New Hampshire News

News

Heating help ahead

By Shawne K. Wickham
New Hampshire Union Leader
June 29, 2008

Summer may be just starting, but the agencies that give out fuel assistance are already worried about how folks will pay for heat this winter, as oil prices continue to climb...
 

NH delegation already looking at more funding, alternatives

By Shawne K. Wickham
New Hampshire Union Leader
June 29, 2008

Members of New Hampshire's Congressional delegation are pushing for additional federal fuel assistance funds to help Granite Staters keep the heat on this winter. The state's two Republican senators, Judd Gregg and John Sununu, joined more than 40 Senate colleagues in sending a letter Friday to President George Bush, asking him to release $120 million in "contingency funds" for the Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). In addition, Sununu told the Sunday News last week, he's asked the Appropriations Committee for "a significant increase" in LIHEAP funding this year. The appropriations bills will be taken up in July, he said. On the House side, Rep. Paul Hodes, D-NH, has asked the chairman of the Appropriations Committee to increase block grants under LIHEAP. "It's going to be critical that we increase funding in a big way," he told the Sunday News...
 

Region's heating costs to increase $2 a gallon

By Andrew Miga
Associated Press
June 29, 2008

New Englanders struggling this summer to pay gas prices topping $4 a gallon should brace for more bad news - home heating oil costs next winter are expected to hit record highs. One retail heating oil dealer says she expects a typical household delivery that cost $500 last winter will climb to at least $850 this winter...
 

Offshore drilling here isn't option, economically or politically

By Jason Claffey
Foster's Daily Democrat
Sunday, June 29, 2008

DOVER — In 1974, during an oil crisis not unlike the one gripping the country today, one proposed solution to combat high fuel prices was Aristotle Onassis' plan to build, in Durham Point, an oil refinery that would have processed 400,000 barrels of oil a day. The initiative ultimately failed when Durham residents, wary of the potential negative effects on the environment, fishing and tourism, voted it down at town meeting. More than 30 years later, some of the same arguments for and against the Durham refinery are being echoed in a national debate about offshore drilling...
 

NH governor mulling bariatric surgery, union bills

By Norma Love
Associated Press
June 29, 2008

CONCORD, N.H. --In the next week or so, Gov. John Lynch will sign bills capping the interest rate on payday loans, imposing a new tax on charity poker games and stiffening penalties for child pornography. He's been clear about his support for those issues. He's also said he'll support more money for a handful of struggling charter schools, a 25-cent per pack increase in the cigarette tax, extra aid to help 12 towns offer kindergarten, a two-year boat speed limit on Lake Winnipesaukee and major reforms to the state pension system. He's been less clear on whether he'll veto a union-backed bill on contract negotiations and one mandating insurance coverage for bariatric surgery as an option in certain obesity cases...
 

N.H. teen birth rate lowest in nation

By Victoria Guay
Laconia Citizen
Sunday, June 29, 2008

A bill recently passed by the House and Senate and awaiting the governor's approval would expand the requirement on HIV prevention in schools to include education about all sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy prevention, said Mary Bubnis, health and HIV/AIDS education consultant for the New Hampshire Department of Education. She said a statewide increase in certain sexually transmitted diseases is one reason the law was introduced...
 

Taxing Tobacco

By John P. Gregg
Valley News
June 29, 2008

West Lebanon -- Smokers in Vermont and New Hampshire are bracing for another hit to the pocketbook this year as both states plan on raising taxes on tobacco. But as the tax rates per pack go even higher -- and the number of smokers gradually declines -- tobacco may eventually burn out as a reliable revenue source for cash-strapped states...In New Hampshire, smokers currently pay $1.08 per pack in state taxes, but could face a 25-cent increase in October if tobacco revenues under the current rate don't generate at least $48 million between July and October...
 

End of the road for some 150 retiring workers

By Rebecca Correa
Lawrence Eagle-Tribune
June 30, 2008

Today is the end of a record-breaking year. It is the last day of the work year for an estimated 150 retiring municipal and school employees in Southern New Hampshire. The number of retirees in the past fiscal year is higher than ever because the New Hampshire Retirement System was scheduled to freeze health coverage for retirees after July 1...
 

50-foot rule for shore owners

By Paula Tracy
New Hampshire Union Leader
June 30, 2008

Thousands of shorefront property owners and builders across the state are on a crash course to understand a new permit system that goes into effect tomorrow. Effective July 1, a state shoreland permit is required for excavation, filling and construction within 250 feet of shore if minimum standards for maintaining the lot's natural state are not met. Those standards are outlined in the new Comprehensive Shoreland Protection Act (RSA 483-B). The state Department of Environmental Services is offering one-hour information sessions at town halls across the state to walk property owners through the rule changes and how they might affect that gazebo, driveway, deck or swing set project...
 

Gas reimbursement rate for lawmakers to increase July 1

By Annie Hamilton
Portsmouth Herald
June 29, 2008

The high gas prices of this summer have led to an increase in the federal reimbursement rate for gas costs incurred by state senators and representatives. The new rate is set to take effect July 1. State legislators receive a stipend for their work and are reimbursed for their gas mileage. Legislators get reimbursed for their the round-trip mileage from their home to the Statehouse in Concord. Each lawmaker can choose his or her method of reimbursement, opting either for the state or federal rate...
 

Right-to-know battle may remove sheriff -- again

By Nancy West
New Hampshire Union Leader
Sunday, June 28, 2008

Two citizens whose New Hampshire Supreme Court argument resulted in Belknap County Sheriff Craig Wiggin being taken off the job during Laconia Motorcycle Week say the Belknap County Convention ignored the high-court ruling by returning Wiggin to work last week. Tom Tardif of Laconia and Douglas Lambert of Gilford, both Republican activists, plan to ask the Superior Court tomorrow to stay Wiggin's appointment and ultimately to vacate the position -- again -- at least until the county convention repeats the entire application process and publicly votes on the appointee...
 

Hospital CEO earns $730,000
Nonprofit's pay near top among N.H. peers

By Margot Sanger-Katz
Concord Monitor
June 29, 2008

Pay for nonprofit hospital executives in New Hampshire ranges widely, from a salary less than that of a pediatrician to one higher than the best-paid surgeons, according to a review of tax records for the state's 25 acute care hospitals. Those records reveal that Concord Hospital's Mike Green is among the best-paid hospital executives in the state. According to a filing made in 2007, he earned more than $730,000 in combined salary and benefits...
 

Dems transform state politics
Buckley leads party into well-funded era

By Lauren R. Dorgan
Concord Monitor
June 29, 2008

In 1975, 16-year-old Ray Buckley wanted one thing for Christmas: A $25 Jimmy Carter Charter Club membership. "That was my favorite Christmas gift ever," Buckley says, recounting that his parents wrapped the wallet-sized card in an enormous box to throw him off. The card is now framed and mounted on the wall of Buckley's corner office at the New Hampshire Democratic Party - another prize he wanted badly and once thought he wouldn't get. Buckley, who was elected chairman of the party in April 2007, leads the Democratic Party at a time of historic highs in New Hampshire...
 

Chairman dismisses questions on income

By Lauren R. Dorgan
Concord Monitor
June 29, 2008

When Ray Buckley took the unpaid post of Democratic Party chairman last year, some wondered how he would pay his own bills. For most of his life, Buckley has earned his living as a political operative or consultant. This month, when state political committees filed their financial statements at the secretary of state's office, the answer became clear: Buckley has remained on the payroll of the Senate Democratic caucus, drawing $147,000 since March 2007. That's not base pay: A chunk of it was a previously-negotiated bonus based on the Senate caucus's 2006 successes. Still, Buckley said, his work for the caucus continues...
 

N.H. considers offering public campaign financing

By Adam D. Krauss
Foster's Daily Democrat
Saturday, June 28, 2008

CONCORD — Efforts are under way for New Hampshire to join a small but growing number of states that offer public campaign funding. Lawmakers and supporters say the Public Funding of Elections Commission has a chance to level the playing field and open up the political process beyond those with deep pockets or institutional ties. There's also the chance to break through the public perception — if not the practice itself — that money is the defining factor in politics, they say...
 

What to expect from the next FEC numbers

By Wally Edge
Politicker NH
June 27, 2008

The end of the second quarter FEC fundraising period is coming quickly and for many this will be the most important quarter of the year. Here are some key things to look for:...
 

US SENATE
 

Today in the U.S. Senate race

By Brian Lawson
Politicker NH
June 27, 2008

Editors note: This is a daily summary of news about the U.S. Senate race between U.S. Sen. John Sununu (R-Waterville Valley) and former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen (D-Madbury)...
 

Shaheen under tax attack

By Dan Tuohy
Granite Slate
June 27, 2008

Today's mailer courtesy of Americans for Job Security. They don't call New Hampshire a battleground state for nothing. This takes shots at the former three-term Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, D-Madbury. U.S. Sen. John E. Sununu, R-NH, defeated her in 2002. They've a rematch this year...
 

STATE SENATE
 

Candidate says he 'took it on the chin' in bankruptcy filing
Draft owner running for state Senate seat

By Annmarie Timmins
Concord Monitor
June 30, 2008

In late 2004, Andy Sanborn slashed the prices on his bike and ski equipment at Banagan's and announced he was closing shops in Concord, Keene and Lebanon and retiring. Sanborn soon returned with a new venture: The Draft, a bar and restaurant on Concord's Main Street. But more than three years later, many dealers who had equipment in Sanborn's ski and bike shops are still waiting to get paid. That's because those dealers took Banagan's to bankruptcy court in the middle of Sanborn's "Going Out of Business" sale, saying they feared they'd never be paid without the court's oversight...The bankruptcy case is concluding just as Sanborn, a Republican from Henniker, is mounting a bid for the state Senate seat held by Sen. Harold Janeway, a Webster Democrat. Sanborn is running on a platform of fiscal responsibility against what he described last week as "out of control" spending by Democrats...
 

DUPONT
 

Lobbyist to lead university system trustees
Affordability among new chairman's goals

By Amy Augustine
Concord Monitor
June 28, 2008

The University System of New Hampshire announced yesterday that it elected a new chairman for its board of trustees. State lobbyist Ed Dupont will take over the position after serving four years as vice chairman. Dupont, who lives in Durham, has big plans for the university system. One challenge the board is facing, he said, is the increasing cost of higher education...
 

NORTHEAST WHITE PRIDE
 

'White pride' group plans Hudson rally
Organization protested illegal immigration in town in 2006

By Joseph G. Cote
New Hampshire Union Leader
Monday, June 30, 2008

HUDSON – A New England-based group of "white pride" enthusiasts that visited Hudson two years ago is planning an encore Saturday to protest illegal immigration. Northeast White Pride is organizing a "Close the Border" demonstration in Hudson for July 5. The Web site forums where the protest is being organized don't mention a specific location...
 

State House Dome: Ayotte says NH must fight prescription abuse

By Tom Fahey
New Hampshire Union Leader
June 29, 2008

In each of the past two years, drug abuse caused more deaths in New Hampshire than did traffic accidents, Attorney General Kelly Ayotte says. She told the Executive Council last week that the biggest problem is the abuse of prescription drugs, and she wants to do something about it...

NO CARTE BLANCHE: The Executive Council didn't blink at a $15 million contract for widening Interstate 93 at Exit 5 or at $4.7 million in soundproofing contracts around Manchester-Boston Regional Airport. It even approved a $4,500 calligraphy contract for the board that oversees engineers, surveyors and foresters. But it drew the line at shopping carts...

SIDESTEPPING: Gov. John Lynch is losing his deputy chief of staff, sort of. Pamela Walsh spent her last day in the job Friday, taking leave so she can start tomorrow as campaign manager for Lynch's reelection committee...

PROTECTING CHILDREN: More than two years after a controversial contract award was held up, the state is finally getting a study of child-support guidelines it uses in divorce cases -- and saving a good chunk of money. The University of New Hampshire will conduct the study under a two-year, $120,000 contract. UNH got the award after the state Health and Human Services Department sent out 55 requests for bids and got none back...

NO NEED FOR SPEED: It's still almost a year away, but the Department of Safety is thinking about boat speed limits on Lake Winnipesaukee. Safety's marine Patrol Division has to enforce the limits that Lynch said last week he'll sign into law...
 

Landrigan: Some Democrats, Republicans leaving office, but new ones on ballot

By Kevin Landrigan
Nashua Telegraph
Sunday, June 29, 2008

For all of the talk of the trials of 2007-08 leading to a mass exodus of incumbents, less than a quarter of lawmakers have decided to hang it up. The new majority House Democrats had the tougher assignment in trying to convince their newest members that they had to return. Amazingly, only one committee chairman is leaving voluntarily...

POLITICAL MOVE: Rep. Peter Leishman, D-Peterborough, picked a politically opportune time to move out of Milford after 45 years...

FINDING CONTENDERS: So, where has one essentially left the other to scoop up the seats? The Republican holes are easy to recognize. You have to start with Strafford County, where Rep. Julie Brown, R-Rochester, was the only survivor in 2006, when 36 Democrats were elected there...

HIGHWAY MONEY: New Hampshire Republican Sen. Judd Gregg has a well-earned reputation for bringing home the bacon. That's what makes his vocal opposition to a threatened cut in federal highway money all the more noteworthy...

TRACKING PRESCRIPTIONS: State Attorney General Kelly Ayotte vows to come back next year to try to convince lawmakers to make New Hampshire the last state in New England to have a prescription drug monitoring program...

SHORTER PAPER TRAIL: Executive Councilor Debora Pignatelli of Nashua scored one for government efficiency last week with the help of Administrative Services Commissioner Linda Hodgdon. All state agencies have agreed to supply their contracts on two-sided paper. The council's long agendas have been printed in this form for some time...

NEW TECH: The state took a major step in new technology, bouncing Verizon Communications as its longtime telecommunications provider for state government. G4 Communications Corp. won the five-year, $15 million contract...

CONSTRUCTION SAVINGS: The economic slowdown has led to one happy phenomenon: fierce bidding for construction work. The state expected to spend $17.9 million for bridge replacement work on Interstate 93 in Londonderry. Servino Trucking Co. won the job, offering to do the work for $14.8 million.

TOLLNER REWARDED: Lynch found a spot for former Nashua Alderman-at-Large James Tollner, who lost a bid for mayor last year. Lynch nominated Tollner to a three-year seat on the state Health Services Planning and Review Board...

FINDING ELECTION MONEY: Supporters of public funding of elections celebrated naming four of the seven who will serve on a commission to craft an opt-in system. Former U.S. Senate Democratic nominee and reform advocate John Rauh will join ex-Republican State Sen. Jim Rubens on the panel, along with Antioch University faculty member Abigail Abrash Walton and Stuart Comstock-Gay, director of the Democracy Program and National Voting Rights Project...

ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVES: The Unity rally Friday notwithstanding, New Hampshire remains a work-in-progress project for Sen. Barack Obama's campaign. "We're going to have to play hard in New Hampshire – we completely recognize that," deputy campaign manager Steve Hildebrand told Politico last week.

ANOTHER HEALTH PLAN: Republican congressional candidate Grant Bosse of Hillsboro continues to serve as the policy wonk among the five competing for the 2nd District nomination. Bosse unveiled his health-care plan in David's House at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon...

SHEA-PORTER'S MOVES: Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter got an experienced political hand to replace Harry Gural, her communications director. Jamie Radice had been Sen. Chris Dodd's press secretary before handling press in Kentucky and Tennessee for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign...

UNPOPULAR DECISIONS: The Lynch administration got the first taste of labor unrest over its looming budget cuts. Eighty-five percent of employees signed a no-confidence petition against Juvenile Justice Division Director Bill Fennimann against staffing reductions and converting from a four- to five-day workweek. Health and Human Services Commissioner Nick Toumpas showed up at the Thursday rally to support Fennimann and express openness to alternative working condition proposals of the union.
 

Capital Beat: Alert: Pols hate high gas prices (and want you to know it)

By Lauren R. Dorgan
Concord Monitor
June 29, 2008

For political candidates, hating high gas prices has become like loving motherhood and apple pie - likely to get voters nodding, but hard to really distinguish yourself by doing so. Though environmentalists and some economists say paying more at the pump will do Americans and America good, $4 gas seems to have nary a friend in politics. One of the odder trends we've seen is the way some candidates have of slicing the numbers and playing fuzzy with correlation and causation to make the other party look bad...

DEMS FOR MCCAIN: Two Concord Democrats will serve as co-chairs of Democrats for John McCain, the campaign announced last week: Jim McConaha and Valery Mitchell...

FUN WITH GEOGRAPHY: Fergus Cullen had a little fun suggesting to reporters that the Obama-Clinton extravaganza wasn't held in the town of Freedom...

HAT TIP : On Jan. 9, the day after the primary, editor/blogger Ari Richter zipped off a quick post titled: "Bad metaphor alert." It noted the Unity, 107-107, results. Ari, you're in the wrong field.

CONDRY, RIP: The hardest-core Republican staffer we'd ever met over liverwurst has departed New Hampshire. No insult to Horn, says Zack Condry, but he just wanted to go back home...

HE AIN'T HEAVY: We asked Jeanne Shaheen on Wednesday whether the dustup over her husband, Billy's, drug comments about Barack Obama would damage his ability to help her campaign. She said no. In fact, she said, he was acting as a stand-in for her that night. The campaign, she said, is "really a family affair, and he will be very involved."

BROADCASTING CONFIDENCE: State Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley laid out 10 reasons he's beaming confidence that Democrats will win in November on the liberal blog bluehampshire.com...

SMART TIMING: Those anti-tax activists over at the New Hampshire Advantage Coalition have moved far in advance to buy up some prime ad time just before the November election. They laid out $91,500 for ads to run from Oct. 28 to Nov. 3.
 

City Hall: Chapter in city's political history comes to a close

By Scott Brooks
New Hampshire Union Leader
June 29, 2008

AN ERA in Queen City politicking may well have come to an end last week. The Merrimack Restaurant, a Manchester institution and New Hampshire primary landmark of nearly three decades, hosted its last campaign event Thursday night. It was a private fund-raiser for state Rep. Will Infantine and his wife, Christine Infantine, a candidate for Hillsborough County Register of Deeds...
 

Morning talk show wrap-up

By Brian Lawson
Politicker NH
June 29, 2008

WMUR's Close-Up concentrated on political advertisements and their effects on the electorate. The panel consisted of New Hampshire Institute of Politics Political Director Jennifer Donahue, New Hampshire Republican Chairman Fergus Cullen, Director of the New Hampshire Democratic Party's coordinated campaign Colin Van Ostern and Dean Spiliotes, from NH Political Capital...

Political Chowder discussed tax caps with Tammy Simmons, Executive Director of the New Hampshire Advantage Coalition, and Jody Reese, publisher of the Hippo Press. Host Arnie Arnesen discussed politics with David Carney, Rick Newman and state Rep. Dennis Vachon.
 

Winners and Losers

Politicker NH
June 27, 2008

Winners: Unity...Clegg...Stephen...

Losers: Shea-Porter...Horn...Latimer...
 

NH Polls
 

Editorial: When insurance isn't enough, everyone loses

Concord Monitor
June 30, 2008

In 2004 Leo Levesque's car drifted across the center line of Route 28 in Chichester, killing two motorcyclists and severely injuring two others. Earlier this month, the state Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling and granted it access to $177,000 that Levesque transferred into a retirement account a month after the accident. Social Security payments and most pensions, 401(K) and Roth IRA accounts are protected from lawsuits, but the court rightly found that Levesque had fraudulently transferred the money. Had the transfer occurred a day before the crash the money likely would have been safe from seizure...
 

Editorial: Killers at large: The AG's office is silent

New Hampshire Union Leader
June 30, 2008

Anytime there is a murder in New Hampshire, local and state law enforcement officers begin pursuing the killer while the Attorney General's office begins preparing a case for prosecution. In the midst of all this, the AG's Office is not as aggressive as it should be in keeping the public informed. The Attorney General is in charge of releasing public information about homicides in the state. In the recent murder case in Danville, the AG's office was, as usual, too slow to inform the public about the threat...
 

Editorial: Hodes c.o.d.

Keene Sentinel
Friday, June 27, 2008

We’ve been getting a lot of mail from Paul Hodes lately, haven’t we? Of course, it’s always nice to hear from our member of Congress. Well, maybe not always nice. Not when the government-paid mailings pile up in an election year. Hodes’ colorful mailings, sent at taxpayer expense, did seem a bit over the top...
 

Editorial: This just in: Another USNH tuition hike

New Hampshire Union Leader
June 30, 2008

Here is news that is about as rare as loud motorcycles in summertime: the University System of New Hampshire is substantially increasing its tuition rates...
 

Editorial: Court's death penalty ruling was correct one

Concord Monitor
June 29, 2008

New Hampshire put 24 people to death from colonial times through 1939, when the state carried out its last execution. Only one, Thomas Powers, was executed for the crime of rape, the offense committed by Patrick Kennedy, the Louisiana man on death row who brutally assaulted his 8-year-old stepdaughter. On Wednesday, in a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court correctly ruled that executing someone who neither took a life nor committed a crime against the state is unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment...
 

Reducing oil, gas prices takes work

By John E. Sununu
New Hampshire Union Leader
Sunday, June 29, 2008

AS THE PRICE of oil hovers near $140 per barrel, talking heads fill the airwaves with dramatic statements about America's energy future. The talk seems endless, and strangely, commentators all seem to think that we have never dealt with these questions before. I remember the oil spikes of 1973, 1980 and 1990. Time and circumstances may have changed, but families and small businesses in New Hampshire feel it just the same. Higher prices for heating oil, gas, and propane drain budgets and hurt the economy. This challenge, like those past, can and must be overcome...
 

It's time to end Big Oil's big profits

By Jeanne Shaheen
New Hampshire Union Leader
Sunday, June 29, 2008

YOU ONLY HAVE to look as far as the nearest frustrated New Hampshire driver to see that gas prices have reached unprecedented levels. Families are shelling out over $4 a gallon on average across New Hampshire these days, placing extraordinary stress on family budgets and hurting small businesses as they try to afford the increased cost of travel and transportation. And while New Hampshire families are struggling, the big oil companies are raking in the largest profits in the history of business...
 

The next great energy epoch?
Are politicians ready for Anthropocene age?

By Michael McCord
Portsmouth Herald
June 29, 2008

A few weeks ago, I was asked by a frequent reader to write a column explaining the insanity of skyrocketing oil and gasoline prices. To be sure, there are a number of factors I know right off the top such as bold-faced speculation, production not keeping up with demand, and political uncertainty — as in will Israel or the Bush administration actually follow through on their threats to bomb Iran halfway back to the stone ages? A better story on a biblical scale is what's happening in this election year...
 

Want to Block an Iran War? Block FISA.

By elwood
Blue Hampshire
Friday, June 27, 2008

We are in a very dangerous period. In seven months the Bush-Cheney Administration will end. Between now and then it will try to lock in policies that the next President cannot undo. It will try to establish a Bush Doctrine of foreign policy that will force future Presidents to discuss options within the context that Bush-Cheney set down...
 

Kevin Landrigan Serves a Whopper, No Bacon

By elwood
Blue Hampshire
Sunday, June 29, 2008

Today's Landrigan column brings us this driveby claim: “New Hampshire Republican Sen. Judd Gregg has a well-earned reputation for bringing home the bacon. That's what makes his vocal opposition to a threatened cut in federal highway money all the more noteworthy”...The Tax Foundation regularly tallies up the income tax money each state sends to Washington and the federal spending sent back to that state. Under Judd Gregg - who was Chair, and is now Ranking Republican, on the Budget Committee - New Hampshire has fallen to 48th place. We get back 67 cents for every dollar we send in. (pdf)...
 

Oops- they did it again!

By Doug
GraniteGrok
June 29, 2008

The story of our ongoing Right to Know lawsuit regarding the illegal appointment of the Sheriff of Belknap County made the front page of today's New Hampshire Sunday News (Union Leader). And yes, as you will find out when reading the article, the Republican-dominated Belknap County Convention, fresh on the heels of a stinging rebuke by the NH Supreme Court, decided to throw caution to the wind and, instead of simply conducting an open "redo" of the process as created (and, subsequently followed with the open and transparent appointment of a new County Registrar), re-appointed the vacated occupant to the position with no discussion other than concerns over the money he wasn't getting paid while not serving as sheriff...
 

Primary News

NEW HAMPSHIRE
 

Obama, Clinton unite efforts

By Kyle Jarvis
Claremont Eagle Times
June 28, 2008

UNITY - For the first time since the end of what at times was a bitter battle for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York and presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, joined forces publicly Friday in an effort to unify their party before thousands of cheering supporters...
 

Clinton, Obama in Unity: 'We are one party'

By Dan Tuohy
UnionLeader.com
Friday, Jun. 27, 2008

Unity – Their hug was quick. Their mutual praise was effusive. Their message was simple, ginned up as it was in the symbolism of a rally in a bucolic town called Unity. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, once old enemies, are now new friends with a shared vision of sinking Sen. John McCain’s bid for the White House...
 

Obama, Clinton join forces in Unity
Former rivals effusive with praise at rally

By Sarah Liebowitz
Concord Monitor
June 28, 2008

Down to the smallest choreographed detail, unity was the theme of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama's rally yesterday. In their first joint appearance since Clinton withdrew from the Democratic presidential contest earlier this month, she lauded Obama's "strength and determination, his grace and his grit." Obama, meanwhile, summed up his admiration for his former rival this way: "She rocks." And to make sure you didn't miss the mantra of harmony, there was the setting - Unity, N.H. - and the fact that Obama and Clinton each won 107 votes there in January's presidential primary. Oh, and Clinton's blue suit matched Obama's tie...
 

Amid Joyous Display, Two Voices Disagree

By Matthew McCormick
Valley News
June 28, 2008

Unity -- When Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton first took the stage, the 6,000 people gathered to see them responded with a single voice of excitement. And in the crowd's unanimous outbursts of cheers and chants seemingly could be heard a readiness to embrace the sentiment -- unity — that brought the onetime rivals to this tiny town. But after the pair made their exit, there arose two less harmonious voices. One belonged to a Clinton backer not yet ready to relinquish the dream of seeing her take the White House. The other came from an Obama supporter convinced that such sentiments would mean another Republican win in 2008...
 

Top Democrats appeal for unity in Unity
Reconciliation show aims for opinion makers

By Michael McCord
Portsmouth Herald
June 28, 2008

It wasn't easy to be an eyewitness to the kickoff of the Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton "Unite for Change" tour in Unity on Friday. It was, to put it mildly, quite a production that required a cast of many determined volunteers and logistics worthy of a military maneuver. First, there was the oddity of most everyone (including coddled media types) being put on school buses and driven to the small, rural town (no stop lights, some 1,600 residents) from more than 10 miles away from a racetrack in West Claremont and a golf course near Lake Sunapee...
 

'Together, they look so good'

By Lauren R. Dorgan
Concord Monitor
June 28, 2008

The Unity crowd was pretty much unified before Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama even showed up to rally yesterday. But a handful of people still fuming over the outcome of the Democratic presidential primary seemed to come to the tiny New Hampshire town specifically to tell reporters so...
 

Unity revels under spotlight cast upon Obama, Clinton

By Kristen Senz
New Hampshire Union Leader
Saturday, June 28, 2008

UNITY – The "Unite For Change" rally more than doubled the population of Unity yesterday as 40 school buses shuttled more than 4,000 people to the field behind Unity Elementary School. "This is a real shot in the arm for Unity," said longtime resident Ken Hall, who is known as the unofficial mayor of Unity. "For something this big to happen here, we never would have believed it." Hall introduced Sen. Barack Obama and former Democratic rival Hillary Clinton to an enthusiastic crowd of supporters at the rally...
 

Clinton tells supporters to get behind Obama

Crowd in Unity: 'VP Hillary'

Lynch formally endorses Obama

Hodes says N.H. Dems unified

By Brian Lawson
Politicker NH
June 27, 2008
 

Obama and Clinton Hold First Post-Primary Event

By Mark Leibovich and Jeff Zeleny
New York Times
June 28, 2008

UNITY, N.H. — Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton came to this tiny town of Unity on Friday for their first public appearance after a bitter primary fight. Less certain was whether Unity would come to them. “We had a spirited dialogue,” acknowledged Mrs. Clinton, speaking first before a crowd of roughly 3,000, many laughing...
 

Clinton, Obama try being allies for a change
The former rivals appear together at a rally in, of all places, Unity, N.H.

By Noam N. Levey
Los Angeles Times
June 28, 2008

UNITY, N.H. — Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton stepped onto the political stage as allies for the first time Friday, making a pilgrimage to this small town near the Green Mountains in a bid to unite Democrats behind Obama's campaign for the White House. On a day rich with stagecraft, the two former adversaries embraced before about 4,000 supporters who blanketed a verdant field outside Unity's elementary school. Obama praised Clinton for her path-breaking candidacy. And Clinton urged her supporters to make Obama's cause their own this November...
 

Obama, Clinton’s unity in Unity

By Athena Jones
First Read / MSNBC
Friday, June 27, 2008 5:04 PM

UNITY, N.H. -- Hillary Clinton called on the 36 million Americans who supported her and Barack Obama to join together "to create an unstoppable force for change we can all believe in", echoing the slogan of her former rival's winning campaign as the two shared a stage for the first time in months...
 

All together now
Obama and Clinton's choreographed love fest in Unity, N.H., went off without a glitch. But are Democrats singing the same tune?

By Walter Shapiro
Salon
June 28, 2008

The transfer of power from the Bill and Hillary past to the Barack Obama future was handled as well as these rituals ever are in politics. New Hampshire, as it almost always does during the presidential season, provided the prime scenic backdrop at an outdoor rally Friday afternoon here in -- that's right -- Unity. Hillary Clinton, who certainly proved during the gantlet of primaries that she is a campaigner who can play a part to perfection, excelled at being the gracious loser, stressing that the opportunity for the Democrats in 2008 means, "We cannot let this moment slip away"...
 

Editorial: Obama disappoints on public financing

Nashua Telegraph
Sunday, June 29, 2008

News flash from the presidential campaign: Barack Obama is a politician. He's a politician who speaks passionately and eloquently about changing politics, but a politician willing to break a pledge in order to get elected...
 

Editorial: How can we trust Obama?

Foster's Daily Democrat
Sunday, June 29, 2008

Barack Obama's position on the issues is a work in progress. When he was seeking the Democratic nomination for president he was saying one thing. Now that he has a lock on it, he's doing some 180 degree turns. Change is the theme of Obama — change to suit what is politically convenient...
 

Unity Is Crowded

By Gail Collins
New York Times
June 28, 2008

Unity, N.H. - Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton held their political bonding ceremony in the middle of a field since the tiny town where they did the deed had no buildings big enough to host such a momentous occasion. The symbolism was obviously supposed to stretch way, way beyond mere unity. Think the signing of the Magna Carta. Or that baseball movie with Kevin Costner. If you concede it, they will come...
 

Democrats Unite and Ignite in Unity New Hampshire

By Chaz Proulx
Blue Hampshire
Sunday, June 29, 2008

Friday was one of those days that remind me that all the time, aggravation and heartbreak of politics is worth every ounce of effort we put into it. That's what ran through my mind as I took my seat today in beautiful Unity NH. It's all worth it. To see Carol Shea-Porter and Paul Hodes give the introductory speeches in a New Hampshire field on a Summer day makes it all worth it. When Governor Lynch spoke --it was all worth it.   In the name of the Granite State and the United States of America--it's all worth it!...
 

I Was There! BHO&HRC Unity in Unity, NH. (W/PICS!!)

By vertexoflife
Blue Hampshire
Friday, June 27, 2008

[Laura: Also see NH Ex-pat's diary about the event.] So, today, I got up ridiculously early (six, but ridiculously early for a college kid, okay, =P) to go pick up my girlfriend in Manchester and drive an hour to Sunapee to take a shuttle to Unity. What followed was one of the best experiences of my life. Report and pics below the fold!...
 

The Unity photo-op

By Drew Cline
Drew Cline’s Union Leader Blog
Saturday, June 28, 2008

Obama’s Unity hug-fest with Hillary Clinton was nothing but symbolism. I’m told it looked fabulous on TV. As Ben Smith notes, it got a ton of coverage without providing any real news. But live, it was a dreadful event...
 

GENERAL NEWS AND VIEWS
 

Obama is shifting toward the center
A handgun ban. The death penalty. U.S. wiretaps. Iran and Israel. Trade. On all of those issues, he has recently staked more moderate ground.

By Janet Hook
Los Angeles Times
June 28, 2008

WASHINGTON — Barack Obama, as he introduces himself to the broader voting public, is emphasizing centrist -- even conservative -- positions on hot-button issues. In recent weeks, he toughened his stance on Iran and backed an expansion of the government's wiretapping powers. On Wednesday, he said states should be allowed to execute child rapists. When the Supreme Court the next day struck down the District of Columbia's ban on handguns, he did not complain. These views would fit many Republican candidates, but they are the recent profile adopted by a man who has been called the most liberal Democrat in the Senate...
 

In Flag City USA, False Obama Rumors Are Flying

By Eli Saslow
Washington Post
Monday, June 30, 2008; A04

FINDLAY, Ohio -- On his corner of College Street, Jim Peterman stares at the four American flags planted in his front lawn and rubs his forehead. Peterman, 74, is a retired worker at Cooper Tire, a father of two, an Air Force veteran and a self-described patriot. He took one trip to Washington in 1989 -- best vacation of his life -- and bought a statue of the Washington Monument that he still displays in a glass case in his living room. He believes a smart vote is an American's greatest responsibility. Which is why his confusion about Barack Obama continues to eat at him...
 

Michelle Obama: 'I don't want to be a distraction'

By Jill Lawrence
USA Today
June 30, 2008

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Michelle Obama has two potentially conflicting goals as she campaigns for her husband, Democrat Barack Obama: She wants to stay true to who she is and to keep the focus on issues, not her. "I don't want to be a distraction. I want to be a part of the solution," Obama told USA TODAY in a 27-minute interview Thursday. She said she hopes to help make America a place where "more hardworking people feel they can carve out a life that makes sense for themselves and their kids"...
 

Burnishing Credentials, Obama Will Visit the Middle East and Europe

By Jeff Zeleny
New York Times
June 29, 2008

WASHINGTON — Senator Barack Obama will make his first international trip as a presidential candidate this summer, his campaign announced Saturday, traveling to the Middle East and Europe in an effort to bolster his foreign policy experience in his fall campaign against Senator John McCain. Mr. Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, will visit Jordan, Israel, Germany, France and Britain. On a separate trip, he also is planning to tour Iraq and Afghanistan, although aides declined to disclose details or the dates of his travel for security reasons...
 

Barack Obama Opposes Prop 8, the anti-marriage amendment

By Brian Leubitz
Calitics
Sunday, June 29, 2008

In a letter to the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club, Sen. Barack Obama stated his opposition to the California constitutional amendment. As far as I know, this is the first official mention of such a position...
 

Ready or Not?
If Barack Obama can emulate Reagan and cross the acceptability threshold, he will not only win but win big.

By Charlie Cook
National Journal
Saturday June 28, 2008

Given the closeness of the last two presidential elections and the con-siderable polling data pointing to yet another tight contest, this November's election seems likely to be a squeaker. Yes, a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll shows Barack Obama ahead of John McCain by 12 points, and a Newsweek poll has Obama up by 15 points. But two polls aren't a trend...But, just for fun, let's review all the possible outcomes. First, either John McCain or Barack Obama wins big because the other major-party nominee says or does something exceptionally foolish or is discovered to be hiding a large skeleton that renders him virtually unelectable...
 

Can Emily's List Get Its Mojo Back?

By Jennifer Skalka
Hotline on Call
Saturday, June 28, 2008

I co-wrote today's National Journal cover story about Emily's List, the Democratic women's political action committee, with my colleague (and pal) Bara Vaida. We examine Emily's List's efforts to rebound from major losses in 2006 and Hillary Clinton's failed White House bid. And we ask if Clinton's defeat, in particular, calls into question the core of Emily's List's strategy -- that women will still back women candidates in the interest of equality. Have gender politics fallen victim to a personality-driven, message-oriented politics? Give it a read:

By Bara Vaida and Jennifer Skalka
Sat. Jun 28, 2008...
 

Obama’s Weakness With Whites: Party Problem as Much as Race

By Peter A. Brown
Wall Street Journal Political Perceptions Blog
June 29, 2008

It is more than a little ironic that it has taken the first African-American to win a major party presidential nomination to make clear to everyone what has been the case for more than 40 years in presidential elections: Democrats have a problem with white voters. Suddenly, the topic du jour on television and radio talk shows, at water coolers and the most exclusive cocktail parties is how well Sen. Barack Obama can do among whites, especially the demographic group pundits call the “white working class.” The truth is these voters have been around for decades...
 

Make over old views, not political wives

By Joan Vennochi
Boston Globe
June 29, 2008

MANCHESTER, N.H. - SHE PRAISED Hillary and the military and expressed gratitude to America. Michelle Obama's makeover from fiery and unpredictable to sweet and scripted is underway. It's another kind of change Barack Obama believes in for victory in November. On Thursday, the day before he and Hillary Clinton campaigned together in Unity, N.H., Obama's wife campaigned with former governor Jeanne Shaheen, who is running for the US Senate. The Obama-Shaheen event, billed as a roundtable discussion for working women, was largely designed to showcase a softer, more politic Michelle, as well as pitch party unity...
 

The Obama Agenda

By Paul Krugman
New York Times
June 30, 2008

It’s feeling a lot like 1992 right now. It’s also feeling a lot like 1980. But which parallel is closer? Is Barack Obama going to be a Ronald Reagan of the left, a president who fundamentally changes the country’s direction? Or will he be just another Bill Clinton? Current polls — not horse-race polls, which are notoriously uninformative until later in the campaign, but polls gauging the public mood — are strikingly similar to those in both 1980 and 1992, years in which an overwhelming majority of Americans were dissatisfied with the country’s direction...
 

Cannibal liberals
Why do left-leaning journalists eat their own?

By Neal Gabler
Los Angeles Times
June 29, 2008

Oh, those crazy journalists. You know the ones I'm talking about. The one who described John Kerry as "French-looking" and made up some silly locution to show how out of touch he was -- "Who among us doesn't like NASCAR?" -- even though he never said it. Or the one who taunted Al Gore for claiming that he and his wife, Tipper, were the models for "Love Story" when Gore said no such thing. Or the one who described Bill Clinton as an "overweight band boy" and Hillary Rodham Clinton as "inauthentic." Or the one who tabbed Barack Obama "Obambi" and said that when visiting him at his office, she felt like Ingrid Bergman in "The Bells of St. Mary's," having to teach a bullied schoolboy how to box. Or the one who kept pressing Obama at a debate to fess up to his relationship with a 1960s terrorist. Of course, what do you expect from right-wing nuts who will do and say anything to demonize Democrats? Except for one thing. All these examples -- and there are hundreds more -- were uttered not by Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, David Brooks or any of the other Republican mouthpieces in our newspapers and on our airwaves...
 

Obama's Dodge on Handguns

By Robert D. Novak
Washington Post
Monday, June 30, 2008; A11

After months of claiming he had insufficient information to express an opinion on the District of Columbia's gun law, Barack Obama noted with apparent approval Thursday that the Supreme Court ruled that the 32-year ban on handguns "went too far." But what would he have said had the high court's 5 to 4 majority gone the other way and affirmed the law? Obama's strategists can only thank swing Justice Anthony Kennedy for enabling Justice Antonin Scalia's majority opinion to take the Democratic presidential candidate off the hook. Such relief is typified by a vigorous supporter of Obama who advised Al Gore in his 2000 presidential campaign...
 

A silver bullet for Obama?

By Jeff Jacoby
Boston Globe
June 29, 2008

WHEN IT comes to gun control, the Democratic Party is a house divided against itself. That helps explain Barack Obama's dizzyingly inconsistent positions on District of Columbia v. Heller, the landmark Second Amendment case decided by the Supreme Court last week. As a candidate for the Illinois Legislature in the 1990s, Obama had supported legislation to "ban the manufacture, sale, and possession of handguns," so it wasn't surprising that he endorsed the gun ban being challenged in Heller while campaigning for president. In November, for example, his campaign told the Chicago Tribune that "Obama believes the D.C. handgun law is constitutional." In February, when a questioner during a televised forum said, "You support the D.C. handgun ban," Obama readily agreed: "Right"...
 

CLINTON
 

McAuliffe: Bill Clinton and Obama to talk within 48 hours

By Jake Lansburgh
CNN
June 29, 2008

Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe assured CNN’s Candy Crowley that former President Bill Clinton and presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama will be discussing Clinton’s role in the campaign within the next two days. “I believe that in the next 24 to 48 hours they will talk and off we will go,” McAuliffe stated on Sunday’s Late Edition...
 

‘It’s Over, Lady!’

By Maureen Dowd
New York Times
June 29, 2008

UNITY, N.H. - Unity was spared the banality of unanimity. Carmella Lewis, with her Hillary T-shirt and Hillary placard, came all the way from Denver to make sure there would be plenty of ambiguity, duality and ferocity in Unity. Just as Hillary was testing out the unfamiliar familiarity “Barack and me” Friday and talking about “his grace and his grit,” Carmella began loudly booing and waving her sign. “We want Hillary!” screamed the 57-year-old retired ad saleswoman and Clinton delegate. “It’s over, lady!” yelled some Obama supporters a few yards away...
 

HAGEL
 

Hagel, Republican for Now, Says He Has No Plans to Back McCain

By Christopher Stern
Bloomberg
June 27, 2008

Senator Chuck Hagel declined to endorse his party's likely presidential nominee, John McCain, and said he would consider serving as secretary of defense in a Barack Obama administration. Hagel, who last year considered a White House run as an independent, said he would remain a registered Republican: ``I don't know forever, but right now I'm not considering changing my registration''...
 

VEEP
 

R.I. senator shrugs off VP notions
Media posit Reed for Obama ticket

By Andrew Miga
Associated Press
June 29, 2008

WASHINGTON - In a place brimming with pomposity and pretension, Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island bucks the mold. The soft-spoken son of a school janitor is not one of the Senate's show horses. And at 5 foot 7, Reed does not cut an imposing figure on Capitol Hill. But his strong military credentials and straightforward style have helped vault Reed into contention as a potential running mate for Democrat Barack Obama - or more likely as a possible defense secretary should Obama capture the White House...
 

Rendell interested in vice presidency

WITF
Friday,June 27, 2008

(Harrisburg) -- Governor Rendell, a once-ardent supporter of Hillary Clinton, says he would be interested in serving in an Obama White House. But, Rendell says, he would first want to complete his second term as the state's top executive. Rendell made the comments in an appearance last night on WITF-TV's "Smart Talk"...
 

McCain's unorthodox campaign
Such seemingly contrary tactics as focusing on national security and foreign affairs when voters are most concerned about the domestic economy have provoked consternation among fellow Republicans.

By Mark Z. Barabak
Los Angeles Times
June 29, 2008

This week, when Barack Obama campaigns in Ohio and Colorado, John McCain will be visiting Colombia and Mexico. It's an unusual path for McCain to follow. But even more, it's a risky strategy for his presidential campaign. Not since Richard M. Nixon traveled to all 50 states in 1960, fulfilling a pledge he came to regret, has a presidential candidate followed an itinerary that appears so at odds with his political needs...
 

Defense hawk McCain also proves a tough military critic

By Bryan Bender
Boston Globe
June 29, 2008

WASHINGTON - In more than two decades in Congress, Senator John McCain has earned a reputation as a leading defense hawk, using his perch on the powerful Armed Services Committee and his war-hero status to advocate for a stronger military. But in the plush office towers of some of America's leading defense companies, the recipients of billions of dollars of Pentagon contracts each year, the presumptive Republican nominee for president has another label: persona non grata...
 

McCain Gets Praise, Not Backing, From Grahams

By Robert D. McFadden
New York Times
June 30, 2008

Senator John McCain, who has had trouble courting faith-based voters, went to the mountaintop on Sunday — Billy Graham’s Blue Ridge mountaintop retreat in western North Carolina, that is — and met with the evangelist and his son the Rev. Franklin Graham for a private, 45-minute conversation. There were no endorsements after the meeting at the rustic retreat, called Little Piney Cove, and both sides portrayed it as nonpolitical — just a chance to talk over old times and pray for God’s blessing on the presidential election and the candidates. But afterward, there were encomiums all around...
 

Roberta McCain steals reporter's heart, strikes fear in handlers'
A formal interview with John McCain's mother proves elusive to arrange. But she picks up the phone on the first ring.

By James Rainey
Los Angeles Times
June 29, 2008

It's over between Roberta and me. At least for now. What with her constant travels, her series of handlers and the 3,000-mile separation (she's in D.C., I'm in L.A.), it just wasn't working. I concede, with only a tinge of embarrassment, that I've been captivated by that world traveler, grandmother, freeway speedster and potential First Mother of the United States, Roberta McCain. But after months waiting in vain for a formal interview, I'm beginning to believe that her son's presidential campaign really isn't interested in getting Roberta McCain and me together for, as the man likes to call it, a little "straight talk"...
 

Editorial: The same old politics of terror

Boston Globe
June 29, 2008

WHEN ASKED about the effect of another terrorist attack on American soil, John McCain's chief strategist, Charlie Black, responded rashly and bluntly. "Certainly it would be a big advantage" for McCain, Black told Fortune magazine recently. Similarly, the strategist described the assassination of Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto in December as "an unfortunate event," but said "it helped us" in the contest for the nomination. It would be unfair to McCain, and to Black, to take this analysis as an indication that the Republican team is hoping for or counting on a terrorist incident. Still, Black's observation does bring up the question of whether the threat of terrorism will help Republicans, or whether the politics of security have shifted since the last presidential election...
 

The perils of honesty in politics
Verbal slips by the presidential candidates and their aides can tell us a lot.

By Ezra Klein
Los Angeles Times
June 29, 2008

John McCain's senior advisor, Charlie Black, is in trouble. Not because he's a former lobbyist whose professional history undermines the reformist credentials of his candidate. And not because he said something untrue in earshot of a reporter. His mistake was much larger: He accidentally said something true...
 

If Terrorists Rock the Vote in 2008

By Frank Rich
New York Times
June 29, 2008

DON’T fault Charles Black, the John McCain adviser, for publicly stating his honest belief that a domestic terrorist attack would be “a big advantage” for their campaign and that Benazir Bhutto’s assassination had “helped” Mr. McCain win the New Hampshire primary. His real sin is that he didn’t come completely clean on his strategic thinking. In private, he is surely gaming this out further, George Carlin-style. What would be the optimum timing, from the campaign’s perspective, for this terrorist attack — before or after the convention? Would the attack be most useful if it took place in a red state, blue state or swing state? How much would it “help” if the next assassinated foreign leader had a higher name recognition in American households than Benazir Bhutto?...
 

Indiana McCain?
Should his age be off limits? No way

By Katy Burns
Concord Monitor
June 29, 2008

...In an era of superb medical care, many effects of aging are for the most part more annoying than debilitating. Even the more serious ailments, from heart disease to faltering mental capabilities, can be dealt with today more effectively than ever before. But, as people who are themselves aging know only too well, not always. And that "but" is what's really worrying the backers of John McCain, who will turn 72 in August. If elected, McCain will be the oldest man ever to take the presidential oath of office. His people don't want us to think about that. That's why they are working overtime to make it somehow shameful to refer, even obliquely, to his advancing age. It is, they imply, no less unacceptable than racism or sexism...
 

VEEP
 

Is Carly Fiorina the Answer to McCain’s Prayers for a VP?

By Stuart Rothenberg
Real Clear Politics
June 30, 2008

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina may or may not be on Arizona Sen. John McCain’s short list for vice president, but she already is taking a crucial role in the Republican presidential hopeful’s campaign. In March, Fiorina was picked by the Republican National Committee to chair a group directed to raise money and get out the vote for this year’s elections. Shortly after that move was announced, Fiorina was interviewed by Business Week about her role...
 

NEW HAMPSHIRE
 

State by state, it's still a tight race

By Louis Jacobson
Stateline.org
June 27, 2008

So much has happened in the presidential race over the past three months that voters can be forgiven if they feel dazed. But despite all the political and media frenzy — and despite Democrat Barack Obama’s double-digit leads in two recent national polls — the outcome of the 2008 election is still likely to hinge on a half-dozen hotly contested battleground states, according to Out There’s third analysis of the “purple” swing states that are neither safely Republican (“red”) nor Democratic (“blue”)...In all, Out There currently classifies 20 states as up-for-grabs, based on a review of state-level polling data and discussions with roughly 40 in-state analysts...Eight voted for U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D): Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin...Two other states, however, moved in the other direction: Arizona, which shifts from Lean Republican to Likely Republican, and New Hampshire, which shifts from Likely Democratic to Lean Democratic...
 

OTHER NEWS AND VIEWS
 

McCain and Obama share energy goals, not methods
The candidates would take very different steps to greater energy independence for Americans.

By Ariel Sabar
Christian Science Monitor
June 30, 2008

John McCain and Barack Obama know that most Americans need look no further than the gas pump for proof of America's energy crunch. With fuel topping $4 a gallon and oil at a record price, energy now ties the economy in polls as voters' top concern, and the presidential candidates spent the past week trying to outflank each other on an issue that's thinning billfolds from Maine to California...
 

Immigration policy reform has Obama, McCain in agreement
Speaking before an important Latino organization, both candidates identify the issue as a top priority -- and then emphasize the distinctions between their views.

By Richard Simon
Los Angeles Times
June 29, 2008

WASHINGTON — Courting the increasingly influential Latino vote, the rival presidential candidates each pledged Saturday to make overhauling the nation's immigration policies a top priority. In separate appearances before the National Assn. of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain looked for every possible way to connect with their audience and emphasize distinctions between themselves...
 

Western states may swing

By Karen E. Crummy
Denver Post
June 29, 2008

One-third of Colorado registered voters are not affiliated with a political party. In New Mexico, Democrats outnumber Republicans by nearly 200,000, yet the state routinely votes for the GOP presidential candidate. Montana voters don’t even register with a party. Brimming with individualistic, self-reliant, libertarian-leaning voters, the Rocky Mountain West will play a pivotal role in a year when independent voters are expected to make or break John McCain’s and Barack Obama’s presidential bids...
 

The Electoral College Chart

Hotline on Call
June 27, 2008

From now until 11/4, The Hotline will regularly publish the Electoral College chart (available in full after the jump and summarized below) to estimate the winner of the WH '08 contest based on recent state polling data and previous election results. The chart includes all WH '08 state polling data published in The Hotline since 5/23. The most recent poll, the one used to identify each state's winner, is listed on the same line as the state symbol. For the 23 states (including DC) without current polling data available, the winner has been estimated based on WH '00 and WH '04 results...
 

Anxious in America

By Thomas L. Friedman
New York Times
June 29, 2008

Just a few months ago, the consensus view was that Barack Obama would need to choose a hard-core national-security type as his vice presidential running mate to compensate for his lack of foreign policy experience and that John McCain would need a running mate who was young and sprightly to compensate for his age. Come August, though, I predict both men will be looking for a financial wizard as their running mates to help them steer America out of what could become a serious economic tailspin. I do not believe nation-building in Iraq is going to be the issue come November — whether things get better there or worse. If they get better, we’ll ignore Iraq more; if they get worse, the next president will be under pressure to get out quicker. I think nation-building in America is going to be the issue...
 

Changing the polarized electoral landscape

By Robert David Sullivan
Boston Globe
June 30, 2008

SHORTLY AFTER the 1972 election, film critic Pauline Kael was widely ridiculed for saying, "I don't know how Richard Nixon could have won. I don't know anybody who voted for him." How could anyone be so insulated from the mainstream? Nixon had trounced George McGovern in most of the country. He even won comfortably in the New York borough of Queens, across the river from Kael's liberal cocoon of Manhattan. It's hard to imagine that many Americans were surprised by Nixon's reelection...
 

VEEP
 

Obama and McCain search for running mates
The early lists of potential vice presidential nominees are long. But political strategists have ideas about how the winnowing will proceed.

By Doyle McManus
Los Angeles Times
June 30, 2008

WASHINGTON — Never in modern memory have so many eminent people been mentioned for a job that has been compared -- unfavorably -- to a bucket of warm spit. To believe the talk in Washington, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is considering more than two dozen candidates as potential vice presidential nominees, including 13 senators or former senators, 11 governors or former governors, two retired generals and former Vice President Al Gore. For Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the list of potential running mates is almost as long: eight current or former senators, 10 current or former governors, a couple of high-technology chief executives -- and one of the same retired generals Obama likes...
 

National News

War/Terror/Security