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From the BBC: McCain Aides quit over Burma ties (full article)
Douglas Goodyear, who had been chosen to run the 2008 Republican convention, said he was resigning “so as not to become a distraction in this campaign”.
Both Mr Goodyear and the second aide to resign this weekend, Doug Davenport, worked for the lobbying firm DCI, the former as its chief executive.
Newsweek magazine revealed on Saturday that DCI was paid more than $300,000 (£150,000) by Burma’s military leadership for lobbying work to improve its image in the US.
The BBC’s Jamie Coomarasamy in Washington says the prominent role of lobbyists in Mr McCain’s campaign was already controversial, given Mr McCain’s frequent pledges to fight against the influence of special interests in Washington.
That two of those lobbyists were linked to a special interest currently facing worldwide condemnation should give cause for reflection within Mr McCain’s inner circle, the BBC correspondent adds.
There has been international outcry over the Burmese authorities’ response to Cyclone Nargis. The US State Department has previously criticised Burma over its human rights record.
From The International Herald Tribune: McCain Allies Tout Blue Collar Strategy (full article)
An adviser to John McCain says if he takes 20 percent of the Democratic blue-collar vote nationally, he wins the presidency.
The remark by Charlie Black, quoted in The Christian Science Monitor, comes across as hasty since McCain people are also saying that once Barack Obama secures the nomination, he’ll get up to a 10-point bump in head-on-head polls. That’s a hit the Republicans acknowledge they can’t begin to absorb until September.
From Washington (AFP): Republicans Train Sights on Obama (full article)
As the Democratic primary contest heads to its climax, the Republicans are firing the opening shots of an election barrage to come against their probable White House opponent, Barack Obama.
Republican John McCain and his colleagues already see Hillary Clinton’s campaign as mortally wounded, and are busy shaping their anti-Obama offensive in terms of national security, taxes and experience.
Mitt Romney, who was beaten by McCain in the Republican nominating race, said that for all his soaring oratory, Obama could not be trusted with the world’s most powerful job.
“He has not accomplished anything during his life, in terms of legislation or leading an enterprise or making a business work or a city work or a state work,” the former Massachusetts governor told CNN.
“He really has very little experience and the presidency of the United States is not an internship,” Romney said.
The Republican Party of President George W. Bush is portraying McCain as a grizzled veteran in contrast to Obama, the 46-year-old freshman senator from Illinois.
While each pledges a respectful campaign should they wrap up their parties’ nominations, the two senators are already at each other’s throats.
McCain last week said that Hamas, through a spokesman for the militant Palestinian movement, had declared its support for an Obama presidency. “I guarantee they’re not going to endorse me,” he said.
Obama shot back at the Republican’s “smear,” which he called “offensive,” as the two waged a war of words over Iraq and which candidate was the best bet to prosecute the “war on terror” and protect Israel.
The Republican’s campaign took furious objection to Obama’s statement that with his Hamas remarks, McCain was “losing his bearings.”
