Daily Report: 2004 Presidential Watch: Republican conservative news on the Democrat caucus, primary candidates national campaigns.

THE CLINTON COMEDIES:

… Hillary’s Political Goldmine: Headline from yesterday’s New York Post – “Hillary Hoards Pac $$” Coverage – an excerpt – by the Post’s Deborah Orin and Vincent Morris: “Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is becoming more and more of a PAC-rat, using her political-action committee's cash to build her own political network rather than to boost other Democrats. Last year, HILLPAC gave only 31 percent of what it raised to other candidates; this year, that figure is down to 20 percent. That means she's spent $4 out of every $5 on her own political operation. In all, HILLPAC spent $589,000 in the first half of this year -- and only $120,000 of that went to other Democrats. Most went for Clinton's staff, fund-raising, legal fees and travel. Critics say personal PACs like HILLPAC let lawmakers double dip and effectively exceed legal limits by raising cash twice from the same source -- once for their own campaign and once for the PAC -- and then spend both on themselves. In Clinton's case, it's hard to tell the difference between HILLPAC and her own campaign committee, Friends of Hillary, since both have the same address, the same 16 staffers and pay the same communications consultant. Last night, the New York senator was already looking to 2006 as she kicked off her re-election bid with a posh party feting deep-pocketed donors of campaigns past -- and, hopefully, future. A steady caravan of BMWs, Lexuses and Mercedes pulled up around 6 p.m. to the tony Chappaqua home Clinton shares with ex-president hubby Bill. The guests were immediately greeted by valet workers dressed in white dinner jackets and quickly whisked inside. Both Clintons schmoozed and mused with the crowd -- more than 100 of the senator's most generous campaign contributors and top fund-raisers from the 2000 race -- for 2 1/2 hours. While Sen. Clinton says she's shelved a possible plans for a White House run in 2004, aides said she is far from shying away from the national political spotlight.”

… More from the Clinton’s Sunday night event: They turned off the Bush speech in favor of Clinton chief of staff Podesta. Excerpt from New York Newsday coverage by Glenn Thrush: “While President George W. Bush was making his case to the American people last night, a high-powered gathering of 150 Democrats was convening at Hill and Bill's house in Chappaqua. The pow-wow consisted of supporters and fund-raisers of New York's junior senator, and the topic was Hillary Rodham Clinton's 2006 re-election bid, according to sources close to the Clintons. The gathering was not related to any 2004 presidential aspirations, although that topic wasn't off limits to those in attendance, sources said. Part of the discussion centered on the distribution of funds from the senator's personal fund raising committee and Hillary.com, her newly started cash-generating Web site. Attendees were treated to the senator's reports on her recent activities in Washington, including her intention to block Bush's appointments to the Environmental Protection Agency. It wasn't specifically a fund raising meeting, sources said, but some checks may have changed hands. Bill Clinton was also on hand. The Dems were not exactly glued to the tube at 8:30 pm, when Bush went on national TV to urge support of his war on terror and continuing operations in Iraq. At that moment they were attentively listening to Bill Clinton's former White House chief of staff John Podesta, who is now a visiting professor at Georgetown Law Center, deliver a talk.”

Watson for Senate? Headline from this morning’s Quad-City Times: “Independent says he’ll seek Grassley’s Senate seat” Coverage by Charlotte Eby: “A rural Decorah man has announced he will challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley in the 2004 election. Bob Watson, a 55-year-old wastewater equipment sales representative, is seeking the seat as an independent candidate in his first run for public office. ‘I think there are different directions that this country should be going in,’ he said Monday. So far, no Democrats have announced their intentions to challenge Grassley, who is serving his fourth term in the Senate. A former Marine who served one tour of duty during the Vietnam War, Watson is critical of the federal government’s role in foreign policy and advocates that government do away with the Central Intelligence Agency, or CIA. ‘If we simply change the way we do foreign policy, which means we no longer have the CIA overthrowing countries and installing governments like they did in Iran and Iraq, then maybe we wouldn’t have to have military intervention as our foreign policy,’ he said. His campaign also is focusing on the development of more renewable energy capacity and cleaner methods of agriculture that do not pollute the environment. And he wants to legalize drugs and abolish the death penalty. So far, Watson has not gathered the 1,500 signatures he needs in order to put his name on the ballot and is seeking supporters through an e-mail and Internet campaign. He is financing his run with the combat disability payments he receives for post-traumatic stress disorder caused by his service in Vietnam. ‘I’m not asking for money, and, therefore, I will be beholden to no one,’ he said of his campaign.”

Des Moines Register, top front-page headline: “Fake IDs a snap, informant to say” A man arrested in Cedar Rapids after 9/11 –Youssef Hmimssa – will testify before Grassley’s Senate Finance Committee today about how easy it is for terrorists to secure fake documents.

Main online heads, Quad-City Times: “Final 9/11 firefighter laid to rest” & “Bush is likely to land $87 billion funding request”

Nation/world online headlines, Omaha World-Herald: “U. S.-backed Iraqi government gets Arab League seat” & “Justices appear split on campaign finance”

Featured reports, New York Times: “Bush Likely to Get Money He Sought” & “Justices Hear Vigorous Attacks on New Campaign Finance Law”

Sioux City Journal online, top stories: “Congress wants Iraq details” & “Bush raises funds, urges states to identify poor schools” Report on GWB’s Tennessee visit.

Chicago Tribune, main online heads: “WTC site’s fate far from settled” & “Democrats assail Iraq spending plan”

The Quad-City Times reported that a new political action committee has registered with the state to target several incumbent aldermen for defeat in this fall’s Davenport City Council races. The Times Tom Saul wrote that the Committee to Improve Davenport plans to get involved in three ward campaigns to support “more mainstream candidates.”

The Governors are coming. WHO Radio (Des Moines) reported that Guv Vilsack announced yesterday the 2005 summer conference for the National Governors Association will be held in Des Moines. (Iowa Pres Watch Note: No word yet about whether time has been set aside on the agenda for prospective ’08 prez candidates to look for campaign office space in Des Moines.)

… The death of Dick Redman: Iowa politics will be less civil. A graveside memorial service was conducted yesterday afternoon at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Oskaloosa for veteran GOP activist Richard E. Redman. An excerpt from David Yepsen’s column in the Des Moines Sunday Register: “Dick Redman of Carlisle died last week. He was a longtime political operative in the Iowa Republican Party. Like most people in politics, he saw his work as a way to make the world a better place. Unlike a lot of people in it today, he made sure he had fun doing it. He was a civil guy in an increasingly uncivil process. A portly and affable man, Redman learned his political civility from Bob Ray back in the mid-1960s. Ray became state Republican chairman following the Goldwater debacle of 1964 and he hired Redman to be the party executive director. Redman spent much of his career raising money for Ray, Terry Branstad and other Republicans before going to work for another guy known for his civility, Marvin Pomerantz, who hired him to be director of marketing for his Mid-America real-estate group. Redman was a key player in Tennessee Senator Howard Baker's 1980 presidential campaign in Iowa. That forged a Tennessee link that made Redman a top operative for Lamar Alexander's presidential efforts. In those capacities, Redman did everything from map grand strategy to drive a car and hold a coat if that was needed. He was particularly fond of spinning reporters, usually over a toddy as he held court and told old war stories in some hotel bar.”

On the Korean Front: North Korea to flex military muscles during 55^th anniversary parade – the largest in a decade. Excerpt from report by Amy Bickers of VOANews (Voice of America): “North Korea is getting ready for a massive military parade Tuesday to mark the 55th anniversary of the founding of the communist state. North Korea's official media say the parade through Pyongyang will lead Tuesday's national day celebrations. It is expected to feature 20,000 troops as well as tanks, artillery and missiles. David Holloway, operations chief with the International Risk consulting firm in Hong Kong, says the show of muscle will be the largest military parade held in North Korea for more than a decade. The reclusive state has curbed such displays in recent years, partly because of its worsening poverty. ‘It is the one part of the country they are very proud of and can show the rest of the world,’ he commented. ‘They cannot show industry and poor people. So their only showcase to the world is their military.’ The hard-line communist state's 55th anniversary comes as the United States, Japan, China, South Korea and Russia try to resolve a nuclear crisis that began last year when U.S. officials said the North admitted having a secret nuclear weapons program. The six countries held talks in Beijing in late August, but they were inconclusive. Negotiations to set up a second round are said to be under way.”

“Vilsack, GOP continue sparring” – headline from this morning’s Quad-City Times. Coverage by Todd Ruger: “Gov. Tom Vilsack said Monday he would oppose efforts by disgruntled Republican legislative leaders to roll back his budgetary powers. Republicans have been highly critical of Vilsack’s decision this summer to transfer $15.2 million from Iowa’s Medicaid health insurance budget to cover under-funded state pay hikes. House Speaker Christopher Rants, R-Sioux City, is vowing to push for legislation curtailing executive branch transfer authority when lawmakers reconvene in January. Rants has compared the Vilsack administration with a ‘runaway train’ rolling over legislative budgeting authority. And he contends that transferring dollars from the Medicaid program’s fragile budget is financially unwise. Republicans control both the Iowa House and Senate. Vilsack is a Democrat. ‘Nowhere did the legislative branch ever intend to give the executive branch the ability, before a fiscal year even begins, to transfer tens of millions of dollars from one place to another…with the swoop of one pen,’ Rants said after a meeting of House Republicans last week. But Vilsack argued Monday that he moved Medicaid money only after lawmakers ignored repeated pleas for full funding of negotiated pay raises. Without such a transfer, he said, ‘several hundred’ state workers would have been laid off, including child protection investigators and prison guards. ‘I’m not going to put people’s safety at risk,’ he said. Iowa governors were handed broad powers in the 1980s allowing them to move dollars around within the state’s budget. ‘We used the authority I have under the law…to protect the people of this state and to provide the services people want and need,’ he said. The exchange over budget transfers is the latest in a string of conflicts between Vilsack and GOP lawmakers over where exactly gubernatorial authority ends and legislative powers begin.”

“Who will pay the cost of doing the right thing?…Regarding Iraq, Americans must know what’s expected…The president must rebuild trust with a large chunk of the American people and a large part of the world.” & “Two lawmakers don’t get it…Steve King and Jim Nussle voted against recreation and the environment in Iowa.”

Radio Iowa reports this morning that Iowa State defensive end Tyson Smith has been suspended from the team after being charged with domestic assault following a weekend incident in Ames. Smith, a former West Des Moines Dowling player, was already sidelined for the season due to leg injuries in the Cyclones opening game against the University of Northern Iowa.

DSM 7 a. m. 61, fair/clear. Temperatures at 7 a.m. ranged from 51 in Mason City, 52 in Washington and 54 in Monticello, Fairfield, Ottumwa, Carroll, Ames and Audubon to 64 in Shenandoah and Denison. Today’s high 87, mostly sunny. Tonight’s low 59, mostly clear. Wednesday’s high 88, breezy. Wednesday night’s low 62, breezy.

Pelicans invade Iowa. Radio Iowa reported that the blue waters of many Iowa lakes are dotted with thousands of big white birds. The migrating American white pelicans are massing in several places, including one favorite spot -- Saylorville Lake, north of Des Moines. Kami Rankin, spokeswoman for the Polk County Conservation Board, says these are surprisingly large creatures. The pelicans weigh in around 17 pounds and have a wingspan between eight and ten feet.