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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 Holding
the Democrats accountable today, tomorrow...forever.
THE DAILY REPORT for Friday,
October 3, 2003
... QUOTABLE:
morning quotes:
"You've got a
friend in Bob Graham, that's what everybody's
sayin' "
and turned it into "you've got a friend in Bob
Graham, he's at 1 percent and stayin.' "
One former
campaign adviser said Graham's campaign is
struggling because the candidate has not invested
enough time in raising money -- "He thought
everybody would give to him just because everyone
loves Bob Graham.”
“Leach said
compounding the issues weighing on Bush in Iowa is
the drumbeat of criticism leveled at him weekly by
Democratic presidential candidates campaigning for
the lead-off nominating caucuses”.
-- Des Moines Register
"He does these
wacky things, like backing the car out of the
garage with all these suitcases on top… He also
tied the dog on the van and started to drive away.
It's like Chevy Chase made this movie about Dick
Gephardt,"
– wife Jane Gephardt,
Unionleader.com:
“Thursday was some
kind of special day in the 108th Congress,
Connecticut Courant., Five of the six members
who are running for the Democratic presidential
nomination were actually there.”
"General Clark was
the leading cheerleader within the [Joint Chiefs
of Staff] for the Clinton plan,"
said the official, who sat in on one meeting when
it was made clear to all present that the public
position of only a year was a ruse -
www.washingtontimes.com.
“The Florida
governor [Graham] chided Dean for having led a
tiny state ''half the size of Miami-Dade County,''
labeling him a candidate for ``hot, angry people
that aren't rational.''
– article in the Miami Herald
“Fischer says the
Iowa Caucuses pose a unique opportunity to honor
King, a man who committed his life to changing
society through grassroots politics.”
--www.radioiowa.com
“If people are as
concerned about terrorism as they say they are,
they ought to be concerned about this…It's a shame
if we have to wait until something happens. ...
This is not a partisan issue. This is a national
security issue."
-- Rudman speaking about nuclear proliferation in
the Manchester Union Leader. …
Among the offerings in today’s update:
morning
offering:
Is Graham out?
No Democrat leader
Strange day in
Congress
Clark’s deception
Attacks on Dean
Governor Bush
piled on yesterday
College tour
King Holliday
Primary calendar
set
Duo fund-raising
Iowa visit
More bad news
Nuclear Weapons *
CANDIDATES/CAUCUSES:
Morning …
No Democrat leader. A CBS News
Poll, shows that there is no front runner
for the nomination.
…
Strange
day in Congress.
Thursday was some kind of special day in the
108th Congress,
Connecticut Courant. Five of the six members who
are running for the Democratic presidential
nomination were actually there. There was
Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman voting,
something he's rarely done this year. Massachusetts
Sen. John Kerry led a fight to roll back the
Bush tax cuts. Sen. John Edwards of North
Carolina showed up at the Judiciary Committee to
vote against a judge he didn't like. Even Rep.
Dick Gephardt of Missouri, who's been almost
invisible this year, was casting a House vote.
…
Washington Times article: Clark’s
deception; Clark’s disingenuous behavior continues
to be exposed. Back in December 1995, the
Clinton administration announced it was sending U.S.
military troops to the Balkans for one year. "It
was common knowledge within the Pentagon, as the
deployment plan was coordinated among the services,
that the Clinton administration intention from the
get-go was to keep the forces there longer, but to
make the one-year commitment to get past the 1996
presidential election," the official said.
"General Clark was the leading cheerleader within
the [Joint Chiefs of Staff] for the Clinton plan,"
said the official, who sat in on one meeting when it
was made clear to all present that the public
position of only a year was a ruse. U.S.
troops have been in the Balkans since January 1996,
despite the best efforts of Defense Secretary
Donald H. Rumsfeld to get them out.
… Clark to speak
to Black Caucus. Fox News reports that
retired Gen. Wesley Clark, who grew up at Little
Rock, and now lives there, is scheduled to appear at
the forum in his hometown on Sunday at Philander
Smith College. "We want to have an opportunity
as a caucus and our constituents to hear directly
from the various candidates and to be able to pose
questions that speak specifically to the needs of
our community," said Sen. Henry Wilkins, D-Pine
Bluff, the caucus chairman. "We hope to get a better
feel for where each of the candidates is coming from
and how they'll meet the needs of our constituents."
… Attacks on
Dean. Jim Vandehei of the Times Mirror
has a featured story in the
Manchester Union online edition.
Presidential candidate Howard Dean has excelled
throughout his political career by speaking bluntly,
usually un-scripted, about the problems facing the
country. Now, his words are coming back to haunt him
on the campaign trail. "Howard Dean has tried to
reinvent his record on a lot of issues in this
campaign because time after time ... he is on the
wrong side of seniors and working families,"
[Democratic presidential candidate] Kerry
said recently. If the charges stick, they could
undermine Dean's appeal as the political outsider
willing to tell it like it is, strategists said.
The four issues that Dean’s opponents are pressing
him on are Social Security, North American Free
Trade Agreement, Medicare and the Middle East. On
NAFTA, Dean is attacked by Gephart as being to much
for it and by Kerry for not being enough for it. The
most damaging potentially is the Middle East issue
where Dean called Hamas terrorists soldiers.
… Governor Bush
piled on yesterday. Excerpts from the
Miami Herald article: “TAMPA - Gov.
Jeb Bush unleashed a river of ridicule Wednesday
at the expense of former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean,
the Democratic front-runner in the race to challenge
Bush's presidential brother next year for the White
House. The Florida governor chided Dean for having
led a tiny state ''half the size of Miami-Dade
County,'' labeling him a candidate for ``hot, angry
people that aren't rational.''
… College tour.
The university of Iowa
Daily Iowan reports: former Vermont Gov.
Howard Dean kicks off a four-day campaign tour of
U.S. colleges today, which will include a 1 p.m.
rally in the IMU on Oct. 5. The Daily Iowan
will follow the Dean campaign starting in
Washington, D.C., today and continue on with the
campaign through Charleston, S.C.; Norman, Okla.;
Seattle, and Iowa City. The campaign will also stop
in Madison, Wis., and New Hampshire on Oct. 6.
… Gephardt
uncoordinated. The Manchester Union Leader
has a AP profile of Gephardt that is not all that
Manly a portrayal. Let’s just say that he is no tool
guy. [Gephardt’s] wife, Jane, compares him to
Clark Griswold in the movie "Vacation." "He does
these wacky things, like backing the car out of the
garage with all these suitcases on top," she said in
an interview. "He also tied the dog on the van and
started to drive away. It's like Chevy Chase made
this movie about Dick Gephardt."
… King Holiday.
Radio Iowa reports Iowa Democrats will hold the
kick-off event of the 2004 Presidential election on
Monday, January 19th -- the Martin Luther King
holiday. Iowa Democratic Party chairman
Gordon Fischer says they're trying to figure out
a way to honor King as part of the precinct-level
meetings. Fischer says they're working on getting a
letter from King's son, Martin Luther King the
third, that'll be read at each of the 1,196 precinct
meetings in Iowa. There'll be a moment of silence to
honor King, too. Fischer says the Iowa Caucuses
pose a unique opportunity to honor King, a man who
committed his life to changing society through
grassroots politics.
… Primary
calendar set. Bill Lester of
Associated Press reports that the Democrats have
set their schedule for the Presidential nomination.
The field will be fast and many are expected to
be winnowed out early. Democrats have settled
on a fast-moving presidential primary calendar led
by Iowa and New Hampshire - followed by a February
flood of contests likely to winnow the crowded field
of candidates quickly. The District of Columbia
managed to slip a Jan. 13 presidential primary in
front of Iowa's caucuses, but it's not recognized by
the Democratic National Committee. The non-binding
contest will allow district Democrats to promote
their push for voting rights in Congress, while the
district's delegates will be formally chosen in
mid-February caucuses. Any suspense about the
nomination left at the beginning of March could be
removed by March 2, when 11 states including
California and New York hold contests. Tentative
2004 calendar of state Democratic delegate selection
dates:
1/19 Iowa Caucus
* ON THE BUSH BEAT:
… Unemployment
increase in September concerns White House -- Duo
fund-raising: Bush heading to Wisconsin, Cheney
going to Iowa & Pennsylvania. “Both Bush and
Vice President Dick Cheney planned to hit the money
trail Friday to raise more campaign cash. Bush was
headed to Wisconsin, while Cheney had stops
scheduled in Iowa and Pennsylvania. The
unemployment rate, now at 6.1 percent, was expected
to nudge up to 6.2 percent for September when new
figures are made public. The economy also was
expected to have lost around 25,000 jobs last month,
which would mark the eighth consecutive month of job
losses. [Bush] was renewing his call for six
steps he says would build confidence among employers
and strengthen the economy, ranging from health care
measures, streamlined regulations and restrictions
on medical lawsuits to a comprehensive energy plan,
expanded trade and tax breaks. He has challenged
Congress to make recently enacted tax cuts
permanent rather let them expire on schedule.
Cheney’s visit to Iowa is also an attempt to shore
up Iowa for a strategic win for Bush’s reelection.
Iowa fell in the Al Gore column by only thousands of
votes. There was discussion regarding a recount
in Iowa and Wisconsin to offset possible loss in
Florida. Now, both parties see Iowa and Wisconsin
as critical to the 2004 Presidential Campaign.
In a Des Moines Register story, Thomas
Beaumont explores the difficulty of Bush
winning Iowa. "It's not a foregone conclusion Iowa
will go Republican for the presidency," said
Republican National Committee member Steve Roberts
of Des Moines. Leach said. Compounding the
issues weighing on Bush in Iowa is the drumbeat of
criticism leveled at him weekly by Democratic
presidential candidates campaigning for the lead-off
nominating caucuses. "Then the advantage the
party out of power has, particularly in Iowa, is
that all the fun in the caucuses goes to the
non-incumbent's party. And so this is a fun year for
Democrats," Leach said. "This gives a certain
momentum to the Democratic Party." Marshalltown
Republican Mary Schendel said Bush has to start
fighting back against the barrage of attacks
Democrats are delivering every week in Iowa as
they campaign for the caucuses. A new ABCNEWS/Washington
Post poll finds significant trouble for the
president on domestic issues and the war alike:
Bush Rating
Approve
Disapprove
Overall job
58%
40%
U.S. campaign against terrorism
70
27
Homeland security
63
32
Military spending
60
39
Education
56
39
International
53
43
Situation in Iraq
52
46
Environment
51
42
Gun control
51
34
Taxes
48
48
Israel/Palestine
46
43
Campaign finance reform
44
41
Social Security
43
46
Abortion
43
40
Economy
42
56
Creating jobs
39
55
Federal budget
38
57
Prescription drug benefits
35
54
Health insurance
32
61 *
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