POLITICAL HOT TOPICS: Thursday, June 26, 2008

Compiled by Mary Grace Lucas

CNN Washington Bureau

Washington Post: McCain-Obama So Far: Positively Negative
A campaign between Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain once offered enormous possibilities for something new. Instead, the two presumptive nominees have opened their campaigns for the White House with what looks and sounds like a repeat of the kind of politics both have promised to leave behind.

CNN: McCain calls U.S. dependence on foreign oil dangerous
Sen. John McCain vowed Wednesday to break the partisan deadlock on energy policy, saying the dependence on foreign oil puts the U.S. in a "dangerous situation."

Washington Post: Top McCain Adviser Has Found Success Mixing Money, Politics
As Sen. John McCain's top presidential campaign adviser, Richard H. "Rick" Davis has worked for almost a year without compensation, telling reporters that the sacrifice shows his dedication to the cash-strapped Arizona Republican. He also took a protracted leave from his Washington lobbying firm to distance himself from ethical questions.

Financial Times: Angry diehards snub Clinton call for unity
In her concession speech less than three weeks ago, Hillary Clinton urged supporters to transfer their loyalties to her rival: “Today I am standing with Barack Obama to say ‘Yes we can’,” she said. “We will make history together as we write the next chapter in America’s story.”

CNNMoney.com: McCain's economic gurus
From ex-Senators to CEOs, McCain has tapped a wide range of advisers to bring him up to speed on the economy.

CNNMoney.com: Obama's business brain trust
From Omaha to Boston, the candidate reaches out to a diverse collection of economic thinkers.

NY Times: Get Ready for the Persuasion Army …
Or at least grow accustomed to the use of the term. Senator Barack Obama’s campaign manager used that term or similar phraseology several times today as he outlined for journalists a bit of the campaign’s general election strategy.

Washington Post: While Fundraising, Bush Mounts Attack on Obama
President Bush came to suburban Detroit Wednesday to mount a clear attack on Sen. Barack Obama, though he never actually mentioned the Democratic candidate's name.

The Boston Globe: A winning strategy for McCain
THE TRENDS are troubling for John McCain. Polls show growing support for Barack Obama, for Democrats generally, and for change. And since Obama broke his public financing pledge he'll have much more money than McCain for advertising. How can McCain change the dynamic of this race?

CNN: Will Obama's name help a Republican senator?
Sen. Barack Obama's name is likely to help several Democratic candidates down ballot, but what about a Republican?

Boston Globe: Deja vu on energy
It may indeed be true, as John McCain said today in Las Vegas, "Political campaigns have a way of settling on a few great questions [and] in this election, the price and security of energy in America is one of those great questions."

San Francisco Chronicle: The GOP made Obama do it
It was no surprise when Barack Obama flipped on public financing last week. When it suited his goals last year, he pledged, "If I am the Democratic nominee, I will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election." When it didn't suit his goals, he ditched the pledge. And get this: Apparently he did it because the Republicans made him do it.

LA Times: Who's 'Dr. No' of energy policy?
The McCain camp tries to stick the label on Obama, but the movie villain, like the Republican, said yes to nuclear power.

Washington Post: On the Web, Supporters of McCain Wage An Uphill Battle
Ryan Mitsotakis is 19 years old, a sophomore at New York University and - as his Facebook page practically screams - a stalwart John McCain fan. He's also a history buff, which is why he reaches back a few decades to describe his life as a McCainiac on the Internet.

Baltimore Sun: Obama ally echoes prediction of fear factor
Echoing comments by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius predicted that Republicans would undertake "a major effort to try and frighten people about him" because of his race.

Washington Times: Obama aims to put McCain on the run
Sen. Barack Obama's campaign manager says the team has crafted a strategy ensuring the Democrats won't wake up Nov. 4 worrying that the presidential election hinges on the outcome in one swing state.

Politico: Netroots feel jilted by Obama's FISA stand
When former Sen. John Edwards dropped out of the presidential race, the progressive Netroots took their affections to Barack Obama, defending him against attack from Hillary Rodham Clinton and others.

New York Daily News: Barack Obama plans fight for Bush states as Hillary Clinton pushes unity
Barack Obama's campaign chief said Wednesday the campaign isn't putting its chips on a handful of battleground states this fall, and will press its offensive wherever there is an opportunity to turn a red state blue.

CNNMoney.com: Oil speculation: The great debate
Energy analyst Daniel Yergin tells Congress that trading does play a role in crude's overheated runup – but not the only one.

LA Times: Democratic convention volunteers in Denver must settle for peanuts
You know a fundraising effort is going badly when even a proposed "volunteer appreciation event" at the local zoo is shelved because money is short. But that's the situation the host committee planning the Democratic National Convention in Denver finds itself in. Last week the committee missed a final deadline for meeting its goal of raising $40.6 million, falling short by more than $11 million.

NY Times: Delicate Talks for Democrats on a Path to a Unified Party
With the help of one of Washington’s best-connected lawyers, Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton are negotiating a thicket of complicated issues, like how to repay Mrs. Clinton’s campaign debt and her role at the Democratic convention. The talks come as they try to leave behind their intense rivalry and work out a plan to cooperate this fall.

Financial Times: Obama urges Tesco to unionise
Barack Obama has again called on Tesco, the UK supermarket group, to let unions represent workers at its new US chain. The move comes as the Democratic candidate seeks to reinforce his labour support ahead of November’s presidential elections.

WSJ: Democrat Steps Up Push for Big Donors
A fund-raiser for Barack Obama here this week drew some of the cream of the entertainment industry, including recording artist Seal. He serenaded the crowd under crystal chandeliers at a downtown arts center just before the Democratic presidential contender took the stage.

Deseret News: Cannon says lack of unity besets U.S., Utah GOP
Utah is pretty predictable in its politics: Republican, Republican, Republican — and keeping those GOP incumbents in office year after year. But Beehive State Republicans threw a curve in Tuesday's primary, catching other Utahns and national Republicans off guard. Not only was Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, booted from the 3rd District seat he's held for 12 years, Cannon was thrashed.

Washington Post: On Obama's Coattails, an Uninvited Rider
Just a month ago, Republican strategists were trying to closely link Democratic House candidates to Sen. Barack Obama, convinced that in certain parts of the country Obama would drag candidates from his own party down to defeat.

LA Times: 75% blame Bush's policies for deteriorating economy
The figure includes large numbers of dissatisfied Republicans and represents a sharp increase in pessimism over the last year. Higher fuel prices have sharpened the criticism.

Financial Times: US angst over relations with Pakistan
The US is struggling to establish a good relationship with Pakistan’s democratically-elected government, according to officials in Islamabad and Washington. Relations have also recently become tense between the Pentagon and the Pakistani military.

Financial Times: Opec and US fuel figures at odds
Opec believes it will need to produce far less oil over the next 12 years than does the US, creating uncertainty over whether the oil cartel’s members will invest enough to boost production capacity to stop oil prices rising.

CNN: Detainee hearings under discussion
Two key judges, about a dozen defense lawyers and Justice Department prosecutors met Wednesday as they try to hash out how to conduct hearings for about 200 detainees being held at the Guantanamo Bay prison facility.

CNN: Global warming could increase terrorism, official says
Global warming could destabilize "struggling and poor" countries around the world, prompting mass migrations and creating breeding grounds for terrorists, the chairman of the National Intelligence Council told Congress on Wednesday.

NY Times: Parties Split on How to Expand Offshore Drilling
The two political parties have settled on markedly different strategies for improving domestic oil supplies to help lower gasoline prices. Republicans want to end the 27-year ban on offshore drilling along much of the nation’s coastline, while Democrats want to force companies to speed up exploration in certain offshore areas that they already control. A version of the Democratic plan may come to a vote in the House of Representatives as early as Thursday.

Washington Post: Senator Stalls Housing Relief With Call for Energy Credits
A Republican senator from Nevada, home to the highest foreclosure rate in the nation, yesterday blocked an ambitious plan to help troubled borrowers save their homes, saying he will not permit the measure to go forward unless the Senate adds tax breaks to encourage the production of renewable energy.

AP: Unbowed, politicians vow to execute child rapists
Angry politicians vowed to keep writing laws that condemn child rapists to death, despite a Supreme Court decision saying such punishment is unconstitutional.

CNN: Surveillance bill filibuster fails
An effort to block a wide-ranging overhaul of U.S. wiretapping laws failed in the Senate on Wednesday, with opponents mustering only 15 votes against the bill in a procedural vote. Language that appears likely to let telecommunications companies escape lawsuits over the Bush administration’s warrantless surveillance program drew sharp opposition from liberal Democrats such as Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold.

CNN: North Korea to detail nukes
North Korea on Thursday is expected to release details on its plutonium stockpile and continue preparations to publicly dismantle a controversial nuclear reactor — key steps meant to assuage international concerns about nuclear activity in the usually secretive Communist nation.

Salt Lake Tribune: Guv pitches 4-day workweek
Jon Huntsman Jr. is looking to retool the state's workweek, with a sweeping proposal to move state agencies to four, 10-hour days a week in order to save energy and reduce commuting expenses.

AP: Senate reaches an agreement on global AIDS bill
Senate negotiators said Wednesday they had reached a tentative agreement on a key obstacle to one of the most ambitious federal health initiatives ever, a $50 billion act to combat AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in Africa and other countries hard-hit by those diseases.

CNN: Pentagon talks about tanker contract
Defense Secretary Robert Gates met Wednesday afternoon with Air Force officials and others to discuss what the Pentagon will do about the contentious Air Force tanker contract. The contract has been a focus of controversy after the Pentagon opted to award the $35 billion contract to Northrop Grumman, who bid with European manufacturer Airbus, over Boeing.

CNN: Martin Commentary: Obama helps himself and McCain, too
When is the most recent time a decision by a presidential candidate ended up being good for him and his opponent? But that is certainly the case with Sen. Barack Obama's decision last week to become the first candidate since public financing went into effect in 1976 to make the bold move to opt out of it.

CNN: Tough-guy actor eyes Senate seat
Sonny Landham carved out a tough-guy reputation in a series of big-screen roles, from roughing up Sylvester Stallone to getting tossed out a window by Carl Weathers.