RUDY STILL PRO-CHOICE; NH NUMBERS; BLOOMBERG UPDATE; COLLINS-ALLEN; DRAFT POWELL; MILLER QUITS; HAGEL FLIRTS; FRED THOMPSON FLOPS; DOOLITTLE SPINS
May 8th, 2007
WEDNESDAY NEWS UPDATE.RUDY STILL PRO-CHOICE; NH NUMBERS; BLOOMBERG UPDATE; COLLINS-ALLEN; DRAFT POWELL.
GIULIANI: Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) says he has nothing to spin or apologize about in a response to news reports he made six personal donations in the last decade to Planned Parenthood. Appearing Tuesday on conservative pundit Laura Ingraham's radio show, Giuliani said "Planned Parenthood makes information available. It's consistent with my position." A Giuliani campaign spokesman further elaborated: "Mayor Giuliani has been consistent in his position: he is personally opposed to abortion, but at the same time he understands it is a personal and emotional decision that should ultimately be left up to the woman. From the start Mayor Giuliani has been straight with the American people about where he stands on the issues and saying exactly what he thinks." Planned Parenthood is viewed as on the nation's leading pro-choice organizations.
NEW HAMPSHIRE: The latest WBZ-TV/SurveyUSA poll of likely primary voters shows Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton holding comfortable leads in their respective contests. The GOP: Romney - 32%, Rudy Giuliani - 23%, John McCain - 22%, Fred Thompson -11%, Newt Gingrich - 4%, and "Other" - 5%. The Dems: Clinton - 40%, Barack Obama - 24%, John Edwards - 22%, "Other" - 10%. While the Dem numbers are largely unchanged, Romney surged to the front on the GOP side since the last poll.
"THE THIRD FORCE": Respected political pundit Howard Fineman had an interesting column on MSNBC, ruminating about the possibility of a significant Independent Presidential candidate in 2008. Referring directly to a possible Indy run by billionaire NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Fineman says that former Vice President Al Gore, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, US Senator Chuck Hagel and US Senator Joe Lieberman are "key players" in a mutual admiration society -- and all of them may be willing to break with their parties to back a viable centrist Independent White House campaign next year. In related news, Bloomberg on Tuesday shot down a newspaper report that he was looking to run for NY Governor in 2010 instead of President in 2008. "I have absolutely no interest, categorically. I have never had a conversation about" running for Governor, said Bloomberg. He was nowhere near as categorical in his comments about a possible Presidential run, simply explaining yet again that he has "no plans" at this time to run.
MAINE: Congressman Tom Allen (D) announced Tuesday he will run next year against US Senator Susan Collins (R). "From the beginning, when President Bush rushed to invade Iraq, Susan Collins has supported his misguided policy. I fought to stop it. She voted for the Iraq war. I voted against it. Susan Collins continues to vote with the Republicans against a timetable to end the war in Iraq ... Maine people tell me that they want our involvement in the Iraq War, the worst foreign policy mistake in our nation's history, to end," said Allen. "Senator Collins has demonstrated her effectiveness by working across party lines for the benefit of Maine and the nation," said Collins' spokesperson. The Collins-Allen fight is expected to be among the hottest challenger races in the nation, as Dems have scored major gains in New England in recent years against GOP moderates. Allen's CD-1 has a strong Democratic tilt, and several Dems have already announced an intention to run.
DRAFT POWELL: US Senator George Voinovich (R-OH) is openly urging former Secretary of State Colin Powell to jump into the GOP Presidential race. According to the Columbus Dispatch, Voinovich met with Powell last month to discuss the race. According to Voinovich, Powell replied he was not interested because "he had given his service to this country, and his wife's a little bit reluctant about doing it." Voinovich was not willing to accept that answer. "I said, 'You have a moral obligation and I have a moral obligation, and this country is running out of time ... I think we have a moral obligation to try to leave a better legacy than it looks like we're going to leave to our kids,'" said Voinovich. The Republican Senator also told the newspaper he wants a quick end to the Iraq War: "I would tell [President Bush] on the war that I would try to extricate myself as gracefully as I possibly can."
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WANNA TRADE?
I'm interested in building up my collection of Canadian campaign buttons. If you've got Canadian political buttons to trade (both federal and provincial), I'm interesting in swapping with you (and will also trade your Canadian buttons for some of my great US pins). Please drop me a note! Also interested in buying Canadian pins, if you're not interested in trading.
TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE.
MILLER QUITS; HAGEL FLIRTS; FRED THOMPSON FLOPS; DOOLITTLE SPINS.
KENTUCKY: State Treasurer Jonathan Miller (D) abruptly quit the race for Governor on Monday, just two weeks before the May 22 primary. In withdrawing from the contest, Miller endorsed former Lieutenant Governor Steve Beshear for the Dem nomination. As the frontrunners cemented their leads, Miller remained mired in the second tier. Recent polls showed Beshear rapidly closing on wealthy health care executive Bruce Lunsford, the current frontrunner. The Miller endorsement will certainly be a boost to Beshear in these closing days before the vote.
HAGEL: Appearing on Political Capital, maverick US Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) again fanned the flames of speculation on the 2008 White House race. Hagel confirmed the story that he dined last week with NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg. "The Mayor and I had a delightful dinner. We talked about our families, we talked about backgrounds, the world, Iraq, politics. There was no conversation about the two of us teaming up on a ticket. We did talk about the entire arc of interests that a couple of politicians would," said Hagel. Asked about making a possible Independent run next year, Hagel replied: "I don't forgo any options. We'll see how the political world develops." When pressed further if he was considering an Independent run in 2008, Hagel said that "it's a possible." Whether or not Hagel makes an Indy run in 2008, his new comments make him sound much less like a GOP candidate for re-election in 2008. Hagel as Independent candidate for re-election in 2008 still could be possible -- but no GOP candidate facing a tough primary challenge makes these kind of comments.
THOMPSON: Former US Senator Fred Thompson's debut political speech as a possible GOP White House candidate appears to have been a flop. The speech was billed as Thompson's discussion of his likely GOP agenda for 2008. Conservative columnist Bob Novak described the speech as "a letdown for the packed audience" and "one lackluster performance" that left the Orange County Republican audience "tepid." Novak said it was clear Thompson lacked adequate preparation to "take up this daunting burden." The Politico, a conservative-leaning DC political newspaper, was likewise unimpressed. They described the speech as a "pull-up-a-chair speech" that was "low key and at times meandering" and filled with non-specific "reassuring, optimistic rhetoric." Conservative pundit Hugh Hewitt called the speech "workmanlike, but ... underwhelming." Hewitt added that Thompson's speaking style and message reminded him of Vice President Cheney. FYI: While I think Hewitt meant that Cheney comment as a compliment, Dems can view it as a really sublime insult.
DOOLITTLE: Embattled Congressman John Doolittle (R-CA) says he is only the target of an Abramoff-related corruption probe because the GOP-controlled US Justice Department was conspiring to sacrifice him in order to protect Attorney General Al Gonzales. Writing for the Auburn Journal -- a newspaper in his district -- Doolittle penned a column in which he claimed the search was "an attempt to intimidate us and garner media attention ... I do not believe it was a coincidence that the leak came the day before Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before Congress on charges that his office was overly partisan in its firing of eight U.S. Attorneys, especially considering Gonzales specifically cited his recent prosecution of Republican members of Congress as evidence to the contrary."
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MONDAY NEWS UPDATE.
BUSH APPROVAL HITS NEW LOW; SCHAFFER SAYS HE DIDN'T ANNOUNCE; SARKOZY WINS IN FRANCE.
BUSH: A new Newsweek poll shows President Bush's approval rating has now dropped to 28%. That number is the lowest recorded for any President since Jimmy Carter scored 28% during the 1979 Iran embassy hostage crisis. The magazine reported the Bush approval number is so low that it is "casting a dark shadow over the GOP's chances for victory in '08." History lesson: The Dems were destroyed just one year later in the 1980 elections, carrying only five states in the Presidential race, losing twelve US Senate seats and 35 US House seats.
COLORADO: Despite several news reports last week that former Congressman Bob Schaffer (R) had announced his US Senate candidacy at a recent Teller County GOP Dinner, Schaffer has now shot down the reports as false. "I have not announced a candidacy or campaign and if and when there is one, I will announce it at the appropriate time," he told the Fort Collins Coloradoan. Schaffer was previously an unsuccessful candidate for the US Senate nomination in 2004. To date, the GOP remains without any candidate to oppose Congressman Mark Udall (D) for the open US Senate seat. "I do believe Bob Schaffer will be announcing his intention to run or not to run in the near future. I do think the announcement could come in the next few months and there will be plenty of time to put together a campaign for next year," explained State GOP Chair Dick Wadhams. "Every time the Republicans nominate someone who is really far right, they get into trouble, so if they nominate Bob Schaffer I will be thrilled," responded State Democratic Chair Pat Waak.
FRANCE: Conservative former Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy was elected Sunday to be the next President of France. Sarkozy defeated Socialist nominee Ségolène Royal by a 53% to 47% vote. Sarkozy -- the son of a Hungarian Jewish immigrant -- is a vocal Americophile and Bush admirer. He is also outspoken in his opposition to radical Islam and about the dangers that Islamic immigration presents to the French culture. Despite those hot button issues, the nation's economic problems were the top concerns in the final weeks. In his victory speech, Sarkozy made a point of telling "my American friends that they can rely on our friendship ... France will always be next to them when they need us." Sarkozy also called upon the US to lead the fight against global warming, or at least "not to impede" the fight. President Bush called to congratulate Sarkozy. US Senators Dick Lugar (R-IN) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) also praised Sarkozy's election as good news for the US. "It would be nice to have someone who is head of France who doesn't almost have a knee-jerk reaction against the United States," said Schumer.
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