The Democrats and John McCain are Lapping up President Bush's McCain Endorsement

Embraced by President George Bush...is that really the look to go for if you want to become the next President?

John McCain certainly thinks so. He is ecstatic that he received Bush's endorsement today. Bush has said that he will do whatever McCain asks, because he wants John to win. McCain said that he appreciated Bush's endorsement and "service to our country." McCain went further to say that he wanted Bush at his side as much as possible on the campaign trail.

Given Bush's track record, it seems a bit odd that McCain is doing cartwheels about the current President's endorsement. However, there may be some method to the seeming madness. A current official states that Bush will help McCain raise a lot of money. Also, according to this official, Bush is extremely popular with the GOP base and can influence them at election time. Really?

Back in Democratsville, the Democrats are high-fiving over McCains bullish support of President Bush and Bush's bullish support of McCain. They feel that they couldn't have received a better gift. According to Paul Begala, a Democratic strategist and CNN contributor, McCain has "now become Bush's third term." Why? Begala feels that McCain has "embraced the Bush tax cuts that he voted against. He was against them being temporary; now he wants them being permanent. That's like marrying a girl you didn't want to date. He is rushed to Bush's Social Security plan, even disavowing his own Social Security plan on his own Web site." Ouch.

Given Bush's reputation on the global stage, as well as in the U.S., McCain should carefully manage his need for money and influence in the Republican party, with other potentially negative ramifications of highly visible support from President Bush.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/05/mccain.bush/index.html

Hillary Did It - Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island are Hers

Obama had great momentum. He attained 12 consecutive wins since Super Tuesday. There were high hopes for him for the next primaries. He won Vermont. Was he a sure thing for the Democratic nomination? Not yet. Senator Clinton resurges.

To remain competitive, Hillary had to win in Ohio and Texas - delegate rich states. She won both contests as well as Rhode Island. According to her husband, that makes her a sure thing for the Democratic nomination. The reality is that neither Barack nor Hillary have enough pledged delegates in order to win - Obama is in the lead with 1,378 and Clinton has 1,269; candidates will need 2,025 to gain the nomination.

Obama continued to do well with the youth vote, while Clinton had greater success with the over 60 crowd. As expected, Clinton received strong support from the Hispanics - 64% vs. Obama's 32% - and Obama held on to the Black vote - 83% compared to Clinton's 16%.

The drama continues on the Democratic front, with no clear winner in sight. On the Republican side, Huckabee finally got the message and dropped out of the race, in light of McCain's wins in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island. McCain has more than the 1,191 delegates needed for the Republican nomination and is expected to receive President Bush's endorsement today.

Hillary Clinton on President George Bush's Departure from the Oval Office

"The world will breathe a sigh of relief once he leaves, we all know that."

Heath Impacts Bush

Today, President Bush was scheduled to have an event promoting an advertising campaign aimed at preventing prescription drug abuse. Bush was set to speak in the Roosevelt Room about the Office of National Drug Control Policy's TV ad. However, given the surprising death of actor Health Ledger yesterday, presumably due to a prescription pill overdose, the White House announced that today's event would be cancelled.

Dana Perino, the White House Press secretary, explained the cancellation as follows: "We thought it would be better to postpone the event rather than run the risk of anyone thinking that we were being opportunistic in highlighting the issue," she said.

Source: Associated Press, NY Post

http://kerijam.blogspot.com/2008/01/moment-of-silence-heath-ledger-is-dead.html

http://breakingnews.nypost.com/dynamic/stories/B/BUSH_LEDGER_DEATH?SITE=NYNYP&SECTION=HOME

Bushwhacked!

Bush's World War III Warning

"We've got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel," Bush said, responding to Russia's stated cautioning against military action targeting Tehran's suspected atomic program. "So I've told people that, if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon," said Bush

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Bushwhacked: To attack suddenly from a place of concealment; ambush

Quote of the Day - Lee Iacocca on Bush

LEE Iacocca is no fan of President Bush. "I campaigned for him because I knew his mother and dad for 30 years, and I figured he was from pretty good stock," the auto-industry legend tells Details magazine. "But Jeb was being groomed, too. They got the wrong kid. There's something wrong philosophically with how Bush's brain works. I feel sorry for him. I used to think [Al] Gore was nuts in his worrying about global warming, but he was ahead of his time."

Source: New York Post, Page Six, October 1, 2007

Today's Lead Story - Mandela & Bush

Mandela not dead despite embarrassing Bush remark

Saturday September 22, 2007
JOHANNESBURG, (Reuters):

Nelson Mandela is still very much alive despite an embarrassing gaffe by U.S. President George W. Bush, who alluded to the former South African leader's death in an attempt to explain sectarian violence in Iraq.

"It's out there. All we can do is reassure people, especially South Africans, that President Mandela is alive," Achmat Dangor, chief executive officer of the Nelson Mandela Foundation said as Bush's comments received worldwide coverage.

In a speech defending his administration's Iraq policy, Bush said former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's brutality had made it impossible for a unifying leader to emerge and stop the sectarian violence that has engulfed the Middle Eastern nation.

"I heard somebody say, Where's Mandela?' Well, Mandela's dead because Saddam Hussein killed all the Mandelas," Bush, who has a reputation for verbal faux pas, said in a press conference in Washington on Thursday.

Jailed for 27 years for fighting white minority rule, Mandela became South Africa's first black president in 1994. He won a Nobel Peace Prize for preaching racial harmony and guiding the nation peacefully into the post-apartheid era.

References to his death - Mandela is now 89 and increasingly frail - are seen as insensitive in South Africa.

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20070922/lead/lead3.html