Obama has "tremendous" support from Latinos

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) along with the Democratic National Committee held a press conference this afternoon to discuss an unprecedented commitment by Obama's presidential campaign to engage Hispanic voters. He and the Democratic National Party together will donate $20 million for outreach to Hispanic and Latino voters in key states.

Cuauhtemoc "Temo" Figueroa, national director for Latino Voter Contact for Obama's presidential campaign said that the money will be spread throughout all 50 states, with special emphasis on key Latino battleground regions including Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and Florida. Rep. Jose Serrano (D-N.Y.) said that the money will be used in specific states with the intention of influencing Latinos in surrounding states. He gave the example of spending heavily in New York in order to influence voters in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Serrano said that the money will be used for television advertisements, online campaigns and to hire a staff of unprecedented numbers to motivate Latino voters. Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said that even though polls have shown tremendous support for Obama from the Latino community, this contribution will ensure that support continues to grow.

Obama seeks advice

The Obama Campaign held a conference call in which campaign staff discussed a meeting between Senator Obama and economic advisers. Dr. Laura Tyson, former chairwoman of the President's Council or Economic Advisers under Clinton, said structural issues like health care and education were discussed alongside large economic issues like the financial markets.

Tyson said tax cuts proposed by Obama are similar to tax cuts in the mid 1990s that lowered unemployment in some places to two percent. She said others and herself in the first Clinton administration never imagined unemployment would be capable of dropping below five percent. According to Lynch, Obama's tax cuts would give $1,000 to 95 percent of middle-income families.

Former Senator Bill Bradley (D-N.J.) said Republican candidate John McCain's call for increased domestic drilling to lower gas prices would not be functional for at least five years, comparing the strategy to McCain's call for a gas-tax holiday. Bradley suggested that Americans will view both strategies as an attempt to grab attention. Bradley, implying Barack Obama, said only one candidate truly understands long-term economic strategies and the need for government to set and enforce economic rules.

McCain has a “radical” healthcare plan

ABC News political analyst Cokie Roberts spoke today about health care on the campaign trail at a convention on clinical chemistry among healthcare professionals. Roberts said the American people are going to see a “robust” debate on health care for the presidential campaigns, and that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has a more “radical” healthcare plan then Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

Roberts said that John McCain’s plan to get away from employer based healthcare plans and put families on individual plans is “radical.” While this plan frees up tax money and may create an open market for lower insurance rates, a Democratically held Congress will not approve it and public opinion is that individually based health care will be much harder financially, she said.

However, Obama’s patchwork healthcare plan is much more plausible, Roberts said. Smaller changes will work better and get through Congress faster then a large overall change, and universal healthcare won’t happen anytime soon.

Voters want something done about healthcare, but they aren’t sure exactly what they want, Roberts said. There is a very significant number of people who make less then $30,000 a year who can barely make their medical insurance payments, if they speak up and demand change then healthcare will become an important part of the campaigns.

Obama is weak on dictators says Hoekstra (R-Mich.)

Senator John McCain's (R-Ariz.) presidential campaign held a conference call on the one-year anniversary of Senator Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) declaration that he would hold diplomatic meetings with various dictators "without preconditions" once he becomes President.

Kori Schake, the senior foreign policy adviser for the McCain campaign said Obama does not understand the consequences of such a policy decision. Congressman Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) said if Obama carries out these negotiations with the leaders of Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba, and Syria, he would greatly undercut efforts to restrain the nuclear activities of those countries. Hoekstra said that Obama's intent to talk with those dictators sets him up with very high performance expectations. Upon Obama's assumption of the Presidency, his credibility would be tested immediately and his open approach to discussion with dictators puts him in a weakened position to deal with real threats to national security. Hoekstra contrasted Obama's plan with McCain's objective of having a strong, multilateral approach to prevent states from becoming nuclear powers.

Randy Scheunemann, another senior foreign policy adviser for the McCain campaign, said Obama's plan shows his inexperience, stubbornness, and malleability. He added that Obama's recent softening of his plan showed that the tried to change his position without the media noticing. (21:41)

U.S. needs to switch into a supportive role in Iraq

The National Security Network held a conference call to discuss American troop presence in Iraq and Nouri al-Maliki’s new opinion on the situation. Colin Kahl, a professor at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, explained that back in November, 2007, the Bush Administration and Maliki signed a declaration of principles which outlined a long term partnership of the U.S. with Iraq. Around the same time, the governments also embarked on bilateral negotiations, hopefully to be completed by July 31st, in an effort to codify a relationship and replace the current UN mandate with a bilateral arrangement.

Kahl explained that these negotiations have been very contentious due to rising animosity in different national groups. Because of this, Kahl said that there will most likely not be a long term Status of Forces Agreement or a renewal of the UN mandate, but rather some memorandum that will allow U.S. forces to operate in Iraq for the next year or two with more restrictions. Kahl also explained that Iraqis want a time horizon or time table for the departure of U.S. forces out of a predominantly combative role into a more supportive role.

Marc Lynch, a professor of International Affairs at the Elliot School of International Affairs, said that there is a fair degree of confidence that a new bargaining position has emerged in Iraq. He said that most Americans would have assumed the Iraqi position to be more favorable towards long term, unconditional U.S. support, rather than the actual, almost consensual, visceral opposition to anything that looks like long term American occupation.

Kahl said that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is the real outlier when it comes to his position on what needs to be done in Iraq, not the Bush Administration. He explained that McCain would like an almost “Korea style” permanent and enduring presence in Iraq, something that most Americans are not looking for. Kahl said that he believes most Americans are actually more comfortable with Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) policy for withdrawal. Kahl explained that Obama is looking for the U.S. to have continue to have some role in Iraq, a supportive role, so that if something does go wrong during a withdrawal, the U.S. will “have their back.” Kahl himself agreed with Obama’s plan and said that if a close look is taken into Iraqi military operations, success is not possible without enablers from the U.S. military. He said that it is important for the U.S. relationship with Iraq to be conditions based on improving political actions by the Iraqi government.