| 11:27 PM: | Improve Human Rights, McCain Tells Colombian. In a 20-hour visit, John McCain is seeking to use Colombia as a backdrop to score political points against Barack Obama and to promote his foreign policy and national security credentials. NYT. | |
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| 9:35 PM: | Daily Number: 44% - Bush's Third Term? Voters are split on whether a McCain presidency would be a continuation of Bush's policies (44%) or a new direction (45%). Most Democrats (66%) remain convinced that McCain would follow in Bush's footsteps, but Republicans increasingly believe McCain will chart a new course (69% compared with 53% in March). Pew Research. | |
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| 8:53 PM: | Obama Voters Protest His Switch on Telecom Immunity. Thousands of Barack Obama’s backers are using the online organizing tools his campaign created to protest his recent support for expanding government surveillance powers. NYT. | |
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| 8:45 PM: | The Political Futures. On Intrade, Obama has a 64.6% chance of winning the presidential election. Political Wire. | |
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| 8:01 PM: | Lieberman's Alito Vote Creates an Awkward Moment. Sen. John McCain says he's outraged that presidential rival Barack Obama opposed the Senate confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts. He seemed a lot less interested in criticizing close friend and ally Joe Lieberman for opposing Roberts as well. WSJ. | |
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| 7:56 PM: | Can Obama rescue Bush? If the Democrat wins the White House and does his job right, he just might make his predecessor look good. LA Times. | |
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| 7:50 PM: | The cracks are showing. America's tradition of bold national projects has dwindled. With the country's infrastructure crumbling, it is time to revive it. The Economist. | |
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| 7:04 PM: | McCain not fundraising down-ballot. John McCain has begun to raise eyebrows in Republican circles for his lack of fundraising help on behalf of his party's House and Senate campaign committees. The Hill. | |
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| 6:50 PM: | Judge finds Wal-Mart violated Minnesota labour laws. NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Minnesota judge has ruled that Wal-Mart Stores Inc violated state wage and hour laws, requiring employees to work off the clock, and the discount retailer could now face more than $2 billion in possible fines. Reuters. | |
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| 6:48 PM: | Haysbert: Prez role on '24' may have helped Obama. RENO, Nev. (AP) -- Dennis Haysbert likes to believe his portrayal as the first African-American U.S. president on Fox's "24" may have helped pave the way for Barack Obama. AP. | |
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| 5:08 PM: | Photo: McCain in Cartagena, Colombia. Colombian President Alvaro Uribe (R) speaks with US Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain (L) and his wife upon their arrival to a military base on July 1, 2008, in Cartagena, department of Bolivar, Colombia. Mccain is on a two-day visit to Colombia on talks about a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) prior to his trip to Mexico. AFP PHOTO/Mauricio Duenas AFP. | |
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| 4:53 PM: | Tracking Presidential nominee wealth with Google Earth. Jed Lewison from political blog JedReport has put together a great four and a half minute video showing off the various residences owned by political candidate John McCain. There are approximately nine properties in all shown in the video. Webware. | |
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| 4:52 PM: | Limbaugh Calls McCain 'The Team You Hate Less' Profile of radio titan Rush Limbaugh and his role in GOP politics fronts Sunday's New York Times magazine. On McCain: 'If your team isn't in it, you root for the team you hate less. That's McCain.' Mark Halperin. | |
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| 4:52 PM: | Obama Shifts on Welfare Reform. Barack Obama aligned himself with welfare reform on Monday, launching a television ad which touts the way the overhaul "slashed the rolls by 80 percent." ABC. | |
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| 4:51 PM: | McCain: Obama Should Cut Wesley Clark Loose. John McCain, taking questions from reporters aboard his Straight Talk Express: The Airplane Edition, said it was time for the campaign of Sen. Barack Obama to cut retired Gen. Wesley Clark loose. ABC. | |
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| 4:31 PM: | John McCain, prisoner of cash. McCain raised a mere $120 million to Obama's $287 million through May of this year. Slate. | |
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| 4:30 PM: | Gen. Clark won't back off critique of McCain. Retired Gen. Wesley Clark rejected suggestions he apologize Tuesday for saying John McCain's medal-winning military service does not qualify him for the White House. AP. | |
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| 4:14 PM: | Quayle: McCain faces struggle against Obama. Former Vice President Dan Quayle said Tuesday he respects Democrat Barack Obama "because he beat the Clintons" and fears Republican John McCain faces an "uphill battle" to defeat him in November's presidential election. USA Today. | |
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| 4:03 PM: | August 2008: Losing Like a Man. Why did Hillary Clinton lose? That's the question Gail Sheehy tackles in her August 2008 Vanity Fair story "Hillaryland at War." Here, the contributing editor describes how two factors persuaded Clinton to accentuate her manly side: the scars of her past, and the advice of her husband. Vanity Fair. | |
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| 4:02 PM: | Auto Sales Plummet in June. Major carmakers report plunges of 20% or more last month. Chrysler suffers 36% drop. SUV's especially hard-hit. Mark Halperin. | |
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| 3:40 PM: | Obama not running as movement. Obama, showing he intends to win, rejects the Dean example of campaigning as leader of a movement. Politico. | |
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| 3:39 PM: | Drill Now As The Conservative MoveOn? American Solutions, the 527 started by Newt Gingrich, posted a petition that called for increased drilling as a way of lowering gas prices. Will the group become a conservative MoveOn? CBS. | |
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| 3:35 PM: | Obama to Lay Out National Service Agenda. Barack Obama will lay out a comprehensive national service agenda in a speech at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs tomorrow, his campaign has announced. The agenda will "create new opportunities for Americans to serve and direct that service to our most pressing national challenges," the campaign said. The Hill. | |
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| 3:27 PM: | Photo: President Bush. US President George W. Bush speaks following a roundtable discussion on housing counseling at the Family Service Agency in North Little Rock, Arkansas, on July 1, 2008. AFP PHOTO/SAUL LOEB AFP. | |
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| 3:25 PM: | Sen. McCaskill: Iraq War to Blame for High Gas Prices. The Iraq war is to blame for high gas prices as its cost has weakened the dollar and driven oil speculation, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), a national co-chair of Barack Obama's presidential campaign, said today. The Hill. | |
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| 3:23 PM: | U.S. takes Mandela off terror watch lists. Former South African President Nelson Mandela is to be removed from U.S. terrorism watch lists under a bill President Bush signed Tuesday. CNN. | |
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| 3:21 PM: | Center for Governmental Studies Report on Petitioning via Computer. The Institute of Government Studies has released this report on how California could provide for petitioning via computer. The report specifically is concerned with qualifying initiatives with electronic signatures, instead of paper signatures. Ballot Access. | |
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| 3:19 PM: | McCain, Obama Head Overseas. The campaigns of John McCain and Barack Obama say the two presidential candidates are traveling abroad this summer. Their trips are extremely unusual. Since 1992, no candidate who is not a sitting president has traveled overseas during a campaign. NPR. | |
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| 3:18 PM: | Powell meets with McCain and Obama. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who remains a popular figure among Democrats and Republicans, recently sat down with both presidential candidates, CNN has confirmed. CNN. | |
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| 2:48 PM: | The real reason for Clark's ill-advised comments. Clark is politically tin-eared. And Clark was an Army infantry commander during the Vietnam War while McCain was a Navy aviator. As a rule, the grunts hated the flyboys. Slate. | |
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| 2:48 PM: | Voters in 2006 at a glance. About 48 percent of voting age citizens voted in the 2006 congressional elections, the highest percentage in a non-presidential year since 1994, according to a report by the Census Bureau. AP. | |
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| 2:47 PM: | A Recipe For A Landslide. Rich Lowry passes on some dire news for McCain: Voters who are undecided in their vote for President are unfavorable to President Bush by a greater than 2:1 margin; or 26% favorable to 60% unfavorable. Andrew Sullivan. | |
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| 2:46 PM: | Obama: Clark just 'somebody on a cable show' Barack Obama said Tuesday that he has not spoken with Gen. Wesley Clark regarding his controversial comments on John McCain's military service — and that a conversation with him is "not a priority" because he doesn't think the remarks are something voters are worried about. CNN. | |
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| 2:45 PM: | A Pro-Obama Spot On Christian Radio. A group called the Matthew 25 Network, which aims to corral Christian voters for Barack Obama,will run its first radio advertisement on Christian stations in Colorado Springs, CO -- where Obama heads tomorrow and where James Dobson's Focus on the Family is headquartered. Marc Ambinder. | |
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| 2:45 PM: | The Full Measure of Bush's Legacy. The Bush legacy is more far-reaching than has been acknowledged. NYT. | |
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| 12:24 PM: | What Bush hath wrought. The challenge facing Obama is clear: he must go beyond merely pointing out the folly of the Iraq war; he must demonstrate that Iraq represents the truest manifestation of an approach to national security that is fundamentally flawed. Boston Globe. | |
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| 12:23 PM: | Doctors' Lobby Targets GOP Senators Over Medicare Vote. The American Medical Association, the influential trade association for doctors, began running television ads Tuesday targeting 10 Republican senators who voted last week against a bill that would reverse a scheduled cut in Medicare's physician payments. CQ. | |
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| 12:22 PM: | It Was Bill, Not the 3AM Ads. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) won the Texas primary popular vote not because of her famous 3AM ads but because of Bill Clinton's campaigning, according to a Barack Obama strategist who spoke to Time's Karen Tumulty. The Hill. | |
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| 12:21 PM: | McCain Camp Seeks to Keep Focus on Gen. Clark's Comments. The McCain campaign's outrage continued today regarding recent comments made by retired Gen. Wesley Clark about the candidate's military experience. WSJ. | |
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| 12:21 PM: | Democrats in Congress mull new economic stimulus. Democrats in the U.S. Congress are gearing up to pass a second election-year economic stimulus package, but unlike the $152 billion measure that passed in February, they are not counting on getting the support of President George W. Bush. Reuters. | |
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| 12:08 PM: | Obama & Colin Powell Met Privately. Sen. Barack Obama and retired Gen. Colin Powell met privately two weeks ago in Powell's personal office in Alexandria. Natl Journal. | |
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| 12:07 PM: | Going to Denver? You Can Pay to Mingle. $10,000 will allow you access to a four-day conference at the posh Ritz-Carlton Hotel that will run concurrent with the Democratic convention. NYT. | |
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| 12:06 PM: | Obama works to mobilize 'Christian left' Democrats have usually conceded the evangelical vote during presidential elections, but Sen. Barack Obama is trying to change that by mobilizing what some call the "Christian left." CNN. | |
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| 11:03 AM: | McCain Warns of an Obama Court. While the two candidates disagreed with last week's Supreme Court decision on the death penalty, they diverged on their views of the court's composition. NYT. | |
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| 11:02 AM: | Bill Clinton, Obama have 'terrific conversation' Sen. Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton are expected to meet in the next few days, according to the chairman of Sen. Hillary Clinton's unsuccessful presidential bid. CNN. | |
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| 11:02 AM: | Military see presidential race through own lens. The desire to quickly get out of Iraq is balanced against the hope to see the country stabilized; respect for one candidate's storied military history is weighed against another's relative youth; concern about the war's drain on the U.S. Treasury is measured against the wish for expanded benefits for new veterans. AP. | |
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| 11:01 AM: | Obama camp slams McCain on trade. As presumptive Republican nominee McCain headed to Latin America today after an event in Indianapolis, the Obama camp hosted a conference call to criticize him for what it called failed trade policies. MSNBC. | |
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| 11:00 AM: | NRA Plans $40M Campaign Blitz. The NRA plans to spend about $40 million on this year"s presidential campaign, with $15 million of that devoted to portraying Barack Obama as a threat to the Second Amendment rights upheld last week by the Supreme Court. CBS. | |
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| 9:02 AM: | McCain camp yanks ads on anti-Obama sites. John McCain's campaign will stop advertising on several Web sites that have vilified Barack Obama as unpatriotic and, in one case, compared the Democratic nominee-in-waiting to Adolf Hitler. CNN. | |
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| 8:55 AM: | McCain camp yanks ads on anti-Obama sites. John McCain's campaign will stop advertising on several Web sites that have vilified Barack Obama as unpatriotic and, in one case, compared the Democratic nominee-in-waiting to Adolf Hitler. CNN. | |
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| 8:48 AM: | Does Obama's courting of evangelicals have an additional agenda? The Obama campaign seems to target moderate, downscale whites who aren't evangelicals themselves--and probably not even especially religious--but for whom Obama's rapport with white evangelicals might be reassuring, especially amid all the false rumors of his secret Muslim identity. The New Republic. | |
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| 8:42 AM: | Obama's Sister On The Campaign Trail. Barack Obama's Asian-American half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, represents yet another aspect of Obama's identity that makes him unique as a presidential candidate. CBS. | |
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| 8:42 AM: | McCain Web Ad Promotes Free Trade ahead of Colombia Trip. John McCain released a web ad today promoting his support for President Bush's Colombia free trade agreement ahead of his trip to Colombia, where he is expected to talk about the agreement. The Hill. | |
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| 8:42 AM: | Bush Donors Not Flocking to McCain. Boston Globe analysis finds 43% of Bush's top fundraisers donated to McCain so far. Even fewer have solicited and bundled donations from others for the candidate, as they did for Bush in ‘04. Mark Halperin. | |
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| 8:39 AM: | McCain May Unveil Veep to Limit Obama Bounce. The New York Times examines the timing of announcing running mates and notes that while Sen. John McCain has limited choices compared to Sen. Barack Obama, the August calendar also presents an opportunity for him. Political Wire. | |
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| 8:36 AM: | McCain praises Obama on High Court decision. When he addresses the National Sheriffs Association in Indianapolis this hour, Republican presidential contender John McCain will say his Democratic opponent came down on the correct side regarding one recent Supreme Court decision. USA Today. | |
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| 8:35 AM: | GOP VP Rumor Mill. In a surprise to many Republican insiders, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is at the top of the vice presidential prospect list for John McCain. Time. | |
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| 8:34 AM: | Crime on McCain agenda, while Obama focuses on religion. Sen. John McCain on Tuesday is expected to tell law enforcement officials that he'll make sure they have what they need to fight crime before he flies to Latin American for stops in Colombia and Mexico. CNN. | |
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| 8:32 AM: | Clark: Obama had no part in McCain comments. Ret. Army Gen. Wesley Clark said Democrat Barack Obama played no part in remarks he made about Republican John McCain's qualifications. USA Today. | |
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| 8:32 AM: | Obama beating McCain 2-1 in coverage. Obama is covered in the press twice as much as McCain. Politico. | |
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| 5:24 AM: | 'Anti-Obama' blogs back up; should conspiracists be feeling 'a little silly?' A "kerfuffle" over the blocking of some blogs by Google -- all of them "anti-Obama" -- seems to be mostly over. The blogs have been unblocked. USA Today. | |
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| 3:55 AM: | A New Campaign Charge: You Supported Clinton. Democratic incumbents with large African-American constituencies are trying to soothe resentments incited by their support for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. NYT. | |
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| 3:55 AM: | The Bush Effect. While 40% of John McCain's supporters disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president, only 15% say they are very concerned that, as president, McCain would pursue policies too similar to Bush's. Gallup. | |
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| 3:54 AM: | Obama and Bill Clinton Talk. Barack Obama discussed making a joint appearance in July with the former president and husband of his defeated rival. NYT. | |
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| 3:54 AM: | McCain Heads Today for Colombia, Where Adviser Has Long Had Ties. As John McCain seeks to highlight his support for free trade with Columbia, the role Charlie Black, a top adviser and former lobbyist who represented a Columbian oil interest, comes into focus. NYT. | |
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| 3:54 AM: | Obama Shifts on Welfare Reform. Barack Obama aligned himself with welfare reform on Monday, launching a television ad which touts the way the overhaul "slashed the rolls by 80 percent." ABC. | |
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| 3:54 AM: | Op-Ed Contributor: The South Will Fall Again. Barack Obama’s strategists are suggesting that he will be able to parlay increased turnout among black voters into a string of victories in the South. They are wrong. NYT. | |
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| 3:54 AM: | Important Supreme Court Decisions, 2007-2008. Here are summaries of the most important decisions from the court’s 2007-2008 term. NYT. | |
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| 3:54 AM: | Op-Ed Columnist: Obama’s Money Class. The real core of Barack Obama’s financial support are not just small donors but the rising class of information age analysts. NYT. | |
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| 3:54 AM: | Campaign Stops: Guns and Democrats. Why Barack Obama is more than happy to tiptoe around the Second Amendment. NYT. | |
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| 3:53 AM: | Obama and Bill Clinton end mutual silent treatment. Barack Obama and Bill Clinton ended their mutual silent treatment Monday, with the Democratic presidential candidate reaching out and asking his former Democratic nemesis to help him win the White House. AP. | |
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| 3:53 AM: | Obama disowns critique of McCain's military record. Obama rejected a retired general's suggestion that Republican John McCain's military experience didn't necessarily qualify him to be president, as GOP surrogates lined up to label the remarks indecent and disrespectful. AP. | |
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| 3:53 AM: | McCain to talk free trade in Latin America. John McCain has changed his mind about the president's tax cuts and drilling for oil off the U.S. coast, but the Republican presidential hopeful says his advocacy of free trade is unyielding. AP. | |
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| 3:52 AM: | Obama to expand Bush's faith-based programs. Reaching out to evangelical voters, Obama is announcing plans that would expand President Bush's program steering federal social service dollars to religious groups. AP. | |
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| 3:52 AM: | Political Perceptions: Obama's Emerging Iraq Problem. Given the changes that have unfolded on the ground in Iraq, Sen. Barack Obama's rhetoric, and his plan for dealing with the problem, now seem "outdated and out of touch, and the nominee-apparent may have a political problem." WSJ. | |
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