Thursday Morning Jane

By Nisha | June 19, 2008

Good morning, Janes! Here’s your daily update:

Top Domestic Story: Campaign 2008

• In a sharp turn from the current president’s policy, Barack Obama has made no dead or alive pledge on the notorious Osama bin Laden. His campaign said the presumptive Democratic nominee wanted to “avoid turning Bin Laden into a martyr who could provide a rallying point for a new generation of Islamic radicals.” His opponent McCain responded later saying Obama “doesn’t have an understanding of the nature of that threat” from terrorists. [AP]
• Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr came into the media spotlight yesterday when he blasted McCain for a host of issues, including his energy policies, his support of the war in Iraq, and his stance on reducing government spending. “With regard to domestic policy, Sen. McCain really has put forward nothing that would indicate he believes in dramatically shrinking the size and cost of the government,” Barr told the Washington Post. “He does talk a great game about doing away with earmarks, but that really does not get near to the heart of the matter of the massive federal spending, the massive federal debt and the deficits we’re running.” [Washington Post]
• Obama’s campaign tightening control of image? The story yesterday is that two Muslim women wearing headscarves attended an Obama rally but were prohibited from sitting directly behind Obama where cameras could see them. After the two women cried foul, the campaign quickly called them to apologize. “It doesn’t reflect the orientation of the campaign,” said Anita Dunn, a senior adviser to Mr. Obama. “I do not believe that mistake will be made again.” [NYT]

Top International Story: Israel & Hamas

The fragile ceasefire recently negotiated between Israel and Hamas went into effect today, with the entire world watching for signs of trouble. Israel promised that if the ceasefire holds, they will begin to ease their economic blockade of Gaza in three days. “If the calm holds, you will see the start of a process of liberalization in the economic sanctions at the very beginning of next week,” Olmert spokesman Mark Regev said. [Bloomberg]

Since the recent comments from McCain and Bush about offshore drilling, the conversation is beginning to spread, and rapidly rising gas prices are forcing many citizens and elected officials to reconsider this 27-year ban. “It’s something we need to do because of the bigger picture,” said State Senator Burt L. Saunders, chairman of the Senate Environmental Preservation and Conservation Committee. “We need more energy independence.” [New York Times]

Michelle Obama made an appearance on The View yesterday with everybody’s favorite bunch of talk show hosts — Barbara, Joy, Elizabeth, and Whoopi! Lynn Sweet claims she heard Michelle Obama say: “You know, I did not want Barack to go into politics because I thought politics was a mean business. And you know, I knew this man that I loved, he was sweet and pathetic, I thought. There was no way…” An Obama spokesman promptly corrected the Chicago Sun-Times writer, saying Michelle really said “EMPATHETIC.” We’ll see… [Chicago Sun-Times]

Topics: Morning Jane

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