|
|
You don't have to be a history buff -- although it probably would help -- to get a charge out of the photos our brother blogger L arry Harnisch has assembled over on The Daily Mirror.
They're from The Times' coverage 70 years ago today of the visit to Los Angeles of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Note the president's own rail car, Railroad One, the 1930s equivalent of Air Force One.
The crowd members in their straw hats. The president driving past Broadway and 7th. Protesters demanding the end to an embargo on trade with Spain.
And the president waving his hat -- wait a minute, a president wearing a hat? -- as he prepared to deliver a speech from the back of his Baltimore & Ohio train.
There, standing forlornly next to him is L.A. Mayor Frank Shaw, who was supposed to introduce FDR. But the president ignored him and just started the speech without introduction, according to The Times account the next day.
That's something The Ticket would have definitely blogged about back then, had there been such a thing as an Internet, a blog and ourself.
Worth a look over here.
--Andrew Malcolm
Photo credit: The Los Angeles Times
Well, one sure way to get "NASCAR Dads" to pay attention to your political campaign is get your name on one of the cars.
The Swamp tipped us to an item that Sports Illustrated is reporting: Barack Obama is on the verge of sponsoring a car at a race in August. The metaphor potential is huge -- everything from leading pole-to-pole to hitting a wall and not finishing.
Obama earlier was flirting with campaigning at a NASCAR event, but this takes it one step better. Though there are pitfalls. The car, BAM 39, reportedly is a Toyota, which likely won't sit well with the United Auto Workers.
An announcement is expected within a couple of weeks, SI reports, though in keeping with a practiced political observer's skepticism, believe it when it happens.
(UPDATE: The announcement came sooner than two weeks and SI was wrong. Obama spokesman Bill Burton said Friday evening the campaign won't be sponsoring a NASCAR entry. "The Obama campaign will not be sponsoring a car in the Sprint Cup series," Burton said, "though we will continue to look for ways to reach out to voters and convey Senator Obama’s message of change.” And he didn't mean tires.)
-- Scott Martelle
On the Fourth of July, our thoughts naturally turn to those words penned by Thomas Jefferson and first read aloud on the square behind Independence Hall in Philadelphia 232 years ago today: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
So what would Jefferson, a noted slave-owner, have thought about the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama?
For that answer ....
Read more What would the Founding Fathers think of Barack Obama? »
Barack Obama got good reviews from some conservative quarters after his Tuesday speech outlining his plan for building upon the faith-based initiative established by President Bush.
But John McCain is getting better news from the right -- signs of a real push by conservative Christian leaders to coalesce on his behalf.
 First, a taste of the reaction to the Obama speech in Ohio.
During an appearance Tuesday night on MSNBC, Pat Buchanan said that although Obama wouldn't "win over the evangelicals," his embrace of the federal program that aimed to make it easier to funnel tax money to religious-based charities would "diminish some of the hostility" toward him among social conservatives.
Added Buchanan: "It looks like he's reaching out to them. ... It's a win for him."
And David Brody, senior national correspondent for the Christian Broadcast Network, said on CNN today that the reaction to Obama's speech within the community he covered was "relatively positive." Obama, he added, "has seemed to be one step ahead when it comes to this faith and politics intersection."
Brody, meanwhile, details on his website a huge step that a major figure on the religious right has taken to build support for McCain.
Phil Burress, head of the Ohio-based Citizens for Community Values, not so long ago said of McCain: "We don't like him and he doesn't like us." But, as Brody relates, Burress is now in McCain's corner, following a sit-down with him. Indeed, the evangelical honcho sent out a note to allies which wraps up by saying: "I was once one of those people who said 'no way' to Senator John McCain as President. No longer. The stakes are too high. And if Obama wins I need to able to get up on November 5th, look at myself in the mirror, and when I pray, say, 'Lord, I did all that I could.' "
Burress also was among about 100 conservative Christian leaders who met in Denver on Tuesday and "agreed to unite behind" McCain's candidacy, Time magazine's Michael Scherer reports.
In a comment comparable to the concluding line in Burress' missive, one of those at the get-together explained the backing for McCain partly as a reaction to Obama.
Mat Staver, head of a group called Liberty Counsel and a former Mike Huckabee supporter, told Scherer: "Collectively we feel that [McCain] will support and advance those moral values that we hold much greater than Obama, who in our view will decimate moral values."
The full story can be read here.
Noticeably absent from the meeting ...
Read more Religious right starts to consolidate for John McCain »
As the general election campaign evolves, retired Gen. Colin Powell may be assuming the role that Al Gore occupied during the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination -- the big "get," the  potential endorser whose backing would cause quite a stir.
Gore, of course, never did choose sides; he bestowed his formal embrace on Barack Obama after Hillary Clinton had conceded the race.
But Powell has given indications that he will make a public pick. And speculation that he's leaning toward Obama is sure to go up a notch with word from the National Journal's "Hotline on Call" that the two met privately two weeks ago in Powell's office in Alexandria, Va.
The Hotline item reported that a Powell spokeswoman said that the tete-a-tete occurred June 18 and lasted about an hour.
The Powell aide, Peggy Cifrino, termed it "an informal conversation" and added, "There’s no looming endorsement. They came to talk about issues."
Cifrano also noted that her boss had met with John McCain a week earlier. But news of the Powell/Obama chat comes on the heels of a Robert Novak column opining that President Bush's former secetary of State "probably will enter Obama's camp at a time of his own choosing."
-- Don Frederick
Photo credit: Canadian Press
Well this was a little long in the coming but it finally happened -- Barack Obama and Bill Clinton shared a little quality phone time earlier today. Obama communications director Robert Gibbs said Obama made the call and the two men talked for about 20 minutes as Obama rode from Kansas City, Mo., to Independence.
Obama asked Clinton to campaign with him, and for him, and Clinton agreed, though spokesmen for the men didn't break out who spoke for how long during those 20 minutes. The Swamp has a bit of it here too.
Clinton's communications director, Matt McKenna, described the call as "a very good conversation" and said Clinton "renewed his offer to do whatever he can to ensure Sen. Obama is our next president. President Clinton continues to be impressed by Senator Obama and the campaign he has run, and looks forward to campaigning for and with him in the months to come."
Added Obama spokesman Bill Burton: "Senator Obama had a terrific conversation with President Clinton and is honored to have his support in this campaign. He has always believed that Bill Clinton is one of this nation's great leaders and most brilliant minds, and looks forward to seeing him on the campaign trail and receiving his counsel in the months to come."
So what's that you see in the rearview mirror? Looks like South Carolina.
-- Scott Martelle
Our blogging cousins over at the Swamp have an item up raising an interesting question about the rapprochement between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton: Does he really want all her financial supporters?
Obama, of course, has made a splash by raising a boatload of money from individual donors while professing to eschew cash from the "politics as usual" crowd. Clinton was less disc riminating in her cash sources. But how does Obama heal the party and move forward if he winds up telling big Clinton supporters such as Sant Chatwal that he might not want his money? As the Swamp put it: "Obama's in an awkward spot. At the moment anyway, he doesn't need Clinton's money -- though campaign money is like good pitching in baseball: You can never, ever have enough. But Obama does need the goodwill of the Clinton faction of the Democratic Party and that means ego massages for Chatwal and company. How Obama handles this kind of, what some would regard as, compromising outreach could help voters decide if indeed he represents 'change we can believe in.' "
The delicate dance continues.
-- Scott Martelle
Photo: Associated Press
You kind of remember the long Democratic primary campaign as, first of all, long. Even at times bitter.
Hillary Clinton, speaking today with the Democratic winner, Barack Obama, in New Hampshire, said, "It was spirited because we both care so much." Watching this video no one would doubt the caring, but it sure wasn't about each other.
"Spirited" would not quite describe some of the exchanges by Democratic candidates discussing Obama, which in the interests of the opposite of unity, the Republican National Committee has generously assembled and is suppressing widely around the country today as an antidote to the Democrats' "Kumbaya" spirit.
No doubt it's deeply appreciated.
--Andrew Malcolm
Among the concerns some of Hillary Clinton female backers have with Barack Obama is the perception that he can slide into misogynist comments at the blink of an eye. And as we mentioned in an earlier post today, he made an odd, unplanned comment about women and heels during his Unity moment of rapprochement with Clinton. (The Swamp looks at Obama and John McCain on women's rights.)
This is from the transcript of the appearance: "[B]ecause of the campaign that Hillary Clinton waged, my daughters and all of your daughters will forever know that there is no barrier to who they are and what they can be in the United States of America. They can take for granted that women can do anything that the boys can do (cheers begin) -- and do it better, and do it in heels. I still (Obama laughs) -- I still don't know how she does it in heels."
Clinton laughed with him, but for a guy with some pretty good political instincts -- or who has at least hired people with good political instincts -- it was an odd verbal cul de sac to turn into. Remember, Obama caught some serious flak a few weeks back by dismissing a Michigan television reporter with a "sweetie." And he was criticized during a debate performance for another off-the-cuff comment about Clinton being "likable enough." Now he falls into the faux-joke of expressing amazement that a woman can outperform a man despite wearing heels.
That's not likely to go very far in mending fences with women already suspicious of him.
UPDATE: Tommy Vietor, Obama spokesman, says via e-mail that although Obama didn't cite Ann Richards, that was the genesis of his comment: "Sen. Obama was referencing Ann Richards' famous quote: 'Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels.' Certainly Gov. Richards didn't mean [to] make that comment, as you described, as a 'faux-joke of expressing amazement that a woman can outperform a man despite wearing heels,' and it's disappointing that you'd draw that cynical conclusion."
Fair enough. But Vietor -- like many posters below -- missed the point of the blog item. For a candidate with past troubles with off-the-cuff comments on gender, it struck us as an odd comment. Some took offense; many did not (read the comments for a rather scathing discussion). Remember, this is a political blog, where we write about the political implications of campaign events and appearances.
-- Scott Martelle
Well, they did it, though it would have been quite the surprise if they hadn't after all the build up. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton shared the stage in Unity, New Hampshire, a few minutes ago and sought to put their often contentious pasts behind them and focus their supporters on the general election. (See video below.)
Given the goal of the day -- unity -- it wasn't a time to break out new policy, and Obama didn't. They essentially made nice, smiled a lot, sang each other's praises and then tried to rally the troops (The Swamp has a take on this, too).
And the coziness of the day began before they even left Washington, reports our colleague Noam Levey, who traveled with them. Obama and Clinton shared a half-embrace on the tarmac at Washingto n Reagan National airport then boarded the plane that Clinton used in her campaign. They settled in next to each other in the second row on the left side of the plane, Obama taking the window.
The chumminess continued once they arrived at Unity, with Clinton telling the crowd of more than 4,000 people, "Unity is not only a beautiful place, as we can see it's a wonderful feeling isn't it?" Obama joined the audience in applauding the sentiment, "And I know what we start here in this field in Unity will end in the steps of the Capitol when Barack Obama takes the oath of office as our next president."
Later, Clinton addressed the sometimes edgy tone of the campaign, saying "It was spirited because we both care so much." But we are one party, we are one America,” she said. We "are not going to rest until we take back out country and put it on the path to peace, prosperity and progress."
Then it was Obama's turn (his prepared comments are after the jump). He sang Clinton's praises as a rival, then made a direct play for unity citing her and Bill Clinton's lengthy presence in national politics. "We need them," Obama said.
"We need them badly... That's how we're going to bring about unity in the Democrat Party and how we're going to bring about unity in America."
After making some odd comments about Clinton campaigning in heels -- that won't do much to dispel anger among some of Clinton's female supporters -- Obama talked about the historic nature of both their campaigns. "Hillary and I may have started with separate goals in this campaign, but we have made history together.
"Together, we inspired tens of millions of Americans to participate, some to cast ballot for the very first time, others who voted for the first time in a very long time. And together, in this campaign, in 2008, we shattered barriers that have stood firm since the founding of this nation."
(UPDATE: Susan Pinkus of the L.A. Times Poll provides the following information:: In our latest Times/Bloomberg national poll, two-thirds of Clinton's supporters said they would vote for Obama, 11% said they would vote for John McCain, the Republican nominee, 12% said they were undecided and the rest went to third party candidates.)
--Scott Martelle and Michael Muskal
Photo credit: Mario Tama / Getty Images
Read more Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton tie the political knot in Unity »
Mike Huckabee says that while he'd love to be asked -- and would accept -- he doubts John McCain will pick him for his running mate. And on the other side, he figures Barack Obama isn't likely to ask Hillary Clinton, either.
Huckabee gave his predictions to Reuters during a trip to Japan (the video is below), and it could be he's just warming up, spring training-style, for his new gig as a political commentator for Fox News. But a voice from the trenches is always worth a listen.
On McCain, Huckabee sounded like a true loyal party figure. "I want him to define how he's going to win, and I want to help him win," Huckabee said. "That may not involve me [as a running mate]. And I'm not sure that I'm the right fit for him. That's something only he can know."
Huckabee, you'll recall, was the last speed bump McCain hit on his way to sealing the Republican nomination-- well, except for Ron Paul. And Huckabee was the favorite, for a time, of the party's once-powerful social-conservative wing, despite some misgivings over his tax-and-spending policies as governor of Arkansas.
So why doesn't Huckabee think Obama will pick Clinton? "There's some real tension, not just between the two principals, but between their inner circles and down in the ranks of their supporters that would be very hard to overcome in a short period of time," Huckabee said. "People who voted for Hillary will end up voting for Obama generally, but I'm not sure that they're ready to just have the wedding and, you know, cut the cake."
-- Scott Martelle
Photo credit: Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times
Our cousins over at The Swamp have an item this morning spotlighting just how nagging a problem Barack Obama faces i n trying to woo some disappointed Hillary Clinton supporters in facing off against John McCain. It seems a couple of notable New Hampshire Democrats -- James McConaha, a former Clinton administration farm official in New Hampshire, and his Democratic activist wife, Valery Mitchell -- have no intention of hopping aboard the Unity bus.
Picking up a story in the Nashua Telegraph, the couple has agreed to lead Democrats for John McCain. And that's not the only anti-Obama group out there composed of Clinton supporters. In fact, though polls show most of her backers moving to Obama, there is a large and vociferous crowd out there that refuses to go along.
Whether this is enough of a counter tide to have an effect in November is the big question, of course. And it will matter most in the battleground states -- a few thousand Clinton supporters voting for McCain here in California, for instance, isn't likely to turn the state red. But it could be an issue in states where the red-blue divide is narrower.
Regardless, campaigns are an amalgamation of a lot of moving parts, and it can't be a good distraction for the Obamans to have to go out and try to run down strays from the Democratic herd.
-- Scott Martelle
And for vice president? House Speaker Nancy Pelosi continues to tout Edwards.
"I've always tried to encourage Mr. Edwards to run for leadership or something," Pelos i told reporters Thursday. "I think he's an extraordinarily talented person."
Wait a moment. Didn't former Sen. John Edwards run for leadership or something four years ago? When he sought the Democratic nomination for president and ended up the vice presidential nominee with John Kerry? And again, earlier this year, when Edwards tried again for his own nomination?
"We're talking about Chet Edwards, a member of Congress from Texas, who represents Waco," Pelosi clarified.
In fact, the nine-term Democrat also represents Crawford, which makes him President Bush's congressman. Pelosi sent reporters a-Googling earlier this week when she mentioned the Texan as a possible running mate for Barack Obama. She was asked about the choice again during her weekly news conference.
"He is really one of the finest people I've ever served with, and he demands the respect of his colleagues, I could say, on both sides of the aisle," she said.
Matthew Hay Brown has the rest of this intriguing tale over at the Swamp.
-- Andrew Malcolm
Photo credit: Office of Rep. Chet Edwards
Yeah, OK, so we're a little late. Hey, there's 40-some blogs around this website now and it's hard to keep up with everything fun to read.
Over in The Guide at Soundboard, the music blog, Ann Powers writes about the BET Awards, which she approached crazily thinking it was an awards ceremony.
How ridiculous was that?
According to Ann, the ceremony -- and even much of the clothing -- turned the evening into pretty much a pep rally for Barack Obama, the Democrats' presumptive presidential nominee. Another stunner!
-- Andrew Malcolm
Let's just state right up front that if Scarlett Johansson was chattering publicly to even one person, let alone a media crowd, that we had any kind of relationship, The Ticket would in a nano-heartbeat confirm totally whatever she said. She'd be dead-on in our minds, indubitably.
That's partly why we were so down -- well, devastated really -- a couple of weeks ago when The Ticket learned and wrote that Scarlett -- we call her that because we've never actually met --  was talking publicly about her ongoing relationship with presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
According to Scarlett, who's a fervent Obama supporter with phone calls and fundraisers and everything, the two of them were going at it pretty hot and heavy with the e-mails, back-and-forth and back-and-forth and back-and-forth.
And all of us, including Ryan Reynolds, Scarlett's alleged fiance, were left to guess exactly what might be in those electronic missives.
We learned of the Obama-Johansson relationship, as we learn of most important things, from our fellow LATimes.com blogger Elizabeth Snead over at the Dish Rag. Because of our nonexistent....
Read more Barack Obama dumps Scarlett Johansson! Denies e-mail relationship »
Well, in case you were wondering exactly how much of a sport Hillary Clinton would be after losing the Democratic nomination to that young upstart from Illinois, the answer's in. Mostly, anyway.
Barack Obama announced a little bit ago that he and Clinton would campaign together next Friday. No details were offered, such as where this might happen, for how long, whether it will be multiple events and days or just a quick bow-and-curtsy and off the stage. Or, for that matter, whether they plan free events or fundraisers.
Obama has already been making a hard push for Clinton's supporters, including a targeted appeal on his campaign website. And he's got his people working on some of her big donors, hoping to merge what became two massive fundraising juggernauts during the primary-and-caucus season into a general election behemoth (we envision a massive ATM in the shape of the lower 48).
And it's pretty remarkable that a campaign that rarely knows what it's doing three days in the future can schedule something a week in advance, even without details. Could it be that Obama's handlers are trying to shift the attention away from something less positive?
-- Scott Martelle
Already wallowing in money, and thus having decided he can afford to break his promise to take public funds for this fall's presidential campaign, Sen. Barack Obama's aides were huddled in Chicago today with some of the top fundraisers for what's-her-name, the New York senator who came oh-so-close to winning the Democratic nod herself.
Obama made the announcement this morning in a video sent to supporters. It makes him the first major party candidate in some 30 years to forgo public funds for the campaig n period between his convention (in late August) and the November election (Nov. 4).
A half-dozen of Hillary Clinton's major contributors, each of them a convert to Obama's cause at her urging, met in the Palmer House in Chicago's Loop today, carefully tracked by The Times' campaign finance guru, Dan Morain. As a bonus gift, the candidate himself showed up for some brief remarks.
Some of those in attendance were John B. Emerson of Capital Guardian Trust Company in Los Angeles, Thomas F. Steyer of Farallon Capital Management in San Francisco and Gary Gensler, who was Treasury undersecretary under President Clinton.
Also attendance were Maureen White, formerly the top fund-raiser for the Democratic National Committee, and Michael Coles, who ran for the U.S. Senate from Georgia and is chief executive officer of Caribou Coffee.
Sen. Clinton, meanwhile, has called on 100 of her top bundlers of campaign contributions to meet with her and Obama on June 26 next week at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C.
It’s part of a precise political minuet, in which Clinton seeks to demonstrate to Obama and the party faithful that she is working on behalf of the Illinois senator's campaign to help Democrats, and Obama is simultaneously trying to woo Clinton’s core backers, some of whom still hold hard feelings about the loss by the first serious female candidate for the White House.
In fact, as Morain found out, not all of her supporters are going along with the Obama campaign.
"I have talked to Hillary three times since the Montana election," said Texas attorney Garry Mauro, a long-time friend of the Clintons, who will be attending the capital gathering. "She is totally upbeat. She says our No. 1 objective is to beat John McCain. There is no feeling sorry. There is no second-guessing."
But Morain has discovered not all Clinton donors have found it so easy to change political allegiances this quickly or easily. And they intend to skip the event, the first time the new Democratic champion and the woman he vanquished will appear together in public since Clinton surrendered in a speech to her supporters nearly two weeks ago.
In an e-mail exchange, Hollywood billionaire investor Haim Saban, who heads the Spanish language Univision network and has been a long-time, big-time supporter of Clinton's (see photo), was asked if he would be traveling to Washington for the event next week.
His terse reply: "No."
-- Andrew Malcolm
Photo Credit: Newsday
Some early overnight reaction to the belated endorsement of Barack Obama by Al Gore. And it might disappoint the former vice president and loser in the 2000 White House race.
Exactly what Gore was waiting for in the past two weeks since Obama sewed up his party's nomination is unclear. Maybe he just wanted to go to Michigan where his prize-winning environmental pitch is so very less welcome than other places that don't make so many large cars.
Or maybe he was waiting until his endorsement meant absolutely nothing.
Anyway, as The Ticket reported, Gore said all the right things in his endorsement speech, except he noticeably left out the last Democratic president, the one who chose to elevate Gore from has-been senator to his running mate and has been the only Democrat elected president twice since World War II, which is like the Middle Ages for today's voters.
But within minutes online reaction was underwhelming. Joe Gandelman, editor in chief over at the Moderate Voice, who is usually, well, very moderate, posted an item titled "Obama Gets 'the' Endorsement: The Lousy Timing of Al Gore."
He had this to say:
"Perhaps one day someone will write a chapter in a new book about Al Gore titled 'Profiles in Uncourage.' ... But it came so late in the game that the person who'll be most impressed with it will be Tipper Gore."
After that the item went downhill. Gandelman said the endorsement so long sought by Obama and Hillary Clinton was by now such an anti-climax that it resembled the ponderings about whether Ralph Nader would run yet again.
Ouch, how'd you like to be compared to the 21st century's Harold Stassen?
Or as Jay Leno described the Gore endorsement: “You could feel the excitement in the room. It was unbelievable. And then Al Gore walked in.”
"Not exactly 'Man bites dog' news. Who is Gore going to endorse? John McCain?" asked John Mariner in The Ticket's comments section.
Sam Patel added: "It's a sad day to see one of the Clinton's most loyal supporters essentially dis-own them! Like Bill Richardson, Al Gore was a complete nobody had it not been for Bill Clinton's risky generosity. I bet he now regrets some of those appointments."
Up at the San Francisco Chronicle's politics blog, Joe Garofoli wrote: "We know this will never happen, but hopefully Al will tell us tonight why he didn't endorse somebody when it WOULD HAVE MEANT SOMETHING. Like in February.
"Then again, think of it from his perspective. In his foreseeable role as Captain Planet, he's going to need to work with whoever would be president, so why burn a bridge with a nomination. But isn't Al big enough now (is that a Nobel in your pocket?) that he doesn't have to worry about such petty political matters."
Guess not.
--Andrew Malcolm
Photo credit: AP
Al Gore unquestionably has taken to heart his role as an elder statesman -- he stayed so far above the fray of the Democratic presidential race that the fray was fast becoming an afterthought when he finally bestowed his imprimatur on Barack Obama today.
As Mark Silva of the Chicago Tribune aptly put it in a blog post on the none-too-surprising endorsement, call Gore "nothing if not cautious."
 Gore joined Obama tonight at a rally in Detroit. Before that, he previewed on his website and in an e-mail his embrace of his party's presumptive presidential nominee. He also urged, for the first time, members of AlGore.com to donate to a political campaign -- as if Obama needs any help on that front.
Obama can use help in more fully binding Democrats behind his candidacy after his prolonged battle with Hillary Clinton.
A recent Gallup Poll found him drawing support from 78% of those who share his party registration; by comparison, exit polls showed John Kerry captured 86% of the Democratic vote in the 2004 presidential election.
Most analysts expect Obama's share of the Democratic vote to increase as the campaign progresses, and Gore's moves today could slightly accelerate that process. If committed Democrats agree on anything, it's that the 2000 election was stolen from Gore, and in the years since that has made him a rallying point.
As the former vice president himself wryly (and ruefully) put it tonight, "Take it from me, elections matter."
Still, if Gore sounded most of the expected notes in his speech -- blasting, on issues large and small, what he termed the "incompetence, neglect and failure" of the Bush administration -- there was one omission that may not go unnoticed in certain quarters: a direct mention of either of the Clintons.
He made an indirect reference to Hillary as he sang the praises of the year's Democratic presidential field. And he seemed to be setting up a nod to her husband ...
Read more Al Gore wraps his arms around Barack Obama »
Douglas Kmiec, a Justice Department honcho under two previous Republican administrations and an abortion foe who once headed Catholic University's law school, raised eyebrows within some conservative circles earlier this year when, in a Slate.com posting, he endorsed Barack Obama for president.
Today, Kmiec delivers another valentine Obama's way, writing glowingly in the Chicago Tribune about a "private conversation" the candidate had recently with him, the Rev. Franklin Graham (the son of the Rev. Billy Graham) "and a diverse group of 30 or so religious leaders from Protestant, Catholic, Evangelical and other traditions."
Kmiec, who for several years has taught law at Pepperdine University in Malibu, terms the gathering as "an unprecedented sit-down for any political figure, let alone a much-in-demand presidential candidate."
He continues: "Why would the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party devote so much time talking faith rather than politics? Quite simply, because it is the senator's deep personal faith that explains his audaciously positive hope for his country."
The meeting, Kmiec relates, "dwelt at some length on abortion." It remains a subject on which he and his favored candidate disagree. But Kmiec prefers to stress what he views as Obama's "appreciation for both the significance of faith and faith differences and an open mind sensitive to the need to protect religious freedom."
It's hard not to imagine that if he hasn't gotten it already, Kmiec will be receiving a standing invitation for a prominent speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.
-- Don Frederick
Father's Day may have come early for John McCain, but in the Boren family of Oklahoma, they may just want to let it pass without notice.
Rep. Dan Boren, a two-term Democrat, made a splash earlier this week with his announcement that although he would be voting for his party's presumptive presidential nominee, he was not endorsing Barack Obama.
The Boren formulation struck many as odd ... including, it turns out, his father, a legendary political figure in the Sooner State who is president of the University of Oklahoma.
David Boren, a former governor and U.S. senator who chatted Friday with Chicago-based talk radio host Roland Martin, had this to say about his 34-year-old son: "I have to say I’m puzzled about how much thinking he put into that before he said it. I think he’ll probably be saying some other things."
The elder Boren, 67, continued: “He did say he was going to vote for Barack Obama. He just made the puzzling statement he wasn’t gong to endorse him. Well, when you say publicly you’re voting for somebody I think that means you’re supporting them."
A classic case of father knowing best.
The full interview can be heard here.
The younger Boren is not alone on Capitol Hill feeling a bit betwixt and between about the general election presidential matchup. Following the burst of attention David Boren got for his pronouncement, The Hill reported that at least 14 Republican members of Congress "have refused to endorse or publicly support" McCain.
That includes at least one whom the presumptive GOP nominee would want to steer clear of anyway -- Rep. John Doolittle, the House member from Northern California who is giving up his seat under an ethical cloud.
Then there's Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado, McCain's erstwhile presidential rival, who's adopted Boren's stance -- he's disinclined ...
Read more David Boren on his son: a 'puzzling' Barack Obama stance* »
Barack Obama no doubt could have lived without the nod he recently received from now-retired Cuban President Fidel Castro, who called the Democratic presidential contender "the most advanced candidate" in America's presidential race. And today, John McCain received the type of backing from a foreign leader that he would just as soon  forego.
Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, at a joint news conference with President Bush in Rome, initially demurred when asked about the U.S. election, saying, "I cannot express any preference with regard to an electoral campaign going on in another country.
But he then quickly added, "I suppose I could express my own personal preference for one of the candidates: the Republican candidate. And this is for a very selfish reason, and that is that I would no longer be the oldest person at the upcoming (summit of the eight leading industrial nations), because McCain is a month older than me."
McCain turns 72 on Aug. 29 and, as much of the nation will be able to recite by the time the November vote rolls along (and as a website we recently wrote about is devoted to spotlighting), a victory would make him the oldest person to win a first White House term.
Berlusconi gets points for doing his homework -- he is exactly one month younger than McCain.
-- Don Frederick
Photo credit: AFP/Getty Images
This might shock you, but Bill and Hillary Clinton's people are still seething over Hillary Clinton's defeat in the Democratic primaries. It's already been -- what? -- five days since she surrendered after XX years of planning, working and dreaming of winning the biggest political prize in America.
Now comes word that those close to the Clintons are reportedly keeping lists of disloyal former associates who have defected to the camp of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. A less polite term might be "traitors." Or even "enemies."
According to a new article, "the Clintons get hundreds of requests for favors every week," said Terry McAuliffe, the chairman of Hillary Clinton's recently deceased presidential campaign. "Clearly, the people you're going to do stuff for in the future are the people who have been there for you."
McAuliffe emphasized that "revenge is not what the Clintons are about." The accounting is more about being practical, he said, adding: "You have to keep track of this."
These details come from a New York Times story, since denied by the Clintons, about how the pair track those who cross them. High on that list would have to be New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who was given several plum jobs by President Clinton, only to turn around and endorse Obama.
Good luck living long with that kind of anger bottled up inside. Oh, wait, the lists don't exist.
-- Andrew Malcolm
Soon after Hillary Clinton's announcement on Saturday that she was suspending her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, there were concerns that many women who formed her base -- you know, those "18 million cracks" in the glass ceiling -- might not go along with her endorsement of Barack Obama.
Those fears were assuaged a bit on Wednesday, as two of Clinton's staunchest supporters -- the head of EMILY's List, Ellen Malcolm, and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida -- participated in a conference call organized by the Center for American Progress.
EMILY's List describes itself as "the nation's largest political network and financial resource" for "electing pro-choice Democratic women to federal, state and local office" and was officially neutral in the primary and caucus contests. [Correction update: In fact, early in the campaign the group endorsed Clinton. Also, the co-sponsor was the Center for American Progress Action Fund, the advocacy arm of the Center for American Progress. Our apologies.]
About a month ago, Malcolm -- who personally backed Clinton -- issued a harsh statement.....
Read more Women's groups unite to support Barack Obama, not John McCain »
Barbra Streisand, the famous singer who was being discovered by radio stations back when someone named Barack Obama was being born, confirms to The Ticket this afternoon that she's supporting Obama and has offered to help in his presidential campaign. 
Streisand's personal spokeswoman, Marge Tabankin, says talks are underway with the campaign in Chicago to decide what exact role Streisand will play in the presumptive Democratic nominee's efforts to win the White House.
Obama’s Hollywood supporters are hopeful that she will sing for the senator, as she did for Bill Clinton during his presidential runs, at one of the many fundraisers in the works for this summer.
So far, Tabankin says, nothing definite is confirmed. But stay tuned. (Sorry, Streisand isn’t set to appear at the fundraiser/concert for Obama at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on June 24. Her schedule, at the moment, shows that she’s traveling that day.)
In addition to lending her legendary pipes, Streisand’s support is important to Obama for several reasons: She’s a woman, in case you hadn't noticed and she’s a longtime friend of the Clintons, who lost. (Remember, in case you're tracking these things, Streisand came out early for Hillary.)
And the singer is Jewish. So she could potentially help rally support among a number of Democratic constituencies.
People who need people may be the luckiest people in the world. But candidates with Streisand’s backing have hit the Democratic fundraising jackpot. West of La Cienega, anyway.
--Tina Daunt
Photo Credit: AP / Kevork Djansezian
On this, the first anniversary of our Top of the Ticket blog, we are reminded of the mercurial, unpredictable nature of U.S. politics -- part of what makes what we do so fascinating.
Our goal -- one of us on the East Coast and the other on the far more important or at least less humid West Coast -- was to write about Campaign '08 virtually around the clock.
Our second-ever posting, 12 months ago today, previewed an upcoming L.A. Times/Bloomberg Poll; later in the day, we detailed the results of the nationwide survey. The findings were in line with other polls of the time.
In the Republican presidential race, which then seemed the most likely to last deep into the primary season, Rudy Giuliani was perched in first place. His lead wasn't overwhelming, but it was strong enough that he appeared certain to remain a major contender.
His liberal record on social issues loomed as an obvious liability within his party, but his tough-on-terrorism message was attracting substantial support from moderates and GOP-leaning independents.
His major headache among rivals last June was an as-yet-undeclared candidate who was riding a wave as the great conservative hope -- Fred Thompson. He ran a strong second in the poll.
Lagging far behind were John McCain and Mitt Romney, each barely with double-digit support. In our preview posting, we were especially scornful of McCain, noting sarcastically (and foolishly, as it turned out) that in the poll, he found himself "in heated competition with the 'Don't Know' category."
Meriting no mention from us was Mike Huckabee, one of several back-of-the-pack candidates barely earning any support across the country.
The Democratic race, at that point, seemed so much more cut-and-dried.
Hillary Clinton was the clear front-runner; Barack Obama was just as clearly ...
Read more Top of the Ticket, the start of Year Two »
This is a kind of political non-endorsement. And we're publishing it for all four of our readers in Oklahoma. Or maybe there's more. It's hard to tell some days.
Rep. Dan Boren is a Democrat (yes, there are a few in that state). In fact, he's the lone and loneliest Democrat in the state's congressional delegation. He represents a heavily rural district in eastern Oklahoma. So today the Democratic House member announced that  he will not be endorsing Sen. Barack Obama for president.
He did say he would vote for Obama at the Democratic National Convention and he would vote for him on Nov. 4. But he's not publicly for him by endorsing him, you understand. How's that for splitting political hairs for the sake of your own third term?
Boren is one of those questionable Oklahomans who actually went to Texas for his college education (Texas Christian), but he did salvage his reputation by returning to his father's university for his MBA. Boren's grandfather, Lyle, represented southeastern Oklahoma in the House for 10 years back in the FDR era.
Calling himself a centrist and Obama "the most liberal senator," Dan Boren told the Associated Press today he's bound to represent the wishes of his district's voters, who went 2-to-1 for Sen. Hillary Clinton in the state's February primary. He said that while Obama claimed to work in a bipartisan fashion, he doesn't really.
Rep. Boren's father, David, is the former Oklahoma governor, senator and presently president of the University of Oklahoma, who has endorsed Obama. Which one do you think will get asked to those White House dinners?
For some late-breaking political news shockers, click on the Read more line below.
--Andrew Malcolm
Photo credit: Office of U.S. Rep. Dan Boren
Read more Okla. Rep. is for Barack Obama, just not the way you'd expect »
Hillary Clinton endorsed Barack Obama on Saturday, and now two of her most powerful supporters are endorsing her as the strongest candidate for vice president on the Democratic ticket.
In appearances on three of the Sunday talk shows, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California and Rep. Charles B. Rangel of New York both urged the Illinois senator to make Clinton his #2.
Feinstein, of course, hosted the Obama-Clinton "secret" meeting Friday night. On ABC's "This Week," she put her hopes for the Democratic ticket this way: "I've looked at every other possible candidate. No one brings to a ticket what Hillary brings: 18 million people committed to where she's going. ... if you really want a winning ticket, this is it."
She reiterated her support for an Obama-Clinton ticket on CNN's "Late Edition": "I think there are 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling that say, yes, do it. I think Hillary had something that is a bit unusual. She has a very committed woman constituency, female constituency right now. She has proved herself. She has grown in the campaign. She has some constituencies that he needs."
Rangel -- a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus and one of the New York senator's earliest supporters -- appeared on CBS' "Face the Nation": "From a personal view -- and I may be too close to the forest -- I think it is an absolutely unbeatable ticket, and I think it would be terrific for the country."
-- Leslie Hoffecker
Now that Barack Obama and John McCain have only to give their acceptance speeches before losing the adjective "presumptive" before the words "presidential nominee," attention is naturally turning to their choices for the No. 2 spot on the ticket.
McCain, of course, wrapped the GOP nomination weeks ago and spent Memorial Day weekend with several possibilities -- Florida Gov. Charlie Crist , Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. It took Obama until last Tuesday to get the final delegates to put him over the top, but he has named a committee (including Caroline Kennedy) to offer recommendations for a running mate.
Two potential veep contenders -- Tim Kaine, the Democratic governor of Virginia, and Tim Pawlenty, the Republican governor of Minnesota -- were interviewed this morning on "Fox News Sunday" ...
Read more Tim Kaine and Tim Pawlenty in the early round of "Veep Idol' »
In the concession speech Barack Obama's team would have written for Hillary Clinton, she might not have waited quite so long to first broach his name.
And, as she hailed the barriers she broke as the first woman to mount a sustained run for the White House, the Obama campaign definitely would have included more mention of the history he made. (Our sister blog, Show Tracker, has a discussion of gender and the Democratic race here.)
But, bottom line, Obama got what he wanted: several succinct sound bites of Clinton pledging her fealty to the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee (whose achievement, let's face it, still must be difficult for Clinton to process).
Assuming that the vast, vast majority of Americans had better ways to spend their weekend than tune in to Clinton's Saturday speech -- which began about 45 minutes later than its scheduled start at noon EDT -- it will be through these sound bites that most will learn of her message.
She had talked for more than six minutes to a packed ho | |
arry Harnisch has assembled over on The Daily Mirror.
