Barack Obama | The New York Observer

Paterson Still Unhappy About KSM, Mentions 9/11 Air Quality

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:43:59 -0500

ALBANY—David Paterson stood by his displeasure with the Obama administration's decision to hold the trial of 9/11 terrorists in lower Manhattan, and alluded to the federal government's miscalculation about the air quality in the neighborhood.

"What I said was that if I were making the decision, it's not the decision I would have made," Paterson told Errol Louis on WWRL. "New York has been through a lot. Not only were 2,700 people killed on...

Bloomberg on NYC Hosting 9/11 Trial: 'Fitting'

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:10:44 -0500

Michael Bloomberg is out with a statement supporting "the Obama Administration’s decision" to host the trial of an alleged 9/11 plotter here in New York City.

A spokesman for the mayor declined to offer an estimate as to how much security for the trial will cost, in terms of dollars and manpower. But the spokesman did say the federal government had reimbursed the city for security costs associated with similar trials in the past.

Here is...

Penn: Behind Obama's Online Successes, a Traditional-Media Echo Chamber

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:18:02 -0500

If you ask Mark Penn, the whole Barack Obama-as-online-phenomenon storyline has been considerably overstated.

In fact, Obama’s victory in the presidential primary was fueled more by “traditional media” than “social media,” Penn, a former top Hillary Clinton strategist, said last night.

Penn was speaking at a 92 Street Y panel discussion about public relations when the moderator, journalist Matt Bishop of the Economist, turned to Obama, and sad, “The myth is social media won...

Schumer Asks Whether 'We Do it With a Smaller Number of Troops'

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:39:05 -0500

Senator Chuck Schumer said the Obama administration shouldn’t rush to a decision on whether to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, which the president's advisers are reportedly urging him to do.

Standing in front of the Manhattan Veterans Affairs office, Schumer—joined by New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez—said the number-one job is to protect the country from terrorism.

Both senators agreed it would be better if the military can achieve that goal from the air with fewer...

Owens, Now, Comes Out for the Health Care Bill

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:16:26 -0500

ALBANY—Bill Owens, who is being sworn in as a member of Congress today, has announced his intention to vote for the health care restructuring bill backed by Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama. He resisted taking a specific position on the issue throughout his campaign.

Owens announced the vote in a press release and suggested as much in Watertown yesterday. He just concluded a special election campaign against Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava and Doug Hoffman,...

Massa: I'm a No, No Matter What

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:58:41 -0500

ALBANY—Representative Eric Massa is voting no on the health care bill, damn it, no matter what the outside consequences or what Barack Obama says.

"The president of the United States is coming to Capitol Hill tomorrow morning on a Saturday, to meet in groups and individually with members of Congress. I anticipate that I will be called into a room to discuss my position with him, and my position has not and will not...

Dinkins Wanted More From Obama

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:22:20 -0500

Bill Thompson supporters continue firing shots at those they say could have and should have done more to help out. The latest is from David Dinkins.

From The Post:

“The president should’ve done more. He found time to go to Virginia, he found time to go to New Jersey and he should’ve been here,” former Mayor David Dinkins, who was in office from 1990 through...

June O'Neill: It's Not a Referendum, It's Just a Seat the G.O.P. Bought

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:26:27 -0500

SARANAC LAKE—June O'Neill, the Executive Committee chair of the state Democratic Party, says that the race to replace John McHugh in Congress is not a public verduct on Barack Obama's administration.

"No, it's not a referendum on Obama," she told me Tuesday afternoon. "It wasn't a referendum on Obama in New York 20 and it's not here. If you are the Republican Party and you are running inferior candidates as they do, I would...

In Bloomberg's Robocall to Latinos, a Nod to Sotomayor

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:10:55 -0500

Here is one of the many robocalls Michael Bloomberg’s campaign is sending out. This one, by Spanish television personality Denisse Oller, mentions Barack Obama and Sonia Sotomayor.

It’s targeted to Spanish voters, but was received by a reader originally from Manhattan with a distinctively Italian name.

“Not only did Mayor Mike recommend to President Obama that he nominate Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, but when some in congress publicly went against her, Mayor Mike...

NY-23 Poll: Owens and Hoffman in Dead Heat, Scozzafava Dead

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 11:58:52 -0400

ALBANY—The closely watched special election in New York's North Country is now a two-way dead heat between Doug Hoffman and Bill Owens, a poll finds.

The result shows just how far Hoffman--the politically inexperienced accountant who is the Conservative Party's nominee for the seat--has surged over the course of the election. The Siena Research Institute poll found he has the support 35 percent of 704 "likely" voters surveyed, with the Democratic Party's Owens garnering 35...

Biden For Owens, Again

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:00:06 -0400

ALBANY—The last minute push for Democratic Congressional candidate Bill Owens will include a visit by Vice President Joe Biden.

Biden will appear at a rally in Watertown at the Northside Improvement League. This is the second visit to the area by Biden, who during a trip to Syracuse held a fundraiser for Owens. A Democratic source familiar with campaign strategy said that a DCCC officials were also mulling a visit from Bill Clinton or...

Cuomo for Owens, Robo-Obama Coming Soon

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:43:00 -0400

ALBANY—Sure enough, the final pushes are on.

Bill Owens was endorsed this morning by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, the ridiculously popular Democrat who leaves warm fuzzy feelings wherever he goes.

"Bill Owens understands the needs of our working families and he's worked hard to improve our local economy by creating jobs in Upstate New York," Cuomo said in a statement. "Bill knows that Fort Drum is vital to the regional economy, and he will...

All-In for Owens?

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:58:34 -0400

ALBANY—It's nearing the end of the race to replace John McHugh in Congress. A leading Democrat just told the party is "not going to leave anything on the table" to help Bill Owens.

My mind is returning to the special election in the 20th District this spring, where the final poll showed long-shot Scott Murphy slightly ahead and the DCCC went "all in." In that race, Democrats unleashed a radio ad featuring Vice President...

Paterson: You Just Cost me $1 Billion, Obama

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:17:05 -0400

ALBANY—David Paterson, ever the friend of the White House, just attacked the Obama administration's decision to restrict bonus pay with John Gambling on WOR.

"That probably cost New York $1 billion," Paterson said. "And look, I'm not going to defend these people that run these companies. They've frittered away a lot of money in these reckless schemes. But the reality is, in the end, we've lost $1 billion dollars because of that act. And...

Thompson on 'Cloud 9' Over Obama 'Endorsement'

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:14:55 -0400

The endorsement Barack Obama offered Bill Thompson yesterday has been written off by most of the media as perfunctory and lacking in substance.

Thompson though, has called it “excellent.”

Here’s part of Thompson’s chat with reporters after attending a rally in the Garment District this afternoon, courtesy of an attendee:

Q: What did you think of Obama’s comments about you last night? There were some reports that you had been hoping for more?

A: “Not in the least...

Ravitch to Washington

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:07:33 -0400

ALBANY—Richard Ravitch is going to Washington tomorrow.

The lieutenant governor announced his trip during a meeting of legislative leaders this morning, called to hash out positions on David Paterson's proposal for a $3 billion deficit elimination package.

Ravitch said he would meet with members of the state's congressional delegation; he is not planning to meet with any White House officials.

"A lot of questions about this year and subsequent years are going to be...

Bloomberg Downplays Obama's Thompson Endorsement

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:54:34 -0400

After getting a tepid endorsement from Barack Obama's spokesman, Bill Thompson is expected to get a warmer reception from the president, who is in town today.

When asked what he'd like to Obama to say, Thompson told reporters, "I have no idea what the president is going to say. I think his endorsement has been helpful so far. I’d like him to add to it and put a little more substance to it, but I...

The Schumer Option: A Short-Term Winner

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 09:34:00 -0400

We still don’t know for sure what the final Senate health care plan will look like, but the most likely resolution to one of the stickiest issues has been obvious since early May. That’s when Chuck Schumer outlined his own compromise vision for an optional government-run insurance package. His proposal, a “level playing field” public option that would be subject to the same rules that govern private insurance plans, was vintage Schumer, reflecting his...

Change or Bust: In Prime Time, Obama Makes Things Stark

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 22:11:00 -0400

Near the top of his latest primetime news conference, President Obama acknowledged that “Congress is still working through a few key issues” as it seeks to produce a unified health care plan. That meant that there wasn’t any specific proposal for Obama to point to and rally support for. We still don’t know how whatever plan emerges will fund expanded access and we still don’t know whether it will include a public option—and Obama...

Obama's Speech, as Seen From The Bridges Bar at the Hilton

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:55:00 -0400

Not all the attendees of the NAACP's national conference, held at the Hilton Hotel in midtown this week, got into the third floor ballroom to hear President Barack Obama's highly anticipated speech last night. By the northeast entrance of the Hilton's lobby, across from a sign directing participants of the Korea Global Healthcare Conference to the hotel's second floor, a crowd gathered in front of a flat screen television sponsored by AT&T and promoting NAACP Webcast.com ("Text,...

Obama's Grim Choice on the Public Option

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:22:00 -0400

A moment of choosing is fast approaching for Barack Obama and his party’s congressional leaders: to sacrifice the public option that the Democratic base holds so dear, or to stick with it, damn the consequences. Their decision looms as the difference between (almost) sure-thing passage of a compromise health care plan and an ugly, protracted legislative fight that could end up sinking all hopes of meaningful health care reform and severely wounding Obama. But...

Thompson Gets a Shout-Out from Obama

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 19:58:00 -0400

Hours after Chuck Schumer heaped praise on Michael Bloomberg, Barack Obama gave a shout-out to the mayor’s Democratic rival, Bill Thompson. During his speech at the NAACP centennial event in midtown tonight, Obama said, “We know that even as our economic crisis batters Americans of all races, African-Americans are out of work more than just about anyone else—a gap that’s widening here in New York City, as detailed in a report this week by Comptroller...

What Is Jeff Sessions' Agenda?

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 06:56:00 -0400

How many candidates for Congress—Democratic and Republican—have you heard loudly insist that they don’t believe in party labels, just in doing the right thing? And how many of them, once elected, end up voting with their party pretty much all the time? It’s an absurd dance. Voters like hearing about “independence” and “bipartisanship,” so candidates indulge them, only to take office and immediately morph into the party-line loyalists they just spent a year swearing...

Obama's Dusk, Obama's Morning

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 06:43:00 -0400

High unemployment is the domestic equivalent of an unpopular war--an overpowering drain on presidential popularity that can’t be countered with policy achievements in other areas, personal charm, or any other conventional political weapon. Barack Obama may soon offer the latest affirmation of this. A few weeks ago came news that the unemployment rate for June had climbed to 9.5 percent—a slight uptick that silenced wishful suggestions that the economy had bottomed out and that...

Obama Stays With Engagement, at a Cost To Be Determined

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 18:17:00 -0400

The White House made clear on Sunday that Barack Obama will proceed with his push for diplomatic engagement with Iran, no matter the outcome of the current upheaval in the Islamic Republic. Appearing on several Sunday morning talk shows, Susan Rice, Obama’s ambassador to the United Nations, and David Axelrod, one of the president’s top advisers, stressed the same basic theme: that this month’s election shouldn’t dissuade the U.S. from trying to resolve the...

The Last Thing the Iranian Reformers Need

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:55:00 -0400

It’s not a stretch for Americans to look at the scenes of mass protest in Iran and think back to 1989, when popular uprisings toppled one Soviet-backed regime after another in Eastern Europe. That mental association is one that Barack Obama’s critics have seized upon, arguing that the same presidential bully pulpit that hastened the liberation of those nations from Moscow 20 years ago should now be used to spur on the women, men...

The Swift, Brutal Primary Strategy of Kirsten Gillibrand

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 10:00:00 -0400

Earlier this month, Kirsten Gillibrand stood in front of the steps of City Hall to accept the endorsements of two more members of Congress and repeated her standard response to all inquiries related to her facing a potential primary challenge. "For my part, I am very focused on being the best senator I can be," Gillibrand told The Observer. "And I really do leave the politics to themselves. I think they will take care of...

As Tehran Roils, Obama Refuses to Pander

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 20:26:00 -0400

Rudy Giuliani used to like to tell the story about how, at the height of the panic and chaos of 9/11, he supposedly turned to Bernie Kerik, his then-police commissioner, and exclaimed: “Thank God George Bush is our president!” This was back when memories of the disputed 2000 election were still fresh, so the sentiment that Giuliani, who typically mentioned the anecdote to Republican crowds, was really conveying was more like: “Thank God Al Gore...

The New Teflon President

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:00:00 -0400

Flummoxed by Ronald Reagan’s enduring popularity in the face of a string of unsettling foreign and domestic developments, Pat Schroeder, then a Democratic congresswoman from Colorado, took to the House floor in 1983 and said of the first-term president: “He has been perfecting the Teflon-coated presidency: He sees to it that nothing sticks to him.” Her comment was meant to be disparaging, but in coining the term “Teflon president,” Schroeder actually identified a significant phenomenon...

Time to Yank the A.M.A.'s License

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:30:00 -0400

Campaigning to build the widest possible consensus for reform of the nation’s health care system, Barack Obama told the delegates of the American Medical Association that he wants their support, too. Persuasive and always polite, the president did not mention the embarrassing truth about his hosts—namely, that the A.M.A. has undermined universal care with mindless zeal for more than 70 years. The real question is not what the A.M.A. will support or whether the...

Why the Iranian Election Disaster Is Really Bad for Obama

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 09:40:00 -0400

The anti-Iran hawks will have Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a ranting, Holocaust-denying political villain from central casting, for four more...

Weiner Thinks Aid To Gaza Could Be the Wedge Issue Among Pro-Israel Democrats

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:00:00 -0400

In an interview for a story I wrote about Barack Obama's impact on Israel politics in America, Anthony Weiner suggested that the president's attention-getting statements about settlements weren't the real issue. The main point of contention among local Israel supporters, he said, may end up being Obama's position on aide to Gaza. "He says something in the [Cairo] speech about the United States has to respect elections. Now that's either Hamas or Lebanon," said Weiner....

Robocall Says Monserrate 'Abandoned Barack Obama'

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:22:00 -0400

Now, there’s a robocall going around Queens saying Hiram Monserrate “abandoned Barack Obama” because he participated in the Republican coup yesterday. Already, there's one robocall hitting Pedro Espada because of the coup. Liz reports that this one is being sent into Monserrate's district by "organized labor. Two readers contacted me about the call already. One of the readers, a guy who asked not to be named but said he’s a “super prime voter” played the call he...

Obama Redefines the Debate for New York's Israel Boosters

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:59:00 -0400

Barack Obama is changing what it means to be a pro-Israel politician in America. That much is obvious from the unusually thoughtful, nuanced and varied reactions by officials in New York—the world capital of Israel-boosterism—to his criticisms of the Netanyahu government’s settlement policies. “I think Obama feels that this type of shock therapy will have an effect on Netanyahu and also cause some American Jews to rally to his side,” said Representative Pete King, a staunchly...

Trippi Confirms He's In Talks With Maloney

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:28:00 -0400

In a brief telephone interview this morning, Joe Trippi confirmed a report in yesterday's City Hall News that he is in talks with Representative Carolyn Maloney about potentially working for her possible challenge to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. "Yes we've talked," said Trippi. "And she hasn't decide to run yet. But if she does, I think she'll win and I'd want to be part of it." The talks with Trippi come as a poll taken by Doug...

The End of the Terry McAuliffe Experiment

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:46:00 -0400

Terry McAuliffe, the unflappably cheery Clinton family confidante, became such a favorite of the Washington press corps last year that they took to referring to him good-naturedly by his nickname, “The Macker.” After the election, the former D.N.C. chairman took his media celebrity, if you can call it that, and set out to exchange it for the governorship of Virginia, where he’s lived for the past two decades or so. But Virginians have apparently been resistant...

Gillibrand Consolidates, Maloney Denies That Biden Asked Her to Desist

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 11:52:00 -0400

As part of her continuing effort to become primary-proof, Kirsten Gillibrand announced on the steps of City Hall today the support of two more Democratic members of Congress, Ed Towns and Nydia Velazquez. "I'm extremely grateful," said Gillibrand, as she stood flanked by the two representatives in front of four reporters and one television camera. She called Towns a leader in the House and said that Velazquez introduced her to Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee Sonia...

Independence Party: Bloomberg Is Our Obama

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:22:00 -0400

Here’s a video of Lenora Fulani and Jackie Salit of the Independence Party explaining how Michael Bloomberg is like Barack Obama. Their argument is that both men are independent and beyond partisan politics. They were speaking at the group’s annual fund-raiser in Tribeca yesterday. Bloomberg seemed pleased. “My mother will be pleased with that,” Bloomberg joked. “Whether Barack Obama will be pleased, I have no idea. He’s probably not going to hear about it...

Clinton on 'This Week': Like 2008 Never Happened

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 21:22:00 -0400

Exactly one year to the day after she formally ended her presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton appeared on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday on behalf of the man who beat her. Clinton, in her new role as Barack Obama’s secretary of state, presented the administration’s perspective on an array of international hot potatoes, from North Korea’s resurgent nuclear program to Israel’s reluctance to curtail its West Bank settlement program. Unintentionally, though, her performance served as a reminder...

Weiner Says 'Momentous' Obama Went Too Far on Israeli Settlements

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:02:00 -0400

The reaction of Israel supporters to President Obama's Cairo speech has been closely monitored for signs of increasing tolerance for criticism of the Israeli government's policy on settlements, which the Obama administration has explicitly opposed in recent weeks. While some veteran Middle East analysts have suggested Obama did not go far enough in his criticism of Israeli policy, Representative Anthony Weiner of New York said that he went "too far." Weiner called the speech "big and...

Obama's Army Wonk

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 09:25:00 -0400

ALBANY—Every May, some school districts in central New York and the North Country hold public policy forums in conjunction with school budget votes, and elected officials often attend. When Ray Meier was still serving in the State Senate, he would run into Representative John McHugh at this event, and others like it, from time to time. "McHugh would come in with these binders filled with all kinds of material," Meier recalled on Tuesday, "and...

A Council Candidate Who Knows It's 'Hard to B.S.' Sonia Sotomayor

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:09:00 -0400

Jo Anne Simon, City Council candidate from Brooklyn, has a Sonia Sotomayor story. Years ago, in a case that produced what will be one of Sotomayor's more closely scrutinized rulings as she prepares for her Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Simon was the lead counsel for the plaintiff, and, ultimately, the winner. The case centered around Simon's client, Marilyn Bartlett, a severely dyslexic law student. Simon was arguing that Bartlett had a right to additional time on...

'We're a Party of Primaries'

Sun, 31 May 2009 21:41:00 -0400

RYE--As Andrew Cuomo was walking out of the state Democratic party's Spring Business Meeting at the Rye Hilton, I and another reporter asked him about, among other things, the possibility of a primary against Governor David Paterson next year. Here’s how it went: Andrew Cuomo: I talked about, mostly, the, this week I have a bill up, the Government Reorganization and Citizen Empowerment Act bill, and that was what I was talking about trying...

The Sotomayor Attacks: 2012 Republicans Throw Red Meat to a Shrinking Base

Thu, 28 May 2009 07:59:00 -0400

On Tuesday, the nation’s first black president announced that he would like to place the first-ever Hispanic (and only the third-ever woman) on the Supreme Court. By Wednesday, virtually the entire Republican establishment—including the party’s most likely 2012 presidential candidates—had united in denouncing the move. A “Latina woman racist,” is how Newt Gingrich described Sonia Sotomayor. “Troubling,” was Mitt Romney’s summation. And, of course, there was Mike Huckabee’s cringe-worthy attack on “Maria” Sotomayor and her...

Post-Roe Liberals: Why Sotomayor Is Obama's Ideal Nominee

Tue, 26 May 2009 18:13:00 -0400

Barack Obama’s selection of Sonia Sotomayor for a seat on the Supreme Court confirms both how determined the president is to avoid a national abortion debate and how wise judges and lawyers with high court ambitions are to keep quiet on abortion. In more than ten years as a federal appeals court judge, Sotomayor has never confronted with a case that directly dealt with right to choose enshrined in the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v....

Obama's Pick Is a Winner, Already

Tue, 26 May 2009 14:11:00 -0400

Choosing Sonia Sotomayor as his first nominee to the United States Supreme Court will allow Barack Obama to prove three important things. As a politician, he is not afraid of a fight. As a constitutional lawyer, he is willing and able to defend his conception of that living document. And as president, he is prepared to brush aside the phony consensus of Washington’s gossipy elite. Whatever battle ensues over the nomination of Ms. Sotomayor, a...

Schumer and Gillibrand Take Their Bows for Sotomayor

Tue, 26 May 2009 11:05:00 -0400

President Barack Obama's nomination of Sonia Sotomayor as his first Supreme Court appointment amounts to another victory for Chuck Schumer, who has pushed for Sotomayor for weeks. And he is taking his credit. A statement just issued by Schumer's office points out that he, along with Kirsten Gillibrand, recommended Sotomayer back in April. In the statement, Schumer said that it was an especially wise choice because it met "three very important standards... excellence, moderation and diversity." Schumer...

Representative: Is Obama Going to Do Something About Paterson, Too?

Fri, 22 May 2009 14:12:00 -0400

At least one member of the New York congressional delegation thinks Barack Obama may have set himself an untenable precedent when he pressured Steve Israel not to challenge Kirsten Gillibrand in a primary. The representative, a Democrat, said the delegation did not take kindly to the White House's intrusion into local matters anyway. But now that Obama, through the strong-arming of Israel by Rahm Emanuel, has demonstrated a willingness to involve himself in a New York race,...

A Delegation Divided: Serrano and the Gillibrand Holdouts Await Their Due

Fri, 22 May 2009 10:19:00 -0400

According to Jose Serrano, Kirsten Gillibrand is going after the low-hanging fruit first. In the days since Representative Steve Israel decided not to consider a primary against Gillibrand, following calls from President Barack Obama and Senator Chuck Schumer, other members of the New York Congressional delegation have quickly lined up in support of Gillibrand: Nita Lowey, Maurice Hinchey, Brian Higgins, Michael McMahon, Yvette Clarke, John Hall, Michael Arcuri. Soon Nydia Velasquez and Ed Towns...

For Obama, the More Cheney the Better

Thu, 21 May 2009 20:58:00 -0400

Tom Andrews, a former Democratic congressman from Maine and an early and outspoken opponent of the Iraq War, used his Huffington Post blog last week to ask in frustration: “How is it that someone as widely discredited as Dick Cheney is setting the terms of debate on national security? The technical answer is easy: Cheney is a huge name and a provocative figure who made his mark in the shadows during the Bush administration. And...