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Palin team stocked with Bush veterans

Jonathan Martin
With Sarah Palin facing unrelenting press scrutiny and enjoying off-the-charts excitement from voters, John McCain’s campaign is quickly moving to augment her staff and put in place an infrastructure that can address the unexpected wave of interest This team of aides and advisers is tasked with preparing Palin for media appearances, including her first on ABC later this week, her debate against Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden early next month, pushing back against near-daily accusations from liberal activists as well as inquiries from mainstream journalists. They are also offering the sort of support provided to any vice presidential pick. Since McCain made his pick in the final days before announcing it to the public — and since many aides were not told until the night before or morning of the rollout — the campaign has been forced to hire and hastily put in place a cadre of staff to deal with the unprecedented onslaught of questions from reporters, requests from Republicans and viral Internet attacks from the left. And McCain’s campaign is not done hiring staffers to respond to the Palin deluge. Even more will be brought on in the days ahead, say aides, to respond to the flood. This new team of aides and advisers brings years of experience in Republican politics, and includes many who worked for President Bush in the White House and on his two campaigns. They will bring a similarly aggressive mindset as campaign chief Steve Schmidt, also a veteran of the disciplined Bush-Cheney effort. In this, they’ll move to get off defense, a position Palin has been in since her unexpected announcement, and try to keep her on the offensive, using her to launch ever-more sharp attacks against Barack Obama and Biden—attacks that will present the challenge of responding without being labeled sexist. ...MORE

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Obama would rescue Main St. along with Wall St.

 Politico Staff
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) said Friday that he is not issuing a detailed plan for the financial markets "until I can fully review the details of the plan proposed by the Treasury and the Federal Reserve." But meeting reporters in Miami, he sketched four principles he said his plan would follow, including "an emergency economic plan for working families." Obama said this plan would "would help folks cope with rising gas and food prices, spark job creation through repair of our schools and roads, help states and cities avoid painful budget cuts and tax increases, help homeowners stay in their homes, and provide retooling assistance for America’s auto industry." Here are the four principles Obama outlined: "First, we cannot only have a plan for Wall Street. We must also help Main Street as well. ....MORE

Stalled Troopergate probe leaves many questions

 By MATT VOLZ and GENE JOHNSON, Associated Press Writers
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Until three weeks ago, only Alaskans and a few hard-core political junkies in the rest of the country cared about the obscure scandal known here as Troopergate. A legislative committee had ordered an investigation into whether Gov. Sarah Palin abused her power to settle a vendetta against her sister's ex-husband. She didn't seem too worried. Broadly popular, she adopted a bring-it-on attitude, saying: "Hold me accountable. ... I don't have anything to hide." But the bravado regarding allegations that she dismissed the state's top law enforcement official when he wouldn't fire Palin's former brother-in-law from his state trooper's job disappeared on Aug. 29. Suddenly, Palin was the Republican vice-presidential nominee. Suddenly, aided by McCain campaign operatives, she began stonewalling. Over the next several weeks, Palin and her team withheld the investigation's most important witnesses — herself, her husband Todd, and a host of key administration aides. Palin also continued to withhold potentially key evidence — the contents of a plethora of e-mails among the governor, her husband and key state government officials. Although the Legislature's investigator still plans to issue a report in October, the probe is effectively killed until January, when Sarah Palin will either be vice president or return to the governor's mansion in Juneau. At that point, the investigation would revert to being mostly the concern of Alaskans and political junkies, if it matters at all. In the meantime, questions that could settle the dispute will go unanswered. ...MORE

Suicide bomb guts Pakistan Marriott hotel; 40 dead

 By STEPHEN GRAHAM and NAHAL TOOSI, Associated Press Writers
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A massive suicide truck bomb gutted the heavily guarded Marriott Hotel in Pakistan's capital Saturday, killing at least 40 people and wounding hundreds. Dozens more were feared dead inside the building that was still burning hours after the attack. The targeting of the American hotel chain appeared to be one of the largest terrorist attacks ever in Pakistan and came at a time of growing anger in Pakistan over a wave of cross-border strikes on militant bases by U.S. forces in Afghanistan. ...MORE

New era looms after ANC tells Mbeki to stand down
VIDEO NEWS
ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
---- WEEKLY HEADLINE NEWS -- --SEPTEMBER 18, 2008 -----Obama mocks McCain's call to fire SEC chairman -- By TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent - ESPANOLA, N.M. - Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama promised new ideas Thursday to calm America's financial meltdown and help struggling families avoid mortgage foreclosure, saying that "this is not a time for fear, it's not a time for panic." Obama also heaped criticism and sarcasm on Republican rival John McCain and mocked his promise to fire the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission if elected president. "I think that's all fine and good but here's what I think," Obama said. "In the next 47 days you can fire the whole trickle-down, on-your-own, look-the-other way crowd in Washington who has led us down this disastrous path. "Don't just get rid of one guy. Get rid of this administration," he said. "Get rid of this philosophy. Get rid of the do-nothing approach to our economic problem and put somebody in there who's going to fight for you." Obama came up with yet another way to poke fun at McCain for his comment Monday that the fundamentals of the economy were strong. "This comment was so out of touch that even George Bush's White House couldn't agree with it when they were asked about it. They had to distance themselves from John McCain." President Bush has used the same language many times but his press secretary would not repeat the line Wednesday in the face of historic financial turbulence. With the economy rocketing to the front of the campaign agenda, Obama said he would unveil new proposals Friday in Florida. Senior members of his economic team were flying to Miami to meet with Obama before his announcement. He said the ideas grew out of talks with former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker and others. Obama had been discussing various proposals with economic advisers in conference calls and individual calls this week, aides said. Obama's stop in northern New Mexico's Rio Arriba County was aimed at energizing the Hispanic vote, which is crucial for his hopes of carrying this state. New Mexico voted for George Bush in 2004 but Democrat John Kerry got 65 percent of the vote in Rio Arriba. The county is about 73 percent Hispanic and 12 percent Native American, according to the 2000 Census. --------- Jobless numbers overwhelm Florida state unemployment system By Sara Kennedy | Bradenton Herald With Florida's unemployment rate the highest it's been in 13 years, the sheer volume of people using the unemployment compensation system has led to slowdowns. Vladimir Volynsky, 59, of Parrish, a personal banker/ teller who was laid off from First Priority Bank Jan. 31, says he could not get through to the state Agency for Workforce Innovation in Tallahassee, which handles worker's compensation matters. He was trying to certify his claim as he is required to do periodically. It took him almost all day Tuesday to accomplish it on the state's Internet Web site, www.fluidnow.com. He also tried the agency phone number (800) 204-2418 but got a busy signal each time or heard a message saying the call could not go through. State officials say they have instituted a number of fixes, such as more phone lines and computer servers to speed things up. "With increased demands, we have been pro-active in enhancing our systems to ensure the best service for our customers," said Robby Cunningham, the agency's communications director.----------- SEPTEMBER 17, 20008 --- ---- GOP group behind negative Obama poll --- By Ben Smith - A Republican group is taking responsibility for a poll that has roiled the Jewish community by asking sharply negative questions about Senator Barack Obama. The Republican Jewish Coalition, which is launching a campaign against Obama on behalf of Senator John McCain, sponsored the poll to "understand why Barack Obama continues to have a problem among Jewish voters," the group's executive director, Matt Brooks, told Politico. The poll asked voters their response to negative statements about Obama, including reported praise for him from a leader of the Palestinian terror group Hamas and a friendship early in his career with a pro-Palestinian university professor. Some Jewish Democrats who received the poll – including a New Republic writer who lives in Michigan – were outraged by the poll, describing it in interviews as "ugly" and disturbing. A group that supports Obama, the Jewish Council for Education and Research even staged a protest outside the Manhattan call center from which the calls originated Tuesday. "If the RJC is responsible for these calls, which are designed to frighten Jews and sow mistrust, they have forfeited their place at the Jewish table," said the co-executive director of the group, Mik Moore. "It is incumbent upon the McCain campaign to speak out forcefully against this and ongoing efforts by his supporters to scare Jews into supporting his candidacy." --- SEPTEMBER 6, 2008 --- Obama: McCain focused on biography over economy----- DURYEA, Pa. – Democrat Barack Obama called Republican rival John McCain's acceptance speech the final piece of an out-of-touch convention that focused on its nominee's biography instead of the struggles of the middle class. "If you watched the Republican National Convention over the last three days, you wouldn't know that we have the highest unemployment in five years because they didn't say a thing about what is going on with the middle class," Obama told workers at a specialty glass factory. "They spent a lot of time talking about John McCain's biography, which we all honor," the Illinois senator said. "They talked about me a lot, in less than respectful terms. What they didn't talk about is you and what you're seeing in your lives and what you're going through, or what your friends or your neighbors are going through." Obama pointed out that the nation's unemployment rate zoomed to a five-year high of 6.1 percent in August, according to a government jobs report issued Friday. ------- By STEPHEN GRAHAM, Associated Press Writer --- Bhutto widower elected Pakistani president---- ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – The widower of slain former leader Benazir Bhutto will succeed Pervez Musharraf as president of Pakistan after winning a landslide election victory Saturday. Unofficial results announced after separate votes in the federal and provincial assemblies showed Asif Ali Zardari winning an overwhelming majority. Pro-Zardari lawmakers, some in tears, shouted "Long live Bhutto!" as the figures came in. The couple's two jubilant but tearful daughters, one carrying a portrait of their late mother, smiled and hugged friends in the gallery of the National Assembly. But Saturday also brought a brutal reminder of the threats to the nuclear-armed nation's stability, when a suicide car bomber killed at least 13 people and wounded dozens near the northwestern city of Peshawar. ...... By JEFFREY COLLINS and KEVIN MAURER, Associated Press Writer --- Hanna blows onshore near North-South Carolina line ---- MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Tropical Storm Hanna sailed easily over the beaches of Carolinas' coast early Saturday, blowing hard and dumping rain but apparently causing little damage at the start of its speedy run north to New England. Emergency officials were already looking past Hanna to powerful Hurricane Ike, several hundred miles out in the Atlantic. With Category 3 winds of near 115 mph, Ike could approach southern Florida by Monday, as Hanna spins away from Canada over the North Atlantic....... --------SEPTEMBER 3 2008 -----ST. PAUL (Reuters) - Sarah Palin touted her small-town roots and swiped at Democrat Barack Obama during a highly anticipated speech to the Republican convention on Wednesday, ridiculing her critics as "the Washington elite" who did not understand everyday life in America. In her public debut in the spotlight, John McCain's choice for vice president portrayed herself as a Washington outsider and came out swinging against Obama and members of the news media who have raised questions about her qualifications.-----Obama Discusses Economy In Eastern Ohio By Associated Press NEW PHILADELPHIA -- Barack Obama took a swipe at Republicans on Wednesday while talking about jobs in eastern Ohio. The Democratic presidential nominee criticized the GOP for not discussing the economy Tuesday night at the Republican National Convention. "All these speakers came up. You did not hear a single word about the economy. Now think about it: Not once did people mention the hardships that folks are going through," Obama said at a Kent State University branch campus in New Philadelphia. "Not once did they mention what are we going to do about keeping jobs here in Ohio." Obama promised to cut taxes and raise the minimum wage. It was one of two stops scheduled in Ohio's Appalachian region.-----AUGUST 29 2008 ---- HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe on Friday handed the country's only Olympic medalist in Beijing a $100,000 cash reward for her performance at the games. Swimmer Kirsty Coventry smashed the world record to win gold in the women's 200 meters backstroke. She also captured three silver medals ----Obama delivers a superb acceptance speech at DNC convention in Denver ---- JUNEAU, Alaska - In two short years, Sarah Palin moved from small-town mayor with a taste for mooseburgers to the governor's office and now — making history — to John McCain's side as the first female running mate on a Republican presidential ticket. ---- ST. PAUL - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama begins airing an ad Saturday that responds to rival John McCain's selection of a running mate, carefully avoiding any direct criticism of Sarah Palin, the Alaska governor whom McCain chose for the GOP ticket. Obama's campaign promptly created the spot in advance of next week's Republican National Convention. The ad, called "No Change," sought to sustain the theme that Obama and Democrats worked to cultivate at their own convention this week — that McCain represents a continuation of the policies of an unpopular President Bush. ---- Gas prices up as Gustav threatens Gulf refineries NEW YORK - Retail gas prices swung higher Friday — the first increase in 43 days — as analysts warned that a direct hit on U.S. energy infrastructure by Hurricane Gustav could send pump prices hurtling toward $5 a gallon. ---- WEEKLY HEADLINE NEWS ---- AUGUST 19, 2008 --- NATO freezes Russian ties over Georgia By Mark John and Francois Murphy BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO agreed after U.S. pressure on Tuesday to freeze regular contacts with Russia until Moscow had withdrawn its troops from Georgia in line with a peace deal. The alliance also agreed to upgrade contacts with Tbilisi but stopped short of accelerating its efforts to join NATO, an ambition which had enraged Russia even before the two-week-old conflict over Georgia's breakaway South Ossetia region. "We have determined that we cannot continue with business as usual," the 26 NATO states said in a joint declaration issued after emergency talks in Brussels. ---- Russian soldiers take prisoners in Georgia port By BELA SZANDELSZKY, Associated Press Writer POTI, Georgia - Russian soldiers took about 20 Georgians in military uniform prisoner at a key Black Sea port in western Georgia on Tuesday, blindfolding them and holding them at gunpoint, and commandeered American Humvees awaiting shipment back to the United States. ---- Taliban kill 10 French troops, raid US base By AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Writer SUROBI, Afghanistan - Insurgents ambushed a group of elite French soldiers as they climbed a mountain pass, killing 10 troops in a militant ---- Fire breaks out in Egypt's parliament CAIRO, Egypt - Fire ravaged a 19th century palace used by the upper house of Egypt's parliament Tuesday, with flames bursting through windows as helicopters scooped water from the Nile River to douse the blaze. ---- WEEKLY HEADLINE NEWS ---- AUGUST 8, 2008 ---China strides onto Olympic stage --- BEIJING (Reuters) - American swimmer Michael Phelps became the most successful Olympian of all time by winning two more Beijing gold medals on Wednesday to take his career tally to an unprecedented 11 victories. The mighty Phelps overtook an elite group including Mark Spitz and Carl Lewis who had won nine golds by breaking his own world record in the men's 200 meters butterfly. BEIJING - Once-reclusive China commandeered the world stage Friday, celebrating its first-time role as Olympic host with a stunning display of pyrotechnics and pageantry — topped by the unworldly sight of a flying gymnast, traversing the heights of the stadium to light the flame and begin the Summer Games. ..... WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards has admitted to having had an extramarital affair with a woman he met in a New York City bar in 2006, ABC News reported on Friday ..... Shiite militia to become religious, cultural body --- BAGHDAD - Anti-U.S. Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr ordered most of his militiamen Friday to lay down their arms, and his spokesman said the young cleric might call off all resistance if the Americans accept a timetable to leave Iraq. In the north, a car bomb exploded Friday evening in a crowded market in the city of Tal Afar, killing at least 21 people and wounding 72, police said. Tensions have been rising among ethnic groups throughout the north because of a dispute over control of the oil-rich area around Kirkuk — claimed by Arabs, Turkomen and Kurds ..... WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney, a conservative favorite , will join President Bush in addressing delegates on the opening night of the Republican National Convention, the White House said Friday. ..... NBA champion Celtics to open season against Cavaliers --- NEW YORK (AFP) - American Greg Oden's debut and the Boston Celtics banner raising ceremony will highlight the opening day of the 2008-09 National Basketball Association season, the league announced Wednesday .... Clinton says she wants Obama to win White House --- LAS VEGAS - Hillary Rodham Clinton told an exuberant crowd Friday she wants Barack Obama to win the White House, even though he dashed her own presidential dreams — and she wants her supporters to vote that way, too "Anyone who voted for me or caucused for me has so much more in common with Sen. Obama than Sen. McCain," Clinton told her cheering audience in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson. "Remember who we were fighting for in my campaign." ..... WEEKLY HEADLINE NEWS AUGUST 8 2008 ......COLUMBUS, OHIO .....----McCain campaign to return 50K in donations -- AP - John McCain's campaign said Thursday it is returning $50,000 in contributions solicited by a foreign citizen. The move follows the disclosure that the money was being raised by a Jordanian man who is a business partner of prominent Florida Republican Harry Sargeant III, who has collected hundreds of thousands of dollars for McCain .... CHICAGO - Party officials say former President Clinton will deliver a speech on the third night of the Democratic National Convention before an address by the as-yet-to-be-named running mate for Barack Obama. .... BEIJING (Reuters) - President George W. Bush wasted no time on Friday raising the touchy issues of religious freedom and free speech in China, hours before he was to attend the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics. .... White supremacists hope Obama win prompts backlash -- AP - They're not exactly rooting for Barack Obama, but prominent white supremacists anticipate a boost to their cause if he becomes the first black president. His election, they say, would trigger a backlash — whites rising up, a revolution of sorts — that they think is long overdue. .... One of the Democratic Party's leading electoral street fighters, New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, said that Barack Obama should respond to John McCain's personal attacks with an equally personal slap. ..... McCain campaign to return money raised by foreign national -- John McCain's campaign is returning about $50,000 raised by a Jordanian man, some of which came from individuals who were not even supporters of the GOP nominee. ..... MIAMI - A man who authorities said was keeping weapons and military-style gear in his hotel room and car appeared in court Thursday on charges he threatened to assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Raymond Hunter Geisel, 22, was arrested by the Secret Service on Saturday in Miami and was ordered held at Miami's downtown detention center without bail Thursday by a federal magistrate. ..... TBILISI, Georgia - Government troops launched a major military offensive Friday to regain control over the breakaway province of South Ossetia and the president accused Russia, which has close ties to the separatists, of bombing Georgian territory. .... BAGHDAD - Iraq and the U.S. are near an agreement on all American combat troops leaving Iraq by October 2010, with the last soldiers out three years after that, two Iraqi officials told The Associated Press on Thursday. U.S. officials, however, insisted no dates had been agreed---WEEKLY HEADLINE NEWS----U.S. athletes wear face masks - - Aug 5 - As athletes from all over the world arrive in Beijing ahead of the start of the Olympics some members of the U.S. cycling team arrive wearing anti-pollution masks. A U.S. team official said members of the cycling squad were wearing the respiratory masks but declined further comment. .... Obama shifts on energy issues - - Aug 4 - Barack Obama proposed tapping the strategic oil reserves to help lower gas prices, a reversal of a stance he made just weeks ago. The emergency reserve created in the 1970s holds about 700 million barrels of crude stored in Texas and Louisiana. .... Morgan Freeman injured in accident - - Oscar Winner Morgan Freeman is critically ill in hospital after the car he was driving overturned several times. Morgan Freeman was born in Memphis but spent much of his childhood in Mississippi and has opened a music club in the state. .... Bush faces S. Korea balancing act - - President Bush faces a balancing act as he heads to South Korea to press on a North Korea nuclear deal while sidestepping other issues. The six-party nuclear talks have been complicated by South Korea's anger at the North for the death of a tourist who apparently walked into a restricted zone. .... Bush arrives in Seoul, anti-U.S. protest fizzles. SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush arrived in South Korea on Tuesday for talks focused on communist North Korea and was greeted by a minor protest aimed mostly at his host instead of a big anti-U.S. rally that had been expected. ...... Olsen seeks immunity for Ledger questioning: source Mary-Kate Olsen will not speak to federal investigators about actor Heath Ledger's death unless she is granted immunity from prosecution, a law enforcement source told Reuters on Monday. ......
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