NORFOLK, Va. -- When Michelle Obama, wife of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, held a roundtable with military spouses and retirees here on Wednesday, she got an earful -- and said that if her husband is elected, he has a plan to help them.
Six military spouses and three retired officers participated in the roundtable with Obama on the campus of Old Dominion University here, with about 200 invited retirees, veterans and spouses in the audience. Most were invited because they were volunteers with the Obama campaign, or were invited by someone in the Obama campaign, said campaign officials and some of the attendees interviewed by Military Times.
Michelle Obama cheers on children as they play a spelling game Wednesday at the Old Dominion University Child Study Center in Norfolk. Obama was in town to meet with military families at a roundtable event.
The issues that members of the roundtable brought up spoke to the pressures that military families face, especially in wartime.
An Air Force wife said she had to give up her job when her husband deployed because she couldn't find child care.
A Marine wife, a former executive, said she home-schools her children because she couldn't find a public or private school that could meet her children's needs.
A Navy wife described the pressures of taking care of her husband's father, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, while also caring for her infant and her teenager -- all while her husband was deployed. ….continue reading
Obama Takes Aim At McCain's Maverick Image
View New Ad 'Original Maverick' Below
By Caren Bohan
ELKHART, Ind. - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama took aim at Republican John McCain's maverick image on Wednesday as the campaign trail took another negative turn.
McCain hit Obama with a television advertisement that belittled him as "the biggest celebrity in the world," one who would raise taxes on families in America.
"Raising taxes in a bad economy is about the worst thing you could do because it will kill even more jobs when what we need are policies that create jobs," McCain said at a kitchen cabinet plant in Jackson, Ohio.
Even celebrity Paris Hilton got a word in edgewise, issuing a video response to a McCain ad last week that likened Obama to celebrities like her and Britney Spears.
Hilton, lying in a pool chair wearing a designer swimsuit and heels, looks up from reading a magazine and upbraids McCain -- who she calls "white-haired dude" -- and says she supports an energy plan that is a hybrid of both McCain's and Obama's.
Obama, unable to break out of a close race with McCain in public opinion polls, went on the attack against the Arizona senator at a town hall meeting in the traditionally Republican state of Indiana.
A new poll by the Pew Research Center reported what it called "Obama fatigue" among many Americans, saying 48 percent of those polled said they have been hearing "too much" about him. …..continue reading
Senator Obama greets a supporter during a Town Hall Meeting in Elkhart, Indiana yesterday.
CNN's Jack Cafferty Offers His Two-Cents
500: Deadly U.S. Milestone In
Afghan War
Cafferty Shred's Maverick Myth
Cafferty On GOP Decline
By Kirk Semple and Andrew W. Lehren
Not long after Staff Sgt. Matthew D. Blaskowski was killed by a sniper's bullet last Sept. 23 in eastern Afghanistan, his mother received an e-mail message with a link to a video on the Internet. A television reporter happened to have been filming a story at Sergeant Blaskowski's small mountain outpost when it came under fire and the sergeant was shot.
Since then, Sergeant Blaskowski's parents, Cheryl and Terry Blaskowski of Cheboygan, Mich., have watched their 27-year-old son die over and over. Ms. Blaskowski has taken breaks from work to watch it on her computer, sometimes several times a day, studying her son's last movements. ….continue reading
Shaheen Delivers Education Policy Address at NEA Conference
BARTLETT, NH - Former Governor and current candidate for US Senate Jeanne Shaheen delivered a major education policy address yesterday outlining her vision for a new direction in education policy that will strengthen our schools and make college more affordable for middle class families.
"As a former teacher, I know first-hand the challenges that teachers face in our classrooms everyday and I understand that a good education is critical not only to our children's success, but to our ability to compete as a country in the 21st century economy," Shaheen said. "I believe we need a new direction in education policy that will strengthen our education system for all of our children by reforming No Child Left Behind, fully funding special education, investing in early childhood education and making college more affordable for more families."
Shaheen delivered the address at the annual conference of the New Hampshire NEA in Bartlett. ….continue reading
U.S. Senate and Gubernatorial Candidate Forums Set For Sept.
Freddie Mac Loses $821
Million
CONCORD, N.H. - The Business and Industry Association, in partnership with the New Hampshire Union Leader, New Hampshire Public Radio and New Hampshire Public Television, will present forums in September during which candidates for statewide office will discuss issues important to New Hampshire business leaders.
Two luncheon forums are scheduled for Sept. 22 and 24 at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College in Manchester. The Sept. 22 forum will feature candidates in the U.S. Senate race - incumbent U.S. Sen. John Sununu and former New Hampshire Gov. Jeanne Shaheen. New Hampshire gubernatorial candidates, incumbent Gov. John Lynch and state Sen. Joseph Kenney, will face off in the Sept. 24 forum. ….continue reading
By Charles Duhigg
The gloom over the nation's housing market deepened on Wednesday as Freddie Mac, the big mortgage finance company, reported a gaping quarterly loss and predicted that home prices would fall further than previously projected.
The announcement disap- pointed those hoping that the housing market might be bottoming out and heightened worries that the government could be forced to rescue Freddie Mac and the other mortgage finance giant, Fannie Mae. The news also signaled that mortgage rates were likely to rise. ….continue reading
Obama Supporters Will Be Visiting Gas Stations Around N.H.
MANCHESTER, NH-- Barack Obama's "Campaign for Change" announced that Obama supporters across New Hampshire will visit gas stations in Manchester and across the state on Thursday, talking with drivers about Sen. Obama's New Energy for America plan that will lessen our dependence on foreign oil, give American families an immediate energy rebate of $1,000 to deal with soaring gas prices, and create five million new green jobs.
Locally, volunteers will be handing out flyers at the Mobil Station located at 316 Court Street in Laconia beginning at 3 p.m. Anyone interested in participating in this event should call Obama Field Organizer Tim Arsenault at 545-2724 or meet at the "Campaign For Change" office located at 54 Canal Street at 2:30 p.m.
Obama supporters will be talking about prices at the pump and Senator John McCain's failure to provide a real solution to the energy crisis during his 26 years in Washington.
Local Dems Celebrate at 'Open House'
LACONIA - An estimated forty people turned out Monday evening for an Open House to celebrate the official opening of the Laconia "Campaign for Change" office located at 54 Canal Street in downtown Laconia as well as Barack Obama's 47th birthday. The Laconia office is one of a dozen "Campaign for Change" offices opened thus far in New Hampshire.
Among those in attendance were all five of Laconia's candidates for the New Hampshire House of Representatives - incumbents Judie Reever and Beth Arsenault and newcomers Ben Arsenault, Ed Allard and Dr. Richard Stuart. Lynn Chong, Chair of the Belknap County Democratic Committee and a candidate for Belknap County Register of Probate was also on hand.
Officials Say Scientist Was Solely Responsible for Anthrax Attacks
By Carrie Johnson, Del Quentin Wilber and Dan Eggen
WASHINGTON, DC - Gov- ernment officials asserted yesterday that a troubled bioweapons scientist acted alone to perpetrate a terrorism scheme that killed five people, a case that centered on a near-perfect match of anthrax spores in his custody and a record of his late-night laboratory work just before the toxic letters were mailed.
Federal investigators uncovered e-mail messages written by bacteriologist Bruce E. Ivins ….continue reading
"To have this many people come out on a Monday evening in the middle of the summer says a lot about the enthusiasm of local Democrats," said Ron Tunning, Chair of the Laconia Democratic Party. "People realize that the country's been on the wrong track and they're excited about the prospect for change."
That change, he indicated, must occur on the state and county level as well as in Washington. "It's essential that we strengthen the Democratic majority in the New Hampshire House so that we can continue to address the needs of New Hampshire residents that the Republican majority neglected for decades," Tunning said. "And at the county level there's a desperate need for leadership and transparency, both of which have been lacking under Republican control."
Tunning noted that the party is well positioned locally to challenge the decades of dominance by the GOP. "We have great candidates, great policy positions, great volunteers, and an extremely motivated electorate," he observed. "Our prospects for November couldn't be better."
