As we post every night, here are the top political clips making their rounds on the blogs a this hour:
More clips tomorrow.
While the last two weeks have seemed like one big doom and gloom moment for Barack Obama, NBC today that Obama will appear on their Sunday show Meet the Press for the full hour just two days before the vote in Indiana and North Carolina.
If he ever had a chance to turn things around, this is the one!
As we post each night, here are some of the top political clips making their rounds on the blogs this hour:
More clips tomorrow.
You'd think someone would have figured out before:
Nobel Peace Prize winner and internationalsymbol of freedom Nelson Mandela is flagged on U.S. terrorist watchlists and needs special permission to visit the USA. Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice calls the situation "embarrassing," and some membersof Congress vow to fix it.
The requirement applies to former South Africanleader Mandela and other members of South Africa's governing AfricanNational Congress (ANC), the once-banned anti-Apartheid organization.In the 1970s and '80s, the ANC was officially designated a terroristgroup by the country's ruling white minority. Other countries,including the United States, followed suit.
Because of this, Rice told a Senate committeerecently, her department has to issue waivers for ANC members to travelto the USA.
It like both Condoleezza Rice and Democratic members in Congress will change his status. The real question is why, following a situation like that, would Mandela even want to come here?
I hate to be the supplier of bad news for Obama fans, but his road ahead in Indiana is looking as steep as it's ever been. Rasmussen, one of the most reliable polling firms this campaign season, that Clinton has a 5-point lead in Indiana, 46% to Obama's 41%. In North Carolina, according to , Obama's double-digit lead has been cut in half. And in North Carolina poll, Clinton leads by two.
Back to Indiana, since that is where the action will be on election night. On the this morning, Michelle Obama appeared to plead with the media to forget the whole Jeremiah Wright soap opera:
"We hear time and time again voters are tired of this," Michelle Obama said in an interview the couple gave to NBC's "Today" show.
"They don't want to hear about this division, they want to know whatare we going to do to move beyond these issues," she said. "And whatmade me feel proud of Barack in this situation is that he is trying tomove us as a nation beyond these conversations that divide."
Whether voters are tired of it or not, the reality is that the media is fixated on it. Instead of questioning Clinton's personal problems (and there are a lot of them), Obama is facing all this questions and is constantly on the defensive. He has less than five days to try and change what the media is talking about, or else he will lose Indiana. Right now, all the undecided voters in both races, Indiana and North Carolina, are more likely to second-guess Obama. The Obama Campaign needs to give those undecided voters a reason to second-guess Clinton.
Like her or not, Clinton is a fighter. It will also take a fighter to beat her. Obama needs to get moving!
Had enough yet? President Bush is instructing Congress to pass a . Democrats have already caved on that, but are fighting Bush over whether to add funding for veterans:
"I made my position very clear to Congress and I will not accept asupplemental over $108 billion or a supplemental that micromanages thewar, ties the hands of our commanders," Bush said. "We will work withCongress on these veterans' benefits .... But the $108 billion is $108billion."
The hard line came as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi,D-Calif., and other top congressional leaders held a rally for the Iraqwar veterans measure on the West Front of the Capitol.
Severalconservative Republicans joined the rally on behalf of the legislation,which would greatly increase college education benefits for veterans tocover tuition and fees at most public universities. That would, onaverage, double college aid for veterans to about $12,000 per year.
"Weare very close to pulling it off," said Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., the chiefsponsor on the legislation, alluding to a plan by Democratic leaders toadd the veterans measure to the war funding bill.
$1 trillion later, and we are still funding this war. Since the war started in 2003, it looks like we have 95 years left there. Better hold on tight and get used to it.
Give Hillary Clinton the slight edge in Indiana, following her Pennsylvania win and the media's obsession with Reverand Wright. Here are two new polls.
:
50% - Hillary Clinton
42% - Barack Obama
:
46% - Hillary Clinton
46% - Barack Obama
With one week to go, Obama is on the verge of losing Indiana. He needs to campaign hard there. If he wins both contests (North Carolina and Indiana), the power-players in the Democratic Party will put more pressure on the super delegates to endorse. If they split, however, Obama is just asking for a long battle into the summer. Remember, Kentucky and West Virginia, two sure Clinton states, have yet to vote. For Obama, he has Oregon and South Dakota that will go for him. Being that neither candidate will pull off a surprise win in any of those states, neither candidate has a reason to drop out. Indiana is what Obama needs to win to rally the Democratic Party around him.
Our economy is in the tank. Gas prices are at an all-time high. think that gas might reach $10 a gallon in the near future, boosted by a declining dollar and an uncontrollable spike in demand. Consumer confidence is at a . This is the second recession under President Bush, yet all the 43rd president can do is . And this is just on the domestic front. Don't even get me started on our mess abroad.
With all this happening, we are perhaps in the middle of the most important presidential campaign in a generation. There are issues to be discussed. Yet, all the media seems to be focused on now is Reverend Wright. The Obama Campaign is stuck in a corner. Today on the campaign trail, Obama yet another big press conference on Reverend Wright, following his former pastor's address on Sunday in front of the NAACP.
Why can't all this stop? The media does a great job of putting candidates into a box. They have with John McCain as well -- portraying him as an old, angry man. Or Obama, a fringe liberal who attended an anti-American church. So the media finds any evidence to back up their preexisting view of a candidate and reports it. Hardly do they report contradicting stories, as if to tell the American public, "I know you can't handle nuance, so let's make this easy for you by reporting only one side of the story." Like today, the media is ignoring the fact that Barack Obama called for non-violence in New York City, which angered Reverend Al Sharpton. Sharpton went on to accuse Obama of trying to "." But that does not fit the media's perception of the anti-American, pro-Black Panther -- otherwise known as Barack Obama. So they won't report it.
This campaign is now nothing but a circus, and the media has complete control over it. No wonder it has lasted this long. Cable news doesn't want it to end. It's their soap opera. It's their excuse for not reporting actual news. The Clintons love drama. As long as the media reports on the tactics, which the Clintons are good at, and not real issues, this contest will continue all the way to the convention.
Here are the top political clips tonight:
More clips tomorrow.
This Sunday night, here are some of the top clips making their rounds on the blogs right now:
More clips tomorrow.
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