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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 Wednesday, October 8, 2003
... QUOTABLE: “I never believed President Bush
would retain a 70 or 80 percent approval rating
through the election. All these (Democratic)
candidates have been tearing him [Bush] down, and
the press has been unfair in its coverage of the
situation in Iraq.” – Rep. Charles Bass, who
will accompany President Bush on his visit to New
Hampshire tomorrow. “With anonymous sources abounding in
both the AP and Reuters stories, no concrete facts
emerged beyond the basic: Donnie Fowler is gone
after three weeks on the job. And that can’t be
“good” news for Camp Clark.” – Iowa
Presidential Watch, on national campaign manager
Fowler’s retreat from Clark’s campaign. “Clark’s fall from the NATO wall as
Supreme Commander is not something that can be
‘put back together again’ through the office of
President of the United States. NATO did not give
Clark the title of Supreme Commander because he
was an amateur soldier.” – Iowa Presidential
Watch, on presidential candidate Wesley Clark. “If they really want their people to
know where they stand on certain issues, they
should be there.” – South Carolina NAACP
president James Gallman, on the Dem candidates’
snubbing of an NAACP forum “Clark touted his candidacy during
paid appearances at DePauw University in Indiana
and other campuses after he entered the
presidential race on Sept. 17. Under the laws
governing the financing of presidential campaigns,
candidates cannot be paid by corporations, labor
unions, individuals or even universities for
campaign-related events. The Federal Election
Commission (FEC) considers such paid political
appearances akin to a financial contribution to a
candidate.” – excerpt from today’s Washington
Post article, raising legal question of Clark’s
use of paid appearances
… Among the offerings in today’s update:
Clark’s national campaign manager –
Donnie Fowler – quits Lid blown off Pandora’s Blog Box at
Camp Clark Washington Post says Clark may have
broken the law in paid speeches Des Moines Register editorial:
Come to Iowa, Mr. Clark Now that he’s out, who’ll get the
political Graham goodies? Closing the overseas loophole –
Edwards says he’ll do it Dr. Dean says “Welcome Baby” Bush heads to New Hampshire Dem candidates draw ire of NAACP for
snubbing forum Happy birthday, Dennis Media attention absent from
Kucinich’s hip hop/Ralph Nader event last night in
Washington D.C. Kerry still campaigning in Iowa, but
with scant media attention Today’s IPW Presidential Candidates
Schedule
* CANDIDATES/CAUCUSES:
Iowa Presidential
Watch Exclusive Report on the Clark Camp Debacle: … It was “Amateur Night”
at Camp Clark last night, as national campaign
manager Donnie Fowler abandoned his post. Fowler, one
of three Gore2000 political pros,
resigned leaving ample speculation as to the
real cause. A breaking news report by
Associated Press political reporter
Ron Fournier cited two anonymous associates
as saying Fowler had disagreements with
communications director Mark
Fabiani of California and Washington
policy adviser Ron Klain –
both had been aboard Gore2000 with
Fowler. Two main areas of disagreement were
connected to Fowler’s departure: Fowler’s
concerns that the Internet draft-Clark
supporters are not being taken seriously by ‘top
campaign advisers’, and Fowler’s frustration
with the campaign’s over the top focus on
Washington DC and below the radar approach in
key states. The AP/Fournier article then drew a
parallel to the ill-fated Gore2000 campaign,
which was similarly plagued with an
overly-Washington focus. The article pointed out
Fowler’s computer-savvy asset to the campaign
and his support of the grassroots draft Clark
supporters. With Fowler out, how would the
Internet loyalists and Internet aspect of the
campaign fare?…
Reuters posted a seemingly conflicting
report later in the evening, attributing
Fowler’s resignation to a flap over his
impending demotion – a glaring bit of revelation
that was not in the AP/Fournier story.
Again, anonymous sources were used as the source
of this information. The article quoted an
anonymous campaign source as saying, “Clark
needs some more experienced political hands
running things." … Meanwhile, two to three
hours after AP/Fournier’s first report, a
revised version surfaced – or I
should say, didn’t surface. Gone was
the Yahoo.com front page status (it originally
got top billing over the California recall race
news!). After much searching, the
AP/Fournier article was found buried deep in the
links of YahooNews…. no more front page Yahoo
news reference. The article had been revised to
include the information evidenced in the
Reuter’s account, attributing Fowler’s departure
to his objection to a pending demotion. With
anonymous sources abounding in both the AP and
Reuters stories, no concrete facts emerged
beyond the basic: Donnie Fowler is gone after
three weeks on the job. And that can’t be “good”
news for Camp Clark.
… An IPW exclusive: The resignation
last night of Clark campaign manager Donnie
Fowler blew the lid off a Pandora’s Blog Box
last night, mixing Clark loyalists and
not-so-loyalists in a murky mess of postings.
The mayhem began at 6:34 pm, as news first hit
of Fowler’s resignation. Initial shock and
confusion soon gave way, as Clark loyalists
posted their deepest -- and prior un-posted
– doubts and fears. Many expressed frustration
over the campaign: lack of response to emails,
poor blog functionality that drives people away,
a newsletter sign-up with no newsletter, money
paid for a Clark book that never showed up,
promises not kept by Clark and top staff to post
on the blog personally, lack of supplies
and coordination for events, etc, etc. But
the hardest hitting comments were about the
General himself. Referring to the ring of
three running the campaign (now two, with
Fowler’s exit), comments appeared ranging
from “If he [Clark] can’t manage three men, how
does he expect to run the country?” to “No big
deal.” Waters thus stirred, comments
surfaced on Clark’s lobbying past, lack of
substance in his answers, and apparent inability
to get his act together regarding the campaign
itself. Smelling blog blood, rival bloggers –
or trolls (the term for
evil-intentioned, assassin bloggers) --
entered the fray. They posed as official Clark
blog staff, unleashing a firestorm of false
comments. It worked. The woefully
inexperienced Clark-sters were soon at each
other’s cyber throats, branding their own as
“trolls” and kicking them off the blog comments
string... IPW COMMENTARY: All of this
proves a simple point: Wesley Clark is an
amateur. A brilliant, brave, war-medal
saturated amateur. The General’s late in
the race start, rag-tag conglomeration of
Internet foot soldiers and holier-than-thou
Gore2000 pros, and bungling verbal flip
flops is painful evidence thereof. Politics is
more than head knowledge. It requires the kind
of ‘know-how’ that springs from the gut -- not
from the head and not from the staff. Perhaps a
simple analogy is in order: Humpty-Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty-Dumpty had a great fall, And all the king’s horses and all the
king’s men Couldn’t put Humpty together again.
Clark’s fall from the NATO wall as Supreme
Commander is not something that can be ‘put back
together again’ through the office of President
of the United States. NATO did not give Clark
the title of Supreme Commander because he was an
amateur soldier.
… Democratic presidential candidates are
definitely NOT beating a path to the NAACP
presidential forum, scheduled for this Friday in
South Carolina, according to
WashingtonTimes.com’s Inside the Beltway.
The article quotes South Carolina NAACP president
James Gallman as saying, “If they really want their
people to know where they stand on certain issues,
they should be there.” As of last week, only
Carol Moseley Braun and Al Sharpton had agreed to
attend. NAACP reacted angrily to the lack of
response, bringing on board Dennis Kucinich, John
Edwards, Joe Lieberman and Dick Gephardt as a
result. However, John Kerry, Howard Dean and Wesley
Clark are still holding out committing to the forum.
[IPW NOTE: the South Carolina forum is the day
after a DNC-sponsored debate in Phoenix,
Arizona.] …
With Florida Sen. Bob Graham officially out of
contention, who’ll get the political Graham goodies?
In today’s
Des Moines Register, political reporter
Thomas Beaumont says most of the spoils will go to
newcomer Wesley Clark. Beaumont cites
Graham’s 13 Iowa offices and 50 Iowa staffers, a
wise acquisition for Camp Clark – if
Clark chooses to go for it in earnest in Iowa’s
caucuses. According to Graham’s Iowa campaign
chairwoman Shelia McGuire Riggs, “I think he [Clark]
would be wise to do that. I know that Clark’s
national office has been calling. The Graham staff
is top-notch and very experienced.” ...
An editorial, titled "Come to Iowa, Mr. Clark,"
pinpoints the fallacy of Clark's avoiding Iowa in
his presidential quest. Excerpts: "...To
become a complete candidate, Clark needs to share
his thinking on the whole array of issues. Iowa
would be a good place to begin. As a late
entrant, Clark might be tempted to bypass Iowa. The
other major contenders have been plying Iowa for
many months. Moreover, the caucuses are dominated by
Democratic regulars who will not be quick to embrace
a newcomer to their party. He might stand a better
chance in states that have open primaries instead of
caucuses. Nevertheless, Clark should come to Iowa.
He would not be expected to win the caucuses or
perhaps even to do well, but meeting with Iowans
in their homes, cafes, church basements and union
halls -- the essence of a caucus campaign -- is the
perfect way for the American people to get to know
Wesley Clark and for him to know them. Come on,
general. Establish a beachhead in Iowa." …
Wesley Clark may well remember this day as GONG
Wednesday – not only has Clark’s national
campaign manager Donnie Fowler quit and his official
web blog suffered a cyber-meltdown, now the
Washington Post says he may have acted illegally
in accepting fees for his campaign speeches.
According to the article: “Clark touted his
candidacy during paid appearances at DePauw
University in Indiana and other campuses after he
entered the presidential race on Sept. 17. Under the
laws governing the financing of presidential
campaigns, candidates cannot be paid by
corporations, labor unions, individuals or even
universities for campaign-related events. The
Federal Election Commission (FEC) considers such
paid political appearances akin to a financial
contribution to a candidate. Clark is getting
paid as much as $30,000 for speeches,
according to people familiar with his arrangement.
He has two more scheduled for next week.” The
article goes on to quote Clark’s general counsel
(translation: attorney) as saying the General
did not break FEC laws because Clark “is not
attempting through those speeches to specifically…
influence his election. Oldaker says Clark only ‘incidentally’
mentioned his candidacy in the speeches. [IPW NOTE:
more fodder for our ‘amateur’ charge…] …
John Kerry campaigned hard in Iowa yesterday –
with scant evidence thereof in the media.
However, a Sioux City, Iowa NBC affiliate {KTIV}
has reported Kerry was pushing his plan for seniors
in Sioux City. KTIV also says Kerry visited
Cherokee, LeMars, and Sheldon. As reported in
yesterday’s IPW News, Kerry is touting his “Compact
with America’s Seniors.” Kerry’s Iowa visit also
showed up in the Sioux City Journal who
reported that Kerry once again entered into his
attack on the wealthy. Chief executives of drug
companies, Kerry said, are earning multi-million
dollar salaries while average Americans are
struggling to pay their bills. He said President
George W. Bush and his administration are fighting
to protect those who are the most protected and
comfortable at the expense of everybody else. The
system is backwards, Kerry said, adding that he will
fight for the average person. Also during his
campaign stop Tuesday, Kerry criticized President
Bush's foreign policy, claiming that Bush is
creating terrorists in the current war on terror. …
Birthday boy: Today is Dennis Kucinich’s
birthday. If you’d like to send him a birthday
‘note’ (or ‘not’, as the case may be…) you can do so
by visiting
campaign website. As for Kucinich’s
“Democracy Rising” hip hop, Ralph Nader extravaganza
scheduled for last night in Washington DC? Let’s
just say the news stories are not abounding.
After much searching, including K’s website, IPW has
abandoned the quest. Anyone finding a story – send
it to
IPW. …
John Edwards’ “Work Week” is certainly well-named.
The North Carolina senator has been campaigning hard
in the target states of New Hampshire and Iowa.
Anamosa, Cedar Rapids and Tipton, Iowa, were the
towns of choice yesterday for Edwards. In today’s
Des Moines Register, Thomas Beaumont
reports in on the Edwards visits, and says the
emphasis is federal reforms aimed at protecting and
creating jobs. According to the article, Edwards
proposes closing the tax breaks loophole for U.S.
companies that move overseas, rewarding U.S.
companies that stay with a 10 percent tax cut and
encouraging the hiring of workers with disabilities.
The Beaumont article also made mention of Edward’s
newest campaign ad (Edward’s seventh), which began
airing in Iowa on Monday night. The television ad,
which is critical of President Bush’s request for
$87 billion for Iraq, begins airing in New Hampshire
today. …
And regarding People-Powered Howard Dean’s
endeavors, the very busy Mr. Beaumont, of the
Des Moines Register, gave quick synopsis on
Dean’s new plan to help families with young
children, called “Welcome Baby.” The voluntary
program stems from a Vermont effort – during Dean’s
tenure as guv – and shows his focus on early
childcare. Here is today’s IPW Presidential Candidates Schedule:
·
John Edwards in Iowa
·
Dennis Kucinich's formal announcement of candidacy for President,
Cleveland, Ohio
·
Joe Lieberman dessert reception in Tucson, AZ, 7:30-9 pm. Location:
at the home of David & Ellen Goldstein. Guest $500,
couple $1000. Contact Hannah Wood 202-285-0452
hwood@joe2004.com
·
John Kerry
campaigns in Tucson, Arizona. Details TBA
* ON THE BUSH BEAT:
… President Bush is heading to Hew Hampshire
tomorrow to speak to the Greater Manchester Chamber
of Commerce and the N.H. Business and Industry
Association. According to an article in today’s
UnionLeader.com, President Bush’s focus
will be on job creation, improving the U.S. economy
and winning the nation’s war on terror. The
article takes note of Bush’s lower job-approval
ratings and New Hampshire’s importance in the 2004
presidential race -- a narrow win for Bush in the
2000 election. Excerpt quote from Rep. Charles Bass:
“I never believed President Bush would retain a 70
or 80 percent approval rating through the election.
All these (Democratic) candidates have been tearing
him [Bush] down, and the press has been unfair in
its coverage of the situation in Iraq.”
* WAR ON TERROR: …
More North Korea maneuverings going on in the talks
to rein-in their nuclear weapons development. Now
North Korea is refusing to allow Japan to
participate in the multilateral negotiations. The
reason? They say that Japan is too ‘untrustworthy.’
The Associated Press article, carried in today’s
Winston-Salem
JournalNow.com, quotes Japanese government
spokesman, “We simply cannot accept such a
statement.” The U.S. and its allies are seeking to
restart the six-nation nuclear talks. North Korea
has accused Japan of misusing the talks to raise the
‘issue of abduction,’ which North Korea considered
already settled.
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