CRACKS IN THE BUSH INNER CIRCLE; 1Q DEM TOTAL$; GILMORE IN.
April 1st, 2007
MONDAY NEWS UPDATE.CRACKS IN THE BUSH INNER CIRCLE; 1Q DEM TOTAL$; GILMORE IN.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Matthew Dowd -- a top Bush campaign strategist in both the 2000 and 2004 campaigns -- has turned Bush critic. In an interview with the New York Times, Dowd said "I really like [Bush], which is probably why I'm so disappointed in things." Dowd told the newspaper "his disappointment in Mr. Bush's Presidency is so great that he feels a sense of duty to go public given his role in helping Mr. Bush gain and keep power." Dowd says he now supports withdrawing US troops from Iraq, doesn't understand why Bush didn't fire Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld right after the Abu Ghraib revelations, and thinks Bush's political style is intentionally divisive. Bush is "not the person I thought," he explained. Dowd said his views started to change when we worked on Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign last year under a message of bipartisan appeal. "I think we should design campaigns that appeal not to 51% of the people, but bring the country together as a whole," said Dowd. Of the 2008 hopefuls -- and he isn't working for any campaign -- Dowd says he finds Barack Obama's message of national unity most appealing. As for Dowd, he said he would like to end up "in Africa or South America doing something that was like mission work ... to re-establish a level of gentleness in the world." Responding for the White House, counselor Dan Bartlett said the Iraq War "is an issue that divides people. Even people that supported the President aren't immune from having their own feelings and emotions." While Bartlett said he strongly disagrees with Dowd's new stance, "you can respectfully disagree with someone who has been supportive of you." Nicole Wallace, communications director for the Bush 2004 campaign, said that "everyone is going to reflect on the good and the bad, and everything in between, in their own way, and I certainly respect the way he's doing it -- these are his true thoughts from a deeply personal place."
P2008 - THE DEMS: Many of the leading Dems released their 1Q-'07 fundraising totals over the weekend. Hillary Clinton led the field with $36 million collected in the period (note: the number includes $11 million rolled over from her re-election race last year). John Edwards collected around $14 million. Bill Richardson collected $6 million, Chris Dodd collected $4 million and Joe Biden had $3 million. Barack Obama has yet to release his specific number, but it is believed to be around $20 million.
GILMORE: Officially former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore (R) is still in his "exploratory" phase of his White House campaign, but he's apparently made up his mind about what to do. Describing himself as "the only true conservative" in the race, he told WDBJ-TV in Roanoke that he will soon become an official candidate and "feels confident he'll be a competitor [for the nomination] by the end of the year."
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 04.02.07 | Permalink | postCount('040207a');
FREE SPEECH ZONE.
Happy Passover to our Jewish readers.
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 04.02.07 | Permalink | postCount('040207b');
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