McCain and Palin plan joint town halls in battleground states
RENO, Nevada (CNN) - CNN has learned that John McCain and Sarah Palin plan to hold joint town hall meetings next week.
A McCain adviser says early plans are to hold the town halls in western Michigan and Wisconsin, although the exact details of where and when they will be held are still being worked out.
These events would likely mark the first time Palin takes questions from voters.
Aides say her solo campaign events planned for Nevada Saturday, Colorado Monday, and Ohio Tuesday are all scheduled as rallies where she will speak to but not interact with voters.
Campaign confirms Palin did not go beyond Iraqi border
(CNN) - Sarah Palin did not visit troops in Iraq, a spokesperson for the Republican VP nominee confirmed Saturday, as new details emerged about the extent of the Alaska governor’s foreign travel.
In July of last year, Palin left North America for the first time to visit Alaskan troops stationed in Kuwait. Palin officials originally said her itinerary included U.S. military installations or outposts in Germany and Kuwait, and that she had visited Ireland. An Alaska spokeswoman for Palin had said Iraq was also one of the stops on that trip.
The Boston Globe reported Saturday that Palin visited the Iraqi side of a border crossing - but never journeyed past the checkpoint.
Earlier: McCain defends Palin's experience level
Earlier, campaign aides confirmed reports that Palin’s time in Ireland on that trip had actually been a re-fueling stop.
(UPDATED with campaign statement after the jump)
FULL POST
Palin: Obama probably wishes he'd picked Clinton as VP
(CNN) - Sarah Palin said Barack Obama could be wishing he had asked Hillary Clinton to join him on the Democratic presidential ticket.
"I think he's regretting not picking her now, I do," the Republican VP nominee told Charles Gibson of ABC News. "What determination and grit and even grace through some tough shots that were fired her way. She handled those well."
Watch: Palin says Obama regrets not picking Clinton
Palin herself has said that Hillary Clinton had been “whining” about sexism during the primary season. "When I hear a statement like that coming from a woman candidate with any kind of perceived whine about that excess criticism, or maybe a sharper microscope put on her, I think, 'Man, that doesn't do us any good, women in politics, or women in general, trying to progress in this country,' " she said at a media forum earlier this year.
But when the Alaska governor first hit the trail after being named John McCain’s running mate, she made remarks at campaign events praising the New York senator, though she stopped making the comments after drawing consistently negative reactions from GOP crowds.
Clinton herself has largely avoided discussing Palin publicly since the governor's selection as McCain's VP.
Palin leaves Alaska, heads back to the trail
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (CNN) - Sarah Palin’s most recent visit to Alaska may have been her last – at least until Election Day.
At a rally in Anchorage on Saturday morning, there was a wistful note in Palin’s voice as she spoke about the coming weeks of campaigning.
Her speech came after spending two days in her home state doing an interview with ABC News and seeing her eldest son off to Iraq. Palin spent two nights at her home in Wasilla overlooking Lake Lucille.
“We've got a little travel planned for the next 52 days,” Palin said, “but I'll be home come November and I would like to bring along my friend - our friend Senator John McCain as the President-elect.”
Ike winds don't cool tone on the trail, as Obama blasts McCain
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (CNN) – In a shift from the apolitical tone the presidential candidates took during Hurricane Gustav, Barack Obama did not temper his rhetoric Saturday, as his spokesman accused John McCain of “cynically running the sleaziest and least honorable campaign in modern presidential campaign history.”
“John McCain wants to have a debate about national security let’s have that debate. I warned that going into Iraq would distract us from Afghanistan. John McCain cheer-leaded for it. John McCain was wrong and I was right,” Obama told a screaming New Hampshire crowd.
“The McCain-Palin ticket, they don’t want to debate the Obama-Biden ticket on issues because they are running on eight more years of what we’ve just seen. And they know it,” Obama said. “As a consequence what they’re going to spend the next seven, eight weeks doing is trying to distract you.
“They’re going to talk about pigs and they’re going to talk about lipstick, they’re going to talk about Paris Hilton, they’re going to talk about Britney Spears. They will try to distort my record and they will try to undermine your trust in what the Democrats intend to do.”
Watch Obama on Hurricane Ike
Asked why the campaign responded differently than it did around hurricane Gustav, Obama Senior Strategist David Axelrod said,“We have enormous concern for people down there … that’s why we canceled “Saturday Night Live” … but these people also came out because they’re really concerned about the future of the country and he [Obama]wanted to talk about those issues.”
Listen: Obama camp conference call Saturday slams McCain
The McCain campaign criticized Obama for showing “zero restraint” given the storm and said “today’s attacks mark a new low from Barack Obama.”
Biden son no longer a federal lobbyist
(CNN) – Hunter Biden – the second son of Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden – has informed congressional officials that he is resigning his job as a federal lobbyist.
In a letter dated August 25, two days after Biden’s father was announced as Barack Obama’s running mate in Springfield, Illinois, Biden writes that as of that date, “I no longer expect to act as a federal lobbyist.”
The letter also lists the nine clients that Biden lobbied for, including six universities. The other three are two pharmaceutical companies and a law firm that represents an internet gambling company.
Obama refuses donations from lobbyists and has repeatedly slammed Republican nominee John McCain for hiring former corporate lobbyists into senior campaign positions. The Democrat’s campaign launched a new multimedia offensive Saturday highlighting what they called “John McCain’s ties to DC Lobbyists.”
The senior Biden has insisted that his son has never lobbied him, and has claimed that he is the only senator who doesn’t meet with lobbyists.
UPDATED with GOP, Biden camp reaction after the jump
FULL POST
McCain ad slams Obama, Senate Democrats on immigration
(CNN) - John McCain’s campaign is running a Spanish language ad in battleground states that blames Barack Obama and Senate Democrats for the failure of attempts to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws - even though the Republican nominee and his Democratic counterpart cast identical votes in the key Senate showdowns on that issue last year
“Obama and his congressional allies say they are on the side of immigrants. But are they?” asks the announcer in the 30-second spot, “Which Side Are They On?”
“The press reports that their efforts were 'poison pills' that made immigration reform fail,” he continues. “The result: No guest worker program. No path to citizenship. No secure borders. No reform. Is that being on our side? Obama and his Congressional allies ready to block immigration reform, but not ready to lead.”
But Obama and McCain cast identical votes in the major congressional showdowns on the issue last year. Both men cast votes in favor of an unsuccessful early June effort to end a filibuster. Later that month, they voted again to end debate on the issue – but again failed to shut down the filibuster effort, led for the most part by Republican senators.
The ad will air in Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada, all crucial fall states with significant Hispanic voting populations.
CNN poll of polls: McCain holds one point lead over Obama
(CNN) - Saturday’s CNN national Poll of Polls - which includes the new Newsweek survey - shows McCain leading Obama by one point (46 to 45 percent). Friday’s Poll of Polls showed McCain leading Obama by two points (46 to 44 percent).
The national general election "Poll of Polls" consists of four surveys: Newsweek (September 10-11), Fox News/Opinion Dynamics (September 8-9), Gallup (September 9-11), and Diageo/Hotline (September 9-11). The Poll of Polls does not have a sampling error.
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