Democratic Campaign Chatter 8-11-2008

George Wenschhof

Today, Obama continues his vacation in Hawaii - he had hopes for some private body surfing. So far, his vacation has been far from private as he has been spotted playing golf and eating out. Read more here. Tomorrow night, he will attend a million dollar fundraiser.

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Russian - Georgian conflict continues - Russian troops were advancing on the city of Gori in Georgia. This as a result of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili initially sending troops into South Ossetia in an effort to unify his country. He obviously underestimated Russia's resolve to support South Ossetia's independence. The U.S. and President Bush has been supportive of Georgia and have been pushing NATO to admit Georgia. This is a cold war rerun. Read more here. Stay tuned.

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Gallup has it Obama 46% and McCain 43% - poll taken from August 7-9. Undecideds were 6%. Read more here.

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Two Clintons not enough at the Democratic Convention - seems Chelsea Clinton will introduce Mom on Tuesday night. Also expected to join Senator Clinton on stage are the other Democratic elected representatives. This will keep with the theme of all women on the stage that evening as it is the anniversary of women gaining the right to vote. Read more here.

Michelle Obama gets the nod to start off the week. She will speak during prime time on Monday night. On Tuesday, it is Chelsea and Hillary Clinton. Wednesday, it is former President Bill Clinton and the VP nominee, and Thursday it will be Obama at Denver Broncos "Mile High" Football stadium. This night happens to fall on the 45th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's "I have a Dream" speech. Read more here.

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A dysfunctional Hillary Clinton campaign - appears to be the focus in the Atlantic magazine article this week. The eight page article is entitled "The Front-Runner's fall" by senior editor Joshua Green. It does not portray Clinton's administrative capabilities in a good light and shows the discord that constantly was in existence with her campaign staff. This article will not aid Democratic Party unity as not too old wounds will be reopened. Expect Clinton supporters to claim sexism in this article. Politico.com has a good read here.

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More on the 13 million Clinton campaign debt - seems there is an outside possibility she will be able to have more time to pay herself back. The McCain-Feingold Act required loans of more than $250,000 to be paid back within 20 days of the end of the campaign which for Clinton would be 20 days from Obama's acceptance speech. After this time period the loan is essentially forfeited.

Democrat Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey is challenging this part of the Act to the Federal Elections Commission. He is using a recent Supreme Court decision pertaining to freedom of speech. If he is successful, Clinton would have more time to raise funds to pay herself back. Politico.com has more here.

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Al Gore and Wecansolveit.org to unveil new ad today during Olympics - this continues their goal of new electricity independent of oil in ten years. It makes the idea of more off-shore oil drilling sound even more ridiculous. The ad is entitled 'Together, We Can Repower America". Watch it here and share it with your friends.