IOWA
PRESIDENTIAL WATCH
Iowa...
Where Presidents Begin
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on each candidate to see today's news stories
(caricatures by
Linda Eddy)
Friday, Feb. 22, 2008
GENERAL NEWS HEADLINES with excerpts
Early voting in Texas on track to
break records
Early voting in Texas is on track to break records,
especially among Democrats. After only two days of early
voting, according to
data from the Texas Secretary of State, early voting
totals after only two days are two-thirds the total
after two weeks of early voting in 2004.
Superdelegates asked to stall
choice
Democratic officials backing Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton
are urging uncommitted superdelegates to wait until
after the Texas and Ohio primaries, on March 4, before
deciding who they will support at the presidential
nominating convention in August.
"I've told all of my friends that I hope they will wait because
battleground states like Ohio will be absolutely critical to our
success in November," said former Democratic National Committee
Chairman Steve Grossman, who is asking his fellow superdelegates to
line up behind Mrs. Clinton.
GOP operative: Rove sought to
smear Alabama governor
A Republican operative in Alabama says Karl Rove asked
her to try to prove the state’s Democratic governor was
unfaithful to his wife in an effort to thwart the highly
successful politician’s re-election.
Rove’s attempt to smear Don Siegelman was part of a
Republican campaign to ruin him that finally succeeded
in imprisoning him, says the operative, Jill Simpson.
Simpson speaks to Scott Pelley in her first television
interview, to be broadcast on 60 Minutes Sunday,
Feb. 24, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
Clinton-Obama debate coverage:
Obama, Clinton spar over Cuba, health care
CBSNews.com senior political editor Vaughn Ververs:
"Anyone looking for a knock-down, drag-out debate in Texas tonight was
instead treated to a gentle waltz that only increased Obama's edge
over Clinton," Ververs said. "The New York Senator did nothing to stop
Obama's momentum and, in fact, allowed him to upstage her on both
substance and style. Time is growing short for Clinton to regain her
footing. This debate just kept those seconds rapidly moving forward.
And the time is all on Obama's side."
Clinton and Obama debate leadership
When Ramos asked his question again, Clinton mentioned her experiences
as first lady and in the Senate, and said they had made her "prepared
and ready on Day One" to be president. She did not mention Obama.
Obama, for his part, retorted, "I wouldn't be running if I didn't
think I was prepared to be commander in chief."
The debate illustrated a central argument in the Democratic campaign:
Which stands the better chance of success -- Clinton's more combative
approach or Obama's more conciliatory demeanor?
NY senator's rhetoric fails to shift the balance
... But while Clinton did nothing to hurt her chances, she failed to
deliver any such game-changing moment. And Obama did not provide one
with any serious gaffes....
Debate takes on contentious air
for Dems
Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama veered from
collegial to clenched and combative in a debate on Thursday, with Mrs.
Clinton turning especially aggressive as she all but accused Mr. Obama
of plagiarism and derided his political message as “change you can
Xerox.”
Mr. Obama, buoyed by 11 straight victories in the most
recent nominating contests, sought to maintain a positive tone
throughout, though at one point he accused Mrs. Clinton of suggesting
that his supporters were “delusional” or “being duped” by his themes
of hope and unity.
see also:
Clinton: Obama 'change you can Xerox'
Hillary holds back, Obama coasts
The contrasting performances underscore the shifting
dynamics of the presidential campaign.
Obama is simply trying to maintain his momentum.
Clinton is struggling to revive her candidacy as she heads into Texas
and Ohio – two key contests that could give her campaign new life or
potentially end it.
But defying conventional wisdom, Clinton adhered
more closely to touting her own record than launching broadsides at
Obama. The nastiest it got was when Clinton tried out a canned attack
that appeared to backfire.
“You know, lifting whole passages from someone else's speeches is not
change you can believe in, it's change you can Xerox,” Clinton said to
a smattering of boos.
“Come on,” Obama said, his eyes fixed on the paper in front of him.
“The notion that I had plagiarized from somebody who was one of my
national co-chairs, who gave me the line and suggested that I use it,
I think, is silly,” Obama said. “This is where we start getting into
silly season, in politics, and I think people start getting
discouraged about it.”
Politico's Roger Simon:
The issue the two Democrats were invited to attack each other on was
whether Barack Obama was a plagiarist. Obama denied it, saying that he
had been given permission to use a supporter’s words without credit.
That gave Clinton the opportunity to deliver the killer line of the
evening.
“If your candidacy is going to be about words, they should be your own
words,” Clinton said. “Lifting whole passages is not change you can
believe in; it’s change you can Xerox.”
Hillary's warm and fuzzy debate moment:
"No matter what happens in this contest, I
am honored to be here with Barack Obama."
THE CANDIDATES:
Mike Huckabee... today's headlines with excerpts
Huckabee: A
deadlocked convention is my goal
“We think Texas is an important state,”
Huckabee told me. “We know how important it is to win Texas.”
Huckabee says with an upset win in Texas,
and a win in the Ohio Republican primary the same day, Huckabee could
deny front runner John McCain the nomination in the primaries.
“If we win Texas, I think it changes the
dynamics of this race. It could well go all the way to the
convention. If the convention delegates pick the president, chances
are they would pick the most conservative. I would be the one they
would end up picking, if that’s the criteria.”
Huckabee says Texas crucial to
keeping bid alive
"It's not Republican and not American to cut off the
race and this election" before Texas, the nation's largest GOP-leaning
state, hold its March 4 primary, he said. Huckabee said he plans to
spend considerable time in the state before the election.
Enthusiastic crowd cheers
Huckabee in Houston
... enthusiastic supporters chanted "We
like Mike" Thursday morning as Republican long-shot presidential
candidate Mike Huckabee brought his campaign to Houston.
"Your vote on March 4 is not going to be
wasted if it's a vote for me," Huckabee told the cheering crowd. "If
we win Texas, everything changes."
... Political pundits nationwide are
saying John McCain has the GOP nomination wrapped up, but Huckabee is
telling Texans they might be able to turn the tide in favor of his
conservative candidacy, in which he has stumped for building a Mexican
border wall to keep out illegal immigrants and replacing the income
tax with a national sales tax.
"Here's a man who's not willing to
compromise," said Houstonian Rachel Williams, a coordinator for a
major chain pharmacy store. "He's got guts in today's political
society, where he stands up and says 'Nope, this is the way it should
be, regardless of what the regular politicians say.' That's what I
love about him."
Dana Milbank: A man, a mission
Searching for the lost Huckabee tapes...
The tapes date from the 1980s, when Huckabee was a young Arkansas
pastor intent on making a name for himself. At the tiny Immanuel
Baptist Church in Pine Bluff, and the slightly less tiny Beech Street
First Baptist Church in Texarkana, Huckabee broadcast sermons and
other programs over his own TV station. If anyone ever missed a
Sunday, no problem. Huckabee taped every homily and gave them out,
free, at the church office.
Now, the Huckabee tapes have become the 2008 campaign's version of the
Pentagon Papers, or the Lost Ark. Even as his campaign drifts to its
end, the mystery remains. The Huckabee campaign won't give them up,
and his former parishioners, ever loyal, won't budge...
John McCain... today's headlines
with excerpts
McCain told he must take public
money
A
bank loan that Senator John McCain took out late last year to keep
his campaign for the Republican nomination afloat financially is now
complicating his desire to withdraw from the public financing program
for his primary bid.
The Federal Election Commission, in
a letter
that it released Thursday, said that Mr. McCain cannot withdraw
from the public financing system until he answers questions about the
terms of a $4 million line of credit that was secured, in part, by the
promise of federal matching funds.
see also:
FEC warns McCain on campaign spending
McCain turns tables on NY Times
It was a vivid illustration of the power of the
longstanding anti-media grievance among conservatives.
Rush, right rally to McCain
Rush Limbaugh, who has been critical of Sen. John McCain
(R-Ariz.), embraced him Thursday now that they have a
common enemy: The New York Times.
Limbaugh and other conservative commentators rushed to
defend McCain on Thursday against a potentially damaging
article in The New York Times, embracing a maverick they
have often attacked.
"You're surprised that Page Six-type gossip is on the
front page of The New York Times?" Limbaugh asked as he
began his radio show. "Where have you been? How in the
world can anybody be surprised?"
Limbaugh said earlier in an e-mail to Politico that the
Times article about McCain’s relationship with a female
lobbyist was a clear case of "the drive-by media ...
trying to take him out."
Laura Ingraham, another influential conservative radio
host, asserted that the Times waited until McCain was on
the brink of the Republican presidential nomination and
now is seeking to "contaminate" him with an article that
she calls "absurd" and "ridiculous."
CBN.org, the website of the Christian Broadcasting
Network, calls an attack by the Times "a conservative
badge of honor."
Ex-McCain aide says he's still
loyal
In other words, Weaver, an apparent McCain loyalist, had
provided the critical, on-the-record foundation for
stories denigrating the senator.
This is not the first time Weaver finds himself in the
middle of an uproar. A brooding, volatile, longtime top
strategist who serves as a favorite inside source for
political reporters, Weaver had a high-profile
falling-out with Karl Rove in the late 1980s and a
well-publicized reunion with him a decade and a half
later. In 2002, Weaver left the Republican Party, worked
for Democratic candidates, and then returned to McCain’s
side shortly afterward.
Even after quitting the McCain campaign last summer in a
staff shake-up, Weaver still maintains close ties to
remaining staffers, he told Politico on Thursday, though
his role remains minor.
Ron Paul... today's headlines with excerpts
WSJ: Long shots could pay high
price for prez run
Reps. Ron Paul (R., Texas) and Dennis Kucinich (D.,
Ohio) now face a common problem: primary challenges
built largely around the notion that their long-shot
presidential bids and celebrity status have put them out
of touch with voters back home. For both, the showdown
will be March 4, when Texas and Ohio hold primaries.
Hillary Clinton... today's
headlines with excerpts
Hillary denies defeat looming for
her campaign
Hillary Clinton Friday denied
she was contemplating defeat for her White House bid,
after she paid a wistful tribute to Barack Obama which
some observers saw as an admission of possible failure.
Reeling from her Democratic rival's 11 straight wins in nominating
contests, Clinton fought back against the perception that her
performance Thursday in a high-stakes debate in Austin, Texas, had a
valedictory tone.
"I intend to win, obviously. I'm working very hard, and Ohio and Texas
are critical states," the New York Senator said in an interview with
ABC News, referring to two do-or-die nominating contests on March 4
Poll: Hillary with narrow lead in
Ohio
Hillary Rodham Clinton, 50 percent
Barack Obama, 43 percent.
Clinton works to hold Ohio lead as
Obama attacks on trade, jobs
Instead, Barack Obama has cut into all her strengths heading into the
March 4 Democratic primary, as he did in the last 11
presidential-nominating contests, and Clinton is fighting for her
political life...
Poll: Hillary lead in Pennsylvania
slips
Clinton's lead has slipped to 12 percentage points from
20 in January, according to the latest Franklin &
Marshall College poll. She now leads Obama by 44 percent
to 32 percent ahead of the Pennsylvania primary on April
22.
Kudlow: It is over
Bill Clinton's political invincibility is over. The Clinton
Restoration is over. It's over.
Mr. Obama got to the far left faster than Hillary did. He
out-organized her, out-fund-raised her, out-speechified her,
out-hustled her, outdressed her, and out-presidentialed her. He outbid
Hillary for votes, one promised government check at a time. His
17-point margin of victory in Wisconsin was incredible. It says he
can't be stopped...
Consultant spending saps Clinton
campaign $$$
Hillary Clinton started the year flush with cash, but by
the beginning of this month, she'd blazed through most
of it — spending $11 million on ads, $3.8 million on
messaging guru Mark Penn and $1,300 at Dunkin' Donuts,
to name just a few expenditures — leaving her campaign
woefully unprepared for an extended battle for the
Democratic presidential nomination.
About $15 million — or more than half of the New York
senator’s January spending — went to a cadre of
high-priced consultants...
Clinton campaign spending worries
supporters
Hillary Clinton’s latest campaign finance report, published Wednesday
night, appeared even to her most stalwart supporters and donors to be
a road map of her political and management failings. Several of them,
echoing political analysts, expressed concerns that Mrs. Clinton’s
spending priorities amounted to costly errors in judgment that have
hamstrung her competitiveness against Senator Barack Obama of
Illinois.
“We didn’t raise all of this money to keep paying consultants who have
pursued basically the wrong strategy for a year now,” said a prominent
New York donor. “So much about her campaign needs to change — but it
may be too late.”
Barack Obama... today's headlines with excerpts
Obama dances with Grammy winning
Texas swing band
Obama wins Democrats abroad
primary
The Illinois senator won the primary in which Democrats living in more
than 30 countries voted by Internet, mail and in person.
Obama's spending plan
(WashingtonTimes editorial)
Bear with us even though the costs aren't hidden in
these details. To finance
(1) his 10-year, $150 billion program to "establish a
green energy sector,"
(2) his 10-year, $60 billion "National Infrastructure
Reinvestment Bank,"
(3) his nearly universal health care plan (whose annual
price tag he low-balls at $50 to $65 billion) and
(4) a host of refundable tax credits ranging from $4,000
per year for college students to a tripling of the
Earned Income Tax Credit for minimum-wage workers,
Mr. Obama plans to
(1) end the war in Iraq,
(2) permit the Bush tax cuts to expire for households
earning more than $250,000 and
(3) "change our tax code," which "has been rigged by
lobbyists with page after page of loopholes that benefit
big corporations and the wealthiest few."
... Mr. Obama's anti-war and class-warfare rhetoric
borders on the demagogic.
Obama compares Hillary to Swift
Boaters
As Newsmax reported on Wednesday, Democratic insiders have set up a
new independent 527 organization called the American Leadership
Project to help Hillary beat Obama in Ohio — and possibly Texas and
Pennsylvania as well.
The e-mail from Obama’s campaign manager, David Plouffe, states: “The
so-called ‘American Leadership Project’ will take unlimited
contributions from individuals and is organized the same way as the
infamous Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
see also:
Obama lawyer: Pro-Clinton group violating law
Obama picks up 104 Illinois
delegates
After three weeks of counting votes and crunching
numbers, the results of Illinois' presidential primary
are finally clear: Barack Obama picked up 104 delegates
to Hillary Clinton's 49...
Obama once visited 60's
'terrorists'
In 1995, State Senator Alice Palmer introduced her
chosen successor, Barack Obama, to a few of the
district’s influential liberals at the home of two well
known figures on the local left: William Ayers and
Bernardine Dohrn.
While Ayers and Dohrn may be thought of in Hyde Park as
local activists, they’re better known nationally as two
of the most notorious – and unrepentant — figures from
the violent fringe of the 1960s anti-war movement...
tracking the Larry Sinclair/Obama limo-cocaine-sex
story -- as the mainstream media steadfastly refuses
to report it:
"Well,
I believe I am ready, and I am prepared. And I will leave that for
voters to decide," she said, before returning the focus to an earlier
question about healthcare. 
Barack
Obama last night was wonky and detailed enough to set heads nodding in
Capitol committee rooms, but delivered probably the most effectively
boring debate performance in recent presidential politics.
Clinton
took some shots at Obama, but she also passed up opportunities,
reflecting an uncertainty about the direction she should take her
candidacy. Obama looked like he was trying to run out the clock.
...what
we got was two lovey-dovey candidates who formed a mutual admiration
society for an hour until the CNN moderators got sick of it and sicced
the two on each other.
Huckabee
said his ‘brokered convention’ strategy is predicated on a victory in
Texas, the country’s largest Republican state.
"It
all happens here in Texas, quite frankly," the former Arkansas
governor said during a news conference in front of the Alamo, the site
of Texas' most legendary battle defeat. 
What
Sam Houston was to warfare, Mike Huckabee is to the photo op. In Iowa,
he won the envy of his rivals when he invited the cameras to join him
on a hunting trip. He went jogging for the cameras (to show his
fitness) and played the electric bass guitar on Leno (to show his hipness). On Thursday, it was time to demonstrate his
stick-to-itiveness -- and there's no better place for that than the
Alamo, which just happens to be in Texas, one of the next big primary
states.
...
many swallowed past misgivings about McCain to rally
to his defense, on the apparent theory that anyone under
assault by the most powerful institution in the
mainstream media could not be all bad.
“For conservatives, the New York Times is shorthand for
everything they distrust,” said John Pitney, a political
science professor at Claremont McKenna College and
former Republican operative. 
John
Weaver, McCain's former chief strategist and a longtime
confidant, confirmed to the New York Times and
Washington Post that he had met with Iseman in 1999 and
told her to stop bragging about her influence with
McCain and the Senate Commerce Committee. He also said
he had done so after "a discussion among campaign
leadership" about her. Weaver’s information formed the
underpinnings of stories in both papers about McCain
aides being worried that Iseman could become a political
liability.
Ohio
was supposed to be Hillary Clinton's firewall. She's
backed by the governor, former Senator John Glenn and
the state's first black elected congresswoman. And her
focus on health care and jobs is tailor-made for the
economically distressed Rust Belt state. 
Allow
me a dose of hardened market realism concerning Barack Obama's
landslide victory in Wisconsin. The race is over. Hillary Clinton is
over. Her electability is over.
Barack
Obama won the Democrats Abroad global primary in results announced
Thursday, giving him 11 straight victories in the race for the
Democratic presidential nomination.
The
Barack Obama campaign has sent out a fundraising e-mail that equates a
new pro-Hillary Clinton group with the Swift Boat Veteran for Truth
that opposed John Kerry’s presidential candidacy in 2004. 
Obamabomb?
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