Gilmore from behind
A new candidate with some elected characteristics
and high Republican Party credentials has a group announcing a Draft Jim
Gilmore for President
website. The reason for a Gilmore
Presidency: Jim Gilmore is the Next Generation of Conservatism and is
poised to realign the Conservative Movement.
It may need to be shortened.
Jim Gilmore served as Governor of Virginia and was
Chairman of the RNC.
It is unclear what money has been raised or what
kind of organization is behind this effort. It is clear that the effort will
need a prairie fire to have any chance. Everyone else, including south
Chicago businessman John Cox, is farther out front at this stage.
The group is looking for individuals especially in
Iowa, New Hampshire and S. Carolina.
Richardson got the check
Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM) came to Iowa and did Mitt Romney (R-MA) one
better: He saw Romney’s match of the Democrat National Committee’s $500,000
and put up another $500,000.
For those trying to keep track, Gov. Richardson is the chair of the Democrat
Governors Association and possible candidate for president. Richardson has
now put up $1 million. Gov. Romney, who is chair of the Republican Governors
Association & also a possible candidate for president, has put up $500,000
from his association so far.
Richardson said if he decides to run for president he will definitely show
up in Iowa.
"The path to the presidency is through Iowa and New Hampshire," he said. "I
don't see Nevada's entrance in between, a caucus in a small western state,
as going to affect either one," Richardson said.
Frist in Iowa
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist came to Iowa to campaign for Iowa Senate
candidate and not be left out of the cavalcade of potential presidential
candidates visiting the state during the Summer Congressional Recess.
Frist stated that if the American Civil Liberties Union prevailed in their
lawsuit America would be less secure from terrorists threats. He also
sounded a negative note regarding the state of Americans’ outlook.
"People have a lot of despair today," Frist said. "Our economy is doing
well. We are secure as a nation in terms of our strength in military. But as
I travel around the country, I see people with not a lot of hope with where
we're going as a nation."
America less safe?
U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in a Detroit courtroom ordered a halt
to the wiretap program of known individuals linked to terrorists who make
calls to U.S. citizens. Both sides in the lawsuit agreed to delay that
action until a Sept. 7 hearing.
The
Washington Post reports some believe the 43-page decision by Judge
Taylor was poorly reasoned:
"Regardless of what your position is on the merits of the issue, there's
no question that it's a poorly reasoned decision," said Bobby Chesney, a
national security law specialist at Wake Forest University who takes a
moderate stance on the legal debate over the NSA program. "The opinion kind
of reads like an outline of possible grounds to strike down the program,
without analysis to fill it in."
Taylor, 73, was appointed to the bench in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter.
Calls intercepted by the NSA were helpful in the timing of when to roll up
the English al Qaeda cell planning to blow up airlines in mid air from
England to America.
The American Civil Liberties Union represented the plaintiffs in the case.
War no more
Americans appear to have grown tired of the War on Terrorism according to
several recent polls. The
Washington Post offered this look at how Americans are war fatigued:
Married women with children, the "security moms" whose concerns about
terrorism made them an essential part of Republican victories in 2002 and
2004, are taking flight from GOP politicians this year in ways that appear
likely to provide a major boost for Democrats in the midterm elections,
according to polls and interviews.
This critical group of swing voters -- who are an especially significant
factor in many of the most competitive suburban districts on which control
of Congress will hinge -- is more inclined to vote Democratic than at any
point since Sept. 11, 2001, according to data compiled for The Washington
Post by the Pew Research Center.
Married mothers said in interviews here that they remain concerned about
national security and the ability of Democrats to keep them safe from
terrorist strikes. But surveys indicate Republicans are not benefiting from
this phenomenon as they have before.
Disaffection with President Bush, the Iraq war, and other concerns such
as rising gasoline prices and economic anxiety are proving more powerful in
shaping voter attitudes.
Cheney attacks
The Chicago Tribune reports on Vice President Dick Cheney’s carrying the
word that Democrats are weak on defense and terrorism:
With Republicans facing increasingly tough prospects in November, Vice
President Dick Cheney has returned to the campaign trail in a familiar role:
Accusing Democratic war critics of defeatism and leveling harsh charges that
President Bush is less comfortable making.
"If we follow [Democratic] advice and withdraw from Iraq," Cheney said
this week in Arizona, "we will simply validate the Al Qaeda strategy and
invite more terrorist attacks." Advocates of withdrawal play into the hands
of terrorists, he charged the next day in Montana: "They fundamentally
believe that we don't have the stomach for the fight."
Changes coming
The Democrat National Committee is expected to change its nomination
calendar. The new calendar would keep Iowa's caucuses in their leadoff
position Jan. 14. Nevada would follow with its own caucus Jan. 19. New
Hampshire would retain its status as the first-in-the-nation primary, with
voting Jan. 22. South Carolina would hold its primary Jan. 29.
New Hampshire has threatened to move their date up into December to thwart
the new plan.
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