Democratic Senator Barack Obama geared up yesterday to deliver a presidential-style address to the nation on the final stretch of his White House campaign against Senator John McCain. Upping the pace to an intense new level six days before next Tuesday’s election, Obama was to hold his first joint rally with former president Bill Clinton at a midnight event in Orlando, Florida.
Obama’s 30-minute, prime-time TV pitch, at up to US$5 million, was to be broadcast on three of the four national networks: CBS, NBC and Fox.
Virtually guaranteeing a huge audience, the “infomercial” was to directly precede the start of the latest and potentially decisive game of baseball’s World Series.
Aides were tight-lipped about the contents but the broadcast was likely to emulate the slickly produced biographical video shown at the Democratic convention in late August as Obama offers his “closing argument” to voters.
The Illinois senator, who at 47 is bidding to be the US’ first black president, is riding high in the polls and Republican McCain is beset by reports of internal disarray between his aides and running mate Sarah Palin.
In Virginia late on Tuesday, Obama said history was in the air as he builds a double-digit poll lead in a state that last voted for a Democratic White House hopeful in 1964. In fact, as he campaigned in the picturesque Shenandoah Valley, Obama said the last Democratic presidential contender to come to the region was the racist Stephen Douglas — Abraham Lincoln’s opponent before the 1861 to 1865 Civil War.
“That’s a long distance to travel,” he said, while stressing in a now-daily warning against complacency: “Don’t think for one minute that power will concede without a fight … We’re going to have to work like our future depends on it, because it does.”
McCain, 72, was also campaigning in the Sunshine State yesterday, a pivotal battleground that decided the 2000 election in favor of US President George W. Bush after a recount fiasco that went all the way to the Supreme Court.
An estimated 2 million Floridians have voted early and queues have grown so lengthy that Governor Charlie Crist — a moderate Republican who is reportedly critical of McCain’s campaign — has extended balloting hours.
Florida had appeared a lock for McCain not many weeks ago, but a Los Angeles Times poll late on Tuesday had Obama ahead by 50 percent to 43 percent. It also had Obama on 49 percent to McCain’s 40 in Ohio, another crucial state.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS