July 2007 - Posts
From NBC's Carrie Dann
Here's a tidbit on one of the few 2008 spouses who's actually been OUT of the news for the last few weeks. Sandwiched among the health-care policy questions posed to Giuliani at an afternoon press conference today came one about the latest profile of the mayor's wife, Judith Nathan. A reporter asked Giuliani to respond to an article in the September issue of
Vanity Fair that takes a fairly unflattering tone in its headline of his third wife as his "princess bride."
Giuliani replied that he has "quickly" looked over the piece, and he called its characterization of an attached-at-the-hip relationship with his wife "very incorrect." And the temperature in balmy New Hampshire might have dropped just a tad when he concluded, "One of the terrible prices that unfortunately families pay in a situation like this is that they get castigated and attacked. And, usually, most reporters don't even ask about it. They actually have more dignity than to ask about it."
From NBC's Joel Seidman
Among the 9,167 donors who contributed a combined $3.46 million in the month of June to former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson's "testing the waters" committee, several are notable names.
Georgette Mosbacher, a leading Republican fundraiser, who once dated Thompson, contributed $2,300.
Former Sen. Howard H. Baker, gave $2,300.
Peyton W. Manning, quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts, gave $2,300.
Douglas J. Feith, the former Defense Department official now teaching at Georgetown University, gave $2,300.
Katuria D'Amato, former New York Sen. Al D'Amato's wife, gave $2,300.
Trace Adkins, a country music singer, and his wife Rhonda, each contributed $2,300 maximum.
Richard A. Wolf, the producer of NBC's "Law and Order," contributed $2,300.
And George J. Terwilliger, an attorney and one of the leaders of George W. Bush's legal team during the Florida election recount, gave $2,300.
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Want a free trip to DC, dinner with a presidential candidate and a tour of the Capitol, or, er, um capital? That’s what
Tancredo is offering up to anyone who can get 25 people to the Ames straw poll on Aug. 11.The offer, though, initially stirred suspicion of a violation of House ethics rules, since buildings on the Capitol grounds cannot be used for campaign purposes.
Tancredo’s campaign quickly clarified this point. Per the AP: “Bay Buchanan, Tancredo's national chairwoman, said Tuesday she meant supporters would get a tour of the capital city -- spelled with an 'a' -- which could also include a ‘public tour’ of the Capitol building -- spelled with an 'o' -- in which Tancredo would go along and point out some highlights.
“The winners would also visit some of Tancredo's favorite places in Washington, such as several war memorials, and have dinner with him at a restaurant, Buchanan said.”
From NBC’s Domenico Montanaro and Mark Murray
Obama and Romney are up in Iowa with new 30-second TV ads.
Obama’s
spot focuses on government reform, is slickly produced and cuts together clips of his announcement speech in Springfield, Ill., and newspaper articles highlighting his days as a state senator.
Romney’s
ad focuses on immigration, specifically calls for employment verification and says “amnesty is not the answer.” The ad is polished and features Romney speaking at a town hall meeting with the backdrop of a large American flag and a heavy drum beat playing.
Obama’s ad will be mixed in with a previous biographical ad, which is running in Iowa, on cable and network affiliates. The campaign says it is a moderate, targeted buy.
From NBC's Mark Murray and Chuck Todd
A new Gallup survey shows how Americans view the top Democratic and Republican presidential candidates on some key issues -- the economy, Iraq, terrorism, and health care. Interestingly, McCain and Giuliani tie for the top score on Iraq, while Obama leads on the economy and Clinton leads on health care. (Maybe Clinton doesn't have to release a comprehensive health-care plan after all!)
Of course, these scores are somewhat impacted by name identification (a sizable number responded with "no opinion" for Romney and Fred Thompson).
Below are the results:
CONTINUED >>
From NBC’s Joel Seidman
The committee that former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson set up to “test the waters” for a likely presidential run, Nashville-based "Friends of Fred Thompson, Inc.," raised $3.46 million in its first month, from June 4th to June 30th, according to an Internal Revenue Service filing out today.
The amount -- reported as required by the IRS for the "527" political organization -- was less than the $5 million number that had been talked about by Thompson supporters.
From NBC’s Domenico Montanaro and Carrie Dann
Giuliani
laid out few specifics on an actual health care plan today in New Hampshire, and instead took shots at Democrats and
Michael Moore on the topic.
"The American way is not single-payer, government-controlled anything," Giuliani said. "That’s a European way of doing something. That’s a, frankly, a Socialist way of doing something."
"If single-payer systems are cracking all over the world, why would we do it in America. Michael Moore wants to take you to Cuba for your health care. Anyone want to sign up? I didn’t think so. Maybe the Democrats will sign up."
He cited long wait times in Canada for even MRIs and took issue with the potential cost of Democratic-proposed universal health care plans. When pressed by a questioner on what steps he would take on health care, Giuliani said, first, he would "bring down the cost, so other people can afford it." Then, "give people a tax advantage to go buy individual insurance."
CONTINUED >>
NBC's Pete Williams reports that Chief Justice
John Roberts, who was hospitalized yesterday after suffering a seizure, was just released from the hospital.
VIDEO: Chief Justice Roberts leaves hospital
From NBC’s Courtney Kube
"No amount of troops in no amount of time will make much of a difference," in Iraq, according to the nominee to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, without progress on the political front from the Iraqi government.Speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing, Admiral Mike Mullen just said that the U.S. must plan for the eventual drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq and the turnover of security responsibility there to the Iraqis.
Mullen said that he believes that the surge is helping commanders on the ground, and that "security is better, not great, but better" because of the surge. He said that security is critical, but there has not been much political progress in Iraq.
Mullen said that he understands Americans' frustration about the war, adding, "I share it," and that the U.S. "must consider our next moves very carefully."
From NBC's Chuck Todd
Perhaps it's fitting that Wisconsin is hosting an intriguing political experiment.
The AP: "Two Concordia University professors are planning an unusual bipartisan campaign to unseat U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner. Political scientist Jeff Walz, 40, plans to run against the longtime Republican congressman as a Democrat. Historian James Burkee, 39, will run as a Republican. The two plan to campaign together and combine their promotional efforts. The two have worked together in recent years as speakers and commentators. They said their goal for the campaign is to show what elections should look like."
More: "'What people want is just a greater sense of decency, a greater sense of cooperation, a greater sense of collaboration," Walz said. They hope to provide that by avoiding personal attacks and forgoing donations from special interest groups. They plan to publish a pact laying out ground rules for the campaign."
Sensenbrenner is not someone who regularly appears on vulnerable incumbent lists.
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Carly Zakin
*** Doctor Rudy: A day after unveiling his health-care advisers (including Mark McClellan) and then blasting Clinton, Edwards, Obama, and even Michael Moore for their calls for universal coverage, Giuliani gives a speech on his health-care principles this morning from Rochester, NH. And expect more volleys at Moore and these Democrats. While this might be a questionable general election strategy (a March 2007 NBC/WSJ poll found that 52% are willing to pay higher taxes so everyone in the country can have health insurance), it could benefit him in the primaries. One, this conservative view on fiscal policy could help mask his moderate social views. And two, it allows him to go to the right of Romney on an issue and record that Romney seems to be running away from. In fact, look for Rudy to essentially bait Romney into a debate on health care -- it would be exactly the type of ideological spat the Giuliani folks would love to have.
*** You Know You’re A Front-Runner When…: Speaking of Romney, the news that he might participate in the CNN/YouTube debate after all -- if the date is moved -- just shows us that the former governor is dictating the terms of the, umm, debate. If that isn’t a sign that Romney is a front-runner (emphasis on a, not the), we don’t know what else is.
*** Bill Steps In: It's remarkable that more hasn't been made of Bill Clinton's truce-like comments regarding the Hillary-Obama spat on when/if to talk to rogue world leaders. Bill Clinton doesn't do things accidentally when it comes to campaign politics. Does this mean that the Democratic Party's foremost strategist decided this feud was hurting his wife -- and helping give Obama a lift? Imagine if Bill Clinton would have piled on and criticized Obama? Would Obama have had the guts to attack back? Then again, are the Clintons mindful of their current success with African-American voters and worried that if they hit him too hard too early, they'll drive away a key constituency? So ... many … tea … leaves … to … read … so … little … time … when … it … comes … to … Bill … Clinton
*** The Once And Future First Daughter: The New York Times profiles Chelsea Clinton, without her cooperation. Regardless of your view on the Clintons, there's no denying that the two high-profile politicians turned out a very poised and well-thought-of daughter. In this day and age of political children getting in minor trouble, Chelsea Clinton has been a model citizen. Yet a few things in the article struck us. One, she works for a hedge fund (which really isn’t the most PC of professions nowadays, especially for Democrats). Two, the Clinton campaign says that the 27-year-old Chelsea is off limits, even though she has attended campaign events. And, three, there is this: “Ms. Clinton and [boyfriend] Mr. Mezvinsky seem serious about a future together, according to friends, some of whom wonder about a White House wedding in the event of a victory by Mrs. Clinton.”
*** Northern Exposure: There are some things that just sound politically deadly, and an FBI raid is one of them. Today’s papers are full of stories about the FBI raiding the Alaska home of Sen. Ted Stevens, who is up for re-election next year. Alaska seems to be hungry for reformers: The state last year overwhelmingly elected a new governor, who does not come from the state's insider political establishment. Also, we noted last week that the state's entire congressional delegation has come under ethics fire, a sign that Alaska’s days of sending lawmakers who are focused on pork might be over.
*** Who Says There Aren’t Second Chances: Biden is out with a new book, Promises to Keep, and his campaign views it as a second official announcement of sorts. (Biden’s official announcement, remember, was overshadowed by his “clean” and “articulate” comments regarding Obama.) "I'm kind of looking at the publication of the book as the announcement cycle that we never had," Biden communications director Larry Rasky told Gannett several days ago. And how -- he was on TODAY this morning and does Letterman tonight; tomorrow, he’s on Hardball, CBS’s Early Show, and NPR; on Thursday, he does CNN and FOX; and so on. What’s more, his campaign tells us that while he’s on his book tour, his sister Valerie, wife Jill, and sons Beau and Hunter will all be hitting the trail in Iowa. But to date, free media hasn't done much for Biden. According to The Hotline, no Democratic candidate has been on the air more than he has, and it hasn't done much for his standing in the polls so far.
*** On The Trail: Elsewhere, Brownback heads to a firing range in Ames, IA, fires off a couple of rounds there, and then discusses gun control; Edwards fundraises in Virginia; McCain raises money in Cincinnati; Richardson is in his home state of New Mexico; Romney travels to Richmond and Virginia Beach; Tancredo makes four stops in Iowa, while Tommy Thompson makes five stops there; and Fred Thompson raises money in California.
Countdown to the Ames Straw Poll: 11 days
Countdown to MA-05 Special Election: 34 days
Countdown to LA GOV election: 81 days
Countdown to Election Day 2007: 98 days
Countdown to LA GOV run-off (if necessary): 109 days
Countdown to Iowa: 166 days
Countdown to Tsunami Tuesday: 188 days
Countdown to Election Day 2008: 462 days
Countdown to Inauguration Day 2009: 539 days
Video: Fred Thompson committee expected to report $3 million in June fundraising
Is this the end of the Clinton-Obama spat? In his speech yesterday at the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, Bill Clinton finally weighed in on the spat -- sort of. Per NBC’s Andrew Merten, the ex-president denied commenting on who he thought was correct in the disagreement (although it’s clear where his allegiance lies) and praised all Democratic hopefuls' call for increased diplomacy. Said Clinton: “We have to get back to more diplomacy. I don’t want to get in the middle of that little spat that Hillary and Senator Obama had, but there’s more than one way to practice diplomacy. You can make up your own mind about that.”
The Politico: “If the 42nd president was speaking in any way as a proxy for his wife’s campaign, it’s a pretty clear sign that Obama has succeeded in his pushback against Hillary Clinton.”
Meanwhile, Obama once again brought up the spat during his town hall in Cedar Rapids, IA yesterday, NBC’s Lauren Appelbaum reports. "It is my belief that we have to talk to the Iranians and we have to talk to the Syrians," he said, receiving lengthy applause. Obama stated that he is "not worried about losing a PR debate with some tin-pot dictator," and that Iran and Syria are receiving a free pass. "They are able to act irresponsibly to allow insurgents or to finance militias inside Iraq. Nobody holds them accountable. And the United States is blamed because it looks like we're unwilling to talk to them. And my attitude is we should not be afraid to talk to anybody."
Between now and August 11 (the day of the straw poll), we'll be focusing a bit more energy on the under-the-radar campaigns going on among the various second- and third-tier GOP candidates. Politico's Simon helps set the cheeky CW for the second-tier candidates.
GIULIANI:
John Harwood of CNBC and the Wall Street Journal
curtain-raises Giuliani's health-care speech today. Giuliani, "bidding for the allegiance of economic conservatives, is set to outline a health-care policy that he says would improve coverage access and affordability at little cost to the government." In an interview, Giuliani "described development of the anemic market for individually purchased health-insurance policies as the centerpiece of his plan. He said that, if elected, he would introduce a tax deduction of as much as $15,000 a family for the purchase of such policies. He predicted that with such a tax break, the number of Americans buying coverage on their own would go to 30 million or more from the current 17 million. Such an increase in subscribers would let insurance companies cut the prices of policies markedly and allow "millions" of Americans to afford coverage, Mr. Giuliani said."
CONTINUED >>
It looks like Big Labor could largely stay on the primary sidelines -- not because it isn’t crazy about any of the candidates, but because it’s very pleased with the field. "If the unions do delay throwing their weight behind any candidate early in the campaign, it would be particularly frustrating to" John Edwards, who has courted labor heavily. "Several unions that like Mr. Edwards are wary of endorsing him because he lags well behind Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama in the polls… Clinton and Mr. Obama are wooing unions partly to prevent Mr. Edwards’s securing the A.F.L.-C.I.O. endorsement and partly to pick up individual union endorsements for themselves."
BIDEN:
The
AP previews the senator’s new book. “‘Promises to Keep: On Life and Politics’ offers glimpses of the Delaware lawmaker's life and thoughts from his childhood growing up in an middle-class Irish Catholic family to his current run for the White House. The book will be released Tuesday. The message, according to Biden, is to get back up after life knocks you down, a mantra instilled in him by his father, whose business setbacks never diminished his pride or his determination to provide for his family.”
CLINTON:
The
New York Times piece on Chelsea Clinton: “So far, Ms. Clinton is more a character than a presence in the campaign, which seeks to portray Senator Clinton as a strong yet nurturing force, a friend to women and children and a symbol of progress from one generation to the next… Campaign officials would not say when — or even if — Ms. Clinton would appear on the trail. ‘Even though President and Senator Clinton are public figures, their daughter is not,’ Howard Wolfson, the campaign spokesman, said in a statement. ‘While Chelsea Clinton has attended events for her mom and will be supporting her parents in their political and philanthropic endeavors, she will continue to focus on her own professional and personal interests as a private person.’”
CONTINUED >>
There's a bill floating around in the Michigan legislature that could allow the state to hold a January 29 primary (joining Florida). Then again, the bill could also allow the primary to be on Tsunami Tuesday (Feb. 5).
Here's what we can tell you about Michigan: Either party is prepared to hold a primary, a caucus, or even a convention in order to have a say before February 5. A lot depends on how Florida is treated by the DNC.
This has nothing to do with the primary calendar, but keep an eye on the North Carolina Democratic legislature, which could dramatically shake up the Electoral College playing field if it decides to award the state’s electoral votes by congressional district rather than winner-take-all (a la Maine and Nebraska). This could take three to five electoral votes away from the GOP.
The headline from the
Washington Times: “New British leader backs Bush on Iraq.” From the article: “British Prime Minister Gordon Brown yesterday strongly backed the U.S.-led war in Iraq and said the global war against terror looms as a ‘generation-long battle.’” But the
New York Daily News’ take on Brown’s visit with Bush is that he “signaled his intent to pull his 5,500 troops from Iraq.” The paper also writes that Brown believes “Afghanistan is the front where the war on terror is being fought.”
The New York Times: “The two leaders showed none of the warmth and coziness that Mr. Bush had shared with Mr. Brown’s predecessor, Tony Blair, a closeness that contributed to Mr. Blair’s political tumble at home. But Mr. Brown offered bullish comments on Britain’s relationship with the United States. On Iraq, Mr. Brown said any future British decision to reduce troops and cede control of a sector to the Iraqis ‘will be made on the military advice of our commanders on the ground.’”
CONTINUED >>
Here are some excerpts of Vice President Cheney’s interview with Mark Knoller on CBS Radio yesterday:
-- on whether he wants AG Gonzales to keep fighting for his job: “I do. I'm a big fan of Al's.”
-- on whether Gonzales needs to clarify his testimony: “I'm not going to get into the specifics of it. I think Al has done a good job under difficult circumstances. The debate between he and the Senate is something they're going to have to resolve. But I think he has testified truthfully.”
-- on whether Gonzales can remain attorney general if Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Pat Leahy says he doesn’t trust Gonzales: “I've had my differences with Pat Leahy. I think the key is whether or not he has the confidence of the President, and he clearly does.”
-- on Libby’s guilty verdict: Cheney said he disagreed with it, that President Bush handled it correctly, and that he’s seen Libby at a number of social events since the commutation. Libby guilty verdict, the President handled it correctly and that he's seen Libby at a number of social events since the commutation.
The Washington Post: "Cheney's remarks about his former aide, I. Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby, appear to conflict with the views of President Bush, who said after the verdict that he 'respected' the jury verdict but felt that the 30-month sentence handed to Libby was excessive."
The
Washington Post: "Agents from the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service raided the Alaska home of Sen. Ted Stevens (R) yesterday as part of a broad federal investigation of political corruption in the state that has also swept up his son and one of his closest financial backers, officials said. Stevens, the longest-serving Republican senator in history, is under scrutiny from the Justice Department for his ties to an Alaska energy services company, Veco, whose chief executive pleaded guilty in early May to a bribery scheme involving state lawmakers… Stevens said in a statement that his attorneys were advised of the impending search yesterday morning. He said he would not comment on details of the inquiry to avoid ‘any appearance that I have attempted to influence its outcome.’”
The New York Times adds that the investigation centers on Stevens’ relationship to a businessman who oversaw a remodeling project that almost doubled the size of the senator’s house… The decision to raid the home suggests that the corruption investigation focused on Mr. Stevens … has taken on new urgency.”
"Neighbors said agents showed up between 11 a.m. and noon, and a commercial locksmith was called to open the front door. The agents were still there at 8:30 p.m… Throughout the afternoon Monday, agents could be seen coming and going from the house, on a dirt street below the Alyeska Ski Resort. Curtains were drawn much of the day, so it was impossible to know what was happening inside. Outside, agents could be seen taking extensive still and video images of the house and surrounding property.”
From NBC's Carrie Dann and Mark MurrayIf the
Giuliani campaign's conference call earlier today wasn't a hint that the former New York mayor was on the attack against the Democrats' health-care plans, this certainly is... In New Hampshire today, Giuliani was treating supporters to a quick preview of the big health-care policy rollout he'll give tomorrow in Rochester. And from the sounds of it, he'll be casting documentary filmmaker Michael Moore in a starring role as his number one villain.
In the recent documentary "Sicko," Giuliani said at one campaign stop, Moore "proclaims, in essence, kind of what the theory of the Democrats is -- that medicine in Cuba is better than medicine in the United States." To much chuckling, he asked the crowd, "Would anybody here like to put up their hands to go to Cuba for medical treatment? No! It'd be like getting sentenced!"
At a later stop in Moultonsboro, NH, Giuliani drew even more specific parallels between Moore and his Democratic rivals -- a tactic that both he and Mitt Romney are fond of employing. "Only Michael Moore,
Hillary Clinton,
Barack Obama, and
John Edwards, I guess, would want to go to Cuba for health care," he said. Giuliani went on to accuse Democrats of "setting traps" for the American people by promising universal health care (administered by what he calls a "nanny state") rather than the market-based system supported by most Republicans.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Mike Viqueira
A group of House Democrats will introduce a resolution calling on the Judiciary Committee to begin impeachment proceedings against Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) will sponsor the measure. It will be dropped in the hopper tomorrow.
It's too early to say whether it will actually get anywhere.
Here's the text of resolution...
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Pete Williams
BREAKING NEWS: Chief Justice John Roberts has been taken to a hospital in Maine after falling at a summer vacation home.
The court says Roberts fell at a summer home in Port Clyde, Maine. An ambulance was called, and he was taken to a nearby hospital "as a precaution." The court says he was conscious during the trip to the hospital, and an emergency response team member tells NBC News Roberts was "alert."
He fell earlier this afternoon, sometime between 2:00 pm and 3:00 pm ET, the court says.
Roberts is 52 and has has been chief justice for two terms, joining the court in late September 2005. He has no history of health problems.
****UPDATE**** Long before John Roberts was a federal judge, he apparently suffered a seizure while playing golf. It was in January 1993, while he was in private practice. News reports at the time say he was not allowed to drive for several months and took the bus to work. There's no indication that doctors ever figured out what happened. The White House called it an "isolated, idiosyncratic seizure."
**** UPDATE II **** The Supreme Court says that Roberts suffered a benign seizure today.
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
NBC News, MSNBC, MSNBC.com and the New York Times today announced a new partnership, collaborating on national political coverage for the 2008 election. Reporting, articles and video from the organizations will be posted on each others' Web sites.
For more on the new partnership, see below.
For MSNBC's politics Web site.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC’s Domenico Montanaro and Andrew Merten
Giuliani will unveil an outline of his healthcare plan tomorrow as one of his “12 Commitments” in a speech in New Hampshire. The campaign held a conference call with reporters, rolling out a cadre of conservative health care policy advisers from Mark McClellan to fellows at the Hoover Institution, Manhattan Institute and Pacific Research Institute, including two anti-universal health care Canadians.
One of the advisers, Sally Pipes, head of the Pacific Research Institute, acknowledged the problem of the 45 million uninsured in the United States, but contends, in part, that they are uninsured because they cannot afford insurance, and they will be able to afford it when “mandates” and “regulations” on employers and health insurance companies are removed.
“Unfortunately, there's another vision out there, which is being espoused by governors, mayors, political presidential candidates, which is trying to solve the problem of the uninsured by introducing the concept of universal coverage, which means individual and employer mandates,” Pipes said. “And that is the wrong way to go.… By putting an individual mandate in place … it will not solve the problem of the uninsured.”
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Joel SeidmanCandidate-in-waiting
Fred Thompson, a frequent contributor to conservative Web sites like National Review Online and the Townhall.com blog, is once again promoting his views on yet another core conservative issue. Today, he is taking on the controversial subject of Eminent Domain, one of the growing list of core issues that Thompson has decided to tackle online.
"Our Founders placed respect for private property as a key principle when writing our nation's Constitution," he writes on his own Imwithfred.com. Homeownership, Thompson says has become an increasingly "integral part of our citizens' aspirations for a better future." And he lashes out at local governments' confiscating private property, "It's said that a man's home is his castle, but across America some property owners are being rooked by local bureaucrats and politicians and having their private property confiscated by local governments for the supposed public good," he argues.
It's yet another sign that Thompson is positioning himself as the champion of all things socially conservative -- from global Warming to immigration to gun control.
From NBC's Chuck Todd
Should we cross
Eliot Spitzer off of any potential '08 veep lists? Don't miss his mea culpa in
Sunday's New York Times, under the header "An Apology From Albany."
Spitzer's style has been compared to
Giuliani's -- a tough prosecutor who never shied away from a bank of TV cameras. Spitzer, in his first six months, is having similar "getting along" problems as Giuliani had during many parts of his mayoral terms. Compromising with folks who don't see things your way is not easy for an elected executive. Being a prosecutor is easy in comparison.
From NBC's Mike Viqueira
Many of us view the goings on here in your US House with bemusement or even disdain. The rap is that the "people's House" occupies itself with naming post offices and passing "sense of Congress" resolutions that are sops to one special interest or another and have no real impact. Everything else -- the important stuff -- gets mired in partisanship.
But a resolution on the floor today demonstrates very clearly that Americans are not the only ones watching what goes on here, and that what our national legislature says and thinks has great influence abroad. Today, the House will likely call on the government of Japan to "apologize and accept historical responsibility" for comfort women -- the young Asian women who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. The resolution, though destined for obscurity on these shores, is threatening to cause a rift with one of America's closest allies.
The measure is sponsored by Bay Area Democrat Mike Honda, a Japanese American who spent his childhood in a WWII Japanese internment camp in Colorado. It has been the subject of a reportedly harsh letter from the Japanese embassy in Washington to Speaker Pelosi. Normally forthcoming congressional aides have been secretive about such run-of-the-mill matters as when the bill would hit the floor, announcing just yesterday that it be considered today. So great is the potential impact in Asia that it appears to have been held until the day after Japanese parliamentary elections.
CONTINUED >>
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Carly Zakin
*** How Things Change: A year ago, a handful of potential Democratic presidential candidates (Hillary Clinton, Evan Bayh, and Tom Vilsack) attended the centrist Democratic Leadership Council’s annual meeting in Denver. But this time around, not a single one has traveled to Nashville to speak at this year’s conference, which continues today. On the flip side, most of them will participate this weekend at the YearlyKos convention, sponsored by the liberal political blog DailyKos.
*** The Center Didn't Hold: While not a single Democratic hopeful will speak to the DLC, the famous spouse of the front-runner -- Bill Clinton -- addresses the group today this afternoon. It was Clinton, of course, who once chaired the DLC and embodied many of its principles during his presidency. But as Noam Schieber put it in a Saturday New York Times op-ed, the DLC appears to have outlived its usefulness. Once a needed counterweight to the liberal excesses of the '70s and '80s, the DLC found itself on the wrong side of the Iraq war (its founder and staff backed Joe Lieberman's independent bid last year). What's more, a March NBC/WSJ poll (for the first time ever in the survey) showed a majority of respondents want an activist government. Will pendulum keep leaning toward the left come November 2008? The Democratic candidates seem to be betting the White House on it. However, of the current '08 field, Hillary Clinton may very well be the DLC candidate.
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Video: None of the candidates attending Dem. Leadership Council meeting
*** The 3-Million-Dollar Man? Per NBC’s Joel Seidman, Fred Thompson’s “testing the waters” committee must file with the IRS by tomorrow to reveal -- for the first time -- some of his fundraising efforts for "Friends of Fred Thompson, Inc.," the Nashville based "527" political organization he formed in early June. Though the filing will provide records for only one month of funds raised, plus a list of contributors, it will somewhat lift the veil of mystery of Thompson's fundraising abilities. Will the amount be able to stop the flow of bad news for Team Fred (which includes staff defections, questions about his abortion record, and attention to his wife’s role in his campaign)? Maybe not. NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell reported last week that the tally will be around $3 million.
*** So You Say You’ve Got Experience: Newsweek's Wolfe writes about last week's Clinton-Obama spat and delves into something we're surprised some of the foes of Clinton and Obama haven't brought up yet: Whether either one of them really has a lot of foreign policy experience. “Both Clinton and Obama have called on foreign-policy heavyweights to educate them on the issues and help shape their approach to world affairs. But neither candidate would bring much in the way of hands-on foreign-policy experience to the Oval Office. Their efforts to promote their credentials can seem strained."
*** Living History: On Sunday, the New York Times front-paged letters that Hillary Clinton exchanged with a friend while in college. These letters are both revealing -- and not -- at the same time. They are revealing in that she comes across as, get this, a typical college liberal of the time. In the article, the Clinton camp acts as if it doesn’t care for this type of coverage. But one can argue that it helps continue to make her three dimensional, which only helps. The tidbit, though, that she asked for copies of these letters wasn’t surprising. The Clintons never like to be surprised.
*** On The Trail: Giuliani stumps in New Hampshire; McCain hits fundraisers in Pittsburgh and DC; Obama holds a town hall in Cedar Rapids, IA before traveling to Dallas for a fundraiser; Richardson raises money in New Mexico; Tancredo campaigns in Iowa; and Fred Thompson has a closed-press fundraiser in DC.
Countdown to the Ames Straw Poll: 12 days
Countdown to MA-05 Special Election: 35 days
Countdown to LA GOV election: 82 days
Countdown to Election Day 2007: 99 days
Countdown to LA GOV run-off (if necessary): 110 days
Countdown to Iowa: 167 days
Countdown to Tsunami Tuesday: 189 days
Countdown to Election Day 2008: 463 days
Countdown to Inauguration Day 2009: 540 days
The Clinton-Obama spat continued over the weekend, NBC’s Andrew Merten reports… On Saturday, while campaigning in Des Moines, Obama said: “It’s time to turn the page on the Bush-Cheney diplomatic strategy that has isolated America from our allies and reduced our moral standing in the international community. We need a president who’ll have the strength and courage to go toe-to-toe with the leaders of rogue nations because that’s what it takes to protect our security.”
Then former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, who has endorsed Clinton after ending his own presidential bid, quickly fired back. In a conference call with reporters, he challenged Obama to clarify his position, saying, “It appears that the day before the Charleston debate, Senator Obama is reported [per the Miami Herald] to have suggested that he would be glad to meet with Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, but only with certain preconditions being met, which is precisely what Senator Clinton said.” Vilsack continued: “We just would simply like the good senator to clarify his position. Which is it? Preconditions or not?”
CONTINUED >>
CLINTON:
On this same day that Bill Clinton is the lone candidate or candidate spouse to address the DLC convention, the
Los Angeles Times examines Hillary Clinton's relationship with Indian-American businesses, some of which are seen by labor unions as threats to labor because of outsourcing. “‘People do want to see from her some recognition that the outsourcing of these service jobs isn't a good thing for the U.S. economy,’ said Thea M. Lee, policy director of the AFL-CIO. ‘It's a little bit of an open question where Sen. Clinton's going to end up on outsourcing.’”
On Sunday, the LA Times had a piece that's going to make the Clinton folks upset. Arguing that the Bush Administration is one of the most secretive in history, the piece contends that if either Clinton or Giuliani is elected, their past suggests they'll follow suit. "Clinton was widely criticized for secrecy when she led her husband's effort to design a new healthcare system. A task force she headed ran afoul of federal law when it tried to hold closed meetings… Giuliani resisted outside efforts to evaluate municipal programs and review city records when he was mayor. As he was leaving office in 2001, he had thousands of mayoral records hauled to a private warehouse — a move that gave rise to a city law barring such action."
On Sunday, the New York Times examined letters that she exchanged with a friend from 1965-1969. “Ms. Rodham’s 30 dispatches are by turns angst-ridden and prosaic, glib and brooding, anguished and ebullient — a rare unfiltered look into the head and heart of a future first lady and senator and would-be president. Their private expressiveness stands in sharp contrast to the ever-disciplined political persona she presents to the public now.”
CONTINUED >>
The New York Times writes about anti-abortion conservatives who are a bit worried about the GOP presidential field.
Conservative bloggers have drawn up a petition urging the GOP presidential candidates not to shun the Republican CNN/YouTube debate, which is set for next month. The petition says, “Attend the YouTube debate, and you may get a tough question or two. Don't attend, and millions of Americans will wonder if you were too afraid to answer questions from the Internet, just as Democrats were afraid to go on Fox News. None of you could have gotten to where you are now without showing real political courage. Is that really how you'd like to be known?”
But the Washington Post reports that Romney might be willing to participate in the YouTube debate, if the date is moved.
More potential YouTube debate questions are being posed at Giuliani than any other candidate already, the New York Post reported on Sunday.
CONTINUED >>
At Camp David later this morning, President Bush holds a joint press availability with new British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Yesterday, the Los Angeles Times wrote that the Democratic presidential candidates talk about getting out of Iraq, but not much on Al Qaeda and terrorism. On the flip side, Republicans talk about the threat of Islamic terrorism, but not so much on Iraq. “The problem each party faces, polls show, is that most Americans want answers to both questions, not just one or the other.”
VIDEO: President Bush and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown meet face-to-face for the first time since Brown succeeded Tony Blair last month.
You've heard of follow the money? How about follow the schedule to find out which state is really having the most influence on the process. Hands down it’s Iowa. Check out this tally of candidate visits in the state the Iowa Democratic Party has been keeping for the last four weeks:
--The week of July 1 = 74
--The week of July 9 = 85
--The week of July 16 = 49
--The week of July 23 = 83
If a candidate made four stops in one day in Iowa, that counted as "4" in this tally. Still, it shows how busy things are in Iowa.
On Sunday, the
Washington Post front-paged: “A surgeon general's report in 2006 that called on Americans to help tackle global health problems has been kept from the public by a Bush political appointee without any background or expertise in medicine or public health, chiefly because the report did not promote the administration's policy accomplishments, according to current and former public health officials.”
It's no longer a drip-drip with Alberto Gonzales. It's a geyser.
In fact, the Washington Post front-pages Gonzales’ record with the truth. “The accusation that Gonzales has been deceptive in his public remarks has erupted this summer into a full-blown political crisis for the Bush administration, as the beleaguered attorney general struggles repeatedly to explain to Congress the removal of a batch of U.S. attorneys, the wiretapping program and other actions… [C]ontroversy over Gonzales's candor about George W. Bush's conduct or policies has actually dogged him for more than a decade, since he worked for Bush in Texas.”
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Clinton is not the only one trying to capitalize on the controversy. The Obama campaign has bought flashy Web banner ads in Iowa and New Hampshire with the message:
--One candidate had the judgment to oppose the war from the start.
--One candidate knows it's irresponsible to send troops to war without a plan to bring them home.
--One candidate believes it's naïve to believe we can resolve conflicts without talking to our adversaries.
--Ready for a new direction?"
From NBC's Lauren Appelbaum
At the National Urban League conference this morning, four Democratic presidential hopefuls -- Kucinich, Edwards, Clinton, and Obama -- discussed their agendas to help poor urban African Americans rise out of poverty. But they also took advantage of the stage to offer both indirect and direct jabs at their opponents.
Clinton and Obama were each asked what, if elected, they would do to help the urban plight, and both responded they would make a change at the attorney general level. "Number one, let's appoint an attorney general who believes in the civil rights laws," Clinton said. "In addition to actually enforcing the laws we have on the books, let's make sure if there are holes that need to be plugged and gaps we have to fill, we do that." Later, Obama said, "I will have a Justice Department that actually promotes justices, and an attorney general who cares about civil rights."
Hillary's Southern And Obama's BlackIt appeared that Clinton's parodied southern accent resurfaced while she was talking about her belief for a "new and different conversation" about the 1.4 million African American men ages 16-24 in prison who are considered to be a "threat, headache, or a lost cause."
