BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) – John McCain asked Barack Obama to join him in 10 town hall meetings with voters in the coming months, and their campaigns began negotiations to make it happen. McCain, the Republican nominee-in-waiting, made the request Wednesday, the day after Obama clinched the Democratic nomination.
“We need to now sit down and work out a way that we can have these town hall meetings and have a great debate,” McCain told reporters in Baton Rouge.
Campaign managers for the two sides later spoke by phone and agreed in spirit to participate in joint town hall appearances, McCain’s campaign said.
“They both expressed a commitment to raising the level of dialogue, and they will be in close contact as we work together to make this idea a reality,” McCain spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker said.
My years observing political campaigns have taught me that it is usually the weaker candidate who seeks the spotlight the most. It is almost always the underdog who demands more debates.
I have but two pieces of advice for the McCain camp:
Hire a speech coach for Johnny.
Do everything in your power to ensure that Johnny is never, ever in the same room with Barack Obama.
The Republicans are making this much, much too easy.
Listening to Hillary Clinton’s speech last night, there appeared to be some doubt on her part that Barack Obama is now the Democratic presidential nominee. There is no doubt on the DNC website…
WASHINGTON (AP) – Hillary Rodham Clinton has decided to end her historic presidential campaign while leaving her options open to retain her delegates and promote her issue agenda, a campaign official says.
The former first lady told House Democrats during a private conference call Wednesday that she will express support for Barack Obama’s candidacy and congratulate him for gathering the necessary delegates to be the party’s nominee.
“Senator Clinton will be hosting an event in Washington on Friday Saturday [see update below] to thank her supporters and express her support for Senator Obama and party unity,” her communications director Howard Wolfson said.
Also in the speech, Clinton will urge once-warring Democrats to focus on the general election and defeating Republican presidential candidate John McCain.
The adviser said Clinton and her lieutenants had discussed various ways a presidential candidacy can end, including suspending the campaign to retain control of her convention delegates and sustain her visibility in an effort to promote her signature issue of health care.
The other options include freeing her delegates to back Obama and ending her candidacy unconditionally. The official stressed that neither Clinton nor her inner circle had decided specifically what course to take other than to recognize that the active state of her bid to become the nation’s first female president had ended.
Word is that Senator Obama will be in attendance at Senator Clinton’s speech on Friday Saturday [see update below]. We will get the “victory shot” of the two of them together.
Update: It now seems that the event will be held on Saturday. (CNN and ABC concur.) Word is that it was changed from Friday to Saturday so more of her supporters could attend.
Terry McAuliffe, Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager, appeared on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart last night. Was he: A) drunk; B) stoned; or C) both? You be the judge…
Just think… This man could have been President Hillary Clinton’s Chief of Staff. We really dodged a bullet on that one!
WASHINGTON (AP) – Barack Obama named a three-person team including Caroline Kennedy to lead his search for a running mate Wednesday while expressing confidence that the Democratic Party would soon unify after a bruising battle for the presidential nomination.
“I’m very confident of how we’re going to be able to bring the party together,” Obama said after a brief conversation with Hillary Rodham Clinton, his vanquished rival.
Campaign officials said Kennedy, who is the daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy, as well as former Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder and longtime Washington insider Jim Johnson have already begun compiling information on potential running mates. They disclosed no names.
Obama clinched the Democratic nomination on Tuesday, taking a major step toward his goal of becoming the first black president. While Clinton has yet to concede defeat, she and associates have been maneuvering for the past 24 hours to gain her a place on the ticket.
Who do you think should be considered? Why? Should Hillary Clinton be on the list? Why or why not? I definitely have my own opinions, but I’d be interested in hearing yours before I reveal mine. (You probably already know my feelings about the Clintons.)
There were three speeches delivered last night. I’m going to post two of them here. I really can’t stand to watch the third one again. The second is a stretch. The first is, I believe, the greatest political speech of this decade thus far. Watch the first one, then, if you have time, watch the second. The contrast between the two is really quite striking.
(The first was delivered before a crowd of about 20,000 in St. Paul, Minnesota. The second before a crowd of about 200 in Kenner, Louisiana. The person whose idea it was to have Johnny McCain give a speech last night really needs to be fired.)
