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Nader Unloads On Hillary And Obama, And Other Updates On the Presidential Candidates

Here are the latest updates on the movements of the Presidential candidates:

Ralph Nader has reiterated that he's eyeing another third-party candidacy in 2008, calling Hillary Clinton "just another bad version of Bill Clinton," and said that Barack Obama "hasn't shown that much political fortitude."

Tom Vilsack appeared on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno last night, and said he doesn't mind jokes about himself at all: "When you are just below the margin of error in polls, anything anyone says about you is important."

Rudy Giuliani has picked up the support of former Virginia Attorney General and 2005 GOP nominee for Governor, Jerry Kilgore, who will head up his campaign in the state.

Newt Gingrich has given a rare compliment to a liberal Democrat, speaking about Chuck Schumer's new book: "I think most Republicans ought to look at this. Because it's straight forward, it's tough-minded, it's honest, and while Chuck and I disagree about a lot, this is actually a pretty darn good book."

John McCain's campaign announced their advisory committee for Florida featuring: Former state Attorney General Jim Smith; Immediate past state GOP Vice Chairman J. Allison DeFoor; John “Mac” Stipanovich, former chief-of-staff to Governor Bob Martinez; And former Jeb Bush aides J. Antonio Villamil and Cory Tilley.

Pat Robertson's Regent University is scheduled to separately host the pro-choice Rudy Giuliani, as well as Mitt Romney, a Mormon. Giuliani will give a speech on leadership on April 17, while Romney will deliver the graduation address on May 5.

Chris Dodd is scheduled to tour Iowa this Monday and Tuesday, visiting Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Iowa City.

Russ Feingold has sent a letter to Tom Vilsack, praising him for publicly supporting Feingold's proposal to withdraw American troops from Iraq within the next six months. Feingold has made no endorsements, but has so far complimented Vilsack, Barack Obama and Dennis Kucinich.

Mitt Romney finished his three-day announcement tour last night with a fundraiser in Boston, netting $1 million.

Sam Brownback has a dubious honor among the Senate's White House hopefuls: He leads the field in missed votes in the Senate.

Barack Obama has his own distinction among the freshman Senate class of the 2004 election: The highest cost to the government for his world travel, at $28,000 as he has researched issues like AIDs, poverty and the War On Terror.

John McCain has just sustained an intra-party loss back home in Arizona, with his favored candidate for state GOP Chair losing narrowly to a more conservative activist, who has publicly opposed McCain's stances on immigration and campaign finance.

John McCain has picked up the support of former Dover City Councillor Matt Mayberry, a well-connected New Hampshire Republican who had previously been supporting George Pataki.


11 Comments

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Nader is a fool and a laughingstock. Too bad he's the only one who doesn't realize it.

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Obama gets criticized for being a novice on foreign policy and then gets criticized for being the freshman who's taken the most trips abroad. Sheesh.

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I think it depends on the nature of the trips--what did he learn, what was the focus, etc. If they were legitimate trips--and I have no reason to doubt that--than I think it's good he's trying to learn. On the other hand, it reemphasizes my impression that he has too much to learn to be president at this time. I'd rather have an experienced diplomat like Clark or Richardson than someone who's just now getting a feel for what's abroad.

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Obama gets criticized for being a novice on foreign policy and then gets criticized for being the freshman who's taken the most trips abroad. Sheesh.

Yes. I believe this criticism is particularly unwarranted given that he is one of 2 freshmen members of the Senate  Foreign Relations Committee. I would like to see how much travel the other members of the Comittee did, to put this in perspective. Right now, it looks like traveling abroard is part of his responsibility and duties to be an effective and productive member of the Senate Committee he is on.

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I would like to know who Ralph Nader thinks has shown political fortitude as a freshman Senator.

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So  .  .  .  I guess we don't have to worry about his candidacy.  Who, after all, would vote for a "fool and a laughingstock"?

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• Sam Brownback has a dubious honor among the Senate's White House hopefuls: He leads the field in missed votes in the Senate.

Who cares? We want Brownback! He's the wing-nut's wing nut! He'd go down in the general election like a bag of bricks!

Unfortunately, the Republican party isn't going to put up a sacrificial lamb to be skewered and roasted by the Democratic candidate this year.

If only Browmback were the voice of the Republican party, we'd have a clear road ahead!

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Fools and laughingstocks.

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Give him a chance and he'll find several. They would all be Republicans, but he'd find them.

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But don't they all vote Repug anyway?

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I think $28k in travel costs to go to Africa, the Soviet Union, the Middle East and the UK is really not something to get worked up over. Would we prefer that all of our Senators just stayed home?

 

Obama, who announced his candidacy last week for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, was one of two freshmen members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the 109th Congress.

He spent $18,822 in per diem and transportation costs in 2006 as he visited Middle East nations and toured Africa. The previous year, he spent $8,313 visiting the former Soviet Union and the United Kingdom.

The freshman with the next greatest spending on taxpayer-funded trips was Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., whose visits included China, Russia and the Middle East at a cost of about $19,200. Ranking third was freshman Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who spent $17,867 to visit China and Kuwait, among other places. Neither is a member of the Foreign Relations Committee.

Obama's trips clearly aren't junkets and could educate him about important issues while strengthening his presidential résumé, Hess said.

In Africa, Obama was often treated like royalty. Adoring crowds showed up wherever he went in Kenya, the home of his father. Obama met several times with AIDS researchers and activists, and he and his wife took an AIDS test to encourage Kenyans to do the same.

When Obama went to the Middle East, he met with Israel's foreign minister, spent two days in Iraq talking to officials and military commanders, and made stops in the Palestinian territory, Jordan and Kuwait.

During his trip to the former Soviet Union, Obama joined Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., in touring dilapidated weapons factories in Ukraine and visiting the site where a nuclear missile was being dismantled.

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