BAYH IN, KERRY DELAYS, DASCHLE OUT OF ‘08 RACE.
Continue Reading December 3rd, 2006
MONDAY NEWS UPDATE.
BAYH IN, KERRY DELAYS, DASCHLE OUT OF ‘08 RACE.
US Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) told reporters said on Sunday he will file paperwork with the FEC this week to launch his Presidential exploratory committee for 2008. Bayh — a former two-term Indiana Governor — was the keynote speaker at the 1996 Democratic National Convention. He has positioned himself as a Democratic centrist, more conservative than perceived frontrunner Hillary Clinton. “As the people get to know me, I think we’ll do very well … Is this a little bit like David and Goliath? A little bit, but as I recall, David did OK,” said Bayh during his appearance Sunday on ABC. Bayh, through his leadership PAC, spent the past two years laying the groundwork for a White House run … US Senator John Kerry (D-MA) is “reevaluating” whether or not to run for President again in 2008, according to the Boston Globe. The backlack from Kerry’s botched election eve joke about soldiers in Iraq, including sharp criticism from fellow Dems, caused Kerry to delay his former plan to make a decision on the race by January 2007. The article quoted several Kerry allies as saying they thought Dems jumped on Kerry over the joke due to “pent-up anger” with Kerry for losing the 2004 race. Now, according to the newspaper, Kerry will wait “until late spring before declaring his intentions” … Former US Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) is another hopeful who created a leadership PAC and spent the last year acting like a probably Presidential candidate. On Sunday, Daschle announced he will not run for President. “I’ve made a decision that I will not seek the Presidency of the United States. I’ve had a lot of encouragement and I’ve been very gratified to have the encouragement from within the state [of South Dakota] and around the country,” he told KELO-TV. Political associates of Daschle said fundraising concerns played a significant role in the decision … Appearing on a KWBP radio show, former Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber (D) said Sunday he will not run against US Senator Gordon Smith (R) in 2008 … US political nomination conventions have become highly stage-managed, scripted, dull, and without any element of surprise. If you want to see how exciting political nominating conventions could be (with some changes to party rules, of course), just look north of the border at this weekend’s Liberal Party leadership nominating convention in Canada. Former federal cabinet minister Stéphane Dion — a former college professor — came from behind to unexpectedly win the leadership nomination on the fourth ballot. Dion finished a distant fourth out of the eight hopefuls on the first ballot. After each ballot, the last place candidate each round was automatically eliminated (and some of the others also dropped out). Dion moved up to third place on the second ballot, leaped into first on the third ballot, then crossed the 50% mark on the fourth ballot. The reason the convention is a free-for-all is that the races in each province for federal convention delegates are scheduled over a period just one weekend nationwide. As the party’s leader, Dion would become Prime Minister of Canada if the Liberals win the next national election — which may take place as soon as Spring 2007. The Liberals — despite their name — are the centrist party in Canadian politics, with the currently ruling Conservative Party on the right and the social democratic New Democratic Party on the Left. All three parties hold a significant number of seats in the federal parliament (as does the regional Bloc Québécois).
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 12.04.06 | Permalink | postCount(’120406a’);
FREE SPEECH ZONE.
Here’s an amusing aside for our daily open thread. Dana and I drove my Mom on Saturday in her hometown’s annual holiday parade — an hour-long parade with marching bands, some homemade floats, Santa-hat-wearing politicians, civic groups, and the throwing of lots of candy to the crowds. The odd thing was with the county school board member riding in the the convertible right behind ours, as she was decked out from head-to-toe as the Statue of Liberty. Green pointy tiara, battery-powered “torch” flashlight, flowing silver robes, etc. Obviously Santa, Rudolph, Frosty, Mrs. Claus, an elf, or the Grinch all would have made sense. But the Statute of Liberty? I asked her if she wore it as some king of civics lesson for the kids (being that she’s on the school board). “No,” she answered, “I always wear this to parades.”
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 12.04.06 | Permalink | postCount(’120406b’);
FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE.
McCAIN GETS SLAPPED AT HOME; UTAH REDRAWS; CLELAND SAYS NO TO REMATCH.
Former Arizona Governor Fife Symington lost a bid to become the GOP Chair of his local legislative district, which also happens to be the home district of Senator John McCain. Symington strongly supports McCain for President, and was supported by McCain in the local contest. Incumbent local GOP Chair Rob Haney is openly hostile to the Senator (”The mass media kind of idolizes the guy, but we don’t”) and portrayed the pro-life and anti-gay rights Symington as not conservative enough. It was the first electoral defeat of Symington’s career. Haney told reporters his victory over Symington as a direct slap at McCain, saying it was a vote by grassroots Republicans against McCain running for President. “[McCain] came at us with every big gun he had to take us out of his district. Their plan was to get rid of us because we would object to his Presidency,” said Haney. McCain himself also lost a race at the same meeting for State Committeeman. McCain had his name placed in nomination, but he didn’t attend the meeting to actively campaign for himself … Utah state legislators will redraw the state’s congressional districts, starting Monday in a special session, to add a fourth congressional district. The move is in response to a Congressional bill that appears likely to soon pass, giving the District of Columbia a voting seat in Congress. The bill proposes a trade-off of creating a new seat in Utah, likely ensuring the Dems and GOP will each gain one seat apiece. In the 2002 reapportionment, Utah fell only a few hundred residents short of the amount needed to gain one more seat. The bill would increase the size of the US House to 437 voting seats … Former US Senator and disabled Vietnam War hero Max Cleland (D-GA) said Thursday he will not seek a rematch in 2008 against US Senator Saxby Chambliss (R), who defeated him in 2002. Many leading Dems had urged Cleland to run … Two of the likely GOP White House hopefuls — Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) and US Senator John McCain (R-AZ) — were both in Miami on Thursday evening for fundraising and visibility events based around the annual meeting there of the Republican Governors Association. Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO) presumably didn’t attend the event because he couldn’t find his passport, or maybe was afraid he’d have to encounter Latinos and Haitians who live in Miami.
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 12.01.06 | Permalink | postCount(’120106a’);
FREE SPEECH ZONE.
Have at it.
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 12.01.06 | Permalink | postCount(’120106b’);
THURSDAY NEWS UPDATE.
FRIST QUITS; CARTER WANTS GORE; OBAMA DRAFT; NEWT’S LIMITS; TANCREDO INSULTS.
Retiring US Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) — who did not seek re-election in 2006 in order, seemingly, to prepare for a White House run — announced Wednesday he will not run for President in 2008. Polls showed Frist had been gaining.little support in the GOP contest, despite his frequent visits to Iowa and New Hampshire. “For me, for now, this season of being an elected official has come to a close,” said Frist. A surgeon and multi-millionaire hospital chain executive, First reportedly plans to return to the medical industry. Frist’s exit is most likely to benefit retiring Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR) and former US House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA), who appear to be the most likely Southerners to enter the contest … Retired Army General Wes Clark (D-AR) said he will not make the same mistake in 2008 that he made in 2004: a late entry in the Presidential contest. Clark promises to make a formal decision by early 2007 … North Carolina CD-8 contest is finally over. With the hand recount well underway, and with few changes in the outcome, Larry Kissel (D) conceded the race to Congressman Robin Hayes (R). Kissel lost by 329 votes … Speaking on MSNBC’s Hardball, former President Jimmy Carter said he wanted former Vice President Al Gore (D-TN) to run for President in 2004. So much so that Gore actually got annoyed with Carter’s frequent pestering. Carter said he still hasn’t given up on Gore: “If I had to choose now a candidate out of all the ones that exist, at this point, at least, Al Gore would still be my preference” … The “Draft Obama” movement keeps growing. Just check out RunObamaRun.com and DraftObama.org — and Obama’s own Hopefund leadership PAC. Obama is expected to make a public decision on the race by January 2007 … Republicans got some good news in Montana. The recount in a State House race showed the GOP candidate won by 3 votes. That gives the GOP a 50-49 advantage, with a Constitution Party member holding the one remaining seat … Stumping in New Hampshire this week, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R) said President Bush needs to admit the Iraq War is “a failure.” According to the Union Leader, Gingrich also ominously “said the country will be forced to reexamine freedom of speech to meet the threat of terrorism.” He explained a “different set of rules” for free speech may be needed to reduce terrorists’ ability to use the Internet and free speech to recruit and get out their message … Not winning friends in what is likely to be an early P2008 contest state, Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO) is drawing lots of fire for his insulting comments this week about South Florida. “You would never know you’re in the United States of America [in Miami]. You would certainly say you’re in a Third World country,” said Tancredo. Governor Jeb Bush, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and other Florida Republicans have demanded that Tancredo apologize for his xenophobic “Third World” remarks. Not only did Tancredo not back down, by mid-week he blasted back at Bush in a written statement: “I certainly understand and appreciate your need and desire to try and create the illusion of Miami as a multiethnic ‘All American’ city. Indeed sir, one of us is naive.”
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 11.30.06 | Permalink | postCount(’113006a’);
FREE SPEECH ZONE.
The more I learn about Senator Obama, the more I like him as my top choice for 2008 (although I think Al Gore would still be my first choice, if he’d just reconsider his earlier decision to skip the race).
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 11.30.06 | Permalink | postCount(’113006b’);
WEDNESDAY NEWS UPDATE.
NO INTEL CHAIR FOR HASTINGS; DEMS TAKE PA HOUSE; GILMORE WEIGHS P2008 RUN.
Incoming US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) met Monday with Congressman Alcee Hastings (D-FL) to let him know he would not be the next chair of the House Intelligence Committee. Hastings’ past ethics problems — he was impeached and removed from the federal bench in the 1980s on corruption allegations (although he had already been acquitted of bribery charges in the criminal trial) — ultimately killed his bid for the seat. The senior Dem on the panel is Conrgesswoman Jane Harman (D-CA), but Pelosi and Harman are known to strongly dislike each other, so she is unlikely to get the job. Two names in play now for the Chairmanship are Congressmen Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) and Rush Holt (D-NJ) … Former Virginia Governor and former Republican National Chairman Jim Gilmore told reporters Monday he is considering either running for President in 2008 or running for Governor again in 2009 … It took nearly a month to count all the votes but, on Monday, the Democrats won the Pennsylvania State House District 156 seat by only 23 votes. With that win, the Dems also grabbed control of the State House for the first time since 1994. Here’s another interesting election factoid: Dems also captured both chambers of the New Hampshire legislature this year, giving them total control of the state government for the first time since 1874 … Congressman Chaka Fatta (D-PA) announced his candidacy for Philadelphia Mayor. Incumbent John Street (D) is term-limited in 2007 … The Rocky Mountain News reports US Senator Wayne Allard (R-CO) is pondering retiring in 2008. He is currently serving his second term and had originally made a voluntary term limits pledge that he would serve only two terms. He promises to make a formal decision by early next year, but he’s sounding like a probable retiree. Congressman Mark Udall (D) is already running for the seat, regardless of what Allard decides. Udall currently holds a 10-to-1 advantage over Allard in campaign cash-on-hand.
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 11.29.06 | Permalink | postCount(’112906a’);
FREE SPEECH ZONE.
The daily open thread.
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 11.29.06 | Permalink | postCount(’112906b’);