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American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

Archives for October 2008

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In his own words: Obama on the judges

Judges “who strictly believe in the letter of the Constitution” need not apply:

Transcript:

SEN. BARACK OBAMA: Well, look, I think that you — what you can ask a judge is about their judicial philosophy. And as somebody who taught constitutional law for ten years, who actually knows a lot of the potential candidates for Supreme Court on the right as well as on the left ’cause I’ve taught with them or interacted with them in some way — I can tell you that how a Justice approaches their job, how they describe the path of interpreting the Constitution, I think can tell you a lot.

And so my criteria, for example, would be — if a Justice tells me that they only believe the strict letter of the Constitution — that means that they possibly don’t mean — believe in — a right to privacy that may not be perfectly enumerated in the Constitution but, you know, that I think is there.

I mean, the right to marry who you please isn’t in the Constitution. But I think all of us assume that if a state decided to pass a law saying, ‘Brian, you can’t marry the woman you love,’ that you’d think that was unconstitutional. Well, where does that come from? I think it comes from a right to privacy. That may not be listed in the Constitution but is implied by the structure of the Constitution.

So I can have that conversation with a judge. Now if it was a conservative who was listening to me right then says, ‘See? You know, he wants to allow the Court to legislate.’ Ninety-nine percent of cases the Constitution is actually gonna be clear. Ninety-nine percent of the cases are statutes or congressional intent is gonna be clear. But there are gonna be one percent, less than one percent of real hard cases.

WILLIAMS: Second Amendment last term.

OBAMA: Second Amendment last term is a great example, where the language of the Second Amendment is not perfectly clear. I believe that the Second Amendment is actually an individual right. I think that’s the better interpretation. You can make the other argument. And so I can have those kinds of discussions with a Justice without getting into the particulars of — is Roe versus Wade, as currently outlined, exactly what you believe? Or do you believe that the DC gun law should have been overturned? And I think Sen. McCain, if ends up being the nominee [sic], could have those same conversations as well.

Speaking of the Second Amendment, Dave Kopel has written the Gunning for Victory
Second Amendment voter guide.
Kopel asks,

Will the Second Amendment still have enough friends in Congress to defeat the anti-rights agenda that a President Obama would push? The answer may depend on how much volunteer time Second Amendment defenders devote to key congressional races in the next several days.

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Obama campaign lies about Heritage Foundation’s position on his tax plan

Two days, and they still haven’t pulled the ads:
Heritage Asks TV Stations to Stop Airing Obama’s Misleading Ad

Two ads, one on print, and one on YouTube. Here’s the YouTube; ironically, it starts with “Not sure who to believe on taxes?”

The Heritage Foundation explains,

Two recent campaign advertisements seriously misrepresent the views of my client, The Heritage Foundation. They suggest, quite falsely, that The Heritage Foundation and one of its analysts support your tax plan.

The print ad on your Website as well as your ad entitled “Try This” reference a quote from policy analyst Rea Hederman. In fact, Mr. Hederman never said what is quoted there. Rather, the words you quote are from a New York Sun reporter who interviewed Mr. Hederman and summarized his views erroneously.

That the reporter’s summary is erroneous is evident from the actual quotes from Mr. Hederman presented in the article, which make it quite clear that Mr. Hederman believes your tax plan would be bad not only for the country, but for the middle class. By omitting the direct quotes from Heritage that are contained in the article and attributing to Heritage a conflicting statement not made by its analyst, the advertisement appears to be an intentional attempt to mislead.

“Not sure who to believe on taxes?” Certainly not Obama!

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Liveblogging the bloggers’ call: McCain campaign on ACORN testimony

The call, which is taking place right now, pertains to the testimony of ACORN whistleblower Anita MonCrief in the Pennsylvania state court.

The FBI is investigating its voter registration efforts in several states, amid allegations that almost a third of the 1.3 million cards it turned in are invalid. And yesterday, a former employee of Acorn testified in a Pennsylvania state court that the group’s quality-control efforts were “minimal or nonexistent” and largely window dressing. Anita MonCrief also says that Acorn was given lists of potential donors by several Democratic presidential campaigns, including that of Barack Obama, to troll for contributions.

The Obama campaign denies it “has any ties” to Acorn, but Mr. Obama’s ties are extensive. In 1992 he headed a registration effort for Project Vote, an Acorn partner at the time. He did so well that he was made a top trainer for Acorn’s Chicago conferences. In 1995, he represented Acorn in a key case upholding the constitutionality of the new Motor Voter Act — the first law passed by the Clinton administration — which created the mandated, nationwide postcard voter registration system that Acorn workers are using to flood election offices with bogus registrations.

Ms. MonCrief testified that in November 2007 Project Vote development director Karyn Gillette told her she had direct contact with the Obama campaign and had obtained their donor lists. Ms. MonCrief also testified she was given a spreadsheet to use in cultivating Obama donors who had maxed out on donations to the candidate, but who could contribute to voter registration efforts. Project Vote calls the allegation “absolutely false.”

She says that when she had trouble with what appeared to be duplicate names on the list, Ms. Gillette told her she would talk with the Obama campaign and get a better version. Ms. MonCrief has given me copies of the donor lists she says were obtained from other Democratic campaigns, as well as the 2004 DNC donor lists.

In her testimony, Ms. MonCrief says she was upset by Acorn’s “Muscle for Money” program, which she said intimidated businesses Acorn opposed into paying “protection” money in the form of grants. Acorn’s Brian Kettering says the group only wants to change corporate behavior: “Acorn is proud of its corporate campaigns to stop abuses of working families.”

Here are my notes from the call:

“Among the many questions the testimony raises,
How did ACORN get the list from the Obama campaign? Who in the campaign was the contact person for ACORN?
Why do we have to learn about this from organizations outside the news media, such as the court system?
Why is Obama not held accountable for not telling the truth about his relationship with ACORN?”

Questions:
Ron Clayborne, ABC news: Is your only evidence the testimony of Ms MontCrief?
A: Yes, she testified that they were in direct contact with the Obama campaign, and they were given spreadsheets and funds to use in the registration effort. It was important to note that Ms MontCrief is a senior staffer within the ACORN organization, and that the Project Vote organization has a long-standing tie with Barack Obama, and he worked for them in the past…Karen Gillette used to work for secretary of state Brunner in Ohio and they’ve had problems with registrations in Ohio, and the web of connections continues to increase.

Q: What do you see ACORN’s role in Florida?
A: Not aware of ACORN activity in Florida, but they claim over 1.2 million registrations nationwide, 1/3 fraudulent, 1/3 repetitive. Ms MontCrief claims that training is inadequate and when people complain they get thrown under the bus. When ACORN responds to accusations, it’s never ACORN’s fault, but the individuals doing the registrations. In Florida, Governor Christ has always worked hard to make sure the registration system is clean, unlike in Ohio, where there are a lot of issues with registrations.

Q. Chuck Ross from Gannett: Obama campaign’s ad with Bush in McCain’s rearview mirror:
A: Let me flip it around & ask about Obama’s motivation on this. The most bankrupt argument in this campaign is the effort to make John McCain look like George Bush’s running mate. In many issues, the economy, war in Iraq, pushing back on the legal jeopardy of captives in the war on terror, the argument just doesn’t hold water. I think it’s a desperate attempt in the part of Obama. You really have to be desperate to attack McCain’s & Palin’s relationships, while saying that Obama should not be held accountable for his associations with Ayers, and Khalidi and others.

Q. Michael Barone, US News: Tracking polls showing progress. What futher information can you give us?
A: There’s no question that there’s a closing in this campaign, and in battleground states. Suburban men are coming to the campaign. McCain has striken a chord on the Obama redistributive policies. From our perspective it’s interesting and instructive to see the places Obama is going to, and he’s going to our core state. Where Obama goes, we’ve been going up. There are a number of states we see bouncing back, Nevada and New Mexico, with larger Hispanic margins there.

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Why do Obama’s relatives matter?

The Times of London Found in a rundown Boston estate: Barack Obama’s aunt Zeituni Onyango
‘Auntie Zeituni’, who, with Uncle Omar, dropped out of sight after moving to the US, is backing the presidential candidate from her modest flat. They also found “Uncle Omar”, too:

Zeituni Onyango, the aunt so affectionately described in Mr Obama’s best-selling memoir Dreams from My Father, lives in a disabled-access flat on a rundown public housing estate in South Boston.

A second relative believed to be the long-lost “Uncle Omar” described in the book was beaten by armed robbers with a “sawed-off rifle” while working in a corner shop in the Dorchester area of the city. He was later evicted from his one-bedroom flat for failing to pay $2,324.20 (£1,488) arrears, according to the Boston Housing Court.

Again and again and again, the foreign press finds what the American won’t.

But should Obama’s relatives matter?

TigerHawk explains why:

He has used these people — his grandmother, his aunt and uncle, and so forth — as props in his political narrative. He wants us to measure him in part by his relationship to these Kenyans, but — and here is the harsh part — only as that relationship is described by him. What if his characterization of that relationship is misleading? What if it turns out that while he is delighted to cite these people as evidence of his humble beginnings — that is what I mean by using them as props — he is not so delighted to consider them as part of his family? Is that not at least a potentially useful insight into the character of this man about whom we know so little?

As Glenn would put it, Indeed.

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Today at NOON: Nidra Poller goes on The Great Reverse Schlep

My friends Nidra Poller and Pamela Geller go on the road in Florida on The Great Reverse Schlep. Nidra joins us today at 12 NOON Eastern (please note the time) and tells us what the Schlep is about.

You can listen to the podcast here.

Chat’s open by 11:45AM Eastern, and the call in number is 646 652-2639. Join us!

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