All for one
As the presidential nomination fight dragged on, the Democratic National Committee yesterday announced a joint fundraising agreement with the campaigns of Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.
DNC Chairman Howard Dean said the party is “incredibly fortunate” to have “two strong candidates who have generated transformational enthusiasm across the country” and have reported staggering fundraising totals for more than a year, The Washington Times national political reporter Christina Bellantoni reports.
“While this is a close primary, at the end of the day both of our candidates understand that this election is about the future of our country. In signing this agreement, Senator Clinton and Senator Obama are demonstrating their commitment to unifying our party and ensuring that we have the resources needed to win the White House, no matter who the nominee is,” Mr. Dean said.
The Democratic White House Victory Fund will accept money for the eventual nominee’s primary and general election fund.
He’ll flier away
Sen. Barack Obama has got that old-time religion, circulating a campaign flier emblazoned with the mottos “Faith, hope, change” and “Committed Christian,” plus a highlighted quote: “I won’t be doing God’s will unless I go out and do the Lord’s work.”
The flier is being distributed in Kentucky, which votes Tuesday, but is the same one his campaign gave voters in Texas in March and in other states this winter.
Mr. Obama has someone specific in mind.
“He is making a direct appeal to evangelicals with fliers that mention his conversion experience, and they highlight a big old cross. Remember Mike Huckabee’s supposed subliminal cross in his Christmas campaign ad? Well, the Obama campaign ditches the subliminal and goes for the in-your-face cross,” said Christian Broadcasting Network correspondent David Brody yesterday.
“The Obama campaign has consistently believed that their candidate can compete for the ’religious vote.’ A lot has been made about how Obama hasn’t done as well with Catholics compared to Clinton. But let’s remember one thing: Obama has a story to tell about how Jesus came into his life. You can bet we will be hearing more details about it on the stump in the fall.”
On his heels
“The message from Pennsylvania to Ohio to West Virginia is that Obama has yet to gain the confidence of Middle America. He cannot become president unless he does,” writes Alvin S. Felzenberg at NationalReview.com
“The man who began this campaign promising to heal divides has himself become a source of division. And the woman who conservatives once derided for her supposed leftist, McGovernite leanings and kooky ideas — like winning for children the right to sue their parents — talks about valuing the middle class.”
“What produced this ironic turn in events? Barack Obama. Voters of West Virginia made the most of their opportunity to let Obama know what they thought of his ’bitter’ characterization of them, when he thought he was among friends in San Francisco. (Rev. Wright proved but a sideshow.) That cleared the path for Hillary Clinton, graduate of Wellesley and Yale Law School and doyenne of Renaissance Weekends, to reposition herself as the champion of waitresses working second shifts.”
“Obama can expect Hillary to be on his heels all the way to Denver. There will be rules fights, credentials challenges, platform battles, and, perhaps multiple ballots. John McCain may end the year as more than the luckiest and the happiest man in the United States, but as president-elect.”
Cindy sells
Cindy McCain is selling off more than $2 million in mutual funds whose holdings include companies that do business in the African nation of Sudan.
The sale came after Associated Press questioned her investments in light of calls by her husband, Sen. John McCain, for international financial sanctions against the Sudanese leadership. According to his personal financial disclosure, his spouse’s investments include two mutual funds — American Funds Europacific Growth fund and American Funds Capital World Growth and Income fund — that are listed by the Sudan Divestment Task Force as targets for divestment.
McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said, “Those have been sold as of today.”
Pull the press
“Fully 72 percent of the public — including comparable percentages of Democrats, Republicans and independents — say that journalists should not be anointing [Barack] Obama as the Democratic nominee at this stage in the race. Just 20 percent say that journalists should be doing this,” said a Pew Research Center study released yesterday.
“Opinion among Democrats about what the press should do in this regard may well reflect their view that Hillary Clinton should stay in the race,” the research stated.
The election was the subject of almost half of all news coverage. Public interest is up: 35 percent said they followed campaign news “very closely,” up from 27 percent. There’s good news for Mrs. Clinton: She generated her highest level of coverage for the year thus far — the subject of 70 percent of all campaign stories.
Boycotting Fox
Democrats and Fox News Channel are no easy mix.
“It’s quite a frustration in terms of covering the Democratic race because they haven’t played with us,” Chris Wallace told the Hollywood Reporter yesterday, noting that Hillary Rodham Clinton has appeared on Fox News Channel twice, Barack Obama none.
“Their strategists are smart people, and they’re going to decide what’s in their best interest to do,” Mr. Wallace said.
But the mix of working-class voters, uncommitted “Reagan Democrats” or voters who are not overwhelmingly conservative or Republican offers many possibilities to an enterprising Democrat, he suggested.
“There are a lot of independents, a lot of swing voters — that’s one of their target demographics. If not up to this point, then starting now, I think they miss a tremendous opportunity by boycotting Fox,” he concluded.
Penny’s worth
One of Hollywood’s most vocal pundit-performers is not necessarily starry-eyed over Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama.
“I don’t have a candidate I’m supporting, and I’m certainly interested and excited by the hope that Barack Obama is inspiring,” Sean Penn told the London Daily Telegraph yesterday.
Then the actor accused the Illinois lawmaker of having a “phenomenally inhuman and unconstitutional” voting record, although he didn’t elaborate.
“I hope that he will understand if he is the nominee, the degree of disillusionment that will happen if he doesn’t become a greater man than he will ever be,” Mr. Penn said. “This is the most important election, certainly in my lifetime, and maybe ever.”
• Contact Jennifer Harper at jharper@washingtontimes.com or 202/636-3085.
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