Human Rights Activists Challenge Legitimacy Of Upcoming Sudanese Election

By Ching Yu Wang-Talk Radio News Service

A collection of human rights activists told reporters during a conference call Thursday that the results of Sudan’s upcoming election will likely not be legitimate.

Sam Bell, the executive director of the Genocide Intervention Network, explained that opposition candidates have had limited access to media and are restricted by draconian national security laws.

“This is not going to be a legitimate election and it shouldn’t be recognized as such by the United States or other parties,” said Bell.

The election, scheduled to take place from April 11 through April 13, is the first multiparty election in the country in 26 years.

John Norris, the executive director of the Enough Project at the Center for American Progress, has accused the Obama administration of faltering in their interaction with Sudan.

“There is a divide in the administration about how to approach Sudan and how to approach Sudan policy," said Norris. “The administration needs to be far less delicate and it needs to be honest about what’s going on.”

Gabriel Stauring, the director of Stop Genocide Now, says that Congress should play a watchdog role over both Sudan and the Obama administration's relation with the country.

“Congress plays an important role here in providing oversight to ... redirect the U.S. policy in Sudan," says Stuaring, whose organization has ran ads on the social networking site Facebook targeting the constituents of members who sit on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

In VA-35, Both Campaigns Predict Tight Race

The race to replace 35th District Delegate and Democratic Attorney General candidate Steve Shannon is within a 2-point margin – or at least it was two weeks ago, according to polls conducted for Republican candidate Jim Hyland.

Hyland’s margin, described by his campaign manager Kevin Conroy as “within the margin of error,” reflects a tightening of the race since a July benchmark poll, when pollsters Barry Zeplowitz and Bill Lee of TelOpinion Research indicated in a confidential memo posted on Hyland’s website that Hyland held a 7-point lead 43 percent to 36 percent lead, with 21 percent undecided. The memo did not indicate the size of the sample or whether “likely voter” filters were used.

Read more at Collins on Politics

Today at Talk Radio News Service

The Washington Bureau will cover panel discussions at the Newseum about “On Message: Voter Persuasion in the 2008 Election.”

The United States is now a "center-left nation"

Robert Borosage, Co-Director of the Campaign for America's Future (CAF), said the 2008 election is proof that the U.S. is now a "center-left nation" at a news conference by the CAF today. He backed up his point by saying that on core issues like the economy, foreign policy, and social issues, "Moderates increasingly stand with liberals."

Borosage praised the Obama campaign, saying they had "rewrote the book" on how campaigns are run. He went on to say that Obama had devoted more funds to its ground game than any previous presidential election. Borosage also said Obama's campaign had greater contact with voters utilizing all aspects of media than McCain's. He concluded his remarks adding that Obama's campaign was "far more effective" than McCain's in the last 72 hours before the election.

Stan Greenberg, Chairman and CEO of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, Stan Greenberg said that the 2008 presidential election amounted to "essentially a 10-point swing from the 2004 election." He added that the increased voter turnout among minorities and young people has created a "new alignment" electorally.

Greenberg also claimed than Obama also did better among many existing groups in 2008 than Kerry did in 2004. According to his research, white younger non-college women voted 28 points higher for Obama than they did for Kerry in 2004. He said that the under 30 electorate voted Democrat 26 points higher in 2008, and moderates voted Democrat 20 points higher than in 2004. In regard to the economic debate, Greenberg said, "Republicans lost." He said that they "joined the argument and made the case for the status quo," which led to voters preferring the Democrats on the issue.

McCain campaign confident as they approach election

In a conference call today, McCain-Palin Campaign Manager Rick Davis said their campaign is "pretty jazzed up" as election day gets closer.

Davis stated that the narrowing polls between the candidates is evidence that "we fight back." He felt the world was "witnessing one of the greatest comebacks since John McCain won the primary."

Davis also noted that Gov. Palin (R-Alaska) has been generating a lot of excitement about their ticket. He added that the notion that she is hurting Sen. McCain (R-Ariz.) "can't be further from the truth." He used the example that yesterday, Sen. Biden (D-Del.) had 800 people at his speech, while Palin had 20,000 people at hers.

Davis felt the polling in the last 10 days were the "best 10 days of polling since the convention." He was also encouraged by the fact that Sen. Obama (D-Ill.) is campaigning in states like Iowa, which were previously thought to be easy victories for him.