Dem Campaign Chatter 8-17-2008

George Wenschhof

Today, Obama is in Reno, Nevada - He will meet with T.Boone Pickens, the ex-oil man with the plan for Wind Power. He will also hold a town meeting. Later, he is off to San Francisco, California to attend a fundraiser.

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Yesterday, the Obama campaign announced 51 million raised in July - they reported 65,000 new donors to reach 2 million donors - this is a incredible number. In the all important number, they had 65.8 million cash on hand. The Democratic National Committee said it raised 27.7 million in July. CNN.com has more here.

We reported earlier the McCain campaign had raised 27 million in July and the Republican National Committee had raised 26 million.

Looks like we will be able to call whoever wins, the Billion dollar President.

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Russian President Medvedev says troops will begin withdrawing tomorrow - Georgia has been complaining Russian troops had not left their country after the cease-fire agreement. As Americans know full well, getting into a war is easier than getting out. Reuters.com has more here.

Senator Joe Biden who is the senate Chair of the Foreign Services Committee was invited by President Saakhasvili and is in Georgia today to see first hand the events on the ground. Politico.com has more here. Biden has risen to the top of the rumored VP picks for Obama.

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Obama's Space exploration program supported by ex-Astronauts - former Ohio Senator John Glenn and Florida Senator Bill Nelson will talk to media today at 2:00 PM ET. Read more from ThePage.Time.com here.

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Pelosi says Democrats will offer bill that includes off-shore oil drilling - Yesterday, during the Democratic Party weekly radio address, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said democrats will offer a comprehensive energy bill. The other components of the bill is what will make it interesting to see if Republicans will agree. One rumored component is the tapping of the strategic petroleum reserve.

Republicans have been critical of Pelosi allowing a one month vacation recess while the country is experiencing $4 per gallon gas prices. Polls also show overwhelming number of Americans favor off-shore oil drilling. The HuffingtonPost.com has more here.