Dem Campaign Chatter 8-13-2008

George Wenschhof

Today, Obama and family continue their vacation in Honolulu, Hawaii - Last night, he did attend a fundraiser expected to bring in more than 1 million. Read more here. Unable to totally escape the daily politics, Obama did manage to watch the movie, "The Dark Knight", at a local public movie theater and visit his 85 year old grandmother. Read more here.

In a interesting twist, Politico.com has a article that talks about the owners of the home that Obama is staying in during his vacation. Seems they are big donors to the Democratic Party and the Obama campaign is saying it's a coincidence they are renting this house. Read more here. - Stay Tuned and expect the Republicans to work this info.

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As the Russia-Georgia conflict simmers, was it all about oil? - Today, both Russia and Georgia are accusing the other of violating the cease fire agreement reached yesterday. In the Washington Post today, there is a good article about oil and gas pipelines that run through Georgia, independent of Russia, along with a little history. Read more here.

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Also, keep an eye on Pakistan - pressure continues to mount for President Pervez Musharraf to resign. He has been a staunch ally of the U.S. Bush administration. It is doubtful the lower and upper chambers of the Pakistan government have the 2/3 vote needed to impeach Musharraf, but the process itself would weaken him and cause additional turmoil in the country. Read more here.

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More Speakers announced for Democratic Convention - Monday, Michelle Obama will be joined by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Denver Mayor Hickenlooper, Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill and as we reported earlier, Senator Ted Kennedy via a video taped previously at his home. Tuesday, the keynote address will be given by former Virginia Governor Mark Warner. Hillary Clinton will also speak as well as Ohio Governor Ted Strickland who supported Clinton in the primary and helped her win Ohio. Wednesday, it is former president Bill Clinton and the yet to be named VP. On Thursday, when Obama gives his acceptance speech from the Denver Broncos Stadium, he will be joined by Colorado Governor Ritter. Read more here.

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Scratch another from the Obama VP list - Republican Senator Chuck Hagel who traveled to Iraq and Afghanistan with Obama says he is not endorsing either candidate. He also indicated he will not be attending either political party national convention. Read more here.

This comes after two former Republican elected officials Rep. Jim Leach (Iowa) and Senator Lincoln Chafee (R.I.) officially started "Republicans for Obama". Leach even said he hoped Obama would seriously consider Hagel to be his running mate. Read more here.

Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed is quietly becoming the front runner for Obama's VP. They reportedly got along very well during Obama's trip to Iraq. Stay tuned.

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Jerome Corsi is at it again - He penned a book entitled "Unfit for Command" about John Kerry which was released in the summer preceding the 2004 election. This time, it is directed at Barack Obama. It is entitled "The Obama Nation" with a subtitle of "Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality". It will debut at number 1 on the New York Times non-fiction hardcovers list. Read more here.

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Today's Gallup Daily Tracking Poll has it Obama - 47%, McCain - 42%, Read more here. More important is the electoral vote - Here is where the race is won and lost. Presently, electoral-vote.com has it Obama with 289 and McCain at 249. Read more here.

There are currently 11 battleground states with a total of 113 electoral votes. They are (electoral votes in parenthesis) Montana (3), North (3) and South(3) Dakota, Nevada(5), Colorado(9), Indiana(11), Ohio(20), New Hampshire(4), Virginia(13), North Carolina(15), and Florida(27).

There are another 13 states with a total of 163 electoral votes that are presently classified as weak Democratic or weak Republican. These figures will change as we near the election, but it is apparent many more states are in play in this election.