Barackstar // Current

Crusader against Obama racism

Richard Trumka is the Secretary Treasurer of AFL-CIO and he has courage. I say to all of my friends, of all skin colors, you... more

Apocalipstick
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Obama's science quiz

Barack Obama accepted Nature's invitation to answer 18 science-related questions in writing; John McCain's campaign... more

GrandKnow2
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Barack Obama opens nine-point lead over John McCain in poll

Barack Obama has opened up a significant lead over his rival John McCain in the race for the White House, with a poll released today giving him a nine-point advantage among likely voters.

The Washington Post-ABC national poll puts support for the Democratic candidate at 52%, compared with the Republican's 43%. Two weeks ago, in the wake of the Republican national convention, McCain had a two-point lead after a bounce attributed to the strong performance of his running mate, Sarah Palin.

The latest poll shows that 52% of voters view Palin positively but her unfavourable rating has gone up 10 points, from 28% to 38%.

Financial uncertainty weighed heavily on voters' minds, with 9% rating the economy as good or excellent - the lowest rating since before the 1992 election. The results suggest Obama is favoured to lead the country through economic turmoil.

When asked who they trusted to handle the economy, 53% said Obama and 39% said McCain. Two weeks ago, Obama's lead on the issue was five points. Independents have given Obama a 21-point lead on the economy, the highest since campaigning began.

The economy was cited as the most important issue by 50% of respondents, up from 37% two weeks ago. Since the last poll, Lehman Brothers has gone into bankruptcy and the US treasury has intervened to save other investment banks and the insurance company AIG.

Nine per cent of voters identified the war in Iraq as the most important issue in the election. This is the lowest percentage so far.

Obama has made substantial inroads into McCain's advantages on handling Iraq, international affairs and dealing with terrorism. McCain's lead on who could be trusted best to deal with a major unexpected crisis has been completely eroded, having stood at 57% to Obama's 37% just two weeks ago.

The Republican nominee retains a convincing lead when it comes to who would make a good commander in chief, with an approval rating of nearly three-quarters, compared with 48% for Obama.

The poll results reflect a boost in popularity for Obama among white voters at 45%. He stands five percentage points behind McCain and is almost level with the Republican nominee among white women, who heavily favoured McCain two weeks ago thanks in part to the Palin effect.

Obama has a sizeable lead among women overall but the candidates are level-pegging among men. The poll found almost a fifth of voters are undecided or may change their mind on who to vote for.

The survey included telephone interviews with a random national sample of 1,082 adults.
Barack Obama has opened up a significant lead over his rival John McCain in the race for the White House, with a poll released... more

bansheewail
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12 responses

1 month ago

Republican congressman endorses Obama

Rep. Wayne Gilchrest, a maverick Republican from Maryland, endorsed Illinois Democratic Sen. Barack Obama for president in an... more

benjaminV
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23 responses

2 months ago

Obama continues Hispanics push

Barack Obama intensified his push for Latino voters today with an outdoor rally in Espanola, a city in northern New Mexico... more

BuddyP
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13 responses

2 months ago

McCain and the politics of mortality

...Democrats have been quick to point out that the 44-year-old governor could soon be just a heartbeat away from the presidency.... more

bishopobispo
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4 responses

2 months ago

Students 'could hold the keys' to power in the White House

We hear this every election: the youth hold the swing vote! If young people get out and vote, their candidate will win! Numbers... more

abbym0308
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34 responses

2 months ago

Biden Delivers "Bush 44" Speech

The campaign a person runs says everything about the way they’ll govern. The McCain-Palin campaign has decided to bet the... more

politicsjunkie
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4 responses

2 months ago

Obama lashes out at McCain

Barack Obama took the fiercest swipe yet at John McCain's economic positions here Tuesday in light of turmoil on Wall Street,... more

Moopak
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27 responses

2 months ago

Hello economy, goodbye lipstick!

Obama Slams McCain Over The Economy Barack Obama on Monday mocked John McCain's promise to bring change to Washington,... more

Pericles1978
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67 responses

2 months ago

Obama goes on offense

Thrown off stride by a hard-charging campaign from Republican rivals John McCain and Sarah Palin, Barack Obama moved Friday to reclaim the spotlight and assure worried supporters that he can and will fight back.

"We will respond with speed and ferocity to John McCain's attacks and we will take the fight to him," Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said in a memo Friday.

"But we will do it on the big issues that matter to the American people. We will not allow John McCain and his band of Karl Rove disciples to make this big election about small things."

Obama immediately launched a new ad that notably omitted any mention of Palin - an abrupt switch after days of criticizing her.

It was an apparent recognition that the Democrats have helped raised the Alaska governor's profile by criticizing her for days, a move that may have helped the Republicans. Palin's drawn huge crowds, energized the Republican base and helped Republicans draw the kind of volunteers they needed, but lacked, to turn out votes in battleground states.

The new Obama ad hit McCain hard, ridiculing him as a computer illiterate who doesn't know how to use e-mail and working to cast the 72-year-old Arizonan as out of touch with ordinary Americans.

At the same time, Obama supporters tried to seize on a comment McCain made the night before at a forum on service in which he defended Palin's experience as a small-town mayor by saying she was closer to real people than he was in the Senate .

"It's easy for me to go to Washington and frankly be somewhat divorced from the day-to-day challenges people have," McCain said at the Thursday forum in New York .

Obama pounced on Friday in New Hampshire , saying, "From where he and George Bush sit, maybe they just can't see. Maybe they are just that out of touch. But you know the truth, and so do I."

Obama hoped the steps would calm donors and a base that's been agitating for more fight from him as some Democrats wring their hands over the Republican ticket's post-convention bump in polls.

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Considerably more at link.Thrown off stride by a hard-charging campaign from Republican rivals John McCain and Sarah Palin, Barack Obama moved Friday to... more

Vierotchka
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71 responses

2 months ago

Obama Says McCain doesn't understand education

Obama is going in on McCain hard on this issue

caseygane
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21 responses

2 months ago

Joe Biden on fire

"What do you talk about when you've got nothing to say?"

elsonwvu
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93 responses

2 months ago

Obama offers Palin a game of hoops

Tell us why this is interestingWASHINGTON (AFP) — Democrat White House nominee Barack Obama on Sunday offered to go... more

BuddyP
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26 responses

2 months ago

Obama sees nothing funny about community organizer

Sen. Barack Obama said he was "puzzled" when Gov. Sarah Palin scoffed at his early career as a community organizer,... more

BuddyP
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96 responses

2 months ago

Obama Biden and Iraq

The Obama-Biden worldview with Eric Margolis, Phyllis Bennis and Paul Heinbecker. Part 4

Phyllis Bennis is a Senior Analyst at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington DC. She is the author of Before and After: US Foreign Policy and the September 11 Crisis and Challenging Empire: How People, Governments, and the UN Defy US Power. Her newest book Understanding the US-Iran Crisis: A Primer will be available in September 2008.

Eric Margolis is a journalist born in New York City and holding degrees from Georgetown the University of Geneva, and New York University. During the Vietnam War he served as a US Army infantryman. Margolis is the author of War at the Top of the World –- The Struggle for Afghanistan and Asia is a syndicated columnist and broadcaster whose articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The International Herald Tribune, Mainichi Shimbun and US Naval Institute Proceedings.

Paul Heinbecker joined the [[Department of External Affairs (Canada)|Department of External Affairs]] immediately after graduation, and received postings abroad in [[Ankara]], [[Stockholm]], and [[Paris]]. From 1989 to 1992, Heinbecker served as Chief Foreign Policy Advisor and speechwriter for [[Prime Minister of Canada|Prime Minister]] [[Brian Mulroney]], and as Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet for Foreign and Defence Policy. In 1992, he was appointed ambassador to [[Germany]]. In the late 1990s, he organized the task force on the Kosovo conflict, and served as head of the Canadian delegation to the Climate Change Convention in [[Kyoto]]. In 2000, Heinbecker was appointed as Ambassador to the United Nations. There he was a strong proponent of the [[International Criminal Court]] and argued for compromise in the lead-in to the [[2003 Invasion of Iraq|2003 attack on Iraq]].

See Part 1 at: http://current.com/items/89245887_the_obama_biden_worldview

See Part 2 at: http://current.com/items/89255141_will_obama_biden_question_military_dominance

See Part 3 at: http://current.com/items/89259573_obama_biden_and_iranThe Obama-Biden worldview with Eric Margolis, Phyllis Bennis and Paul Heinbecker. Part 4 Phyllis Bennis is a Senior Analyst at... more

Vierotchka
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7 responses

3 months ago

Obama says economic issues will decide election

NEW PHILADELPHIA, Ohio (AP) -- Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, pouncing on a top Republican aide's claim that... more

ivxx
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6 responses

3 months ago

Obama/Biden take 8-Point lead

(CBS) Democratic nominee Barack Obama's lead over Republican John McCain has grown after the Democratic convention, which 71 percent of Americans say they watched. Obama and his running mate Joe Biden now lead McCain and Sarah Palin 48 percent to 40 percent, according to the latest CBS News poll.

This is the first CBS News poll to include the vice presidential candidates in the horserace question.

The eight-point lead for the Democratic ticket is up from Obama’s three-point lead before the convention. But there are still a significant number of voters who have yet to firmly make up their minds.

Before the Democratic convention, McCain enjoyed a 12-point advantage with independent voters, but now Obama leads among this group 43 percent to 37 percent. Obama's lead among women has also grown to 14 points (50 percent to 36 percent), and the Democrat maintained the lead he had before the convention among voters who supported Senator Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries.

The poll shows an increase in the number of Obama voters who are enthusiastic about him. Sixty-seven percent of Obama voters say they enthusiastically support him, which is up from 48 percent who said so before the convention. About a quarter of McCain’s backers are enthusiastic about him--unchanged from before the Democratic convention.

Sixty-three percent of registered voters say Obama understands their needs and problems, while just 41 percent say that about McCain. And after the Democratic convention, 58 percent of voters say Obama is "tough enough," which is up from 48 percent in early August.

Though Obama has seen his lead grow, there are still areas where he has room to improve. The latest CBS News poll shows no change in the percentage of registered voters who say Obama has prepared himself well enough for the job-- a sentiment in which McCain has held a large advantage. But fewer voters now say Obama is not prepared for the job of President than before the convention.

Although 50 percent of voters now say that Obama has made it clear what he would do as president (up from 41 percent), 44 percent still say the Democratic nominee has not made it clear

(go to link for full article)(CBS) Democratic nominee Barack Obama's lead over Republican John McCain has grown after the Democratic convention, which 71... more