Political Radar: Romney, Mitt

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The Note: Obama’s ‘Change’ Meets Reality

November 13, 2008 8:51 AM

ABC News' Rick Klein reports in Thursday's Note:

Since the most transparent presidential transition in history is translucent at the moment, while the most open process ever is continuing behind doors marked “private,” here’s some of what the president-elect is learning:

1. Being more organized than Bill Clinton and less formal than George W. Bush doesn’t make a successful White House by itself -- but may be a good start.

2. A new politics requires old faces -- and those Clinton folks really don’t look so bad when it’s time to fill out a Democratic administration. (Even Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton herself may not be so bad to have around . . . )

3. That online army he brings with him doesn’t take orders from the top.

4. Being president-elect can mean acting like a president only when you want -- but there are some crises too big to avoid.

5. There are a few campaign promises that may not be so bad to ignore for a very long while.

As the Bidens meet the Cheneys, Hank Paulson meets reality, the GOP meets to ponder a new path, Sarah Palin meets a few more cameras, John McCain meets politics again, and Alaska’s Uncle Ted meets the real fallout of his actions . . .

Read the rest of The Note -- and get all the latest on the 2008 election, Congress, the White House and the wide world of politics every day -- from Rick Klein by bookmarking this link.

The various political scenes playing out all over Washington and beyond lack a major player: President-elect Barack Obama.

The no-drama edict/reality of the Obama campaign has morphed seamlessly into the transition, no leaks, no errors.

But can it last? With each new issue, and with each new name, the realities of governing threaten to clash with the rhetoric of campaigning.

Change is so hard to track -- with new faces like Rahm Emanuel, John Podesta, Larry Summers, Madeleine Albright, Ron Klain, Tom Daschle, John Kerry, James Steinberg . . . (Think the Netroots are happy about this?)

Your new players (hope you kept your old program): “The Obama transition team yesterday rolled out a new list of officials who will help guide the process, singling out the Treasury, Defense and State departments as its first three areas of focus,” Anne E. Kornblut and Michael Abramowitz write in The Washington Post. “Three policy-oriented Democrats -- Melody Barnes, Lisa Brown and Don Gips -- will serve as co-chairs of the agency review process, the office of President-elect Barack Obama said.”

The list “sheds light on the types of people his administration will lean on and what institutions may claim clout in the new Washington,” The Wall Street Journal’s Laura Meckler and Jonathan Weisman report. “The group is filled with second-tier veterans of the Clinton administration and workers in the technology and financial sectors. It includes four former lobbyists, three top campaign fund-raisers and two former employees of troubled mortgage giant Fannie Mae, with some overlap among them. Four people in the group have ties to the consultant McKinsey & Co. and two have experience leading high-tech start-ups.”

“16 out of 19 of these folks worked in some capacity for the administration of President Clinton, which will no doubt cause some to question just how much ‘change’ can really come of these appointments,” ABC’s Jake Tapper reports. “But on the other hand, one can't expect Democrats who can be relied upon to help run a government to just pop out fresh from thin air.”

Get used to it, says ABC’s Sam Donaldson: “Successful presidents surround themselves with experienced people. That doesn't always work out – consider the outgoing Bush administration -- but when they don't do that, it almost never works out -- consider the Carter administration.”

Continue reading today's Note by clicking HERE.

ABC News' Hope Ditto contributed to this report.

November 13, 2008 in Biden, Joe, Bush, George W., Clinton, Bill, Clinton, Hillary, Edwards, John, McCain, John, Obama, Barack, Palin, Sarah, Romney, Mitt, Washington, White House | Permalink | User Comments (28)

The Note: For a Night, No Avoiding Obama Message

October 29, 2008 8:54 AM

ABC News' Rick Klein reports in Wednesday's Note:

While you’re watching (or not watching) the Great Roadblocked Obama Show over on those other networks -- framed by a “World News” interview, a “Daily Show” appearance, and other entertainment known informally as Late Night with Bill and Barack -- pause to consider the plight of Team McCain six days out.

No cash to respond in kind. No loyalties to enforce kindnesses. No kind of consistent message to refocus the race.

Yet something may shift yet in this campaign -- and that still-softish middle is Sen. Barack Obama’s audience for his unique infomercial Wednesday night.

Maybe this is a silly waste of money and time (and at $3 million and 30 minutes, it a lot of both). Maybe Malia Obama isn’t the only American who wants her programming lineup intact. Maybe this is just too weird, or too boring, or too Ross Perot (one “deep voodoo” reference, and we click), for an electorate to swallow.

(And maybe this is an odd time for Obama to be attacking Gov. Sarah Palin so directly in a TV ad -- wink and all.)

But Wednesday’s primetime buy can be Obama’s most valuable type of forum -- the kind where he gets to look like a president. It’s a fireside-chat moment, in front of that most sacred of American boxes -- Obama’s last best opportunity to appear presidential before he actually might get a chance to be president.

“At times he will speak directly into the camera about his 20-month campaign, at others he will highlight everyday voters, their everyday troubles, and his plans to address them,” writes The New York Times’ Jim Rutenberg, who got to see a one-minute trailer of the 30-minute address.

Rutenberg: “The trailer is heavy in strings, flags, presidential imagery and some Americana filmed by Davis Guggenheim, whose father was the campaign documentarian of Robert F. Kennedy. As the screen flashes scenes of suburban lawns, a freight train and Mr. Obama seated at a kitchen table with a group of white, apparently working-class voters, Mr. Obama says: ‘We’ve seen over the last eight years how decisions by a president can have a profound effect on the course of history and on American lives; much that’s wrong with our country goes back even farther than that.’ ”

Obama continues, “We’ve been talking about the same problems for decades and nothing is ever done to solve them. For the past 20 months, I’ve traveled the length of this country, and Michelle and I have met so many Americans who are looking for real and lasting change that makes a difference in their lives.”

“This is going to be more like a television show, rather than a speech, top Obama campaign officials tell ABC News,” per ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. “We're going to see a ‘lively half-hour of television,’ one Obama aide told ABC News, speaking only half tongue-in-cheek.”

Continue reading today's Note by clicking HERE.

ABC News' Hope Ditto contributed to this report.

October 29, 2008 in Ballotwatch, Biden, Joe, Clinton, Bill, McCain, John, Obama, Barack, Palin, Sarah, Romney, Mitt, Vote 2008: Democrats, Vote 2008: Republicans, Washington, White House | Permalink | User Comments (117)

The Note: McCain Makes Late Turn to Economy

October 28, 2008 8:46 AM

ABC News' Rick Klein reports in Tuesday's Note:

One week out, we know that one of the following equations will produce a number greater than 270 (and only one could possibly approach 370):

Change + Bush + Virginia + Montana + Ground Game + (Air War x 4) + Axelrod - Schmidt - Neiman Marcus - Backbiting - Surprise +/- Biden + Tina Fey

Experience + Liberals + (Bradley x 2) + (Surprise x 3) + Joe the Plumber + Pennsylvania + Schmidt - Axelrod - Bush +/- Palin +/- Bill Clinton

We know every smart mathematician ends up with the same result these days. But we also know every smart conversation ends with the same two words . . . and yet.

And yet . . . it’s just distinctly possible that this election that’s been all about little things may wind up being about the big things (probably not including seven-year-old radio interviews). Things like national security and public corruption and the direction of the nation and, above all, the economy.

It’s a formula that even Sen. John McCain appears comfortable with now: Joe the Plumber himself (finally) hits the trail for him Tuesday, ABC’s Bret Hovell reports, and it’s all about the economy for him, too.

McCain’s latest ad is economic in message, alternating pictures of the candidates (and it’s not hard to figure out which words belong with which man -- and which man looks better in the chosen photographs): “For higher taxes . . . For workin’ Joes . . . Spread your income . . . Keep what's yours . . . A trillion in new spending . . . Freeze spending, eliminate waste . . . Pain for small business . . . Economic growth . . . Risky . . . Proven.”

But who’s really happier with this turn? “Both candidates are focusing their rhetoric increasingly on economic issues -- a main area of concern for voters in the continuing global financial crisis,” Christopher Cooper and Elizabeth Holmes write in The Wall Street Journal.

Said former Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, R-Md.: “In the cloud of this economic turmoil a lot of things often times get lost in translation. . . . It is important for campaigns to step back and reassess and remind.”

One basic problem with a debate like this, this late: “Senator Barack Obama, making what aides called the ‘closing argument’ of his campaign, declared on Monday that it was time to ‘get beyond the old ideological debates.’ And then Mr. Obama and his opponent, Senator John McCain, spent much of the day engaged in just such a debate,” Peter Baker and Michael Cooper write in The New York Times.

Contrast the closing styles: Obama is going broad, with soaring speeches before big crowds -- and McCain is making it all about the attack: liberal vs. conservative, safe vs. risky, the plumber vs. the redistributor.

Continue reading today's Note by clicking HERE.

ABC News' Hope Ditto contributed to this report.

October 28, 2008 in Ballotwatch, Biden, Joe, Bush, George W., McCain, John, Obama, Barack, Palin, Sarah, Romney, Mitt, Vote 2008: Democrats, Vote 2008: Republicans, Washington, White House | Permalink | User Comments (97)

The Note: Palin a Hit, and McCain Bats Next

September 04, 2008 9:16 AM

ABC News' Rick Klein reports in Thursday's Note:

ST. PAUL, Minn. --

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has gotten the scrambled race he wanted when he turned to Gov. Sarah Palin. So, this is his party now -- what does he do with it?

McCain’s convention gets to be about McCain again (or maybe for the first time), as one of the strangest political gatherings in memory comes to a close Thursday in St. Paul with Cindy and John as your highlights.

McCain’s teammate in this endeavor capped a weeklong journey from obscurity -- across Quayle Quarry and Eagleton Pass and back (no wonder Trig’s hair was out of place) -- with a powerful speech that keeps her in the image game.

To wear out some imagery, the hockey mom knows how to lace up the skates -- and can deliver a check into the boards, lipstick intact.

The speech wasn’t soaring or specific, but it didn’t have to be. It wasn’t perfect or polished, but neither is she (and that’s the point).

Read the rest of The Note -- and get all the latest on the 2008 election, Congress, the White House and the wide world of politics every day -- from Rick Klein by bookmarking this link.

We stayed earthbound with Sarah Palin. Yet, a beleaguered party has found its inspiration -- a person who makes Republicans proud to call themselves Republicans again, even if she’s someone that the “elite media” (more unpopular at the RNC than Harry Reid?) doesn’t quite know what to do with. (That applies maybe even to those who have yet to learn the perils of the hot mic.)

“Ms. Palin’s appearance electrified a convention that has been consumed by questions of whether she was up to the job, as she launched slashing attacks on Mr. Obama’s claims of experience,” Elisabeth Bumiller and Michael Cooper write in The New York Times.

“Palin pitched herself as the product of small-town America and laced her address with sarcastic digs at Sen. Obama. She said it is his experience, not hers, that is lacking, and she embraced the role of leading the attack against the Democratic ticket,” Michael D. Shear writes in The Washington Post. “Palin focused on almost every tactical misstep Obama's campaign has made, painting a caricature of the Democrat as an out-of-touch elitist and a lightweight celebrity with no sense of what matters to average Americans.”

Even Sen. Joe Biden was impressed -- well, sort of.

“She had a great night. I thought she had a very skillfully written, and very skillfully delivered speech,” Biden, D-Del., told ABC’s Robin Roberts on “Good Morning America” Thursday. “I was impressed by the speech, but I was also impressed by what I didn’t hear spoken. ... They were good, funny lines -- I’m glad they weren’t about me.”

Continue reading today's Note by clicking HERE.

ABC News' Hope Ditto contributed to this report.

September 4, 2008 in Biden, Joe, Bush, George W., Clinton, Hillary, Giuliani, Rudy, Huckabee, Mike, McCain, John, Obama, Barack, Palin, Sarah, Paul, Ron, Romney, Mitt, Vote 2008: Democrats, Vote 2008: Republicans, Washington, White House | Permalink | User Comments (206)

The Note: VP Guessing Game Keeps GOP in Headlines

August 29, 2008 10:11 AM

ABC News' Rick Klein reports in Friday's Note:

DENVER --

Now that we know Sen. Barack Obama is going to fight for this thing, we’re about to see why he’ll need to.

No rest for the weary leaving Denver for St. Paul: It was Obama’s night on Thursday, but as the confetti wafts down the mountain, Friday is Sen. John McCain’s day -- since he’ll have someone to share it with, at last.

The birthday boy puts his veep out at a noontime ET joint rally in Dayton, Ohio -- and away we go all over again (if the GOP can buy any luck with the weather).

And the process-of-elimination/obfuscation game resumes in full force: Gov. Tim Pawlenty, R-Minn., called it a “fair assumption” that he wasn’t it, since he isn’t going to Dayton on Friday: “It was an honor to be considered,” he told a local radio station.

He got the formal call from McCain Friday morning -- told he was not going to be the selection, per ABC’s Jan Crawford Greenburg.

Fox News’ Carl Cameron reports that former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass., is in Boston, Friday and won’t be in Dayton -- and isn’t the pick. ABC’s George Stephanopoulos confirms that Romney is not in Ohio on Friday -- and a source tells Jan Crawford Greenburg that Romney hasn’t been chosen.

No Huckster, either: “There are reports that I’m on my way to Dayton tonight. Not true,” former Gov. Mike Huckabee, R-Ark., wrote late Thursday in a message to supporters. “Wasn’t invited to be there, and any reports that I’m going to be there are a big surprise to me. I have never been contacted by the McCain campaign at any point about the VP slot.”

And a plane from Alaska had the overnight/early morning buzz on Gov. Sarah Palin, R-Alaska; Karl Rove tells Fox News that it “smells like” it’s her.

But ABC’s Kate McCarthy reports that, per Palin spokeswoman Sharon Leighow, Palin is at home in Wasilla, Alaska, on Friday, with plans to attend the Alaska State Fair -- and won’t be in Dayton, either.

Continue reading today's Note by clicking HERE.

ABC News' Hope Ditto contributed to this report.

August 29, 2008 in Biden, Joe, Bush, George W., Giuliani, Rudy, Hunter, Duncan, Kucinich, Dennis, Palin, Sarah, Romney, Mitt, Tancredo, Tom, Thompson, Fred | Permalink | User Comments (161)

Obama Camp on Pawlenty: Bring It On

August 28, 2008 5:39 PM

ABC News' Teddy Davis reports: The Obama campaign signaled a willingness on Thursday to go after Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, R-Minn., for the 2007 Minneapolis bridge collapse, while saying that the populist argument it is building against Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., will continue, even if the presumptive Republican presidential nominee taps the son of a truck driver as his running mate.

"I don't think it's particularly relevant who the running mate is if the running mate is willing to embrace, in total, the Bush-McCain economic doctrine," Obama strategist David Axelrod told ABC News.

"Every day, Americans understand that those policies aren't working for them," he continued. "And if you have one more person out there saying we've made 'great progress' on our economy and that we ought to continue doing what we're doing, I'd be eager to have him travel far and wide. I think it's a losing message."

"Whoever he picks, it doesn't change the fact that it's John McCain's agenda on the ballot," added David Plouffe. The Obama campaign manager joined Axelrod at a breakfast with reporters in Denver, which was held on the same day that Obama is set to deliver a speech accepting the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.

Some GOP strategists have speculated in private about whether Pawlenty's odds of becoming McCain's running mate improved vis-a-vis Mitt Romney, in the wake of the Arizona senator's seeming inability to tell Politico how many houses he owns.

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor who ran against McCain for the Republican presidential nod, is a multimillionaire with four houses to his name.

Trying to undermine Romney in advance of a possible vice presidential announcement, the Obama campaign has been steadily painting him as an "expert" on "Cayman Island tax shelters."

"You couldn't have a more out of touch ticket," Plouffe recently told The Atlantic magazine.

Pawlenty, by contrast, owns only one house.

He recently told ABC's Jan Crawford Greenburg that he owns a $335,000 suburban home outside Minneapolis, and was quick to note that he still pays the mortgage and cuts his own grass.

Obama adviser Robert Gibbs acknowledged that a Pawlenty pick would leave the Democrats with less populist ammunition than a Romney selection. Gibbs was quick to add, however, that there is a "treasure trove" of other issues that can be used against Pawlenty, including the 2007 Minneapolis bridge collapse which killed 13.

"Each of these guys have their own thing," Gibbs told ABC News. "It would be nice to talk about Romney's stuff. But just because McCain picks a guy with only one house doesn't mean that we're going to stop talking about McCain's seven houses."

August 28, 2008 in Hunter, Duncan, Kucinich, Dennis, Romney, Mitt, Tancredo, Tom, Thompson, Fred | Permalink | User Comments (175)

The Note: Obama Poised to Claim Democratic Party

August 28, 2008 10:19 AM

ABC News' Rick Klein reports in Thursday's Note:

DENVER --

Even if it’s disappointed those who were looking for chaos rather than comity, they’ve had their roles: The defeated rival, coming to terms with a real kind of inevitability; the former leader, bestowing his blessings at long, long last; an evening capped by the grizzled veteran, basking in his moment -- and lighting the path for the chosen one.

In case Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., needed to see how it was done on Thursday, a couple of old pros made it work for him Wednesday. By the time Obama heard the roar of the crowd for himself, a convention that looked dangerously close to veering off track was tantalizingly close to fulfilling its goals.

Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., made the case for Obama -- and against Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. -- more eloquently, coherently, and tactically than maybe even that guy at the top of the ticket.

Former President Bill Clinton completed the sentiments his wife started (but didn’t finish) articulating the night before -- and for a night, and perhaps now for a campaign, we witnessed grace and generosity.

And the masterstroke: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D- N.Y., made the final, minutely choreographed gesture herself. “Clinton did the honors for the man who had denied her dream of becoming the first woman ever nominated to lead a major party,” Dan Balz and Anne Kornblut write in The Washington Post.

(Suddenly, with McCain poised to pick a running mate, does it seem that the drama is drifting in the general vicinity of St. Paul?)

At last, a message: “This week's events served as a national debut, of sorts, for the Obama campaign attack machine, even if that machinery is operated mostly by supporters and aides, rather than the candidate himself,” Peter Wallsten and Doyle McManus write in the Los Angeles Times. “It was clear that the campaign has settled on its favorite theme: portraying McCain as out of touch economically and an identical twin to President Bush.”

Now, Obama just has to give at least the second-best speech of his life Thursday night at Invesco Field at Mile High -- while not letting the setting become the story. (He’s presumptive no more, but that doesn’t take care of presumptuous.)

“His campaign has gambled on the historic moment by creating a stage that will magnify his performance,” Eli Saslow writes in The Washington Post.

“Succeed here, in front of the largest Democratic National Convention crowd in nearly 50 years, and Obama's speech will be remembered as one of the most powerful moments in modern politics, a perfect launch into the final stage of the general election,” he writes. “Fail, and Obama risks fueling Republicans' criticism that he is an aloof celebrity, fond of speaking to big crowds, but incapable of forming genuine connections.”

Continue reading today's Note by clicking HERE.

ABC News' Hope Ditto contributed to this report.

August 28, 2008 in Biden, Joe, Bush, George W., Hunter, Duncan, Kucinich, Dennis, Palin, Sarah, Romney, Mitt, Tancredo, Tom, Thompson, Fred, Veepstakes | Permalink | User Comments (62)

The Note: DNC Takes Sharper Tone as Hillary’s a Hit

August 27, 2008 10:37 AM

ABC News' Rick Klein reports in Wednesday's Note:

DENVER --

One Clinton down, one to go. (And yes, the party’s getting there, even if that other Clinton is heeding his wife’s words and going a bit early.)

To the extent that a single speech can suck the drama out of a convention that was stuffed with it -- and a party that’s grown sick of it -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton did her part Tuesday night.

With two political futures at stake, she gave the party something to be excited about -- and to ensure that if her backers don’t come around to Sen. Barack Obama, it won’t be her fault. (If she didn’t heap on the praise, at least she was genuine.)

The Denver Post goes with capital letters: “THE TEAM PLAYER.”

If you looked carefully enough, you saw a message coming together at the Pepsi Center -- a procession of speakers competing for sound-bite-of-the-night (and how about Gov. Brian Schweitzer, D-Mont.?) in bashing Sen. John McCain -- then Hillary tying it in a neat bow for the Democratic Party to marvel at.

Now, it’s Bill Clinton’s chance to make sure it doesn’t unravel. (And it falls to Obamaland to reconsider/redesign/spin the setting for Thursday night. A Greek temple? Were they out of Roman thrones?)

As for Wednesday’s marquee speech (with apologies to Joe Biden, who has a pretty big night on tap himself):

“Take away the context of this campaign year, and they could be pals, perhaps even big and little brothers of the Democratic family -- the so-called first black president mentors a prospective real black president. But context is everything in politics, and because of that, their relationship is anything but close,” David Maraniss writes in a Washington Post must-read-and-digest.

“He intends to do what is expected of him, according to many friends and associates, and try to convince the public that Obama has the toughness and wisdom to be commander in chief,” Maraniss continues.

“But though the speech might be as important to Clinton as it is to Obama, those close to him say he will deliver it with lingering feelings of estrangement that have surprisingly little to do with the fact that Obama defeated his wife in the primaries. ... Clinton associates, long familiar with his habits and rhythms, say it would take little more than phone calls on a somewhat regular basis to keep him satisfied.”

(Mr. President, we ask again: Is he ready?)

“We’re not nervous at all,” Obama advisor Anita Dunn said in the campaign’s morning convention conference call, per ABC’s Sunlen Miller.

Continue reading today's Note by clicking HERE.

ABC News' Hope Ditto contributed to this report.

August 27, 2008 in Biden, Joe, Bush, George W., Dodd, Chris, Hunter, Duncan, Kucinich, Dennis, Palin, Sarah, Romney, Mitt, Tancredo, Tom, Thompson, Fred | Permalink | User Comments (76)

The Note: Kennedy Inspires, but Clinton Drama Continues

August 26, 2008 10:29 AM

ABC News' Rick Klein reports in Tuesday's Note:

DENVER --

The narrative is (or isn’t) coming together, the family was glowing on stage, the schedule is holding tight, Teddy and Michelle hit them out of the park . . . and still, there are the Clintons.

For all those 18 million cracks in the highest glass ceiling, a frosty divide still needs chipping away, even as Obama is set to lose the “presumptive” from his title.

It comes to this for the rivalry for the ages: Neither Sen. Barack Obama nor Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has any possible sane, rational reason for wanting tensions to continue.

They need each other, and they know it. If Clinton supporters don’t come to Obama’s side in greater (near-unanimous) numbers, he loses the presidency. If Clinton is seen as doing anything less than everything for the Obama-Biden ticket, she loses stature in the Democratic Party.

And yet . . . the relationship is complicated as ever. As Clinton prepares for her speech on night two of the Democratic National Convention (with Chelsea Clinton narrating an introductory tribute video, on a night where the theme is “Renewing America’s Promise”), those "Hillary" signs and pins dotting Denver carry a message -- and Clinton and Obama carry (mixed) messages of their own.

Did we need this reminder, this week of all weeks? “Remember: 18 million people voted for me -- 18 million people, give or take, voted for Barack,” Clinton, D-N.Y., told reporters Monday, per ABC’s Eloise Harper. (Give or take?)

Then there’s the Clintons’ most recognizable surrogate/adviser, going on television Monday night to basically declare one-fourth of Obama’s convention a messaging disaster.

“Well, if this party has a message, it has done a hell of a job of hiding it tonight, I promise you that,” James Carville said on CNN Monday night, per ABC’s Jake Tapper. “I look at this and I am about to jump out of my chair.”

“The non primetime part was not particularly impressive,” Carville added Tuesday morning, on ABC’s "Good Morning America." "The other stuff was completely void of any message," adding that the Democrats’ streak of not bashing President Bush at Democratic National Conventions now stands at five nights.

(A night that was strong in the details was less so on the grand themes. This is an extremely damaging storyline that the Obama campaign needs to address immediately, now, pronto. If Democrats don’t start talking about McCain/Bush very quickly, they will all be talking about John Kerry shortly -- and not in a good way.)

(Obama adviser Anita Dunn swings back in the campaign’s morning conference call: “Everyone else seems to have felt it was a very, very successful first night of the convention, so [Carville] seems to be out there in the minority.” And stay tuned: “Clearly, tonight, as we move toward the economy, you will see some very sharp contrast, because there is a real difference between him and John McCain,” Dunn added.)

Look for Clinton’s speech to take on Sen. John McCain in a way no one did Monday. “What you didn’t get last night, you’re going to get tonight from Hillary Clinton,” ABC’s George Stephanopoulos said on “Good Morning America” Tuesday.

Continue reading today's Note by clicking HERE.

ABC News' Hope Ditto and Amanda Temple contributed to this report.

August 26, 2008 in Biden, Joe, Bush, George W., Clinton, Hillary, Hunter, Duncan, Kucinich, Dennis, Palin, Sarah, Romney, Mitt, Tancredo, Tom, Thompson, Fred | Permalink | User Comments (281)

Obama Misspeaks, Calls Biden 'The Next President'; Biden Calls Obama 'Barack America'

August 23, 2008 4:52 PM

ABC News' Sara Just reports: Journalists who were awake until the wee hours waiting for confirmation that Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., was indeed Barack Obama's running mate, cannot be blamed if their hearing is a little fuzzy today.

But after today's Obama-Biden speeches to a massive crowd in Springfield, Ill., many reporters are rolling back the tape and asking each other, "Did he really say that?"

When introducing his running mate, Obama said, "So let me introduce to you the next president - the next vice president of the US of America, Joe Biden."

And then when it was Biden's turn to speak, the Delaware senator called the presumptive Democratic nominee "Barack America" instead of Barack Obama.

"My friends, I don't have to tell you, this election year the choice is clear. One man stands ready to deliver change we desperately need. A man I’m proud to call my friend. A man who will be the next president of the United States, Barack America,” Biden said, per ABC News' Sunlen Miller.

However the official Obama campaign transcript of Biden's remarks sent to reporters omitted part of the misspeak, reading: "A man who will be the next president of the United States, Barack Amer – You know, you learn a lot of things being up close with a guy."

Then, later in his speech, Biden jokingly referred to his wife's PhD as a "problem." Biden was clearly having a playful moment with his wife, who he also referred to as "drop dead gorgeous."

"Ladies and gentlemen, my wife Jill, who you’ll meet soon, is drop dead gorgeous. My wife Jill, who you’ll meet soon, she also has her doctorate degree, which is a problem," Biden said, "But all kidding aside, my Jill, my Jill, my wife Jill and I are honored to join Barack and Michelle on this journey, because that's what it is. it's a journey."

The Republican war machine jumped on the first misstatement, with the McCain campaign releasing the following statement within minutes of the Springfield event's close: “Barack Obama sounded as though he turned over the top spot on the ticket today to his new mentor, when he introduced Joe Biden as the next president. The reality is that nothing has changed since Joe Biden first made his assessment that Barack Obama is not ready to lead. He wasn’t ready then and he isn’t ready now,” McCain spokesman Ben Porrit said.

The press will not have a lot of time to study the Democratic running mates' style or stumbles on stage together this week.

Despite previous plans to campaign with his veep-pick in battleground states, Obama will pass through those swing states alone this week, as Biden heads back to his home state of Delaware to prepare his speech for the convention and the most important political speech of his career, at least so far.

The duo will not appear again together until Thursday night when they are slated to accept their party's nominations.

August 23, 2008 in Biden, Joe, Kucinich, Dennis, Romney, Mitt, Tancredo, Tom | Permalink | User Comments (858)