Tag: Barack Obama (page 18)

Another segment of Bill O'Reilly's interview with Sen. Barack Obama will air tonight on Fox. Over at MSNBC, Keith Olbermann will interview Obama.

If you watch either one, let us know what you think, not just of Obama, but of the questions and interviewing techniques of O'Reilly and Olbermann.

Did either interview give you any new insights?

I have a transcript of the Obama-Olbermann interview but it's embargoed until 8:30 pm ET and I always honor embargoes.

Update: Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius is on the right track on how to go after Palin.

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Greg Sergeant at TPM outlines two possible plans of the Obama campaign for dealing with the Sarah Palin issue. One seems to be do nothing, see how it plays out and continue to fight against McCain. The other is to point out that Palin is upstaging McCain which shows...I'm not sure what.

The problem with not fighting back against Palin is that the Republicans are using as their central argument that Obama is inexperienced, ignoring that their VP candidate has no relevant national experience that qualifies her for Vice President. Palin doesn't hestitate to make that argument against him, and I shake my head every time I hear it, wondering how she of all people can make that claim with a straight face. [More...]

It's game on. 59 days until the election. I don't think this week's polls are indicative of much since both sides will be rallied by their respective conventions. I think we need two weeks before polls become reliable indicators of voters' intentions in November.

Today, I'm wondering, what were Barack Obama's biggest mistakes in the campaign to date and how many can he rectify in the time remaining?

Since we now have fewer opponents to the Democratic ticket on the site, I'm going to ask readers who intend to vote for the Dems in November to weigh in.

Here's my list: [More...]

This is the most boring convention ever. I'm just waiting for Big Brother 10 to start.

Just now, former Law and Order Actor Fred Thompson said of Obama: What has he done besides give "a teleprompter speech designed to appeal to America's critics abroad?" It brought the greatest applause and some stood.

Thompson said Obama was the most inexperienced candidate ever, or something like that.

Obama is refusing to fight back on the inexperience ground. He needs to get out there and hit hard. They are not just the radical right and wrong on the issues, 1/2 of their ticket, by any standard, lacks even a modicum of the skills and experience necessary to lead the country if need be.

Since Obama's unlikely to do that, the MSM and blogs will have to do it for him.

Clueless Donna Brazile said Thompson "gave a great speech." Huh? What side is she on?

The AP evaluates John McCain's claim that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is as experienced as Sen. Barack Obama and says it falls short.

Gallup's daily poll today:

Barack Obama leading the race for president with his highest share of support to date. Fully half of national registered voters now favor Obama for president, while 42% back John McCain.

Three poll results are out today, showing a substantial convention bounce for Sen. Barack Obama and Joe Biden..

• CBS: Obama leads McCain by 8, poll results here (pdf.)
• USA Today: Obama leads McCain by 7.
• Gallup: Obama leads McCain by 6.

A CNN poll shows no bounce. The question is, will it hold and what will McCain's be? Gallup says McCain went up 2 points because of his choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate, while there was no increase for Obama selecting Biden.

Some analysis of convention bumps is here. I like the Obama campaign's position that it is not interested in polls, only in the battleground states and getting out Obama voters. I've always thought the big battleground states are the key to this election.

(Video removed by You Tube)

Why do women, including some major former Hillary Clinton supporters, support Senators Barack Obama and Joe Biden? I had the opportunity to interview two women's rights leaders at the CNN Grill at during the Democratic National Convention in Denver this week.

The interview above is of Katherine Spillar,Executive Vice President of the Feminist Majority Foundation and Feminist Majority. My interview with Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority and former President of NOW has also been removed.

This letter was written by a friend of mine, whose letters I have published several times over the years on TalkLeft. When I first met him, he was a criminal defense lawyer with a very high profile Washington, DC law firm. (I served as local counsel for one of his clients.)

He then became a high ranking official in the Clinton Justice Department. We were on opposing sides then but remained in touch. He's been back in private practice in D.C. for several years since then. During four of those years, we both served on a prominent national legal board that met every three months in various cities. While he's never going to agree with all of my positions on crime issues, I still have tremendous respect for him. He's really one of the good guys -- and a true Democrat.

We've been corresponding throughout this election campaign as he was a strong supporter of Sen. Barack Obama from the beginning. He was unable to convince me that Obama would be a better President or nominee than Hillary. Of course, I agree with him that Obama would be a better President than John McCain.

His letter to Hillary Clinton supporters, sent to me for TalkLeft this morning, is below:

[Updated to show entire video]. I saw this CNN interview after Hillary's speech.

It's clear that Sen. Barack Obama has a big sales job to do on many, many Hillary supporters.

Why is he in Montana, watching the convention at a house party? Shouldn't he have come to Denver for the entire convention? It's more than half over and he's still not here. He's missed a great opportunity.

Update: Commenters point out it's tradition for the nominee not to appear at the convention until the final day. I didn't know that. Now that I do, I think this would have been a good year to break that tradition. He's got a lot of work to do and his physical presence at various events this week, and the media portrayal of it, might have helped.

I'm getting ready to head downtown, to the Big Tent, the Streets, the Pepsi Center and to check out CNN's The Grill Room.

I'm glad to see Big Tent Democrat's post that Hillary is asking her supporters to focus on electing the next Democratic President.

I'll be as clear as I can: TalkLeft and all three of its authors, and this week's guest contributor, support the Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. I have since the day Hillary dropped out in June, asking readers to respect her and her decision.

Despite my aversion to Sen. Joe Biden on the ticket, keep in mind it's my individual reaction to his decades spent promoting ill-advised and draconian crime legislation. It in no way means that the Democratic ticket isn't the preferred one over the other options in November. [More...]

The Associated Press' analysis of Sen. Barack Obama's pick of Joe Biden to be his VP: It shows a lack of confidence on Obama's part:

The candidate of change went with the status quo. In picking Sen. Joe Biden to be his running mate, Barack Obama sought to shore up his weakness — inexperience in office and on foreign policy — rather than underscore his strength as a new-generation candidate defying political conventions.

The AP lists the non-status quo choices available to Obama, all of whom got glossed over. [More...]