|
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 15, 2003 “Roughly 70 percent of
Democratic primary voters nationally are 50 or
older, according to AARP. Iowa's Democratic
caucus-goers are even older, with 74.4 percent 50
and older and 37 percent 65 and older.”
– today’s Des Moines Register. “By raising the issues -
often pointedly - in the state where more than a
third of Democratic caucus-goers are at least 65
years old, the candidates are demonstrating how
competitive the caucus campaign has become and the
force seniors pose in Iowa and nationally”
– Thomas Beaumont, in Des Moines Register. “…the shift by the United
States' toughest critics in the [U.N.] 15-nation
council has placed the Bush administration within
reach of a diplomatic victory a week after it was
on the verge of withdrawing the resolution”
– today’s Washington Post. “[members of Congress]
are going
to be scurrying for shelter, just like a giant
flashlight on a bunch of cockroaches.”
– Howard Dean, yesterday in Montrose, Iowa. “The White House believes
that the recall election has fundamentally shaken
the political status quo in California — so much
so that Bush stands a chance of carrying the state
in 2004” – Los
Angeles Times article, on the importance of the
Bush-Schwarzenegger meeting tomorrow in Riverside,
CA. “Six of the nine Democrat
presidential candidates will be in Des Moines
today to attend the AARP forum, but Wesley Clark
isn’t among them.”
– today’s IPW report.
Desperately seeking seniors’ votes Wesley
Clark continues his ‘Retreat from Iowa’ – no show
for AARP forum Will John
Kerry and John Edwards vote ‘no’ to $87B for Iraq? Bush
re-election campaign: $49.5M for last quarter NH polls:
Dean strong, Clark waning Dean
attacks Kerry on Vietnam bragging U.N. role
concession – France, Russia, Germany back down The
Congressional Exterminator: Howard Dean Dean hits
all 99 counties in Iowa … Six of the nine Democrat
presidential candidates will be in Des Moines today
to attend the AARP forum, but Wesley Clark isn’t
among them. Iowa seniors have received a flurry
of attention in recent days, as the Dem candidates
compete for caucus voters’ support. Iowa seniors are
among the highest percentage of voters in Iowa. The
six candidates coming to Des Moines are: John
Edwards, John Kerry, Howard Dean, Dick Gephardt,
Carol Moseley Braun and Dennis Kucinich.
Noticeably missing from the pack is top-tiered
candidate Wesley Clark -- further evidence of
Clark’s retreat from Iowa. Why is Clark a
no-show today? IPW is uncertain. Is it part of
Clark’s ‘Retreat from Iowa’ or is it part of Clark’s
lack of stance on issues? Overall media consensus on
Clark has been that he is weak and/or lacks of
positions on domestic issues. … Howard Dean was in Montrose,
Iowa, yesterday declaring himself tantamount to the
‘Congressional Exterminator.’ According to an
article in today’s
New York Times, Dean is quoted as saying that
if he won, members of Congress were “going to be
scurrying for shelter, just like a giant flashlight
on a bunch of cockroaches.” The article cites
the question prompting Dean’s statement: how would
Dean handle Congress and the entrenched Beltway
bureaucracy. Excerpts from NY Times: “Howard
Dean, who is increasingly giving his presidential
candidacy an anti-Washington cast, cranked up his
rhetoric on Tuesday, saying that if he won, members
of Congress were "going to be scurrying for shelter,
just like a giant flashlight on a bunch of
cockroaches." …The remark was one of dozens of
sharp comments about "Washington politicians" that
Dr. Dean, the former governor of Vermont, tossed out
in a 15-hour, nine-city, 329-mile sprint across
Iowa, as he intensified his effort to separate
himself from the pack by claiming the "outsider"
mantle. … Dr. Dean said: "We need to clean house
in Washington. That's what this campaign is about."
At lunchtime in Mount Ayr, he responded to a
question about whether he had a bad temper by
saying, "The problem is, everybody gets along and
goes along in Washington, and nothing ever happens." … Iowa, with its
disproportionately high percentage of senior
citizens, is getting the political ‘rush’ as top
contenders squabble and vie for the Democratic
Party’s nomination for president. The high number of
seniors and the fact that seniors are far more prone
to vote creates quite a potent combination when the
caucuses come around. The
Des Moines Register’s Thomas Beaumont
takes a look at the situation in today’s Register,
headlined, “Seniors’ issues grab center stage.”
Excerpts: “… Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt has
signaled his willingness to broaden his assault on
former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean's commitment to
Medicare today, as the AARP hosts six of the
candidates at an issue forum in Des Moines.
…Dean has come to Iowa to unveil proposals for
long-term nursing home care and importing from
Canada cheaper prescription drugs for seniors …
By raising the issues - often pointedly - in the
state where more than a third of Democratic
caucus-goers are at least 65 years old, the
candidates are demonstrating how competitive the
caucus campaign has become and the force seniors
pose in Iowa and nationally … Last month,
Gephardt chose Iowa to first criticize Dean's 1995
support of a proposal by the Republican-led Congress
to cut $270 billion from Medicare, which led to
President Clinton's veto and the subsequent shutdown
of the federal government. Dean supported the cuts
and, as head of the National Governors Association,
sharply criticized Medicare's administration as
inefficient. Because of those positions, Gephardt
linked Dean with then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich,
the polarizing Republican who led the fight for the
cuts. Dean has said he supported the cuts to save
the program from going bankrupt and that Clinton,
two years later, adopted the same view by signing a
budget agreement that cut Medicare. … Roughly 70
percent of Democratic primary voters nationally are
50 or older, according to AARP. Iowa's Democratic
caucus-goers are even older, with 74.4 percent 50
and older and 37 percent 65 and older. … Senators Kerry and Edwards
have both given signals of ‘no’ votes, regarding the
requested $87 billion to rebuild Iraq. According
to a Thomas Beaumont article in today’s
Des Moines Register, Edwards says he’s
dissatisfied with the Bush administration’s current
plan. The article quotes Edwards as saying, “I
believe this is a vote where, if I vote yes, it
would be the equivalent of giving a stamp of
approval to what this president is doing now. And I
do not agree with what he’s doing now.”
Meanwhile, Kerry’s attempt to link a repeal of
income tax cuts (for the top brackets) failed,
prompting this response from Kerry, “As I said on
Sunday, unless this proposal is changed to better
protect taxpayer dollars and shares the burden and
risk of transforming Iraq with the United Nations
and the rest of the international community, then I
will oppose it.” The article goes on to say that
Senator Joe Lieberman planned to vote for the
measure. It is expected that the Senate will take a
vote on the proposed $87 billion for Iraq this
Friday, with the measure then heading into the House
of Representatives, where Gephardt is expected to
vote for it and Kucinich against. … Howard Dean is clearly
campaigning hard in Iowa. He not only is currently
sending in seniors from Vermont to Iowa, but is also
working hard on the Iowa party activists. And,
notably, Dean is the only presidential candidate who
has visited all – yes, all – of Iowa’s 99
counties. Dean recently participated in the Lee
County Democrats’ annual picnic in Montrose, Iowa.
Montrose is a community of about 1,000 people. It is
in the far southeast part of Iowa and is just across
the Mississippi River from Nauvoo, Ill.-- for those
who know their Mormon history. … A review of the
local newspaper, The Burlington Hawkeye,
is proof that Democratic presidential candidate
Howard Dean is waging an aggressive grassroots
effort against rival Dick Gephardt’s union strength.
The following is a quote from a letter from Lee
County Dean Co-Chair Larry Jackson in the
Hawkeye:
“Being a unionist, I have listened to all of the
potential candidates and have concluded that Howard
Dean is the best candidate of the Democratic
candidates. Howard Dean has been listening to what
Iowans need and he has a history of creating jobs
and rejuvenating cities and towns. Vermont has a
minimum wage nearly $2 above our own minimum in
Iowa. Vermont guarantees health care for all
children so that doesn't have to be a part of labor
negotiations.” … “Iowa's union members have had
plenty of candidates come by and make promises. They
know how to separate the doers from the talkers.
Howard Dean has a record of getting things done and
his supporters recognize that.” … New Hampshire’s undecided
voters remain at the same levels – about 30 percent
– as they were this summer. And their initial zeal
for newcomer candidate Wesley Clark appears to have
waned. Today’s
UnionLeader.com takes a look at the situation.
Excerpts: “Two prominent New Hampshire pollsters say
former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, the front-runner
in the state’s leadoff primary race, is doing the
best job among the Democratic candidates attracting
independent voters. But, say Dick Bennett and
Rich Killion, the majority of independents remain
undecided. The pollsters say this group is largely
undecided not only about which of the Democratic
Presidential candidates they will vote for, but also
whether they will vote in the Democratic primary at
all. Both pollsters say retired Gen. Wesley
Clark, the newcomer to the race, has a resume that
may attract independent voters, especially moderates
who supported Republicans in other elections. But
they say he appears to have already lost momentum
generated by his entry into the race on Sept. 17.
…. In Bennett’s latest New Hampshire poll, issued
last Thursday, Dean was favored by 29 percent of
likely Democratic primary voters, while
Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry was favored by 19
percent. No other candidate was favored by more
than 6 percent of likely voters. The poll sample
included 413 Democrats, or 69 percent, and 187
independents, or 31 percent. …Killion said Dean’s
overall performance is especially strong “when you
consider that he has not been on the air
(advertising) for the past month. That hasn’t
affected his polling. He’s still the front-runner
and isn’t losing an inch on the ballot test.”
…
Howard Dean is rat-a-tat-attacking rival John Kerry
on his vacillating views on the important of his
service in Vietnam. Here are some excerpts from
the article in today’s
The Hill: “Howard Dean’s
presidential campaign sharply criticized Sen. John
Kerry (D-Mass.) yesterday for seemingly
flip-flopping on the importance of serving in
Vietnam in presidential politics. Kerry seeks to
distinguish himself from his White House rivals —
both Democratic and Republican — by drawing
attention to his war record. But this emphasis
stands in marked contrast to his past utterances
about service in Vietnam as a qualification for the
highest office. … On numerous occasions this
year, Kerry cited his distinguished war record as a
decisive factor in who should be the nominee.”
More excerpts:
Kerry now:
·
“There are some people in high
office today who pulled strings to get into the
National Guard.” President Bush served as a pilot in
the Air National Guard.”
·
“I think I stand here with a
broader base of experience, both in domestic affairs
and in foreign affairs, than any other person.”
·
“I am the only person running for
this job who has actually fought in a war.”
Kerry then
·
“I am saddened by the fact that
Vietnam has yet again been inserted into the
campaign, and that it has been inserted in what I
feel to be the worst possible way… What saddens me
most is that Democrats, above all those who shared
the agonies of that generation, should now be
re-fighting the many conflicts of Vietnam in order
to win the current political conflict of a
presidential primary.” Feb. 27, 1992 (during the
Bill Clinton-Bob Dole presidential battle)
·
“Is your desire to hold office
really so great that you would betray your own sense
of decency and fairness? Is your desperation now
really so great that you would adopt a conscious
strategy of reopening and pouring salt on some of
the most painful wounds that our nation has ever
expected? “You and I know that if service or
non-service in the war is to become a test of
qualification for high office, you would not have a
vice president, nor would you have a secretary of
defense, and our nation would never recover from the
divisions created by that war.” Kerry again
defending Clinton from remarks by then-President
George H.W. Bush. … President Bush’s re-election
campaign has released last quarter’s fundraising
numbers, showing $49.5 million for the period. This
puts the Bush total at $70 million, thus far,
according to the
Des Moines Register. Today is the FEC deadline
for filing of campaign finance reports. As expected,
President Bush’s campaign will not be taking public
financing for the 2004 race. Democratic rivals
Howard Dean and John Kerry have also indicated the
possibility of opting out of public financing – a
move that could position them with more, rather than
less, ‘war chest’ money. … Bush and Schwarzenegger to
meet tomorrow in Riverside, California to test the
waters of mutual support. In an article in
today’s
Los Angeles Times, the first meeting of
President Bush and California governor-elect Arnold
Schwarzenegger is characterized as holding great
potential for both men. Excerpts: “When
President Bush shakes hands with California
Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday in
Riverside, the event will be as scripted as if Bush
were meeting a foreign head of state. There will be
attire to coordinate: Bush is usually buttoned-down
and wearing a tie; Schwarzenegger tends to distain
neckwear. There will be the setting to arrange — one
that doesn't dwarf the president's runner-trim frame
to disadvantage against the bodybuilder
governor-elect. More important, for the last several
days, both sides have been carefully negotiating
what each can deliver politically. Schwarzenegger
has made clear that he wants Bush to help cover
California's budget deficit — the issue that looks
likely to decide the success or failure of his
governorship. For his part, Bush wants
Schwarzenegger to lead a resurgence of the
Republican Party in California — a movement that
might just allow the president to win the state's
large number of electoral votes in his reelection
bid next year. … some California officials
clearly are excited by the meeting. "It's the start
of turning the economy around in California," said
Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, the incoming state
Assembly GOP leader. "You've got to have a dialogue
start with Washington." It's a dialogue Bush also is
eager to begin. The White House believes that the
recall election has fundamentally shaken the
political status quo in California — so much so that
Bush stands a chance of carrying the state in 2004.”
… According to an article in
today’s
Washington Post, the U.N. has backed off
demands to have a central role in the reconstruction
of Iraq. Excerpts: “France, Russia and
Germany on Tuesday dropped their demands that the
United States grant the United Nations a central
role in Iraq's reconstruction and yield power to a
provisional Iraqi government in the coming months.
The move constituted a major retreat by the Security
Council's chief antiwar advocates, and signaled
their renewed willingness to consider the merits of
a U.S. resolution aimed at conferring greater
international legitimacy on its military occupation
of Iraq. All three countries seem willing to
accept a resolution that would retain U.S. authority
over Iraq's political future while extending only a
symbolic measure of sovereignty to Iraqis. But a
major sticking point remains: The three governments
made new demands, including setting a timetable for
ending the U.S. military occupation in Iraq and
strengthening the Security Council's role in
monitoring Iraq's political transition. Still,
the shift by the United States' toughest critics in
the 15-nation council has placed the Bush
administration within reach of a diplomatic victory
a week after it was on the verge of withdrawing the
resolution … U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan
said he was disappointed with the resolution because
it does not set the stage for a swift transfer of
power to a provisional Iraqi government, but said he
could live with it.
click here
Paid
for by the Iowa Presidential Watch PAC
P.O.
Box 171, Webster City, IA 50595
privacy
/ agreement
/
/ homepage
/
search engine |
