From ABC News:
[Convention organizers report that Hillary Clinton’s name will be placed in nomination at the Democratic National Convention next week.] Obama and Clinton "are both committed to winning back the White House and to ensuring that the voices of all 35 million people who participated in this historic primary election are respected and heard in Denver," the statement read in part. "To honor and celebrate these voices and votes, both Sen. Obama's and Sen. Clinton's names will be placed in nomination." … "This truly was a joint decision," according to a Clinton source. "This wasn't something she was itching for, looking for. But so many of her supporters said it was important to them. And the Obama people got how important it was to smooth over any tensions and that it was the right thing to do." Obama campaign manager David Plouffe has been negotiating the deal with former Clinton campaign officials Cheryl Mills and Minyon Moore since June and the default position for Obama was to ask what the Clinton camp wanted to do, Democratic sources told ABC News. Finally this week, Clinton officials said they wanted Clinton's name to be in nomination. Obama personally had let his staff know that was fine with him, Democratic sources said. … Obama, who is in Hawaii on vacation with his family this week, argued in the statement that having Clinton's name on the roll call would be a symbol of unity. "I am convinced that honoring Sen. Clinton's historic campaign in this way will help us celebrate this defining moment in our history and bring the party together in a strong united fashion," Obama said in a joint statement. … "With every voice heard and the Party strongly united, we will elect Sen. Obama President of the United States and put our nation on the path to peace and prosperity once again," Clinton said in a joint statement.
From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:
Both major party presidential campaigns surfaced in the Twin Cities on Thursday, the most recent evidence that they expect Minnesota to be a battleground state in the November election. In the morning, to mark the 73rd anniversary of the establishment of Social Security, the Minnesota campaign of presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama brought out several state DFL party elders to launch a grass-roots program designed to promote Obama to senior citizens. Obama's "Seniors Talking to Seniors" program will involve phone banking and person-to-person contacts by Minnesota senior citizens with others to promote Obama's plans to protect Social Security and to make affordable health care available.
From the Washington Post:
The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that while a majority of young white evangelicals describe themselves as conservative on social issues, slightly more identified this year as either independents or Democrats than as Republicans. In 2001, about the time that Merritt was working as precinct captain for the Republican Party, an overwhelming majority of young evangelicals identified with the GOP. In 2004, nearly eight in 10 white evangelicals supported Bush, according to exit polls. They accounted for a third of the president's total votes. In a Washington Post-ABC News poll of registered voters last month, McCain led Obama 67 percent to 25 percent among white evangelical Protestants. McCain and Obama will try to appeal to them Saturday, when they sit down with Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in California and one of the most influential evangelicals in the country. Warren, whose best-selling book "The Purpose Driven Life" helped shift the conversation in evangelical circles beyond culture wars to serving and loving others, is expected to ask the candidates about global poverty, the HIV/AIDS crisis and climate change. He is one of a new generation of evangelical leaders who have shaped Merritt's worldview. "There's a shift in issue focus," said Joshua DuBois, 25, who was associate pastor of a small evangelical church and is responsible for Obama's faith outreach. "I don't think any young evangelical is ignoring the traditional values issues, but they are adding other issues, including poverty and war, and they are also looking at integrity and family."
Comments are closed for this post.
