September 26, 2008
Twitter the First Presidential Debate
Follow all the debate- and election-related posts on social-networking site Twitter here: Election.Twitter.com
--Samuel Rubenfeld
--Samuel Rubenfeld
September 11, 2008
Politics in The Chronicle's latest issue
Log onto Hofstrachronicle.com to see the latest coverage of the 2008 presidential election from The Chronicle.
--Samuel Rubenfeld
--Samuel Rubenfeld
Obama And McCain Discuss National Service At Columbia
By Mike Manzoni
STAFF WRITER
STAFF WRITER
John McCain and Barack Obama met for the first time onstage as formal nominees of their respective parties between back-to-back discussions at a forum on national service held at Columbia University coinciding with the seventh anniversary of Sept. 11.
The candidates appeared separately, meeting only briefly after Obama's introduction following McCain's question-and-answer session with journalists Judy Woodruff and Richard Stengel. Obama and McCain each answered questions for about 45 minutes.
The appearance marked the second time today the two candidates appeared together. They first appeared side-by-side at a ceremony at Ground Zero in Manhattan this morning to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
The candidates gathered specifically to addresses two issues: civic engagement and national service.
McCain said he plans to expand volunteer organizations, but noted that the government does not necessarily have to be involved.
"Let's not have government do things that the private sector can do," McCain said, repeating his theory on government activism. "Volunteering starts at the grass roots level, not necessarily at the federal level."
McCain said it has not been his experience that rich people do the most volunteer work.
He stopped, saying "with all due respect to rich people," in a moment that drew light chuckles from the crowd.
Obama pledged to make community service opportunities available to high school and college students – he added the key was to "start early."
Asked if he might have to curtail his ambitious national service plan once in office - as President Bill Clinton had to - because of unions, he said no.
"The spirit of unions is coming together," Obama said, "because we are stronger together than we are individually."
August 21, 2008
The Chronicle covers the conventions
The Chronicle will be in Denver to cover the Democratic National Convention and in St. Paul, Minn., to cover the Republican National Convention. See it all here.
July 10, 2008
Obama nearly forgets unity request
By Samuel Rubenfeld
Senior News Editor
NEW YORK—At a fundraiser, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) almost forgot to ask his donors for money.
The appearance Wednesday night in a ballroom at the Grand Hyatt Hotel was intended to ease tensions between supporters of his and those of Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) by emphasizing unity and requesting his donors to help retire her debt. Clinton herself was supposed to appear at the fundraiser as well, but she had to back out due to votes at the Senate, said Jen Psaki, the traveling press secretary for the Obama campaign.
But the request hadn’t come during a 32-minute stump speech to about 1,000 supporters, who paid at least $1,000 to attend the event. Obama walked off stage to Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed and Delivered,” and reporters at the back of the ballroom began asking staffers questions about why no request was made, and whether one would be made at another time.
Realizing his mistake, Obama rushed back to the microphone about a minute later, saying “Hold on a second guys, I was getting all carried away!”
Then he made the pitch: Obama asked the donors to look underneath their seats for an envelope and to “put something in it.”
“It’s something that is very important to us, and obviously, Sen. Clinton would be grateful as well,” he added.
Obama supporters have balked at aiding Clinton, with a report in the New York Times quoting Clinton campaign officials saying they have received less than $100,000 since early June, when Obama claimed the nomination. The article gave many reasons for the lack of enthusiasm in retiring Clinton’s debt, including many supporters’ believing Clinton racked up the bulk of the debt after she had mathematically lost the nomination and that they did not want to pay off one of her chief vendors, Mark Penn, “a reviled figure in the Obama camp.”
Campaign supporters outside the hotel thought it was not a big deal, he just simply forgot and corrected his mistake as soon as he realized it. “If you did all the things he did today, you’d probably forget too,” said Audrey Goldberg, 73, from Manhattan.
Asked why Obama initially forgot to ask for the money, Psaki said: “That was an important part of the event. He asked for his supporters to contribute, and will continue to do so. I have nothing to add to that.”
Clinton and Obama appeared together later in the evening at a $33,100-a-plate dinner for 125 supporters at the Loews Regency Hotel, raising $4.1 million for his campaign, according to a press pool report.
Senior News Editor
NEW YORK—At a fundraiser, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) almost forgot to ask his donors for money.
The appearance Wednesday night in a ballroom at the Grand Hyatt Hotel was intended to ease tensions between supporters of his and those of Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) by emphasizing unity and requesting his donors to help retire her debt. Clinton herself was supposed to appear at the fundraiser as well, but she had to back out due to votes at the Senate, said Jen Psaki, the traveling press secretary for the Obama campaign.
But the request hadn’t come during a 32-minute stump speech to about 1,000 supporters, who paid at least $1,000 to attend the event. Obama walked off stage to Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed and Delivered,” and reporters at the back of the ballroom began asking staffers questions about why no request was made, and whether one would be made at another time.
Realizing his mistake, Obama rushed back to the microphone about a minute later, saying “Hold on a second guys, I was getting all carried away!”
Then he made the pitch: Obama asked the donors to look underneath their seats for an envelope and to “put something in it.”
“It’s something that is very important to us, and obviously, Sen. Clinton would be grateful as well,” he added.
Obama supporters have balked at aiding Clinton, with a report in the New York Times quoting Clinton campaign officials saying they have received less than $100,000 since early June, when Obama claimed the nomination. The article gave many reasons for the lack of enthusiasm in retiring Clinton’s debt, including many supporters’ believing Clinton racked up the bulk of the debt after she had mathematically lost the nomination and that they did not want to pay off one of her chief vendors, Mark Penn, “a reviled figure in the Obama camp.”
Campaign supporters outside the hotel thought it was not a big deal, he just simply forgot and corrected his mistake as soon as he realized it. “If you did all the things he did today, you’d probably forget too,” said Audrey Goldberg, 73, from Manhattan.
Asked why Obama initially forgot to ask for the money, Psaki said: “That was an important part of the event. He asked for his supporters to contribute, and will continue to do so. I have nothing to add to that.”
Clinton and Obama appeared together later in the evening at a $33,100-a-plate dinner for 125 supporters at the Loews Regency Hotel, raising $4.1 million for his campaign, according to a press pool report.
June 20, 2008
McCain Addresses Supporters in Town Hall on Wall Street
Senior News Editor Samuel Rubenfeld covers the June 12 McCain town hall meeting on Wall Street.
For the full story: http://media.www.hofstrachronicle.com/media/storage/paper222/news/2008/06/20/News/Mccain.Addresses.Supporters.In.Town.Hall.On.Wall.Street-3388563.shtml
For the full story: http://media.www.hofstrachronicle.com/media/storage/paper222/news/2008/06/20/News/Mccain.Addresses.Supporters.In.Town.Hall.On.Wall.Street-3388563.shtml
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