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A coalition of prominent evangelical leaders who've partnered with Third Way, a Washington think tank influential in shaping Democratic Party policy and messaging, is presenting policy recommendations to Barack Obama's transition team today that purport to offer a consensus approach to hot-button issues that have long divided evangelicals and liberals. More News * Hot Docs: Obama and Human Rights, Skewed Nuclear Spending * Is Mike Huckabee Right About Sarah Palin and the Media? * Democrats Push for Stimulus Package to Include Education Spending The recommendations include a framework for reducing demand for abortion without further restricting abortion rights, through initiatives...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will be on different networks Sunday, but both will offer the same basic message — they need to work together for the good of the country and the success of President-elect Barack Obama.

Will America Unite in One Obama? by Edward Hudgins December 29, 2008 - George W. Bush ran for president as “a uniter, not a divider.” He only managed to unite Republicans and Democrats in disappointment—though for different reasons—with his administration. Barack Obama sounded the same theme: “We’re all in this together!” Will he succeed where Dubya failed? Divided States of Americans Many Americans have seen in recent years the culture and politics growing more mean and coarse, contentious and uncivil, malicious and malevolent. We’re bombarded by coast-to-coast belly-aching on 24-hour cable news channels where we’re likely to encounter shout-fests. Talk...

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) thinks that President-elect Obama picked same-sex marriage opponent Rick Warren to give the inauguration invocation because Obama "overestimates" his ability to unify people. "Oh, I believe that he overestimates his ability to get people to put aside fundamental differences," said Frank, the first House member to come out of the closet voluntarily. Frank, on MSNBC on Monday, said that he's delighted Obama was elected and that the country is headed into the "best time" for public policy since the New Deal. "But my one question is, I think he overestimates his ability to take people, particularly...

Shockwaves expose the fragility of finance in Europe Noriko Hama (Maincihi) How has an integrated Europe responded to the current financial upheaval? Has it displayed its unity as a community? While various perspectives on these questions have livened up the pages of Europe's financial newspapers and publications, what is the real story? It is my belief that Europe, to put it bluntly, has hardly demonstrated unity and instead has put its lack of teamwork and institutional flaws on display. The financial turmoil spread in full force from the U.S. to Europe at the end of September. The bankruptcy of Lehman...

"I am shocked. It is hard to find words. I had immense respect for him". These are the grieving words attributed to Mikhail Gorbachev in a multitude of news reports now streaming out of Russia concerning the death of Patriarch Alexy II, the beloved head of the Russian Orthodox Church. Reportedly interested in the claims of the Christian faith in the last few years, the last President of the Soviet Union and champion of the “Glasnost” strategy which helped consign that former world power to the history books expressed the sentiments of the entire Russian people. Under the leadership of...

Vermont is at it again. This time, residents of the Town of Woodbury - approximately 700 adults - are quarreling over 'how and where' students at the local Elementary School should recite the Pledge of Allegiance. First some background, followed by some legal history, en-route to what may be the underlying story. It seems that "No one's sure when daily recitations of the Pledge of Allegiance fell by the wayside" at Woodbury's 19th-century schoolhouse, which has 55 students in four classrooms covering grades K-6. In September, parent Ted Tedesco, took the initiative and "... began circulating petitions calling for its...

The toughest job faced by every president-elect is making a smooth transition from partisan candidate to national leader. Political campaigns are corrosively partisan by their very nature, but sustaining popular support for long amid Washington's charged partisan environment requires a consensus-seeking approach, coupled with the kind of astute political judgment that has long been lacking from one end of Pennsylvania Avenue to the other. President Bush failed to live up to his promise to be a uniter, not a divider, which in no small measure is responsible for his diminished standing as reflected in national polls. That should be Lesson...

By Rene Guerra The Democrat nomenklatura ---particularly through its loudmouth, the “mainstream” media, plus one or two idiotic “conservative” pundits--- are blanketing us now with the mantras that we all should show “unity around ‘our’ new president,” that we express “graciousness toward [Barack Hussein] Obama,” and other blather. Of course, RINOs and “moderate” Republicans will heed and march in lockstep, but conscious conservatives and true Republicans, for sure, consider those duplicitous calls as German Jews must have considered similar calls after Hitler grabbed the Chancellery. The German Jews had by then browsed through “Mein Kempf”; we, conservatives, have browsed...

'Gay' threats target Christians over same-sex 'marriage' ban 'Burn their f---ing churches, then tax charred timbers' Posted: November 05, 2008 11:00 pm Eastern © 2008 WorldNetDaily Decisions by voters in Florida, Arizona and California to join residents of 27 other states with constitutional protections for traditional marriage have prompted threats of violence against Christians and their churches. "Burn their f---ing churches to the ground, and then tax the charred timbers," wrote "World O Jeff" on the JoeMyGod blogspot today within hours of California officials declaring Proposition 8 had been approved by a margin of 52 percent to 48 percent. Confirmation...

RUSH: Want some exit poll data to buttress what I was discussing in the first hour? Senator McCain, the theme, the purpose of his campaign was to go after moderates, to go after these rock-ribbed independents and so forth. McCain lost independents and moderates 60 to 39%. Did you hear that? Do you people hear that? And the wizards of smart on our side advocated this very strategery! Just walk across the aisle. You walk across the aisle, they break your leg. You reach across the aisle, they break your arm. If you walk and reach across the aisle, they...

Senator Hillary Clinton announced today a new grassroots effort to get her supporters to fall in behind one-time rival Barack Obama. "As we continue to read the headlines about our troubled economy, the stakes of this election only get higher. Today I am asking all of you to hit the phones, hit the road, and spread the word that we must elect Barack Obama President and we must send a filibuster-proof majority to Congress," Clinton said in a statement.

Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois today exhorted his supporters to get extremely aggressive in their communities to persuade their neighbors to vote for Obama in November.Speaking to a crowd in Elko, Nevada, Obama was quoted by the AP as urging the people to be his 'ambassadors':"I need you to go out and talk to your friends and talk to your neighbors. I want you to talk to them whether they are independent or whether they are Republican. I want you to argue with them and get in their face. "And if they tell you that, 'Well, we're...

Oh, now this could be fun. Not for the shoes stuff, but rather to see the body language between Sen. Hillary Clinton, who some Democrats think should have been the party's vice presidential nomineeNew York Senator and former Democratic presidential candidate but not vice presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who many Republicans think should be the country's first female vice president. A coalition of Jewish groups announced Tuesday that the two most prominent women in American politics at the moment would be among those attending a Monday morning rally at the United Nations in New York...

Supporters of Hillary Rodham Clinton are furiously circulating petitions on the floor of the Democratic National Convention tonight, hoping to stave off a plan to hold the convention's roll call at breakfast Wednesday — out of the public eye — sources inside the delegations say. The move being worked out between the Obama campaign and officials behind Clinton's suspended bid, would work in two parts: Delegates would cast votes at their hotels Wednesday morning; that night, at the Pepsi Center convention site, the roll-call process would rely on the votes cast that morning, the delegates said.

Supporters of Hillary Rodham Clinton are furiously circulating petitions on the floor of the Democratic National Convention tonight, hoping to stave off a plan to hold the convention's roll call at breakfast Wednesday — out of the public eye — sources inside the delegations say. The move being worked out between the Obama campaign and officials behind Clinton's suspended bid, would work in two parts: Delegates would cast votes at their hotels Wednesday morning; that night, at the Pepsi Center convention site, the roll-call process would rely on the votes cast that morning, the delegates said. Colorado Rep. Diana DeGette,...

Supporters of Hillary Rodham Clinton are furiously circulating petitions on the floor of the Democratic National Convention tonight, hoping to stave off a plan to hold the convention's roll call at breakfast Wednesday — out of the public eye — sources inside the delegations say. The move being worked out between the Obama campaign and officials behind Clinton's suspended bid, would work in two parts: Delegates would cast votes at their hotels Wednesday morning; that night, at the Pepsi Center convention site, the roll-call process would rely on the votes cast that morning, the delegates said. Colorado Rep. Diana DeGette,...

Tonight on stage in Denver Hillary Clinton, one of the most accomplished practitioners of the fine art of political deception, will pull off the biggest stunt of her career so far. In her speech to the Democratic convention Mrs Clinton will have warm words for Barack Obama. She will pledge herself to work for his election in November. She will urge her campaign supporters and the millions who voted for her in the primary to bury their differences and throw their support behind the nominee. She will, no doubt, describe herself as humbled. Don’t believe a word of it. There...

Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama agreed Monday to limit a divisive roll call for president, giving delegates a brief but historic choice between a black man and white woman. The deal would allow some states to cast votes for both Obama and Clinton... ...both senators have an incentive to help make peace between their opposing sides — Obama so he'll have their backing in November and Clinton so she'll be well positioned for a future run. ..."There's a moment that you want to enjoy your bitterness," [Townsend] said. ...they were still struggling to solve the mechanics of honoring Clinton...