Latest blog headlines Mideast tightrope: Obama in high-stakes talks with leaders of both sides (7/23/2008 22:43:11 PM) In pre-dawn Jerusalem, Obama prays at Western Wall (7/23/2008 22:33:31 PM) Obama's Berlin campaign rally (7/23/2008 20:55:08 PM) Obama family People cover (7/23/2008 19:38:44 PM) Obama's David Axelrod asked "how does this overseas trip help Obama get elected president?" (7/23/2008 16:58:46 PM) Obama appeals to PA Prime Minister Fayyad for Illinois woman with daughters trapped in West Bank (7/23/2008 16:13:26 PM) Exclusive: Menu from July 22, 2008 dinner hosted King Abdullahn and Queen Rania for Obama, Hagel and Reed. (7/23/2008 12:58:18 PM) Video: Obama news conference in Israel (7/23/2008 12:54:49 PM) Pool Report: Obama meets with Palestinians in Ramallah (7/23/2008 09:00:13 AM) A tired Obama visits Yad Vashem (7/23/2008 04:50:13 AM)
On the trickiest day of Barack Obama's overseas campaign swing, he huddled with Israeli officials Wednesday and traveled by motorcade to the West Bank to meet with Palestinian Authority leaders.
JERUSALEM -- While meeting with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salim Fayyad on Wednesday, Barack Obama appealed to him on behalf of a suburban Chicago woman who is fighting to get her four daughters back after their father refused to let them leave the West Bank.
Lynn Sweet: Standing behind a lectern planted in an ancient ruin, Barack Obama waded -- not by choice -- into the seemingly intractable Israeli-Palestinian conflict on Tuesday. Fresh from Iraq and Afghanistan, Obama was flanked by his travel companions, Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), under a broiling sun against a picturesque backdrop of the Amman Citadel as the wind whipped the sand.
AMMAN, Jordan -- For Barack Obama, the political goals of visiting seven countries over nine days -- maximizing media coverage along the way in a series of staged events with dramatic visual backdrops -- are to plug his resume gap and show him on equal footing with world leaders.
In a newly painted 757 -- with the Obama sunrise logo on the tail and "Change we can believe in" painted on the sides -- the Middle East and Europe bound Obama campaign press plane was poised to lift off Sunday evening from Midway Airport to meet up with presumptive presidential Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) after he finishes visits to Afghanistan, Kuwait and Iraq.
Lynn Sweet: As part of their stump speeches, Sen. Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, rely often on their life stories, how they came from modest means, rarely adding new details about their early years even after months of campaigning. Read on, because for the first time, the Obamas have decided to share how they paid for their Ivy League educations and the jobs they held while in school.
Lynn Sweet: A splashy public speech in Germany. A wreath-laying at Israel's Holocaust museum. Perhaps a short side trip to the Palestinian West Bank. A visit to the palace of Jordan's king. Quick stops in Paris and London. They're all on the agenda of Sen. Barack Obama when the presumptive Democratic nominee takes his campaign overseas in the coming days.
Sun-Times Washington Bureau Chief Lynn Sweet will answer your questions and discuss politics and election news today at 2:00 p.m. via live streaming video.
Lynn Sweet: Both presidential candidates focused on Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan on Tuesday, as Sen. John McCain clashed with Sen. Barack Obama over whether the U.S. should take unilateral action in Pakistan to root out terrorists. The campaigns turned to foreign policy as Obama travels to Europe and the Mideast next week.
Lynn Sweet: The shame of the controversy over the cover of the latest edition of the New Yorker -- portraying Barack and Michelle Obama in the Oval Office, her wielding an AK-47, him in a turban and robe outfit suggesting he is a Muslim -- is that it draws attention away from a very good story inside by Ryan Lizza about Obama's Chicago political roots.
In a run-up to impending overseas travel, presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) returned to a central rationale for his presidential run: the Iraq war and his broad strategy for a new U.S approach to foreign policy. Obama's speech, delivered Tuesday at the Woodrow Wilson Center here is his latest version of the "Obama Doctrine." Obama has talked tough on Pakistan in the past and his words were tough:
Put aside the flap over the cover of the new New Yorker, a cartoon portraying the Obamas' in the Oval Office--- Barack Obama in a turban with Michelle Obama wielding an AK-47 machine gun with a picture of Osama Bin Laden in the background. The Obama campaign finds it offensive and with good reason. It is tasteless. David Axelrod on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" said "did we like it? No. Is it the focus of our attention? No."
Lynn Sweet: No matter if you are—or are not — voting for presumptive GOP nominee Sen. John McCain (R-Az.), he deserves credit for trying to forge a bipartisan deal on immigration in 2005 and 2006 at great personal political risk, a situation unfamiliar to rival Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.)
Lynn Sweet: They won't do that again. The Obamas did not anticipate the massive interest in the "Access Hollywood" interview they did with their adorable daughters, 10-year-old Malia and 7-year-old Sasha. They regret putting them in the spotlight and they won't repeat it, Barack Obama said Wednesday.
WASHINGTON--Sen. Barack Obama told an influential Hispanic group on Tuesday that White House rival Sen. John McCain -- a champion of comprehensive immigration reform Congress has refused to pass -- has let them down, while McCain's allies disputed Obama's claim that he was a key fighter in trying to get the hot-button measure approved.
WASHINGTON — Here's my analysis of the campaign announcement Monday that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) will accept the Democratic nomination in Denver’s Invesco Field, a 75,000-seat outdoor stadium — rather than the smaller indoor Pepsi Center where the rest of the Democratic convention will be held in August:
WASHINGTON -- For top Democratic donors, the convention at the Pepsi Center in Denver in August means access to hard-to-get credentials, VIP parties, special briefings, concierge service and coveted rooms in the city's top hotels.
Sun-Times Washington Bureau Chief Lynn Sweet will be on hand to discuss all things politics today at 12:30 p.m.
WASHINGTON--Barack Obama will meet with British, French and German leaders as part of overseas travel this summer that will also include stops in Iraq and Afghanistan. On Saturday morning, the Obama campaign, confirming the visits to Europe, said Israel and Jordan will also be part of the swing.
Presumptive presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) will meet with British, French and German leaders as part of overseas travel this summer to also include stops in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned. On Saturday morning, the Obama campaign,confirming the visits to Europe, said Israel and Jordan will also be part of the swing.
Lynn Sweet: Penny Pritzker, national finance chairwoman for the Obama campaign, knew that if she was going to ask other people to help retire Sen. Hillary Clinton's primary debt, she would have to fork over some cash herself.
WASHINGTON —- After I raised the issue of opening the closed Obama-Clinton Thursday evening meeting with donors and fund-raisers to the press, the Obama campaign on Thursday afternoon agreed to allow a pool reporte to cover the event.
Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said Wedneday Obama's organization is so strong he will not be dependent on any key state -- such as Florida -- to win.
WASHINGTON -- "I'm a victim of sexism myself all the time, but I just think it goes with the territory," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Tuesday. Prompting Pelosi's comment at a breakfast with reporters was the question of whether sexism played a significant role in Sen. Hillary Clinton's defeat by presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama.
