W A S H I N G T O N, Aug 8: 89 Days Until The Election....
—As you sift through coverage of yesterday's Bush-Cheney corporate bash-a-thon, and with politicians scattered to the wind and nearly all of them away from the nation's capital, The Note has been presented with some lovely symbolism.
You've requested an ABCNews.com page that does not exist.
If you've reached this page by selecting a bookmark that worked previously, it's likely the file moved to a new location because of our recent redesign. Please update your bookmarks.
If you still can't find the page your looking for, check out our homepage or use the search form below:
Today, in Washington, marks the beginning of the American Bar Association's annual meeting. LINK
Poetry from the family wire: the Associated Press reports how members will launch criticisms of the Bush Administration. LINK
While the Washington Post 's Mike Allen and our own ears found yesterday's presidential anti-corporate crime rhetoric "noticeably tougher" than it's been in the past LINK , and the Veep piled on as well from the Left Coast, let's not kid ourselves here: the administration doesn't think CEO-bashing is the way to restore the economy to 1990's-levels of growth.
In fact, as the president's worldview has always held, and as he enunciated yesterday, and as he does with increasing frequency and intensity out on the hustings, that trial lawyers and their health-insurance-cost-raising-small-business-destroying-avarice-inspiring ways are a far, far greater and more systemic threat to, and drag on, the American economy than a small basket of bad corporate apples.
Don't miss the trend: the president and his spokespersons are going to do what they can to shift the focus of evil-doing in the economy from business executives to trial lawyers.
And as he did in Mississippi yesterday, this is one topic that the president has long been able to talk about with passion and intensity.
And, of course, the president's top strategic thinker sees limiting the power and influence of trial lawyers in American life as one of the major long-term goals of the Bush Administration and the Republican Party and that it is a winning political issue right now.
Maybe it is pure coincidence, but the Washington Times 's Joseph Curl is the only Beltway reporter who plays up the president's decrial of excess litigation yesterday. LINK
Set that emerging sub-theme aside for a moment, however, as we review the coverage of the White House team's regional efforts to set forth the Bush economic agenda.
Despite both men staying on message, little of the coverage focuses where the administration wanted it to go.
The New York Times goes with the San Francisco dateline, with twin speeches getting twin accounts from twin Timeswomen.
The Mississippi section includes this (throw-away?) line , reflective of the puppet-master/puppet caricature that causes both men to bristle (but for very different reasons): "President Bush also said that the nation's economic troubles were not of his making, and, with his chief political adviser, Karl Rove, watching from the sidelines, blamed his predecessor for them instead, as well as the attacks of Sept. 11 and the continuing corporate scandals." LINK
Echoing the White House litany, Senator Lott this week gave his colleagues some talking points that reflect the same economic agenda: "Republicans believe that lowering marginal tax rates, speeding up tax rate cuts and making them permanent, protecting pensions for seniors, establishing a sound energy policy and expanding free trade will have a positive impact on our economy."
The Republicans often face a choice on some of the issues about which they feel most passionately and on which most of the dominant national political press is totally and viscerally opposed to their agenda (most of the above issues, plus things like vouchers, abortion, de-regulation). "Republican-style" pension reform would be on the list too, Free trade is an exception.
The choice the GOP faces is this — should they try to convert the national press to be more sympathetic, or should they just try to go around the press, directly to the people?
We don't monitor every contact the administration has with every reporter (We aren't John Aschroft, we joke, in an aside meant to parrot the leftist media's hostility to Republicans, but not reflective of our true, dispassionate views of either the AG or the two Davids.), but we rarely hear Bush officials trying to make the case for the Bush-Cheney economic agenda in a shake-the-reporters-by-the-lapels, paradigm-shifting manner.
Thus, they remain at a permanent disadvantage against the Podesta-Daschardt-Rubin economic program, which dominates the filter of the major media.
As for the major political sub-plot of the Veep's day — whither a Cheney-Bill Simon sighting? — The Note was mal-blissfully unaware yesterday that Cheney and Simon would be para-appearing together at a closed Republican fundraiser together last night. Of course, read into this what you will: the event was, as we said, closed, and no one went out of their way to tell the world that the two fellas would be together.
Remember: Simon's is the most important single race in the 2002 elections.
And Washington Republicans, mostly inurred to their candidates not being the media darling in any given race, have started to notice that Bill Simon's rep with the California press is on life support.
Many, many things trump (or, sometimes, "boost") most political reporters "natural" pro-Democratic bias, and that includes an abiding love of scandal and an abiding intolerance of campaign incompetence: that's what is causing Mr. Simon's problems to be so severe.
The San Francisco papers mention, in the prose of reporting on an event that doesn't take place by press time (and/or, from which they were shut out), that Cheney and Simon "were slated" to appear together, or at least be in the same room, at a Burlingame fundraiser.
The Los Angeles Times had a reporter with Simon all day:
"At the same time, across the bay, Simon told members of the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce about his plan to increase the state's stock of affordable housing." LINK
"He said he is confident that the White House supports him and that President Bush still plans to appear with him at fund-raisers this month."
"'The White House is still totally behind us,' he said in a San Francisco radio interview."
"By not publicly voicing his support for Simon during his California visit, the vice president lent weight to speculation that the White House would like to put space between a president trying to craft an image of toughness against corporate malfeasance and a Republican candidate with business problems, some political analysts said."
"Publicly, the White House maintained its support of Simon's candidacy."
"'This administration believes Bill Simon will improve California schools, fix the economy and improve the quality of life for all Californians,' Bush spokesman Ken Lisaius said Wednesday."
"But a Republican source familiar with the administration's discussions said the verdict against Simon's firm has caused consternation at the White House."
"'They're in a lousy spot,' said the source, who spoke anonymously to preserve relations with the White House. 'There is no way for them to cancel without dealing with accusations that they're writing off the race and writing off California.'"
Those protestors who waded through security and got Cheney's microphone to pick their chants certainly achieved their goal: getting at least one major television network to pick up the heckling moment.
The San Francisco papers barely bat an eye: "An estimated 500 protesters greeted Cheney in front of the Fairmont Hotel for the speech, which was briefly interrupted inside the ballroom by five hecklers from Global Exchange seated in the audience." LINK
Even as they called them "mild protests," Cheney's hecklers led KGO's story about his visit. LINK
The local CBS affiliate was more staid. "During his Bay Area visit Wednesday, Vice President Dick Cheney wouldn't comment on the current SEC investigation into Halliburton's accounting, but he did defend the company he once led," an anchor lead reads. LINK
The Wall Street Journal 's Jeanne Cummings has a solid, what-passes-for-a-must-read-in-August piece on the world of the Dick Cheney, with this thesis: "While the vice president has been a low-key public figure for months, it appears the SEC investigation has made him all but invisible to the public in recent weeks. But the reality is that behind the scenes, Mr. Cheney has continued to exercise considerable influence."
After ticking off (with some nice details) Cheney's work on Afghanistan, bioterror, Iraq, and domestic legislation, Cummings goes to her peg:
"But one area where Mr. Cheney's fingerprints have been invisible has been corporate governance. When White House officials met privately to hammer out the administration's proposals, Mr. Cheney lobbied for restraint. His argument: Don't damage the economy and free-enterprise system in the long term in exchange for short-term political cover. He lost his case to Mr. Bush's political advisers and old friend Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, who went so far as to advocate mandatory sentences for corporate crooks. When Mr. Bush signed the corporate-governance bill with great fanfare, Mr. Cheney wasn't present. His office said he had a scheduling conflict."
And Note this interesting section:
"Mary Matalin, Mr. Cheney's spokeswoman, denies the vice president has been silent on the corporate-governance issue. She points to two speeches Mr. Cheney delivered at candidate fund-raisers that included calls for a crackdown on corporate crooks. But both those speeches were given to small audiences well beyond the reach of the national news media. Ms. Matalin says the vice president will deal directly with the Halliburton issue on the national stage next month, when he is set to make appearances to mark the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks."
What we find interesting about this is (a) that the economic downtown apparently leads Ms. Cummings to believe that Dow Jones can't afford to send her to cover speeches in the continental United States and/or that reading the e-mailed text of Mr. Cheney's speeches is "beyond" her "reach"; and (b) that Ms. Matalin is assuming that journalists who get interviews with the Vice President pegged to September 11 will use part of their time asking about Halliburton, which was something that we just aren't as sure about as she is, but about which we have certainly been wondering.
Finally, there is also this nugget: " … (O)nly recently, after a spirited debate with staff members who argued that hiring an attorney would invite comparisons to the Clinton administration, Mr. Cheney hired his friend, attorney Terry O'Donnell, of Williams & Connolly, a Washington law firm, to represent him."
The hiring has been reported; the staff resistance, and motivation thereof, seems new to The Note.
The Washington Post and many other news outlets focus on Cheney's comments about running again in 2004. We're pretty he said yesterday what's he's always said: he's do it if the president asks him to, if his wife wants him to, and if his ticker holds up.
The press loves these sort of superficial, personality-oriented theatre narratives so much, it often treats them as news, even when they aren't.
The Post 's Milbank calls it D.C.'s favorite parlor game: "If Cheney does not run again because of his medical condition, Bush could select a new vice presidential nominee who would become the heir apparent for the 2008 election. Cheney has recently become something of a liability for the administration because of the troubles at Halliburton. But if Cheney, an unusually influential vice president, pronounces himself fit to serve again, Bush has given no indication that he wants to make a change." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55429-2002Aug7.html
Make no mistake: when Cheney says his wife will be influential in making the decision, he's not being gallant or deferential.
And make no mistake: there's nothing we know of — yet — to indicate that Cheney won't be on the ticket in 2004.
And it's not too early to start focusing on next week's marquee effort to get the country to see an Administration at work on the economy.
Now that the White House has begun to put out the details of the president's economic summit, it isn't too soon to ask: will Mr. Bush be able to pay attention to what goes on even during the limited stretches his advisers plan to make him attend.
The comparisons to Bill Clinton, who sat at these types of thing not only paying rapt attention but orchestrating serious, intense discussion, are going to be in the air.
If you ever saw George W. Bush at a National Governors Association meeting, or at one of the policy events during the 2000 campaign, you know that his attention span for this kind of stuff is about as long as a CNN News Alert.
Finally, a federal appeals court affirmed the decision of the District's election board yesterday, which means that Mayor Anthony Williams won't get to run on the ballot as a Democrat. Williams immediately took steps to launch a write-in campaign. LINK
No one has ever won the mayoralty by dint of a write-in groundswell, so this still-popular mayor has his work cut out for him.
DC politicos, journalists, and citizens still can't figure out why anyone associated with Williams would find it necessary to submit fictitious signatures on his behalf. (They were able to find twice the required number of legitimate signatures.).
Most disastrously, the affair is giving weight to claim that Williams might not be the stellar administrator he was elected to be, which, in an era of rising crime rates (slightly, but still rising), a sluggishly recovering economy, and still-lackluster city services, may matter.
The race lacks a compelling and credible challenger to Mr. Williams, so what will happen next is anyone's guess.
The Washington Post 's editorial page is outraged that the steel industry would pursue anti-dumping lawsuits even though the U.S. government risked credibility by imposing tariffs to help them out. LINK
One of the more admirable aspects of the Bush-Cheney agenda is their steadfastness in refusing to give into the ways of Washington and their willingness to defy the convention wisdom from the press and the Hill. Secretaries Rumsfeld and O'Neill do a lot of this, along with their White House leaders.
Now, we don't always agree with their macro goals around this steadfastness, but adherence to principle should be celebrated. For instance, even when tout le DC is saying "Documents that are famous for not being released will eventually be released," Bush/Cheney say, "Just you watch."
The latest kudos on this front go to the Vice President for yesterday refusing to comment on the Halliburton matter in any detail. Like the grown-up adult that he is, Mr. Cheney patiently explained that editorial writers would skewer him if he said anything that could have been perceived as prejudicing or pressuring the on-going SEC probe.
Oh, Nostaligia — thy name is so three months ago!!! The Paper of Record has separate ImClone, Enron, and WorldCom stories, all on A1 above the fold today. LINK , LINK , and LINK
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee still doesn't want to give up that $100,000 it got from Jack Grubman, and Republicans are turning up the heat. LINK
USA Today leads with the pledges made by both Bush and Cheney yesterday to seek both congressional and international support before launching any invasion of Iraq. "It was Bush's clearest pledge to work with Congress on the Iraq issue, though he stopped short of promising to ask for a vote authorizing an attack," John Diamond writes.
LINK
Dick Morris has an invisible primary must-read, offering one deft conceptual way to divine difference between Gore's populist, anti-Bush rhetoric and Lieberman's. LINK
Don't let the last, over-the-top paragraph distract you from thinking thoughtfully about whether you think Dick is right or not: "Gore was an apostle of the center, working with Clinton to move America forward. Now, he has joined the ranks of Mondale, Dukakis and Jerry Brown as a card-carrying liberal. It's a loss for the nation, a mistake by Gore and bad news for Democrats."
(And we thought Jerry Brown had been rehabilitated on the right … .)
At the recent Democratic Leadership Council meeting in New York, several of the speakers were heckled by energetic individuals who managed to work their way into the ballroom before getting ejected.
We didn't see anyone in the political press get off his or her bum to see what the fuss was about and to answer the basic question: what kind of person heckles at a DLC meeting?
A few days later, on one of the Note's regular early evening constitutionals through the streets of New York City, we came across a typical Manhattan scene: a card table laden with political literature, "personed" (as opposed to "manned") by two elderly ladies.
Turns out to have been some of the followers of longtime political gadfly Lyndon LaRouche, and Mr. LaRouche seems to have turned his attention (at least: part of his attention) from Queen Elizabeth, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Henry Kissinger to focus on — guess who — a certain Senator from Connecticut.
Congratulations, Joe Lieberman!!!
And the LaRouchies' own website proudly chronicles their heckling of "Say It Isn't So Joe," with this account: "a stocky LaRouche associate emerged from backstage, wearing a black shirt, white tie, black hat with feathers coming out of the top" posing as a mob friend of Lieberman's.
Recent history suggests that one CAN'T be elected president of the United States unless one is opposed by the LaRouchies, so, Pledge or no Pledge, this gives Lieberman a chance.
It's hard to say whether the wrath of LaRouche is more of a blessing or a curse. Sure, LaRouche and his henchpersons can be annoying, but given the fact that no president since 1976 has been elected without first facing some form of his fire and brimstone, Lieberman should be honored that LaRouche's has selected him as his most dangerous competition for the 2004 nomination.
Yup, Joe Lieberman has become the most recent target of the conspiracy-minded musings of Mr. LaRouche. LINK
The LaRouche Publications website is currently featuring several articles linking Lieberman to "right-wing fascist circles" and "Batista-era Cuban gangsters and politicos," and providing "evidence" that Lieberman has teamed up with John McCain to blackmail President Bush into supporting Ariel Sharon, overthrowing Saddam Hussein, and taking "other steps guaranteed to launch a global war." LINK
It turns out, per the LaRouche site, that they were demonstrating outside the Hilton (and now that we think about it, we remember that), and that they were interviewed by one reporter from the AP and one from the Hartford Courant.
The fact that those two news organizations failed to write about this is further proof of — you guessed it — the intense anti-LaRouche bias in the media.
Today is day one of "The Big One" in Iowa. The state fair! An excellent opportunity for invisible primary candidates to cozy up to IA voters—and to enjoy some funnel cakes and lemonade.
LINK
"Visits during the Iowa State Fair by Bush, U.S. Senator John Edwards, House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt and U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman come as Congress is in recess for the month and as the fall election campaigns are accelerating. The four have been in Iowa a combined 13 times since the 2000 election. They are believed to be the largest group of presidential contenders to hit the fair before a mid-term federal election."
Deborah Orin gets 10 paragraphs to look at how any military action in Iraq might influence the invisible primary. LINK
Howard Fineman let the world, and Time, know that he is spending time with Senator Daschle (and looking at Johnson v. Thune), during his Sioux Falls cross-talk with Katie Couric this morning. Howard also let the world know that he has already had one corn dog, and doesn't want another.
Vermont Gov. Howard Dean is getting more class time in his self-conscious-but-necessary national security adult continuing education process — by touring the Canadian Forces Station ALERT, located on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic. Per Dean's office, CFS Alert is described as "the most northern permanently inhabited settlement in the world." Dean will return to the states on Friday.
The Union-Leader reports that Senator Kerry will pay a visit to the Cheshire County Democrats Sunday afternoon.
John DiStaso notes that returned GOP national committeeman Tom Rath and Granite State state party chair John Dowd were in San Francisco last week (sic), where they "made a presentation to the RNC Rules Committee and thanked members for, in Rath's words, 'letting us have this important responsibility for 50 years. And we asked that it continue.' Members received vintage New Hampshire Primary political trading cards."
LINK
DiStaso also has a Gephardt item: "U.S. House Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt will join in the New Hampshire fun today with some indirect long distance '04 Presidential campaigning. A press advisery says Gephardt will 'take John Sununu and (U.S. Rep.) Charlie Bass to task for dragging their feet on corporate tax cheats who move their companies overseas.' No Smith? Does this mean Gephardt is picking Sununu in the primary?"
Ed Henry writes up Ralph Nader's visit to the Hill we told you about yesterday: Nader said his 2000 presidential bid didn't meet expectations: "I lost." … .said he wasn't a strict vegetarian … and "said his decision on '04 rests on what Democrats can get through Congress this year, how well his agenda fares and what opportunities exist to bolster more Green Party candidates nationwide." LINK
A federal three-judge panel upheld most of Vermont's campaign spending limits yesterday, which means, in the end, that the US Supreme Court will most likely revisit its momentous and politically epochal Buckley v. Valeo campaign finance decision.
The Vermont legislature passed a law in 1997 that limits gubernatorial candidates to spending $300,000 per cycle. It took effect in 2000 and was immediately challenged.
Recall that Buckley upheld limits on contributions but, according to most interpretations, forbid limits on what a candidate could spend, arguing that such restrictions "necessarily reduce[d] the quantity of expression by restricting the number of issues discussed, the depth of the exploration, and the size of the audience reached. This is because virtually every means of communicating ideas in today's mass society requires the expenditure of money."
You can't do that in America, they said. They left room for an exception: the government had the capacity to limit spending alone if and only if prevalent corruption could be shown.
The court yesterday found that Vermont's law was constitutional because "its elected officials have been forced to provide privileged access to contributors in exchange for campaign money."
The plaintiffs, including Vermont's ACLU and Republican party, are very likely to appeal, they say. The lead lawyer is James Bopp, who is also litigating against McCain-Feingold.
And since at least four members of the US Supreme Court are on record as favoring some sort of new look at Buckley v. Valeo, this case may well make it onto the docket.
One longtime campaign finance reform advocate told the Note that comparing this decision to McCain-Feingold is like comparing a hurricane to a gust of wind. If that rhetoric has any correlation to reality, this decision is pretty big.
Last September, the Democratic National Committee was set to convene in Miami Beach for some geographically symbolic Bush bashing — of Jeb as well as George W. Then September 11 happened, and the meeting was canceled.
Eleven months later, as the DNC prepares to gather in Las Vegas starting today, the same issues menu they planned to play up in Miami Beach has been given greater emphasis by the sagging economy and corporate scandals, which have sharpened Americans' concerns about their job and retirement security.
Democrats hope to capitalize on these anxieties with two events on Friday, one featuring seniors and the other union members (Las Vegas being full of both), designed to criticize President Bush on his handling of the economy and that related basket of issues.
The highlight of the meeting, however, is likely to be DNC chairman Terry McAuliffe's address to the general session on Saturday (No offense to the Chariman, but we should Note that no high-profile Democratic lawmakers or '04 wannabes plan to attend.).
McAuliffe suffers from the affliction of most Democratic and Republican party chairs: both he and his words sometimes aren't taken all that seriously by a press establishment that views them as purely "political" — which is of course all at once tautological, accurate, and sometimes a distraction from the key political points that might carry the day with voters.
Roll Call reports on an Hispanic voter drive to be unveiled at the meeting. Aside from Nevada, "the other states the DNC plans to target include: Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas." LINK
The DSCC will announce today that it has purchased its new home, at 120 Maryland Avenue, NE, directly across from the Hart Senate Office Building. The committee closed on the property this week, per the release. But the DSCC will keep some space at the DNC headquarters in order to maintain synergy with the other campaign committees on get-out-the-vote operations, and to benefit from Terry McAuliffe's high-tech renovation of the DNC.
Holding interests accountable like we always do,
click here for a look at the soft money checks in the DSCC's building fund.
Congratulations, Chuck Schumer, for the proximity, and for the cash.
Here's the Roll Call version. LINK
Jake Tapper is, pretty much, a modern day Jeffersonian figure, in terms of his Renaissance Man status.
To wit, check out this cartoon from today's Roll Call , in which, Mr. Tapper points out, the Keating Five sculpture is clearly based on Rodin's "Burghers of
Calais." LINK
But Tapper is so much more than a cartoonist who litters his work with echoes of classic art.
He also is a correspondent for VH1, on which his latest documentary, this one on Lynyrd Skynard's Uncivil Wars, 25 years after their plane crash, airs this Sunday night at 8p.m.. LINK
Not to mention Tapper's legendary, DiCapriesque social life, which recently has included some homoerotic sailing, and the Hollywood premiere of "XXX," with his new best friends Pat Sajak, Samuel L. Jackson, and Vin Diesel.
Or, of course, his on-going political writing for Salon, the New York Times Magazine, and all sorts of other classy venues.
Roll Call was briefed on how the GOP plans to spend its busy August, message-wise: "Beginning today, Senate Republicans are encouraged to spend one week promoting a GOP prescription drug plan and transition to their educational goals next week. The GOP Senators will then focus their message on issues such as corporate accountability, employment and the economy during the third week in August. Just before Congress returns from the summer recess, Republicans will shift their focus to homeland defense and national security, in preparation for the debate to create a Department of Homeland Security." LINK
Stu Rothenburg devotes his column to how and why women candidates are prime political targets this cycle.
"Almost a third of the Republican women seeking re-election to the House this year are prime targets for Democratic challengers, and the fate of that group could determine whether control of the chamber shifts. While there are 223 Republicans in the House, only 18 (about 8 percent) are women. One of that small group, New Jersey's Marge Roukema, is retiring, while the remaining 17 are seeking re-election." LINK
"Five of the 17 — Reps. Nancy Johnson (Conn.), Anne Northup (Ky.), Connie Morella (Md.), Heather Wilson (N.M.) and Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.) — are in competitive races often identified by Democratic strategists as potential takeovers. All of the five have one thing in common: They've been Democratic targets and faced close races before."
To quickly make a few (presumably) last points about Rep. John Dingell's unexpectedly wide margin of victory over fellow Rep. Lynn Rivers in Tuesday's Democratic primary, sources advise us that: 1) even the now very happy Dingell operation didn't expect the margin to be that wide as of 7:00 p.m. that evening; and 2) in addition to advertising efforts by labor, the campaign benefited from a big push for African-American voters — Dingell campaigned on primary day in the district's black precincts, and also did black radio — whereas, they suggest, the Rivers campaign didn't focus as much on this voting group.
Democrats engaging in Wednesday-morning quarterbacking, which always has at least a tinge of unfairness to it, make the point that in another universe in which Rivers and Dingell ran in different districts, EMILY's List and other women's/choice organizations who spent large sums on Rivers' behalf could have spent that money on woman candidates in other House races. All told, sources say ruefully, the price tag for this securely Democratic seat is likely to wind up around $8 million.
But, of course, EMILY's List feels it can't pass up on a single open seat, and that makes some sense too.
Juliet Eilperin has her own Democratic base-inspired story. LINK
If you are a Republican candidate, a lot of the time you have to decide: do I try to win despite the press slobbering all over my opponent, or do I try to change the dynamic and balance of the coverage?
That's the tough choice for the next three months for Michigan's Republican gubernatorial nominee, Dick Posthumus (who, the joke goes, has taken the title of "Most Dickensian-named Politician in America" from Gray Davis).
Check out today's New York Times write-up of Jennifer Granholm, the Democratic candidate, which is reflective of almost all the state and national coverage the woman has gotten: LINK
"She long ago abandoned the nickname Jenni, which she used when she was an aspiring actress, became Miss San Carlos, Calif., and appeared on 'The Dating Game' (she picked a bachelor but did not go out with him because he had a girlfriend). Now, Ms. Granholm's focus is on politics, where she alternates between sincere whispers and dynamic declarations. A mother of three, she offers a fierce handshake followed by a soft shoulder touch, and appeals to voters by looking directly into their eyes with her clear blue ones."
"'I'm about as real as you can get,' she said. Her sales pitch is a 'combination of being a new face and I'm just a mother with kids, I want to get stuff done,' she said … ."
"'It's her race to lose,' said Bill Ballenger, editor of the newsletter Inside Michigan Politics. 'There is almost a sense of exhaustion in the state now: after 12 years of John Engler, give us something new and fresh and likable and not as conservative and not as tough and not as mean. She is the perfect un-Engler. Blond, trim, articulate, intelligent. Who could ask for more?'"
Bill Simon is set to launch a new campaign to "spin himself out of the hole," Carla Marinucci reports in the San Francisco Chronicle . "With his campaign in disarray, GOP candidate for governor Bill Simon has developed a six-page internal report laying out a strategy to tell "the untold story" behind a troubled investment that recently led to a $78 million civil fraud judgment." LINK
And/but as the state heads into its 39th day of the fiscal year without a budget, the California Legislature is still at an impasse over the budget. A $100 billion spending plan approved by the Senate was defeated by a 50-20 vote in the Assembly Wednesday.
LINK
Copycat politics are at play in the NH GOV race, where GOP gubernatorial candidate Gordon Humphrey proposed his own constitutional amendment to make it harder for the Legislature to pass new taxes. Humphrey's "Taxpayer Protection Amendment" is sounding an awful lot like the "Taxpayer Bill of Rights" proposed by his GOP challenger Craig Benson last week, but Humphrey said "nuh-uh" yesterday and that his plan was better than Benson's. LINK
John DiStaso notes that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has endorsed Bob Smith in the Senate primary.
An interesting story out of CT on the side-effects of unrestricted ballot access. Twelve candidates, including two for governor, have come out of the woodwork to file for participation in the state's September party primaries since Monday's federal ruling eliminating virtually all restrictions on primary ballot access.
LINK
The recent stock slide is hitting home with at least one Beltway insider--CO Senator Ben Nighthorse lost $86,756, nearly half of his campaign warchest, over the past two years. "I lost my buns," Campbell told the Rocky Mountain News Wednesday.
LINK
A Quinnipiac University poll of 879 registered voters conducted from July 31 to August 6 finds that voters support Senator Bob Torricelli and GOP challenger Doug Forrester with equal strength: about 37 percent. 19 percent remain undecided. A poll using the same methodology showed the Torch with an 8 point lead a month and a half ago.
NY Senator Chuck Schumer has banked more than $11 million for his 2004 re-election bid, Roll Call found. "Overall, 14 of the 34 Senators up for re-election next cycle had more than $1 million in their war chests, including a pair of potential presidential candidates, Majority Leader Thomas Daschle (D-S.D.) and Senator JohnEdwards (D-N.C.)." LINK
The Murdoch Post continues its love affair with the Empire State's junior Senator, turning what would be the most routine of office matters for the other 99 into a cause celebre: "Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's political fund-raising machine is pulling in so much cash, she's been forced to move her staff to a bigger location." LINK
"Clinton, who has rented space from the New York State Democratic Party for more than a year, recently signed a deal to move into a two-office suite at 15 E. 26th St., sources told The Post ."
"The new space has a sweeping view of Madison Square Park but isn't swanky — just bigger than the small room in Suite 1201 at 60 Madison Ave. that Clinton was renting for $562 a month."
"Now she'll have to cough up roughly $3,103 a month."
Governor Pataki is returning WorldCom corporate cash, but not individual dough from WorldCom-linked folks.
Meanwhile, when are Deb Orin and her "New York Republican" sources going to learn that the Bushes hate reading in the paper about people lusting for jobs in the administration; today, she touches on Cheney-in-Pataki-out-in-'04 alleged buzz.
"The televised mud toss known as the Texas governor's race raged on Tuesday," the Dallas Morning News reports in an article about Gov. Rick Perry's new ad, which says that his opponent, Tony Sanchez, is unfit to govern because drug dealers used his savings and loan to launder money. LINK
A new ad by the pharmaceutical industry-backed United Seniors Association targets Paul Wellstone on prescription drugs and manages to bring in John F. Kennedy's voice when doing so. LINK
—10:00 am, American Bar Association annual meeting begins, Marriott Wardman Park, DC
— 11:00 am, Jesse Jackson speaks on the Middle East, National Press Club
— 3:10 pm, Vice President Cheney headlines fundraising luncheon for GOP gubernatorial nominee John Sanchez, Wyndam Hotel, Albuquerque
— 8:30 pm, Vice President Cheney headlines fundraising dinner for GOP House candidate John Swallow, Little American Hotel, Salt Lake City
Newly listed events are italicized.
— Aug. 8: Vice President Cheney headlines fundraiser for House candidate John Swallow, Salt Lake City — Aug. 8-10: RNC site selection committee visits New York — Aug. 8: Winning Margins PAC event for Texas Senate candidate Ron Kirk, DC
— Aug. 8-11: Democratic National Committee meets, Las Vegas
— Aug. 8-18: Iowa State Fair, Des Moines, Iowa
— Aug. 10: Sen. John Edwards keynotes Magnuson Dinner, Washington
— Aug. 10: Sen. Pete Domenici leads "Campaign Caravan" of GOP candidates across New Mexico
— Aug. 11-16: International Association of Firefighters convention, Las Vegas
— Aug. 11: Sen. John Kerry visits New Hampshire — Aug. 12: DCCC Texas Fund dinner, with candidates Ron Kirk and Tony Sanchez, and Rep. Martin Frost in attendence
— Aug 12: Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle campaigns for Bill Bradbury's Senate bid, Portland
— Aug. 12: New Democrat Network West Coast retreat, San Francisco
— Aug. 13: Colorado primary
— Aug. 13: Sen. Joe Lieberman addresses American Postal Workers Convention and headlines Sen. Paul Wellstone fundraiser, Minneapolis
— Aug. 13: President Bush hosts economic summit, Waco, Texas
— Aug. 13: Ex-UNC coach Dean Smith hosts birthday fundraiser for Erskine Bowles, Chapell Hill
— Aug. 14: Lynne Cheney's birthday.
— Aug. 14: SEC deadline for company heads to certify financial statements for 2002
— Aug.14-15: Sen. Joe Lieberman visits Iowa — Aug. 14-16: Rep. Dick Gephardt visits Iowa — Aug. 15: DNC chair Terry McAuliffe hosts warm up rally for "Every Vote Counts" concert, DC
— Aug. 16-18: Sen. John Edwards visits Iowa and Iowa State Fair — Aug. 16-18: Congressional Black Causus Weekend, Grand Casino Hotel, Robinsville, Mississippi
— Aug 17: Washington State primary
— Aug. 18: Sen. Joe Lieberman appears at Hillsborough County Democratic Picnic, Manchester, NH — Aug. 18: New York gubernatorial candidates debate (Democrats)
— Aug. 19: Bill Clinton's birthday
— Aug 19: Tipper Gore's birthday
— Aug. 19: Sen. Joe Lieberman headlines fundraising events for Senate nominee Chellie Pingree and gubernatorial nominee John Baldacci in Maine
— Aug. 20: Georgia primary; Wyoming Primary
— Aug. 21: New Hampshire campaign finance reports due — Aug. 21: South Dakota Senate candidates participate in forum at Dakota Fest — Aug. 21: Wisconsin gubernatorial candidates debate — Aug. 22: Arizona gubernatorial candidates debate
— Aug. 23-24: Florida Republican Party state executive committee meeting, Orlando
— Aug. 23-24: Michigan Republican Party state convention
— Aug. 24-25: Michigan Democratic Party state convention
— Aug. 25: Sen. Joe Lieberman headlines fundraiser for Rep. Eliot Engel, Westchester, NY — Aug. 25: Arizona gubernatorial candidates debate
— Aug. 25-27: Southern Governors Association's 68th Annual Meeting, New Orleans
— Aug. 27: Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidates debate — Aug. 27: (tenative) Arkansas Senate candidates to debate — Aug. 27: South Dakota Senate candidates debate in Sioux Falls
— Aug 27: Alaska primary with Instant Run-Off voting; Oklahoma primary
— Aug. 27-28: FEC hearings on BCRA regulation proposals, DC
— Aug 28. Saint Anselm college hosts American Political Science Association short course on the 2004 New Hampshire primary and The Invisible Primary
— Aug. 29-Sept. 1: American Political Science Association annual conference, Boston
— Aug. 29-Sept. 2: 13th Annual Midwest Polka Fest, Humboldt, Iowa
— Sept. 2: 6th Annual Rubber Ducky Regatta, North Woodstock, New Hampshire
— Sept. 3: Nevada primary
— Sept. 6: Congress meets for special session in New York City
— Sept. 6-7: Rosh Hashanah
— Sept. 7: Delaware primary
— Sept. 9: First Lady Laura Bush chairs Kennedy Center's "Concert for America," DC
— Sept. 10: Florida, New Hampshire, North Carolina and New York primaries (Florida: Democratic primary for governor; New Hampshire: Republican primary for Senate and primaries on both sides for governor; North Carolina: Democratic and Republican primaries for Senate; New York: Democratic primary for governor); Arizona primary; Connecticut primary; District of Columbia primary; Maryland primary; Minnesota primary; Rhode Island primary;
Vermont primary; Wisconsin primary
— Sept. 11-14: Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's 32nd Annual Legislative Conference, DC — Sept. 13-14: Georgia Republican Party "Road to Majority" conference, Augusta
— Sept. 15-16: Yom Kippur
— Sept. 22: 4th Annual Great North Woods Lumberjack Championships, Berlin, New Hampshire
— Sept. 17: Massachusetts primary (Democratic primary for governor) — Sept. 19: Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidates debate, Happy Valley, Penn. — Sept. 23: New York State Democratic Party "reorganization" meeting, Syracuse
— Sept. 27-29: California Republican Party convention — Sept. 27-29: National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling convention, Dallas
— Sept. 30: Jury selection begins for trial of Zacarias Moussaoui
— Sept. 30: Discovery ends in McCain-Feingold lawsuit (tentative).
— Sept. 30: 401(k) statements begin to roll out.
— Oct. 4: Al Sharpton's birthday
— Oct. 5: Tri-state's Largest Chili Cook-Off, Dubuque, Iowa
— Oct. 5: Sen. Chris Dodd keynotes Ohio Democratic Party dinner — Oct. 5: Colorado Senate candidates to debate — Oct. 12: Sen. John McCain hosts Saturday Night Live, New York
— Oct. 13: Iowa State Hand-Cornhusking contest, Kimballton, Iowa — (tentative) Oct. 13: Arkansas Senate candidates to debate
— Oct. 15 (tentative): Zacarias Moussaoui trial begins — Oct. 18: New Mexico gubernatorial candidates debate — Oct. 20: Alabama gubernatorial candidates debate — Oct. 21: South Dakota Senate candidates debate — Oct. 24: Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidates debate — Oct. 24: (tenative) Texas gubernatorial candidates debate
— Oct. 26: New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's birthday — Oct. 30: (tenative) South Dakota Senate candidates debate — Nov. 3: New Mexico gubernatorial candidates debate
— Nov. 4: Laura Bush's birthday
— Nov. 4: Deadline for opening briefs, McCain-Feingold lawsuit (tentative).
— Nov. 5: Election Day
— New SEC disclosure rules go into effect
— Nov. 17: Vermont Governor Howard Dean's birthday.
— Nov. 18: Deadline for opposition briefs, McCain-Feingold lawsuit (tentative).
— Nov. 20: Delaware Senator. Joseph Biden's birthday
— Dec. 4: Oral arguments begun in McCain-Feingold lawsuit. (tentative) — Dec. 5: Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday
— Dec. 9: South Dakota Senator Tom Daschle's birthday
— Dec. 11: Massachusetts Senator John Kerry's birthday
— Dec. 13: Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack's birthday
— Dec. 26: California Governor. Gray Davis's birthday
— Jan. 30, 2003: Vice President Dick Cheney's birthday
— Jan. 31, 2003: Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt's birthday
— Feb. 24, 2003: Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman's birthday
— March 11, 2003: Georgia Governor Roy Barnes's birthday
— March 31, 2003: Al Gore's birthday
— June 15, 2003: Senate/House/key adviser personal financial disclosure forms due
You've requested an ABCNews.com page that does not exist.
If you've reached this page by selecting a bookmark that worked previously, it's likely the file moved to a new location because of our recent redesign. Please update your bookmarks.
If you still can't find the page your looking for, check out our homepage or use the search form below:
You've requested an ABCNews.com page that does not exist.
If you've reached this page by selecting a bookmark that worked previously, it's likely the file moved to a new location because of our recent redesign. Please update your bookmarks.
If you still can't find the page your looking for, check out our homepage or use the search form below:
PRINT THIS PAGE
VIEW MOST EMAILED