the firm says. The rest of the future senator''s time was helping WPIC strike the deal with Rezko. Rezko''s company, Rezmar Corp., also partnered with the firm''s clients in four later deals -- none of which involved Obama, according to the firm. In each deal, Rezmar "made the decisions for the joint venture," says William Miceli, an attorney with the firm.
4. In 1995, Obama began campaigning for a seat in the Illinois Senate. Among his earliest supporters: Rezko. Two Rezko companies donated a total of $2,000. Obama was elected in 1996 -- representing a district that included 11 of Rezko''s 30 low-income housing projects.
5. Rezko''s low-income housing empire began crumbling in 2001, when his company stopped making mortgage payments on the old nursing home that had been converted into apartments. The state foreclosed on the building -- which was in Obama''s Illinois Senate district.
6. In 2003, Obama announced he was running for the U.S. Senate, and Rezko -- a member of his campaign finance committee -- held a lavish fund-raiser June 27, 2003, at his Wilmette mansion.
7. A few months after Obama became a U.S. senator, he and Rezko''s wife, Rita, bought adjacent pieces of property from a doctor in Chicago''s Kenwood neighborhood -- a deal that has dogged Obama the last two years. The doctor sold the mansion to Obama for $1.65 million -- $300,000 below the asking price. Rezko''s wife paid full price -- $625,000 -- for the adjacent vacant lot. The deals closed in June 2005. Six months later, Obama paid Rezko''s wife $104,500 for a strip of her land, so he could have a bigger yard. At the time, it had been widely reported that Tony Rezko was under federal investigation. Questioned later about the timing of the Rezko deal, Obama called it "boneheaded" because people might think the Rezkos had done him a favor.
8. Eight months later -- in October 2006 -- Rezko was indicted on charges he solicited kickbacks from companies seeking state pension business under his friend Gov. Blagojevich. Federal prosecutors maintain that $10,000 from the alleged kickback scheme was donated to Obama''s run for the U.S. Senate. Obama has given the money to charity.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/watchdogs/757340,CST-NWS-watchdog24.article
You folks can''t get it through your head why legislators voote present. It''s a means to bargian for changes to imperfect bills to make them better before they''re ultimately voted up or down.
His present vote wasn''t a vote for partial birth abortion but it was a vote for Roe vs. Wade.
In the Senate Obama voted against partial birth abortion but the people accusing him of infanticide never mention that.
Totality of Bills written by Obama in the 110th congress that have passed...
Jun 26, 2007 S.Con.Res. 25: A concurrent resolution condemning the recent violent actions of the Government of Zimbabwe against peaceful opposition party activists and members of civil society.
Jul 13, 2007 S.Res. 268: A resolution designating July 12, 2007, as "National Summer Learning Day".
Passed Senate
Mar 28, 2007 S.Res. 133: A resolution celebrating the life of Bishop Gilbert Earl Patterson.
AND MORE CHANGE ...
Obama can''t vote ''present'' when he''s president so he''s probably freaking out about that. "You mean I have to take a stand yes or no on something?? Can''t I just keep saying Change and everyone believe me?"
Why doesn''t the little rock star just say I haven''t made the decision and I''ll let you know when I make it instead of all tis tittalizing KRAP! It''s just a a lame EGO TRIP!
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Posted by realpatriot1 at 04:00 PM : Aug 22, 2008
Actually his vote was very clear...he is and has been FOR partial birth abortions! His not so charming gas bag wife held fund raisers for those lobbying for it at his events!
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Posted by Interobserv at 04:07 PM : Aug 22, 2008
Four of the Keating 5 were democraps, lest ya not forget! And McCain was acquitted of charges.
per democratic text message
I think he picks Edwards (I DO NOT HAVE *** WITH UHM...), Clinton or Bin Laden.
"U.S. Sen. Barack Obama%u2019s presidential campaign paid more than $800,000 to an offshoot of the liberal Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now for services the Democrat''s campaign says it mistakenly misrepresented in federal reports.
An Obama spokesman said Federal Election Commission reports would be amended to show Citizens Services Inc. %u2014 a subsidiary of ACORN %u2014 worked in "get-out-the-vote" projects, instead of activities such as polling, advance work and staging major events as stated in FEC finance reports filed during the primary.
FEC spokeswoman Mary Brandenberger said it is not unusual for campaigns to amend reports, even regarding large sums of money.
But, said Blair Latoff, spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee: "Barack Obama''s failure to accurately report his campaign''s financial records is an incredibly suspicious situation that appears to be an attempt to hide his campaign%u2019s interaction with a left-wing organization previously convicted of voter fraud. For a candidate who claims to be practicing ''new'' politics, his FEC reports look an awful lot like the ''old-style'' Chicago politics of yesterday."
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Posted by fenner at 04:20 PM : Aug 22, 2008
You got that right & Obama knows that also whether he admits it or not
....Then Lieberman should be Mccain''s VP selection. He has the experience. His dynamic style helped Al Gore come in second, and he would most assuredly help Mccain come in second as well. You go JOE! And we hope soon!
Silly no One Cares .....but watch for a de bounce it''s coming...the final when Dems walk away from their Party''s lack of judgement.
i don''t want a repeat!
Obama''''''''s mother, divorced from Obama''''''''s father, married a man from Indonesia named Lolo Soetoro, and the family relocated to the country from 1967-71. At first, Obama attended the Catholic school, Fransiskus Assisis, where documents showed he enrolled as a Muslim, the religion of his stepfather. The document required that each student choose one of five state-sanctioned religions when registering -- Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Catholic or Protestant. Gibbs said he wasn''''''''t sure why the document had Obama listed as a Muslim."
Gibbs may not have been sure, but it appears that the Obama campaign made sure that this image did not see the light of day, because the photographic listing of the candidate, even as a child, as an Indonesian whose religion was Islam was worth, well, a thousand words. "Senator Obama has never been a Muslim," Gibbs said in the article. "As a six-year-old in Catholic school, he studied the catechism."
That may be Gibbs'''''''' assertion, but evidence from grown-up school chums of little Barry Soetoro indicates that he studied, and excelled in, the teachings of the Koran in the original Arabic and could recite the Shehada, the Islamic article of faith, by heart, and with a decent tune, according to the New York Times
A 2007 Associated Press photograph, suppressed until now, shows the school register of the child who is today known as Barack Hussein Obama but was officially listed then as Barry Soetoro, whose citizenship was listed as "Indonesian" and whose religion was listed as "Islam." The visual evidence starkly contradicts the Obama campaign''s claim that he was not a Muslim and confirms that he is a national of at least one other country.
In addition, it raises the highly problematic issue of what is Obama''s official name. If it turns out to Barry Soetoro, and no official change of name was ever made, Obama may face an array of charges of deception and misprision that may throw into doubt, at the very least, his fitness to run.
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Posted by WhyAfghan at 04:52 PM : Aug 22, 2008
if you''re going to write sladering BS, At least make it consistent with the Constitution. People born outside the U.S. cannot run for president. Last time I checked Hawaii was a U.S. state.
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Posted by MANDALAY-BAY at 05:58 PM
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Mccainw as born OUTSIDE THE US IN PANAMA.
"KMBC''s Micheal Mahoney reported that the company, which specializes in political literature, has been printing Obama-Bayh material... MORE... Gill Studios, would not confirm information about the material. They would not deny it either. The company president would not comment when asked by Mahoney about the reports. But at least three sources close to the plant''s operations reported the Obama-Bayh material was being produced"
Big whoopie.
Bayh, another super-liberal elitist will be Obama''s running mate.
No surprise there.
"KMBC''''s Micheal Mahoney reported that the company, which specializes in political literature, has been printing Obama-Bayh material... MORE... Gill Studios, would not confirm information about the material. They would not deny it either. The company president would not comment when asked by Mahoney about the reports. But at least three sources close to the plant''''s operations reported the Obama-Bayh material was being produced"
Big whoopie.
Bayh, another super-liberal elitist will be Obama''''s running mate.
No surprise there.
Drudge even has a photo of a silly-looking Obama / Bayh bumper sticker.
Yawn.
How exciting.
Phillip Berg, the filing attorney, is a former gubernatorial and senatorial candidate, former chair of the Democratic Party in Montgomery (PA) County, former member of the Democratic State Committee, and former Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania. According to Berg, he filed the suit--just days before the DNC is to hold its nominating convention in Denver--for the health of the Democratic Party.
"I filed this action at this time," Berg stated, "to avoid the obvious problems that will occur when the Republican Party raises these issues after Obama is nominated.".
Berg cited a number of unanswered questions regarding the Illinois senator''s background, and in today''s lawsuit maintained that Sen. Obama is not a naturalized U.S. citizen or that, if he ever was, he lost his citizenship when he was adopted in Indonesia. Berg also cites what he calls "dual loyalties" due to his citizenship and ties with Kenya and Indonesia.
In the lawsuit, Berg states that Sen. Obama was born in Kenya, and not in Hawaii as the senator maintains. Before giving birth, according to the lawsuit, Obama''s mother traveled to Kenya with his father but was prevented from flying back to Hawaii because of the late stage of her pregnancy, "apparently a normal restriction to avoid births during a flight." As Sen. Obama''s own paternal grandmother, half-brother and half-sister have also claimed, Berg maintains that Stanley Ann Dunham--Obama''s mother--gave birth to little Barack in Kenya and subsequently flew to Hawaii to register the birth.
Berg cites inconsistent accounts of Sen. Obama''s birth, including reports that he was born at two separate hospitals--Kapiolani Hospital and Queens Hospital--in Honolulu, as well a profound lack of birthing records for Stanley Ann Dunham, though simple "registry of birth" records for Barack Obama are available in a Hawaiian public records office.
Post the link to the story, will you please?
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