NewsHour Vote 2008

Visit the Online NewsHour's General Election Site for Latest Campaign News

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:40:54 -0500

This site featured NewsHour coverage of the presidential candidates through the end of the primary contests in early June. For the latest campaign news, updates and analysis, and for an updated RSS feed, please visit the Online NewsHour’s Vote 2008 general election site and update your bookmarks.

Reporter's Notebook: Gwen Ifill on How Campaigns Confront Rumors

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:51:02 -0500

In a conversation with the NewsHour’s Steve Goldbloom on Monday, Senior NewsHour Correspondent Gwen Ifill discussed how campaigns confront Internet rumors and whether patriotism is a legitimate campaign issue.

“Every candidate has to reintroduce themself at some point in the campaign, especially after the nomination has been clinched. But for Barack Obama it’s a bigger deal because people, it turns out, people not only don’t know that much about him but what they think they know is so often not true,” Ifill said.

MP3: Listen to the complete conversation (4:50)

In Appeal to Evangelicals, Obama Backs Expansion of Faith-based Programs

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:02:31 -0500

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama campaigns in the battleground state of Ohio Tuesday to announce plans to expand and overhaul President Bush’s faith-based programs as part of his bid to appeal to evangelical voters and build his community service platform.

Obama was unveiling his proposal to get religious charities more involved in anti-poverty programs during a tour and remarks in Zanesville, Ohio’s Eastside Community Ministry, which provides food, clothes, youth ministry and other services, according to the Associated Press.

“The challenges we face today … are simply too big for government to solve alone,” Obama planned to say, according to prepared remarks obtained by the AP. “We need all hands on deck.”

McCain Takes Campaign to Mexico and Colombia

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:48:52 -0500

Sen. John McCain takes his campaign to Mexico and Colombia this week, where he’ll tackle two key issues on many voters’ minds: free trade and immigration. McCain was due to start the three-day trip Tuesday in Colombia.

McCain has been a strong supporter of free-trade agreements and NAFTA, and he knows they are a tough sell in the current economic environment. They will be especially tough to sell in swing states — Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan — that have been losing manufacturing jobs to cheaper labor across the borders.

“I have to convince them the consequences of protectionism and isolationism could be damaging to their future,” the McCain said Tuesday in Philadelphia, before departing for South America. “I understand it’s very tough. But for me to give up my advocacy of free trade would be a betrayal of trust. And the most precious commodity I have with the American people is that they trust me.”

For Clinton and Obama, the Word of the Day is Unity

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 17:06:39 -0500

It was day two of the Democratic Unity Tour, and Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama made their first public appearance together since Sen. Clinton dropped out of the presidential race earlier this month, leaving Sen. Obama as the party’s presumptive nominee.

The senators, rivals for more than a year in one of the closest nomination battles in history, shared a stage in the New Hampshire town serendipitously named Unity, a town which gave each of them 107 votes in the state’s primary back in January.

Sen. Clinton addressed the crowd first, with Sen. Obama sitting to her right.

Obama Calls on Donors to Help Reduce Clinton's Debt

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:30:29 -0500

Presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama on Tuesday asked his top donors to help Sen. Hillary Clinton pay off more than $10 million in debt from her failed presidential bid.

Obama’s move to help his former rival comes during a week dedicated to a show of unity between to two Democratic senators. On Friday, the two are scheduled to campaign in New Hampshire together.

In a conference call with some of his top fundraisers, Obama asked that they begin to whittle away at Clinton’s debt, two Democrats familiar with the call
told the AP. A campaign spokesman confirmed to the AP that Obama had indeed asked for financial help for the New York senator.

Reporter's Notebook: Gwen Ifill on Campaign Financing and Top Voter Issues

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:36:33 -0500

In a conversation with the NewsHour’s Steve Goldbloom, Senior NewsHour Correspondent Gwen Ifill spoke about Sen. Barack Obama’s decision to opt out of public campaign financing, Sen. John McCain’s possible campaign strategies, and why voters are most concerned about the economy.

“I think it’s fair to say that in almost any election the economy will trump all. When you can go to the gas pump, when you can pay your mortgage or not pay your mortgage, when you can go to the doctor and see the cost of your prescription uncovered, I think that that always will resonate with people in very direct pocketbook ways, which nothing at a distance can,” Ifill said.

MP3: Listen to the complete conversation (5:58)

McCain to Pitch Car Battery Prize as Obama Aims at Oil Speculators

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:43:28 -0500

Sen. John McCain is expected to propose his own sort of X Prize later Monday, namely a $300 million reward for the invention of a car battery that far outpaces those commercially available in cost, size, and power.

That equates to every American chipping in a buck — “a small price to pay for helping to break the back of our oil dependency,” McCain said in remarks he will deliver at Fresno State University in California.

The battery should deliver power at 30 percent of current costs and have “the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric cars.”

Obama to Opt Out of Public Financing for the General Election

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:50:12 -0500

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama announced Thursday that he will opt out of public financing for his general election run against GOP Sen. John McCain — a move expected to give the Illinois senator more leeway to raise funds privately.

Obama will become the first general election candidate to opt out of the public financing since the system was established some 30 years ago.

During the Democratic primary, Obama smashed records for fundraising, which largely hinged on the success he achieved in raising money over the Internet. The candidate has taken in an estimated $265 million so far.

Obama and McCain Sharpen Attacks Over Energy Policy

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 18:04:29 -0500

The presidential hopefuls are sharpening their duels on the issues — and amid high gas and fuel costs, climate and energy policy are emerging as top talking points. In one of the latest forays, likely GOP nominee Sen. John McCain took to the stage Tuesday to announce his plans to try and reverse a ban on offshore drilling if elected in November while calling for a clean break from Bush administration energy policies.

The Arizona senator was set to deliver a speech in Houston Tuesday afternoon, where he was expected to tell audiences that “the stakes are high for our citizens and for our economy, and with gasoline running at more than four bucks a gallon, many do not have the luxury of waiting on the fair-off plans of futurists and politicians,” according to advance copies of his speech.

In a divergence from the energy policies of President Bush, McCain proposes a plan to let states decide if they would like to explore offshore drilling.

After Exit of Key Adviser, Obama Goes on Rumor Patrol

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:41:32 -0500

As the political rumblings continued over the resignation of a top adviser to Sen. Barack Obama’s vice presidential search team, the Obama camp emerged with a new Web site Thursday aimed at debunking rumors about his campaign.

The exit of James Johnson, a former Fannie Mae chief executive, topped political headlines Wednesday after the well-known Washington insider left the Obama team due to controversy over his ties to a subprime mortgage lender.

Johnson’s departure came after The Wall Street Journal reported that he received more than $2 million in home loans at low interest rates arranged through Angelo Mozilo, chief executive officer of the embattled Countrywide Financial Corp.

Reporter's Notebook: Gwen Ifill on Defining the Candidates

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:33:34 -0500

In a conversation with the NewsHour’s Steve Goldbloom, Senior Correspondent Gwen Ifill discussed the political reporting she is following, the “kabuki theater” of the veepstakes and how this summer’s conventions will likely be a long introduction to each of the two leading candidates.

“Every election is about definition and it’s a question of whether you define yourself or whether someone else defines you first. You don’t want to be defined by somebody else,” Ifill said during Tuesday’s conversation.

MP3: Listen to the complete conversation (5:03)

McCain, Obama Trade Attacks on Economic Policies

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:57:46 -0500

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama revved up his general election campaign Monday with an address on America’s ailing economy, blaming the Bush administration for the country’s financial woes and tying his likely GOP presidential opponent to the current leadership.

Sen. John McCain lashed back at Obama Tuesday with a speech in Washington, D.C., where he faulted his Democratic opponent for devaluing trade agreements, saying he’d raise taxes for middle-income families.

In an interview with NBC Nightly News on Monday, the Arizona senator said while Obama tells audiences McCain is running for President Bush’s third term, “he is running for Jimmy Carter’s second” because of his plan to “spend, tax, spend, tax.”

Clinton Ready to End Presidential Bid, Support Obama

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 10:34:14 -0500

After a hard-fought and historic nominating race against Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. Hillary Clinton is set to end her run for the White House on Saturday and endorse the Illinois senator, according to her aides and an e-mail from her campaign.

“I will be speaking on Saturday about how together we can rally the party behind Senator Obama,” Clinton told supporters in an e-mail Thursday morning. “The stakes are too high and the task before us too important to do otherwise.”

The event, originally planned for Friday, was moved to Saturday and will be held in Washington, D.C. to accommodate more of her supporters, the Washington Post reported.

Obama Vows Support for Israel; McCain Issues Town Hall Challenge

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 16:11:00 -0500

Sen. Barack Obama took the stage for the first time as the likely Democratic nominee Wednesday morning in front of AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, declaring his steadfast support for Israel, but demanding a change in U.S. foreign policy by withdrawing from Iraq and engaging in “strong” diplomacy with Iran.

“I don’t think any of us can be satisfied that America’s recent foreign policy has made Israel more secure… Because of the war in Iraq, Iran — which always posed a greater threat to Israel than Iraq — is emboldened and poses the greatest strategic challenge to the United States and Israel in the Middle East in a generation,” Obama said. “Israel’s quest for peace with its neighbors has stalled, despite the heavy burdens borne by the Israeli people. And America is more isolated in the region, reducing our strength and jeopardizing Israel’s safety.”