Politics, not religion
With the election a scant 19 months away, candidates from both parties are trying to win over prospective voters in a variety of ways. However, judging by the amount of time spent on this issue, the most pressing issue of the upcoming election is religion. Candidates from both sides are trying to prove their religious muster to the American people. For the Democrats, Hillary Clinton has hired an Evangelical Christian as a campaign aide, Barack Obama has added an aide who has experience with religious outreach and John Edwards has framed "poverty relief as a moral issue that's helping to drive his campaign."
On the Republican side, the biggest issue of the 2008 race is whether Mitt Romney can be elected, despite his religious affiliation (he's Mormon, for those of you who have been living under a rock).
Presidential candidates such as Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain have been campaigning in South Carolina, but only one has stopped into Greenwood so far.
Duncan Hunter, a Republican congressman from California and presidential candidate, visited Calvary Chapel in Greenwood Friday morning.
Students from nearby Greenwood Christian School and well-wishers from the Upstate came to hear Hunter talk about what he thinks are the important issues, including trade with China, illegal immigrants and the war in Iraq.
Hunter came to Greenwood after John McCravy, chairman of the board of directors for Greenwood Christian School, saw him announce his candidacy in Spartanburg a few weeks ago.
Hunter plans to campaign in every county in South Carolina and has made stops in Florida and New Hampshire so far.
Columnist to speak on politics, character
Presidential politics will be on the agenda when one of the nation's leading political commentators speaks in Evansville on Tuesday night - but the horse race won't be. "I'll be talking about the character and culture of the various candidates," says David Brooks, a syndicated columnist, television and radio commentator and author. "I'll try to give people a backstage feel to what the candidates are like. That's important. A lot of the mistakes we made in Iraq were because we misunderstood the character and culture of the Iraqi people." Brooks writes a semiweekly column for The New York Times and regularly appears on "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer." An author of several books, Brooks' work has appeared in such publications as The Washington Post, U.S. News and World Report and The New Yorker.
Obama war chest fattens in Los Angeles
Democratic presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., wrapped up his first California campaign with about $1 million more in his campaign coffers. After announcing his candidacy 11 days ago, Obama scheduled a 3-day trip to California, capped Tuesday with a public rally in the predominantly black Crenshaw neighborhood and followed by a Beverly Hills fundraising dinner, The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday. .
Obama Supporter's Remarks Get Reaction from Clinton Camp
While candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama stay out of it personally, their supporters are trading accusations with an intensity more typical of the late stages of a presidential campaign than a dustup nearly a year before the first votes are cast.The feud erupted Wednesday after Hollywood donor David Geffen, who once backed Bill Clinton but now supports his wife's top rival, told New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd that while ``everybody in politics lies,'' the former president and his wife ``do it with such ease, it's troubling.''The Clinton campaign quickly demanded that Obama denounce the comments and called on him to give back Geffen's $2,300 contribution.Campaigning in Iowa, Obama refused.``It's not clear to me why I'd be apologizing for someone else's remark,'' the Illinois senator said.``My suspicion is that the voters of Iowa are probably more concerned about what both myself and Senator Clinton think about Iraq, health care and jobs,'' Obama told reporters in a brief news conference at the Iowa Statehouse.For her part, New York Sen.
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