(CNN)-The Florida Federation of Republican Women made the decision to boycott the Oprah Winfrey Show Saturday, after the media mogul refused to have Gov. Sarah Palin as a guest on her show until after the election wraps up.
"Women in Florida helped build Oprah into the icon she is today," Linda Ivell, President of the FFRW said in a statement. "We are deeply disappointed in Ms. Winfrey's decision to sit out the greatest political moment in the history of women since suffrage."
The talk show host denied accusations Friday, that she was even considering the vice presidential nominee as a guest.
"At the beginning of this presidential campaign when I decided that I was going to take my first public stance in support of a candidate, I made the decision not to use my show as a plat for any of the candidates," Winfrey wrote in a statement, responding to a story from The Drudge report claiming her staff was "sharply divided" on whether they should book the Alaska Governor.
Winfrey agreed Palin would be a "fantastic interview," but wouldn't invite her on until after the November elections.
The Florida Federation of Republican Women, the "largest political organization in Florida," celebrating the groups 58 year anniversary is also encouraging members to cancel subscriptions to O Magazine, Ivell said.
TERRE HAUTE, Indiana (CNN) – Since leaving their convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, John McCain and Sarah Palin have tried to cast themselves as mavericks, Washington outsiders, the real agents of change.
Barack Obama isn’t buying it and wants the label for himself.
“Everywhere I go we’ve been talking about change, that’s been the theme of this campaign,” Obama told supporters in a show barn in Indiana. “And we must be on to something, because I notice now everyone’s talking about change now.”
Watch: Obama jokes he's never been to Alaska
“Suddenly [McCain’s] the change agent!” Obama laughed. “He says, “I’m going to tell those lobbyists that their days of running Washington are over.” Who’s he going to tell? Is he going to tell his campaign chairman who’s one of the biggest corporate lobbyists in Washington? Is he going to tell his campaign manager who was one of the biggest corporate lobbyists in Washington? Is he going to tell all the folks who are running his campaign who are the biggest corporate lobbyists in Washington?”
“Who is it that he’s going to tell that change is coming?” he added, “I mean come on, they must think you’re stupid!”
Obama said Thursday that he’ll focus on McCain because he’s running against McCain and not his running mate Sarah Palin. But Saturday Obama singled out Palin for the first time for flip-flopping on earmarks while governor of Alaska.
“She is a skillful politician,” said Obama, “but when you’ve been taking all these earmarks when it is convenient and then suddenly you’re the champion anti-earmark person, that is not change, come on. I mean, words mean something. You can’t just make stuff up. You can’t just make stuff up.”
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (CNN) – Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin attacked her Democratic counterpart for the first time on Saturday, accusing Sen. Joe Biden of being a creature of Capitol Hill incapable of transforming Washington.
“You know, the choices that presidential nominees make for running mate they say a lot about them,” Palin told an audience of 12,000 flag-waving Republicans who had gathered in a jet hangar here.
Watch: Palin says Biden isn't an agent of change
“When our opponent made his choice, he went for a fine man,” she said. “A decent man. Sen. Biden can claim many chairmanships across many, many years in Washington, and certainly many friends in the Washington establishment. But even those admirers would not be able to call him an agent of change.”
Meanwhile, she said, “Sen. McCain has called the two of us a team of mavericks. John McCain knows that we’ve done some shaking up in Alaska.”
Palin ventured briefly into the world of economic policy during her remarks, calling for reform at mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which are now facing the prospect of a government bailout. Palin has largely avoided policy discussions on the campaign trail thus far, instead focusing on her own biography and emphasizing her reformer credentials.
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO (CNN)–Republicans kicked off a McCain/Palin rally in Colorado Springs with veterans handing out American flags they say were discarded after the Democratic National Convention in Denver.
Tom Kise –a spokesman for the McCain campaign in Colorado said a worker at Invesco field who wants to remain anonymous dropped off the flags to the McCain campaign this past week. He says there were 84 bags that amounted to roughly 12 thousand flags.
As thousands in the crowd waved flags, Senator McCain noticed them – saying “those flags look great” - but did not make direct mention of the flap.
Damon Jones, a spokesman for the Democratic Convention tells CNN “the story is false.”
He says the flags were bundled together, placed in bags and intended to be distrubited at Invesco. Jones says they “were removed without authorization”.
Updated with DNC response
In response to the accusations, DNC spokeswoman Karren Finney released the following statement:
"American flags were proudly waved by the 75,000 people who joined Barack Obama at the Democratic Convention. John McCain should applaud that, but instead his supporters wrongfully took leftover bundles of our flags from the stadium to play a cheap political stunt calling into question our patriotism. On the same day he agrees to join Barack Obama at Ground Zero on September 11, John McCain attacks the patriotism of Obama supporters who so proudly waved the American flag at our historic event in Denver just days ago."
(CNN)– What does a campaign do when its new vice presidential candidate brings unprecedented energy to their candidate's crowds? They keep her with him longer.
A McCain campaign aide tells CNN the Alaska Governor will stay on the trail with McCain through early next week, instead of campaigning solo.
The McCain-Palin ticket is expected in Missouri Monday, and likely Ohio and Pennsylvania through Tuesday and maybe early Wednesday.
Campaign aides made it clear, the decision to keep Palin on the trail with the Republican nominee longer, also gives the campaign additional time hammer out details as to where and how to best deploy Palin when she does campaign on her own.
Plans were originally underway to send Palin to Florida solo early next week. Then that was scrapped and aides started working on a meet and greet event in the Philadelphia area Monday, with potential for a fundraising component. But those plans for Palins have now been abandoned as well.
Palin is expected to travel back to Alaska mid week through at least Friday, before her son, Track, who is enlisted in the Army is deployed to Iraq. In her convention address, Palin announced he's going on September 11.
(CNN)—The party attacks will be set aside Thursday, as Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain plan to make a joint visit to Ground Zero in honor of the seventh anniversary of the September 11th attacks.
“All of us came together on 9/11 – not as Democrats or Republicans – but as Americans. In smoke-filled corridors and on the steps of the Capitol; at blood banks and at vigils – we were united as one American family," Obama and McCain said in a joint statement Saturday. "On Thursday, we will put aside politics and come together to renew that unity, to honor the memory of each and every American who died, and to grieve with the families and friends who lost loved ones. We will also give thanks for the firefighters, police, and emergency responders who set a heroic example of selfless service, and for the men and women who serve today in defense of the freedom and security that came under attack in New York City, at the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania."
The campaigns said Saturday, more details will be announced soon
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (CNN) - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin bolstered her fiscal-conservative credentials early in her term by putting her predecessor's state jet up for auction online.
"That luxury jet was over the top," she told Republican National Convention delegates when she accepted the party's vice presidential nomination Wednesday night. "I put it on eBay."
Since Palin was chosen as Arizona Sen. John McCain's running mate last week, the story has become a cornerstone of the Republican effort to paint Palin as a reformer who took on her own party establishment.
"How many saw her speech a couple of nights ago? Wasn't it fabulous?" McCain said Friday during a campaign stop in Cedarburg, Wisconsin. "You know what I enjoyed the most? She took the luxury jet that was purchased by her predecessor and sold it on eBay - and made a profit."
But it turns out the twin-engine Westwind II was a tough sell on the Web - and the state eventually pulled it offline and sold it through an ordinary brick-and-mortar brokerage, for a loss, a spokeswoman said Friday.
"Governor Palin has been correct in saying that she put the plane on eBay," McCain campaign spokeswoman Maria Comella told CNN. "They did end up selling it for $2.1 million. But not on eBay."
Palin's predecessor, Frank Murkowski, bought the jet for $2.7 million in 2005. The following year, Palin unseated Murkowski in the state's Republican primary and became governor: Upon taking office, she wanted to unload what former aide Meg Stapleton called "a symbol of corruption."
Stapleton told CNN that Murkowski paid too much for the jet, and that it was costing taxpayers money just sitting in the hangar.
"Eventually you had to concede and say, 'How often are we going to pay these bills and waste more state dollars?' " she said.
When putting it on eBay failed, aircraft broker Rob Heckmann was called in to sell the jet. Businessman Larry Reynolds bought the five-passenger jet for sold for $2.1 million. And Reynolds is now seeking another $50,000 from the state for unexpected maintenance issues with the aircraft.
–CNN's Sara Lane contributed to this report
WILMINGTON, Delaware (CNN) - Joe Biden may be a vice presidential nominee during the week, but on Saturdays he's still trying to keep his old schedule.
After a week of criss-crossing the country, Biden returned home to Wilmington Friday evening in time to teach his law school class the next morning. Since 1991, the senator has taught "Current Topics in Constitutional Law" to a small seminar of students at Widener School of Law in Wilmington.
This is the only class the Democratic running mate has been able to helm so far this year. The first class was scheduled for the day after Barack Obama tapped Biden for his vp pick.
A spokesman for the university says he expects this to be Biden's last time teaching this semester.
The popular course is capped at 18 students, and there is a waiting list to register.
Teen pregnancy and sex education were thrust into the spotlight this week when Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin revealed that her 17-year-old daughter is five months pregnant.
Palin's running mate, John McCain, and the GOP platform say children should be taught that abstinence until marriage is the only safe way to avoid pregnancy and disease. Palin's position is less clear.
In a widely quoted 2006 survey she answered during her gubernatorial campaign, Palin said she supported abstinence-until-marriage programs. But weeks later, she proclaimed herself "pro-contraception" and said condoms ought to be discussed in schools alongside abstinence.
"I'm pro-contraception, and I think kids who may not hear about it at home should hear about it in other avenues," she said during a debate in Juneau.
Such statements could raise concerns among social conservatives who have been some of Palin's most enthusiastic supporters since she was tapped for the No. 2 spot on the GOP ticket last week.
Leslee Unruh, president of the National Abstinence Clearinghouse and campaign manager of the Vote Yes for Life effort, said children must be given a "clear and concise" message on the benefits of abstinence.
Asked about Palin's statement, Unruh said, "I don't think it's clear. It seems disjointed to me."
Jack Cafferty wasn't here Friday for the Cafferty File because of some tragic news.
His wife of 35 years, Carol, passed away unexpectedly this morning. Carol was everything to Jack. The dedication of his book reads, “for Carol, my wife, my life.”
Jack wrote about how she was the inspiration for him to get sober and straighten up his life: “In all the years that we’ve been married, she has always brought to the table her unshakable grounding in something a lot more real than being on television or being recognized in the corner drugstore. She has been my rock, having done a magnificent job of keeping me from getting full of helium and drifting off the surface of the earth… She was all the incentive I needed to make painful but transforming changes – to get sober and stop smoking. I knew that I’d lose her if I didn’t. She’s an amazing woman who simply wasn’t worth losing.”
One story Jack loves to tell is how he and Carol met – when he was a local news anchor in Kansas City. They started to meet regularly for a quick meal between his shows and became good friends. Whenever Jack had to leave, his exit line was “We’d better wrap this up. Got to get back to the station.” One night Carol finally asked, “What kind of a gas station do you work at? You’re always wearing a tie.”
Jack explained it was a television station. He loved the fact that she had no clue and couldn’t care less that he had been on air there every night for four years. He later described that as one of his life’s “twenty-four-carat moments” that made his heart soar. He said to himself then that he might marry her because “it can’t get any more honest and pure than that.”
To read more and contribute to the Cafferty File discussion click here
From CNN Politics
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