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The other day here we noted that Republican nominee-to-be John McCain keeps referring to the country of Czechoslovakia, which hasn't existed since 1993.
Now, Sam Nunn, a veteran retired senator and an oft-mentioned Democratic vice presidential running mate with Barack Obama, is doing the same thing.
His reference to the former country, which split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, was the third mention of Czechoslovakia during campaigning this week. A former chairman of the Senate Armed Forces Committee who could know better, Nunn was on the campaign trail in Indiana with Obama.
"We in this country are about to, under this government, under the Bush administration, deploy [a] missile defense system in Poland and Czechoslovakia," Nunn said. For more details and a pretty funny video, check out our colleague Katie Fretland's item over on the Swamp.
-- Andrew Malcolm
Bill Clinton offered a nifty defense of Jesse Jackson’s “I didn’t know the microphone was on” moment last week, when the civil rights leader took his crude swipe at Barack Obama.
At a Harlem news conference Thursday, Clinton said, “If all of us lived on live mics, 100% of us would be embarrassed.”
The ex-president ought to know. Clinton himself unleashed an outburst -- one that, he apparently was surprised to find out later was recorded -- against Jackson during the Arkansan’s first run for the presidency in 1992.
As recounted in the New York Observer, a few days after that year’s New Hampshire primary, which Clinton lost, a local television reporter asked him to comment on a (baseless, as it turned out) report that Jackson had decided to endorse Iowa senator Tom Harkin.
Clinton was furious. “It’s an outrage,” he fumed. “A dirty, double-crossing, back-stabbing thing to do. … For him to do this, for me to hear this on a television program, is an act of absolute dishonor.”
And last month Clinton slipped up again. He went on a tirade against Vanity Fair writer Todd Purdum (calling him, among other things, “slimy” and “dishonest” and worse) –- only to later learn that his verbal rampage had been recorded by his questioner and put on the Huffington Post by that amateur Web journalist Mayhill Fowler.
Clinton was far more cheery and diplomatic at Thursday’s news conference, which spotlighted work being done by his foundation.
According to the Associated Press, when the subject turned to Obama -- whom Clinton portrayed as too inexperienced for the presidency during the primary season -- the ex-president said he was ready to campaign for the candidate. “I’ll do whatever I’m asked to do, whenever I can do it,” Clinton said.
-- Stuart Silverstein
Photo credit: AP
This morning, aboard John McCain's Straight Talk Express jet, one of the Arizona senator's favorite traveling companions -- Steve Duprey, who co-chaired McCain's Republican primary effort in New Hampshire and has been hanging around ever since -- handed out little customized bottles of McCain sunscreen.
News reporters on the plane also received yellow-and-blue flip-flops printed with the message "McCain ... Another Day at the Beach."
Certainly the sunscreen -- SPF 30 -- is an excellent idea for McCain, who still bears the faint scars of surgery for melanoma on the left side of his face.
But flip-flops?
Isn't that a rather dangerous form of footwear for a senator who has been accused by some in his own party of changing his positions on issues such as immigration reform and tax cuts?
Back at the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City, certain enterprising capitalists had trouble keeping one popular item in stock: John Kerry flip-flops.
On the other hand, as The Ticket reported Sunday California's Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is among the many who think flip-flops (the speaking kind) are good for society because they show growth and learning.
-- Robin Abcarian
Lord save the presidential candidates from their allies, Chapter Two.
Last week, it was Barack Obama who saw his carefully crafted speech on patriotism overshadowed because backer Wesley Clark had made a controversial statement about John McCain getting shot  down as a fighter pilot during the Vietnam War.
Today, it was McCain's turn to watch as his recent effort to show he understands the economic hard times that many Americans are experiencing got stepped on by an old friend and top advisor.
In an interview with the Washington Times, former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm termed the current economic slowdown "a mental recession."
He added: "We may have a recession; we haven't had one yet."
And then he showed why his own presidential bid in 1996 quickly crashed and burned, calling the United States "a nation of whiners."
Obama, campaigning in Virginia, recognized the gift that had been handed him. Referencing the "mental recession" remark, he said Gramm "didn’t say this, but I guess what he meant was, 'It’s a figment of your imagination, these high gas prices.' "
He continued: "Sen. Gramm then deemed the United States, and I quote 'a nation of whiners.' "
Milking the moment for all it was worth as his crowd both laughed and booed, Obama delivered a punch line that gave the cable networks one of the day's prime sound-bites: "I want all of you to know that America already has one Dr. Phil, we don’t need another one."
McCain distanced himself from his blunt-spoken supporter at a news conference in Michigan.
"I don’t agree with Sen. Gramm," he said. "I believe the person in Michigan that just lost his job isn’t suffering from a mental recession. I believe the mother ... who is trying to get enough money to educate her children, isn’t whining. America is in great difficulty.
"Phil Gramm does not speak for me," McCain said. "I speak for me. I strongly disagree."
McCain later came up with his own sound-bite. Asked whether Gramm was a contender to head the Treasury Department in a McCain administration, he cracked: "I think that Sen. Gramm would be in serious consideration for ambassador to Belarus, although I’m not sure the citizens of Minsk would welcome that."
Gramm apparently has no interest in another government job, because he ...
Read more Phil Gramm's 'whiners' comment causes John McCain a headache »
The unity thing is proving something of a stubborn problem for the no longer officially dueling camps of Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. There've been reports in recent days of some die-hard Clinton supporters being less than supportive of the fellow who crunched her.
But confirmed Clintonite Terry McAuliffe says it's only one or two people. So that can't mean much. And there's probably hardly any Obama folks saying, "Remind me again why I should help pay the bills for the travel and events when she was always attacking Obama?"
But what happened Wednesday night was a little embarrassing.
After the two Democrats voted differently on the Senate's FISA retroactive surveillance O.K. bill, Obama flew Clinton from Washington to New York City on his plane for two fundraisers where they'd both appear together and she'd graciously introduce him and there'd be that cheek peck.
And Obama would repeat his eloquent thing about change and how George W. Bush is really the first two terms of John McCain or something and ask the folks for money and kinda push them toward retiring Clinton's campaign debt. Depending on the numbers you hear, her debts could be as large as $23 million or maybe "only" $10 million, which is like -- what? -- 20 speeches or something for her husband.
So The Times' Louise Roug was at the Hyatt in the crowd of 1,000 who'd each paid $1,000 (what a coincidence!) so they could also pay cash at the bar. She dutifully listened to his familiar, 30-minute talk about promise. The crowd applauded. "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" blasted out of the sound system and Obama bounced off the stage to work the rope line and shake hands, not looking nearly as weary as The Times story says he is.
But about two minutes later Obama bounces back onto the stage. (See the video below.) Waves his hands. Had he forgotten to mention about the jobs program?
The music stopped. Or maybe he neglected to praise his distant cousin Dick Cheney?
"Hold on a second," he shouted. "I got one more thing." Oops! It seems Obama had forgotten to mention the part about giving money to Hillary Clinton in the spirit of unity, the whole reason they were gathered there in the first place.
"Sen. Clinton still has some debt. And I could have had some debt -- if I hadn't won -- so I know the drill. There are many supporters of mine here who have not yet given something to help her retire that debt. I would be very grateful if you looked under your chair. I think there should be an envelope or a pledge sheet or something.
"If people would take the time not only to pick it up but put something in it and mail it back...that is part of the process of making sure that we're unified...Allright, turn on the music again. Let's keep on partying."
And so they did. In perfect unity, no doubt.
--Andrew Malcolm
Photo credit: CNN
With friends like these, why do rivals bother with opposition researchers? Rudy Giuliani was on CNN Tuesday talking about John McCain and the presidential campaign, and said that he still thinks he was the best choice to be president. Giuliani was there to buff up McCain and his foreign policy credentials in the w ake of the rock Wesley Clark tossed the other day.
When asked by interviewer John Roberts whether he thought he was better qualified than McCain to run the country, Giuliani said, "I thought I was best-qualified to be president." (The video is here, and this exchange comes around the 3:12 mark).
Now not many politicians would leave a race as Giuliani did and say later, "You know, the voters were right, I wasn't the best choice." Political egos don't cut that way. But the McCain camp had to wince, assuming they're getting CNN down there in Colombia. The idea behind sending surrogates out is to have them make you look good, not make you look like a consolation prize.
Throughout the interview, Giuliani sounded as much like a candidate as a surrogate, talking up his own political resume in a session that had a peculiar deja vu feeling to it. But Giuliani assured Roberts, "I'm not a candidate. I'm not a choice." Not at the moment, no, but ...
-- Scott Martelle
Photo: Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times
Well, this has got to have some effect on the national political prospects for Bobby Jindal, the rising star from Louisiana. (Can a star rise from the South?) Jindal, the Louisiana governor, on Monday vetoed, after promising not to, a pay raise that the state Legislature had voted for itself.
We're not exactly talking big bucks here. The current base pay for legislators is $16,800, and the Legislature wanted to more than  double it to $37,500.
Why does this matter? Well, voters tend to hone in on "flip flops" -- note the baggage Mitt Romney carries (see the comments on this post). So the specifics of whether Jindal should or should not have vetoed the measure Monday is less important than the fact that he was tacking like, well, John Kerry out windsurfing.
Why Jindal's change? An uprising among voters, in the form of a recall petition. The Times-Picayune sums up the brief history: "Jindal was widely criticized for failing to stop the raise before it was passed and his initial refusal to veto it. He said he had promised lawmakers that he would not use his veto, but he also pledged during his gubernatorial campaign last year to prohibit an immediate legislative pay raise."
So to recap, first Jindal promised to stop the pay raise, then told legislators he wouldn't stop the pay raise, then -- looking at his own political mortality -- reversed direction again and stopped the pay raise. Jindal fell on the sword Monday, thanking "the people for their voice and their attention" -- that would be the recall petition -- and added: "The voters have demanded change. ... I made a mistake by staying out of it."
But you have to wonder what the odds table says now about Jindal's chances for the co-pilot seat on the Straight Talk Express.
-- Scott Martelle
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
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
The chances of Don Imus once again becoming a good radio buddy to various politicians probably got slimmer today.
 True, when Imus regained a program last December after offensive remarks he made several months earlier about the Rutgers University women's basketball team led to his exile, several friends from Capitol Hill who had once been his frequent guests -- including John McCain -- helped welcome him back by chatting with him on air.
But since that first flurry of appearances, Imus' new show has not evolved into the regular stop it once was for a bipartisan swath of political bigshots (others included Chris Dodd, Joe Lieberman and John Kerry). And an exchange Imus had today regarding professional football player Adam "Pacman" Jones doesn't seem likely to help restore his sway.
During a report this morning on his nationally syndicated show about Jones, who has been reinstated by the NFL after several scapes with the law led to his suspension during the entire 2007 season, Imus asked, "What color is he?"
When told Jones (who recently requested that that announcers no longer use his nickname when mentioning him) is African American, Imus responded, "Well, there you go. Now we know."
It's a surprise that Imus apparently was clueless about the well-publicized Jones. It's no surprise that his remark again placed him at the center of a racially tinged controversy. Huffington Post is tracking the furor, including Imus' defense: "I meant he was being picked on because he's black.''
Regardless on whether the I-man rides this one out, it's a bit tougher to imagine McCain wanting to have another conversation with him as the vote nears in November.
-- Don Frederick
Photo credit: Associated Press
Charlie Black has had his moment of straight talk ... and chances are he's not going to let it happen again.
 A recent Washington Post piece on Black aptly described him as "John McCain's man in Washington," a "longtime uber-lobbyist" and "political maestro" who hopes "to guide his friend, the senator from Arizona, to the presidency this November."
Now comes a Fortune magazine article that, even more aptly, notes the "startling candor" with which Black discussed how a spotlight on national security would serve McCain's political purposes.
First, he provided some background.
The assassination of Pakistani political leader Benazir Bhutto in late December was an "unfortunate event," Black told Fortune, but it boosted McCain's stock in the fast-approaching New Hampshire Republican primary that he absolutely, positively had to win. The candidate's "knowledge and ability to talk about it reemphasized that this is the guy who's ready to be commander in chief. And it helped us," Black said.
Then, the longtime political pro got a bit too honest. Asked about the political impact of another terrorist attack on U.S. soil, Black replied: "Certainly it would be a big advantage to him."
Black may be correct, but he's not supposed to be quite so blunt in coldly calculating the upside for McCain of harm coming to Americans. Others -- unconnected with the campaign -- could offer such an assessment, but he should have dodged the question.
He knows it, and The Times' Maeve Reston reports that outside a McCain fundraiser today in Fresno, Black said: “I deeply regret the comments — they were inappropriate. I recognize that John McCain has devoted his entire adult life to protecting his country and placing its security before every other consideration."
McCain, for his part, did what he's supposed to do -- stressing his lifelong commitment to protecting America and flat out disputing Black's premise. "It's not true," he said when asked in Fresno about his aide's remark.
Barack Obama's campaign played its role, taking great umbrage to Black's comment while using it to stress one of its talking points.
Spokesman Bill Burton said, "The fact that John McCain's top advisor says that a terrorist attack on American soil would be a 'big advantage' for their political campaign is a complete disgrace, and is exactly the kind of politics that needs to change."
But Burton also said Obama "welcomes a debate about terrorism with John McCain, who has fully supported the Bush policies that have taken our eye off of Al Qaeda, failed to bring Osama bin Laden to justice, and made us less safe."
The Fortune article that sparked the flap (and in which Black is tangential) can be read here. Our colleague Jill Zuckman over at the Swamp has her take on the incident here.
-- Don Frederick
Photo credit: Associated Press
So much for that presidential-looking seal on the front of the lectern during a Barack Obama  appearance Friday in Chicago.
Widely mocked (here, here and here, to cite but a few of the items that wryly took note of it), the intrepid Marc Ambinder of TheAtlantic.com reports that the insignia will be consigned to some closet to gather dust.
He writes: "I'm told that Obama recognizes that it was a silly mistake, that the universal reaction at (his Chicago headquarters) was, "Boy, was that dumb.' "
We doubt there will be much argument with that conclusion.
The Swamp's Mark Silva has his take on the seal imbroglio here.
Ambinder's full post can be read here.
[UPDATE: Obama's communication director, Robert Gibbs, confirmed to CNN that the seal was history. “That was a one time thing for a one time event," Gibbs said. And, he must hope, the type of one time mistake that won't be repeated.]
-- Don Frederick
Photo: Getty Images
California's Orange County is proving a tough venue for out-of-town Republican politicians trying to elevate their national profile.
Former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee laid an egg there last year. And late last week, so did Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (at right), at least in one local columnist's view.
Thirteen months ago, when the buzz was at its loudest that Thompson was perfectly primed to swoop into what many saw as a lackluster GOP presidential field and emerge as the nominee, he traveled to Newport Beach for a much-heralded speech to the Lincoln Club of Orange County.
Also in the audience was Robert Novak, and the nationally syndicated columnist was less than impressed. In a column that gained a fair amount of attention at the time , Novak wrote that Thompson's appearance proved "a letdown for the packed audience of conservative Republicans."
Reactions he quoted included: "It was not Reaganesque;" "No red meat;" "Too low key."
Novak himself noted that "surprisingly for such an experienced performer ...Thompson had trouble with the podium microphone as his low, conversational tones faded in and out."
In retrospect, of course, these problems and more marked Thompson's eventual candidacy, which never came close to catching fire.
Crist, a hot prospect in the vice presidential guessing game for John McCain's ticket, could be found Friday in Irvine, headlining a Republican Party dinner. The upshot -- a column a few days later by the Orange County Register's Frank Mickadeit headlined, "We know who McCain shouldn't pick."
Mickadeit gave the governor a rave for his appearance: "silver hair, warm smile, great tan, perfectly tailored suit of clothes, decent teeth."
But, the columnist added: "It's when he uses his facial musculature to try and form cogent sound that he falls apart."
One of Crist's miscues occurred when, in making the required mention ...
Read more Charlie Crist gets panned in Orange County »
Michelle Obama revealed this morning that she's got a role model who many might consider an unlikely choice for her: Laura Bush.
 In one of the highlights of her much-anticipated appearance on ABC's "The View," the prospective first lady told Barbara Walters and the show's four other regular hosts that she was "touched" by understanding words the current first lady recently directed her way.
Bush, in an interview with ABC News, had been asked to comment on the quote that continues to dog Obama -- her comment four months ago, as her husband grabbed the lead in the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination, that "for the first time in my adult lifetime, I'm really proud of my country."
Bush let her off the hook, saying, "I think she probably meant ‘I’m more proud.’ ... You have to be really careful in what you say because everything you say is looked at and in many cases misconstrued.”
We noted previously that Obama owed Bush a big thank you. And, it turns out, that's exactly how Obama reacted -- she said she has sent Bush a note expressing her appreciation.
She also said she's "taking some cues" from how the first lady has handled life in the political spotlight, praising her "calm, rational approach." (The Times' Johanna Neuman, writing for our new "Countdown to Crawford" blog, has more on Obama's comments here. And, because so many were eager to see how Michelle handled herself, so does our Show Tracker blog.)
Obama had sought to clarify her "proud" remark almost immediately but, not surprisingly, she was asked about it again today. She's pretty much got her answer down pat now, saying, "Of course, I'm proud of my country. Nowhere but in America could my story be possible."
What she was trying to express back in February, she added, was how proud she was of the "political process" and the interest the race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton had sparked.
-- Don Frederick
Photo credit: ABC
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 »
Our colleague Robin Abcarian has a good piece over on The Times' Campaign '08 page and, being the great writer that she is, she sums it up best herself with her lede: "They loved to hate Hillary Rodham Clinton. They loved to hate Teresa Heinz Kerry. And now, it appears, conservative voices are energetically taking on Michelle Obama."
Abcarian delves into the Tennessee Republican Party's Web video mocking Obama's "For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country" comment and how it will echo through the fall election. More significantly, the piece raises the question of whether a candidate's spouse is fair game. There are several ways to slice that up, but you have to figure that if a spouse is out t here on the campaign trail, the spouse -- be it Obama, Bill Clinton or Cindy McCain -- is fair game, for fair criticism.
What's curious is that the most vocal critics, as Abcarian writes, tend to be conservatives sniping at Democrats. (But then, Republican candidate spouses haven't made as much news as the Democratic spouses). And fairness tends to be in the eye of the beholder (Evidence: the comment sections on this and other blogs).
But for the candidates, the prime issue is to make sure the spouse isn't stumbling around off message, and saying things that anger the very people you're trying to appeal to and give ammunition to those who oppose you.
-- Scott Martelle
Photo: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
OK, give yourself a little treat for making it through to Friday afternoon and in a couple of minutes go read the revealing and entertaining interview by our colleague, James Rainey, of one of the neatest bylines going these days in online or print journalism -- Mayhill Fowler.
Sound familiar?
She just happens to be the Huffington Post media writer who revealed that "inartful" bitter small-town guns and religion crack of Barack Obama's some weeks back at an allegedly private fund-raiser in a San Francisco mansion that got the Ivy League-educated lawyer in so much trouble for an elitist streak that didn't go over too well with central Pennsylvania's small-town voters.
Imagine politicians saying one thing in San Francisco and another in a Keystone State bowling alley. And while the professional ...
Read more Exposing Mayhill Fowler, citizen journalist, who scoops the pros »
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
Barack Obama, at a Memorial Day event in Las Cruces, N.M., credited his great-uncle, Charlie Payne, as being among the U.S. troops who liberated the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz.
The trouble with that bit of history -- as the Republican National Committee pointed out today -- is that the Soviet Red Army was the military force that liberated the World War II death camp.
The RNC seized the opportunity to fire off a news release, saying that “unless his uncle was serving in the Red Army, there’s no way Obama’s statement yesterday can be true. Obama’s frequent exaggerations and outright distortions raise questions about his judgment and his readiness to lead as commander in chief.”
The Obama campaign soon acknowledged that the Democratic candidate made a mistake. It explained that Obama’s great-uncle was in the 89th Infantry Division that helped liberate another notorious death camp, Buchenwald. Obama, the campaign said, “is proud of the service of his grandfather and uncles in World War II -- especially the fact that his great-uncle was part of liberating of one of the concentration camps at Buchenwald.”
All of which raises the question: What's worse, Obama's apparent gaffe or the RNC pouncing on a Holocaust-related historical mistake for political advantage?
-- Stuart Silverstein
Hillary Clinton's campaign is in full damage-control mode after her remarks on Friday that referenced the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in a way that some perceived as offensive to Barack Obama.
Sunday's New York Daily News has a two-page "exclusive" from the candidate herself "to set the record straight" about her comments, which she said were taken "entirely out of context and interpreted ... to mean something completely different -- and completely unthinkable."
And her communications director, Howard Wolfson, and campaign chairman, Terry McAuliffe, used their appearances on the Sunday talk shows to blame Obama's campaign (along with the media) for the resulting firestorm.
Clinton says that in her appearance ...
Read more Hillary Clinton explains -- again -- about her RFK assassination remark »
Largely obscured in the understandable uproar over Hillary Clinton's Friday reference to the 1968 assassination of Robert F. Kennedy has been the fallacy of the basic point she sought to convey -- that there is nothing all that unusual about the trajectory of her battle with Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nod.
Before invoking the Kennedy killing in comments to a South Dakota newspaper that she quickly rued, Clinton said, "My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary, somewhere in the middle of June, right?"
Actually, wrong in all but the most technical sense.
Bill Clinton became the hands-down front-runner in his party's contest 16 years ago in mid-March, when his main competitor, Paul Tsongas, exited the race. There was an outbreak of buyer's remorse a few weeks later ...
Read more Hillary Clinton as historian: a bad match »
In a talk with the Argus Leader in South Dakota earlier today, Hillary Clinton took a walk through political history -- and stepped on a figurative land mine. Asked about her continuing campaign against increasingly long odds, she invoked 1968 and the assassination of Bobby Kennedy fairly late in the primary calendar. Her intent seemed to be to point out that anything can happen.
But with Ted Kennedy gravely ill, and an undercurrent in the election of the risks Barack Obama faces, well, the reaction was not quite what she expected. Which led the campaign to release this statement a few minutes ago: "Earlier today I was discussing the Democratic primary history and in the course of that discussion mentioned the campaigns that both my husband and Senator Kennedy waged in California in June 1992 and 1968 and I was referencing those to make the point that we have had nomination primary contests that go into June. That’s a historic fact. The Kennedys have been much on my mind the last days because of Senator Kennedy and I regret that if my referencing that moment of trauma for our entire nation, and particularly for the Kennedy family was in any way offensive. I certainly had no intention of that, whatsoever. My view is that we have to look to the past and to our leaders who have inspired us and give us a lot to live up to, and I’m honored to hold Senator Kennedy’s seat in the United States Senate from the state of New York and have the highest regard for the entire Kennedy family."
Gaffes like that don't help you play catch up with the SuperDs.
-- Scott Martelle
Mike Huckabee used his appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday to reiterate his regret for a comment he made while speaking to the National Rifle Assn. convention two days before.
You'll recall, of course, that Huckabee's quick quips on the campaign trail enlivened his run for the GOP presidential nomination. On Friday, after hearing a chair fall over backstage during his speech, Huckabee "joked" that the loud banging sound was Sen. Barack Obama tripping over a chair after "somebody aimed a gun at him and ... he dove for the floor."
It was quickly pointed out that a remark about an attempted assassination of the Democratic presidential front-runner wasn't very smart -- or amusing -- and the former Arkansas governor just as quickly posted an apology on his blog. On Sunday, he went further:
"It was a dumb, off-the-cuff remark," he told "Meet the Press" host Tim Russert, adding: "And, you know, it wasn't the first dumb thing I've ever said and -- let me go ahead and announce on this program -- it won't be the last dumb thing I've ever said. ... This wasn't funny, I'll be the first to tell you that. Shouldn't have said it. I apologize. I don't know what else I can do."
-- Leslie Hoffecker
Mike Huckabee unquestionably has a feel for the artful quip and the smart ad-lib that is rare among politicians -- it's what helped fuel his surprise rise early in the Republican presidential race (recall his response to a "what would Jesus do" question during a debate late last year).
But just as clearly, there were moments as the campaign wore on when his attempts at humor seemed strained -- a forced effort to live up to his reputation. And occasionally he displayed bad taste, pure and simple. We recall his effort, last summer, to impress Iowans with his political successes in Arkansas by saying, "A Republican in my state feels about as out of place as Michael Vick at the Westminster dog show."
Few laughed at his reference to the horrific dog abuse charges that landed the Atlanta Falcons quarterback in jail.
That side of Huckabee surfaced again Friday when a loud noise sounded during his speech to a National Rifle Assn. gathering in Kentucky. "That was Barack Obama," Huckabee said (as you can see and hear for yourself below). "He just tripped off a chair. He was getting ready to speak. Somebody aimed a gun at him and he ... he dove for the floor."
Setting aside the lack of anything approaching a punch line in the remark, it obviously was uncalled for, as Huckabee realized. Not long after he left the convention stage, he issued a statement saying, in part, "I made an offhand remark that was in no way intended to offend or disparage Sen. Obama. I apologize that my comments were offensive. That was never my intention."
To his credit, Huckabee did not try to couch the apology by saying "if" the comments were considered insulting. Still, it was not a well-timed stumble for a fellow widely viewed as a strong contender for the vice presidential spot on John McCain's ticket.
-- Don Frederick
(UPDATE: Video added below.)
The nightmare comes in different versions. You show up for the first day of class, but it's really the final exam. You're introduced to speak to a large audience and totally forget what you're supposed to say.
For a politician, especially one running as a uniter for president of these 57 United States, it's something else. And just now it happened up in South Dakota which is right next to Iowa, which means they are different states.
The Democratic frontrunner Sen. Barack Obama of another state, Illinois, had an enthusiastic double-barreled stump introduction from two local luminaries, former Sens. Tom Daschle and George McGovern, who was an equally enthusiastic supporter of Sen. Hillary Clinton until recently. But he changed his mind.
McGovern knows a little about presidential races, having once been the Democratic presidential candidate himself way back in 1972. He lost though.
Both South Dakotans lavished all sorts of praise on Obama, according to reporters present, including The Times Nicholas Riccardi. As the large, enthusiastic crowd of some 7,000 supporters roared and waved "We can do it" signs and Bruce Springsteen's "The Rising" blared, Obama bounded onto stage, grabbed the microphone and said, "Thank you, Sioux City!"
Trouble is, Obama was in Sioux Falls.
So was the crowd, which suddenly fell silent. Where are those Southwest Airlines get-away flights when you need them?
"I'm sorry," Obama quickly caught himself. "Sioux Falls. I've been in Iowa too long." Now, that line may not go over too well in the Hawkeye State, which gave him his first big caucus win way back in January.
Obama went on to give yet another rousing stump speech, seeking support in the state's primary June 3, the last one along with Montana. The Dakota crowd was enthusiastic. And the freshman Illinois senator threw in several extra references to South Dakota for good measure.
On to who knows where now? More below. And a hat tip to Cassy Fiano.
(UPDATE: In its story today on Obama's appearance and his geographic gaffe, the local newspaper's website, the ArgusLeader.com, made its own gaffe with the initial headline: "Obama starts speech with a gaff" )
— Andrew Malcolm
"Colorado is my life," Republican candidate Bob Schaffer assured the state's voters this week in his inaugural television ad in what likely will be one of the nation's key Senate races. Striding toward the camera in the creatively produced spot, he proudly noted that he proposed to his wife "on top of Pike's Peak."
 Just one problem. The landscape looming behind him was Alaska's Mt. McKinley (at left, as photographed by Ansel Adams).
The website ColoradoPols.com (where the ad can be viewed) broke the news of the foulup on Wednesday. And other Colorado media outlets quickly jumped into the fray.
The Denver Post's political blog, in an item headlined "Name that mountain," reported that a "frustrated Dick Wadhams, Schaffer's campaign manager, conceded the mistake and said the ad would be pulled and re-edited with Colorado mountains."
The Rocky Mountain News wrote about it in a story headlined, "Schaffer's ad moved mountains." And the piece in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel was topped: "Schaffer might have an early climb in race after ad goof."
Some folks -- including operatives at the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee in Washington, who get paid to exaggerate -- have called the mishap Schaffer's "Mt. Macaca Moment," a reference to ...
Read more A Colorado Republican mistakenly touts an Alaskan landmark »
Barack Obama did what you have to do if you say something to a person that many people find offensive, especially if you're running for president: He phoned Peggy Agar, the reporter he referred to as "sweetie," to apologize for calling her that and blowing her off after she asked a question following a campaign appearance Wednesday in Sterling, Mich.
WXYZ-TV, the Detroit station Agar works for, has a recording of the voicemail to Agar's phone, along with a story about the apology, available on its Web site. Obama says: "Hi Peggy. This is Barack Obama. I'm calling to apologize on two fronts. One was you didn't get your question answered and I apologize. I thought that we had set up interviews with all the local stations. I guess we got it with your station but you weren't the reporter that got the interview. And so, I broke my word. I apologize for that and I will make up for it.
"Second apology is for using the word 'sweetie.' That's a bad habit of mine. I do it sometimes with all kinds of people. I mean no disrespect and so I am duly chastened on that front. Feel free to call me back. I expect that my press team will be happy to try to make it up to you whenever we are in Detroit next."
The WXYZ story notes that Obama has called people "sweetie" before, and on at least one occasion, caused a mini-tempest.
And in a posting on the New York Times' Caucus political blog, reporter Jim Rutenberg writes: "Back in Pennsylvania in early April, Senator Barack Obama took some heat for calling a female factory worker 'sweetie,' in Allentown."
Obama clearly needs to go on a "sweetie" diet, tightening up on his use of that diminutive.
It just seems dismissive, belittling and, yes, chauvinist, even if he doesn't mean it to be.
-- Frank James
Frank James writes for the Swamp of the Chicago Tribune's Washington bureau.
Yesterday The Ticket broke the stunning news of America's acquisition of seven, maybe eight, new states, according to future president Barack Obama.
He was speaking at the start of a two-day swoop through Oregon, which is already a state.
In Beaverton, which is not a state yet, the Democrat let it slip that during this marathon 16-month party presidential nomination struggle against a bunch of dropouts and this female political zombie from New York who won't surrender short of a silver stake, he had already visited 57 states with one more to go.
That's not counting the existing states of Alaska and Hawaii, he said, which his staff decided aren't important enough to visit. Unless maybe you're Mike Gravel or Dennis Kucinich, who weren't very important either, come to think of it.
Here's the spoof-proof Obama video as evidence: Has this aging freshman senator -- he'll be almost 60 in 13 years -- lost his bearings? Are the eight new states caucus or primary? And will Howard Dean bar them from the convention too?
Obama's gaffe caused a noticeable stir online during the day and even the respected Marc Ambinder at The Atlantic anticipated that the political media would kindly write the Democrat's mis-statement off to fatigue. But he wrote if, say, the Republican nominee-to-be had uttered the same silly fatigue flub, it would surely be added to eager suspicions of senility.
Besides trying to noodle out what the new states are, some clever campaign folks over at the phenomenal Suitably Flip blog got to thinking right away.
And they've now unveiled a new patriotic lapel pin that anyone can wear with pride even, say, a Harvard-educated senator from Illinois who's been trying to make a point about opposing a war before it even started.
Here is the new pin replete with all 57 stars:
You'll probably want to order several for friends and family. And any Chablis-sipping senators you might know.
--Andrew Malcolm
This posting may defy the sentiment behind it: People say the media have over-covered the story of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
So here, to document that point, is more of that coverage.
"The latest round of news about Barack Obama and his former pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright dominated campaign news coverage last week,'' the Pew Research Center finds in its latest weekly news-interest survey. "Wright's comments are by far the biggest political event of the campaign to date: Fully 62% say they have heard a lot or a little about Rev. Wright's recent speeches.''
And look at this: "Most Americans (59%) think news organizations have overcovered the Wright controversy,'' Pew's Andy Kohut reports. "About two-thirds of Democrats  (66%) and nearly as many independents (59%) say that news organizations have devoted too much coverage to Wright's recent speeches. But as many as half of Republicans agree that Wright's comments have received too much coverage.''
With all of that exposure for Obama, the Democrat who now stands the strongest chance of claiming his party's presidential nomination, and the most incendiary remarks of the fiery, longtime and now-retired pastor of Obama's church on the South Side of Chicago, comes a certain political price.
"By the end of the week a quarter of all Americans, including 26% of Democrats, said their opinion of Obama had become less favorable in recent days,'' reports Kohut, president of the Pew Center. "Fewer than half as many (11%) said their opinion of the Illinois senator had become more favorable. ''
Those whose opinions had changed were asked about any specific incidents that prompted that. "Overall, a majority of those who said their opinion of Obama had become more negative volunteered a specific incident, with the Wright controversy mentioned most frequently (by 60% of those who cited a specific event).''
Of course, nearly four in ten Americans surveyed said they also had seen the photographs of Miley Cyrus that had stirred an uproar over the young skin of Hannah Montana. And that didn't do much for her image either -- among those who saw the bare-backed photo and others, 59% thought they were inappropriate.
-- Mark Silva
Mark Silva writes for the Swamp of the Chicago Tribune's Washington bureau.
Ah, Oregon. The beautiful Northwest. Rain. Trees. Clouds. Rain. Friendly territory for Sen. Barack Obama, the leading contender for the Democratic Party's long-disputed presidential nomination.
So there he was in Beaverton today at the start of a two- day swing through Oregon, virtually ignoring his remaining Democratic opponent, what's-her-name from New York, as part of his new strategy to act like the actual nominee while she flails around way behind in numbers.
Naturally, this being the Northwest where everything is not ruined quite yet, his staff had Obama visit an eco-friendly company, Vernier Software & Technology, that makes products for science teachers. He could get education in there too, see?
In his prepared remarks Obama was ready to start blasting Arizona Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, to show the Illinois Democrat is moving on to the general election campaign.
But first the freshman senator had to go through all the....
Read more Barack Obama wants to be president of these 57 United States »
Today's "Meet the Press" on NBC featured a full hour with Sen. Barack Obama, and it | |
