Obama campaigned in the last 17-18 months is for his personal gain. He is still paid to do his job in the congress. Running for president does not give him immunity to earn his paycheck without work. Taking time to campaign during his work hour shouldn't be allowed. All candidates should be fired.

I'm an Obama supporter and I've decided that I'm not going to say anything else negative about McCain. No, I don't want John McCain to win, but he's still a decent guy.

I sit by a co-worker who met McCain. This coworker is a former Marine who really likes him, and I admire that. He wants John to win just as much as I want Barack to win. I don't think its right that we fight to the death. That's not a good way to show the world our democratic system.

So now I'm going to root for Barack, but not trash McCain. They're both Americans, and this will be a long campaign.

If McCain becomes president, I want someone to help him with his memory and the internet. If Barack becomes president I want someone to help him with diplomatic affairs.

But, just as Gore said when he conceded to George Bush, the world should understand this, we are ALL Americans who love our country.

Mr. Obama has made 10 flip-flops in 2 weeks ,so tell me who in their right minds would vote for this man. He is dangerous to this country. Biden needs his head read.
Obama on the stance of Iraq and Afganastan is way out of site and cause a third world war. Totally insaine.
sandipuma pumapac.org

PUMAs: the next neo-Naz|s. Your platform is based on hate, pure and simple. Forget racism. Forget bitterness over Hillary. You've graduated into something beyond that. Simple rabid hate. You have such venom for Obama and give in to every silly argument against him. It's become a petty & sullen knee-jerk reaction.

Even if I hadn't seen any racism (and I have), that still wouldn't change the fact that you have a lynch mob mentality, and you'll do anything to bring him down. The hate is so misdirected and unsubstantiated that you froth at the mouth if anyone even says a letter in his name.

Obama is not our "savior". He's not the best thing since sliced bread. He's simply the best candidate in my opinion, and villifying me for supporting him is taking away my freedom to choose. So much for America.

CNN, you never seem to post anything that I say with regards to these people, but please post this. I sure know they'd ban it from their hate-filled web sites in a minute for getting in the way of their propogation of propoganda, and you're allowing more PUMAs to post here than FOX is.

ANY WAY YOU LOOK AT IT, MC CAIN CLEARLY SPEAKING WONDERFULLY WELL POINTED OUT WHERE HE IS GOING RIGHT NOW//////

HILLARY CLINTON STILL CARRIES HER SUPPORTERS AND THE FUNDS AND MONEY THEY WILL BE CONTRIBUTING TO WHOMEVER THESE WOMEN WILL EVENTUALLY SUPPORT.
WILL OBAMA AND CAMP IGNORE 18 MILLION VOTES AND MONEY
FOR HIS CAMPAIGN?

Sen. Obama's website has just toned down its criticism of the Iraq surge. Soon enough Obama will be taking credit for it. Then his supporters will sing his praises. And will criticize anyone who tries to refute it.

Mitt Romney is a product of vanity. I bet at the republican convention they will have to take a time out so Mitt can check his tan and profile.
And of course the endless hair combing (etc: John Edwards). Now if John "I'm so vain" Edwards ain't VP why is Mitt " I'm even more vainer"
Romney. Answer to the billion dollar question - to try to out pretty Hilary.

SLOWLY, QUIETLY AMERICAN WOMEN VOTERS GROUPS WHO VOTED FOR HILLARY CLINTON IN THE PRIMARIES ARE ORGANIZING INTO A NATIONAL ORGANIZATION : THERE ARE AT LEAST A DOZEN WITH VARIOUS NAMES SUCH AS REAL DEMOCRATS FOR HILLARY CLINTON. THESE GROUPS ARE
READYING FOR THE DAY WHAN OBAMA ANNOUNCES HIS VP CHOICE. IF OBAMA CHOOSES A VP OTHER THAN HILLARY CLINTON. WE WILL SEE A SURGE OF ANTI-OBAMA CAMPAIGNING
WHICH WILL BE DECISIVE IN THE ELECTION OF THE NEXT PRESIDENT.

sen obama cant come to the senate at this time as he is busy trying to be appointed god of america. he will answer your letter after it has been written by someone else. he will say nothing whatsoever in this letter, but will appreciate your donations and support in November. thank you.

Why is a hearing needed for NATO especially when this is only a SUBcommittee?

now I hope all you Obama supporters are getting the CHANGE you want. Obama is no good.. WAKE UP AMERICA …we will be in a mess with this guy as President and his marxist wife, Michelle.

Okay, I'll say it, I voted for Bush twice. The fist time I was sure he'd make a good president. The second time I was worried about our security. So sue me, now I'm voting for Barack.

TO CLINTON HATERS: STOP ANNOYING "LISA" (A CLINTON SUPPORTER, BUT ALSO DREAMING A BIT), WE CLINTON SUPPORTERS HAD HALF THE COUNTRY IN OUR HANDS SO BETTER START THANKING US IF WE OUR GOING TO SUPPORT YOUR "INEXPERIENCED BABY OBAMA" OR YOUR "EXPIRING OLDMAN MCCAIN"

Give Sen. Obama a break. He has been campaigning for office.
As he has been six times in the past twelve years.

I'm sorry but anyone who voted for George Bush twice is an idiot. Defend him now, you can't.

In November just stay home, you shouldn't vote because your judgement is poor. Now, the country is in the toilet, thanks to you.

DeMint is an idiot—GW is his president, not Barack Obama. He probably voted for that moron twice, and he wants to talk to Obama?

Senator Joe Biden has found the perfect defense for Barack Obama, the supposed chair of the European Affairs Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, for Obama’s failure to hold a single hearing of a powerful subcommittee that has jurisdiction over NATO and our efforts against Osama and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

According to Biden, subcommittees don’t need to exist.

What?

Please help us from our own failed leaders.

Knoxville NFIL

PICK….PICK…PICK. Hasn't Obama always said that we are focusing too much on Iraq and not enough on Afghanistan ? Well now they want to make it seem like he is being forced to focus on it. Come on people, he is not yet the President. I am sure that when he is, he will be able to give it more attention. Until then, cooperate and give him the credit he deserves !!!!!!!

When does a sub-committee for anything take charge. The actual committe is the one that takes charge. So now this mess in Afghanistan is his fault. Even though he wasn't even a senator when this started. I think we as American citizens need to stop allowing them to do this too us and band together and demand things from our government. We pay their salaries and pensions and health care. We should be marching to our reps office and finding out what in the world is going on.

Let's help them to stop having these silly arguments by not continuing them for them.

Obama has been wrong on Iraq from the start! But, he built his campaign on his judgment on Iraq.

This is too funny! Squirm Barack - you can't wiggle out of this one! The arrogant novice keeps obfuscating but he is fooling fewer and fewer people!

This former Democrat is delighted with the multi-act and multi-faced Obama drama.

McCain 08, the only wise choice!

Maybe the Senator from S.C. should read his rules handbook. Biden calls those meetings idiot. Maybe you shoud be worried about McCain not showing up to vote on FISA and also not showing up to vote on Medicare. While your're at it senator, why don't you send over the 2 differences that McCain has with Bush to your governor of South Carolina (mark Sanford) so he won't look like a fool on national televsion.

Since such meetings are usually held in full committee; which is presided by Sen. Joe Biden, as his office rightly pointed out above, why should Sen. Obama waste tax payers' money by duplicating this effort, and holding a separate meeting at the subcommittee level?

The same people who always call Democrats "tax and Spend Liberals," pretend to be outraged because Obama is doing the right thing by following the lead of his committee's overall chairman, exercising fiscal responsibility by saving precious tax payer resources, and refusing to goof-off and arrogantly host a separate meeting at the sub-committee level, when such meetings have been regularly held at the full committee level.

Can you imagine what his critics would be saying now, if he had questioned the time honored tradition of holding such hearings at the full committee level (under the able Chairmanship of Sen. Biden), and decided to question Sen. Joe Biden's leadership by the very presumptious act of holding separate meetings? That deceitful Republican Sen. Jim DeMint and others in the right wing media; would gobbled him up for breakfast! We would have been inundated with endless criticisms about how arrogant barack Obama is, for acting like he either knows more than his senior senator (Joe biden), or can do a better job of holding meetings than Joe Biden, and the full committee can!

You know what Republicans? Get off our backs with all these useless tricks. Anericans are far more intelligent than you give us credit for. Barack Obama has done nothing wrong in not holding unnecessary duplicate meetings to discuss matters that have already been thoroughly discussed at the full committee level.

To Brandon Hillary PUMA for Mc Cain-Pa, reading your comment are you sure you have checked McCain record for those past years of senate votes toward any issue?

If Obama is empty gap above representing his past record, what would you call your PUMA for McCain?

You can please some of the people some of the time, and those who are just not ready for the truth and change non of the time……..

Fair is Fair, Hillary may have lost, but we can say she is a REAL True Democrat with facts not fiction.

I think McCain has Alzheimer's

This is all political posturing. Obama has been busy running for President so he can help America overcome our biggest problems. Republicans can be a joke. This guy as Jesse Jackson says, "Needs his nuts cut off."

Reinstate the draft and see how long this war continues

After seeing some of the illiterate or manufactured drivel that gets through CNN's moderators, I am reminded why I stopped visiting this website & chose to get my news elsewhere.

I'd love to see a news organization who can offer nothing more or less than facts. Unfortunately it seems as though most people (especially here) skip the stories that go with the headlines & choose to base their information on the commentary (but only if it congeals with what they already believe). I'm truly disappointed in a large percentage of the American population. I thought we were better than that.

America needs Obama now!

Obama doesn't do the leg work. He just makes speeches or preaches. He has virtually no experience, and he never went to seminary or sought ordination but that doesn't stop the great one!

He thinks he can just walk into the White House or a church on a wave of rock star adulation. Someone needs to tell him that his brand is getting very old and beyond belief!

The audacious, arrogant and obfuscating Obama can read and grab the ideas of others but he will never lead the USA as president.

He is a follower with a motto of use them and lose them.

Silly Senator Demint you actually expect to see some accountability out of Hussein Obama lol thats a futile challenge:

The empty gap above represents obama's record and empty talk.

So Joe Biden's defense of Barack Obama, the supposed chair of the European Affairs Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, failing to hold a single hearing in nearly two years is that subcommittees don't need to exist?

Help us from our own failed leaders.

Knoxville NFIL

Who even cares what Senator DeMint thinks? Another surrogate? Will the real republican candidate please step forward and speak for himself?

Oops, my bad, he's too old and out-of-touch with reality to do that.

Nightingale somethingrather get your head out of the sand or we may have to send you back to Czechoslovakia. Aggrrrhh too bad we can’t that country doesn't exist any more.

Thank you, Senator Biden.

DEMOCRATS UNITE!!!!

You'd think that he'd have taken advantage of the one responsibility he has to build up his resume. The above poster was right. "more hearings" is far fetched. 'One hearing' is more in tune.

However, should anyone be surprised by the 'present' voting senator?

Thank you Brian from Knoxville. First it was McCain bulling Obama to meet at the Town Halls, now these republican senators what to submit this letter to Obama to meet with them once he has returned from Iraq and Afghanistan. When did they realize that there was an urgent need for this letter and a meeting to discuss the issues that now needs to be address? Why now, just months before Bush is to exit the White House after seven+ LONG years?

How long have these senators held Senators seats and had these types of meeting with other democratic nominee‘s a couple of months before an Presidential election is to be held? Wouldn’t us the American people benefited a lot better if these senators would have been this persistent years ago with the present Republican Administration and President?

Will someone answer the questions from Brian from Knoxville …..Isn’t it true that Bush has not answered any recommendations the committee has sent him? Isn’t it true many people have said the Committee is worthless because it does not hold any power?

What if?…meeting within the last seven and a half years.

Just want to know

OBAMA BETTER TAKE HIS SPEECH WRITER. HE CANT TALK WITHOUT HAVING A PROGRAM IN FRONT OF HIM. HRC WONT BE THERE SO HE CAN COPY HER. O.B. IS AMERICA'S BIG JOKE. AMERICA DESERVES WHAT THEY GET.IF HE GETS ELECTED AND THIS WORLD FALLS ,WHO YOU GOING TO BLAME?( BUSH AND THE CLINTONS.) HILLARY STAY AWAY FROM O.B. LET HIM FALL ON HIS FACE ALONE. HIS FOLLOWERS AND HIM THINK HE IS THE MESSIAH. HE CANT DO NOTHING WRONG. GIVE ME A BREAK.

John McCain's true lover is napalm. Give him some and we will run for our lives.

Will Obama man up and take the invitation and prove all the 'republicans' wrong?

No, he'll call it a smoke screen or ignore it altogether and dodge anything resembling a debate until the national scheduled ones.

Remember this, if Obama can't write a speech or have his campaign answer a tough question, then he will dodge the situation until something more pressing takes attention away from it.

What a joke. The repukes sat on their hands for the last 7 years, and now all of a sudden he's anxious to work. What a friggin' joke. Just another sign of repub desperation.

Question; how many recommendations from Democratically chaired committees has president bush adhered to so far????

(answer: the same number, as the number of hearings Obama hasn't wasted his time having while running for president).

Obama has been to busy running for Pres. to worry about a little ' community meeting. maybe he would have learned something had they had the meetings and inquiries. But HE already knows it all so does not have to waste HIS time. He is not a hands on type he is a big hot air blabber-er with a book full of pipe dreams he is wishful thinking of getting done.

However, despite these successes, I am concerned our Subcommittee has not held any hearings on these issues over the last two years.

I love it. LOL!!!

Substance over Hype!! McCain '08!!!

Political posturing. just like bush lifting the ban on drilling.

Coordinated, political posturing, and doesn't accomplish a darned thing.

typical republican style; appear to be doing something, while doing absolutely nothing.

The failed Democratic Party leadership now has me thanking a Republican Senator for calling on Obama to do any of the things he has failed to do during his short time as a senator, you know, the things that Obama now is saying are so necessary to get done.

Well, where have you been for the last 18 months, Obama?

Thank you, Senator DeMint!

Obama, you're such a weasel.

Words, words, words, & Empty Promises

Knoxville, NFIL

Jim's just stating the obvious. Bush is not very popular here, yet alone in Europe and having a tough time recruiting more commitment from NATO.

Bush is a lame duck and DeMint knows it. Not much Obama can do until he is President and Jim is just playing games right now.

Joe Bidon heads that committee. please stop with the playground type bully tactics .McCain camp, America is ready to move on from cowboy interaction. Sorry cowboys…its just a saying.

Since this guy is the ranking member of the subcommitee couldn't he call a hearing or pushed for a hearing months ago if he was sooo concerned????? Why didn't he ask Obama to hold one months ago? Where was this guy then? Why now, it's too obvious this is another Republican ploy.

Nom Deplume et Nom De Chien!, Tell Bush and the republican to set a hearing why we are in Iraq, a country that did not attack us, does not have WMD and why Bin Laden is still out there?

Nice try. You've had your chances. Don't fall for the dirty Republican tactics Mr. Obama. I am so sick of the Republican's dirty work. Nice mess you have our country in.

Yeah, when your candidate is a confused old man who seems to be "sundowning" every time he opens his mouth, you need plenty of "surrogates"…

Rudy NYC July 15th, 2008 4:13 pm ET

Folks, this is not a military oriented committee. Military affairs are handled by the Pentagon. This committee is for trade and diplomacy, not military strategy.

This statement by DeMint is a smoke screen.

Thank you Rudy from NY, but unfortunately some people on this ticker are too blinded by hatred for Obama to realize that.

That should be interesting … who would writes Obamas speech oops thats right he would have to speak on his own.

Are they going to ask McCain to do the same?

"The presumptive Democratic nominee has been criticized by members of the Republican Party and former rival Senator Hillary Clinton for not holding more hearings on Afghanistan during his time at the helm of the subcommittee."

First MSDNC and now you at CNN can't report anything correctly when it comes down to the chosen one, "MORE HEARINGS" cnn, how about he hold ONE?

They gave him the spot to build up his brutally flimsy resume and what did he do while in CHARGE, absolutely NOTHING.

Mean Republicans and Hillary Clinton have a nerve speaking the truth about "the chosen one".

Republican Senator Jim who??? Never heard of the guy.

Jim Demitt is a clown. This is the same guy that said that gays shouldn't be allowed to be teachers. What an idiot……..

I really pity the person who thinks a bunch of senators holding a meeting would ever have any impact on a war or any other type of relations with a foreign nation.

Goodness, Demint, don't you know that Obama is handling everything and there is no need to have committee meetings? What could you possibly know that The Messiah hasn't already negotiated with our enemies about???

Joe Biden made it clear that he was the one that should and has held these meeting. The Deminted and McSame people need to get updated. This is old news that Biden has already clarified.

how can he have hearings when he has been campaining around the country for about 17 or 18 months now???? i just hope hes careful going to the middle east i dont trust those repugs one bit

Republicans want to continue the war in Iraq? So why would they say this about somebody who wants more troops in Afghanistan? And everybody remembers that Bill Clinton didn"t do anything to stop Osama Bin Laden.

This has nothing to do with military strategy by the way, But of course, all the right-wing nutjobs and PUMA idiots won't know that. (including the smoke-screen-and-mirror Senator DeMint). Beside that, Mr. Biden has already confirmed that he actually heads this committee and Senator Obama has been consulting with him regularly. So pony up or shut up to the uninformed who bought into this same crap the last two elections. We have you and your ignorance to thank for the current occupant of the oval office

Rudy NYC- this subcommittee has oversight of military operations in Afghanistan per the article.

I'm not terribly upset about Obama not holding any meetings in this instance because, as previously posted, nothing this subcommittee recommends is ever followed by the administration anyway.

However, I do think it's outrageous in general that campaigning officials neglect the duties they have to their own states for years.

Excellent letter to Obama! He has done nothing in the Senate except to vote "present" and run for President. It is about time he showed up and did some work. If a Republican headed a committee without any hearings whatsoever, you betcha the press would have a field day with criticism. But, of course, because Obama is the darling of the press, he gets by without one negative comment.

********************************************

EHEMM… SENATOR….I'M A LITTLE BUSY AT THE MOMENT THE ELECTIO AND EVERYTHING. IT DOESN'T MEAN I'M IGNORING THE PROBLEM BUT IN DUE TIME THIS WILL BE ADDRESSED. IF YOU VOTE FOR ME IT WOULD BE ADDRESSED SOONER.

ANY OTHER ISSUES REPUBLICANS WANT OBAMA TO DO? CAN'T YOU TELL HE'S NOT JUST LISTENING TO DEMOCRATES BUT TO WHINY REPUBLICANS ASWELL. NOW, WHERE CAN YOU FIND A BETTER CANDIDATE THAN THAT.

STOP THE MADNESS. VOTE OBAMA.

a hearing? No way. Facts come out at hearings. Can't have that in the middle of the Great Communicator's soliliquy.

Maybe Obama could just say that the subcommittee system is broken, and that NATO is broken, and that European Affairs are broken, and that we should change those things.

I should be an Obama speech writer.

Republican tactics. Go have your own hearings.

No committee meetings since announcement of presidential bid by Senator Obama on Afghanistan. Unbelievable. Judgment to lead?

apparently cnn missed the memo. Joe biden holds the meetings on nato and afghan as part of the foreign relations committee. Biden confirms this in his interview on meet the press. This has nothing to do with Obama.

OK, DANG, HE'S BUSY RIGHT NOW…SHEESSHHH! LMAO

Folks, this is not a military oriented committee. Military affairs are handled by the Pentagon. This committee is for trade and diplomacy, not military strategy.

This statement by DeMint is a smoke screen.

Oh my goodness, that letter is too funny. Did Karl Rove write that? It sounds like a bunch of republican talking points rolled into a letter. It doesn't show how much foreign policy experience McCain has when he keeps saying "I've been to Afghanistan many times" yet still denies that Afghanistan should be one of the focual points in the war on terror. He doesn't even want to focus attention on that region.

Didn't Biden mention that anything NATO related would come under the general Foreign Relations Committee on Meet the Press at one point? Didn't Obama get the chair of this committee rather late after the Congress reconviened? How is it that he expected to bring a committee hearing on this when the subject is only discussed in the full committee.

the funny thing is that this committee has never held any real power. GWB has gone against anything the committee has pushed for. Sometimes I wonder why my tax dollars pay for them to hold a meeeting to talk abotu things that noone is ever goign to follow up on. I thought NATO had power over the operations over there.

Too bad the letter does not state where this guy has been for the past 2 years. The group does not hold any clout over anything, in fact, isnt it true the US is not the CIC in the operation? Isnt it true NATO is in charge of it? Isnt it true that Bush has not answered any recommendations the committee has sent him? Isnt it true many people have said the Committee is worthless because it doe snto hold any power?

Obama is a wind bag. He tries his best to look good and cast meetings at historic sites to add to his glamour. But when you open the cover you see nothing there. They used to say in the old west, heap big smoke, but no fire.

As you know, Obama chairs the European Affairs Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. DeMint, of South Carolina is ranking member on that subcommittee, which has oversight of military operations in Afghanistan.

Seems that mouthy obama, the chair of the Afghanistan Committee in Congress frequently whines, but has never called a meeting. Where is Obama? He is AWOL as usual.

He mouths off often, but when it is time to put up, where is he? Out shoveling a few sand bags wearing gloves. What a girlie, man now that Jesse has seen through his mystic aura.

this sound like high scool now…