Oh-eight (D): Yucca Mountain politics
Posted: Monday, July 23, 2007 9:07 AM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
Democrats
BIDEN: New York Post gossip columnist Liz Smith is smitten with Biden. “If I had ever met Sen. Biden, I'd have given him a big hug; he's so handsome, and the best foreign-policy expert in the Senate. He'd make a great Hillary running mate.”
CLINTON:
Here’s the latest
Washington Post/ABC poll, which has Clinton with a double-digit lead over Obama. While we're skeptical of declaring anything about this primary campaign before Labor Day, one can't help but notice the progress Clinton is making in every poll that's been released over the last month. This latest national poll only reaffirms her frontrunner position. The lone downside? It will make the eventual closing of the gap over the next few months seem newsier than perhaps it is.
Come on, did you really think that MoDo was NOT going to weigh on the gender fight between Clinton and Edwards? Still, we'll admit, we expected something a bit saltier.
Since so many in the media made a big deal out of the fact that a woman lost the presidential race in France earlier this year, does that mean we'll see the same level of coverage of India's historic election of a woman?
More evidence that Clinton is using her Senate seat to help her presidential bid? She's calling for congressional hearings on Yucca. That should be popular among Nevada Democrats -- and frankly all of Nevadans should she become the nominee.
Here's what Nevada political guru Jon Ralston wrote in his Friday evening "Flash" about Clinton's call for hearings: "I'm as cynical as anyone on Yucca, but those are some of the strongest words any candidate has ever made on the dump. Call it pandering. Call it smart politics. But she is on the record now and should she win, if she keeps her word, the dump is dead, right?"
The Portsmouth Herald curtain-raises Clinton's next New Hampshire trip (which begins tomorrow) that will focus on the issue of climate change.
EDWARDS:
The
Sunday New York Times checked in on Edwards' campaign in Iowa, noting that he does not have an organizational advantage -- as Obama has more offices and Clinton has an equal number. Clearly neither Clinton nor Obama is ceding Iowa to Edwards, which in some ways is a good thing for Edwards. If he wins, it's more meaningful. Ask Mitt Romney what it's like to run in Iowa unchallenged.
Raleigh News & Observer's Christensen puts the Elizabeth Edwards transformation in context. "Four months ago, the question was whether John Edwards could carry on his presidential campaign because his wife Elizabeth's cancer had returned. Last week, Edwards' campaign managers were fielding questions about whether Elizabeth had become the dominant voice of the campaign."
The Los Angeles Times added its voice to the poverty tour and found mostly positive things to say about the tour.
OBAMA:
The Illinois senator reaffirmed his support for an early New Hampshire primary,
complaining only about the plethora of Red Sox fans. The
Sunday New York Daily News reported on Obama’s and Clinton’s addresses to the National Council of La Raza, the nation's largest Hispanic civil rights group. “Obama stressed how the struggles of blacks and Hispanics are inextricably connected” and “Clinton stressed her long record with Hispanic issues, recounting how she traveled to Texas 35 years ago to register Hispanic voters.”
Said Obama on immigration, per the Washington Times: “’Find out how many senators appeared before an immigration rally last year. Who was talking the talk, and who walked the walk -- because I walked…I didn't run away from the issue, and I didn't just talk about it in front of Latino audiences.’"
Remember that PAC/527 that supports Obama in California? The Boston Globe writes about it. "The Globe interviewed a number of specialists in campaign finance who said they could think of no other example of a major PAC being set up specifically to work for the election of a candidate during a presidential primary, aside from PACs set up to draft candidates or established by the politicians for themselves." Why haven't others popped up like this for other campaigns?
