The Two Democrat Presidential Aspirants and Earmark Project - Term Paper Example

 The statement attributed to Mr. Wright, Obama’s ex- pastor and his response attracted the attention of the most important constituency in politics. The super delegates, party officials and elected democrats who hold the balance of power because they get automatic seats at the national convention. They are uncommitted, although some have indicated their support for Obama. They include Representative Baron Hill, democrat of Indiana, while Representative Bruce Braleys democrat of Iowa intends to do the same. 2- House and Senate Pass Budget Plans) From NEW YOR TIMES By CARL HULSE and ROBERT PEAR Published: March 14, 2008 Earmark happens to be a Republican congressional pet project that had the propensity of slowing down spending on Medicare and other entitlements. One of theirs Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, who happens to be the senior Republican on the house budget committee agreed to the fact that earmark has been part of their agenda in the previous decades. The two democrat presidential aspirants Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barak obama of Illinois voted against earmark project, there was also a symbolic vote against earmark by Mr. McCain and this was to pass a message across. There were those from both parties who voted in favor of earmark but they couldn’t meet up to the 60 votes needed to proceed on the issue. Mr. McCain was not particularly happy with members from both parties who don’t see earmark as a wasteful project. 3- Louisiana Democrat Takes House Seat From NEW YORK TIMES By ADAM NOSSITER Published: May 4, 2008 An open seat in the congress that has been long held by Republicans in the conservative district was taken over by a Democrat. This happened after a special election, and has given the party an early boost in its drive to get a higher majority inside the House of Representatives. Woody Jenkins, a newspaper publisher lost to Don Cazayoux, a state representative, 49 percent to 46 percent, in a keenly and closely contested race for a seat left open as a result of the retirement of Richard Baker, a Republican. Mr. Cazayoux overcame the Republicans’ view of him as a “liberal” by showing himself a little different from Mr. Jenkins with regards to social issues, by locking horns with figures like Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, and Senator Barack Obama, who happen to share billing with him in a barrage of Republican attack advertisements. The Louisiana race was seen by the two parties’ as an important test for the fall, given the fact that the district has been safe for Republicans for over three decades. a potential victory by Democrats is seen by them as a measure of Republican vulnerability; it is as an indication that it will be difficult to defend more than two dozen open seats that are in play in November, from the Republicans point of view. Mr. Cazayoux, who happens to be a low-key member of the State House and a one time prosecutor, matches the conservative model that Democrats deployed successfully in the 2006 elections when they took seats from Republicans. 4-Obama Wins Guam From NEW YOR TIMES By Sarah Wheaton Published:May 3, 2008 According to The Pacific Daily News, senator Obama won in Guam by a margin of only 7 votes. This result will probably not affect the outcome of the delegate calculations, given the proportional allocation of the delegates. Obama did pick up one superdelegate though, as a supporter of his was elected into the party’s vice chairmanship position. 5-Narrow Victory for Obama in the Caucuses in Guam From NEW YORK TIMES By SARAH WHEATON Published: May 4, 2008 Senator Barack Obama defeated Senator Hillary Clinton by a margin of 7 votes to win the democratic caucuses in Guam. Delegates pledged to senator Obama received 2,264 votes, while those with Mrs. Clinton got 2,257 votes by the time hand-counting finished. According to The Associated Press, the turnout at the caucuses was about 3 times the size of the turnout from past years. Officials of the Democratic Party reported that a lot of people had registered as democrats at the caucus sites, and this prompted the ‘Democrat for a Day’ nickname. It should be noted that Guamanians do not have a vote during the general presidential elections, even though they are United States citizens. Eight delegates with half a vote each are sent from Guam, to the Democratic National Convention. The outcome of the elections in Guam is unlikely to affect the delegate margin due to the closeness of the vote. “However, the caucuses also determined two of Guam’s five super delegates. Pilar Lujan, who is uncommitted, won the race for party chairwoman, and Jaime Paulino, who supports Mr. Obama, was elected vice chairman.” (http://www.nytimes.com) 6- In Poll, Obama Survives Furor, but Fall Is the Test From NEW YOR TIMES By ADAM NAGOURNEY and MARJORIE CONNELLY Published: May 5, 2008 Most American voters feel that the uproar from the events of Senator Barack Obama’s relationship with his ex-pastor has not changed their opinion of senator Obama. Some agree that it is possible that this will influence voters during the elections this fall if he turns out to be the presidential nominee for the Democratic Party. In the survey, taken in the days leading up to the primaries on Tuesday in Indiana and North Carolina, Americans were divided over the merits of the gasoline-tax suspension, which has also been backed by the presumptive Republican nominee, Senator John McCain, and condemned by Mr. Obama as political gimmickry. The poll, conducted after Mr. Obama held a news conference on Tuesday in which he renounced his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., for making incendiary comments, found that most Americans said they approved of the way Mr. Obama had responded to the episode and considered his criticism of Mr. Wright appropriate. (http://www.nytimes.com) The greater effect of this controversy on senator Obama’s candidacy among the voters in the democratic primaries was not very clear in the poll, but quite a number of the voters expressed problems about the relationship between Mr. Wright and senator Mr. Obama. This might sway a relatively small group of voters during the remaining primaries, although this could be potentially important. 7- Senate Moves Forward on Housing Aid Bill From NEW YOR TIMES by DAVID STOUT Published: April 8, 2008 The Senate has voted overwhelmingly to go ahead with legislation aimed at alleviating the problems inherent in the housing market. This means that the senators may eventually vote on passing the final bill, although the 92-to-6 vote to limit debate through invocation of cloture does not necessarily entail that borrowers, lenders and others that might get hurt by the housing slump be sure of getting assistance in the near future. 8- Obama in Senate: Star Power, Minor Role From NEW YOR TIMES by KATE ZERNIKE and JEFF ZELENY Published: March 9, 2008 Standing before Washington’s elite at the spring dinner of the Gridiron Club, Senator Barack Obama recounted his accomplishments, within just one year of his arrival in town. 9-Earmarks in Form, if Not Process, Are an Issue for McCain From NEW YOR TIMES By MICHAEL COOPER Published: May 4, 2008 10- Teamsters Union Defends Its Endorsement of Obama From NEW YOR TIMES by STEVEN GREENHOUSE Published: May 6, 2008 11- New Obama Endorsements From NEW YOR TIMES by ARIEL ALEXOVICH April 18, 2008, 2:52 pm The endorsements keep rolling in for Barack Obama, who now can count on the support of former Labor Secretary Robert Reich (from the Bill Clinton White House) and two popular former senators — David Boren of Oklahoma and Sam Nunn of Georgia.None of the three are superdelegates, but each holds his own cachet. Mr. Reich held his cabinet position during the Bill Clinton administration and even dated the then-Ms. Rodham back in college. Mr. Nunn’s name has been tossed around as a potential Obama vice presidential pick, and both he and Mr. Boren have longstanding influence among moderate Democratic voters in the South and the Midwest. (http://www.nytimes.com) 12-For McCain, Self-Confidence on Ethics Poses Its Own Risk From NEW YOR TIMES By JIM RUTENBERG, MARILYN W. THOMPSON, DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and STEPHEN LABATON Published: February 21, 2008 There was a lot of anxiety in Early in Senator John McCain’s first run for the White House eight years ago, during which his small circle of advisers. When news organizations reported that Mr. McCain had written letters to government regulators on behalf of the lobbyist’s client, the former campaign associates said, some aides feared for a time that attention would fall on her involvement.Mr. McCain, 71, and the lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, 40, both say they never had a romantic relationship. But to his advisers, even the appearance of a close bond with a lobbyist whose clients often had business before the Senate committee Mr. McCain led threatened the story of redemption and rectitude that defined his political identity. (http://www.nytimes.com) References http://www.nytimes.com Read More