Stocks welcomed a joint effort by the Federal Reserve and the White House to reassure on the credit front. Analysts offered more qualified support to a promise by President Bush to help struggling homeowners refinance their mortgages.

“It’s very light on detail and limited in scope,” said Jeff Schappe, chief investment officer at BB&T Asset Management. “He is putting it essentially in the lap of Congress. It would allow some delinquent borrowers to get an FHA guarantee so that they can refinance. I suspect it’s going to be limited to borrowers in a primary residence who are significantly delinquent.”

Axel Merk, a portfolio manager at the Merk Hard Currency Fund, concluded what Bush’s plan “will do is make poor homeowners slaves of their homes. .. The terms of the loan will require that you basically never pay down your loan. Unless they are bailed out by higher home prices, they are becoming prisoners of their homes.”

More Wall Street comments here

The Barack Obama camp can probably breathe a sigh of relief. A new Gallup Poll – done after he said he would talk with the leaders of arch enemies like Iran without preconditions and would O.K. attacks against militants inside Pakistan without permission from the country — shows he did not lose much support at all.

The poll (conducted Aug. 13-16) found a whopping 23-point lead for Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton over Obama, 48 percent to 25 percent, but it was only a one point drop for him from early August.

Obama took a lot of fire over his remarks, with some Democratic rivals saying he was too inexperienced to be president. Surprising no one, Obama disagreed.
Gallup also found that support for Democratic rival John Edwards ticked up a meager point to 13 percent in its latest poll. Support continued to fall for longshots like New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.

When they stuck former Vice President and so-far non-candidate Al Gore in the mix, Clinton led with 42 percent to Gore’s 15 percent.
The survey had a 5-point margin of error.

(Photo: Reuters)

Michelle Obama continues to dispute questions of whether her husband Barack, who is seeking to become the first black U.S. president, is “black enough” to truly represent African Americans.

“I am confident that we are going to have the support of the black community,” Michelle Obama told Reuters recently in Iowa. “This is a dream candidate, not just for the black community but for the country and I think people know what’s right.”

She dismissed recent discussions among some blacks and others over whether her biracial husband, who has a white American mother and a father from Kenya, could adequately represent African Americans if he also draws support from white voters.

“This is an interesting debate and it’s an interesting discussion because it opens up an aspect to the black culture that most Americans don’t see,” Michelle Obama said.

“It’s interesting for you but for me it’s not new.”

“It’s a part of our culture. I think it’s a good issue to have brought out because it’s still something we struggle with as a race,” she added.

Her husband on Tuesday predicted that black voter turnout would increase at least 30 percent around the country if he becomes the Democratic presidential nominee.

Ohio Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce will not seek re-election next year, potentially making it even harder for Republicans to win back control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Echoing words from President Bush’s political guru Karl Rove,  who’s leaving the White House, Pryce said:  “There is never a good time to leave a job you love, but for me, the right time is now.” (She’s pictured left on election night 2006. She won her seat to the House by a mere 1,055 votes.)
The Democrats have a 231-202-seat majority in the House and two seats are vacant.

Ohio was the scene of a ferocious battle between presidential candidates in 2004, with Bush winning by a narrow 118,601 votes, and most experts believe it will again be a toss-up state in 2008 at all levels. “Democrats have reason to feel even more upbeat about their prospects in an open seat,” according to the Rothenberg Political Report which keeps close tabs on congressional and presidential races and was the first to report her retirement.

Pryce is not the only Republican retiring after 2008. Two Illinois members of Congress also are planning to retire next year, former House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Rep. Ray LaHood. But Hastert and LaHood won with 60 percent of the vote or more, a sign those races will likely be difficult for Democrats to win.

(Picture: REUTERS/Matt Sullivan)