More oh-eight (R)
Posted: Monday, May 07, 2007 9:21 AM by Mark Murray
Filed Under:
Republicans
GINGRICH: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution does a semi-tongue-in-cheek report on the fact that Gingrich is no longer a Georgia resident; he lives in Northern Virginia.
Per NBC’s Abby Livingston, Gingrich made some interesting comments about the primary calendar at a stakeout yesterday. He said, “Here is a prediction: there are two possibilities after February 5th, and nobody understands this yet. Possibility One is that we have nominated somebody in both parties. Possibility Two is we have locked in four or five candidates in both parties, and we will have the first brokered convention since 1952. There is no reason to believe any one person is going to win a majority in twenty five states the same day, and it's more likely that their consultants are gonna say, 'Okay, Romney is going to go to Michigan and Utah and Massachusetts. And you know Giuliani is going to go to New York and California. And McCain is going to go to Florida. [A]nd Thompson, if he gets in, is going to do Tennessee, South Carolina, and Georgia.’”
More from Gingrich: “You're suddenly going to have three, four, five, or six candidates with delegates. Now why would they drop out? They're no more primaries. They have no great reason to drop out. And you're just going to have a total mess. This thing is going to blow up. I think the odds are even money. It either will lead to a nominee in both parties, which is unlikely – ‘cause nobody is anywhere close to 50%. Or it will lead to the first brokered conventions since 1952.”
GIULIANI: Did he flip-flop on Terri Schiavo? Apparently he did during last week's debate, and the St. Pete Times called his campaign out on it.
The Los Angeles Times looks at Giuliani's personal foibles and notes, frankly, how little of an issue they’ve been so far.
House Minority Leader John Boehner said Giuliani's pro-choice stance would not be a "deal-breaker" for him.
And the Wall Street Journal has this: “A pair of companies owned by Rudy Giuliani represented both a debtor and a creditor in a recently concluded bankruptcy proceeding, a potential conflict of interest that wasn't disclosed to the federal judge overseeing the case, records show. The matter could heighten pressures on Mr. Giuliani's presidential campaign to be more forthcoming about the candidate's stable of businesses, their clients and the services they provide.”
ROMNEY: The former governor delivered the commencement address at Pat Robertson's Regent University on Saturday, the Boston Globe writes. The school’s selection of Romney "had generated a soul-searching debate in recent weeks on the 30-year-old evangelical campus, with some students objecting because of Mormonism's deep theological differences with mainline Christianity. Those concerns, students said, prompted Robertson to meet with student government leaders and explain that he had invited Romney as a prominent American leader capable of delivering an appropriate message to graduates."
More: Romney "steered clear of his religion in yesterday's address, making only one oblique reference, which was not part of his prepared remarks: In thanking Robertson for the chance to speak, he noted that Robertson, during his own presidential bid in 1988, was willing to sacrifice to lead a religiously diverse nation."
Per the Washington Post, Romney did bring up the Virginia Tech shootings twice in his speech. Commenting on what he did after hearing about the shooting spree, he said: "I opened my Bible shortly after I heard of the tragedy. Only a few verses, it seems, after the Fall, we read that Adam and Eve's oldest son killed his younger brother. From the beginning, there has been evil in the world." He added: "Pornography and violence poison our music and movies and TV and video games. The Virginia Tech shooter, like the Columbine shooters before him, had drunk from this cesspool."
F. THOMPSON: Over the weekend, the Washington Post examined Thompson’s various writings and speeches during his years in the Senate. "In short, the man some in the GOP are touting as a dream candidate has often sounded like the presidential hopeful many of them seem ready to dismiss: Sen. John McCain.
On Sunday, the Nashville Tennessean began a three-part profile of him.
Here's part two, which focuses on his legislative record. The subhead: "Reliable conservative had fierce independent streak"
As for his high-profile speech on Friday night, CBN's Brody notes, "I thought the speech was a mixed bag. It was folksy and funny at times, yet it also felt a little dull and rambling. But that's the style part. In terms of the more important substance, he seemed to hit all the main conservative red meat themes. What stood out to me was his continued emphasis during the speech about bi-partisanship cooperation. He clearly is positioning himself to be the President who will bring America together through tough times."
But Bob Novak wasn’t impressed. “Lincoln Club members, like many conservative Republicans, had been unimpressed by the existing field of Republican hopefuls and envisioned Thompson as the second coming of Ronald Reagan. They did not get it Friday night. The excitement aroused in melancholy Republican ranks by the politician-commentator-actor will not be doused by one lackluster performance. Nevertheless, his first speech since his unexpected presidential boom began suggests Thompson needs preparation if he does take up this daunting burden.”
