First thoughts
Posted: Wednesday, July 18, 2007 9:26 AM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
First Thoughts
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro and Carly Zakin
*** Are We Safer? In all the coverage of the new National Intelligence Estimate, a New York Times analysis perhaps puts it best: “Nearly six years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the hundreds of billions of dollars and thousands of lives expended in the name of the war on terror pose a single, insistent question: Are we safer?” Hillary Clinton said so at last month’s CNN debate. (“I believe we are safer than we were. We are not yet safe enough.”) Does she still think that? And is this something we’ll see her Democratic rivals pounce on?
*** If It Talks Like A Lame Duck…: As Washington reacts to the NIE report, the Senate debates Iraq, and the presidential candidates jockey for position in the ’08 horserace, President Bush today heads to Landover, MD to participate in a roundtable discussion on health care at the wonderfully-named Man & Machine Inc. Tomorrow, he travels to Tennessee to tour the also wonderfully-named Nashville Bun Company and then makes remarks on the budget. But just how many members of the White House press corps will be joining Bush on these trips? As the calendar says below, there are more than 500 days left in Bush’s presidency. But outside his remarks on Iraq or his latest comments on the Middle East, has everyone turned their attention elsewhere?
*** Stealing The Spotlight: Edwards’ poverty tour comes to an end today, with stops in Virginia and Kentucky and a major speech. Per the campaign, Edwards will use this speech to sum his three-day tour and talk about the faces of poverty he met. Yet partly overshadowing Day Two of the tour was wife Elizabeth’s comments to Salon about Hillary Clinton. They weren’t as incendiary as Drudge made them out to be, but Elizabeth still made news -- as she did when she called Ann Coulter, or when it was revealed her cancer had returned. And now there’s a brand new campaign TV ad that features her, NBC’s Andrea Mitchell reported on TODAY this morning. We knew it was possible that a spouse might become the story in this presidential race. But just we also thought it would be Bill, not Elizabeth Edwards.
Video: Chuck Todd on Elizabeth Edwards' role in her husband's presidential campaign
*** Rudy’s Ace In The Hole? In Iowa today, Giuliani will deliver a policy address on judges, which is one of his 12 Commitments ("I will reform the legal system and appoint strict constructionist judges"). It comes a day after Ted Olson and other conservatives held a press conference in DC unveiling his Justice Advisory Committee. Olson backing the pro-choice Giuliani could end up being one of the more underreported stories of the 2008 campaign: If Olson convinces diehard conservatives that Rudy will appoint the kind of judges they want, does that inoculate Giuliani on abortion? Of course, it might also send mixed signals when you say you’re for abortion rights but would appoint judges who would take those very rights away.
*** On The Trail: Elsewhere, Obama delivers a speech in Southeast DC on Changing the Odds for Urban America; Romney headlines a GOP fundraiser in Colorado Springs, CO; Tancredo is in Iowa; Fred Thompson raises money at a $2,300 a plate reception in Baton Rouge, LA (raising more questions whether he’s doing something more than just testing the waters); and Ann Romney makes three stops in South Carolina on her “Women for Mitt” tour.
Countdown to the Ames Straw Poll: 24 days
Countdown to MA-05 Special Election: 47 days
Countdown to LA GOV election: 94 days
Countdown to Election Day 2007: 111 days
Countdown to LA GOV run-off (if necessary): 122 days
Countdown to Iowa: 190 days
Countdown to Tsunami Tuesday: 201 days
Countdown to Election Day 2008: 475 days
Countdown to Inauguration Day 2009: 552 days
