Stephen Dinan

McCain: Obama aims to win vote, not war

Sen. John McCain said Sen. Barack Obama has played politics with the Iraq war, choosing his positions in order to win a political campaign rather than do what is needed to win the war.

July 28, 2008

Obama launches Spanish ad

Sen. Barack Obama touts that "he grew up without a father" and was "raised by his mother with the support of his grandparents" in his first Spanish-language radio ad of the general election campaign, released Wednesday and designed to portray him as sharing the same experiences as Hispanic voters.

July 24, 2008

Consensus builds for Iraq exit

Sen. John McCain drew closer to his Sen. Barack Obama's timetable on Iraq, saying that U.S. troops could be "largely withdrawn" in two years, even as Obama met with Iraqi leaders who now embrace his withdrawal time frame.

July 22, 2008

Obama ups ante on Afghans, Pakistanis

Sen. Barack Obama on Sunday prodded Afghanistan and Pakistan to combat al Qaeda and Taliban forces by basing operations in those nations, using a campaign-season trip to Afghanistan to bolster his leadership credentials.

July 21, 2008

‘Whiners’ get to Gramm; he exits McCain camp

Former Sen. Phil Gramm stepped down as a co-chairman of Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign, saying he had become a distraction after drawing criticism for calling America a "nation of whiners" last week.

July 19, 2008

McCain ad targets Obama inaction on NATO panel

Sen. John McCain's campaign on Friday announced its first negative campaign ad of the general election that accuses Sen. Barack Obama of failing to do his duty on a subcommittee overseeing NATO, which leads war operations in Afghanistan.

July 19, 2008

McCain’s Straight Talk spins wheels

From signature issues such as immigration and climate change to tax cuts, Sen. John McCain sometimes just seems lost as to his own record and his stance on hot-button social issues.

July 18, 2008

Hispanic leaders eager to ‘referee debate’

The president of the nation's largest Hispanic rights organization says the group will serve as referee for the immigration debate and back it up with what members expect will be record Hispanic voter turnout in November.

July 16, 2008

McCain asks for trust from Hispanics

Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Monday denounced those in his party he said have injected "insults" into the immigration debate but refused to back away from his new enforcement-first approach to the issue.

July 15, 2008

Obama: Hispanics are critical to election

Sen. Barack Obama received a rock-star welcome Sunday from the nation's largest Hispanic rights group, telling them they are the critical swing group in November's presidential election and promising a renewed effort to pass an immigration bill during his first year in office.

July 14, 2008

Hispanics seek voter bloc too big to ignore

After decades of punching beneath their political weight, National Council of La Raza and its allies vow to boost Hispanic voter participation by reducing the gap between those eligible versus number who turn out on Election Day.

July 13, 2008

Hispanics seek McCain’s reassurance

When McCain speaks to the nation's largest Hispanic rights group this weekend, he will face an audience confused about his immigration position and looking for the same champion with whom they have worked for two decades.

July 11, 2008

Latin America trip stirs Chavez debate

John McCain finished a three-day campaign trip to Latin America to mine the politics of free trade and foreign policy, but Republicans say the real vote mother lode may lie in the politics of a country he didn't visit — Venezuela.

July 4, 2008

McCain shakes up staff

Sen. John McCain tweaked his campaign Wednesday by elevating aide Steve Schmidt to oversee day-to-day operations, in a move to give his presidential bid the stability and direction that many in his party feared were lacking.

July 3, 2008

Obama vows to establish own faith office

Sen. Barack Obama promised Tuesday to embrace, but revamp, President Bush's faith-based initiative, in a move to the center as he courts religious voters but one that risks offending liberal voters who opposed the creation as a First Amendment encroachment.

July 2, 2008

Obama defends his, McCain’s patriotism

Sen. Barack Obama said Monday that he won't tolerate people challenging his patriotism or his rival's military service, and Sen. John McCain announced a "truth squad" to combat attacks on his Vietnam service.

July 1, 2008

McCain veers from record to woo Hispanics

Sen. John McCain told a Hispanic group Saturday that passing an immigration bill to legalize illegal immigrants is "my top priority, yesterday, today and tomorrow," but mischaracterized his own voting record on the issue.

June 29, 2008

Cheney aide denies giving carte blanche

He came, they saw, and nobody learned much of anything - David Addington, chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, skated through three hours of committee testimony Thursday without revealing much other than disputing reports of his vast influence on the war on terror.

June 27, 2008

House moves to cut back secrecy

Two bills that would make the Homeland Security Department more transparent are poised to pass in Congress, in light of a tide of secrecy that has swept the government since Sept. 11, 2001.

June 26, 2008