Copyright 2008 The New York Sun Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:43:42 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Seth Gitell :: Stories from The New York Sun http://www.nysun.com/authors/Seth+Gitell istoll@nysun.com (Ira Stoll) webmaster@nysun.com en-us SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/george-bush-democrat/86837/ Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST NEWTON, Mass. — On the most important issue of 2008, the $700 billion bailout plan for Wall Street, the leaders of the Democratic Party and President Bush are holding essentially the same position. After months of railing against John McCain, representing the election of Mr. McCain as a third term for President Bush, House Speaker Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Reid, and the Democratic chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, all find themselves in... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/in-need-of-more-hawks/86383/ Tue, 23 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Las Vegas is a city that is home to many celebrities — old and young. So it's no surprise that throngs of visitors poured into the Harmon Medical and Rehabilitation Hospital in early September. The only question the nurses and medical staff had was which patient were all those guests coming to see? Some theorized it was a mayor or high-ranking politician. Or, in a glitzy city filled with entertainers and singers of many different eras, perhaps the patient had been one of those. It's possible... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/moving-beyond-the-election/85916/ Tue, 16 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST ANDOVER, Mass. — Some are trying to make the prosecution of war crimes an issue of the presidential campaign while others already are moving past that. Members of the anti-war movement are looking beyond the presidential election this fall and the support in Congress in order to find military officers to disobey orders from superiors and the president. It wasn't surprising that attendees at an Andover, Mass., conference, which I watched online, called for war crimes prosecutions against... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/the-granite-filibuster/85455/ Tue, 9 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — A senator of New Hampshire, John Sununu, is facing the political fight of his life to retain his Senate seat. Polls in New Hampshire show that the Republican is down at least nine points to his opponent and Democratic candidate for the 2008 U.S. Senate seat, Jeanne Shaheen, who is the state's former governor. New Hampshire is important this election season. Mr. Sununu's seat is a key one for the Democrats to take over in order for their party to reach the 60-member milestone... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/mccain-in-charge/84991/ Tue, 2 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST The unifying thread connecting many of this week's tumultuous events — the scaling back of much of the Republican National Convention due to Hurricane Gustav, the canceling of President Bush's speech to delegates, and even the selection of the governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, as Mr. McCain's running mate — is the reintroduction to America of Mr. McCain outside of Mr. Bush's shadow. Mr. Bush, whose approval ratings languish between the high 20s and low 30s, represents the greatest weight on Mr... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/national/obama-supporters-worry-that-grand-acceptance/84790/ Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST DENVER — Senator Obama's plan to address 100,000 supporters in a grandiose outdoor address at Invesco Field is drawing concern from supporters convinced the candidate needs a tightly focused pitch, not a coronation, to win over blue-collar voters throughout the industrial Midwest. Tonight's event, at which Mr. Obama will become only the second presidential nominee to formally accept the nomination in a sweeping open-air setting, runs the risk of putting off key swing voters instead of winning... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/national/georgian-official-seeks-support-in-denver/84720/ Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST DENVER — A top Georgian official is urging liberals and members of the Democratic Party here to take up the cause of his nation, which is embroiled in a conflict with its neighbor Russia over two separatist regions. The remarks of the chairman of Georgia's parliament, David Bakradze, came after a rousing address to a gathering of international leaders sponsored by the National Democratic Institute. His appeal arrives as the Democratic Party prepares to put the focus of its convention tonight on... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/denver-crossroads/84633/ Tue, 26 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST 'I [heart] Bubba." That's the slogan that greeted delegates handed a map prepared by the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau. The slogan, however, was not a reference to the nickname of President Clinton, who will speak at the Democratic National Convention tomorrow night; it was an ad for the Denver location of the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. restaurant chain. But, contrary to the ad's message, many Democratic delegates no longer love Mr. Clinton. "His comments were devastating," a delegate... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/national/protesters-launch-ambitious-week-of-convention/84521/ Mon, 25 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST DENVER — Despite the prospect of the nomination of Senator Obama, a self-proclaimed candidate of change who made a name for himself by speaking out against the war in Iraq, the anti-war movement is gearing up for a big convention week here. This year's convention marks the 40th anniversary of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where anti-war protesters battled with police and disrupted the nomination of Hubert Humphrey. Although it is unlikely that anything approaching that scale... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/battle-of-pennsylvania/84170/ Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST PITTSBURGH — Barack Obama is failing to capture an important swing state, Pennsylvania, despite its residents feeling increasingly uneasy about the economy. Raymond Baumiller of Pittsburgh sat in a table in front of Jenny Lee Bakery, an institution in the area that is closing its doors after 70 years of business. Inside, customers such as Mr. Baumiller's wife, waited in line to procure a final cherished cinnamon roll or brownie from longtime bakery workers who would be jobless in a few hours... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/obama-and-the-invisible-man/83672/ Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Before Barack Obama became the first African-American to become his party's nominee for president, he had achieved another milestone: being elected as the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. Senator Obama's tenure of the latter earned him a reputation of equanimity and fairness. "Obama Kept Law Review Balanced," Politico.com headlined its June study of his time as head of the law review. Escaping notice so far has been a Note, roughly 18-page papers on an area of law penned by... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/obamas-petri-dish/83210/ Tue, 5 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST In Massachusetts, where his friend and political ally Deval Patrick won the top office by campaigning in an eerily similar fashion to Senator Obama, voters have a Petri dish to examine what the Democratic candidate's presidency might be like should he win in November. Comparisons between the two men are in order once again. Mr. Obama celebrated his 47th birthday in Boston last night at a $4 million fundraiser with Governor Patrick at his side. Like Mr. Obama's campaign, Mr. Patrick's was heavy... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/they-wear-yellow-ribbons/82779/ Tue, 29 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Americans have started to complain about yellow ribbons that have been put up to remember the troops overseas as if they are eyesores. At least that is what is happening in the Massachusetts town of Pembroke, which is 30 miles south of Boston. The focus of the fracas is the Barker Square condominium development. Nine unit owners have tied yellow ribbons around columns that appear to be attached to their entryways, but the condominium association, citing condo rules that consider the columns a... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/bring-back-joe/82378/ Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Senator Lieberman is a marked man in Democratic circles these days. He represents one of the few subjects both the Democratic senate leadership and the so-called progressive NetRoots can agree upon: his support of John McCain must be punished, they say. Senate Majority Leader Reid has threatened to strip the Connecticut senator of his chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee should he address the Republican National Convention, like a former Democratic senator from Georgia, Zell Miller... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/romneys-rationale/81904/ Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST The coming weeks will answer one very important question about John McCain: does he want to be the Republican Party's presidential nominee or does he want to be president? Senator McCain is lucky that the race is still close, the most recent Rasmussen poll showed him being tied with Barack Obama. So far, Mr. McCain's campaign has been abysmal: wooden set-piece speeches, poor visuals, and off-message surrogates. A former Texas senator and the candidate's purported top economic adviser, Phil... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/a-cog-in-the-chicago-machine/81385/ Tue, 8 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Four decades after the mayor of Chicago, Richard J. Daley, saw his city torn apart at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, his son, the current mayor, Richard M. Daley, will see his candidate nominated at this year's DNC. While the convention will be held in Denver it will give off the greatest Chicago cast since 1996, when Mayor Daley hosted the convention that nominated President Clinton for his second term. The June decision to place operations of the Democratic National Committee in... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/eroding-the-constitution/81018/ Tue, 1 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Even at these historically low popularity ratings for President Bush — 23%, according to a Bloomberg poll — it's hard to believe that most Americans would like to see the president jailed or hung as a result of his presidency. But, if the dean of the Massachusetts School of Law, Lawrence Velvel, gets his way, that's the punishment a group of legal scholars and advocates will attempt to mete on Mr. Bush after he leaves the White House. Mr. Velvel will host a conference in September aimed at... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/lying-in-wait/80538/ Tue, 24 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST The prospect that Barack Obama will face labor troubles at the Democratic National Convention in Denver this August is increasing. The potential for labor strife at Denver's convention has been in the air since the Democratic National Committee selected it as the host site for the convention. Although convention organizers have worked through the problem of the DNC's venue not being unionized — the Pepsi Center will use union workers for the event — two major problems loom: First, school... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/john-lalanne-mccain/80217/ Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST The issue American voters are likely to hear more about as Election Day approaches is the one that gets worse for John McCain with every passing moment — his age. Mr. McCain, who will turn 72 in August, is a quarter century older than his opponent, Barack Obama, who will be 47 that same month. The generational attack is ongoing. Last week, one of Mr. Obama's foreign policy advisers, Susan Rice, labeled Mr. McCain as being "confused." Back in May, when the campaigns sniped back and forth over... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/substance-over-style/79663/ Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST It's back to New Hampshire for John McCain. When Senator McCain takes the stage for a town meeting at Daniel Webster College in Nashua, N.H., later this week, his performance will serve two purposes. First, it will represent an effort to win a vital swing state. Second, a return to a town meeting style of campaigning, where candidates respond to questions from voters for a prolonged period of time, could help him perfect a vital tactic of being able to answer tough, surprising questions. The... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/harvard-president-salutes-newly-commissioned/79365/ Thu, 5 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — For a little less than an hour yesterday, Harvard dedicated itself to honoring those graduates who have opted to serve America as members of the military. During this time, a visitor to the Yard could almost imagine it being commencement week before the onset of full-blown anti-military academic activism that began blossoming during the Vietnam War and has never been fully exorcised. Guests, alumni, dignitaries, and participants in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps program... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/national/prayers-for-a-stricken-kennedy/76773/ Wed, 21 May 2008 00:00:00 EST BOSTON -- Even as prayers in Massachusetts and around the country are going out for Senator Kennedy, whom doctors diagnosed yesterday with a malignant brain tumor, the news is prompting quiet consideration of a political environment devoid of America's second-longest-serving senator. RELATED: Kennedy Returns to Cape Cod To Sail and Recuperate. Given the seriousness of Mr. Kennedy's condition and the recognition of his formidable will, few in the Bay State are eager to talk publicly about what... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/right-nominee/75933/ Tue, 6 May 2008 00:00:00 EST Mathematically, Barack Obama is set to win the Democratic nomination even if Hillary Clinton wins both the Indiana and North Carolina primaries. But Senator Obama's nomination will come as a shock to some. Despite the fact that Senator Clinton has been surging during the last two months and Mr. Obama has been flagging, party rules and the superdelegates' preference practically guarantee that Mr. Obama will be the nominee. This will come as a surprise to white blue-collar voters, who support Mrs... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/hardball-senator/75508/ Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST The possibility of the host of MSNBC's "Hardball" Christopher Matthews, running against Senator Specter of Pennsylvania, a Republican, for Mr. Specter's senate seat in Pennsylvania is intensifying. Although Mr. Matthews said to Bill Maher of HBO that he's "not getting involved in it" when asked about whether he would seek the position in 2010, it is odd to employ his television program in a way that would make him a favorable candidate to run for senator of Pennsylvania as a Democrat. Mr... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/national/im-predicting-its-going-to-be-close/75110/ Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST PITTSBURGH — A double-digit victory by Senator Clinton in the primary here would extend the fight for the Democratic presidential nomination and breathe life into her campaign. Polls going into today's election included a Public Policy Polling survey showing Senator Obama leading by three points and two other polls, Suffolk University and InsiderAdvantage, suggesting Mrs. Clinton was ahead by 10 points. The overall trend for Mrs. Clinton in the state was upward. Prior to the Ohio contest... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/pennsylvania-race-counting-on-casey/75063/ Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST If Barack Obama is to win Pennsylvania today or in November as the party's eventual nominee, it will be, in part, due to the work of a Pennsylvania senator, Robert Casey Jr. The image of Mr. Casey, standing atop a Scranton hill wearing a windbreaker and speaking in favor of Mr. Obama, is being shown in heavy rotation in western Pennsylvania for a television ad. The emphasis of the ad is on the presidential candidate's ability to revive the economy and unite the country. Mr. Casey, who was... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/showdown-in-philadelphia/74711/ Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST Tomorrow's Democratic debate in Philadelphia potentially could be a disaster for Barack Obama — he must answer the toughest questions yet about his candidacy. The event will mark the first time Senators Obama and Clinton have faced each other since February 26, their last debate in Ohio. That debate was before the Reverend Jeremiah Wright's comments were made public and before Mr. Obama referred to millions of working class and small town voters as "bitter." While Mrs. Clinton's credibility has... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/clintons-reprieve/74341/ Tue, 8 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST With two weeks to go until the Pennsylvania primary, the leadership of the Clinton campaign can be thought of as a hungry, thirsty, and cold survivor on a lifeboat way out at sea. More than two months ago, it jettisoned a former campaign manager, Patti Solis Doyle. On Sunday it tossed the campaign's chief strategist, Mark Penn, overboard. Just as throwing an infirm passenger off of a vessel preserves dwindling food and water for those remaining, Mr. Penn's resignation on Sunday will help keep... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/staying-in-the-race/74110/ Thu, 3 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST If Hillary Clinton takes her candidacy all the way to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, she will point to two members of the party's historic firmament to justify her case — Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt. Already beset by criticism and calls to drop out of the presidential race, Mrs. Clinton, by the time the convention comes around, will need an argument that the Democratic Party is strong enough to survive a contentious and drawn-out election. Should Mrs. Clinton remain in... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/deans-moment-to-act/73596/ Tue, 25 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EST Later this evening the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Howard Dean, is scheduled to address an audience at a locale familiar to progressive activists, the Majestic Theatre in Madison, Wis. Sure to be on display tonight will be the plan the good doctor has engineered for Democratic success in 2008. He likely will put the spotlight on the "50 state strategy," a plan which "is making the Democratic Party competitive in every race, in every district, in every state and territory,"... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/mccain-most-like-kennedy/72654/ Tue, 11 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EST The John F. Kennedy Library stands atop a peninsula jutting into the gray waters of Boston Harbor. Visitors exit this memorial for the 35th president pondering the current national election and feeling the weight of history. An apt topic for those who just have examined exhibits on Kennedy's biography, the 1960 presidential race, his inaugural speech, and his administration is which candidate most captures the Kennedy spirit. Given that Kennedy's brother, Senator Kennedy of Massachusetts, and... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/whats-in-a-name-2008-03-04/72254/ Tue, 4 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EST Before a conservative talk show host in Cincinnati caught flak for referring to the full name of the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for president, "Barack Hussein Obama," other sympathetic or unaligned commentators were trumpeting it as one his attributes. Take, for example, Chris Matthews of MSNBC. Back in December, he cited the name in a paean to the international promise Mr. Obama offered. "Barack Hussein Obama, a guy whose father comes from Kenya, who was raised at least in his... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/out-of-favor/71866/ Tue, 26 Feb 2008 00:00:00 EST Don't pick fights with those who buy ink by the barrel goes the political adage. Yet despite this unwritten political rule two candidates are at war this week with the press. It is no surprise that John McCain is one of them. The New York Times ran a story insinuating an improper relationship between him and a female lobbyist. Mr. McCain denied the story and rallied a conservative base behind him. Ever since Richard Nixon's vice president, Spiro Agnew, denounced the press as "nattering nabobs... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/back-to-the-future-2008-02-19/71474/ Tue, 19 Feb 2008 00:00:00 EST It's back to the future for the Hillary Clinton campaign. Struggling mightily to avoid a reversed direction, it pulled a two-decade old political trick out of its hat yesterday. Back in 1987, the presidential campaign of Delaware's senator, Joseph Biden, began to take hold. Particularly effective for Mr. Biden was a portion of his stump speech taken from the oratory of a British Labour Party leader, Neil Kinnock, which struck a populist chord. "Why am I the first Kinnock in a thousand... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/on-the-campaign-trail-going-home/71122/ Tue, 12 Feb 2008 00:00:00 EST Hillary Clinton will come home this month — if home is where the money is. Having already pulled off victories in New York, Massachusetts, and California that preserved her candidacy last week, she or her campaign will go back to these venues next week. Ordinarily one wouldn't expect a campaign to use its most precious resource, its candidate, in states she has already won. But this year is anything out of the ordinary. Mrs. Clinton needs the money to compete in the next major primaries. At... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/national/president-clinton-stumps-for-his-wife/70959/ Fri, 8 Feb 2008 00:00:00 EST PORTLAND, MAINE — President Clinton, refraining from directly mentioning either Senator Obama or the finances of his wife's campaign, is making the case for Senator Clinton's election to the presidency on the basis of specific policy positions – on education, health care and the economy. Mr. Clinton also raised the specter of an unpredictable crisis in arguing that his wife was the best person to be president. Mr. Clinton's comments came at event three days prior to Maine's February 10... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/among-bloombergs-neighbors/70751/ Tue, 5 Feb 2008 00:00:00 EST The Bloomberg for president buzz has reached West Medford, Mass., the commercial epicenter of a neighborhood of suburban homes, including the one Mayor Bloomberg grew up in. Anticipation of Super Tuesday looms over the downtown stretch of beauty parlors, a candy store, a pizza place, and a coffee shop. Today is make-or-break for Mr. Bloomberg's notion of a running as an independent presidential candidate. Whatever happens nationally, whether Mitt Romney or John McCain wins the Republican... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/national/edwardss-withdrawal-sets-stage-for-two-candidate/70536/ Thu, 31 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST With John Edwards no longer in the presidential race, Senator Clinton will attempt to debate her way to the presidential nomination tonight in Hollywood's Kodak Theater. The departure from the presidential race of Mr. Edwards, who made his announcement public yesterday in New Orleans but did not make an endorsement in the race, sets the stage for a two-candidate duel between Mrs. Clinton and Senator Obama in the debate and in the more than 20 primaries on February 5. While the debate isn't... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/romneys-quick-fix/70386/ Tue, 29 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST After losing the first two early contests, the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, Governor Romney could punctuate an unexpected turn of good fortune in the presidential race with a win in today's Florida primary. Even if Mr. Romney cannot defeat Senator McCain in Florida but finishes a close second, as yesterday's polls suggested, the result would likely mean a two-man race for the remainder of the Republican nomination fight. The former governor of Massachusetts is the candidate who... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/foreign/methodists-to-mull-divestment-from-israel/70089/ Thu, 24 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST The nation's largest and most prominent mainline Protestant denomination, the 11 million-member United Methodist Church — whose members include both President Bush and Senator Clinton — is set to take up the issue of whether to divest from companies that do business with Israel. The meeting, which is to be held on Friday in Fort Worth, Texas, will mark the highest level of consideration that the subject of economic divestment from the Jewish state has received within the Methodist denomination... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/next-hanging-chad/69925/ Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST The 2008 election could do for the party nominating process what the 2000 election did for the general election: shine the spotlight into an area that could afford a little close examination. Just as the contest between George W. Bush and Al Gore was an ugly reminder for many Americans of the oft-overlooked electoral college, which ultimately decides elections, a closely-contested fight for party nominations could illustrate to voters that the nominations are the product of political parties... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/testing-obamas-hope-coming-to-carolina/69501/ Tue, 15 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST "This was not a victory just for me. This was not a victory just for Democrats. This was a victory for hope." — Deval Patrick, November 7, 2006. Next weekend, the governor of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick, will travel to South Carolina to campaign on behalf of Barack Obama. The purpose behind Mr. Patrick's stumping, the Boston Globe's Lisa Wangsness reported, is to demonstrate to South Carolina's black population that a largely white electorate will vote for an African-American candidate. Mr... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/national/slight-of-king-could-linger-for-voters/69242/ Thu, 10 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST Senator Clinton's comment stressing the importance of President Johnson at the expense of the role of Martin Luther King Jr. may come back to haunt her in the battle to attract African American voters, who make up half of the Democratic electorate in the upcoming South Carolina primary. The situation underscores the perils for Mrs. Clinton as she confronts a challenge for the Democratic presidential nomination from Senator Obama. Her attempts to criticize Mr. Obama risk backfiring and... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/national/republican-contest-is-reshaped-by-new-hampshire/69150/ Wed, 9 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST NASHUA, N.H. — Senator McCain's comeback victory here reshapes the Republican race into a wide-open fray between him and the victor in Iowa, Governor Huckabee. It makes Michigan a must-win for Governor Romney, who finished second here and in Iowa. It will strain Mayor Giuliani's novel strategy of focusing on Florida and the February 5 states. The focus of the campaign now shifts to Michigan, which holds its primary January 15, and South Carolina, whose contest takes place January 19. The... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/national/clinton-chances-sinking-vows-to-fight/69056/ Tue, 8 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST MANCHESTER, N.H. — Amid a widespread sense in the Granite State that Senator Clinton's chances of becoming the first woman president in American history are sinking, Mrs. Clinton will fight her way through the rest of the campaign vowing "to examine everyone's record." Without appearing face-to-face yesterday with her main rival here, Senator Obama, she responded to him. She had criticized his campaign for raising "false hopes." Mr. Obama then asked what would have happened if President Kennedy... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/is-obama-like-king/69072/ Tue, 8 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST These days authenticity is a fetish. And for Democratic primary voters, no current candidate is deemed more authentic than Barack Obama. Voters celebrate both Mr. Obama's genuineness and salute his inspirational orations. His speeches are likened to those of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. Last week during his victory speech after the Iowa caucuses, he began by establishing a memorable rhythm and laying down words with repetition: "You know, they said — they said — they said this... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/national/obamas-bet-may-rest-on-new-voters/68990/ Mon, 7 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST MANCHESTER, N.H. — A large recent influx of potential new voters could alter the New Hampshire electorate and tip tomorrow's primary contest in favor of Senator Obama. Between 2001 and 2006, 207,000 people migrated to New Hampshire, which has a population of 1.3 million, and 188,000 departed, the University of New Hampshire's Carsey Institute, using data from the Census Bureau and Internal Revenue Service, found. The institute identified 145,000 of the state's new residents as being of voting... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/foreign/team-sent-to-sudan-to-probe-envoys-slaying/68838/ Thu, 3 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST The Bush administration is dispatching a joint Diplomatic Security-Federal Bureau of Investigation team to Khartoum to investigate the murder of an American diplomat working to promote democracy and changes in the electoral process in Sudan, John Granville. Granville, a 33-year-old officer with the U.S. Agency for International Development, was killed along with his Sudanese driver shortly after the ringing in of the New Year on Tuesday. The murder came just hours after President Bush signed... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/sticky-question/68896/ Thu, 3 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST John Edwards, dressed in boots, blue jeans, and a black overcoat, is talking about money, power, and politics, the centerpiece of his populist campaign for president. A trial lawyer who made millions, Mr. Edwards has been battling to bring his message of middle class grievance to the masses. And the polls, in Iowa at least, suggest he may be meeting with some success. But Mr. Edwards's bold words skirt the details of the situation that prompted a sticky question from a reporter. A television ad... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/foreign/bhuttos-death-reverberates-at-harvard/68690/ Fri, 28 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EST BOSTON — Benazir Bhutto's death at the hands of an assassin outside of Islamabad, Pakistan, yesterday, is reverberating across Harvard College, from which the Pakistani opposition leader graduated in 1973. Bhutto, the daughter of Zulficar Ali Bhutto, himself executed in 1979, arrived at Harvard as a shy international student in 1969 and returned triumphantly to deliver the university's commencement address two decades later as her country's prime minister. Bhutto's first friend at Harvard was...