Edwards would 'seriously consider' VP offer
(CNN) - John Edwards said Tuesday that if he were asked to accept the vice presidential slot or a cabinet position in a potential Barack Obama administration, he would “seriously consider” whatever the Illinois senator asked him to do.
It has been widely reported that the former North Carolina senator is on Obama’s vice presidential shortlist. On Tuesday, NPR interviewer Guy Raz called the former Democratic presidential candidate’s presence on the list an “open secret,” and asked Edwards whether he’d weigh accepting a vice presidential offer, or might take himself out of consideration as Virginia Senator Jim Webb had done Monday.
“I’m glad to hear that’s an open secret because I didn’t know it,” joked Edwards of his rumored consideration as Obama’s running mate.
“My answer to that is, I’ve run for vice president, I’ve run for president twice. I would do anything that I felt I could do to serve this country but I think it’s a huge presumption for me or anybody else to suggest what Senator Obama may decide,” he said.
Watch: Flashback: Kerry picks Edwards for No. 2
“To answer your question directly: I don’t expect to be asked, have no expectation about it at all, I will – anything that Senator Obama asks me to do, including this, including campaigning for him, I intend to do, because what I’m going to do, I intend to take seriously,” he added. “What I intend to do is everything in my power, use everything in my power to make sure that he’s the next president.”
Pressed on whether that meant he might join the ticket if asked, Edwards would not rule it out. “I am prepared to seriously consider anything, anything he asks me to do for our country,” he told NPR.
CNN=Politics Daily
(CNN)— All eyes are on Latino voters Tuesday as both presidential candidates work to court them at the League of United Latin American Citizens national convention in Washington D.C. In the latest installment of CNN=Politics Daily, Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider looks into how well John McCain and Barack Obama’s pitch to Latinos is being received.
The office of Vice President Cheney came under fire from the EPA Tuesday for allegedly censoring e-mails that contained important information about the effects of climate change on the environment. CNN’s Kate Bolduan has the details.
Meanwhile, Obama has been spending extra time in states that have traditionally voted for Republican candidates. CNN’s Tom Foreman looks into whether the presumptive Democratic nominee will be able to turn these red states blue come November.
Both presumptive nominees are undoubtedly working behind the scenes to shorten their lists of potential vice presidential running mates. CNN’s Jessica Yellin reports on who is making the short list for Obama and McCain’s number two spot.
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Romney tight-lipped on Bush's convention role
(CNN) - It's one of the more tricky political tasks the McCain campaign faces at this summer's Republican convention: how to successfully present an incumbent president whose approval ratings hover at or below 30 percentage points.
Speaking on CNN Tuesday, top John McCain surrogate Mitt Romney remained noticeably tight-lipped about the chances of the party's presumptive nominee appearing with the unpopular president.
"You know I am not much of a choreographer, I have to be honest with you," Romney told CNN Tuesday when asked whether the two men would appear together on stage during the convention. "I don't know how convention choreography is going to work. Of course we want to hear from our president and hear his perspectives.”
Watch: Romney discusses the Republican convention
The White House announced last week Bush would speak on the four-day convention's opening night, presumably long before the Arizona senator touches down in the host citiy of Minneapolis. McCain will accept his party's nomination on the convention's last evening.
Pressed if McCain is willing to be photographed with Bush at some point during that high profile week, Romney said it was a decision for the "political powers-that-be to decide."
"But this is clearly John McCain's convention," the former presidential candidate said. "This is his chance to lay out his vision, for our party and for America, and he is certainly going to be the highlight of this convention and I'm looking forward to it."
McCain has long sought to distance himself from his party's leader, and the two have only appeared publicly together twice since the Arizona senator became his party's presumptive nominee five months ago: once at an official endorsement ceremony at the White House and once before a party fundraiser in Arizona.
Watch: Is McCain like Bush?
Dem wants to ban future Roves from the White House
(CNN) - The future Karl Roves of the world may be outlawed from working in the White House.
Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman, the chairman of the powerful House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, suggested to a Capitol Hill newspaper that he is considering legislation that bans the use of federal money to fund a position similar to the one the longtime Bush aide held in the White House.
Rove, who orchestrated both of the president's successful electoral victories, headed the White House's Office of Political Affairs and the Office of Public Liaison during Bush's first term. Democrats have long accused Rove of using those offices - which include interacting with political committees and interest groups - to essentially run the president's 2004 reelection campaign.
“Why should we be using taxpayer dollars to have a person solely in charge of politics in the White House?” Waxman told The Hill. “Can you imagine the reaction if each member of Congress had a campaign person paid for with taxpayer dollars?”
Ethics rules in the Senate are considerably clearer when it comes to conducting political business: congressional aides are banned from using government phones, e-mail, and computers for any politically-related job.
Waxman's office confirmed the accuracy of the quotes, but would not comment further.
Clinton's women's outreach director joins Obama team
(CNN) - Hillary Clinton’s former director of women’s outreach has become the latest presidential campaign staffer for the New York senator to join Barack Obama’s general election team.
Dana Singiser, a former staff director of the Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee led by Clinton, will fill the same strategic role she held on the Clinton campaign, heading strategic management of women's vote outreach.
"I am thrilled that Dana will continue her work with women voters on behalf of Sen. Obama," Clinton said in a statement released by Obama’s campaign Tuesday. "It is so important that we elect a Democrat to the White House, and women will be critical in that effort. I know that the women who joined my campaign will continue to work with Dana and with me to make sure Barack Obama is the next President of the United States."
Former Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle - who made a headline-grabbing exit from the top spot in after disappointing results early in the cycle - was tapped by the Obama team several weeks ago as chief of staff for the eventual vice presidential nominee.
Other Clinton staffers and advisers to join Obama’s campaign since the end of the primary season include former her former policy director, Neera Tanden.
Send your questions for Ingrid Betancourt
(CNN)–Former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt will be a guest Thursday in “The Situation Room.” She was rescued last week after being held hostage in the jungle for 6 ½ years. What questions do you have for her about her time in captivity and what she’s going to do now? Submit your video questions and we’ll ask her some of them.
Be sure to keep your questions clear and concise and put them on video! Then watch “The Situation Room” Thursday to see if you made the cut.
Obama rejects accusations of flip-flopping
POWDER SPRINGS, Georgia (CNN) – Barack Obama on Tuesday rejected recent allegations that he has changed his position on Iraq since effectively claiming the Democratic nomination.
When asked by a self-proclaimed “reformed Republican” at a campaign rally about charges that he is flip-flopping on his pledge to get troops out of Iraq within 16 months, Obama replied, “The people who say this apparently haven’t been listening to me.”
Obama listed positions “that make me progressive and squarely in the Democratic camp,” and denied his views had shifted at all since becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee, adding that more centrist positions like his support of faith-based initiatives and an individual’s right to bear arms are long-held beliefs.
Obama then summarized his position on Iraq, repeating his position that if elected, he will withdraw 1-2 brigades per month, completing a total withdrawal over the course of “about 16 months.”
The Illinois senator started a firestorm last week when he said a visit to Iraq would allow him to “refine” his policies. Critics said he was backing off the 16-month deadline.
Americans divided on border fence
(CNN) - On the same day both presidential candidates are set to address a major Latino group meeting in Washington, a new poll shows Americans are closely divided when it comes to building a fence along the country's border with Mexico.
According to a new survey from CNN and the Opinion Research Corporation, just over half of Americans nationwide favor building the 700-mile long fence, while 47 percent oppose the idea.
Watch: Congressmen square off on border fence
The poll, conducted on June 26-29, surveyed 1,026 Americans and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
CNN Polling Director Keating Holland notes Republicans and Democrats are sharply divided on the issue along partisan lines.
"The American public is closely divided but the two parties are not," he said. "Fifty-eight percent of Democrats opposed a fence on the Mexican border, while 66 percent of Republicans favor one. Independents mildly favor a fence, by a 55 percent-44 percent margin."
Though the issue of illegal immigration played a prominent role in the Republican presidential primary, it appears to be well overshadowed heading into the general election by the nation's economic woes, the war in Iraq, and other issues. A recent CNN/ORC poll showed American's ranked the issue ninth in importance to their vote this November.
Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama, both of whom are scheduled to speak before the League of Latin American Citizens in Washington Tuesday, both voted to authorize the building of the fence in the Senate last year. It carries a price tag of over $3 billion. (Read more on the candidates' immigration stances)
Obama family talks campaign life
(CNN) - Whether or not their dad becomes the next president of the United States, the Obama kids are already winners - of a dog, that is.
In an interview with the entire Obama family to air later Tuesday, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, told Access Hollywood their famous mom and dad promised to buy a dog after the rigorous campaign season comes to an end.
Watch: Obama family celebrates The Fourth
"Win or lose, win or lose," the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee said.
In the interview, Malia also said she often gives her dad campaign tips on how to reach out to young people her age.
"You really don't shake kids’ hands that much, you shake adult hands," she said. “And I say you just wave and say hi, so I do that kind of stuff."
What's it like to have parents in the spotlight? Malia said now she reads about her mom in People Magazine.
"They always have those sections with you know, how much people's dresses cost, and so I saw that magazine, and I said, 'Oh mommy you're in this!' I've never seen mommy in that. Because I usually see people like Angelina Jolie –”
"You know, important people," mom Michelle quipped.
"Yes, real important people, no offense," Malia said.
New Obama ad attacks McCain on energy policy
(CNN) - Less than a week after the Republican National Committee rolled out its first contrast ad of the cycle – a $3 million swing state buy that hit Democrat Barack Obama on energy policy – the Obama campaign released a new ad Tuesday set to air in the same campaign battlegrounds.
“McCain and Bush support a drilling plan that won’t produce a drop of oil for seven years. McCain will give more tax breaks to big oil,” says the announcer in ‘New Energy,’ which will hit the airwaves in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. “He’s voted with Bush 95 percent of the time. Barack Obama will make energy independence an urgent priority.”
The Obama campaign says the 30-second spot is a direct response to the RNC’s ad, which painted McCain as an independent who had pressured his party on energy policy.
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