|
Quotable: On
DEMOCRATS |
Understatement:
“The script for the 2004 Democratic
primary has not worked out as written.”
--
Amy Sullivan, writing in the September
issue of the Washington Monthly
“Today, there are actually more
undecided Democrats than there were just a
few months ago. The number stood at 15
percent in May and 30 percent in early
July.”
–
Sullivan |
|
Quotable: On
GWB and the
WHITEHOUSE |
“Apparently
they called CNN. I don't have all the
proof on this because they didn't call me.
I've only heard rumors about it.”
–
Clark, claiming the White House tried
to get him fired as CNN military analyst
during Iraq war operations
“They want to take us back to the
day of ‘Sixteen Tons.’”
–
Kucinich, blasting Bush
administration’s attitude toward unions –
and breaking out in song – at CWA forum in
Chicago |
|
Quotable: On
MILITARY |
“Sen. John F. Kerry yesterday played up
his own history as a combat hero as
another candidate with military background
-- retired four-star Army Gen. Wesley
Clark -- mulled a presidential run.”
–
Boston Herald’s Noelle Straub
“If one day I have the opportunity to make
the decisions as commander in chief, I
will ensure that America always is the
best equipped, best trained and most
powerful fighting force in the world.”
– Kerry, addressing VFW convention
in San Antonio |
|
Quotable: On
GEPHARDT |
“Dick Gephardt today called on
Iowans to help him find the tastiest,
flakiest, fruitiest, creamiest, most
scrumptious slices of pie in Iowa.”
–
News release on dickgephardt2004.com |
|
Quotable: On GRAHAM |
“First
as governor and lately as U.S. senator,
Bob Graham has won five statewide races in
Florida, which is no mean feat, and must
have required some considerable skill. So
how come Graham is such an unqualifiedly,
amazingly, matchlessly incompetent
presidential candidate?”
– David
Tell, in the Weekly Standard |
|
Quotable:
On DEAN |
“I think my message is a centrist message
and is where most Americans are. I don't
expect Democrats or Republicans to accept
that yet.”
– Dean
“This
shows we're a national campaign.”
– Dean campaign manager Joe Trippi,
commenting on decision to begin six-state
TV buy this week.
“While Dean has proved himself successful
in generating political buzz and raising
money, the lack of diversity in his crowds
underscores a challenge the former Vermont
governor faces as he prepares to compete
in primaries after those in Iowa and New
Hampshire.”
–
Chicago Tribune’s John McCormick,
reporting on Dean’s Milwaukee stop
“Oregon Democratic Chairman Jim Edmunson,
who is neutral in the race, attended the
rally and said it was ‘hard to imagine’
any of the other Democratic candidates
having the star power to attract so many
people here.”
– Jeff
Mapes’ coverage of Dean’s Oregon stop as
about 3,000 showed in Portland |
|
Quotable: On
M-BRAUN
|
“Nothing was more significant than having
the support of the National Organization
for Women and the National Women's
Political Caucus.”
– Moseley Braun, indicating she’ll
stay in the Dem race and announce
candidacy next month |
Notable
Quotable:
“Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) and former
Vermont Gov. Howard Dean are expected to speak
to the group today. Former Sen. Carol Braun
was slated to speak but had scheduling
problems, [CWA union spokeswoman Candice]
Johnson said.”
-- Chicago Sun-Times report on wannabes
scheduled at CWA forum in Chicago, where
Moseley Braun’s campaign is based. (Iowa
Pres Watch Note: Braun has
complained that she has had to cancel some
appearances due to money shortage, but now it
appears she can’t even afford cab fare across
Chicago. Actually, she was busy getting the
NOW endorsement.)
GENERAL
NEWS:
Among
the offerings in today's update:
-
Poll released late this morning shows
Dean (38%) has taken dominant lead over
Kerry (17%) in New Hampshire. Gephardt &
Lieberman 6%, Edwards 4%, Clark 2%, Graham &
Kucinich 1%, Sharpton & Moseley-Braun 0%,
Undecided 23%…
-
Dean
caught in “Big Lie” politics – claiming
schools closed five weeks early because of
Bush policies – during Oregon stop on
“Sleepless” tour, but it’s hard to argue
with his star power appeal. About 3,000 show
for event
-
Draft
Clark activists seek to find office space
near GWB – in Crawford, TX
-
Moseley
Braun to stay in wannabe race, will
officially announce candidacy on 9/22
-
Edwards
fights back:
In letter to
editor, the NC Sen counters Iowan – and USDA
official -- Dorr’s criticism of his rural
initiative
-
It’s
tough being Kerry: Just as he tries to
stress military record in South, Boston
Herald notes that Clark’s entry into race
would undercut his Viet experience pitch
-
Iowa
Senate race ’04:
It’s not exactly the most surprising news,
but DSM TV station reports Grassley putting
together “aggressive” re-election campaign
-
Wannabes
gather to drill GWB after record deficit
projections released
-
Despite
warnings he needs to moderate his rhetoric
and message, Dean says only way Dems can
defeat GWB is “to be in the president’s
face”
-
Kerry in
VFW speech blasts Bush for lack of planning
in Iraq – and Arabs for not participating in
postwar efforts
-
Flakiest idea of the campaign:
“The Great
Gephardt Iowa Pie Challenge”
-
After
getting big multi-state coverage on
“Sleepless” Tour, Team Dean raises the
stakes again – TV spots to begin appearing
in six more states on Friday – and forecasts
$10.3M bounty during current fund-raising
period
-
At CWA
wannabe forum in Chicago, Gephardt,
Kucinich and Kerry go with
standard themes – attack GWB’s policies
-
Iowa AARP to
focus on three questions – and three issues
– over coming months, urges members to quiz
wannabes. AARP invites nine wannabes to
televised 10/15 Iowa forum
-
Dean
dominating the week’s headlines with
“Sleepless” tour – but he probably won’t
like this one: Chicago Tribune reports Dean
crowds lack diversity
-
Washington
Whisper: Planners for 9/4 wannabe forum
are adding a 10th podium – anticipating a
Clark Labor Day announcement
-
On
townhall.com, columnist Gallagher identified
three key issues of ‘04 – terrorism, energy
and gay marriage
-
In New
Hampshire, Edwards wraps by bus tour with
a commitment to protect public health during
power outage response
-
Daily
Iowan (University of Iowa) resumes fall
publication, says IU officials have been
making special summer effort to contact
state’s legislators about university
challenges
-
SC Dems set
another debate for next January
-
Iowaism:
Portrait of suffrage leader Catt now adorns
wall in Culver’s Statehouse office
All these stories below and more.
Morning Report:
Des Moines
Register’s Thomas Beaumont reports in
copyrighted story this morning that Clark
said yesterday he will announce his decision
about seeking the Dem nomination before
visiting Iowa next month. Clark is scheduled
to speak 9/19 at the University of Iowa in
Iowa City
Numerous
morning reports say Democrat Dave Jacoby of
Coralville won yesterday’s special election
to replace former House Dem Leader Dick Myers.
Jacoby defeated Republican Jack Young of
Iowa City –1,995 to 818
Radio Iowa
online reports that the state’s crops have
gone from “bumper to dumper” as Guv Vilsack
requests a drought review that could
result in fed assistance for IA farmers. The
report by Radio Iowa’s Darwin Danielson
indicated that IA Ag Sec Judge said it looked
like a bumper crop in early August, but now
“you can find someone in each of Iowa’s 99
counties that will say they have damage
from dry conditions.”
Radio Iowa
also reports that GOP freshman Congressman
Steve King is in Israel this week on a
fact-finding mission. He returns next
Sunday.
CANDIDATES
& CAUCUSES:
… Dean Blows Kerry – and
others – away in latest New Hampshire poll.
Dean 38%, Kerry 17%, Gephardt 6%. Excerpt
from report posted late this morning by the
AP’s Will Lester: “Democrat Howard Dean has
jumped out to a commanding 21-point lead over
rival John Kerry in the latest New Hampshire
poll. Dean, who held a single-digit advantage
in a recent survey, led Kerry 38 percent to 17
percent in the Zogby International poll of
likely primary voters conducted Aug. 23-26 and
released Wednesday. Kerry, the
Massachusetts senator, led in New Hampshire
polls earlier this year, including a 26
percent to 13 percent advantage in February.
The two candidates were essentially tied in
a poll by Zogby in June. The August survey
comes as Dean has shown political strength in
his fund raising, drawn large crowds for his
‘Sleepless Summer’ tour and appeared in
television ads in New Hampshire, which is
slated to hold its primary Jan. 27. Pollster
John Zogby said Dean's support was in all
regions of the state, among men and women,
Democrats and independents, liberals and
moderates. Dean took support from Rep. Dick
Gephardt of Missouri and from undecided
voters. Gephardt, who was at 11 percent in
February, dropped to 6 percent. Undecided
voters fell from 29 percent to 23 percent.
‘His support is really across the board,’
Zogby said of the former Vermont governor.
The rest of the Democratic field was in single
digits. Sen. Joe Lieberman of
Connecticut was at 6 percent, and Sen. John
Edwards of North Carolina was at 4
percent. Edwards also is airing ads in
New Hampshire. Retired Gen. Wesley Clark,
who is considering a presidential bid, was at
2 percent, while Sen. Bob Graham of
Florida and Rep. Dennis Kucinich of
Ohio were at 1 percent. Carol Moseley Braun
and Al Sharpton were at 0 percent.
Almost two-thirds of those in the poll, 64
percent, said they think it is likely that
President Bush will be re-elected in 2004. The
poll of 501 likely primary voters has an error
margin of plus or minus 5 percentage points.
… Today’s most
incredible claim: Clark says the White
House tried to run him off job as CNN military
analyst. Headline last night on
FOXNews.com: “Clark Alleges White House
Pushed CNN to Fire Him” Excerpts from
coverage: “The White House pressured CNN to
fire former military analyst Gen. Wesley
Clark, the retired Army chief told a Phoenix
radio station on Monday. ‘The White House
actually back in February apparently tried to
get me knocked off CNN and they wanted to do
this because they were afraid that I would
raise issues with their conduct of the war,’
Clark told Newsradio 620 KTAR.
‘Apparently they called CNN. I don't have all
the proof on this because they didn't call me.
I've only heard rumors about it." CNN had
no immediate comment on the general's
allegations. White House officials told
Fox News that they are ‘adamant’ that they
‘never tried to get Wesley Clark kicked off
the air in any way, shape or form.’ Beyond
that, the White House ‘won't respond to
rumors.’ Clark was one of cable
network CNN’s military analysts and
commentators during the Iraq war. Frequently
named as a possible presidential candidate,
Clark has not said whether he is
interested in seeking the Democratic
nomination. But, in his comments on the ‘Drive
Home With Preston Westmoreland Show,’ Clark
indicated that he is debating a bid. ‘I had a
very clear understanding with CNN that if I
ever decided to go forward in considering
becoming a political candidate that I would at
that point, leave CNN. That's what I did in
June,’ he said. Previously, Clark claimed
publicly that after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror
attacks, he was pressured by the Bush
administration to link the attacks directly to
Iraq. When pressed on Fox News' Hannity &
Colmes show, Clark refused to name
White House names and instead fingered a
public policy think tank in Canada. ‘I
personally got a call from a fellow in Canada
who is part of a Middle Eastern think tank who
gets inside intelligence information. He
called me on 9/11,’ Clark said. When
asked who in the White House contacted him,
Clark responded that he was ‘not going to
go into those sources.’ Once again, the
White House insisted they never applied any
pressure. Grassroots organizations have
encouraged the former NATO commander to make a
run. The DraftWesleyClark.com group
commissioned a Zogby poll in which those
surveyed were asked to select a candidate
based on his bio without knowing the
candidate's name. The poll, released
Monday, showed Clark with 49 percent
support in the ‘Blind Bio’ survey compared to
40 percent for President Bush. Matched up
against six of the nine Democratic candidates,
Clark polled in first place. That
number dropped to fifth place among likely
Democratic primary voters, however, when the
candidates were named. Clark
backers still found this data encouraging,
noting that he earned high marks ‘despite his
low name recognition, and the fact that he has
not spent a dime’ on campaigning. Clark,
who is holding his decision close to the
vest, told the radio station: ‘I still am not
a candidate. I'm not affiliated with the
party, and I haven't raised a penny of
political money.’” (Iowa Pres Watch Note:
The first thing to remember about Clark’s
claims is that he was a Rhodes Scholar from
Arkansas – like a former president from
Arkansas.)
… “Incompetent
candidate” – subhead from Greg Pierce’s
“Inside Politics” column in yesterday’s
Washington Times. One of the central
questions of the campaign – although it has
been ignored because Graham hasn’t gotten any
traction – is how he could have been so
successful in FL and so nutty on the prez
campaign trail. Pierce recaps David Tell’s
commentary in the Weekly Standard: ‘First as
governor and lately as U.S. senator, Bob
Graham has won five statewide races in
Florida, which is no mean feat, and must have
required some considerable skill,’ David Tell
writes in the Weekly Standard. ‘So how come
Graham is such an unqualifiedly, amazingly,
matchlessly incompetent presidential
candidate?’ asks Mr. Tell, after watching
Mr. Graham's performance before the
Iowa Federation of Labor a couple of weeks ago
in Waterloo. ’It is a mystery for
the ages. Here in Waterloo he's
several minutes into an incomprehensible — and
practically inaudible — discussion of an
economic-policy white paper he's released
before the moderator, IFL President Mark
Smith, finally and mercifully interrupts to
remind the senator that he hasn't been
speaking into the mike. Asked about health
care, Graham wanders deep into the
weeds, admits he hasn't fully refined his
thinking on the subject, promises to make
public the rest of his health care plan soon,
and then unaccountably blurts out that Dick
Gephardt's already-released rival plan has
somewhat set the standard for this debate.
By the time Graham starts reading his
closing statement, hardly bothering to look up
at his audience, there is coughing and chatter
throughout the room.”
… This
sounds like another Dean campaign gimmick, but
this time it’s the Draft Clark crazies who are
trying to bother Bush – by renting office
space in Crawford. Excerpt from report –
headlined “Candidates encroach on Bush…Democratic
hopefuls boldly hit Texas to stump” – by Julie
Mason in Monday’s Houston Chronicle: “Organizers
of the Draft Wesley Clark for President
movement are trying to rent office space in
Crawford, on the theory it's becoming the
national seat of power. Their effort,
which also includes sending Clark bars and
T-shirts to White House adviser Karl Rove,
is part of a mini-surge among Democratic
presidential hopefuls and would-be contenders
to take their fight directly to President
Bush, wherever he may be, during his monthlong
hiatus from Washington. ‘If the seat of
government has moved to Crawford for the
better part of the year, we realized we should
establish a presence there as well,’ said
Josh Margulies, a Republican who is among
those urging former NATO Supreme Commander
Clark to enter the Democratic fray… So
far, Dean's campaign has proved the most
adept at thumbing its nose at Bush in
prankish, campaign-style ways. The Austin
television ads were followed by a ploy last
week, when organizers managed to park a
colorful Dean-for-president van along the
route of the president's motorcade when he
traveled to Washington state. But not far
behind are the Draft Wesley Clark
organizers, who claim they have been
rebuffed in trying to lease office space in
Crawford. Later this week, Margulies said,
supporters may visit from Washington, to ride
around in a pickup truck and clear brush --
mocking a frequent pastime of the president at
his ranch. So far, Clark has not said
whether he will run, although an announcement
is expected soon.”
… Dean’s
Sleepless Tour I -- Dean starts acting
like a Dem frontrunner: In Portland, he
fabricates facts about impact of Bush
education policy and goes with usual
old-growth forest rhetoric. There’s no
denying, however, that he can attract a crowd.
Headline from Monday’s Portland
Oregonian: “Dean draws 3,000 to PSU”
Excerpt from coverage by Oregonian’s Jeff
Mapes: “Five months before the first votes
will be cast in the 2004 presidential race,
Howard Dean demonstrated his rising appeal
among Democrats Sunday when he attracted as
many as 3,000 people to a high-energy Portland
rally. In a period when most candidates
are concentrating on raising money and
speaking to small groups in early primary
states, Dean drew the kind of crowd that
impressed local political leaders from both
parties as he continued on a rock-concert
style, four-day tour of 10 cities. As
supporters crowded into a Portland State
University plaza under a hot midday sun,
Dean charged that Oregon schools have been
forced to close early because of President
Bush's economic and budget policies. The
former Vermont governor, following on the
heels of Bush's visit last week to Oregon and
Seattle, also maintained that the
president's proposals to reduce the danger of
forest fires are a cover for massive
clear-cutting in the national forests. ‘We
have a president who thinks healthy forests
means it's okay to cut down old-growth
forests,’ Dean said…Oregon
Democratic Chairman Jim Edmunson, who is
neutral in the race, attended the rally and
said it was ‘hard to imagine’ any of the other
Democratic candidates having the star power to
attract so many people here. Kevin Mannix,
chairman of the Oregon Republican Party, said
he was impressed by the size of the crowd so
long before the first primaries, and called it
a testament to the organizational abilities of
the Dean campaign. Dean
repeatedly hammered the president for
approving huge tax cuts that he said were
weighted toward the wealthy and were making it
difficult for the government to afford needed
services. ‘Here we are in a state where you
had to close the schools five weeks early
because the president of the United States
gave $3 trillion of our money away’ to big
contributors such as former Enron Chairman Ken
Lay, Dean said. Although Portland
at one point considered cuts of that length,
no school district in Oregon closed that
early. Nearly half of districts cut days, with
the most being 17 days in Hillsboro.
Dean said later in an interview that
schools in Oregon and other states would have
more money if President Bush would fully pay
for special education at the federal level
instead of cutting taxes. In addition, he
argued that the president's education-reform
plan -- which requires districts to meet
several achievement benchmarks to continue
getting federal money -- often costs school
districts more money than they get.”
… Saving a
seat for Wesley. Under the subhead “Squeezing
play,” Paul Bedard reports in his
“Washington Whispers” column in U. S. News &
World Report that Clark will not be
forgotten during the NM wannabe debate.
The column item: “Democratic officials
preparing for the New Mexico primary debate
September 4 are so confident that retired Gen.
Wesley Clark
plans to join the race they're adding a 10th
podium to the dais. Word in party HQ is
that the former NATO boss will announce his
decision Labor Day on whether to get in or bow
out. If he joins the other nine candidates,
officials say, he'll immediately become ‘top
tier.’”
… “Presidential
candidates hit Bush on economy” – headline
from this morning’s The Union Leader. It’s
beginning to look more like a political
feeding frenzy than a presidential nominating
competition. Coverage – an excerpt – by
the AP’s Will Lester: “President Bush's
Democratic rivals seized on projections of
record budget deficits Tuesday, arguing that
the numbers add up to a failed economic policy
that will hit future generations hard.
‘It's obvious this administration doesn't have
the slightest clue about how to get this
economy back on track, get Americans back to
work and get our nation's finances under
control,’ said Sen. John Kerry of
Massachusetts, who added, ‘it is time to
admit what millions of unemployed Americans
already know - that the economic policies of
George W. Bush are the worst in our nation's
history.’ Congressional budget analysts
said Tuesday that the government faces at
least eight more years of budget deficits,
including a record $480 billion shortfall in
2004. The analysts also warned that extending
Bush's tax cuts beyond their expiration
combined with other spending could increase
the $1.4 trillion deficit over the next decade
to $1.6 trillion. Those figures prompted
criticism from Democrats, such as Howard Dean,
who has called for a repeal of Bush's tax
cuts. ‘The president has not only
destroyed three million jobs, he is destroying
the financial future of our children with
these crazy tax cuts for the top 1 percent,’
the former Vermont governor said in a
telephone interview. Sen. Bob Graham of
Florida, in a variation of a line from John F.
Kennedy's inaugural address, said Bush ‘is
telling the world that Americans shall defer
any price, unload any burden on our children,
postpone any hardship for ourselves to give
tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans.’ Said
Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut: ‘The
tide of red ink is rising higher than ever
before. And the best George W. Bush can do is
ask the American people to hold their breath.
That's unfair to our kids and unacceptable for
our economic health.’ John Edwards, a
senator from North Carolina, said the record
deficits indicate it's time to say ‘enough of
the unaffordable tax breaks for corporations
and the wealthy ... and enough of pretending
that deficits just don't matter.’ Rep. Dick
Gephardt of Missouri, cited the deficits
as well as job losses as proof that the
president's "tax-cut economic policy is
failing, it's not helping ordinary taxpayers.’
Al Sharpton also faulted the tax cuts
for diverting money from education, health
care, job creation and housing. Carol
Moseley Braun called the deficits ‘part of
the economic shell game that this
administration has put over on the American
people.’ She added it was neither
‘compassionate’ not ‘conservative,’ a
reference to Bush's oft-repeated description
of himself. Republican National Committee
spokeswoman Christine Iverson countered that ‘winning
the war on terrorism is expensive, but
security is priceless. Balancing the
budget is important but so is creating jobs,
defeating our enemies and protecting our
homeland.’”
… Carol’s in with the
wannabes, Moseley Braun picks up NOW support
and says she’ll announce on 9/22. Excerpt
from report by AP’s Nedra Pickler: “Buoyed
by the support of two women's groups, Democrat
Carol Moseley Braun said Tuesday that she will
formally enter the presidential race on Sept.
22. Braun, considered a long shot
for the nomination, has been conducting an
exploratory presidential campaign, traveling,
raising money and participating in debates
while trying to decide whether to stay in the
race. The former Illinois senator and
ambassador to New Zealand raised under
$250,000 in the first half of the year - less
than any of the eight other candidates seeking
the party's nomination. Still, she said she
has been encouraged by the response from
people she's met on her travels. ‘Nothing
was more significant than having the support
of the National Organization for Women and the
National Women's Political Caucus,’ said
Braun, the only woman in the race. ‘And I
hope and I know, I feel confident, that other
women's organizations will come on board based
on the leadership of these two very important,
significant national grass-roots
organizations.’ The two groups announced
their endorsement of Braun on Tuesday and said
they will encourage their members to
contribute to her campaign. NOW says it
has about 500,000 members across the country,
while the National Women's Political Caucus
has about 25,000 members and supporters.
The caucus only endorses pro-choice women
candidates, and leaders said they were excited
to finally have a presidential candidate they
could endorse. NOW/PAC Chairwoman Kim
Gandy said the group considered all nine
presidential hopefuls, but Braun had the
longest record of supporting feminist ideals.
NOW's relationship with Braun dates to
the late 1970s when she was a state legislator
and sat at her kitchen table with NOW
officials, struggling to decide on a strategy
to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment in
Illinois.”
… Kerry – still
developing southern strategy to appeal to
active-military and veterans – gets loud
response for criticizing cuts in veteran
benefits. What else would he expect at a VFW
convention? Headline from yesterday’s San
Antonio Express-News: “Kerry blasts Bush
for postwar efforts in Iraq, Afghanistan”
Excerpt from report by political editor Jaime
Castillo: “Democratic presidential hopeful
John Kerry mounted a spirited attack
[Monday] against the Bush administration,
telling a gathering of veterans here that
postwar planning in Iraq and Afghanistan has
failed. The decorated Vietnam War veteran
questioned whether the commitment of troops
has been sufficient to restore order and
foster a democratic transition in either hot
spot.
‘I believe a lack of planning and the lack of
candor with the American people have placed
our men and women in uniform in increased
harm’s way,’ Kerry
said to thousands of veterans attending the
Veterans of Foreign Wars convention. The
Massachusetts senator, who is running in a
crowded field of Democratic hopefuls, received
several loud ovations as he criticized
budget cuts affecting military benefits and
pay while bemoaning the mixture of politics
with military strategy. ‘The interests of
the grunts on the ground comes before all
politics,” said Kerry, who interspersed
his comments with references to his service on
a gunboat in Vietnam. Kerry's speech
preceded those of several members of the Bush
administration, including Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld and National Security
Adviser Condoleezza Rice. Both
officials preached patience in Iraq and
pledged to provide whatever level of support
is necessary to U.S. commanders. Calling the
administration stubborn, Kerry said not
enough has been done to get more nations
involved in the war effort in Iraq to get ‘the
targets taken off American soldiers' backs.
Kerry, who is touting his military
service in an attempt to blunt Bush's standing
on national security, also chided Arab allies
for not sending troops into harm’s way. ‘It
would be nice to see some Arabs in uniform
sharing the burden of freedom,’ he said.
On the domestic front, Kerry said that
veterans' and active-duty benefits should be
restored to previous levels and not subject to
budget cuts. ‘If one day I have the
opportunity to make the decisions as commander
in chief,’ he said, ‘I will ensure that
America always is the best equipped, best
trained and most powerful fighting force in
the world.’”
… Crazy Campaign
Contests I – Gephardt’s Iowa pie contest.
Announcement from dickgrphardt2004.com:
“Dick
Gephardt today called on Iowans to help him
find the tastiest, flakiest, fruitiest,
creamiest, most scrumptious slices of pie in
Iowa. In unveiling ‘The Great Gephardt
Iowa Pie Challenge,’ Gephardt takes
an early lead in the pie primary with the
deep-dish support he enjoys among all Iowans,
but especially those who make and love Iowa
pies. ‘Iowa has a long tradition of bringing
great pies to our nation. From Stone's
'mile high pie' in Marshalltown to the apple
pie at Cronk's Café in Denison, I've only
begun to nibble away at the best of what Iowa
has to offer - now I need your help in finding
all of the great pies in this great state.’
Future First Lady Jane Gephardt added, ‘I
was initially concerned that The Great
Gephardt Iowa Pie Challenge was going to
mostly be a challenge to Dick's waistline.
But the way he runs around the state of Iowa
campaigning for president, I have no doubt
that he works off at least as much as he puts
down.’ On the site, Iowans can follow
the different places that Gephardt has stopped
for pie and offer suggestions of their
favorite pies in Iowa. For the great Iowa
pie bakers out there, the site will also
feature pie recipes from all over the state.”
Dean’s Sleepless Tour II
– Only about a dozen blacks in crowd of 800 in
Milwaukee, raising questions about Dean’s
appeal once he gets beyond Iowa and New
Hampshire.
Headline from
Monday’s Chicago Tribune: “Rallies for Dean
short on diversity…Aide: Candidate wants
to “energize” black community” Excerpt of
report from Milwaukee by the Tribune’s John
McCormick: “The
faces of those listening were almost
exclusively white as Howard Dean explained to
hundreds of boisterous fans gathered in an
airport hangar for a late-night rally why he
wants to be president.
There were 20-somethings who had driven six
hours from Minneapolis to see the Democratic
candidate, senior citizens wearing his buttons
and middle-class Milwaukee residents chanting
his name and waving his trademark blue signs.
But in a heavily Democratic city where
blacks make up more than a third of the
population, only about a dozen
African-Americans stood in a crowd that Dean
estimated at 800. A similar ratio appeared
earlier Saturday at a rally in Falls Church,
Va., where Dean kicked off a four-day,
10-city tour designed to boost his name
recognition beyond the early primary states of
Iowa and New Hampshire, where he is among the
top tier of candidates in opinion polls. In
addition to the traditional barnstorming,
Dean's campaign set a goal of raising $1
million over the Internet during the tour…While
Dean has proved himself successful in
generating political buzz and raising money,
the lack of diversity in his crowds
underscores a challenge the former Vermont
governor faces as he prepares to compete in
primaries after those in Iowa and New
Hampshire, states that like his home are
among the least diverse in the nation.
African-Americans are among the most reliable
Democratic Party constituencies and are a
major part of the electorate in South
Carolina, which will hold its primary Feb. 3,
one week after New Hampshire's. Dean,
who attracted some Republicans and
independents to his weekend rallies, is
showing signs that he wants to devote more
attention to that important Democratic base.
‘No one is really energizing the
African-American community right now, but he
wants to and he's really working hard at it,’
said Andi Pringle, an African-American who
joined Team Dean as a deputy campaign
manager this month after leaving the
struggling campaign of former Sen. Carol
Moseley Braun of Illinois. Democratic
leaders worried about civil rights activist Al
Sharpton's entry into the race, fearing
his fiery style could put other candidates
trying to court black voters off stride. But
neither Sharpton nor Braun, the other
African-American hopeful in the race, has
managed to break from the bottom tier of
candidates. Martha Love, the Milwaukee
County Democratic Party chairwoman, was one of
the few blacks at Dean's rally. She was
asked to attend by the campaign. ‘Dean
has always been a respectful person of
diversity, but why there aren't more people
here I can't tell you,’ she said. ‘I'm not
certain the African-American community is
tuned in right now.’”
… Edwards
takes on controversial USDA Under Secretary –
and Iowan – Dorr over rural policy criticisms.
Headline from Monday’s letters to the
editor in the Des Moines Register: “Edwards:
Dorr misstated my plan” Excerpt from
Edwards’ letter: “Thomas Dorr's July 25
opinion piece (‘USDA Programs Make Our Rural
Regions Stronger’) contained several errors.
First, he mischaracterized my plan to create a
rural business capital fund by implying this
fund would take the place of other measures
enacted in Senator Tom Harkin's 2002
farm bill. As President Bush's appointee to
oversee rural programs at the Agriculture
Department, Dorr should know better than
anyone that my plan would be in addition to
other measures, such as funding for rural
housing and alternative-fuel programs. My
proposed Rural Economic Advantage Challenge
(REACH) fund will invest $1 billion to bring
investors from cities together with
entrepreneurs in small towns, offer training
and support to these businesspeople, and put
businesses into networks to help them succeed
together. Second, Dorr implied that the
Bush administration has been implementing
rural-development measures in Harkin's farm
bill, but nothing could be further from the
truth. In fact, President Bush's budget
eliminated the Rural Education Achievement
program, which helps smaller schools buy
computers and school buses, and cut the farm
bill's support for rural broadband Internet
service, which our farmers and small-town
businesses need to compete. Lastly, Dorr
failed to point out that he is a Bush
appointee, and fails to explain why a Bush
appointee is taking the time to attack a
Democrat running for president. Maybe it's
because an Edwards administration would
represent the values of small-town and rural
America, because that's where I grew up.
President Bush comes from a different place,
and seems content to help the special
interests at the expense of the family farm. –
Senator John Edwards, Raleigh, N. C.
[Editor’s Note: Dorr’s nomination as Under
Secretary of Rural Development was opposed by
Harkin. Dorr is from Marcus.)
… For months, the main
rivalry has been Dean vs. Kerry – but if Clark
enters the wannabe race it could shift to
Kerry vs. Clark on military record
comparisons. Boston Globe notes that
Kerry – now the only vet in race – could
face competition for military/veteran support.
Headline from yesterday’s Boston Herald: “Kerry
touts hero rep as Clark mulls run” Excerpt
from coverage by the Herald’s Noelle Straub: “Sen.
John F. Kerry yesterday played up his own
history as a combat hero as another candidate
with military background - retired four-star
Army Gen. Wesley Clark - mulled a presidential
run. Kerry, currently the only
veteran in the race, told the VFW convention
in Texas yesterday that as president he would
‘bring the perspective of someone who's fought
on the front lines.’…Jennifer Duffy, a
political analyst for The Cook Political
Report, noted the string of events and said
Clark - the former NATO supreme allied
commander - would ‘certainly’ compete with
Kerry on national security issues.
‘Obviously, Kerry is building on that
credential,’ she said. ‘I doubt it is entirely
or even halfway geared at Clark, but he
certainly is laying a marker down.’ But Larry
Sabato, director of the University of Virginia
Center for Politics, said Clark would have
difficulty launching a viable campaign because
he has no political organization and most
operatives already work for other campaigns.
Meanwhile, Clark backers said their
internal polling shows he would run fifth
among the Democrats in the race, boosted by
his military credentials.”
… Despite Bob
Novak’s contention that Gephardt has CWA
endorsement locked up, three wannabes – Kerry,
Kucinich plus Gephardt – show up for CWA forum
with Dean and Lieberman still to go.
Headline from yesterday’s Chicago Sun-Times: “Democratic
hopefuls blast Bush over Iraq” Coverage –
an excerpt – by the Sun-Times’ Curtis
Lawrence: “Three of the nine Democratic
presidential candidates came to Chicago on
Monday serenading union activists with
old-time labor songs and pointing to what they
call the sour notes of the Bush
administration, especially when it comes to
defense and labor policies. Rep. Richard
Gephardt (D-Mo.) was the first to
address the Communication Workers of America,
which brought 2,800 delegates, members and
supporters to Navy Pier for a convention this
week. Like Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio)
and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who also
addressed the convention, Gephardt is trying
to win the coveted endorsement of the AFL-CIO
and its unions. ‘I think the president
needs to get to the UN, to get to NATO and to
get us help,’ Gephardt said, hammering
at Bush's Iraq strategy. ‘We have 150,000
troops there. We're stretched thin. If we had
a military problem somewhere in the world
today, we have no one to send there.’
Saying he presented the ‘sharpest contrast’ to
Bush, Kucinich reminded voters that he was one
of the few voices against the war in Iraq.
He also attacked the president and his aides
for deliberately overstating the threat posed
by the country. ‘This administration lied
to the American people, and we must challenge
them,’ Kucinich said. After his speech,
Kucinich told reporters that ‘only someone
who's ready to clearly distinguish themselves
from the president on what would be the basis
for war is going to be able to be successful.’
But Kucinich also hit hard on bread and
butter labor issues. He blasted labor
policies, including the North American Free
Trade Agreement, that he said were taking jobs
out of the country. He also criticized Bush
policies for undermining the right to
organize. ‘They want to take us back to
the day of 'Sixteen Tons,'’ Kucinich said,
humoring the crowd with a scratchy verse from
the rallying standard of American miners.
Kerry didn't sing, but he wooed the crowd with
one-liners, calling Bush's jobs record the
worst since Depression-era President Herbert
Hoover. He said that people were ‘just plain
tired of being trickled on’ by Bush's economic
policies and said he would scrap Bush's tax
breaks and ‘restore fairness to the work place
in America…Later Kerry sat at a picnic
table on Navy Pier for an informal chat with
about a half dozen veterans, two of whom
served on gun boats with him in the MeKong
Delta. While Sun-Times columnist Robert
Novak has reported that Gephardt has the
communication workers' endorsement pinned
down, Candice Johnson, a union spokeswoman,
said that while Gephardt is a friend of the
union, ‘we have not endorsed anybody yet.’
That will come in the fall, she said.”
… Relentless Team Dean
raises the stakes on other wannabes again.
After sticking the knife with multi-state
“Sleepless” tour, they will now twist it with
$1M media buy in six states. Excerpt from
report by AP political ace Ron Fournier:
“In a show of political strength,
Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean
plans to spend $1 million airing television
ads in six early primary states. The former
Vermont governor, who is the first candidate
to advertise in Iowa, New Hampshire and Texas,
will begin airing ads Friday in Arizona, New
Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Washington
state and Wisconsin. All six hold
elections following the first caucuses in Iowa
Jan. 19 and the New Hampshire primary
tentatively scheduled for Jan. 27. ‘This shows
we're a national campaign,’ said Joe Trippi,
Dean's campaign manager. ‘We started
out in January saying we're going to run a
marathon, but we would run the first four
miles at a 100-yard dash pace. Yesterday,
we decided to run the next stretch in a
100-yard dash pace - keep taking it to Bush
and being aggressive.’ Dean has
shaken up the Democratic primary race,
threatening to become its front-runner after
raising $7.6 million in the second quarter,
more than any other Democratic candidate.
Trippi said in a telephone interview Tuesday
that he expects Dean to raise $10.3 million in
the quarter ending Sept. 30 - more than any
other Democratic candidate is expected to
raise. Sen. John Edwards of North
Carolina is the only other candidate airing
ads in Iowa and New Hampshire. Several
others, including Dean's chief rival in New
Hampshire, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts,
expect to begin airing ads after Labor Day.
But Dean's aggressive move this week will
force the rest of the nine-candidate field to
reconsider their strategy as they try to
determine how to keep pace with Dean's
fund-raising and organizational strengths.
Trippi made the announcement at the end of
Dean's four-day ‘Sleepless Summer’ tour
that drew thousands of supporters, a measure
of the candidate's grass-roots support. The
ads will be similar to the ones airing in
Austin, Texas, in which Dean promises to
‘take the country back’ and urges voters to
log onto his Web site. Dean has
been leaps and bounds ahead of his rivals in
using the Internet to boost his candidacy. The
announcement comes one week after Dean
backpedaled from his promise to accept
taxpayer money and adhere to spending limits
for his presidential campaign. Despite his
surge in fund raising, a campaign adviser said
the campaign has not decided whether to
abandon public financing. Dean's
campaign was hastily buying ad time on
Tuesday, but campaign sources said they
expected the buy to be about $1 million.
The figure could change later today.”
… Iowa AARP
launches caucus project, sets October wannabe
forum, intends to get answers from wannabes on
three key issues. WHO Radio (Des Moines)
reported that AARP -- as part of the Iowa
Caucus Project -- wants to ensure that
presidential candidates coming to Iowa address
issues that are important to older Iowans and
their families. The group invited all nine
Dem wannabes to a two-hour debate on 10/15.
AARP – with about 365,000 members in IA --
said that Iowa Public Television has agreed to
broadcast the event statewide. The WHO report
said AARP has decided to focus on Social
Security solvency, Medicare reform and
prescription drugs, and health care
affordability and accessibility in this year’s
presidential candidate selection process.
In addition, the AARP website is encouraging
members and older Iowans to take an active
role in the pre-caucus activities: “When
candidates visit your communities, we urge you
to attend their events and ask them positions
on the issues and plans they have to implement
them.” The site lists three “sample questions”
they want members to ask the candidates:
-- Do you
support or oppose replacing part of the
Social Security benefit with private
individual accounts?
-- Do you
support or oppose adding a prescription
drug benefit in Medicare for all
beneficiaries?
-- What would
you do to make the health care system
available, affordable, and accessible for
every American?
… Let’s see now,
weren’t the frontrunners rounding the Labor
Day turn supposed to be Lieberman, Wonderboy
Edwards and Kerry – with Gephardt locking up
the AFL-CIO endorsement months ago? And while
we’re at it, who’s this Dean guy? Under
the subhead “Waiting for Clark,” Greg
Pierce in yesterday’s “Inside Politics” column
reported on Amy Sullivan’s observations: “’The
script for the 2004 Democratic primary has not
worked out as written,’ Amy Sullivan
writes in the September issue of the
Washington Monthly. ‘By this time, with nine
candidates in the running — representing
various wings of the party and several regions
of the country — one or two were supposed to
have caught fire. But so far, after a
half-dozen cattle calls, a full round of 'Meet
the Press' appearances, and an untold number
of pancake breakfasts, there is no real
front-runner,’ the writer said. ‘The early
favorites, like Joe Lieberman and John
Edwards, are struggling. John Kerry has raised
money, but not hopes or excitement. The
one guy who has surged ahead, Howard Dean,
is widely seen as, in Texas-speak, snakebit.
He was adamantly against the war in Iraq,
which 62 percent of the country still supports,
and while he is no dove — he says he supported
every post-Vietnam U.S. intervention through
Kosovo — he lacks national security
experience. Leading Democrats are
increasingly worried that he just can't beat
Bush next year. And so are voters. Instead
of coalescing around one or two strong
possibilities, likely voters are withdrawing
their support. Today, there are actually
more undecided Democrats than there were just
a few months ago. The number stood at 15
percent in May and 30 percent in early July.
In a late July Zogby poll, almost half of
those Democrats polled — 48 percent — said
they wish they had other candidates to choose
from. Democrats want somebody else to run.
And that somebody could be Wesley Clark, the
former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO and
current undeclared candidate for the
Democratic nomination, who has assured
supporters that he will announce his
intentions sometime this month."
… “Edwards
vows to fight powergrid improvement rush”
– headline from yesterday’s Union Leader.
Dean wraps up New Hampshire bus tour with a
commitment to protect public health during
effort to expand power plant modernization.
Excerpt from report – datelined Concord –
by AP’s Holly Ramer: “Democratic
presidential hopeful John Edwards said Monday
he will fight to protect public health as the
Environmental Protection Agency prepares to
allow some power plants to modernize without
adding more pollution controls. Speaking
at a diner crowded with breakfast customers,
Edwards accused the Bush administration
of taking the life out of the 1977 Clean Air
Act by supporting a new rule the EPA is
expected to issue this week. The rule relaxes
the agency's definition of ‘routine
maintenance,’ a catch-phrase describing the
only reason an industry could modernize
without having to install best-available
pollution control technology. The Bush
administration and industry officials
characterize the changes as clarifications of
a confusing standard and say the new rules
would encourage emissions reductions by giving
utilities new flexibility. But Edwards and
other critics say the change will allow
coal-burning plants and other facilities to
release millions of tons of additional
pollution into the air. ‘The least you can
do is have somebody, the NIH or CDC, look at
what effect it's going to have on public
health,’ Edwards said, referring to the
National Institutes of Health and the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention. ‘I think
they refused to do it because they know what
the answer would be.’ Earlier this year,
Edwards co-sponsored an attempt to delay
the rule so experts could study how the change
would affect public health. That failed, but
he said he will keep trying. ‘I'm going to
attach this amendment to everything I can
find,’ he said. The restaurant was the last
stop the senator from North Carolina made in
his six-day bus tour of the state.”
…
Dean’s
Sleepless Tour III
– He says key to Dem victory in ’04 is to be
“in the president’s face.”
Under the subhead “In your face,” Greg
Pierce reported in his “Inside Politics”
column in Monday’s Washington Times: “Democratic
presidential candidate Howard Dean said
yesterday the only way his party could beat
President Bush next year was ‘to be in the
president's face.’ The
former Vermont governor, who appears to have
captured hearts on the left wing of his party,
saw no need to moderate his tone or his
message despite warnings that he would lead
the party back into the ‘political
wilderness,’ Reuters reports. ‘I think my
message is a centrist message and is where
most Americans are,’ he told reporters aboard
his aircraft on a profile-raising
coast-to-coast political swing. ‘I don't
expect Democrats or Republicans to accept that
yet.’ On his first foray into
presidential-style travel, Mr. Dean
ventured close to the press section of his
aircraft — a '60s-era Boeing 737 chartered
from Casino Express Airlines based in Elko,
Nev. — before going in to face reporters. Mr.
Dean expressed surprise at his surge in
popularity and his success at fund raising…’I
thought I'd be struggling at 5 percent, hoping
to light a fire in Iowa and New Hampshire. I
started out as a classic insurgent,’ the
candidate said. ‘We have to be in the
president's face to win,’ Mr. Dean
explained as he held court in the narrow aisle
of the ancient aircraft dubbed the
‘Grassroots Express’ and decorated with
sprigs of plastic greenery.”
… South
Carolina Dems – after hosting first wannabe
debate of the current cycle – schedules
another next January. According to AP
report datelined out of Columbia, the South
Carolina Democratic Party and Young Democrats
will hold a presidential debate just days
before the state's Feb. 3 primary. The
debate will be at 7 p.m., Jan. 29, two days
before the New Hampshire primary and five days
before South Carolina's first-in-the-South
primary. Candidates planning to attend
include Dean, Edwards, Graham, Gephardt,
Lieberman and Moseley Braun. The
campaigns of Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry,
Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich and the Rev.
Al Sharpton have not yet confirmed. The
site of the debate has not been announced.
…
Crazy Campaign Contests II:
Lieberman campaign – looking for a niche in
New Hampshire – goes after baseball fans with
a weird contest. Any residents who see a
JoeMobile over coming days can enter to get
White Sox-Red Sox tickets.
Excerpts of news release from joe2004.com: “Joe
Lieberman's campaign today announced ‘See
Joe's Car & Go See Nomar!,’ a six-day contest
Granite Staters can enter when they spot a
JoeMobile in the state to win tickets to see
Nomar Garciaparra in the September 14 Red Sox
vs. White Sox game.
Joe Lieberman will draw the winner in
his visit to Manchester August 31 during a
live telecast of the Red Sox vs. Yankees
game. ‘The Lieberman Campaign is
excited about this contest -- almost as
excited as our boss,’ said NH State Director
Peter Greenberger. ‘As a life-long baseball
fan, Joe Lieberman sees this as an excellent
opportunity to do a little campaigning in the
Granite State while not missing the big game!’
Here's how the ‘See Joe's Car & Go See Nomar!’
contest works: Both JoeMobiles -- Chrysler
PT Cruiser and Dodge Intrepid ‘wrapped’ in
red, white and blue covering with Joe 2004
logos and photos -- will travel across New
Hampshire August 25-30 to spread the good word
about Joe in every corner of the state.
Any Granite Stater who sees a JoeMobile over
these six days simply must call the Lieberman
campaign headquarters at 603-669-2004 or send
an email to
JoeMobile@joe2004.com and say ‘I saw the
car and love Nomar’ as well as the time and
location of spotting the JoeMobile. There is
no cost to play. Callers will automatically
be entered to win two tickets to see Nomar and
the Sox play in person on September 14 when
it's the Red Sox vs. the White Sox in Boston.
Joe Lieberman will draw the lucky winner's
name in Manchester during the seventh inning
stretch of the Red Sox Yankees game on August
31. Details on the time and location of
the drawing (and baseball watching!) will be
announced later this week.”
go to
page 2
click here
to read past Iowa Daily Reports
|