Continue Reading January 22nd, 2007
TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE.
MORE ANTI-SURGE SENS; KY GOV NEWS; POLITICAL STORM; OBAMA ATTACK DEBUNKED.
On the eve of the President’s State of the Union Address, more Congressional leaders lined up against the Bush Administration’s plan for an escalation in the Iraq War. On Monday, US Senator John Warner (R-VA), Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Norm Coleman (R-MN) announced they were introducing a resolution opposing the President’s plans to send an additional 21,500 American soldiers to Iraq. The proposal is similar to the Levin-Hagel-Biden proposal last week, but with much less confrontational language. Warner, the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee and a former US Navy Secretary, said he does not want to see US troops caught in the crossfire of sectarian violence, “the origins of which sometimes go back thousands of years.” Meanwhile, the VoteVets.org group released a statement Monday saying US Senators Arlen Spector (R-PA) and John Sununu (R-NH) were opposed to Bush’s troop “surge” plans for Iraq … In Kentucky, US Senator Jim Bunning (R) endorsed former Congresswoman Anne Northup on Monday in her primary challenge to Governor Ernie Fletcher (R). Also, former Lieutenant Governor Steve Henry (D) and State House Speaker Jody Richards (D) will both announce gubernatorial candidacies this week. Richards’ runningmate will be former Secretary of State John Y. Brown III … Speaking in New York over the weekend, former FEMA Director Michael Brown said the White House played “disgusting” partisan politics in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Brown said he recommended the President federalize all 90,000 square miles along the Gulf Coast impacted by the hurricane. In response, Brown explained, “certain people in the White House were thinking, ‘We had to federalize Louisiana because she’s a white, female Democratic governor, and we have a chance to rub her nose in it. ‘We can’t do it to [Mississippi Governor] Haley [Barbour] because Haley’s a white male Republican Governor, and we can’t do a thing to him. So we’re just gonna federalize Louisiana.’” A White House spokesman was quick to respond: “It is unfortunate that Mike Brown is still hurling false statements about the events surrounding Hurricane Katrina.” Governor Blanco had a different reaction: “Karl Rove was playing politics while our people were dying. The federal effort was delayed, and now the public knows why” … CNN reported Monday that the conservative Insight Magazine article which claimed US Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) was educated in Indonesia at a radical Muslim madrassa school was false. Fox News and others also repeated the false allegation from the Insight story. Rather than rely on second-hand info, CNN sent a reporter to find the school and former classmates. Obama briefly lived in Indonesia for as a child and attended the school in 1969-71. It turns out the school Obama attended was a regular “mixed” public school not involving any religious teachings. Insight — which says it is sticking with their report — attributed the original allegations to an “unnamed source … connected to Senator Clinton.” The Clinton campaign denied any involvement. CNN noted the school was not even a Wahhabi Muslim school, as the students were Muslim, Christian, Buddhist and Confucian and the teacher’s wear traditional Western-style clothes. Obama’s campaign said the Insight article was “appallingly irresponsible.”
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 01.23.07 | Permalink | postCount(’012307a’);
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The daily open thread.
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 01.23.07 | Permalink | postCount(’012307a’);
Continue Reading January 22nd, 2007
MONDAY NEWS UPDATE.
HILL AND BILL JUMP IN; NATIONAL POLLS; HAGEL DODGES INDY Q; SAM FINISHED EXPLORING.
US Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson (D) both officially jumped into the Presidential contest over the weekend. The former First Lady — who starts the race as the solid frontrunner for the Democratic nomination — said “I’m in it to win” and vows to make history as our first female President. She describes her campaign as “a conversation about the future of our country.” Her dominance is easy felt in the Dem field, as most of the other candidates frequently describe themselves as the one who will emerge as the “viable alternative” to Clinton. She also launched her new campaign website. Considering HRC says she’s in to win, and her website already is accepting contributions of up to $4,200 ($2,100 for primary account, $2,100 for general election account), why is she even bothering with the who “exploratory” thing? As for Richardson, the former US Ambassador to the United Nations and four-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee, announced his plans during a Sunday appearance on ABC’s This Week. “We have to repair the damage that’s been done to our country over the last six years. Our reputation in the world is diminished, our economy has languished, and civility and common decency in government has perished,” said Richardson. He also immediately launched his new campaign website … A brief word about national polls on the Presidential primary contests: I don’t plan to report on any of them. National polls for the Prez primaries are meaningless. National feelings may initially influence voters in Iowa and New Hampshire, but in the end the voters in those small, early contest states disproportionately influence the voters in all the primary states that follow … US Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) pointedly avoided offering a direct answer (or denial) when asked if he may seek the White House as an Independent next year. “I have not decided I am going to run for President, so maybe that’ll be the next set of questions that you could ask after I decide what I’m going to do,” he told C-SPAN … The House Democrats successfully completed their “100 Hours Agenda” by passing all of their promised legislation, in well under the promised amount of time. “Bully for the Democrats … They did what we didn’t have the guts to do,” said Congressman Jeff Flake (R-AZ), speaking about the Dem legislation that ended the practice of allowing anonymous spending earmarks on House appropriations bills … US Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) transitioned from exploratory candidate to full-fledged Presidential candidate with his campaign kick-off this weekend.
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 01.22.07 | Permalink | postCount(’012207a’);
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The daily open thread.
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 01.22.07 | Permalink | postCount(’012207b’);
FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE.
FREE SPEECH ZONE.
Yeah, I know political stuff happened Thursday … but I have a really painful backache tonight and simply cannot sit long enough to research and write tonight. My apologies.
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 01.19.07 | Permalink | postCount(’011907b’);
THURSDAY NEWS UPDATE.
KY GOV UPDATE; JINDAL LOOKS STRONG IN LA; FLORIDA PUSHES BACK.
Former Congresswoman Anne Northup on Wednesday announced her GOP primary challenge to Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher. Northup was defeated for re-election last year in an upset. Fletcher is viewed as highly vulnerable in both the primary and general elections in the aftermath of a series of damaging ethical scandals. Lieutenant Governor Steve Pence (R) had promised to not enter the gubernatorial race if Northup jumped in. Instead, Pence is reportedly looking at the Attorney General contest. On the Democratic side, State Treasurer Jonathan Miller, former Lieutenant Governors Steve Henry and Steve Beshear, and three minor hopefuls have already announced candidacies. State House Speaker Jody Richards (D) and Attorney General Greg Stumbo (D) are both still looking at the race … Congressman Bobby Jindal (R) leads Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco (D) by a 59% to 35% vote, according to a new New Orleans Times-Picayune/Southern Media and Opinion Research poll … DNC officials have warned Florida legislators that if Florida moves their Presidential forward to be on the same January date as the approved South Carolina primary, the party will cut Florida’s delegate total in half. State Senator Jeremy Ring, the Dem co-sponsor of the bill, said he could care less. He explained he would rather Florida make a real impact on the selection process in the early primaries than have some extra seats at a coronation-like convention. GOP officials will likely put similar pressure of Florida leaders to back off, as they agree with the DNC that Florida’s size and prominence would likely eclipse South Carolina if both were held on the same day. Under the rules of both major parties, all states are allowed to hold primaries or caucuses at will after the Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina contests — or face the loss of delegate seats for defying the official calendar.
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 01.18.07 | Permalink | postCount(’011807a’);
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The daily open thread.
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 01.18.07 | Permalink | postCount(’011807b’);
WEDNESDAY NEWS UPDATE.
OBAMA FILES; TANCREDO PASSES … AND FILES; HRC-JRE FIGHT CONTINUES; KEATING OUT.
US Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) filed paperwork on Tuesday to form a Presidential exploratory committee for 2008. He also launched his new campaign website, already featuring his exploratory committee announcement and a 5 minute bio video. He plans to formally transition from exploratory candidate to full-fledged candidate next month, making the announcement in Abraham Lincoln’s hometown of Springfield, Illinois. Obama’s candidacy is likely to inflict major damage on US Senator Hillary Clinton’s nomination strategy, who was counting on strong support from the black community in early primary contests … Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO) said Tuesday he will not be a candidate for open US Senate seat. Tancredo said he is instead urging former Congressman Scott McInnis (R) to run. Tancredo’s quick decision to pass the Senate race signaled his intent to jump into the Presidential race — and action he completed by the end of the day. On the Democratic side, popular Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper said he will not enter the Senate race. Hickenlooper’s decision essentially clears the primary field for Congressman Mark Udall (D). Meanwhile, US Senator Wayne Allard (R) said Tuesday he will not endorse any candidate for the GOP nomination until after the Republican primary … Former US Senator John Edwards (D), speaking Sunday in Harlem at a MLK Day event, attacked unnamed Democratic members of Congress for lacking the courage to forcefully oppose the Iraq War and the proposed escallation. A spokesperson for US Senator Hillary Clinton (D) — believing the shot was aimed at her — complained that Edwards “has unfortunately chosen to open his campaign with political attacks on Democrats who are fighting the Bush administration’s Iraq policy.” Edwards fired back again: “I stand behind it. We should not be escalating this war. And I hope that member of Congress will have the good conscience and the good sense to show strength.” Clinton, unlike Edwards, has failed to repudiate her earlier support for the war or take a strong stance now against the Iraq War. Instead, she walks the risky middle-of-the-road — essentially explaining that her vote for the war was the correct vote, but that the Bush Administration fought the war ineptly — a view not likely to win her much primary support from party activists … Former Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating’s fifteen minutes of P2008 media time is over. After openly complaining last month that no “Reagan Conservatives” remained in the GOP Presidential contest, Keating said he was thinking of jumping in. On Tuesday, he decided “it’s just not the right thing for me to do at this time.” Instead, Keating says he’d like to serve in the US Senate someday.
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 01.17.07 | Permalink | postCount(’011707a’);
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The daily open thread.
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 01.17.07 | Permalink | postCount(’011707b’);
TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE.
ALLARD TO RETIRE; GORE STILL NOT RUNNING; OBAMA TO FILE PREZ EXPLORE COMMITTEE.
US Senator Wayne Allard (R-CO) announced Monday he will honor his two-term voluntary term limits pledge and not seek re-election in 2008. The news is not a surprise, as Allard had made virtually no effort to raise any money for a potential re-election run. Congressman Mark Udall (D) was already in the race against Allard, and must be viewed as the initial frontrunner in the open seat race. Congressman Tom Tancredo, former Congressman Scott McInnis, former Governor Bill Owens, former Congressman Bob Beauprez and others are all being mentioned as possible GOP candidates. McInnis appears to be the strongest of the speculative GOP hopefuls, although Tancredo has a hardcore following that would be sure to vote in a primary contest … Former Vice President Al Gore (D) said yet again Monday he currently has no plans to run for President in 2008. Gore made his latest deniel of interest during a visit to Japan to promote his documentary film, saying he is too busy in “a different kind of campaign” … WMAQ-TV in Chicago reported Monday that aides to US Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) confirmed he will file paperwork this week forming a Presidential exploratory committee for 2008.
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 01.16.07 | Permalink | postCount(’011607a’);
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The daily open thread.
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 01.16.07 | Permalink | postCount(’011607b’);
