Democratic Campaign Chatter 6-22-2008

Obama reacts to passage of FISA - On Friday, the House passed a compromise FISA bill negotiated by Steny Hoyer (Md), House Majority Leader. The initial reaction by Senator Obama was one of support. TalkingPointsMemo.com has a good read here.

Later on Saturday, it was reported that he was against telecom immunity and that is how he saw the compromise language offered by Hoyer. He indicated he will not support the bill when it comes to the Senate this week and will offer an amendment which would strike the compromise language. Over 40 lawsuits have been filed against telecoms for providing information to the Bush administration. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) said he would offered the amendment but was doubtful it would pass. Read more here.

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In a "gotcha" moment made more relevant by the floods in Iowa - the two campaigns pointed fingers at the other for how they voted in the past on the Water Resources Development Act. Read more here.

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Obama plans 50 state strategy - This is the same strategy former Vermont Governor Howard Dean has been promoting as chair of the Democratic National Committee. The DNC has been funding staff positions across the country and placing them in state Democratic party organizations. These positions are to boost voter registration and get out the vote efforts. The Obama campaign will be sending paid staff to all states as well, making sure the McCain campaign does not have an easy ride in any state. It is estimated that the Obama campaign could easily raise and spend 300 million in the general election. This is plenty to have advertising in every state. The New York Times has a good read here.

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Immigration could become a major issue in the general election - neither candidate or party have included this in their platform in this election. This is a shame, for states and local government have been left to deal with this emotionally charged issue. Not only is this not a local government issue, but the actions being taken by local governments are further exacerbating this issue. Yesterday, McCain challenged Obama to appear with him at the National Council of La Raza meeting next month. This is an issue where we are dealing with human rights and it should not be dealt with by a campaign gimmick. Let's hope serious discussion does begin with suggested solutions by the candidates - It is way past due. Read more here.

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Will racial prejudice impact the election? - The Washington post has a good read today entitled "3 in 10 Americans Admit to Race Bias". Lots of interesting stats in this new Washington Post - ABC News poll - in the 2004 election, 77% of voters were white and 11% of voters were black. Also this Post-ABC poll shows Obama leading McCain by 6 points but among those most likely to vote, McCain leads by 1 point.

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More bad news for the economy - the DOW falls below 12,000, losing 465 points last week. Read more here. While unemployment continues to increase with May national average being 5.5%, a .5% increase from April. Typically, unemployment drops in the summer months due to increased seasonal job opportunities. Read more here. If unemployment figures rise over the summer and the DOW continues to drop, expect the pressure to be on the candidates big time in September and October to produce viable solutions. Sending another round of rebate checks will not cut it.