 IN THE HEADLINES
Cheney sees nothing stopping Palin from being a good veep; calls her speech 'superb' ... Obama drops daughters off for first day of classes at University of Chicago school ... Obama, McCain economic plans rely on tax cuts, but in sharply different ways
Cheney sees nothing stopping Palin from doing job
ROME (AP) — There's nothing stopping Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin from being an effective vice president, says the man who now has the job.
Vice President Dick Cheney told reporters in Rome on Monday that he "loved" Palin's speech to the Republican National Convention. He laughed when he recounted her line about the difference between hockey moms and pit bulls being a coat of lipstick.  "I thought her appearance at the convention was superb," Cheney said. He was asked whether he thought Palin could handle the No. 2 job under a president John McCain.
"Everybody brings a different set of experiences to the office and also a different kind of understanding with whoever the president is," Cheney said during remarks at the residence of U.S. Ambassador to Italy Ronald P. Spogli.
Cheney said he watched Palin's speech with great interest Thursday morning during a visit to Baku, Azerbaijan. Cheney had met Palin before and called to congratulate her shortly after McCain named her as his running mate.
Obama takes daughters to first day of school
CHICAGO (AP) — Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama held his daughters' hands when he escorted them to their first day of school.
The girls arrived at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools on Monday in a five-SUV motorcade after a short drive from their South Side home.
It was the first day of classes for 10-year-old Malia and 7-year-old Sasha. They'd spent some of their summer on the campaign trail with their dad.
Clad in a black track suit, Obama walked his daughters through the side doors of the ivy covered school building just before 8 a.m. before heading to a gym.
Obama and McCain: Big economic differences
WASHINGTON (AP) — Job No. 1 for the next president? In the minds of an overwhelming number of Americans, it's fixing what ails the sick economy. What the voters will have to sort out are very different approaches offered by Barack Obama and John McCain.
Both of their fix-up plans rely heavily on tax cuts, but in sharply different ways that speak to the historic differences between Democrats and Republicans.
McCain, borrowing a page from Ronald Reagan and President Bush, would keep tax rates low for higher-income taxpayers and slash rates for corporations, arguing that this is the way to jump-start a lethargic economy and create more jobs.
Obama, focusing on a theme of many past Democratic campaigns, seeks to target his help to the squeezed middle class and address the growing income inequality between rich and poor. He would retain all of the Bush tax cuts for families making less than $250,000 a year, but would do away with Bush's cuts for people making more than that.
The money raised from tax increases on the wealthy would be redirected by Obama to tax relief for lower-income Americans.
Unlike a lot of campaign debates where the promises of neither side get enacted into law, this war of words will make a difference because all of Bush's tax cuts are scheduled to expire at the end of 2010.
Since neither party wants to go back to the tax rates in effect before 2001, whoever wins will have to work with Congress to pass legislation shaping how the tax code will look beyond 2010. At stake will be billions of dollars.
THE DEMOCRATS
Barack Obama campaigns in the Michigan cities of Flint and Farmington Hills.
Joe Biden campaigns in Green Bay, Wis., and Des Moines, Iowa.
THE REPUBLICANS
John McCain and Sarah Palin campaign in Lee's Summit, Mo.
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"Each administration is different. And there's no reason why Sarah Palin can't be a successful vice president in a McCain administration." — Vice President Dick Cheney.
STAT OF THE DAY:
Four Arizona politicians, including John McCain in 2000, have run for president. All lost.
Compiled by Ann Sanner. |