The Page
Politics up to the Minute
Headlines from June 29th, 2008
Obama's Slow Sunday
He gets a haircut, shoots some hoops while his wife and the girls watch on and ends his evening with a barbecue while taking a day off the stump in Chicago. Also answers a Chicago Sun-Times reporter's question on people he recommended to convicted former confidante Tony Rezko for state posts. Read the pool report here. It was the second day of the Illinois Senator's "protective" press pool. Permalink
McCain Meets With Billy, Franklin Graham
The presumptive GOP nominee met privately Sunday with the prominent evangelists for 45 minutes at the family’s mountaintop retreat in western North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains. Shortly after, Franklin Graham releases a statement: "I was impressed by his personal faith and his moral clarity on important social issues facing America today..." He says he isn't endorsing anyone for president. Franklin Graham met with Obama earlier this month. McCain statement: "We had a very excellent conversation, and I appreciated the opportunity to visit with them." Read it here. Read pool report here. Permalink
McAuliffe: Bill Clinton and Obama to Talk
The former Clinton camp chair says that the former president and the presumptive Democratic nominee believes “that in the next 24 to 48 hours they will talk and off we will go." Permalink
McCain to Beef Up Economic Plan
A campaign aide tells Politico that the presumptive GOP nominee will mix current and new policy into a revised economic plan he’ll announce after the July 4 holiday. Aide: "We will show why our plan creates more jobs and is better for the economy than Senator Obama's." Permalink
Republican on Democrat Action
--McCain camp swings back at Gen. Wesley Clark's statements on McCain's national security creds on CBS' "Face the Nation." "If Barack Obama's campaign wants to question John McCain's military service, that's their right. But let's please drop the pretense that Barack Obama stands for a new type of politics." Full statement here. Comes after Clark says on the program "I don't think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president." Permalink
The Flying Straight Talk Express
The McCain camp takes their fabled campaign bus off wheels and into the air with a new airplane designed with a similar signature set up. There's a captain's chair at the front of the plane for McCain and a couch for reporters/friends he likes to surround himself with on the campaign trail. Campaign is expected to unveil the new plane this week. Permalink
VEEPSTAKES POTPOURRI
--Boston Globe pops the question to Rhode Island Sen. Reed and he brushes it off with "It's very flattering, but I am not interested. That's it." Story then looks at why he'd make a good Veep. --WashTimes: Sen. Webb's prospects got a boost with the GI benefits bill passage — "a signal achievement for a freshman lawmaker that won him praise from both parties." --Sen. Biden -- one of the most talkative Dems on the Hill -- was once terrified of public-speaking. --Politico looks at the longshots, Permalink
President McCain Could Tilt Supreme Court Conservative
WashPost finds a win for the Arizonan "could mean a fundamental shift to a consistently conservative majority ready to take on past court rulings on abortion rights, affirmative action..." Since most of the justices likely retiring are liberals an Obama presidency could mean maintaining the split court status quo. Permalink
Battleground Blitz
--Front-page WashPost story looks at how Virginia is becoming more Blue while West Virginia is turning Red, "mirroring national shifts with deep implications" for November. Permalink
ON THE SUNDAY SHOWS
Potential Veep candidates scattered the Sunday Shows -- including Govs. Pawlenty, Jindal, Rendell, former Bush official Rob Portman, Gen. Wesley Clark. Meet The Press also talked to California Gov. Schwarzenegger. Get all the details here. Permalink
Thursdays With Roberta McCain
LA Times' Rainey couldn't get an interview with the Arizonan's 96-year-old mother through the campaign -- so he started going straight to the source and the two have talked once a week ever since. "They've got me muzzled," said McCain, who picked up on the first ring when Rainey first called her residence in April. In their weekly conversations, the two chat about her son's temper, running mates, age and more. Permalink
McCain: Defense Hawk, Military Critic
Boston Globe finds he plays tough on both fronts. Permalink
Bark Like a Seal
McCain wins the week, per The Page's Scorecard in the spanking new issue of TIME. Find out how he did it here. Permalink
LA Times: McCain's Foreign Policy Focus "Risky"
The paper wonders why McCain is focusing on national security, foreign affairs -- planning trips abroad and meeting with foreign leaders -- when domestic matters "have surged to the fore of voter concerns." Permalink
Obama's Saturday
The presidential candidate spends his time off the stump working out and taking his wife to a sleek downtown Chicago restaurant. Read pool report here. Inaugural protective press pool with the presumptive Democratic nominee. Permalink
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