Obama: Are you listening to me?
Posted: Wednesday, July 09, 2008 9:10 AM by Mark Murray
At a town hall in Georgia yesterday, "Obama addressed what he called ‘this whole notion that I am shifting to the center, or that I am flip-flopping,’ with a firm denial that he has tilted his emphasis away from swiftly bringing the war to an end. ‘Don't be confused: I am going to bring the Iraq war to a close when I am president of the United States of America," Obama said.’
"The remarks came as both candidates scrambled to clarify their visions for Iraq in the face of changing events on the ground. Sen. John McCain, who has repeatedly derided calls for a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, suddenly found himself confronted with the American-backed Iraqi leadership raising the prospect of exactly that. For the first time, Iraqi President Nouri al-Maliki said Monday in a statement that the two countries should consider deciding the future of U.S. troops with "a memorandum of understanding to put a timetable on their withdrawal."
The New York Times has more from Obama: “‘Look, let me talk about the broader issue, this whole notion that I am shifting to the center,’ he [said]. ‘The people who say this apparently haven’t been listening to me.’”
It looks like a bunch of Clinton donors still want to tell reporters about their unhappiness with Obama. And now Obama donors apparently don't want to help either. The New York Times: “As Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton prepare for their first joint fund-raisers to benefit the Obama campaign, in New York City on Wednesday and Thursday, their two camps are straining under the weight of continued resentments, recriminations and feelings that remain raw since the long primary battle. Mr. Obama has asked his top donors to help raise money for her debt, and so far they have come up with less than $100,000 (though more in pledges), Clinton campaign officials said — a ‘paltry sum,’ in the words of one.”
More: “While no other presidential candidate has ever amassed so much personal and campaign debt en route to losing the nomination as has Mrs. Clinton, both Clinton and Obama donors say the larger problem for Democrats is that if the Obama camp is seen as unhelpful, Mrs. Clinton, her husband and their supporters could prove something less than a force for unity.”
More Clinton-Obama news: “Aides to Barack Obama and Clinton remain in negotiations about whether the New York senator, who narrowly lost in the primary marathon, should be paid homage by letting delegates she won vote for her before switching to the winner. ‘It would be wrong,’ said former New York State Democratic Chairman Herman (Denny) Farrell, a superdelegate who strongly supported Clinton's candidacy. ‘There should not be a roll call ... they should unify.’”
Does Obama need one more vacation before the fall? The Los Angeles Times notes he seems weary. “Watching him on the trail in recent days … it often appears as if the unrelenting attention and prolonged campaigning are getting wearisome. He told a customer at an Indiana diner two months ago that he had lost 7 or 8 pounds. He said he was learning to get by on four-to-five hours' sleep.”
