Disclosure reports show Clinton still deeply in debt
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/08/21/art.clintondebt.gi.jpg caption="Clinton is still carrying a sizeable campaign debt."](CNN) - Well over two months have passed since Hillary Clinton formally abandoned her White House bid, but newly-released Federal Election Commission reports show the New York senator has made little headway in paying off her sizeable campaign debt.
According to an FEC report filed Wednesday, Clinton's debt as of the end of July stood at just under $24 million - a decrease of only $1.2 million since the end of June. More than $13 million of that total is owed to the New York senator herself, while close to $11 million is owed to individual vendors. Clinton has suggested she is not seeking to pay back the money she owes herself.
The report also shows Clinton was only able to raise $2 million in the month of July - down from close to $3 million in June. By comparison, Barack Obama raised over $50 million for his White House bid in the same time period.
The report comes as some high-profile Clinton backers have expressed disappointment Obama has not made more of an effort to help his onetime rival retire her campaign debt.
“He has provided her with a pittance compared to what the Clintons have given Obama,” prominent Clinton backer Lynn Forrester told the Times of London. “Her debt could have been cleared within 10 days. It’s ungracious.”
Obama and Clinton have appeared at a handful of joint fundraising events, and the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee has publicly urged his supporters to donate to his former primary season rival - though at a joint appearance with Clinton at a July fundraiser, the Illinois senator forgot to call on his backers to contribute to her. (He later went back on stage to correct himself.)
According to Clinton's disclosure forms filed Thursday, she owes the most ($5.2 million) to her former top advisor Mark Penn's polling/political consulting firm, Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates.
CNN=Politics Daily
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/2008/images/01/23/art.cepd.cnn.jpg caption="CNN=Politics Daily is The Best Political Podcast from The Best Political Team."]
(CNN)— Barack Obama is hitting John McCain for not knowing how many homes he and his wife Cindy McCain own. In the latest installment of CNN=Politics Daily, CNN’s Ed Henry reports on McCain’s effort to turn the tables on Obama, while CNN’s Jessica Yellin has the details on Obama’s attacks and the latest on the Illinois senator’s pick for vice president.
Meanwhile: new evidence Thursday that Obama is still having trouble winning over some of Hillary Clinton’s supporters. Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider explains what Obama can do to make some progress with Clinton’s disenchanted backers.
Finally: Obama tells reporters Thursday he has chosen his VP - but he or she may not know it yet. Senior Political Analyst Gloria Borger lays out the best candidates to team up with the presumptive Democratic nominee.
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McCain ad highlights Rezko connection
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/08/21/art.mccainad.cnn.jpg caption="McCain is out with a new ad."](CNN) - On the heels of an aggressive effort by the Obama campaign to exploit John McCain's recent inability to recall how many houses he owns, the Arizona senator's campaign is launching a new television ad slamming Obama over his dealings with disgraced Chcago businessman Tony Rezko.
"Barack Obama knows a lot about housing problems," the 30-second ad's announcer states. "'One of his 'biggest fundraisers' helped him buy his million-dollar mansion. Purchasing part of the property he couldn't afford."
"From Obama, Rezko got 'political favors' including '14 million from taxpayers,'" the narrator also says. "Now, he's a convicted felon, facing jail."
The McCain campaign said the ad will air in "key states." Earlier Thursday, Obama's campaign released a housing ad of their own referencing his inability in a Politico interview to name the number of properties he and his wife own.
Source: Obama was 'hung up' on change vs. experience
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/08/21/art.boselection0821.ap.jpg caption="While making the rounds in Virginia Thursday, Sen. Obama told reporters that he'd decided on a running mate but refused to say any more."]
(CNN) - The VP choice was a difficult one for Obama, a source close to the Illinois senator tells CNN's Gloria Borger.
Watch: "I've made the selection," says Obama
Specifically Obama was "very hung up on the experience versus change,” the source said, and how his message of change may conflict with a longtime Washington insider.
The source doesn't know who Obama ultimately chose, but confirms Sens. Joe Biden and Evan Bayh, along with Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine are all in the running.
Powder, threatening letter sent to McCain office
(CNN) - Federal and local officials are on the scene of a threatening letter with white powder received at John McCain’s regional campaign office outside Denver, in suburban Englewood, Colorado.
At 3 p.m. MT, a staffer in the McCain Denver office opened a letter containing a threatening letter and a quantity of white powder," McCain Spokesman Jeff Sadosky told CNN's Justine Redman. "Staff immediately contacted local and federal law enforcement. Staff are taking all necessary precautions, including checking in with medical professionals"
“Agents and Officers are responding," United States Secret Service Spokesman Malcolm Wiley who is in Denver also tells CNN's Jim Spellman.
GOP highlights Obama-Rezko land deal
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/08/21/art.obamahome0821.gi.jpg caption="Sen. Obama purchased land from Chicago businessman Tony Rezko in order to enlarge the yard next to this house."]
(CNN) – It appears both presumptive presidential nominees have vulnerablilities when it comes to their homes.
Democrats and Sen. Barack Obama have pounced on Sen. John McCain’s inability in a recent interview to say definitely how many homes he owns with wife Cindy.
Now, Republicans are hitting back hard by highlighting a land deal between Obama and Tony Rezko, a Chicago businessman who was convicted in June on federal corruption charges.
The Republican National Committee launched a new Web site - ObamaRezkoShadyDeal.com – Thursday. The site focuses on Obama’s relationship with Rezko and collects information about the presumptive Democratic nominee’s ties to the disgraced businessman.
Reid: 'I can't stand McCain'
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/08/21/art.reid.gi.jpg caption="Reid had some tough words about McCain."](CNN) - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and John McCain have never exactly enjoyed a close relationship, but the Democratic leader was exceedingly blunt Wednesday in his assessment of his colleague from Arizona.
"I can't stand John McCain," Reid flatly told his hometown paper, the Las Vegas Review Journal in comments published Thursday. The Nevada Democrat also said he had recently expressed that sentiment to Democrat-turned Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman, an ardent supporter of McCain who has agreed to speak at the Republican convention early next month.
"He (Lieberman) said 'I know you feel that way,'" Reid also told the paper.
The top Senate Democrat also said McCain is wrong on a host of issues and "does not have the right temperament" to be commander-in-chief.
McCain, who has long highlighted his willingness to work with Democrats across the aisle, was slightly more gracious towards Reid in an interview with Politico Wednesday detailing his pledge as president to work with congressional Democrats.
"I [will] go to see the speaker of the House and the majority leader of the Senate — I assume that that would be Sen. Reid, I hope not, but I think that’s probably the reality of this election — and I would say, 'Let’s have an agenda, let’s work together," he told the publication.
Obama: I've decided
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/08/21/art.obamavp.gi.jpg caption="Obama says he has made up his mind."](CNN) - The political world may not yet know who the next Democratic vice presidential candidate will be, but Barack Obama does.
The Illinois senator told USA Today Thursday he has made up his mind on who he will ask to join him on the Democratic presidential ticket.
"Yes," Obama said matter-of-factly when asked if the decision had been made.
But Obama refused to say whether the newly-minted Democratic VP had been informed yet. "I won't comment on anything else until I introduce our running mate to the world," he said. "That's all you're going to get out of me."
Obama is expected to appear at a rally with his running mate in Springfield, Illinois Saturday. It remains unclear just when the campaign will announce the VP choice via text message.
UPDATE: CNN's Chris Welch reports Barack Obama confirmed to reporters in Virginia he has made up his mind.
“I did say that I've made the selection and that's all you're going to get," Obama said.
Cross Nunn's name off the list?
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/08/21/art.nunn.ap.jpg caption="It appears Nunn will not be Obama's VP."](CNN) - It appears Sam Nunn, the former Georgia senator and a leading Democratic expert on foreign policy issues, can safely be crossed off the list of Barack Obama's potential running mates.
Nunn spokeswoman Kathy Gwin confirms to CNN the former senator will be out of the country through Monday - far from Springfield, Illinois, where Obama is expected to hold a rally with his newly-named VP Saturday.
Gwin refused to release further details about the trip, saying only that Nunn was traveling on "international business."
Nunn's moderate political views, Southern ties, and gravitas on issues of national security and nuclear non-proliferation have made him a perennial VP contender, though he said last month it's a job he has never coveted.
"I have never aspired to that office," said Nunn at an Obama campaign event last month. "It is always nice to have your name mentioned - it is an honor - but I have no expectation of being offered any office, and I am not in any way sitting on the edge of a chair ready to go back into government."
Watch: Does Clinton have a chance?
McCain camp says Obama's still 'The One'
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/08/21/art.theonedenver.cnn.jpg
caption="The McCain camp released “The One: Road to Denver” Web video Friday."] (CNN) - The One has returned.
John McCain's campaign released a sequel to its Web video about presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama that used footage of Charlton Heston as Moses parting the Red Sea, images of light streaming from the heavens, and a gospel choir to paint Obama as an arrogant politician who bought into near-messianic hype over his candidacy.
They're all back "by popular demand," according to McCain spokesman Brian Rogers - along with new footage of Obama bodysurfing on his recent Hawaiian vacation - in the latest release.
On a day when coverage of the presumptive Republican nominee has been dominated by his inability to immediately recall how many homes he owns, his campaign is hoping that "The One" can save the news cycle.
Earlier: 'They will call him The One,' says McCain Web ad
In 'The One: Road to Denver,' House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is quoted calling Obama "a leader that God has blessed us with at this time," and a recording of Virginia Governor Tim Kaine - a top Democratic VP prospect - is played in which he expresses relief that Obama's call for a cease-fire in Georgia has been heeded.
"His hand guides the world," says the announcer.
"...In Denver, you will see the light," the announcer says later. "He may be 'The One,' but is he ready to lead? No."
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