2008 US Presidential Election.

The Chicago Tribune seems to fancy itself in the role of kingmaker when it comes to knocking candidates out of political races, and helping hometown politicians it favors to win. Its latest effort has targeted Rudy Giuliani, who all but officially entered the race for the Republican nomination for President in 2008 this week. Within two days of his announcement, a lengthy “investigative” piece appeared on the front page of the paper trashing Giuliani for his high speaking fees and some questionable business clients in the years since he entered the private sector.

American Thinker

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) — The 716.5-billion-U.S.-dollar military budget requested from Congress by U.S. President George W. Bush earlier this week has set new records and raised many eyebrows both at home and abroad.

White House officials said the budget request can be viewed as the Bush administration’s efforts to bring defense spending under control and make it more transparent.

The package includes 235.1 billion dollars to support the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and the regular defense budget for the 2008 fiscal year, which alone hits 481.4 billion dollars, among the highest in the history of U.S. defense expenditure.

CHINA VIEW/a>

EARLY RANKINGS of the Democratic presidential field seem always to treat New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson the same way: They nod to his obvious credentials and remarkable resume — even declare him the best-prepared candidate to be president — then assign him a seat firmly among the also-rans.

Why the discrepancy? It tends to boil down to money and hype, and he is not expected to turn up enough of either.

That’s not a logical situation; of course, politics often is far from logical. But this early in the South Carolina primary process, there’s time to take a look at this wide-open field of presidential contenders and really consider the options.

thestate

Barack Obama smiled when I asked him why white people always call him “unthreatening.” Does a black man have to be “unthreatening” to get elected president in 2008? I asked.

“Well, look, our racial politics are complicated in this country,” Obama said. “There are lots of wounds that are still healing.” I also asked the Democratic senator from Illinois if he were on some kind of crusade, some venture other than getting himself into the Oval Office.

unionleader

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many Democratic Party backers in the United States would like to have Hillary Rodham Clinton as their presidential candidate, according to a poll by Rasmussen Reports. 34 per cent of respondents would support the New York senator in a 2008 primary.

Illinois senator Barack Obama is second with 18 per cent, followed by former North Carolina senator John Edwards with 10 per cent, and former U.S. vice-president Al Gore also with 10 per cent. Support is lower for Delaware senator Joe Biden and retired general Wesley Clark.

angus-reid

Barack Obama smiled when I asked him why white people always call him “unthreatening.” Does a black man have to be “unthreatening” to get elected president in 2008? I asked.

“Well, look, our racial politics are complicated in this country,” Obama said. “There are lots of wounds that are still healing.” I also asked the Democratic senator from Illinois if he were on some kind of crusade, some venture other than getting himself into the Oval Office.

unionleader

The widow of a former US Senator and eight local politicians are lining up to run for the Merrimack Valley-based congressional seat after learning that US Representative Martin T. Meehan may step aside to run the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.

boston.com

WASHINGTON - Democratic Sen. Barack Obama is asking whether he can take money from donors who want him to be president, then give it back later. The Federal Election Commission said Wednesday that it will look into the novel question.

Obama is indicating that he wants to at least keep the option of using the public financing system for his presidential campaign if he becomes the Democratic nominee. To do so, the Illinois senator could not spend any money from contributors for political purposes, but instead use federal funding that is expected to total about $85 million for next year’s general election.

“Senator Obama has long been a proponent of public financing of campaigns and we are asking the FEC to take a step that could preserve the public financing option for the party’s nominees,” said Obama spokesman Bill Burton.

Yahoo! News

DETROIT - Presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Wednesday made a direct appeal to Republican fiscal conservatives, arguing that the president should veto any spending bill that exceeds its targets.

Speaking to the Detroit Economic Club, the former Massachusetts governor addressed an issue that has riled the GOP base, who contend that the party’s loss of power last November was based, in part, on excessive spending.

“When our party has been in charge, we didn’t distinguish ourselves on spending restraint,” Romney said. “That’s got to change — and it would in my administration.”

Yahoo! News

NEW YORK - Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has embarked on one of the more ambitious fundraising efforts, with a goal of raising $15 million by the end of March and amassing more than $75 million before 2008.

Clinton and members of her senior campaign team hosted a meeting of about 250 national fundraisers in Washington on Wednesday and most promised to raise at least $25,000 each for the New York senator’s White House run.

Senior members of Clinton’s campaign team, including campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle and pollster Mark Penn, sketched out campaign strategy and shared polling information with the group, while Clinton delivered the closing pitch for support.

Yahoo! News