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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 Saturday, September 20, 2003
... QUOTABLE:
morning quotes:
… Among the offerings in today’s update:
morning offering:
* CANDIDATES/CAUCUSES:
Morning
. … Kerry says Dean’s campaign bubble is
bursting. Headline from this morning’s New York
Times: “Kerry Says Dean Is ‘Imploding’” From
report by the Times’ Michael Janofsky: “Senator
John Kerry of Massachusetts (Friday) sharply
criticized one of the other leading Democrats
running for president, Howard Dean, asserting that
some of his recent pronouncements show that his
‘bubble's bursting a bit.’ Referring to
statements by Dr. Dean, the former governor
of Vermont, on the Middle East, the Hamas guerrillas
and other issues, Mr. Kerry said, ‘You
can't make 15 gaffes a week and be president.’
Mr. Kerry's remarks came near the end of an
interview on WCBS-TV in New York when the camera had
turned away from Mr. Kerry, who was still
wearing a microphone. Mr. Dean's campaign
manager, Joe Trippi, seemed mildly amused by the
interview. ‘I guess we're just on his mind a lot,’
Mr. Trippi said, pointing to another episode,
the recent debate in Baltimore, when a microphone
picked up Mr. Kerry muttering, ‘Dean.
Dean. Dean. Dean. Dean.’ In the WCBS interview,
Mr. Kerry implied that many of Dr. Dean's
views would cost him his standing in the polls.
‘Dean's been imploding,’ he said. Asked what he
meant, Mr. Kerry said Dr. Dean had asserted that
the United States should not take sides in the
Middle East conflict and that suicide bombers from
Hamas were ‘soldiers.’ Mr. Kerry called
those positions ‘dead wrong.’…’It just catches up,’
Mr. Kerry said. ‘Someone's going to write it.
People will see it. And you know, the poll numbers
are going to show it.’”
… Weekend Wannabes in Iowa: Lieberman and
Gephardt scheduled in state tomorrow. Lieberman
participates in Harkin-sponsored candidate’s
forum in Cedar Rapids tomorrow. Gephardt
has five receptions on the agenda tomorrow in
Newton, Marshalltown, Toledo,
Amana and Coralville. Gephardt also is
scheduled to make an agricultural policy speech
Monday morning on a farm near Prole – southwest of
Des Moines.
… Carter sees a “little of himself” in wannabe
Dean, but it may be just as interesting to note that
only DC outsiders – Dean and Clark – have sought his
opinion on their candidacies. Headline from this
morning’s The Union Leader: “Carter says he sees
himself in Howard Dean” Excerpt from AP report
on Carter’s interview with Larry King: “Jimmy
Carter says he sees a little of himself in insurgent
Democratic White House candidate Howard Dean. In
an appearance taped to air Friday night on CNN's
Larry King Live, Carter says former Vermont Gov.
Dean visited his home in Georgia last year to
ask the former president about his campaign 28 years
ago. Like Dean, Carter entered the presidential
race as an ex-governor considered a long shot for
the nomination. Carter said Dean asked
him and his wife what they did to get a victory in
New Hampshire, among other things. ‘He claims, at
least to me, to have had in part of his campaign
technique about what worked for me in those ancient
days in 1976,’ Carter said. ‘The only difference
is that I didn't have any money and he's today used
the Internet in a wonderful fashion.’ Carter said
Dean has been an exciting candidate, but he
declined to say who he would like to win the
nomination. Carter said Dean is one of just two
of the 10 Democratic presidential candidates who has
sought his opinion about whether they should run.
The other was the most recent entry in the field --
retired Gen. Wesley Clark.” (Iowa Pres Watch
Note: Actually, the original copy said reported “Clark”
– not Carter – “said Dean has been an
exciting candidate…” As a public service, Iowa Pres
Watch corrected it.)
… “Clark will appeal to African-Americans” –
headline in this morning’s The Union Leader.
Report says Clark’s connection to the Clintons will
help his candidacy in the black community.
Coverage – an excerpt – by AP’s Devlin Barrett: “U.S.
Rep. Charles Rangel, the most outspoken supporter of
newly minted presidential candidate Wesley Clark,
predicted Friday the retired general will get wide
and enthusiastic support among African-Americans
because of his opposition to the war in Iraq.
Rangel, D-N.Y., a ranking member of the House Ways
and Means committee, said he is already pressing
officials in his home district of Harlem, around his
state, and in the Congressional Black Caucus to
support Clark. ‘Anybody that's against the war
that can beat Bush is going to be overwhelmingly
supported in the black community,’ Rangel said.
The congressman will meet Saturday morning with
elected and religious leaders in his Harlem district
to talk up Clark's candidacy. ‘I'm going
to share with them that this is the most emotional
political decision of my life,’ he said. ‘I truly
believe that my community would be better off in
putting their money on this horse to win.’ The
Army retired general opposes the war in Iraq, favors
abortion rights and affirmative action. The
Congressional Black Caucus ‘would like to hear his
views on a number of domestic issues,’ ranging from
jobs to health care to education, said spokesman
Doug Thornell. ‘Before there is a mass exodus to
support Wesley Clark, which there very well
may be... he is going to have to lay out a clear
agenda and discuss these issues,’ said Thornell.
‘I don't think the majority of the caucus has made
up their minds yet.’ Clark's entry in the
race follows questions about whether the current
Democratic front-runner, Howard Dean, can appeal to
blacks, a key voting bloc for the party.
Andrew Hoppin, part of New York's ‘Draft Wesley
Clark’ group, said the black vote is ‘a huge
priority’ for the campaign, and said the
connection to former president Bill Clinton, a
fellow Arkansan who urged Clark to enter the race,
may help Clark's appeal. ‘It's not just trying
to rehash the Clinton formula,’ said Hoppin.
‘Constituencies that have not felt like they can
make a difference took a very leading role in this
draft movement.’ Clinton, who keeps an office in
Harlem, and his wife, U.S. Sen. Hillary
Rodham Clinton, are still wildly popular among
African-Americans. Speaking of the Clintons, Rangel
said, ‘If they don't come out and help him, they
damn sure have said enough that they're not going to
hurt.’”
… Rivals respond to Clark’s latest statements
on Iraq resolution: Excerpt from
report by political reporter Dan Balz in today’s
Washington Post: “Yesterday's remarks in Iowa
appear to put Clark in the same camp as Howard Dean
and several others in the race who either verbally
opposed or voted against the resolution.
Strategists for several of his rivals expressed
surprise at the latest turn in Clark's
position. Some said the apparent flip-flop will
hurt his candidacy. ‘I think one of his key
attributes is he's a steady, experienced guy; and if
you look like you're not sure what you want to say,
it hurts,’ said Steve Elmendorf, senior adviser to
Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (Mo.)…Jim Jordan,
Kerry's campaign manager, was asked for his
reaction. He sent the following via e-mail:
‘We'll withhold comment until the general's
blue-ribbon team of consultants and advisers decide
what his position actually is.’ Dean
campaign manager Joe Trippi was less critical. ‘I
know we were surprised yesterday [Thursday] when we
heard he said he would have voted for the
resolution,’ he said. ‘But, look, he just got in the
race. This is a new world of politics, and I
think you've got to give him some time so we can
learn where his positions are. But we think he's
going to have an impact on the race, and other
candidates should take him seriously. We do.”
…Dean on rural rampage in New Hampshire – charges
that Bush policies have resulted in job losses that
threaten rural values. Headline from this
morning’s The Union Leader: “Dean blames Bush for
loss of jobs” Excerpt from report – dateline:
Berlin – by AP’s David Tirrell-Wysocki: “Democrat
Howard Dean headed into rural, economically
struggling Berlin yesterday to say he would work to
undo Bush administration policies he says cost jobs
and threaten to undermine the rural values that
shape the nation. Speaking to an enthusiastic
lunchtime crowd at City Hall, Dean said
people are leaving rural America and places like
Berlin, because they can’t find jobs. He said it’s
important to the entire country to support rural
businesses. ‘Rural America would be stronger and
so would the country be stronger because the values
of places like this are the values that are good for
the rest of the country,’ he said. ‘Rural
people work hard. They have a strong sense of
community and a strong sense of family.’ The
former Vermont governor said one important way to
get jobs back is to repeal the Bush administration
tax cuts. He said the tax cuts gave breaks to
the rich with money that could be lent to small
businesses; to reinvest in roads, mass transit and
schools and to develop renewable energy. He
specifically mentioned projects such as improving
the country’s electricity grid that would create
union jobs, a detail that would not be lost in
Berlin, where many residents are union members who
work at the region’s paper mills. Dean
repeated his argument that any Bush cuts aimed to
benefit the middle class were wiped out because of
increases in local and school spending. He said the
tax cuts diverted federal money from programs that
could have helped communities. He said another
way to restore good-paying jobs is to make sure
small businesses get help, in part through loans.
‘If you want to do something for businesses that
are going to stay in America and stay in rural
America and help the rural economy, you ought to
help small businesses, not large businesses, and we
do almost nothing for small businesses,’ he said.
He also would support union organizing. ‘When you
pay your workers enough so they can spend a little
money at the local store and keep the money in the
economy and circulating, guess what? The economy
gets better,’ he said.”
… 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. Headline from this morning’s The
Union Leader: “Clark flummoxes staff with flop on
Iraq war” 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.’”
* ON THE BUSH BEAT:
* THE CLINTON COMEDIES:
* NATIONAL POLITICS:
* MORNING SUMMARY:
* WAR/TERRORISM:
* FEDERAL ISSUES:
* TODAY’S IOWA LINKS:
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