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IOWA MORNING REPORT

Holding the Democrats accountable today, tomorrow...forever.

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Our Mission: To hold the Democrat presidential candidates accountable for their comments and allegations against President George W. Bush, to make citizens aware of false statements or claims by the Democrat candidates, and most especially, to defend the Bush Administration and set the record straight  when the Democrats make false or misleading statements about the Bush-Republican record.

                                                                                                           Tuesday, May 13,  2003

Dem Quote of the Morning:
 “The gay community has become one of the constituencies you have to meet to be a viable Democrat.”
 – Steve Elmendorf, a top Gephardt campaign adviser. 

GENERAL NEWS:   

 Among the offerings in this morning’s update: 

... GWB visits Omaha. 

... Dean outlines his health care scheme today

... OpinionJournal.com headline: “Run, Joe, Run …Lieberman is the Democrats’ best hope – but he has to pick a fight.”

... Miami Herald: Poll shows “Graham doesn’t have the juice in his home state” against GWB

... Washington Times reports Kerry has “most liberal voting record on defense legislation” of the senator-wannabes

... DC column: White House believes Edwards is closest to Bill Clinton political profile

... Graham continues pounding away at Bush administration on 9/11 report

... Report details efforts by Edwards, other wannabes to cater to gay voters – says courting of gays “under way like never before.”

... State issue: Radio talk show host Mickelson contends Iowa Values economic development fund violates state constitution

... Drudge reports that “battle” for first interview – after her book is published – with Hillary has started. He says ABC and Diane Sawyer are emerging as the early frontrunners

... Kucinich says he would subject judicial nominees to a Roe v. Wade litmus test

... Sports report this morning: Jeff Lebo said to be “unanimous choice” of committee searching for new Iowa State basketball coach

... IA GOP Congressman Leach introduces bill aimed at trying to recover stolen Iraqi artifacts

... Leonard’s Cuban adventure begins tomorrow – IA Dem Congressman Boswell heads to Cuba

... Sioux City Journal reports Ida Grove inventor, entrepreneur, political activist Byron Godbersen died Sunday at age 78 

... Sports: Two IA softball teams headed to NCAA national tournaments

All these stories below and more.

 It’s a boy.
 ... Morning newscasts report that the widow of a soldier killed during the war in Iraq gave birth to a healthy baby boy yesterday afternoon in Des Moines. Jill Kiehl – whose husband, Army Spc. James, was killed in a March ambush – has been staying with her parents in DSM. 

Morning Roundup: Bush Visits Omaha: Morning headlines on GWB visit to promote tax cut package – 
... Des Moines Register top front-page headline: “Bush hits Midwest to pitch tax plan …The president tells a crowd in Omaha that he’s confident about the economy’s future.” Register political reporter Thomas Beaumont writes: “President Bush urged Midwesterners on Monday to rally around his tax-cut package, using his wartime popularity to push his domestic agenda.”
... Omaha World-Herald top online headline: “Tax cuts equal jobs, Bush says in Omaha visit” W-H staff writer Paul Goodsell reports: “President Bush dropped into Omaha Monday to press for a ‘robust’ package of tax cuts to turn around an anemic national economy and get Americans back to work.” 
... Sioux City Journal top online head: “Bush brings stimulus package to Omaha” Journal uses Associated Press report 
... Washington Post online headline this morning: “Bush Heads West to Urge Senate Support for Tax Cut Plan …Neb., N.M. Lawmakers are Key Targets” Post’s Mike Allen reports: “President Bush is using his postwar popularity and Air Force One to try to turn a big tax cut into a historic one.” 
... Associated Press coverage by Tom Raum: “Pressuring Congress from afar, President Bush appealed to workers at small plants in New Mexico and Nebraska on Monday to help him push through a larger tax cut than the one before the Senate.” 

 CANDIDATES & CAUCUSES: 

Morning report:

   ... Wannabe alert: Dean will outline his approach to national health care coverage in New York today – but, by the time he opens his mouth, it will be old news to most Dem voters and the media. For at least the past 24 hours, Dean and his lieutenants have been pumping the story – including copyright story in yesterday’s DSM Register and actualities playing on IA radio stations – to prepare the world for his announcement. (Iowa Pres Watch Note: Dean acts like this is his latest, greatest issue – proving that he must agree major conflict has ended in Iraq since he’s trying to establish his credentials on other issues – further reinforcing the widespread belief that his stand on national health care will be no better than his antiwar theme. And one more question: Before developing his national health care plan, did he consult with the nation’s foremost health care expert – Hillary?)

... From Paul Bedard’s  “Washington Whispers” column in U.S. News & World Report – Subhead: “Who’s on first?” Column item – “The White House is closely following the Democratic presidential race but so far hasn’t dubbed a front-runner. ‘Nobody’s made it to first yet,’ says a key Bushie. Their concern: A moderate emerges with a positive, economically focused message. Who most fits that Clinton model, they suggest? North Carolina Sen. John Edwards.”  

... Veteran Washington Times political ace Donald Lambro – under the headline, “Kerry gets high liberal marks on defense” – reported: “Sen. John Kerry has the most liberal voting record on defense legislation of all of his Senate rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, according to several advocacy groups that rate lawmakers’ votes. The Americans for Democratic Action, one of the nation’s oldest and most liberal advocacy organizations, gives the Massachusetts senator a stellar 93 percent score for the votes he has cast on national security amendments and bills during his Senate career – from questioning antimissile defense systems to supporting nuclear test-ban treaties. His grade is by far the most liberal among the top tier of Senate Democratic candidates seeking their party’s nomination for president in 2004.” Lambro wrote that the ADA ratings indicated Edwards was Kerry’s nearest rival with a grade of 71.5 percent, followed by Lieberman (51%) and Graham (48%). The report noted three of the senators supported the resolution approving use of military force in Iraq with Graham opposed.

... On OpinionJournal.com (Wall Street Journal). Peter Bienart – editor of The New Republic – wrote: “The oft-repeated liberal charge that Joe Lieberman is Bush Lite is correct in at least one respect: The stronger the president looks in the general election, the better the Connecticut senator’s chances in the Democratic primary. If Howard Dean, the kindly Vermont doctor, is the candidate of Democratic fantasy, Sen. Lieberman is the candidate of Democratic desperation, the centrist of last resort once all other scenarios for regime change have been exhausted. Which is why from Mr. Lieberman’s perspective, the South Carolina Democrat debate, held just two days after President Bush triumphantly declared the end of major hostilities in Iraq, couldn’t have been better timed. If they could have, the Lieberman team would have held the debate on the USS Abraham Lincoln itself. For Democratic activists, America’s rapid military victory in Iraq ended the dream that on foreign policy the country would come to them …given the wariness with which Mr. Lieberman is regarded among many Democratic activists, a low-risk campaign will leave him buried in the middle of the pack. His best chance is if his campaign becomes a magnet for Democrats disaffected from the party establishment, a kind of ideological mirror image of the insurgency Mr. Dean has created on the left. Joe Lieberman has long been criticized as unwilling to make enemies. But for a candidate like him, making powerful enemies in his party is the only way to win.” 

... A headline from yesterday on Los Angeles Times online – “Sen. John Edwards Catering to Gay Voters” – is somewhat deceiving since the Associated Press coverage details activities by several Dem wannabes to attract – and solicit – the gay vote. Excerpts: “During his keynote address at a black-tie dinner here Saturday, U.S. Sen. John Edwards voiced his support for adoptions by gay parents. The North Carolina, one of nine Democrats seeking the party’s presidential nomination, isn’t the only one courting gay voters. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean has touted a law he signed allowing civil unions for gays and lesbians. U.S. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, a decorated Vietnam veteran, has said gays should be allowed to serve in the military. Bill Clinton made history in 1992 by openly courting gay voters en route to the White House. Eleven years later, the courting of gays is under way like never before. ‘In a crowded race or a close race, an energized and mobilized constituency can make a real difference,’ said Dave Noble, executive director of the National Stonewall Democrats, a group that promotes the agenda of gays within the party …Several candidates for next year’s race, including Edwards, have hired staff members to advise them on gay issues. U.S. Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri has said his daughter, Chrissy, will be an ambassador to gay groups. She is a lesbian. ‘The gay community has become one of the constituencies you have to meet to be a viable Democrat,’ said Steve Elmendorf, a top adviser to Gephardt’s campaign.” 

... Another indication that Hillary – the nation’s foremost expert (as noted above) and proponent of national health care – will not fade gently into the political or literary sunset. “Maverick Matt” Drudge reported last night that the TV networks are battling for the first interview with Hillary after publication of her “Living History” book in early June – with “ABC star Diane Sawyer emerging as the frontrunner after questions were raised about journalistic standards surrounding any Hillary interview with CBSNEWS, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.” The first problem: Drudge reported that Hillary’s publisher, Simon and Schuster, had sought a CBS “60 Minutes” exclusive, but “immediate questions” were raised because of husband Bill’s contract with the program. The second problem: Concern about “journalistic fallout” because the publishing company and CBS are both owned by VIACOM. More from Drudge – “no deal” had been reached as of 6 p.m. Monday (EDT) in NY and interviewer-in-chief Barbara Walters was “not even considered for the exclusive – because of her historic Monica Lewinsky interview.” 

... The Miami Herald – under the online headline, “Graham lags behind president in Florida …Democrats face trouble, poll shows” – reported: “He may be Florida’s most venerable politician, but even U.S. Sen. Bob Graham doesn’t have the juice in his home state to overcome the popularity of a wartime president – at least not now – a new poll conducted for The Herald and two other newspapers shows. If Graham were the Democratic nominee for president and the election were held today, he would lose to President Bush 52 percent to 43 percent in Florida, the state where Graham has held elected office since the 1960s, served two terms as governor and 17 years as a senator.” More: “The survey, with a margin of error of four percentage points, puts a ding in the most compelling argument for Graham to win his party’s nomination: that he can deliver Florida’s critical 27 electoral votes in November 2004 and kick Bush out of the White House …Graham appears to be struggling with the same challenge now facing some of his rivals, like North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, who are forced to argue that they can win a national election despite early polls showing their weaknesses at home …The best, albeit predictable, news for Graham’s campaign is that he would easily win the March 9 Democratic primary in Florida, taking 54 percent against his eight rivals.” The poll indicated Lieberman was the second choice with 13%. 

... Unearthed from a busy weekend of wannabe visits: Headline – “Kucinich says he’d push for pro-choice justices” The DSM Register’s Thomas Beaumont reported that Kucinich said “he would appoint no justices to the U.S. Supreme Court who refused to uphold Roe v. Wade, becoming the second 2004 candidate to publicly make abortion rights a judicial test …Kucinich’s statement about the landmark Supreme Court case legalizing abortion represents a dramatic shift in the position of the former Cleveland mayor …The comment came a month after rival Democrat U. S. Sen. John Kerry made the same promise while campaigning in Iowa.” Kucinich made his remarks during an appearance – which also featured Dean and Graham – at a Dem fundraising event Saturday night in Des Moines.   

... Graham at least gets good grades for message/issue discipline, but is anybody listening -- or even care? Since he announced his candidacy a week ago, the FL senator has been on a continuing rant contending that the Bush administration has delayed a report on the 9/11 terrorist attacks. From yesterday’s Washington Times: “Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Bob Graham of Florida yesterday [Sunday] accused the Bush administration of ‘covering up’ information vital to protecting the country against future terrorist attacks.” He made the comments on CBS’ ‘Face the Nation’ Sunday. The Times report continued: “Sen. Chuck Hagel, Nebraska Republican and Select Intelligence Committee member, was later asked to address Mr. Graham’s comments on CNN’s ‘Late Edition.’ Mr. Hagel said he was stumped by the accusation. ‘I am not aware of what he is talking about,’ Mr. Hagel said. ‘Obviously, with this very serious charge, someone is going to pay attention to that, and I suspect we will be accepting that challenge and finding out what he is talking about here shortly.” 

 IOWA POLITICS: 

... Boswell’s Cuban adventure: Des Moines Register reports this morning that IA Dem Congressman Boswell will join state ag secretary Patty Judge and representatives of eight IA groups and businesses tomorrow to leave on a trade mission to Cuba. Excerpt from Jerry Perkins’ coverage: “There they will face a chill in U.S. Cuban relations from a crackdown on dissidents and a downturn in recent purchases of U.S. food and agricultural products.” The group – which doesn’t include Guv Vilsack, who declined invitation to go along because of the treatment of dissidents – returns on 5/20. 

... Des Moines mayoral rumblings: From Rob Borsellino’s column in yesterday’s Des Moines Register – “This talk about attorney Mark McCormick running for mayor is ‘premature, at best,’ he says. ‘But I’m willing to consider it.’ McCormick is a heavyweight – on the legal front, politically, intellectually – and he would take things to a new level. He was an assistant county attorney in Webster County [Fort Dodge], a district court judge and then a state Supreme Court judge for 14 years. In ’98 he ran for governor and lost the primary to Tom Vilsack. These days, he’s an attorney with a client list that includes RACI [Racing Assn. of Central Iowa], Wells Fargo, Planned Parenthood. And he was the guy who helped a bunch of right-wing politicos kill Vilsack’s plan to ban discrimination against gays and lesbians. With McCormick in the mix – and hotel guru Bob Conley getting out – we’re now talking about six people running for mayor or thinking about it.” 

MORNING SUMMARY:    

This morning’s headlines:

... Non-Bush front- page headline, Des Moines Register: “4 blasts shake Saudi capital” Top headline on Bush visit to Omaha above. 

... Omaha World-Herald, main world/national headline: Top headline – Bush visit. See above. 

... Quad-City Times online, top story headline: “Schools say they follow prayer laws” AP coverage says schools threatened with loss of fed funds have declared they allow prayer wherever and however the Constitution permits. 

... Daily Iowan (University of Iowa), national online headline: Not available, probably schedule changed due to finals week.  

... Sioux City Journal online, top non-Bush head:  “Americans capture ‘Dr. Germ,’ military chief of staff” Top headline: GWB Omaha visit – see above.

... Chicago Tribune online, headline: “Blasts hit Saudi city before Powell visit” & “Glenbrook North moves to expel students” Report says Glenbrook school officials – “under heavy national scrutiny for their handling of a violent off-campus hazing” – have moved to expel some of the involved students. 

 Iowa Briefs/Updates: 

 ... A Grinnell auto dealer – Wes Finch Auto Plaza – reported possible $300,000 loss (after receiving insurance payments) due to weekend storm that included golf ball-sized hail. Finch had around 300 cars on his lot, and estimated the damage at $2,000 to $3,000 per car

... The Sioux City Journal reports that Ida Grove inventor and entrepreneur Byron Godbersen – a friend of governors and U.S. senators – died at his home Sunday. Godbersen patented some 50 inventions, including 25 patents from 1990 to 1996. The Journal reported that, at that time, he had more patents than any other Iowan.  He was 78. 

WAR & TERRORISM: 

... From VOANews (Voice of America): Headline – “Chechen Blast Kills At Least 40” Report – “A powerful suicide bomb attack in Russia’s breakaway Chechen Republic has killed at least 40 people and wounded around 100 more. The bomb exploded outside a government complex in the town of Znamenskoye, some 15 kilometers north of the Chechen capital, Grozny. Several homes and apartment buildings were destroyed in the blast, along with an office of the Russian Federal Security Service and other administrative buildings. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. Russian President Vladimir Putin told government ministers in Moscow that the bombing will not be allowed to halt efforts to reach a political settlement in Chechnya.”

FEDERAL ISSUES:  

... IA GOP Congressman Leach has introduced legislation – the “Iraq Cultural Heritage Protection Act” – that would provide for the recovery, restitution and protection of priceless pieces of cultural heritage belonging to the nation of Iraq. A news release from Leach’s Washington office said expects are “fearing sophisticated raiders have international purchasers lined up for the more precious” of the objects taken from the Iraq National Museum in Baghdad. The proposal is designed to close a loophole in current law that is a result of a current lack of government in Iraq. The legislation would prohibit the importation into the United States of any archeological or cultural material removed from Iraq without appropriate documentation.

IOWA ISSUES:

... Radio talk show host Mickelson (WHO, Des Moines/ WMT, Cedar Rapids) devoted most of yesterday’s program advancing his contention that the Iowa Values Fund being promoted by Guv Vilsack violates the debt prohibition provisions of the state constitution. Mickelson said that “neither the governor nor the legislators, under the Iowa Constitution, have the authority” to sink the state into a multimillion debt for the Values Fund – a proposed major economic development package that will be debated during legislative special session later this month. He cited a section of the constitution saying the “credit of the state cannot be loaned,” but suggested that “the constitution will be bypassed” if Vilsack and legislators resolve difference over the fund and it gets approved. 

OPINIONS: 

... This morning’s Des Moines Register editorials: “Even better for Iowa …Attract higher-paying jobs rather than promote a low-wage work force …A closer examination of Forbes’ criteria suggests cause for celebration and caution.” Register editorial reacts to Forbes magazine report putting Des Moines in top ten places for business and careers.” & ”Don’t privatize Medicare”  & “A wise decision” Local topic – Register applauds Rasmussen decision to resign as chairman of Racing Association of Central Iowa (RACI) after being connected to an investigation into illegal gambling ring. 

... David Yepsen’s political commentary in today’s Register: Headline – “Forbes’ rankings are bad news – focus on growth” Yepsen writes that the high ranking by Forbes “just makes it that much more difficult to convince complacent Iowans we need to do things differently to make the state better.”

... Register also features column by Orlando Sentinel’s Kathleen Parker, headline: “Democrats’ desperate whining …Americans love Bush’s pageantry on USS Abraham Lincoln.”

... From the Des Moines Register’s 2-Cents Worth anonymous, phone-in column: “The motto of the Polk County [Des Moines] Assessor’s office should be: If you come to our county and dare to buy residential property, we will tax you until you are forced to leave.” – Polk County property owner

... Commentary from Sioux City Journal re tax cuts – “Whoever gets the tax break will follow human nature and keep it till things get better.” – Phillip A. Severson, Sioux City 

IOWA SPORTS: 

... The Great Iowa State Basketball Coach Search: Headline on DSM Register sports section this morning: “ISU panel reaches consensus on Lebo …Search committee prefers Chattanooga coach, wife; decision could come today.” Report says Jeff Lebo visited Iowa State on Sunday, his wife joined him yesterday and a source said he was the “unanimous choice” of a 20-member advisory committee assisting in the coach selection process. 

... Tributes, sadness in wake of Haywood death. After former ISU running back Ennis Haywood, 23, suddenly died over the weekend, Iowa State football coach Dan McCarney said: “He was one of the classiest gentlemen we’ve ever had in the program and one of the most tenacious players we’ve ever had on the field.” Headline from Quad-City Times online: “Haywood’s death stuns ISU community” Haywood died Sunday in Dallas, where he was attempting to secure a roster spot with the Dallas Cowboys.

... Two Iowa collegiate softball teams are headed for national tournaments this week. The Iowa Hawkeyes (40-13) – after winning the Big Ten championship over the weekend  -- will play Pacific (34-22) in the first round of the NCAA softball tournament Thursday in Lincoln, Neb. Central College of Pella (35-4) will meet Western New England in the NCAA Division III national tournament Friday in Salem, VA.   

IOWA WEATHER: 

... DSM 5 a.m. 56 overcast. Twenty-three degree temp range across IA this morning – 36 in Monticello in NE IA to 59 in Clarinda in SW IA. Today’s high 72, chance T-storms. Tonight’s low 55, showers & T-storms. Wednesday’s high 68, chance showers. From WHO-TV’s Brandon Thomas: “Partly sunny (today), with a slight chance of showers in the morning, Highs will be in the upper sixties and seventies. Showers and severe t-storms are likely Tuesday night and again Wednesday. Highs will be in the low sixties. Plenty of sunshine Thursday and Friday, with highs in the upper sixties to low seventies. A chance of t’storms on Saturday, with highs in the low seventies. Partly cloudy on Sunday, with highs in the upper sixties.”

IOWAISMS: 

... The Sioux City Journal reports that results of tests completed at the National Veterinary Services Lab in Ames confirmed that none of the Iowa whitetail deer tested for chronic wasting disease (CWD) over the past year showed any signs of the disease. State wildlife officials began testing road-killed deer last spring, however most of the 3,278 samples submitted for testing last fall came from hunters who voluntarily submitted their deer for sampling. 

 

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