An Egyptian Asks 'Will America Really Elect A Black Man Of Muslim Descent?'

"Obama? Do you think they will let him win?” (It’s always “let him win” not just “win.”)

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Democrats’ nomination of Obama as their candidate for president has done more to improve America’s image abroad — an image dented by the Iraq war, President Bush’s invocation of a post-9/11 “crusade,” Abu Ghraib, Guantánamo Bay and the xenophobic opposition to Dubai Ports World managing U.S. harbors — than the entire Bush public diplomacy effort for seven years.

Of course, Egyptians still have their grievances with America, and will in the future no matter who is president — and we’ve got a few grievances with them, too. But every once in a while, America does something so radical, so out of the ordinary — something that old, encrusted, traditional societies like those in the Middle East could simply never imagine — that it revives America’s revolutionary “brand” overseas in a way that no diplomat could have designed or planned.

Going After The Women's Vote

NY Times reports:

With Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s ending her campaign for the Democratic nomination, the presumptive nominees are moving to claim her followers, especially her signature bloc, the millions of women who cast primary votes for her.

Barack Obama Takes Democratic Party Nomination

MSNBC reports:

Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois claimed the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday night, NBC News projected based on its tally of convention delegates.

By doing so, he shattered a barrier more than two centuries old to become the first black candidate ever nominated by a major political party for the nation’s highest office.

The Rest of the World Votes for the U.S. President

Barack Obama Takes Wyoming

The victory [by a very wide margin] while in a state with only 18 delegates, was welcome news for the Obama campaign as it sought to blunt Mrs. Clinton’s momentum coming off her victories in Ohio and Texas on Tuesday.

Hand Over Heart: Is This Really What Makes Us Patriotic?

Asked during a town hall meeting in Lorain, Ohio, about "an attempt by conservatives and Republicans to paint you as unpatriotic," a questioner cited the fact that [Barack] Obama once failed to put his hand over his heart while singing the national anthem.

The questioner also noted that the Illinois senator does not wear an American flag lapel pin, has met with former members of the radical anti-Vietnam War group, Weather Underground, and his wife was quoted recently as saying she never felt really proud of the United States until recently.

Asked how he would fight the image of being unpatriotic, Obama said, "There's always some nonsense going on in general elections. Right? If it wasn't this, it would be something else. If you recall, first it was my name. Right? That was a problem. And then there was the Muslim e-mail thing and that hasn't worked out so well, and now it's the patriotism thing.

"The way I will respond to it is with the truth: that I owe everything I am to this country," he said. Obama said it was a speech about his love for this country that put him in the national spotlight. He shot down the idea that failing to put his hand over his heart during the national anthem makes him unpatriotic.

Joining the Candidates for U.S. Presidency: Yep, It's Ralph Nader!

Consumer rights activist Ralph Nader, accused by many Democrats of handing the 2000 election to Republican George W. Bush, said Sunday he was running again in this year's White House race.

"I'm running for president," he said on the NBC program "Meet the Press," while denying he was playing a spoiler role in the hard-fought campaign.

If the Democrats cannot win by a "landslide" this year, he said, "they should just close down."

Lifting Americans Up To Higher Ground: Mike Huckabee On the Road in Texas

MIKE HUCKABEE emails from Texas:

My candidacy is, and always has been, about convictions – and the issues and core values that are critical to our country’s future, such protecting traditional marriage, the sanctity of life, individual empowerment and a revamping of our federal tax code to encourage productivity. It’s about lifting Americans up, from hope to higher ground, with a positive vision for America’s future that is grounded in a belief in our nation’s basic goodness, and defined by a ‘can—do’ spirit that knows how to gets things done. My goal is to offer Republican voters, a voice and a choice in this election.

The last four out of five U.S. Presidents have been governors, and there is a reason for this: the challenges facing our nation require steady, experienced, executive management. As governor of Arkansas for 10 ½ years, I delivered on my promises to cut taxes 94 times, reduce welfare by half, reform health care for children and our education system, and transform our transportation infrastructure. My record of results, achieved with a Democrat legislature, gives a meaningful viability to my candidacy.

There are millions of Republicans from across this country who have yet to be heard from. Clearly we were disappointed by the results in Wisconsin, but I look forward to campaigning hard in Texas and Ohio this week – and taking my case before the good people of those states.

Barack and Hillary Getting Nasty Again

Clinton's aides initially signaled she would virtually concede Wisconsin, and the former first lady spent less time in the state than Obama.

Even so, she ran a television ad that accused her rival of ducking a debate in the state and added that she had the only health care plan that covers all Americans and the only economic plan to stop home foreclosures. "Maybe he'd prefer to give speeches than have to answer questions" the commercial said.

Obama countered with an ad of his own, saying his health care plan would cover more people.

In San Antonio on Tuesday, Obama said her idea to freeze the monthly rate on adjustable rate mortgages for at least five years would raise rates on new mortgages. "Even more families could face foreclosure," he said. "That's why one economic analyst called her plan disastrous."

The campaign grew increasingly testy over the weekend, when Clinton's aides accused Obama of plagiarism for delivering a speech that included words that had first been uttered by Deval Patrick, the Massachusetts governor and a friend of Obama.

"I really don't think this is too big of a deal," Obama said, eager to lay the issue to rest quickly. He said Clinton had used his slogans, too.

Even before the votes were tallied in one state, the campaigners were looking ahead.

Polling Map: Republican Candidate Mike Huckabee

Have Coffee with Mike Huckabee in Hudson, Wisconsin

Monday, February 18th, 2008 at 8:00 a.m. For Coffee at the Hudson Bagel & Coffee Co. 800 Carmichael Road - Hudson, WI For more information or to RSVP: Robert.Kuykendall@explorehuckabee.com or (515) 473-8298

More Substance And Poetry: Barack Obama

...Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (has) critic(ized) that (Barack's) words offer more poetry than substance.

Yet as he traveled across Wisconsin last week, Mr. Obama seemed to have let loose a little more of his inner-wonk, which his strategists had once urged him to keep on the shelf.

Even as he was dismissing Mrs. Clinton’s criticism, he appeared to be taking it at least mildly to heart — a suggestion that as a line of attack, she might be on to something.

Suddenly, he was injecting a few more specifics into his campaign speeches. Giant rallies that had sustained his candidacy through a coast-to-coast series of contests on Feb. 5, notable for their rhetorical flourishes and big applause lines, were supplemented with policy speeches and town-hall-style meetings, complete with the question-and-answer sessions he abandoned as he roared out of Iowa and into New Hampshire.

Mike Huckabee Answers the First Question: WHY?

Governor Mike Huckabee emails:

The first question I am often asked these days is: "Why are you still running for President?"

It is because I believe that I am the best candidate to represent you in the fall against the Democrats. Why? Because I have core conservative beliefs that I have never wavered from:

I believe in the Human Life Amendment and I will fight for it from Day 1 of my Presidency.

I believe in the Marriage Amendment.

I believe in massive tax reform and am an advocate of the FairTax.

I believe that President Bush's tax cuts should be made permanent.

I believe in the Surge, our troops and General Petraeus.

I believe the 2nd amendment is one of the best ways to protect us from tyranny and I will work tirelessly to protect it from activist judges.

I believe in real border security and have proposed a detailed 9 point plan to secure our borders.

I believe the best judge is a conservative judge that won't legislate from the bench.

These are some of the reasons why I am running for President and let me also say that YOU are another reason. I am running to give you a voice in the process. To lift up your voice with mine and to tell our Party and our government that we need to do better. We need to think big and fight for our ideas.

Mike Huckabee and John McCain in Close Race in Virginia

CNN reports that as of 8 pm, Mike Huckabee is leading in Virginia by a slim margin!
At just 4 minutes later, McCain and Huckabee are in a dead heat, tied at 46%.

Mike Huckabee Takes On the Media

Barack says he'd like to "argue" with John McCain; Hillary questions Barack's integrity; John McCain says the general in the field and not the politician running for president should decide when troops come home; and Mike Huckabee says the media has prematurely called the race.

Barack Obama: "Not Running to Make History, But To Be President"

Mitt Romney Suspends His Presidential Bid

Watching 'breaking news' during a late lunch (sound relatively muted in busy cafeteria) and gathered from the images and scrolling type at the bottom of the screen that Mitt Romney has "suspended" his presidential bid... Whether or not this is permanent or how and why it occurred, I do not know as of now...

Huckabee Shows Steel, Driving His Point Home

Michael Hirsh for NEWSWEEK reports:

Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor who had fallen far off the pace since his upset victory in Iowa, turned into a major power in his own right, winning the key Southern states of Tennessee, West Virginia, Georgia, Alabama and Arkansas. Huckabee's strong showing in the Bible Belt—a region that has become a must-win for Republican candidates in general elections—demonstrated not only that his candidacy is very much alive but that McCain still has a lot of work to do in winning over both his party's conservative base and the presidency.

Huckabee drove the point home, declaring himself McCain's main primary challenger heading into the later primary contests. "I've got to say that Mitt Romney was right about one thing: this is a two-man race," Huckabee said. "He was just wrong about who the other man in the race was. It's me, not him." Despite the good news coming out of the South, Huckabee still got thumped in the rest of the country, in states like New York and New Jersey and Arizona, demonstrating that his appeal may not extend nationally. But the campaign didn't see that as a problem. Huckabee didn't spend resources and time in winner-take-all states in the Northeast, and aides pointed to Florida as an example of his bang-for-the-buck mentality. "In Florida Romney spent $8 million and we spent zero, and we tied with him with zero delegates," said Huckabee campaign manager Chip Saltsman. Huckabee plans to take Wednesday off before starting a full-on blitz in Kansas, Louisiana and Washington in preparation for Saturday's contests. From there it's on to the Potomac region for primaries in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. By then the Huckabee folks hope it will truly be a two-man race. "It's time for Romney to get out," said Saltsman.

'What A Day! We Won'

Mike Huckabee emails,

What a day! Thanks to the hard and tireless work of tens of thousands of supporters nationwide we scored terrific victories last night. You made calls, you sent emails, you wrote letters and waved signs and because of you we won: West Virginia, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia and we came oh so very close in Missouri and Oklahoma.

Let’s celebrate a bit this morning, but we must now quickly shift our focus to the next states casting votes: Louisiana, Washington, Kansas, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

Our campaign is already competitive in each of these states but we need to drive our momentum there and begin contacting voters immediately. Kansas, Louisiana and Washington all cast votes on Saturday and The "Chesapeake Primary" (DC, MD and VA) is next Tuesday.

McCain, Huckabee, Romney In That Order in Georgia

At 7:40 pm, in Georgia the three Republican candidates are running neck 'n neck. McCain 36%, Huckabee 31%, and Romney in third...