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DETROIT -- With Hurricane Gustav bearing down on the Gulf Coast, Barack Obama abandoned his normal stump speech Monday morning, asking supporters instead to pray for Americans in the storm’s path and to give to their local Red Cross.
Referring to the bungled federal response to Hurricane Katrina, Obama told a crowd of several thousand people in Detroit's downtown that "although we are prayerful that this will not be the same kind of situation we saw three years ago, today is not a day for political speeches.”
The rally had been billed as a Labor Day celebration, and Obama got an enthusiastic introduction from leaders of the AFL-CIO, Teamsters and UAW.
Obama assured the crowd he was “a labor guy” and won applause for singing the chorus from Aretha Franklin’s “Chain of Fools.”
But Obama cut his appearance short, speaking for just nine minutes and asking his listeners to join him in a moment of prayer for those along the Gulf Coast.
“I hope you’ll forgive me. I hope you don’t mind,” Obama said. “Today is a day for all of us to come together as Americans and send our thoughts and prayers to our brothers and sisters who are worried at this very hour about their homes and their loved ones. Some of them may be huddled in shelters. Some of them are far away from home. ... I know John McCain wants what’s best for the people who have been evacuated. I know George Bush wants what’s best for them.”
Obama moved onto a second Labor Day rally in Monroe, Mich., and ends his day with a rally in Milwaukee.
-- Noam Levey
As Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin starts her career on the national political stage -- and joins the frenzied chase for big-time bucks -- she brings a fundraising past to the table that is modest (to say the least).
 Campaign finance reports show she raised $1.43 million from 2001 to 2006 -- less than what a winning race for a seat in the California state Assembly easily could cost.
She raised most of her total --$1.36 million -- in 2005 and 2006, when she was running for governor.
Palin has not raised money since becoming her state's chief executive. Under Alaska law, she cannot troll for dollars until next May, and at that point only if she declares for reelection (though if all goes well for her in November, all that will be moot).
Since John McCain chose Palin as his vice presidential running mate, Times staff writer Ben Welsh, researcher Maloy Moore and data analyst Sandra Poindexter have been gathering data from the Alaska Public Offices Commission’s website. A review of her campaign finance reports shows her biggest single source of money has been the Republican Party: $75,000.
People involved in the fisheries industry — her husband is a commercial fisherman — have contributed at least $70,000.
People listing their business as real estate have donated $46,000. Attorneys accounted for at least $30,000, and lobbyists donated $9,800.
Palin, who favors opening a part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas development (a move McCain opposes), has taken about $13,500 from people involved with oil firms.
Although she is a Republican, Palin has friends in organized labor. Unions and self-identified union members have donated $17,000 to her campaigns.
Two days before McCain named her as his running make, Palin attended an AFL-CIO convention in Alaska and signed legislation ...
Read more A look at Sarah Palin, fundraiser »
Barack Obama makes a point of rejecting money from political action committees, condemning them as a symbol of what’s wrong with insider politics in Washington.
Obama’s campaign aides have slapped at Republican John McCain’s decision to take PAC money. But now that Joe Biden has joined the ticket, Obama’s criticism of McCain might become muted.
 Biden has taken significant amounts of PAC money over the years--$475,000, or more than 20% of the $2.3 million he has raised since 2005 for his Unite Our States leadership account, established to help fund other Democrats’ races.
Federal Election Commission records show that firms whose PACs have donated to Biden include Rupert Murdoch’s News America, Microsoft and Safeway. He took the PAC donations from 2005 through mid-2008, with $141,800 coming this year.
Most of the money--$279,000--came from organized labor, including $11,000 from postal workers and $25,000 from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which has a stake in congressional decisions.
Additionally, Biden has taken at least $44,750 from political action committees funded by plaintiffs’ attorneys, including $10,890 from the Assn. of Trial Lawyers of America.
Some law firms whose PACs have donated to Biden’s leadership committee have....
Read more Joe Biden once took PAC money but now is PAC-pure »
DENVER -- Here's an early taste of a taunt that -- in different forms and phrasing, from speakers of all shapes and sizes -- can be expected to resound constantly at this week's Democratic National Convention.
Various labor groups, a key party constituency, gathered for a large rally Sunday in the convention city and Arlene Holt Baker, executive vice president of the AFL-CIO, wasted little time cutting to the chase.
The Times' Ole Jann was there and reports that Baker opened the proceedings by asking the crowd of about 2,000: “And how many houses do you have?”
“One,” most shouted back, with some even proclaiming, “None.”
“No cheating here," Holt Baker added. "I am going to get back to your staff about that."
And John McCain, in the wake of his now infamous gaffe about the extent of his property holdings, can brace for other Democrats to get back to it again, and again, and again.
-- Don Frederick
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Perhaps the most improbable pairing to emerge so far in the vice presidential guessing game -- the bizarre prospect floated in recent days that Barack Obama would tap former Bush administration Cabinet member Ann Veneman as his running mate -- apparently can be put out to a well-deserved pasture.
The Fresno Bee -- dutifully following up on a recent, and utterly hard-to-fathom, report that Veneman (raised in nearby Modesto) was a possibility for the second spot on Obama's ticket -- has thrown cold water on a matchup that never was going to happen anyway.
Michael Doyle blogs for the Bee that a spokesman for UNICEF, the U.N. children's agency Veneman has headed since 2005, informed him that she "has not been contacted by the [Obama] campaign and is solely focused on her current travels."
Veneman was in Africa when Politico.com posted a story Friday evening reporting that, according to two anonymous Democrats, Obama's veep vetters had bandied her name about on Capitol Hill.
The piece insisted that Veneman "has a biography that could be suited to Obama's unifying message. A Republican raised on a California peach farm, she rose to become the nation’s first female agriculture secretary. In 2002 she was diagnosed with breast cancer, which was treated successfully."
A brief buzz resulted -- mainly the sound of progressives gnashing their teeth.
The Nation, for instance, termed Veneman a "uniquely awful choice" for Obama. Among the most basic problems, the magazine noted, was that the onetime corporate lawyer "was known to organized labor as one the most militant advocates for free trade in a militantly pro-free trade Bush administration."
There also is the small matter of the lack of any discernible asset Veneman would have offered to allay concerns some have about Obama's readiness for the White House.
To return to reality, the hardening consensus among pundits as Obama's choice nears is that it will be one of these three (listed alphabetically): Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, or Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine.
-- Don Frederick
Photo credit: Associated Press
Well, one sure way to get "NASCAR Dads" to pay attention to your political campaign is get your name on one of the cars.
The Swamp tipped us to an item that Sports Illustrated is reporting: Barack Obama is on the verge of sponsoring a car at a race in August. The metaphor potential is huge -- everything from leading pole-to-pole to hitting a wall and not finishing.
Obama earlier was flirting with campaigning at a NASCAR event, but this takes it one step better. Though there are pitfalls. The car, BAM 39, reportedly is a Toyota, which likely won't sit well with the United Auto Workers.
An announcement is expected within a couple of weeks, SI reports, though in keeping with a practiced political observer's skepticism, believe it when it happens.
(UPDATE: The announcement came sooner than two weeks and SI was wrong. Obama spokesman Bill Burton said Friday evening the campaign won't be sponsoring a NASCAR entry. "The Obama campaign will not be sponsoring a car in the Sprint Cup series," Burton said, "though we will continue to look for ways to reach out to voters and convey Senator Obama’s message of change.” And he didn't mean tires.)
-- Scott Martelle
New job numbers out today evidence more pain -- some of it to be felt around here -- with companies cutting 62,000 payroll slots in June, the sixth consecutive month the economy has shed jobs. The cuts were slightly more than the 60,000 economists had expected, and the unemployment rate held steady at 5.5 %.
The Labor Department announcement elicited dueling statements from John McCain and Barack Obama, pasted in full after the jump. But in a nutshell, McCain says the federal government must "enact policies to create jobs today. To get our economy back on track, we must enact a jobs-first economic plan that supports job creation, provide immediate tax relief for families, enact a plan to help those facing foreclosure, lower health care costs, invest in innovation, move toward strategic energy independence and open more foreign markets to our goods."
Obama cited the 438,000 jobs lost this year and similarly called for immediate action, but a different prescription: "I'm calling on Congress and the President to enact real, immediate relief with energy rebates for working families this summer, a fund to help families avoid foreclosure, extended benefits for the long-term jobless, and assistance to states that have been hard-hit by the economic downturn."
McCain is in Mexico today, and apparently will be unveiling a new "Jobs First" agenda in Denver on Monday, an ironic confluence the Democrats have been working hard to spotlight,including an email from the Democratic National Committee's Brad Woodhouse to reporters suggesting "maybe for his own sake [McCain] should stop going to places like Michigan and telling folks their jobs aren't coming back while going to Mexico and promoting Jobs First - just a thought."
-- Scott Martelle
Read more John McCain and Barack Obama agree: Act now on job losses »
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
With just a few days left before June ends, there's a clear frontrunner for the month's least surprising political development -- the endorsement Barack Obama received today from the AFL-CIO.
The massive conglomeration of 56 national and international unions -- comprising about 10.5 million workers -- steered clear of making a pick during the primary season because there was no consensus choice among the group's various affiliates. Many of the unions backed Obama, many supported Hillary Clinton and (while he was in the race) some were for John Edwards.
Once Obama emerged triumphant, though, it was a foregone conclusion the federation would get in his corner. And it's the clout the group's increasingly sophisticated political operation will add to his side that makes the endorsement, though predictable, noteworthy.
The days are long gone when union members voted in virtual lockstep with their leaders. But over recent campaign cycles, the federation has gotten better and better at marshaling its manpower and money to aid its favored candidates. Its get-out-the-vote efforts, for instance, played an important role in fueling the strong Democratic showing in the 2006 midterm elections.
For details on the grassroots push the AFL-CIO plans on behalf of Obama, particularly post-Labor Day, we commend your attention to this posting on the Chicago Tribune's Swamp blog.
-- 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 »
Having Hillary Clinton get behind his presidential candidacy may have been the easy part for Barack Obama, as he now moves to both buttress his campaign's brainpower and unite the notoriously fractious Democratic Party.
The two tasks aren't necessarily complementary, as Obama discovered Tuesday when labor leaders and others expressed surprise and chagrin over his choice of Jason Furman as his chief economic advisor.
For the presumptive presidential nominee, Furman's selection is part of a process of tapping into heavyweights who weren't part of his initial band of loyalists but whose talents he can now call upon. Furman, 37, served a similar advisory role for the party's 2004 White House nominee, Sen. John Kerry, and has worked closely in recent years with Robert Rubin, the guiding force behind President Bill Clinton's economic agenda.
There's the rub, for the union officials and some liberal activists.
As The Times' Tom Hamburger reports, criticism of Furman includes the charge that, as a promoter of the benefits of economic globization, he overlooks the trend's negative effects.
Marco Trbovich, a top aide to the head of the Steelworkers Union, told Hamburger: "We are very much taken aback that Furman has been put at the head of this team. ... He is a very bright fellow but he is an unalloyed cheerleader for the trade policies that have been very destructive to manufacturing jobs in this country."
That's not exactly ...
Read more A new Barack Obama aide draws fire from labor, liberals »
To the victors belong ... ever-increasing television exposure.
 ABC's women-oriented chat show "The View" has announced that Michelle Obama, the presumptive Democratic contender for first lady, will appear on the program June 18 (a Wednesday). In fact, she's being billed not only as a guest, but a "co-host" with regulars Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Sherri Shepherd.
Obama had been scheduled for a "View" drop-by in early December, but -- being the good Democrat that she is -- cancelled because of the writers strike that began in late November.
As it turns out, her upcoming appearance is more propitiously timed, given that one of her husband's immediate challenges is to make-nice to Hillary Clinton's legion of female supporters (some of whom, we imagine, are "View" watchers).
For those keeping track, Barack Obama has been on "The View" twice, most recently in late March. Not surprisingly, he got gushed over. Cindy McCain has already been a View co-host.
-- Don Frederick
Photo Credit: Getty Images
A small but very surprising gaffe by the leading Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, Wednesday during a visit to an automotive plant in Michigan. These photo ops are staged by every presidential campaign for the precise purpose of having TV cameras film their candidate walking, looking and learning something somewhere.
But although the media are absolutely essential to the staged event's success, the campaigns really don't want them messing up their political plans with interruptions or questions. If the cameras only have pictures, that's all the stations can broadcast.
Answering reporters' questions distract from the pleasant photos and could change the subject away from the day's political message. What if they ask him/her about West Virginia or doing poorly among blue-collar Democratic workers like those waiting to shake his hand up the line?
Peggy Agar of Channel 7 TV news in Detroit was with her cameraman at the Sterling Heights, Mich., plant jockeying for position as Obama walked around the facility, trying like all the others in the invited press mob to lob a question in and get the candidate actually talking on-camera instead of merely looking.
Suddenly Obama was walking right toward her. "Senator," Agar addressed him, "how are you going to help the American auto worker?"
"Hold on one second, sweetie," the presidential candidate said, sticking out his right arm as if to ward her off. "We're gonna do a press avail."
Sweetie?
"This 'sweetie,'" Agar noted acidly in her broadcast report, "never did get an answer to that question." Later, the station said Obama had left an apology on the reporter's phone, admitting he had a problem calling women "sweetie" and saying he intended no disrespect.
If there's no disrespect intended, why wouldn't he have used it during, say, one of his debates against Sen. Hillary Clinton? "Now, Sweetie, you're not describing my health care plan accurately." How would that go over?
Alas for Obama, his comment was already captured on tape. Here it is.
--Andrew Malcolm
LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Ever since her campaign in Ohio in early March, Hillary Clinton decided to adopt the "tough" approach. Regardless of what polls showed to be a growing negative attitude toward her, she still won in Ohio and Texas.
Six weeks later in Pennsylvania, her chief backer in the state, Gov. Ed Rendell, hijacked the "Rocky" theme song and attached it to the Clinton campaign. She won again.
Now, in Indiana, the "tough" theme is continuing, though a local labor leader gave a unique description for the New York senator that is not likely to show up again on the campaign trail.
At a union-hall event in Portage, Paul Gibson, the president of the United Steelworkers Local 6787, was selected to introduce Clinton. Gibson tried to tidy up his remarks for a mixed audience the best he could. Clinton, he said, is the kind of leader with the "testicular fortitude" to make hard decisions.
"I do think I have fortitude," Clinton said to laughter and applause. "Women can have it, as well as men."
-- Rick Pearson
Rick Pearson writes for the Swamp of the Chicago Tribune's Washington bureau.
Sen. Barack Obama allegedly took the day off back home in Chicago today, but he still managed to get in some campaigning in Indiana -- without even being there.
On a day he was supposed to refrain from campaigning and stay home, his campaign alerted news organizations that he'd be mak ing an unexpected speech at Chicago's McCormick Place convention center.
That speech was to the annual convention of the United Food and Commercial Workers, a union organization with more than 1 million members in the United States that endorsed him earlier this year.
It was the latest example of Obama's home field advantage in Indiana, where the upcoming May 6 primary is viewed as a critical test for both him and Sen. Hillary Clinton in their marathon struggle for the Democratic nomination.
Twenty percent of Indiana's Democratic voters live in the Chicago media market up in the northwest corner branching out from Gary. That means they'll likely see extensive coverage of Obama's appearance on the news tonight and tomorrow morning.
The Illinois Democrat sought to rally the union vote, a critical part of the Indiana electorate. "You were fighting with me in Wisconsin," he told the members today. "You're fighting with me in Indiana, and I understand some of you just came back from Pennsylvania."
Obama never mentioned his Democratic opponent. Instead, as he is increasingly doing, he kept his focus on Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee. He specifically mentioned tax cuts McCain once opposed.
"They may have stopped offending John McCain's conscience somewhere along the road to the Republican nomination," Obama said, "but George Bush's economic policies still offend my conscience."
Obama heads back to the Hoosier State on Friday. Clinton will be there as well, campaigning in Bloomington, and then up to that crucial northwest corner in Gary and East Chicago.
-- John McCormick
John McCormick writes for the Swamp of the Chicago Tribune Washington Bureau. Photo Credit: AP
Robert Reich, Bill Clinton's Labor secretary, did as anticipated earlier this afternoon and announced his endorsement of Barack Obama -- and notably not his friend of 40 years, Hillary Clinton. Our colleague Mark Z. Barabak just got off the phone with Reich, who, like former Energy secretary and current Obama backer Bill Richardson, reported that it was not an easy decision.
"I've been very torn, frankly," Reich said, speaking slowly, measuring his words, over the phone from his office at UC Berkeley, where he teaches. "I do feel some loyalty to the Clintons because I've known them for so long. ... I did not plan to endorse. I wanted to stay out of the whole endorsement racket. But my conscience wouldn't let me stay silent after this latest round of mudslinging."
Like Richardson, part of the decision was a reaction to the Clinton campaign itself. Barabak, whose story will be posted on the website later today, counts Reich as the fifth former Clinton Cabinet member to endorse Obama, including Bill Daley (Commerce), Federico Pena (Energy and Transportation) and Norman Mineta (Transportation). "I've known the Clintons for a very long time, and it seemed unnecessary and inappropriate to endorse Obama. But this past week has been a tipping point for me." Cites the negativity of Clinton campaign ads and seizing on 'bitter.' "The negative ads coming out of the Clinton camp were just appalling at a time when our nation is facing such huge challenges.
"To focus on whether Obama should have used the word 'bitter' when he talked about the plight of many in Pennsylvania and to resurrect the old Republicans themes of guns and religion and to call Obama elistist, quote-unquote, just put me over the edge. I could no longer sit back and be silent. I had to say what I believed."
Reich said he last spoke to Hillary Clinton about a year ago, and Bill Clinton longer ago than that. As a courtesy, he said he tried to call them both Thursday night but couldn't get through. "I used the numbers that I have. I'm not privy to their private cellphone. I made an effort to get through. I thought the decent thing was to leave messages."
He said he didn't notify the Obama campaign beforehand. "It's purely a matter of personal principle. I just had enough."
-- Scott Martelle
New York magazine reports this morning that another former member of Bill Clinton's cabinet plans to announce his endorsement of Barack Obama today, joining Bill Richardson on the list of high-profile defections among the Clintons' longtime personal and political friends.
This time it's Robert Reich, Bill Clinton's former Labor secretary, current Berkeley professor and self-described friend of the Clintons for 40 years. Reich, who has been critical of the Clintons before, despite the friendship, reportedly will announce the endorsement at 10 a.m. PDT on his blog (cue James Carville).
Reich told reporter John Heilemann that he initially intended to stay out of the fray, primarily out of loyalty to the long friendship. But Clinton's post-"bitter" ads in Pennsylvania moved him to action. "I've come to the point, after seeing those ads, where I can't in good conscience not say out loud what I believe about who should be president. Those ads are nothing but Republicanism. They're lending legitimacy to a Republican message that's wrong to begin with, and they harken back to the past 20 years of demagoguery on guns and religion. It's old politics at its worst — and old Republican politics, not even old Democratic politics. It's just so deeply cynical."
-- Scott Martelle
An organization backed by billionaire George Soros and other wealthy liberals spread $5.2 million to an array of left-leaning groups in the first quarter of the year, a campaign finance report filed today shows.
The Fund for America, an independent campaign group created by Soros, San Franciscan Rob McKay (a Taco Bell heir), and the Service Emplo yees International Union, raised $4.1 million in the first 90 days of the year, pushing the total money harvest since its creation late last year to $10.8 million.
Soros gave $1 million to the group in February after giving $2.5 million in December. Los Angeles producer Stephen Bing chipped in $2.5 million in January, and Lee Fikes of Bonanza Oil Co., in Dallas, gave a measly $300,000, according to the report filed with the Internal Revenue Service, which oversees so-called 527 campaign organizations.
The Fund for America, in turn, donated money to an array of liberal and antiwar groups including $1.5 million to the Campaign to Defend America, $500,000 to America Votes; $200,000 to ACORN; and $100,000 to VoteVets.org.
It gave lesser amounts to organizations in several states including Michigan, Ohio and Minnesota, all of which could be important swing states in the November general election.
A conservative organization, Freedom’s Watch, had used Soros’ involvement in Internet-based fundraising in its own appeals earlier this year. Freedom’s Watch was created last year as a conservative answer to such groups.
At that time the New York Times reported that Freedom’s Watch would be funded with as much as $200 million. But the same newspaper recently said the group had fallen far short of its goals. Haven't we all?
“I had heard they were going to spend $100 million," a Republican consultant told The Times' Dan Morain the other day, "but I haven’t seen them spend 25 cents.”
--Andrew Malcolm
"I'm tired of playing defense all the time," Barack Obama said this morning. "I want to play some offense."
It's a line he has used many times in speaking to labor groups. But it resonated a bit differently today.
Obama has spent the last few days back on his heels, absorbing furious punishment from the campaigns of Hillary Clinton and John McCain over his "bitter" remarks in San Francisco.
Today, Obama spoke to about 3,000 union members, gathered in Washington for the Building & Construction Trades Department's annual legislative meeting. Clinton appears before the group Wednesday.
Obama spent much of his speech focused on labor-friendly issues that elicited extended applause: opposing "right-to-work" laws, encouraging union organization and expressing skepticism about global trade deals.
But eventually he addressed the tempest of the moment, his statements regarding small-town America. In Obama's most recent equation, road-tested Monday night in Pennsylvania, "bitter" now means "angry," which when coupled with "hope" equals "Obama."
"I said people were bitter," Obama said. "People seemed to misunderstand. Yes, people are angry. If you've been filling up your gas tank, you're angry.
"You've got to feel some frustration. You've got to feel some anger," he said, "when you get the sense that the ...
Read more Barack Obama tries to turn the page »
Mark Penn, a top strategist and mouthpiece for Hillary Clinton, makes his real money as a wheeler-dealer for Burson-Marsteller Worldwide, the international PR and crisis-management firm. And apparently while wearing that better-paying hat Penn found himself way off the Clinton message Monday as he talked with the Colombian ambassador about a bilateral free-trade agreement that Clinton opposes.
Remember, the Clinton campaign milked reports of conversations between one of Barack Obama's advisors and Canadian officials in the run-up to the Ohio primary, where trade issues are local issues. The issue then was more pointed -- did the Obama advisor tell the Canadians that the candidate's opposition to NAFTA was all smoke, little flame? -- and it helped Clinton stave off an Obama rally in Ohio.
At this point no one knows what Penn told the ambassador -- the lobbying firm has a contract with Colombia to represent it before Congress on the trade deal, the Wall Street Journal reports. The campaign insists that Penn wasn't at the meeting as an advisor to Clinton, who has said she opposes any more free trade agreements until national trade policy establishes protections for workers and other safeguards (and as a sitting U.S. senator, she presumably will have to take a formal position on the measure).
At a deeper level, Penn's dual roles are politically problematic because they point up one of the recurring complaints about how Washington works -- the revolving door between the regulators and the regulated, and between those who lobby and those who govern.
One has to assume that a Clinton presidency would mean a nicely appointed West Wing office for Penn if he wanted it, so what we have here is less a revolving door than a single room with two desks. Penn is advising a client about a trade agreement it wants; Penn is bending the ear of a presidential contender who doesn't want the trade agreement. Beyond being an invitation to skepticism, that conflict plays into Obama's theme that Clinton is too cozy with the D.C. establishment to effect change.
And more broadly, it points up that "experience" sometimes comes with baggage.
-- Scott Martelle
The AFL-CIO is planning to spend $53 million on the 2008 presidential campaign, and it won't be for John McCain. In fact, the labor group launched a website today devoted to the "truth" about McCain, including a briefing book on its characterization of his stances on labor and working-class issues.
A kitty that big should be a formidable presence in a national political campaign. But unions' sway with their members isn't what it once was. And while union backing, almost always for Democratic candidates, gives access to phone banks, precinct walkers and other nuts-and-bolts aspects of campaigning, the AFL-CIO's help in the last couple of presidential cycles hasn't delivered a win.
Four years ago, the AFL-CIO ponied up $44 million to back John Kerry over George Bush, and in 2000 spent $41 million trying to get Al Gore elected. Already in this cycle, Barack Obama had the backing of the Culinary Arts Workers union, Nevada's largest, and still lost there to Hillary Clinton. And the Teamsters endorsement didn't help him much in Ohio, either.
Union folks can make the argument that labor spending on political campaigns is dwarfed by spending from business interests. But still, when you're spending the equivalent of a CEO's annual earnings on a presidential campaign, you really ought to be claiming more success.
So file this under the "couldn't hurt" column, but don't look for it to be make-or-break. And the big issue looming on the horizon is, if Obama wins the nomination, what does he do about the inevitable ad spending on his behalf by the kinds of "special interests" against which he rails so often?
-- Scott Martelle
Some people think the ongoing struggle between Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton is about, well, Democratic presidential politics. Silly them!
The campaign is also a titanic battle among unions, as newly filed financial figures revealed today to the expert eyes of The Times' Dan Morain.
The American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees spent $1 million on ads supporting Clinton in Texas and Ohio recently. The money went through American Leadership Project, a newly formed organization...
Read more As Clinton and Obama struggle, so do the unions behind each »
With the crucial voting in Texas and Ohio now just a week away, organized labor and liberal groups including MoveOn.org have spent $2 million in independent campaigns boosting Sen. Barack Obama in the Democratic contests, while a separate outside effort organized for Sen. Hillary Clinton has stalled. And time is running out.
As of this morning, four days after its planned start, a newly formed pro-Clinton group, American Leadership Project, had failed to broadcast any of its proposed ads in Ohio and Texas.
Last week after the Clinton group announced its plan to launch TV ads on ...
Read more Obama indy ads go all-out in Ohio, Texas; Clinton's on hold »
And oh, by the way, he's endorsed her.
Gov. Ted Strickland made the prediction for his state's March 4 primary in an appearance on Bloomberg Television's "Political Capital With Al Hunt," though he acknowledged the obvious: It's a fight for Hillary Clinton.
"It will be hard fought and perhaps a narrowly decided victory, but I do think that she will win Ohio,'' Strickland said, according to a transcript of the program to air several times this weekend.
Strickland shrugged off the union support, important in union-strong Ohio, that has fallen Barack Obama's way, including endorsements from the SEIU and the Teamsters. Strickland said he asked Andy Stern and James Hoffa, leaders of the two unions, to delay their endorsement calls until after the Ohio primary. Obviously, Stern and Hoffa didn't heed him, and Strickland was sounding a bit scorned.
"There are reasons that are perhaps not always noble that determine why labor leaders do what they do," he said. "But I can tell you there are many SEIU employees in Ohio who are for Sen. Clinton. There are many Teamsters in Ohio who are for Sen. Clinton.''
The back story in Ohio: The Democratic Party is as split there as it is nationally, with Strickland backing Clinton and Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman, one of the state's top African American political leaders and a one-time front-runner for the job Strickland now holds, backing Obama. And there's not a lot of love lost between the two men.
But the question for the presidential campaigns is whether Strickland's prediction is more Anthony Smith than Plaxico Burress.
-- Scott Martelle
Unions large and small are jumping on board what increasingly looks like a Barack Obama bandwagon.
The Associated Press reports that Obama will be meeting today with Teamsters head James Hoffa in Austin, Texas, and that the union's endorsement then will follow.
The Teamsters are one of the nation's largest labor groups, with a membership of about 1.4 million. Perhaps more important, the union's support should send a good message about Obama to the working-class voters he needs to attract in Ohio to beat Hillary Clinton in that state's March 4 primary.
As Marc Ambinder notes in his blog for the Atlantic: "Nothing says tough, or evokes 'gruff,' more than the Teamsters." You can check out Ambinder's posting here.
The Republican National Committee's Alex Conant then chimed in with his own (sarcastic) comment: "Nothing says ‘change’ like the Teamsters and James Hoffa."
Earlier today, Obama scarfed up ...
Read more Labor support for Barack Obama expands »
The freshman Illinois senator scored the endorsement today of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, according to an exclusive story by The Times' Tom Hamburger.
Hamburger reports the endorsement of the labor group, which represents 70,000 supermarket and food processing workers, is a real coup for Obama and another blow to Sen. Hillary Clinton's hopes. The union, another piece in the party establishment falling into line behind Obama, is especially strong in the remaining battleground states of Ohio and Texas.
Also, the executive board of the Service Employees International Union is holding a conference call this evening, when it is expected that the national union will also endorse Obama. It has about 100,000 members just in Wisconsin, Ohio and Pennsylvania, all yet to vote in Democratic primaries.
Not so long ago Obama was very unhappy with the SEIU and said so when the union was one of several groups backing John Edwards in Iowa with around $750,000 in TV ads spent by independent 527 groups. Maybe he'll change his tune tonight.
(UPDATE: After campaigning with Clinton all day, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland expressed distress at reports of major labor unions moving towards Obama. “I am very unhappy,” said Strickland, who called Andrew Stern, president of SEIU, one of the nation’s largest unions, to express his displeasure. “I told him I was disappointed that SEIU would consider endorsing someone who is gifted but who has limited experience,” Strickland told Hamburger.
(Actually, he didn't tell Stern that directly. He couldn't get through to the president. But he did leave his message on Stern’s voicemail in Washington. The governor did not get a call-back by evening.)
(UPDATE to the UPDATE: Now we know why Andrew Stern didn't call Gov. Strickland back. On Friday, Feb. 15, the 1.9 million member SEIU endorsed Obama.)
-- Andrew Malcolm
These comments are in chronological order from the top, reading down.
Share your thoughts with Andrew Malcolm and Don Frederick on tonight's debate. Jump to the comment form.
Well, Don, here we go. The last big rhetorical confrontation between the last two Democratic candidates standing before Super Tuesday, Feb. 5, when all those delegates are picked across the country in nearly two dozen states. Scroll to the bottom for updates.
It'll be interesting to see how confrontational Hillary Clinton is, after all the criticism for her husband's scorched-earth campaigning across South Carolina last week, and how confrontational Barack Obama is, after all the hubbub over his perceived snub of Clinton on the Senate floor before President Bush's State of the Union Monday night.
She has said she reached out her hand and it's still reaching out. She also just happens to bring it up at every opportunity.
Think we can guarantee the debate will start with a handshake?
Obama, it seems to me, has shown a growing maturity and comfort with the debate format. At first, even when he criticized her, he spoke to the moderator and camera. Now, he regularly turns toward her to address his criticism, small but important gesture for people passing video judgment on who might be their commander in chief.
Clinton has always shown a clear command of the wonky issue stuff. But -- yes, it is an unfair double standard -- when she got in her zinger last time about Obama's friendship with Rezko "the slum landlord," some thought she came across as unduly harsh, perhaps catty. (Obama, of course, opened that can of worms by taking a shot at her service on Wal-Mart's board of directors.)
Hard balance for a female to show the strength while remaining feminine. I'll bet she's worked at it since.
--Andrew Malcolm
*
No initial handshake as Obama and Clinton walked onto the stage -- so if it occurred, if was out of camera range. And, for the most part, the pair did not exchange pleasantries as they posed for photographs, though Obama did whisper something into Clinton's ear.
-- Don Frederick
*
Perhaps wanting to nix lingering attention to the "snub," Obama makes a point of saying in his opening statement (a wrinkle not included in Wednesday night's Republican debate, which featured four candidates) that he was friendly with Clinton before the campaign, and would be her friend after it, regardless of how it turns out.
-- Don Frederick
*
Asked, in the debate's first question, to spell out the differences between her and Obama, Clinton predictably mentions that her healthcare policy starts out making universal coverage the goal. Then, she revisits a distinction that surfaced last summer, but had faded from view of late -- Obama's statement that he, as president, would readily meet directly with the leaders of rogue states.
Clinton criticized that remark at the time. And tonight, she said she would pursue a foreign policy that is "realistic and optimistic, but we start with realism." That means, she elaborates, that she would be less willing than Obama to sit down with rogue-state leaders.
-- Don Frederick
*
No disrespect to the Republicans who still have four candidates running, at least for another week. But this debate with only two really allows time for deeper answers and fewer simplified stump answers. Get the feeling I'm learning more about each of them. Instead of the stupid 30-second answers or raising hands when each party had 8 or 9.
Remember the historic Lincoln-Douglas debates for the Senate seat from Illinois in the 1850s? Abe and Stephen got together for a three-hour discussion, just the two of them. Back and forth, making points, arguing, answering back. Maybe they had bathroom breaks, but no commercial breaks. And no moderators like Anderson Cooper apportioning debate time unfairly, as he did so obviously last night to Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul. Three hours they went at it.
And they did seven of them around the state. Not a bad model.
--Andrew Malcolm
*
At the debate's break, the heated exchanges between Obama and Clinton during their get-together last week in South Carolina (when John Edwards was still part of the mix) have been lacking.
There was a minor spat over the touchy issue of driver licenses for illegal immigrants, but it was tame compared to the brickbats the pair were tossing at each other in the Palmetto State.
The bottom line on the immigration topic was that both would seek the type of comprehensive change that Congress has been unable to agree upon.
-- Don Frederick
*
It was about an hour into the debate when a question was asked directly about Ted Kennedy's much-publicized endorsement at Obama. But by that point, Obama already had worked in two references to the Democratic icon -- once during the discussion of health care, again during the discussion of immigration.
The use of Kennedy's name during the health care segment was effective -- Obama said that in backing him, Kennedy believed his prescription for achieving universal coverage, although not as aggressive as Clinton's would work. Still, Obama must guard against using Kennedy as cover too often.
-- Don Frederick
*
Barring a sudden shift in the debate's final minutes, it may be remembered as the night Clinton and Obama targeted Republicans -- more than each other.
Obama got off a good line about Mitt Romney, when discussing expertise in dealing with the economy. Romney, of course, has stressed his skills in that area. But Obama cracked that Romney "hasn't gotten a very good return on his investment" in his presidential campaign.
Obama also took a swipe at John McCain's remark that America might have a military presence in Iraq for 100 years.
Clinton got the biggest response of the night when she reprised a line she's used before about the prospective Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton White House tenures. It took a Clinton to clean up after the first Bush, she said -- clearly knowing it was a surefire line -- and it might take a Clinton to clean up after the second.
A bit odd she said "might." A show of modesty, perhaps.
-- Don Frederick
*
Who knew that CNN's Wolf Blitzer would present Clinton's with perhaps her trickiest moment?
Blitzer cut to the chase after Clinton, for the umpteenth time, explained why she voted for the measure authorizing military force in Iraq and why she wasn't inclined to apologize for that vote. So, Blitzer interjected, you were "naive" in trusting Bush?
Clinton, obviously, disagreed with that characterization and it earned Blitzer some boos from the crowd. But it was worth a try.
If the start of the debate -- when healthcare was dwelled on -- played to Clinton's strengths, the discussion on Iraq gave Obama a chance -- again for the umpteenth time -- to stress that he got it right (from the Democratic point of view) in opposing an invasion of Iraq from the start.
-- Don Frederick
*
Then came the inevitable question about an Obama-Clinton or Clinton-Obama partnership for the general election, what CNN's Blitzer called "a dream ticket."
For either to answer that would mean they'd contemplated defeat. So clearly neither would. Obama jumped in first, acknowledged that anyone would want Hillary on their ticket and said it would be "premature and presumptuous" to speculate on a vice president with so much of the nomination campaign yet to occur.
But then, surprisingly, and showing his maturity and new deftness in recent months as he matured in the debate process, which had been difficult for him at first, Obama took the question and twisted it into a mini-speech on the kind of people he would want in his administration "to restore hope" (there's that Obama word again) for millions of Americans at home caring for their children and struggling with their mortgages, etc. He got applause.
In the past, as when he, Clinton and John Edwards were once asked their greatest weakness, he answered the question directly: he keeps a rather messy office. The others took it into areas like feeling too passionate about changing America. For several days Obama himself told that story himself on the trail as an example of a lesson.
Clinton tonight said she agreed with everything Barack had said and did a little riff of her own on how united Democrats would be when the primary season is over and they face the Republicans.
--Andrew Malcolm
*
Wolf asked a question on many people's minds tonight, a question that Clinton has been asked before and was prepared for. If she can't control her husband on the hustings of South Carolina, how could she control him in the White House? (No, not that kind of control.)
Clinton let out that increasingly famous laugh. Then proceeded to not answer the question. She said, "Both Barack and I have very passionate spouses who promote and defend us at every opportunity." She said how much she appreciated that and that when she was in the White House she would seek advice from a broad range of advisors but would be the final decision-maker.
Of course, none of that answer acknowledged that Obama's spouse is not a former president with the public podium that brings and that, so far, Michelle Obama has not injected Bill Clinton's lily-white race into the campaign, nor compared him in a demeaning way to past ultimately unsuccessful candidates of his race like, oh, say, Harold Stassen.
--Andrew Malcolm
*
Well, they may not have started the evening off with a much-watched-for handshake, but they proceeded with decorum. And ended happily ever after.
Throughout the evening as Clinton answered or didn't answer her questions, Obama, who used to stand and stare straight ahead, would turn toward his opponent and listen intently, sometimes tilting his head with interest and sometimes jotting down notes with, did you notice, his left hand. Another left-handed potential president like four of the last six actual presidents--Clinton, Bush I, Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford.
At the end, smiling, perhaps because it was over, Obama stood, towering over the minute Clinton. He turned toward her again and placed his hand on her chair back to politely pull it out as she rose.
Then, no doubt completely unaware of the millions of people and cameras watching, the two warring candidates leaned into each other's ears and exchanged words that must have been hilarious because they were both smiling and laughing and patting each other's arms. Really good friends obviously.
Now come a few days of furious campaigning and the Big Day, Tuesday.
--Andrew Malcolm
John Edwards' departure from the Democratic presidential race leaves dangling some key unions who supported him. And word on the street is that one -- the Transport Workers Union -- may quickly shed its disappointment and sign up with Barack Obama's campaign.
The endorsement, if it happens, could prove beneficial to Obama in his Super Tuesday faceoff with Hillary Clinton.
Representing subway workers, bus drivers and the like, it claims more than 50,000 active and retired members in New York (the Clinton homestate where Obama hopes to avoid a blowout), 8,000 in New Jersey and 12,000 in California -- three of the major states with Tuesday primaries.
It's also got a contingent of about 10,000 current and retired members in Oklahoma, one of those "red" states where Obama wants to show his appeal in a primary on Tuesday.
Other unions that backed Edwards ...
Read more An Edwards union eyes Obama »
Democrats these days don't like to use the "L" word much. Its connotation of give-away government is harder to market. In fact, a search of almost all Democratic debates in this presidential season did not produce one utterance of that word by any of the candidates. Sen. Hillary Clinton says she prefers "progressive."
But such preferences do not apply to the National Journal, which has just released its political rankings for 2007. And someone we're all coming to know a bit better by the day -- Barack Obama -- was just named today as the most liberal Democrat in the Senate for 2007 based on 99 votes.
In fact, he was more liberal last year than in his first two in the Senate, when he ranked 16th and 10th.
Now, you may ask, what about Obama's opponent in tonight's Democratic debate? How'd she vote? Well, she too voted more liberal last year than....
Read more Obama and Clinton, liberal and growing more so »
There are mounting signs that the recent endorsement of Barack Obama by Maria Elena Durazo is causing her some internal troubles at the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, an alliance of more than 350 union locals representing more than 800,000 workers.
After the valuable endorsement earlier this month, Durazo, the federation's top staff official, a prominent face of labor and one of the state's best-known Latino officials, was named a national co-chair of the Obama campaign. She said the endorsement decision was a personal one and she's taking vacation time during the campaign to work out of a local Obama office
As The Times Joe Mathews notes, the federation has been neutral in the election, and various unions affiliated with the federation have endorsed other candidates. Durazo has come under criticism throughout her tenure for....
Read more Political tensions build in L.A. unions over Obama, Clinton endorsements »
In a coup for Barack Obama, The Times' Robin Abcarian has learned that Los Angeles labor leader Maria Elena Durazo, one of the most sought after endorsements in local Democratic circles, will support his presidential bid.
Durazo is executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, which represents more than 800,000 workers.
Also, this afternoon the Las Vegas Review-Journal announced in an e-mail to subscribers that it will be endorsing Obama in its Wednesday editions.
--Andrew Malcolm
Hollywood writers and behind-the-scenes production staff may be suffering as the Writers Guild of America strike rounds out its fourth week, but there appears to be one beneficiary of the labor stoppage: New York Sen. Hillary Clinton.
With the late-night talk shows forced into hiatus, the Democratic presidential candidate has been spared fresh swipes from the likes of Jay Leno and David Letterman. (Although, with their programs in reruns, viewers are getting plenty of opportunities to sample their old material.)
Clinton has been the top target of the late-night comedians among the White House hopefuls, spawning nearly as many jokes so far this year as all her Democratic rivals combined, according to a study by the Center for Media and Public Affairs.
Between Jan. 1 and Oct. 10, the New York senator was the butt of 186 jokes cracked by NBC’s Leno and Conan O’Brien, CBS’ Letterman and Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. (The study examined just the hosts’ monologues, not the entire show.) The rest of the Democratic contenders were joked about a combined total of 197 times, with Illinois Sen. Barack Obama drawing 56 cracks, the second-largest number.
Most of the jokes about Clinton centered on her gender and portrayed her as cold and....
Read more Nobody's laughing at Hillary anymore (or Rudy) »
The Democratic National Committee announced this afternoon cancellation of next month's candidate debate on CBS-TV in Los Angeles.
"Due to the uncertainty created by the ongoing labor dispute between CBS and the Writers Guild of America," the statement said, "the DNC has canceled the Dec. 10 debate in Los Angeles. There are no plans to re-schedule."
This is a different labor dispute than the Hollywood writer's strike. On Nov. 20 CBS news writers, graphic artists and other staffers who work for the network's TV and radio news operations voted for a work stoppage after more than two years without a contract. The walkout could come at any time.
CBS has maintained that "the offer we presented nearly a year ago was fair and reasonable and remains on the table." But the mere threat of pickets was sufficient for the DNC to punt.
No one has been heard to complain about a shortage of presidential debates during 2007, but this nationally-televised confrontation on C-SPAN and some CBS affiliates would have come less than a month before the opening Iowa caucuses for both parties. And we could have seen Katie Couric try to moderate one of these political circuses.
Of course, CBS isn't the only network out there.....
--Andrew Malcolm
The leading Democratic presidential hopefuls have all issued statements of support for the striking Hollywood writers, but former Sen. John Edwards showed up today to walk one of the picket lines.
Edwards appeared outside the NBC studios in Burbank this afternoon amid a crush of reporters and news photographers, who jostled to get pictures of the candidate marching along with several hundred Writers Guild members. With sleeves rolled up and tie loosened, Edwards pushed through the crowd. He stepped up onto a concrete bench and grabbed a bullhorn.
"It’s a great privilege for me to walk with you, to stand with you," he told the strikers. "I want you to know that your brothers and sisters in unions across this country walk with you. They’re in this cause with you. I’m in the cause with you. It’s about justice and fairness and equality."
Edwards -- a longtime advocate of organized labor -- used the opportunity to call for more support of all unions. "We must strengthen and grow the union movement in America," he said. "It’s the only way we can insure that these corporate conglomerates don’t take over the United States."
The crowd responded with cheers: "USA. WGA."
Edwards, who was accompanied by actor James Denton (he plays Mike the plumber on "Desperate Housewives") spent about half an hour with strikers before getting back into a blue minivan, which whisked him down Alameda Avenue to another engagement.
--Tina Daunt
(This item is also posted on the Times' Show Tracker blog.)
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