Campaign Chatter

Obama is in Iraq and scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Nuri al-Milicki - Two days ago, the Prime Minister said he agreed with Obama's 16 month timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. Seems he got a call from the Bush administration and yesterday al-Milicki said he was misquoted in the Der Spiegel article. TalkingPointsMemo.com has a good read here - seems the interpreter for the article was al-Milicki's. Obama is scheduled to have dinner with General Petraeus.

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To drill for oil off shore or not? - Republicans continue to push for this while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calf.) does not put it up for vote. House Minority Whip Roy Blount (R-Mo.) cries foul. TheHill.com has more here. Interestingly, polls show majority of Americans favor drilling off-shore and the votes in the House are probably there for this. However, even if this vote was approved, it is estimated it would be six or seven years before any oil production would come from this action. In seven years, if we took the lead of Al Gore and T. Boone Pickens, we would be well on our way of weaning ourselves from the oil dependency.

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"McCain and Obama Agree to Attend Megachurch Forum" - is the headline in a article today in the New York Times. Seems their first debate will be at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California on August 16. They will be interviewed separately by the Reverend Rick Warren.

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Wow! Obama campaign raised 25 million last day in June - The total was 54 million in June compared to McCain, who raised 22 million. Politico.com has a good read here. Clinton loaned her campaign another million for a total of 13.2 million.

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USA Today has a good read on the Denver Democratic convention and the right of Protesters - Ever since the protests that turned violent in 1968 in Chicago, concerns as to public appearance and security have been many. That was the year Republican Richard Nixon was elected President. Read the article here.