campaigning

Vote Clinton, not "Barack the Magic Negro"

Julien — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:27:33 +0200

In an attempt to stop Barack Obama from getting into the White House, a rightwing radio presenter has been encouraging Republican supporters to vote for Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries in the hope of getting the supposedly weaker candidate nominated to face John McCain.

Despite a landslide 56% to 42% win in North Carolina for Barack Obama yesterday, Clinton managed to clinch the Indiana primary by 51% to his 49%. The Obama camp is blaming the results on a radio campaign, called "Operation Chaos" by talk show host Rush Limbaugh, who asked his Republican listeners to stop "Barack the Magic Negro" getting into office by voting for the supposedly weaker candidate, Clinton, in the primaries. Because Indiana was an open primary, registered Republicans were able to walk into a Democratic polling booth and vote, and according to the media, they did. The scale of this operation and the real impact, however, is impossible to estimate.

McCain, Obama, and their equally offensive pastors

Julien — Mon, 05 May 2008 17:33:21 +0200

Posted on Flickr by "corn1971"

While Barack Obama was in danger of being forced out of the democratic race for supporting his "anti-America" pastor Jeremiah Wright, John McCain seems to have escaped scrutiny even though he endorses a pastor who refers to the Catholic Church as the "great whore" and the New Orleans catastrophe as God’s punishment for homosexuals.

Pastor John Hagee of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, chose McCain over Republican candidate Mike Huckabee and declared his endorsement on stage with McCain on February 27. Questions have been raised about statements made by Hagee such as "what happened in New Orleans looked like the curse of God", linking the event with a "homosexual parade there on the Monday that Katrina came". But the biggest criticism has come from members of the Catholic community, who said he has compared the church’s methods with those of Hitler. Despite criticism, McCain accepted the endorsement and said that Hagee “supports what I stand for and believe in”. But when questioned about this later, he replied that "It’s simply not accurate to say that because someone endorses me that I therefore embrace their views".

Penn primary: a blue-collar worker tells us about his first time voting

Julien — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 11:24:43 +0200

A polling station in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. Photo by Sandra Miller, a farmer who's following the primaries for the Observers.

Hillary Clinton won the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania yesterday, keeping her in the nomination race. Rather than speculate on the details of the results, (which you can find here), we give the account of Mike Ruddy, a mason, one of the much-talked about "blue-collar workers", who voted for the first time yesterday.

Below-the-belt campaign videos

Julien — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 11:25:33 +0200

Campaigning for the American presidency just got nastier in the run-up to the Pennsylvania primary on Tuesday. The only candidate to keep out of the campaign video catfight is Republican candidate John McCain... although the ageing conservative hasn't managed to avert attacks fired in his direction. Here's our selection of below the belt campaign videos.

Bollywood singing out for condoms

Julien — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 11:57:23 +0200

A group of Indian campaigners is singing and dancing their way to the glorification of condom use. It's a crucial fight in their central region, where two percent of the population is HIV positive. And the result - a Bollywood style video clip - is hilarious.

According to a 2007 survey by UNAIDS and India's National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), between 2 million and 3.6 million people live with the HIV virus in India, placing the country third in the world after South Africa and Nigeria. However, AIDS prevention in the country is not an easy job. A large part of the population, particularly in rural areas, cling on to preconceived taboos about sex, and are often hesitant to use condoms.

"Clinton has lost. It's over"

Julien — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 16:19:05 +0100

To our Observer Joe Sudbay, Clinton has lost. This weekend, the candidate's already flailing popularity took another hit when her account of a life-endangering trip to Bosnia was refuted. Footage from the trip shows school children greeting her plane and a sing-along with Sheryl Crow.

At the same time, Barack Obama fought his way out of a popularity slump following his ties to controversial black pastor Jeremiah Wright. The turnaround in the democratic candidates' rollercoaster race sees Clinton's reputation plummet further, and along with her trailing delegate count of 1499 to Obama's 1620, calls for her to drop out of the race are not surprising.

UPDATE (27.03.08 - 17h Paris time): See the parody of the "Clinton in Bosnia" video at the bottom of the page.

What's McCain doing in Israel?

Julien — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:12:06 +0100

John McCain arrived in Israel on Tuesday as part of a trip to the Middle East. Is the White House hopeful really interested in helping with a peace process in the region as he says, or just looking to please the pro-Israeli electorate in the US? Our Observers pose the question.

Amongst other talked-about statements during his visit to the country, McCain on Tuesday pronounced Jerusalem as the "capital of Israel". Although he urged the speeding-up of a regional peace process, he also gave his support to Israel's tough policy in response to Hamas's offensive, saying that "no nation in the world can be attacked incessantly ... without responding". While the Republican candidate did not visit the Palestinian territories, he did phone President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss negotiations.

Material compiled by our Observer for Israel, Roi Ben-Yehuda.

McCain: "al Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training"

Julien — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 11:09:38 +0100

In a speech in Amman, Jordan, on Tuesday, John McCain declared that "al Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training". The statement will certainly not help the Republican candidate make it to the White House, seeing as al Qaeda, a Sunni terrorist movement, is unlikely to be supported by the Iranian Shiite regime.

McCain only managed to correct his mistake at the end of the speech after receiving advice through his earpiece from Connecticut senator Joseph Lieberman. For the Republican leader, who based his campaign on his ability to be “commander in chief from day one”, the blunder could cost him dearly. Barack Obama seized the opportunity to point out that “we heard Senator McCain confuse Sunni and Shi'ite, Iran and al Qaeda. Maybe that is why he voted to go to war with a country that had no al Qaeda ties”, according to the New York Times.

What Obama's "spiritual adviser" really said

Julien — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:21:00 +0100

Since Barack Obama's close ties to black pastor Jeremiah Wright emerged in the mainstream media last week, comments deemed anti-patriotic and racist from the democratic candidate's "spiritual adviser" have dominated the news. See some of these infamous remarks straight from the horse's mouth, notably about September 11, along with viewpoints from our Observers on both Democrat and Republican fronts.

Odd looking photographer? Must be a terrorist

Julien — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 11:16:28 +0100

The London Metropolitan police have just issued new measures in the fight against terrorism. During a five week campaign police officers are expected to stop and search more “odd” looking people and the public are being warned to report anything “suspicious”. But after just two weeks since its launch the public are starting to question whether it’s infringing on civil liberties. Photographers in particular are sick of being questioned by policemen and being told to move on. To voice their complaints, artists are creating their own versions of the campaign’s posters.