Oh-eight (D): Those Little Rock papers
Posted: Monday, October 22, 2007 9:11 AM by Mark Murray
Filed Under:
Democrats
CLINTON: The New York Times front-pages that Clinton “is learning to play nice with the Drudge Report and the powerful, elusive and conservative-leaning man behind it. That man, Matt Drudge, came to national prominence a decade ago as a nemesis of the Clintons who used the Web to peddle, gleefully, the latest news and rumor generated by the Monica Lewinsky scandal.”
“Aides in both parties acknowledge working harder than ever to get favorable coverage for their candidates — or unfavorable coverage of competitors — onto the Drudge Report’s home page, knowing that television producers, radio talk show hosts and newspaper reporters view it as a bulletin board for the latest news and gossip.”
Newsweek's investigative bulldog, Michael Isikoff, seems frustrated that Clinton won't release any papers and notes how hard of a time some reporters have searching the Clinton archives at the Clinton presidential library. "Nearly three years after the Clinton Library opened—and more than 21 months after its trove of records became subject to the Freedom of Information Act—barely one half of 1 percent of the 78 million pages of documents and 20 million e-mail messages at the federally funded facility are public, according to the National Archives. The lack of access is emerging as an issue in Hillary's presidential campaign: she cites her years of experience as First Lady as one of her prime qualifications to be president. Like other Democratic candidates, she has decried the ‘stunning record of secrecy’ of the Bush administration; her campaign Web site vows to bring a ‘return to transparency’ to government. But Clinton's appointment calendar as First Lady, her notes at strategy meetings, what advice she gave her husband and his advisers, what policy memos she wrote, even some key papers from her health-care task force—all of this, and much more documenting her years as First Lady, remains locked away, most likely through the entire campaign season."
A Washington Post editorial criticizes the Clinton camp's vetting process regarding the controversial Chinatown donations. "This appears to be another instance in which a Clinton campaign's zeal for campaign cash overwhelms its judgment… The campaign argues that it did what it could to ensure that contributions were legal. The alternative, the campaign says, would be to prevent those with foreign-sounding names from participating in the political process. But there's another alternative: to strengthen a vetting process that seems geared more toward justifying the acceptance of checks than toward uncovering problems."
In a chat with reporters on Saturday, Clinton tried to
play down the inevitability storyline. "I am well-aware that no one has voted, no one has caucused. We have a long way to go before that happens. I don't take anything for granted, and I am going to keep working as hard as I possibly can."
In its occasional series examining presidential candidates, the
Sunday Boston Globe profiled Clinton, and it says she was shaped by the turmoil of the 1960s.
Clinton raised an estimated $500,000 at director Rob Reiner's Brentwood home Sunday night, according to NBC/NJ’s Athena Jones. "We're all here for one reason," Reiner told a crowd the campaign estimated at around 250 people. "To put the best person in the White House."
EDWARDS: Here’s a look at how Edwards is trying to sell the South in a place as Yankee as New Hampshire.
OBAMA: USA Today examines just what kind of impact Oprah can have on Obama's campaign.
Here's an "ouch" of a story. The
Chicago Sun-Times looks at what office Obama could run for next -- and it's not re-election as president, but governor in 2010. These stories only serve to negative reinforce the CW on Obama right now.
Expect the RNC to file this immigration clip away for use in a general election should Obama end up on the national ticket.
Newly released photos of Obama in his youth show one of the only times he met his father, the New York Daily News reports.
RICHARDSON: So how key is Nevada in Richardson's campaign game plan? The Reno Gazette-Journal headlines a story, "Richardson lags in Nevada despite strengths."
Richardson also “wants to link presidential and congressional pay raises to efforts to lower the national deficit.”
