Free Republic

President-elect Barack Obama's 3 million campaign volunteers got re-enlistment notices this week. Campaign manager David Plouffe, in a mass e-mail sent Wednesday to former workers, asked how much time they can spare for four missions integral to Obama's effort to transform his victory into a broader political movement. The volunteers' options are, Plouffe wrote: -Campaign for progressive state and local candidates -Undertake grassroots local efforts to advance Obama's agenda -Train others in Obama's organizing techniques -Focus on local political issues. "Obama's building a political machine," said Stephen Hess, a presidential scholar at the Brookings Institution, a center-left Washington research group.

CBNNews.com - The primary race is officially over but neither Barack Obama nor Hillary Clinton are taking a break. Today the two spoke at a Washington conference sponsored by American Israel Public Affairs Committee, an influential pro-Israel lobby. Both candidates affirmed a strong defense of Israel against terrorists and rogue nations. "We know that we cannot relent, we cannot yield. And as president I will never compromise when it comes to israel's security," Obama said. "We stand with Israel because Israel demonstrates that democracy can flourish in the most difficult conditions. Because it's very existence is a stinging rebuke to...

War On Terror: Barack Obama says he'll do everything in his power "to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon — everything." But what he'll really need is force, something in which he has shown little interest.Appearing before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Obama turned on his trademark charm and garnered a standing ovation from a most hawkish audience by pledging to remove the Iranian nuclear threat and defend Israel. "The danger from Iran is grave," the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee said Tuesday. "It is real, and my goal will be to eliminate this threat." Obama promised Israel supporters,...

TODAY, SENATOR BARACK OBAMA will speak before the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), where he will execute a maneuver likely to become familiar to the American people in the months ahead: the pander pivot. That is, a sharp turn to the right to satisfy a vital Democratic constituency whose support he now needs. The story begins nine months ago, when the Senate took up debate on the so-called Kyl-Lieberman amendment--a bipartisan measure that urged the U.S. government to designate Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist....

Democratic presumptive presidential nominee Barack Obama vowed Wednesday he would work to "eliminate" the threat posed by Iran to security in the Middle East and around the globe. "There's no greater threat to Israel or to the peace and stability of the region than Iran," he told the powerful pro-Israel lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Council (AIPAC). "The danger from Iran is grave and real and my goal will be to eliminate this threat," he said, adding loudly to add emphasis that he would "everything" to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

"Jerusalem must remain the undivided capital of Israel," Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said in his first speech to a major organization after beating his rival Hillary Clinton and securing his candidacy for US president, Wednesday. Obama said the United States will remain as staunch an ally of Israel as it has been in the past, and said that Israel should have the same status as states which are full members of NATO in terms of military budget allocations.

LINK TO THE CLIPIs she for or against gay marriage? For or against the war on terror? For or against the 2nd Amendment? For our against the expression of religious values? Does anyone know for what Hillary really stands? The answer is that Hillary stands for Hillary. She will do and say anything to any group if she sees an advantage. In this 1996 clip, Hillary is speaking to a group of Democrats. She is telling them something that we all know. She will try to fool enough voters to gain the ultimate political power, and then WATCH OUT....

**Exclusive** Senator Hillary Clinton has confided to associates that she intends to vote FOR Bush Supreme Court nominee John Roberts, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned. Unless some unforeseen development occurs around Roberts, Clinton will throw her support behind confirmation, says a top source. "Look, we're not thrilled President Bush is in office and gets to make these choices," said a top Hillary source, "but we have to make the best of the situation until the next election!" With her support of Roberts, Clinton ignores pressure from the reactionary-activist wing of the Democrat party. "She is simply doing what is right...

By Patricia Wilson SANTA FE, N.M. (Reuters) - Democratic challenger John Kerry on Monday blamed President Bush's "gross mismanagement" of the Iraq war for rising gas prices and vowed to free the United States from dependence on Middle East oil in 10 years. The Massachusetts senator rebuked his Republican rival, a former Texas oil man, for warming "the hearts of his powerful friends" in the industry with a $15 billion tax break while leaving average American consumers out in the cold. "In the past four years, in nearly every decision he's made, George W. Bush has chosen the powerful and...

Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean quickly clarified comments yesterday that he won't judge Osama Bin Laden without a trial. "I've resisted pronouncing a sentence before guilt is found," Dean told New Hampshire's Concord Monitor. "I still have this old-fashioned notion that even with people like Osama, who is very likely to be found guilty, we should do our best not to, in positions of executive power, not to prejudge jury trials," he said. It took the former Vermont governor a few hours after the story got picked up on the Internet and on wire services to realize that even if...