Muslim Supporters Told to Move at Event

Thursday, June 19, 2008

OBAMA TEAM APOLOGIZES

Muslim Supporters Told to Move at Event

Barack Obama's campaign apologized Wednesday after a report that campaign volunteers in Detroit had shooed two Muslim women wearing head scarves out of camera range at a rally earlier this week.

According to the Web site Politico, the women were told they could not sit behind the podium where Obama was speaking, to prevent them from appearing in photographs and television footage with the candidate. Obama has battled false allegations that he is a Muslim, and the two women, both Obama supporters, told Politico they were deeply disillusioned by the incident.

Campaign spokesman Bill Burton issued an apologetic statement. "This is of course not the policy of the campaign," he said. "It is offensive and counter to Obama's commitment to bring Americans together and simply not the kind of campaign we run. We sincerely apologize for the behavior of these volunteers."

Burton also circulated several photographs that prominently feature women in head scarves at previous Obama rallies.

-- Shailagh Murray

HITTING OBAMA ON TERROR

McCain Enlists Former Rival Giuliani

John McCain brought out "America's mayor" on Wednesday in an effort to continue bashing Barack Obama as soft on terrorism.

In a conference call with reporters, former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani reiterated the McCain campaign's claim that Obama has a "September 10" mentality and said he was puzzled by what he said was the Democrat's "softer" approach to terrorism.

"He seems to think [terrorism] is adequately dealt with merely by being a criminal prosecution," said Giuliani, himself a famous prosecutor. "On every issue, he takes a softer approach."

Giuliani was referring to comments by Obama two days ago, in which he said that after the "first attack against the World Trade Center, we were able to arrest those responsible, put them on trial. They are currently in U.S. prisons, incapacitated."

Giuliani said that statement -- and other comments Obama has made -- suggest Obama would go no further than criminal prosecutions in combating terrorism. "I'm not saying they shouldn't have been prosecuted," Giuliani said. "But it's the idea that it's the be-all and end-all that's the mistake."

In fact, Obama has himself rejected an overreliance on the legal system, calling for military tribunals and saying last August that he rejects "a legal framework that does not work."

Giuliani, a former McCain rival, is now attempting to lend his Sept. 11 credentials to the Republican campaign. But he also chided both campaigns Wednesday for name-calling instead of seriously discussing the issue. He criticized McCain's advisers for calling Obama "naive" and said Obama should not be talking about the "politics of fear."

Asked about a television pundit who called President Bush's foreign policy "stupid," Giuliani said, "I think we should restrain from using similar language about Senator Obama."

-- Michael D. Shear

ALBRIGHT AND COMPANY

Obama's Group On Security Meets

As Barack Obama convened the first meeting of his new "senior working group on national security" in Washington on Wednesday, he put Madeleine K. Albright at the head of the table -- strongly signaling that he is reaching out to the Clinton policy apparatus.

In the other prominent front seat was Lee H. Hamilton, co-chairman of the 9/11 Commission, demonstrating that Obama is pushing back hard in the current fight with John McCain over terrorism policy.

Other participants included former Navy secretary Richard Danzig, former deputy national security adviser James Steinberg, former State Department official Greg Craig, former assistant secretary of state Susan Rice, former congressman Timothy J. Roemer, former defense secretary William Perry, former national security adviser Anthony Lake and former senator David Boren. Former senator Sam Nunn and former secretary of state Warren Christopher participated via conference call.

Former deputy attorney general Eric Holder reportedly had a scheduling conflict and did not make it. But the Obama campaign said he is still part of the working group.

-- Anne E. Kornblut

CROSS OFF THAT NAME

Gen. Jones Is No Obama Man

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- It doesn't look as if retired Gen. James L. Jones is going to be a vice presidential candidate after all -- at least for Barack Obama.

The former commandant of the Marine Corps and commander of U.S. forces in Europe, whose name emerged from meetings that Obama's running-mate team had on Capitol Hill last week, appeared at an energy event Wednesday with his longtime friend John McCain.

Jones, a Missouri native, flew on McCain's plane from Washington to Springfield, and a McCain aide said Jones was a backer of the senator from Arizona.

It was unclear whether Obama's team suggested Jones's name last week or whether members of Congress raised it. The senator from Illinois has pledged to keep the selection process secret until he announces a pick.

-- Perry Bacon Jr.

THE THIRD-PARTY FACTOR

Libertarian Barr Says He'll Get GOP Votes

Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party presidential nominee, offered a scathing critique of John McCain on Wednesday and predicted that the Libertarian ticket would garner substantial conservative Republican support in a handful of battleground states critical to McCain's campaign against Obama.

Barr, a onetime conservative Republican House member from Georgia who broke with the Bush administration and many of his former congressional colleagues, blasted McCain for his support of the war in Iraq, his energy policies and his stand on reducing government spending.

"With regard to domestic policy, Senator McCain really has put forward nothing that would indicate he believes in dramatically shrinking the size and cost of the government," Barr said in an interview on washingtonpost.com's "PostTalk" program. "He does talk a great game about doing away with earmarks, but that really does not get near to the heart of the matter of the massive federal spending, the massive federal debt and the deficits we're running."

-- Eric Pianin