Convention to salute Ted Kennedy
A tribute to Senator Edward M. Kennedy, who is battling brain cancer, will be among the highlights of the first night of the Democratic National Convention, organizers announced yesterday.
Kennedy taped a five-minute video earlier this month at the family compound to air as part of the tribute. After suffering a seizure at his Hyannis Port home in May, he was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor and has undergone high-risk surgery and recently completed a six-week course of chemotherapy and radiation.
The opening night on Aug. 25 will be around the theme "One Nation," and will also feature speakers Michelle Obama, wife of presumptive nominee Barack Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Mayor John Hickenlooper of Denver, and Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri, an early Obama supporter and high-profile surrogate.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Poll of 19 faith groups says Obama is leading McCain
In recent presidential history, Republicans have swamped Democrats among voters who regularly attend worship services - and in the last two nail-biters they provided more than the margin of victory.
But a new poll out is the latest to suggest that this November will not be a repeat.
The Barna Group, which tracks faith groups, said Democrat Barack Obama is leading Republican John McCain 43 percent to 34 percent.
Obama's campaign yesterday highlighted the findings that, of the 19 faith groups tracked in the poll, McCain is only leading among evangelicals. Still, like other national polls, it shows the race appears to be tightening. Obama led 50 percent to 35 percent in the same poll in early June.
McCain has long been viewed with some suspicion by the Christian right, and he has not solidified support among those leaders and voters. He badly needs to do so to win in November.
The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press compiled exit poll data showing that in 2004, President Bush beat Democrat John F. Kerry 58 percent to 41 percent among voters who said they attended services once a week - and 64 percent to 35 percent among those worshiping more than once a week. In 2000, Bush defeated Democrat Al Gore with similar margins. In both elections, those attending services at least once a week made up more than 40 percent of all voters.
FOON RHEE
Lieberman says choice is clear for McCain
Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, eight years ago the Democratic nominee for vice president, now calls himself an "independent Democrat" - with the emphasis on the first.
And introducing friend and presumptive Republican nominee John McCain at a campaign event yesterday in York, Pa., Lieberman left no doubt about what he believes about Democrat Barack Obama's readiness to be president.
The choice for voters, Lieberman said, "could not be more clear: between one candidate, John McCain, who has experience and has been tested in war and tried in peace, and another candidate that has not. Between one candidate, John McCain, who has always put his country first, worked across party lines to get things done, and one candidate that has not. Between one candidate that's a talker and one candidate who's the leader America needs as our next president."
FOON RHEE
Ex-Clinton strategist lauds negative ads' effectiveness
Mark Penn, the former chief strategist for Hillary Clinton, is not exactly the most popular person in the political world these days.
Clinton still owes him money, but many donors have been angrily saying that they don't want any of their cash going his way. And a new Atlantic magazine story paints him as wanting to go very negative against Barack Obama - counsel that Clinton rejected.
So, it is rather rich that he wrote an opinion piece for the Politico website that declares: "Clever negative advertising works. That is reality. The tactic meets with media and pundit disapproval and spawns accusations of negativity, but the reality is that a clever negative ad can be devastatingly effective."
Penn praises Republican John McCain's much-dissected spot that compares Obama with celebutantes Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, even putting it in a pantheon of provocative spots that he said included Lyndon Johnson's "Daisy" adand his "it's 3 a.m. and your children are sleeping" spot.
FOON RHEE
