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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 Saturday, October 4, 2003
... QUOTABLE:
"Things are getting better, but there's still
work to do," – President Bush, referring to
Labor Department’s release of job figures showing
solid improvements for September.
“Even though we disagree completely on
baseball, I respect Joe Lieberman’s integrity in
refusing to pander to win my support and admire
his loyalty, which as most people know is very
important to labs….” – Fenway the yellow lab,
and newest Lieberman ‘staffer.’
"We have said repeatedly that you can't define
the governor on an ideological scale…” Dean
campaign manager, Joe Trippi..
"If that ain't a Democrat, I must be at the
wrong meeting…There was only one place for me, and
I want to tell you, it is great to be home." –
Wesley Clark, addressing the DNC meeting in
Washington D.C. by proclaiming he is
pro-affirmative action, pro-choice,
pro-environment, pro-education and pro-health
care. "It's important to remind
people, if they are tempted to listen to the other
side, to ask the questions: What's their strategy?
How did they deal with this when they were in
charge?" -- VP Cheney, campaigning in Des
Moines, Iowa. …
Among the offerings in today’s update:
President Bush speaks optimism as Labor
Department shows solid job improvements for
September.
Dick Gephardt’s new TV ad aimed at Iowa
farmers.
Joe Lieberman’s newest ‘staffer’ admires his
loyalty.
Dennis Kucinich turns to hip hop for help.
Dean staffers irked by rivals’ assertions he’s
‘too far right’ fiscally
Recapping the wannabes at the DNC meeting in
Washington D.C.
VP Cheney in Des Moines says campaign will tout
war on terror, challenges Dems to show their
‘plan’
Graham’s rivals waiting to cash in on Florida
if Graham drops out
Howard Dean’s 4-day Generation Dean Tour begins
at Howard University
Ralph Nader still sizing up the competition, no
decision until end of year about joining the 2004
race
Dick Gephardt gets his 32nd
congressional endorsement *
CANDIDATES/CAUCUSES:
… Dick Gephardt has a new TV ad he’s running in
Iowa, titled “Rural.”
GOPUSA.com carried the news, written by
Talon News’ Charles Mahaleris. Excerpts: “For
years, I've led the struggle for family farmers, for
strong farm prices and for expanded markets for
ethanol. I've always opposed corporate hog lots and
supported a ban on packer ownership of cattle,"
Gephardt says in the ad. "Tom Harkin and I fought
for country-of-origin labeling so Americans know
where their meat and farm products come from. I'm
Dick Gephardt. I approved this message because I
want to stop George Bush and the corporate
agribusiness interests. As president, I'll fight for
America's family farmers," Gephardt adds. Hotline
released the findings from a poll Gephardt had
commissioned of 500 likely Iowa Caucus voters
showing him as receiving 24% of the vote compared
with 17% for Dr. Howard Dean (D-VT) and 13% for Sen.
John Kerry (D-MA). Another poll released at the end
of September, this one commissioned by Sen. John
Edwards (D-NC), shows Gephardt coming in third in
Iowa behind Dean and Kerry. Iowa is seen as a
must win for Gephardt if he has any chance of
winning his party's nomination.”
… Joe Lieberman’s added man’s best friend to his
campaign staff. His name is Fenway – a yellow
lab dog -- and he is now Lieberman’s official
mascot. Actually, Fenway, belongs to a Lieberman
staffer, Ted Timbers. A gifted pooch, Fenway has
pawed, I mean, typed an e-mail message for the
campaign: “Even though we disagree completely on
baseball, I respect Joe Lieberman’s integrity in
refusing to pander to win my support and admire his
loyalty, which as most people know is very important
to labs….”
… Candidate Dennis Kucinich is turning to hip hop
for help with his presidential campaign. On his
schedule for next week (October 7th, 6
p.m. at the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal
Church in Washington D.C.) is a “Democracy Rising
Rally” in Washington D.C. featuring Kucinich, Ralph
Nader and local hip hopper Head-Roc and Noyeek the
Grizzly Bear. No word yet on whether Kucinich
will offer up a rap for the crowd.
… Dean staffers are irked by rivals Democratic
candidates’ assertions that he’s ‘too far right’
fiscally. In an article in the
Boston Globe online, by Sarah Schweitzer and
Anne Kornblut, the ever-increasing attacks about
Dean’s 1995 Medicare comments have found testy
ground in the Dean staff. His campaign insists
Dean remains a maverick, even with a lead in key
early voting states and fund-raising of nearly $15
million in the year's third quarter. "We have
said repeatedly that you can't define the governor
on an ideological scale. That's why you can have a
governor who will sign a civil union law because
it's the right thing to do," said Joe Trippi, Dean's
campaign manager…. Dean also has had to contend
with the altered political dynamic caused by the
latest Democratic entrant, Wesley K. Clark. The
threat Clark poses to Dean's chances was evident in
Los Angeles this week at the home of Gilda Haas.
Haas, director of the Economic Justice Organization,
hosted an event for Dean on Monday, allowing a
crush of people into her living room while the
candidate made a conference call to thousands at
house parties across the country. But Haas said
she was not committed, and indeed was
considering Clark. "I haven't heard enough yet" from
the newest Democratic candidate, she said. "I'm all
ears."
… The Democratic National Committee meeting in
Washington D.C. proved to be easy ground for the
2004 presidential candidates. According to an
article in the
Des Moines Register, by Jane Norman,
candidates Wesley Clark, John Kerry, Joe
Lieberman, Howard Dean, Dennis Kucinich and Carol
Moseley Braun took aim at President Bush – and
also each other…Wesley Clark said he is
pro-affirmative action, pro-choice, pro-environment,
pro-education and pro-health care. "If that
ain't a Democrat, I must be at the wrong meeting,"
he said. "There was only one place for me, and I
want to tell you, it is great to be home." Sen.
John Kerry said that his opposition to Bush
"is not a commitment I made in the last few weeks or
last year, or that I stumbled across in the course
of this campaign" and that he "stood against"
both presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.
Kerry also said he and the "Democratic wing of the
Democratic Party" opposed the Contract With America
and former GOP Speaker Newt Gingrich in 1994,
appropriating a phrase often used by Dean. Sen.
Joe Lieberman of Connecticut said Republicans once
were the party of Abraham Lincoln and Dwight
Eisenhower, but "today they are the party of Rush
Limbaugh and Arnold Schwarzenegger." "That's the
party of values?" said Lieberman. Howard Dean
said he wants a president "who's going to appeal to
the very best in us and not the very worst," and
that "we have been silent too long." Democrats are
out of power in the White House and Congress because
"we didn't stand up for what we believed in," Dean
said. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio said he led
opposition to the war among House Democrats, in
defiance of a leadership that includes Gephardt.
"I believe we truly represented the feelings of
millions of Americans," Kucinich said. "It is time
to bring the troops home." Former Illinois Sen.
Carol Moseley Braun said the voters "are ready to
embrace a clear alternative to George Bush."
… On the campaign trail in Des Moines, Iowa, Vice
President Cheney said the war on terror will be the
centerpiece issue. According to a Thomas
Beaumont article in the
Des Moines Register, Cheney also issued a
challenge to the Dem candidates to come forward with
a better plan. "It's important to remind people,
if they are tempted to listen to the other side, to
ask the questions: What's their strategy? How did
they deal with this when they were in charge?"
Cheney said of Democrats running to challenge the
Republican incumbent next year. He also cited as
justification for the war an interim report by U.S.
weapons inspector David Kay, who testified to
members of Congress on Thursday that Saddam Hussein
was working to develop weapons of mass destruction.
"One of the debates you've seen in recent days is
maybe Saddam didn't really have any" weapons of mass
destruction, Cheney said. "I think the record is
overwhelming that he had in fact had the major
investments in weapons of mass destruction."
Though Cheney's 20-minute speech focused on fighting
terrorism, he also offered hope that the sluggish
economy was improving. Cheney cited the addition of
57,000 new jobs in September as proof of an economic
recovery, although the jobless rate was unchanged
for the month at 6.1 percent.
… Presidential candidate Bob Graham has yet to
announce his withdrawl from the 2004 race, but his
rivals are already poised to pounce on Florida’s
money. According to an article in the
Miami Herald, written by Peter Wallsten,
the vast amount of political money in Florida
will be plumbed heavily, should Graham withdraw.
Rival campaigns are making lists of major Florida
donors. Those most negatively affected
dollar-wise by Grahams entrance into the field of
candidates are John Kerry, Joe Lieberman and John
Edwards. All three candidates are said to have
spent “years” building inroads in Florida. As to any
reliable information about Graham’s in or out
status, no consensus could be found amongst the
Graham staffers. With confusion rampant, a final
Graham decision may be reached this weekend.
… Howard Dean’s 4-day Generation Dean Tour began
at Howard University on Friday with a town hall
meeting for students and faculty. The Generation
Dean tour hopes to get more young people involved in
his campaign. An article carried by the
WashingtonPost online, written by Brian
Faler, notes Dean’s selection of the black
university over ‘a half-dozen other colleges in the
area.’ An obvious choice for Dean to prove he can
attract the black vote. Dean spoke about: the
soft economy, the loss of jobs, the situation in
Iraq and the Middle East, the need for more and
better health care. Excerpts: “Only near the end
of his talk did Dean focus on minority issues.
He reminded the students, many of whom participated
in a vigil earlier this year in support of
affirmative action -- when the Supreme Court was
considering the University of Michigan cases -- that
President Bush has repeatedly used the word "quota"
to describe such programs. "It is deliberately
designed to appeal to people's fears that they're
going to lose their place in a university or their
job to a member of the minority community," Dean
said of the term. "The president played the race
card -- and for that reason alone, he is
entitled to a one-way bus ticket back to Crawford,
Texas."
… Ralph Nader says he’s going to take more time –
until the end of the year -- before he decides
whether or not to run for president. Again.
Nader says he’s watching how the various
candidates (Republican and Democratic) are
responding to his agenda. The
Union Leader online article says Nader
anticipates sending both parties his ‘blueprint’ on
the need for universal health insurance, a more
progressive wage policy and a steep crackdown on
corporate fraud and abuse. However, Nader’s top
goal, the article states, is to defeat Bush.
Nader is expected to run on the Green Party ticket,
should he opt into the race.
… Dick Gephardt has picked up his 32nd
congressional endorsement. Democratic Rep.
Ted Strickland of Ohio announced his support
for presidential hopeful Dick Gephardt on Thursday.
Gephardt has more congressional endorsements so far
than any other Democratic presidential candidate.
* ON THE BUSH BEAT: …
Campaigning in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, President Bush
expressed his optimism on the economy. Figures
released earlier by the Department of Labor showed
the unemployment rate for September had held steady.
WashingtonPost On Politics article by AP
writer Jennifer Loven. Excerpts: “Bush spoke just a
few hours after the Labor Department reported that
the unemployment rate held steady in September at
6.1 percent of the labor force and that businesses
added some 57,000 jobs. As evidence of
progress toward a recovery, the president cited
the new report. Economists had expected the overall
civilian unemployment rate to rise to 6.2 percent,
with a loss of 25,000 more jobs. "Things are
getting better," Bush said, "But there's still work
to do," he said. That work includes lawsuit reforms
to lower health care costs, streamlined regulations,
a comprehensive energy plan, expanded trade and more
tax breaks, said Bush. He challenged Congress to
make recently enacted tax cuts permanent rather let
them expire on schedule. The president's trip to
Wisconsin was his eighth to the state, which he lost
narrowly in 2000.”
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