Where's the Mac? And Veepstakes

With the weekend's news cycle surrounding delegate feuds and a controversial pastor, John McCain has seemingly been lost in the shuffle. Where is he? The Chicago Tribune reports that he's preparing for a trip to Europe and the Middle East, further highlighting his foreign policy credentials, a key element of his current strategy:

As the Democratic primary season drags on, McCain is seeking to position himself as a world leader, enabling him to show his knowledge of foreign and military affairs.

"That's what presidents do. That is, by definition, presidential," said Stephen Hess, an expert on the presidential politics at the Brookings Institution. "The more he can remind people from whence he comes in terms of his résumé, background and credentials, the better off he is."

The trip will take McCain to Britain and France in Europe, as well as Israel, Jordan, and likely Iraq. Meetings with foreign leaders and a visit to a Holocaust memorial and the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

In the run-up to his trip, the Arizona Republican's campaign has released several biographical videos highlighting his service in Vietnam, and hitting broad themes of his campaign. An example of such videos, "Man in the Arena," can be found here.

The Veepstakes: Auction Edition?

The latest name to emerge in the discussion over who McCain will choose as a runningmate is that of Meg Whitman, President and CEO of online auction giant eBay. Whitman was originally a supporter of Republican hopeful Gov. Mitt Romney, but this week joined McCain's campaign as a national finance co-chair. Her net worth is estimated at about $1.7 billion, and she is consistently counted as one of the most powerful women in business. Considering McCain's strongest experience lies in foreign policy, having someone on the ticket who can offer powerful business experience could serve him well. The fact that she is not a politician would also help to further his centrist appeal.

Michigan, Take 2; Florida Chaos (Again)

Democrats in Michigan "agreed Friday to push a do-over primary in early June to give them a say in the close presidential race between Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama" reports the Associated Press. Michigan's original primary, a choice between Clinton, "uncommitted" and "none of the above" was invalidated as a result of Democratic National Committee rules governing the timeline for the early primaries. Without this action, none of the state's delegates would have been seated at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

From the article:

"This option would require the passage of legislation by the state legislature, and we look forward to working with the members of the legislature in the coming days to see if this option can be made a reality," the Democrats said.

Other Michigan Democrats working on the plan were Democratic National Committee member Debbie Dingell, Sen. Carl Levin and United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger.

Mark Brewer, chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, said the potential privately funded primary was "a good first step" toward seating the state's delegation at the Democratic National Convention.

The agreement now hinges on getting the campaigns and party officials to approve legislation, still being written, that would set the primary for early June. In the statement, Brewer said party leaders would need to write legislation "that is acceptable to the MDP and both the Clinton and Obama campaigns."

Meanwhile, Florida continues to exhibit its legendary inability to figure out elections. Their primary, held January 29, also violated party rules, but Democratic leaders in the sunshine state have yet to determine if and how they will hold an election that will get their delegates to Denver. NPR's Greg Allen notes that the delegate problem is more important for Clinton, the original winner in both states. Says Allen:

On Thursday, Clinton made it clear on Morning Edition that her first preference is that the votes from the Michigan and Florida contest be counted.

"But if there is to be any difference between my proposal that we count those votes and any other course of action, it should be a complete redo of the primary. Nothing else is fair. And I feel strongly about that," Clinton said.

But in Florida, there's wide disagreement over what a "complete redo" of the primary vote would be — or whether one is even possible.

Florida Democrats have exercised some preemption in shooting down their party's latest proposal before it was even officially released. Continues Allen:

This week, Florida's Democratic Party released its version of a "redo" — a plan that would send mail-in ballots to all registered Democrats. There also would be 50 sites around the state where Democrats could cast their votes in person. The state party said it would raise between $10 million and $12 million from private donors to pay for the vote.

Florida Democratic Chairwoman Karen Thurman says she felt it was important to get some kind of proposed solution on the table.

"We said, 'OK, here's an option, and this is the one that we think the Florida Democratic Party can run,' " she says.

But that option hadn't even been released before it was knocked down.

"All nine House members on the Democratic side are opposed to a revote by mail," says U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Shultz, a Clinton supporter. She says that while it's important that Florida's delegates be seated, this isn't the way to do it.

"This would be a mail-in ballot run by the state party which people aren't familiar with and which could be fraught with problems. You have many people in poor communities who are transient and who move around a lot," she says. "In poor communities, you're really potentially disenfranchising so many people, because their ballot doesn't find them because their last known address they don't live at, that's a real problem."

With Democrats Obama and Clinton arguing over minutia regarding a universal healthcare program that isn't even close to existing, one wonders why their Florida surrogates are so willing to solve hypothetical problems, but can't seem to figure out the challenges in their own backyard.

UPDATE: Money-Back Guarantee?

Supporters of Hillary Rodham Clinton whose votes might not be counted unless Florida Democrats resolve their primary problem are getting angry. From the New York Times:

Reflecting how tense the situation has become, influential fund-raisers for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton have stepped up their behind-the-scenes pressure on national party leaders to resolve the matter, with some even threatening to withhold their donations to the Democratic National Committee unless it seats the delegates from the two states or holds new primaries there.

Anecdotal support follows in the article:

Pushing to seat the Florida delegates, at least one top Clinton fund-raiser, Paul Cejas, a Miami businessman who has given the Democratic National Committee $63,500 since 2003, has demanded Democratic officials return his 2007 contribution of $28,500, which they have agreed to do.

“If you’re not going to count my vote, I’m not going to give you my money,” said Mr. Cejas, who was the United States ambassador to Belgium from 1998 to 2001.

Christopher Korge, a Florida real estate developer who is another top fund-raiser for Mrs. Clinton, held an event last year in his home that brought in about $140,000 for the national party, which was set aside in a special account for the general election battle in Florida. But he told committee officials this week that if Florida’s delegate conundrum was not settled satisfactorily he would be asking for the money back.

“If we do not resolve this issue,” Mr. Korge said, “I think it’s safe to say there will be a request for a return of $140,000.”

The longer this primary contest goes on, the deeper the divides become. Throw this situation into the mix, and you're looking at what may very well become a "perfect storm" on track to hit Denver come convention time.

Rezko's Cool Quarter-Million

Tony Rezko, a Chicago millionaire and one-time contributor to Senator Barack Obama's Illinois political campaigns, has been the subject of some news coverage in recent months, as the disgraced businessman is now "on trial in federal court on mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering and attempted extortion charges." The AP has a good primer on the somewhat complicated Obama-Rezko relationship.

Today, word came out that Rezko may have raised more money for Obama than originally expected, a sum that now approaches $250,000. Ken Vogel at Politico has a story about the new revelation coming from the Obama camp, the beginning of which follows:

Barack Obama on Friday acknowledged that he had substantially underrepresented the cash raised for his earlier campaigns by indicted businessman Antoin “Tony” Rezko.

But Obama's campaign said it could not donate to charity as much as $90,000 in newly acknowledged Rezko-linked contributions because the old campaign accounts were closed and the money spent.

Obama's acknowledgement that Rezko raised as much as $250,000 for earlier campaigns, initially made in an interview with The Chicago Tribune and confirmed later to Politico, came after a year-and-a-half-long trickle of admissions about Rezko’s fundraising role and more than a month after Obama’s aides contended they had identified and jettisoned all Rezko-linked cash. It also came as Rezko’s trial on corruption charges, underway in Chicago, brought increased scrutiny of Obama’s ties to the real estate developer, fast food magnate and political insider.

Today has certainly not been the best day for Obama, and these stories have and will continue to serve as a good test of the campaign's ability to respond quickly and effectively respond to these events. But the more this story comes up, the more it stands to pose potential harm to Obama's "squeaky-clean" image he's displayed thus far.

As an example, Obama has made it a hallmark of his presidential candidacy to not accept money from lobbyists or Political Action Committees (PACs) in an attempt to limit corporate influence on potential policy-making. BUT, the Columbia Journalism Review (and several other sources) note that the claim is somewhat disingenuous... From the article:

Consider the sector called lawyers and law firms. Clearly, lawyers and law firms lobby on behalf of their own interests—like fighting malpractice reform, which could again surface as a thorny issue for the new administration. Clinton and Obama have raised similar amounts from lawyers and law firms—$11.8 and $9.5 million. McCain and Huckabee have taken far less. The health sector has also given to Obama, Clinton, and McCain. In the pharmaceutical and health product industries, contributions to Clinton total $349,000 and $338,000 to Obama. Again, McCain trails in donations at about $98,000, an indication that the sector sees the real action on the Democratic side of the ballot. Health professionals, which include doctors, nurses, and dentists, have given Clinton some $2.3 million and Obama $1.7 million.

Barack Obama, one of the gang, or exuding a "different kind of politics?" Follow the money.

Wright's Wrongs

Today's campaign media coverage surrounded Reverend Jeremiah Wright, the pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ, a Chicago church of which Senator Barack Obama is a member. Rev. Wright also happened to preside at the wedding of Senator Obama and his wife, Michelle, as well as at their daughters' baptisms. Video recently surfaced of Wright making a variety of incendiary comments regarding race and religion in America. Clips can be found here and here, with many other clips available on sites like YouTube.

Obama has stated on several occasions that he does not agree with these comments, but that he considers Wright as an "uncle," and stated on The Countdown with Keith Olbermann that he would not repudiate the man himself, noting that he has given his last sermon, is on sabbatical, and is basically out of the preaching scene. These sentiments were echoed in an interview Obama did with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

Q: I don't know if you've seen it, but it's all over the wire today (from an ABC News story), a statement that your pastor (the Rev. Jeremiah Wright of Trinity United Church of Christ on Chicago's South Side) made in a sermon in 2003 that instead of singing "God Bless America," black people should sing a song essentially saying "God Damn America."

A: I haven't seen the line. This is a pastor who is on the brink of retirement who in the past has made some controversial statements. I profoundly disagree with some of these statements.

Q: What about this particular statement?

A: Obviously, I disagree with that. Here is what happens when you just cherry-pick statements from a guy who had a 40-year career as a pastor. There are times when people say things that are just wrong. But I think it's important to judge me on what I've said in the past and what I believe.

Meanwhile, Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, as well as Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Obama's Democratic primary opponent, are both waiting in the wings,
letting the story unfold without jumping into the middle of a developing (and increasingly intense) media storm.

The comments are absolutely disgusting, and Obama has made it clear that he disagrees with the sentiments expressed by Wright, even severing the one official tie between his campaign and the pastor. Without evidence that Obama is misrepresenting his relationship with Wright, one might ask, what's the big deal? But in a campaign where the Illinois senator is touting his judgment, continuing to associate himself with this man until video was disseminated to the American public calls that judgment into question.

UPDATE: While the television media have run away with this story, finding every opportunity to broadcast the video of a festively-clad Wright screaming and waving his arms, Mike Allen of Politico notes that the print media has taken a more...subtle approach to its coverage. The Washington Post displayed this story in the lower right corner with the header "Outspoken Minister Out Of Obama Campaign," while the New York Times printed 900 words on page A13 under "Obama Denounces Statements of His Pastor as 'Inflammatory."

UPDATE: Patrick Ishmael at The News Buckit includes some clips from Trinity United Church of Christ's most recent church bulletin. They read:

I use his words today on the third Sunday of a New Year to keep before you the painful truth of who we are and where it is we are in this racist United States of America! What’s goin’ on?

...The reality, however, is that the entire war in Iraq and the larger “war on terror” have been based on lies, half-truths and distortions to serve the agenda of the United States imperialism. Where is the public outcry? Where is the outrage? What’s goin’ on? (Emphasis added)

Hmmm....

Welcome!

Welcome to Campaign Clips. Here, I'll be posting some stories about the campaign that I find particularly interesting, and offer commentary when appropriate. This election has already proven historic and incredibly interesting, and I look forward to sharing my thoughts with you!