Posts Tagged ‘VP’
Fishbowl America Round-Up for July 8th:
- Edwards Would ’Seriously Consider’ VP Offer – John Edwards said Tuesday that if he were asked to accept the vice presidential slot or a cabinet position in a potential Barack Obama administration, he would “seriously consider” whatever the Illinois senator asked him to do.
- John McCain’s “Love” Doubles As Obama Attack – John McCain may be the supportive subject of this new campaign ad, called “Love,” but Barack Obama definitely provides the thrust of the message. Or, rather, takes the brunt of the message.
- Hagee’s Revenge? Videos Of Controversial Pastor Removed From YouTube – Late last week, with no prior notification, lawyers for the controversial evangelist John Hagee had a series of videos concerning the pastor removed from YouTube. The clips spanned from the contentious to the mundane; some included footage lifted from ser
- Barack Obama And Family Chat With Maria Menounos – In an Access Hollywood exclusive interview, Senator Barack Obama and his wife Michelle, along with daughters Malia, 10 and Sasha, 7 open up about rules, what it is like for friends to meet dad, communicating on the trail, potential plans for moving into t
- Obama’s Shift To Mile High Stadium May Limit Networks – Senator Barack Obama will accept his party’s nomination in a Denver football stadium that seats more than 75,000 people, campaign officials said Monday, a late change in plans intended to take advantage of the candidate’s ability to draw huge crowds.
- Webb Quits Veepstakes; House GOP Conference Chair Predicts Losses; Problems for Arizona GOP Hopeful – US Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) removed himself from the Veepstakes race, after the Obama campaign search committee informed him last week he was one of the contenders. “Last week I communicated to Senator Obama and his presidential campaign my firm intention
- He Loves Hats and We Love Him: Jason Mraz – In his new album, We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things, Jason Mraz has continued to refine his writing style from the cheerful guitar-driven pop of his first album. How can people NOT fall in love with a guy who writes such songs? I said it before and I’m
Fishbowl America Round-Up for July 7th:
- Sneak Peek: First Look At New Harry Potter Film – The Harry Potter trio are back to save Hogwarts from dark forces in the eagerly anticipated sixth film in the series. A year after the last Potter film, Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix, JK Rowling’s creation is back in British cinemas in November.
- Fred Barnes: McCain Better Step Up ‘Homo-Bashing’ As Strategy – Pam’s House Blend: I guess the talking heads on Fox just get right to the point — the GOP is bankrupt of any ideas or actual accomplishments to run on in 2008, so the flagging McSame campaign better drag out the tired homo straw man, according to Right S
- Andrew Sullivan: A Long Way From The Green Iguana – It’s funny to watch the partisan right out-do each other to declare Obama a cynic while Charlie Crist gets engaged to a woman at the height of McCain’s veep search.
- Study: Military Gays Don’t Undermine Unit Cohesion – Congress should repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy because the presence of gays in the military is unlikely to undermine the ability to fight and win, according to a new study released by a California-based research center.
- A Major Speech in Berlin?: Obama Refines Plans for Germany Trip – Barack Obama’s planned European tour might make a major whistlestop in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. The candidate’s schedule isn’t set, but a Berlin appearance before the end of July looks likely.
- Borat’s Alter Ego Dupes Former Mossad Agent – It’s unclear whether his Mossad retirement benefit card will be confiscated, but former spy and current political analyst Yossi Alpher is certainly feeling sheepish after being fooled by actor Sacha Baron Cohen, aka Borat.
- Federal Investigation Launched into Obama’s MD-80 – The National Transportation Safety Board said Monday that it is investigating what caused Senator Barack Obama’s plane to make an unexpected landing today in St. Louis.
- Iraq May Set Timetable For U.S. Withdrawal – Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki raised the prospect on Monday of setting a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops as part of negotiations over a new security agreement with Washington.
- Webb Says No To Being VP – You can officially scratch off Sen. Jim Webb’s name from the list of Barack Obama’s potential running mates.
- ABC News: Md. Plantation Attic Holds 400 Years of Documents – For four centuries, they were the ultimate pack rats. Now a Maryland family’s massive collection of letters, maps and printed bills has surfaced in the attic of a former plantation, providing a firsthand account of life from the 1660s through World War II
- Miami Herald Covers Media Swirl Around Crist – And Avoids The Obvious – I’m not sure how you can explore Florida governor Charlie Crist’s shameless self-promotion for McCain’s consideration as VP (after all, the long-time “bachelor” is willing to get married to pass muster) without going into the ample number of stories about
Fishbowl America Round-Up for July 7th:
- Changes In China: Koppel Investigates – The image of Ted Koppel interviewing world leaders is so ingrained that it feels odd to see him wearing a hardhat for a nervous trip into a Chinese coal mine, or sitting in a Chongqing karaoke bar where teenage girls are hired to “entertain” male customer
- Bush To Meet Russia’s Medvedev – US President George W. Bush on Monday holds his first face-to-face talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, a chance to weigh up Vladimir Putin’s heir and tackle outstanding disputes.
- McCain Promises To Balance Budget – Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) plans to promise on Monday that he will balance the federal budget by the end of his first term by curbing wasteful spending and overhauling entitlement programs, including Social Security, his advisers told Politico.
- McCain Struggles to Regain Footing – John McCain calls himself an underdog. That may be an understatement. The GOP presidential candidate trails Democrat Barack Obama in polls, organization and money while trying to succeed a deeply unpopular fellow Republican in a year that favors Democrats
- FDA Reports More Cases Of Salmonella Illnesses – The government on Saturday increased the number of people reported being sickened in a record salmonella outbreak in which tomatoes are the leading suspect although investigators are testing other types of fresh produce.
- UAE To Cancel Iraq’s $7 billion Debt – Dubai has forgiven the nearly $7 billion Baghdad owes it, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced Sunday.
The Fishbowl America Round-Up for July 6th:
- Al-Maliki: Iraq Defeated Terrorism – Iraq’s prime minister said yesterday that the government has defeated terrorism in the country, a sign of growing confidence after recent crackdowns against Sunni extremists and Shiite militias.
- Nadal Dethrones Federer At Wimbledon – Rafael Nadal ended Roger Federer’s five-year reign at Wimbledon on Sunday, winning a riveting, five-set marathon to claim his first title at the All England Club and signal a changing of the guard in men’s tennis.
- Man Rips Off Hitler’s Head at Madame Tussauds Wax Museum – A man tore the head off an Adolf Hitler wax figure at Madame Tussauds’ new branch in Berlin in what appeared to be a symbolic protest on the museum’s opening day Saturday, officials said.
- Poll: Founding Fathers Would Be Disappointed In America – As Americans celebrate the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, an overwhelming majority say the 56 signers of that document would be displeased at how the country has turned out.
- Americans Prefer Candidates Strong On Science – A new poll conducted by Scientists and Engineers for America indicates an overwhelming majority of voters prefer candidates who support research into science and technology, with emphasis on the three E’s: education, environment, and energy. Nice to know,
- Kerry says McCain lacks judgment to be president – John Kerry Says Republican John McCain Doesn’t Have Judgment To Be President
CRIST TO MARRY!?!?: Florida’s most powerful bachelor is getting hitched.
Gov. Charlie Crist, single for nearly three decades, on Thursday morning became engaged to his girlfriend of nine months, Carole Rome.
“She’s special in every way. She’s brilliant, beautiful and sweet. I’m very, very lucky,” Crist told the St. Petersburg Times in an exclusive interview.
“PREGNANT MAN” THOMAS BEATIE GIVES BIRTH
Thomas Beatie, the transgender man who made headlines as the so-called “pregnant man,” gave birth Sunday to a healthy baby girl, ABC News has learned.
CONSERVATIVE ICON JESSE HELMS DEAD
Jesse Helms, the firebrand United States senator whose outspoken, conservative views polarized North Carolina and U.S. voters for decades, died at 1:15 a.m. Friday in Raleigh, according to John Dodd, president of the Jesse Helms Center.
ANNIE LENNOX JOINS LATEST RUMOR MILL ON QUANTUM OF SOLACE THEME SONG
With recent rumors swirling around Beyonce, Amy Winehouse, Duffy, Jack White and Duran Duran, now you can add Annie Lennox to the mix of artists who will potentially lend vocals to the theme of the 22nd and latest James Bond film, “Quantum of Solace.”
NATIONAL SPEED LIMIT TO HELP SAVE GAS?
Retiring Sen. John Warner (R-VA) has a rather stupid idea to help save costs. By adding another band-aid to our addiction to oil, by creating a national 55mph speed limit, instead of creating real change.
Washington Post: OK, so now we have a pretty good idea of who House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would like to see in the No. 2 slot on the 2008 Democratic presidential ticket.
“I do think in the list of considerations there should be somebody from the House of Representatives,” Pelosi told Newsweek.com’s TamCam blog. Specifically, she said, “Chet Edwards is a person that many of us think would be a good person to be in the mix.”
Edwards is a nine-term centrist Democrat from Texas who, though he never served in the armed forces, has a solid military affairs background as chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs.
If you ask us, it sounds like the Texan is tore down excited by the idea of running for veep.
He released a statement Tuesday afternoon saying he is “humbled” that Pelosi “and others” (note that he said “and others”) would suggest him as a vice presidential running mate for Obama. “Given that I have not met with the Obama campaign regarding the vice presidential nomination, I would not want to speculate on the names being considered,” Edwards said.
(yes. for humor’s sake, I’ve got Buchanan on top)
Vicepresidents.com: With Dick Cheney’s daughter, Mary, openly gay, can America’s first openly gay VEEP be far behind? Last year a Gallup poll found that 55% of Americans would vote for a gay person running for President. We’ll assume those numbers would hold for the office of VEEP…
…Though don’t bet the farm just yet that Hillary, Barack, John or Mitt are gonna hook up with an openly gay running mate later this year — especially Republicans McCain and Romney.
What most Americans probably don’t know is that the country may have had at least one gay VEEP already,William Rufus deVane King.
King, the nation’s 13th VEEP, served a brief 45 days in office during the spring of 1853 (under the administration of Franklin Pierce) before dying of tuberculosis.
But it was King’s relationship with Pierce’s White House successor, James Buchanan, which provided grist for the gay gossip mill. King and Buchanan shacked up together for fifteen years prior to Buchanan’s presidency, prompting speculation in the press as to the nature of their relationship. Andrew Jackson referred to King as “Miss Nancy” and “Aunt Fancy,” while Buchanan’s equally snide Postmaster General, Aaron V. Brown, alluded to the two as “Buchanan and his wife.” Buchanan is the only American president never to marry.
Fueling further gay speculation was the fact that Buchanan’s and King’s nieces curiously destroyed their uncles’ correspondence, though at least one surviving letter has Buchanan writing of his “communion” with King. In 1844, after King left for France, Buchanan wrote, “I am now ‘solitary and alone,’ having no companion in the house with me. I have gone a wooing to several gentlemen, but have not succeeded with any of them.”
Buchanan’s relationship with King has led some authors and historians, including Texas Christian University’s Paul F. Boller, to speculate that Buchanan was “America’s first homosexual president.” It follows, therefore, that King was quite possibly America’s first gay VEEP.
Weekend America: William Rufus DeVane King was a man born to be vice president. And he was born at a time when that wasn’t necessarily an insult.
In the middle of the 19th century, the vice president was expected to run the Senate, providing a steady hand, maintaining civility and keeping the legislative process flowing. In years of service as a lawmaker and a diplomat, King had earned a reputation as a modest and reasonable guy. He was well-liked, accommodating, not interested in glory or fame. In essence, he was a perfect vice president.
And King really wanted the job.
So, in 1852 he gets on the ticket with Franklin Pierce. They’re marching toward an easy victory, but meanwhile, King starts coughing. A lot. By the time they win, King is coughing all the time.
Anyone who’s ever watched a film adaptation of a Jane Austen novel can guess what comes next. King heads down to Cuba, hoping a little tropical air will help out his consumption. It doesn’t.
Out of respect for King — knowing full well where this whole thing is going — Congress passes a one-time-only law that allows the vice president to be sworn in on foreign soil. In a somber ceremony, William Rufus DeVane King becomes the 13th vice president of the United States.
A month later he’s dead, and John Breckenridge becomes the 14th.
Now there’s another interesting historical footnote on King. He and future president James Buchanan were roommates for 15 years. One of several facts that have prompted some historians to propose that the two men were America’s first gay vice president and president, respectively. The press at the time wrote articles speculating about it. Both men’s relatives suspiciously burned all correspondence between the two. The post master general used to call the pair “Buchanan and his wife.” And Andrew Jackson called King “Miss Nancy.” Really.
But we will never know for sure.
And at least one historian says that Andrew Jackson called a lot of people Miss Nancy.
(yes. for humor’s sake, I’ve got Buchanan on top)
Vicepresidents.com: With Dick Cheney’s daughter, Mary, openly gay, can America’s first openly gay VEEP be far behind? Last year a Gallup poll found that 55% of Americans would vote for a gay person running for President. We’ll assume those numbers would hold for the office of VEEP…
…Though don’t bet the farm just yet that Hillary, Barack, John or Mitt are gonna hook up with an openly gay running mate later this year — especially Republicans McCain and Romney.
What most Americans probably don’t know is that the country may have had at least one gay VEEP already,William Rufus deVane King.
King, the nation’s 13th VEEP, served a brief 45 days in office during the spring of 1853 (under the administration of Franklin Pierce) before dying of tuberculosis.
But it was King’s relationship with Pierce’s White House successor, James Buchanan, which provided grist for the gay gossip mill. King and Buchanan shacked up together for fifteen years prior to Buchanan’s presidency, prompting speculation in the press as to the nature of their relationship. Andrew Jackson referred to King as “Miss Nancy” and “Aunt Fancy,” while Buchanan’s equally snide Postmaster General, Aaron V. Brown, alluded to the two as “Buchanan and his wife.” Buchanan is the only American president never to marry.
Fueling further gay speculation was the fact that Buchanan’s and King’s nieces curiously destroyed their uncles’ correspondence, though at least one surviving letter has Buchanan writing of his “communion” with King. In 1844, after King left for France, Buchanan wrote, “I am now ‘solitary and alone,’ having no companion in the house with me. I have gone a wooing to several gentlemen, but have not succeeded with any of them.”
Buchanan’s relationship with King has led some authors and historians, including Texas Christian University’s Paul F. Boller, to speculate that Buchanan was “America’s first homosexual president.” It follows, therefore, that King was quite possibly America’s first gay VEEP.
Weekend America: William Rufus DeVane King was a man born to be vice president. And he was born at a time when that wasn’t necessarily an insult.
In the middle of the 19th century, the vice president was expected to run the Senate, providing a steady hand, maintaining civility and keeping the legislative process flowing. In years of service as a lawmaker and a diplomat, King had earned a reputation as a modest and reasonable guy. He was well-liked, accommodating, not interested in glory or fame. In essence, he was a perfect vice president.
And King really wanted the job.
So, in 1852 he gets on the ticket with Franklin Pierce. They’re marching toward an easy victory, but meanwhile, King starts coughing. A lot. By the time they win, King is coughing all the time.
Anyone who’s ever watched a film adaptation of a Jane Austen novel can guess what comes next. King heads down to Cuba, hoping a little tropical air will help out his consumption. It doesn’t.
Out of respect for King — knowing full well where this whole thing is going — Congress passes a one-time-only law that allows the vice president to be sworn in on foreign soil. In a somber ceremony, William Rufus DeVane King becomes the 13th vice president of the United States.
A month later he’s dead, and John Breckenridge becomes the 14th.
Now there’s another interesting historical footnote on King. He and future president James Buchanan were roommates for 15 years. One of several facts that have prompted some historians to propose that the two men were America’s first gay vice president and president, respectively. The press at the time wrote articles speculating about it. Both men’s relatives suspiciously burned all correspondence between the two. The post master general used to call the pair “Buchanan and his wife.” And Andrew Jackson called King “Miss Nancy.” Really.
But we will never know for sure.
And at least one historian says that Andrew Jackson called a lot of people Miss Nancy.
This must be the worst interview ever. Deborah Solomon of the New York Times Magazine interviewed Florida Governor Charlie Crist, who’s supposedly being considered for the VP spot on a McCain presidential ticket.
Anyone worth their two cents of political knowledge knows that he’s not and McCain would be completely insane to put a well-groomed, overly-tanned bachelor on the ticket, especially when its widely rumored that Crist is gay. With McCain already having problems with the base of the GOP, it would be political suicide for him to put Charlie Crist on the ticket. Nonetheless, Solomon punts some pretty softball questions to the Charlie, but puts in a nice gay terrorist fist-jab at the end. It’s almost comical.
And now, for your reading pleasure, the lamest attempt at journalism ever:
As the popular governor of Florida and a Republican known for supporting relatively progressive causes, you are often mentioned as a possible running mate for Senator McCain. It’s been said that you could deliver Florida for him in the November election and lend him some overall centrist appeal. It’s very flattering that people would even consider that a notion.
Is it fair to describe you as socially progressive? I think it is fair to describe me as a common-sense Republican.
Which implies that some Republicans lack common sense. That’s possible.
You have supported stem-cell research, unlike most Republicans. I do support that. I think it is common sense to pay attention to what is happening in science. My father is a physician, my sister is a physician and I try to be enlightened on things that might extend and create productive life.
This Wednesday, you’ll be hosting your annual climate-change summit meeting in Miami, and you have already signed an executive order to reduce the state’s greenhouse-gas emissions, which is not a traditional Republican goal. Yes, but it should be, in my view, much in the mold of Teddy Roosevelt. Here’s a guy who founded our national parks system and obviously cared about the environment and preserving it.
But didn’t he shoot elephants and other big animals? Yes, he did that too. Being a hunter and being a conservationist are not mutually exclusive.
One of your first acts as governor was signing a bill requiring paper receipts on electronic voting machines. You know who convinced me of that? Congressman Robert Wexler, the great Democrat of Southeast Florida.
Your predecessor as governor, Jeb Bush, was content to have touch screens with no receipts. My view of it is, my goodness, you go to an A.T.M. machine, you get a receipt. You go to a grocery store, you get a receipt. Why not have a paper record for the most precious thing we do as citizens?
Where were you during the Florida recount of 2000? I was on the ballot in 2000. I ran for education commissioner that year. And won. No recount!
The novelist Carl Hiaasen has publicly asked that you excuse yourself from the vice-presidential sweepstakes, since you have been governor for only 17 months and haven’t accomplished much, in his estimation. I appreciate his counsel.
If you became vice president, he wrote in The Miami Herald, you would be better remembered for your tan than for your leadership. I hear that too. And that’s also very flattering.
I trust you use self-tanning lotion and stay out of the sun. No. It’s the sun. And it’s my heritage. I’m of Greek descent.
What was your family’s original name? Cristodoulos. My father changed it when he was in high school.
Your personal life is not that of a typical Republican candidate. For starters, I hear you’re not a property owner. It is true. I do not own property. I just never found a need for it. Now I have the Governor’s Mansion, and I rent a condo in St. Petersburg.
You were married nearly 30 years ago, but the marriage lasted less than a year. Do you prefer living alone? I got married and divorced because it didn’t work out. I haven’t found the right one since. It’s really that simple.
You can’t find one woman in all of Florida? Maybe I have. Stay tuned.
Do you have any advice for your fellow Republicans in the meantime? Just lead with common sense. Do what you think is right. And treat others well.
I’ve got the say… I laughed out loud when Crist revealed the only song he can play on the piano…. is Midnight Cowboy. Wow.
New York Daily News: Hillary Clinton will join Barack Obama for a joint appearance in Washington next week to persuade her donors to begin giving to the Democrats’ nominee, the Daily News has learned.
It’s the first known plan to bring together the victor and vanquished from the Democrat primary race and put their pledges of unity for the fall campaign into action.
Jonathan Mantz, Clinton’s national finance director, sent top Clinton fundraisers an e-mail today inviting them to the event on June 26.
CNN: Former Vice President Al Gore endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Monday, urging Americans to reject what he called the Bush administration’s legacy of “incompetence, negligence and failure.”
“Americans simply cannot afford to continue the policies of the last eight years for another four,” Gore, the party’s 2000 presidential nominee, told Obama supporters at a rally in Detroit, Michigan.As I first reported a couple of weeks ago, former Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle is going to work for Obama.
She’ll be “chief of staff to the vice presidential candidate – whoever he (or she) will be, campaign officials said,” Nagourney reports.
Though this will stir speculation that she’s paving the way for Hillary, but it actually makes me think the opposite. Clinton fired her in February, and many of her backers view Solis Doyle as a bit of a traitor for having signaled that she’d move to Obama before the primary was over.
But she adds a prominent female, Hispanic face to Obama’s senior staff, and has a major role, if an ambiguous one: It’s not exactly inside the Obama inner circle, and a running mate may also want to bring in his or her own people.
The Hill: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said Sunday that Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal “would be far and away the best candidate” to appear on the Republican presidential ticket with Sen. John McCain (Ariz.).
Gingrich, who appeared on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” heaped praise upon the former congressman, saying that he is a “spectacular” governor and predicted that Jindal would be a presidential candidate in the future.
MSNBC’s First Read: So you think you know who’s on Obama’s veep short list? Well, think again. According to sources on the Hill, Obama veep vetters — specifically Jim Johnson and Eric Holder — have been asking Dem members of Congress this week their input about potential running mates. The conversations are free-flowing but one name the vetters are inserting in the conversations is one that is not a household name… Ret. Gen. James Jones, the former Marine-turned-NATO Supreme Allied Commander. …
Besides Jones, the other names on the list bandied about with congressional Dems include (and not in any order): Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, John Edwards, Evan Bayh, Kathleen Sebelius, Ted Strickland, Mark Warner, Tim Kaine, Jim Webb, Bill Nelson, Jack Reed, Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, Tom Daschle, and Sam Nunn. You’ll notice a few names NOT on this list (that’s not my exclusion — hint hint). Besides Jones, I’m told the two other names that invited extended discussion were Biden and Strickland.
* * *
The Huffington Post recently published profiles on two of the top names on the list: Jim Webb and Kathleen Sebelius. For more on Obama’s veepstakes, check out HuffPost’s rundown list of the pros and cons of the potential vice president candidates.
Details: The first thing you notice about Bobby Jindal—everyone says this—is how damn young he looks. Stick him next to John McCain, however, and his appearance skews toward the pubescent. It’s a sun-blasted, sweat-stained late-April day in New Orleans, and Jindal—102 days into his term as the governor of Louisiana, and just 36 years into a life that’s looking increasingly politically charmed—is walking beside McCain down Caffin Avenue in the city’s blighted Lower Ninth Ward. The neighborhood’s few remaining residents—easily outnumbered by the hordes of National Guardsmen and political aides and the reporters sequestered in the flat beds of two National Guard trucks—are out on their porches, with arms folded, observing this odd promenade. McCain’s giant, gleaming bus (“the Straight,” as his aides call it) looks like an alien spacecraft idling beside the scruffy Caffin Avenue median.
The Washington Post‘s Jonathan Capeheart warns of the potential trouble with an Obama-Nunn ticket, seen as a significant problem with gay fundraisers over Nunn’s involvement in the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell controversy in 1993.
When Bill Clinton sought to keep his 1992 campaign promise to end the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military, he met strong resistance in the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill. Nunn, one of the most adamant opponents, led a series of hearings that were stacked against ending the prohibition. Critics noted that Nunn held more hearings about and spent more time on gays in the military than he had on the defense budget or even the Navy’s Tailhook sexual harassment scandal.
Already, the prospect of an Obama-Nunn ticket does not sit well with some prominent gay Democratic fundraisers. “It would without question irrevocably diminish my enthusiasm for the democratic ticket,” a longtime Clinton supporter told me in an e-mail. “Sam Nunn not only opposed [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people’s] rights to serve in the military, he viciously campaigned against it.”
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