As you may have seen today, TMZ.com has obtained two photos of Mitt Romney posing with a supporter in South Carolina. The supporter was holding a sign with the homemade writing, "NO TO OBAMA OSAMA AND CHELSEA'S MOMA" (sic). In the second photo, Romney is himself holding up the sign with the supporter.
This obviously invited the question: Was it appropriate for Mitt Romney to hold up a sign likening Barack Obama to the leader of an international terrorist network, responsible for bloody attacks upon the United States, apparently all based on his name? After all, what would the media reaction be if Barack Obama posed with a supporter who had a sign comparing President Bush to Adolf Hitler? The press would go nuts over it, surely, and rightly so.
Election Central contacted Romney spokesman Kevin Madden for comment, asking if it was appropriate for the candidate to hold the sign up with the woman. "The governor stopped briefly for a picture with a supporter who just happened to be holding their own sign with an alliterative play on words," Madden said, via e-mail. "I don’t think it was equating or comparing anyone."
Late Update: Photos added with the permission of TMZ.
NYT Magazine Profile Of Ron Paul: Not So Bad, After All
This weekend's New York Times Magazine feature on Ron Paul paints a picture of an earnest, hard-working man motivated by his sincere beliefs in the issues at hand. For example, Paul discusses doing Army physicals decades ago for "gung-ho" young men volunteering to go off to Vietnam — and how he is haunted by the thought of how many of them didn't come back. On the other hand, Paul's campaign has attracted a colorful variety of supporters, to say the least, including Birchers and 9/11 Truthers. And while Paul is quick to say he doesn't necessarily agree with some of the conspiracy theorists attracted to his campaign, he is not about to send them away, either.
Fred Thompson's Real Similarity To Reagan: Teflon The Washington Post reports that social conservative activists are still flocking to Fred Thompson despite records showing he did lobbying work for a pro-choice group in the early 1990's. A major reason for this is that his pro-life record while serving in the Senate serves as an ultimate backing for his credentials with them. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, noted another similarity Fred Thompson has with Reagan, besides being a conservative actor-politician: "He also has the same Teflon coating that Reagan had: Bad stuff just doesn't stick."
Obama Calls Out Bush Administration Logic On Iraq And Ethnic Strife
Barack Obama said that the Bush Administration has been logically inconsistent in its warning of ethnic strife if the United States were to leave Iraq. Obama said, "by that argument you would have 300,000 troops in the Congo right now — where millions have been slaughtered as a consequence of ethnic strife — which we haven't done." Instead, Obama added, the idea that such a thing would be unworkable prevents unilateral intervention in Sudan, and in turn ought to counsel against a continued unilateral intervention in Iraq.
An Optimistic Hillary: "I Would Say I Am Winning"
During a meeting with the Des Moines Register, Hillary Clinton expressed confidence in her campaign: "I would say I am winning." She elaborated further: "If you look at the polls that are being taken - I personally think they're snapshots in time - but as opposed to talking hypothetically if you talk based on the information that we have, I am winning. I am winning. I am beating the Republicans." Also during her trip to Des Moines, Hillary rallied an AFSCME convention with her support for a proposal in Congress to make it easier for workers to form a union.
Gingrich Less Likely To Run If/When Thompson Gets In
Newt Gingrich told the Associated Press that he'll be much likely to run for president if Fred Thompson gets into the race. "If Fred Thompson runs and he does well, then I think that makes it easier for me to not run," Gingrich said — though he did leave himself some wiggle room. "On the other hand, just given what you've seen with McCain the last few months, how can you predict?"
Shays Curses Out Capitol Hill Policeman
Congressman Christopher Shays (R-CT), the sole Republican House member from New England, cursed out a Capitol Hill police officer, after Shays felt the officer was not being sufficiently helpful to a Shays intern and a group of constituents who had become lost on a tour. Shays grabbed the officer's lapel — in order to better see his badge, Shays says — and swore at him. "I know Chris swore, and he probably did use the f-bomb," an aide told CNN. Shays has apologized for his actions.
Sununu: I Would Not Campaign With Bush Next Year
Senator John Sununu (R-NH) told Bloomberg News that he would not campaign with the president "in this climate" for his own re-election contest next year. Sununu said, "the president's popularity, unfortunately, is at a fairly low level." The president campaigned twice in person for Sununu in his 2002 campaign, when he narrowly defeated then-Governor Jeanne Shaheen.
Kerry Tells Dirty Limerick About Vitter
Last weekend at a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in his native Massachusetts, John Kerry decided to tell a limerick about the current woes of Senator David Vitter (R-LA), who has been caught in the D.C. Madam scandal. "There once was a man named Vitter/Who vowed that he wasn't a quitter," Kerry began. "But with stories of women/And all of his sinnin'/He knows his career's in the — oh, never mind." And fittingly enough, the DSCC even was being held in ... Nantucket.
Being a New Yorker, I'd remembered that during a cop union rally in 1992, Rudy had come unhinged and screamed, "Bulls#$t!"
For some time now I've been meaning to track video of this moment down. I thought it might tell us something about the reliability and temperament of this man who is asking us to make him our next Commander in Chief -- especially now that he's trying to win the support of GOP "values voters."
Wouldn't you know it, but video of that moment has suddenly surfaced, as if by magic! Enjoy:
Mitch McConnell Lowers Expectations For Senate GOP In 2008
During a press conference today, Mitch McConnell said that the political map for 2008, with 22 Republican seats up for election compared to only 12 Democratic seats, means the odds are against the GOP getting back into the majority. "It would take an extraordinarily good day to get back up to 50," McConnell said. "So our goal is to stay roughly where we are."
The New York Times On The Ron Paul Campaign: Wackos?
Editor and Publisher gets an advance look at a feature on the Ron Paul campaign that's slated to run in this weekend's New York Times Magazine. The piece focuses on the, shall we say, eccentric sorts that have signed on to work with the Congressman. A prominent California Paul-Head has written to the campaign, "We're in a difficult position of working on a campaign that draws supporters from laterally opposing points of view, and we have the added bonus of attracting every wacko fringe group in the country." Paul himself seems to be unconcerned: "I have a lot of friends in the John Birch Society. They're generally well-educated and they understand the Constitution. I don't know how many positions they would have that I don't agree with."
Hillary's Attack On Bill O'Reilly — A Breakdown in Hillary-Murdoch Non-Aggression Pact?
Ben Smith makes a key point about Hillary's ongoing attack against Bill O'Reilly for smearing YearlyKos — it's decidedly out of keeping with the détente of sorts that exists between Hillary and News Corp.
CNN Falsely Asserts That Rudy Has A "Record On Terrorism"
CNN continues propagating the myth that the fact that Rudy was Mayor of New York on 9/11 means he has national security credentials.
CNN And Florida GOP To Host YouTube Debate
CNN has announced that the Florida GOP will co-host their YouTube debate, in which average people are invited to submit questions for the Republican presidential candidates. The GOP event will be held this September. And just a reminder: The Democratic YouTube debate will be broadcast this Monday night.
An operative for the failed campaign of establishment GOPer Jim Whitehead in this week's Georgia special Congressional election admitted to The Hill that the campaign made a mistake by routinely insulting the district's liberal bastion of Athens, which turned out heavily for Whitehead's fellow Republican Paul Broun, himself an Athens resident, and propelled Broun to an upset victory. "There was a decision made early on to, basically, tell Athens to shove it and ignore them," said the source. "We didn't go to their debates; we got in a big confrontation with The Athens Banner-Herald. In retrospect, those things were a big mistake, because it really galvanized the Athens area against Jim Whitehead."
Blooper: Trying To Discredit Dems, Fox Accidentally Shows Dem-Friendly Poll
Great Moments In Fox News ... Oops. This afternoon on Fox News, host David Asman and Ann Coulter were reciting a standard litany of GOP talking points to the effect that Hillary Clinton and the Democrats being dragged down by those anti-war crazies in MoveOn. Then Asman was proceeding to the next talking point: "All right, let's talk about how all of this might be affecting the Democrats in Congress. I believe we have a poll that we can put up. Of course, it's true that George Bush's ratings are at an all-time low. But as bad as Bush's ratings are, look at Congressional ratings."
The problem is, the technical staff accidentally put up the wrong numbers — numbers showing Hillary Clinton moving into the lead over Rudy Giuliani. "Oh wait a minute, this is — this is the wrong poll," Asman blurted out. Confronted with poll data that ruined their whole thesis, Asman and Coulter simply continued asserting that the anti-war crazies were dragging down the Dems, as if nothing had happened.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates is distancing himself from an under secretary's assertion that Senator Hillary Clinton's public questions about Pentagon troop withdrawal plans are aiding the enemy.
In response to our queries, the Pentagon declined to endorse the remarks made by Under Secretary of Defense Eric Edelman in a recent letter to Clinton.
"I have said on several occasions in recent months that I believe that congressional debate on Iraq has been constructive and appropriate," Gates said, in a statement that was emailed to Election Central by Pentagon spokesperson Karen Finn.
Gates added that he was "looking into the issues" raised by Edelman's comments in the letter and Hillary's concerns about them.
In that letter, Edelman had written: "Premature and public discussion of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq reinforces enemy propaganda that the United States will abandon its allies in Iraq, much as we are perceived to have done in Vietnam, Lebanon and Somalia."
Edelman added that "such talk understandably unnerves the very same Iraqi allies we are asking to assume enormous personal risks."
Edelman was responding to an earlier query by Clinton, who has been ratcheting up the pressure on the Pentagon with questions about any plans it has drawn up for troop withdrawals, should that ultimately be mandated by Congress.
Edelman's letter, which was leaked to the press yesterday and prompted a media explosion of sorts, drew a sharp reply today from Clinton, who sent a letter to Gates this morning demanding that he personally account for Edelman's remarks.
Throughout the day, we've been asking the Pentagon press office for a response to Hillary's letter and asking whether the Pentagon's official position was the same as that which was expressed in Edelman's letter.
Here's the full statement from Gates that was emailed to us:
“I have long been a staunch advocate of Congressional oversight, first at the CIA and now at the Defense Department. I have said on several occasions in recent months that I believe that congressional debate on Iraq has been constructive and appropriate. I had not seen Senator Clinton’s reply to Ambassador Edelman’s letter until today. I am looking into the issues she raised and will respond to them early next week.”
Gates' statement appears to show that he's distancing himself in a big way from Edelman, a Cheney protege, as well as from Edelman's suggestion that public discussion of troop withdrawal by Congress is helpful to the enemy.
As it happens, Hillary's people didn't know that Gates was planning to weigh in on the controversy this afternoon. When Election Central informed Clinton spokesperson Philippe Reines of Gates' comment, he replied: "We look forward to his response."
Great Moments In Fox News ... Oops. This afternoon on Fox News, host David Asman and Ann Coulter were going through the standard GOP talking points of Hillary Clinton and the Democrats being dragged down by those anti-war crazies in MoveOn. Then Asman was proceeding to the next talking point: "All right, let's talk about how all of this might be affecting the Democrats in Congress. I believe we have a poll that we can put up. Of course, it's true that George Bush's ratings are at an all-time low. But as bad as Bush's ratings are, look at Congressional ratings."
The problem is, the technical staff accidentally put up the wrong numbers — numbers showing Hillary Clinton jumping into the lead. "Oh wait a minute, this is — this is the wrong poll. This is Clinton and Giuliani," Asman blurted out. Confronted with poll data that ruined his whole thesis, Asman and Coulter simply continued on with the talking point as if nothing had happened.
CNN political analyst Bill Schneider on the TV just a few minutes ago:
"Conservatives admire Giuliani's record on terrorism, and his defiance of liberals in New York."
Hmmm...what "record on terrorism" would that be, Bill? Rudy's own official Web site bio is here. No "record on terrorism," or indeed national security experience of any kind, can be found therein. And no, the Churchillian 9/11 heroism his bio plugs doesn't constitute counter-terrorism or national security experience in any way. Sorry -- that's just reality.
If Rudy had a "record on terrorism," Bill, don't you think he'd be doing a bit more to get it out there?
And why do I have to tell you this in the first place, Bill? Aren't you a grown-up analyst for a very big and very powerful network? Shouldn't you know this sort of thing?
As Kos says, Hillary has actually taken a lead role in pushing back against O'Reilly, as has Chris Dodd, and this gives me a chance to flag what I think is one of the more interesting -- and unexpected -- developments in Dem primary politics this year.
That development is this: Little by little, it's becoming almost de rigeur for Dem primary candidates to forcefully push back against right wing media figures, on behalf of themselves and others, as a way to appeal to progressive Dem primary voters.
Needless to say, this is a very good development. It amplifies to an untold degree the critique that many of us have been pushing for some time and it generally makes life more complicated for wingnut slime merchants, who, treated regally for two long by craven network execs and others at the big news orgs, had grown accustomed to thinking of themselves as untouchable.
We've already of course seen lots of this from the John Edwards campaign, who really put this strategy on the map this cycle. We've had the early pullouts by Edwards (and subsequently the other Dems) from the Fox debates, Elizabeth Edwards aggressively targeting Ann Coulter, etc., etc. Obama early on aggressively targeted Fox News over its bogus madrassa story, winning plaudits, but the Obama campaign appears to have dialed this back somewhat.
Now, in the wake of JetBlue's cowardly decision, Hillary and Dodd are taking this route, too. Check out this petition attacking O'Reilly over on Hillary's Web site:
"TELL BILL O'REILLY: STOP SMEARING GRASSROOTS PROGRESSIVES," it blares on Hillary's site. Now that's a sign of the times if there ever was one.
Remember in 2004 when John Kerry pulled his blog's link to this site after a right-wing hissy fit? Those days are over. And this is something that must be driving the Fox News/Liebercrat crowd insane. Once upon a time, Democrats fretted when they attacked. Now, Democrats ju jitsu those attacks and strike back. Very refreshing.
CNN released a new poll today of voters in South Carolina — a state with huge strategic importance since it hosts the first southern primary along with Florida. The poll found Hillary with a big lead among Dem primary voters:
Democrats
Clinton 39%
Obama 25%
Edwards 15%
Gore 10%
And in a somewhat surprising development, Hillary seems to have solidified a solid 47%-31% lead over Obama among black voters, a group that constitutes half the state's Dem primary electorate. Blacks are a must-win for Obama, especially because among whites, Hillary has 30%, John Edwards 27%, and Obama runs third with 18%.
And on the GOP side, the pro-choice Rudy Giuliani leading with this Bible-Belt state's Republican voters, albeit with a small plurality:
Republicans
Giuliani 28%
McCain 20%
Fred Thompson 17%
"This cannot be like a horror movie. You know, in the horror movie you kill the monster, and the hand re-emerges. And if you're not looking, the hand grows back and then the monster's there again. That cannot be allowed to happen."
Rudy Giuliani, outlining his strategy for combating global terrorism in an interview with USA Today.
And the national security credentials that Rudy earned by being Mayor of New York on 9/11 are once again showcased for all the world to see.
Looks like Hillary's now trying to force the issue with the Pentagon -- she's just revealed that she will be authoring legislation, with Senator Kerry, that would force the Pentagon to brief Congress on any plans it has drawn up for pulling out of Iraq in the event that Congress mandates it.
This demand on Hillary's part to see the Pentagon's contingency plans for withdrawal -- which she first made in May -- was what sparked Under Secretary of Defense Eric Edelman's dismissal of her query as aiding and abetting the enemy, a story that exploded yesterday. That, in turn, led to Hillary's stinging response to Defense Secretary Gates today.
It should be noted that the GOP WINO caucus (definition of term below) isn't a club reserved exclusively for Republican Senators -- House GOPers are welcome, too!
Case in point: Chris Shays. The GOP Rep. from Connecticut has now told CNN in an interview that we should begin pulling out of Iraq...
Here's some more revealing information buried in this week's campaign finance reports:
It turns out that the top Republican presidential candidates spent way, way more on direct mail – in fact, almost twice as much -- as their Democratic counterparts this quarter.
The vast amounts the candidates spent on direct mail so early are eye-opening – yet another sign of the unusually early intensity of this contest, as well as of the huge sums of cash that are sloshing through it. Mitt Romney, the top spender, shelled out an astonishing sum, nearly $4 million on direct mail, more than half a year before the first votes will be cast.
Here's the rundown, according to FEC data, on what the top candidates spent on getting out their message the dead-tree way:
In a sign that President Bush may be beginning to stage his long-anticipated political comeback, the new New York Times/CBS poll finds that his approval rating is up two points from last month, soaring from 27% in June to 29% today.
Republicans gleefully pointed to that and several other numbers in the poll to show that their party was on the upswing. They noted that the percentage of respondents who think the country is on the right track had jumped from 19% to 22%, and that the percentage who approve of Bush's Iraq performance had soared from 23% to 25%.
"We've been going on the offensive, and it's working," chortled one GOP operative. "We've been saying for a long time that the Democrats would overplay their hand, and now we're seeing the effects of that."
Republicans also gleefully pointed out that Congress' approval was mired at a dismal 29% -- a sign, experts said, that the Democrats might be getting ahead of the public with their aggressive push for withdrawal from Iraq.
"That's the same approval level that Bush is at, but as time will show, this is much, much worse for the Democrats than it is for the GOP, because, well, it just is. Republicans are always going up, and Democrats are always going down, so 29% means something very different for the GOP than it does for the Democrats," said one oft-quoted pundit who requested anonymity because he'd wrongly offered similar predictions in the past and didn't want to risk publicly getting it wrong again.
...as you've probably figured out by now, while these numbers are the actual results in the Times poll, the above is not a real news article -- it's nothing but my own crude and heavy-handed satire. But when it comes down to it, is it really all that outlandish?
Rudy: "America Is Too Consumed With Iraq" — Should Multitask To Other Countries
Rudy Giuliani told USA Today, "I said it a long time ago … America is too consumed with Iraq." Instead, Rudy said, Americans should start thinking about other countries, as well. "We've got to be patient and committed [in Iraq], but we've got to multitask. We've got to have conversations beyond Iraq. We've got to talk about Iran — Iran is more dangerous than Iraq — and we have to get the job done in Afghanistan and in Pakistan."
Poll: Bush Approval Soars All The Way Up To 29%
That's what the new New York Times poll finds. Is it a sign of that long-awaited Bush resurgence?
Same Poll: Republicans Unpopular, Democrats Ahead — And Huge Majority Want A Timetable
Some more figures from the same New York Times/CBS show that the Republican Party is in bad shape nationally. A generic Democrat beats a generic Republican for president by a 47%-32% margin, and the GOP's favorable/unfavorable rating is at 38%-56%, compared to the Democratic Party's 52%-41% rating. Meanwhile, a decisive majority of Americans say Congress should require a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq in funding bills: 61% say all funding should be blocked, 8% say no funding should be allowed at all, and only 28% say all funding should be allowed without conditions.
Obama Hits Back At Romney On Sex Ed
Barack Obama is firing back at Mitt Romney's attacks on him, over allegations by Romney that Obama supports sex education for kindergartners. Citing his own concerns as the father of two daughters, ages six and nine, Obama said, "Of course, part of the coarsening of that culture is when politicians try to demagogue issues to score cheap political points." He later added, "Certainly, what we shouldn't do is engage in hypocrisy," a possible allusion to Romney's own support of age-appropriate sex education standards when he was Governor of Massachusetts.
Romney Getting More Top Bush Donors Bloomberg News reports that Mitt Romney leads the Republican field in donations from the Bush 2000 "Rangers" and 2004 "Pioneers" who were able to raise $100,000 or more for Bush campaigns. Thus far, Pioneers and Rangers have personally donated over $600,000 to the GOP candidates, more than two thirds of it going to Romney. These figures only count their personal donations, and not any other money they might have raised and bundled for the GOP candidates.
Richardson Says To Increase Legal Immigration — Also Admits Campaign Errors
Bill Richardson, who opposed from the left the failed immigration bill, told an Iowa crowd that legal immigration has to be increased in order to address the problems associated with illegal immigration — while conceding that such a stance can cost votes. Meanwhile, Richardson has told Salon, "I admit that I don't have my shtick down. I admit that my policies are evolving," an admission of some mistakes on the campaign trail.
Fox News, GOP Announce New Hampshire Debate For September
Fox News and the New Hampshire Republican Party have announced a presidential debate to be held at the University of New Hampshire on September 5. James Pindell speculates that this debate could potentially end up being the first one to feature Fred Thompson, who may actually have announced a presidential candidacy by then.
Poll: Sununu Loses To Shaheen, Under 45% Against Other Dems Yet another poll, this time from CNN, the University of New Hampshire and WMUR-TV, shows Senator John Sununu (R-NH) losing to his 2002 opponent, former Dem Governor Jeanne Shaheen — who is not currently running, but is the subject of a draft effort by many prominent Democrats in the state. The poll has Sununu losing to Shaheen 54%-38%. Meanwhile, Sununu defeats the current field of lesser-known Democrats, but is himself unable to break out of the low 40's.
Robert Byrd: Dogfighters Are Going To Hell
In light of the federal charges against Atlanta Falcons Quarterback Michael Vick, alleging that Vick cruelly trained pit bulls for fights, with the losing dogs often being killed, Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) took to the Senate floor to denounce such treatment of animals. While he specified that he was not prejudging the facts of the case, Byrd made his feelings clear about the practices involved. "I am confident that the hottest places in Hell are reserved for the souls of sick and brutal people who hold God's creatures in such brutal and cruel contempt," Byrd said passionately. Byrd is a longtime pet-lover, who several years ago delivered a moving eulogy in the Senate after his dog Billy died.
In an unusual challenge to a Defense Secretary from a sitting Senator, Hillary Clinton has just written a sharply worded letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, demanding that he personally account for a Pentagon official's assertion yesterday that Clinton's public questions about the U.S.'s troop withdrawal plans were aiding the enemy.
"I request that you describe whether Under Secretary Edelman's letter accurately characterizes your views as Secretary of Defense," Clinton wrote to Gates, in a reference to Undersecretary of Defense Eric Edelman's criticism of the Senator yesterday.
"I would appreciate the courtesy of a prompt response directly from you," continued Clinton in the letter, which has been obtained by Election Central.
Senator Clinton's letter, which will be mailed to Gates this morning, is a response to the news yesterday that Edelman assailed Clinton in a private letter for raising questions about troop withdrawals.
Edelman wrote: "Premature and public discussion of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq reinforces enemy propaganda that the United States will abandon its allies in Iraq, much as we are perceived to have done in Vietnam, Lebanon and Somalia," Edelman wrote.
In her response, Clinton renewed her request for information about troop withdrawal plans, sharply questioned Edelman's assertion, and questioned whether it represented the views of Gates and the Pentagon.
"Rather than offer to brief the congressional oversight committees on this critical issue, Under Secretary Edelman – writing on your behalf – instead claims that congressional oversight emboldens our enemies," Clinton wrote. "Under Secretary Edelman has his priorities backward. Open and honest debate and congressional oversight strengthens our nation and supports our military. His suggestion to the contrary is outrageous and dangerous."
Seventy House Members To Bush: No More Money For Your War
A group of around 70 House Democrats wrote a toughly-worded letter to President Bush today informing him that they would no longer vote for funding of the troops in any form save if the money were spent exclusively on withdrawing them from Iraq. Here's what this means: A quarter of the majority party is now for cutting off funding for the troops if they're staying. This could complicate Congress' efforts to pass another war-spending bill this fall that represents anything short of a quick exit from Iraq. The full letter after the jump below. --Greg Sargent
Romney Declares War On "The Pop-Ups"
Mitt Romney is tired of his computer giving him pop-ups and recently said he is about to announce a new plan to attack the "the unrequested pornography that comes into your computer — the pop-ups." Romney has recently been on a moral values roll, releasing a new ad attacking popular culture as a "cesspool of violence, and sex, and drugs, and indolence and perversions," as well as a document highlighting where he stands on sex education for kindergartners — a political attack on Barack Obama. This most recent offensive on television and internet pornography seems to stem from the candidate's own experiences. "Type in a wrong letter and bingo, you get all sorts of stuff you didn't want," Romney said.
Durbin And Murray: We Were Not Sufficiently Informed Of Petraeus Briefing
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Democratic Caucus Secretary Patty Murray (D-WA) say their offices were not informed prominently about a briefing today by General David Petraeus and Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker. Instead, they say they simply received faxes about the event, which got lost among the thousands of messages they receive from constituents. "I’m just going to write it off as poor staff work," Durbin told The Hill. "I’m not going to make it more sinister than that." Other high-ranking Dems did make the meeting, including Joe Biden and Dianne Feinstein.
Bill Defends Hillary On Women's Issues
Bill Clinton jumped to his wife's defense this morning on national television a day after a Salon.com published an interview with Elizabeth Edwards attacking Hillary's femininity. "If you look at the record on women’s issues," Clinton said, "I defy you to find anybody who has run for office in recent history whose got a longer history of working for women, for families and children than Hillary does."
Fox News: Clinton And Obama Beating Top Republicans The latest Fox News poll shows Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama both enjoying leads over Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson. In the closest match-up, Hillary tops McCain 45%-42%, while Obama beats Thompson 48%-32% in the widest contest. John Edwards was not tested, nor was Obama pitted against Romney.
Pelosi To Publish Memoirs In 2008
Nancy Pelosi has signed on with Doubleday to publish a political memoir — written along with a collaborator/ghost writer — detailing her political rise and historical accomplishment in becoming the first female Speaker of the House. The book will be published in the Summer of 2008.
Poll: Solid Majority Think Hillary Is Positive Role Model For Women
A new New York Times/CBS News poll shows 68 percent of Americans think Hillary Clinton is a good role model for women. There is a gender split on the numbers, with 66 percent of men and 70 percent of women agreeing to the question, but more prominently a partisan one: 9 in 10 Democrats agree, compared to 7 in 10 independents and just 4 in 10 Republicans.
McCain Camp Plots A New Rise Jonathan Martin has obtained an outline of John McCain's strategy to come back in the presidential field. The plan is to emphasize that, despite some activists' distrust of him, his long-standing conservative credentials and his overall experience and stature — qualities none of the other Republicans have so far demonstrated they hold in combination. The document also lists McCain's high-profile endorsements in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, with endorsers like Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) able to mobilize their own organizations on his behalf.
Good news for national Dem strategists: Christine Jennings, a former Republican businesswoman who ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat for Katherine Harris' open House seat in Florida, has officially announced that she will seek a rematch with freshman GOP Congressman Vern Buchanan.
National Democratic sources believe Jennings has the best of chance of any Democrat in the district, having lost to Buchanan last year by a razor-thin margin of 373 votes in a district that President Bush had carried with 56% in 2004.
Democrats widely believe that Jennings was in fact the rightful winner last year, but lost due to over 18,000 under-votes in the race from electronic voting machines in Sarasota County, where Jennings had run ahead. In fact, Jennings is still officially contesting the results in Congress.
Rudy may be running for President on the "national security credentials" he allegedly earned by being Mayor on 9/11, but a new poll finds that people think he'd do a worse job than two of his chief rivals handling our most pressing foreign policy problem: Iraq.
The new Fox News poll, released today, finds that more people (45%) think Hillary would do a better job handling the Iraq situation than think Rudy would (40%). This probably isn't terribly surprising, since Hillary says she'll do what the majority wants (end the war) while Rudy suggests he supports the policies supported by an ever-dwindling minority (continue the surge).
Interesting side note: John McCain, who's a more vocal backer of the surge, is also comfortably ahead of Rudy on this question.
Another interesting side note: When asked to choose between Hillary and Barack Obama on the same question, more people choose Hillary to do a better job handling Iraq, 35%-27%.
Oh, and President Bush's approval rating has bounced all the way up to 32%.
Update: Dickerson responds to Elizabeth Edwards right here.
This is an interesting little scuffle.
Elizabeth Edwards has just written in to Slate to slam the online mag's chief political reporter, John Dickerson, for insinuating that she and John Edwards are using her cancer in an ad for political gain.
She was responding to a Dickerson piece in Slate today bearing this intriguing subhed: "A new ad exploits the suffering of the Edwards family. But that's okay."
In the article Dickerson seems to locate something contradictory in the fact that Edwards' latest ad features Elizabeth saying: "It's unbelievably important that in our president we have someone who can stare the worst in the face and not blink."
Dickerson asks what "the worst" is a reference to, and he concludes that it falls "laughably short" to suggest that it could refer to anything from Edwards' trial lawyer career. He decides that Edwards couldn't possibly be referring to anything but her cancer, and suggests that this shows Edwards to be a phony once again:
When we see an ad with Elizabeth Edwards talking about "the worst," we're talking either in whole or in part about her cancer. So, how does this square with Edwards' statement on 60 Minutes that he doesn't want anyone to vote for him because of his wife's cancer?
Now Elizabeth has hit back at Dickerson in the comments section at Slate, saying that John did indeed see some awful things in his career as a trial lawyer -- you know, clients who'd suffered horrible accidents and injuries.
Uh, oh -- that was fast. Looks like Republican Senator Susan Collins is reapplying for membership in the GOP WINO caucus. (Definition of term below.)
Yesterday, to her credit, Collins looked as if she was preparing to ditch her fellow WINO Senators for good. Unlike all the other GOP Senators in the WINO caucus, Collins voted in favor of the Senate measure that would have allowed the Reed-Levin amendment mandating withdrawal from Iraq go to a straight up-or-down majority vote.
Only 24 hours later, however, it looks as if Collins is pining for her WINO friends and may be looking to rejoin them. How? She's rapidly backing away from her support of Reed-Levin and mandated withdrawal.
This is interesting: A new poll finds that three out of four Republicans, or 74%, think Rudy Giuliani is "acceptable" as the GOP nominee, suggesting that the fact that he's out of step with many of them on abortion, gay rights and other issues doesn't necessarily disqualify him as GOP standard-bearer in their eyes.
The new Gallup poll, interestingly, puts Rudy comfortably ahead of the rest of the GOP field on this question. Fifty-nine percent of respondents say Fred Thompson's an acceptable nominee, 57% say John McCain is acceptable, and 53% say the same about Mitt Romney. Caveats after the jump.
"That's a question for all of you to ask yourselves."
-- Edwards senior adviser Jonathan Prince, speaking on a conference call to a bunch of reporters who were asking tons of questions about the battle between Elizabeth Edwards and Hillary. Prince's answer came in response to a reporter who asked whether the wall-to-wall media focus on the Elizabeth-Hillary battle has been partly driven by sexism.
Relatedly, there's a good rundown on what happened on the conference call right here.
There's a new excuse emerging from some folks in the media to justify their continued coverage of John Edwards' $400 haircut. It goes something like this:
Even if the $400 Scissor Snip Heard 'Round the World isn't necessarily an example of Edwards' personal hypocrisy or a sign of bad political judgment, it's a valid topic because it raises questions about whether he's a bad messenger for the poverty cause. Let's call this the "bad messenger dodge."
Case in point: Dan Balz and Chris Cillizza of The Washington Post. These two reporters sat down this week to interview Edwards in the midst of his poverty tour. Two accomplished reporters from one of the nation's top newspapers interviewed a man running for the post of most powerful person in the world. What is the news they took away from this interview? Well, check out their lede...
More Evidence Of Fred Thompson's Pro-Choice Lobbying: Billing Records The New York Times reports that billing records have been unearthed that prove Fred Thompson did lobbying work for the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association in 1991 and 1992, when they were attempting to convince the George H. W. Bush administration to relax the gag rule on abortion advice from organizations receiving federal funds. Thompson charged the group a total of $5,000 in the records found thus far, for activities that included talking to leaders of the group on the phone and lobbying administration officials on their behalf. Thompson spokesman Mark Corallo, who had originally denied that Thompson worked for a pro-choice group, is now backing off somewhat: "It is not unusual for a lawyer to give counsel at the request of colleagues, even when they personally disagree with the issue."
GOP Advertising Firm Denies Links to Anonymous Smear Online Ads Justin Rood, formerly of TPMmuckraker and now working for ABC News, reports that D.C. political advertising firm Stevens, Reed, Curcio and Potholm — whose previous credits include ads for the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth In 2004 — has denied any link to a series of parody Web ads that have circulated around the Internet, in which a man driving a car makes outrageous remarks about the GOP candidates, such as "praising" Rudy Giuliani for police brutality and calling Fred Thompson's wife a transsexual. The ads have been traced back to a MySpace account belonging to an SRCP employee, Amy Bradford, and said account has now posted a message about possibly being in trouble at work — though SRCP is officially denying any involvement by Bradford, as well. The firm works for John McCain's campaign*, but even McCain is not spared: The man in the videos calls McCain a brainwashed Manchurian Candidate.
Republicans Shell Out More For Voter Lists
All the candidates have paid large amounts of money to buy lists of voters from data collection companies or even individuals with large address books, but campaign expenditure reports released this week show Republicans are investing most in the lists with Mitt Romney alone paying $1.7 million including $22,000 for a list from NewsMax.com, a conservative news site that wrote a glowing article about his wife.
Former McCain Campaign Staffer Comes Back To Campaign The Hotline reports that Christian Ferry, who a few weeks ago left his position as John McCain's eCampaign director, has come back to the campaign to serve as deputy campaign manager. Ferry also worked for McCain's 2000 campaign, and his return may be a sign of a return to stability for a campaign that has been hemorrhaging staffers in recent weeks.
Bill Clinton Criticizes Bush On Iraq
It looks like Bill Clinton is switching from neutral ex-president into campaign mode. He has now criticized President Bush's handling of the war and said there was no evidence of military or political progress. "The point is, that there is no military victory here," he said. "There is no evidence that, whether we have a good day in a particular community or region in Iraq, that we have either the political reconciliation process within the country working or any diplomatic process that's got a chance to help with the neighbors."
Brownback Attacking Romney For Marriott Hotel Porn Access
Sam Brownback's campaign has put out a press release in response to Mitt Romney's new "Ocean" ad, in which Romney took on the proliferation of sex and violence in popular entertainment. In response, the Brownback press release declares boldly, "Mitt attacks pornography despite his role with Marriott, which sold in-room smut" — Romney served as a member of the board of directors during the 1990's. The release quotes right-wing activist Phil Burress: "Mitt Romney apparently turned a blind-eye to the obscene, hard-core pornography offered in Marriott hotels. Instead, Romney and Marriott International chose to earn millions of dollars with such a morally objectionable business practice. For those who want a proven, consistent, pro-family leader in the White House, Mitt Romney is an unacceptable choice."
In Washington State, Darcy Burner To Face Democratic Primary
In Washington's Eight Congressional District, 2006 Democratic nominee Darcy Burner is set to face a primary in her second attempt to take on GOP Congressman Dave Reichert. State Senator Rodney Tom has announced that he will run, paving the way for a primary in September 2008, only about two months before the general election. "I bring legislative experience, a practical understanding of the issues facing America today, and a moderate, bipartisan approach that 8th District voters value," Tom said. "I've represented a portion of the 8th in the Legislature for five years, and I know how to win tough elections."
Fred Heads Frustrated With Their Idol's Ambiguity
Many in the movement to draft Fred Thompson for the presidential race are growing frustrated with the actor's unwillingness to make his candidacy official despite traveling the country and holding fundraisers. "The time has come," said Keith Harper, the owner of FredHeads.com who fears Thompson will lose the grassroots support unless he acts soon. "Enough with the ambiguities. Enough with those around you being more decisive than you are."
*Late Update: It has come to our attention that John McCain's campaign actually parted ways with SRCP during this past Spring.
As Promised: Our Massive Guide To What Happened In Today's Senate Showdown
As we've been promising you all day, we've finally posted our explainer on today's Senate showdown over Iraq. We've done our best to explain all the political and procedural ins and outs of what happened, as well as explain the political implications going forward. Check it out.
Hillary Camp Responds To Elizabeth Edwards' Criticism
The Hillary campaign has now officially responded to the criticism Hillary's been taking from Elizabeth Edwards. And it should be said that Camp Hillary's response was artful in its understatement. The whole fight erupted when Elizabeth questioned Hillary's record on woman's issues in a much-discussed Salon piece. The Hillary campaign's pushback? Nothing but the following video, which it has now posted at Hillary's official news site, HillaryHub.com:
Under the video at HillaryHub.com, there's only this:
Edwards Sr. Advisor: "I have worked all my life for women and families, as Hillary has."
The woman apparently is Kate Michelman, a prominent woman's rights advocate who endorsed John Edwards. We don't have time right now to dig out the full transcript of these remarks, but since this video is now the Hillary campaign's official pushback, we wanted to bring it to you. --Greg Sargent
Petraeus Goes On Right-Winger Hewitt's Talk Show
Andrew Sullivan noticed some odd behavior on the part of General David Petraeus: He went on Hugh Hewitt's radio show, where the GOP party line is the order of the day. "I think such a decision to cater to one party's propaganda outlet renders Petraeus' military independence moot. I'll wait for the transcript. But Petraeus is either willing to be used by the Republican propaganda machine or he is part of the Republican propaganda machine. I'm beginning to suspect the latter," Sullivan writes. "The only thing worse than a deeply politicized and partisan war is a deeply politicized and partisan commander. But we now know whose side Petraeus seems to be on: Cheney's. Expect spin, not truth, in September."
Novak: Senate All-Nighter On Iraq Political Plus For Dems
Robert Novak makes an interesting point in his latest column. While last night's all-night debate on Iraq did not result in 60 votes for cloture, he nevertheless sees it as a political win for Democrats for the simple reason that it involved a massive public relations push on Iraq debate — a subject inherently damaging to Republicans at this point. While the effort was never really expected to reach 60 votes, "it does meet the Democratic goal of stressing the Iraq fiasco — the principal reason the 2008 election prospects are so bleak for the Republicans," Novak says. Novak compared it to a similar all-nighter that the then 51-49 GOP majority did in 2004, over the issue of judicial confirmations, which may have helped the Republicans sweep the open Senate races in the South and knock off Tom Daschle in South Dakota, gaining a 55-45 majority.
Hillary And Obama Far Out-Pace Dem Field On Spending For Polls
Mark Blumenthal studied the FEC reports of the Democratic candidates, and found some amazing numbers: Hillary Clinton has spent $729,021 on polling, followed close behind by Barack Obama's $655,526. By comparison, John Edwards has spent a mere $33,314, behind even Bill Richardson's $95,118 and Chris Dodd's $65,000. Another fun fact: Over half of Hillary's polling costs have been incurred by Mark Penn's firm, at $421,874.
Fox News Pans Rudy Speech
Rudy Giuliani's rally in a Council Bluff, Iowa high school gym "fell fairly flat to those in attendance" and they furthermore "did not display much excitement," according to a Fox News article. The reporter also asked Giuliani about the fact that of the 75 judges he appointed while in New York, only 6 were Republicans. The piece of course begs the question if Rudy is really losing steam — certainly a legitimate possibility — or if Fox has decided to make its coverage more fair and balanced towards other Republican candidates, like Fred Thompson or Mitt Romney.
Edwards Finishes Out Poverty Tour, Revisiting RFK's Path
John Edwards finished out his three-day Road to One America Tour, visiting two sites from Bobby Kennedy's own poverty tour 40 years ago: Whitesburg and Prestonburg, Kentucky. Throughout his tour, Edwards focused on small gatherings instead of large rallies, hoping to better interact up close with people in small, impoverished towns. While he acknowledged the inspiration of RFK, Edwards preferred to avoid a direct comparison. "I do not deserve to be compared to Bobby Kennedy," Edwards told NBC News. "He is a political hero of mine, but the reason I'm here is because I want America to remember what he did decades ago, and I want America to join us, all of us, to end the great work that Bobby Kennedy started."
Centrist Dem Senators Supporting New "Mod Squad" PAC
A group of former Senate staffers for centrist Democrats are forming a new PAC, legally called The Moderate Democrats PAC but nicknamed the "Mod Squad," to aid moderate Democratic Senate incumbents and candidates. Roll Call reports that a fundraiser is being held tonight, headlined by Senators Max Baucus (MT), Tom Carper (DE), Blanche Lincoln (AR) and Mark Pryor (AR). "In general terms, the way the fundraising world is geared right now, you do very well if you are firmly to the left or firmly to the right," said Pryor. "But if you are in the middle it can be much harder to raise funds for your election or re-election."
Judicial Watch Suing For Hillary Clinton Documents
Judicial Watch, the anti-Clinton litigation group of the 1990's that morphed into a watchdog group policing both parties in the 2000's, is back to taking on their old target. The group is now suing for access to documents from Hillary Clinton's time as first lady, which are currently sealed by the National Archives and Records Administration and the Clinton Presidential Library. "With Hillary Clinton aggressively pursuing the presidency, uncovering the truth about her activities in the White House is just as relevant today as it was during the Clinton era," said Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton.
So Harry Reid (D-NV) withdrew the defense authorization bill this morning after the Democrats weren't able to break the GOP filibuster.
The indignation spilled out across the aisle, with Republicans bemoaning Reid's all-night session as a political stunt, and Democrats warning the GOP that they'll pay a hefty political price for their obstruction.
But the whole mess remains complex. What actually just happened? What are the procedural and political nuances? What comes next for the Dems? Does yanking the Defense authorization bill have a prayer of forcing Republicans to stop blocking redeployment? Is this a political winner or loser for Dems in the long run?
To answer those questions, Election Central has put together a massive guide to what happened today that we hope will prove useful as a road map for following the debate as it unfolds over the coming weeks.
Did you know that Barack Obama's campaign subscribes to National Review but not The Nation?
And did you know that John Edwards' campaign shelled out $4,000 for a subscription to Congressional Quarterly despite his not being in Congress anymore (perhaps he's doing research on the candidates that are...)?
These amusing little facts are buried in the candidates' campaign expenditure reports. One interesting thing you can glean from them is learning which magazines and newspapers the campaigns subscribe to – in other words, what their reading lists are and what they spend on media consumption.
So we dug through the candidates' reports to figure out exactly what they are reading, and how much it's costing them. Some surprises:
Obama staffers appear to have the most eclectic and broad taste in publications, including The American Prospect, Foreign Affairs and Sojourners – in addition to about 11 daily newspapers.
Ron Paul, whose bank account pales in comparison to the major candidates, is shelling out an exorbitant $1,200 a year to an obscure publication called F.R.E.E., which is an astonishingly difficult thing to search for on Google given how many sites promote themselves with free offers.
Judging by the candidates' huge Lexis Nexis bills, they are doing a ton of oppo-research on each other. Hillary Clinton had the highest Nexis bill at $9,840, edging out Mitt Romney's $9,300. Joe Biden had the lowest with $503.22.
We have a full list of all the periodicals and other media materials after the jump. Enjoy!
Robert Novak makes an interesting point in his latest column. While last night's all-night debate on Iraq did not result in 60 votes for cloture, he nevertheless sees it as a political win for Democrats for the simple reason that it involved a massive public relations push on Iraq debate — a subject inherently damaging to Republicans at this point. While the effort was never really expected to reach 60 votes, "it does meet the Democratic goal of stressing the Iraq fiasco — the principal reason the 2008 election prospects are so bleak for the Republicans," Novak says.
From the column:
The gesture appeared an empty stunt, but that would be a misreading. A laser-like focus on the Iraq War remains the best strategy Democrats have for expanding their Senate majority in 2008. This is the equivalent of the Republicans' all-nighter over judges in 2004. Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean was out appealing for funds with an e-mail to supporters: "put on a pot of coffee."
Recall that the GOP's drive on judges in 2004 was a massive success. Thanks in part to their relentless pushes on the issue, with a similar all-night Senate session as Novak noted, Republicans swept the open Senate races in the South, and even defeated then-Democratic Leader Tom Daschle in South Dakota. Will the Dems enjoy a similar windfall in 2008 for Republican obstruction on Iraq?
“I’m not going to talk about my campaign anymore. I’m finished with talking about it. I’ve talked about it for two weeks. I will not discuss it or any aspect of it. Thank you.”
-- John McCain, quoted by CNN losing his cool today with a reporter who asked yet again about his tanking campaign. Of course, that long and sleepless night in the Senate may have left him a bit more thin-skinned than usual...
File this in the "be careful what you wish for" department.
Bill O'Reilly is taking Hillary to task because she's agreed to appear with the leftie extremists and terrorist sympathizers who will populate the YearlyKos convention. O'Reilly has asked Hillary for comment on this.
Now Hillary spokesperson Howard Wolfson has obliged. Via Ben Smith, Wolfson has hit back at O'Reilly, defending YearlyKos by pointing out that O'Reilly is the one who harbors extremists, hosting Michael Savage, Ann Coulter and David Horowitz on his show.
By way of context, it's worth noting that Camp Hillary is going to great lengths to repair relations with the liberal blogosphere, rolling out Joe Wilson on the liberal blogs, agreeing to appear at YearlyKos, etc., etc. Now comes Wolfson's defense of Kos, which is certainly not the sort of thing your typical Beltway consultant would ordinarily recommend.
Here's Nancy Pelosi's statement on the GOP's success today in blocking the Senate from voting on whether to withdraw from Iraq:
Senate Republicans Have Once Again Thwarted the Will of the American People on Iraq
Most Senate Republicans continue to obstruct Democratic efforts to force a new direction in Iraq, instead choosing to continue to stand squarely behind the failed policies of President Bush. By blocking an up-or-down vote on an amendment to responsibly end the war in Iraq, Senate Republicans have once again thwarted the will of a majority of the United States Senate, a majority of the House of Representatives, and a majority of the American people.
After four and a half years of a failed policy in Iraq, we must not just voice our opposition, we must vote to end the war. That is why the House passed legislation last week on a bipartisan basis to responsibly redeploy our forces from Iraq. We will repeat that judgment legislatively as often as necessary.
Great Moments In Fox News ... So, did a majority of Senators vote today against withdrawing the troops from Iraq? That's what Fox News seems to be saying on its Web site this afternoon:
As you can see, Fox says:
Senate Rejects Measure to Bring Troops Home
By a 52-47 vote, the Senate on Wednesday rejected a bill that would have started bringing troops home within 120 days of passage.
That makes it sound like 52 Senators "rejected a bill" for withdrawal. Of course, in the real world, 52 Senators didn't vote against withdrawal from Iraq in the Senate today at all. Rather, 52 Senators voted to not block the measure from getting a straight-up majority vote. This failed because it fell short of the 60 votes needed to overcome a Republican filibuster.
But in Fox News Land, a majority of Senators voted against withdrawal today.
Bill Richardson's campaign has launched a new ad in Iowa saying he will remove all troops from Iraq if elected.
This is particularly interesting because it shows Richardson using an ad to highlight perhaps the key way he is indeed different from all the leading Dems: He is adamant about removing all troops from Iraq, unlike the other Dems, who favor leaving some sort of residual force. Take a look:
Dick Cheney has sunk to a new low – in a new Gallup Poll, that is. The Gallup survey finds Cheney's approval rating at 30 percent, down four points from last month and a record low for a vice president since Gallup started in 1945.
Even more surprisingly, his job approval among Republicans, although higher, is also at its lowest point yet – 57%. His approval rating among independents is a dismal 26% – barely one in four.
In a trifecta of sorts, Cheney's overall favorability rating is also at its lowest point yet. Only 30 percent say they have a favorable impression of him, down from 37 percent in January. His unfavorable rating is 62 percent.
Ratcheting up the stakes in the wake of the GOP's successful blocking of a vote on Iraq withdrawal just moments ago, Harry Reid just announced on the Senate floor that he won't allow a vote on the entire Defense Authorization bill until the Senate GOP drops its filibustering of votes on Iraq.
It comes only moments after the Republican filibuster succeeded in preventing a vote on the Reed-Levin amendment, which would have mandated withdrawal by April 2008.
Reid said:
I have temporarily laid aside the Defense Authorization bill and have entered a motion to reconsider.
But let me be clear to my Republican colleagues – I emphasize the word "temporarily". We will do everything in our power to change course in Iraq. We will do everything in our power to complete consideration of a Defense Authorization bill. We must do both.
And just to remind my Republican colleagues – even if this bill had passed yesterday, its provisions would not take effect until October.
So we will come back to this bill as soon as it is clear we can make real progress. To that end, I have asked the Democratic Whip and Democratic Manager of the bill to sit down with their counterparts to work on a process to address all outstanding issues related to this bill so the Senate can return to it as soon as possible.
What this means is this: Reid is basically saying he won't allow any votes on any other Iraq amendments -- not the toothless Warner-Lugar amendment, not the Ken Salazar amendment that would force adoption of the Baker-Hamilton plan, nothing -- until the GOP agrees to allow straight up or down votes.
Reid says he's directing his aides to enter into negotiations with the GOP side to see if this latest gauntlet throwing wrenches further concessions out of the Republicans. It'll be interesting to see where this goes.
More soon.
Update: Soon Election Central will bring you a piece explaining the procedural and political ins and outs of this move. So watch this space.
Later Update: This post has been edited for clarification purposes. It should be noted that the Defense authorization bill doesn't have to pass in order for the Defense appropriations bill to become law. While the authorization bill set priorities for things like weapons systems in the defense budget, only the appropriations bill actually funds those priorities -- and, unlike what we said earlier it's not strictly necessary to pass the authorization first, though it is customary.
In short, from the perspective of Pentagon operations, the lack of an authorization bill "isn't a problem, period, as long as an appropriations bill is passed," says Steve Koziack of the Center on Strategic and Budgetary Priorities.
We still have a longer post coming on the implications of all this. Stay tuned.
It's official: The Senate GOP has succeeded in blocking the Senate from holding a vote on the Reed-Levin amendment mandating withdrawal from Iraq by April 2008.
The vote just concluded, and while Dems did get a majority, they fell short of the 60 votes needed to get passed the Republican filibuster designed to prevent a straight up-or-down vote on whether to pull out of Iraq.
The vote was 52-47. Only four Republicans voted for it: Senators Olympia Snowe, Gordon Smith, Chuck Hagel, and Susan Collins. While the first three were expected, Collins' support for the bill represents a new defection.
What this means in a nutshell is this: While a majority of the U.S. Senate favors withdrawal from Iraq, the Senate can't vote on a measure that would accomplish this -- because the GOP Senate leadership won't allow it.
The vote came after a marathon all-night showdown between Senate Dems and Republicans, in which Dems sought to shine a bright light on the continuing efforts of the GOP to prevent the Senate from voting on the most pressing question before the country right now: Whether to continue the war or whether to end it.
The GOP's success in filibustering the measure -- with the bill getting the support of only four Republicans -- proved yet again that the GOP WINO caucus is flourishing, as always. The WINO caucus, of course, is home to GOP Senators who are Wavering In Name Only, who are allegedly "wavering" in their support for Bush, but who are not voting for anything that would actually change things.
Here are the GOP Senators who have been said to be "wavering" in their backing for Bush's war policies, but who today opposed allowing the Senate to vote on changing those policies:
Norm Coleman
Pete Domenici
Dick Lugar
John Sununu
John Warner
George Voinovich
More soon.
Update: I should note that Harry Reid actually voted against the bill for procedural reasons, so he can reintroduce it later.
In today's Washington Post, Harold Meyerson weighs in with an absolutely scorching column on the GOP WINO caucus -- that is, on the Repulicans who are Wavers In Name Only when it comes to their allegedly "wavering" support for Bush's war:
Anyone searching for the highest forms of invertebrate life need look no further than the floor of the U.S. Senate last week and this. These spineless specimens go by various names -- Republican moderates; respected senior Republicans; Dick Lugar, John Warner, Pete Domenici, George Voinovich...
The Lugars and the Warners seem to share with many of their Democratic colleagues a common assessment of our presence in Iraq: It has become an unfocused and costly occupation in a land beset by civil war...
Problem is, the Warners and the Lugars don't actually want to act on their perception. They oppose the legislation by Democrats Carl Levin and Jack Reed that would require the administration to begin reducing our forces in Iraq within 120 days and to remove all but that anti-jihadist force by next April...
These Republicans who proclaim their independence without acting on it have failed to come to terms with the single most important reality confronting them: that Bush and Cheney will keep the war going until Congress forces them to stop.
In this textbook description of the GOP WINO caucus, Meyerson goes on to call these Senators "spineless sages" and "gutless wonders." The whole thing is here.
Barack Obama's campaign accepted over $48,000 in contributions bundled by two liberal political action committees in the last quarter, despite a pledge in the early part of his campaign to refuse all money from PACs.
While these contributions, bundled by MoveOn.org Political Action and Act Blue, may not violate the letter of his pledge, they are a significant loophole in it. Obama voluntarily decided not to accept contributions from PACs in an effort to create a "new kind of politics," a desire he often speaks about in public.
An Obama spokesman said the contributions do not violate the candidate's commitment because they are not from the committee directly and it is furthermore "obviously" not misleading to tout the pledge while accepting bundled contributions.
The contributions, close to $40,000 bundled by MoveOn.org and about $9,000 by Act Blue, are each listed in the candidate’s quarterly report twice – once with the individual's name and the PAC listed as a "conduit" and again on a separate line with only the PAC name and "entity type" listed as organization.
Elizabeth Edward Stars In New Campaign Ad For Husband
The elevation of Elizabeth Edwards' profile continues this morning with her starring for the first time in a campaign ad for her husband set to start airing today in New Hampshire:
The ad reveals the Edwards campaign's increasing view of Elizabeth as a popular figure and effective communicator in her own right — not to mention its hope that she could prove a possible lure for female voters inclined to support Hillary. It also shows that she continues to carve out her niche as Edwards' chief public enforcer and defender, a role that's included frequent attacks from Elizabeth on various wingers — such as Ann Coulter and Matt Drudge — and even some sharp criticism of Hillary yesterday. — Greg Sargent
McCain To Hold Pep Talks With Congressional Supporters
Roll Call reports that John McCain will hold meetings today with his House and Senate supporters, accompanied by his retooled senior campaign staff, to assure his supporters that he's still in the race and can still be competitive. A source told Roll Call the meetings will be held to tell the members "what's going on and where we are and what's happening."
Clinton Distributing DVD On Iraq Policy To Iowa
Hillary Clinton's campaign is distributing a DVD featuring the candidate talking about how she will end the Iraq war, including video of a conversation she had with residents of Muscatine, Iowa. The campaign declined to say how many discs would be distributed or how much it will cost.
McCain Advisor NOT Quitting
Marlys Popma, one of John McCain's envoys to social conservatives, has decided to retract her resignation after sleeping on the decision at the urging of McCain's team. The campaign has been hit with a raft of resignations after reporting it was near financial collapse. "I'm just reassured the campaign is going forward in the right direction in Iowa and that Iowa is important to the senator and to the campaign," Popma said. "I had some concerns it wasn't, and those concerns have been completely taken care of."
John Kerry Blasts Romney For Changing Positions — Romney Campaign Calls Him Crazy
In an interview with the Republican-aligned Boston Herald, John Kerry blasted Mitt Romney for his changes of position. "Let’s be very clear. I had not changed my positions and they played a game with that," Kerry said of the 2004 race, when Republicans including Romney branded him a flip-flopper. Kerry then went on: "He’s changed on abortion, he’s changed on gay rights and he’s changed on marriage. He’s changed on guns and he’s changed on the war. That’s pretty significant. I think people are asking the question out there, 'Who is he, really?'" Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom hit back in strong terms: "This is a textbook case of Freudian projection. John Kerry is projecting his own undesirable traits onto other people. It’s a mild form of personality disorder. Usually, it’s not a cause for concern unless it shows up in a U.S. senator."
Gallup: Bush's Approval In Second Quarter Lowest Since 1945
A new Gallup poll shows President Bush's approval rating at 31 percent, a slight, statistically-insignificant jump from a poll earlier this month, but the president's average for his 26th quarter in the presidency, ending tomorrow, is lower than any since 1945, when Gallup began polling presidential approval ratings. Bush has had more quarters averaging below 40 percent than Richard Nixon, who had five, and is on track to top Harry Truman's 10 by the end of his presidency.
Clinton, Edwards Spending Less In South Carolina
A study of campaign spending by The Hill finds that the Hillary Clinton and John Edwards are de-emphasizing South Carolina. Whereas Barack Obama spent $480,000 overall in the state in the second quarter, Edwards spent $221,000, and Hillary only $120,000. Edwards and Hillary appear to be banking on other early states like Iowa and New Hampshire, while the Obama campaign is investing in a state where half the Democratic electorate is expected to be made up of black voters.
Anti-Establishment GOPer Broun Wins Big Upset In Georgia Runoff
In an astonishing upset, physician and conservative activist Paul Broun (R) appears to have defeated fellow Republican Jim Whitehead, the GOP establishment's candidate in yesterday's special election runoff for the Congressional seat left vacant by the death of Congressman Charlie Norwood (R), though a recount is still possible. In a low turnout race, with less than 50,000 votes overall, Broun enjoys a lead of less than one percent, accomplished through what the Athens Banner-Herald called "an unorthodox campaign that put together a coalition of disgruntled Republicans, Democrats and Christian conservatives." Residents of Athens, the district's Democratic bastion, appear to have turned out in disproportionately high numbers for the right-wing Broun, an Athens resident, in order to punish Whitehead after he ridiculed the liberal town and jokingly said that someone should bomb it.
So it looks as if GOP Senators Richard Lugar, Pete Domenici, and George Voinovich are all determined to remain in the GOP WINO caucus -- they will all continue to oppose the latest Dem measure mandating withdrawal from Iraq.
As noted earlier, the WINO caucus -- Waverers In Name Only -- is home to all the GOP Senators who are said by the press to be "wavering" in their support of Bush's policies but keep opposing legislative measures that would actually change those policies. These WINO caucus Senators are just voicing doubts about Bush in order to appease their worried constituents and dupe the public into thinking that the Republicans are serious about forcing Bush to change course, when they're not prepared to do anything that would actually bring this about in the real world.
In today's Times article on last night's Senate showdown, we learn that Lugar and Domenici will vote against the Reed-Levin amendment, which would mandate withdrawal by April 2008. From the piece:
Senators Richard G. Lugar of Indiana and Pete V. Domenici of New Mexico, two senior Republicans who recently delivered a high-profile criticism of the administration’s Iraq policy, also planned to oppose the Democratic plan, aides said.
Meanwhile, Voinovich -- another allegedly "wavering" Senator -- had this to say about Democratic efforts to vote on Reed-Levin: “You wonder if they are more interested in politics than dealing with the substance of this.”
Voinovich, you'll recall, got a whole ton of free media attention the other day when CNN reported that Voinovich privately said that Bush has "f--ked up" the war, prompting lots of oooooohs and aaaaahs from pundits and commentators.
But here Voinovich is again, opposing real efforts to change those "f--ked up" policies -- and, ironically, saying that those who would change those policies aren't really concerned with "substance." In other words, all we're getting from Voinovich, Lugar and Domenici is just more WINO-ing and no action.
Polling Expert: Giuliani's Heading For A Steep Fall In The Polls
Charles Franklin, a polling expert at the University of Wisconsin, has a new analysis out indicating that Rudy Giuliani may soon be in for a hard fall in the polls, similar to the one suffered recently by John McCain. "While he has consistently remained ahead in polls of Republican voters, and his campaign is in infinitely better financial shape than McCain's, Giuliani's trend in support is eerily similar to McCain's downward trajectory," Franklin writes.
Politico Reporter Weighs In On Coverage Of Edwards' Hair Versus That Of Romney's Makeup
Earlier today, Greg Sargent had a little fun speculating on why the media was unlikely to lavish anywhere near the same amount of coverage on Romney's $300 makeup bill than it did on Edwards' $400 haircut. Now The Politico's Ben Smith, who originally broke the haircut story, weighs in with an interesting analysis of his own.
RNC Asks For YouTube Submissions To Democratic Debate
The Republican National Committee has asked supporters to submit questions for the upcoming YouTube/CNN Democratic debate, where candidates will be prompted by viewers' own videos. The RNC is currently promoting the idea on their main page with a cartoon of a young man wearing an elephant t-shirt chasing after the three leading Democratic candidates, depicted as scared and out of breath. A CNN editorial team will select which questions will be posed to the candidates.
Clinton Buys Vilsack Campaign List
Hillary Clinton paid $20,000 to the defunct presidential campaign of Tom Vilsack, now one of her supporters, for a "strategic document" or list. Clinton had originally said she would help pay Vilsack's debt, but his campaign subsequently said that wasn't necessary. Neither campaign would comment on the document.
D.C. Mayor Endorses Obama
In Washington, D.C., Mayor Adrian Fenty has endorsed Barack Obama for president, citing Obama's commitment to working towards full voting representation for the District in Congress. "There is no issue more important than democracy," Fenty said today. "Barack Obama understands that you do not ... deny residents of the capital city representation for more than 220 years." Fenty's endorsement was widely expected after a key political advisor of his, Jim Hudson, hosted a fundraiser for Obama in late June, taking in $600,000.
Poll: In Kentucky, Beshear Has Big Lead Over Fletcher
A new SurveyUSA poll finds Democratic candidate Steve Beshear with a wide lead over Governor Ernie Fletcher (R-KY). Beshear has 59% support, compared to Fletcher's 36%. In 2003, Fletcher became the first Republican governor of the state in 30 years, but since then has been bogged down by a series of ethics scandals.
Whitehead Expected To Easily Win Runoff In Georgia Today
In Georgia, state Senator Jim Whitehead is expected to easily win today's special election runoff for the seat formerly held by GOP Congressman Charlie Norwood, who died of cancer earlier this year. "As a long-time friend of Charlie Norwood's, it seems fitting that Sen. Whitehead would be the man to succeed him," said Congressman Tom Feeney (R-FL) in his endorsement of Whitehead. Not only is Whitehead expected to win, but either way the GOP will keep the seat — his opponent in the runoff is a fellow Republican, a physician and conservative activist named Paul Broun.
Kucinich Puts His Interns Up For Adoption
Dennis Kucinich's campaign has put out a video today with a novel fundraising pitch, allowing contributors to sponsor a specific internship position or "adopt" the intern. "What's happening? I'm Hal and I'm a single white male from New Jersey," says one fresh-faced intern in a green short-sleeve shirt. Kucinich says in the video that interns will know who their sponsors are – just like many children receiving food and care in third world countries know the names of Americans sponsor them. "My mother always told me money can't buy you happiness," said Alexandria from Wisconsin, "but what it can buy you is an intern. So adopt me and I'll do my part to make a positive change in American politics."
Okay, I've just checked in with Sarah Binder, an expert in governance studies at Brookings Institution. And she tells me that contrary to what we're reading on the winger blogs today, Harry Reid's plan to force an Iraq filibuster is not procedurally Dead On Arrival at all.
Kevin Drum and Joan McCarter, along with a number of TPM Readers, are pointing to this post over at the Corner raising doubts about Harry Reid's plan to force a filibuster on Iraq tonight. The argument, which has been making the rounds of the winger blogs, goes like this:
This is a really, really stupid stunt, and I'll tell you why: It can all be over in 15 minutes, unless the anti-war Republicans decide to cooperate — and why should they?
Right now, there are only 50 working Democratic Senators (Tim Johnson D, S.D. hasn't cast a vote yet this year), and there are only 49 if you don't include Joe Lieberman (who I hear isn't really up for this sleepover, whether you want to count him as a Dem or not).
You need 51 senators for a quorum, in the event that someone makes a quorum call — which any senator can make at any time. So all it takes is one Republican to stay in the chamber, object to anything the Democrats try to do, and then note the absence of a quorum. When the quorum is called, and only 50 senators are present, the Senate adjourns (or at least it can't come out of the quorum call without unanimous consent), and the whole stupid stunt is over before Senator Byrd can even begin his outraged four-hour speech.
Expert Binder tells me that this argument is a complete wash on many levels.
A new CNN poll finds that John Edwards has fallen into fourth place in New Hampshire, statistically tied with the new third-place finisher, Bill Richardson:
Democrats
Clinton 36%
Obama 27%
Richardson 11%
Edwards 9%
Meanwhile, the GOP numbers find John McCain in a similarly dire state, as well, slipping into fourth place with his party:
Republicans
Romney 33%
Giuliani 18%
F. Thompson 13%
McCain 12%
With the brinkmanship heating up big time in advance of tonight's Senate showdown over Iraq, Harry Reid has just fired off a letter to GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell demanding that he stop blocking votes "for the sake of our troops."
"There are no more solemn decisions facing members of Congress than the conduct of war and the placing of our troops in harm's way," Reid writes, in what may be a preview of the future Democratic argument against obstructionist Republicans.
"I renew the proposal I offered to you yesterday to permit the Senate to act on a series of amendments pertaining to Iraq," Reid continues. "For the sake of our troops and the American people, I hope you reconsider your decision to obstruct Senate action on critical amendments that could change course the course of the war in Iraq."
From Harry Reid's statement on today's Al Qaeda NIE:
"The unclassified summary of the National Intelligence Estimate released today leads me to two conclusions: one, the Bush Administration's national security strategy has failed in its most basic responsibility –- to capture or kill Usama Bin Laden and Ayman Zawahiri, the men who orchestrated the 9/11 attacks, and eliminate Al Qaeda as a threat to the homeland; and two, there is even greater urgency to the need to change course in Iraq."
The Bush Administration’s unnecessary, ill-conceived, and ill-planned war in Iraq has made America less secure by turning our nation’s full attention away from fighting terrorism. As the National Intelligence Estimate released this morning makes clear, nearly six years after the 9/11 attacks the group responsible, al-Qaeda, remains the most serious terrorist threat facing our country. Al-Qaeda has regained its strength, terrorist attacks have increased, and extremists are using the war in Iraq to attract new recruits.
We must do more to protect the American people from terrorism. Today, the Democratic-led House took a strong step toward protecting America doing by agreeing to go to conference on legislation to enact the recommendations made nearly three years ago by the independent 9/11 Commission. Prompt passage of the final 9/11 legislation and the President’s signature on the bill will make America safer.
Speaking of the Grand High Exalted Mystic Ruler Of Our Media Universe -- that would be Matt Drudge -- this one is definitely worth a look.
Here's his lead story from today:
This headline claiming that Elizabeth Edwards said Hillary is "behaving like a man" links to this article in Salon, a must-read interview with Elizabeth in which she aggressively attacked Hillary on women's issues.
To support his headline Drudge reproduced on his front page the following selected quote from the article:
So the quote Drudge used sounds like Elizabeth was pointing an accusatory finger at Hillary when she said, "sometimes you feel as if you have to behave as a man." Right?
Now take a look at how Drudge's headline and chosen quote stack up against Elizabeth's full quote in the article. It's after the jump.
An interesting name has turned up among the celebrity donors to Rudy Giuliani's campaign: Tony Sirico, best known for his portrayal of the character Paulie Walnuts on The Sopranos, has contributed $1,000 to the former New York Mayor. An interesting thing about Sirico, though, is that he doesn't just play a mobster on TV. Before his 1971 conviction for weapons posession, and subsequent imprisonment, he was a bona fide mafioso.
And not just that — though this charge was not pursued at trial, Sirico may well have been a murderer. From the sentencing hearing, courtesy of The Smoking Gun, Sirico is revealed to have made this threat to the owner of a discotheque:
"He said there was one guy who gave him a hard time also, who refused to give Junior Sirico the respect he thought he deserves, who refused to comply with every wish and whim of Junior sirico, and that was Bobby Woods, and he said, "You saw what happened to him," and Mr. Addison knew what happened to Bobby Woods. Mr. Bobby Woods was found dead with five bullets in his head in Queens with a .32 automatic."
So there you have it, Rudy Giuliani's campaign of law, order and national security has accepted $1,000 from a man who either committed murder in the 1960's, or at the very least led people to believe he did so in order to give weight to his threats against them.
How would the press and the GOP spin machine treat this if Giuliani were a Democrat, accepting money from such a source? Will the media hound the Giuliani campaign about this, and make him return or donate the money, or is it okay if you're a Republican?
Okay, you should know about today's main political event: Senate Dems and antiwar groups are planning a whole series of events throughout the day and night today designed to put more and more pressure on the GOP WINO caucus over Iraq.
As noted yesterday, the GOP's WINO caucus -- Waverers In Name Only -- is home to those Republican Senators who are allegedly "wavering" on Iraq by criticizing Bush's Iraq policies but have yet to cast a vote that would actually reverse those policies.
Right now the WINO caucus includes Senators Susan Collins, Jack Warner, John Sununu, Norm Coleman, Dick Lugar, Pete Domenici and George Voinovich.
Republicans are trying to block a straight up-or-down vote on the Reed-Levin amendment, which would mandate withdrawal from Iraq by April 2008. Tonight, Senate Dems -- who want to vote on the measure tomorrow -- are forcing GOPers into an all-night filibuster by keeping the Senate open through the night.
In advance of that showdown, Senate Dems -- and antiwar groups -- have planned a whole bunch of events designed to draw further attention to the standoff.
As you may know by now, the Politico weighed in with some more reporting today on the personal grooming habits of the Presidential candidates, noting in a front-page piece that Mitt Romney's campaign spent $300 on a company that describes itself as "a mobile beauty team for hair, makeup and men's grooming and spa services."
Glenn Greenwald asks a key question: Whether this will be "given anywhere near the coverage and attention" that the media lavished on Edwards' $400 haircut.
Come on, Glenn. Surely you don't have any trouble understanding this one. Yes, both Edwards and Romney are very rich. But there's a simple explanation for why this isn't a story while Edwards' $400 haircut is worthy of repeated mentions in The New York Times and other top papers, wall-to-wall analysis from cable pundits, a full column by Maureen Dowd, and all the other coverage it continues to get.
First, Edwards is trying to draw attention to poverty in America, which automatically makes him guilty of hypocrisy until proven innocent; Romney isn't doing any such thing. Second, a key Republican talking point about Edwards is that he's a phony and a wuss, while there's no such Dem talking point about Romney. And finally, All-Hallowed and All-Seeing Grand Vizier of the Media Universe Matt Drudge hasn't issued any command for coverage of Romney's makeup fees. Thus, Edwards' haircut is news, and Romney's makeup fees aren't. Really, now. This is not complicated.
Poll: Other/Undecided Leads GOP Race In a new AP/Ipsos Poll, 25% of Republican respondents say they are either undecided or would prefer someone other than the current field — more than the vote share of any actual candidates listed in the poll. Compare this to the Democratic side, where only 13% of respondents are undecided or prefer none of the above. In the horse-race numbers, Rudy Giuliani leads the GOP side with 21%, followed by Fred Thompson at 19%, John McCain at 15%, and Mitt Romney at 11%. Among Dems: Hillary Clinton 36%, Barack Obama 20%, Al Gore 15%, and John Edwards 11%.
Hillary And Edwards Camps: We Are Not Plotting To Exclude People
Aides to Hillary Clinton and John Edwards are denying allegations that they are plotting to exclude other candidates from debates, after the two were caught on an open microphone discussing how to make debates smaller. A spokesman for Edwards said the candidate's real intention was to possibly break up the field into smaller groups for debates, without excluding anyone from the process. Meanwhile, some Hillary aides speaking on background gave a more cynical perspective in their defense of their boss: Hillary would not seek to give Edwards and Barack Obama more time at debates; And besides, she doesn't even like John Edwards that much.
Pace Newly Optimistic On Iraq
General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said yesterday in Ramadi that there has been a "sea change" in Iraq in the domain of security, and this might influence how long to continue the Baghdad surge strategy. "It's no longer a matter of pushing al-Qaeda out of Ramadi, for example," Pace said, "but rather — now that they have been pushed out — helping the local police and the local army have a chance to get their feet on the ground and set up their systems."
Some Obama's 250,000 Donors May Have Only Bought Bumper Stickers The New York Times reports that Barack Obama's campaign has employed a previously unused accounting technique to boost his number of small-donation contributors: Recording the contact information for everyone who so much as bought a bumper sticker or t-shirt at one of his rallies and counting them as contributors. His massive list of 250,000 people, which also includes traditional donors who gave money without buying merchandise, should prove quite useful for the campaign as it rolls it's operation into states with primaries on Feb. 5 and looks for hordes of volunteers.
Hillary And Obama, Plus Elizabeth Edwards, To Address Planned Parenthood Today
Hillary Clinton an Barack Obama will speak today in Washington before Planned Parenthood. Elizabeth Edwards will appear on behalf of her husband, who is in Pittsburgh today for his poverty-themed "Road to One America Tour." About 500 political officers of Planned Parenthood, hailing from all around the country, are expected to attend the event. Planned Parenthood said all the candidates were invited, but only the Clinton, Obama and Edwards camps responded.
Doolittle Losing Fundraising Race To Dem Rival After FBI Raid
Democrat Charlie Brown raised three times as much as incumbent Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) last quarter, reporting $251,000 cash on hand to Doolittle's $32,250 net debt, which includes massive payments to his lawyers as well as to Sierra Dominion, the company his wife runs from their home and is the target of the federal investigation that brought about those legal fees.
In Wisconsin, Gard To Seek Rematch With Kagen
John Gard, the former Wisconsin Assembly Speaker who lost in 2006 for the open seat now held by Congressman Steve Kagen (D), says he will seek a rematch with Kagen. "I don’t think the majority of the 8th district voters have become liberal," Gard said, attributing his 51%-49% defeat for the historically GOP seat to last year's national Democratic wave. Other Republicans are also considering primary bids, and will not necessarily stand down for Gard as they did in 2006: State Rep. Frank Lasee, state Rep. Steve Wieckert, and former Green Bay Mayor Paul Jadin.
Dodd: Environmental Activists Could Be New "Greatest Generation"
Democratic presidential candidate Chris Dodd told a crowd of young activists that they could usurp the title of "greatest generation" from World War II veterans if they save the planet. Dodd has proposed carbon-dioxide taxes and increasing vehicle fuel economy standards. "How about a future generation talking about us turning this planet into a paradise?" Dodd said. "We've done so much damage in such a short time ... This is not irreversible. We can all make a difference."
McCain Losing Yet More Staffers — This Time In Iowa
John McCain's struggling campaign is losing yet more staffers, in this case in the key caucus state of Iowa. Communications director Tom Miller has stepped down, along with longtime Iowa organizer Marlys Popma from her position as coalitions director. Iowa GOP executive director Chuck Laudner even told the Associated Press that the McCain campaign was shutting down in Iowa, but offices are still open — for now.
Fred Thompson To Finally File A Campaign Report — Sort Of
Fred Thompson's "testing the waters" committee will reportedly file an 8872 form with the IRS, as opposed to the FEC, which will nevertheless list his donations and expenditures. This could potentially free the campaign up to set its own timetable on when to declare, while still maintaining a level of legal transparency to allow his quasi-declared campaign to continue. One self-interested reason for Thompson to avoid the FEC for now: The sooner he files with them as a candidate, the sooner he has to stop accepting royalties for his Law & Order episodes.
Edwards: Victory Was Never Possible
John Edwards, who has publicly recanted his 2002 vote to authorize the Iraq War, said that "there was never a possibility of a military victory" there. Edwards said on Good Morning America this morning that President Bush's proposition that withdrawal is tantamount to admitting that the war is "militarily lost" was "just political rhetoric." "He knows the reality," Edwards said. "The reality is the Maliki and the Shiite government have to reach some sort of agreement with the Sunnis."
Ron Paul In His Own Tier?
More news from the FEC disclosures – Ron Paul has more cash on hand than eight other presidential candidates combined: Tom Tancredo, Sam Brownback, Mike Huckabee, Dennis Kucinich, Duncan Hunter and Tommy Thompson — plus he has more cash on hand than the beleaguered John McCain.
Western House Incumbents Stocking Up On Cash Congressional Quarterly has a roundup of fundraising efforts by key Western state House Republicans. Among the interesting points: Marilyn Musgrave, who was barely re-elected last year, has raised $510,000 so far this year. Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT), who was easily re-elected last year, has $339,000 cash on hand, while Democrat Bill Kennedy, a county commissioner from Republican-leaning Yellowstone County, has $92,000 cash on hand.
Ted Stevens' Ratings Low As the writers at TPMmuckraker have noted, long-time Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) has found his approval ratings falling in the face of scandal. After nearly 40 years of Senate service, Stevens now has a 45% positive rating in a new poll from Ivan Moore Research, versus a 44% negative rating. Some Democrats have been trying to recruit Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich to run against Stevens in 2008, as Begich might be the only electable Democrat in heavily Republican Alaska.
Kucinich Finally Breaks $1 Million In Fundraising
After two quarters of fundraising, Dennis Kucinich finally managed to report over $1 million in contributions. Meanwhile, Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt gave the maximum contribution of $2,300 to the underdog left-winger.
Ron Paul's Face On "Liberty Dollar" — Whether He Likes It Or Not
The Liberty Dollar company, which promotes a return to metallic standards for money and abandoning the inflationary fiat currency currently in use, has struck a new series of coins not sanctioned by the government — legal for barter between consenting parties, though not for much else beyond their market value as precious metals — bearing the image of Ron Paul, who champions a return to the gold standard. Paul's campaign is not endorsing the effort, and is instead urging supporters to donate their current U.S. money to the Paul campaign, instead of purchasing precious-metal coins that are not legal tender.
(And the Federal Reserve need not worry. Under Gresham's Law of monetary theory, the innate superiority of the Ron Paul dollar means that people will hold it for themselves and avoid actually spending it, keeping the debased Federal Reserve Note in much wider circulation. And besides, the Liberty Dollar company's tri-metallist approach of gold, silver and copper is needlessly confusing and unstable, creating the potential for changing relative values of each coin against one other — exactly the sort of problems that caused the United States to abandon its brief experiment in gold-silver bi-metallism back in the 1890's.)
"The Republican leadership has established hurdles and blockades, everything they can find to stop us from a vote that reflects the feelings of the American people. You know why? They're afraid of what the American people want. They're afraid the American people might prevail."
-- Senator Dick Durbin, on the Senate floor just now attacking GOP efforts to block votes on measures mandating withdrawal from Iraq. Hadn't heard it expressed quite that way before.
Harry Reid's announcement that he'll force Repubs into an all-night filibuster on Iraq is being greeted far and wide as great news, but the procedural ins and outs remain bewildering.
I linked below to Bob Geiger's explanation of how such a maneuver would work. But a knowledgeable Senate staffer writes in to clarify things further:
The portion of Rule 22 that Geiger discusses simply says that after cloture is invoked, there is a maximum of 30 hours of debate until an up or down vote on the matter. So that's what would happen if the Democrats get 60 votes on the cloture motion that Reid will file today on the Levin-Reed amendment. Under Rule 22, whether or not the Senate stays in session all night tonight or Tuesday night, that vote will happen one hour after the Senate convenes on Wednesday (unless the Senate agrees by unanimous consent to a different time for the vote). If the cloture motion fails, then debate on the amendment continues and the 30 hour time limit never starts. So what Reid is doing is simply using his power as majority leader to keep the Senate open while the cloture motion "ripens."
We've been digging through the campaign finance reports that the presidential candidates filed with the Federal Election Commission yesterday, and we've got some handy tables of the data for you after the jump.
But first, we wanted to share a few interesting nuggets we discovered.
Best one of all: Hillary Clinton has more cash on hand than all of the Republican candidates – combined. She has $45.2 million cash, while the entire Republican field has a total of only $37.9 million. Obama isn't far behind, with a total of $35.3 million.
Here are a few more interesting numbers regarding the Dem candidates:
Barack Obama famously out raised Hillary Clinton, but he would have more cash on hand as well had Clinton not carried over about $10 million from her 2006 senate bid.
Obama has been spending considerably more than Hillary in addition to raising more. He has spent 27 percent more for the first half of the year.
Mike Gravel has $31,000 cash on hand but $65,000 in debt, making him the only Democrat with a net negative bank account.
Four Democrats saw increases in contributions from first quarter to second (Barack Obama, Bill Richardson, Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel) while four saw decreases (Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Chris Dodd and Joe Biden).
And some interesting tidbits regarding the GOP candidates:
It is readily apparent why Jim Gilmore dropped out of the race – his $67,000 in debt and 8 percent drop in contributions.
It looks like John McCain actually tried to keep a lid on his campaign's spending, which increased 48 percent in the second quarter, less than any other candidate, Republican or Democrat. A corresponding drop in contributions, however, put him over the edge of financial stability.
Tommy Thompson's campaign is in the red with $127,000 in debt – despite a 21 percent increase in contributions.
Mitt Romney has a lot of campaign debt (to himself, of course) and, had it been to a real creditor, he would have little more available cash than John McCain.
Tables of the info are after the jump – readers, please share whatever you see in comments.
Harry Reid just announced on the Senate floor that if the GOP continues their obstruction of the Reed-Levin amendment mandating withdrawal, he'll hold the Senate in session through the night on Tuesday.
That would force Republicans to filibuster the Iraq measure in person, right on the Senate floor.
It would be one thing for Republicans to vote against this bill. If they honestly believe that “stay the course” is the right strategy — they have the right to vote “no.”
But now, Republicans are using a filibuster to block us from even voting on an amendment that could bring the war to a responsible end.
They are protecting the President rather than protecting our troops.
They are denying us an up or down — yes or no — vote on the most important issue our country faces.
I would like to inform the Republican leadership and all my colleagues that we have no intention of backing down.
If Republicans do not allow a vote on Levin/Reed today or tomorrow, we will work straight through the night on Tuesday.
The American people deserve an open and honest debate on this war, and they deserve an up or down vote on this amendment to end it.
That should make for some good TV.
As Think Progress notes, this comes after a series of liberal bloggers called for the Dems to force the GOP to filibuster their Iraq measures.
Joe Wilson just endorsed Hillary during an ongoing conference call with liberal bloggers.
Wilson just said that "she is the one candidate in my judgment who understands the need to get America out of harm's way," and into a "political process." He added that she best understands the need to "end the war but end it in a way that preserves some shred of our strategic position in the region."
More soon.
Update: Wilson also says that one thing that bonds the two is their mutual experience with the "meat grinder" -- a.k.a., the right wing slime machine.
Update II: Wilson, asked if he would serve under a Hillary administration if offered a post, says: "This is not a job interview," though he adds: "You never know."
Update III: A few quick points about this. The Hillary campaign, which rolled out the Wilson news on a conference call with liberal bloggers, clearly hopes the Wilson endorsement serves at least the partial goal of winning over liberal activists and netroots types who might still be unhappy with Hillary for all the reasons you've heard repeatedly by now. Wilson carries great cache among such folks, who were energized by his speaking out against the administration and everything else that happened as a result of his protracted fight with the White House.
It's interesting, then, to note that the primary reason Wilson cited for backing Hillary is her view of what should happen after the war -- her awareness, as he sees it, of the need to end the war "in a way that preserves some shred of our strategic position in the region." This, of course, touches on the whole residual force debate, which ironically is something Hillary has taken heat for from bloggers and others whom the Wilson endorsement is most likely to impress.
Hillary's post-war plans, of course, are not the only reason Wilson says he's backing her. Asked whether Hillary was really preferable to the other Dems on Iraq, he repeated his endorsement of her post-war vision, but also made it very clear that they also had a powerful personal connection born of having both been through the right wing slime "meat grinder."
Indeed, at one point, Wilson, who's moving to Santa Fe, recounted that the two were recently having dinner together and discussing the difficulties of living under sustained media and political assaults. According to Wilson, she told him:
"Joe, when you get to Santa Fe, let it go."
Of Hillary's advice, Wilson added: "That's where she is, and I have learned an enormous amount from that."
Update IV: Taylor Marsh, who was also on the call, offers an interesting take on how this endorsement, and their announcement of it, reveals Hillary's willingness to engage the blogging community despite the heat she's taken from it. Her analysis here.
Senator Jim Webb's (D-VA) appearance on Meet the Press is justly getting lots of attention for his barbed exchange with Lindsey Graham, but it shouldn't pass unnoticed that Webb also ripped into Joe Lieberman for his relentless war-whooping towards Iran. Check it out:
Senator Lieberman attacked me on a show on Monday. You know, Senator Lieberman, every day, is calling for a war against Iran and probably Syria. Maybe a, maybe a, maybe they can tell us where the, the line should be drawn. Maybe, maybe the United States military, all of it, should go to the Middle East and stay all the time. Somewhere in here there has to be a rational line that protects the well being of our troops.
Webb was responding to the fact that Lieberman had repeatedly attacked him last week. At one point Lieberman even opined that by proposing longer home stays for the troops, Webb was "sniping" at them. I'd been wondering when Webb would hit back. Now he has.
GOP Senator George Voinovich -- one of the GOP Senators who's allegedly "wavering" in his support of George Bush and the Iraq War -- has just given some very interesting quotes to CNN. For instance, he strongly suggested to the network that more GOP defections are coming on Iraq:
Voinovich added that other Republicans are close to speaking out against the President’s current strategy.
“I won’t mention anyone’s name. But I have every reason to believe that the fur is going to start to fly, perhaps sooner than what they may have wanted.”
In private, Voinovich is more blunt, using a profanity to describe the White House’s handling of Iraq by charging the administration “f—ed up” the war.
Nice to hear that more Republican fur is about to "start to fly," but for now, Voinovich and other GOP Senators allegedly wavering in their support remain proud members of what we should call the "WINO caucus" -- Waverers In Name Only.
On Monday, five McCain press aides -- including his three top communications officials -- quit en masse, just days after the campaign lost its chief strategist and campaign manager among dozens of aides being shed as part of aggressive cost-cutting measures.
The aides to resign -- communications director Brian Jones, deputy communications directors Danny Diaz and Matt David, and press aides Adam Temple and Amanda Hennenberg -- all agreed to stay on a few extra days out of loyalty to McCain, and helped him set up his weekend trip to New Hampshire.
One of the aides to resign told ABC News on condition of anonymity that the aides all felt primary loyalty to Terry Nelson, whom McCain replaced as campaign manager last week, and did not see roles for themselves under new campaign chief Rick Davis.
One person being considered for the gig of McCain's communications director is Jill Hazelbaker, who, as Atrios notes, has something of a history as a Republican "sock puppet."
Update: The departures have had the side effect of inspiring what may be the eumpemism of the year: One McCain aide says that the departed were struggling because they were performing "in a difficult message environment." Translation: The McCain campaign is a bleedin' disaster.
Buried in the new Newsweek poll is a very interesting number that reminds us yet again how shoddy reporting can help render the electorate, well, clueless as all heck about very important things very quickly.
As you know, the Bush administration has been spewing the phrase "Al Qaeda" with abandon in an effort to dupe the public into believing that our chief obstacle to success in Iraq is the same group of people who attacked us on 9/11. As you also know, the media haplessly -- or perhaps in some cases willfully -- played along with this massive official con game.
Now the new Newsweek poll gives us a snapshot of public opinion on this question, suggesting that perhaps the White House's lies -- and the media's complicity in spreading them -- may be having an impact.
Obama And Clinton Have Over $30 Million On Hand For Primary
Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have both reported astonishing cash-on-hand numbers six months into the race. Obama has $34 million on hand for the primaries, just edging out Hillary's $33 million on hand for the primaries. On the Democratic side, John Edwards places a distant third with $12 million — an amount that would have been more than impressive four years ago!
Hadley Says White House Won't Support Warner-Lugar
The president's national security advisor, Stephen Hadley, said yesterday that the White House would not support a Senate amendment designed to create bipartisan support to change the administration's Iraq policy by requiring new war plans for a reduced U.S. role — despite the fact that the amendment contains what he called some "interesting ideas." "The Congress in May set out a schedule and a structure for that process of consideration, and it begins in September," he said.
NBC's Jim Miklaszewski: Edwards Is A "Loser" Because Of $400 Haircut
A nice catch from Jamison Foser: In a speech before the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, NBC's Jim Miklaszewski called Edwards a "loser" because of his $400 haircut. It appears Miklaszewski was paid $30,000 for the speech, prompting Foser to ask: "One might assume that John Edwards' economic policies -- his focus on poverty and health care and the growing gap between rich and poor, and his solutions to these problems -- have some opposition down at the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce. And NBC correspondent Jim Miklaszewski took their money and criticized Edwards."
Warner Explains Update Of War Resolution
Sen. John Warner (R-VA) spoke yesterday on the secondary provision of a new amendment that he drafted with Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) on the Iraq war. A reauthorization of the war would change the current justification of enforcing U.N. resolutions regarding weapons of mass destruction because it "does not embrace what the missions are today and the missions that are likely to take place with our forces," Warner said. The amendment says Congress "expects" the president to submit a new authorization for the war to be approved by both houses, which are, of course, controlled by Democrats bent on ending the war completely.
Theodore Olson, Miguel Estrada On Giuliani's "Justice Advisory Committee"
Rudy Giuliani has created a panel of law experts for his campaign, presumably a signal to the GOP base that he will appoint social conservative judges despite his pro-choice views. Giuliani's panel includes former U.S Solicitor General Theodore Olson and Larry Thompson, but most notably perhaps, Miguel Estrada, who was at the center of the President Bush's battle with senate Democrats over confirming judicial nominations. David Brody calls it a"major 'get.'"
Obama Speaks On Street Violence
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama told a congregation on Chicago's South Side that almost three dozen Chicago public school children have been killed this year, more than the number of Illinois servicemen killed in Iraq, and that "we need to express our collective anger through collective action." Adding that, "from South Central L.A. to Newark, New Jersey, there's an epidemic of violence that's sickening the soul of this nation. The violence is unacceptable and it's got to stop."
Brownback Stands By Terri Schiavo Case, Accompanied By Schiavo's Brother
During a campaign tour of Iowa this past weekend with Bobby Schindler, brother of the late Terri Schiavo, Sam Brownback stood by the federal government's attempt to intervene in the case two years ago. "Her life remained sacred to the very end," Brownback said. "Whether it's a child in the womb or it's somebody that has had a very difficult situation ... she nonetheless remains a person and she shouldn't be artificially, or by humans, terminated. Instead, we should protect these lives."
Feingold Enjoying Other Dems Coming His Way On Iraq
A story in Roll Call details how Russ Feingold, who only a year ago was a left-wing outlier on Iraq among the Senate Democrats, has seen so many of his Dem colleagues embrace his position of a definite timetable for withdrawal. For his part, Feingold is not rushing to take credit, but instead mentions the work of others who have joined him, especially Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. "I learned the lesson from Bob Dole, that the less you care about getting mentioned, the more you get done," Feingold said.
Greens Looking To 2008, With Either Nader Or McKinney
John Nichols reported on this past weekend's Green Party national meeting, at which there was high enthusiasm for possible presidential runs by either Ralph Nader or former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-GA). When asked if he will run, Nader said, "It's too early to say. I'll make up my mind before the end of the year," and added that he has been getting a lot of encouragement. And when McKinney took the stage to speak to the attendees, she was greeted with cries of, "Run, Cynthia, run!" Could a competition for the nomination be in the cards?
Mitt Romney Joins The Culture War In New Ad
In a new ad entitled "Ocean," set to begin airing today in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, Mitt Romney takes on the proliferation of sex and violence in popular culture — even citing an old Peggy Noonan column that blamed low culture for the Columbine shootings.
Barack Obama: "The More The Merrier" At Debates
Barack Obama has said he disagrees with Hillary Clinton and John Edwards, who said to each other at a recent NAACP forum — when they were apparently unaware the microphones were on — that the field of candidates at debates should be smaller. "My attitude is the more the merrier," Obama said. "I don't know how you'd draw the line to say some can participate and some can't, particularly when you know historically, for example, Bill Clinton was at 2 percent in the polls in some of these early contests." And on that note, the Human Rights Campaign is now inviting underdog Mike Gravel to their upcoming debate, after previously trying not to have him there.
Former Frontrunner McCain Down To A Three-State Strategy The New York Times reports that John McCain's stripped down, money-conscious campaign — bereft of even his signature Straight-Talk Express bus — is now focusing on three states: Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. "I’m not a very good fund-raiser, I’ll admit it," McCain said at a New Hampshire town hall. "But I can out-campaign these guys, and I will, and I can, and we’re going to be doing just fine both here and Iowa and in South Carolina, and I have every confidence."
Conservative Dem Rep. Dan Boren Explains Why He Voted Against House Measure Mandating Withdrawal
Dem Rep. Dan Boren of Oklahoma, one of the few House Dems to oppose last week's House measure mandating withdrawal by April of 2008, explains why he voted that way: He says that voting now, rather than after General Petraeus' report is released, constitutes "moving the goal posts."
Poll: Nearly Two-Thirds Think Surge Has Failed
Some dismal numbers for the President in the new Newsweek poll: "Sixty-four percent of Americans feel the surge in troops has been a failure, while less than a quarter (22 percent) deem it a success. Nearly a third of Republicans surveyed (31 percent) declare the surge a failure."
Huckabee: Poor Straw Poll Showing Could Force Me Out
Mike Huckabee said a fourth-place showing in the August straw poll in Ames, Iowa, could bring an end to his campaign. If the campaign fails to make third place or better, Huckabee said, "at that
point, I have to seriously ask, 'Do we keep going?'" Helping Huckabee and other lower-tier Republican candidates is the fact that Rudy Giuliani and John McCain have both pulled out of the straw poll, anticipating a big win by Mitt Romney.
Ohio Legislator Proposes Joining Florida In Primary Coup
In Ohio, Democratic state Senator Eric Kearney is proposing moving the state's primary up from March, when "Super Tuesday" races used to happen, to ahead of even the new date of February 5, and joining with Florida on January 29. Both parties in Florida are currently battling the national parties over their new primary date, with the national parties threatening to strip delegates not only from the state, but even from candidates who campaign there for the primary. Will Ohio join in with Florida?
Gilmore Drops Out
Jim Gilmore has ended his underdog campaign for the Republican nomination. Gilmore had been a fixture at the debates, ridiculing the conservative credentials of the top three candidates, whom he ridiculed under the composite name "Rudy McRomney." Gilmore told The Politico that he is looking at other political opportunities back home in his native Virginia, including a run for Senate in 2008 if Senator John Warner (R) retires, or a run for his old job of governor in 2009.
File this in the "with Dems like these, who needs Republicans" department.
In today's Washington Post, conservative Dem Rep. Dan Boren of Oklahoma offers this rather intriguing explanation for why he voted against the House bill last week mandating withdrawal by April 2008:
"We're moving the goal posts," Boren said with low-key Oklahoma exasperation. "The administration, frankly, has moved the goal posts forward past September, and I disagree with that. But the members of Congress who are wanting to have this vote in July are really moving the goal posts, as well."
Members of Congress who want to move as quickly as possible to get us out of Iraq are "moving the goal posts"? Yep -- this is just some goddamn game, and Dems aren't playing fair. Tell that to these military family members who want the war ended now so their husbands and fathers can come home.
Look, what makes this particularly amusing in its imbeciliity is the fact that later in the same interview, Boren himself says that he thinks the President should withdraw the troops from Iraq. He isn't going to do this, obviously. So if you've already decided that you want him to pull out, there's simply no earthly reason to wait for Petraeus' report before voting for withdrawal, since that report is designed to do nothing but allow Bush to make another appeal to continue his war forever.
Yet here Boren is chastising Congressional Dems for trying to accomplish what he himself says he wants accomplished -- and all because Dems aren't doing it on Bush's preferred schedule. This sort of thing does nothing but help the White House prolong the war. Pathetic.
