Clinton Fundraiser Focuses on Middle Class

After an introduction from her daughter and a full high school marching band, Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton took the stage at a fundraising event at the Daughters of the American Revolution building last evening. Described by her daughter as the "progressive President we need" Clinton was enthusiastic and described a wide variety of the stances she backed, particularly those pertaining to the economy and health care.

Clinton geared much of her speech to appeal to a primarily middle class crowd, one which seemed to lack diversity. Hillary fans waved "Hillary for President" signs and cheered emphatically immediately as she took the stage. The crowd took particular pleasure when Clinton described having a "sigh of relief" when America would see a moving van leave the White House following President Bush's time in office.

Clinton also discussed passing stem cell research laws vetoed by Bush, creating a new American energy policy, ending President Bush's "War on Science," and providing sufficient funding for the No Child Left Behind Act. Senator Clinton said she did not "want to give up on any child" and discussed providing tax relief for Americans involved in public service.

Conference Call Dissects McCain’s Substance Free Housing Speech

The Center for American Progress Action Fund hosted a conference call examining Presidential hopeful John McCain’s Substance Free Housing speech.

Call moderators described the speech as having “all sizzle, no steak” and argued that it was “a day late and a buck short.” James Kvaal, Domestic Policy Advisor at the Center, wondered if Washington’s future, if under McCain, would include helping desparate homeowners, instead of simply “wall street” businessmen. Kvaal added that McCain’s stimulus package proposal was flawed, and did not do enough to help working class families.

Kvaal’s criticism also included a sentiment that McCain needs to start subscribing to new ideas, and that his recent call for lenders to come together to solve housing problems, was outdated and unsuccessful.

Obama Campaign Conference Call Discusses Hillary Double Talk on NAFTA

The Obama Campaign held a conference call discussing Senator Hillary Clinton’s allegedly changing views on NAFTA. Obama Communications Director Robert Gibbs discussed how the papers released yesterday examining Clinton’s time as First Lady confirm that she was a proponent of NAFTA but now will not admit to her backing of the trade- agreement.

Such “double talk,” Gibbs explained, is not what the American people should hear from a President. The Obama Campaign portrayed him as the clearly more reliable, truthful candidate, saying he has “always been straight” with the American people.

Gibbs said whether voters support or oppose NAFTA they should always support a truthful candidate like Obama, not one who disguises viewpoints, like Clinton.

Also discussed during the call was the Michigan and Florida primary controversy. The Obama Campaign said the Senator would support a “reasonable resolution” proposed.

Hillary Campaign: Obama Made of Strong Words, Little Action

Chief Strategist Mark Penn and Communications Director Howard Wolfson held a conference call on behalf of the Clinton campaign to discuss the current state of the presidential race.

Penn and Wolfson said that although Obama has proclaimed he is front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, recent polling has gone against his declarations. Clinton’s campaign alleged that Senator Obama is a less worthy candidate to defeat republican candidate John McCain than Clinton is.

To back Senator Clinton, Penn and Wolfson emphasized polls have proven voters have a higher opinion about her economic plans and her chances to succeed as the next Commander-In-Chief of the armed forces than Obama. Also, the Clinton group noted that Hillary is more aggressively fighting for the voters of Florida and Michigan to have their still-being-debated votes counted than Obama.

Obama, said Penn and Wolfson, has made a “pattern of using words” without supporting them through “action.”

Back in the Saddle, Still on the road

The House is back and the Senate will be meeting pro forma for this first week of the first legislative session of 2008. There is still a bad taste in every one's mouth from the close of the last session and Bush's not-so-surprising veto over the break on the defense spending measure. The administration objected to a provision that might allow for victims of terrorism to bring lawsuits against the government of Iraq, leaving the Democratic House leadership to search for a quick fix and get the bill back to the president's desk before the Pentagon gets antsy about pay raises for service members. 

Two big interrelated E words to be aware of as this session gets rolling: Election and Economy. Members of congress tend to think and act differently in an election year, particularly in one where the economic outlook is "challenging" to say the least. The latest Gallup Poll shows that the economy was an increasingly important issue in the New Hampshire primary and forecasts that it will only continue to grow in importance as the nation marches toward Super Tuesday. The credit crunch, the housing market, the weak dollar, and the rising price of gas will be harder for Congress to ignore in this new session. Other leftovers include tax reform and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which is still stuck on immunity for telecoms that helped the administration. FISA is currently running on an extension and the Senate will have about a week to address it after they return to act on the legislation before the law expires. 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said that success in this session would depend on whether "Bush Republicans" will choose to work with or against the Democrats. But the Democrats are not sending a warm welcome back to the Bush administration as they are expected to take up contempt-of-congress resolutions against White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and White House Counsel Harriet Miers for their failure to appear before hearings in 2007. 

Meanwhile, things on the road are starting to look nastier than Congress, and that is quite a feat. Back and forth over the weekend about an ill-advised statement has led to even higher tensions in the triangular relationship between the Obama campaign, the Clinton campaign and the press. As much as political campaigns have progressed or appeared to progress issues of race and gender are still taking center stage over serious issues, though some sparring over Iraq was evident on the Democrat side. On the Republican side the focus was the economy and the "mini"recession of the state of Michigan. Mitt Romney is hoping to get a first place out of this primary, especially since he is a native son. Most speeches by Republicans in Detroit have focused on the auto industry and the disappearance of jobs from that sector. Romney is promising a roundtable on the auto industry with unions and industry leaders and reexamine jobs that some see as extinct.

And no matter where the U.S. automotive industry is going, it's been a heck of a road trip for us at Talk Radio News Service and it's only just begun.