Barack Obama was showing signs of campaign fatigue. Sitting on a picnic bench in a park on Pagoda Street, Indianapolis, in discussion with a group of 30 supporters, he told a story about the ”modest” background of himself and his wife, Michelle. And 10 minutes later, seemingly having forgotten, he told them it all again.
Hillary Clinton branded rhetoric by Barack Obama’s former pastor ”outrageous” on Wednesday as her Democratic foe tried to recover from his latest campaign crisis with two vital primaries looming. Clinton made her most expansive comments yet on the latest uproar sparked by the Reverend Jeremiah Wright.
Hillary Clinton appeared on Wednesday to be gaining on Barack Obama in two key primary states, after her Democratic foe tried to quell another damaging uproar sparked by his fiery former pastor. The White House rivals fought another day of fierce turf battles in mid-western Indiana and North Carolina, which hold Democratic primaries on Tuesday.
Barack Obama’s fiery former minister thrust his way back into the United States presidential campaign on Monday, again placing the divisive issue of race at the heart of the Democratic White House tussle. An unapologetic Reverend Jeremiah Wright hit back at weeks of criticism over his incendiary comments.
United States President George Bush described his mood as ”a little wistful” on Saturday night as he attended his last White House correspondents’ dinner. The president, who is said by those around him to detest journalists, has given the impression down the years that he would rather be somewhere else.
Robert Kagan, author, essayist, former diplomat, pre-eminent thinker of what is called ”neoconservatism” — and now foreign policy adviser to Republican presidential nominee John McCain — would like it to be known that there are many things that he is not.
Democrat Barack Obama said on Friday he would fine-tune his United States presidential campaign and remind voters of his humble roots after a defeat in Pennsylvania fuelled in part by his failure to win over working-class voters. Obama leads the Democratic race but is in a gruelling battle with Hillary Clinton for the right to face Republican John McCain in November’s presidential election.
Barack Obama faced renewed questions on Wednesday about his ability to deliver a Democratic victory in November after his failure to knock out Hillary Clinton in Tuesday’s Pennsylvania primary. Clinton cast it as a turning point. ”The tide is turning,” she said in an email to supporters on Wednesday morning.
A victorious Hillary Clinton convincingly kept her White House quest alive on Tuesday, triumphing over Barack Obama in Pennsylvania’s rancorous Democratic primary. ”Today here in Pennsylvania, you made your voices heard and because of you, the tide is turning,” Clinton told jubilant supporters after early results showed the former first lady beating Obama.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton warned Tehran on Tuesday that if she were president, the United States could ”totally obliterate” Iran in retaliation for a nuclear strike against Israel. Clinton said she wanted to make clear to Tehran what she was prepared to do as president in hopes that this warning would deter any Iranian attack.
Fed up with the flaws of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain? Here’s your chance to set things right. An innovative website using Wikipedia-like collaborative software has given people around the world to design the perfect — if sadly fictional — candidate for the United States presidency.
Barack Obama on Monday effectively conceded he would not win Tuesday’s Democratic primary in Pennsylvania, but hinted he expected to do well enough to cast doubt on Hillary Clinton’s ability to stay in the race. Clinton, after a string of defeats, needs more than just victory to resuscitate her campaign.
United States Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton accused each other on Saturday of waging negative campaigns as they sped across Pennsylvania before next week’s potentially make-or-break primary election. Obama hopes an upset on Tuesday will hand him the nomination and knock Clinton out of the race.
The ”American dream” of unashamed wealth and the opportunity for all to acquire it has reached a crisis point before: in the Depression, the oil shock, in the ”greed is good” Eighties and the madness of the dotcom bubble. But America’s relationship with wealth — uncomfortable as it has sometimes been — has always been built on the same foundation.
Barack Obama is to mount the biggest advertising blitz of the presidential campaign this weekend ahead of Tuesday’s Pennsylvania primary to try to force Hillary Clinton out of the race. With pressure mounting among senior Democratic figures to bring the contest to an early close, Clinton needs a large margin of victory in Tuesday’s primary.
Democratic presidential rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton tried to explain recent controversial remarks during a tense debate on Wednesday, with Obama accusing Clinton of taking political advantage of his characterisation of small-town residents.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Tuesday embraced one of Tony Blair’s most controversial legacies when he cast himself as the leader best placed to bring Europe and the United States together after the bitter divisions over Iraq. As he prepared to fly to the US, Brown lavished praise on US leaders across the spectrum.
United States Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama spent a fourth day on Monday defending himself for calling people in small towns with economic blight ”bitter” in a controversy that rival Hillary Clinton is trying to use for a comeback. Republican John McCain also sought political gain from the flap.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton blasted rival Barack Obama during a debate on Sunday, accusing him of being ”elitist” and ”patronising”. Clinton again seized on a controversy sparked off by Obama’s comments about working-class voters. Obama, she said, was ”elitist, out of touch, and frankly patronising”.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu had kind words on Friday for United States First Lady Laura Bush and both Democratic candidates for president. But when asked about President George Bush’s legacy to the world, Tutu avoided the question and left the stage in an exaggerated tiptoe as the audience roared.
Argentine police mobilised on Friday to guard the Olympic torch through Buenos Aires, bracing for protests against the human rights record of Olympic Games host China. The torch arrived in Argentina on Thursday to little fanfare. It will be carried past the country’s pink presidential palace and along the city’s broad avenues.
Hillary Clinton hit out at Democratic White House rival Barack Obama over Iraq on Wednesday, as a report by war commander General David Petraeus ignited new campaign brush fires. The New York senator questioned whether Obama could live up to his pledge to bring United States troops home and lashed out at Republican nominee John McCain.
The top United States commander in Iraq told Congress on Tuesday he plans to stop US troop withdrawals in July due to fragile security gains and heard appeals for quicker action to find a way to end the war. Appearances by General David Petraeus and the US ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, drew US presidential candidates.
The top United States general and diplomat in Iraq testify in politically charged hearings in Congress on Tuesday, and face a grilling from three senators vying to inherit the war as the next US president. General David Petraeus and ambassador to Baghdad Ryan Crocker will appear to update progress in the war.
Hillary Clinton’s faltering presidential campaign will undergo a ”mini-makeover” that will emphasise her more caring side following the departure of its main strategist, Mark Penn. Penn’s exit, announced on Sunday, follows clashes over his outside work for other clients as well as screaming matches with senior campaign staff and withering criticism of his strategy.
China on Tuesday denounced protesters who upstaged Olympic Games torch relays in London and Paris, with state media saying that saboteurs are bent on wrecking Games goodwill. An international Olympic official also criticised the protests, but said the relay would stay on its round-the-world course.
Tax returns released by former first couple Hillary and Bill Clinton revealed they earned -million over eight years, and questions were raised on Saturday about the sources of much of their wealth. Analysts and media focused on the -million Bill Clinton earned for speaking engagements.
Republican presidential candidate John McCain and Democrat Hillary Clinton sought to shore up support among black voters on Friday in the city where civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jnr was slain 40 years ago. Democrat Barack Obama honoured King’s legacy with a speech in Indiana, while his rivals attended activities in Memphis.
Forty years after Martin Luther King Jr was shot to death, the civil rights leader is still roiling American politics. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican candidate John McCain have both come to Memphis to mark King’s April 4 1968, death and try to shore up support among black voters.
When you actually see Barack Obama, it’s startling how slight he is and how young he looks. I watched him arrive for a meeting in Philadelphia this week, and he had an anxious, fretful little smile, as if it were his first campaign speech. His ears stick out and his clothes hang loose. Most successful American politicians look well-fed on endorsements, campaign contributions and chicken dinners.
Democratic White House contender Barack Obama on Wednesday mocked rival Hillary Clinton’s claim to be a ”Rocky” fighter for the working classes, as polls suggested he is punching into her lead in gritty Pennsylvania. ”We all love Rocky, and last time I checked I was the underdog in this state,” Obama told trade unionists.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Wednesday won the endorsement of Lee Hamilton, a former Indiana congressman who is a leading United States authority on foreign relations and national security. Hamilton said Obama offers American voters the best chance to create a new sense of national unity and transcend division.