Like many Americans, evangelicals are finding themselves disaffected with Republican leadership and increasingly up for grabs. These voters say views on abortion and homosexuality won’t define them in November. The environment and social justice are moving to the forefront of their discussions.

CNN Politics.com, CNN News, June 30th 2008

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (CNN) — They’re spiritual misfits. Rabble-rousers. They packed the shell of the old Baptist church on Negley Avenue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to hear author, Christian activist and fellow misfit Shane Claiborne stump on the campaign for a third party candidate, Jesus.

The dreadlocked Christian activist from Philadelphia and his team parked a black school bus around the back. The hand-painted gold letters on the side read “Jesus for President.”

The bus runs on vegetable oil and, yes, it’s a political statement.

“It’ll be a long time before we fight a war over used veggie oil,” says Claiborne with a sly smile.

Claiborne is touring the country, packing churches and community centers, in support of the book he and Chris Haw co-authored, “Jesus for President.”

“This whole project is about the political imagination of what it means to follow after Jesus,” Claiborne said. “The language of Jesus as Lord and savior is just as radical as it would be to say ‘Jesus as our commander in chief’ today.”

Young evangelicals represent an important swing-voting bloc. They’re not a lock for Republicans as their parents were. Their feet are firmly planted on issues dear to both parties. Traditional family values are, as they have been in the past, an important issue.

But these voters say views on abortion and homosexuality won’t define them in November. The environment and social justice are moving to the forefront of their discussions.  Click here to read more at CNN News.

John McCain who said “I will never tell you lies” is using former Air Force Col. Bud Day a 2004 “Swift Boat Ad” attacker.

CNN News, Rebecca Sinderbrand, June 30th, 2008

One of the members of John McCain’s new Truth Squad — which his campaign says was launched to respond to unfair attacks on his record of military service –- was a member of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, and appeared in an attack ad for the group in 2004.

The group was created to attack 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry’s military service record.

“How can you expect our sons and daughters to follow you when you condemned their fathers and grandfathers?” asked former Air Force Col. Bud Day, who was a prisoner of war with McCain in Vietnam, in a 2004 Swift Boat Vets spot.

McCain has said that he opposed the group’s efforts. But nevertheless, these “communicator, surrogates” are joining the McCain Campaign and are empowered to speak for John McCain.

On a campaign conference call Monday, a Politico reporter asked Day if there was any similarity between former Gen. Wesley Clark’s controversial Sunday comments about McCain’s military service and his own remarks about John Kerry during the last presidential campaign.

Day dismissed any equivalence. “The Swift Boat ‘attacks’ were simply revelation of the truth. The similarity does not exist here,” he said. “…One was about laying out the truth. This one is about attempting to cast a new shadow on John McCain.”

Editorial Comment: What was Obama saying the other day about 527 groups when he discussed campaign finance strategies?   

McCain and Obama traded speeched on patriotism. Obama distanced himself from Wes Clark’s remark that “being a prisoner of war, does not necessarily qualify John McCain to be Commander in Chief.” Meanwhile, McCain’s campaign organized a conference call supporters to bash Obama led by George E. “Bud” Day, a member of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

Amid aides’ sniping, Obama, McCain turn to patriotism

By Margaret Talev and William Douglas | McClatchy Newspapers, June 30th, 2008

WASHINGTON — Kicking off a week of Independence Day campaigning, the two leading presidential candidates turned Monday toward themes of patriotism and military experience, with whispers of the 2004 Swift boat veterans’ controversy.

Democrat Barack Obama, who didn’t serve in the military and opposes the Iraq war, delivered a speech defending his vision of patriotism. He said that today’s debate over patriotism was rooted in simplistic caricatures from the 1960s culture wars, and he defined patriotism instead as “loyalty to America’s ideals.”

However, in his remarks at President Harry Truman’s hometown of Independence, Mo., Obama diverted briefly from his sweeping rhetoric to criticize a challenge to presumptive Republican nominee John McCain’s credentials made Sunday by one of his campaign’s surrogate spokesmen.

Retired Gen. Wes Clark, in a television appearance, suggested that McCain isn’t qualified to be president. As for McCain’s military experience — he’s a Vietnam veteran who spent more than five years as a prisoner of war after his plane was shot down — Clark said that getting shot down in a plane didn’t qualify one to be president.

Obama distanced himself from the comment.

“I will never question the patriotism of others in this campaign,” he said Monday. “And I will not stand idly by when I hear others question mine. … For those like John McCain who have endured physical torment in service to our country, no further proof of such sacrifice is necessary.”

Meanwhile, McCain’s campaign organized a conference call for several supporters to bash Clark and, by extension, Obama.

McCain’s supporters included retired Air Force Col. George E. “Bud” Day, a member of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. That group attempted to discredit 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry’s Vietnam War record. Its efforts spawned a verb, “Swift-boating,” which politicians use to describe smear campaigns against them. Click here to read more at McClatchy News.

Delayed Treatment is a common problem for Americans, even those with health insurance.  But vulnerable populations; youngest, oldest, sickest and poorest are more likely to delay.

ABC News, June 27th 2008

New data tracking the health care habits of Americans highlighted gaping holes in the country’s health care system — and who is falling through them. And it appears that those who are most vulnerable — the youngest, oldest, sickest and poorest — are the ones getting medically shortchanged.

The number of people who delay or do not get medical care, including those with insurance plans, increased to 59 million people in 2007, up from 36 million people in 2003, according to the report from the Center for Studying Health System Change in Washington, D.C.

“It’s more than a wake-up call. This is an alarm clock in terms of the system not working well, and not caring for the vulnerable,” said Dr. Rick Kellerman, chairman of the American Academy of Family Physicians Board of Directors.

The cost and logistical problems involved in visiting the doctor are the main deterrents for people who need to see a physician. Click here to read more at ABC News.

Here is a video of our President explaining why he so admires the great talent of Filipino-Americans everytime he eats dinner at the White House.

It just make you real proud to be an American to have such a ….. for President. This is a direct transcript from a joint press conference with Filipino President Gloria Arroyo and our glorious leader.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Madam President, it is a pleasure to welcome you back to the Oval Office. We have just had a very constructive dialogue. First, I want to tell you how proud I am to be the President of a nation that — in which there’s a lot of Philippine-Americans. They love America and they love their heritage. And I reminded the President that I am reminded of the great talent of the — of our Philippine-Americans when I eat dinner at the White House. (Laughter.)

PRESIDENT ARROYO: Yes.

PRESIDENT BUSH: And the chef is a great person and a really good cook, by the way, Madam President.

We have added a couple of links onto the right side of our page screen; we hope you will find them useful.

For some time we have included a link to the Arizona Democratic Party to encourage you to contribute to the state party organization. Now we have added a link to the national Barack Obama campaign website as well.

But our newest icon, needs a bit of description. The image transfers certain data from the Electoral-Vote.com website so that you can keep track of their latest postings. Electoral-vote.com is a site that keeps track of the latest polling information on a state by state basis. They track the latest polling information and categorize states as Democrat or Republican, Likely or Leaning. In this way they as polling information builds up, it is possible to whether or not a particular state is likely to vote for the Republican or for the Democrat. By adding up this information, they make predictions on political outcomes.

As we write this post, the website predicts that Barack Obama will get 317 electoral votes to only 194 for John McCain. Since 270 votes are needed to win, this prediction is that Barack Obama will be the next President. For the United States Senate they predict that the Democrats will, after the November election, hold a 56 to 44 advantage, a pick up of five new Senate seats. Please note that this website counts Joe Leiberman as a Democrat even if most of us think otherwise.

As we get closer to the election and more polling data becomes available, this website will make a prediction for the House of Representatives. But for now, they are merely showing the current makeup of the House. I have seen “guess-timates” of a possible Democratic gain of 20 or more new seats.

The Dow Jones Industrial average is down 350 points and Warren Buffet says the recession is getting worse. So, what should John McCain talk about? You guessed it! Guns

CBS News, June 26th, 2008

ARLINGTON, Va. (CBS) ― U.S. Sen. John McCain said Thursday that the Supreme Court ruling in favor of gun ownership showed that the Chicago handgun ban has “infringed on the constitutional rights of Americans.” The presumptive Republican presidential nominee called the ruling a “landmark victory for Second Amendment freedom in the United States.”

“For the first time in the history of our Republic, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms was and is an individual right as intended by our Founding Fathers,” McCain said in a statement.

“Today’s ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller makes clear that other municipalities like Chicago that have banned handguns have infringed on the constitutional rights of Americans,” McCain said in the statement.”

Meanwhile, Associated Press is reporting a speech by Obama about the economy and how politics often blocks solutions.

Barack Obama told top business leaders Thursday that politics often gets in the way of solving problems that threaten America’s ability to stay competitive in the global economy.

“There is surprising consensus in this country about what needs to be done — somehow our politics prevent us from acting on that consensus,” Obama said at an economic summit meeting. “We spend an enormous amount of time talking about what separates us, along party lines, along racial lines, along economic lines, but when it comes to how we need to retool America to continue, it’s greatness.”

This the second poll in days to show the Senator Barack Obama has opened a huge lead over his rival John McCain. In head to head competition, the national poll gives Obama the lead by 12 percentage points. In a four way race including Bob Barr and Ralph Nader the lead increases to a nearly insurmountable 15 percentage points! Political trends including voter registration, voter participation, the economy, views of George, and overall direction of the country are big negatives for our Republican friends.

Obama holds 12-point lead over McCain, poll finds

Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg Poll, June 24th 2008

A Times/Bloomberg Poll says that in a two-man contest, 49% of respondents favor Barack Obama, while 37% support John McCain. With Ralph Nader and Bob Barr added to the mix, Obama holds 15-point edge.

WASHINGTON — – Buoyed by enthusiasm among Democrats and public concern over the economy, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has captured a sizable lead over Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) at the opening of the general election campaign for president, the Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg Poll has found.

In a two-man race between the major party candidates, registered voters chose Obama over McCain by 49% to 37% in the national poll conducted last weekend.

On a four-man ballot including independent candidate Ralph Nader and Libertarian Bob Barr, voters chose Obama over McCain by an even larger margin, 48% to 33%.

Obama’s advantage, bigger in this poll than in most other national surveys, appears to stem in large part from his positions on domestic issues. Both Democrats and independent voters say Obama would do a better job than McCain at handling the nation’s economic problems, the public’s top concern.

In contrast, many voters give McCain credit as the more experienced candidate and the one best equipped to protect the nation against terrorism — but they rank those concerns below their worries about the economy.

Moreover, McCain suffers from a pronounced “enthusiasm gap,” especially among the conservatives who usually give Republican candidates a reliable base of support. Among voters who describe themselves as conservative, only 58% say they will vote for McCain; 15% say they will vote for Obama, 14% say they will vote for someone else, and 13% say they are undecided.

By contrast, 79% of voters who describe themselves as liberal say they plan to vote for Obama.

Even among voters who say they do plan to vote for McCain, more than half say they are “not enthusiastic” about their chosen candidate; only 45% say they are enthusiastic. By contrast, 81% of Obama voters say they are enthusiastic, and almost half call themselves “very enthusiastic,” a level of zeal that only 13% of McCain’s supporters display.

“McCain is not capturing the full extent of the conservative base the way President Bush did in 2000 and 2004,” said Susan Pinkus, director of the Times Poll. “Among conservatives, evangelicals and voters who identify themselves as part of the religious right, he is polling less than 60%.

“Meanwhile, Obama is doing well among a broad range of voters,” she said. “He’s running ahead among women, black voters and other minorities. He’s running roughly even among white voters and independents.”

Among white voters, Obama and McCain are dead even at 39% each, the poll found. Earlier this year, when Obama ran behind Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) among white voters in some primary elections, analysts questioned whether the African American senator could win white voters in the general election.

But the great majority of Clinton voters have transferred their allegiance to Obama, the poll found. Only 11% of Clinton voters have defected to McCain.

Nader, a consumer advocate who ran as the candidate of the Green Party in 2000 and as an independent in 2004, and Barr, a former Georgia congressman, both appear to siphon more votes from McCain than they do from Obama. When Nader and Barr are added to the ballot, they draw most of their support from voters who said they would otherwise vote for the Republican.

Obama’s strong showing also stems from a broader trend among voters of support for Democratic candidates and Democratic positions after almost eight years of an increasingly unpopular Republican administration.

In this national poll’s random sample of voters, 39% identified themselves as Democrats, 22% as Republicans, and 27% as independents. In a similar poll a year ago, 33% identified themselves as Democrats, 28% as Republicans, and 30% as independents.

The survey found public approval of President Bush’s job performance at a new low for the Times/Bloomberg Poll: only 23% approved of the job Bush is doing, and 73% disapproved.

A bare majority of 51% of voters said they have a “positive feeling” about the Democratic Party; only 29% said they have a positive feeling about the Republican Party.

“It’s a Democratic year,” Pinkus said. “This election is the Democrats’ to lose.”

The Times/Bloomberg Poll, conducted under Pinkus’ supervision, interviewed 1,115 registered voters across the nation June 19-23. The poll’s margin of sampling error is plus or minus three percentage points. Click here to read more at the Los Angeles Times.

Huffington Post, June 23rd, 2008

Charlie Black, Chief Strategist for the McCain Campaign, says another terrorist attack on U.S. soil could win the Presidency for John McCain. This is the same Charlie Black who is a top Washington DC lobbyist and political fixer whose top clients are General Motors, United Technologies, J.P. Morgan, AT&T.

Fortune Magazine is running a profile on John McCain and they interviewed Charlie Black, Below is a choice quote from Black on why he thinks another terrorist attack on US soil would help McCain win the presidency.

“We saw how that might play out early in the campaign, when one good scare, one timely reminder of the chaos lurking in the world, probably saved McCain in New Hampshire, a state he had to win to save his candidacy - this according to McCain’s chief strategist, Charlie Black. The assassination of Benazir Bhutto in December was an “unfortunate event,” says Black. “But his knowledge and ability to talk about it reemphasized that this is the guy who’s ready to be Commander-in-Chief. And it helped us.” As would, Black concedes with startling candor after we raise the issue, another terrorist attack on U.S. soil. “Certainly it would be a big advantage to him,” says Black.

China-Cuba rumors fuel renewed offshore drilling debate

Rumors of China drilling in Cuban waters are rallying support for drilling off Florida’s coast, but experts say they’re untrue.

Miami Herald.com,
By Lesley Clark & Erika Bolstad

WASHINGTON — With gas topping $4 a gallon, some Republicans are pointing to Cuba once again to bolster their case that the U.S. should be drilling along Florida’s coastline.

The claim: China has Cuban leases to drill for oil — miles from the Florida shore.

Vice President Dick Cheney got into the mix Wednesday, telling the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that “oil is being drilled right now 60 miles off the coast of Florida. We’re not doing it. The Chinese are in cooperation with the Cuban government.

”Even the communists have figured out that a good answer to high prices is more supply,” Cheney added. “Yet Congress has said . . . no to drilling off Florida.”

But industry experts and other observers say there is zero evidence that China is drilling in Cuban waters, and doesn’t even hold a lease to drill offshore.

”China is not drilling in Cuba’s Gulf of Mexico waters, period,” said Jorge Piñon, an energy expert at the University of Miami’s Center for Hemispheric Policy.

Rising gas prices are prompting renewed efforts to open Florida waters to drilling, and the specter of oil-thirsty China slurping up nearby reserves is helping to fuel the push: In recent days, House Republican leaders have penned newspaper opinion pieces making the claim.