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| Obama to leave campaign trail to visit ailing grandmother |
| 2008-10-21 |
| Sen. Barack Obama will take a break from campaigning Thursday so he can visit his ailing grandmother in Hawaii, an Obama spokesman said Monday. Sen. Barack Obama will take a break from campaigning so he can visit his ailing grandmother. "Sen. Obama's grandmother Madelyn Dunham has always been one of the most important people in his life," spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters. "In the last few weeks, her health has deteriorated to the point where her situation is very serious. It is for that reason that Sen. Obama has decided to change his schedule on Thursday and Friday so that he can see her and spend some time with her," Gibbs said. The interruption will cause Obama to cancel Thursday events in Madison, Wisconsin and Des Moines, Iowa. He will do an event in Indianapolis, Indiana, Thursday morning before leaving and will return to the campaign Saturday, Gibbs said. Michelle Obama will fill in for her husband on Friday at previously scheduled events in Columbus and Akron, Ohio, his campaign said. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #14 JFM nailed it. texas darlin has the scoop. If you haven't already heard, don't go dismissing it offhand. There is MUCH fire behind the smoke and basically, the Obama camp is reduced to the argument that there is no mechanism in the constitution to make him PROVE that he is eligible. This is a HUGE story and it is just flaming UNBEELEEEVABLE that no one is touching it. If he actually manages to win this election, this has the potential to start a civil war as it is highly likely that he is not elibible to be POTUS. Law suits can and probably will be filed in all 50 states. While it may be that the SC will determine this election, I can't help but wondering what will happen if some states refuse to accept a non-natural born citizen as POTUS. And those who say he is eligible because his mom is a citizen - do your homework and read up before you spew. This is a huge back story and the implications are frightening. |
| Posted by: Betty 2008-10-21 23:58 |
| #13 As I understand it, his grandmother's been largely missing from his campaign. It may be legit. He's already got a rep for neglecting and ignoring politically unconnected relatives, if he let his "average white person" die unattended, it might turn into A Thing. |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2008-10-21 18:45 |
| #12 I wonder about the timing. Despite the long-knives comment which I hadn't considered, the timing couldn't be worse. If he's going to deal with legal issues he should have done so 29 days ago (or whenever he was on vacation in Hawaii). If she's really hurt he's screwed because McCain just caught up within the margin of error and his VP is proving to be a handicap. Part of me wonders if his own polling isn't showing some really bad trends and this is the start of an excuse to insure he gets another shot in 2012. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2008-10-21 18:29 |
| #11 I doubt it, JFM; keep in mind, he's probably as close or closer to his grandmother than he is to his mother; she was the one who was there to raise him between the ages of 7 and 17 or whenever it was. |
| Posted by: Tranquil Mechanical Yeti 2008-10-21 18:18 |
| #10 I, find funny he is going to Hawai for a broken hip. There is something else. |
| Posted by: JFM 2008-10-21 18:12 |
| #9 I'm very sorry to hear she's so ill. I'm sure she did her best to raise her grandson right, but he chose a different path - one that tossed her under a bus with other "typical white people." I'm also unfortunately thinking unkind thoughts, since she is both gravely ill and elderly, about the timing of her death. If I were her, I think I'd have a trusted doctor and/or nurse beside me 24/7 until after the election. Just sayin'. :-( |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2008-10-21 18:06 |
| #8 It has also been suggested that Obama has to get to Hawaii immediately, because there is a good possibility that a federal judge will demand he present 3 different documents, only available in Hawaii (or not) to assert not only that he is eligible to be elected as POTUS, but to show that he is a US citizen at all. "According to Rule 36 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a party upon whom requests for admissions have been served must respond, within 30 days, or else the matters in the requests will be automatically deemed conclusively admitted for purposes of the pending action." On September 15, as part of the federal lawsuit against Barack Obama and the Democratic National Committee they were both served with just such a request, and have not responded within 30 days. The Federal Rules require that a response to a request for admissions be served within the 30-day time limit, or else Obama and the DNC are admitting that he is not only not eligible to serve as POTUS, but may in fact not even be a citizen of the US. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2008-10-21 17:01 |
| #7 Hopefully, the old gal won't be frightened at the sudden appearance of a strange black man. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2008-10-21 15:57 |
| #6 How can he possibly value such a woman? He still loves his grandmother, rightfully so. |
| Posted by: Sheba Jeger8491 2008-10-21 15:52 |
| #5 No, Scott it was a Caribbean Island. |
| Posted by: Beavis 2008-10-21 14:58 |
| #4 On a more serious note. It seems to me that very time something seriously stupid has been uttered by the Obama campaign he takes off to Hawaii for a couple days until things blow over. During that time his surrogates bring out the long knives to even things up a bit. |
| Posted by: Scott R 2008-10-21 14:57 |
| #3 Isn't his |
| Posted by: Scott R 2008-10-21 14:53 |
| #2 Cold. Arctic cold. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-10-21 14:30 |
| #1 This would be the grandmother who crosses the street when she sees a black man, lest she be harmed? How can he possibly value such a woman? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-10-21 14:28 |