McCain seizes on Obama's 'tiny' comment
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/05/19/art.mccainsp.ap.jpg caption="McCain took a shot at Obama Monday."](CNN) - Campaigning in Barack Obama's hometown of Chicago on Monday, John McCain sought to impugn the Illinois senator’s judgment on national security by slamming Obama's statement that Iran poses a less serious threat to the United States than the Soviet Union did.
"Sen. Obama claimed that the threat Iran poses to our security is 'tiny' compared to the threat once posed by the former Soviet Union," McCain said at the beginning of his speech to the National Restaurant Association. "Obviously, Iran isn't a superpower and doesn't possess the military power the Soviet Union had. But that does not mean that the threat posed by Iran is insignificant."
McCain was referring to Obama’s comments on Sunday in Pendleton, Oregon, in which Obama asserted that his administration's foreign policy would allow for negotiations with hostile nations. (Related: McCain slams Obama for downplaying threat from Iran)
"Strong countries and strong Presidents talk to their adversaries," Obama remarked. "That's what Kennedy did with Khrushchev. That's what Reagan did with Gorbachev. That's what Nixon did with Mao. I mean, think about it: Iran, Cuba, Venezuela - these countries are tiny compared to the Soviet Union."
"They don't pose a serious threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us,” he said. “And yet we were willing to talk to the Soviet Union at the time when they were saying 'we're going to wipe you off the planet.' "
McCain, who regularly assails Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the stump, suggested in Chicago that Obama doesn’t understand the "basic realities of international relations" and that engaging Ahmadinejad diplomatically would only embolden him.
Democrats launch 'McCainPedia'
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/05/19/art.mccainpedia.cnn.jpg caption="The DNC launched an anti-McCain Web site Monday."](CNN) - The Democratic National Committee launched a new Web site Monday promising to be an online clearinghouse for opposition research on John McCain.
"McCainPedia" compiles DNC research on the presumptive Republican nominee under topics like "Economy," "Ethics" and "Security" and targets McCain's "empty rhetoric" on Iraq as well as his role in the Keating Five scandal of the early 1990s. Users are also invited to access DNC video from both YouTube and FlipperTV, the Democratic Party’s archive of campaign tracking video.
In launching the site, the DNC claims that anyone can research and share the material. Unlike Wikipedia, on which the site is modeled, edits can be made only by DNC staff - not members of the public.
“This allows us to fully validate all of the information that appears, ensuring accuracy and reliability,” the “About” section of the site says. Instead, the site is “run by the DNC’s Research, Communications, and Internet teams.”
McCain will again question Obama's judgment
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/2008/POLITICS/05/19/mccain.free.trade/art.mccain.gi.jpg caption=" Sen. John McCain will call Sen. Barack Obama's call for a renegotiation of NAFTA 'bad judgment.'"](CNN) - Sen. John McCain is again expected to question Sen. Barack Obama's judgment on Monday, this time on the Democratic front-runner's trade policies.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee did not wait for the Democratic presidential race to officially end before attacking Obama, who is likely to capture the Democratic nomination over rival Sen. Hillary Clinton.
In a speech in Chicago, Illinois, McCain will label Obama's call for a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada "bad judgment and a bit inconsistent," according to the prepared text of the speech.
Clinton has big lead in Kentucky, Obama on top in Oregon
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/05/19/art.clintonobama.ap.jpg caption="Clinton and Obama each hold leads in Tuesday's voting states."](CNN) - A new CNN "poll of polls" shows Hillary Clinton holds a big lead in Kentucky while Barack Obama is on top in Oregon - the next two states to weigh in on the Democratic presidential race.
According to CNN's analysis of several recent polls from both states, Clinton holds a 30-point lead in Kentucky while Obama is up by 10 in Oregon.
In Kentucky, Clinton is winning 58 percent of the vote while Obama is at 28 percent. Kentucky has a broad swath of working class white voters - the demographic that has long supported Clinton and propelled her to a 41-point victory in West Virginia one week ago. Her large margin in Kentucky appears to indicate those voters are sticking with Clinton, even as Obama appears to be the presumptive Democratic nominee.
In Oregon, Obama is winning 50 percent of likely Democratic voters there while Clinton is at 40 percent. With a large population of young voters and those who are college-educated, that state has demographics that have long favored Obama's candidacy.
Oregon is conducting a vote-by-mail primary, which means that a large number of voters in that state have already cast their ballots.
In Kentucky, 51 delegates are at stake while 52 are up for grabs in Oregon. It remains impossible for Clinton to catch Obama in pledged delegates, but the New York senator is looking to catch Obama in the popular vote total.
For more on the latests polls, check out the CNN Election Center
Obama to GOP: 'Lay off my wife'
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/05/19/art.layoff.ap.jpg caption=" Obama said his wife should not be an issue in the campaign."](CNN) - Barack Obama sent a direct message to the Tennessee Republican Party on Monday: “Lay off my wife.”
In an interview with Good Morning America, Michelle and Barack Obama responded to the Web video unveiled last week attacking Michelle Obama’s comment earlier this year saying she was proud of America "for the first time in my adult life."
"The GOP, should I be the nominee, can say whatever they want to say about me, my track record," Obama said on Monday. "If they think that they're going to try to make Michelle an issue in this campaign, they should be careful because that I find unacceptable, the notion that you start attacking my wife or my family."
The four-minute video posted on YouTube coincided with a visit to Tennessee by Michelle Obama for a Democratic Party event.
It features several Tennesseans saying why they are proud of America while repeatedly cutting to her comments.
Kennedy under evaluation but on the mend
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/2008/POLITICS/05/19/kennedy.hospital/art.kennedy.gi.jpg caption=" Sen. Ted Kennedy, shown in May 2007, was rushed to a hospital Saturday morning."]BOSTON, Massachusetts (CNN) - Sen. Ted Kennedy was undergoing more tests Monday as doctors tried to figure out what caused his seizure.
"[It's] unclear if we'll know anything conclusive later today or tomorrow," spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said Monday. "As of right now, I expect him to stay again tonight."
The 76-year-old Democratic icon was flown to the hospital after having a seizure Saturday.
Campaigning in Kentucky, Clinton hears sermon on infidelity
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/05/18/art.clinton.afp.gi.jpg caption= " Hillary Clinton heard a sermon on marriage and infidelity at a church service Sunday." ]
BOWLING GREEN, Kentucky (CNN) – Hillary Clinton left Oregon late Friday night to focus her efforts on Kentucky before the state’s primary on Tuesday.
“My opponent said the other day he wasn’t coming back so I’ve got the whole state to myself. What a treat!” Clinton exclaimed at a Sunday afternoon rally at Western Kentucky University.
What was likely less of a treat was Pastor Paul Fryman’s sermon she heard Sunday morning at Bowling Green’s State Street United Methodist Church on marriage and adultery entitled “When the Devil Whispers Over Your Shoulder.”
Pastor Fryman launched into his sermon with Matthew 5, verse 27, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
POLITICAL HOT TOPICS: Monday, May 19, 2008
Compiled by Jonathan Helman and Mary Grace Lucas, CNN Washington Bureau
Washington Post: Clinton Quiet About Own Radical Ties
When Hillary Rodham Clinton questioned rival Barack Obama's ties to 1960s radicals, her comments baffled two retired Bay Area lawyers who knew Clinton in the summer of 1971 when she worked as an intern at a left-wing law firm in Oakland, Calif., that defended communists and Black Panthers.
USA Today: GOP departures to cost party millions
The number of Republicans leaving Congress will cost the GOP millions of dollars in party-building funds for the fall congressional elections, campaign-finance records show.
Washington Post: Iran Remains Key Concern as Bush Returns
As he toured the Middle East over the past five days, President Bush tried to shore up support for his strategy of isolating Iran in meetings with the leaders of Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian territories. But the one session that did not take place laid bare the problems his administration faces as it tries to persuade its allies to keep the faith.
LA Times: John McCain and Barack Obama Offer Two Visions of the Supreme Court
John McCain and Barack Obama, the two leading presidential candidates, have set out sharply contrasting views on the role of the Supreme Court and the kind of justices they would appoint.
ON THE TRAIL: Monday, May 19, 2008
Compiled by Mary Grace Lucas, CNN Washington Bureau
* Sen. Hillary Clinton campaigns in Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky.
* Sen. John McCain heads to Chicago for two early campaign stops and then flies to Savannah, Georgia.
* Sen. Barack Obama holds a morning town hall meeting and two afternoon rallies in Montana.
Recent Comments