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NEWS BRIEFING
HILLARY FOR PRESIDENT
PRODUCED BY BULLETIN NEWS WWW.BULLETINNEWS.COM/CLINTON
TO:
CLINTON CAMPAIGN
DATE:
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2007 6:30 AM EST
TODAY’S EDITION
Sen. Clinton’s Campaign
Clinton, Obama Spar Over Health Care In Iowa ........................... 2
Clinton Intensifies Anti-Obama Rhetoric As Both Tout
Electability ............................................................................. 3
Obama’s Responds To Clinton’s Jabs In Combative Style .......... 4
Clinton Addresses Border Enforcement In Iowa ........................... 4
Clinton Attends Pro-Child Sermon In Des Moines ........................ 4
Clinton To Announce Endorsement In South Carolina On
Tuesday ................................................................................ 4
Bill Clinton To Stump For Wife In Quad-City Region On
Tuesday ................................................................................ 4
In Arkansas, Bill Clinton Says Campaign Volunteers Crucial To
Wife’s Bid .............................................................................. 4
Clinton May Benefit From Writers’ Strike ...................................... 5
Obama’s Improved Iowa Polling Said To Threaten Clinton’s
Appeal ................................................................................... 5
Former ABC Anchor Endorses Clinton ......................................... 5
Romney Edges Giuliani In Poll Of Detroit-Area Business
Leaders; Clinton Leads Democrats...................................... 6
Will: Clinton Would Benefit By Picking Bayh Or Strickland For
Vice President....................................................................... 6
Clinton’s Ideological Leanings Analyzed ....................................... 6
Clinton’s Time At California Law Firm Seen As “Shocking”
Revelation Of “Radical Ideology.” ........................................ 6
Clinton Praised For Condemning Punishment Of Saudi Rape
Victim .................................................................................... 6
Columnist Says Media Coverage Of Clinton “The Most Riveting
Show On TV.” ....................................................................... 6
Clinton Lambasted As Inept, Inexperienced ................................. 7
McConnell Raises Specter Of Clinton In Kentucky ....................... 7
Democratic Presidential Campaign News
Obama Discusses Race Issues In Iowa........................................ 7
Obama Working To Forge Link To Civil Rights Era ...................... 7
Obama Donating PAC Funds To State, Local Supporters ........... 8
Obama Acknowledges Inhaling Marijuana.................................... 8
Western Iowa Obama Volunteer Profiled ...................................... 8
Obama’s Call For Negotiations With Iran Praised ........................ 8
Obama Said To Be Shifting To Reflect Middle Class Democrats 8
Obama Set To Attend Series Of Fundraisers In New York City
On Thursday ......................................................................... 8
Edwards Campaign To Continue Pressuring Clinton On Troop
Disposition ............................................................................ 9
Edwards Calls For Boost In LIHEAP Funds .................................. 9
Edwards Quizzed On Campaign Booklet ...................................... 9
Until Iraq War Resolved, Biden Says US Has “No Credibility”
Abroad .................................................................................. 9
Richardson Says He Wanted Congress “To Find Ways We Can
Get America To Retreat” From Iraq ..................................... 9
In Contrast To Other Democratic Hopefuls, Richardson
Embraces Gun Owners’ Rights ............................................ 9
Candidates Spending More Time In New Hampshire................. 10
Iowa’s Early Caucus Date Creates Advertising Challenge For
Candidates.......................................................................... 10
With Eye On “Tsunami Tuesday,” Candidates Jockey For
Position ............................................................................... 10
Fund Says Early Michigan Primary Date Likely To Benefit
Romney, Clinton ................................................................. 11
Media Said To Overplay Importance Of Early States ................. 11
Democratic Candidates Have Varying Definitions Of Class ....... 11
Small Business Owners Feel Ignored By Presidential
Candidates.......................................................................... 11
Editorial Says Democrats’ Big Spending Plans Creates Opening
For Republicans ................................................................. 11
ABC, Facebook To Collaborate On Political Coverage, Debate 12
’08 Hopefuls Expected To Focus Heavily On Undecided Voters 12
Promising End To Iraq War May Be Perilous For Democratic
Candidates.......................................................................... 12
Republican Presidential Campaign News
Giuliani, Romney Clash On Healthcare, Economic Record ....... 12
While Giuliani Decries Earmarks, His Firm Helps Secure Them 14
Giuliani Said To Have A “Soft Spot” For “Bad Cops.” ................. 14
Thompson Proposes Voluntary Flat Tax Plan ............................ 14
Thompson Accuses Fox News Of Bias Against His Campaign . 15
Huckabee Accuses Saudis Of Funding Terrorism ...................... 16
Huckabee Stumps In South Carolina .......................................... 16
Huckabee Says Improved Poll Position Stems From Iowans’
Response To His Positions ................................................ 16
McCain Criticizes Clinton On Iraq War Ad .................................. 17
Rothenberg Says Media Overlooking Paul’s “Kooky” Views ...... 17
African-Americans Pastors, GOP Still Have Little Common
Ground ................................................................................ 17
National News
Holiday Shopping Strong Over Big Weekend, But Some See
Troubling Signs ................................................................... 17
Loophole Allows Members Of Congress More Overseas Trips . 18
DHS Official Says Ignoring Illegal Workers Would Create “Silent
Amnesty.”............................................................................ 19
Northern Hemisphere On Pace For Warmest Year On Record . 19
Pentagon Leaders Want To De-Emphasize Petraeus’ Views In
Next Iraq Report ................................................................. 23
Standoff Over War Funding Continues ....................................... 23
International News
Last Laughs:
Bush Not Expected To Take Active Role In Mideast Talks ........ 19
Syria To Attend Annapolis Talks ................................................. 21
“Surge Of Violence” Reported In Baghdad ................................. 22
Late Night Political Humor ........................................................... 24
SEN. CLINTON’S CAMPAIGN
On a “two-day swing through central and western Iowa this
weekend, the New York Democrat stressed her own
experience but went after Mr. Obama’s health care plan.”
USA Today (11/26, 2A, Dilanian, 2.28M) reports Clinton
and Obama “battled over whose plan for universal coverage
was more workable.” Like Romney’s “Massachusetts plan,
Clinton’s would require people to purchase health insurance.
Obama criticized that approach during an Iowa campaign
stop.”
The Washington Post (11/26, A6, Kornblut, Murray,
723K) reports Clinton “stepped up attacks on her closest rival
with fewer than six weeks until the first nominating contest.
Just weeks ago, Clinton chastised her opponents for
‘mudslinging.’ But she unapologetically pursued her main
challenger, Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), over the weekend,
standing by her decision to mock Obama’s foreign policy
experience and attacking his health-care plan -- part of what
her advisers described as a new phase of her campaign that
will present voters with a ‘real choice.’”
The Los Angeles Times (11/26, Roug, 881K) adds that
Clinton’s criticisms of Obama’s health care plan “were
sharper than what Clinton has previously said on the subject
and appear to be part of a new offensive directed at one of
her main competitors.” Meanwhile, “Edwards’ campaign, too,
joined in the fray over healthcare with criticism of Obama.
‘Any candidate touting their healthcare plan must first meet
one simple test: Does it cover everyone?’ said Eric Schultz, a
spokesman for the Edwards campaign. ‘Sen. Obama’s plan
falls woefully short by leaving 15 million Americans without
care. In the midst of a healthcare crisis, anything short of
universal is simply inadequate.’”
Clinton’s Emphasis On Mandatory Coverage Seen
As Leftward Shift. The Washington Post (11/25, Kornblut,
723K) reported on its ‘The Trail’ blog that Clinton has moved
from advocating the “centrist nature” of her health care reform
proposal to “a more traditionally liberal aspect of her plan: It
would require all people to get health insurance, with a goal
of achieving universal health care. The piece notes her
criticism that Obama’s plan “leaves 15 million people out,”
calling her comments “a direct response to remarks Obama
made earlier in the day, promoting his health care plan as the
one aimed at reducing costs.”
Clinton, Obama Spar Over Health Care In Iowa.
In separate events in Iowa Sunday, Sen. Hillary Clinton and
Sen. Barack Obama traded broadsides against each other’s
health care reform plans, generating significant coverage.
The AP (11/26, Glover) reports that the two “intensified the
bickering” over health care, noting that Clinton “said Obama’s
proposal was ‘crafted for politics’ and the latest example of
his shifting policy positions. Obama said much the same of
her approach.” Moreover, Clinton told the AP, “The difference
is my health care plan covers every American and Senator
Obama’s plan will not.” Obama countered by criticizing
Clinton’s call for mandatory coverage, saying, “The reason
Americans don’t have health insurance isn’t because they
don’t want it, it’s because they can’t afford it, which is why my
plan doesn’t have a mandate and goes further in cutting costs
than any other proposal offered in this race.” However, the
AP adds, “Clinton disputed that, saying very similar cost
savings are built into hers.” This article appears in at least 90
papers and websites, including the Washington Post, the
Charlotte Observer, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Miami
Herald, the Benton Crier, the New Orleans Times Picayune,
the Chicago Sun-Times, the Albany Times Union, the
Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier and the New Hampshire Union
Leader.
The New York Times (11/25, Healy, Zeleny, 1.18M)
reported on its ‘The Caucus’ blog that Clinton “whacked
Senator Barack Obama again – this time by name – over his
health insurance plan and the estimates that it would not
cover about 15 million Americans. ‘It’s been kind of confusing
following his description of his own plan,’ Mrs. Clinton said. ‘If
you go back and look, he said it was universal, he said it was
sort of universal, he said it wasn’t universal, he said it covered
everybody, he said he didn’t cover 15 million, he has a
mandate for kids, now he’s against mandates. I think you’re
going to have to ask him what his plan actually does.’” The
Times notes that Clinton “refused, again, to answer how she
would enforce” mandatory coverage.
The Washington Times (11/26, Bellantoni, 87K) reports
Clinton, “locked in a tight race in Iowa, is increasingly
criticizing the Democrats who are hoping to defeat her in the
Jan. 3 caucuses, especially Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.”
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Post, the Miami Herald, the Benton Crier, the New Orleans
Times-Picayune, the Charlotte Observer, the Waterloo Cedar
Falls Courier, the Chicago Tribune and Newsday.
The Chicago Tribune (11/25, Pearson, 607K) reported
on its ‘The Swamp’ blog that Clinton “declared herself ‘by far’
the most electable candidate for the White House among
those in her party, citing a history of tempestuous dealings
with Republican critics. The New York senator, who has
made ‘experience’ a theme of her campaign in challenging
the credentials of first-term Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, also
said she doesn’t take the GOP criticism personally.”
Time (11/21, Sullivan, 4.03M) reports, “The new
message driving Barack Obama’s resurgent campaign these
days is ‘electability plus.’ … Electability plus means not just
getting elected but getting elected for the right reasons. It is a
rebuttal of the argument that Hillary Clinton should win the
Democratic nomination simply because of her perceived
advantage against G.O.P. rivals. And it provides a rationale
for why Obama is running now, why he didn’t wait four or
eight years to launch a presidential campaign. It’s significant
then that Obama’s message seems to be catching on among
the notoriously pragmatic Iowans.”
The Washington Times (11/25, Bellantoni, 87K)
reported on its website that Clinton “often tells crowds of
voters she is proud of the Democratic field of presidential
candidates, saying it’s so nice that ‘you don’t have to be
against anybody.’ But Mrs. Clinton, locked in a tight race in
Iowa, is increasingly criticizing the Democrats who are hoping
to defeat her in the Jan. 3 caucus, especially” Obama, noting
that Clinton “went after [his] health care plan.” The Times
notes some of the “digs” Clinton landed against Obama’s
plan.
In Iowa, Clinton, Obama Campaigns Said To Have
Seemingly “Switched Identities.” The Politico (11/26,
Allen, Brown) reports, “In a reversal of fortune, Sen. Barack
Obama…is barnstorming Iowa with a front-runner’s swagger
while Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton…scrambles like an
underdog. In ways big and small over the weekend, the two
campaigns exuded a sense of switched identities -- a
dynamic driven by poll-driven perceptions that Clinton’s
sense of inevitability is slipping and Obama is riding a bit of a
wave amid the Midwestern seas of grain. The mood and
stump styles of the two campaigns reflect this new reality: An
ebullient Obama -- coatless, tieless, tireless -- conveys a
sense that at least he thinks he could be on his way to being
the next president. Clinton, mixing her traditional caution with
a new toughness, is clearly set on knocking Obama off his
game.” The Politico adds, “In another acknowledgment of the
tight race, Clinton has abandoned any pretense of remaining
above the fray and has engaged Obama nearly every day
along the campaign trail.” The Politico cites, as an example
of such, Clinton’s weekend criticism of Obama’s healthcare
plan.
Local TV Coverage. Clinton’s exchange with Obama
over health care reform in Iowa generated significant local
television coverage. For example, WGHP-TV Greensboro
(11/25, 10:12 p.m.) broadcast that Obama’s plan expands
health care, though it’s not universal like Clinton’s. Moreover,
Obama says that his plan does more than any other to
reduce the cost of health care coverage.
WQAD-TV Davenport (11/25, 5:34 p.m.) broadcast that
both are “courting voters” in Iowa, noting that Clinton says
that Obama’s plan will leave 15 million uncovered.
KFXA-TV Cedar Rapids (11/25, 9:01 p.m.) broadcast
that Obama touted his plan as making health care affordable
for all, but that Clinton “says it falls short, leaving millions
without coverage.” WAGA-TV Atlanta (11/25, 10:09 p.m.)
also reports on Clinton and Obama “battling” over health care
reform, as does KDSM-TV Des Moines (11/25, 9:00 p.m.).
Clinton Intensifies Anti-Obama Rhetoric As
Both Tout Electability. The Washington Post (11/26,
A6, Kornblut, Murray, 723K) reports that Sen. Hillary Clinton’s
attacks on Sen. Barack Obama’s foreign policy qualifications
and on his health care plan come with “her status as the
front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination in
jeopardy,” suggesting that though she has “chastised her
opponents for ‘mudslinging,’ she is now “standing by her
decision to mock Obama’s foreign policy experience and
attacking his health-care plan.” Moreover, “Obama and
Clinton are locked in a tight race in Iowa with former senator
John Edwards (N.C.), and each is putting renewed focus on
electability -- a factor that helped turn the state for Sen. John
F. Kerry (Mass.) in the 2004 Democratic contest. Although
most Democrats at the national level view Clinton as the most
viable nominee, Iowans are more receptive to viewing
Obama and Edwards that way. All of the campaigns concede
electability is a top concern among caucusgoers. Health
plans and war policy aside, they want to back a winner.”
The AP (11/25, Lorentzen) reports Clinton “maintained
Sunday that she’s the best candidate to win against
Republicans, saying she has more experience battling the
GOP than any other candidate in the Democratic field.”
Clinton said, “I believe that I have a very good argument that I
know more about beating Republicans than anybody else
running. They’ve been after me for 15 years, and much to
their dismay, I’m still standing. I’m leading in all the polls, I’m
beating them in state after state after state.” The AP adds
Clinton has “been widely criticized by her Democratic rivals
who claim she’s too polarizing, and can’t bring the party
together to win the White House.” But she “says she has
support from around the country, including ‘more Democratic
support from the so-called red states than anybody else
running.’” This article was published in at least 72 papers and
websites, including the Los Angeles Times, the Washington
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Clinton Attends Pro-Child Sermon In Des
Moines. The AP (11/26) reports on Sen. Hillary Clinton’s
Clinton’s Improved Standings Said To Invalidate
Concept Of “Electability.” In an article in New York
Magazine (11/25), Jason Zengerle writes about the concept
of electability, noting the difficulty in predicting such markers,
citing the perception, “oh, ten months ago” that “Hillary
Clinton and Rudy Giuliani were pretty close to unelectable.
Hillary’s case was the more obvious of the two. Although she
was clearly the Democratic front-runner, political pros
doubted whether such a polarizing politician, one who was
viewed unfavorably by nearly half of all Americans surveyed,
could convince Democratic primary voters that she gave their
party the best shot to win back the White House. As the
Washington Post editorialized on the occasion of her formal
entry into the race, ‘The question about Hillary Clinton may be
not so much whether a woman can win the presidency but
whether this woman can.’” He continues to note that by
November, when “voters considered who is the most
electable: 47 percent of Iowa Democrats and 68 percent of
New Hampshire Democrats named Clinton, and a plurality of
Republicans in both states gave the nod to Giuliani. …
Which just goes to show how squishy and even bankrupt
‘electability’ is as a political concept.”
attendance of a service at Grace United Methodist Church in
Des Moines, Sunday, before her “long day of campaigning.”
The AP notes that “Former Iowa Attorney General Bonnie
Campbell, the first woman to hold that job, invited the New
York senator to the church. Clinton sat next to Campbell, her
Iowa campaign co-chair, during the service. In her sermon,
the Rev. Jill Flyr asked the congregation to ‘let the candidates
know that they need to be strong advocates for children.’”
The Washington Times (11/25, Bellantoni, 87K)
reported on its politics blog that Clinton had “the traveling
press corps in tow,” noting that she “sang and nodded in
agreement during the service, and even stuck a contribution
on the offering plate before heading out for a full day of
campaigning through the Hawkeye State.” The Times
continues to note the sermon’s message on the plight of
children in the state, concluding, “Not everyone was excited
to see politics in church. ‘I don’t know how we’re going to start
service because everyone is out here,’ one worshiper
complained loudly.”
Clinton To Announce Endorsement In South
Carolina On Tuesday. The Spartanburg Herald
Obama’s Responds To Clinton’s Jabs In
Combative Style. According to Newsweek (11/25,
Journal (11/26, Spencer) reports, “Making her first visit to
Spartanburg this campaign cycle,” Sen. Hillary Clinton “will be
in town Tuesday morning to announce a new South Carolina
endorsement. Her campaign has refused to say whom the
endorsement would be coming from, or even hint at what
sector that person was affiliated with -- political, religious,
business or something else. … Spartanburg ‘is an area in the
state that is very important to the campaign, and is relevant to
the endorsement Tuesday,’ said Zac Wright, a spokesman for
Clinton's campaign in South Carolina.”
Wolffe, 3.12M), of late, the “oblique, exceedingly polite” Sen.
Barack Obama “-- the candidate who dared not speak his
rival’s name -- has vanished. The new Obama exchanges
blows with Hillary Clinton--in his own voice, by name, in
public. When Clinton said last week that the nation could not
afford ‘on-the-job training for our next president’ on economic
policy, Obama tartly responded, ‘My understanding is she
wasn’t Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration.’ The
next day, Clinton was harsher on foreign policy, contrasting
her personal contact with world leaders to Obama’s ‘living in
a foreign country at the age of 10.’ Obama quickly returned
the put-down: ‘I was wondering which world leader told her
that we needed to invade Iraq.’”
Bill Clinton To Stump For Wife In Quad-City
Region On Tuesday. The Quad-City Times (11/25)
reported on its website that ex-President Bill Clinton will
stump for his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, “on Tuesday in the
Quad-City region. This will be his second trip to the area
since July, when he and Sen. Clinton were in Davenport over
the July 4th holiday. This time, the former president will
campaign solo in a series of ‘Organizing for Change events.’
He'll be at the Muscatine Community YMCA…at 11:45 a.m.,
then travel to the Clinton County Fairgrounds, where he'll hold
a 3:30 p.m. event. … Clinton will close out the day with a trip
to Peosta.”
Clinton Addresses Border Enforcement In
Iowa. The Des Moines Register (11/25, Simons, 158K)
reported on its website that Sen. Hillary Clinton, questioned
by an audience member at a Perry, Iowa, campaign
appearance, said “that immigration reform begins with border
security.” The Register quotes her stressing the importance of
“homeland security” and “tougher, more secure borders.”
Clinton rejected the notion of deporting all illegal entrants, and
“suggested instead that ‘everybody come out of the
shadows,’ and those found to have committed crimes will be
immediately deported. Those who haven’t, she said, should
register and pay back taxes, fines and learn English before
joining the line to legalization.”
In Arkansas, Bill Clinton Says Campaign
Volunteers Crucial To Wife’s Bid. The Pine Bluff
Commercial (11/25, Gambrell) reported on its website that in
North Little Rock, AR on Sunday, ex-President Bill Clinton
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“stressed the importance of volunteerrs to his wife's
presidential campaign…placing it higher than the role of
campaign dollars and even the Iowa caucus. Clinton
mentioned” Sen. Barack Obama “several times during a
$500-a-person fundraiser in a posh North Little Rock
neighborhood,” but “cautioned that dollars wouldn't guarantee
his wife Hillary Clinton the White House or even a win in the
Jan. 3 Iowa caucus. ‘I feel good about it, but Iowa is not an
election, it is a caucus,’ Clinton said. ‘It depends on how
many people show up.’ Clinton spoke to an estimated 450
contributors during the fundraiser, which was closed to
reporters. However, much of his speech could be heard from
the road outside of the private home hosting the event.”
Clinton “thanked those who had traveled recently to Iowa to
support his wife's campaign. … ‘If you went to Iowa, I want to
thank you very much,’ Clinton said. ‘If you could go back, I
would appreciate it.’”
KARK-TV Little Rock (11/25, 5:09 p.m.) broadcast
before the event that former President Bill Clinton “will be
spending the evening at a North Little Rock home hosting a
fundraiser for the presidential campaign of his wife, Sen.
Hillary Clinton.”
gaps between leaders were within the poll’s 4.5 percent
margin of error, suggesting - as polls have shown for a while that there is a tight three-way race in the state. But as the two
candidates moved among Iowa’s small towns this weekend,
the race’s psychological dynamics appear to have been
disrupted by the new snapshot of Obama atop the field,
especially as Clinton reaffirms that strength and electability
are central to her appeal.” The piece continues to detail the
difficulty in trying to poll caucusgoers, or even to determine
who will go to the caucus.
Carville Says Clinton In Fight In Iowa. Speaking on
NBC’s Meet the Press (11/25, 10:32 a.m.), Democratic
strategist James Carville, who declared himself a “maxed out”
donor to Hillary Clinton, said that Clinton’s lack of clear
frontrunner status in Iowa suggests both that the race there is
“tight” and that polls there are unreliable “this far out.” He
characterizes Clinton as having a strong chance to win there,
but “she’s in a fight.”
Former ABC Anchor Endorses Clinton. The
Washington Post (11/26, C1, Kurtz, 723K) reports that in a
“move that has revived charges of liberal media bias, former
ABC anchor Carole Simpson has endorsed Hillary Clinton.”
Simpson, “now a journalism instructor at Emerson College,
offered her resignation the day after announcing her support
at an event featuring the New York senator, but it was turned
down.” Simpson said, “I know I made a mistake. But I’d
really like to see her win. After being a reporter for so many
years, where you wish you could do more than you can, it
would be nice to make a difference.”
Malkin Says “Liberal Activist” Simpson’s
Endorsement Of Clinton Hardly Shocking. In her
syndicated column, which appears in the New York Post
(11/26, 648K), Michelle Malkin provides details of Simpson’s
recent endorsement of Clinton, then adds, “But Simpson
showed her pro-Clinton, liberal bias while anchoring at ABC
for years.” In “a piece for ABCNews.com after Hillary won her
Senate seat in 2000,” Simpson wrote, “What an exhilarating
moment it must have been for [Hillary] -- the first First Lady in
history to be elected to public office. There, for all the naysayers to see, was the woman who had finally come into her
own, free at last to be smart, outspoken, independent, and
provocative, all qualities she had been forced as First Lady,
to 'hide under a bushel.' Still she was voted one of America's
most admired women. Just wait. You ain't seen nothin' yet.”
Malkin adds, “The title of her love letter: ‘Long Live Hillary.’ …
Few will be shocked by Professor Simpson's coming-out
party -- or by the Clinton campaign's ready embrace of this
self-important liberal activist who has masqueraded as a fair
and objective journalist for more than two decades. The only
real surprise is that Simpson and her Serious Professional
Journalism colleagues bother to keep up the pretense of
neutrality and perform their media ethics kabuki theater.”
Clinton May Benefit From Writers’ Strike. ABC
News (11/25, Wright) reported on its website, “Talks to end
the Hollywood writers' strike will resume Monday. A
settlement would be good news for the striking writers, actors,
the studios and bored comics. And it also could bring a big
sigh of relief from presidential candidates, who are regulars
on the talk-show circuit.” ABC noted that Sen. Hillary Clinton
“and other Democrats are making it clear they won't cross a
picket line to answer Katie Couric's questions at the last
debate before the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3. Michele Obama
pulled out of her plans to guest host ‘The View,’ and John and
Elizabeth Edwards cancelled their upcoming appearance on
the show, too. None of them want to be seen as presidential
‘scabs.’” ABNC added that “the writers' punch lines” for the
late-night comedians often “come at the expense of the
candidate who draws the most fire from opponents. Lately
that's made Clinton an easy target, so she may actually be
breathing a little easier during the strike. Perhaps that's
why…John Edwards was recently out there on the picket
lines with the writers.”
Obama’s Improved Iowa Polling Said To
Threaten Clinton’s Appeal. The Boston Globe
(11/26, Issenberg, 404K) reports, “Last week began with the
release of an Iowa poll - of negligible statistical relevance but
much symbolic weight - showing Clinton for the first time
behind Senator Barack Obama of Illinois. … The ABC
News/Washington Post survey, perhaps the most discussed
of the campaign, had Obama at 30 percent, Clinton at 26,
and John Edwards, former North Carolina senator, at 22. The
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Romney Edges Giuliani In Poll Of Detroit-Area
Business Leaders; Clinton Leads Democrats.
to relate Harmelink’s reaction to Clinton’s stump, painting him
as relieved that she not part of “the fringes,” concluding, “He
said there was no particular issue on which he strongly
agreed or disagreed with Mrs. Clinton’s remarks here, but
said that she sounded more sensible than ideological.”
Crain’s Detroit Business (11/26, Halcom) reports that Mitt
Romney “has a slight lead over” Rudy Giuliani “among local
business leaders, with Sen. Hillary Clinton as their most likely
Democratic rival according to a survey commissioned by
Crain's Detroit Business and Honigman Miller Schwartz and
Cohn. But if the general election comes down to the current
national front-runners, it would be Giuliani over Clinton, 58
percent to 30 percent. Among 300 randomly chosen Crain's
subscribers, Michigan native Romney enjoyed 36 percent
support among those who were likely to back a Republican
before the general election. That edges out Giuliani's 32
percent, and no other GOP candidate pulled more than 7
percent. Among those eyeing a Democrat, Clinton had 51
percent share of the support, followed distantly by Sen.
Barack Obama and John Edwards with 19 percent apiece.
Forty-four percent of those surveyed said they were leaning
Republican, while 28 percent leaned Democratic.”
Clinton’s Time At California Law Firm Seen As
“Shocking” Revelation Of “Radical Ideology.”
The New York Sun (11/26, Gerstein) runs a 4,600-word
article about Sen. Hillary Clinton’s “clerkship in 1971 at one of
America’s most radical law firms, Treuhaft, Walker and
Burnstein,” noting that the “Oakland-based firm was
renowned for taking clients others rejected as too
controversial, including Communists, draft resisters, and
members of the African-American militant group known as the
Black Panthers. To this day, Mrs. Clinton’s decision to work at
the unabashedly left-wing firm is surprising, even shocking, to
some of her former colleagues there and to those supporting
her bid for the presidency. To the former first lady’s enemies
and political opponents, her summer at the Treuhaft firm is
yet another indication that radical ideology lurks beneath the
patina of moderation she has adopted in public life.” The
article continues to relate the proceeds of a “comprehensive
account” of Clinton’s “work for the Treuhaft firm, how she got
there, and how acquaintances she made that summer
surfaced from time to time as her political career unfolded.”
Will: Clinton Would Benefit By Picking Bayh Or
Strickland For Vice President. In his column for
Newsweek (11/25, 3.12M) George Will writes, “It is neither
pointless nor premature to wonder who each of the four most
likely nominees -- Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Rudy
Giuliani and Mitt Romney -- might choose to run with.”
According to Will, Clinton may choose Sen. Evan Bayh, “the
preternaturally cautious former two-term governor of Indiana.
Winning that state’s 11 electoral votes -- it has not voted
Democratic since 1964 -- would seriously complicate any
Republican’s path to 270. If she wants to reach for a bigger
electoral-vote prize without removing a Democrat from the
Senate, there is Ted Strickland, the popular governor of the
Center of the Universe Every Fourth Year, a.k.a. Ohio (20
electoral votes).” Will adds that Giuliani’s “biggest weakness
is his personal history and his weakest region is the South. …
He could select the…former governor of Arkansas Mike
Huckabee, the Baptist minister who is as cuddly as Giuliani is
abrasive.”
Clinton Praised For Condemning Punishment
Of Saudi Rape Victim. An editorial in the New York
Sun (11/26) congratulates Sen. Hillary Clinton for calling for
condemnation of a Saudi court’s having sentenced a rape
victim to flogging and imprisonment, and for having blasted
President Bush for refusing to “protest an internal Saudi
decision.” The Sun continues that Clinton’s “statement is
even more newsworthy because the House of Saud has long
been a patron of the Clintons. As The New York Sun reported
in 2004, the Saudi royal family and three Saudi businessmen,
Abdullah Al-Dabbagh, Nasser Al-Rashid, and Walid Juffali,
each donated $1 million or more to the Clinton presidential
library in Little Rock, Ark. President Clinton also helped
secure millions of dollars in Saudi funds for the University of
Arkansas.” The piece continues to lament the Bush
administration’s lack of pressure on the Saudis and to paint
the issue as one with which Clinton can demonstrate her
foreign policy acumen vis-à-vis the Middle East.
Clinton’s Ideological Leanings Analyzed. The
New York Times (11/25, Healy, 1.18M) reported on its ‘The
Caucus’ blog, “It is a favorite question of voters: Hillary
Rodham Clinton, a liberal or a moderate? And that was the
question that Don Harmelink, a voter here, asked a Clinton
campaign official before the senator’s event in Perry this
afternoon. The campaign official was moving through the
crowd, asking people if they were Hillary supporters already;
Mr. Harmelink, who was sitting right behind me, said he was
here to listen and then asked about Mrs. Clinton’s partisan
inclinations. The campaign worker gave a long answer that
basically straddled the political divide.” The article continues
Columnist Says Media Coverage Of Clinton
“The Most Riveting Show On TV.” In his column
for MarketWatch (11/26), Jon Friedman writes that the best
show on TV this year is “called ‘Hillary and the Media.’ Sen.
Hillary Clinton's inexorable march to secure the Democratic
Party's presidential nomination is the most riveting show on
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TV. Her life has become a real-life version of ‘The Truman
Show’ and ‘Edtv.’ … The media are simply doing with Clinton
what we've done with celebrities throughout history: First, we
build them up, and then we try to knock them down.”
Friedman goes on to criticize Sen. John McCain’s handling of
a question from a woman at a campaign event who asked of
Clinton, “How do we beat the bitch?” Friedman says “McCain
should have acted decisively and spoken just as bluntly,” but
instead “kind of floundered and waffled.” Friedman adds,
“The media are indeed ganging up on Clinton for the best
reason of all: She is No. 1! … It makes me laugh to watch
the media alternately kvell and crush Clinton for basically
doing her job. Her job is to run for the presidency, get the
nomination -- and win the election. She's doing it very well.”
DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL
CAMPAIGN NEWS
Obama Discusses Race Issues In Iowa. The
Chicago Tribune (11/26, McCormick, Pearson, 607K) reports
Barack Obama “held a rare discussion of racial inequities on
the Democratic presidential campaign trail in heavily white
Iowa on Sunday while rival Hillary Clinton declared herself to
be ‘by far’ the most electable Democrat in the race.” Obama,
“speaking to a racially mixed audience of about 500 people at
a local high school, conceded some progress had been made
on racial issues -- but not enough.” Obama said, “On every
measure, on income, on health care, on incarceration rates,
on the criminal justice system, on housing, on life expectancy,
on infant mortality, on almost every single indicator, there is
still an enormous gap between black and white.”
The Des Moines Register/Indianola Record-Herald
(11/25, Ragsdale) reported on its website that Obama
presented his “vision for urban America,” which “rang true”
with listeners. The 500-plus crowd “cheered and applauded
his talking points on health care, education and bringing
change to Washington, D.C. … Obama told the crowd if he
were elected president he wants to ‘fix the education system
to give (urban youngsters) a fighting chance’ by investing in
early childhood education, encouraging teachers by giving
them higher pay and getting more people into higher
education through a college tax credit. The job wouldn’t be
complete, Obama said, unless mothers and fathers did their
part.”
The Washington Post (11/25, Murray, 723K) reported
on its ‘The Trail’ blog that Obama was speaking at “a forum
on urban issues at a Des Moines high school,” noting that the
crowd was more diverse than is the norm in Iowa. Obama
“said he would dispatch nurses or social workers visit ‘at-risk
parents,’ to ‘meet with them and talk to them about you’ve got
to read to your child...Here’s how you talk to your child. Don’t
tell them to shut up. Let them ask questions, that’s what
children do.’”
Clinton Lambasted As Inept, Inexperienced. In
his column in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (11/26), Ralph
R. Reiland, an associate professor of economics at Robert
Morris University, offers a detailed, three-pronged criticism of
Sen. Hillary Clinton’s statement last January to New York’s
RNN cable station, “I know what it takes to run the country.”
His first criticism centers around the argument that the
country does need anyone to “run” it, since market forces will
do that better than any government agency could. His second
point “is that there’s no evidence that she knows how to run
anything,” and his final point is that her failure to midwife a
national health care program under her husband’s
administration is indicative of “her consistent record of
mismanagement.”
McConnell Raises Specter Of Clinton In
Kentucky. In a ‘Political Notebook’ column in the
Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader (11/26), Ryan Alessi writes
about a speech that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
gave to the Kentucky GOP’s central committee, in which he
made “a case against ‘the political left in this country’ and
using Clinton as the face of it. ‘We’re excited about going into
‘08 and, as I indicated, running against Senator Clinton and
the new Democratic majority,’ McConnell, who is up for reelection next year, told reporters after his remarks. ‘I think it
gives us a lot to use in the campaign.’ At the top of that list is
a claim that Clinton and Democrats aim to ‘raise your taxes,’
as McConnell said several times during his Nov. 10 remarks.
It’s not the first time Clinton has been used to fire up
conservatives in Kentucky. Her face appeared on GOP
mailings against rural Democratic legislative candidates
during recent elections.”
Obama Working To Forge Link To Civil Rights
Era. The Politico (11/26, Allen, Budoff Brown) reports, “Sen.
Barack Obama cast himself Sunday as a natural and
necessary heir to the civil rights greats, appealing to black
worshippers to show the courage of their forerunners and
back his candidacy for president. In an unannounced
appearance that startled most in the African-American
congregation, Obama cast his campaign in historic and even
divine terms.” The article does not specifically identify the
church (which the campaign refused to identify), but says that
Obama’s characterization of the current state of the civil rights
movement as being similar to that of Moses on the
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Obama’s Call For Negotiations With Iran
Praised. In a Wall Street Journal (11/26, A21, 2.06M) op-
mountaintop outside the promised land was “one of the most
compelling rationales Obama has articulated for a campaign
that has been sidetracked by missteps and mudslinging but
that now sees the possibility of upsetting Sen. Hillary Rodham
Clinton in the make-or-break Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3.”
ed, Shelby Steele of Stanford University’s Hoover Institution
says, “On its face, Mr. Obama’s idea” of negotiations with
enemies such as Iran “seems little more than a far-left
fantasy.” Obama’s idea “clearly makes no sense in a context
of national survival. It would have been absurd for President
Roosevelt to fly to Berlin and talk to Hitler. But Mr. Obama’s
idea does make sense in the buildup to wars where survival
is not at risk -- wars that are more a matter of urgent choice
than of absolute necessity.” Were an American president “(or
a secretary of state for the less daring) to land in Tehran, the
risk to American prestige would be enormous,” but “moral
authority would redound to us precisely for making ourselves
vulnerable to this kind of exploitation.” Either “our high-risk
diplomacy works or we have the license to fight to win. In the
meantime, we give our allies around the world every reason
to respect us. This is not an argument for Mr. Obama’s
candidacy, only for his idea. It is a good one because it allows
America the advantage of its own great character.”
Obama Donating PAC Funds To State, Local
Supporters. The Washington Post (11/26, A6, Solomon,
723K) reports when Obama “launched his presidential
campaign in January, he stopped raising money for his
Hopefund, the political action committee he used to raise
millions for fellow Democrats in previous campaigns.” But in
“recent months, Obama has handed out more than $180,000
from the nearly dormant PAC to local Democratic groups and
candidates in the key early-voting states of Iowa, New
Hampshire and South Carolina, campaign reports show.”
Some of “the recipients of Hopefund’s largess are state and
local politicians who have recently endorsed Obama’s
presidential bid. Obama’s PAC reported giving a $1,000
contribution, for instance, to New Hampshire state Sen.
Jacalyn Cilley on July 25, six days before she announced she
was endorsing Obama for president.”
Obama Said To Be Shifting To Reflect Middle
Class Democrats. In his Washington Post (11/26, A15,
Obama Acknowledges Inhaling Marijuana. The
723K) column, Fred Hiatt says Obama “suggests that” Hillary
Clinton is “guilty of triangulating, poll-testing and telling the
American people what they want to hear instead of what they
need to hear. Maybe so. But then it’s fair to ask: Is Obama
telling the American people anything they don’t want to hear?
More specifically, as he campaigns for votes in Iowa and New
Hampshire, is he saying anything except what polls suggest
Democrats there might want to hear?” To the “extent that
Obama’s positions have shifted over the past several months,
they’ve shifted uncannily to where middle-class Democratic
voters happen to be.”
New York Daily News (11/26, 729K) reports in a “Campaign
Takeout” column, “Asked if he ever inhaled marijuana, Barack
Obama said, ‘Yes,’ and added, ‘That was the point.’
Responding to a question at an Iowa forum Saturday that
referred to former President Bill Clinton's famous assertion
that he tried pot but did not inhale, CNN reported that Obama
replied, ‘I never understood that line. The point was to inhale.
That was the point.’ But the Illinois senator added, ‘It's not
something I'm proud of. It was a mistake as a young man.’”
Western Iowa Obama Volunteer Profiled. The
New York Times (11/26, A1, Zeleny, 1.18M) runs a front-page
profile of West Iowa Obama supporter Rory Steele, who “
drove 17 miles from his office in Council Bluffs that crisp
October morning to see how the harvest was coming along.
He had no stake in the crop yields or commodity prices, but
another question weighed on his mind: Would the work be
finished in time for” farmer Lyle McIntosh to “help drum up
support for Senator Barack Obama?”
For all “the
uncertainties in presidential campaigns, Mr. Steele would not
have guessed that a soggy, unusually long harvest would
complicate his task of building an organization for Mr.
Obama. Yet since arriving here in March, he had learned to
think like a local, which in this part of Iowa means only gently
pestering people about politics.” Steele, “a 29-year-old
former marine who has worked as a truck driver in the Pacific
Northwest and a crab fisherman in Alaska, is the face of the
Obama campaign in western Iowa.”
Obama Set To Attend Series Of Fundraisers In
New York City On Thursday. The New York Sun
(11/26, Rauh) reports that Sen. Barack Obama “is sweeping
through New York City for a flurry of fundraising events on
Thursday, one of which will be hosted by a Republicanturned-Democrat. … Obama will top off his fundraising frenzy
with his first campaign visit to Harlem, where he will deliver a
speech at the Apollo Theater.” Obama’s camp “is aiming to
sell out the 1,500-seat landmark, where tickets are $50 each,
and send a message that Mr. Obama is intent on running a
competitive race” on Sen. Hillary Clinton’s home turf. Obama
“is expected to appear at a total of five events on Thursday,
beginning with a morning breakfast at Credit Suisse First
Boston and then a second breakfast at the Upper West Side
home of Susan Waterfall, where guests will pay $2,300 to
attend. Until about two months ago Ms. Waterfall was a
registered Republican who voted twice for President Bush
8
and donated $2,300 to Mayor Giuliani in March. She said
she became a Democrat so she could vote for Mr. Obama in
the primary.”
“prepared with questions, others told the former North
Carolina senator they were inspired by reading the booklet he
has been distributing to voters in New Hampshire and Iowa.”
In the booklet, Edwards “outlines his vision in four areas:
standing up for working families, ending the war in Iraq,
building a better future for children and ensuring opportunity
for all. But one voter suggested a fifth category: balancing
the federal budget.”
Edwards Campaign To Continue Pressuring
Clinton On Troop Disposition. The New York Daily
News (11/25, Bazinet, 729K) reported on its ‘Mouth of the
Potomac’ blog that John Edwards’s campaign “promises that
the candidate will continue to press Sen. Hillary Clinton on
how she would handle pulling troops out of Iraq. … Edwards
‘wants Hillary to talk about specifics. She says she has a plan
to withdraw troops from Iraq, but offers no specifics of what
that plan is,’ the campaign source said.” The piece cites an
unnamed “top campaign insider.”
Until Iraq War Resolved, Biden Says US Has
“No Credibility” Abroad. The Des Moines Register
(11/25, O’Brien, 158K) reported on its website that during a
campaign stop in Council Bluffs, IA on Sunday, Sen. Joe
Biden “told a crowd of about 80 area Democrats…that
problems facing the United States abroad and at home
cannot be addressed until the war in Iraq comes to an end.
‘Until we solve the situation in Iraq, we have no credibility to
solve problems with more dangerous places in the world,’
said Biden, naming Iran and Pakistan among potential
threats. ‘If you remove that boulder that is Iraq, the rest of the
world is going to follow us again. Nobody wants to play with
us anymore.’” Biden also “said the war’s $120 billion price
tag limits progress at home in areas like health care,
education and the environment. ‘Imagine what I can do as
your president when I end this war,’ he said.”
Edwards Calls For Boost In LIHEAP Funds. The
New York Times (11/26, Bosman, 1.18M) reports Edwards
“outlined a proposal yesterday in New Hampshire to lower the
cost of heating oil, increase regulation of oil companies and
promote energy efficiency.” Speaking at “a town hall-style
campaign event in Meredith, N.H., Mr. Edwards said home
heating oil in the state had risen sharply to about $3 a gallon,
nearly triple the cost in 2000.” To “ease the financial burden
for low-income families, Mr. Edwards, a Democrat from North
Carolina, said Congress should tap into its heating and oil
reserves and increase subsidies to the federal Low-Income
Home Energy Assistance Program, which he said President
Bush had unfairly scaled back. In February, Mr. Bush
proposed an 18 percent cut in the program, which provides
$2.2 billion this year to help people pay heating bills.”
The AP (11/26, Ramer) reports that Edwards said that
“he would double the budget of a program that helps people
weatherize their homes to $500 million a year. Upgrading
home furnaces, ducts, windows and insulation can cut energy
bills by about 30 percent, he said, but the program reaches
only about 100,000 of the 28 million homes that could be
eligible. … He also proposes helping states and nonprofit
groups administer low- or no-interest emergency loans to
people struggling to pay their heating bills. His plan for
longer-term relief from high home heating prices involves
asking the Justice Department to investigate the massive
mergers of oil companies in recent decades and modernizing
antitrust laws to target oil and gas companies that take
unilateral action to withhold supplies in order to raise prices.”
The New York Post (11/26, Hurt, 648K) headlines its brief
report, “EDWARDS BURNS OIL COMPANIES.”
Richardson Says He Wanted Congress “To
Find Ways We Can Get America To Retreat”
From Iraq. The Des Moines Register (11/25, Jaco, 158K)
reported on its website, “The United States’ accomplishments
in Iraq are not significant enough to merit the loss of another
human life,” Gov. Bill Richardson “told a crowd of about 100
people” in Indianola, IA on “Sunday. ‘This war is not worth
one human life, an American human life, the thousands of
Iraqis,’ Richardson said. ‘It should not be about body counts.
It should be about, 'Is political progress being made?’ No.’
The comment sparked the loudest applause of Richardson’s
hour-long talk, which also hit a high note when Richardson
said Congress has been wimpy when it comes to finding
withdrawal solutions. ‘I wanted [Congress] to end this war,’
Richardson said. ‘I wanted them to find ways we can get
America to retreat.’” Richardson “called for the withdrawal of
all American troops -- including residual peacekeeping forces
-- from Iraq within one year. ‘I don’t think we can start a
process of reconciliation, political compromise, regional
stability -- until our troops are gone,’ Richardson said.”
Edwards Quizzed On Campaign Booklet. The AP
In Contrast To Other Democratic Hopefuls,
Richardson Embraces Gun Owners’ Rights.
(11/25, Ramer) reports voters “didn’t mind that Democratic
presidential hopeful John Edwards was running a bit late
Sunday -- it gave them time to scrutinize the 77-page policy
booklet printed by his campaign.” Though “many attendees
at the town hall meeting” in Rochester, New Hampshire,
The Concord Monitor (11/26, Heckman) reports, “During his
first term as New Mexico's governor, Bill Richardson backed
legislation allowing residents to carry concealed weapons.
9
When it became law in 2003, Richardson applied for a permit
himself.” Richardson’s “move was symbolic of a politician
who has been largely supportive of gun owners' rights. It also
separates Richardson from the other Democrats running for
president, who tend to favor more stringent regulation of
firearms. Richardson's track record in Congress and in Santa
Fe has earned him accolades from the” NRA, “which
endorsed his reelection as governor last year. In September,
he was the only Democratic presidential candidate to address
a convention organized by the NRA to promote Second
Amendment rights.”
While New Hampshire primary
observers “say Richardson's support for firearms won't make
or break his campaign,” his “gun-toting ways are part of the
laid-back, swashbuckling persona that some suspect is
fueling his rise in recent polls. ‘He does a really neat
balancing act of the cowboy swagger of a Western state
governor and somebody who's kind of a policy wonk,’ said
Wayne Lesperance, associate professor of political science at
New England College. ‘It does play well for him. It's part of
why he's moving up.’”
to an election as candidates seek to contrast themselves with
their rivals. ‘Attack ads don't necessarily blend well with
Santa Claus and holiday cheer,’ said Steve McMahon, a
Democratic media strategist.” Drake University political
scientist Dennis Goldford “predicted that campaigns would
run positive ads promoting candidates until Christmas, then
switch to a tougher tone in the week leading to the caucuses.”
Obama, Huckabee Hoping Iowa Will Provide Crucial
Momentum. In her column in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
(11/26), Salena Zito discusses Sen. Barack Obama’s and
Mike Huckabee’s efforts to win Iowa’s caucuses.” Zito says,
“If Obama beats” John Edwards and Sen. Hillary Clinton “in
Iowa, then Edwards is out and Clinton is on the ropes.” An
Obama victory would make Clinton “more vulnerable than
conventional wisdom dictates. Deep concern still exists in the
Democrats' psyche about Clinton's ability to win nationally
and her polarizing effect on voters.” But Obama “needs a
better game plan in New Hampshire, where he has failed to
soak up Clinton's eroding support.” Noting that Huckabee
“has climbed to the near top of the GOP pile: in Iowa, Zito
relates, “If Huckabee is the story coming out of Iowa, he
needs to remember that not all previous Republican stories
out of Iowa did all that well. Remember 1988? Bob Dole and
Pat Robertson were first and second in Iowa while George
H.W. Bush ran third. … If they win, Obama and Huckabee
need to make the case that neither is an Iowa anomaly and
that they can deliver the general election to their parties.”
Candidates Spending More Time In New
Hampshire. ABC World News (11/25, story 3, 3:00,
Snow, 8.78M) reported, “If you really wanted to, you could
spend all day going to campaign events because half a
dozen candidates are going to be crisscrossing the Granite
State, starting at sun up because frankly, there’s no time to
waste. The turkey was barely cold and they were back out on
the trail this holiday weekend.” Four of “the major candidates
didn’t even take a full day off to say thanks. Joe Biden and
Chris Dodd, lagging in the polls, stayed in Iowa, turning their
Thanksgivings into campaign events.” But the “campaign has
never come this early before.” Mark Halperin, ABC News
political analyst: “It’s a real tricky calculation. How much do
voters want to hear about politics while they’re putting up their
Christmas tree? While they’re singing Christmas carols.
Every campaign has to consider what’s too much.”
With Eye On “Tsunami Tuesday,” Candidates
Jockey For Position. The Chicago Tribune (11/26,
McCormick, 607K) reports, “The date is being called
‘Tsunami Tuesday’ because so many delegates will be up for
grabs on Feb. 5 when more than 20 states hold elections and
caucuses on the biggest single day of balloting in presidential
primary history. They include three of the nation's most
populous states -- California, New York and Illinois -- and the
huge stakes have galvanized early attention from candidates
who can afford to compete in so many places.” The Tribune
notes, for example, that Sen. Barack Obama has opened
campaign offices “in such places as New York City, Phoenix,
Atlanta,” Oakland, CA “and Boise, Idaho, part of a network of
14 offices” he’s “already opened in 11 of the states.” Sen.
Hillary Clinton, “meanwhile, is the only other candidate on the
Democratic side with the financial wherewithal to match
Obama in bulking up to such an extent in so many states.”
On the GOP side, Rudy Giuliani “is also working to build an
extensive network in Feb. 5 states, creating a potential
firewall, should he fail to meet expectations in the early-voting
states. … Aides call it his ‘50-state strategy.’ As a result,
Giuliani has been traveling to states that haven't seen
presidential candidates much this season, if at all.”
Iowa’s Early Caucus Date Creates Advertising
Challenge For Candidates. The AP (11/25, Pitt)
reported, “An earlier date for Iowa's caucuses probably
means presidential candidates will run more television ads
from mid-November through December, the height of the
Christmas shopping season when retailers want to promote
sales. Moving the caucuses up 11 days to Jan. 3 also will
force candidates to pay top dollar for TV ads over the
holidays and soften their messages to avoid violating the
serenity of the season. The same equation applies in New
Hampshire, whose first-in-the-nation primary will follow the
Iowa caucuses five days later. … The schedule presents a
conundrum for the presidential campaigns.
Political
advertising has a tendency to become more negative closer
10
Fund Says Early Michigan Primary Date Likely
To Benefit Romney, Clinton. In his column at
Obama said. Not necessarily, suggested Clinton.” Kevin A.
Hassett, a “scholar at the conservative American Enterprise
Institute, said Democrats’ attitude toward wealthy Americans
could be a liability at the polls.” Hassett said, “If the
Democrats are sort of willing to lambaste the wealthy and
seize their money, then it means they have a fundamental
disrespect for private property.” But “according to Gene
Sperling, an unpaid adviser to Clinton: ‘It’s not about attacking
anybody or class warfare. It’s about setting priorities in a
fiscally responsible way. It’s about asking: Is the most recent
tax cut for those making over $250,000 more important to the
well-being of the country than universal health care?’”
OpinionJournal.com (11/26), John Fund -- noting that
Michigan is now set to hold its primaries on Jan. 15 – writes,
“The winners are likely to be Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton.
Mr. Romney pushed hard for an early primary because he
has a natural advantage in Michigan. He was born in Detroit,
and elderly voters still fondly remember George Romney, his
father, who served as governor in the 1960s. Mr. Romney is
counting on winning Iowa on Jan. 3…and he plans to use his
advantage as a former governor of next-door Massachusetts
to win New Hampshire's Jan. 8 primary. Winning Michigan
would then give Mr. Romney three straight victories before
the critical Jan. 19 South Carolina primary.” Meanwhile,
“Clinton is for now the only leading Democratic candidate to
appear on Michigan's ballot. The other top-tier contenders
withdrew, following the guidance of the Democratic National
Committee, which is threatening to take away Michigan's
delegates because it is scheduling a primary against the
party's rules.” And “If she remains the only significant name
on the ballot, Mrs. Clinton may pick up some momentum, a
publicity bounce and some delegates to boot by exerting
almost no effort.”
Small Business Owners Feel Ignored By
Presidential Candidates. The Washington Times
(11/26, DeBose, 87K) reports small-business owners “say the
2008 presidential candidates from both the Republican and
Democratic parties are ignoring their issues.” A poll “by
American Management Services and Suffolk University
shows that 66 percent cannot identify a single policy proposal
targeted for the nation’s 23 million small-business owners.”
George Cloutier, “chairman of AMS, which offers services to
help small and midsize businesses improve profits,” said,
“The reality is that none of the current candidates have small
businesses on their radar; they throw it out like some kind of
pabulum.” The Times adds the “national poll of 400 smallbusiness owners was conducted Oct. 17 to Oct. 30 and had a
margin of error of five percentage points.”
Media Said To Overplay Importance Of Early
States. The Washington Post (11/26, C1, Kurtz, 723K)
reports it is “an immutable law of political physics that those
who prevail in Iowa will hurtle toward New Hampshire with
bulked-up poll numbers, gathering blinding momentum on the
path to nomination.” But the “chief reason for the Iowa effect
is an explosion of media coverage that treats the winners as
superstars and the also-rans as lamentable losers. Without
that massive media boost, prevailing in Iowa would be seen
for what it is: an important first victory that amounts to scoring
a run in the top of the first inning.” Political reporter Jack
Germond said, “It stinks. The voters ought to have time to
make a considered decision, and the press ought to be a little
less poll-driven, and we’re not.” The Post adds there are
“more media outlets these days than ever before, with untold
thousands of political Web sites, and newspapers and
magazines constantly updating their blogs. So the slingshot
effect of an Iowa victory could be even greater.”
Editorial Says Democrats’ Big Spending Plans
Creates Opening For Republicans. An editorial in
the Las Vegas Review-Journal (11/26) relates, “Democrats
are banking that voter disgust with the Iraq war will propel
them into the White House next year. But with every one of
their major candidates advocating massive tax increases -whether it's to pay for Barack Obama's Social Security plan or
Hillary Clinton's socialized medicine scheme -- the door is
wide open for Republicans to attract the many undecided
voters who believe in fiscal restraint. … It appears that
strategists for the top-tier Republican candidates understand
this. For instance, over the weekend, Mitt Romney and Rudy
Giuliani again traded barbs over the issue of spending, each
accusing the other of being more profligate.” The ReviewJournal notes, “For decades, candidates who endorse
spending restraint, low taxes and individual freedom have
been winning elections against opponents who favor higher
taxes, padding government programs and a more intrusive
bureaucracy. But Democrats are apparently so confident that
the election will turn on Iraq or hatred of the incumbent that
they're willfully flouting this prescription -- even to the extent
of the congressional Democratic leadership allowing the
president to gain the upper hand in his vetoes of
Democratic Candidates Have Varying
Definitions Of Class. The Washington Post (11/26, A2,
Achenbach, 723K) reports on the candidates’ definitions of
class, “always an awkward topic in the United States,” which
“made a rare cameo appearance at a recent candidates
debate in Las Vegas.” Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton
“sparred over tax policy and quickly got entangled in the
question of whether someone making more than $97,000 a
year is middle class or upper class. That’s upper class,
11
appropriation bills.
It's an opening that Republican
candidates should continue to exploit.”
Democrats Urged To Acknowledge Improvements
In Iraq. In his column in the Boston Globe (11/26, 404K), Jeff
Jacoby asks whether the Democratic candidates are likely to
“sit up and take notice” of “the heartening transformation
underway in the Iraqi capital,” citing a Newsweek story by
Rod Nordland about the decrease in violence in Baghdad.
Jacoby notes that other “mainstream media” such as the
Washington Post and the New York Times are
acknowledging the improved conditions in Baghdad, asking,
“shouldn’t leading Democrats think about doing the same?
Perhaps this would be a good time for Hillary Clinton to
express regret for telling Petraeus that his recent progress
report on Iraq required ‘a willing suspension of disbelief’ - in
effect, calling him a liar. … All of the Democratic presidential
candidates have been running on a platform of abandoning
Iraq. At the recent debate in Las Vegas, they refused to relax
their embrace of defeat even when asked about the striking
evidence of improvement. … But can Democrats be so
invested in defeat that they would abandon even a war that
may be winnable? With developments in Iraq looking so
hopeful, this is no time to cling to a counsel of despair.”
Democrats Said To Be In Danger Of Slipping Up On
Improved Iraq Situation. In his column in the Financial
Times (11/26), Clive Crook suggests that U.S. forces have
made some progress in Iraq in recent months, constituting
“more than a downward blip in the violence,” though he
acknowledges that the improvements are “fragile.” He
continues to explore what the changes in Iraq’s security mean
for U.S. foreign policy, noting that the situation “poses a
challenge for Democrats as the election approaches.
Opposition to the war has been their chief theme. This still
commands broad and strong support, of course, but the
intensity could continue to fade. Republicans will seek
opportunities to accuse Democrats of wanting the US to fail,
or of wishing to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory – and
those charges will acquire some force if the view that the
surge has worked takes hold. For Democrats, even putting
the recent fall in violence in its correct context poses a
political risk, because it can be portrayed as failing to
recognise the military’s efforts and achievements. If the
Republican presidential contenders have any sense, they will
tread very carefully here – while hoping that Democrats fall
into the trap and helping them to if the opportunity presents
itself.”
ABC, Facebook To Collaborate On Political
Coverage, Debate. The New York Times (11/26, Stelter,
1.18M) reports ABC News and Facebook.com have “formally
established a partnership -- the site’s first with a news
organization -- that allows Facebook members to
electronically follow ABC reporters, view reports and video
and participate in polls and debates, all within a new ‘U.S.
Politics’ category.” And to “underscore their collaboration, the
two organizations will announce today that they are jointly
sponsoring Democratic and Republican presidential debates
in New Hampshire on Jan. 5, three days before the primary
election there.” The announcements “are another sign that
news organizations are looking to capitalize on the potential
power of Facebook, which began as a database of college
friendships, and other social networking sites.”
’08 Hopefuls Expected To Focus Heavily On
Undecided Voters. The New York Daily News (11/26,
Saul, 729K) reports, “With the presidential campaign revving
up for the post-Thanksgiving Day sprint to the Iowa caucuses
on Jan. 3 and the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 8, the
candidates will be focusing attention on the wild card in the
race: uncommitted voters. … Polls reveal roughly half of
Democratic and Republican voters in both Iowa and New
Hampshire have yet to make their final choice for President.
That leaves an enormous bloc of voters open to eleventhhour pitches in the final dizzying weeks of campaigning,
experts say. ‘Voters wait till the very end to make up their
minds,’ said Andrew Smith, director of the Survey Center at
the University of New Hampshire. ‘Historically, in New
Hampshire, 50% or more have said they've decided whom
they're going to vote for in the last week of the election.’”
Promising End To Iraq War May Be Perilous
For Democratic Candidates. The Palm Beach Post
(11/26, Dáte) reports that the logistical difficulties inherent in
removing U.S. troops from Iraq could prove to be a major
impediment to the early days of a potential Democratic
presidency. “That, combined with the likelihood that President
Bush will do little to start a withdrawal during his remaining 14
months in office spells a logistical headache for any new
commander-in-chief who wants to end the war. ‘The next
president could spend half of their first term in office dealing
with the aftermath,’ said former U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, an
early critic of Bush’s Iraq invasion. ‘He’s going to dump it on
the next president, whether it’s a Republican or a Democrat.’”
The Post continues to lay out the Democratic candidates’
positions on troop withdrawal.
REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL
CAMPAIGN NEWS
Giuliani, Romney Clash On Healthcare,
Economic Record. The AP (11/25, Babington) reports
the “back-and-forth backbiting between” Rudy Giuliani and
12
Mitt Romney “spilled over into Sunday as Giuliani contended
that the former Massachusetts governor has fumbled on
health care and economic matters.” Asked by “a diner patron
about Romney’s health care program while governor, Giuliani
said Romney ‘made a mistake’ by mandating coverage for all
Massachusetts residents.” Giuliani, on day two of a New
Hampshire bus tour, said, “He sort of did Hillary’s plan in
Massachusetts.” The AP adds after a “campaign event in
Newport on Sunday, Romney told The Associated Press:
‘Let’s compare our records. Mayor Giuliani left a budget
deficit of $3 billion -- a $3 billion budget gap that Mayor
(Michael) Bloomberg called a financial crisis. I left a $2 billion
rainy day fund and my last budget left a $500 million
surplus.’”
The Washington Post (11/26, A1, Balz, 723K) reports in
a front-page story that Giuliani is “looking to spring a surprise
against” Romney in New Hampshire, “the race for the
Republican presidential nomination took a sharply negative
turn here Sunday as the two candidates traded accusations
about taxes, crime, immigration, abortion and ethical
standards.” The “rhetorical volleys underscored the growing
stakes here in New Hampshire, where Romney leads in the
polls but Giuliani now believes he has a chance to derail the
former Massachusetts governor’s campaign before it can
build the kind of momentum that could make him
unstoppable.” Giuliani “said in an interview Saturday that he
intends to win here. ‘We think we can catch him and get
ahead of him,’ he said of Romney.” The Post adds Romney
“responded by tweaking” Giuliani, saying he “sounded
increasingly worried about losing the nomination.” Romney
“dramatically escalated the attacks Sunday with a salvo at
Giuliani, who had earlier criticized him over a judicial
appointee who had overruled a lower court and ordered the
release of a convicted killer who has since been charged with
another killing.” Romney “proceeded to link Giuliani to
Clinton on abortion, gay rights and immigration, and ended
with tough words for the former mayor’s support for former
New York police commissioner Bernard B. Kerik to be
secretary of homeland security.”
USA Today (11/26, 2A, Dilanian, 2.28M) reports
Giuliani accused Romney “of taking a page from Democrat
Hillary Rodham Clinton’s book.” Romney has “not highlighted
his Massachusetts plan in his presidential campaign, and he
often notes that the Democratic-controlled Legislature
changed his original proposal.”
The New York Times (11/26, Cooper, Luo, 1.18M)
reports Giuliani “found himself under increasingly fierce
attacks on Sunday from two of his rivals.” Romney said “the
recent indictment of Bernard B. Kerik, who was Mr. Giuliani’s
friend and former police commissioner, ‘certainly calls into
question his judgment,’ and he likened Mr. Giuliani’s positions
on social issues to those of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.”
And Fred D. Thompson “said in an interview on ‘Fox News
Sunday’ that Mr. Giuliani has ‘not five minutes of experience’
with federal and national security issues.” The “criticism
came as Mr. Giuliani spent the weekend on a bus tour in New
Hampshire, talking up his record as mayor of New York at
each stop.”
The Chicago Tribune (11/26, Parsons, 607K) reports
that Giuliani “said on Sunday that rival Mitt Romney was ‘not
one of the outstanding governors’ and that he failed to lower
taxes or do much else of note while he was in the
Massachusetts executive office. In fact, Giuliani said, the
only reason Romney is leading some polls in early voting
states is because he has been spending a lot more money
than the other candidates seeking the GOP nomination for
president. Asked why he was breaking with his declared plan
to keep things positive, Giuliani said that Romney and others
started it. ‘It's because they criticized me,’ Giuliani said.
‘Notice I haven't criticized anyone who hasn't criticized me.
Gov. Romney has been criticizing me for weeks and weeks
and weeks.’”
The Los Angeles Times (11/26, Finnegan, 881K)
reports that Romney, meanwhile, “described himself as more
dedicated than Giuliani to family values. ‘I believe it's
important for the Republican Party to have a person who can
distinguish himself on family values with Hillary Clinton,’
Romney said. The nominee, he said, should be ‘pro-life,’
‘pro-family,’ ‘pro-traditional marriage,’ oppose illegal
immigration and uphold high ethical standards. And by all
those measures, he said, Giuliani falls short.”
The New York Sun (11/26, Gittell) reports that Romney
“also faulted his rival's relationship with Bernard Kerik, who
served as New York City police commissioner until Mr.
Giuliani's term as mayor ended in 2001 and has been
indicted in federal court on corruption charges. ‘He put
somebody in place as Commissioner who had a very
questionable past and then recommended to … President of
the United States this person be made the Secretary of
Homeland Security,’ Mr. Romney said.” The New York Post
(11/26, Campanile, 648K) reports that Romney, “pointing out
that Giuliani was godfather to Kerik's kids, questioned
Giuliani's judgment. He said it called to mind Bill Clinton's
administration. ‘The ethical conduct in this case of Bernie
Kerik reminds us very much of the administration Hillary
Clinton was part of,’ Romney said.”
The New York Daily News (11/26, Katz, 729K) reports
that Giuliani “fired back that Romney was trying to distract
attention ‘from his own mistake,’ citing reports that a convict
released without bail by a Romney-appointed judge was
arrested last week on charges of killing again. … ‘I think that
[Romney's] whole appointment of a judge goes to a much
bigger point: That Gov. Romney had a very poor record in
dealing with murder and violent crime as governor,’ he said.
‘I think that's not just an isolated situation. We can always
13
find an isolated situation of a mistake. It's a long-term
problem.’”
In a story headlined, “GOPers duke it out to be less like
hill,” the Boston Herald (11/26, Van Sack, 181K) reports that
Romney and Giuliani “broke out their best Clinton
comparisons yesterday while campaigning in separate parts
of New Hampshire, kicking off a fight to the primary death that
promises to underscore the former first lady’s front-runner
status.” The Herald runs the quote of Giuliani saying of
Romney’s Bay State healthcare plan, “He sort of did Hillary’s
plan in Massachusetts,” then notes that Romney’s campaign
“unleashed a tirade on Giuliani’s liberal dirty laundry in the
form of a memo titled ‘New York State of Mind.’ The missive
dredges up statements by Giuliani such as, ‘In New York City,
I’m often seen as very conservative. I travel south and west,
I’m seen as very liberal. I like that, actually.’ Giuliani made
the statement to the New York Times [NYT] in an article
about Giuliani and Clinton vying for a seat in the New York
Senate in May 2000, a bid withdrawn by Giuliani due to a
diagnosis of prostate cancer.”
diatribe against Dinkins.” Dinkins, “years later, accused him
of trying to stir up “white cops to riot.” Newsweek adds,
Giuliani “has long had a soft spot for cops -- even, in some
cases, for bad ones. … He was the man who appointed
Bernard Kerik, now under indictment for various federal
crimes, including tax evasion, to be his police commissioner,
and later pushed him to become the nation’s secretary of
Homeland Security.” Kerik “has written that when he was
welcomed into Giuliani’s inner circle -- in a clearly staged
ceremony, with a kiss on the cheek from each member -- he
felt like a ‘made man.’” Newsweek notes Kerik’s “unfortunate
Mafia analogy.” According to Newsweek, Giuliani “has
insisted that he did not know about Kerik’s…alleged mob
connections,” but “records reviewed by Newsweek suggest
that the mayor may have been briefed on some of these
problems just before Kerik was appointed commissioner.”
Giuliani “has said he has no memory” of the briefing.
Thompson Proposes Voluntary Flat Tax Plan.
The Wall Street Journal (11/26, Schatz, 2.06M) reports Fred
Thompson “became the second Republican presidential
hopeful to jump on the flat-tax bandwagon, hoping to reach
out to the party’s tax-cut wing to boost his campaign amid
falling poll numbers.” Thompson’s “tax plan, announced
yesterday, suggests he is finding it easier to build on Bush
policies than to calculate the huge price tag of savings
needed to bring the budget back into balance.” The
“introduction of a voluntary flat tax is a cornerstone of Mr.
Thompson’s proposal. Taxpayers could choose to pay a flat
income tax, which would be charged at two rates: 10% for
joint filers with income up to $100,000 (or $50,000 for
individuals) and 25% on incomes above that.” But those
“who opted for the flat-tax plan, however, wouldn’t be allowed
to take tax credits or deductions including mortgage interest,
and would continue to pay taxes on capital gains and
dividends.”
On Fox News Sunday (11/25, Wallace), Thompson
said, “It’s maintaining the tax cuts that we had in 2001, 2003.
It’s eliminating the death penalty. It’s reducing the corporate
tax rate. … Another major [provision] is an adoption,
basically, of the approach that the House Republican study
group has that would give taxpayers an option of continuing
to file the way they do now or filing under a flatter plan where
you only have two rates, but no exemptions past the personal
exemption and no deductions.”
The AP (11/25) reports Thompson’s proposal “would
allow filers to remain under the current, complex tax code or
use the flat tax rates.” Asked whether “the plan would cut too
deeply into federal revenues,” Thompson said “experts
‘always overestimate the losses to the government’ when
taxes are cut.” Thompson “added that money would be
saved by his Social Security reform plan. He proposed that
workers younger than 58 receive smaller monthly Social
While Giuliani Decries Earmarks, His Firm
Helps Secure Them. Bloomberg (11/26, Salant)
reports, “On the campaign trail, Rudy Giuliani rails against
congressional spending set aside for lawmakers' pet projects.
In Washington, his law firm fights to obtain them.” Giuliani
“last month pledged to ‘get rid of’ so-called earmarks, which
cost taxpayers about $13 billion this year, saying his party
should promote ‘fiscal discipline.’ Just weeks later, Bracewell
& Giuliani LLP won $3 million worth of projects for its clients
in defense-spending legislation.” Bloomberg notes, “In all,
Bracewell & Giuliani sought federal earmarks for 14
companies this year, 11 of which hired the firm after Giuliani
joined in March 2005, Senate records show. … The defensespending legislation approved this month by Congress
contained funding for three of those clients,” including “$1
million for Buffalo, New York-based Calspan Corp. for a
program to help military pilots control their aircraft; $1.2
million for Charlotte, North Carolina-based United Protective
Technologies LLC, for developing protective treatments for
helicopter windshields; and $800,000 for Burlingame,
California-based AtHoc Inc., for an Air Force emergencynotification system. The companies paid Houston-based
Bracewell $140,000 during the first six months of 2007,
Senate records show.”
Giuliani Said To Have A “Soft Spot” For “Bad
Cops.” Newsweek (11/25, Thomas, Smalley, 3.12M), in its
cover story profile of Rudy Giuliani, describes Giuliani’s
controversial participation in a 1992 NYPD protest of then
NYC mayor David Dinkins. According to Newsweek, “video
shows him wildly gesticulating and shouting a profanity-laced
14
Thompson Accuses Fox News Of Bias Against
His Campaign. The Politico (11/25, Allen) reports
Security checks than they are now promised. Individuals
could contribute 2 percent of their paycheck to a personal
retirement account, an amount that would be matched by the
Social Security trust fund.”
The Washington Post (11/26, A5, Birnbaum, Shear,
723K) reports Thompson “proposed yesterday extending
President Bush’s tax cuts, due to expire in 2011, and revising
the personal income tax system to stimulate economic
growth.” But the “announcement of his economic plan on
national television was overshadowed when he later accused
Fox News of trying to ‘take down’ his presidential campaign.”
Thompson “called for repealing the alternative minimum tax
and lowering the corporate tax rate to no more than 27
percent, from the current 35 percent.” Thompson also “said
that he would change the current income tax system to one
that includes just two tax rates and strips away tax deductions
and credits.”
The Washington Times (11/26, Lengell, 87K) reports
Thompson’s proposal “contains no other tax credits or
deductions and would retain the 15 percent tax rate on capital
gains and dividends. The plan, based on a proposal from the
House Republican Study Committee, also would give
taxpayers the option of remaining under the current tax code.”
Bloomberg (11/26, Chipman) reports, “A two-and-halfpage ‘white paper,’ obtained by Bloomberg News, contains
no details of how the lost revenue would be offset. Mark
Esper, the Thompson campaign's domestic policy director,
said the tax cuts would in part ‘pay for themselves’ and are a
‘stepping stone’ toward a broader tax overhaul. He said he
couldn't yet provide details of revenue-raising plans. When
asked on Fox about offsetting the loss of revenue, Thompson
cited his proposal to overhaul Social Security, which he said
would save the government $4.7 trillion. ‘The spending is
going to have to be addressed on the basis of our entitlement
difficulties,’ he said.”
The New York Sun (11/26, Berman) reports that
Thompson’s “tax proposals drew a mix of praise and
skepticism from influential advocates of fiscal conservatism.
The president of the Club for Growth, Pat Toomey, said in a
statement that Mr. Thompson's support for an optional flat tax
set him apart from other Republican hopefuls. He called the
proposals ‘the kind of plan economic conservatives can rally
around.’ The president of Americans for Tax Reform, Grover
Norquist, said in an interview that Mr. Thompson's backing of
the optional flat tax was ‘extremely helpful’ but that his plan
was not achievable with Democrats holding majorities in
Congress. ‘The bad news is it's an imaginary wish list of
things you would do if [Republicans] had control of the House
and the Senate and the presidency,’ Mr. Norquist said. He
reiterated his call for Mr. Thompson to sign the group's
pledge to oppose any tax increases as president. ‘What's
missing is: What if you're on defense?’ he said.”
Thompson “attacked Fox News on Sunday for what he called
a ‘constant mantra’ that his floundering campaign for
president is troubled, and he accused the network of skewing
things against him.” Though he “certainly isn’t the first
politician to make that accusation,” he was “the first highprofile Republican to do so.” The assertion was “arresting
because Fox News was frequently Thompson’s forum of
choice when he was contemplating a campaign and as he
tried to find his footing after he announced.” He made the
charge “on ‘Fox News Sunday,’ in a heated exchange with
host Chris Wallace, who played clips of Fox commentators
saying his campaign had been a disappointment.”
Asked on Fox News Sunday (11/25, Wallace) to explain
the perception that he has failed to gain traction in the polls
thus far, former Sen. Fred Thompson replied, “This has been
a constant mantra of Fox, to tell you the truth. And I saw the
promo for this show, and it was kind of featuring the New
Hampshire poll. … From day one, they said I got in too late, I
couldn’t do it. … They’re entitled to their opinion. But that
doesn’t seem to be shared by the cross-section of American
people. If you look at the national polls, you’ll see that I’m
running second and have been running second for a long
time.” Thompson went to reproach host Chris Wallace for
“highlight[ing] nothing but the negative in terms of these polls,
and then put on your own guys, who have been predicting for
four months, really, that I couldn’t do it, you know, kind of
skews things a little bit. … You have the right to put in your
one side, and put in the Fox side, and I have the right to
respond to it. And thankfully, you’ve given me that
opportunity.”
The Washington Post (11/26, A5, Birnbaum, Shear,
723K) reports when “the camera returned to Thompson, he
was visibly angry. ‘This has been a constant mantra of Fox,
to tell you the truth,’ he said.”
The Hill (11/26, Cusak) reports that Wallace “denied to
Thompson that ‘Fox has been going after you’ and asked, ‘Do
you know anybody who thinks you've run a great campaign,
sir?’ Thompson responded, ‘It's not for me to come here and
try to convince you that somebody else thinks I've run a great
campaign.’ He added that National Review magazine has
praised him for issuing detailed policy proposals on Social
Security and immigration. Following the sharp exchange, a
smiling Wallace said, ‘I'm glad I asked the question because I
got a heck of an answer.’”
Thompson Criticizes Giuliani’s Gun Control Record.
On Fox News Sunday (11/25, Wallace), Thompson said,
“Somebody asked me a question about gun control, and I
said ‘Rudy was mayor of New York and apparently felt like
gun control was a great idea back then.’ He says it was
because he was representing New York. But I don’t
15
think…New York City has necessarily the same values as the
rest of America.”
Thompson Defends His Position On Abortion. On
Fox News Sunday (11/25, Wallace), Thompson was asked
how he, as a pro-life candidate, could support allowing
individual states to keep abortion legal were Roe v. Wade
overturned. Thompson responded, “Because of Roe vs.
Wade, all states are restricted from passing rules that they
otherwise would maybe like to pass with regard to this area.
If you abolish Roe vs. Wade, you’re going to allow every state
to pass reasonable rules that they might see fit to pass.
When we had control of the House, had control of the Senate,
had control of the presidency, there wasn’t a serious effort to
put forth a constitutional amendment because people knew
that it couldn’t pass. What I’ve been talking about is directing
our energy toward something that was halfway practical,
something that might, could get done.”
the appropriate thing. So it’s not just about where we are
now, it is where we have been and where we can be
predicted to be if we’re elected president. People are looking
for not just authenticity, but consistency.”
Novak Says Huckabee A False Conservative. In his
column in the Washington Post (11/26, A15, 723K), Robert
Novak says Huckabee is “campaigning as a conservative, but
serious Republicans know that he is a high-tax, protectionist
advocate of big government and a strong hand in the Oval
Office directing the lives of Americans. Until now, they did not
bother to expose the former governor of Arkansas as a false
conservative because he seemed an underfunded, unknown
nuisance candidate. Now that he has pulled even with Mitt
Romney for the Iowa caucuses and might make more
progress, the beleaguered Republican Party has a frightening
problem.” The “danger is a serious contender for the
nomination who passes the litmus test of social conservatives
on abortion, gay marriage and gun control but is far removed
from the conservative-libertarian model of Barry Goldwater
and Ronald Reagan.”
Huckabee Accuses Saudis Of Funding
Terrorism. The AP (11/25) reports that in remarks on
CNN’s Late Edition, Mike Huckabee said “consumers are
financing both sides in the war on terror because of the
actions of U.S. ally Saudi Arabia.” Huckabee “made the
comments following what he suggested was a muted
response by the Bush administration to a Saudi court’s
sentence of six months in jail and 200 lashes for a woman
who was gang raped.” Huckabee said, “The United States
has been far too involved in sort of looking the other way, not
only at the atrocities of human rights and violation of women.
… Every time we put our credit card in the gas pump, we’re
paying so that the Saudis get rich -- filthy, obscenely rich, and
that money then ends up going to funding madrassas
[schools] that train the terrorists. America has allowed itself
to become enslaved to Saudi oil. It’s absurd. It’s
embarrassing.”
Huckabee Highlights Apparent Romney Flip-Flops.
Responding to Mitt Romney’s insinuation that he is a liberal,
Huckabee, appearing on CNN’s Late Edition (11/25, Blitzer),
said, “That would be such a surprise to all of the people in my
state who attacked me all of the years I was lieutenant
governor and governor for being too conservative. But I won
because I was a conservative. … Mitt’s changed his position.
He’s been all over the board. But my conservatism has been
consistent. When he was pro-abortion, I was still pro-life and
always have been. When he was for gun control, I was
against it. When he was against the Bush tax cuts, I was for
them. When he was against Ronald Reagan’s legacy and
said he wasn’t a part of ‘that Bush-Reagan thing,’ I was a part
of that Bush-Reagan thing. And when Mitt was saying that he
was OK with same-sex relationships and would do more for
same-sex couples than Teddy Kennedy, I was taking the
completely different position that same-sex marriages are not
Huckabee Stumps In South Carolina.
The
Greenville (SC) News (11/26, Hoover) reports that Mike
Huckabee “returned to South Carolina this weekend, trying to
ignite a surge like the one in first-voting Iowa that has vaulted
him into a statistical tie for first place. Standing outside the
home of state Sen. David Thomas” in Fountain Inn, SC,
Huckabee “said his gains in Iowa were not solely attributable
to core conservative principles ‘but to actually having a record
for having done something’ in terms of balancing budgets and
making government more efficient. ‘Things like that people
appreciate,’” Huckabee “said, as the last of approximately
200 people filed into Thomas' brick home. … ‘They want
government to be functional; they see it now as
dysfunctional,’ Huckabee said. While Huckabee has surged
in Iowa, where caucuses are set for Jan. 3, polling shows he
remains mired in fifth place in New Hampshire, which votes
on Jan. 8, and South Carolina, Jan. 19.”
Huckabee Says Improved Poll Position Stems
From Iowans’ Response To His Positions.
Speaking on CNN’s Late Edition (11/25), Mike Huckabee
attributed his recent surge in the polls, as indicated by the
latest Washington Post/ABC News poll which shows him as
running very close with Mitt Romney, to “the fact that people
are paying attention to the message, and not what the
national media might be saying about who the frontrunner is.
The people of Iowa have been through this before. This isn’t
their first rodeo.” He continued to tout his positions on the “fair
tax, getting rid of the IRS and taking away the taxes and
penalties on productivity” Huckabee continued to differ with
President Bush on praising Pakistani President Pervez
Musharraf’s commitment to democracy.
16
McCain Criticizes Clinton On Iraq War Ad. On
the Arab League to help stop the killing in Darfur. Nor do
they note that he said during his 1988 Libertarian bid for
president that he would do away with the FBI and CIA,
abolish the public schools, eliminate Social Security and all
farm subsidies, and withdraw from NATO.”
ABC’s This Week With George Stephanopoulos (11/25,
10:13 a.m.), Sen. John McCain was asked to respond to an
released by Sen. Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire accusing
the GOP of unleashing its “attack machine” on her because
“they know that there’s one candidate with the strength and
experience to get us out of Iraq.” McCain responded that he
and Clinton have “fundamental disagreements” on withdrawal
from Iraq, which he characterizes as “catastrophe for the
United States of America.” McCain continued to demure on
whether Clinton or Sen. Barack Obama would be the greater
challenge for the Republicans, labeling them both as
“formidable.”
The Politico (11/25, Bresnahan) reports McCain, “fresh
off his latest visit to Iraq, told This Week’s George
Stephanopoulos that ‘significant progress’ is being made in
reducing sectarian violence thanks to President Bush’s
decision to send an additional 30,000 U.S. combat troops to
the war zone.” McCain, who “is trying to ride the improved
security situation in Iraq to an improved standing in the polls,
took shots at several Democratic candidates, including Sen.
Hillary Clinton (N.Y.) and former Sen. John Edwards (N.C.),
for their suggestion that the United States should begin
withdrawing its forces from Iraq soon.” McCain said, “Is that
the same Sen. Clinton that said she had to suspend disbelief
in order to acknowledge to that the strategy of the surge was
succeeding? Clearly, it’s succeeding. You would have to
suspend disbelief to believe that it’s not.” The Politico adds
that on “the same ABC program, New Mexico Gov. Bill
Richardson (D), who has advocated a complete U.S.
withdrawal from Iraq, pointed out that dozens of Americans
continue to be killed every month in Iraq, in spite of a lower
overall level of violence.”
African-Americans Pastors, GOP Still Have
Little Common Ground. The Washington Post (11/26,
A4, Williams, 723K) reports Pastor Harry R. Jackson Jr. of
Hope Christian Church in Prince George’s County, “head of a
group of socially conservative black pastors called the High
Impact Leadership Coalition, in many ways personifies the
possibilities that Republican strategists such as Karl Rove
have seen in appealing to the social conservatism of many
African American churchgoers. Blacks overwhelmingly
identify themselves as Democrats and typically support
Democratic candidates, but optimists in the GOP think one
way to become a majority party is to peel off a sizable
segment of black voters by finding common ground on social
issues.” During the “last presidential election cycle, Jackson
prayed for Bush and crisscrossed the country pressing
conservative social issues. Now he’s pushing an issues
agenda rather than ‘carrying the water for the Republican
party,’ he said. ‘They are not reliable enough.’”
NATIONAL NEWS
Holiday Shopping Strong Over Big Weekend,
But Some See Troubling Signs. Reports continue to
come in on the financial results of the Thanksgiving weekend
start of the holiday shopping season. Stories say results
were mixed, with many buyers turning out but spending less,
and with big discounts skewing the totals and suggesting this
might not be an entirely strong year for retailers. Some
stories also note that today is “Cyber Monday,” the day many
consumers returning from the long holiday weekend will do a
lot of online holiday shopping.
NBC Nightly News (11/25, story 8, 1:40, Robach,
9.87M) reported, “The numbers are in, detailing how many of
you flooded stores this weekend for the official start of the
holiday shopping season, but the bigger number may be how
much did these avid shoppers, many of whom are bargain
hunters, spend?” CNBC’s Carl Quintanilla: “The malls were a
little bit more crowded [as] 147 million shoppers went to the
malls. That is about 4.8% more than last year, a pretty solid
number, but the catch: The average consumer spent about
$347. That is down from last year.” On its front page, USA
Today (11/26, 1A, Fetterman, 2.28M) says consumers
“bought smaller gifts and spent less per person than they did
last year.” While the average amount spent, $347.44, was
“down 3.5% from a year ago,” consumers “who earn under
$50,000 a year spent even less: $263.73.” Still, the AP
Rothenberg Says Media Overlooking Paul’s
“Kooky” Views. In his Roll Call (11/26) column, Stuart
Rothenberg says Rep. Ron Paul has “unintentionally exposed
the over-hype that accompanies much of the talk about
politics and the Internet. Paul has been doing well in postdebate call-ins and Internet ‘polls’ for months, and his Web
site has been scoring more hits than a bong at a Grateful
Dead concert. Recently, he received a wave of publicity
because of a single day of fundraising, when some 35,000
contributors gave more than $4 million to the Congressman’s
presidential bid.” But “big-sounding numbers can be
deceiving, and politics is more about breadth of support than
depth. Ultimately, elections are about winning votes, not Web
visitors or even campaign dollars.” The “result is that many in
the national media have treated Paul casually,” but “you hear
very little about his kooky votes.” Hardly anyone is “bothering
to talk about his votes against resolutions calling on the
government of Vietnam to release political prisoners and on
17
(11/25, D’Innocenzio) reports Bill Martin of buyer tracking firm
ShopperTrak said, “This was a really good start. ... There
seemed to be a lot of pent-up demand.” The Washington
Post (11/26, A9, Mui, 723K) says Phil Rist of research firm
BigResearch agreed, saying, “The holiday season is off to a
good start.”
The Wall Street Journal (11/26, B1, Tan, McWilliams,
Merrick, 2.06M) reports online sales “were especially strong”
on Friday, “rising 22% to $531 million,” while “online sales for
Nov. 1 through Friday totaled $9.36 billion, 17% more than
last year.” The New York Times (11/26, C1, Barbaro, 1.18M)
says the “discounting in brick-and-mortar stores will spill over
onto the Web starting today. In a departure from tradition,
dozens of Web retailers will offer free shipping, no matter how
small the order, for Cyber Monday.” Research firm
ComScore “predicted that online sales might surpass $700
million today, a record for a single day.”
ABC World News (11/25, story 10, 2:50, Harris, 8.78M)
closed its Sunday evening newscast with a feature on a “man
who is on a crusade to get Americans to stop shopping.”
Fears Of Recession Continue To Grow. The Wall
Street Journal (11/26, A1, McKay, Evans, 2.06M) reports on
its front page that “battered stock and bond markets are
sending an increasingly ominous signal that a U.S. recession
could be near.” But the markets “haven’t swayed Federal
Reserve officials and most private economists from their view
that the nation’s economy can escape a downturn and get
back on a steadier course.” While the Dow Jones Industrial
Average was up Friday, it is “8.4% below its all-time high, set
in October.” USA Today (11/26, 2B, 2.28M) says a bear
market -- a decline of at least 20 percent -- may be looming.
USA Today (11/26, 1B, 2.28M) reports that the housing
crisis is having a “domino effect” on the economy. As the
“crisis seeps into farther-flung corners of the economy, more
of us will find it harder -- and costlier -- to borrow money. The
value of the funds in our retirement accounts could shrink.
People with subpar credit will likely find it more difficult to
qualify for auto and home-equity loans. Even consumers
who make the cut may need higher credit scores and more
documentation.” This will make consumers less likely to “buy
cars, boats and other big-ticket items,” which could help
“plunge the economy into a recession.” The Financial Times
(11/26, Tett, Hughes) quotes Peter Sutherland of Goldman
Sachs International saying, “The US economy is in a mess.
… I think we are going to go through next year, certainly the
first half of next year, with considerable traumas.”
Summers Outlines Steps To Try To Ward Off
Recession. In a Financial Times (11/26) op-ed, former
Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers writes, “The odds
now favour a US recession that slows growth significantly on
a global basis. Without stronger policy responses than have
been observed to date, moreover, there is the risk that the
adverse impacts will be felt for the rest of this decade and
beyond.” Summers says “maintaining demand must be the
over-arching macro-economic priority,” policymakers “need to
articulate a clear strategy addressing the various pressures
leading to contractions in credit,” and that “there needs to be
a comprehensive approach taken to maintaining demand in
the housing market to the maximum extent possible. … All of
this may not be enough to avert a recession. But it is much
more than is under way right now.”
Krugman Says Unemployment Different Today
Than In 1990s. In his New York Times (11/26, A23, 1.18M)
column, Paul Krugman writes, “The response of those who
support the Bush administration’s economic policies is to
complain about the unfairness of it all. They rattle off
statistics that supposedly show how wonderful the economy
really is. Many of these statistics are misleading or irrelevant,
but it’s true that the official unemployment rate is fairly low by
historical standards. So why are people so unhappy? … The
unemployment rate in 1998 was only slightly lower than the
unemployment rate today. But for working Americans,
everything else was different. Wages were rising, yet inflation
was low, so the purchasing power of workers’ take-home pay
was steadily improving. So, too, were job benefits, including
the availability of health insurance. And homeownership was
rising steadily.”
OPEC Members May Check Rise In Oil Prices With
Output Boost. The Wall Street Journal (11/26, C5, Nguyen,
Swartz, 2.06M) reports, “As oil prices continue to flirt with
record territory, traders are contending with a potential price
damper: increased output from” OPEC members. The
Journal adds, “Two reports late last week showed that OPEC
is expected to boost oil production -- according to one source
of data, by as much as 720,000 barrels a day in the four
weeks to Dec. 8 -- as Saudi Arabia steps up deliveries to the
U.S. Swelling OPEC exports could cool oil prices, which
touched a record nominal high of $99.29 a barrel last week
on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Light, sweet crude
for January delivery settled up 89 cents at $98.18 a barrel, a
record for a front-month contract.”
Loophole Allows Members Of Congress More
Overseas Trips. According to Roll Call (11/26, Van
Dongen), “Trips to foreign locales such as Saudi Arabia and
Canada may be on the rise despite the implementation of
new gift and travel rules that prohibit most travel covered by
private funding sources. That’s because a little-known
loophole still allows lawmakers and staffers to accept travel
underwritten directly by foreign countries through the Mutual
Educational and Cultural Exchange Act,” which is “run by” the
State Department’s Office of Public Diplomacy and Public
Affairs “managed by Karen Hughes, a longtime adviser to
President Bush who recently announced her plans to leave
the administration for a second time. … The trips, which
18
outside experts said may now be increasing because of new
travel rules, are extremely difficult to track and follow. And
they are so low-profile that many government watchdog
groups did not know anything about them.”
that suck less power. The right combination of saving energy
and investing in new forms will pay dividends for the world.”
Nations Said To Be Far From United On Climate
Change. Washington Post (11/26, A15, 723K) columnist
Sebastian Mallaby writes, “The good news on climate change
is that the world wants to do something.” But “fine
sentiments” won’t “matter unless a critical mass of countries
unites around a real policy. And unity is miles away.” It is
“great that the world wants to act on global warming, and it’s
remarkable how fast the mood has changed. But we are a
long way from clarity and honesty. As deadlocked trade
diplomacy tells us, it’s one thing for the nations of the world to
declare that they want action. Brokering the compromises
that make action possible is altogether harder.”
DHS Official Says Ignoring Illegal Workers
Would Create “Silent Amnesty.” DHS Assistant
Secretary for Policy Stewart Baker, in a letter to the Wall
Street Journal (11/26, 2.06M) writes that Nom Nassif was
“commendably candid” in complaining in a Nov. 20 op-ed that
plans to crackdown on the employment of workers with
mismatched Social Security numbers would “force employers
to obey the law and to resolve the mismatches for illegal
workers.” Baker continues that while DHS agrees with Nassif
“that there is a shortage of legal workers for agriculture,” the
solution for this is comprehensive immigration reform, not a
situation in which DHS allows “businesses to close their eyes
to the legality of their work force. That would amount to a
silent amnesty. This sort of connivance with illegal work is
exactly what has bred deep public cynicism about whether
government really intends to enforce the law. The answer is
that we will continue to enforce the law as it is, even as we try
to make changes to the law that will enhance legal pathways
for agricultural workers.”
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Bush Not Expected To Take Active Role In
Mideast Talks. While President Bush and Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice are preparing to host Mideast talks
in Annapolis this week, the Los Angeles Times (11/26, A1,
Richter, 881K) says on its front page that the President does
not plan to take an “activist” role. Under the headline “Bush
To Stay On Sidelines Of Mideast Talks,” the Times reports
Bush’s national security advisor “said Sunday that the
president would not adopt a more activist role…even though
many observers believe the United States must step up its
direct involvement if the effort is to succeed.” Speaking to
reporters Sunday night, Stephen J. Hadley “said Bush
believed Washington’s role should be to aid and encourage
Israelis and Palestinians, not ‘lean on one side or another and
jam a settlement through.’” History, he said, “has suggested
that those efforts to jam have not worked.” However, while
the President’s position “is likely to reassure Israeli Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert, who is politically weak at home and
fearful that tough concessions could bring about his
government’s collapse,” it will “almost surely disappoint the
delegation headed by Palestinian Authority President
Mahmoud Abbas, which has been hoping American pressure
could force Israeli concessions.” In addition, Bush’s less
involved role “is likely to displease many of the Arab and
European governments attending the conference that have
been urging a more active role.”
In an analysis, the AP (11/25, Loven) says that “two key
questions” about this week’s meetings “are how much Bush
himself will become involved and how much good he could
do during the final year in the White House after a hands-off
history.” Though “past presidents staked much on the Middle
East,” Bush, “for a host of reasons…has behaved differently.
There was his inclination to discard all things Clinton, coupled
with the recognition that past intensive efforts…had not paid
off. The Sept. 11 attacks and the Iraq war drew the bulk of the
Northern Hemisphere On Pace For Warmest
Year On Record. On its front page, USA Today (11/26,
1A, Rice, 2.28M) reports, “The Northern Hemisphere is the
warmest this year since record-keeping started 127 years
ago, according to the National Climatic Data Center.
Temperatures for January through October averaged 1.3
degrees above the norm. If the trend continues, the year
could break the record for the warmest set in 2005. ... The
Southern Hemisphere is its ninth-warmest since recordkeeping began, the center said. Worldwide, this is the thirdwarmest year through October.”
Energy Efficiency Seen As Key To Curbing Carbon
Emissions. In its sole editorial this morning, the Los Angeles
Times (11/26, 881K) writes, “Energy efficiency is the fastest,
safest and cheapest method currently available for cutting
carbon emissions. ... To make really hefty efficiency gains,
the U.S. must follow California’s lead in restructuring
incentives for utilities, and regulatory agencies should do
much more to encourage important innovations such as
cogeneration plants.” The Times adds, “Fighting global
warming doesn’t have to derail the economy, or even slow it
much. Some of the costs of the expensive fixes, such as
developing renewable power, capturing carbon from coalburning plants and refining better bio-fuels, can be offset by
the savings from efficiency measures such as better
insulation, tougher fuel economy standards and appliances
19
White House’s attention.” Along similar lines, the Washington
Post (11/26, A13, Abramowitz, 723K) writes under the
headline “For Bush, It’s Not About Being There” that “the
opening of Tuesday’s Middle East conference in Annapolis,
seven years into the Bush administration, is a reminder of
how little the traditional concept of brokering an Arab-Israeli
settlement through an ongoing ‘peace process’ has figured
into…Bush’s foreign policy. Another is Bush’s near-absence
from the Middle East during his presidency. He has traveled
to the region four times, but two of those visits were one-day
trips to Iraq, and one was for a meeting with Iraqi Prime
Minister Nouri al-Maliki.” USA Today (11/26, 8A, Jackson,
2.28M) this morning also publishes “a look at Bush’s
comments on the region in advance of US efforts this week to
jump-start talks toward a Palestinian state.”
Annapolis Talks Seen As Chance For Bush, Rice To
Cement Legacy. A number of news articles this morning
examine the role the Annapolis talks, and a potential Mideast
peace deal, would play in cementing both President Bush
and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s legacy.
McClatchy (11/26, Strobel), for example, reports under the
headline “Can Rice Save Her Legacy With ‘Hail Mary’ Pass?”
that Rice “became secretary of state almost three years ago
with strong support from President Bush, glamorous reviews
in the news media and high hopes from America’s diplomats.
Since then, Pakistani strongman Pervez Musharraf has
ignored her pleas and imposed emergency rule, throwing a
key counterterrorism ally into turmoil. In Russia, the country
Rice prides herself on knowing best, she and Bush appear to
have badly misread President Vladimir Putin, who’s restored
autocratic rule and his country’s rivalry with America. Her
drive for Middle East democracy has stalled in Lebanon and
elsewhere, and other big issues, including the environment
and relations with East Asia, have been relegated to the back
burner.” Now, Rice “is hoping to rewrite her legacy in the
next 14 months, beginning with what amounts to a Hail Mary
pass” at this week’s talks in Annapolis. McClatchy notes that
“more than any other Bush administration initiative, the
conference to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace is Rice’s,
with Bush mostly supporting from the sidelines.”
On its front page, the New York Times (11/26, A1,
Bumiller, 1.18M) reports under the headline “Rice’s
Turnabout On Mideast Peace Talks” that “nearly seven
tumultuous years” after Bush took office, Rice “has led the
Bush administration to a startling turnaround and is now
thrusting the United States as forcefully as Mr. Clinton once
did into the role of mediator between the Israelis and
Palestinians.” For Rice, the Annapolis meeting “reflects her
evolution from passive participant to activist diplomat who has
been willing to break with [Vice President Dick] Cheney and
other conservatives skeptical of an American diplomatic role
in the Middle East.” According to aids, Rice’s “thinking on the
Middle East changed for several reasons,” including
“increasing pressure to get involved in the peace negotiations
from European and Arab leaders whose support she needs
for the campaign of diplomatic and economic pressures on
Iran.” In addition, Rice “is determined to fashion a legacy in
the Middle East that extends beyond the war in Iraq.”
The Baltimore Sun (11/25, Little, 252K), similarly, said
that “while the Bush administration has worked to suppress
expectations for the Middle East peace conference Tuesday
in Annapolis, observers say the professional and political
stakes for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are much
harder to minimize.” Though “an outcome resembling
success could restore some of the former Stanford
professor’s diplomatic credibility, they say, and perhaps add a
line to her career’s postscript that doesn’t contain the word
‘Iraq,’” something “less than success could extinguish
whatever progress she has fostered as the president’s top
diplomat in the past three years, and perhaps worsen
relations with a part of the world considered vital to American
security and foreign policy.”
Under the headline “Talks On Mideast Peace Come
Full Circle,” the Financial Times (11/26, Khalaf) says the
talks, “For some observers…carries echoes of Camp David,
where former US President Bill Clinton brought together the
late Palestinian President Yassir Arafat and the Israeli prime
minister at the time, Ehud Barak, to agree on a final
settlement.” But “Annapolis, in fact, is a far more humble
peace-making effort than Camp David. Its objective is not to
close a deal, but to resume political negotiations on the key
issues separating the two sides.”
Rice Using Close Relationship With Bush To
“Prod” Him “Toward Diplomacy.” A New York Times
(11/26, A10, Bumiller, 1.18M) article published today,
adapted from “Condoleezza Rice: An American Life” (a book
to be published next month), examines Bush and Rice’s
“unusually tight bond,” which “has helped her as secretary of
state in his second term to prod the president toward
diplomacy with Iran and North Korea. But administration
officials have long said that her devotion to Mr. Bush made
her unwilling to challenge the president when needed during
his first term, when she served as a less than confident
national security adviser.” And “in recent months, Ms. Rice
has gone so often to Mr. Bush to push him on diplomacy with
Iran and North Korea that he has started to needle her that
she expects him to talk to people like [Iranian President]
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad…or Kim Jong-il, the North Korean
leader whom Mr. Bush has said he loathes.”
Kristol Says Rice “Obsessed” With Israel-Palestine
Settlement. The Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol, appearing on
Fox News Sunday (11/25, Wallace), said Rice would be “welladvised to keep the expectations down. And I think she
would be well-advised, frankly, to remember that she’s
secretary of state of the United States, and we have a lot of
things to accomplish in the Middle East. Syria has to be
20
prevented from killing Lebanese politicians and destabilizing
Lebanon. Saudi Arabia could do much more to help in Iraq,
where we’re succeeding, but the Saudis still haven’t opened
an embassy and still haven’t cut off the flow of the jihadists.
… And I’m just worried that she’s been so focused personally
on this. Pakistan’s kind of an important place. She’s
delegated that to the deputy secretary of state. Iran’s nuclear
program -- that’s been delegated to Nick Burns, the numberthree person in the State Department. … So I just hope she’s
not so obsessed with this hope for a legacy of an IsraelPalestinian settlement that she’s ignoring an awful lot of other
important diplomacy that has to happen in the Middle East.”
Huckabee Skeptical Of Two-State Solution. Mike
Huckabee was asked on CNN’s Late Edition (11/25, Blitzer) if
he believes it is a good idea for the Bush administration “to try
to jump start the Israeli-Palestinian peace process,”
Huckabee answered, “I don’t think it’s ever a bad idea to try
to get parties to discuss the ramifications of a world that
continues to spiral out of control.” Asked if he thinks Israel
should “give up the West Bank,” Huckabee responded, “No, I
don’t think so. I have been to Israel nine times. … It would
be very problematic for Israel to give up the West Bank, from
their own standpoint of security. The same thing with the
Golan Heights -- giving up the Golan Heights makes most of
Galilee a sitting target. And it would be a very problematic
concern for Israeli security.” Pressed as to whether he
agrees with President Bush in Supporting a “two-state
solution,” Huckabee said, “I would want to see where that
side-by-side exists…because if you do something that puts
the Israelis in a position of ultimate vulnerability, that may not
be a healthy solution.”
Romney Has Low Expectations For Talks. The AP
(11/26, Frothingham) reports that in Keene, NH on Sunday,
Mitt Romney said that “he does not expect much to come
from this week's Middle East peace talks in Annapolis, Md. ‘I
always like people to talk to each other and I'm hopeful, but
I'm not terribly optimistic about it,’ Romney…said in answer to
an audience question. Romney said progress at Annapolis
was unlikely because Palestinians are fighting each other and
have not shown they have the ability to form a stable and
secure government. ‘It's very difficult to establish peace
when you don't have somebody across the table who has
responsibility and can manage their side of the table,’ he said.
‘My expectations are modest because of [the Palestinians']
inability to really follow the road map.’ Romney went on to
say that the wider challenge is to control ‘jihadist extremism’
around the world, from the Philippines to Nigeria.”
Zinni Says Implementation Of Any Agreement Will
Prove Difficult. Former CENTCOM chief Anthony Zinni, on
CBS’s Face the Nation (11/25, Schieffer), said, “We could get
an agreement, but the implementation is going to be
extremely difficult and has to be orchestrated. … Recruiting
for extremists could go up if the sense of despair took hold
and yet another failed attempt at this.” Zinni added that
process will likely continue “into the next administration. And I
think this administration ought to be satisfied that that would
be a success if they have a process that continues on and is
progressing into the next administration.”
More Commentary. New York Times (11/26, 1.18M)
columnist Roger Cohen writes, “President Bush is on the exit
track. It’s time to rectify the fundamental error he made in
allowing war-on-terror rhetoric to discredit the Palestinian
national movement.” Now that Bush is “overcoming his
Clinton angst” and “has summoned the parties to Annapolis”
where “what’s present in abundance is desperation. Bush
must use it.” The Palestinians, he says, “are desperate
because they are at a dead end,” while “Israeli desperation is
quieter. The economy has blossomed, but not the Israeli
soul.” Still, Cohen says Bush “faces Palestinian weakness
and compromised Israeli strength. He must offset weakness
by standing with the Palestinians on core demands. He must
insist on Israeli sacrifice -- territorial and ideological -- in the
name of US-guaranteed security. ‘Without peace,’ Bush
should tell the Israelis, ‘the Arab birth rate and the jihadist tide
will eventually wash over you.’”
Syria To Attend Annapolis Talks. As President
Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice prepare for
the Annapolis Mideast talks, Syria announced on Sunday that
it will attend the meeting. ABC World News (11/25, story 4,
2:00, Harris, 8.78M) hailed the announced from Damascus as
“a victory in and of itself, before the meeting even starts.”
ABC (Karl) added, “It’s a big deal, a clean sweep:
Representatives from every major nation in the Arab world
coming to this meeting. And many of those nations don’t
have diplomatic relations with Israel. But there are limits…the
Saudis, even as they said they were sending their foreign
minister, made it clear he will not shake hands with the
Israelis.” Asked about the chances for “any real results out of
this meeting,” ABC’s Jonathan Karl said: “We’ve probably
already seen the biggest result, which is that the meeting is
even happening. Secretary Rice has been saying that this is
a launching pad, the beginning of negotiations, but they have
set a broad and very ambitious long-term goal here for the
Bush administration: the creation of a Palestinian state by the
end of this presidency.” The New York Times (11/26, A11,
Erlanger, 1.18M) also calls the announcement “a victory for
the Bush administration.” Miri Eisin, spokeswoman for Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel, “said, ‘The Saudi and Syrian
presence is very important and is an American success.’
While the Syrians are not sending the foreign minister -- a
diplomatic distinction that has meaning -- Ms. Eisin said that
from Israel’s point of view, the rank of the representative was
much less important than the Syrian presence.”
The Washington Post (11/26, A10, Wilson, 723K),
meanwhile, says the move “amounts to a diplomatic
21
compromise by the Syrians, who had demanded that the
return of the Golan Heights from Israel be placed on the
meeting’s agenda in return for their participation. It is unclear
how that issue will be addressed at the one-day conference
Tuesday, so Syrian officials decided to send a delegation led
by Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad to express its
reservations.” White House officials “reacted coolly to the
news of Syria’s acceptance and sought to play down any
hope that the status of the Golan Heights would be a focus of
the discussions.”
Meanwhile, NBC Nightly News (11/25, story 3, 0:40,
Robach, 9.87M) reported, “The White House is already
downplaying expectations of any breakthroughs.” Noting
President Bush’s meeting today with Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, AP
(11/25, Gearan) reports says “their three-way handshake is
expected to be the conference’s symbolic high point.” As
preparations get underway in the US for the talks, Israeli and
Palestinian negotiators were meeting with Secretary Rice
“and her deputy for the Mideast region, still trying to write a
framework for talks that their US hosts had hoped would be
complete by now.” But in an interview with the AP, Rice’s
spokesman “said the last-minute work is not surprising.”
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, “‘We’re
confident there will be a document and we’ll get to Annapolis
in good shape on that,’ but bargaining may well continue
behind the scenes during the session Tuesday.” The Los
Angeles Times (11/26, Haydar, Boudreaux, 881K) and
Washington Times (11/26, Mitnick, 87K) also report the
development.
Iran Seen Overshadowing Conference.
The
Christian Science Monitor (11/26, LaFranchi, 58K) reports,
“When the Bush administration holds a meeting this week to
formally relaunch the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, one
uninvited guest will be looming large over everyone’s
shoulder: Iran.” The “incredibly shrinking 24-hour gathering”
is “in no small measure a result of the rise of Iran and its
brand of radical Islam in the Middle East.” Still, “The idea that
a convergence created by a fear of Iran could compel the
parties to make unprecedented concessions has ‘elements of
truth,’ says Dennis Ross, a fellow at the Washington Institute
for Near East Policy and former peace-process coordinator
for the Clinton administration. But that vision, he says, fails to
grasp another reality: that Iran’s rise is seen by many in the
region through the ‘prism’ of the Sunni-Shiite divide.”
Security Increased Ahead Of Meeting.
The
Washington Times (11/26, Wagner, 87K) reports police in
Washington, DC “say they will use rolling street closures
today to protect and help move diplomats attending the first
day of the Middle East peace talks.” In Annapolis, the
Federal Aviation Administration “is keeping commercial and
private flights away 2 nautical miles horizontally and 4,000
feet vertically” from the Naval Academy. In addition, Coast
Guard officials “will likely impose restrictions on traveling near
the mouth” of the Severn River.
The Washington Post (11/26, B1, Vogel, McVaffrey,
723K) reports “symbolism was a major reason that Annapolis,
the 300-year-old city on the Severn River, was chosen as the
setting for the conference.” Secretary Rice “wanted
something that was unmistakably American, that had a strong
historic provenance,” Besanceney said in an interview.
“Certainly, Annapolis fit those criteria very well,” he added.
More Commentary. Princeton professor and author
Bernard Lewis writes in a Wall Street Journal (11/26, 2.06M)
op-ed that though “there are signs of change in some Arab
circles, of a willingness to accept Israel and even to see the
possibility of a positive Israeli contribution to the public life of
the region. But such opinions are only furtively expressed.
Sometimes, those who dare to express them are jailed or
worse. These opinions have as yet little or no impact on the
leadership.” Lewis cautions that “if the issue is not the size of
Israel, but its existence, negotiations are foredoomed. And in
light of the past record, it is clear that is and will remain the
issue, until the Arab leadership either achieves or renounces
its purpose -- to destroy Israel. Both seem equally unlikely for
the time being.”
“Surge Of Violence” Reported In Baghdad. NBC
Nightly News (11/25, story 4, 0:40, Robach, 9.87M) reported,
“A surge of violence has shattered the recent relative calm in
Baghdad. At least three bombings left ten people dead and
wounded three dozen. US forces also report detaining two
dozen gunmen in operations targeting Al Qaeda militants
around the country.”
The AP (11/25) says “a recent uptick in violence in Iraq
continued Sunday as a parked car bomb exploded in a
crowded area near a medical complex, killing at least nine
people and wounding more than 30.”
Allawi Claims Maliki Is Thwarting Progress In
Anbar. Former Iraqi prime minister Ayad Allawi, on CNN’s
Late Edition (11/25, Blitzer), said, “I think we’re still lacking on
the political side. … I would like to mention, that the so-called
‘awakening’ in the various provinces and various parts of Iraq
is not part and parcel of the government. It’s independent
groups in various provinces who are cooperating with the
American forces and with the multinational forces, and that’s
why we see a reverse pattern in Anbar and Mosul and Diyala
and Kut. And maybe we’ll see this in Karbala.” Allawi
claimed the Iraqi government “declared some time ago that
they are against the so-called awakening in Anbar. And I
think unless we integrate what is happening in Anbar into the
system, into the government, into the political process, then
we’ll end up in having various militias running the various
provinces throughout the country, unfortunately. That’s why
we need to see an integration of this process. I explained this
to Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Baghdad a few
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weeks in Baghdad over dinner at my house, and said that
unless these people are integrated, the government would
remain outside this process and the result will be in producing
more militias and warlords.”
Graham
Calls
Surge
“Most
Successful
Counterinsurgency Military Operation In History.” Sen.
Lindsey Graham, appearing on Fox News Sunday (11/25,
Wallace), said the surge is “working amazingly well, beyond
my expectations. I think history will judge the surge as
probably the most successful counterinsurgency military
operation in history. Violence is down. Economic activity is
up. It’s not just about more troops. It’s how the troops are
used. So hats off to General Petraeus and all under his
command. You’re making military history and a phenomenal
success. I was amazed, really.”
Democrats Point To Lack Of Corresponding
Political Progress. Sen. Carl Levin, appearing on Fox News
Sunday (11/25, Wallace), said “the surge’s purpose was to
give the Iraqi political leaders the breathing space to work out
a political settlement, and that purpose has not been
achieved. They’re just as far apart as ever. … It was the
Maliki government themselves that a year ago adopted the
so-called benchmarks that they would have revenue sharing
by a year ago, that they would have provincial elections by
about a year ago. They failed to meet their own benchmarks.
And just to continue to say that if they don’t do something by
a certain date that then we’ll take some action to put pressure
on them is the mark of a lack of pressure.”
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, appearing on ABC’s
This Week (11/25, Stephanopoulos), said progress “should
not be measured by casualty counts, body counts. I mean,
just in the last day, two more devastating bombings, a pet
market in Baghdad a day ago, a bombing. What we need…is
political progress. There’s been no political progress. … I
believe that no American death is worthy of saying body
counts have gone down. Forty died in October. Sixty-five
percent of the Iraqi people in a recent poll say it’s OK to shoot
at an American soldier.” According to Richardson, “The best
way to achieve a political solution in Iraq is to withdraw our
forces. Our troops have become targets.” On its website, the
Des Moines Register (11/26, 158K) notes Richardson also
said, “I wanted [Congress] to end this war. … I wanted them
to find ways we can get America to retreat.”
Pentagon Leaders Want To De-Emphasize
Petraeus’ Views In Next Iraq Report. The Los
Angeles Times (11/26, A1, Barnes, 881K) reports in a frontpage story, “Top military leaders at the Pentagon want to
avoid a repeat of the last public assessment of the Iraq war -with its relentless focus on the opinion of a single commander
-- when the Bush administration makes its next crucial
decision about the size of the U.S. force.” Concerned about
“the war’s effect on public trust in the military, the leading
officials said they hoped the next major assessment early
next year would not place as much emphasis on the views of
Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top American commander in
Iraq, who in September spent dozens of hours in testimony
before Congress and in televised interviews.” Defense
officials “believe his testimony succeeded in muting a
congressional debate and in giving them breathing room for
their counter-insurgency strategy, but at a potentially high
cost. In addition to the burden on Petraeus, some officials
believe, an incessant spotlight on one general risks
politicizing the military and undermining the public’s faith that
military leaders will give honest assessments of the war’s
progress.”
McCain Describes “Significant Progress” In Iraq.
Sen. John McCain, appearing on ABC’s This Week (11/25,
Stephanopoulos), said that after visiting Iraq he is certain that
“the progress has been accelerated since we inaugurated the
new strategy, which I fought for four years. We have seen
significant progress.” However, McCain allowed that the
Maliki government “still is not functioning effectively nearly as
much as we want it to. We still have an Iraqi police that has
Shiite militia. … Al Qaida is not going to quit easy” and “they
continue to get supplies and equipment through Iran, and
they continue to get suicide bombers through Syria.”
According to McCain, “The latest IED that took place was
clearly an Iranian- manufactured. … I think that there’s still
suicide bombers that are landing in the airport in Damascus
and being transported across the border as suicide bombers.”
Later on ABC’s This Week (11/25, Stephanopoulos),
McCain called attention to his “opposition to the failed
strategy that former Secretary Rumsfeld was employing, and
advocacy of the one that’s succeeding now. I was severely
criticized by Republicans for advocating the strategy that’s
succeeding now and being against Secretary Rumsfeld’s
strategy. … And none of the other people who are running
for the Republican nomination said one word against that
strategy or for the strategy that’s working. It’s got to do with
experience.”
Standoff Over War Funding Continues. Under the
headline “Deals Elusive In Iraq Debate,” Roll Call (11/26,
Dennis) reports, “Democrats continue to talk tough against
handing President Bush a ‘blank check’ to keep the war going
in Iraq, while trading blame with the White House over who is
at fault for a looming cash crunch at the Pentagon.” Seeking
to appeal “to their anti-war base,” Democrats “say they will
hang firm for now against additional war funding that doesn’t
include a goal for withdrawing troops by Christmas 2008. But
they have continued to provide money through the back door
that will keep the war going for months, and they promise that
in the end the troops will get whatever they need.” House
Appropriations Chairman David Obey “sought to turn the
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tables last week on the White House, arguing that
Republicans -- not Democrats -- are blocking funding for the
war. … Obey reiterated that he has no intention of bringing
up a bill funding the Iraq War that does not also include a
goal for getting troops out of Iraq by Christmas 2008.” But
“Obey acknowledged that House leaders could provide the
funding without his consent, and Republicans could bring up
the funding as well if they have the votes.” In addition,
“Democrats already have funded the war for months through
other channels. The recently adopted Defense appropriations
bill allows the president to redirect money from regular base
accounts to the war. Democrats also have approved nearly
$17 billion in additional funding for mine-resistant vehicles for
Iraq in the past two months.”
LAST LAUGHS:
Late Night Political Humor.
The late night shows were in reruns on Friday due to the
writers strike.
Copyright 2007 by the Bulletin News Network, Inc.
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