From the Wall Street Journal:
Barack Obama focused on economic issues in his speech Saturday at the annual convention of the National Urban League, a nonpartisan civil-rights group. "As Dr. King once said, 'the inseparable twin of racial justice is economic justice,'" Obama told the African-American crowd. "You know that you can't take that seat at the front of the bus if you can't afford the bus fare. You can't live in an integrated neighborhood if you can't afford the house. And it doesn't mean a whole lot to sit down at that lunch counter if you can't afford the lunch." ... At the conclusion of the event, Obama was asked if members of the Urban League could stop by the White House if he becomes president. "I'd be delighted to have you because I expect that in the next administration, the White House will be the people's house," he said sparking a standing ovation.
From the Associated Press:
Platform writers for Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton worked side-by-side Saturday as the Democratic Party developed a policy statement to promote nominee-in-waiting Obama and keep Clinton backers involved. The 20-member drafting committee heard Friday and Saturday morning from scores of party regulars, policy experts and hard-luck Americans before beginning a draft of the platform, which goes before the full platform committee Aug. 9 in Pittsburgh. The committee, meeting through Sunday, reviewed a 44-page document principally written by Karen Kornbluh, who has worked on Obama's Senate staff. She said the draft included Obama and Clinton materials and was meant to highlight renewing core American goals. Kornbluh said the Clinton materials in the draft include a commitment that "people who do the work in America will never be invisible to the Democratic Party," echoing a common Clinton campaign theme. ... Obama campaign spokesman Nick Shapiro said the platform drafting reflected a goal of "uniting in common effort to bring change to America."
From Florida Today:
Sen. Barack Obama promised not to cut NASA funding and said Saturday at a town hall meeting he will rely on Florida Sen. Bill Nelson and revered astronaut and former Sen. John Glenn to help form his space policy. "Under my watch, NASA will inspire the world once again and is going to help grow the economy right here in Brevard County," said the presumptive Democratic nominee, speaking to a crowd of 1,400 at Brevard Community College's Titusville campus. ..."Here's what I'm committing to: Continue Constellation. We're going to close the gap (between the end of shuttle flight and the next program, Constellation). We may have additional shuttle flights," he said. "My commitment is to seamless transition, where we're utilizing the space station in an intelligent way, and we're preparing for the next generation of space travel." ... In Titusville, Obama entered the town hall meeting with Nelson as the audience pounded on the bleachers and cheered. "Yes, we can!" the crowd chanted. "I've been working Barack, telling him it's the I-4 corridor of Florida that will make a difference," Nelson said.
From the Boston Globe:
Democratic Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign is formally opening its office in Maine's largest city. Gov. John Baldacci, a former supporter of Sen. Hillary Clinton, will be joined Saturday by House Speaker Glenn Cummings and State Auditor Neria Douglass as they kick off the grand opening of "Obama's Campaign for Change" office in Portland. Afterward, there'll be a voter registration drive. Baldacci threw his support behind Obama after Clinton pulled out of the race. Since then, he joined other governors in discussing issues with Obama in Chicago.
From Reuters:
Democrat Barack Obama agreed on Saturday to a formal proposal for three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate, effectively scuttling Republican White House rival John McCain's hopes for a series of one-on-one town hall meetings. Obama campaign manager David Plouffe informed the Commission on Presidential Debates of the decision, which proposed the schedule, in a letter. Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel will represent the campaign in talks on the format and details. The late conventions and short period before the first debate -- the Republican convention ends on Sept. 4 and the first debate is scheduled for Sept. 26 -- made it "likely" the four debates proposed by the commission "will be the sole series of debates in the fall campaign," Plouffe wrote.
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