IPW Daily Report – Monday, February 9, 2004
“[Tim] Russert is
a master of the legitimate gotcha question. I
admire his hard-nosed interviewing techniques. But
he must have checked them before passing through
the metal detectors at the White House.”
– writes The Nationa’s columnist David Corn
regarding Tim Russert’s Bush interview.
(full column)
"There has not been enough time for the
challengers to raise enough money, spend time on
the ground, or build upon free publicity because
they could not cover enough states in a short time
span," –
pollster Zogby, commenting on John Kerry’s
success.
“Kerry thinks people are dying to hear his
economic plan. In fact, the only economic plan
most male voters want to hear about is how Kerry
snookered two babes worth hundreds of millions of
dollars into marrying him….Kerry may as well start
giving out dating tips. He's running out of other
ideas.” – Ann
Coulter (click
here for column)
"No one would argue that John Kerry doesn't have a
great deal of momentum right now… at some point --
I know from my own experience because I had all
that momentum in December -- people are going to
say, 'Now, wait a minute. Let's take a closer
look." – wishful
words by Howard Dean.
*Kerry re-hashes Bush interview
*Dean re-hashes Bush interview
*Tennessee poll picks Kerry
*Kerry’s 3-state sweep
*Maine snows on Dean
*Tough act to follow
*Clark touts taxes in Tennessee
*Hillary just an afterthought
Kerry re-hashes Bush interview
Here are some quotes by John Kerry regarding
President Bush’s “Meet the Press” interview aired
yesterday on MSNBC:
On Iraq:
President Bush said that his decision to go to war
with Iraq when he did was because Saddam Hussein
had "the ability to make weapons."
This is a far cry from what the president and his
administration told the American people throughout
2002. Back then, President Bush repeatedly told
the American people that Saddam Hussein "has got
chemical weapons." They told us they could deploy
those weapons within 45 minutes to do injury to
our troops. They told us they had aerial vehicles
and the capacity to be able to deliver those
weapons through the air. And it was on that basis
that he sent American sons and daughters off to
war. Now the president is giving us a new reason
for sending people to war, and the problem is not
just that he is changing his story now.
It is that he, it appears, that he was telling the
American people stories in 2002. He told America
that Iraq had chemical weapons two months after
his own defense intelligence agency told him there
was, quote, no reliable information on whether
Iraq is producing and stockpiling chemical
weapons. I once again call on the president to
have a legitimate and immediate investigation into
the extraordinary failure of intelligence, or to
help explain to the American people whether there
was politics involved in the development of that
intelligence.
I respect the fact that the president has asked
for a commission that will look at all of the
intelligence agency. But that's not what Americans
asked for. What Americans asked for and what we
need is an explanation of what happened to our
intelligence.
On President Bush's Military Record:
I have always honored, and I will always honor,
anybody who serves anywhere. I've said since the
day I came back from Vietnam, that it was not an
issue to me if somebody chose to go to Canada, or
to go to jail, or to be a conscientious objector,
or to serve in the National Guard or elsewhere. I
honor that service. But that's not the issue here.
The issue here as I have heard it raised is, Was
he present and active, on duty in Alabama, at the
times he was supposed to be? I don't have the
answer to that question. And just because you get
an honorable discharge does not in fact answer
that question.
Dean re-hashes Bush interview
Here are some quotes by Howard Dean regarding
President Bush’s “Meet the Press” interview aired
yesterday on MSNBC:
On Iraq:
This president has some peculiar thing going on
about Saddam Hussein. There's no question that
he's a terrible person. There's now no question at
this point that he was never a threat to the
United States nor an imminent threat to the United
States. The president for whatever reason has not
been truthful with the American people about why
we went to war.
Whether he was deceived by his own intelligence or
the vice president's office, or whether he knew
that he wasn't being truthful to the American
people, we don't know. If there were a Democratic
Congress right now there would be a series of very
serious inquiries along the matter.
On the Intelligence Inquiry:
I think this commission needs to be a great deal
more independent than it is. If you were
investigating the fact that we went to war
apparently on false information, it seems to me
that you need an inquiry that is not appointed by
the president of the United States no matter how
good the people on it may be. They owe something
to the president of the United States. They owe
their appointment to the president of the United
States. The president of the United States sent
our troops to war.
Tennessee poll picks Kerry
John Edwards and Wesley Clark may have been
staking out Tennessee as their own sacred Southern
ground, but Massachusetts’s John Kerry is running
away with the holy land. Today’s Reuters, MSNBS,
Zogby poll shows Kerry with a 24-point lead over
John Edwards. The Tennessee Primary is tomorrow.
Why is Kerry so hot? Consensus seems to be that
Kerry’s the guy who can beat George W. Bush.
Frequently mentioned in this scenario are Kerry’s
Vietnam War medals (the ones he kept when he threw
the other guy’s medals over the White House fence,
back in Kerry’s Protest Daze…). But a better bet
on Kerry’s winning momentum is the layout of the
Democrat’s process of selection this election
cycle, namely, the condensed time frame of the
state primaries and caucuses. Here’s Zogby’s take
on the deal, according to
Reuters report:
Zogby said Kerry has been helped by the new
front-loaded Democratic nominating calendar, which
schedules contests in a dozen states right after
the traditional openers in Iowa and New Hampshire.
"There has not been enough time for the
challengers to raise enough money, spend time on
the ground, or build upon free publicity because
they could not cover enough states in a short time
span," Zogby said.
Other numbers from the Tennessee poll show
Sharpton at 2 percent and Kucinich with less than
one percent. The poll of 600 likely voters was
taken Saturday and Sunday and has a margin of
error of 4 percent.
Kerry’s 3-state sweep
John Kerry’s had a good weekend – no, make that a
great weekend. Winning convincingly in all three
state contests (Michigan, Washington and Maine),
the Massachusetts senator increased his delegate
count substantially as his rivals fell further
behind in the count.
With fifty percent of the vote in, the numbers
were evident: Kerry 45 percent, Dean 26 percent,
Kucinich 15 percent, John Edwards 9 percent and
Clark 4 percent. This puts Kerry’s delegate count
at 426, and Dean’s at 184. [Maine had 24 delegates
at stake.]
With primaries looming on Tuesday in Tennessee and
Virginia, and another on the 17th in Wisconsin,
the American Research Group polls show Kerry with
strong leads in all three states: 11 points over
Edwards and 12 over Clark in Tennessee; 13 points
over Edwards and 18 over Clark in Virginia; and 26
points over Clark and 31 over Edwards in
Wisconsin. Not to say that Kerry has this
nomination totally in the bag, though. With his
delegate count at 426 he still has 1,736 delegates
to go before he can officially claim the prize. It
takes 2s162 delegates to cinch the nomination –
out of a total pool of 4,322. But in the first 12
state contests, Kerry has come forth with 10 wins
and no strong challengers to his ascension.
Kerry’s rhetoric shows a candidate in full stride
– virtually ignoring his Democrat rivals, and
instead taking aim at the one rival he hopes to
beat… George W. Bush. Bush, on Meet the Press, was
questioned by Tim Russert about his supposed lack
of show in Alabama while in the National Guard.
One could almost hear the voice of Reagan…
there you go again… as Bush reiterated his
response. “Nooooo…” Afterall, this ground has been
covered exhaustively over the years – as Bush
himself pointed out to Russert:
"I served in the National Guard. I flew F-102
aircraft. I got an honorable discharge," Bush
said. "I've heard this — I've heard this ever
since I started running for office. I put in my
time, proudly so."
And Kerry, not known for his originality, took up
the Meet the Press item shortly after the
interview aired:
Kerry said Bush had not fully answered questions
about whether he fulfilled his National Guard
service in Alabama during the Vietnam War.
"The issue here is, as I have heard it raised, is
was he present and active in Alabama at the time
he was supposed to be," said Kerry, a decorated
Vietnam War veteran. "I don't have the answer to
that question and just because you get an
honorable discharge does not in fact answer that
question."
Maine snows on Dean
Sunday was the scene of yet another Democratic
party contest – this time the Maine caucuses --
and Howard Dean was in the state, pushing through
the snow to campaign. According to a
Reuters story, the once hot Howard fought the
cold to try and heat up his support there… but
with all polls showing John Kerry in a strong
lead, the former Vermont governor seemed likely to
suffer his 12th straight defeat in the battle for
the Dem nomination for president.
And he did. Kerry won the Maine contest easily,
with Dean straggling far behind in second place.
Dean is clearly making his stand, though, in
Wisconsin on February 17th. TV ads are airing in
that state today. Without a win in Wisconsin,
Dean’s campaign will be over. But according to the
Reuters story, many already think Dean should drop
out now:
A Time/CNN poll released on Saturday found that 49
percent of 1,000 people surveyed said Dean should
drop out, 39 percent said he should stay and 12
percent were uncertain.
The feisty-but-not-as-feisty-as-before former
governor told CBS on Sunday that is was too early
to concede the nomination to John Kerry:
"No one would argue that John Kerry doesn't have a
great deal of momentum right now," Dean said. But
"at some point -- I know from my own experience
because I had all that momentum in December --
people are going to say, 'Now, wait a minute.
Let's take a closer look."
"If I'm wrong, I'm wrong," Dean said. "I've said
clearly that I'm going to support John Kerry or
whoever wins the nomination because we need to
beat George Bush."
Tough act to follow
Democratic presidential candidate Al Sharpton gave
fellow Dem candidate John Edwards a tough act to
follow yesterday in Richmond, Virginia. Sharpton
preached down the glory cloud as he stumped and
spoke to the congregation at the Cedar Street
Baptist Church of God. Touting “timing” and “like
views” as the plumb line for voting, Sharpton
reminded worshippers that good things happen in
“God’s timing.” Obviously inspired, Reverend Al
had the congregation clapping, stomping and
singing to his message as the gospel bank backed
him up.
Then it was John Edwards’ turn in the pulpit.
Edwards spoke his piece, no doubt wishing the
boisterous Rev. Sharpton hadn’t set the bar quite
so high. But the congregation applauded politely
and Edwards was soon on his way – Edward had
arranged to speak at three area Baptist churches
as he campaigned in Virginia.
Clark touts taxes in Tennessee
Heading into the Tuesday primaries in Tennessee
and Virginia, Wesley Clark has turned to his tax
proposals to sway voters his way. Despite rival
polls showing him in a virtual tie with rival John
Kerry for the lead in Tennessee, Clark made clear
his belief he’d win there on Tuesday.
Appearing on CNN’s “Late Edition” yesterday, Clark
also repeated his stance of not accepting a vice
president spot, if offered to him, and asserted
his goal of staying in the race through "Super
Tuesday" March 2 – the 10 state primaries day.
Hillary just an afterthought
Remember the Big News? Hillary, nominated for a
Grammy award for her recording of “Living History”
– pitted against leftwing pitbull Al Franken for
his own recording of his book, “Lies and the Lying
Liars [blah blah blah}”?
Well, Sunday was the Big Grammy Night. And though
it was tainted by Janet Jackson’s nipple ring
debacle (the awards ceremony went on sans Janet),
certainly all of America’s press were waiting,
anxiously, to report the outcome of the showdown
between Hillary and Al…
Nope.
Who got the spotlight? Bill. That’s right -- Bill
Clinton. Bigger than life and splashed on Yahoo
via Rueters, AP, etc, etc, was the Big Victory of
Bill Clinton, winning a Grammy.
Did anyone even know he’d been nominated?
He was. It seems that a while back Bill, Mikhail
Gorbachev and Sophia Loren joined global forces to
record a children’s album called “Prokofiev: Peter
and the Wolf/Beintus: Wolf Tracks.”
Catchy title, huh.
What happened to Hillary? You’ll have to read long
and hard to find mention of her. By the way, she
lost to Al Franken.
Poor Hillary – still Bill’s afterthought. Do you
suppose she could just wring his neck???
