Mitt Romney On President Obama: Not Bad Guy, Policies Just Bad

A day after Mitt Romney became the all-but-certain Republican nominee for president with Rick Santorum quitting the race, he goes after President Barack Obama. Romney says the president's misguided policies have harmed America.

Cain Suspends Campaign In Face Of Scandal

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Republican candidate Herman Cain is suspending his bid for the Republican presidential nomination to avoid continued news coverage of allegations of sexual misconduct that is hurtful to his family.

Related articles

• Herman Cain suspends GOP presidential campaign (guardian.co.uk)
• Herman Cain Suspends Presidential Campaign (boston.cbslocal.com)

Is Herman Cain Embarrassed To Be Black

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By Leonard Pitts Jr.

In his Miami Herald column, Leonard Pitts Jr. tackles the issue of whether GOP presidential hopeful Herman Cain is a self-loathing black man because of his alignment with the Tea Party. He concludes that the bootstrapper who grew up in the segregated South is uncomfortable in his skin, not because of his Tea Party alignment but because of his own personal ideology.

This is for those who keep asking what I think of Herman Cain. In particular, it's for those who want to know what the tea party's embrace of this black businessman turned presidential candidate says about my claim that the tea party is racist. CONTINUE....

Related articles

• Tea party fuels rise of Herman Cain. So how can it be racist? (csmonitor.com)
• Sean Penn accuses Tea Party of racism (guardian.co.uk)

Moronic Fight Propels Cain Into Spotlight

By: Gregory Kane

Who is Lawrence O’Donnell, and why is he determined to make Herman Cain look good?

That might not be what O’Donnell – host of an MSNBC show called “The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell” – intended, but that’s what he did. Here’s what happened.

I was driving along last week listening to a local talk radio station, one of the conservative ones (“Angry White Guy Radio,” some people call it.)

The host told listeners about the testy confrontation O’Donnell had with Cain on the former’s show.

After sound bites of the Cain-O’Donnell tiff were played, quite a few people called the show, with many of them saying that while they hadn’t considered voting for Cain before they heard about his clash with O’Donnell, they were sure as heck thinking about voting for Cain AFTER hearing it.

Way to go, Larry. Way to go. CONTINUE....

Related articles

• Lawrence O'Donnell vs. Herman Cain (hotair.com)
• Lawrence O'Donnell Defends Herman Cain Interview (VIDEO) (huffingtonpost.com)
• Lawrence O'Donnell's Racially Charged Attacks A Political Gift To Herman Cain (mediaite.com)

Berkeley Students Condemn 'Diversity Bake Sale'

A Republican group at the University of California, Berkeley has cooked up controversy with a plan to hold an "Increase Diversity Bake Sale" as a way to oppose legislation that would allow public colleges to consider race in student admissions.

Obama Impersonator Misfires At GOP Forum

A Barack Obama impersonator was ushered off the stage at a GOP forum after he mocked Republican presidential hopefuls and joked about President Barack Obama's biracial roots to a room full of conservative activists.

Herman Cain Suits Conservatives To A Tea Party

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By: Tonyaa Weathersbee

It’s not surprising that the Tea Party people would embrace a black man like Herman Cain.

The 65-year-old contender for the Republican presidential nomination reminds one of a younger, shaven version of Uncle Remus; the kind of black man whose success story serves as the comforting, de-contextualized tale they need to egg them on in their anti-government, anti-Obama fervor.

Cain is a man whose father, who, according to The Washington Post, worked as a chauffeur for the former head of Coca-Cola and used the stocks that his boss tipped him with to send his son to Morehouse College. Morehouse, as most of us know, is a historically-black college that was created during the segregated times that some Tea Party favorites, such as U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, would like to return to. CONTINUE....

Michael Steele's RNC Regime Ends

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By: Nsenga Burton

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele graciously stepped aside, handing over the reins to Wisconsin Republican Party Chief Reince Priebus in the battle for one of the most coveted positions in the Republican Party. CONTINUE....

Frank: GOP Attacks are Racially Motivated

By: Glen Johnson

BOSTON - Rep. Barney Frank said Monday that Republican criticism of Democrats over the nation's housing crisis is a veiled attack on the poor that's racially motivated.

The Massachusetts Democrat, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said the GOP is appealing to its base by blaming the country's mortgage foreclosure problem on efforts to expand affordable housing through the Community Reinvestment Act.

He said that blame is misplaced, because those loans are issued by regulated institutions, while far more foreclosures were triggered by high-cost loans made by unregulated entities.

"They get to take things out on poor people," Frank said at a mortgage foreclosure symposium in Boston. "Let's be honest: The fact that some of the poor people are black doesn't hurt them either, from their standpoint. This is an effort, I believe, to appeal to a kind of anger in people."

Frank: GOP Attacks are Racially Motivated....

McCain camp accuses Obama of playing race card

By Steve Holland

RACINE, Wisconsin (Reuters) - Republican White House hopeful John McCain's campaign accused Democrat Barack Obama on Thursday of playing racial politics in some of the most biting back-and-forth of the presidential campaign.

The negative twist in the campaign for the November 4 election was prompted by a McCain television advertisement on Wednesday that called Obama a celebrity akin to star-crossed U.S. personalities Britney Spears and Paris Hilton.

In response, Obama said McCain was trying to scare voters away from him by pointing out he has "a funny name, and he doesn't look like all the presidents on the dollar bills and the five dollar bills."

McCain camp accuses Obama of playing race card....

McCain tells NAACP he'll back school vouchers

By DEVLIN BARRETT

CINCINNATI (AP) — John McCain told the NAACP and some skeptical black voters Wednesday that he will expand education opportunities, partly through vouchers for low-income children to attend private school.

The likely Republican presidential nominee addressed the annual convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the nation's oldest civil rights organization.

In greeting the group, McCain praised Democrat Barack Obama's historic campaign, but said the Illinois senator is wrong to oppose school vouchers for students in failing public schools. It is time, McCain said, to use vouchers and other tools like merit pay for teachers to break from conventional thinking on educational policy.

Obama, he said, has dismissed support for private school vouchers for low-income Americans.

McCain tells NAACP he'll back school vouchers....

Could Pride in Obama, Desire to Make History Lure Black Republicans to Vote Democratic?

By: Michael H. Cottman

Black conservatives are facing an unprecedented decision heading into November's presidential election: Support Sen. John McCain, the Republican presumptive nominee, or pass on a historic opportunity to help elect Barack Obama, a Democrat who could become America’s first black president.

Across the country, some black Republicans are grappling with a political dilemma few ever thought possible. Many are excited about the possibility of a black president but torn because Obama doesn't agree with them ideologically.

Retired Gen. Colin Powell, who became the country's first black secretary of state under President George W. Bush, said he will not necessarily vote for the Republican. Powell's views echo many other prominent black conservatives, who are thinking about supporting Obama.

Could Pride in Obama, Desire to Make History Lure Black Republicans to Vote Democratic?....

JOHN MCCAIN DUMPS HIS JEREMIAH WRIGHT: John Hagee said, 'God sent Adolf Hitler to help Jews reach the promised land.'

Look like presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain has his own Jeremiah Wright to deal with.

McCain on Thursday rejected endorsements from two influential but controversial televangelists, saying there is no place for their incendiary criticisms of other faiths, reports the AP.


McCain rejected the months-old endorsement of Texas preacher John Hagee after an audio recording surfaced in which the preacher said God sent Adolf Hitler to help Jews reach the promised land. McCain called the comment "crazy and unacceptable."


He later repudiated the support of Rod Parsley, an Ohio preacher who has sharply criticized Islam and called the religion inherently violent.


McCain issued a statement Thursday afternoon announcing his decision about Hagee.


"Obviously, I find these remarks and others deeply offensive and indefensible, and I repudiate them. I did not know of them before Reverend Hagee's endorsement, and I feel I must reject his endorsement as well," he said.


Later, in Stockton, he told reporters: "I just think that the statement is crazy and unacceptable."


Then in an interview with The Associated Press, McCain said he rejected Parsley's support, too.


"I believe there is no place for that kind of dialogue in America, and I believe that even though he endorsed me, and I didn't endorse him, the fact is that I repudiate such talk, and I reject his endorsement," McCain said.

STORY....

Obama Focuses on General Election Fight

By: Tom Raum, Associated Press

WASHINGTON - (AP) Making up for lost time, Barack Obama is dashing full-tilt into the general-election fight against Republican John McCain without waiting for the Democratic marathon to end.

He's running down McCain more often than the woman he's nominally still fighting for his own party's nomination. And he's running after white working-class voters, independents, Hispanics, Catholics and Jews -- voting blocs that will be important in the November election and with whom he's had mixed successes.

Even as Obama tries to fight off Hillary Rodham Clinton in the few remaining primaries, he is campaigning in states that have already held elections and vowing to return to states where he lost to Clinton. His campaign has sent teams into battleground states, set up a program for signing up millions of Democrats over the next six months and is developing ads to use against McCain.

STORY....

UPI VIDEO NEWS 12.13.07

No fireworks in last night's Republican debate.

Last night's debate among Republican presidential candidates in Iowa lacked any brutal exchanges. That's despite previous meetings that resembled more of a street-fighting scene. The debate focused on education and economic issues while hot-button topics like illegal immigration weren't discussed. Nor was Democratic Presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton mentioned, who's been a top target in most of the recent GOP debates.

For a second time in three months, President Bush vetoed a children's health bill. The bill would have expanded the State Children's Health Insurance Program by $35 billion over five years and would have boosted its enrollment to about 10 million children. Bush said he vetoed the bill for the same reasons as the previous one, saying that it raised cigarette taxes and provided coverage for children of middle-class families, instead of the working poor. This was the President's seventh veto in seven years.

Democratic lawmakers say they're closing in on a budget deal that would give President Bush as much as $70 billion in war funding. The deal would lack a key condition Democrats had attached to previous funding bills that called for most U.S. troops to come home from Iraq by the end of 2008. That omission would be a significant legislative victory for Bush. Democratic sources say the president is likely to get new money for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan before Congress adjourns for the year

Former Vice-President Al Gore says the U.S. is principally responsible for blocking progress at the United Nations Climate Conference. Gore made at the comment at the conference earlier today and urged delegates there to take immediate action to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. The U.S., Japan and several other governments don't accept a draft document that suggests industrialized nations cut emissions by 25 to 40 percent by the year 2020. They say specific targets would limit the scope of future talks.

UPI VIDEO NEWS 12.06.07

Nine dead in Nebraska shooting.

9 people are dead and 5 others are wounded after a gunman opened fire in a Nebraska mall. Police say 19 year old Robert Hawkins is responsible for killing those 8 people and himself with an assault rifle. He reportedly left a suicide note saying "Now I'll be famous." Hawkins' landlord says he had a history of emotional problems and had a troubled relationship with his family.

Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is planning to speak out about his Mormon faith. He's expected to make a speech in Texas today, focusing on religious tolerance in the U.S. Some Americans apparently have negative views of the Mormon religion, seeing it as a threat to Christianity. If elected, Romney would be the first Mormon president to serve in the White House.

The Atlantis space shuttle is preparing for takeoff. If all goes as planned, seven crew members will liftoff this afternoon from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The group is heading to the International Space Station to install the European Space Agency's new Columbus laboratory. The 23 feet long module will apparently improve the space stations research abilities. The mission is expected to take about 11 days.

New U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey is stressing the importance of online safety for kids. Mukasey spoke at the National Project Safe Childhood Conference yesterday in St. Louis. To an audience of about 700 law enforcement officials he spoke about the dangers of online predators and says it's a priority for the justice department. The attorney general also apparently announced 6 million dollars in grants to raise awareness for these issues online.

UPI VIDEO NEWS 12.05.07

Bush says Iran is still a danger.

President Bush says there'll be no change in U.S. policy on Iran. That's after a report was released this week saying the country halted a secret nuclear weapons program four years ago and hadn't resumed work as of this year. Bush said he still believes Iran is dangerous and the international community must remain vigilant.

Meanwhile, Iran has welcomed that new U.S. intelligence report. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the report a "declaration of victory" for the country's nuclear program. Another government official said that his government would welcome any countries wanting to correct their views toward Iran. Officials didn't address the intelligence report's finding Iran was actively trying to build nuclear weapons before 2003.

Republican Presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee is calling on his supporters to end what's known as "push-polling." Push-polling is a tactic that offers negative information about a candidate's rivals in ads. A group founded by some of Huckabee's supporters launched a series of automated calls to Iowa Republican voters over the weekend. But the group's executive director says he doesn't plan on stopping since the effort is completely independent from Huckabee for president campaign. The former Arkansas governor oftentimes boasts about running an above-the-mud campaign that doesn't smear his GOP rivals.

A staff member of Senator Maria Cantwell is facing child sex charges. The 28-year-old staffer was arrested by federal agents last Friday after he allegedly tried to arrange to have sex with a 13-year-old boy. A spokesman for the Democratic Washington Senator said the man was immediately fired. He added that Cantwell has zero tolerance for crimes against children.

TPMtv: TPMtv Highlight Reel: CNN/YouTube GOP Debate

Missed last night's GOP Youtube debate? We've got all the ugly highlights -- just be sure you're wearing a bib and a bulletproof vest.

BlackAmericaWeb.com Launches Survey

BlackAmericaWeb.com Launches Survey to Gauge Views on Issues in ’08 Presidential Race.

BlackAmericaWeb.com will launch a comprehensive issue-oriented survey today to engage readers about topics of concern to the black community during the 2008 presidential election.

The purpose of the survey is to solicit feedback from readers about issues being discussed by Democratic and Republican presidential candidates in what is perhaps the most significant presidential election for black Americans in modern history.

The Democratic frontrunners are Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL). Clinton, who is leading in most national polls, is trying to become the first female president, while Obama, who is leading Clinton in fundraising, hopes to be elected as the first black president.



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HAVE YOUR SAY RIGHT NOW! Click here to take BlackAmericaWeb.com's “Election '08“ survey.



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On the Republican side, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson are among those vying for the nomination.

The 2008 BlackAmericaWeb.com survey will feature a variety of questions on issues, including the war in Iraq, jobs & immigration, poverty, criminal justice, education, economy & housing, health care and rebuilding New Orleans after Katrina.