Campaiging for Obama, Celebrating Hillary
For a while, the political rally that took place in Scranton, Pennsylvania on October 12 seemed to be taking place in a parallel universe in which Hillary Clinton is running a general election campaign. Scranton, of course, is Clinton Country. Older white women constituted the majority of the crowd inside the Astroturf carpeted sports complex, and many of them wore Hillary buttons on their shirts. Several of the men wore Hillary buttons on the suspenders they used to hold up their jeans. Bill delivering a

ABC's Obama Reporter Promises To be "Vigilant, Questioning"
Marketwatch.com's Jon Friedman talks with ABC's senior White House correspondent Jake Tapper about his new gig, which has become a multimedia affair. Friedman writes: "In this digital age of blogs, podcasts, video feeds and the like, a journalist no longer is pigeonholed into such confining categories as 'print' or 'broadcast' disciplines of the craft. In addition to his on-air work, Tapper maintains a blog and contributes cartoons, one of his avocations, to it." Friedman also asked Tapper how he is avo

A Deflated President [Pic Of The Night]
This is George W. Bush before a final, untelevised goodbye to staff. Two more expressions Reuters photographer Jim Bourg had never "seen on George Bush’s face in my life" after the jump.Bourg snapped Bush as he returned to the scene of his last presidential address to the nation. Bush first exited through those doors behind him, then came back after the TV cameras were off. Bourg told his editor, "If he wasn’t just back there behind that door crying, I don’t know what that look on his face is." [via

In Gingrich Mold, a New Voice for Solid Resistance in G.O.P.
WASHINGTON — The last time Congressional Republicans were this out of power, they turned to a college professor from Georgia, Newt Gingrich, to lead the opposition, first against President Bill Clinton in a budget battle in 1993, and then back into the majority the following year. As Republicans confronted President Obama in another budget battle last week, their leadership included another new face: Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, who as the party’s chief vote wrangler is as...

Oval Office dress: Obama, W, Clinton...
by Mark Silva So, little more than a day after Andy Card, former chief of staff for former President Bush, blasts President Obama for breaking the Bush dress code - jacket and tie in the Oval Office, please - out comes a photo of a jacketless Bush in the Oval Office.

McCain Mortgages His Reputation on a Chance to Bring Obama Down
Less than a month before Election Day, John McCain’s position is increasingly desperate. Barack Obama has built (or rather, regained) a mid- to high-single-digit lead in national polling over the last two weeks and has significantly improved his standing in most swing states. McCain is more likely to lose on November 4 than to win, and given the enormous built-in advantages that his opponent enjoys—the economy, most importantly—there may not be anything he can do to engineer a victory. But he

Commentary: A history lesson for Rush Limbaugh
Editor's Note: James Carville, a Democratic strategist who serves as a political contributor for CNN, was the Clinton-Gore campaign manager in 1992 and political adviser to President Clinton. He is active in Democratic politics and a party fundraiser.

All of the Obama Scandals (So Far) [Obamarahma]
What happened to No-Drama Obama? As the blithe candidate of hope, he led a leakproof, gaffe-resistant campaign. Ever since the election, he's been exploding with scandal and gossip. Fantastic!To think, there was a time when late-night comedians fretted that there wasn't anything funny about Barack Hussein Obama. (You couldn't even joke about his middle name without people accusing you of stirring up Islamophobia!)That was before he became 44. The tightly controlled team which got him elected gave way to the

Obama NBA All-Star Game Halftime Message About Community Service
WASHINGTON — It's another call for public service from President Barack Obama. He says all Americans should help out in their communities. That could mean reading to children or repairing basketball courts. The basketball-playing president taped a message for Sunday night's NBA All-Star Game in Phoenix. The White House released excerpts ahead of the broadcast. Obama's taped message will air at halftime. Related stories from Top sites:Rahm Emanuel Keeping His $1.76M Political War...

Sarah Palin Now Making Nice With Terrorist Pal Barack Obama
After a week of witty meditations on Barack Obama’s America-hating friends and asking, “Who is this guy who has been running for president for two years who everybody knows pretty well after seeing him in nearly 30 debates? Did you know some crook sold him a strip of lawn once?” Sarah Palin has BLINKED and decided to stop calling the Democratic nominee a terrorist. Why? Because no one in the McCain campaign can use the same argument for more than a week. It’s all right there in the M

Angelina Jolie likes the Obama
Stopping just short of a long-awaited endorsement, Angelina Jolie tells Vanity Fair she's leaning towards Democratic Senator Barack Obama for President. While I hate celebrities talking politics, Angelina is a U.N. Goodwill Ambassador who knows her shit and doesn't trip over her 8,000 children trying to endorse Obama (via the AP): Asked if she finds Obama and his background an example to her family, she replies, "Naturally that's good, but it's not a sufficient reason to vote for him. "O

Schieffer set to moderate last McCain-Obama debate
The debate season that has chewed up its moderators comes to a close Wednesday when John McCain and Barack Obama meet for the third time, with CBS News' Bob Schieffer directing the discussion. The veteran "Face the Nation" host won't telegraph what he will ask. But he said he will be seeking more details about their potential presidencies than have been evident so far. "By now we've all heard their talking points," he said. "We've heard the general outlines of what they are talking about. The time has come

Schieffer set to moderate last McCain-Obama debate
The debate season that has chewed up its moderators comes to a close Wednesday when John McCain and Barack Obama meet for the third time, with CBS News' Bob Schieffer directing the discussion. The veteran "Face the Nation" host won't telegraph what he will ask. But he said he will be seeking more details about their potential presidencies than have been evident so far. "By now we've all heard their talking points," he said. "We've heard the general outlines of what they are talking about. The time has come

Obama Celebrates Lincoln's Birthday With Plans To Reinstate Slavery
President Barack Obama took advantage of Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday to point out how he has lived his own life in accordance with the examples set by America's 16th president.

Obama: Coming Up For Ayers
Voters are cynical. Obama doesn’t want them to be, implores them not to be at almost every campaign stop, yet in this episode he benefits from their cynicism. If [he] weathers the Ayers controversy, it will be in part because voters judge his association with Ayers, and his weak answers about that association, to be nothing more than a politician’s garden-variety duplicity…  Obama has not been candid. When asked about Ayers in a debate, he said he was “a guy who lives in my neighbo

Obama: This isn't your 'run-of-the-mill recession' - CNN.com
President Obama appeared before a national audience Monday night to make the case for his economic stimulus plan, saying this is not your "run-of-the-mill recession."

President and Michelle Obama to Honor Stevie Wonder
President Barack Obama and wife Michelle Obama

Obama’s Mideast envoy brings record of patience
WASHINGTON – Launching the Obama administration's first Mideast peace mission, former Sen. George J. Mitchell brings a track record of patience and persistence in protracted negotiations. And Mitchell, described Monday by President Barack Obama as the man who "speaks for us" on Mideast issues, knows long odds when he sees them. At an earlier State Department ceremony announcing his appointment as Obama's special envoy for Middle East peace, Mitchell recalled his role in producing Northern Ireland's Go

Beyonce Reveals Obama Nerves
Beyonce Knowles says she was "so nervous" when she first met Barack Obama.The Single Ladies hitmaker - who is married to rapper Jay Z - says she gets so shy when she meets people for the first time she never knows what to say - and her worst attack of nerves was meeting America's new President.She says, "I get so nervous."Like when I met Barack Obama. He is so inspiring, I was a little star-struck and just fascinated by him. "I get nervous when I meet people because I get afraid that I am going...

Obama Names Christine Varney As To Antitrust Role At Justice
Varney, an attorney who specialized in Internet law, served President Bill Clinton as a senior White House adviser and later as a Federal Trade commissioner. She has extensive experience in antitrust law, the White House said.

On long weekend break in Chicago, Obama visits gym
CHICAGO – President Barack Obama began his long weekend in Chicago with a familiar trip to the gym. Obama visited the gym in a friend's apartment building on Saturday morning. It was his first trip out of his Hyde Park home since arriving Friday for his first significant break since taking office on Jan. 20. Obama and his family are spending the President's Day weekend in their hometown. Aides say they have no public events, and the first couple plans to go out for a Valentine's Day dinner...

Obama Bores His Way to Victory
Disagreements over Tuesday night's debate winner seem to be of degree, not of kind, with Obama crowned the victor. The debate was mostly a snooze, but Obama delivered another cool performance, while McCain’s cornpone humor mostly fell flat. Blogger Alex Massie calls it "a no-score draw … And so, because of that, Obama, leading in the polls, won." The New Republic’s Jonathan Chait raves, "I have never seen a stronger performance than the one Obama gave tonight." After being criticized in p

Public still sky-high on Obama 'brand'
With Barack Obama’s victory in passing a massive stimulus package marred by days of bad press—as not a single House Republican backed the bill, his Health Czar went down in flames and his second pick for Commerce Secretary walked away—the administration has been cut down to size, and lost some of its bipartisan sheen. Such, at least, has been the beltway chatter, but so far the numbers don’t back it up. Obama’s approval rating remains well above 60% in...

Stevie Wonder to Get a Presidential Salute
Stevie Wonder's music helped sign, Seal and deliver Barack Obama all the way to the White House, and now the president and first lady are sending him a big shout-out. The 58-year-old...

Barack Obama And The Culture Of Death
It's not merely that Obama favors the unfettered right of a woman to terminate the life of her baby right up to the moment of his or her birth. Many liberals fall into that category. You will recall that Bill Clinton vetoed the federal ban on partial birth abortion while he was president; and the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Nebraska's ban on the same ghoulish procedure. The federal ban would surely fail in today's House or Senate. (Thank God such limits were pushed through under a GOP congres