Bush’s surprise trip
Drudge has a good account of Bush’s surprise trip to Baghdad:
Presidential counselor Dan Bartlett told reporters aboard Air Force One that
the trip was planned over the past month by a small group of six White House
he described as a "very, very close circle of people." He said that Mr. Bush
had wanted to come to Iraq as soon as the final positions in Mr. Maliki's
government - the ministers of Defense and Interior – were chosen. Had those
posts been filled sooner, Mr. Bush would have made the trip several months
earlier, Mr. Bartlett said.
Apart from Vice President Cheney, the only cabinet members notified in
advance that the president would be visiting Baghdad were Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, both of whom
remained at Camp David after Mr. Bush left for Iraq, Mr. Bartlett said. The
rest of the Bush cabinet members assembled at Camp David – including
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman and
Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns – weren't told that Mr. Bush had left
Camp David until Tuesday morning, Mr. Bartlett said.
Mr. Bartlett said that the president left Camp David Monday evening after
excusing himself from an after-dinner discussion about Iraq that included
Mr. Cheney; Messrs. Gonzalez, Bodman, and Johanns; National Intelligence
Director John Negroponte; Gen. Michael Hayden, the Director of Central
Intelligence; and Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff.
Rove lets loose
Just before Senior White House advisor Karl Rove gave a speech to the New
Hampshire Republican Party he learned that he was exonerated by the special
prosecutor investigating him. Rove then went on to give a classic speech to
the New Hampshire Republican fund-raiser, according to the
Washington Post:
Karl Rove, apparently, still has his copy of the old playbook.
In a speech to New Hampshire Republican officials here Monday night, the
White House deputy chief of staff attacked Democrats who have criticized the
U.S. war effort in Iraq, such as Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.) and Rep. John P.
Murtha (Pa.), who he said advocate "cutting and running."
"They may be with you for the first shots," Rove said of such opponents.
"But they're not going . . . to be with you for the tough battles."
Kerry supports Webb
The
Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza reports on Sen. John Kerry's (D-MA)
support of Jim Webb in a Virginia primary for the right to challenge
Republican Senator George Allen:
The Webb campaign has effectively used surrogates like Sen. John Kerry
(Mass.) and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Chuck Schumer
(N.Y.) to vouch for Webb, but Miller's ads have highlighted Webb's criticism
of President Bill Clinton, his service in President Reagan's Pentagon and
his endorsement of Allen in 2000 to effectively raise questions in voters'
minds.
Vilsack to New Hampshire
Governor Tom Vilsack (D-IA) will headline the Manchester City Democratic
committee's Flag Day fund-raiser. Previous guests at the fund-raiser have
included presidential nominees Al Gore and John Kerry.
Vilsack will also speak to the "Take Back America" conference in Washington
today.
McCain takes on entitlements
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) took on the issues of out-of-control entitlement
spending. "A tsunami of entitlement spending is threatening our economy
while providing no real security for retirees," McCain said. "We have made
promises that we cannot keep." (Read
the text of McCain's speech.)
Hillary’s choice
Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) received the National Family Planning
Reproductive Health Association's "Outstanding Public Service Award" today
in Washington, D.C.
Clinton also spoke at the "Take Back America" liberal gathering where her
middle of the road stance on the war in Iraq was both booed and cheered by
the crowd, according to an AP report: [LINK]
At a speech before a liberal gathering dubbed "Take Back America," the New
York senator took grief from those in the audience critical of her vote for
the Iraq war and her opposition to an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops.
"I do not think it is a smart strategy, either, for the president to
continue with his open-ended commitment, which I think does not put enough
pressure on the new Iraqi government," said Clinton, before turning to the
anti-war liberals' core beef with her.
"Nor do I think it is smart strategy to set a date certain. I do not agree
that that is in the best interests," said Clinton, prompting loud booing
from some at the gathering.
Clinton has been seen as the early favorite among potential Democratic
candidates for president in 2008, but she is increasingly at odds with
anti-war liberals over her past vote and current position on Iraq.
"Sometimes this is a difficult conversation, in part because this
administration has made our world more dangerous than it should be," she
said.
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