Dem Campaign Chatter 8-6-2008

George Wenschhof

Today, Obama is in Indiana - He will be at a town hall meeting in Elkhart. He will be joined by Indiana Senator Evan Bayh who says Obama has not asked him to be his running mate and he does not expect any VP announcement tomorrow. So much for the VP buzz. I lived in Indiana for six years attending College and Grad school - I hope Obama's staff gave him some info on the High School Basketball Teams! Read more here. Michelle Obama will be in Norfolk, Virginia at a town hall speaking with military families - she may upstage her husband today.

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McCain campaign purchases 6 million in Olympics ads - This tops the 5 million the Obama campaign had bought earlier. All I can say is wow! We can now be reassured that we can watch dueling campaign ads during the Olympics. We will be able to rate the ads as commercials are rated during the Super Bowl. Read more here.

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Obama campaign begins signing up lawyers for voter protection - this is a program run by the campaign to ensure voters have access to the polls. With an even higher turnout expected, lawyers are being recruited earlier than in past campaigns. The Obama campaign plans to have counsel in each state. Read more here.

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Fed leaves interest rate unchanged - when they met yesterday, the vote was to leave the rate unchanged. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke hinted earlier that due to fears of inflation, there would likely be no change. The Dow closed 331.62 up yesterday to close at 11,615.77 Read more here. Meanwhile, Freddie Mac reports it's fourth consecutive quarterly loss - this time 821 million. Read more here.

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Paris Hilton for President? - she responds to the McCain ad with one of her one. It's like... totally, hot! Watch it here.

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House Republicans receive the support of former Speaker Newt Gingrich - for their present action of meeting on the Hill while Congress is on break. This action was triggered over anger when Speaker Nancy Pelosi refused to call for a vote on off-shore oil drilling. There are currently countless number of land leases in which oil companies are not presently drilling on and new drilling will not result in any production for at least ten years. Yet, polls are showing this to be an issue with voters. Read more here. Stay Tuned.

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Fluctuating polls show voters still making up their minds - Just this week polls have come out showing leads for both Obama and McCain. Although an overwhelming number of voters feel the country needs a new direction, the polling shows a continued split among voters choosing between a Republican and Democratic President with neither candidate polling at 50% or above. Politico.com has a read today entitled "Obama stalls in public polling".