http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/elections-news/ en-us Thu, 24 Jul 2008 10:31:16 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050426/posts In any partnership, the coin of the realm is trust and responsibility - in other words, saying what you mean and doing what you say. In the dramatic rescue on July 2 of 15 hostages, including three Americans, held captive for many years by guerrillas and terrorists, deep in the Colombian jungles, we saw a powerful reminder that the United States has no better partner in South America than the government and people of Colombia. Colombia's leaders, especially President Uribe, had promised us that our three abducted citizens would be treated no differently than the many Colombian men and women... Real Clear Politics http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050426/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 10:31:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050398/posts It is one of the most audacious promises in a campaign that has been thick with them. In speech after speech, Senator Barack Obama has pledged that he will lower the country's health care costs enough to "bring down premiums by $2,500 for the typical family." Moreover, Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, has promised that his health plan will be in place "by the end of my first term as president of the United States." Whether Obama can deliver is a matter of considerable dispute among health analysts and economists. While there is consensus that the U.S. health care system... International Herald Tribune http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050398/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 06:31:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050389/posts Guys we have to make this an issue. This guy is not a citizen according to some pretty good investigating. Check out these links about his fake Birth certificate. Maybe this is Hillary's ace in the Hole! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBgkDSw-wQ0 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2050103/posts http://www.nowpublic.com/world/barack-obama-birth-certificate-dubbed-fake http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050389/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 05:42:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050374/posts American Jewish leaders yesterday predicted a big turnout among Jews in November's presidential election in favour of Barack Obama, in spite of suspicions about his views on Iran and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Ira Forman, executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council, an advocacy group with strong links to the Democratic party, said: "I think Obama will win the Jewish vote by a large margin. The question is how much?" Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Centre of Reform Judaism, said American Jews' political affinity with African Americans, born of a shared experience of discrimination, could outstrip concerns... guardian.co.uk http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050374/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 04:48:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050386/posts WASHINGTON (AdAge.com) -- It's official. Sen. Barack Obama's campaign will be among the TV sponsors of NBC Universal's Olympics coverage. In the first significant network-TV buy of any presidential candidate in at least 16 years, the Obama campaign has taken a $5 million package of Olympics spots that includes network TV as well as cable ads. AdAge http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050386/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 05:13:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050379/posts John McCain and Barack Obama have both changed positions in this campaign. That's OK. Voters understand that politicians can and, sometimes, should change their views. After all, voters do. Witness the wide swings in their answers to opinion polls. But before accepting the changes, voters typically ask themselves three questions: Does the candidate admit he's shifting? What's the new information that altered his thinking? Does the change seem reasonable and not calculating? The Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050379/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 04:53:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050377/posts WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Rep. Roy Blunt, the House Republican whip, on July 8 introduced a resolution demanding that the Defense Department better enable U.S. military personnel overseas to vote in the November elections. That act was followed by silence. Democrats normally leap on an opportunity to find fault with the Bush Pentagon. But not a single Democrat joined Blunt as a co-sponsor, and an all-Republican proposal cannot pass in the Democratic-controlled House. Analysis by the federal Election Assistance Commission, rejecting inflated Defense Department voting claims, estimated overseas and absentee military voting for the 2006 midterm elections at a disgracefully low... Townhall.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050377/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 04:49:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050369/posts Washington - In a campaign week dominated by Barack Obama's trip abroad, the pro-John McCain camp has made headlines by complaining about coverage of Senator Obama's trip abroad. For Senator McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, crying foul on the news media represents a double-edged sword. On the plus side, he plays into the longstanding narrative that asserts reporters are rooting for Obama, the likely Democratic nominee, to win in November. Hillary Rodham Clinton played that card during the primaries, to some effect, but ultimately unsuccessfully. The Christian Science Monitor http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050369/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 04:32:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050366/posts The media already have gone over the top with their coverage of Sen. Barack Obama's international man-of-mystery tour. The endless photo sessions with the troops, foreign leaders, waving crowds -- it's just the most contrived pack of junk I've ever seen. But shame on the folks running the McCain campaign. They knew this week of endless glory for Obama was coming. Their response? They tell McCain to attend a baseball game, hold another boring town-hall meeting, have his photo taken with another Bush, and visit an oilrig. Sounds like the work of strategists bound and determined to destroy their candidate.... Townhall http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050366/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 04:29:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050365/posts Squeezing his thumb and forefinger together in the back of a Manchester bar last night, Libertarian presidential nominee Bob Barr told a crowd of 80 that when it counts, there's that much difference between the Republicans and Democrats. Americans, he argued, are looking for something new. "The definition of throwing your vote away is to go into that voting booth and vote for one of two parties that will not change the direction this country's going in," Barr told a crowd of about 80 at Murphy's Taproom. "And that's the Republicans or Democrats." The Concord Monitor, Concord, NH http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050365/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 04:28:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050364/posts At Hearing, Official EIB Clown Attacks Official EIB ClimatologistJuly 22, 2008 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: The official climatologist of the EIB Network, Dr. Roy Spencer, a brilliant independent climatologist and scientist, former NASA, he's now at University of Alabama at Huntsville, testified before Senator Boxer's committee on climate change research, and they had the following exchange. SPENCER: In conclusion, I am predicting today that the theory that mankind is mostly responsible for global warming will slowly fade away in the coming years, as will the warming itself, and I trust you would agree, Madam Chair, that such a result deserves to... Rush Limbaugh .com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050364/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 04:26:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050363/posts Political reporters have long been obsessed with conflict between presidential candidates and their running mates, at least since the days of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. That's probably one reason why McCain's joke in Detroit last week that Mitt Romney was "doing a better job for me than he did for himself" sparked a wave of news stories speculating that McCain was seriously considering, for the vice-presidential slot, his bitter rival turned loyal surrogate. But while choosing Romney to be his running mate would make Washington journalists happy, it would be nothing short of political suicide for McCain. The American Spectator http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050363/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 04:21:17 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050361/posts (IsraelNN.com) Israel is facing its worst existential threat since the birth of the State, said Republican US presidential candidate Senator John McCain on Wednesday, McCain said the combination of external threast by Iranian nuclear weaponry and the presence of terrorist groups on Israel's borders, plus the internal threat posed by political upheavel due to the corruption investigations against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, comprises the greatest threat to Israel since 1948. "My feeling about Israel today is that they are probably in many respects under a greater threat... than they've been in since their independence," he in a campaign speech back... arutz sheva http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050361/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 04:15:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050360/posts In 15 years the Clintons have never been this far removed from the limelight. Im guessing that Denver will be something special to watch. Here's betting the notorious Michelle tape appears or a super delegate fight breaks out. I don't trust them a one bit! Your thoughts. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050360/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 04:12:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050359/posts As the US Democratic Presidential candidate, Barack Obama has drawn wide attention in the United States and elsewhere in the world from his first-ever overseas tour. During his ongoing trip, he has not been taken as an ordinary US Senator in a "routine" visit but is treated as a promising presidential hopeful. Special coverages filed by his accompanying reporters from mainstream US media organs on the great, high-profile reception he was accorded amid tight security arranged by the Afghanistan government is just an indisputable proof. Why should Senator Obama, who is now so busy and engrossed with his presidential race,... people's daily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050359/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 04:06:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050355/posts David Cameron is to launch the biggest shake-up of the Conservative Party for decades as part of a bold plan to win support across the whole of the United Kingdom. The Tories are to forge a new party with the Ulster Unionists to try to secure broader backing for Mr Cameron before the next election. The move to restore a link severed more than 30 years ago forms a central plank in a new Conservative strategy to broaden the party's appeal outside England. The Daily Telegraph (UK) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050355/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:54:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050354/posts Barack Obama flatly stated in his interview with CBS News' Katie Couric yesterday that North Korea possesses "eight nuclear weapons":"There's a reason why, for example, North Korea, when we weren't talking, developed eight nuclear weapons. And when we started talking, we've now arrived at possibility where we could get those nuclear weapons, and those systems dismantled." I never seen any definitive statement from the U.S. government on the number of nuclear warheads North Korea has, nor have I seen any statement from North Korea on this. In fact, this article published July 11, 2008 by the Asia Times about the... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050354/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:52:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050352/posts John McCormack catches Wes Clark in a couple of egregious errors on the surge today on Morning Joe. The lesser mistake is Clark’s insistence that the surge didn’t involve Anbar at all, when as McCormack notes the Marines sent two extra battalions to the hotbed of terrorist activity as part of the increased deployment. Worse, though, Clark tries to tell Scarborough that the surge had nothing to do with the Marines, and everything to do with the Saudis paying off the Sunni tribes: This isn’t exactly a lost history. Actually, 4,000 extra Marines went to Anbar. The extra Marine battalions... HotAir http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050352/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:45:03 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050350/posts The Drudge Report ran a juicy item about the fact that only one reporter showed up to cover Republican John McCain at a campaign stop in New Hampshire the other day. Just one. The lonely print reporter from the Manchester Union Leader stood on the tarmac, waiting for McCain's plane to land. McCain, obviously upset at being dissed by yet another meager media throng, didn't stop to chat. "Did you ever notice that when John McCain is on TV he's always grumpy?" asked a colleague in the cafeteria who whispered, lest others denounce him for Barackian Thought Crimes. "McCain's always... The Chicago Tribune http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050350/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:39:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050346/posts FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Media inquiries: contact@aipnc.com Fenton, MI – July 23, 2008 – In a statement released today by America’s Independent Party, Chairman Tom Hoefling welcomed California’s American Independent Party to the growing ranks of AIP state affiliates. Hoefling, commenting in the wake of a statement from the office of the California Secretary of State recognizing Edward C. Noonan as the rightful chairman of the American Independent Party and the legitimacy of the actions of the July 5th State Convention in Sacramento, said, “We gratefully accept the AIP State Central Committee’s decision to affiliate nationally with us. We share a... America's Independent Party http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050346/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:29:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050344/posts SPIEGEL: It is unusual for a US presidential candidate to travel to Europe in the middle of the campaign. Why is Barack Obama coming? Susan Rice: Senator Obama believes it is critically important for the United States and Europe to cooperate far more effectively than we have in recent years. None of us can tackle the critical global challenges we face in isolation -- be it terrorism, proliferation, climate change, disease, poverty or energy security. Obama will want to discuss in Europe and Germany how we each view these challenges and how we can best address them together. SPIEGEL: Critics... Spiegel http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050344/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:26:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050343/posts George W. Bush's overall job approval has dropped to 21% as 76% of American say the national economy is getting worse according to the latest survey from the American Research Group. Among all Americans, 21% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 72% disapprove. When it comes to Bush's handling of the economy, 17% approve and 77% disapprove. Among Americans registered to vote, 22% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 71% disapprove. When it comes to the way Bush is handling the economy, 18% of registered voters approve of... American General Research http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050343/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:24:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050341/posts http://www.blackfive.net/main/2008/07/from-gi-in-afgh.html "FROM G.I. IN AFGHANISTAN - "WE GOT MORE THANKS FROM THE DALLAS COWBOY CHEERLEADERS" THAN FROM SENATOR OBAMA" This is from a USAF friend in Afghanistan: Hello everyone, As you know I am not a very political person. I just wanted to pass along that Senator Obama came to Bagram Afghanistan for about an hour on his visit to ' The War Zone ' . I wanted to share with you what happened. He got off the plane and got into a bullet proof vehicle, got to the area to meet with the Major General (2 Star) who is... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050341/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:21:37 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050337/posts OBAMA VISITS WESTERN WALL IN OLD CITY JERUSALEM... ARRIVES AT 5:08 AM LOCAL TIME [10:08 PM ET]... SUNRISE... SHOUTING MAN: 'JERUSALEM IS NOT FOR SALE, OBAMA'... MOB SCENE... CHAOS... BOWING HIS HEAD IN PRAYER... PLACES NOTE IN WALL... POSES FOR PHOTOS... LOTS OF SHOUTING... LEAVES 5:20 AM... DEVELOPING... Drudge Report http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050337/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 02:59:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050333/posts Australia's state and federal governments must invest in training specialist emergency rescue crews to avert severe livestock and wildlife losses caused by climate change, a leading animal welfare campaigner says. The head of disaster rescue operations for the Boston-based International Fund for Animal Welfare, Dick Green, has told a national wildlife conference in Canberra, ''Your big three natural disasters here in Australia are bushfires, floods and wind storms and, as the world's climate changes, you're going to get more of them. You need to plan for that and be better prepared.'' He said the number of natural disasters across the... The Canberra Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050333/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 02:48:23 GMT