| Being a Bears fan could cost Obama
It is rare to hear a politician take a firm stand on anything nowadays, but Illinois Senator Barack Obama took that risk nearly a month ago when he said, "I am happy for New Orleans, I think it's a wonderful story, but the fairy tale ends when they come to Chicago."
That's right, a firm stand on a football game. You have to disregard the fact that he was right in his prediction, because the biggest impact of the prediction for Obama was possibly alienating voters.
No one is going to argue that National Football League alliances will supersede issues like the economy or the war in Iraq, but it is a factor.
Think about the last two presidential elections and the states that were crucial in President George W. Bush's victory: Florida and Ohio.
In 2004, the state of Ohio and its 20 electoral votes were highly contested by Bush and Democratic candidate John Kerry.
Barack Obama's On-Point Message Man
On Saturday in the Lincolnesque setting of Springfield, Ill., when Barack Obama delivered his full-throated appeal to the ideals of a new generation, a lot of sharp players of the political game thought they detected something Axelrodesque. All those "Let us" sentences in the middle, as in, "Let us be the generation . . . " -- "That's Axelrod," thought political strategist Donna Brazile. .
Obama's Worn-Out Economic Ideas
Senator Barack Obama recently said, "let's allow our unions and their organizers to lift up this country's middle class again." Ironically, he said it at a time when Detroit automakers have been laying off unionized workers by the tens of thousands, while Toyota has been hiring tens of thousands of non-union American automobile workers. Labor unions, like the government, can change prices -- in this case, the price of labor -- but without changing the underlying reality that prices convey. Neither unions nor minimum wage laws change the productivity of workers. All they can do is forbid the employer from paying less than what the government or the unions want the employer to pay. .
Senator Barack Obama Visits Richmond Saturday
The Illinois Democrat and presidential contender is speaking at tonight's Jefferson Jackson Dinner -- the annual state Democratic Party gala. Obama's presidential campaign will likely receive the endorsement of Governor Tim Kaine outside the governor's mansion this afternoon. Two people with political ties to the governor told The Associated Press earlier this week that Kaine could announce his support for Obama this weekend. Obama's appearance comes a day after state Party Chairman Richard Cranwell endorsed former North Carolina Senator John Edwards for president in 2008. Obama was in South Carolina yesterday for his first campaign visit to the early voting state. (Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) .
Richardson kicks off Colorado campaign for president
CENTENNIAL (AP) - Democratic presidential hopeful Bill Richardson said Wednesday that rival candidate Barack Obama should apologize to Hillary Rodham Clinton after they traded accusations of nasty politics Wednesday over Hollywood donor David Geffen, who once backed Bill Clinton but now supports his wife's top rival. .
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