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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.
THE DAILY
REPORT for Friday, September 19, 2003 ...
QUOTABLE: evening quotes: “Let's
make one thing real clear, I would never have
voted for this war.” – Clark, backing
off Thursday statement during Friday appearance at
University of Iowa in Iowa City. “In
the interview, Clark sketched out a
checkerboard of positions, saying he would
leave in place a tax cut for middle-income
Americans and indicating his support for gun
rights, although he supports a ban on assault
weapons.” – AP’s Iowa caucus-watcher Mike Glover,
interviewing Clark in Iowa. midday quotes: morning quotes: … Among
the offerings in today’s update:
evening offering: Tough start for
Clark – after conflicting statements about whether
he’d participate in next week’s debate, The
General now backtracks on comments about
supporting the Iraq war resolution. midday offering: morning offering:
* CANDIDATES/CAUCUSES: Evening: … Clark’s credibility gap grows. After spending a day undecided
– and indecisive – about whether he would be in next week’s Dem
debate, Clark – in Iowa – backs off yesterday’s statement on the
Iraq resolution. From report posted on latimes.com (Los Angeles
Times) this afternoon – an excerpt from coverage by AP Iowa caucus
watcher Mike Glover during Clark’s Iowa City visit on Friday:
“Democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark backtracked
from a day-old statement that he probably would have voted for the
congressional resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq,
saying Friday he ‘would never have voted for this war.’ The
retired Army general, an opponent of the conflict, surprised
supporters when he indicated in an interview with reporters Thursday
that he likely would have supported the resolution. On Friday,
Clark sought to clarify his comments in an interview with The
Associated Press. ‘Let's make one thing real clear, I would never
have voted for this war,’ Clark said before a speech at the
University of Iowa. ‘I've gotten a very consistent record on this.
There was no imminent threat. This was not a case of pre-emptive
war. I would have voted for the right kind of leverage to get a
diplomatic solution, an international solution to the challenge of
Saddam Hussein.’ Clark's initial remarks left members of his
campaign team a bit flummoxed. ‘That caught me off guard a
little. The general has been very critical of the war,’ said George
Bruno, a New Hampshire activist. Clark launched his bid for
the Democratic nomination on Tuesday with the type of media
attention candidates crave, but early missteps underscore the
dangers facing his late-starting campaign. The former NATO
commander and his campaign staff went back and forth on whether he
will participate in a Democratic debate next week -- all in a single
day. Creating more confusion were Clark's comments on the
resolution that gave President Bush the authority to use U.S.
military force to oust Saddam, remarks that were at odds with his
opposition to the war. Veteran Democrats pointed out that
Clark is in the unusual position of trying to put a major
presidential campaign in place and clearly lay out his positions in
the glare of the media spotlight. Other candidates have had months
to hone their message below the political radar. ‘If politics
were theater, you get to open in New Haven (Conn.),’ rather than on
Broadway, said veteran Democratic strategist Bill Carrick, who
warned of the dangers of ‘policy on the fly.’ Added Carrick:
‘Howard Dean has been out there for two years rehearsing his
act.’ Carrick compared some of the difficulties Clark has faced
to the early days of Edward Kennedy's 1980 bid for the Democratic
presidential nomination, also a late-starting campaign where the
Massachusetts senator tended to blurt out comments that reshaped the
race. Kennedy predicted, for instance, that he would beat
President Carter in Iowa; Carter easily prevailed. Twenty-five years
later those gaffes stick in Carrick's mind. ‘It completely changed
the expectations,’ he said. ‘It was all triggered by the late
start.’ The nine other Democratic candidates also have spent the
last few months meeting with Democratic activists across the
country, getting feedback on various issues and testing their
campaign lines. ‘I'm sure Howard Dean has tried a variety of
things along the way,’ said veteran Iowa activist Jeff Link. ‘By
the time people began paying attention, he had it down pretty good.’
Iowa casts its votes in four months, giving Clark little time to
smooth out the rough edges…In the interview, Clark sketched
out a checkerboard of positions, saying he would leave in place a
tax cut for middle-income Americans and indicating his support for
gun rights, although he supports a ban on assault weapons. Clark
said the helter-skelter effort to build his campaign was ‘like
trying to bottle lightning,’ but he shrugged off the early stumbles.
‘It doesn't bother me a bit,’ he said. ‘It helps you get the message
out across America. When you start late, you need that.’” Midday … Decisiveness doesn’t appear to be a
Clark characteristic during his first day on the job
as a Dem wannabe. Conflicting headlines in morning
media – will he debate or not? It now appears he’ll
show for debate next week. The latest – headline
from FOXNews.com: “Clark Criticized for Waffling
on Dem Debate” Excerpt: “They said yes. Then
no. Now it's yes again: Retired Gen.
Wesley Clark will participate in next week's
Democratic presidential debate after all, his
campaign said. Clark will accept the
invitation to next Thursday's debate via a letter
to Democratic Party Chairman
Terry McAuliffe carried by several members of
a draft-Clark group, a senior campaign
official, who spoke on condition of anonymity,
said. The letter will be delivered Friday, weather
permitting, the official said. Clark came
under fire Thursday for suggesting he would skip the
first debate for which he was eligible, one day
after declaring himself a Democratic presidential
candidate. On Thursday night, Clark's campaign
said he would participate in the debate, but then
quickly backtracked. Spokeswoman Holly Johnson
said Clark had a contract to give a paid
speech in Texas next Thursday at the same time the
nine other Democratic candidates planned to gather.
‘I hope I'll be there,’ Clark said after a
campaign stop Thursday night in Hollywood, Fla. ‘I'd
like to do it.’ The debate in New York
City will focus on economic issues. On Thursday,
Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman's campaign challenged
Clark to attend the event. ‘The economy is going
to be arguably the most important topic that will be
discussed this entire political season,’ said
Lieberman spokesman Jano Cabrera. ‘Surely the
general can change his schedule to discuss this
issue with the American people.’ Clark is a
retired four-star general who was head of the U.S.
Southern Command and NATO commander during the 1999
campaign in Kosovo. He has also served as a cable
news military analyst. The Clark camp did not
disclose to which group Clark was contracted to
speak. Senior campaign officials claimed they
didn't know and made it clear they didn't want to
discuss the details because ultimately they expected
Clark to attend the debate. Earlier Thursday,
Clark aide Barbara Leyton called the Democratic
National Committee and said the retired general
would participate in the debate and the party's
fund-raising dinner afterward, said DNC spokeswoman
Debra DeShong.” … “Kerry hammers Bush…in Web cartoon”
– headline from this morning’s Boston Herald. Report
by the Herald’s Andrew Miga: “Desperate to blunt
rival Howard Dean's money surge, Sen. John F. Kerry
urges donors to ‘hammer’ a goofy-faced President
Bush into a trash bin in a new interactive cartoon
on his campaign Web site. Kerry, who only
launched his campaign home page last month, has been
criticized for being slow to recognize the value of
Internet fund raising, which fueled Dean's
dramatic rise over the summer. The Bay State
senator's latest fund-raising gimmick is aimed at
sparking a two-week money surge for Kerry, who
expects to raise about half of Dean's money total
for the quarter ending Sept. 30. Dean is on track to
collect at least $15 million for the third quarter.
Kerry's Web site, utilizing carnival-style
imagery, allows donors to click on a hammer that
sends a caricature of Bush toppling haplessly from a
White House perched atop a pole into a trash can
labeled ‘History.’ A headline reads: ‘Hammer Bush
out of the White House.’ The animated site
portrays Bush as beholden to well-heeled and
powerful special interests. Kerry last night shared
the stage at a New York City event with rock
musician Moby, part of the senator's fund-raising
push.” … Edwards facing two responsibilities this
weekend – scheduled to visit CA to oppose recall,
but also needs to return to NC to review hurricane
impact. John Wagner of the News & Observer of
Raleigh reported this morning: “Hurricane Isabel
might present an interesting test of U.S. Sen. John
Edwards' ability to juggle home-state
responsibilities with his presidential run.
Aides said Thursday that the North Carolina
Democrat, who announced earlier this month that he
won't seek re-election, was trying to schedule a
trip home to survey Hurricane Isabel damage.
As of early Thursday, Edwards' itinerary
called for a weekend swing through California,
including a campaign stop in San Francisco on behalf
of Gray Davis, the embattled governor who is facing
a recall election. ‘I think it's important for
us to be united against the recall,’ Edwards
said Wednesday during a campaign swing in New
Hampshire. He said he wants to appear with Davis
‘just to help him out.’” … Fire Fighters union to endorse Kerry
because their leaders believe he’s most electable
Dem wannabe. New York Times report says the
endorsement is “bound to hurt” Gephardt’s bid for
AFL-CIO endorsement. Excerpt from Times coverage
by Steven Greenhouse: “The International
Association of Fire Fighters will endorse Senator
John Kerry for president next week, union officials
said yesterday, making it the first union to endorse
a Democratic presidential candidate other than
Representative Richard A. Gephardt. Harold
Schaitberger, the firefighters' president, declined
to discuss his union's plans, but labor leaders
who have talked with him said the union would back
Mr. Kerry because its leaders thought the senator
was the most electable Democrat. The firefighters'
endorsement, which is expected to be announced on
Wednesday in Washington, is bound to hurt Mr.
Gephardt's efforts to win the coveted endorsement of
the A.F.L.-C.I.O., union leaders said. In an
interview on Wednesday, John J. Sweeney, president
of the labor federation, said Mr. Gephardt did
not yet have the two-thirds support needed for the
A.F.L.-C.I.O.'s endorsement when its leaders
meet on Oct. 14 in Washington. But Mr. Sweeney,
who voiced enthusiasm about Mr. Gephardt, said it
was still possible that Mr. Gephardt could gain the
two-thirds backing by the meeting. He said as
many as 30 unions might endorse Mr. Gephardt
by that date, more than double the 12, including the
machinists and steelworkers, that have already done
so. From the start, Mr. Gephardt's strategists
have pushed hard for the A.F.L.-C.I.O.'s
endorsement, knowing that he has been a faithful
friend of labor and that such an endorsement could
give him a leg up in the Iowa caucuses and the New
Hampshire primary. Labor leaders said Mr.
Schaitberger had questioned Mr. Gephardt's
electability and planned to campaign all-out for
Mr. Kerry. In two weeks, these labor leaders
said, Mr. Schaitberger, whose union has 260,000
members and is the largest for firefighters, plans
to appear with Mr. Kerry in New Hampshire,
the first primary state, alongside hundreds of
firefighters. The firefighters' message could
carry more weight than that of many far larger labor
unions because its members carry a special stature
since the Sept. 11 attacks, when 343 firefighters
died at the World Trade Center.” … Poor People Powered Howard. He’s already
under attack from Kerry and other top-tier wannabes
– but experts say he ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Harder
hits against Dean in the political forecast.
Headline from FOXNews.com: “Dems Could Ramp Up
Attacks on Dean” Excerpt from report by Kelley
Beaucar Vlahos: “Howard Dean has up until now
avoided serious attacks from his Democratic
presidential primary opponents, but some campaign
experts suggest the former Vermont governor may soon
be in store for a political pounding. If not,
experts warn, the other nine Democratic presidential
candidates will miss an opportunity to define
themselves -- especially now that newcomer Gen.
Wesley Clark has entered the race -- and to keep
Dean from racing even farther ahead from the pack.
‘The Democrats are going to have to train their guns
on him,’ said Rich Galen, a Republican
campaign strategist. ‘There’s an old saying I’m not
sure they even use anymore: It’s time to turn
mother’s picture to the wall.’ But other election
experts say the time may have already passed for the
candidates to take their best shots. ‘In
retrospect, they probably should have done this
months ago,’ said Larry Sabato, director of
the University of Virginia's Center for Politics.
‘Now they’ve missed their chance. He’s already
climbed the mountain, he’s already the front-runner.
Negative information today will have no impact.’
In the latest polls, Dean is leading almost
everywhere. In Iowa, he has topped Missouri
Rep. Dick Gephardt, who needs the state to
stay competitive. Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry trails
Dean by seven points in New Hampshire, which
Kerry will need to win to have a shot at the
nomination. Some of Dean’s opponents have already
cast the first stones. Since the
first Democratic debate in New Mexico earlier this
month, Dean has been forced to explain off-the-cuff
remarks about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and
what have been described as ‘flip-flops’ on issues
like Medicare, Iraq, world trade, the death penalty
and Social Security -- all hot-button issues for the
Democratic base that the primary candidates covet.
‘I think all of the candidates are pointing out his
misstatements, and his record,’ said Dag Vega, a
spokesman for Kerry’s campaign.” … Clark – now a vocal critic of the war –
says he probably would have voted for the
resolution. Report – dateline: Fort Lauderdale –
by the Boston Globe’s Joanna Weiss: “Retired
Army General Wesley K. Clark said yesterday that he
probably would have voted for the congressional
resolution that authorized President Bush to wage
war in Iraq, taking a position on a key campaign
issue closer to that of Senator John F. Kerry than
Howard Dean's strong antiwar stance. ‘On
balance, I probably would have voted for it,’
Clark said. ‘The simple truth is this: When the
president of the United States comes to you and
makes the linkages and lays the power of the office
on you, and you're in a crisis, the balance of the
judgment probably goes to the president of the
United States.’ A former supreme allied commander of
NATO, Clark has long been a vocal critic of
the Bush administration's handling of the war in
Iraq, at various times calling it an ‘elective war’
and questioning whether it drew resources away from
the war on terror. ‘There was no imminent
threat,’ he told ABC's ‘Good Morning America’ on
Wednesday. ‘There was no reason to do this.’ But
Clark offered a more nuanced view to reporters
yesterday as he discussed his positions on issues
from domestic policy to national security aboard a
flight from Little Rock, Ark., to Florida for his
first campaign stop since his Wednesday launch.
The Iraq resolution, passed in the months leading up
to hostilities, has served as a dividing line
between the Democratic candidates, as well as a
litmus test for some voters who have found political
purpose in their opposition to the Iraq war. Dean
gained significant early support by saying he would
have opposed the resolution. Senator Bob Graham
of Florida voted against it, as did Representative
Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio. Senators Kerry of
Massachusetts, Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut,
John Edwards of North Carolina, and Representative
Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri voted for it, with
reservations about how Bush conducted foreign policy
in the days that preceded the war. Clark
himself said yesterday that he believed his position
was closer to Kerry, Edwards, and Gephardt than to
Dean, a former governor of Vermont. Clark's
comment seemed to catch his rivals by surprise,
especially since his entry into the race was viewed
as a challenge to Kerry, who is no longer the
only veteran in the race, and to Dean, whose
antiwar stance helped him rise in the polls.” … New topic emerges in Dean-Kerry
conflict: Baseball. Headline on today’s report
by David R. Guarino in today’s Boston Herald: “Dean
cries foul” The report datelined from
Londonderry, NH: “It's apparently not enough that
John F. Kerry and Howard Dean are going at it like
the Yankees and the Red Sox. Now they're at each
other's throats over the famed Bronx-Beantown
rivals. Dean, a New Yorker by birth,
told the Herald yesterday he's steaming mad that a
Kerry aide labeled him a Yankee-lover.
‘The biggest insult…hurled at me in the campaign is
to call me a Yankee fan,’ Dean said. But the
former Vermont governor insists he bleeds Yawkey red
-- though, when pressed, he admitted he executed the
ultimate baseball flip-flop only of late. ‘I was a
Yankee fan when I was growing up -- in New York, you
had to,’ said Dean, who moved to Vermont in
1978. But he said he switched sides after being
‘mad’ at Yankee owner George Steinbrenner and said
‘when (Roger) Clemens beaned (New York Met) Mike
Piazza, that was it.’ But that just happened in
2000, prompting howls from Kerry's camp. ‘Of
all of Howard Dean's waffling and flip-flops, this
is the most indefensible,’ said Kerry
spokeswoman Kelley Benander. ‘Obviously, being a
Yankees fan was great until he thought about running
in the New Hampshire primary.’” …Dean effort firing on all fronts during
the “September to Remember.” Headline from
today’s Union Leader: “Dean campaign outlines
fund-raising strategies” Excerpt from report by
AP’s Ross Sneyd in Montpelier: “Gimmicks,
stunts and old-fashioned retail politicking are
among the ways that Democratic presidential
candidate Howard Dean's campaign plans to raise
money in the next two weeks. The campaign plans to
post its familiar baseball bat on its Web site
exhorting contributors to give more; it's aiming to
land in the Guinness Book of World Records with the
biggest telephone conference call of all time; and
it's going to be conducting old-fashioned
fund-raisers, rallies and door-to-door campaigning.
A lot of the events are being organized by
supporters in communities around the country, with
guidance from campaign headquarters in Vermont, as
part of what the campaign has dubbed a ‘September to
Remember.’ Campaign manager Joe Trippi said
Thursday that many rival campaigns and pundits still
have not figured out that the campaign truly has
tapped a vein of discontent with the way politics is
conducted. He argues voters are interested in
becoming part of a movement to change politics,
which they sense in the Dean campaign. ‘We
believe the reason that's the case is our campaign
is happening over the kitchen table, over the
neighbor's fence, over the water cooler at work,’
Trippi said in a conference call with reporters
Thursday. ‘It's possible for (other) candidates
to continue to grow out there and not have an effect
on our growth,’ he said. What remains vitally
important to all the 10 Democrats' campaigns is
raising money before the Sept. 30 quarterly
deadline. Dean's campaign has been staging a
series of events this month leading up to the last
day of the quarter.” … “Clark-Hillary 2004?…A winning
ticket” – headline from nationalreview.com. In a
guest commentary, Peter Augustine Lawler – a Berry
College government prof – makes a case for a
Clark-Clinton team. Excerpt: “The
serial-primary method used by our parties to pick
presidential nominees is chaotic and unpredictable.
Everyone knows that party elites have no real power
any more, and nobody really knows how our
involvement in Iraq and the stock market will look
next year. Candidates also sometimes self-destruct
because of personal foibles that would not be clear
this early in the campaign. Nonetheless, predictions
must be made. Some facts that are probably
facts: All the Democratic candidates except Dean and
Clark are stillborn. They will be wiped off the map
by crushing defeats in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Dean is the candidate of the most-articulate
faction in the party -- the upper middle-class,
bourgeois-bohemian (bobo) crowd. He appeals to
West Wing fantasies and Vietnam antiwar
nostalgia, and especially to those on the Left who
believe that Clinton demoralized the real (as
opposed to the new) Democratic party. He presents
himself effectively as an ‘outsider’; he has the
image that perennially suckers primary voters.
And he really is an outsider; he would radically
reform the Clinton-dominated party establishment.
It's hard to see how he wouldn't do very well among
the disproportionally bobo (and very white) primary
electorates of Iowa and New Hampshire. That
doesn't mean that Dean can get nominated,
much less elected. Bobo candidates (such as McGovern
or even Dukakis) don't fare well in general
elections. They exaggerate the nation's cultural
divisions, and so they rally regular guys with no
strong partisan affiliations to the Republicans.
George W. Bush, one of the most-regular
(including religious) guys ever to the president,
would have a strong personal advantage over the smug
and snotty Dean. More than that,
African-American voters don't like bobos; Clinton --
who speaks with the cadence of a populist black
preacher -- won because he understood that so well.
Ethnic Catholic northern, and white Protestant
southern voters -- still a large part of the party's
electorate -- also are repulsed by the intellectual
elitism -- including the lack of patriotism -- of
what was until recently called ‘yuppie scum.’
So it seems to me that all Clark needs to do to
prevail after the first couple of primaries is to be
the viable alternative to Dean and be
enthusiastically endorsed by both Clintons.
And Bill and Hillary are clearly raising
their visibility with that job in mind. They are the
Democratic establishment, and they can't risk having
a nominee they can't control. On Bill's word,
African-American voters will flock to Clark as
the alternative to the bobo, and the pro-choice
Catholics (Democratic Catholics) will have found one
of their own. Clark will remind many gullible
Democrats of the pseudo-integrity of West Wing's
Catholic — President Bartlet, and a new fantasy will
develop. (Clark, like Bartlet, was also a
professor economics for a while!) Clark is also
more of an outsider than Dean; he has no political
experience at all! And all astute Democrats will
choose him over Dean as the man who could
really beat Bush, as more a Clinton than a McGovern.
Clark is actually Clinton with some Eisenhower
added; it's hard to accuse a general of lacking
personal courage or ignoring issues of natural
security. Lieberman, the national-security candidate
at this point, will endorse Clark when he drops out
fairly early in the primary season. Clark,
more than Clinton, will be a formidable candidate in
the south. Clark has to be regarded as the
favorite for the nomination, and it would be a
mistake at this point to regard him as an underdog
in the general election. The main stumbling
block to his success would be Hillary
entering the race. As far as I can tell, her
judgment is that the risk for her at this point is
too high. She surely secretly hopes for a narrow
Democratic defeat next year to clear the way for her
in 2008. But political results can't be
engineered that precisely, and don't be surprised if
she doesn't adopt the amazingly low-risk strategy of
making herself available as Clark's running
mate. That would make her the presumptive nominee
in either 2008 or 2012, depending on the general's
skill and fortune. Why would the senator give up
her all the influence that comes from having a safe
seat from one of our largest states? The former
First Lady could hardly be fulfilled as a mere
senator; her real ambition is to be president. And
whomever Clark picks as his vice-presidential
candidate -- if the ticket is elected -- would have
immediate advantages in the struggle to succeed him.
Hillary can't count on that person not
catching on. And no insider Democratic senator has
won the party's presidential nomination under the
present primary-nomination system. If Mrs.
Clinton wants to be president, she'll want to be on
the Clark ticket.” Morning … Clark in Iowa today with caravans
expected from at least a half-dozen states.
Headline from today’s Des Moines Register: “Now
that he’s in, backers head for Iowa” From
coverage by the Register’s Thomas Beaumont: “Hundreds
of supporters of presidential candidate Wesley Clark
are expected to descend on Iowa City today in hopes
of catching a glimpse of the latest entrant in the
race for the 2004 Democratic nomination.
However, it was unclear whether the retired
general's one-day Iowa visit would mark the
transition from his supporters' fledgling draft
effort into an active campaign for Iowa's lead-off
nominating caucuses. Caravans of cars, vans and
buses from more than a half-dozen states were
heading to the University of Iowa for Clark's
first Iowa visit as a candidate. Clark's 4
p.m. speech, scheduled months before he announced
his candidacy on Wednesday, has attracted attention
from dozens of national news media as speculation
that he would run reached a crescendo in recent
weeks. Despite the media buzz, no one with
Clark's fledgling campaign or his Iowa supporters
had contacted the Iowa Democratic Party as of the
eve of Clark's first campaign visit to Iowa. ‘As
of today, I've heard nothing from General Clark
or his campaign,’ Iowa Democratic Party Chairman
Gordon Fischer said Thursday. ‘But the neat thing
about the caucuses is there's no filing fee, no
ballot or hoops to jump through. You come here, and
you campaign.’ Clark is scheduled to fly
to Iowa City in the morning and visit
a cafe before spending the rest of the day in
meetings at the university. He is scheduled to give
a foreign policy speech at the Iowa Memorial Union
at 4 p.m. and attend a dinner and reception
afterward, before leaving Iowa this evening.”
… Another day, another Dean verbal slip…and
another episode in the Dean vs. Kerry saga.
Excerpt from Associated Press political roundup
report: “Democratic presidential hopeful Howard
Dean, on the defensive over verbal slips,
acknowledged making another one Thursday. At a
Manchester, N.H., campaign stop, Dean made his now
familiar call for repealing President Bush's tax
cuts -- with the unfamiliar qualifier ‘some.’
Answering a question about foreign aid, the former
Vermont governor said he would continue it, ‘but I
do plan to get rid of some of the tax cuts to
(former Enron Corp. chief) Ken Lay and the boys.’
When a reporter asked whether Dean was softening his
oft-repeated pledge to repeal all of the Bush tax
cuts, Dean said he wasn't. ‘That was a slip of
the tongue; it's going to happen unless you read
from a script,’ he said. ‘I have consistently said
we are going to take away all of the Bush tax cuts
because the middle class never did get any serious
benefit.’ The former Vermont governor has spent a
week defending his statements on the Middle East,
trade, race and Medicare. His surge in polls and
fund raising have made him a target for other
Democrats, who also have clashed over whether to
repeal all or some of Bush's tax cuts. Rival John
Kerry said Dean committed an ‘extraordinary gaffe’
when he told a college student, ‘There were no
middle-class tax cuts.’ In a written response,
Dean's campaign accused the Massachusetts senator of
using ‘GOP propaganda’ to distort Dean's positions.
Dean stuck with the theme Thursday. ‘Kerry's
using Bush numbers to justify his support for some
of the Bush tax cuts. And his numbers are wrong,’ he
said.”
… “Gay rights group embraces Clark” –
headline from today’s Washington Times. Coverage –
an excerpt – by the Times’ Cheryl Wetzstein: “Wesley
Clark, the retired Army general who is the latest
candidate for the Democratic presidential
nomination, has been embraced as ‘another pro-gay
moderate’ by a national homosexual rights group. ‘Wesley
Clark has been an inspiring, effective leader
and a voice of reason on the national scene for
quite some time,’ says Matt Foreman, executive
director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
‘Like most Americans, he supports basic fairness
for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people,’
Mr. Foreman says. ‘We welcome his entry into this
already crowded and pro-gay field of Democratic
candidates, and look forward to his contribution to
the debate on the critical issues facing our nation
and our world.’ Evidence of Mr. Clark's
homosexual-friendly views are his support for a
review of the military's decade-old ‘don't ask,
don't tell’ policy, the task force says. In
June, Mr. Clark told NBC ‘Meet the Press’
host Tim Russert the policy ‘absolutely’ should be
changed. ‘I don't think it works,’ said the former
supreme allied commander in Europe who led the NATO
forces in the war in Kosovo. ‘Essentially, we've
got a lot of gay people in the armed forces -- we
always have had, always will. And I think that…we
should welcome people that want to serve.’ Mr.
Clark, a Catholic who was raised a Southern
Baptist, also came out in support of ‘gay civil
unions’ and doesn't ‘believe gays to be inherently
sinful,’ the task force says. David Smith of the
Human Rights Campaign, another major homosexual
rights group, says he has heard Mr. Clark
make several favorable statements, as well as a few
that seemed ‘slightly problematic.’ On the ‘don't
ask, don't tell’ policy, he told NBC's ‘Today’ show
that ‘the military needs to decide for itself, but
the military is clearly under civilian control,’
says Mr. Smith. He supports civil unions but opposes
civil ‘marriage’ for homosexual couples. ‘To be
fair, we're taking a wait-and-see attitude toward
all the candidates,’ says Mr. Smith. ‘Gen.
Clark's positions will be examined closely as the
campaign unfolds…but he definitely seems to be on
the right track.’ Sheri A. Lunn, spokeswoman for
the task force, says that of all the Democratic
presidential candidates, only one — Carol Moseley
Braun — is supportive on all 11 issues important
to homosexual activists. Howard Dean, the
former governor of Vermont, supports 10 issues but
not for homosexual ‘marriage.’”
… Will Clark challenge Dean in crowd appeal?
During first day on the trail, hundreds show for The
General’s Florida visit. Headline from
washingtonpost.com: “Supporters Mob Gen. Clark on
First Campaign Stop” Excerpt from Reuters report
datelined Hollywood, FL: “Hundreds of Florida
well-wishers mobbed Gen. Wesley Clark on Thursday
when he made his first campaign stop since declaring
that he was joining nine other Democrats in the 2004
race for the White House. Clark, standing
on a chair in the middle of an overflowing
restaurant in this city north of Miami, criticized
President Bush on the economy and Iraq and told
supporters he needed money. ‘We're the envy of
the whole world but we are trapped in a jobless
economy and an endless occupation and that is the
problem we have to address,’ Clark said. ‘I'm
running for president because this country needs
leadership. It needs honest leadership, it needs
visionary leadership, it needs leadership with
experience,’ he said to cheers from the crowd.
Clark, a former NATO commander, announced his
candidacy on Wednesday. Late to the race, the
political novice was candid about his need for
financial support. ‘This is America. We operate on
the greenback. I need your support,’ he said.
Clark has a grass-roots support network built
on the Internet and a ‘Draft Clark’ Web site
launched months ago has laid the groundwork for
volunteer groups in many states, including Florida.
The retired general has yet to lay out an economic
or domestic agenda and declined to do so on
Thursday. But supporters said his military
background was what made him an attractive
alternative to other Democrats in the field, and to
Bush. ‘Bush has the whole national security aura,
but he does not have that over Gen. Clark,’ said
Aaron Dickerson, 26, who drove 500 miles from his
Tallahassee home to meet Clark. One of many
World War II veterans in uniform told Clark
that his candidacy was his ‘greatest public
service.’ Clark did not discuss what pushed him
to make Florida his first campaign stop, other than
to say he thought it was a beautiful state and that
there was ‘no better place to start.’ Bush won
the presidency in 2000 after a bitter recount fight
in Florida. The state, whose Republican governor Jeb
Bush is the president's brother, is seen as a key
battleground for 2004 as Democrats say they are
determined to avenge the loss.”
… Dean keeps up attacks on Bush during NH visit.
Headline from this morning’s The Union Leader: “Dean
rips Bush on foreign policy, tax cuts” Excerpt
from report by UL senior political reporter John
DiStaso: “A Bush administration foreign policy
based on ‘petulance’ and confrontation has cost
America and its citizens respect around the world,
Democratic Presidential candidate Howard Dean
charged yesterday. Dean, the former
Vermont governor and front-runner in the New
Hampshire Democratic Presidential primary campaign,
told a midday gathering in Londonderry the Berlin
wall fell without a shot being fired because ‘most
people behind the iron curtain wanted to be like
America and they wanted to be like Americans…’You’d
be hard-pressed to find too many countries in the
world today where the majority of the people want to
be like America and want to be like Americans,’
Dean charged. Dean said Bush ‘won’t do
anything about’ the nuclear threat from North Korea
‘because he doesn’t believe in bilateral
negotiations with a person he — quote, unquote —
loathes. I don’t like (North Korean leader) Kim Jong,
either. But I think we should probably sculpt our
foreign policy on some other set of issues than the
petulance of the chief executive of the United
States of America.’ He said Bush does not
realize that ‘defense is more than just a strong
military. It’s also having high ideals and high
moral purpose to which the rest of the world
aspires.’…Some reports have contended Dean has
recently toned down his fiery rhetoric. That was not
the case at midday stops at Harvey Industries in
Manchester and in the picturesque back yard of Pat
Webb’s condominium in Londonderry. He ripped
Bush on foreign and domestic policy, repeatedly
saying the President, with his tax cut plan, had
given $3 trillion to ‘Ken Lay and the boys at Enron’
while shortchanging special education, roads and
bridges, and even domestic anti-terrorism programs,
including cargo inspections. Dean has long
called for the repeal of all of Bush’s tax cuts, a
stance that has put him in the cross hairs of rival
John Kerry, who wants to retain the
middle-class cuts.”
… For Gephardt – basing his candidacy on union
support – the elusive endorsements may become more
elusive. AFSCME may delay decision – and give Clark
a hard look. Report by AP’s Elizabeth Wolfe: “A
major labor leader who has already shown interest in
Wesley Clark's candidacy said Thursday his union
would postpone endorsing a candidate until probably
early December, providing more time to consider the
retired general's White House chances. Gerald
McEntee, president of the 1.5 million-member and
politically influential American Federation of
State, County and Municipal Employees, said Clark
earned kudos from a majority of union leaders when
the then non-candidate visited about month and a
half ago. ‘Our people, they kind of expected
maybe one-dimension and they got multi-dimensions
and they were quite interested and pleased,’ McEntee
said in an interview. They thought ‘he could most
certainly debate Bush and maybe take him out of that
bubble that he's been in since 9-11,’ he said.
Clark and Sen. John Edwards of North
Carolina, who also impressed with his presentation,
persuaded the union to postpone its endorsement. ‘We
did feel that we had to give Clark, if he was
getting in, at least an opportunity to see if he's
got some magic,’ McEntee said.”
…
Gephardt and Dean continue exchange over trade
policies, but Gephardt escalates the attack in South
Carolina media campaign.
Excerpt from report by AP’s Nedra Pickler: “Democrat
Dick Gephardt criticized his leading presidential
rivals for supporting free trade policies that he
argues have cost U.S. jobs, even taking to the air
with radio ads in South Carolina assailing
front-runner Howard Dean.
‘Howard
Dean
claims he's fighting for our jobs, but Howard
Dean
supported the China Trade Deal and said he was a
strong supporter of NAFTA,’ says the ad, launched
Thursday. ‘Dean
even claimed it would create jobs. Instead, those
two bad deals have cost South Carolina almost 30,000
jobs.’
Dean spokesman Tricia Enright said Gephardt was
playing ‘the same old Washington game of
distortion.’
She said
Dean
tells union audiences that he supported NAFTA
because it was good for Vermont, but now the former
governor has seen the devastation the deal caused
and wants to renegotiate trade pacts.
‘Congressman Gephardt knows exactly where Governor
Dean stands on trade,’
Enright said. ‘Both are for tough labor and
environmental standards to make trade fair.’
Gephardt also criticized Dean and his rivals in a
Thursday morning speech to South Carolina business
leaders gathered in Washington.
He told the Greenville and Spartanburg Chambers of
Commerce that while his rivals say they wouldn't
support trade deals that send jobs overseas, people
need to check their records to see how they voted
for the North American Free Trade Agreement and
permanent normal trade relations with China.
He criticized Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts, Bob
Graham of Florida and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut
for voting for the two deals in the Senate.
He noted that North Carolina Sen. John
Edwards
was not yet in Congress during the NAFTA vote, but
that
Edwards
supported the China pact. Speaking to reporters
after the speech,
Gephardt
said he's not trying to suggest that his rivals have
been dishonest about their records. He said he wants
to point out that he's the only major candidate who
stood against the trade deals.
‘I took on the president of my own party. The others
did not,’
the Missouri lawmaker said.”
… “Aide: General Clark plans to visit NH next
week” – headline in today’s The Union Leader.
Senior political reporter John DiStaso wrote: “Retired
Gen. Wesley Clark, the newest Democratic candidate
for President, is expected to make his first
campaign visit to leadoff primary state New
Hampshire next week, his top state campaign aide
said yesterday. Former Ambassador George Bruno told
The Union Leader last night the date remains
uncertain. He said it is likely the Clark
visit will be toward the end of next week, but he
did not rule out a visit early in the week.”
… Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – who’s been attacked in
past in Iowa for his environmental policies –
endorses Kerry’s candidacy. AP report in this
morning’s The Union Leader – an excerpt: “Massachusetts
Sen. John Kerry on Thursday received an endorsement
for his presidential bid from environmentalist
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who slammed the Bush
administration while lauding Kerry's environmental
efforts. ‘There is certainly nobody who is
running for president today who has a better
environmental record than John Kerry,’
Kennedy said, citing the Democratic senator's work
against acid rain and for higher fuel efficiency
standards. Kerry traced his interest in the
environment to his mother, who started taking him
for walks when he was a child. He decried those
who said environmental protection came at the
expense of jobs and economic prosperity. ‘I intend
to be a president who makes it clear to Americans
that protecting the environment is jobs and it is
the future of our country and most importantly the
legacy of our generation,’ he said. ‘We are the
stewards, and we are at risk of being the first
generation in American history to pass this place
off in worse shape than we were handed it by our
parents.’ Kerry took aim at the Bush
administration's stance on environmental issues and
joined those calling for an investigation after an
internal report from the Environmental Protection
Agency said the agency, at the urging of White House
officials, gave misleading assurances there was no
health risk from the dust in the air after the
collapse of the World Trade Center towers on Sept.
11, 2001. ‘New Yorkers displayed enough courage
that day to be told the truth about the air they
were breathing,’ Kerry said, speaking at Pace
University, near City Hall and just a few blocks
from ground zero. He said he called ‘for an
immediate investigation in both Congress and the
Department of Justice on whether environmental
health was compromised because of White House
interference.’”
…Fearless
John Edwards returns to area where he’s been hurt –
and ridiculed – before: Sunday morning TV. In
the News & Observer of Raleigh, John Wagner
reported: “U.S. Sen. John Edwards is scheduled to
appear on CBS News' ‘Face the Nation’ on Sunday
morning, according to his campaign.
The appearance
will be the North Carolina Democrat's first on a
Sunday talk show since the formal announcement of
his presidency this week. Edwards' history on
such shows has been uneven. An appearance
last year on NBC's ‘Meet the Press’ was panned by
many pundits and seemed to slow Edwards' momentum.
He more recently appeared on ABC News' ‘This Week,’
turning in what was generally regarded as a stronger
performance. NBC has been actively courting
Edwards to return to ‘Meet the Press,’ but he thus
far has turned down invitations, including personal
overtures from the show's host, Tim Russert.”
…IOWA PRES WATCH SIDEBAR: Howard Dean’s
speechwriters? Under the subhead “Monkey
Antibusiness,” James Taranto – in his “Best of the
Web Today” column on OpinionJournal.com – wrote:
“New research suggests that monkeys are Democrats,
the Associated Press reports: ‘In a recent study,
brown capuchin monkeys trained to exchange a granite
token for a cucumber treat often refused the swap if
they saw another monkey get a better payoff -- a
grape. Instead, they often threw the token, refused
to eat the piece of cucumber, or even gave it to the
other capuchin after viewing the lopsided deal, said
Emory University researcher Sarah Brosnan. She said
the results indicate man and monkey may have
inherited a sense of fairness from an evolutionary
ancestor.’ Next question: If you gave an infinite
number of monkeys an infinite number of typewriters,
would they eventually write a speech for Howard
Dean?”
… “Is Clark the ‘package’ Democrats seek?” –
Headline on Joan Vennochi’s column in yesterday’s
Boston Globe. Excerpt: “Wanted, for Democratic
presidential nominee: a candidate the country can
buy in 2004 as a ‘complete package.’ Wesley K.
Clark, a retired Army general and former CNN
commentator, is now officially the 10th Democrat to
enter the 2004 presidential race. A basic unknown to
the average citizen, his military credentials and
media contacts serve as springboard for his finally
launched, much-predicted candidacy. The Clark
pitch goes like this: He is combat tested but
against the Iraq war. That makes him Howard Dean
with military experience or John F. Kerry without a
vote authorizing George W. Bush to wage war against
Saddam Hussein. But Clark, 58, could also
turn out to be one very big surprise package. And,
as anyone who has ever opened up a birthday present
knows, there are good surprises and bad ones.
Place Clark in the heat of a political campaign
rather than the heat of combat, and there is
opportunity for more than the usual good, bad, and
ugly…Clark might be a great candidate --
even the eventual nominee. But whatever enthusiasm
there is for his entrance into the race is mostly
testament to the failure of the other nine to sell
themselves as the complete package the Democratic
presidential nominee must be to beat Bush…Clark's
late entrance gives the rest of the field a sorely
needed chance to regroup and broaden their campaigns
and messages. Right now, Dean is the
antiwar, finger-waggling ex-governor of a tiny,
nondiverse state. Kerry is the Vietnam
veteran and Massachusetts liberal who wants to be
defined only as a Vietnam veteran. Richard
Gephardt wants to be the candidate of jobs and
labor but is mostly a captive of the congressional
establishment and a very stiff head of hair. Senator
Joseph Lieberman is a remnant of Al Gore's
failed effort to prove he could be exciting by
picking the first Jewish candidate for vice
president. John Edwards has dimples and a
Southern accent. Florida Senator Bob Graham
has a Southern accent. Al Sharpton is black
and humorous in more ways than one. Carol Moseley
Braun is a black woman and former rising star,
since crashed. Dennis Kucinich is a true
believer whose beliefs are far too left to be
nationally palatable. And now there is Clark,
rallying supporters around battlefield credentials
and promises to restore jobs and economic
opportunity. In doing so, he is trying to hijack the
role of ‘complete package.’ Clark is battle-seasoned
enough to be antiwar in Iraq, especially up against
Bush and his National Guard service. But he has
much to prove in terms of comfort level on the
domestic and diplomatic fronts. Being accepted as a
‘complete package’ requires more than pushing the
correct ideological buttons, although that is always
the starting point in American politics. In every
presidential face-off, voters ultimately consider
intelligence, maturity, life experience, and that
great intangible, likeability. Do they want to have
a beer with the candidate (or, with liberals, a
glass of chardonnay)? In 2000, Bush passed the
likeability test with half the country, which gave
him the benefit of the doubt on intelligence and
maturity. In 2004, voters will be less inclined
to like him enough to reelect him if Americans are
still losing their jobs at home and their lives in
Iraq. Bush will be an even tougher sell if the
candidate running against him is a better buy and a
more complete package.”
* ON THE BUSH BEAT:
* THE CLINTON COMEDIES:
* NATIONAL POLITICS: … “Carter:
Turmoil in Iraq, Afghanistan likely 2004 campaign
issue…Says
administration ‘seriously disillusioned’ on Iraq” –
headline on CNN.com. From the report: “Faulting
the Bush administration for an ‘overly optimistic
assessment’ of Iraq before the U.S.-led invasion,
former President Jimmy Carter said the turmoil there
and in Afghanistan are legitimate issues for
Democrats to highlight as campaign issues for 2004.
But he suggested Democrats have to be careful in how
they focus on Iraq, drawing a distinction between
the invasion itself and the aftermath. ‘There was
no doubt that we could prevail militarily, but I
think that the vice president and secretary of
defense and others said that we were going to be
treated with euphoria, crowds who would welcome us
there, and the problems of administration of Iraq's
economic and political affairs was going to be an
easy job,’ Carter, the nation's 39th president, said
in an interview with CNN's Larry King. ‘I think
they have been seriously disillusioned, but whether
it would have been more accurately predicted if I
had been in the White House or someone else, I
wouldn't claim that at all.’…Carter said the
invasion itself is not a winning issue for Democrats
because most people believe toppling Saddam Hussein
was a ‘a good thing.’ But the ongoing violence
there, often directed at U.S. troops, and the costly
challenge of reconstructing that country are areas
worth exploring for Democrats, Carter said. ‘I
think the current situation in Iraq and the
continued violence in Iraq and the substantial
abandonment of Afghanistan -- where we only control
the capital in Kabul and the rest of the country is
being taken over by warlords and the Taliban is
coming back -- I think those kinds of things are
inevitably going to be placed on the agenda for
almost all the candidates,’ Carter said. At the
same time, Carter stressed that the United States
could not ‘back away from Iraq.’ He said
President Bush faces a challenge -- whether to call
on other nations to help more or have the United
States act ‘almost always alone with the exception
of Great Britain.’”
* MORNING SUMMARY: This morning’s headlines:
* WAR/TERRORISM: … On the Korean Front: Headline from
VOANews (Voice of America) – “Tensions Remain
High Between N. Korea and Japan” Excerpt from
report by Amy Bickers: “One year ago, Japan and
North Korea held an unprecedented summit, sparking
expectations of a shift away from the animosity that
has always dominated their relations. But, the
relationship has suffered one setback after another
since then, and tensions between the Asian neighbors
remain as high as ever. Television broadcasts on
September 17, 2002, showed a remarkable picture:
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and North
Korean leader Kim Jong Il shaking hands and walking
together in the North Korean capital -- a dramatic
turnaround after a century of animosity. Tokyo was
the brutal colonial master of the Korean Peninsula
for much of the first half of the 20th Century, and
memories of its harsh treatment remain vivid in both
North and South Korea. At the 2002 summit, Mr.
Koizumi apologized to the North Korean people for
the sins of the colonial era. The two leaders signed
the Pyongyang Declaration, in which they agreed to
work towards the long-delayed goal of establishing
official ties. But an unexpected admission by
Kim Jong Il stole the summit spotlight. He
confirmed Japan's long-standing accusation that
during the Cold War, North Korea had abducted
Japanese citizens for spying purposes. Mr. Kim said
13 Japanese had been taken, and only five of those
were still alive.”
* FEDERAL ISSUES: … “Grassley,
Baucus Propose Tax Cut For U.S. Manufacturers”
– headline from yesterday’s CQ Midday Update. The
report “The Senate's top tax writers are offering
U.S. manufacturers an income tax rate cut of three
percentage points in exchange for giving up a
current tax break on export earnings. A bill to be
introduced today by Finance Committee Chairman
Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, and ranking Democrat
Max Baucus of Montana appears to find middle ground
between corporate tax cut proposals offered by
competing GOP groups in the House. The senators
would grant manufacturers tax cuts at home and
provide multinationals with tax relief on overseas
income. Grassley said his committee will mark
up the legislation next week. He and Baucus
project a 10-year revenue loss of at least $100
billion from the tax cuts, to be offset by repealing
the current export tax break, increasing some other
business taxes and extending U.S. Customs user fees
now scheduled to expire. European nations have
threatened to impose $4 billion in punitive tariffs
on U.S. goods unless Congress repeals the export
subsidy by Jan. 1.”
… “White House May Be Willing to Drop Arctic
Drilling From Energy Bill” – headline from
FOXNews.com. Report excerpt: “The White House is
easing away from insisting that Congress open an
Alaska wildlife refuge to oil drilling after the
president was told by lawmakers the issue could doom
energy legislation. President Bush, after
meeting with legislators involved in the energy
talks, said Wednesday he wanted a bill ‘that will
pass both bodies’ - the House and Senate. He said
the White House would work with those trying to
resolve ‘contentious’ issues such as drilling in the
Alaska refuge. To the lawmakers present, it was a
clear signal that the White House is willing to
accept energy legislation without a provision to
open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil
development, according to congressional sources
close to the negotiations. Sen. Pete Domenici,
R-N.M., said he and the other lawmakers made clear
to the president ‘we're not going to let ANWR defeat
a comprehensive energy bill’…’We're going to have to
determine whether inclusion of ANWR will kill this
or not,’ Domenici said the president was told.
‘If it's going to kill it, it's not going to be in.’
Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La., head of the House
delegation to the energy talks, said Bush gave no
indication during the meeting how he viewed such a
strategy. Earlier this year a Senate proposal to
open the refuge to oil companies failed 48-50, a
dozen votes shy of what would be needed to overcome
a promised Democratic filibuster of an energy bill
that includes a refuge drilling provision. There
is no indication that Senate sentiment has changed
dramatically since then, said one GOP source
closely involved in the energy discussions.”
* TODAY’S IOWA LINKS: -- Des Moines Register:
www.DesMoinesRegister.com -- Quad-City Times:
www.QCTimes.com -- Radio Iowa/Learfield Communications:
www.radioiowa.com -- Sioux City Journal:
www.siouxcityjournal.com -- WHO Radio (AM1040), Des Moines:
www.whoradio.com -- News & Observer, Raleigh:
www.newsobserver.com -- FOXNews.com (Fox News Channel):
www.foxnews.com -- Washington Post:
www.washingtonpost.com -- New York Times:
www.nytimes.com -- VOANews.com (Voice of America):
www.voanews.com -- Congressional Quarterly, CQ Midday Update:
www.cq.com -- Washington Times:
www.washingtontimes.com -- CNN.com:
www.cnn.com -- Omaha World-Herald:
www.omaha.com -- The Union Leader, New Hampshire:
www.theunionleader.com -- WMT Radio (AM600), Cedar Rapids:
www.wmtradio.com -- Boston Globe:
www.bostom.com -- WHO-TV, Des Moines:
www.whotv.com -- Chicago Tribune:
www.chicagotribune.com -- Various morning and midday newscasts from
around IA.
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