QUOTE
Game On!
http://weeklyreader.com/election/storyarchive/6_9_08.asp
excerpt:
Let the fight for the U.S. presidency begin! Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama have been sizing each other up and pointing out each other’s weaknesses for weeks. Now that Obama has claimed the Democratic nomination, the gloves are coming off.
McCain’s campaign staff argues on Web sites that Obama’s policies will raise taxes. Obama tells reporters that voting for McCain would mean no end to the war in Iraq. Both campaigns have long lists of reasons that their candidate is best. They also have a few new ideas for bringing the candidates into the ring together. McCain tossed out this idea: He challenged Obama to go head-to-head with him at weekly “town hall” meetings in cities around the country. Obama didn’t immediately accept the offer. The Illinois senator is a charismatic speaker, so the meetings could backfire on McCain. However, McCain, a four-term senator from Arizona, has more political experience and that could shine through in a candidate face-off.
We’ve already witnessed a wild and crazy presidential primary season. McCain cinched the Republican nomination in March, but the race for the Democratic nomination went down to the wire. It was so close that it took all 56 Democratic primaries and caucuses before one candidate, Barack Obama, could claim victory on June 3. Even that didn’t end the Democratic competition. Hillary Clinton, Obama’s top Democratic rival, waited four more days before formally acknowledging his victory.
Clinton may be out of the race, but her name is still on everyone’s lips as the presidential candidates face their next big challenge: picking their vice presidential runningmates. Clinton told her supporters that she would be “open” to the idea of being Obama’s runningmate, though he hasn’t asked her to fill that role. They could make a powerful team. Obama has reason to be especially nice to Clinton right now, too. Some of her supporters were so upset when she didn’t win the nomination that they said they would switch sides and vote for McCain—who has vastly different beliefs about how to run the country compared to Obama and Clinton. When Clinton bowed out of the race on June 7, she promised to do all she could to help Obama win the November 4 presidential election. However, she wasn’t entirely supportive. She still suggested that she was the better candidate for president. She also suspended her campaign rather than ending it and said she would hold on to her 1,919 delegate votes. (Delegate votes accumulated from the primaries and caucuses and the votes of superdelegates, party leaders who can pick whomever they wish, will officially decide the party’s nominee at the national convention in August.) However, keeping those delegates won’t do Clinton much good unless Obama suddenly loses a lot of support.
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http://weeklyreader.com/election/storyarchive/6_9_08.asp
excerpt:
Let the fight for the U.S. presidency begin! Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama have been sizing each other up and pointing out each other’s weaknesses for weeks. Now that Obama has claimed the Democratic nomination, the gloves are coming off.
McCain’s campaign staff argues on Web sites that Obama’s policies will raise taxes. Obama tells reporters that voting for McCain would mean no end to the war in Iraq. Both campaigns have long lists of reasons that their candidate is best. They also have a few new ideas for bringing the candidates into the ring together. McCain tossed out this idea: He challenged Obama to go head-to-head with him at weekly “town hall” meetings in cities around the country. Obama didn’t immediately accept the offer. The Illinois senator is a charismatic speaker, so the meetings could backfire on McCain. However, McCain, a four-term senator from Arizona, has more political experience and that could shine through in a candidate face-off.
We’ve already witnessed a wild and crazy presidential primary season. McCain cinched the Republican nomination in March, but the race for the Democratic nomination went down to the wire. It was so close that it took all 56 Democratic primaries and caucuses before one candidate, Barack Obama, could claim victory on June 3. Even that didn’t end the Democratic competition. Hillary Clinton, Obama’s top Democratic rival, waited four more days before formally acknowledging his victory.
Clinton may be out of the race, but her name is still on everyone’s lips as the presidential candidates face their next big challenge: picking their vice presidential runningmates. Clinton told her supporters that she would be “open” to the idea of being Obama’s runningmate, though he hasn’t asked her to fill that role. They could make a powerful team. Obama has reason to be especially nice to Clinton right now, too. Some of her supporters were so upset when she didn’t win the nomination that they said they would switch sides and vote for McCain—who has vastly different beliefs about how to run the country compared to Obama and Clinton. When Clinton bowed out of the race on June 7, she promised to do all she could to help Obama win the November 4 presidential election. However, she wasn’t entirely supportive. She still suggested that she was the better candidate for president. She also suspended her campaign rather than ending it and said she would hold on to her 1,919 delegate votes. (Delegate votes accumulated from the primaries and caucuses and the votes of superdelegates, party leaders who can pick whomever they wish, will officially decide the party’s nominee at the national convention in August.) However, keeping those delegates won’t do Clinton much good unless Obama suddenly loses a lot of support.
more...