|
Iowa 2004 presidential primary precinct caucus and caucuses news">
Iowa 2004 presidential primary precinct caucus and caucuses news, reports
and information on 2004 Democrat and Republican candidates, campaigns
and issues Iowa
Presidential Watch's
IOWA DAILY REPORT Holding
the Democrats accountable today, tomorrow...forever.
THE DAILY
REPORT for Wednesday, September 24, 2003 ...
QUOTABLE: midday quotes:
“That's not compassionate or conservative. It's
heartless, reckless and it's wrong.” – Clark,
discussing recent jobs losses and Bush economic
policies in NY speech today
“We are not supporting or endorsing any
candidate.” – Hillary, denying Clark
is a “stalking horse” for her eventual ’04
candidacy today on washingtonpost.com
“I am just bewildered by this administration's
priorities and values.” – Hillary
“Based on what we knew and believed [about the
Iraqi threat], it was merited.” – Hillary,
defending her vote for the Iraq resolution “I
think it matters I've been fighting for health
care and to protect the environment, and that I
have fought against the very people that General
Clark and others have supported. I think
that's important to Democrats.” – Kerry,
criticizing Clark for supporting
Republicans Reagan and Nixon
“Wes Clark is prochoice, pro-affirmative
action, pro-health care, antiwar. If that's
Republican, we could use more of them in this
country.” – Mark Fabiani, Clark
spokesman responding to Kerry’s charges
“The union, which reported 214,000 dues-paying
members last year, likes Kerry's record
as a decorated Vietnam War veteran; his political,
legal and legislative experience; his sense of
humor; and his personal interests in athletics and
Harley-Davidsons, union President Harold
Schaitberger said.” – Report on FOXNews.com,
explaining why the firefighters union backed the
Mass Sen
“You've got to know how to navigate and operate in
Washington, D.C., to be a good president and to be
an effective executive. I question Wesley
Clark's experience, and John Kerry clearly has
that experience.” – Fire Fighters union
president Harold Schaitberger, explaining
choice of Kerry over Clark
“Our view is that Dick Gephardt is not the
candidate who has that best chance.”—Schaitberger morning quotes: … Among
the offerings in today’s update:
midday offering:
Hillary, in interview posted on
washingtonpost.com at noon, denies there’s any
master plot for her to run for Dem nomination –
although rumors and reports continue
Kerry blasts Clark for voting for GOP
presidential candidates in the past
Gephardt loses a union endorsement, Fire
Fighters – as expected – announce Kerry
endorsement this morning
The General outlines economic policies in New
York speech this morning. morning offering: All these stories below and more. *
CANDIDATES/CAUCUSES: Midday
… “Sen. Clinton Denies Pushing Clark’s Campaign”
– headline posted at noon on washingtonpost.com.
Except from report by Post political ace Dan Balz: “Sen.
Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) today denied reports
that she and her husband are the agents behind
retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark's presidential
candidacy, reiterated that she will not run for the
White House in 2004 and said the reelection of
President Bush would be ‘an overwhelming setback for
this country.’ Speaking at a breakfast with
reporters, the former first lady denied the rampant
speculation, particularly in Republican circles,
that she and former President Bill Clinton had
encouraged Clark to run, partly as a stalking horse
for a 2004 candidacy of her own, calling such talk
‘an absurd feat of imagination.’ Clinton
said she and her husband ‘have been supportive of
all the candidates,’ whenever they have sought
advice, but added that neither she nor the former
president will designate a favorite in the race for
the Democratic nomination. ‘We are not
supporting or endorsing any candidate,’ she said.
Instead, she said, she will work actively for
whomever becomes the Democratic nominee to try to
defeat Bush. ‘I am convinced, totally, that four
more years of this administration, unaccountable, no
election at the end, would be an overwhelming
setback for our country and I will do everything I
can to elect whoever emerges from this process.’
During the hour-long interview, Clinton
delivered a blistering critique of Bush's
presidency, accusing the administration of ‘a
shocking failure of leadership’ in Iraq since major
conflict ended, of engaging in ‘happy talk’ about
the economy during a period when job losses have
continued, of the ‘misuse’ of scientific data on the
environment that has put at risk her New York
constituents who live near the site of the Sept. 11,
2001, terrorist attacks. ‘I am just bewildered by
this administration's priorities and values,’
she said. On Iraq, Clinton stood by her vote in
favor of the resolution authorizing Bush to go to
war and carefully distanced herself from recent
charges by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) that
Bush and his advisers had cooked up the war in
August 2002 and had foisted it upon the American
people. ‘Based on what we knew and believed
[about the Iraqi threat], it was merited,’ she said
of the vote to back the war resolution. Clinton
said she had consulted with both Bush and former
Clinton administration officials before the war
about the Iraqi threat and said that U.S.
intelligence ‘from Bush I to Clinton to Bush II was
consistent’ in concluding that there was ‘a
continuing presence of biological and chemical
programs’ in Iraq and that former Iraqi president
Saddam Hussein was continuing to seek to develop a
capacity to produce nuclear weapons. But she said
the failure to find weapons of mass destructions
calls into question the reliability of that
intelligence and presents the country and the
administration with a troubling question, calling it
as important as anything that has come out of the
debate over the last year.”
… Kerry – noted for campaign scuffles with Dean –
moves on to tackle Clark over casting votes for
Republican presidential candidates in past.
Headline from today’s Boston Globe: “Senator
decries Clark’s votes for GOP” Excerpt from
report by Patrick Healy: “Senator John F. Kerry
took a swipe at the Democratic Party credentials of
Wesley K. Clark yesterday because the retired
general voted for Republican presidents in the past.
Kerry, highlighting a new poll that showed he
and Clark each would beat Bush in theoretical
matchups, drew an implicit contrast with his
Democratic rival by noting his own longtime party
membership and by making a vague reference to his
past political battles with Richard Nixon and Ronald
Reagan, both of whom Clark supported for president.
‘I think that Democrats are going to look for
somebody that has a record of accomplishment on
issues that matter to them,’ said Kerry, who
has been in the Senate since 1984. ‘I think it
matters that I've been there fighting for education
reform. I think it matters I've been fighting for
health care and to protect the environment, and that
I have fought against the very people that General
Clark and others have supported. I think that's
important to Democrats.’ Clark, who was NATO
commander under President Clinton, has acknowledged
he ‘probably’ voted for Richard Nixon in 1972 and
supported Ronald Reagan. Kerry first came to
national attention in 1971 as a Vietnam veteran
opposed to a war that Nixon was then prosecuting.
As a freshman senator in the 1980s, Kerry was one
of the first Democrats to link the Reagan
administration with covert aid to the contras in
Nicaragua. Mark Fabiani, a Clark
spokesman, said he did not think Clark's
earlier support for Republicans would hurt him with
Democratic primary voters. "Wes Clark is
prochoice, pro-affirmative action, pro-health care,
antiwar, " Fabiani said. "If that's Republican,
we could use more of them in this country."
… “Kerry Endorsed By International Firefighters
Union” – headline on FOXNews.com (Fox News
Channel). Excerpt from AP coverage: “Presidential
hopeful John Kerry is the first Democrat to get a
national union endorsement other than Dick Gephardt,
who now has 14. The International Association of
Fire Fighters planned to endorse the Massachusetts
senator on Wednesday after a vote of union leaders.
The union, which reported 214,000 dues-paying
members last year, likes Kerry's record as a
decorated Vietnam War veteran; his political, legal
and legislative experience; his sense of humor; and
his personal interests in athletics and
Harley-Davidsons, union President Harold
Schaitberger said. Late entrant Wesley Clark has
four-star credentials, but lacks political and
legislative experience, said Schaitberger, who spent
a couple of hours at breakfast with the retired
general several weeks ago, along with other union
presidents. ‘You've got to know how to navigate
and operate in Washington, D.C., to be a good
president and to be an effective executive,’ he
said. ‘I question Wesley Clark's experience, and
John Kerry clearly has that experience.’ Gephardt,
who accepted an endorsement Wednesday from the
Laborers' International Union of North America, is a
longtime ally of organized labor, yet some public
and service sector unions are hesitant to embrace
his second run for the White House. The
firefighters union wanted to support a candidate who
can beat President Bush next year. ‘Our view is
that Dick Gephardt is not the candidate who has that
best chance.’ Schaitberger said. One coveted
union endorsement remains up for grabs, the Service
Employees International Union. But actions by its
New York local union chief could indicate where its
support is headed. Local 1199 President Dennis
Rivera helped Howard Dean raise $30,000.
After a disappointing showing in fund raising,
Gephardt's third-quarter results, out Sept. 30, will
be a key indication of whether he can win enough
support for a laborwide endorsement from the AFL-CIO.”
… “Clark outlines economic incentive plan” –
headline posted on CNN.com this afternoon. Excerpt –
dateline: New York – by CNN’s Rose Arce: “Retired
Gen. Wesley Clark on Wednesday proposed a $100
billion economic incentive plan to be funded from
reductions in parts of President Bush's tax-cut
program that benefit high-income families.
Speaking in Manhattan across the East River from a
plant in Queens where jobs are being cut, Clark
said that ‘fiscal discipline requires not only
reducing the deficit. It requires moving money from
areas where it isn't advancing national goals and
directing it to areas where it is’...’So I will
reduce the tax cuts Mr. Bush gave the richest
households -- those making more than $200,000 a
year’ and use the money for an economic incentive
plan, he said. Clark, who declared his candidacy
for the Democratic nomination last week, outlined
his three-part, two-year plan.
-- A $40 billion fund
would focus on improving homeland security by
investing in infrastructure, such as hospitals, and
training those who are the first to respond in
emergencies. That fund would leave hospitals
better prepared for potential biological and
chemical attacks, provide money to hire more Coast
Guard and customs workers, and secure ports, bridges
and tunnels, Clark said.
-- A $40 billion fund
for states and local governments -- many financially
strapped -- would bolster public education, health
care, local law enforcement and social services, he
said. About $20 billion would help public
colleges keep tuition down and help state and local
governments train workers for new jobs, he said.
Local governments would receive $10 billion to cope
with rising health-care costs, and $10 billion would
help finance local law enforcement programs and
social services.
-- The third proposal would provide $20 billion
for business tax credits and incentives, including
tax credits of $5,000 per every new employee hired
by a company. There would be incentives for
firms to keep manufacturing jobs in the United
States and efforts to make companies more
competitive in the trade markets, Clark said.
The candidate took aim at the president's record
on the economy, saying 3.3 million private-sector
jobs, including 2.5 million manufacturing jobs, had
been lost during Bush's term. Clark said that
unemployment had risen sharply under Bush,
particularly for African-Americans and Hispanics,
and that unemployed workers have been idle for
longer periods of time than in previous years.
‘Three years ago, we were told we were getting a
compassionate conservative,’ he said. ‘What we got
instead were massive tax cuts for the rich,
staggering deficits for the country and the worst
jobs losses since the Great Depression. That's not
compassionate or conservative. It's heartless,
reckless and it's wrong.’” Morning … “Clark Never Called Karl…Wesley
Clark says he would have been a Republican if
Karl Rove had returned his phone calls. White House
phone logs suggest otherwise.” – headline from The
Daily Standard, the Internet version of The Weekly
Standard. Report by editorial assistant Matthew
Continetti: “When will Wesley Clark stop telling
tall tales? In the current issue of Newsweek,
Howard Fineman reports Clark told Colorado
Gov. Bill Owens and University of Denver president
Mark Holtzman that ‘I would have been a Republican
if Karl Rove had returned my phone calls.’
Unfortunately for Clark, the White House has logged
every incoming phone call since the beginning of the
Bush administration in January 2001. At the request
of The Daily Standard, White House staffers went
through the logs to check whether Clark had ever
called White House political adviser Karl Rove. The
general hadn't. What's more, Rove says he
doesn't remember ever talking to Clark,
either. This isn't the general's first whopper.
Last June, the latest Democratic candidate for
president implied that he ‘got a call’ on 9/11 from
‘people around the White House’ asking the general
to publicly link Saddam Hussein to the attacks on
the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Last August,
Clark told a Phoenix radio station that ‘The
White House actually back in February apparently
tried to get me knocked off CNN and they wanted to
do this because they were afraid that I would raise
issues with their conduct of the war.’ Like his
other two statements, Clark's latest tale bears
little resemblance to reality. While it turns
out Clark did receive a call ‘on either Sept.
12 or Sept. 13,’ the call wasn't from the White
House. It was from Israeli-Canadian Middle East
expert Thomas Hecht, who told the Toronto Star that
he called to invite Clark to give a speech in
Canada. As for Clark's accusation that the White
House tried to have him fired from CNN -- well, the
general admits he has no proof. ‘I've only
heard rumors about it,’ he said. Skeptics of
Clark's candidacy argue that the general's
political inexperience makes him an unknown in the
primary race. Was Clark's latest slip simply
proof of his political naivete? Did he not recognize
that his words would be taken seriously? And
what does it say about Clark that he would
have declared himself a Republican if only he had a
chance to chat with Karl Rove? Clark may yet
make a serious contender for the Democratic
nomination. But if he keeps spinning yarns, he'll
end up as the H. Ross Perot of the Democratic party.”
… “Dean takes his anti-GOP message to
Boston, the birthplace of democracy” – headline
on wbz1030.com (Boston). The ex-frontrunner
mentions “King George” and Rush Limbaugh during
“raucous rally.” Excerpt from AP coverage: “Howard
Dean brought his anti-Republican message to the
birthplace of democracy, invoking historic events
from the Boston Tea Party to the creation of the
Bill of Rights in criticizing the Bush
administration and Republican politicians as threats
to American ideals. Bostonians of the
Revolutionary War period stood up to tyranny and can
do so again, Dean said at a raucous rally in
Boston's Copley Plaza. ’They had a king named
George who had forgotten his people and only
listened to special interest,’ he said, drawing
cheers from the thousands of onlookers, some
carrying signs that read ‘Beantown is Deantown,’ and
‘Harvard 4 Howard.’…’The extreme right wing has
shown nothing but contempt for democracy,'’ Dean
said. Pointing to a flag on the platform, he said,
‘This flag does not belong to Rush Limbaugh, Jerry
Falwell, John Ashcroft, Tom DeLay and Dick Cheney.
This flag belongs to us and we want our country.’
Rebecca Aveo, a 27-year-old Harvard Law student,
said Dean was ‘gutsier’ than other
candidates. ‘He's not afraid to draw distinction
between himself and Bush unlike the others who try
to be just like Bush. He made that point and I like
that,’ she said. Dean set his speech in the
city that will play host to the Democratic National
Convention next summer and also is the hometown of a
top rival for the nomination: Massachusetts Sen.
John Kerry, who has a home a short distance
away on Beacon Hill. Boston news stations also
consider New Hampshire a key primary for
presidential candidates a major market for their
telecasts. A one-time Yankees fan, who said
recently that he switched allegiance to the Red Sox
after ace Roger Clemens beaned Mets catcher Mike
Piazza, Dean began by doffing a Red Sox cap.
Directing his comments to Yankees owner George
Steinbrenner, Dean said: ‘Eat your heart
out.’ Dean and Kerry have been
battling in New Hampshire for months, with Dean
currently holding about a 10-point lead in the polls
in the state with a presidential primary tentatively
set for Jan. 27.” … Finally…a candidate is expected to show
up at the Draft Clark offices in New Hampshire.
From AP report: “Nearly three months after its grand
opening, the campaign office set up for retired Gen.
Wesley Clark in New Hampshire finally will
get a visit from the candidate. The details still
are being worked out, but local organizer Jim
Normand said the Democratic presidential hopeful
will be in New Hampshire for two days later this
week. The tentative schedule includes a rally at
the Draft Clark 2004 office in Dover.
Other likely will highlight Clark's positions
on alternative transportation, affordable housing
and veterans issues, Normand said Monday. Clark,
who announced his candidacy Wednesday, is the 10th
Democrat seeking the nomination.” … Clark begins second week as a wannabe
after mixed reviews during the first week.
Headline from today’s Union Leader: “Clark’s
first weeks excites, concerns Democrats” Excerpt
from report by AP political campaign ace Ron
Fournier: “Wesley Clark's week-old campaign is
off to a slow start, staggered by miscues but still
drawing crowds of dreamy Democrats who hope the
retired general can defeat a wartime president. His
impact on the 2004 race was immediate. The
little-known Clark vaulted to the top of national
polls, underscoring President Bush's vulnerabilities
and the desire by some Democrats to find a four-star
alternative to what they say is an uninspiring
original cast. Despite the high national rating,
Democrats said Tuesday they would give Clark
poor or incomplete grades for his first week. Until
he fleshes out his views on the Iraq war -- not to
mention domestic policies - activists in Iowa, New
Hampshire, South Carolina and other early voting
states told The Associated Press they can't be sure
whether their hopes in Clark were misplaced.
‘On the upside, there has certainly been a lot of
interest generated in him,’ said Phil Roeder, former
spokesman for the Iowa Democratic Party who now runs
the political operation for a Des Moines law firm.
‘The downside is when you have somebody who is a
highly experienced leader in the military but every
bit a rookie when it comes to electoral politics,
you are going to hit some bumps in the road and make
some mistakes along the way,’ Roeder said. Clark
stumbled from the start. The day before he
entered the race, the Arkansan acknowledged that he
had much to learn about domestic policy. His
announcement address was brief, lacked substance and
left some Democrats wondering why he didn't say
more. On the first full day of his campaign,
Clark's aides said he would attend this Thursday's
presidential debate. Then they said no. Then they
said yes. The candidate himself surprised
anti-war supporters by saying he probably would have
voted for the Bush-backed Iraq resolution. Reversing
course a day later, Clark said, ‘I would
never have voted for this war.’” … If Gephardt is going to get the
treasured union endorsement, why is one of New
York’s most politically active unions hosting a
reception for Dean? Headline from this morning’s
Union Leader: “Dean gets financial assistance
from union” Report – an excerpt – by AP’s
Jennifer Freidlin: “The head of one of New York
state's most politically powerful labor unions put
his fund-raising muscle behind former Vermont Gov.
Howard Dean, hosting a reception Tuesday that raised
about $30,000 for the Democratic presidential
hopeful. ‘We have been incredibly impressed with
him (Dean) and particularly his campaign,’ union
boss Dennis Rivera told a crowd of about 100 union
members gathered at the headquarters of Local 1199,
Service Employees International Union. ‘One of
the things that Governor Dean is doing is basically
campaigning dramatically hard to try and bring more
people into the equation and almost changing the way
that American politics (is done).’ Stressing his
support for a national health insurance program and
the need to create new jobs, Dean told those
gathered that he shares many of the union's
concerns. ‘The SEIU is the labor union that has an
intersection with the two things that I care about
the most,’ Dean said. ‘The first is health
care and the second is the rights and ability of
low-income workers to earn a decent living.’ Dean
said that what the SEIU has done more than any other
labor union is ‘organize those people who need the
most help.’ During the reception, Dean also
highlighted his position against school vouchers and
his stance against the war in Iraq -- both of which
were applauded by the audience. Although the
reception was held at union headquarters, officials
said Rivera's support did not amount to a formal
union endorsement for Dean. ‘It's a sign we
are impressed and intrigued by the Dean
campaign and their ability to mobilize people and
contributions, and we're trying to do what we can to
be helpful,’ said Jennifer Cunningham, Rivera's top
political adviser and executive director of the
health care workers' union, which has more than
200,000 members.” … The two faces of Wesley Clark: Is he a
certifiable wannabe or, as Counterpunch.org
suggests, a “war criminal?” In yesterday’s “Best
of the Web Today” on OpinionJournal.com – under the
subhead: “Is Clark Winning?” – James Taranto
reported: “The press has been trumpeting a new
CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll showing Wesley Clark
beating President Bush, 49% to 46%. But a look at
the poll results makes us suspicious. For one thing,
it is a survey of ‘1,003 National Adults’--not
registered voters or likely voters. Casting a
net this wide tends to oversample Democratic voters,
and sure enough, 480, or just under 48%, of those
who answered the poll describe themselves as
Democrats or ‘Democrat-leaners.’ That's just a
percentage point less than the 49% Clark
gets. What's more, only 52% of those polled have an
opinion of Clark (39% favorable, 13%
unfavorable), so this is almost the equivalent of a
poll pitting Bush against an ‘unnamed Democrat.’
Will Clark wear well when Americans -- or, for that
matter, Democrats -- get to know him? There's
another possible problem for Clark, should he get
the nomination: He is not liked on the lunatic
fringes of the left. For example, this
Counterpunch.org piece calls him a ‘major war
criminal.’ The lunatic left is a tiny sliver of the
electorate; we're talking about the kind of people
who thought Bill Clinton should have been impeached
for bombing that aspirin factory in Sudan. But as
Ralph Nader showed in 2000, a small segment of the
electorate can make a difference in a close race.
These people may be able to stomach Howard Dean, but
with Nader apparently ready to run again, it seems
unlikely they'd hold their noses and vote for Clark.”
* ON THE BUSH BEAT:
… After attracting weekend headlines with
criticism of GWB on Iraq policies, Teddy opens new
anti-Bush initiative on clear air standards.
From report – an excerpt – by Kay Lazar in
yesterday’s Boston Herald: “Warning that mercury
pollution from the nation's power plants is
contaminating fish and seriously damaging public
health, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy joined top lawmakers
along Boston Harbor yesterday to blast President
Bush's plans for clean air rules. ‘Seventy one
percent of the coastlines and 82 percent of
estuaries are polluted with fish that are too
dangerous to eat,’ Kennedy (D-Mass.) said. ‘We will
not stand for an administration that continues to
weaken protections for our children.’ Bush is
under attack by environmentalists, who accuse him of
rolling back pollution control requirements at power
plants and other industrial facilities under his
‘Clear Skies’ proposal. Coal-fired power plants
are the biggest source of mercury emissions,
according to the federal Environmental Protection
Agency. The mercury settles into water, and health
experts say mercury-contaminated fish can cause
birth defects. ‘Unfortunately, the Bush
administration appears less interested in protecting
mothers and children from mercury poisoning, and
more interested in protecting the polluters' bottom
line,’ said Sen. Jim Jeffords (Ind.-Vt.), lead
sponsor of a proposal to strengthen federal clean
air rules. Jeffords is a ranking member of the
Senate Environmental Committee, which begins
hearings today on Bush's nominee, Utah Gov. Mike
Leavitt, to head the federal Environmental
Protection Agency. On Friday, Gov. Mitt Romney
announced new proposals to significantly reduce
mercury emissions from four coal-fired power plants
in Massachusetts. However, Massachusetts and the
rest of New England gets socked by pollution from
Midwestern plants that blows in on prevailing winds.” * THE
CLINTON COMEDIES: *
NATIONAL POLITICS: *
MORNING SUMMARY: *
WAR/TERRORISM: … From the Korean Front – Headline
from VOANews.com (Voice of America): “N. Korea
Rejects IAEA Resolution” Report from VOA’s Amy
Bickers: “North Korea has rejected a resolution
by the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency, or
IAEA, asking the communist state to stop developing
nuclear weapons. The reaction comes while
efforts are being made to arrange a second round of
talks on the nuclear issue. The official Korean
Central News Agency said Tuesday that North Korea
has nothing to do with the International Atomic
Energy Agency, and denounced last week's resolution.
The report described the IAEA as a ‘political
waiting maid’ of the United States. North Korea
blames Washington for the dispute over its efforts
to build nuclear weapons, saying it needs the
weapons to protect itself from the United States.
In a resolution passed Friday in Vienna, the IAEA
asked North Korea to ‘completely dismantle’ its
nuclear weapons development. It also urged
Pyongyang to ‘accept comprehensive IAEA safeguards’
and cooperate with the agency in implementing them.
But the isolated communist country, which withdrew
from the nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty nine
months ago, says the resolution ‘does not deserve
even a passing note.’ The dispute over North Korea's
nuclear ambitions began a year ago, when U.S.
officials said Pyongyang admitted having a nuclear
weapons program in violation of several
international accords.” *
FEDERAL ISSUES: … “Marriage law
eyed for GOP platform” – headline from
yesterday’s Washington Times. Excerpt from report by
the Times Ralph Z. Hallow: “Republicans are
prepared to oppose homosexual ‘marriage’ in their
national platform, Republican National Committee
Chairman Ed Gillespie said yesterday. ‘There is
a lot of energy out there, a lot of concern about
gay marriage,’ Mr. Gillespie said. ‘So it wouldn't
surprise me if it were addressed in some form or
fashion in the platform.’ He accused homosexual
activists of intolerance and bigotry by attempting
to force the rest of the population to accept alien
moral standards. As a result, ‘tolerance is no
longer defined as my accepting people for who they
are,’ the RNC chairman said. ‘Many of us who are
practicing Catholics deal with [other people´s
homosexuality] in our own fashion,’ Mr. Gillespie
said. ‘I accept people for who they are -- and love
them. That doesn't mean I have to agree or turn my
back on the tenets of my faith when it comes to
homosexuality.’ He said, "I think when people say,
'Well, no, that's not enough that you accept me for
who I am, you have to agree with — and condone — my
choice,' that to me is religious bigotry, and I
believe that's intolerant. I think they are the ones
who are crossing a line here. On the other hand, he
said, ‘when people are free to pursue the choices
that they want in the privacy of their home, that's
tolerance.’ The plank being considered for the
Republican national platform, Mr. Gillespie said,
would be in the form of a proposed amendment to the
Constitution. The language would define marriage as
a monogamous, heterosexual union, and would forbid
states from legalizing homosexual ‘marriages.’
Such a plank is expected to energize the
conservative base of Republican voters. Party
strategists are counting on conservatives to ensure
the re-election of President Bush. A Wirthlin
Worldwide poll of 1,000 adults earlier this year
reported that six out of 10 Americans believed that
only marriage between a man and a woman should be
recognized legally and that 57 percent supported a
constitutional amendment to that effect. The poll
also found that 56 percent of voters would be more
likely to vote for a candidate who backed such an
amendment. Republicans' decision on such a plank
may turn on a ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme
Judicial Court, Mr. Gillespie said. Homosexual
couples have brought suit against Massachusetts
claiming violation of their 14th Amendment rights to
equal protection for the state's refusal to
recognize same-sex ‘marriages.’…’My sense is that
all these things are being considered and weighed
right now and will be decided on if and when the
Massachusetts Supreme Court rules,’ Mr. Gillespie
said.” *
TODAY’S IOWA LINKS: -- Des Moines Register:
www.DesMoinesRegister.com -- Quad-City Times:
www.QCTimes.com -- Radio Iowa/Learfield Communications:
www.radioiowa.com -- VOANews (Voice of America):
www.VOAnews.com -- Sioux City Journal:
www.siouxcityjournal.com -- WHO Radio (AM1040), Des Moines:
www.whoradio.com -- New York Times:
www.nytimes.com -- WBZ Radio (AM1030). Boston:
www.wbz1030.com -- Washington Times:
www.washingtontimes.com -- Omaha World-Herald:
www.omaha.com -- WMT Radio (AM600), Cedar Rapids:
www.wmtradio.com -- The Union Leader:
www.theunionleader.com -- WHO-TV, Des Moines:
www.whotv.com -- Chicago Tribune:
www.chicagotribune.com -- Various morning and midday newscasts from
around IA.
click here
Paid
for by the Iowa Presidential Watch PAC
P.O.
Box 171, Webster City, IA 50595
privacy
/ agreement
/
/ homepage
/
search engine |
