Obama wins Democratic presidential nominee

www.chinaview.cn 2008-08-28 07:28:54  

    Denver, the United States, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) --

Barack Obama was announced the winner of the Democratic presidential nominee after the routine roll call on Wednesday at the national convention in Denver, Colorado.

    Hillary Rodham Clinton, the other person whose name on the ballots, showed up at the convention as New York was to announce its voting result and send her acclamation to Obama, effectively ceasing the procedure and cancelling the prior voting results.

    Before the roll call was over, Obama won the nomination by 1549of the total 4,400 Democratic delegates from the U.S. 50 states, the District of Columbia and territories, while Clinton, got 282.

    During the roll call, every state reported the voting result of its delegates. But it was just a routine procedure without any suspension because the Illinois Senator has become the presumptive presidential hopeful since he cumulated more than 2,210 delegates from primaries needed to clinch the candidacy on June 3.

    However, the Democratic National Committee and Obama's campaign agreed to put Clinton's name on the convention ballots to honor her outstanding performance during the primary season and also as a try to woo her supporters.

    California, the most populous state with most delegates seated at the convention, at 441, passed vote.

    Florida, a state stirring controversy for it moving ahead with its primary date before Super Tuesday on Feb. 5 and then being stripped of all delegates to the convention as a punishment by the party, saw all of its 211 delegates reseated and passed 136 to Obama.

    Clinton won the Florida primary with only her name on the ballots.

    Massachusetts's decision to offer Clinton 52 votes, nearly half of the total 131, grasped the convention attention.

    U.S. media reports said that Clinton released her delegates gained from the primary on Wednesday, tell her supporters who were supposed to vote for her at the convention they could choose again in the roll call.

    "This was such a competitive primary season," Clinton told her delegates, "I want you to know this has been a joy."

    She also said that she cast her ballot as a New York Senator for Obama.

    Obama is set to deliver an acceptance speech in INVESCO stadium on Thursday, which will cease his journey to become the Democratic presidential nominee and start a more tough and thorny road to the White House.

Biden expected to help Obama in more than foreign policies

www.chinaview.cn 2008-08-28 11:32:30  

    DENVER, the United States, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) --

After failing twice in his bid for presidency, Joe Biden finally moved closer to the White House on Wednesday night, when he was officially nominated as the vice presidential candidate at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado.

    However, the next two months leading to the Nov. 4 Election Day will be still a long and tough road for him to the White House as Obama is struggling to win back lead over his Republican presidential rival, John McCain.

    The nomination of the 65-year-old Delaware Senator who spent half of his life so far in the Capitol Hill was not a surprise to most Democrats and outsiders. He was considered as the best running mate to compensate for Obama's lack of experience in foreign and national security affairs.

    As the current chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he was considered as the best candidate to be Obama's running mate since the 46-year-old Illinois Senator, who is still in his first term in Congress, has an urgent need to compensate for his lack of foreign affairs experience.

    Biden joins the Obama's camp at the right moment when the U.S.-Iraq negotiations about the deployment of American troops in the country beyond 2008 is at the key moment, and the U.S. casualties in the Afghanistan war is at all time high, as well as the crisis between Georgia and Russia has not yet leveled off, allthat have brought more attention to candidates' foreign policies.

    But, what tops Obama's foreign policy credentials is whether he can unite the party under the banner of "change," or to be more specific, win a significant number of the 18 million voters who used to support Hillary Rodham Clinton during the primary but now have not turned to Obama for sake of the party unity.

    It is not hard for Obama's supporters to endorse Biden although this choice seems to undercut Obama's vow to replace Washington's old politics with new.

    "He is a well-balanced choice to satisfied people's need for change and the experience to make change happen," said Stephenie Moss, an Obamanian from Denver. "He can offer Obama most energy with his many years of experience in foreign policies."

    But it was a tough decision for Clinton's supporters to accept. A poll immediately taken after the announcement of Biden's pick showed that about 27 percent of them decided to vote for McCain, compared to only 16 percent two months ago.

    Even after Clinton's strongest message delivered in her prime-time speech on Tuesday night, saying Obama, as her candidate," must be the next president," it is considered not strong enough to dispel some of her supporters' skepticism on Obama.

    Acknowledging an unfinished mission to convince white, old and female voters favoring the Democratic Party, Biden has kicked off his journey as the No. 2.

    On Wednesday, as the first public appearance during the Convention, he brought his compelling family story of losing his ex-wife and baby daughter to a car accident to a roundtable meeting with working mums that Obama's wife presided.

    Sitting among women, Biden sought to appeal the Clinton's base with a new-released plan, titled "Obama-Biden Plan to Support Working Women and Families."

    However, to clear the way to the White House, Biden has to manage to convince voters that with his help, the Democrats' policies can jump off the paper and become reality.

    In the battle with Republicans, without knowing his counterpart, Biden has gained points by knowing McCain for decades in the Senate.

    But this strength is, on the other hand, his Achilles' heel, making him also vulnerable to McCain's potential attacks.

Editor: Du

Obama says he is proud of Biden as vice-presidential candidate

www.chinaview.cn 2008-08-28 11:21:48  

    DENVER, the United States, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) --

Barack Obama, who surprised the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday night in Denver, Colorado, after Joe Biden accepted the nomination as his vice presidential candidate.

    Obama, who was expected to show up at the convention to deliver his acceptance speech, came out from the sideline of the stage as Biden and his wife were leaving, and stirring high heat among thousands of Democrats at present.

    He applauded for Biden's nomination, saying he is proud to have him as the running mate.

    Obama also expressed gratitude to his former rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton, for calling voters to support him and reminding people to "put country first."

    After voting by voice earlier the night, Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker, announced said that since there is no objection to the nomination of Biden and no second candidate, the Delaware Senator won the nomination.

    "Yes, yes, I accept your nomination to run and serve alongside our next President of the United States of America, Barack Obama," Biden said in his acceptance speech.

    He highlighted his experience in foreign and national security policies, saying he found after visits to Georgia, Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan "this administration's policy has been an abject failure," so "America cannot afford four more years of this."

    Biden stepped aside and offered applause to Obama, who is expected to make a change, transform the country's economy and bring down the cost of health care, among others.

    The 65-year-old Senator who has been co-working with Republican presidential candidate John McCain for decades, did not wait to launch attacks at his "old friend."

    By comparing McCain's policies in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars as well as the Iran nuclear issue with Obama's, he noted that the Democratic presidential hopeful's judgment is trustable.

    Obama has been criticized by McCain's campaign for lacking experience in politics, especially in foreign and defense affairs.

    Biden, the current chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is considered as a "valuable asset" to compensate for Obama's shortcoming.

Editor: Du