Obama and the Legacy of the 1963 March on Washington
August 20, 2008
Touré F. Reed, Black Agenda Report
- August 28, 2008 marks the 45th anniversary of the March on Washington. Forty-fifth anniversaries rarely garner the kind of attention reserved for their quarter and half-century counterparts. But as the Democratic Party prepares to nominate a black man as its presidential candidate on the anniversary of the march, the Obama campaign is doing its best to co-opt the rally’s legacy in its effort to reinforce the notion that the charismatic centrist black politician is operating in the tradition of civil rights leaders past.
To be sure, Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) was right when he asserted in a recent New York Times Magazine interview that Obama’s successes offer a window onto just how far the nation and the Democratic Party have come since the 1963 rally. Still, as Obama attempts to play on the legacy of the march by accepting the nomination not at the convention hall but at Denver’s Mile High Stadium before an audience of 75,000 people, we should probably ask whether the black Democratic presidential nominee’s political approach is really in step with at least the spirit of the March on Washington.
Obama and McCain in a statistical tie
August 20, 2008
Michael Finnegan, Los Angeles Times
- John McCain has begun rallying dispirited Republicans behind him, while Democratic rival Barack Obama has made scant progress building new support, leaving the presidential race statistically tied, according to a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll.
The survey highlights Obama’s vulnerability on the question of his readiness to lead the nation. Less than half of the registered voters polled think the first-term Illinois senator has the “right” experience to be president, while 80% believe McCain, a four-term senator, does.
Nader predicts Obama to pick Clinton
August 19, 2008
JOHN F. HARRIS, Politico
- Count Ralph Nader as unimpressed by the crop of supposed finalists to be Barack Obama’s running mate.
“I don’t think he’s that dumb,” said Nader, commenting on widespread speculation that Obama’s choices are down to Sens. Joe Biden, Evan Bayh, or Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine.
The smart pick, according to Nader, is Hillary Rodham Clinton. Nader phoned into Politico Tuesday afternoon to offer his prediction that a surprise nod to Clinton is actually what Obama has in store—never mind the talk of mistrust between the Clintons and Obama.
“He just has to swallow hard and do what JFK did” in picking rival Lyndon Johnson in 1960, said the liberal activist and maverick presidential candidate.
Three Aging White Men to Moderate Presidential Debate
August 19, 2008
Marie Cocco, Washington Post Writers Group
- A presidential campaign in which a prevailing theme is “change” makes it all the easier to see just how much things remain the same.
Take the presidential debates to be broadcast this fall. The Commission on Presidential Debates plans three events, as usual, with one a “town hall” format featuring questions from voters, a recent custom on its way to becoming routine.
Another tradition is firmly upheld as well: Three white men will be in charge of questioning Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama on behalf of millions of American voters who, as a group, are less white and male than ever before. Gwen Ifill, an African-American who is moderator and managing editor of PBS’ “Washington Week,” drew the number two spot. She will moderate the vice-presidential debate, as she did in 2004.
Obama and veep choice to campaign on Saturday
August 19, 2008
CHRISTOPHER WILLS and BETH FOUHY (AP)
- Barack Obama’s newly minted running mate will join the Democratic hopeful onstage Saturday at a rally in this capital city where Obama launched his White House bid, a campaign official said.
A senior Obama adviser told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Tuesday that Obama and his veep choice will appear in front of the former state Capitol where Abraham Lincoln once served. The last time Obama appeared there, he announced he was running for president.
The disclosure narrowed the window Obama has to reveal his running mate. The list of possibilities is widely believed to have come down to Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh and Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, who planned to campaign with Obama Thursday in his home state.
Obama strategist Anita Dunn wouldn’t respond directly when asked if the Springfield event would be Obama’s first appearance with his choice, but she suggested the two wouldn’t necessarily be related. The campaign has said it will announce the choice in a cell phone text message to supporters.
“We could pick up the V.P. any time,” Dunn said in an interview.
The Obama campaign’s announcement said only that the Illinois senator would begin his trip to the party’s national convention at Saturday’s event. The Democratic National Convention begins Monday in Denver.
Those believed to be on Obama’s short list also were keeping mum.
Biden coyly told reporters staking out his home in Delaware, “I’m not the guy,” as he drove by. Sebelius, in an interview with the AP before she stumped for Obama in Michigan, professed no inside knowledge of when word would come.
“A week from tomorrow we will all know,” Sebelius said, referring to when the running mate is scheduled to accept the nomination at the convention.
During an address to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Orlando, Fla., Tuesday morning, Obama praised Biden, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, for proposing an additional $1 billion in reconstruction projects in the Republic of Georgia after the Russian invasion.
Only Obama, his wife, Michelle, a handful of his most senior advisers and his two-member search committee know for certain who has been vetted and discussed. Staffers were already in place to support Obama’s pick, including more than a dozen seasoned operatives who have set up shop in the campaign’s Chicago headquarters.
Obama’s plan could be similar to the one he followed in launching his campaign last year, when he posted a Web video to rev up supporters the day before his big speech. This time, Obama might choose to announce his vice presidential choice on Friday and then appear with the person on Saturday in the same place where his campaign began.
The running mate decision also looms for McCain. In the hope of grabbing the post-convention spotlight from Obama, McCain is considering naming his running mate in the few days after the Democrats leave Denver and before the Republicans begin their convention in St. Paul, Minn.
McCain’s top contenders are said to include Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Other possible choices include former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, an abortion-rights supporter, and Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Democratic vice presidential pick in 2000 who now is an independent.
Underscoring how seriously McCain may be considering Ridge or Lieberman, Republican officials say top McCain advisers have been reaching out to big donors and high-profile delegates in key states to gauge the impact of putting an abortion-rights supporter on the GOP ticket.
Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh warned Tuesday that the GOP base “will totally turn on McCain” if he picks a pro-choice running mate and predicted such a move “will ensure his defeat.”
Dunn, the Obama adviser, stirred the pot by saying McCain “needs to figure out if he’s going to let Rush Limbaugh and the right wing of his party direct his choice.”
McCain dealt with criticism from Limbaugh and other right-wing talk show hosts when they attacked him during the primary campaign. McCain spokesman Brian Rogers responded to Limbaugh’s latest volley by saying, “John McCain is pro-life, always has been, and his administration will be pro-life. Anyone picked as his vice president will respect those views.”
Lieberman has been traveling with McCain recently. Pawlenty was gearing up for a weekend campaign swing in Ohio and Pennsylvania on behalf of McCain and said he might travel to Denver next week as a McCain surrogate during the Democratic National Convention.
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