Obama’s EuroTrip Recieves Backlash

It seems the more Europeans love and embrace Barack Obama, the less Americans are willing to do the same. During his recent trip across Europe and the Middle East, Obama made huge strides in showing that he can mingle with world leaders. To his credit, that places significant faith and trust on the international stage. But, US electioneering has made those successes into gaffe. Apparently, the audacity of acting presidential is too much for Americans to handle and it shows:

A surprising poll released Monday confirms Sen. Barack Obama’s worst nightmare: he actually lost ground to Sen. John McCain after a global trip meant to buck up his sagging credentials in foreign and military policy.

The USA Today/Gallup poll has McCain leading Obama by four points, 49 percent to Obama’s 45 percent, among likely voters.

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BARACK OBAMA’S NEW AD: NEW ENERGY!

In this new ad, Obama makes public his strategy to fight higher oil prices and the US dependance on foreign oil. He calls for raising mileage standards, fast-track technology for alternative fuels and a 1,000 dollars tax cut to help families break the grip on foreign oil. Obama’s campaign states that this ad is in response to negative attacks by John McCain and the Republican party.

Visit Inside 2008 Politics to view his ad. My question is, can America truly break the grip of foreign oil by following any of the candidates’ plans?

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Obama family interview: Ice cream, squirt guns on the campaign trail

As of late, Barack Obama has taken flak for his seeming flip-flop on the issues. “I think there’s been definitely shift in position, and one of them is Iraq,” McCain told the Fox News Channel on Tuesday. But Obama hopes he can counter “this whole notion that I am shifting to the center or that I’m flip-flopping or this or that,” he said.

On the whole, however, it appears that Obama has aligned himself with the center, telling reporters last week he might “refine” his views based on what happens on the ground in Iraq–a totem issue that only a month ago stood as the single defining stance between him and Senator Hillary Clinton.

Appealing to moderates may just be another one of his smart campaign strategies to help win the election in November. His daughters agree: White House life would be very “cool,” adding, “dad talks too much,” they said in their first allowed interview. For them its ice cream and squirt guns on the campaign trail.

Meanwhile, Obama and the family’s charm are irresistible fodder for the press.

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Fuzzy Math

Everywhere you go, polls show the presidential race is too close to call anything but a statistical tie. The latest poll of voters, for example, shows Barack Obama with a five-point lead over his rival, John McCain (50 to 45 percent), which grows even tighter when the two most prominent third party candidates are weighed into the equation.

The race for the White House, however, will not come down to votes taken by third party candidates such as Bob Barr (3 percent) and Ralph Nader (6 percent). Nor will it rest on sloganeering, promises fraught with pander, or change everyone can believe in, yet no one can understand.

What will decide the future of the country is a vision that galvanizes Americans—desperate for change—into thinking about what they can do about the deepening credit crisis; the slump in home sales and home prices; skyrocketing energy costs; the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; people’s poverty; immigration reform; Medicare and Social Security; discrimination; white collar corruption and blue collar rights; salmonella outbreaks; and everything that matters to America.

The latest CNN Opinion Research offers telling statistics about the race, but if you don’t believe the polls, go by your gut instinct—saying to vote for the candidate that’s not left, not right, just right.

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Veepstakes’08!

We know the presidential nominees, but the veepstakes couldn’t be higher. Here’s a wrap on what the Vice Presidential battle field looks like in the race of ’08.

Politico’s longshots in the veepstakes have speculated that the Democrats are on the hunt for someone who’s older with solidly mainstream views, to reassure voters concerned about Obama’s relative inexperience, particularly in foreign policy.

The Republicans, on the other hand, aim to fill the vice presidential slot with someone who brings business experience to tap into voter concern about the struggling economy, and youth, for the obvious reasons.

GreatDebater’s veepstakes:

For the Democrats, the obvious contenders are John Edwards, Hillary Clinton and maybe even Bill Richardson. Edwards carries the South, Clinton unifies the party, and Richardson brings experience. The only hitch is that these picks are too well known. Edwards is seen as a pushover, Clinton contradicts Obama’s call for change, and Richardson is Hispanic, making him an illegal immigration sympathizer.

Go for the long-shot candidate: Wesley Clark. As a retired General of the United States Army, Clark gives Obama everything he doesn’t have. Valedictorian of his class at West Point, and Rhodes Scholar to the University of Oxford where he obtained a degree in Philosophy, Politics, & Economics, to later earn a master’s degree in military science from the Command and General Staff College, Clark spent 34 years in the Army and Department of Defense, receiving many military decorations and honors.

Clark joined the 2004 race for the Democratic Party presidential nomination, but withdrew from the race to campaign for the eventual Democratic nominee, John Kerry. In September 2007, he endorsed Hillary Clinton, but after she pulled out of the race, Clark endorsed Obama. The prospects are endearing.

For the Republicans, the MSNBC veepstakes have chosen Colin Powell. These days, though, the republican with a distinguished military career has hinted he may jump to Obama.

Go for the long-shot candidate: Bill Gates. That’s right, the recently retired Microsoft founder is a trusted voice on the economy and his multi-billion dollar commitment to charitable giving could soften up the campaign’s image. The challenge may be winning his support. For now, Bill. Cheers, and best of luck making the world a better place.

Check out msnbc‘s veepstakes game and submit your pick.

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Nuclear Reactor Demolition…in other news Bill Gates Retires

As promised, here is footage of North Korea‘s nuclear reactor demolition followed by AP segments on Zimbabwe‘s sham presidential election, then Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama‘s first campaign event held in aptly named Unity, New Hampshire, with a final transition into Bill Gates‘ ending career moments at Microsoft.

It’s all in a days work.

Obama Seals Nomination: Clinton Won’t Let Go

Cry me a river; build me a bridge, and get-over-it.

Over the course of the past 16 months, Democrats have been anxiously waiting for their presidential nominee. Yesterday, the epic battle came to a close as Barack Obama delivered a 30 minute speech that claimed his victory of the nomination. Mathematically, this is correct. It takes 2,118 delegates to “clinch” the nomination at the convention, and Obama has 2,144 by the latest AP count.

Still, Hillary has made no indication of withdrawing from the race. With the primary season over and the curtain lifted on the stage of the national election, the last thing people want is another Bush v. Gore standoff when what’s on everyone’s mind is the soaring costs of gasoline, mortgage foreclosures and the Iraq War.

The race must move on and the candidates need to get along. Here’s the scoop on the latest news, and a good story on what Hillary wants, but not what she will do.

Obama Clinches Nomination

When it comes to the campaign trail, I always wonder how every major US news organization can choose a candidate and come up with countless charts and pretty pictures that all invariably show their lead in the race. To me it’s all hogwash.

Opensecrets shows that when it comes to Banking on Becoming President, all the candidates are going into debt over getting ahead in the race, because they all know that there is no certain lead until the actual vote count–and even then–Floridians can’t be too sure. But, reports show that the Democrat guessing game on who is their nominee is winding down. With Obama only 40 delegates shy of clinching the nomination, Clinton is said to be backing out. Here’s the scoop on the latest news.

For all other speculations, I like to rely on good ol’ Forbes, which has recently published a fantastic photo-op that matches the three candidates with what ordinary people identify as their most negative and positive attributes.