Dem Campaign Chatter 8-15-2008

George Wenschhof

Today, Obama and family wind down their vacation in Honolulu, Hawaii and head for home- the Honolulu Star Bulletin has more here. Tomorrow he will be interviewed along with McCain by Reverend Rick Warren at Saddleback Church in southern, California. Each will be interviewed for an hour and asked identical questions according to Reverend Warren. It will be televised live on CNN beginning at 8:00 PM ET. Read more here.

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Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf likely to resign any day now - although supported by the U.S. Bush administration, it is reported a deal has been made not to impeach or prosecute if he resigns. The new President could well be either Ali Zardari, husband of the slain Benazir Bhutto or Nawaz Sharif. The opposition parties gained a majority in Parliamentary elections at the beginning of the year and have been pushing for Musharraf's removal. This country is located in a very volatile region and has operational nuclear weapons. The New York Times has more here. Stay Tuned.

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U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice to present peace agreement to Georgia today - Rice met with French President Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday who negotiated the cease fire. He indicated that Russian President Medvedev has agreed to a peace agreement and once Georgian President Saakashvili signs it, the Russian troops will begin to withdraw. It appears doubtful break away regions of South Osettia or Abkhazia will be absorbed by Georgia. Reuters.com has more here.

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Obama campaign responds to Corsi book "The Obama Nation" - not about to be swift boated by the same man that helped undo the John Kerry campaign in 2004, the Obama campaign released a 41 page document detailing the silliness of the book. It is appropriately titled "Unfit for Publication". Politico.com has a link to the document here.

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More questions surround Obama selection for VP - seems three of the VP contenders have been scheduled to speak Wednesday night at the Convention - the same night the VP nominee speaks. They are Senators Bayh and Biden and Governor Richardson. Does this mean they have been scratched from the list? - no one is saying, but it is doubtful they would speak twice. Read more here.

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Obama campaign hits a record two million donors - campaign manager, David Plouffe sent a email out yesterday informing supporters. This is a phenomenal number of donors which has been aided with the power of the Internet. I remember when I was working on the Maryland for Dean campaign how impressed I was with their use of the Internet. Obama has taken that effort into a whole new universe. Read more here.

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One billion spent so far by Presidential candidates - as of the end of June 1.045 billion had been reported to the Federal Elections Commission by all the candidates. Read more here. It is anticipated up to another 500 million will be spent by the Obama and McCain campaigns leading up to the general election - did anyone say it is time for publicly financed campaigns?