http://www.realclearpolitics.com/ en Copyright 2012 Thu, 06 Sep 2012 05:29:58 -0500 Barack Obama goes before his convention with a reputation as a great orator.But is he?Certainly, there have been moments that soared: his address to the 2004 convention and that moving election night in Chicago. Yet a close look at pivotal moments of his presidency finds that, more often than not, Obama has fallen short as a communicator.That's http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics_topics/2012/Sep/06/essay__deconstructing_barack_obama_the_orator.html 400605378 Michael Oreskes The Associated Press Thu, 06 Sep 2012 05:28:54 -0500 With war ending, the health care system recast and the creaky economy overshadowing all, President Barack Obama is ready to take the stage of the Democratic National Convention to appeal for a second term before a huge prime-time audience.He's got some tough acts to follow Thursday night _ his wife Michelle's crowd-swooning speech of a few days http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics_topics/2012/Sep/06/bill_clinton_fires_up_dems_before_obama_s_speech.html 400605370 Julie Pace And Calvin Woodward The Associated Press Thu, 06 Sep 2012 04:01:55 -0500 President Barack Obama's campaign rallies in battleground states aren't just about winning hearts and minds. They're also about something more practical _ courting voters and volunteers.For more than a year, Obama has used appearances that draw thousands of people to focus on the nuts and bolts of campaigning. That means registering new voters and http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics_topics/2012/Sep/06/obama_uses_rallies__speech_to_woo_votes__helpers.html 400605367 Ken Thomas The Associated Press Thu, 06 Sep 2012 03:03:12 -0500 It's unprecedented, the experts say: The volume and audacity of distortion, deception and truth-stretching in this year's presidential campaign has political fact-checkers busier than ever in their pursuit of the truth. But whose truth, precisely? And, in the context of a bitter campaign, does the actual truth _ and the responsibility of a http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics_topics/2012/Sep/06/politics_and_truth__uneasy_partners__easy_enemies.html 400605366 David Crary The Associated Press Thu, 06 Sep 2012 02:58:55 -0500 U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton praised East Timor on Thursday for holding fair elections this year, and said it was up to the government of Asia's newest and poorest nation to decide when and how to seek accountability for past violence during its struggle for independence.Clinton said her visit, the first by a U.S. secretary of http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics_topics/2012/Sep/06/clinton_in_east_timor_on_democracy_push.html 400605364 Matthew Lee The Associated Press Thu, 06 Sep 2012 02:55:53 -0500 Convention Watch shows you the 2012 political conventions through the eyes of Associated Press journalists. Follow them on Twitter where available with the handles listed after each item.___AFTER BILLThe crowd is thinning at the Democratic National Convention, even as the roll call of the states to nominate Barack Obama goes on. Obama has left, http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics_topics/2012/Sep/06/convention_watch__obama_basks_in_clinton_s_embrace.html 400605363 The Associated Press Thu, 06 Sep 2012 02:52:53 -0500 It's a fact of life in Washington that what one party considers a principled stand, the opposition considers pigheadedness. Compromise? That's the other guy's problem.But when former President Bill Clinton took the stage at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, he portrayed President Barack Obama as a pragmatic compromiser who has been http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics_topics/2012/Sep/06/fact_check__clinton_claims_of_compromise_a_stretch.html 400605362 Matt Apuzzo And Tom Raum The Associated Press Thu, 06 Sep 2012 03:59:58 -0500 Quotes from the speech of former President Bill Clinton at the Democratic National Convention re-nominating Barack Obama for president:____"I want to nominate a man who ran for president to change the course of an already weak economy and then, just six weeks before his election, saw it suffer the biggest collapse since the Great Depression, http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics_topics/2012/Sep/06/quotes_from_clinton_s_speech_nominating_obama.html 400605361 The Associated Press The Associated Press Thu, 06 Sep 2012 02:43:54 -0500 You thought Barack and Mitt were fierce presidential candidates? Try Ahpun the polar bear and Denali the wolf.The Alaska Zoo, in what it acknowledges is shameless promotion and fundraising ploy, is conducting an election between Ahpun (ah-POON') and Denali. The winner will claim zoo presidency, according to development director Eileen Floyd, who http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics_topics/2012/Sep/06/polar_bear__wolf_vie_to_be_alaska_zoo__president_.html 400605360 Dan Joling The Associated Press Thu, 06 Sep 2012 02:37:53 -0500 Democrats ridiculed Republican Mitt Romney as a millionaire candidate for president who "quite simply doesn't get it" and worse on Tuesday, opening night of a national convention aimed at propelling Barack Obama to re-election despite high unemployment and national economic distress.Obama "knows better than anyone there's more hard http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics_topics/2012/Sep/06/democrats__gop_s_romney_just__doesn_t_get_it_.html 400605355 David Espo And Matthew Daly The Associated Press Thu, 06 Sep 2012 01:19:53 -0500 The Democratic National Convention is a watershed event for America's gay rights movement, which never before has been embraced so warmly by a major political party.There's a platform endorsing same-sex marriage, a roster of speakers that includes three gay members of Congress, and a record number of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics_topics/2012/Sep/06/at_democratic_convention__record_presence_for_gays.html 400605353 David Crary The Associated Press Thu, 06 Sep 2012 00:58:53 -0500 A former police chief whose flight to a U.S. consulate set off China's biggest political scandal in years has been charged with crimes including defection and bribe taking, possibly indicating the turbulent affair is moving closer to a resolution before a key national leadership transition this fall.Wednesday evening's announcement by state media http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics_topics/2012/Sep/06/ex_police_chief_charged_in_china_political_scandal.html 400605350 Christopher Bodeen The Associated Press Thu, 06 Sep 2012 00:34:53 -0500 In an impassioned speech that rocked the Democratic National Convention, former President Bill Clinton proclaimed Wednesday night, "I know we're coming back" from the worst economic mess in generations and appealed to hard-pressed Americans to stick with Barack Obama for a second term in the White House.Obama strode onstage as Clinton http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics_topics/2012/Sep/06/clinton_boosts_obama_in_rousing_convention_speech.html 400605349 David Espo The Associated Press Thu, 06 Sep 2012 02:49:54 -0500 Bill Clinton is one of the few Democrats to talk about the nation's debt problem so far during the party's national convention. At their convention, Republicans hammered away relentlessly about the damage the nation's deficits and debt burden do. The GOP's vice presidential nominee, Paul Ryan, has been pointing out that the nation's debt has now http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics_topics/2012/Sep/06/debt_talk.html 400605348 The Associated Press The Associated Press Thu, 06 Sep 2012 00:22:53 -0500 President Barack Obama joined former President Bill Clinton on the stage of the Democratic National Convention after Clinton gave a rousing speech nominating Obama to be the Democratic candidate in the November presidential election.Obama was making his first appearance at the convention where the Democratic faithful have gathered to re-nominate http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics_topics/2012/Sep/06/obama_joins_clinton_after_nominating_speech.html 400605347 The Associated Press Thu, 06 Sep 2012 00:19:54 -0500 Convention Watch shows you the 2012 political conventions through the eyes of Associated Press journalists. Follow them on Twitter where available with the handles listed after each item.___TEAM OF RIVALSTalk about a team of rivals. Former President Bill Clinton credited President Barack Obama with hiring Republicans, adding, "Heck _ he even http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics_topics/2012/Sep/06/convention_watch__clinton_the_rock_star.html 400605346 The Associated Press Thu, 06 Sep 2012 00:18:01 -0500