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McCain Camp Demanding L.A. Times Release Obama-Khalidi Video
About six months ago the L.A. Times published a story about a dinner 5 years ago in Chicago to honor Rashid Khalidi. Khalidi is another one of Chicago’s famed ex-terrorists turned ‘respected scholar’. He’s known for his virulent anti-semitism and hatred for Israel, although as a former member of Yasser Arafat’s PLO, that’s certainly no surprise.
What’s also not surprising is that like the rest of Chicago’s high profile undesirables, Khalidi is a good friend of Barack Obama’s.
The L.A. Times story was about the going away party held for Khalidi as he was about to leave the Chicago area and take a job in New York.
According to the Times, a special tribute came during the dinner from Barack Obama. The article refers to Obama as “Khalidi’s friend and frequent dinner companion” who stood and said a few words.
A special tribute came from Khalidi’s friend and frequent dinner companion, the young state Sen. Barack Obama. Speaking to the crowd, Obama reminisced about meals prepared by Khalidi’s wife, Mona, and conversations that had challenged his thinking.
His many talks with the Khalidis, Obama said, had been “consistent reminders to me of my own blind spots and my own biases. . . . It’s for that reason that I’m hoping that, for many years to come, we continue that conversation — a conversation that is necessary not just around Mona and Rashid’s dinner table,” but around “this entire world.”
Suffice it to say that since his run for the presidency began, Obama hasn’t enjoyed any of Mona Khalidi’s cooking.
The article goes on to speculate that Obama has more sympathy for Palestinian grievances than he lets on. His presence at such dinners and other occasions where Jew bashing was taking place has led many in the Palestinian community to believe Obama has a sympathetic ear.
The reason a 6-month old article is being talked about now is because the L.A. Times acknowledges having videotape of the Khalidi dinner — but is refusing to release it.
The McCain campaign says the refusal to release a newsworthy video like that confirms their obvious bias.
“A major news organization is intentionally suppressing information that could provide a clearer link between Barack Obama and Rashid Khalidi,” said McCain spokesman Michael Goldfarb, citing Obama’s friendship with Khalidi, who is now a professor at Columbia University.
“The election is one week away, and it’s unfortunate that the press so obviously favors Barack Obama that this campaign must publicly request that the Los Angeles Times do its job — make information public,” he said.
It really does look pretty bad that the Times would refuse to release such a tape. I have a hard time believing if they had video of McCain attending a dinner for a Klansman they would be withholding it.
This really is par for the course when you look at the pathetic and despicable way the media has behaved throughout this campaign.
The Politico is even weighing in on the controversy and they too believe The L.A. Times should release the video.
Ben Smith from The Politico contacted the Times and their spokeswoman said this:
“When we reported on the tape six months ago, that was our full report,” she said, and asked, “Does Politico release unpublished information?”
Ben Smith answered in his column:
The answer to that question is yes — Politico and most news outlets constantly make available videos and documents, after describing them in part, which is why the Times’ decision not to release the video is puzzling. My instinct, and many reporters’, is to share as much source material as possible.
Critics have suggested that the Times is witholding the video for political reasons, but there are other possibilities: competitive reasons, or simply out of tradition. In the mechanics of reporting, there’s another possibility as well. The video may have been given to the paper on the condition it not be released, or releasing it could compromise its source.
But the Times hasn’t explained the move, and the McCain campaign is turning up the heat on a story that, whether or not the tape is released, is a reminder that some of Obama’s Hyde Park friends stand well to the left of his stated positions.
What this all boils down to is Barack Obama’s judgment in selecting friends. Since his college days, Barack Obama has chosen to associate with every Commie Pinko and left wing nut in Chicago and beyond.
Of course all these people were mere acquaintances — not really friends. Anyone who believes that is a sucker.
I don’t believe Barack Obama shares the same beliefs necessarily as Bill Ayres, but he clearly identifies with him in some way.
If Barack Obama went for a beer with friends after work in Chicago, people like Khalidi and Ayres would have been those friends. I certainly don’t hang around with a bunch of people I have nothing in common with, and I don’t know anyone who does.
Yet we’re supposed to believe that Obama palled around with every wackjob in Chicago, but doesn’t share any of their views? I don’t buy it.
If it was just a Bill Ayres or a Rashid Khalidi, or a Rev. Wright, or a Father Pfleger, or a Tony Rezko, that would be one thing. A lot of people have one crazy friend, so it wouldn’t really be an issue.
However, it’s the totality of friends that’s so damn troubling about Obama. Not one friend, but ALL his friends are radical far-left loons.
Nobody hangs around with that many Pinkos and has nothing in common with them.
The L.A. Times has a responsibility to release that tape and let the American people decide if it’s important or not.
-Chris Jones
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More bad news today:
Obama Leads in Florida, Ohio, Must-Win Battlegrounds for McCain
By Catherine Dodge
Oct. 29 (Bloomberg) — Barack Obama leads in Florida and Ohio, states Republican John McCain must win to capture the presidency, as voters prefer the Democratic presidential nominee’s personal traits and approach on the economy and health care.
Obama, an Illinois senator, tops Arizona Senator McCain by 50 percent to 43 percent among likely voters in Florida, a Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll shows. He leads 49 percent to 40 percent in Ohio, as voters in the two states overwhelmingly rate domestic concerns as more important than national security.
Voters choose Obama, 47, as the candidate best able to handle the financial crisis and health care. And by an almost 2- to-1 margin, they say the Democrat has “the better temperament and personality to be president.”
“Domestic issues are the outstanding issues of the day, and Obama has been owning those,” says Susan Pinkus, the Los Angeles Times polling director. What is more, “voters are more comfortable with him” after his three debate performances.
Florida voters by more than 2-to-1 say a candidate’s views on domestic issues such as health care and the economy are more important than positions on the war in Iraq and terrorism; voters in Ohio say the same by a 3-to-1 margin.
Crucial States
No Republican has won the White House without capturing Ohio, and Florida helped George W. Bush obtain two terms in the White House. The current U.S. electoral map, polls show, indicates it would be almost impossible for McCain, 72, to win without carrying those two states.
In 2004, Bush won 286 Electoral College votes, including Ohio’s 20 and Florida’s 27. It takes 270 to win and if Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic nominee, had won either of those states, he would have defeated the incumbent president.
Less than a week before the Nov. 4 election, Obama is running ahead in all the states that Kerry won, and is highly competitive in more than half a dozen states where Bush prevailed.
There’s also a gender gap in the Democrat’s favor. Among women voters in Florida, Obama leads 51 percent to 41 percent; in Ohio, his lead is 54 percent to 38 percent. Obama has a small lead among men in Florida, while McCain is slightly ahead with male voters in Ohio.
Temperament
In Florida, 58 percent of voters say Obama has a better temperament to be president, compared with 30 percent for McCain. In Ohio, Obama beats McCain on that question 57 percent to 29 percent.
“I find Obama to be pretty calm under any circumstance,” says poll respondent Donna Orcutt, 63, of Toledo, Ohio. “In the debates, some of the zingers he got he handled pretty good. If the object was to see if they could make him lose his temper, that didn’t happen.”
Orcutt, a Democrat who is retired and used to work for a house-cleaning company and as a secretary, says Obama has a better understanding of the economy because he didn’t grow up in a privileged environment. McCain, she says, “is a very nice man,” though he has never had to worry “about where the next paycheck is coming from.”
On the question of which candidate they trust to make the right decision about the economy, voters in Florida pick Obama over McCain by a 9-point margin, and in Ohio, the Democrat leads by 12 points.
Health Care
Obama does even better on the question of which candidate would better handle health care. In Florida, he is preferred by 52 percent of voters, compared with 34 percent for McCain; in Ohio, 54 percent pick Obama and 30 percent choose the Republican.
The Democrat also is ahead with white working-class voters, who overwhelmingly favored his opponent for the Democratic nomination, Senator Hillary Clinton of New York. Obama gets the support of 52 percent of these voters in Ohio, compared with 38 percent for McCain; in Florida, this group is almost evenly split, with a slight edge for Obama.
Even though Bush used victories in Ohio and Florida to build his winning coalition, more than seven in 10 voters in both states now disapprove of his job performance; more than eight in 10 say the country is on the wrong track.
Seventy percent of voters in Florida and 62 percent in Ohio say the recent troubles in the economy have hurt their family’s financial situation.
Change Agent
Ohio and Florida voters also say the ability to bring change to Washington — a central theme of Obama’s campaign — is more important than having the most experience, which is one of McCain’s selling points.
“I truly see Obama as someone who will come in with a less political and more intelligent problem-solving approach to really trying to address the critical problems,” says poll respondent Laurie Kadoch, 60, a Miami Democrat, who teaches at Florida International University College of Law.
Bush’s record is hurting McCain in Ohio, where more than half of voters say the Republican will continue the current administration’s policies. Voters also are split on that question in Florida.
As in previous polls, the bright spots for McCain are his ability to successfully handle the war in Iraq and protect the country from terrorism. The Arizona senator leads Obama in those categories in both states, the poll shows.
“He does have a whole lot more experience than Obama does,” said Republican poll respondent Maria Lyle, 25, a stay- at-home mother from Jackson Center, Ohio. “His ideas line up more with how I feel. With the terrorism issue, I feel we do need to have our troops over there.”
Palin Pick
McCain’s choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate appears to be a drag on the ticket in both states. Less than half of voters in Florida and Ohio view her as qualified to be president. By comparison, more than seven in 10 voters in both states say Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden, a Delaware senator, is qualified to be president.
The survey of 809 registered voters in Florida — including 639 likely voters — and of 816 registered voters in Ohio — including 644 likely voters — was conducted Oct. 25-27. The margin of sampling error in both states is plus or minus 3 percentage points among registered voters, and of plus or minus 4 points among likely voters.
The Jewish World Review is offering $5000 for a copy of the tape!
I think the LA Times should release the tape Of Obama and Kahlidi. What are they hiding? I will not ask who are they protecting because we all know it’s Obama, so release the tape and let the people decide.