Barack Obama Elected President!

[DevotedToAMC]

Wales I understand your point about political discussions....at some points, they get heated and out of control but, for the most part, this one has stayed on good ground

[SnCCorinthos4ever]

I'm not American, but I am very interested in how this election goes.

Growing up I would have to say that anything where JFK was concerned interested me.

I would have to say that the only reason I really wanted to go to Washington DC was to go to Arlington Cemtery

[DevotedToAMC]

I have been to Arlington Cemetery, SnC, and it is quite a site. We took a trip about fifteen years ago of a couple places on the east coast (Boston, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and New York City). It was my second favorite vacation with the favorite being London and Paris

[Roman]

Ok. No matter how I feel about her, this has to stop if she hopes to be successful.

April 6, 2008

Clinton drops hospital story from stump speech

Posted: 02:11 PM ET

Clinton campaigned in Montana Saturday.

(CNN) — Hillary Clinton’s campaign says the candidate will stop telling the story of an uninsured pregnant woman who lost the baby and died after being denied medical care, following a hospital raising questions over its accuracy.

Clinton has frequently told the emotional story of the woman from rural Ohio since late February. In the speech, Clinton said the woman made minimum wage working at a local pizza restaurant, without insurance, when she became pregnant. Clinton said the woman ran into trouble and went to a hospital in a nearby county but was denied treatment because she couldn’t afford a $100 payment.

In the speech, Clinton said the woman later was taken to the hospital by ambulance and lost the baby. The young woman was then taken by helicopter to a Columbus hospital where she died of complications.

As recently as Friday night in Grand Forks, North Dakota, Clinton said, “As I was listening to this story being told, I was just aching inside. It is so wrong, in this good, great and rich country, that a young woman and her baby would die because she didn’t have health insurance or a hundred dollars to get examined.”

But an Athens, Ohio hospital is questioning the accuracy of the story. While Clinton never named the hospital in her speech, the woman she was referring to was treated at O’Bleness Memorial Hospital in Athens. The hospital said the woman did indeed have insurance, and at least at their hospital was never turned away.

Hospital chief executive officer Rick Castrop in a statement said, “we reviewed the medical and patient accounts of the patient” after she was named in a newspaper story about Clinton’s stump speech. “There is no indication that she was ever denied medical care at any time, for any reason. We clearly reject any perception that we ever denied any care to this woman.”

A hospital spokesperson confirmed to CNN the woman had insurance. She said the hospital decided to come forward after people in the community began to question if they had denied her care.

Clinton was first told the story during a campaign visit to a family’s living room in Pomeroy, Ohio. Bryan Holman, who was hosting the candidate, at the event told her on Febuary 28, ‘I’d like to tell you a story of a young women I know that didn't have health insurance. She worked in a little pizza place around here and she was pregnant and worked for minimum wage ..The hospital told her she needed a hundred dollars up front that she didn't have, of course.”

Clinton’s speech accurately reflects what she was told that day, but the campaign admits they were not able to confirm the account.

Clinton spokesman Mo Elleithee said, “She had no reason to doubt his word”. He said,” Candidates are told stories by people all the time, and it’s common for candidates to retell those stories. It’s not always possible to fully vet them, but we try. For example, medical records are confidential. In this case, we tried but weren’t able to fully vet the story.”

Elleithee added, “If the hospital claims it didn’t happen that way, we certainly respect that and she won’t repeat the story.”

“She never mentions the hospital by name and isn’t trying to cast blame. She tells this story because it illustrates the point that we have a very serious health care problem in America. That’s a point very few people will dispute," he also said.

From CNN.com.

And, I understand that they could not fully vet the story, which means she may not have known that the story may have been false. But, she and Obama need to realize that they take chances when they tell stories like this, and she needs to make sure what she says is accurate, with the credibility problem she now has.

[DevotedToAMC]

I am glad Mark Penn is gone...he is useless

[Southofnowhere]

Pros like the Clintons should not be making screwups like this.

[DevotedToAMC]

Agree South

[EricaKane70]

According to CNN's national polls obama is up 46% to hillary's 42%, just last week it was obama 50% to hillary's 40%. An WTF, the clintons have 109 million dollars, I was shocked by that amount, but I know that majority of that came from their books and bill's speeches around the world so I don't think it should cause an uproar but I know it will. I actually think hillary made a good move about the whole bosnia thing by going on leno and making fun of herself, for whatever reason people seem to like hillary more when she's more down to earth.

[Roman]

10 things you should know about John McCain (but probably don’t):

1. John McCain voted against establishing a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now he says his position has “evolved,” yet he’s continued to oppose key civil rights laws.

2. According to Bloomberg News, McCain is more hawkish than Bush on Iraq, Russia and China. Conservative columnist Pat Buchanan says McCain “will make Cheney look like Gandhi.”

3. His reputation is built on his opposition to torture, but McCain voted against a bill to ban waterboarding, and then applauded President Bush for vetoing that ban.

4. McCain opposes a woman’s right to choose. He said, “I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned.”

5. The Children’s Defense Fund rated McCain as the worst senator in Congress for children. He voted against the children’s health care bill last year, then defended Bush’s veto of the bill.

6. He’s one of the richest people in a Senate filled with millionaires. The Associated Press reports he and his wife own at least eight homes! Yet McCain says the solution to the housing crisis is for people facing foreclosure to get a “second job” and skip their vacations.

7. Many of McCain’s fellow Republican senators say he’s too reckless to be commander in chief. One Republican senator said: “The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He’s erratic. He’s hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me.”

8. McCain talks a lot about taking on special interests, but his campaign manager and top advisers are actually lobbyists. The government watchdog group Public Citizen says McCain has 59 lobbyists raising money for his campaign, more than any of the other presidential candidates.

9. McCain has sought closer ties to the extreme religious right in recent years. The pastor McCain calls his “spiritual guide,” Rod Parsley, believes America’s founding mission is to destroy Islam, which he calls a “false religion.” McCain sought the political support of right-wing preacher John Hagee, who believes Hurricane Katrina was God’s punishment for gay rights and called the Catholic Church “the Antichrist” and a “false cult.”

10. He positions himself as pro-environment, but he scored a 0—yes, zero—from the League of Conservation Voters last year.

John McCain is not who the Washington press corps make him out to be. Please help get the word out—forward this email to your personal network. And if you want us to keep you posted on MoveOn’s work to get the truth out about John McCain, sign up here.

[DevotedToAMC]

Someone sent that list to me in email, Roman...very eye opening!

[SnCCorinthos4ever]

And I thought that I hated Bush.

Grr I firmly believe that people have the right to chose how they live their lifes.

I don't believe that Hurricane Katrina was an act of god. If it was why didn't it happen world wide?

I do so hope that the Democrat's absolutely thrash's the Republicians in the election in November.

And you know that he must be bad if people from other countries dislike him.

[DevotedToAMC]

Oh we will. I think the ticket will be either Obama/Hillary or Hillary/Obama. They both attract the right people: Democrats, whites, some Republicans, Independents, Hispanics, African Americans, Asians (includes the Pacific Islands)

[Noel]

This is just for entertainment purposes only...

Jack & Hill

[DevotedToAMC]

I saw that, Noel, and cracked up

[Southofnowhere]

It's looking like McCain is going to pick Condi Rice as his running mate.