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Democrats like to say that, this year, they finally will dig into the Republicans’ traditional advantage among evangelical voters. After all, social conservatives are skeptical of John McCain, and Barack Obama seems so comfortable talking about his faith (at least when his former pastor isn’t involved).
But a new analysis from the nonpartisan Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, finds that Obama is doing just as badly among white evangelical voters as his party’s 2004 nominee was at this point.
The report, based on a national Pew poll conducted last month, found that just 25% of white evangelicals support Obama, compared to the 26% who said they backed John F. Kerry’s candidacy in the summer of 2004. (Kerry wound up winning just 21% of that group, according to exit polls.)
The Pew analysis found McCain winning 61% of white evangelicals, and most of the remaining 14% of those polled said they did not know what candidate they would support. McCain’s big margin was not necessarily good news for the presumptive GOP candidate, since President Bush at this point four years ago was winning 69% (and, according to exit polls, took 78% in the end).
The bottom line is that neither Obama nor McCain is where they'd hope to be among this important voting bloc. And both are courting it heavily –- Obama with his recent speech endorsing government funding for faith-based social service agencies and McCain through his support for a California measure to ban same-sex marriage.
-- Peter Wallsten
The mystery has been cleared up about what else Jesse Jackson said last week when he made his crude remarks about Barack Obama.
The previously unreported comment, disclosed Wednesday morning by the TVNewser blog, was:
“Barack ... he’s talking down to black people ... telling [black people] how to behave.” Only Jackson used the plural form of the “n-word,” not “black people,” in the second part of his comment.
Initially, the firestorm was over comments Jackson made to a guest before a July 6 interview on "Fox & Friends."
The civil rights leader whispered that Obama was "talking down to black people" and that Jackson wanted to "cut his nuts off."
The comments went unnoticed in the control room, Fox News said. But, as reported by The Times’ Matea Gold in a story published Friday, an employee working the overnight shift transcribed the tape, and the remarks that first caused the stir were reported several days later on Fox’s "The O’Reilly Factor." Then, as The Ticket reported, there was a controversy over exactly what Jackson said he wanted to do.
At the time, host Bill O’Reilly told viewers the network had decided to air only portions of what Jackson had said, adding there was "more damaging" material, too. That gave rise to rumors that Jackson had used the “n word” –- and aimed it directly at Obama.
In a Wednesday afternoon interview with fellow Fox host Shepard Smith, O’Reilly said he had withheld the “n-word” remark because, “I’m not in the business of creating some kind of controversy that’s not relevant to the general subject -- one civil rights leader disparaging another over policy.”
But why did O’Reilly mention in the first place that he had “more damaging” material?
In a one-sentence statement offered as a reply, O’Reilly said Wednesday: “We tell the audience the full breadth of everything we report on.” There was no elaboration on why the “full breadth” didn’t include the actual comment.
As for how the “n-word” comment eventually got out, O’Reilly told Smith that “some weasel leaked it to the Internet.”
-- Stuart Silverstien
He's been a quick learner. But it's too late this time for the Democrat who wants to move into the White House next January. And then get his kids a dog.
As our Swamp colleagues report, Barack Obama finally commented last night on the highly controversial cover of this week's New Yorker magazine. And he said all the right things. But he was about 54 hours tardy.
Sunday, as soon as the elitist magazine released its provocative cartoon cover, Obama declined to comment, not wanting to elevate it to something important enough for a candidate to speak about. Fine. But, as The Ticket promptly reported here, advisors still sent out his communications director, Bill Burton, to denounce it:
"The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Sen. Obama's right-wing critics have tried to create. But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree."
The McCain campaign immediately (and ultimately self-servingly) issued a similar statement quoting Tucker Bounds as saying: "We completely agree with the Obama campaign. It's tasteless and offensive."
The cover of this week's New Yorker magazine depicts Obama in one-piece Muslim garb and headdress fist-bumping his booted, Afro-wearing wife Michelle in camo clothes with an AK-47 and ammo-belt slung over her shoulder beneath a portrait of Osama bin Laden while the American flag burns in the fireplace -- in the presidential Oval Office. Other than that, nothing particularly ...
Read more Barack Obama tries to repair a PR blunder, but 2 days too late »
There are always at least two sides to everything in politics. The up-side for Barack Obama of the persistent controversy over the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's black militancy and racist sermons was that it sure drove home the point to millions of thinking voters that the Illinois senator was attending a Christian church, which countered the even-more persistent online rumors about Obama being Muslim.
Remember the native costume photo that was or was not promulgated by the Hillary Clinton campaign way back when she thought she had a chance to win the nomination? It's still going around online.
But now comes another unwelcome development for Obama's camp.
The cover of this week's New Yorker magazine depicts Obama in one-piece Muslim garb and headdress fist-bumping his booted, Afro-wearing wife Michelle in camo clothes with an AK-47 and ammo-belt slung over her shoulder beneath a portrait of Osama bin-Laden while the American flag burns in the fireplace -- in the presidential Oval Office.
It's got everything incendiary except a vest bomb. Which is what should telegraph to most people that it's way over-the-top and, therefore, satire.
But politicians don't like satire because it's subject to differing interpretations.
Obama declined comment today, seeking not to elevate its importance. But, in a move that certainly drew more attention to a commercial decision with no hope of changing it, his campaign issued a statement by Bill Burton which Mike Allen of Politico.com reported as, "“The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Sen. Obama's right-wing critics have tried to create. But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree."
The McCain campaign immediately e-mailed a similar statement from Tucker Bounds: “We completely agree with the Obama campaign, it’s tasteless and offensive.”
Of course, the McCain people must say that, despite some staff no doubt chuckling behind closed doors over their opponent's new challenge. That's the problem with satire. A lot of people won't get the joke. Or won't want to. And will use it for non-humorous purposes, which isn't the New Yorker's fault.
A problem is there's no caption on the cover to ensure that everyone gets the ha-ha-we've-collected-almost-every-cliched-rumor-about-Obama-in-one-place-in-order-to--make-fun-of-them punchline.
So you'll no  doubt see this image making the internet rounds in coming months by people who don't want to see the satire. And won't include the magazine's press release saying, "“On the cover of the July 21, 2008, issue of The New Yorker, in ‘The Politics of Fear,’ artist Barry Blitt satirizes the use of scare tactics and misinformation in the presidential election to derail Barack Obama’s campaign.”
In that issue is a non-satirical piece by Ryan Lizza about Obama's political start in Chicago. The Chicago Tribune respected columnist Clarence Page, an African American, said he found the cover "quite within the normal bounds of journalism."
Little doubt the incendiary magazine cover accomplished its intent of attracting attention on an otherwise slow-news summer Sunday. It'll probably sell more magazines too. And more Mylanta for the Obama offices.
--Andrew Malcolm
(By the way here's the actual article that goes with this satirical/incendiary cover. Warning: It's very long.)
Perhaps inadvertently, Sen. Barack Obama tonight lifted a bit of the secrecy surrounding his upcoming trip overseas, telling reporters aboard his campaign plane that Sen. Jack Reed might accompany him to Iraq along with sometimes Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel.
When a reporter asked what might make Sen. Joe Biden and Hagel good traveling companions to Iraq, Obama made a very revealing correction:“It’s actually Sen. Hagel and Sen. Reed who may be coming with us.”
Well, now! So Biden, who says he doesn't work for anybody else, is not going with Obama? What's that do to the guessing game about the freshman Illinois senator's vice presidential pick, which had previously focused on Biden's foreign policy experience and his reported upcoming travels with Obama?
And does this put Reed of Rhode Island, a three-term ex-House member, two-term senator and ex-Army Ranger, into the VP mix?
Obama's comments came during an infrequent 20-minute exchange with reporters at the back of his plane en route from Chicago to San Diego, a late-night media availability which will help keep him in the news on an otherwise quiet news weekend when his opponent, Republican John McCain, is inactive.
Obama is scheduled to speak to Latino voters in San Diego on Sunday. He also was asked about recent fundraising figures and a crude comment made about him.
Obama went on to say that both Reed and Hagel are foreign affairs experts who “reflect a traditional bipartisan wisdom when it comes to foreign policy.”
“Neither are ideologues," he added, "but try to get the facts right and make a determination of what is best for U.S. interests.”
Then he added: “And they are good guys.”
Obama didn’t want to confirm a trip to Afghanistan, where....
Read more Obama reveals Biden not going overseas with him; it's Hagel, Reed »
Turns out Jesse Jackson's whispered crudity on Fox News about what he'd like to do to Barack Obama's privates almost made it through without notice.
Jackson, who has eagerly worn microphones over the years almost as much as Al Sharpton, obviously knew he could be heard. Why else whisper? Which he did, criticizing Obama to a fellow black guest on "Fox & Friends" before the show went live.
But as The Times' diligent Matea Gold reports here today, no one in the Fox control room caught the exchange at the time.
It was only during the night that a Fox staffer who was transcribing the program caught the whisper and then noticed Jackson's hand-cutting motion beneath the desk.
The catch worked its way up the in-house news chain and, finally, onto the air Wednesday. But Jackson was tipped about the imminent embarrassment when Fox News fairly asked him for comment before its broadcast, and Jackson immediately arranged to go on CNN to attempt a preemptive broadcast apology.
Judging by online reaction, that didn't work too well. And people ....
Read more Psst, Jesse Jackson's crude Obama whisper almost slipped through »
This is another in a continuing series of conversations between The Ticket and those people involved in many aspects of modern American presidential politics, which explore the inner workings of this complex business.
This item is the first of a two-part conversation with Ralph Reed, a Republican political strategist who's been involved in seven presidential campaigns, including as senior advisor to both campaigns of George W. Bush. He has not endorsed or donated to any presidential campaign yet, but is on the host committee for a John McCain event next month in Atlanta.
Reed was the first executive director 15 years ago of the Christian Coalition and currently runs Century Strategies, an Atlanta public relations firm that advises major corporations. He's also the author of a new book, a novel titled "Dark Horse," published by Simon & Schuster.
In this item, Reed examines the GOP side of the 2008 presidential race and talks about his surprise at the outcome of those primaries, the difficulties for the party in 2008, what McCain needs to avoid between now and Nov. 4, and the genesis of his book.
TOTT: What most surprised you about the outcome of the Republican primaries?
Reed: John McCain winning the nomination after essentially running out of money and laying off most of his staff in the summer of 2007 was amazing. His win in New Hampshire was a real Lazarus moment.
Mike Huckabee doing so well in Iowa and then winning a string of later primaries showed the continuing strength of the evangelical vote and underscored the importance of good candidate skills.
TOTT: McCain seems to have had some trouble gaining traction in this three-month general election head start. How do you explain this and do you see the latest reorganization in his camp having any effects, positive or negative?
Reed: Steve Schmidt, Mike DuHaime, Nicole Wallace and the rest of the people playing new and important roles at the McCain campaign are extremely capable. I worked with all of them in the 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign and found them to be professional, talented and smart.
They'll do a good job, but it's a tough environment for Republicans this year. If they let the election be about style, Obama will be hard to beat. The McCain campaign needs to make the election about issues and substance. If they do, McCain will win.
TOTT: Given the historical reservations toward Sen. McCain in the evangelical community, do you think most of them will or are coming around to him, given the Democratic alternative? Or is your reading that they'll likely sit this one out on Nov. 4? What should McCain do about it?
Reed: I think they're highly unlikely to sit it out because the stakes are so high. In fact, this election...
Read more Ticket Chat: Ralph Reed, author and GOP strategist, on the '08 race »
Joe Biden, the senator from Delaware and one of those vanquished by Barack Obama in the Democratic presidential race, remains a hot prospect in the vice presidential sweepstakes (something retired Gen. Wesley Clark probably can't claim).
The 65-year-old Biden, as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, would bring the deep-seated experience in international matters that Obama lacks. Although Delaware and its 3 electoral voters almost assuredly are in the Democratic column, Biden could help his party's ticket in two nearby and crucial states. He's well-known in some parts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, by virtue of having been in the public eye for so long.
But perhaps his biggest asset is his Roman Catholic faith; in the view of many political handicappers, an Obama/Biden ticket could make inroads with a bloc of voters that has been resistant so far to the presumptive presidential nominee.
There is one slight complication. Biden is up for reelection this November -- he's heavily favored to snare a seventh six-year term -- and in some states it is illegal to be on the ballot for two offices at once.
In Delaware, the issue is simply not addressed, state Commissioner of Elections Elaine Manlove recently told an NBC affiliate in New Jersey. "It's not that our law says he can't (run for Senate and vice president at the same time). It's that it doesn't say it at all. There's nothing in Delaware law that says he can't."
The National Journal's Hotline noted earlier today that if state officials were asked to weigh in on the issue, Biden might have a built-in advantage. Delaware's attorney general happens to be Beau Biden, one of the senator's sons.
Within the last 50 years, three vice presidential nominees -- all Democrats -- have simultaneously sought reelection to Senate seats: Lyndon Johnson of Texas in 1960, fellow Texan Lloyd Bentsen in 1988 and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut in 2000.
Each won their Senate races, but only Johnson also was part of a winning national ticket (meaning he gave up his seat on Capitol Hill).
-- Don Frederick
Photo credit: Associated Press
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 »
Our colleague Dan Morain chatted up American Values' Gary Bauer Tuesday about gay marriage and Barack Obama's letter stating his opposition to a California ballot initiative (John McCain supports it). Morain points out that two other states will have similar measures on their fall ballot -- Arizona and Florida. While polls show California pretty safe for Obama and Arizona similarly so for McCain, a gay-marriage fight in Florida could have scale-tipp ing consequences.
Bauer, founder of the conservative Campaign for Working Families political action committee, said he hasn't decided whether to donate to California's "incredibly important" measure. "If the pro-same-sex marriage forces cannot win in California and Florida, it means that the people of this country still are resistant to radical social change," Bauer said.
Bauer said he was "somewhat heartened when Barack Obama said … that it should be a state decision" but that given Obama's recent statements opposing the California measure, "the idea that he is agnostic about this question doesn’t hold up any more."
"It is a major difference between the two candidates," Bauer said. "Before it is all over, we’ll have a great debate on tax policy, on foreign policy and on this fundamental question of what is the status of marriage."
Bauer said that John McCain and Barack Obama "did not seem far apart a few months ago" on gay marriage. "Now they are quite at odds with each other. It is something that voters in other states are looking at. When you have a significant number of other states that have voted to preserve marriage, it is the sort of thing that could hurt Obama."
Most significant: Obama "has very much been making a play for evangelical voters, suggesting that there would be no reason that an evangelical should vote against him. It becomes harder to make that case."
-- Scott Martelle
Photo provided by American Values
Well, we'll admit it, we're suckers for polls, and a recent one that our cousins at The Swamp tipped us to is interesting -- showing that Barack Obama is tapping a potentially rich vein in trying to tie John McCain to George Bush.
The Gallup/USA Today poll found that 68% of voters said they were concerned when asked whether they thought McCain would pursue "policies that are too similar to what G eorge W. Bush has pursued." Of those polled, 49% said they were "very concerned."
As the poll analysis points out: "It is clearly a delicate balancing act for McCain, as Bush remains relatively popular with the Republican base. While only 28% of Americans approve of the job Bush is doing as president, a majority of Republicans (60%) still do. Bush's approval rating among current McCain supporters is slightly lower, at 55%."
Dive deeper into the poll and something else interesting emerges -- people aren't all that keen on change, either. Some 49% said they were concerned when asked whether "Obama would go too far in changing the policies that George W. Bush pursued." Of those polled, 30% said they were "very concerned."
So the advantage for the moment goes to change -- in moderation. Which might help explain Obama's embrace Tuesday of the concept behind the Bush administration's faith-based initiative program.
-- Scott Martelle
While John McCain was jetting south, Barack Obama went to Ohio today and chatted up his belief in the Bush Administration's
faith-based initiative. Our colleagues at Countdown to Crawford delve into it here.
The unusual thing is that Obama has made a point of saying a first McCain term would be little more than a third Bush term, but then he goes and gloms onto a signature issue of the Bush years (admittedly of less note than some other issues from the Bush years).
And Obama accented his support for the pr ogram in a session with reporters, with our colleague Peter Nicholas in the scrum. Obama was asked whether he would elevate the faith-based initiative to the cabinet level: "I want this to be central to our White House mission. Just as I want a White House office on poverty to be -- which I've already discussed previously, and urban policy -- to be part of high level discussion in the White House.
"So whether we're actually creating a new cabinet position or we're simply making sure this person has a direct line to me and is working with all the cabinet officers to coordinate faith-based initiatives, we'll figure out the organization as we move forward in the context of our overall White House organization. But the important principle is that using the talents and the gifts of the kinds of folks who are here at Eastside Community Ministries -- their passion and commitment to empower the community -- making sure they can compete for the resources that are made available by the federal government to reduce poverty or help children or feed the hungry or house the homeless -– that we are getting those resources on the ground so that the people who are closest to those in need are able to access them. That is going to be a central principle of our administration.''
McCain addressed the issue in an interview in April, saying that he believed Bush's faith-based initiatives had "done very well," our colleague Maeve Reston reports. But he said he was less glowing, saying he would assess the program's effectiveness before making any decision on changes to it. But McCain cited the faith-based response to Katrina as particularly note-worthy: "They didn’t get a heck of a lot of government help, but they got some government help, and some of the people that I talked to in those neighborhoods said they [the groups] were very effective in helping the people of New Orleans restore their daily lives."
"So I think there’s many examples of where faith-based organizations have been very successful," McCain continued. "There are times when they haven't -– so you learn the lessons. But I think the overall experiment has probably been good for America."
--Scott Martelle
Photo credit: Jae C. Hong/Associated Press
MONTREAT, North Carolina -- Sunday morning, John McCain made a (relatively) last-minute stop in North Carolina to pay a visit to the world’s best-known evangelist, the Rev. Billy Graham, and his son, the Rev. Franklin Graham, in the Blue Ridge Mountains. There was also a cameo appearance by a country music star, which we’ll get to in a moment.
McCain planned the stop to pay homage to the man who has counseled every American president for the last half century. To say that the Graham retreat was out of the way is an understatement -- about a 45-minute drive from the airport, up a very windy road that did not look entirely suitable for a motorcade of brawny SUVs. The homestead, high atop a forested hill, was quite modest, at least from the outside (reporters were not invited in). The house is a large brown shingled cabin with a tall rough-hewn stone chimney, a screen door and an old iron wheel at the front door.
The visit came at the behest of the presumptive Republican nominee, who has had a somewhat rocky relationship with Christian evangelicals. We know McCain asked for the meeting because about 15 minutes after it ended, his campaign released a statement from Franklin Graham saying just that: "Sen. McCain’s office had requested a meeting …and we appreciate the effort he made to travel to my father’s home," the younger Graham said. "I was impressed by his personal faith and his moral clarity on important social issues facing America today."
Graham added that both he and McCain have sons in the military and both have a common interest in aviation. The Grahams, as ministers, do not endorse candidates. And McCain didn't even ask for their vote, he told reporters later during an impromptu press conference on the tarmac in Asheville.
"We had an excellent conversation," said McCain, as five reporters put their voice recorders about three inches from his face to catch what he was saying, since his Gulfstream jet had already fired up its engines. "Bill Graham recalled that during the Vietnam War when I was in prison, he visited my parents in Hawaii twice and he and my mother and father prayed together for me, and I expressed my appreciation for that a long time ago.…I am very grateful for the time they spent with me."
The meeting generated no news but McCain got a handy souvenir photo of himself sitting between the Grahams, and that certainly won’t hurt him with evangelicals, some of whom don’t find him suitably conservative and are still offended by what some believe was his calculated attempt to garner moderate votes in 2000.
McCain then condemned Pat Robertson and the Rev. Jerry Falwell as "agents of intolerance" during the campaign. By 2006, however, with his eye on the White House again, he’d changed his tune, telling Tim Russert that he no longer would apply that label to Falwell. A short time later, McCain gave the commencement speech at Falwell’s Liberty University.
Oh, about that country music star. A half-hour into the senator’s visit, singer Ricky Skaggs -- a bearish middle-aged guy with gray hair -- pulled up the driveway and made his way into the house. He was scheduled to have lunch with the Grahams. A short time later, Franklin Graham and Skaggs stepped onto the small porch to bid the senator goodbye.
-- Robin Abcarian
Photo: LM Otero/Associated Press
As the first African American to secure a major-party presidential nomination, Democratic Sen. Barack Obama has understandably been the subject of much analysis across the country that focuses on race.
But overlooked is another potential political first: Americans have never sent a Chicagoan to the White House.
And one intriguing question posed by the freshman Illino is senator's candidacy is whether they are ready now.
For all his talk elsewhere about change and his national image as a fervent reformer, Obama on the contrary remains fundamentally a product of a Chicago and Illinois political culture renowned for corruption and filled with curious characters who range from felonious to just outrageous.
Illinois Senate President Emil Jones, Obama's political mentor in the state capital of Springfield, is about as old-school as they come. Just last month, the Chicago Democrat publicly ridiculed an attempt to block another pay raise for state legislators by sarcastically declaring: "I've got to get me some food stamps."
Obama's stable of political friends is broadly populated with others like Jones and the recently convicted Tony Rezko. Revealingly, whenever the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee has dabbled in Windy City and Cook County politics in recent years, he has frequently failed to come down on the side of political progressives and reformers.
This little-known side of Obama's political life may well surprise many across the country who see in the well-spoken candidate an entirely different person. Bob Secter and John McCormick have the full story at the Swamp.
--Andrew Malcolm
Photo credit: Associated Press
Religion has been no small issue in the 2007-08 presidential campaigns and that's unlikely to change in the dwindling months remaining until the Nov. 4 decision day.
Many Americans have strong religious beliefs, according to a new study. But the majority remains open to interpretations of the teachings of their faith and believes in more than one way to salvation, according to the new research from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.
Seventy percent of people surveyed with a religious affiliation reported that many religions can lead to eternal life.
Researchers examined Americans' religious beliefs and political attitudes in the second part of a huge study on major religions in the United States.
"The fact that most Americans are not exclusive or dogmatic about their religion is a fascinating finding," said Luis Lugo, director of the Pew Forum.
"Most people will be surprised that a majority of adherents in nearly all religious traditions, including a majority of evangelical Protestants, say that there isn't just one way to salvation or to interpret the teachings of their own faith."
The study also found that politics and religion is intertwined, with Mormons among the most politically conservative and Jews, Buddhists and Hindus among the most liberal.
Katie Fretland has a full version of this study over at the Swamp.
-- Andrew Malcolm
In this episode of our ongoing conversation with author Matt Welch, he discusses the role of religion in Sen. John McCain's life and politics.
McCain's regrets about going too far in his 2000 remarks about the religious right, his courting of the religious right within the Republican Party this election season and the stark differences between the roles of Rev. Wright in Barack Obama's life and Rev. Hagee in the McCain campaign.
Previous chapters in our Welch chat about his book, "McCain: The Myth of a Maverick," are here for Part I, here for Part II, here for Part III, here for Part IV and here for Part V. Samples of Welch's print writing in his former Times career are available here.
The remaining two episodes of our conversation will be published on The Ticket in the next day or so.
--Andrew Malcolm
O.K., it's the first day of summer. There's still something like 134 days until The Election. No tornadoes in sight. The annual hurricane controversies have yet to form wherever they start. Lots of lakes and sunshine outdoors. And blizzards of blabber on TV.
Hope the traffic wasn't too bad getting home. Here's a reverse birthday gift from The Ticket: What you didn't miss today:
SO MUCH FOR SUMMER IN MONTANA: Tom Brokaw will pause in writing his next book on our grandfathers and take over moderating "Meet the Press" through the election. Not Tim Russert, of course, but wise and he won't talk about the Bills who are hopeless until poor Jim Kelly returns. (See video below.)
If NBC is not going the blonde-in-short-skirt route like over at Fox and since Bob Schieffer is under contract elsewhere, our top permanent nominee is Chuck Todd, (not pictured here) who clearly knows everything about politics and says it succinctly. Seriously.
WHY NOT JUST ARM EVERYBODY ON AIRPLANES? Our blogging colleague James Oliphant over at the Swamp has joined the periodic chorus wondering about Virginia Sen. James Webb as the running mate for Barack Obama.
Webb, you'll remember, is the guy who packs personal heat everywhere, which does tend to diminish disagreements on the street. Obama does need a military mate because he's talked so much about opposing war and the simple peacemaking power of sitdowns with dictators. Also, he seems unlikely to pick Geraldine Ferraro.
Being a turncoat Republican and former Reaganite will surely....
Read more Ticket Takings: A Sunday full of Richardson, Webb, Daschle, Fiorina and Richardson »
This is Part II of The Ticket's first video chat series, an eight-part conversation with author Matt Welch on his new book, "John McCain: The Myth of a Maverick."
The book is not a biography but an exploration of the McCain persona, an intriguing combination of independence, military discipline and rebellion, with a strong whiff of bad boy. In this video episode Welch, a former L.A. Times writer, describes how he came to discover much about McCain through the serial confessions the senator makes about himself throughout his own books. And what that revealed about the Republican nominee's personal way of thinking.
Part I of this conversation with Welch can be seen by clicking here. Other parts will be published on The Ticket in coming days.
-- Andrew Malcolm
Once presidential candidates were always placed on podiums, above the crowds, on balconies or the backs of trains speaking down to the voters from on high.
In the last few presidential election cycles, however, populism became the theme. It's been the stage fashion to plop the candidate amid adoring throngs. All campaigns now line the back of rally stages with handpicked, politically correct supporters who represent the message of the day -- young college students, old white women, a rainbow array of ethnicities. The president does it too, lots of soldiers behind him, men, women, black, white, Latino.
These are the happy, adoring, enthusiastic supporters who will be on camera with the candidate for presumably millions of Americans to see and identify with. The others in the front audience are there to yell and scream and wave signs.
The candidate's advance team and its volunteers are charged with arranging this human facial bouquet before the event. There are risks, of course. Young children easily get bored and fidgety and sometimes pick their noses on camera.
Others may yawn or fall asleep and provide evil news photographers with an inadvertent comment on the candidate's remarks that will appear all over the country as quickly as you can say, "Hot dog, not another candidate holding a microphone photo!"
Trouble is, apparently a Barack Obama volunteer or two in Detroit on Monday barred two Muslim women from standing behind Obama because they were wearing head-scarves. Everyone knows how hard the Obama forces have fought viral rumors that with the middle name Hussein and a childhood in Indonesia he is really a closet Muslim plotting to subvert the United States of America.
So the volunteer, described as a black woman in a green shirt, barred the women from the stage.
Our colleague over at the Swamp, Katie Fretland, has this version of the embarrassing episode. And the Politico.com has a longer one here.
She explained, according to the women, by citing the political climate and widespread antipathy toward Muslims. It's particularly awkward for the Obama campaign, which talks often about its inclusiveness and the fact that Michigan is a major center of American Arabs.
The campaign apologized. "“This is of course not the policy of the campaign," said Bill Burton. "It is offensive and counter to Obama’s commitment to bring Americans together."
But at least one of the women has indicated that an apology is insufficient. She wants an invitation to stand right behind Obama at another rally.
Watch for that. And watch for Obama then to walk over and personally apologize. Turn a minus into a plus.
--Andrew Malcolm
Photo Credit: The Daily Pennsylvanian
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
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 »
It looks like Mike Huckabee, the former radio announcer, Baptist preacher, governor, bass guitarist, author and Republican presidential candidate, can add another occupation to his resume: paramedic.
Republican p residential nominee-to-be Sen. John McCain, take note.
At a luncheon preceding the North Carolina state Republican Party convention this weekend, Huckabee, the convention's keynote speaker, noticed that a fellow diner appeared to be choking on some food and having difficulty breathing.
The other diner was state Sen. Robert Pittenger, a GOP lieutenant governor candidate. This appearing to be a bad year for Republicans, they can't afford to lose even one vote.
So Huckabee, who received EMT training in college and is a former lieutenant governor himself, leapt up and immediately performed the Heimlich maneuver on Pittenger.
Pittenger began breathing normally again. Huckabee was declared a hero by unanimous vote. The breakfast and convention went on as scheduled. Pittenger is even back on the campaign trail.
After he regained his breath, Pittenger said he had been laughing when he choked on a piece of food and instinctively stood up. "The governor came over," he said, "and did the Heimlich and got the relief."
In fact, Pittenger added, Huckabee "called me in the car as I was driving home to make sure I was OK."
Huckabee's daughter, Sarah, who also serves as his spokesman, said her father reacted instinctively, as he has in other similar incidents, according to the Palmetto Scoop.
Some cynical commentators online are suggesting the incident was staged, and that Pittenger probably suffers from acid reflux or something and Huckabee's efforts were perhaps unnecessary. Not according to Pittenger.
Obviously, the commenters are Democrats worried about the possibility of a heroic Huckabee as McCain's vice presidential running mate running around the country campaigning this fall, saving the lives of Republicans, independents and disaffected Democrats wherever he goes.
And don't forget to take the vice president's poll here.
--Andrew Malcolm
Photo Credit: AP / Charlie Neibergall
Mitt Romney, the former Republican presidential candidate, the former Republican governor of Massachusetts and a current silent candidate to become Sen. John McCain's vice presidential running mate, is also about to become a Californian.
A Southern Californian.
The Romneys await closing on a home in La Jolla. On the oceanfront, of course. Are there any other kind there?
According to SignOnSanDiego.com, the savior of the Salt Lake City Olympics and self-made multimillionaire has decided to pour a few more of his millions into a home in that oceanfront community in the state that just happens to have the most electoral votes.
Or maybe he just wants to watch the seals sun themselves.
The Romneys currently have a home in Massachusetts, a home in New Hampshire and a home in Utah. If the La Jolla deal goes ...
Read more Surprise political move: Mitt Romney buys a home in California »
If there was one sliver of a silver lining in the ongoing embarrassments caused Barack Obama by his membership (which he gave up this past weekend) in the Trinity United Church of Christ, it was -- some of his partisans asserted -- that the controversies would help douse the rumor-mongering that he's a closet Muslim.
That may be wishful thinking, if the attitudes of a voter The Times' Noam Levey encountered in South Dakota today are at all indicative. 
Levey was with Hillary Clinton as, in what may be her final full day on the campaign trail, the Democratic presidential contender worked hard to score one last victory in Tuesday's South Dakota primary. Her schedule took her to Tally’s Restaurant, a landmark in downtown Rapid City famous for pigs in a blanket made with Buffalo sausage.
It was all fairly typical -- she gave a speech, smiled and posed for photos and talked with patrons about healthcare and asked young people about their student loans, shaking her head at the amount that one young woman said she was wrestling with.
In her brief talk, she zeroed on the message that, against lengthening odds, she keeps hoping will resonate throughout her party and stall Obama's seemingly inexorable march toward its nomination. Referring to the presidency, she said, “I want you to think hard. Who would you hire to do this job.”
Few of her listeners needed any convincing that she would be the right choice. And one of those Clinton backers, 48-year-old Cheryl Chamberlain, was in no mood to transfer her allegiance to Obama, citing a litany of reasons that can only cause eyes to roll within his camp.
“I won’t vote for Obama,” Chamberlain told Levey. “You go on the Internet and see him associated with that church, with the Koran. He won’t wear a flag pin. … After 9/11, there is absolutely no way I’d support someone who is associated with the Koran. I won’t support terrorism.”
-- Don Frederick
Photo credit: AFP/Getty Images
Well, talk about going out with class. Ex-President Bill Clinton just went off again during a campaign appearance in South Dakota. The shock waves should be rippling through Chicago and Kansas City any minute.
He was asked about that, shall we say, unflattering Todd Purdum Vanity Fair article again. Talk about smoking near a propane tank. KA-BOOM! went the former leader of the free world about Purd um, which would be expected.
"Sleazy." "Dishonest." "Slimy." "Scumbag."
And those were the nice words, as Clinton firmly gripped and refused to release the hand of the inquiring reporter, who was none other than Huffington Post's Mayhill Fowler.
Remember her? Swanky private fundraiser. San Francisco mansion. Barack Obama. Inartful remarks. Bitter small towns clinging to religion and guns.
The Vanity Fair article quotes former Clinton aides criticizing the ex-president for surrounding himself with questionable friends and behaving/speaking in a way that hurt Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.
Of course, Bill Clinton denies having read....
Read more Did you hear that? Bill Clinton's head explodes over Obama and Vanity Fair »
By now you've all likely seen the "God sent Hitler" video that went viral and led John McCain to reject the support of the Rev. John Hagee, who had already sparked a massive controversy over his comments about the Catholic Church.
None of these videos that go viral crop up organically -- a little virtual rain, some virtual sun and voila! the seed germinates. The guy behind the dissemination of the Hagee video is named Bruce Wilson, and the folks at techPresident link up to his explanation of what happened, and when.
Reading it is a bit like watching sausage getting made, but for those with more than a basic consumer's interest in how some of this stuff works, it makes for interesting reading.
-- Scott Martelle
The full-throated backing that Democrat-turned-independent Joe Lieberman is providing Republican John McCain -- most recently evidenced in a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece Wednesday -- may well pay big dividends in the presidential election, especially in swing states with significant Jewish populations. But apparently there are limits to the persuasive powers of the senator from Connecticut. | |
