The Democratic National Convention will be held August 25-28, and we bet a lot of people would love to be there whether they support presumptive nominee Barack Obama or not. And stars are no exception: Gossips are predicting an unprecedented level of celeb sightings next week in Denver.]]>
"We are all Georgians," announced John McCain in the pages of the Wall Street Journal today. But since the citizens of the invaded nation can't vote for president in the US, the senator is in Michigan today, where he stopped in at a Bloomfield Hills diner to "chat."
His Straight Talk Express almost made a longer unscheduled stop in the state after wife Cindy McCain injured her hand at a meet'n'greet in Royal Oak. All the hand-shaking aggravated her carpal-tunnel syndrome, but she's back by John's side today--albeit wearing a sling.
Barack Obama is still on vacation in Hawaii, but The New York Times style section has a tip for women who may have admired wife Michelle's style: Maria Pinto, who designed the purple dress Mrs. Obama was wearing during Fist Bump '08, has opened her first boutique in Chicago at 133 North Jefferson St. Oprah is also a fan of her sleek feminine silhouettes.
Related Stories:
· We Are All Georgians [WSJ]
· An Obama Fashion Bump [NYT]
· McCain's Wife Hospitalized in Michigan [WDIV]
· 2008 Candidates Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Simon Gentry]]]>
On Saturday, John McCain and Barack Obama will meet for the first time in months, and this time, it won't be in butter: They will make sequential appearances at Saddleback Church along with bestselling author and pastor Rick Warren for an event called "Civil Forum on the Presidency."
The candidates, who have not had an official debate yet due to differences about the terms of their meetings, will chat with Warren and endure a civil photo op with each other before they go back to calling each other celebrities.]]>
John McCain and Barack Obama may be sparring over the best ways for America to burn even more fossil fuels, but come convention time--August 25-28 for Dems and September 1-4 for the GOP--bike sharing will be the way to go thanks to the Freewheelin program.
Sponsored by the healthcare company Humana and the non-profit group Bikes Belong, Freewheelin is a free cycle sharing scheme that will both provide transportation during the events and introduce policy makers and journalists to the idea of public bikes. Each city will have about eight locations for 1,000 bikes, and they'll be available from roughly 7 am to 7 pm. (Just a couple weeks out, the exact details are still a little sketchy.)
You'll need to register for the program before you get to town; you can do that here.
Related Stories:
· Freewheelin [Official Site, via]
· Cycling Travel: Obama Scorns Your Spandex [Jaunted]
· Bike Sharing coverage [Jaunted]
· 2008 Candidates Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo of Velibs in Paris: malias]]]>
Hot off the tailpipe of his stop at Sturgis, John McCain visited a nuclear power plant in Detroit, Michigan to expound on his energy policy, where he crossed paths with presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama, who was hyping his plan for a $1,000 energy rebate in Lansing.
McCain will be in Lima, Ohio tomorrow for a town meeting, but Republican stalkers will be disappointed that his campaign calendar isn't set up to display more than one day's worth of events at a time. Meanwhile, Obama is off to Henderson, Nevada for a rally with former contender Hillary Clinton on Friday.
Floridians won't get a visit from McCain this week, but they can expect his across-the-aisle buddy Joe Lieberman, who's running a town hall meeting on behalf of the Republican Party in Boca Raton tomorrow. Lieberman may have been on the Democratic ticket in 2000, but his buddy John must be willing to look past all that. Now that's friendship!
Related Stories:
· Barack Obama, John McCain Give Michigan Voters Energy Pep Talk [Grand Rapids Press]
· 2008 Candidates Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Barack Obama]]]>
While Barack Obama talked about tapping the nations oil reserves at a campaign stop in Michigan, John McCain said he'd rather start offshore drilling, revving up the crowd at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota.
Said the Arizona senator:
We're not gonna pay $4 a gallon for gas because we're gonna drill offshore and we're gonna drill here and we're gonna drill now.
From the cheers that went up, bikers liked the idea. After all, when you're commuting between Sturgis and the new Harley museum in Milwaukee, even the most efficient motorcycle can rack up a substantial fuel bill.
Related Stories:
· Oil Drilling a Potent Rallying Cry [NPR]
· Sturgis Motorcycle Rally [Official Site]
· 2008 Candidates Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: John McCain 2008]]]>
John McCain is using Barack Obama's vacation videos against him! Footage of the crowd waiting for Obama in Berlin where he gave a speech last week opens a new campaign ad, which alleges that Obama is "the biggest celebrity in the world" and... thus... unfit to be president?
We're not sure we follow, but no way would 200,000 people line up for Paris Hilton any more (if they ever would have).
Both candidates will be speaking to much smaller crowds today, as McCain visits Racine, Wisconsin and Obama stops in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Then McCain's off to Panama City, Florida for a benefit concert featuring John Rich of Big'n'Rich. Who's the celeb magnet now?
Related Stories:
· John McCain Hosting Billionaires at the Plaza [HC]
· Obama Scorns Your Spandex [Jaunted]
· Obama-mania Sweeps Africa [Jaunted]]]>