Former GOP senator calls Palin a 'cocky wacko'
(CNN) - Former Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln Chafee was known for keeping a low-key profile on Capitol Hill, but the Republican -turned -Independent is making waves with his exceedingly blunt comments on newly-minted Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin:
She's a "cocky wacko," he told a Washington think tank earlier this week.
WATCH: Chafee make the remarks
Chafee, the lone Senate Republican to vote against the Iraq war who endorsed Obama's White House bid earlier this year, told an audience at the New America Foundation in Washington Tuesday that Palin's selection has energized Obama backers.
"People were coming into my office, phone calls were flooding in, e-mails were coming in, 'I just sent money to Obama, I couldn't sleep last night' - from the left. To see this cocky wacko up there," he said.
He also described McCain's candidacy as "lackluster” and described the selection of Palin as a throwing "this firestorm, this tornado, into the whole presidential election."
Live-blogging with The Best Political Team
(CNN) –On the anniversary of the September 11 attacks, presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama each take the stage to discuss service and civic engagement in a forum at Columbia University.
What do you think of their ideas? How does the role of service determine what kind of nation we live in? What does national service mean to you?
Along with CNN Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley, CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider, CNN Political Analyst Roland Martin, and Republican strategist Bay Buchanan, thousands of you weighed in.
Click "comments" below for a look at the entire conversation.
Palin speaks at son's deployment ceremony
FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska (CNN) - Sarah Palin left the campaign trail and stepped back into her role as Alaska governor on Thursday when she spoke at a ceremony honoring 4,000 Alaska-based troops who will deploy from Fort Wainwright to Iraq in the coming weeks.
Standing in formation among members of the 1st Stryker Brigade’s 25th Infantry Division was Palin’s eldest son, Track, who went unmentioned by the governor in her brief remarks. Palin had agreed to speak at the deployment ceremony several months ago, before she was tapped as John McCain’s running mate.
Though the speech wasn’t a political event – press credentials were issued by the military base - that didn’t stop dozens of national reporters and photographers from descending on this military base in Fairbanks, home to between nearly 12,000 soldiers and their families.
“As you depart today,” Palin told the infantrymen, “don’t mind us - your parents, your friends, your family - if we allow for a few tears, or if we hold you just a little close once more before you’re gone. Because were going to miss you. We can’t help it. We are going to miss you.”
Palin said victory in Iraq is “within sight.”
“You and others like you will be there to see the mission through,” she said. “You will be there to win. You will see victory.
Palin says she didn't hesitate to take VP slot
(CNN) - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin says she "didn't blink" when Sen. John McCain offered her the Republican vice presidential nomination and is confident she could handle the duties of president if necessary.
"I answered him yes, because I have the confidence in that readiness and knowing that you can't blink," Palin told ABC News in her first interview since accepting the No. 2 slot on the GOP ticket.
"You have to be wired in a way of being so committed to the mission, the mission that we're on - reform of this country and victory in the war. You can't blink. So I didn't blink then even when asked to run as his running mate," she said.
Former GOP senator calls Palin a 'cocky wacko'
(CNN) - Former Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln Chafee was known for keeping a low-key profile on Capitol Hill, but the Republican -turned -Independent is making waves with his exceedingly blunt comments on newly-minted Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin:
She's a "cocky wacko," he told a Washington think tank earlier this week.
WATCH: Chafee make the remarks
Chafee, the lone Senate Republican to vote against the Iraq war who endorsed Obama's White House bid earlier this year, told an audience at the New America Foundation in Washington Tuesday that Palin's selection has energized Obama backers.
"People were coming into my office, phone calls were flooding in, e-mails were coming in, 'I just sent money to Obama, I couldn't sleep last night' - from the left. To see this cocky wacko up there," he said.
He also described McCain's candidacy as "lackluster” and described the selection of Palin as a throwing "this firestorm, this tornado, into the whole presidential election."
McCain, Obama joint appearance planned last week
(CNN) - The idea of a joint September 11 visit to Ground Zero by both John McCain and Barack Obama was in the works for less than a week, according to both campaigns.
Obama suggested the idea to McCain Friday afternoon when the Democratic presidential nominee called his Republican counterpart Friday, the day after the GOP convention ended, to congratulate him on his convention speech.
"[Obama] called after the convention speech, and over the course of the
discussion they mutually agreed to meet jointly in New York," said McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds.
The two men went to Ground Zero Thursday, entering the site together. Both candidates exchanged brief remarks and spoke with some of those on hand for the commemoration.
Happening Now: Obama, McCain at Ground Zero
(CNN) - Barack Obama and John McCain are appearing together at Ground Zero to commemorate the September 11 attacks.
Watch the event live on CNN.com/live
Bill Clinton and Obama release joint statement
(CNN) - Barack Obama and Bill Clinton’s offices released a joint statement Thursday after the two met in New York.
“President Clinton and Senator Obama had a great conversation in Harlem today. They discussed the campaign briefly, but mostly talked about how the world has changed since September 11, 2001,” it read.
"Sen. Obama praised the work of the Clinton Foundation around the world and President Clinton applauded Sen. Obama's historic campaign which has inspired millions around the country.
"They also spoke about what the next President can do to help make the economy work for all Americans, as it did under President Clinton, and ensure safety and prosperity far beyond the coming the election. President Clinton said he looks forward to campaigning for Senator Obama later this month.”
McCain campaign out to protect Palin's image
(CNN) - In the nearly two weeks since Sen. John McCain announced his vice presidential nominee to the world, the Internet rumors about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin have been flying.
The McCain campaign is taking these seriously, and it's fighting back as well as rebutting charges in the mainstream media.
Rove to Obama: Attacking Palin is dumb
(CNN) - Karl Rove is again offering unsolicited advice to Barack Obama, this time advising the Democratic presidential nominee to avoid attacking Sarah Palin directly if he hopes to win the White House in November.
“It's a match-up he'll lose," Rove writes Thursday in his regular Wall Street Journal column. "If Mr. Obama wants to win, he needs to remember he's running against John McCain for president, not Mrs. Palin for vice president."
Rove notes past attempts by Democratic presidential nominees to attack the No. 2 on the GOP ticket have largely fell flat, and says the issues Obama is hitting Palin on are ones the Illinois senator is weak on himself.
"If Mr. Obama keeps attacking Mrs. Palin, he could suffer the fate of his Democratic predecessors. These assaults highlight his own tissue-thin résumé, waste precious time better spent reassuring voters he is up for the job, and diminish him - not her," Rove writes.
Specifically, Rove says it is not in Obama's interest to attack the Alaska governor on her lack of experience or the earmarks she has requested - two issues, Rove says, on which voters may also question Obama's record.
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