Election Central Morning Roundup
Dodd Takes On O'Reilly
Chris Dodd appeared on Bill O'Reilly's show yesterday, and got into an amusing argument with the manic right winger over Daily Kos. "What I'm stunned at, Mr. O'Reilly is the fact that you spend as much time here going after an online community gathering, where there are 500,000 people who visit that site on a daily basis here, to identify five, six, seven, eight objectionable, offensive cartoons or comments that people are making," Dodd said right off the bat. "I find that rather stunning, to be quite honest with you here." It got even crazier from there, with Dodd calling out O'Reilly for his past remarks in favor of Al Qaeda bombing San Francisco, and O'Reilly denying he ever said it and screaming at Dodd about Media Matters.
Pakistan Hits Back At Obama
Officials in Pakistan have blasted Barack Obama for promising to approve unsanctioned missions in their territory. "It's a very irresponsible statement, that's all I can say," Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khusheed Kasuri said. "As the election campaign in America is heating up we would not like American candidates to fight their elections and contest elections at our expense." An official also blasted Tom Tancredo for suggesting nuking Mecca in retaliation for a terrorist attack.
Poll: Iowa Dem Contest A Three-Way Tie
A new Washington Post/ABC News poll shows the Iowa caucus to be a three-way tie on the Democratic side: Obama 27%, Clinton 26%, Edwards 26%, followed by Bill Richardson at 11%. While 36% of respondents say Hillary Clinton is the strongest leader, and 50% say she has the best experience to be president, Obama leads in other categories: 30% say he is the most honest and trustworthy, 26% say he is the closest to them on the issues. Obama and Edwards are tied at 33% each for "most likeable," with Hillary a distant third at 14%.
McCain Supporting New, Enforcement-Only Immigration Bill
After his serious defeat passing an immigration bill in the Senate, John McCain is now supporting a new bill that does not contain a guest-worker program or other provisions that critics derided as amnesty. Instead, this bill is focused entirely on enforcement and border security — just the sort of issues that the GOP base has valued. "The failure of the Senate to pass comprehensive immigration was a huge disappointment," McCain said in a statement. "Although we must move forward with other issues, we can show the American people that we are serious about securing our nation's border."
Thompson Not Pulling Too Many Donors From Other Candidates
An analysis of Fred Thompson's tax fillings show that the vast majority of his donors are contributing for the first time this cycle and therefore his late entry – or rather, non-entry – to the race hasn't pulled donors away from the declared candidates as some had feared, the New York Times reports. Thompson raised at least $134,000 from people who had given to Mitt Romney; at least $88,000 from people who gave to John McCain, and at least $74,000 from Rudy Giuliani's donors.
Gingrich: War On Terror Is "Phony"
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich chastised recent Republican stewardship of the country, saying that the Bush Administration is waging a "phony war" on terrorism while the most effective strategy would be reducing dependence on foreign oil. "None of you should believe we are winning this war," Gingrich said to a gathering of conservative college students. "We were in charge for six years," he said, referring to the recent period when the GOP controlled the White House and both houses of Congress. "I don't think you can look and say that was a great success."
Hagel: What's My Party Again?
Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and a group of other senators including Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Arlen Spector (R-PA) held a book release party for their colleague Joe Biden, whose book Promises to Keep just hit the shelves. Hagel, who was Biden's pick when he responded to a question at the last debate about which Republican could be his running mate, addressed the largely Democratic crowd and perhaps fell victim to osmosis. "Hell, I don't know what party I belong to any more," Hagel joked.
Huckabee Releases YouTube In Support Of YouTube Debate
Mike Huckabee's campaign posted a video of the candidate standing in front of what appears to be a soy bean field, encouraging his rivals to join the YouTube debate. "Personally, I'm in ... Yeah, it may be a little different, but you know what? This campaign oughtta be different. It oughtta be different than the same old tired worn out talking about things that consultants have written, and talking about things that the American people want to talk about," Huckabee says.
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