http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/index.xml News, sports and entertainment from SanLuisObispo.com en-us Copyright 2008 SanLuisObispo.com Election 2008 60 Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:54 PDT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss McClatchy Interactive Workbench support@sanluisobispo.com http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/454120.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/454120.html Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:27 PDT Barack Obama is offering himself to Democrats and the nation as the embodiment of the promise of America.<p/>In excerpts of the speech that he will deliver later Thursday before a crowd of 75,000 at Invesco Field and to millions tuned in on television, Obama said that his story is part of the promise "that has always set this country apart."<p/>He told delegates and thousands more gathered in Denver "that through hard work and sacrifice, each of us can pursue our individual dreams but still come together as one American family, to ensure that the next generation can pursue their dreams as well." http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/454053.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/454053.html Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:17 PDT Colored wristbands run halfway up Stephen Brackett's arm, each one marking a show he and his band, the Flobots, have played the last several days.<p/>Brackett, who goes by Brer Rabbit as one of the MCs for the Flobots, keeps each one until the six-person band has a bad show, when he cuts them all off. The last time his arm was bare was after a show in Salt Lake City, when fans started three fights that had to be broken up.<p/>"That by definition is a bad show," Brackett said during the Tent State Music Festival to End the War at the Denver Coliseum this week during the Democratic National Convention. http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/453540.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/453540.html Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:17 PDT Screenwriter and actor Danny Strong is interviewing colleagues at the Democratic National Convention for an Associated Press video diary.<p/>He spoke this week with several members of the Creative Coalition, a nonprofit group that engages the artistic community in issues, about why they're in Denver and what role actors have in politics.<p/>--- http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/453647.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/453647.html Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:07 PDT Spielberg! Affleck! J.Lo! They were among the Hollywood celebrities attending events in Denver as the Democratic National Convention nominated Barack Obama as the party's presidential candidate.<p/>Steven Spielberg, who directed a short film on veterans that shown Wednesday at the convention, was spotted entering the Pepsi Center.<p/>Jennifer Lopez spoke at a reception honoring children's rights activist Marian Wright Edelman. Ben Affleck read excerpts from a Howard Zinn book and made an appearance at the city's food bank for America's Second Harvest. http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/453420.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/453420.html Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:52 PDT Barack Obama achieved a historic breakthrough with his nomination for president, but you wouldn't know it by tracking the official events of the Democratic convention's first three days.<p/>In becoming the first black American to claim a major party's nomination, Obama has reached a milestone that many felt was at least a generation away. But the convention, like Obama's overall campaign, thus far has dealt with race lightly, obliquely, or often not at all.<p/>Prominent black lawmakers addressed the Denver crowd Wednesday without mentioning the campaign's racial dimensions, which they eagerly and emotionally discuss in private. Americans watching TV might assume otherwise because convention commentators often discuss race. But they are drawing from interviews and other sources, not from the speeches that are vetted by the Obama campaign and that serve as a record of the four-day event. http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/452950.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/452950.html Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:52 PDT Following his wife's lead, former President Bill Clinton prepared Wednesday to deliver an enthusiastic endorsement to Sen. Barack Obama, a unifying gesture that Democrats hope will end talk of bad blood between the two camps.<p/>Clinton's speech, however, was as much about preserving his presidential legacy as it was trying to smooth Obama's general election path among hard-core supporters of Sen. Hillary Clinton.<p/>"This is his legacy, both Hillary Clinton as a plausible candidate for president, and Barack Obama," said Stanley Greenberg, who was Bill Clinton's pollster for his 1992 presidential campaign. "I think he'll take ownership." http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/452683.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/452683.html Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:49 PDT Barack Obama aims to weave the personal with the political Thursday night as he tells 75,000 supporters in a football stadium - and millions more at home - how as president he would make a difference in their lives.<p/>The Republicans weren't just sitting back to watch on TV. GOP rival John McCain stayed mum about his running mate deliberations, but one top prospect - Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty - abruptly canceled numerous public appearances, as speculation increased in intensity.<p/>McCain was expected to announce his decision by week's end, possibly Friday, hoping to take the edge off Obama's big convention finale. http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/453906.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/453906.html Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:49 PDT On Barack Obama's big night, Republicans in Denver pushed an alternative convention narrative: Sure he can thrill a crowd of Democrats, but is he ready to be president?<p/>A diverse quartet of Republicans - including Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a vice presidential prospect - were the latest in a series of GOP luminaries to come to Denver to continue the party's multi-pronged assault on Obama.<p/>"There will be lots of glitz and glamour and spectacle, but once that is done ... the question is, 'what remains.'" Pawlenty said. http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/453850.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/453850.html Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:49 PDT Cindy McCain's half sister says she will not vote for Republican John McCain and plans to cast her ballot for his Democratic rival, Barack Obama.<p/>"I have a different political standpoint," Kathleen Hensley Portalski said in an interview with "Us Weekly," published online Thursday. "I'm voting for Obama."<p/>Portalski said Obama's proposals are "more positive and I'm not a big war believer." http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/453833.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/453833.html Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:49 PDT In John McCain's thinking, it is one thing to break the rules and quite another to break the faith.<p/>He's spent a lifetime walking the line between the two.<p/>The high school troublemaker became one of the Naval Academy's "Bad Bunch," graduating fifth from the bottom of his class. The underachiever at Annapolis became a "bad apple" to his captors in a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp, turning his defiance into a virtue. The "tough resister" of the Hanoi Hilton became an American hero, soon on the fast track to a seat in the Senate. http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/453903.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/453903.html Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:49 PDT In a brief break from a fierce advertising war, Republican presidential candidate John McCain will air a one-evening-only ad with a simple message for Barack Obama: "Job well done."<p/>The ad will air before, during and after Obama's nomination acceptance speech on national cable television.<p/>In the ad, McCain addresses Obama directly, congratulating him for becoming the Democratic Party's nominee. McCain also recognizes the symbolism of a black man accepting the nomination on the 45th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/453835.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/453835.html Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:49 PDT The Republican Party that strode confidently into New York City to nominate President Bush for a second term in 2004 would hardly recognize the one that opens its national convention Sept. 1 in St. Paul.<p/>Bush won re-election by defeating John Kerry, Republicans expanded their House and Senate majorities, and demoralized Democrats wondered aloud how many elections it would take to regain control of Congress. Republican leaders championed deep tax cuts, partial privatization of Social Security, and aggressive actions at home and abroad in the name of fighting terrorism.<p/>Democrats seemed unsure what they stood for. http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/452671.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/452671.html Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:16 PDT Four days, hundreds of speakers, thousands of delegates, endless pontificating. So much that is memorable from the Democratic National Convention, so much that is forgettable. Seven AP reporters help sort it all out, by identifying - in their humble opinions - some of the week's best and worst: speakers, put-downs, seats, and more.<p/>---<p/>KENNEDY DELIVERS http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/452739.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/452739.html Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:42 PDT Sen. Barack Obama dropped in on his own party at the Democratic convention a day early Wednesday to praise his wife, his former rival, and former President Bill Clinton for going to bat for him.<p/>"I think Michelle Obama kicked it off pretty well, don't you think?" Obama said, as delegates at the Pepsi Center roared.<p/>As his wife clapped and smiled and mouthed, "I love you," Obama joined his running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, on the platform. http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/452685.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/452685.html Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:43 PDT Thousands of anti-war demonstrators converged near security gates outside the Democratic National Convention hall on Wednesday, chanting slogans and asking to talk to party officials about getting U.S. troops out of Iraq.<p/>Police in riot gear ordered the group to disperse, and after about 15 minutes many protesters drifted off. But about 400 gathered several blocks away, still within sight of the Pepsi Center, where the Democrats were nominating Barack Obama for president.<p/>The protesters wanted to give Obama a letter asking that he agree to an immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq, provide full health care benefits for returning troops and veterans and provide reparations to the Iraqi people for damage caused by the war. http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/453188.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/453188.html Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:12 PDT Vice presidential candidate Joe Biden told Pennsylvania delegates Thursday that running mate Barack Obama can't win the White House without the Keystone State.<p/>"This is not hyperbole: We cannot win without Pennsylvania," Biden said at a breakfast.<p/>Obama hopes Biden's blue-collar appeal will let him avoid a repeat of his Pennsylvania primary loss. http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/452479.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/452479.html Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:52 PDT IN THE HEADLINES<p/>Barack Obama to woo nation 45 years after Martin Luther King's 'I have a dream' speech ... Biden tells Democratic convention needs more than a good soldier, reference to McCain ... Clinton delivers strong endorsement for Obama while passing torch<p/>--- http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/453064.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/453064.html Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:27 PDT A carefully timed roll call and a sudden recognition of history may prove to be a turning point for Democrats at a convention that hadn't been going well for them as a television event.<p/>Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's move to proclaim rival Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee for president set a tone that carried through the convention's third night.<p/>It was a meticulously organized peace offering done at a crucial time. Clinton stepped to a microphone on the convention's floor at 6:47 p.m. EDT, when ABC, CBS and NBC were in the midst of their evening newscasts. All three newscasts carried the event live on the East Coast, along with the cable news networks. (ABC broke into regular programming in non-Eastern time zones, while CBS and NBC didn't). http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/453138.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/453138.html Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:25 PDT Sen. Barack Obama's formal nomination Wednesday as the Democratic candidate for president brought with it praise for Obama and a barrage of renewed attacks on his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain. Some were on point, others missed the mark.<p/>Some examples:<p/>VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE SEN. JOE BIDEN of DELAWARE: "Barack Obama will bring down health care costs by $2,500 for the typical family, and, at long last, deliver affordable, accessible health care for all Americans." http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/453068.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/453068.html Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:01 PDT Sen. Joe Biden went before the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday to make the case for Barack Obama's presidential bid. Biden, selected as Obama's running mate, has offered different messages in the past.<p/>"I mean, you got the first sort of mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man." - January 2007 with the New York Observer.<p/>"I think he can be ready, but right now I don't believe he is. It's awful hard, with only a little bit of experience to have a clear sense of what you would do on the most critical issues facing us today." - August 2007 interview with Newsweek.