Photograph of a Singapore restaurant worker adjusting a sign for a lunch promotion by Wong Maye-E/AP Last night, it was confirmed that Democratic candidate Barack Obama's camp bought 30 minutes of national primetime on CBS and NBC to air on October 29 at 8 p.m. His campaign is also negotiating with ABC as well as Fox, which could have a conflict if there is a Game 6 of the World Series. Variety explains that......

Yesterday, Presidential candidate John McCain's campaign angrily lashed out at the NY Times, calling the Old Gray Lady a "pro-Obama organization." The Times had published an article about how McCain campaign manager Rick Davis "was paid more than $30,000 a month for five years as president of an advocacy group set up by the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to defend them against stricter regulations." Yesterday, campaign adviser Steve Schmidt said, "Whatever the......

Photograph by Boss Tweed on Flickr After Ed Koch said he was supporting Barack Obama for president because Sarah Palin scares him, Koch has been hearing from some of the folks who subscribe to his commentary via e-mail. The former mayor shared some of the missives he received--plus replies he's sending--with the NY Times(which incidentally is one of Koch's most trusted news sources!). While most of the 400-some e-mails were positive, but the ones......

John McCain and Barack Obama made their first official appearance together as their parties' presidential nominees today during a visit to the World Trade Center site. McCain's wife Cindy and Mayor Bloomberg also accompanied the candidates down the ramp to the "pit." (Michelle Obama is in Chicago with the daughters.) The NY Times reports "they walked shoulder-to-shoulder down a long ramp toward the site, occasionally chatting along the way." After paying their respects by......

If it's the presidential election, it means that we are all going to be beaten down by the outrage, both imagined and real. Earlier today, Barack Obama belitted John McCain and Sarah Palin's attempt to seize the "change" mantle from him, saying, "You can put lipstick on a pig, it's still a pig. You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change. It's still gonna stink." In response, the McCain-Palin camp......

Last week's Republican National Convention sparked passionate debate over the qualifications and treatment of Sarah Palin as well as John McCain's poaching the message of "change" from the Democrats the week prior. Possibly lost in the shuffle was the relatively small amount of airplay given to the 9/11 attacks, especially when compared to how central a theme they were throughout the previous RNC held here in New York. Even Rudy Giuliani didn't spend a great......

If you're a registered Democrat or Republican, you can head to your voting location to cast your vote in primary elections in your district. There are a number of hotly contested seats (here's a list of candidates PDF): Real World alum Kevin Powell is hoping to usurp longtime Representative Edolphus Towns in Brooklyn, City Council members Simcha Felder and Kendall Stewart are hoping for Kevin Parker's State Senate seat in Brooklyn, Daniel Squadron challenging State......

Barack Obama and John McCain will come together at Ground Zero for Thursday's seventh anniversary of the 9/11 attacks "to honor the memory of each and every American who died, and to grieve with the families and friends who lost loved ones.” The notion to commemorate in unity came about during a conversation Wednesday when Obama had called McCain to congratulate him on the Republican nomination. Obama pitched the idea and McCain immediately accepted the......

Hillary Clinton will be in Florida tomorrow, as Barack Obama's campaign mobilizes prominent Democratic women to hit the campaign trail on his behalf as the GOP touts Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Clinton appeared at the Labor Day Parade in Midtown yesterday, but she didn't directly critique Palin. The Senator from New York did say, "I slightly amend my comments from Denver. No way, no how, no McCain, no Palin." That's a variation on......

Barack Obama made his way through New Jersey yesterday, capping off a day of campaigning and fund raising with a $30k a head dinner party at Bon Jovi's house last night. Bon Jovi joked about Barack being more than experienced enough for the Oval Office saying, "When I look at Barack, I see an old man." (Obama is one year Bon Jovi's senior.) Obama spoke briefly saying he expected the attacks to worsen, following the......

John McCain accepted the Republican presidential nomination last night, “Let me offer an advance warning to the old, big spending, do-nothing, me first, country second, Washington crowd: Change is coming... I have that record and the scars to prove it. Senator Obama does not. You know, I’ve been called a maverick, someone who marches to the beat of his own drum... I don’t work for a party. I don’t work for special interests. I don’t......

John McCain has all but canceled tomorrow's first night of the Republican National Convention due to the expected severity of Hurricane Gustav's arrival along the Gulf Coast. "This is a time when we have to do away with our party politics and we have to act as Americans." Earlier in the day it had been announce that President Bush and Vice President Cheney would not be speaking at the convention as scheduled tomorrow so that......

Hillary Clinton renewed her call for party unity behind Barack Obama during the Democrats weekly radio address yesterday. Clinton was asked to give the address following the Dems big week in Denver by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. She hit home stumping points for Barack about how his presidency along with a Democrat-controlled Congress would revitalize the economy and lead to more affordable college education. Clinton said that the gap between Democrats and Republicans "could......

With the first female on the Republican ticket, John McCain pulled off quite a feat by introducing Sarah Palin, first term Governor of Alaka, as his running mate. But with 66 days till the general election, the excitement of the choice will give way to many questions. The resounding feeling is that McCain was bold enogh for him to "reclaim his maverick image", but the pick has its risks. (One Republican operative tells the......

Republican presidential John McCain surprised most everyone by selecting Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, as his running mate. He said to the 44-year-old mother of five who joined him at an event in Dayton, Ohio, "I’m very happy today to spend my birthday with you, and to make a historic announcement in Dayton.” Palin is the first female vice presidential candidate in the Republican party. ...

Barack Obama accepted the Democratic party's presidential nomination in front of a reported crowd of 84,000 at Denver's Invesco Field, saying, "Tonight, I say to the people of America, to Democrats and Republicans and independents across this great land — enough!" He blamed President George W. Bush's "failed policies," and said, “America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.” Obama emphasized the economic hardships Americans have had......

The Democratic Party nominated Barack Obama as its 2008 presidential candidate, making him the first African-American presidential nominee in a major political party. He won the nomination in an emotional moment during the roll call: After New Mexico yielded its place to Illinois during the alphabetical-by-state roll call, Illinois then yielded its place to New York. In the middle of the New York delegation--surrounded by Governor David Paterson, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Senator Charles Schumer,......

After a bitter primary season, Hillary Clinton gave a rousing and passionate speech in support of presidential candidate Barack Obama during the second night of the Democratic Convention. She said she was a "proud supporter of Barack Obama" and "Barack Obama is my candidate, and he must be our president." Clinton, who remembered staunch surrogate Representative Stephanie Tubbs and thanked numerous people--especially her "sisterhood of the traveling pantsuits"-- articulated why Obama had her vote and......

Rudy Giuliani kicked up his anti-Obama rhetoric by slamming Barack Obama's VP pick. He said, "The strong choice would have been Hillary Clinton, the obvious choice would have been Hillary Clinton...It's kind of a no-brainer that that's your ticket." Of course he'd say that: The RNC keynote speaker is continuing along John McCain's campaign strategy of touting Clinton, and why not, since, per a CNN poll, 27% of Clinton supporters are now for McCain. Clinton......

Photograph of Biden speaking while Obama listen at the rally in Springfield, IL by M. Spencer Green/AP Yesterday, the 2008 Democratic ticket appeared together for the first time in Springfield, Illinois. When Barack Obama introduced Joe Biden, he emphasized the Senator from Delware's roots, “He is still that scrappy kid from Scranton who beat the odds — the dedicated family man and committed Catholic who knows every conductor on that Amtrak train to Wilmington.”......

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has finally made his decision for his running mate and announced that he was selecting Senator Joseph Biden through a series of text messages that went out after 3:00 a.m. An e-mail--from Obama "himself"--later followed, saying, "I have some important news that I want to make official. I've chosen Joe Biden to be my running mate. Joe and I will appear for the first time as running mates this afternoon in Springfield, Illinois -- the same place this campaign began more than 19 months ago."...

As various national polls show Senator John McCain cutting Senator Barack Obama's lead for the presidential race, the Obama camp has unveiled an ad reminding voters that McCain has more than just one or two houses. Politico reported that when it asked how many homes McCain and his wife owned, McCain said, "I think — I'll have my staff get to you...It's condominiums where — I'll have them get to you." When his staff......

After earlier reports that Senator Barack Obama would be ready to announce his vice presidential running mate this week, now it seems that he may do so as soon as Wednesday. According to the NY Times, the focus is "mainly on three candidates: Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana, Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware," (though there are hopes Obama will choose a female running mate, like Senator Hillary......

President, governor, a third term as mayor, and now add Secretary of the Treasury to the list of jobs that Mayor Bloomberg is not interested in. Amidst speculation that Bloomberg might be considered to head the nation's treasury, Bloomberg said he had no interest in the position and suggested that any recent ones from Robert Reich to current Secretary Henry Paulson would make more fitting choices. Bloomberg also responded to John McCain's comments from earlier......

The Commission on Presidential Debates announced moderators for the three presidential debates and one vice-presidential debate scheduled for September and October. The presidential debates are: September 26 at the University of Mississippi in Oxford with Jim Lehrer moderating; October 7 at Belmont University in Nashville, TN with Tom Brokaw moderating; and October 15 at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY with Bob Schieffer moderating. Gwen Ifill is moderating the VP debate at Washington University in St.......

Former President Bill Clinton spoke to ABC News about his role in his wife's presidential campaign and said, "There are things that I wish I'd urged her to do. Things I wish I'd said. Things I wish I hadn't said." But the regrets aren't the ones you're thinking of: He said emphatically, referring to his remarks after Barack Obama's South Carolina victory (when he had referred to Jesse Jackson's 1984 and 1988 S.C. primary wins),......

The Daily News reports Hillary Clinton will not "file a formal request to the convention asking to be nominated along with Barack Obama" at the Democratic National Convention next month. The source said though "People are still circulating petitions on her behalf...this is a done deal" (the News points out that delegates can still vote for whomever they want). In other news, a Clinton-for-VP group says Clinton is not on the VP shortlist and the......

The presidential election will be here before we know it. And we'll know it because we'll have seen a hundred million attack ads from each side! Yesterday, the campaigns of both Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama released sharp ads criticizing each other. McCain's camp compared Obama's rock star (Barackstar?) status with that of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. See it below: Obama's spokesman slammed the ad and the Democrat's team unveiled their response,......

The once rosy relationship between Harlem and Bill Clinton may have soured significantly due to some of the tenser moments spawned from the drawn out primary battle between his wife Hilary and Barack Obama. The NY Times has a piece today about black residents still harboring a grudge against the former president who has kept an office in Harlem since 2001. After several highly publicized comments during the campaign from Mr. Clinton that were perceived......

Mayor Bloomberg kept himself in the middle of national political scene by speaking at an Independent Party fund raising breakfast in Minnesota. While he was expected to tout John McCain a little, Bloomberg had spent equal time praising both McCain and Barack Obama to the Independents, noting the candidates' willingness to buck party lines. Once considered to be on the short list as a potential running mate for both candidates, the mayor has refused to......