http://www.newser.com/2008 - Newseren-usNewser Feed GeneratorThu, 20 Nov 2008 2:55:11 CSThttp://www.newser.com/story/42336/obama-likely-to-keep-gates-at-defense.html?refid=rss_all_defaultBarack Obama is considering asking Robert Gates to stay on as defense secretary, advisers tell the Wall Street Journal . Gates, considered a competent and nonpartisan pragmatist, was brought on to patch things up after Donald Rumsfeld’s tenure at the Pentagon. But while Gates, like Obama, supports an increased presence in Afghanistan, he opposes a commitment to withdraw from Iraq by 2010—a key campaign promise.http://www.newser.com/story/42336/obama-likely-to-keep-gates-at-defense.html?refid=rss_all_defaultTue, 11 Nov 2008 6:54:50 CSThttp://www.newser.com/story/34306/obama-takes-campaign-to-gas-pumps.html?refid=rss_all_defaultBarack Obama's campaign will run an energy-themed ad on TVs on Florida gas pumps starting today, the Palm Beach Post reports. The commercial highlights alternative-energy research and tax cuts as parts of Obama's plan to "break the grip of foreign oil," while presenting John McCain as more of the status quo.http://www.newser.com/story/34306/obama-takes-campaign-to-gas-pumps.html?refid=rss_all_defaultWed, 06 Aug 2008 22:10:45 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/34315/pawlenty-prods-gop-to-act-like-obama.html?refid=rss_all_defaultTim Pawlenty, the Republican governor of Minnesota often mentioned as a possible running mate for John McCain, urged GOP candidates to act more like Democrat Barack Obama. "Say what you will about Barack Obama," Pawlenty said today, "people gravitate when you have something positive to say. … People want to follow hopeful, optimistic, civil, decent leaders. They don't want to follow some negative, scornful person."http://www.newser.com/story/34315/pawlenty-prods-gop-to-act-like-obama.html?refid=rss_all_defaultWed, 06 Aug 2008 22:10:45 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/34253/oil-rhetoric-gets-silly.html?refid=rss_all_defaultIt might as well be a mathematical formula: High gas prices + oncoming election = stupid policy, writes Ruth Marcus in the Washington Post. John McCain, once the possessor of a sensible energy plan, now screeches incessantly about outer-continental shelf drilling, as though this would instantly solve the energy crisis. Barack Obama, who once earned plaudits for resisting McCain and Hillary Clinton's gimmicky gas tax holiday, now wants to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, an even costlier gimmick.http://www.newser.com/story/34253/oil-rhetoric-gets-silly.html?refid=rss_all_defaultWed, 06 Aug 2008 22:10:45 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/34237/top-5-flip-flops-so-far.html?refid=rss_all_defaultAs both presidential candidates hurl accusations of backtracking and hypocrisy at each other, Politico and PolitiFact team up to explain the five most important flip-flops of the race so far. PolitiFact rates Obama’s stance on tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve a “full flop,” citing strong prior opposition. McCain’s take on offshore drilling is rated a “half-flip,” taking into account his shift from a states’ rights position to staunch advocacy.http://www.newser.com/story/34237/top-5-flip-flops-so-far.html?refid=rss_all_defaultWed, 06 Aug 2008 22:10:45 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/34258/mccain-goes-green-with-envy.html?refid=rss_all_defaultWhy is John McCain, "a man who prides himself on honor," taking the low road in his campaign against Barack Obama? For Maureen Dowd, the reason is clear: the Arizona senator is "pea-green with envy." Even more than Bill Clinton or Jesse Jackson, McCain can't stand that a younger, more handsome politician has usurped his place and become the "new wunderkind in town."http://www.newser.com/story/34258/mccain-goes-green-with-envy.html?refid=rss_all_defaultWed, 06 Aug 2008 22:10:45 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/34234/paris-video-riffs-on-mccains-ad.html?refid=rss_all_defaultParis Hilton says she’s “like, totally ready to lead” in her video response to John McCain—the "wrinkly, white-haired guy"—for his ad comparing Barack Obama to tabloid celebrities like herself, ABC News reports. In the deadpan video posted on funnyordie.com, the heiress figures she's now a candidate herself and explains her serious-sounding energy policy while reclining in a lawn chair in her bathing suit. “I’ll see you at the debates, bitches,” she says. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go pick out a vice president.”http://www.newser.com/story/34234/paris-video-riffs-on-mccains-ad.html?refid=rss_all_defaultWed, 06 Aug 2008 22:10:45 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/34211/mccain-hopes-6m-olympic-ad-buy-a-winner.html?refid=rss_all_defaultAthletes won’t be the only competitors when the Beijing Olympics open Friday, Advertising Age reports: John McCain’s campaign made a last-minute, $6 million ad buy with NBC, topping the whopping $5 million Democratic opponent Barack Obama is spending. The large national scope of the advertising blitz is a rarity in recent presidential campaigns.http://www.newser.com/story/34211/mccain-hopes-6m-olympic-ad-buy-a-winner.html?refid=rss_all_defaultWed, 06 Aug 2008 22:10:45 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/34187/clintons-still-seething-over-racist-portrayal.html?refid=rss_all_defaultThe Democratic primary battle ended months ago, but many in both Hillary and Bill Clinton’s circles still harbor a grudge over the way her campaign was painted as racist, Ben Smith writes in Politico. This ill will is coming back to haunt presumptive nominee Barack Obama as he grapples with the McCain campaign's suggestion he is now playing the race card.http://www.newser.com/story/34187/clintons-still-seething-over-racist-portrayal.html?refid=rss_all_defaultWed, 06 Aug 2008 22:10:45 CDT