STATEMENT BY JOHN MCCAIN ON THE MIDWEST FLOODS
ARLINGTON, VA -- U.S. Senator John McCain today issued the following statement on the flooding in the Midwest:
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those impacted by the flooding throughout the Midwest. Cindy and I would like to extend our sympathies to all those who have lost loved ones, and stand ready to help those in the Midwest to recover and rebuild."
PROMINENT DEMOCRATS AND INDEPENDENTS JOIN "CITIZENS FOR MCCAIN"
ARLINGTON, VA -- U.S. Senator John McCain's campaign today announced a group of prominent Democratic and unaffiliated leaders and activists who have joined "Citizens for McCain," a new grassroots effort headed by Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) to rally Americans of all political parties to support John McCain's candidacy.
"Citizens for McCain is an organization within the McCain campaign for people who put country before political party and support the presidential candidate who has a proven record of bipartisanship," said Senator Joe Lieberman.
As part of the campaign's continued effort to build on growing support from voters joining "Citizens for McCain," John McCain, along with RNC Victory Chair Carly Fiorina, will participate in a virtual town hall with Democrats and Independents today to discuss John McCain's record of putting country before political party. Many town hall participants are expected to be former supporters of Senator Hillary Clinton's campaign. The town hall will be held today Saturday, June 14th at 3:30pm EDT. To participate, the general public should please visit cityhall.johnmccain.com. Members of the media should email press@mccain08hq.com to receive call-in information.
PROMINENT MINNESOTA DEMOCRATS AND INDEPENDENTS JOIN "CITIZENS FOR MCCAIN"
Former Lt. Governor and State Supreme Court Justice Alexander "Sandy" Keith (Minnesota)
Former U.S Representative and 2002 Independence Party gubernatorial candidate Tim Penny (Minnesota)
Former State Representative Steve Wenzel (Minnesota)
STATEMENT BY JOHN MCCAIN ON THE PASSING OF TIM RUSSERT
ARLINGTON, VA -- U.S. Senator John McCain today issued the following statement on the sudden and tragic passing of Tim Russert:
"I am very saddened by Tim Russert's sudden death. Cindy and I extend our thoughts and prayers to the Russert family as they cope with this shocking loss and remember the life and legacy of a loving father, husband and the preeminent political journalist of his generation. He was truly a great American who loved his family, his friends, his Buffalo Bills, and everything about politics and America. He was just a terrific guy. I was proud to call him a friend, and in the coming days, we will pay tribute to a life whose contributions to us all will long endure."
John McCain Campaign Proposes Joint Town Hall In Minnesota Next Thursday
"In keeping with our original proposal, we are planning a joint town hall meeting in Minnesota next Thursday evening (June 19, 2008). We will hold time on our schedule for joint town halls every Thursday night until the Democratic convention." said Rick Davis, McCain Campaign Manager in a letter to Obama Campaign Manager David Plouffe today.
ROSEVILLE’S VICTORIA BLACKSTONE NAMED ‘WAVE THE STARS & STRIPES’ ESSAY CONTEST WINNER
St. Agnes freshman to lead convention event in Pledge of Allegiance;
Essay contest entries to be sent to Minnesota Guard in Iraq
(SAINT PAUL, Minn.) – The 2008 Republican National Convention, and its partners: the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, Microsoft Corp. and Qwest Telecommunications International, Inc., today announced that Victoria Blackstone, 15, from Roseville, Minn., is the winner of the "Wave the Stars & Stripes" essay contest.
Blackstone, a freshman at St. Agnes School in Saint Paul, will lead an official convention event in the Pledge of Allegiance during the week of Sept. 1-4. Her 434-word essay, “Pledging Myself to the Flag of the United States of America,” won out over a group of ten finalists.
Mark Rugnetta, 13, an eighth-grader at Eagle Ridge Junior High School from Savage, Minn., was named runner-up with his 337-word essay entitled “Colors on Cloth.”
Both Blackstone’s and Rugnetta’s essays will be published in the June 15 edition of the Pioneer Press. Each student will also receive laptop computers provided by Qwest and Xbox 360 systems from Microsoft.
“We congratulate Victoria and Mark on having the best essays among the hundreds of students in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul community who chose to accept our challenge to be creative and share with us what the American Flag means to them,” said Jo Ann Davidson, convention Chairman and contest judge. “I look forward to seeing Victoria perform her role in an historic Republican National Convention – one where the world will tune in to witness our party’s nomination of Sen. John McCain and the launch of his final path to the White House.”
Essays from the ten finalists were presented to the Saint Paul Central Library, site of today’s announcement, for display. In addition, all “Wave the Stars & Stripes” entries are to be sent to members of the 851st Vertical Engineer Company of the Minnesota National Guard, who are now serving in Iraq.
“We are sending these essays to the 851st so that they can know what the students of Minneapolis-Saint Paul have to say about the American Flag,” Davidson said.
Ten finalists were selected from the hundreds of entries from the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area and judged by a local panel.. Davidson was joined by Rachel Stassen-Berger, political reporter for the Pioneer Press; John Sampson, Director of Federal Government Affairs of Microsoft Corp.; John Stanoch, Qwest Minnesota President; former Minneapolis City Councilman, Brig. Gen. Denny Schulstad (USAF, Retired); Chas Anderson, Deputy Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Education; and Leah McLean, KSTP news anchor.
All finalists will receive a package of education software from Microsoft, in addition to Zune media players. The remaining finalists are:
The contest was open to schoolchildren, grades 7-12, from the local seven-county area of Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott and Washington counties. The 500-word essays answered the question: "What does the American Flag mean to you?" In keeping with the convention's promise to be the greenest in GOP history, entries were collected electronically through the convention's website: www.GOPConvention2008.com and through the Pioneer Press' website: www.TwinCities.com.
STATEMENT ACCEPTING INVITATION TO HOLD JOINT TOWN HALLS
ARLINGTON, VA -- U.S. Senator John McCain's presidential campaign today released the following statement by Communications Director Jill Hazelbaker after accepting the invitation by the Ronald Reagan and Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Libraries to hold joint town hall meetings with John McCain and Barack Obama, and responding to the Obama campaign:
"We are proud to accept the invitation from Mrs. Ronald Reagan, Lynda Johnson Robb and Luci Baines Johnson to hold joint town hall meetings at the Ronald Reagan and Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Libraries. As Luci Baines Johnson said in her invitation, these meetings offer an opportunity to 'deliberate the great issues of our time.' The American people deserve a great debate about the future of our country, and we hope that Barack Obama will join us for these important events at these historic venues."
Letter Sent To The Obama Campaign:
Dear Mr. Plouffe,
Thank you for responding to our proposal. Just to reiterate, we have proposed at least ten joint town hall meetings once a week until the week before the Democratic Convention begins. As we understand your counter-proposal, you have proposed only one town hall meeting before the Democratic Convention.
In keeping with our original proposal, we are planning a joint town hall meeting in Minnesota next Thursday evening (June 19, 2008). We will hold time on our schedule for joint town halls every Thursday night until the Democratic convention. I hope Senator Obama would reconsider his position and agree to join Senator McCain as early as next week.
We have also today accepted the invitation from Mrs. Ronald Reagan, Lynda Johnson Robb and Luci Baines Johnson to attend town hall meetings in July at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library. As Mrs. Johnson said, these town halls will truly be an opportunity to "deliberate the great issues of our time." Their sponsorship certainly meets our standards for a positive and productive opportunity for voters to interact with the candidates. I hope you will agree.
However, at this moment, we fear that our negotiations over joint town hall meetings are turning into a debate about process. That is exactly what we have always hoped to avoid, and why we proposed a town hall format that would render many of these process issues moot. As Senator Obama has said, he is prepared to meet "anywhere, anytime" for a town hall.
We remain committed to this idea because joint town hall meetings offer the best format for presenting both candidates' visions for our country's future in a substantive way. We have a chance to change the way presidential elections are run and elevate the political dialogue. Americans deserve this kind of opportunity, and we hope that Senator Obama will join us at town hall meetings throughout the summer months.
Sincerely,
Rick Davis
MINNEAPOLIS SAINT PAUL 2008 HOST COMMITTEE SEEKS VOLUNTEERS FOR REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION
10,000 Volunteers Needed, Nearly 4,000 Already Signed Up
MINNEAPOLIS SAINT PAUL, MINN. (June 9, 2008) – With Minneapolis Saint Paul continuing to make headlines as the 2008 Republican National Convention nears, the MSP 2008 Host Committee announced today that it has signed up almost 4,000 of the 10,000 volunteers needed for the Convention. Volunteer applications will be accepted through the end of June.
Volunteers will perform key duties in the areas of transportation, information services, hospitality and special events at various locations before, during and after the Convention, which will be held September 1-4 at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minn.
“It’s been 116 years since Minnesota hosted a national political convention and now is the perfect time for Minnesotans to get involved in this history-making event,” said Cynthia Lesher, President of the Minneapolis Saint Paul 2008 Host Committee. “We have always shared a great pride in our state and we now have the unique opportunity to showcase all that is great about Minnesota through many exciting and fun opportunities that will occur during the Convention.”
About 1,000 volunteers are needed for CivicFest, which will be held at the Minneapolis Convention Center from August 29 to September 4, 2008 and will feature more than 35 world-class exhibits, including a replica of the Oval Office, a model White House, exhibits dedicated to Minnesota business and innovation, and more.
“The eyes of the nation will be upon us in September and we are looking for help from Minnesotans to make this Convention memorable for the 45,000 people expected to come to Minneapolis and Saint Paul,” said Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak. “It is time to roll out the red carpet and show our guests the type of hospitality that Minnesotans are famous for.”
The Minneapolis Saint Paul 2008 Host Committee will continue to host volunteer sign-up events throughout the metro area as part of their volunteer recruitment effort.
“This is the chance to not only witness history, but also to participate in it,” said Saint Paul Mayor Chris Coleman. “This is truly an opportunity to be an ambassador for your community to promote all that Minneapolis Saint Paul has to offer.”
Prospective volunteers can apply online at www.msp2008.com/volunteer where they will complete a secure, online application consisting of personal information and a summary of their skills and experience. All applicants must be 18 years-of- age or older and must be willing to undergo a security background check as well as attend orientation and training sessions conducted by Convention organizers.
Monster, the leading global online careers and recruitment resource and flagship brand of Monster Worldwide, Inc., created the online volunteer recruitment portion of the Web site.
