In other news today...
Posted: Monday, March 12, 2007 8:59 AM by Mark Murray
Filed Under:
Democrats, Republicans
From NBC's Mark Murray
In other news today, Rudy Giuliani holds a press conference in DC at 9:30 am ET; former Sen. Fred Thompson (R) says he’s thinking about a possible White House bid; and Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., does Jon Stewart’s “Daily Show.”
The Omaha World-Herald says that Hagel hasn’t given any clear clues about what he will announce at his press conference this morning. “Hagel, whose current Senate term is up after 2008, could set up a presidential exploratory committee, delay a formal campaign until later or bow out of the White House race. Some have even speculated that he might run as an independent, although he previously seemed to rule that out. Working in his favor, it is still early in the 2008 contest… Some political analysts say there is room for another candidate to join the field.”
Now that perhaps some 20-odd states are considering holding their primaries on February 5, 2008, the New York Times examines how this is possibly upending the presidential nominating process. “Aides to the candidates said they were debating whether the changes would mean that the nominations would effectively be settled on Feb. 5, by which point easily 50 percent of the delegates are likely to have been chosen, or whether a few strong candidates would divide the Feb. 5 take, forcing the campaign to stretch on for months. That could, oddly enough, make those fewer states sticking to later primaries vital players in the election cycle.”
In a new AP-Ipsos poll released over the weekend, 55% said that honesty, integrity, and other values of character are the most important qualities they look for in a presidential candidate. Just a third look first at issues, and even fewer consider first leadership, intelligence, or experience.
The Washington Post looks at the early sparring between Clinton and Obama. “[E]ach campaign has increasingly fixated on the other, engaging in a shadowboxing match in which they intentionally cross paths but dodge to avoid each other's subtle jabs. With an intensity unusual for this stage of the campaign the two are indirectly engaging, invading each other's terrain and going to great lengths to contrast their candidacies.”
While Giuliani has pledged to appoint “strict constructionists” to the courts if he’s elected president, the Los Angeles Times reports that “some prominent conservatives are saying that Giuliani's record as mayor undermines that promise. In his eight years leading New York City, they say, Giuliani appointed a number of judges who did not appear to fit the conservative mold.”
The AP writes that former Sen. (and “Law and Order” actor) Fred Thompson is seriously thinking about a presidential bid. “‘I'm giving some thought to it, going to leave the door open.’” More: “‘I'm just going to wait and see what happens,’ Thompson added. ‘I wanted to see how my colleagues who are on the campaign trail do now -- what they say, what they emphasize, what they're addressing and how successful they are in doing that, and whether or not they can carry the ball in next November.’”
And Sen. Chuck Schumer (D) yesterday called for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to step down from his job. “The call … came as the Justice Department faced growing criticism over the ouster of eight United States attorneys and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s use of expanded surveillance powers to improperly obtain personal records of citizens.”
