The Iowa Daily Report, Sunday, November 9, 2003

... QUOTABLE:

“Democratic presidential candidate Dick Gephardt has been described as a "comfortable old pair of shoes" in Iowa - familiar and durable. After trying the latest fashion from New England, it seems many Iowa Democrats are grabbing their old Midwestern favorites again.” -- Des Moines Register Columnist David Yepsen

"It's one of the reasons I decided to run… I often say in speeches this is probably not Jane Gephardt's first idea of what we ought to be doing right now. At the end of the year, we sat down and I said we can't wave this guy through for four more years. So that's why I'm out here," said Dick Gephardt.

"We would love the opportunity to have a debate on C-SPAN about their priorities and ours. Their priority is four judicial nominations. Our priority is three and a half million jobs," said Sen. Tom Daschle about the upcoming debate in the Senate over judicial nominations.

"Clearly, the process is flawed," said Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin. "The country is only now beginning to wake up to the fact that there's a primary. Active Democrats are only now focusing on it. Average voters aren't focused at all. And that's not good," talking about states dropping their primary elections.

"We have to change course," said John Edwards about Iraq.

Howard Dean Flag Flap…

“He [John Durkin, last Democrat U.S. Senator from New Hampshire] predicts Dean will win the primary, but says the former Vermont governor isn’t helping himself with his less-than-pure 100 percent support of gun control and by saying he wants to attract Southern Democrats with “Confederate flags in their pickup trucks.” -- from John DiStaso column in the Manchester Union Leader. “So, let's start the engines again. In the last presidential election there was a gender gap of 11 points. A majority of women voted for the Democrats. A majority of men voted for the Republicans. (Don't blame me, I have the XX chromosome on my DNA pickup.)”

“Call it a female gap, call it a male gap, but no matter how heavy the Florida hand on the electoral scale in 2000, the Democrats need to appeal to more men in 2004,” writes Ellen Goodman about the real meaning of Dean’s flag flap.

“Then, the loveliest touch of them all. Constrained by the ruling Democratic dogma that everyone, even your rebel-yelling racist redneck, is a victim, Dean absolved these yahoos of responsibility by explaining that responsibility lies with those nasty Republicans who taught them their racism: "I think there are [a] lot of poor people who fly that flag because the Republicans have been dividing us by race since 1968 with their southern race strategy," writes Charles Krauthammer.

“The can of worms that Howard Dean opened with his ill-conceived effort to identify himself as "the candidate for guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks" is not one that can be resealed with the words of regret the former Vermont governor belatedly offered. By inadvertently reopening the deepest wound within the nation, the race issue, Dean hurt himself and did a disservice to his party,” writes David Broader.

"It is enormously important for us as a party to not be elite, to not look down on people and talk down to them, but to give them the kind of respect that they're entitled to," said John Edwards.

"Well, he shouldn't have said those things. I think all Americans - and this is a joke! - all Americans, even if they're from the South and 'stupid,' should be represented," said Wesley Clark.

… TODAY’S OFFERINGS:

Gephardt ahead in Iowa

NY Times sizes up Dean

Bush Homophobic

“Hoo-ha!”

Kerry question

Reaction to Dean’s money

Veterans Day bashing

“Lease fleece”

New Hampshire chairman

Register interviewed Gephardt

Personal testaments

The Doctor is out

No to primaries

Saudi Arabia condolences

Hillary, Oh, Hillary

Deal a trap

* CANDIDATES & CAUCUSES:

Gephardt ahead in Iowa

The Des Moines Register’s respected Iowa Poll shows Dean dropping and Gephardt pushing ahead in Iowa. Excerpt:

“The Iowa Poll, taken last week, shows Gephardt is the first choice of 27 percent of Iowans who say they definitely or probably will attend the precinct caucuses. Dean is the favorite of 20 percent. That's a gain of 6 percentage points for Gephardt and a 3-point drop for Dean since late July, when the last Iowa Poll on the race was taken.”

When it comes to being second choice the field tightens among the top three:

“Gephardt is the top second choice among likely caucus participants, favored by 16 percent. But his chief rivals in Iowa are right on his heels. Kerry is the second choice of 15 percent, and Dean is the second choice of 14 percent.”

The rest of the percentages are: John Kerry-15; John Edwards-5; Joe Lieberman-5; Wesley Clark-4; Dennis Kucinich-3; Carol Moseley Braun-1; and Al Sharpton-1.

NY Times sizes up Dean

The NY Times has a story that analyzes Dean’s candidacy and whether it will hold till the convention in Boston. Not all of it is positive:

“Given the size of the field, Dr. Dean's lack of experience in national politics and his tendency for intemperate remarks, his success at navigating the very early months of the Democratic nomination battle hardly means he is assured of being nominated in Boston next July. Dr. Dean, a former governor of Vermont, faces particularly tough going once the race turns South, given his views, like his support for domestic partnership for gays and his opposition to the war in Iraq.”

Bush Homophobic

According to Rep. Dick Gephardt President Bush is a homophobic bigot. Gephardt used the occasion of his lesbian daughter’s address to a civil rights group in Missouri to launch into his name-calling:

"It is time for President Bush to end his alliance with homophobic bigotry once and for all and speak out against the Republican Party's hostile election year attempt to amend the United States Constitution to include a ban on gay marriage. Throughout our history, the Constitution has been amended to afford expanded rights to disenfranchised citizens, not to unfairly single out a particular group of Americans by limiting their rights… "The president should stand up against these kinds of intolerant forces in his own party and should espouse views of tolerance and equality that truly reflect the values of the American people."

“Hoo-ha!”

Sen. John Kerry capitalized on his status as a VietNam veteran in New Hampshire, according to the Manchester Union Leader:

“How many here are veterans?” Sen. John Kerry called out, staring eye to eye with the men and women standing and clapping in the tiny flag-festooned meeting room at the Manchester Institute for the Arts.

Hands flew up all over the place.

“Hoo-ha!” chanted Kerry, at ease and smiling in his Vietnam-era leather jacket.

A standing “Hoo-ha!” was returned by the crowd. throughout the Democratic Presidential candidate’s 15-minute love fest with about 75 ardent listeners at yesterday’s Veterans for Kerry rally.

Kerry was critical of President Bush -- as are the rest of the Democrat Presidential candidates leading up to Veteran’s Day on Nov. 11. Kerry stated over and over again in the veterans’ meeting that “President Bush has turned his back on veterans.” This, despite the fact that the Bush administration has increased funding to the Veterans Administration more in the last two years than the previous six years. Kerry used several personal stories to prove his point the administration was not doing enough to help veterans.

Kerry question

The question of whether Kerry will forego campaign financing will be decided in a matter of days, according to Kerry on Face the Nation appearance as reported by Reuters:

"We're going to make our decision over the course of the next day or so," Kerry said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "I'm disappointed that Governor Dean has taken a very different road than Democrats have stood for as a matter of principle."

Kerry referenced Dean’s reason of running against the Bush/Cheney Campaign millions as cowardly:

"I don't think that President Bush's money was as intimidating as Governor Dean wants to believe it was, because it's mostly special-interest money," Kerry said. "And I was perfectly prepared to run against that money."

Reaction to Dean’s money

The following are reactions to Dean’s foregoing federal campaign spending limits as reported by the Associated Press and the various Democratic presidential candidates’ websites:

"It's disappointing that Howard Dean so conveniently abandoned a long-held position of principle out of mere political expediency. After Howard Dean so passionately and ardently announced that if any candidate left the public system it would be an issue, then sought a political fig leaf in an Internet poll slyly worded to predetermine its results, it's clear an alleged straight talk candidacy has turned out to represent politics as usual," said Sen. John Kerry.

"I'm a strong believer in the campaign finance system. I think it brings integrity to the process. I'm disappointed Governor Dean has reversed his position." Sen. John Edwards.

"Forget all of the gimmicks and rationalizations, the plain truth is that Howard Dean wants to outspend his opponents in the early states and has therefore violated his pledge to stay within the public financing system. Just like President Bush, Howard Dean has effectively undermined campaign finance laws for his own personal, opportunistic political advantage." Rep. Dick Gephardt.

"It's a shame that Howard Dean has broken his word and abandoned his earlier pledge never to bypass the public financing system. America needs a leader who will stick to the promises he makes. We call on Governor Dean to comply with the spirit of the law — and his own previous statements — and pledge to spend no more than $45 million in the Democratic primaries and to limit his spending to the specific spending caps in the states." Sen. Joe Lieberman.

"I think it's important for people to look at what he said earlier and the pledge that he made. I think we'll leave it up to the people to decide whether this is a good or a bad thing," said Wesley Clark's spokesman, Kym Spell.

Veterans Day bashing

The Manchester Union Leader surveyed the Presidential candidates, including President Bush, as to what their policy towards veterans was. The Democrats all said Bush was not doing enough. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean summed it up for the Democratic field:

“President Bush has broken promises, cut funding, and turned his back on the same veterans he claims to support. He has even ignored the bipartisan recommendations of his own veteran’s health care task force, which urged full funding for veterans’ health care. It’s time to end the broken promises, and to do right by America’s veterans.”

Here are two of the points Wesley Clark proposes:

*  Says veterans service organizations estimate that President Bush’s proposed budget is $2 billion less than what is necessary to give veterans proper care and promises to provide needed health care and timely access to preventive and diagnostic care, and basic services such as physical examinations.

* Pledges to allow National Guard and Reserve members to buy into Tricare, the military’s health insurance program.

To see all of the proposals go to the Union Leader.

“Lease fleece”

The Associated Press has a story about John Edwards calling for the ending of tax loopholes for corporation regarding shell holdings of property:

Adding a new target to the corporate loopholes he [Edwards] has promised to eliminate if elected President, the North Carolina senator said he would stop the “lease fleece” — a practice by which corporations get massive depreciation tax deductions for pretending to own subways, dams and bridges actually owned by foreign countries.

The other loopholes Edwards has promised to eliminate include:

The lease loophole is the latest of several Edwards has targeted as part of a broader plan to bolster corporate accountability. His earlier proposals include eliminating the so-called “Bermuda” loophole, which allows companies to incorporate overseas to avoid U.S. taxes, and the “janitor’s insurance” loophole, which allows companies to make money on life insurance policies purchased for low-level workers.

New Hampshire chairman

John Edwards will soon name Sen. Lou D’Allesandro of Manchester his state campaign chair in New Hampshire. His co-chairs will be Sen. Joe Foster of Nashua and House Deputy Democratic Leader Sharon Nordgren of Hanover.

Register interviewed Gephardt

The Des Moines Register is doing the rounds of interviews that will lead to its endorsement of a Democrat Presidential candidate. Today’s interview of Gephardt is a good read. Here’s an excerpt:

“An editorial board session with Dick Gephardt feels a little like a graduate seminar in political science. The candidate holds forth on his theories, illustrates his points with practical knowledge and walks his listeners step-by-step through his thinking on the economy, on health care, on trade policy and most of all on what he sees as George W. Bush's failures of leadership.”

Personal testaments

Wesley Clark’s latest attempt at a press release on his website is a bunch of personal testament dribble from his first visit to Missouri:

"I think we really have to focus our efforts on the candidate who has the strongest character and most electability," said Brian Kearney… "We're building name recognition, calling people, and inviting them to Meetups and other functions."

"The thing about Clark is he's lived all over the world," Cox said. "I've lived all over the world too, and it gives you a perspective that you don't have otherwise. Clark has a demeanor of calmness and steadiness. He projects that he is a good listener. That's what we need to restore our reputation around the world."

The Doctor is out

Rep. Dennis Kucininch has a page on his website where supporters can give testaments about why the switched to Dennis. The testaments Kucinich seems to be really interested in is the ones where new supporters have dumped Howard Dean. The top of the page reads, “The Doctor is out -- Dennis is in.”

No to primaries

The Boston Globe has a story about states dropping their Presidential Primaries. It seems money crunches and the front loading of the Democrat presidential cycle is causing states to question the wisdom of holding primaries:

The decisions add fuel to the argument that the primary system is in dire need of repairs. In most states forgoing a primary, party-run caucuses will be used instead to choose delegates to the national conventions.

Republican controlled legislatures are more likely to drop the primary process:

So far, Kansas, Colorado and Utah -- all with Republican-controlled legislatures -- have canceled their state-run 2004 primaries. Republican legislatures tried unsuccessfully to drop primaries in Arizona and Missouri, but Democratic governors either vetoed the primary bill or restored the funding.

* ON THE BUSH BEAT:

Saudi Arabia condolences

President Bush called Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah, Sunday Saudi Arabia time, to offer condolences to the people of Saudi Arabia for the terrorist attack that reportedly killed 11 and wounded 122 Saudis. The President also expressed America’s solidarity in the war on terrorism.

* THE CLINTON COMEDIES:

Hillary, Oh, Hillary

What is this about Hillary running? I thought that was in the past. I guess not for the New York Daily News:

“With none of the Democratic presidential wanna-bees rising out of the teens in national polls, some political experts are theorizing that it could happen - Sen. Hillary Clinton gets into the race…. "If nobody ... solidifies a position by mid-March, I think you are going to find a real surge and opportunity for someone like Hillary," said Donald Robinson, a professor of government at Smith College.

*NATIONAL:

Iraqi Summit?

Sen. Joe Biden called on President Bush to call for a Summit on Iraq, according to Reuters story and his appearance on Meet the Press:

"It entails the president, literally, not figuratively, calling a summit with our European friends and saying, 'Look, we got to make three changes,"' Biden said. Security should be turned over to a NATO led force, and a high commissioner appointed like the one that helped Bosnia recover from its 1992-95 ethnic war, not necessarily an American, reporting to NATO and the U.N. Security Council, Biden said. Third, the United States should "make changes" in the U.S.-appointed Governing Council in Iraq, he added, pointing to a report in The Washington Post on Sunday that said U.S. officials were considering alternatives to the Council to ensure the U.S.-led administration could hand over power as troops are withdrawn.”

Deal a trap

Richard Pearl on ABC television's "This Week With George Stephanopoulos" said that the offer by former chief of intelligence, Gen. Tahir Habbush made through Imad Hage, a prominent Lebanese-American businessman, was one of many approaches for a last-minute peace deal. He went on to explain that the deal was a trap meant to stall America. "This was a trap," Perle said. "I think it was clearly a trap. It was intended to discredit the administration's policy, it was intended to discredit our effort to liberate Iraq."