International money buying election influence

The Drudge Report is breaking a story on how MoveOn.org is raising money from outside the United States:

Frustrated with the lack of domestic support, left-leaning website MoveOn.org has apparently been reaching beyond American borders to generate cash revenue over the internet! The provocative international fundraising strategy threatens to embroil the presidential candidacies of General Wesley Clark and former Vermont Governor Howard Dean. Both men are named on international fundraising websites suggesting donations to MoveOn.org.

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Meanwhile, MoveOn.org, which has been running ads critical of the Bush Administration, has named an "International Campaigns Director," the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

It is not clear how much money has been raised -- to date-- from foreign sources, but political websites from London to Portugal to Montreal are directing their citizens to stop the American president George Bush by donating to MoveOn.org!

Wesley Clark's official campaign website has been offering a link to "Canada For Clark", which in turn advises Canadians: "Non-Americans can't by law, give money to any particular candidate's campaign. But we can support pro-democracy, progressive American organizations like MoveOn.org, which do their best to spread the ugly truth about Bush and publicize the Democratic message. Click here to donate to MoveOn.org."

The top traffic referrer to CanadaForClark.com is Clark's Official Campaign Website.

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Dean04Worldwide.com is a noncommercial and volunteer website offered by Corinne Sinclair, a non-US citizen, based in London. Domain registration information indicates the website name servers are owned by PromoHosting.com, a website hosting service based in Portugal. Dean04Worldwide.com encourages non-Americans across the global to help Dean win the 2004 election.

A notice on the website explains how to provide funds to MoveOn.org, since non-Americans cannot donate directly to the Dean campaign.

Late last week, a Swedish website removed an "EU-MoveOn.org Fundraising Appeal," claiming MoveOn.org "No Longer Accepts Contributions From Non US Citizens/Permanent Resident Aliens."

Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, who has been headlining moveone.org events, is said to have vocalized serious concerns about the website accepting cash from foreign sources, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

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"To avoid even the appearance of impropriety, we are not going to take contributions from overseas," Wes Boyd, one of the founders of MoveOn.org, explained this weekend. Boyd refused to disclose how much revenue had already been generated abroad. (12/16/2003)

Absurdity

President Bush broke his discipline and responded to Howard Dean’s theory that Bush had advance warning from Saudi Arabia of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, suggesting Bush knew what was going to happen and did nothing to stop it.

"It's an absurd insinuation," said President Bush. (12/16/2003)

Diane Sawyer’s interview

Diane Sawyer in an interview with President Bush on Primetime, at 8 p.m. ET, reports on Bush’s reactions to the capture of Saddam Hussein and the War on Terrorism:

Bush said the capture of the elusive Iraqi leader did not mark a sense of finality for him. "The only thing that's final about it is that the Iraqi people don't have to worry about Saddam ever again. But there's no finality for me. There's a lot more to be done in Iraq." However, he felt this was a "joyous moment for the Iraqi people."

The United States should continue to play a leading role in the war on terror, which is the ultimate challenge of the 21st century, said Bush. "My job is to do everything I can to protect America and Americans," he said.

The U.S. must achieve objectives in the war on terror, while also honoring the memories of those who have died by terror's rule. Bush told Sawyer he made a pledge at Ground Zero in New York City to never forget the lessons of freedom and his solemn duty to protect the country.

When asked if there is any price that was too high to pay for freedom in Iraq, Bush responded the U.S. and its coalition partners should not stop until they reach their objectives. "The way to dishonor fallen soldiers is to quit too early," he said. (12/16/2003)

Candidate Bush

The NY Times covers the question of when is Bush going to announce his candidacy. The issue came up as Bush repeated that politics could wait:

"It's a tough balancing act," said David Winston, a Republican pollster. "When you announce, you become a candidate and you officially enter the political fray. On the other hand, the velocity and level of the animus from the Democrats have created a political dynamic earlier than we have seen before."

The Times also points out the last President running for President never announced his candidacy:

In contrast, Mr. Clinton never stood up and said he was a candidate in 1996 — a strategy, his aides said later, to hold him out of the line of partisan fire as long as possible. (12/16/2003)

Poll watching

The CBS NY Times poll shows vast improvement in President Bush’s numbers. Poll numbers ending Dec. 15 had Bush approval rating at 45% and disapproval at 47%. After the capture of Hussein the numbers were approve 52% and disapprove 38%. The question of whether the war was going well went from 47% to 64%.

The Wall Street Journal/NBC poll taken Saturday pegged Bush's approval rating at 52%. When a similar number of people were surveyed Sunday, the day Saddam Hussein's arrest was made public, Bush's rating had soared to 58%.

Americans said that the war in Iraq has made the United States more secure by a 62%-to-32% margin. In September, only 52% thought the war in Iraq had made the U.S. safer. This is in contrast to Dean’s statement that Saddam's capture did not make America safer.

The country believes by a 76% margin that we are likely to succeed in Iraq, up from 72% before the capture.

Dean was favored for the party's nomination before and after Saddam's capture by at least 25% of Democrats. That was more than double the take for either Wesley Clark or Rep. Dick Gephardt, Dean's two closest rivals. (12/17/2003)

Knee problems

White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters traveling to North Carolina on Wednesday the president would undergo the MRI exams on both knees during a previously scheduled visit to Walter Reed Medical Center to meet with wounded U.S. troops. Asked if Bush would be willing to undergo surgery before the election next November, McClellan said, "Let's let the MRI take place." (12/17/2003)

"Do you suppose that the Bush administration has Osama bin Laden hidden away somewhere and will bring him out before the election?" Madeleine Albright, the secretary of state in the Clinton administration, said. (12/18/2003)

Bush bedevils Democrats

Tina Brown writes in a column in the Washington Post about Democrats’ tough times. She recounts going to a party where Democrats were gloating before learning about the capture of Saddam Hussein:

The night before the announcement of Saddam's capture (round about the time that the tyrant was having a flashlight shone up his nose) I was at a media-heavy Manhattan dinner party that vividly dramatized the pre-spider hole mood. The guests -- mostly Democrats, with a smattering of moderate Republicans -- were unanimously kissing off Bush. It had been a particularly obnoxious week for a crowd that favors a more metrosexual approach to foreign relations: The Pentagon had displayed its upraised middle finger to France, Germany and Russia just as James Baker was due to leave for the Continent to romance the Euros into forgiving Iraq's debt. From appetizer to espresso, the guests bemoaned the administration's crudeness, incompetence and dangerous lack of diplomatic finesse.

Twelve hours later the same people looked at their Democratic choices for president and wanted to scream. It was no surprise to see Bush's poll numbers jump, but staggering how quickly even prominent Democrats around town declared their party to be toast. Any headway made by the candidates over long months of practice and message-honing was blown away in an instant by the mug shots of the shaggy perp from Tikrit, abetted by Baker's polished smile of success in Paris and Berlin. (12/18/2003)

She also writes about Hillary -- see today’s Clinton Comedies. (12/18/2003)

Bush presents purple hearts

President Bush visiting Walter Reed Hospital honored wounded soldiers and thanked the medical staff, which has treated 2,100 patients from the Iraq. Bush was also a patient, having an MRI of his knees while there. Bush was also expected to visit Secretary of State Colin Powell following his prostrate surgery.

In his visit with about 20 physical therapy outpatients and their relatives, he planned to honor some with Purple Hearts, the military award for wounded service members.(12/18/2003)

Civil unions

Bush took some heat from those opposing gay marriages for being ambiguous in his statement regarding support of civil unions. Bush, in an interview on ABC’s Prime Time, left some question as to whether he supported civil unions:

"whatever legal arrangements people want to make." Asked specifically about civil unions, he said it is a state issue "unless judicial rulings undermine the sanctity of marriage."

Gary Bauer is quoted in the Washington Times as saying:

"What the president said is confusing, and some will find it hard to distinguish from Howard Dean, who supported domestic partnerships in Vermont at the state level," said Gary Bauer, president of American Values, a conservative interest group. (12/18/2003)

Web editing

Iowans for Bush 2004

Poll watching

Building an army

Bush in 30 seconds

IPW has frequently reported on the Robert Greenwald movie that MoveOn.org is circulating. Now, Reuters has a story as well. They report how some 50,000 copies have been sold, raising nearly $800,000, since the campaign began in November:

The 56-minute film, "Uncovered: The Whole Truth about the Iraq War," concludes that President Bush and his team distorted intelligence data and misled the American public ahead of the March invasion that toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein.

Greenwald has bypassed movie theaters and television, and instead has organized "parlor screenings" in thousands of homes across the United States with the help of Internet-based liberal advocacy group, MoveOn.org.

What is not reported on is MoveOn.org’s new advertising campaign ad competition:

When we announced the launch of our "Bush in 30 Seconds" ad contest back in October, we expected maybe 300 people would take the time to make a TV ad that tells the truth about President Bush. But when we reached the submissions deadline in early December, we had over 1,000 ads -- including some of the best political ads we've ever seen.

Now, we're counting on you to help us narrow the field from over 1,000 ads to 15 finalists. Our panel of celebrity judges will pick the winning ad from among those finalists, and we'll run it in January during the week of Bush's State of the Union address. All 15 of the top ads will be featured in a Bush in 30 Seconds awards show at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York on January 12th. (12/20/2003)

The Bush approach

But Bush's supporters say it is precisely his willingness to go it alone and take preemptive action that has encouraged other countries to seek diplomatic solutions before the United States launches a military attack. The Libya and Iran concessions "show the peripheral benefit of preemption," said Kenneth Adelman, a Reagan administration arms control official who now serves on a Pentagon advisory panel. "Most of all it scares the bejesus out of rogue dictators." As for stubborn allies such as Jacques Chirac and Gerhard Schroeder, "they pay more attention when there's a forceful U.S. policy," Adelman said. (12/21/2003)

Economy ok

The Associated Press reports a poll indicates 55 percent of registered voters said they approve of Bush's handling of the economy and 43 percent disapproved. That is Bush's best number on this measure since the third quarter of 2002, though he briefly came close to this level — at 52 percent — last July. A month ago, 46 percent approved and 51 percent disapproved of Bush on the economy.  (12/22/2003)

"I will do whatever the Americans want because I saw what happened in Iraq, and I was afraid," Mr. Gadhafi told Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, according to a Berlusconi spokesman who was quoted in yesterday's Telegraph of London.  

"U.S. strategy is widely accused of being unilateralist by design," Mr. Powell wrote. "It isn't. It is often accused of being imbalanced in favor of military methods. It isn't. It is frequently described as being obsessed with terrorism and hence biased toward preemptive war on a global scale. It most certainly is not."  (12/23/2003)

Bush up in Washington Post-ABC poll

Americans expressed greater confidence in the President’s handling of Iraq with 60 percent approving of how he is dealing with events there, compared with 48 percent in mid-November, and 59 percent said the war was worth fighting, up six points in a week. 51 percent approve of Bush's performance, the first time he has been above 50 percent since late April. The new poll found that 42 percent of Americans rate the economy as "good" or "excellent," up from 33 percent in late October. The percentage who rate the economy as "not so good" or "poor" (57 percent) is the lowest since just before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Dean gains

Asked to choose among the nine candidates for the Democratic nomination, 31 percent of registered Democrats said they favored Dean, up from 20 percent a week ago and 15 percent in October. No other Democrat reached double digits. Although he is known as the candidate of the antiwar Democrats, Dean draws roughly equal support from Democrats who believe that the war in Iraq was not worth the cost and from those who believe it was, another sign of his broadening support. A solid majority (60 percent) of Democrats continue to say they believe the United States should not have gone to war.

Dean loses

When all respondents were asked who they would trust more with national security, 67 percent said Bush and 21 percent said Dean. When asked who they would trust more to handle domestic issues like Social Security, health care and education, they picked Bush by 50 percent to 39 percent. (12/23/2003)

President’s response to terror

"American citizens need to go about their lives but as they do so, they need to know that governments at all levels are working as hard as we possibly can to protect the American citizens," said President Bush. (12/23/2003)

Report critical

The Washington Post cited its source as saying that the board believes the White House was so anxious "to grab onto something affirmative" about Saddam's nuclear ambitions that it disregarded warnings from the intelligence community that the claim was questionable. The source said at the time there was no organized system at the White House to screen intelligence, and the informal system that was followed did not work in the case of the State of the Union speech, the newspaper reported. (12/24/2003)

Bush strategy

The NY Times reports on the Bush campaign:

Some are suddenly seeing a beauty in Dean that they hadn't seen before," Hess said. "Others are still concerned that he will be easy pickings for George W. Bush."

As the second part of a two-part strategy, Mr. Bush's aides said, the president will set out upbeat themes and policy ideas, starting with the State of the Union address on Jan. 20. That would be part of a drive to buttress what polls show is a growing feeling among voters that the country is on the right track. The goal, Mr. Bush's advisers said, is to make the election more about the nation's success in confronting great challenges than about Mr. Bush personally. (12/26/2003)

"I intend to vote for President George W. Bush in the next election, because in my view, he is best able to wage the war against international terrorism," former Mayor Ed Koch said in a commentary for Bloomberg radio.

(12/26/2003)

Congressional recess appointments

The President has the power granted by the Constitution to make appointments in the absence of the Congress. During this time President Bush has appointed the following who will serve unless Congress -- when it reconvenes -- rejects the nominees. The appointments are:
    •Albert Casey of Texas, to be a governor of the U.S. Postal Service. Mr. Bush initially nominated Mr. Casey on March 4, 2002.
    •Bradley D. Belt of Washington, to be a member of the Social Security Advisory Board. The president nominated Mr. Belt on Sept. 3, 2003.
    •Raymond Simon, the former director of the Arkansas Department of Education, to be assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education at the Education Department. Mr. Bush nominated Mr. Simon on Sept. 22, 2003.
    •Gay Hart Gaines of Florida, to be a member of the board of directors of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The president nominated Mrs. Gaines on Nov. 17, 2003. Mrs. Gaines is a major donor to Republican causes and candidates. She gave $1,000 to Mr. Bush's presidential campaign in 2000 and again this year, and has given tens of thousands more to Republican National Committee campaign accounts.
    •Claudia Puig of Florida, to be a member of the board of directors of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Mr. Bush first nominated Miss Puig on Jan. 9, 2003. Miss Puig gave the maximum allowable donation to Mr. Bush's re-election campaign this year.
    •Fayza Veronique Boulad Rodman of Washington, to be a Member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors. The president nominated Miss Rodman on Oct. 24, 2003.
    •Cynthia Boich of California, to be a member of the board of directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service. Mr. Bush nominated Miss Boich on Sept. 23, 2003. She donated money to one-time Bush presidential rivals John McCain and Bob Smith.
    •Dorothy A. Johnson of Michigan, to be a member of the board of directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service. Mr. Bush nominated Ms. Johnson on Sept. 23, 2003.
    •Henry Lozano of California, to be a member of the board of directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service. The president nominated Mr. Lozano on Sept. 23, 2003.
    •Ronald E. Meisburg of Virginia, to be a member of the National Labor Relations Board. Mr. Bush nominated Mr. Meisburg on Nov. 20, 2003.
    •Clark Kent Ervin of Texas, to be inspector general, Homeland Security Department. The president nominated Mr. Ervin on Jan. 10, 2003, and he has served as interim inspector general.
    •Robert Lerner of Maryland, to be commissioner of education statistics at the Education Department. The president nominated Mr. Lerner on June 3, 2003. (12/27/2003)

Mrs. Bush said: "American people expect our leaders and all politicians who are here to do America's business, you know, to work together, to do what's right for our country. And it happens."

"We are grateful for the courage and commitment of our troops, and we are safer because of their skill and sacrifice," President Bush said.

"The American people recognize there is a lot of partisan posturing going on in the Democratic primary right now. The president, on the other hand, is acting to protect public health and acting to make sure our food supply is safe," said White House press secretary Scott McClellan.

(12/29/2003)

Bush’s chances

"If in the battleground states there's a continued loss of industrial jobs, and if we have a Democratic candidate who can use that effectively in places like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Oregon, then Bush may be in trouble," said James Thurber, a presidential scholar at American University, reports USA Today on Bush’s chances of winning reelection. The story by and large points out that Bush is in good shape:

Democrats are emphasizing job losses, shortcomings in the new prescription drug bill, meager funds for schools, and tax cuts they claim are too beneficial to the wealthy.

For now, Republicans, while warning against complacency, are not taking such criticisms too seriously.

"On the two issues that matter the most, national security and economic security, Bush is winning. And no Democratic rhetoric or spin will undermine that," said GOP pollster Frank Luntz. (12/29/2003)

Democrat anger

The NY Times covers the issue of the Democrat Party’s anger:

But as the Republicans tell the story, the Democrats' animosity is less a question of being mad as hell than of having anger issues. Conservative commentators analyze the Democrats' problems in therapeutic terms that they would once have derided as Marin County psychobabble.

Charles Krauthammer talks about "the unhinging of the Democratic Party," as it passes from "from partisanship to pathology," and David Brooks describes Democrats as "caught up in their own victimization." In one of his last columns before his death, Robert L. Bartley of The Wall Street Journal located the "subconscious roots'' of Democrats' anger in a crisis of self-identity, compounded by "inner doubts about their own moral position" after the Clinton scandals.

Hence the picture of the Democrats pitched into a fever of self-destructive rancor, as disdain for Mr. Bush gives way to "a hatred that is near pathological," in Mr. Krauthammer's words. Or, as Mr. Gillespie puts it, the Democrats have demeaned the presidency with "political hate speech" - "harsh, bitter personal attacks . . . unprecedented in the history of presidential politics." (12/29/2003)

Conservatives upset?

The Washington Times has a story that explores the question of whether fiscal conservatives are going to support President Bush:

"I'm hearing a lot of anger," says Richard Viguerie, the guru of conservative political direct mail. "I'm beginning, for the first time, [to hear] people talk about 'it would not be the worst thing in the world if Howard Dean were president,' because the size of government would stay still rather than increase 50 percent under a second Bush administration."

The poll numbers show that Bush has unparalleled support from Republicans at this time. The story also suggests that the problem is not at the grass roots:

Don Devine, vice chairman of the American Conservative Union and the editor of the new online journal, says for now, the discontent is mostly at the level of conservative leaders and hasn't trickled through to grass-roots voters.

"Right now, I don't think the disquiet — even though it's real and substantial — I don't think it has anything to do with the way they'll vote," he says.

One of the keys to the upcoming election is the approximate 4 million evangelical voters who did not vote in the last election. (12/30/2003)

"In 24 months the United States defeated two of the most hideous regimes in modern memory. For all the sorrow involved, it has already made progress in the unthinkable: bringing consensual government into the heart of Middle Eastern autocracy, where there has been no political heritage other than tyranny, theocracy and dictatorship." -- Victor Davis Hanson writes at National Review Online (www.nationalreview.com). (12/31/2003)

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