August 2007 - Posts
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Dodd and became the first presidential hopeful to sign the early state pledge we reported on earlier.
DODD: "I believe that Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada offer a cross section of America and allow for voters to probe the experience and vision of candidates in a meaningful way. In this year, where the national media focus seems to be on celebrity and bank accounts, the role of these states is more important than ever. I am committed to the DNC nominating calendar and preserving the first in the nation status of Iowa and New Hampshire."
*** UPDATE *** BIDEN SIGNS PLEDGE: Biden Campaign Manager Luis Navarro: "It is time to end all the maneuvering around the dates of the early primaries and caucuses. We intend not only to sign the pledge, but to honor our pledge to Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina to respect their primacy to the process. They played by the rules of the DNC. We respect those rules. The public despises this kind of maneuvering for political advantage. If the Republicans want to play this way, let them. But we will not be a party to it."
*** UPDATE 2 *** OBAMA, EDWARDS AND RICHARDSON ALSO SIGN PLEDGE: Obama, Edwards and Richardson have also agreed to sign the pledge. This puts pressure on Clinton now to say whether she will campaign in Florida and Michigan for defying the DNC and moving up inside the Feb. 5 window. ***UPDATE 3*** CLINTON SIGNS PLEDGE
CONTINUED >>
From NBC’s Domenico Montanaro
The Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina Democratic Parties have joined together to ask the presidential candidates to sign a pledge that they will “not campaign or participate in any state which schedules a presidential election primary or caucus before Feb. 5, 2008, except for the states of Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina.” Earlier today, we reported that DNC Chairman Howard Dean sent a letter urging the candidates to abide by the calendar.
From NBC's Andrew Merten
Virginia Senator John Warner (R) announced today he will not seek re-election next year.
Some potential candidates who will run for his post: former Gov. Mark Warner (D), Rep. Tom Davis (R) and one-time presidential hopeful and former Gov. Jim Gilmore (R).
From NBC's Mike ViqueiraMark your calendars... Gen.
David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq
Ryan Crocker will testify Monday, Sept. 10th at 12:30 pm before a joint hearing of the House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services Committee.
From NBC’s Domenico Montanaro
Tony Snow and President Bush made it official that Snow will be stepping down Sept. 14th. Dana Perino will replace him.
“I sadly accept his desire to leave the White House,” Bush told reporters at today’s White House Press Briefing. “It’s been a joy to watch him spar with you.” Bush went on to call Snow “smart,” “capable” and witty and then told Snow, “I accept. I love you, and I wish you all the best.”
Snow said his decision is solely based on money and has nothing to do with his battle with cancer. “I ran outta money,” Snow said. “There’s a lot of people sitting there at home saying, ‘Well whaddya mean, you make all this money.’ Well I made more money in my previous career.”
CONTINUED >>
From NBC’s Domenico MontanaroDemocratic fund-raiser
Norman Hsu has turned himself into police in California for a 15-year-old outstanding warrant. The
Los Angeles Times, which first reported that Hsu was a fugitive, reports: “Prosecutors in California said Hsu disappeared in 1992 after pleading no contest and agreeing to serve up to three years in prison for defrauding investors in a Ponzi scheme.”
San Mateo Sheriff's booking photo of Norman Hsu.
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Hsu, who a judge ordered handcuffed, faces a grand theft charge. He is being held on $2 million bond. A bail hearing is scheduled for Sept. 5th, where a judge may consider reducing his bail to $1 million.
Hsu signed on to be a
Clinton “HillRaiser,” a group of individuals who pledged to raise at least $100,000 for the New York senator’s presidential run. He has helped raise or donate money for many Democrats, including Clinton (during her presidential run),
Obama (during his 2004 U.S. Senate run) and New York Gov.
Eliot Spitzer.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Per the Atlantic’s Ambinder, DNC Chairman Howard Dean sent a “strongly worded letter,” urging candidates to abide by the DNC’s nominating selection process calendar. This comes a day after Michigan dared the DNC by moving its primary up to Jan. 15. The DNC leveled heavy sanctions against Florida on Saturday for moving its primary up to Jan. 29th, before the allowed Feb. 5th window.
"My goal as Chairman, and our objective as a Party,” Dean writes, “is to structure a nominating process that adheres to rules that are clear, straightforward and published. The vast majority of states have complied with these rules.”
From NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell
NBC News has learned that White House Press Secretary Tony Snow will step down Sept. 14 as the president's chief spokesman and the public face of the White House. Dana Perino is expected to replace him.
He is expected to make his announcement during today's on-camera White House briefing at 12:45pm. President Bush is expected to make a statement at the briefing. Snow formally informed the president yesterday.
Snow says his departure is based on family finances. "If I had the dough I'd stay 'til the bitter end,” Snow told NBC News. As an assistant to the President, Snow earns the highest-level salary among White House officials at $168,000 a year.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Kelly O'Donnell and Lauren Appelbaum
After three months of "testing the waters" and testing the patience of some Republican supporters, Fred Dalton Thompson will seek his party's nomination.
This afternoon in a conference call with invited supporters and participants, Thompson political director Randy Enwright explained the next steps for the "Friends of Fred Thompson Committee."
Taking a page from the Hillary Clinton playbook, the formal announcement will debut on a webcast on Thursday, September 6. It will be followed by a swing through key states: Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. And it will conclude with a "Welcome Home" in Lawrenceburg, TN on the 15th.
From NBC's Mark Murray
A new ONE campaign poll of likely GOP Iowa caucus-goers, conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates (D) and McLaughlin & Associates (R), has Romney leading at 35%, Giuliani at 12%, and Fred Thompson and Mike Huckabee tied at 11%.
Quick takes here: Romney has a comfortable lead, and Huckabee has a nice little bounce coming after his second-place finish in the Ames straw poll.
From NBC's Mark Murray
The AP's Ron Fournier writes that the presidential nominating contests may be far from over. "John Kerry's presidential bid was dead. If you didn't know that in September 2003, all you had to do was ask almost any pundit, politicians or political writer. We were wrong. Kerry picked up a key endorsement, poured his own money into the race and took advantage of the fact that Democratic front-runner Howard Dean's campaign had quietly peaked in the summer of 2003."
"We may be wrong again. The same folks who buried John Kerry months before he won the 2004 Democratic nomination are jumping the gun for 2008."
"The consensus in Washington is that Sen. John McCain's presidential dreams are dead and the only Republicans with a shot at the nomination are former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Sen. Fred Thompson and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Conventional wisdom also suggests that the Democratic nomination is Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's to lose, and that her only serious rivals are Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and, perhaps, former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina."
"Then along comes a day like Wednesday that rubs history in our faces, reminding the so-called experts how much the political landscape can change before the first votes are cast in Iowa: Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, a longshot candidate for the Democratic nomination, picked up the endorsement of the International Association of Fire Fighters."
From NBC's Ken Strickland and Doug Adams
NBC News confirms an earlier report by the Politico that GOP Sen. John Warner will announce tomorrow whether he intends to run for re-election, at 2:00 pm ET on the campus of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.
Warner is believed by politcial leaders in both parties to announce tomorrow that he will NOT run for another term. Warner, 80, has raised just $72,000 since the 2006 elections and only $500 in the first quarter of this year -- not exactly the actions of a man preparing to run in what is shaping up as a bad year for Republicans. And if Warner decides to retire, it is by no means a lock that Republcians would retain the seat. Several well-known candidates from both parties are expected to jump into the race.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC’s Domenico Montanaro
Hours after the 700,000-member International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers endorsed
Clinton, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters announced it is endorsing
Edwards. The 520,000-member union did not endorse anyone in the 2004 presidential race.
From NBC's Lauren Appelbaum
Clinton said today she was "surprised by the news" that Clinton fund-raiser Norman Hsu has an outstanding arrest warrant out for him, and added that after verifying the information, her campaign "returned his money."
“We will continue to analyze all contributions and take action if that's warranted,” Clinton said during a joint press conference with New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer to discuss the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, known as SCHIP. “And I wish Mr. Hsu well in dealing with the problems he's confronting.”
VIDEO: NBC's Deputy Political Director Mark Murray offers his first read on the Democrat's fugitive donor.A reporter pressed on, asking Clinton about problems during her husband’s presidency with donors like Johnny Chung. "I don't think it's analogous at all," Clinton replied, "I think we take these one by one as they come up. When you have as many contributors as I'm fortunate enough to have, we do the very best job we can based on the information available to us to make appropriate vetting decisions and this one was a big surprise to everybody."
CONTINUED >>
From NBC’s Domenico Montanaro
The McCain campaign today released a high-quality, 12-minute video that highlights McCain’s military service and touts his “maverick spirit” with a “rebellious streak.” It opens with McCain giving his name, rank, and officer number as a young prisoner of war in Vietnam being questioned by a foreign interviewer. The video marks a shift in his campaign to re-brand the one-time front-runner with an old theme -- the one that worked so well for him in 2000.
“I wouldn’t call it a re-branding because this has always been his brand,” said Brian Rogers, a campaign spokesman. “But certainly we view September as a critical month for the senator and our campaign. And this is the opening salvo in the way forward for our campaign.”
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Mark Murray and Domenico Montanaro
Clinton, per her campaign, has just picked up her second labor union endorsement this week -- from the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. The endorsement comes a few days after some of the Democratic presidential candidates (including Clinton, Edwards, and Kucinich) spoke to the union. The IAM also endorsed Huckabee in the GOP race.
Earlier this week, Clinton also won the United Transportation Union's endorsement.
From Mark Murray and Domenico Montanaro
*** It’s Been A LONG Month…: August is typically a month when many unwind, go on vacation, or head to the nearest back-to-school sale, all to prepare for the busy fall ahead. But for those who have been participating in or covering this expedited presidential race, this month has been jam-packed with news that could influence the sprint -- but aren’t we already sprinting? -- that begins after Labor Day. On the Democratic side, the month began with Obama’s speech on terrorism (and Pakistan), which produced the first real shoot-out among most of the Dem candidates. Then came Clinton’s statement at YearlyKos that she wouldn’t refuse lobbyist contributions. Next was Richardson’s response at a gay-rights forum, where he said that homosexuality is a choice. Then came the debate in Des Moines, where many of these things were rehashed and Obama proved he could take a punch. And then there was Edwards’ aggressive re-launch in New Hampshire.
*** More August News: On the GOP side, the month featured Romney’s expected win in Ames, Huckabee’s surprise second-place finish there, and Tommy Thompson’s exit. Then there were the staff departures for the other (and better-polling) Thompson, as well as the growing complaints why his campaign was waiting so long to actually begin. Also, we saw Romney and Fred gang up on Giuliani regarding immigration and guns. And the news over at the White House and Congress included Rove’s and Gonzales’ announced departures, plus the recent scandal involving Sen. Larry Craig. Whew. If all of these things happened in August, what does the fall -- and then the nominating contests in the winter -- have in store for us?
*** If The Hsu Fits…: Another story that broke during the last few days of the month was the mysterious case of Clinton bundler Norman Hsu (who has donated to other Democrats and Democratic causes). As we’ve noted earlier, the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday reported on his links to a family of modest means who had donated tens of thousands of dollars to Clinton since 2005. Then the Los Angeles Times wrote that Mr. Hsu has been a fugitive for 15 years after pleading no contest to grand theft. Today, the papers note that the Clinton campaign -- after earlier refusing to do so -- is donating to charity the $23,000 Hsu has given the campaign and reviewing thousands more he had raised. Clinton and her campaign are the last folks who would ever back down from something. But with Edwards and Obama hitting her on accepting money from federal lobbyists and past press reports of another problematic donor -- Vinod Gupta -- the campaign’s decision to return his money is a no-brainer. But what does it do with the money he’s bundled?
*** The Buzzards Are Circling: Yesterday, GOP Sens. John McCain -- who is running for president -- and Norm Coleman -- who will be in a tough contest for re-election next year -- called for the embattled Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, to resign. In addition, Senate GOP leaders yesterday announced that Craig had complied with their request to step down from his key committee assignments. We’ve seen this process play out before, and there are essentially three outcomes. One, Craig resigns pretty quickly (a la Mark Foley). Two, he waits as long as possible before stepping down (Bob Ney, Alberto Gonzales). Or three, he rides out the storm as the press turns to other stories (William Jefferson, David Vitter).
*** On The Trail: Biden, in Iowa, participates in the SEIU's Walk-A-Day program; Edwards speaks at a Democratic county party BBQ in South Carolina; McCain is in Arizona; Richardson raises money in Nevada; Romney does the same in North Carolina; and actress Kathleen Turner campaigns for Obama in South Carolina.
*** And A Note: Given the need to take our final breather this August, the morning version of First Read will not publish tomorrow, although we’ll have updated posts throughout the day. The next issue of the morning version will return bright and early Tuesday, September 4. Have a happy and safe Labor Day weekend.
Countdown to MA-05 Special Election: 4 days
Countdown to LA GOV election: 51 days
Countdown to Election Day 2007: 68 days
Countdown to LA GOV run-off (if necessary): 79 days
Countdown to Iowa: 136 days
Countdown to SC GOP primary: 141 days
Countdown to Tsunami Tuesday: 158 days
Countdown to Election Day 2008: 432 days
Countdown to Inauguration Day 2009: 509 days
A new Time magazine poll of Iowa has Edwards leading at 29%, followed by Clinton at 24%, Obama at 22%, and Richardson at 11%. “For Edwards, the poll has some less welcome news as well. So far, at least, his attempts to portray himself as the real change agent in the race — the one who wants to slam the door on lobbyists and other ‘Washington insiders’ — isn't paying off. Obama beats him by 35% to 25% on the question of who ‘will take on special interests in Washington.’ (Clinton trailed with 19%.) Iowa Democrats seem to like Edwards more for who he is than for what he says; they call him the ‘most likable’ and the one who best understands their concerns, but his toss-out-the-insiders message hasn't stuck.”
CLINTON: “Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign said yesterday that it would give to charity $23,000 it had received from a prominent Democratic donor, and review thousands of dollars more that he had raised, after learning that the authorities in California had a warrant for his arrest stemming from a 1991 fraud case,” the New York Times says. “The travails of Mr. Hsu have proved an embarrassment for the Clinton campaign, which has strived to project an image of rectitude in its fund-raising and to dispel any lingering shadows of past episodes of tainted contributions.”
CONTINUED >>
The Washington Times examines the FairTax revolution -- the push for a national retail sales tax -- “that has taken hold of the 2008 Republican presidential debate and turned from outcast to kingmaker, including aiding presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee's surprise second-place showing in this month's influential Iowa Republican presidential straw poll. Of the major candidates on the Republican side six, including all-but-announced candidate Fred Thompson, have said they are either active supporters or would at least be willing to sign a FairTax bill if it reached their desks as president.”
GIULIANI: Giuliani tapped former New York fire chief Howard Safir to lead a coalition of “law enforcement and emergency-responders backing his campaign for president.”
ROMNEY: The Romney campaign is running a new TV ad in Iowa and New Hampshire. It goes: "An Olympics hit by scandal and deficits, he rescued them. He turned around dozens of companies and became a business legend. A state losing jobs, with huge deficits, Governor Mitt Romney turned it around – cutting spending, instead of raising taxes. At every step, he's met extraordinary challenges. Mitt Romney – the energy and experience to turn around Washington."
CONTINUED >>
The
New York Times:”The White House is growing more confident that it can beat back efforts by Congressional Democrats to shift course in Iraq, a significant turnabout from two months ago, when a string of Republican defections had administration officials worried that President Bush’s troop buildup was in serious danger on Capitol Hill. Current and former administration officials say they realize that the September battle over the troop buildup will be difficult. But they also say the president’s hand is stronger now than it was in early July, when Republican senators like Pete V. Domenici of New Mexico and Richard G. Lugar of Indiana publicly called for a change of course.”
“Gov. Jennifer Granholm is convinced that the state House today will approve legislation, already passed by the Senate, to hold a statewide presidential primary Jan. 15 -- even though the move could put the state on a collision course with the national parties,” the Detroit News reports.
Edwards' campaign manager David Bonior, a Michigan native, told the Boston Globe: "I do believe there is a role for a larger state in this process whether that be Florida or wherever. But this campaign is focused on the four early states of Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, and South Carolina because that is where the issues matter most."
Per the Washington Times, “The top 2008 Democratic presidential candidates will likely campaign for the Jan. 29 Florida primary, and a potential earlier primary in Michigan, in defiance of the party's threat to strip the states of their convention delegates, Democratic strategists said yesterday.”
GOP Sens. John McCain and Norm Coleman called for Craig to resign yesterday. "My opinion is that when you plead guilty to a crime you shouldn't serve," McCain told CNN. "That's not a moral stand, 'holier than thou,' just a factual situation." And Coleman said in a radio interview: "If I was making the decision, I'd resign. I'd tell him to resign. I think this is one where you've pled guilty, you've had time to think about it.”
The Washington Post also notes that “Senate GOP leaders said that Craig ‘agreed to comply’ with their request that he step down as the ranking Republican on the Veterans' Affairs Committee and two subcommittees while the ethics committee assesses his case. The move, they said, was for ‘the good of the Senate.’ The intensity of the Republican leaders' assault on one of their own was stunning, if for no other reason than its unusual -- un-senatorial -- nature. Several ethics lawyers and experts could not provide an example in the past two decades of one senator calling for the ethics committee to investigate a colleague.”
CONTINUED >>
From NBC’s Domenico Montanaro
There was a broad range of reactions from the presidential candidates. We have statements from Giuliani, Dodd, Edwards, McCain, and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. We also have a five-and-a-half-minute video from Obama entitled, “Rebuilding New Orleans, Two Years Later.”
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Lauren Appelbaum
With former President Jimmy Carter by his side, Edwards visited Georgia Southwestern State University to discuss his vision for America and his plans to build One America. Edwards began his speech with an attack on Bush's request for more money to fund the surge in Iraq. Using his fingers to make quote marks while saying the word "surge," Edwards dismissed the idea as a good plan.
"The Congress will be coming back next week, and I think the American people have seen enough excuses," Edwards said. "They don't want excuses anymore. They want to see this war come to an end. They want to see it brought to an end. What the Congress should do when they come back next week is make it absolutely clear, no timetable, no funding. And there should be no further excuses. The Congress needs to stand their ground. They had a mandate from the American people in the election in November in 2006 and they need to meet that mandate."
CONTINUED >>
From NBC’s Domenico Montanaro
America Coming Together, a political action committee credited with doing much of the grassroots organization and get-out-the-vote efforts for Democrats in 2004, was hit with a $775,000 fine by the Federal Election Commission for violating federal election law during the 2004 campaign election cycle.
The FEC leveled its third-largest fine in history against George Soros-backed ACT, “a federal political action committee (PAC) that also has a non-federal account registered under section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code, agreed to pay $775,000 to settle charges that it used funds raised outside federal limits and source prohibitions to pay for expenses that should have been paid with funds raised within the federal contribution limits and prohibitions,” according to the FEC’s Web site.
Also, the FEC “uncovered no evidence of coordination between” ACT and the Democratic National Committee, 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry.
From NBC’s Kristin Wilson
“Polls don't mean spit” was the oft-repeated mantra today in DC by the president of the International Association of Firefighters and Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Chris Dodd.
According to Dodd, and IAFF president Harold Shaitberger, however, the "very extensive surveys we've conducted and phone contacts with voters in these states" (hey, isn't that called "polling?") in Iowa and New Hampshire do mean, ummm, spit.
Shaitberger said voters are apparently still undecided in the early primary and caucus states, and will make their decisions not in August, which is filled with "more theater, more popularity contests," but rather in December and January, when "they get serious about their decision."
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
In another sign the presidential selection process may be headed for 2007, Wyoming Republicans voted to move their conventions to Jan. 5, leapfrogging Iowa and New Hampshire.
"We're first in the nation," State party County Convention Coordinator Tom Sansonetti told the AP. "At least for the next couple, three weeks until New Hampshire and Iowa move, which I expect they will."
Iowa and New Hampshire are currently scheduled for Jan. 14 and Jan. 22, respectively. But that is expected to change, since South Carolina moved its Republican primary to Jan. 19. We reported earlier, though, that the Republican National Committee is vowing to take tough action against states like Florida, South Carolina, New Hampshire and Michigan for moving its primary dates up. The Democratic National Committee levied the heavy sanction of stripping Florida of its delegates Saturday -- if within 30 days Florida doesn’t agree to move its primary date back by at least a week.
From NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell
Senior officials tell NBC News it is unlikely President Bush will be ready to nominate a choice for attorney general before the president leaves for the APEC Summit next week. It appears there is not sufficient time on Thursday and Friday for the president to complete interviews with candidates and be ready for an announcement, advisors said.
Officials said they now "have more names in the mix than when we started” and that consultations with members of Congress and others outside government have contributed to the process. They refused to discuss specific names, but advisors suggest that Paul Clement, George Terwilliger and Larry Silberman are among those being considered.
Advisors said they believe the speculation about Michael Chertoff has run its course, and he is not in the running to succeed Gonzales. "It gets unfair to Mike," one advisor said.
The positive reaction to Clement as acting attorney general takes some pressure off the timing, advisors said.
From NBC’s Ken Strickland
Might the Republican leadership remove embattled Sen. Larry Craig from committee assignments or request that he steps down? The leadership has not made plans to take those steps, but a GOP aide says, “We reserve that right.” Craig is a member of the powerful appropriations committee.
Also, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell called Craig yesterday prior to releasing the statement from the GOP Leadership calling for an ethics investigation. McConnell's office wouldn't characterize the call other than to say they were giving Craig a heads-up on the GOP position. In that statement, the leadership said it will be "examining other aspects of the case to determine if additional action is required."
Also note that while senators' press offices often spam Capitol Hill reporters with press releases from the mundane to the sublime, we've seen nothing so far from anyone except the previously mentioned statement from the GOP leadership yesterday.
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
The liberal, anti-war group MoveOn.org will go up with an ad by the end of this week in Democratic Rep. Brian Baird’s district in Washington state, accusing him of a “flip-flop” on the Iraq war.
Baird, along with Sens. Clinton and Carl Levin, recently said the troop surge in Iraq is showing signs of progress -- at least in Al-Anbar province. Baird had voted against the Iraq military action in 2003.
“MoveOn.org Political Action Committee is sponsoring the ad to call attention to the congressman’s decision to go against the views of his constituents, and his previous voting record, to support President Bush’s failed policy in Iraq,” the group said in an e-mailed statement.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC’s Domenico Montanaro
The Romney campaign is the latest to try and appeal to younger viewers with a gimmicky, “Create Your Own Ad!” push. “Yes, we’re serious,” the campaign boasts on the edit-it-yourself Web site JumpCut.com. The ad can be on “Mitt’s biography, his family, his record as Governor, or his agenda for a stronger America. In fact, your ad can have practically any theme you choose as long you support the campaign creatively and responsibly.”
The campaign provides photos, video and music -- though you can use your own. You just have to “cut, splice and edit to your heart’s content.” The deadline is Sept. 17. The campaign also provides its most recent ad as an example. Under the handle “govmittromney,” Romney’s campaign writes: “Here's one of our television ads, ‘Tested, Proven.’ Think you can do better? Just click the green ‘Edit’ button on this video (or any of the dozens of clips we've provided) and show us what you can do!” Here are some Romney videos on the site.
From Mark Murray and Domenico Montanaro
*** “I Am Not Gay”: While GOP Sen. Larry Craig’s press conference yesterday wasn’t as shocking and bizarre as Jim McGreevey’s was a few years ago, it was quite a spectacle. And it raised more questions than answers, the chief one among them: Why would a local newspaper investigation force a three-term US senator to plead guilty to disorderly conduct regarding lewd behavior in a men’s restroom? Republicans don’t seem to be buying the defense, and before Craig’s presser, the Senate GOP leadership released a statement recommending that the Senate Ethics Committee look into the incident. Of course, GOP Sen. David Vitter’s recent press conference about his links to a DC madam’s phone list was just as big of a spectacle -- and Vitter (with his wife’s help) seems to have survived that incident, at least for now. But then again, being linked to a DC madam doesn’t seem to compare to playing footsie with a plainclothes police officer in a men’s bathroom stall. We’re not the first to say this, but the biggest beneficiary to all of this has been Alberto Gonzales. Did he pick a great week to finally resign, or what?
*** Katrina, Before And After: Heading into the summer of 2005, the Bush White House was suffering its first true political defeat -- over Social Security -- and the situation in Iraq kept getting worse and worse. But few at that point envisioned that the White House and GOP were in danger of losing control of Congress. In the July 2005 NBC/WSJ poll, Bush’s approval rating stood at 46% (almost where it was before he won re-election), and his fav/unfav was 47%-43%. Then came Hurricane Katrina and the federal government’s widely criticized response to it. In the next NBC/WSJ survey, Bush’s plummeted to 40%, then his lowest rating in the poll, and his fav/unfav numbers essentially flipped. Katrina -- which slammed into the Gulf Coast exactly two years ago today -- is hardly the sole explanation for the White House’s current woes (and even lower poll numbers). But it served as the point at which the wheels started to come off.
*** Not The Big Easy: President Bush, whose approval rating now stands at 31% in the latest NBC/WSJ poll, commemorates Katrina’s second anniversary with a visit to the Gulf Coast. He begins the day with a stop at a New Orleans charter school, where he participates in a moment of silence and then makes a statement on the city’s recovery efforts. He then heads to Mississippi, where he makes another statement. None of the presidential candidates will be joining Bush in New Orleans, but many of them (Clinton, Edwards, Huckabee, Hunter, and Obama) were there in the last few days.
*** Its Downballot Impact: But Katrina didn’t only influence Bush’s political standing. Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco (D), whose response to the hurricane was just as widely condemned as Bush’s, isn’t running for re-election this year -- and Republican Bobby Jindal seems a safe bet to claim that seat. Other Gulf Coast governors, however, have seen their political fortunes rise, simply because their states didn’t look as bad as Louisiana did. Alabama Gov. Bob Riley (R), stung in 2003 by a failed tax increase, cruised to re-election last year. And Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R), who took a hit before Katrina for working to eliminate Medicaid benefits for thousands of poor state residents, is now in a strong position to win re-election this year, although a recent Bloomberg News article alleging that Barbour’s friends and family financially benefited from the federal reconstruction aid there might complicate things.
*** Labor Gains: A day after Clinton won the endorsement of the United Transportation Union, Dodd picks up his biggest prize so far -- and perhaps his best piece of news since he launched his presidential bid -- when the International Association of Fire Fighters endorses him today at a press conference in DC. The IAFF, of course, is the sole major union that backed John Kerry before he went on to win in Iowa in 2004 (and it also has been the group hammering Giuliani on his 9/11 record). But while Kerry was overshadowed by Dean at this point in the ’04 race, he was the initial Democratic front-runner and was still registering in double digits in national polls. That’s not the case for Dodd. But, as the Hartford Courant’s Lightman puts it, the endorsement is certainly “an important boost to his underdog campaign.”
*** Billary Returns: The Clinton campaign just issued a press release noting that Clintons -- both Bill and Hillary -- will campaign together over the Labor Day weekend. On Sunday, they hit New Hampshire and then travel to Iowa on Monday.
*** On The Trail: Elsewhere today, Biden campaigns in Iowa; Edwards, in Georgia, gives a speech that his campaign says will touch on all the issues upon which he has built his campaign (poverty, health care, global warming); McCain raises money in California and Arizona; and Romney hits two fundraisers in Georgia.
Countdown to MA-05 Special Election: 5 days
Countdown to LA GOV election: 52 days
Countdown to Election Day 2007: 69 days
Countdown to LA GOV run-off (if necessary): 80 days
Countdown to Iowa: 137 days
Countdown to Tsunami Tuesday: 159 days
Countdown to Election Day 2008: 433 days
Countdown to Inauguration Day 2009: 510 days
The New Orleans Times-Picayune has a special Katrina: Two Years Later issue with several stories looking back. The front page has a large “Thank You!” There is an installment called “Touched By an Angel” with vignettes from people who were helped by others’ kindness.
The AP’s Fournier writes that New Orleans is every Americans’ tragedy. “What happened to this historic city two years ago is more than the obvious cautionary tale of what might befall your community after a natural disaster or a terrorist strike. It's also a sad reflection of what's happening now - today, in your hometown and across an anxious and ailing nation. Inadequate health care. A housing crisis. Crumbling infrastructure. Racial division. Poor schools. Rising crime. And at the core of these and other problems threatening our way of life: a pernicious failure of leadership.”
The Los Angeles Times has a different take. “Today, by accident and by necessity, this city is awash in ideas: the new and the ambitious, the au courant and avant-garde, the idealistic and the slightly nutty. The New Orleans public education system, long considered one of most ineffective in the nation, has been revitalized with a grand experiment in charter schools; more than half of the city's public campuses are charters, the highest percentage of any major metropolis.”
CLINTON: The New York senator won the first endorsement by a national union in the 2008 campaign from the 125,000-member United Transportation Union.
The Los Angeles Times follows up on yesterday’s Wall Street Journal article about Clinton fundraiser Norman Hsu (who has also donated to Biden, Obama, and other Democrats over the years). “For the last 15 years, California authorities have been trying to figure out what happened to a businessman named Norman Hsu, who pleaded no contest to grand theft, agreed to serve up to three years in prison and then seemed to vanish… Since 2004, one Norman Hsu has been carving out a prominent place of honor among Democratic fundraisers. He has funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions into party coffers, much of it earmarked for presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York… Hsu [also] has focused on delivering hefty contributions from citizens who live modest lives and are neophytes in the world of campaign giving.”
Said Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson in the article: "During Mr. Hsu's many years of active participation in the political process, there has been no question about his integrity or his commitment to playing by the rules, and we have absolutely no reason to call his contributions into question or to return them."
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BROWNBACK: He said No Child Left Behind should be revised “to let states negotiate how they meet the education law's requirements,” the Des Moines Register reports. "Where it failed was not giving flexibility to the states," Brownback said.
HUCKABEE: The former Arkansas governor has taken some implicit shots at Romney, but he was more direct in an interview with CBN’s Brody. “‘I’m going to accept that his position (on the life issue) now is a position he currently and indeed does hold but nobody can deny that it’s not the position that he had held. He’s the first to admit that and when you add to that positions that he’s held on other topics like the second amendment and even the Bush tax cuts, on same sex relationships and marriage and other things, that’s what I think causes people to say how many different changes of position can one have during an adult’s lifespan as a politician and then be confidant that that person is going to have another epiphany at some point in the future.’”
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The Boston Globe front-pages all of the scandals that are “putting campaigns to test.” The paper also front-pages its graphic with mug shots of Sen. Larry Craig (Romney’s former Idaho chairman and Senate co-liaison), Thomas Ravenel (former Giuliani South Carolina co-chairman), and Bob Allen (former McCain Florida chairman).
While much of the focus has been on the Democratic National Committee and its sanctions on Florida (and possibly Michigan) for moving up their primaries, the Republican National Committee may take similar steps against Florida, New Hampshire, Michigan and South Carolina. They “face sanctions for moving their contests to before Feb. 5. Two other early nominating states, Iowa and Nevada, will escape Republican sanctions because they hold nonbinding caucuses, not primaries.”
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The Washington Post front-pages that Bush “plans to ask Congress next month for up to $50 billion in additional funding for the war in Iraq, a White House official said yesterday, a move that appears to reflect increasing administration confidence that it can fend off congressional calls for a rapid drawdown of U.S. forces.” More: “The request -- which would come on top of about $460 billion in the fiscal 2008 defense budget and $147 billion in a pending supplemental bill to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq -- is expected to be announced after congressional hearings scheduled for mid-September featuring the two top U.S. officials in Iraq.”
In its coverage of the president’s Iraq speech yesterday, the New York Times notes that Bush said “that an American withdrawal from Iraq would unsettle the entire Middle East, create a haven for Al Qaeda and embolden a belligerent Iran. He said Tehran’s nuclear programs threatened to put ‘a region already known for instability and violence under the shadow of a nuclear holocaust.’”
“Biden chastised the president for continuing to tie the war in Iraq directly to the struggle against the al-Qaida terrorists that attacked the United States in September 2001,” the Quad City Times reports. “’Today, the president argued we have to stay in Iraq to fight extremists. But the fact is his misguided and mismanaged war has fueled extremists in Iraq, Afghanistan and beyond.’”
The Washington Post covers the White House search for a successor to Gonzales. “Among those who are said to be under serious consideration are Solicitor General Paul D. Clement, whom Bush picked to serve as acting attorney general …; George J. Terwilliger III, a former deputy attorney general; former solicitor general Theodore B. Olson; Michael B. Mukasey, former chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York; and Laurence H. Silberman, a senior judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.”
The New York Times says that Gonzales’ resignation “does not mean an end to several investigations into his actions and truthfulness during his tenure at the Justice Department, with Congressional Democrats promising on Tuesday to press their inquiries.”
In a front-page article, the New York Times writes, “Just when Republicans thought things could not get any worse, Senator Larry E. Craig of Idaho confirmed that he had pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct after an undercover police officer accused him of soliciting sex in June in a Minneapolis airport restroom… It was a bizarre spectacle, and only the latest in a string of accusations of sexual foibles and financial misdeeds that have landed Republicans in the political equivalent of purgatory, the realm of late-night comic television.”
The Washington Post’s Milbank adds, “From the opening line of his statement yesterday, Sen. Larry Craig was in trouble. ‘Thank you all very much for coming out today,’ he began. ‘Coming out’ was perhaps not the best phrase for a guy who had pleaded guilty to some rather un-senatorial conduct in an airport men's room -- and now stands accused in his home-state paper of a homosexual encounter in Union Station.”
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From NBC's Mark Murray
In a press conference from Idaho, embattled Sen. Larry Craig (R) apologized for bringing a cloud over his family and his state -- but not for what happened at that Minneapolis airport. "I did nothing wrong at the Minneapolis airport," he said, adding it was a "lapse in judgment" to plead guilty for committing a lewd act in a men's bathroom.
VIDEO: Sen. Larry Craig's Boise, Idaho statement.
He said pleading guilty was an overreaction to a monthslong investigation by the local Idaho Statesman into his sex life. "I am not gay. I have never been gay."
He went on to say, "I believe I can still be an effective leader for our state," and stated he would keep his plans to announce whether he will seek re-election next month.
DOCUMENTS: Police Report; Petition to enter guilty plea; Complaint against Craig; Register of Actions
From NBC’s Ken Strickland
Senate Republi
