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Iowa primary precinct caucus and caucuses news">
Iowa 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.
PAGE 1
Friday,
September 12, 2003
"Many of Clark's team-in-waiting are
Clintonistas..." -- Washington
Whispers report by Paul Bedard
"More than two and a half years after the
2000 election and we are back where we
started,’ says pollster John Zogby.
Former president Bill
Clinton is expected to "make news" at the
Harkin steakfry
Pollster John Zogby sees
2000 redux in newest poll numbers
Miami Herald reporter
Peter Wallsten says Graham's right
stuff isn't clicking
Possible, and looking more so
by the day, Clark candidacy could
shake up the current 9- Dem field
Washington Whispers
column says to forget about Clark VP talk
From WSJ.com OpinionJournal's
John Fund's Political Diary column
comes the headline: "Clinton the Undertaker...
He comes to bury Gray Davis, not to praise
him."
read on...
… Harkin expects
Clinton to make “news” during Iowa visit
tomorrow. WHO Radio (Des Moines)
reported that IA Dem Sen Harkin says
ex-prez Clinton will have “a strong message”
about the inadequacies of the Bush
administration – and make news – when he
headlines the senator’s annual steak fry in
Indianola tomorrow. The WHO story also
said that at least seven of the Dem
wannabes are scheduled to attend the
event, which is expected to attract more than
5,000 IA Democrats. Radio Iowa reported this
morning that all nine wannabes have now agreed
to attend the Harkin steak fry.
… “Draft Gore: Gore in
Statistical Dead Heat with Bush, Leads All
Democrats” – headline this morning on U.
S. Newswire report. Excerpt: “For the first
time since the 2000 elections, a major poll
shows the country split evenly between former
Vice President Al Gore and President Bush. The
same poll also shows that half the voters in
America have not forgotten the controversy of
the 2000 election. The results of the
Sept. 5-9 Zogby poll show Bush with less than
majority support and only with the narrowest
of margins over Al Gore, 48 percent to 46
percent -- a difference that's within the
poll's margin of error (3.2 percent).
Moreover, Gore leads Bush among independent
voters by 47 percent to 43 percent. ‘More
than two and a half years after the 2000
election and we are back where we started,’
said pollster John Zogby. ‘The country was
evenly divided then and it is still evenly
divided.’ The poll, conducted on Sept. 5-9 by
Zogby International for Draft Gore (draftgore.com),
also shows Gore easily leading all major
contenders for the Democratic nomination with
24 percent compared to 16 percent for Dean, 12
percent for Lieberman, 11 percent for Kerry, 7
percent for Gephardt, and 2 percent for
Edwards.”
...
Lagging Dem Wannabe Bob Graham's got the
stuff, but lacks the moves.
Miami Herald online report
headline: “Graham at bottom of polls in key
states.”
Miami Herald reporter Peter Wallsten says
Graham’s right stuff isn’t clicking. Excerpts:
“
`He's got a
great résumé, gray hair, all over, not just
around the temples. He's the ideal mature,
Southern candidate. But something's just not
clicking.' – Pollster John Zogby.
Despite months of aggressive campaigning for
president, Sen. Bob Graham is stuck at the
bottom of the Democratic pack in key early
primary states. A new poll of likely
voters in Iowa, home of the
first-in-the-nation caucuses in four months,
puts Graham at 1 percent in the field of
Democratic contenders -- statistically tied
with cellar-dweller contenders Al
Sharpton, Carol Moseley Braun and
Dennis Kucinich… The Iowa poll,
released Thursday by Zogby International,
is the first major measuring stick since
Graham led his wife, daughters and 10
grandchildren on a 10-day ''family vacation''
designed to boost his profile in a state where
strategists believe he must finish at least
fourth to be taken seriously. The poll of
500 likely caucus voters has a margin of error
of 4.5 percentage points… ''He's the Reubin
Askew and Fritz Hollings of 2004,''
pollster John Zogby said, referring to
the former Florida governor and South Carolina
senator who each ran for president once but
found that their popularity at home never
translated to a national stage.…. The
continued lagging, experts and Graham friends
said in interviews, now threatens to stunt
fundraising efforts at a critical time --
just as the campaign is preparing to hit
the airwaves with its first TV ads and
weeks before the current financial quarter
ends, when advisors had hoped to show an
impressive collection of cash…. ‘It makes
raising money more difficult when you're
not moving up to at least the mid-single digit
range to show momentum to the people you're
trying to raise money from,’ said Ron Book,
a lobbyist and former Graham aide who is
raising money for the campaign. ``The
tempo needs to be accelerated, and the
campaign needs to get far more aggressive in
swift fashion.''
… Kerry to
campaign for Davis next week in CA recall
battle. The Boston Globe’s Glen Johnson
reported that Kerry will campaign with Guv
Davis, a fellow Vietnam veteran, in Los
Angeles next Wednesday during a two-day
fundraising swing through California.
… Clark friends
say he’s looking more and more like the Tenth
Wannabe. Headline from this morning’s
United Leader: “Clark poised to shake up
Democratic candidate field” Excerpt from
report by AP political ace Ron Fournier: “Retired
Army Gen. Wesley Clark has told friends he is
likely to become the 10th Democratic
presidential candidate, a move that could
shake up the crowded field just four months
before the first ballots are cast. Clark,
58, has not made a final decision, but the
Arkansas resident is aggressively recruiting
campaign staff and plans to announce his
intentions next week, friends and party
officials said on condition of anonymity.
He could still put the brakes on a campaign,
they said. While mulling his options, Clark
has met with several presidential contenders
who covet his endorsement and might consider
him for a vice presidential slot. He met
Saturday with former Vermont Gov. Howard
Dean, who said it is too soon to talk
about political alliances. ‘There is a lot of
vetting that would have to be done before you
would have those kinds of discussions,’
Dean said when asked whether he had
discussed the vice presidency with Clark.
A senior adviser to another Democratic
contender described Clark's talks with his
candidate as ‘almost an audition for the vice
presidential sweepstakes.’ If Clark
were to enter the race, it would be to win the
nomination and not simply position himself for
the No. 2 slot, friends said. Clark has a
resume that unnerves potential rivals --
Rhodes scholar, first in his 1966 class at
West Point, White House fellow, head of the
U.S. Southern Command and NATO commander
during the 1999 campaign in Kosovo. A Clark
White House bid would grab the political
spotlight and undercut the strengths of
several in the nine-way Democratic race.
Dean's effort to solidify his
front-runner status might suffer from the
distraction of a Clark candidacy. Sen. John
Kerry of Massachusetts would no longer be
the race's only decorated combat veteran. Sens.
John Edwards of North Carolina and Bob
Graham of Florida would face another
Southerner.”
… Although
most wannabes avoided 9/11 campaigning, Graham
hit Bush yesterday on continuing theme that
the Iraq conflict undercut anti-terrorism
issues. Graham alleges that GWB has made
Iraq a battleground for international
terrorism. In New York, the FL wannabe said,
“Iraq was not part of the war on terrorism
prior to our military invasion.”
… Edwards
pushes college program – and endorsement by
national prez of College Dems – in interviews
with state’s two major campus newspapers.
Both the Daily Iowan (University of Iowa) and
Iowa State Daily (Iowa State University)
yesterday highlighted Edwards’ plan to
provide free tuition for students willing to
work 10 hours a week during their first year
in school.
… “Dean
defends Middle East remarks” – headline
from CNN.com. Report says Dean has
indicated he would not abandon the
long-standing policy of strong U. S. support
for Israel. His has been under fire from
other wannabes and congressional Dems for
saying the U. S. should be even-handed in the
Israel-Palestinian dispute.
… Washington Whispers:
“They’re already flocking to Clark”
Report by Paul Bedard in his “Washington
Whispers” column on usnews.com: “Wes Clark
mania threatens to go nuclear next week if, as
expected, he becomes the 10th and last
candidate to join the nine other running for
the Democratic presidential nomination.
Whispers learns that once in, top Democratic
elected officials, strategists and donors are
ready to join the Clark Brigade. Many
of Clark's team-in-waiting are
Clintonistas, like the former president's
handyman, Bruce Lindsey, scandal spokesman
Mark Fabiani, and maybe even ex-deputy chief
of staff Harold Ickes, who's close to New York
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Also, New
York Rep. Charles Rangel has pledged to round
up endorsements from House and Senate members.
What's more, www.DraftClark2004.com,
the Web site that's cheering Clark's
entry, has lined up 200 coordinators in all 50
states, says spokesman Michael Frisby,
president of Frisby & Associates, a
Washington-area PR firm. And forget about that
talk that all the retired four-star general
and former NATO boss wants is the veep
nomination. Supporters say that's a
dirty-tricks campaign pushed by rival Howard
Dean who's scared of a Clark candidacy.
Says Frisby: ‘Wes Clark firmly believes
that he is the best choice to be president,
not be vice president or hold any other
government post.’”
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