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Iowa 2004 presidential primary precinct caucus and caucuses news">
Iowa 2004 presidential primary precinct caucus and caucuses news, reports
and information on 2004 Democrat and Republican candidates, campaigns
and issues Iowa
Presidential Watch's
IOWA DAILY REPORT
* QUOTABLE: We're going to prevail.
We've got a good strategy to deal with these
killers," said
President Bush about Iraq. “Getting AFSCME is a huge
coup," said
activist Joe Shannahan, a Dean backer. "In
Iowa politics, they are like Pizza Hut - they
deliver." "They are probably the
best two field organizing unions in terms of
putting bodies out there who are going to work for
a campaign. Gephardt probably still has the upper
hand, but Dean certainly made a big jump in his
direction," said
veteran activist Phil Roeder, who is backing
Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, about Dean’s two
service unions’ endorsements.
"I continue to believe
that if Democrats really want to defeat George W.
Bush, we're going to have to nominate a center-out
candidate,"
Joe Lieberman said. He added that he's the "most
center of all the candidates." "It is true that you can
get Democratic activists on their feet cheering
much more quickly bashing George Bush than any
other way," John
Edwards said. "But remember, we're going
through a process here and people are looking for
a president. They're not looking for somebody who
can just beat up George Bush. They're looking for
someone who can inspire them and lead them." "Higher education alone
won't end poverty, but rethinking our education
system so that it serves our children from the
time they are born all the way through college and
beyond is a good beginning,"
said Howard Dean
about his promise of $10,000 a year for students. "If I become president of
the United States, I will pick up the phone and
ask the person who has been the most successful in
trying to bring peace between the Israelis and the
Palestinians the last 25 years. I will call Bill
Clinton and ask him to be my envoy,"
Howard Dean pledged at his speech at Iowa City’s
Council of Foreign Relations. "I don't mind him
congratulating himself for what he's done, but
don't say we're all laggards and have done
nothing, because it's just not true,"
said Dick
Gephardt about Howard Dean.
Representative
David R. Obey, Democrat of Wisconsin and a
supporter, says: "If you want to know when
Dick [Gephardt]
is angry, it's when he stops talking. It's a cold
heat." "Howard Dean's assertion
that we should leave our troops stationed in
hostile territory abroad without providing the
resources they need to be safe is irresponsible.
First, he said he would support the $87 billion
for our troops in Iraq. Then he said he wouldn't
politicize the issue. Now he has reneged on both,"
Steve Murphy,
Gephardt’s campaign manager said. "Kerry has NO
CREDIBILITY... Senator Kerry obviously received
some BAD advice many months ago to show up at
campaign stops (and now the Tonight Show) on
Harley's. I'm quite sure some very highly paid
consultant told him that it would help him connect
with "Joe six-pack" and soften his image of being
aloof and unapproachable. I have news for you: NO
ONE IS BUYING IT!" --
CNN’s The
Grind took the quote from Kerry’s blog. “THE MASSACHUSETTS
senator fired his campaign manager Monday, then
two of his top aides quit on him Tuesday. It’s
Turmoil with a capital “T” and that rhymes with
“D” and that stands for Dean, Howard Dean, who
just as Kerry went though his bad patch, picked up
the endorsements of the nation’s two biggest
unions in a love-fest press conference Wednesday
in Washington.”
-- from the MSNBC’s Demo Derby. “The Democratic Party has
gone to pot… And the nation is paying the price
now for a cultural change that occurred in the
mid-1960’s. We degenerated into a pleasure-seeking
society. We are a bankrupt society dependent on
slave labor around the world to make our goods,”
Lyndon LaRouche
said when filing for New Hampshire Democrat
Primary. “On the contrary, Blair's
solution to his p.r. problem is to offer a
full-throated advocacy of close U.S.-British ties.
Far from keeping Bush under wraps for fear of
gaffes, Blair is encouraging him to grant
interviews with lots of local media”
-- CNN All
Politics. This hardening of
attitudes also helps explain why the swing voter,
so sought after during the 1990s, is getting less
attention. The name of the game for both parties
is getting their core voters to the polls. ibid “This is a fundraising
event for the Republicans,”
said Sen Tom
Harkin (IA) about the marathon debate.
* TODAY’S
OFFERINGS: *They did it
*Union Wars *Gephardt
invading Kerry territory *Never write anything
down *Want $10,000?
*Looking for traction *Bush hates environment
*Is there hope?
*Everybody’s an expert *Edwards Latino outreach
*Edwards’ calls them
*Let’s try again *Clark meets the press
*Speaking of communications
*Who’s right? *Gephardt in depth
*The draft is coming, the draft is coming *14 Democrat Candidates?
*Need definitions? *Young
voters *Florida trip
*Muslim relations
*Hillary’s flirting *Bill the “Stud Muffin”
*How long will it go?
* CANDIDATES &
CAUCUSES: Dean clasped the hands of union
leaders wearing a green AFSCME T-shirt and purple
SEIU jacket. The symbolism portrayed the fact that
the two competing unions endorsements were making
history in American politics. Dean pronounced that
the two endorsements “change America because it's
going to put working people back in the driver's
seat of this country." Clearly healthcare for Americans
was one of the issues that the two unions looked
at before endorsing Dean. The SEIU represents
hospital workers and made sure that they
emphasized their Iowa connection in their release:
"Health care isn't just some issue to me, it's
something I deal with every day in my job," said
Pauline Taylor, an operating room nurse at the
University of Iowa in Iowa City, adding: "I know
that's something Howard Dean really understands,
because he was a doctor long before he ever became
a governor. So when he talks about health care,
he's not just thinking about the policy; he's also
thinking about the people who are affected." With
the endorsement, thousands of members from early
primary states like Pauline will now begin working
to help Howard Dean win the Democratic nomination,
making thousands of phone calls, knocking on
thousands of doors, and distributing thousands of
flyers at worksites to help spread the word about
Dean among other members. Dean’s
acceptance of the endorsement spoke more to the
union’s belief that Dean is the one who can win.
Dean reinforced that the unions would become a
part of his “people campaign”: "My
campaign is about people coming together and
participating in politics for common purpose to
improve the lives of ordinary Americans. This is
what SEIU and AFSCME do every day; their three
million members represent two of the greatest
grassroots organizations in the country—fighting
everyday to protect workers and help them achieve
job security, livable and fair wages, and affordable
health care for everyone. United together, we can
take back the White House and take our country
back." If to emphasize the difference
between old industrial unions and new service
unions, the Iowa United Auto Workers Union
endorsed Dick Gephardt the same day that two
service unions endorsed Dean. With the Iowa UAW
endorsement, Iowa front-runner Dick Gephardt adds
more than 36,000 members to the total number of
Iowans represented by unions that support his
campaign. This brings the total to 95,000.
Historically about 100,000 people attend the Iowa
Caucuses. "While
other candidates in this race were fighting for
the very trade deals that have lost us millions of
jobs, Dick Gephardt was standing up against NAFTA,
against PNTR with China, against 'fast track'
authority for the president and against illegal
foreign steel dumping,” said Dave Neil president
of the Iowa United Auto Workers CAP Council. The Gephardt counter-punch in
the union wars is all the more sweeter because of
the UAW’s long Iowa history of helping underdog
candidates win. In 1998, the support that the Iowa
UAW gave Tom Vilsack cemented his victory for
governor. Gephardt made a backhanded challenge to
the Iowa AFSCME union with his comments about the
UAW endorsement. "There
is no union more politically active, more powerful
and more important in Iowa than the UAW and I am
thrilled to have their support. With their help,
we will continue to build a winning grassroots
campaign that puts the interests of middle class
families first, creates jobs, gets our economy
moving and gets every American covered with
quality health insurance," said Gephardt. AFSCME represents more than
20,000 state workers and has a rich history of
activism both in primary politics and the general
election. The aspect that AFSCME brings to the
table is that they are state wide in Iowa and help
bring seasoned veterans to the Iowa caucus wars to
add to the current Dean newbies. Gephardt’s
website has a labor support page emphasizing
the fact that he is the son of a Teamster Union
member. The site also lists unions who have
endorsed Gephardt.
CNN reports that Gephardt is going to
Boston to get some money and an endorsement.
Do you suppose Gephardt thinks John Kerry is
having some problems with his campaign? Dick
Gephardt enters John Kerry's kitchen today,
traveling to Boston to raise money and grab a
Beacon Hill endorsement from state Rep. Ron
Mariano. There is an adage about never
writing anything embarrassing down. However, the
troops over at the Kerry campaign continued to
thumb there noses at this fact according to ABC’c
The Note: So here, for the first time
anywhere, is the latest passing-the-baton memo
from the Kerry campaign — in this case from Robert
Gibbs, who quit yesterday as press secretary, to
Stephanie Cutter, who was named, titleless, to the
communications team. TO: SAC FROM: RG RE: Big Bad Media Congratulations — you are
inheriting a great Iowa press shop, a former New
Hampshire governor with a big Granite megaphone,
and Bob Shrum's yellow pad. There ARE, however, some things
to watch out for to make sure the machine
continues to hum. 1. Okay, you're here, but you're
not sure what your title is, what your duties are,
who exactly will be left for you to work with and
who you really report to. That's normal. 2. You worked for Kennedy. The
Globe was your friend. Welcome to a new reality.
3. We used to take so much heat
for being such a male-dominated campaign when I
worked there (Granted — the Budweiser wall
calendar didn't help.). With the arrival of the
whole Kennedy team of gals, y'all boast more
estrogen than a roomful of CNN bookers. You might
want to play that up. On the other hand, if you
thought the convention staff was white, wait until
you see our gang. 4. When Halperin tells you,
after a debate, that only one candidate on the
stage looked presidential, he doesn't necessarily
mean your candidate. 5. My very best lines and
information comes from Gehrke, the finest research
director in the entire business. But tap that well
of knowledge fast, as he has at least 4 job offers
(including 3 presidential campaigns not named
"Kerry") from which to choose. 6. It's pronounced "LOO-EES." "LOO-EES."
7. Avoid the words "rats,"
"ship," "sinking," "leaking," "listing,"
"falling," "slowing," or "frontrunner." 8. Keep up the fight for full
engagement. Jordan wasn't wrong about taking on
Dean. The more you throw at him the more something
might stick. The research folks camped out in
Burlington for weeks, and they have hits that are
even better than that NRA questionnaire. Howard
Dean has never had an unexpressed thought. This
should work against him but it seems to be
overshadowed by the fact that our campaign has
never had an original thought. 9. For all of those recently
arrived and soon-to-come staffers who wonder if
our recent changes will lead to more attacks on
Dean or the high road, the answer is: "Yes." 10. Getting into Canada requires
proper ID. (Actually, that one belongs on a
different list — ignore it … .) 11. Putting Shaheen out in front
on the "Vermont Miracle" issue is a good idea — NH
Democrats do like her — but remember that after
two terms in office, she could only carry 60% of
the vote — in the primary. 12. Be sure to get up early to
read all of the Dean news clips and web page
material. It will give you advance notice of what
The Candidate will be talking about all day. It is
also a good source of ideas for our own web site.
13. New Hampshire residents hate
taxes, Bostonians, gun control and incumbent
senators. Find common ground, quick. And don't
forget your E-Z Pass. 14. In planning for major
speeches in South Carolina, try to limit staff to
less than 1/4 the size of the audience. 15. If ever you should go on Fox
News, don't compare The Candidate's comments about
"being the candidate for white guys in the South
with the Confederate flag in their windows" to Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech.
It just makes everyone look foolish. 16. It takes some time to
whittle down The Candidate's responses … . "Mr.
Change Your Opinion For Expediency" is actually
much better than his original suggestion of "Mr.
Arrogant Jerk who can't stick with a position to
save his life but will run our party into the
ground and get beaten like a red-headed stepchild
by another arrogant jerk already in the White
House." 17. Firing Jordan is a one-day
story. My resignation is a one-day story. Trailing
by double digits is a one-day story. 76 days left
until NH — filling every day with a different
story seems like a daunting task but the senior
staff and The Candidate will help as much as
possible. 18. If asked what The Candidate
was eating when I announced I was leaving — just
say "crow." This is now a two-day story. And
counting. 19. John Kerry doesn't have a
plan to win the war, but "The Bunny" has a plan to
win the peace. (Note Note: we don't know what that
means either.) 20. Even though we won't dip
into her personal fortune, TH has a plan to build
a new pro football stadium in each battleground
state. No really, she does. 21. If asked: Yes, we're still
very glad we won the Shrum Primary. 22. The Kerry Girls are off
limits — wait that probably doesn't apply to you.
But same goes for Chris Heinz. 23. Don't bother trying to get
The Candidate to stop delivering those prostate
cancer jokes. 24. All questions about Morgan
Fairchild get forwarded to Chris Black. 25. Trust Benander as Obi-Wan
Kenobi … because I do. 26. No custard stops. Period.
Free vanilla treats will serve to only sour, not
sweeten, the waiting press corps. (Note Note: you
MUST click this link.
LINK
27. Ad images of our candidate
in committee hearings may not be screaming
"foreign policy experience" as much as we like to
Iowans. 28. Never fret about an event
that is staffed by David Wade. After all had Wade
rather than me been in the 603 area code, John
Kerry would not have said "regime change." 29. Key point: try to figure out
which consultant is nicknamed "Uday." 30. Warning signs that more
senior staff might be fleeing: Morehouse forwards
his phone to your cell with no warning. 31. Don't believe the rumors
that the campaign is relocating to the Ketchum,
Idaho in order to test the loyalty of the
consultants. 32. Don't throw away that Amtrak
Guest Rewards membership just yet. 33. Before every press avail,
have The Candidate repeat after you: "I will not
mutter 'Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean' around an
open microphone." 34. AP writers are not just
there to look at: feed them or they will piss all
over your house. 35. A great debate performance
will earn you little to no press, but a staff
shakeup will get you above-the-fold stories and a
regular rotation on Fox. Worth reminding The
Candidate when he's complaining about lack of
press coverage. 36. The next time The Candidate
gets grumpy and masticates on the ineffectiveness
of his staff, point to the Clark campaign's
decision to attack Edwards over Hugh Shelton on
Veterans Day as an example of how bad strategic
decisions by staff (Lehane and Kym?) really can
be. After that, you won't look that awful. 37. Changing the dynamics of a
campaign will have a direct effect on the dynamics
of the race, which in turn will dynamically cause
some type of kinetic change in our overall
dynamics. 38. For a quick, in-house poll
you can always multiply the number of conference
calls per day times the number of people on them,
divide by the number of times Dean's name appears
in our latest press release and then subtract the
number of public appearances the candidate is
scheduled to make. You should end up with the
number of points between us and Dean on any given
day in New Hampshire. 39. And remember, when Gephardt
starts to gain on us in NH, Kerry only voted for
the Iraq resolution, Dick sponsored it! 40. There are no Confederate
flags on Nantucket. 41. Are you bringing Whouley
down from Boston when you get here? 42. Two final words of wisdom,
and you may ignore it, you make think this is just
lip service, but I firmly believe it: Loyalty
matters. Your task, in the few short
weeks you have, is to somehow make The Candidate
perform at that his top level each and every day.
There's no evidence it can be done, but you gotta
try. You and New Hampshire can make The Candidate
The Comeback Kid. According to the Manchester
Union Leader Dean offered College students $10,000
a year each in federal financial assistance. His
plan outbids John Kerry’s $3.2 billion community
service plan for high school students that would
qualify for them for the equivalent of their
state's four-year public college tuition with
Dean’s $7.1 billion program: The
former Vermont governor would guarantee that
Americans would not have to pay more than 10
percent of their income toward loans after
graduation. He would hold the debt obligation to 7
percent for students entering what he dubbed the
"Public Service Corps," such as nursing, teaching,
social work, law enforcement, fire-fighting and
emergency medical care. To
qualify, students in eighth-grade would have to
commit to attending college and their families
would be provided advance calculations of the
federal aid for which they could qualify. The
Boston Globe writes about how Sen. John Kerry
came back to his one note song about President
Bush hurting the environment by supporting his
corporate buddies: "I'm
running for president because, at every turn,
George Bush has favored tax cuts for the wealthy
and breaks for the special interests over the
protection of this river and other rivers and
streams all across America," Kerry said. "He is
buckled to powerful lobbyists and special
interests rather than standing up for the
long-term interests of our children." Howard Dean counter punches
Kerry by issuing his own release that President
Bush is destroying the environment. "With
a stroke of his pen this week, President Bush
continued to burnish his legacy as a friend of the
special interests and a foe of natural resource
protection. Instead of protecting our scenic and
historic places, there is a flood of money washing
toward those same old big business interests: oil
and gas developers," said Dean. Dean
failed to mention anything about stopping forest
fires. The
Washington Post story offers Kerry supporters
hope in the form of New Hampshire’s former
governor Jeanne Shaheen. The story goes into
Shaheen’s popularity and political skills as being
one of the possibilities for Kerry to become “The
Come Back Kid.” However, he has a long way to come
back, according to some: "New
Hampshire will make Kerry or it will break Kerry.
I don't think even a close second place will do
it," said Dante Scala, a research fellow at the
New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint
Anselm College in Manchester. "My sense is that it
will be largely up to Shaheen to revive him, and
if so that is the best news that campaign has
gotten in some time. One thing Jeanne Shaheen
knows how to do is win elections in New
Hampshire." In this case he is -- Howard
Fineman of
MSNBC offers an analysis of what is wrong with
Kerry’s campaign:
EVERYTHING YOU needed to know about what’s wrong
with the Kerry campaign was on display in Iowa the
other day. For months, Kerry has been attacking
Howard Dean for being “soft” on guns, since, as
governor of Vermont, Dean had signed an NRA pledge
to oppose federal and state limits on assault
weapons. For just as many months (maybe more),
Kerry has been intent on proving that he’s not a
typical northeastern liberal — that he is, in
fact, a tough-as-nails Vietnam war hero and former
district attorney in Massachusetts, a man among
men. So
what does he do in Iowa? He gives a speech
championing gun control and on the same day goes
out and shoots pheasant. (A superb marksman, by
the way, he killed two birds with two shots.) The
news stories and pictures were at war with each
other: Was he for guns or agin’ ‘em? I know it’s
possible to be both — for reasonable gun-control
measures and for freedom to hunt with rifles. But
just because you can have it both ways
doesn’t mean you always should. Not on the same
day in the same state on the same issue. On Monday, November 17, 2003,
members of ‘Unidos con Edwards’ will host a
meeting to plan John Edwards' outreach to Latino
communities in key primary states. The Raleigh
meeting will be hosted by Edwards' general
campaign chair Ed Turlington. It is one of several
to be held across the country on Monday, including
events one hosted by New Mexico Attorney General
Patricia Madrid in Corrales, New Mexico and
another in Arlington, Virginia hosted by activist
and publisher Andres Tobar. In yesterday’s
Washington Post article Edwards’ called his
races and what he needs to do:
Edwards also discussed the tactics of the
campaign, laying down markers he said he must meet
to be successful. He said he must finish third or
a close fourth in the Jan. 19 Iowa caucuses, where
the leading contenders are Dean and Rep. Richard
A. Gephardt, who is from neighboring Missouri.
Edwards said he must finish at least third in the
Jan. 27 New Hampshire primary, where polls show
Dean leading Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.), a fellow
New Englander. A week later, on Feb. 3, Edwards
will face what he acknowledged will be the most
critical early test of his campaign, one he said
will determine whether he will survive deeper into
the nominating process. "Oh, I
need to win South Carolina," he said of the first
primary in his native South. Sen. John Edwards is airing his
second new TV ad this week. The ad covers a
jobless recovery despite an increase of jobs in
the last report. "Did
you know that we're in an economic recovery right
now? What they call a 'jobless economic recovery.'
Where I grew up, if you don't have a job, you
don't have a recovery," Edwards tells a group of
citizens gathered at a town-hall meeting in Cedar
Rapids, Iowa in the new ad. General Wesley Clark will appear
on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday, November 16.
Clark will be the guest for the full hour of the
show. Tim Russert will interview Clark about news
issues of interest. Meet the Press airs at 9 am ET
in most places. ABC’s
The Note has been checking out Wesley Clark’s
blog. It is ugly over there: Chris
Lehane, the Clark campaign's Communications
Strategist and most notably a former Kerry
campaign adviser, appeared on MSNBC's 'Buchanan
and Press' yesterday and according to bloggers'
reviews on Clark's campaign Web site, the
self-assured staffer's performance was, well, bad.
The 15 or so back-and-forth postings throughout
the evening resorted to name-calling — "looks and
sounds like a sixth grader;" "wimp;" "weak;" and
perhaps the most telling … "he spouted slogans and
various rebuttals in the manner of an undeserving
favorite nephew of a childless rich man sent out
to have fun on TV." And these are Clark
supporters. We know General Clark writes for the
blog (he was actually seen blackberrying
yesterday's text from a campaign stop in New
Hampshire), but does he read the comments? The
Boston Globe covers the Wesley Clark campaign
and it raises the question of whether Clark reads
his campaign at all: "I'm
in New Hampshire," he told the Queens County
Democratic Organization in New York last week.
"I'm working hard there, about 50 percent of my
time. We're going to do well in New Hampshire. And
then we'll go to South Carolina, Oklahoma,
Arizona. We've got strength in the South, we've
got strength in the West. We're going to win."
"Resume and credentials aren't necessarily what
gets people elected," said Andy Ostroy, 44, a New
Yorker in the marketing business, who thinks Clark
represents the Democrats' best chance in a
face-off with President Bush. "He's got to go and
touch people," Ostroy said. "He's not making that
connection with the voter at large." The
NY Times has an in depth profile of Dick
Gephardt today: "I
spent a lot of time with Clinton and a lot of time
with this president, especially after 9/11, when
we met almost every week," he said one night in
Iowa, driving back to Des Moines, reflecting on
the difference between Gephardt '88 and Gephardt
'04. "I feel more confident that I could walk into
that office tomorrow and do a good job. I've seen
what it takes to be president, what it's like to
go through it day by day — the pressures, the
travel, the decisions, the whole thing." Dennis Kucinich is telling high
school students that the Bush administration is
going to draft them. It certainly was one way to
quiet down a group of students who were making a
lot of noise at his presentation at Valley High
School in West Des Moines, according to Radio
Iowa.
Radio Iowa reports:
Kucinich accuses the Bush Administration of lining
up staff for local draft boards. Kucinich says
85,000 new troops are being sent in to Iraq so the
troops who've been there a year can rotate out and
another 43,000 Guardsmen are being told to be at a
readiness status. Kucinich says those numbers
indicate to him that there's "no question" a
"draft is in the offing." Leonard D. Tablow of Scottsdale,
Ariz., and R. Randy Lee of New York City, Gerry
Dokka, Atlanta, Georgia and Lyndon LaRouche have
all filed to be on the ballot in New Hampshire’s
Democrat Primary. The Manchester
Union Leader says there are currently 14
candidates on the ballot there.
CBS News has a good story about the code
language concerning demographic groups. It also
provides definitions for the groups: Who
will be the "soccer mom" — the suburban women
considered key in President Clinton's 1996 victory
over Bob Dole — of 2004? Will it be the Nascar
Dads or the Office Park Dads? Could it be gun
owners, evangelical Christians or Latinos?
USA Today is covering Norman Lear’s effort to
register young voters:
Television producer Norman Lear said the campaign,
called Declare Yourself, will use entertainment,
education and the Internet to inspire Americans
ages 18 to 29 to register and vote. Despite his
liberal reputation, Lear said the voter drive is
nonpartisan. "If you get a youngster to vote at
18, the chances are much greater that that
individual will be a lifetime voter," Lear said.
"So there will be every effort to make turning 18
a rite of passage."
* ON THE BUSH
BEAT: President Bush is on his 17th
visit to Florida since taking office. He will push
Medicare reform and pick up some cash in his
brother’s state. When President Bush speaks at a
$2,000-a-ticket luncheon at the Disney Grand
Floridian Resort the Bush/Cheney campaign will be
close to raising $100 million. Democrats in the Senate are not
favorable to the latest deal worked out to add
prescription drugs to Medicare. They are opposing
that Medicare would have to compete with private
industry. ''The president feels we have a
real and historic opportunity to improve Medicare
for American seniors,'' said White House spokesman
Taylor Gross. ``Medicare needs to be modernized.
It is an important system to provide healthcare
for America's seniors, but it was created in 1965
to address healthcare in that time period.''
Fox News is reporting that the Muslim
community wants more than photo-ops: The
disagreement within the Muslim community over the
White House's outreach is not unexpected
considering the wide diversity of American
Muslims, said former ambassador David Mack, vice
president of the Middle East Institute (search).
* THE CLINTON
COMEDIES: Iowa’s
Des Moines Register columnist David Yepsen
writes about Hillary Clinton’s flirting with the
nation’s Democrats by attending Iowa Dems’ big
hoopla event this weekend: If you
take her at her word - that she's not a candidate
for president in 2004 - then the only plausible
explanation for taking such a high-profile role is
that she's sending the signal: Keep me in mind for
something else, like 2008. She's a smart
politician who knows exactly the telegraphy she's
performing just by appearing in Iowa at an event
like this… About 3,000 Democratic leaders and foot
soldiers will be in the hall Saturday night, and
every one of them will be taking her measure as a
presidential candidate - how does she stack up
against the announced presidential candidates?
Better? Worse? Could she be the Democratic
standard-bearer someday? Hillary is going to make it
clear that she is not running for President in her
hosting the event she says. Right, that’s the
reason you are in Iowa? A Chinese clothing manufacturer
of suits wants to give Bill Clinton $2 million to
represent them, according to CNN’s Hot Topics: “Our
suits match Clinton's character and personality,"
Wang Zhen, an official at Fapai Xifu Co., said
Thursday in a telephone interview. There is no telling what part of
the suite fits Clinton’s personality, but I would
check to make sure the zippers work.
*NATIONAL: The Hill’s lead story was about
Republican freshmen senators’ eagerness to keep
the marathon Senate debate over confirmation of
judges going: A
number of freshman senators have volunteered to
push debate beyond the original cut-off time of
midnight Thursday. Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)
and Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) have expressed an
interest, said Senate Republican Conference Chair
Rick Santorum (R-Pa.). “I’ll
be glad to come in and keep it going,” said Sen.
Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) after participating in a
2:30 a.m. press conference with conservative
groups.
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