President Barack Obama meets with Vice President Joe Biden in the Oval Office, July 31 (Pete Souza)
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Wednesday:
9:50: President Obama departs the White House en route Joint Base Andrews
10:05: Departs Joint Base Andrews en route Mansfield, Ohio
11:40: Delivers remarks at a campaign event at Mansfield Central Park
1:15: Michelle Obama speaks to grassroots supporters at a campaign event in Greensboro, N.C.
2:30: President Obama departs Mansfield en route Akron, Ohio
3:00: Arrives in Akron
3:05: Michelle Obama speaks to grassroots supporters at a campaign event in Laconia, N.H.
3:55: President Obama delivers remarks at a campaign event at the John S. Knight Center
5:05: Departs Akron
6:25: Michelle Obama delivers remarks at a campaign fundraising event in Raleigh, N.C.
6:30: President Obama arrives at the White House
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Several gazillion thanks for all the emails in the last 24 hours, I completely promise I’ll get around to replying to them all – soon! And thanks for accepting the shiny new blog policy, the only donations ever sought from now on here will be for Obama/Biden 2012, absolutely nothing else.
Huuuuuge apologies for not being around too much today, my cranky boss was at it again – expecting me to justify my existence. Freak. 🙄
Hope you’re all doing well?
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PS Ah crikey, what can I say? Just checked the fundraiser…. sigh, I have to up the target again.
Evening all. A quick word: from here on in, this blog will only ever allow requests for donations to Obama/Biden 2012, and not to any other cause, politician or personal fundraiser, regardless of who posts the request. Any such requests appearing in the comments will be deleted, that’s just the way it is. Please accept they are the house rules – with absolutely zero exceptions. Thanks.
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President Barack Obama signs H.R. 205, the HEARTH Act of 2012, in the Oval Office, July 30.
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John F. Kennedy International Airport, July 30
New York tonight – President Obama: “…. This does also remind me of the season that we’re in. Jim Messina tells this story, my campaign manager — he was in some event, and this young couple who was there with their adorable four-year-old son, and I guess there was a picture of me somewhere, and so they were very excited. They said, “Sammy, who’s that?” And he said, “That’s Barack Obama.” “And what does Barack Obama do?” And the boy thinks for a second and he says, “He approves this message.” So that’s what I do. I approve this message.”
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President Obama talks on the phone with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey in the Oval Office, July 30
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Charles Pierce: After all this time, after all that’s happened in the past year, even the cats ‘n’ kittens at Politico, even the ones who don’t realize that Willard Romney is more comfortable in groups of white people, because to realize that is to get fired by the poltroons in charge there, have finally noticed that the campaign of voter-suppression being undertaken all over the country by Republican governors and Republican legislatures are going to have the effect of, you know, suppressing Democratic voting blocs.
…. We can only expect Politico to go so far in admitting the obvious. After all, the entire publication is dedicated to the notion that all politics is a television game-show contested by celebrities who occasionally return their phone calls. That there are substantive effects to substantive policy decisions is best left to other sources …. There is no juicy linkage to be had in the stories of 86-year old women who suddenly discover they can’t vote.
The good news is that both the Department of Justice, and the courts, are finally getting into the game….
Tuesday: The President will attend meetings at the White House.
Wednesday: Will travel to Mansfield, Ohio and Akron, Ohio for campaign events. He will return to Washington, DC at night.
Thursday: Will travel to Orlando, Florida and Leesburg, Virginia for campaign events. He will return to Washington, DC in the evening.
Friday: Will attend meetings at the White House.
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Mediaite: …. the conservative group Emergency Committee for Israel, co-founded by Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol, released an ad criticizing President Obama for not visiting Israel during his presidency….
If presidential visits to Israel are the new yardsticks for a quality POTUS, perhaps Kristol’s group (and Politico, who reported on the ad rather uncritically) should see how Obama measures up to leading Republican presidents like Ronald Reagan and the Georges Bush.
… President George W. Bush didn’t get around to visiting Israel until January of 2008, near the end of his second term …. his father, President George H.W. Bush, was an even less frequent visitor, traveling to Israel as President in February of Never.
Surely President Ronald Reagan, the patron saint of Republicans, the exemplification of all that is good and conservative, was known to get his Israel on, right?
Wrong. Ronald Reagan never traveled to Israel as President….
…. In fact, when George W. Bush went to Israel in January of ’08, he was the first Republican president to do so since Richard Nixon….
The value of frequent flyer miles to Israel is debatable, but if anyone should be keeping quiet about such a blunt metric, it’s Republicans, who apparently have real trouble counting. And Googling.
Charles Pierce: Willard Romney, America’s unofficial ambassador of stupid, has been working his magic in Israel for the past couple of days. This time, having learned his lesson in Great Britain, he’s picking on people who can’t fight back, and hauling “the hand of Providence” in as an accessory after the fact.
…. He’s also brought out Baghdad Dan Senor to rattle some sabers at Iran, pledged his love to Bibi Netanyahu, called Jerusalem the “capital” of Israel, and did everything he could to warm the withered cockles of the heart of Sheldon Adelson, the crooked casino mogul who went along because he apparently is going to run American foreign policy under the Romney administration. Stop this man before he diplomatizes again.
President Obama returns to the White House on July 30 after delivering remarks at a campaign event in New York City
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People trying to comment on the blog for the first time, please read here
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One more reminder … if all you intend bringing to this blog is an effort to deflate the spirits of President Obama supporters, perhaps because the worthless piece of contemptible crap that is Willard sends a thrill up your leg, then please, go away. And if you don’t, I’ll block you – with considerable pleasure. I didn’t have too many chances to drop in today, but when I did my radar was buzzing. Just saying.
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden pose with the full Cabinet for an official group photo in the Grand Foyer of the White House, July 26, 2012.
Seated, from left, are: Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Acting Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Susan Rice, and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
Standing in the second row, from left, are: Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr., Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, Chief of Staff Jack Lew, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk.
Standing in the third row, from left, are: Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, Office of Management and Budget Acting Director Jeffrey D. Zients, Council of Economic Advisers Chair Alan Krueger, and Small Business Administrator Karen G. Mills. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)
First Lady Michelle Obama hugs Venus Williams while her sister Serena Williams looks on after Serena beat Jelena Jankovic at Wimbledon during the Olympic Games
First Lady Michelle Obama hugs LeBron James following the USA vs. France men’s basketball game at Olympic Park
First Lady Michelle Obama participates in an interview with NBC Sports at the Olympic Park Aquatics Center
First Lady Michelle Obama looks at a drawing given to her by one of the children while visiting with military base members in a hanger at Mildenhall Air Force Base in England
All White House Photos by Sonya N. Hebert – more here
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AP: Bill Clinton will have an up-front role in this summer’s Democratic national convention, where he will make a forceful case for Barack Obama’s re-election and his economic vision for the country, several Obama campaign and party officials have said.
…. Obama personally asked Clinton to speak at the convention and place Obama’s name in nomination, and Clinton enthusiastically accepted, officials said on Sunday. George Bush, the last Republican to hold the White House, remains politically toxic in some circles. While Bush has endorsed Romney, he is not involved in his campaign and has said he does not plan to attend the Republican convention.
Clinton will speak in prime-time at the Democratic convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, on 5 September, the night before Obama formally accepts the party nomination. While the number two on the ticket often speaks that night, the Obama campaign has instead decided that Obama and the vice-president, Joe Biden, will speak on the same night.
Biden will introduce Obama on 6 September before the more than 70,000 people expected to fill an outdoor stadium in Charlotte and millions more on television.
…. meeting US military families stationed at Mildenhall and Lakenheath US Air Force Base at RAF Mildenhall, England
…. departing England
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Monday:
1:45: President Obama participates in an Ambassador Credentialing Ceremony
3:30: Departs the White House en route Joint Base Andrews
4:40: Arrives in New York City
8:05: Delivers remarks at a campaign event at the NoMad Hotel, New York City
9:35: Departs New York City
10:45: Arrives at the White House
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I’ve been trying hard lately to cut down on my use of obscene language, so for that reason I’m avoiding posting anything on Romney in Israel …. it’ll only bring out the very worst in me.
First Lady Michelle Obama hugs Lebron James of the U.S. after the men’s Group A basketball match between the U.S. and France at the London 2012 Olympic Games
The Obama Diary 
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