First thoughts: London calling
Posted: Wednesday, September 19, 2007 9:16 AM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
First Thoughts
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Julia Steers
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London calling: Rudy Giuliani today is in London, where he has already met with Tony Blair and Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and raised money (from American ex-pats) at the posh Mandarin Oriental. Later today, he delivers remarks at the Inaugural Margaret Thatcher Atlantic Bridge lecture. His UK fundraiser, in particular, shines a bright light on how all the major presidential candidates are raising money overseas this cycle. "The whole question of cost-effectiveness has been dramatically rewritten because the cost of campaigns is going up so high," Democratic campaign-finance expert Bob Bauer tells Congressional Quarterly. "You wouldn't go [overseas] for small-donor events, but if you can get up to the maximum amount from lawful contributors, that's a source of funds that I doubt any campaign would readily overlook. There's an increasing sense that no stone can be left unturned."
*** And it’s not just Giuliani: Bill Clinton and Michelle Obama are both headed to London later this fall to raise money for their respective spouse's campaigns. Obama even called into a fundraiser on his behalf last June in Beijing. According to experts on fundraising, the only foreign place in years past where campaigns regularly traveled to in order to raise money was Israel, where many dual-citizens live. But with globalization hitting the securities industry -- as well as other businesses -- more Americans are living overseas for two to three years at a time. And they have both disposable income and an interest in politics.
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Does the GOP have a minority problem? Don’t miss the
Washington Post piece today about the top Republican candidates skipping Tavis Smiley’s African-American forum at Morgan State University in Baltimore and the earlier Univision forum, which has been postponed. And don’t miss this quote from former GOP vice presidential nominee Jack Kemp: “‘We sound like we don't want immigration; we sound like we don't want black people to vote for us," said … Kemp… ‘What are we going to do -- meet in a country club in the suburbs one day? If we're going to be competitive with people of color, we've got to ask them for their vote.’” Newt Gingrich leveled similar criticism in the article. George W. Bush grabbing approximately 40% of the Latino vote was key to him narrowly winning re-election in 2004. Can any of the GOP candidates -- besides McCain -- match that number in 2008? If not, how do they make up for those lost votes?
*** Clinton vs. Edwards and Romney vs. Thompson: As we mentioned yesterday, Edwards went after Clinton for her fundraiser yesterday at a DC law firm. And the Clinton campaign returned the fire. Does Clinton vs. Edwards end up helping Obama? After all, Iowa doesn't like angry campaigns. Or do they? (See Tom Harkin.) Also, check out Romney and Thompson dueling yesterday over the Everglades. Is Thompson really leaving the door open to drilling for oil there? If he were the nominee, he'd seriously be putting Florida in play with talk like that.
*** A Granite State of Mind -- that’s undecided: NBC/National Journal’s Mike Memoli conducted an informal exit poll of more than 100 Manchester voters. The verdict? Clinton has a slight lead among Democrats, but most minds aren’t made up. No frontrunner among actual GOP voters. We’ll have more on Memoli’s dispatch later today…
*** On the trail: Due to Senate votes, Biden has cancelled his campaign stops in Iowa; Clinton holds a conversation, “Hillary Live!” moderated by former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack; Edwards hits a reception in Seattle; Huckabee stumps in South Carolina; McCain and Obama are in DC; Richardson gives a speech at the Obesity Public Policy Conference; Romney speaks in Florida; and Thompson is in Austin, TX.
Countdown to LA GOV election: 31 days
Countdown to Election Day 2007: 48 days
Countdown to LA GOV run-off (if necessary): 59 days
Countdown to Iowa: 117 days
Countdown to SC GOP primary: 122 days
Countdown to Tsunami Tuesday: 139 days
Countdown to Election Day 2008: 412 days
Countdown to Inauguration Day 2009: 489 days
