Big Boston fund-raiser will be Obama's 47th birthday present
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will celebrate his 47th birthday in Boston with a giant fund-raising event at the State Room on Aug. 4.
The event, which will include a dinner and an earlier reception for big-dollar donors, is expected to raise several million dollars for the campaign and Democratic Party. News of the event was announced via e-mail to members of Obama's New England steering committee.
The first-term senator from Illinois, a graduate of Harvard Law School, will mark his birthday in a room with one of the great panoramic views of Boston Harbor. The State Room, on the 33d floor of the 60 State Street building, features a glass wall, 30 feet by 120 feet, and seats as many as 800 people.
It will be Obama's first visit to Boston since a rally on the eve of the Massachusetts primary, which he lost to Hillary Clinton on Super Tuesday on Feb. 5.
BRIAN C. MOONEY
Obama, who on Tuesday forcefully stood by his plan to withdraw the vast majority of combat troops from Iraq within 16 months of taking office, said at Purdue University in Indiana that he will secure all loose nuclear weapons, spend $5 billion over three years to forge an international intelligence and law enforcement network, and appoint a cyber security adviser reporting directly to him.
"It's time to update our national security strategy to stay one step ahead of the terrorists - to see clearly the emerging threats of our young century, and to take action to make the American people more safe and secure. It's time to look ahead - at the dangers of today and tomorrow rather than those of yesterday," said Obama, who also unveiled a new TV ad on the issue.
He was flanked at the summit by Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana and former senator Sam Nunn of Georgia, who both demurred when asked about their chance to be Obama's running mate.
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The ad highlights a pregnant pause when McCain was asked last week about some insurers that cover the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra, but not birth control. "I don't know enough about it to give you an informed answer," McCain, stroking his chin, finally answered in an interview that has made the rounds of the liberal blogosphere ever since.
The Planned Parenthood Action Fund is among the groups trying to convince women - particularly those who backed Hillary Clinton during the Democratic primaries - that they should throw their support to Barack Obama. McCain, they argue, has a flawed record on women's issues, including opposition to abortion rights.
"The more women know about McCain, they more they see that John McCain is out of touch on women's healthcare," Cecile Richards, the fund's president, said in a statement accompanying the ad. "This ad is a powerful visual showing women that John McCain has no answer when it comes to protecting women's health."
The spot will air on shows with high female viewership, including the season premiere of "Project Runway," one of Bravo's highest rated shows; Lifetime's top-rated show, "Army Wives"; and "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in select markets, the group said. It will air in key battleground states, including Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio, and Wisconsin, as well as in Washington, D.C.
Blair Latoff, a Republican National Committee spokeswoman, responded to the ad: "Women who are in dire need of quality healthcare are not benefiting from misleading partisan attack ads. Through more choice, innovation, and competition, John McCain will ensure that every American has the healthcare they deserve."
FOON RHEE
Vets for Freedom's ad argues that the so-called surge of troops - championed by Republican John McCain - has tamped down violence, stabilized the country, and should continue.
"Some in Washington told us the war was lost. Others said the surge would fail. But while they argued, we continued to fight," a series of veterans, male and female, say on camera. "Today, even the harshest critics agree, the surge worked."
"We need to finish the job, no matter who is president," they conclude.
MoveOn.org, an antiwar group, rebuts with an ad arguing that Americans and Iraqis alike are demanding a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops. Democrat Barack Obama is calling for pulling out most combat troops within 16 months of taking office.
"John McCain doesn't want a timetable," the narrator says. "John McCain, it's time to end the war and move on."
FOON RHEE
The longtime civil rights leader already came under fire this month for saying he wanted to castrate Obama in what he thought was a private conversation during a taping of a "Fox & Friends" news show.
Now a Fox spokesman says Jackson used "the N-word" to refer to black people during that taping as he said Obama was talking down to them. Those comments were not aired.
Jackson, who is traveling in Spain, apologized in a statement yesterday for "hurtful words" but didn't offer specifics. The comment was first reported by blog TVNewser. Fox declined to release the transcript.
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