For months I watched Vanity Fair's Gail Sheehy taking notes and talking into her tape or digital recorder as she followed the Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton campaign. The result in the August Vanity Fair is "Hillaryland at War"
The top...
Hillary Clinton’s campaign had it all: near-death moments, hard-won triumphs, dysfunctional relationships—and a staff consumed with infighting over how to sell their candidate. It was a battle that revealed why she came so close to victory, as well as why she didn’t make it.
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: Monday, June 30, 2008 6:00 PM
Subject: MCCAIN POOL REPORT #3
McCain Pool Report #3
McCain spoke at length about his upcoming trip to Latin America, as well as
delving into energy and other issues during the Straight Talk Express ride.
When asked about why he was going to tout the virtues of free trade abroad at
a time when many Americans have grown increasingly skeptical of such agreements,
the senator said he had no intention of backing away from such a longstanding
commitment.
Washington Post Jonathan Weisman \ Monday, June 30, 2008 2:35 PM
Subject: Obama's Independence Day pool report
Norton Canfield, a gray-haired, bearded park ranger with a braided pony tail, took Sen. Obama on the tour of Harry Truman’s stately, turn-of-the-century white Victorian home, first telling him that Bess Truman had died there at the age of 97. Obama inquired what Bess’s family had done to acquire such a house, which though no McMansion, must have been impressive for the time. Canfield answered that her father had been a wheat miller. Who knew?
“Senator Obama had a terrific conversation with President Clinton and is honored to have his support in this campaign. He has always believed that Bill Clinton is one of this nation’s great leaders and most brilliant minds, and looks forward to seeing him on the campaign trail and receiving his counsel in the months to come,” said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.
Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama may be the most liberal senator by one group’s scorecard, and the Democratic Leadership Council may be a centrist organization trying to pull the Democratic party away from the left.
But with the smell of victory in the air, no one at the DLC convention in Chicago is quibbling with the presumptive nominee’s positions.
I just heard from Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt....regarding presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) not appearing before the Democratic Leadership Council, holding a big meeting in Chicago...Obama's absence has "absolutely" nothing to do with a DLC honcho being Clinton backer .B. Pritzker, said LaBolt. (see earlier blog)
WASHINGTON--A few minutes after the McCain conference call concluded--where Barack Obama was called on to reject comments made by retired Gen. Wesley Clark (see blog item below) questioning John McCain's war record and his qualifications to serve as president, this statement from the Obama campaign: "As he's said many times before, Senator Obama honors and respects Senator McCain's service, and of course he rejects yesterday's statement by General Clark," said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.
In a press conference in Harrisburg, Pa. McCain said those comments were unfortunate.
"For a young man of mixed race, without firm anchor in any particular community, without even a father’s steadying hand, it is this essential American idea – that we are not constrained by the accident of birth but can make of our lives what we will – that has defined my life, just as it has defined the life of so many other Americans."
...For those who have fought under the flag of this nation – for the young veterans I meet when I visit Walter Reed; for those like John McCain who have endured physical torment in service to our country – no further proof of such sacrifice is necessary. And let me also add that no one should ever devalue that service, especially for the sake of a political campaign, and that goes for supporters on both sides.
We must always express our profound gratitude for the service of our men and women in uniform. Period. Full stop."
Remarks of Senator Barack Obama
WASHINGTON—The McCain campaign on Monday is seizing on criticism retired Gen. Wesley Clark made about the qualifications of presumptive GOP nominee Sen. John McCain (R-Az.) to launch a “McCain truth squad” and to raise questions about the resume of rival Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and whether he stands for a new kind of politics.
On Sunday, during an appearence on CBS’s “Face The Nation,” Clark, appearing as an Obama surrogate, said of McCain’s military record. "I don't think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president.” He said that while McCain has been a force on the Senate Armed Services Committee “and he has traveled all over the world. But he hasn't held executive responsibility. That large squadron in the Navy that he commanded -- that wasn't a wartime squadron."
WASHINGTON--Ben Smith of Politico and my colleague, Abdon Pallasch of the Sun-Times both noted that presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) skipped even a drop by this weekend at the Democratic Leadership Council, meeting in Chicago. Smith opined that Obama did not put the centrist group with deep ties to Bill Clinton on his calendar because a DLC honcho is J.B. Pritzker. J.B. was a major national fund-raiser for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) campaign and the brother of Penny Pritzker, the Obama national finance chairman.
Let me add another conference in Chicago to keep watch on to see if Obama attends. Just a few miles from the Obama home, the annual Rainbow PUSH Coalition and Citizen Education Fund conference is running June 28-July 2. The conference will honor not the historic Obama bid but the 20th anniversary of the historic 1984 White House run of the Rainbow PUSHfounder, the Rev. Jesse L Jackson. The 1984 and 1998 Jackson presidential campaigns marked the first major African American run for president.
As for Obama--he keeps himself above the fray of Democratic faction politics by not appearing before the centrist DLC or the more left Rainbow PUSH crowd.
Michelle Obama sits down with Jill Lawrence of USA Today for a 27 minute interview. Obama tells Lawrence, "I don't want to be a distraction. I want to be a part of the solution."
My colleague Abdon Pallasch, the Sun-Times political reporter, kept an eye on presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on Sunday and filed a Chicago-style pool report....
Pool Report by Abdon Pallasch
Chicago Sun-Times
Sunday, June 29,
Day 2 of the Barack Obama protection pool
They said there was no public schedule today and that proved accurate -- No
news. We never got closer to Obama than about 30 feet as he got into or out of
his Chevy Suburban.
At about 9:30 a.m., Obama left his home in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood and
went for a workout at his friend’s Mike Signator’s building. He wore his black
White Sox cap; a gray T-shirt and black workout pants. He only stayed about 15
minutes. Press staff was unsure whether he worked out or just hung with his
friend.
From there, we drove to the Hyde Park Hair Salon, where he went in for his
usual trim just after 10 a.m.
Amy Chozick of the Wall Street Journal pulled "protective pool" duty in Chicago on Saturday afternoon and evening, picking up on the Obama beat after he flew home to Chicago from Washington, where he appeared before the National Association of Latino Elected Officials. Chozick takes us through Obama's afternoon and evening, and we learn that Obama, a member of the East Bank Club, also has a place to work out closer to home.
The Obamas dined at Spiaggia on North Michigan Avenue and Chozick, with an eye towards fashion, said that Michelle Obama "looks slammin’ in a black cocktail dress with a severe slit down the back. Her hair was up."
WASHINGTON--After requests from major news outlets and wire services, the Obama campaign has agreed to allow coverage for all movements of presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). Hat tip to my colleagues who have led this fight for access. This small pool at all events, called a "protective pool," is similar to one that that follows the president no matter where he goes. Here is the first protective pool report from the New York Times Jeff Zeleny about Obama's visit to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center here.
June 28, 2008
No news, no color.
The campaign's protective pool made its debut today. Your pool departed the
Capital Hilton at 6:50 am, arriving by 7 am at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, where
Senator Obama spent the night.
After holding outside for two hours, your pool drove to far Northwest
Washington. Mr. Obama arrived at the main building of Walter Reed Army Medical
Hospital at 9:20 am. He made no comments when he departed at 11 am.
Your pool followed the motorcade to the Renaissance hotel for NALEO, arriving at
11:15 am.
