Oh-eight (D): Fond '90s memories

Posted: Wednesday, October 24, 2007 9:13 AM by Mark Murray
Filed Under: Democrats

The Des Moines Register writes up Biden’s health-care plan, which falls short of universal coverage. "A key component is to have the federal government provide coverage for catastrophic medical costs, which he said would spread the burden for insuring those patients and help hold down premiums. Biden also would place more emphasis on disease prevention, take steps to insure all children and extend coverage to more adults. He would not require, however, that everyone have health insurance." The paper puts the price tag at $80-$120 billion a year.

CLINTON: "Clinton has neutralized the political fallout from some of the most difficult moments of her eight years as first lady, with Democratic voters looking favorably on her failed effort to revamp healthcare and either supporting or having no opinion of her decision to remain loyal to an unfaithful husband, a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll shows. The positive impression of Clinton's White House years -- which is shared, though more faintly, among the broader public -- is helping propel her to a formidable lead over her rivals” for the Dem nod, where she leads Obama 48-17% in the national primary.

More than 7 in 10 Democrats, and about half of all voters, said they would welcome a White House advisory role for Bill Clinton. "And 42% of Democrats agreed it was the ‘right thing’ for Hillary Clinton to stick with her husband after his affair with a White House intern, compared with 5% who said it was the wrong choice. At the same time, the former first lady remains a polarizing figure -- viewed unfavorably by 44% of respondents. But a favorable rating of 48% is relatively high for Clinton."

Also, Clinton tops Giuliani 47% to 41%, on the edge of the poll's margin of error. She beats the other GOP candidates by larger margins in the hypothetical contests.

Bloomberg adds, "With the 2008 caucuses and primaries only 10 weeks away, Clinton and Giuliani have gotten consistently stronger throughout this year. Clinton's commanding lead in the Democratic field is being fueled by strong backing among both men and women, as well as minorities. By more than a 2-to-1 margin, all voters think it's a good thing that her husband, former President Bill Clinton, would be in a position to offer advice on issues in the White House; Democrats believe this by a margin of 71 percent to 5 percent."

In an interview with the London Guardian, Clinton said she could give up certain presidential powers that have been acquired by the Bush Administration. “‘There were a lot of actions which they took that were clearly beyond any power the Congress would have granted, or that in my view that was inherent in the Constitution,’ Mrs. Clinton said.”

The New York Daily News writes up Clinton’s interview in Essence. “Long-stemmed roses? Perfume? Lingerie? How about a watch that looks like a set of pearly whites and a wooden giraffe from Africa. The latter are tokens of affection Bill Clinton has used to sweep Hillary off her feet. ‘Oh, he's so romantic,’ Hillary said in an interview that appears in the November issue of Essence. ‘He's always bringing me back things from his trips.’”

NBC/NJ's Athena Jones reports that Clinton said yesterday she could not support a bill to reauthorize Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in its current form and would support a filibuster if changes were not made. “I am troubled by the concerns that have been raised by recent legislation reported out of the intelligence committee. I haven’t seen it, so I can’t express an opinion about it, but I don’t trust the Bush Administration with our civil rights and liberties, so I’m going to study it very hard and as matters stand now, I could not support it and I would support a filibuster absent additional information coming forth that would convince me differently,” she told reporters during a brief news conference after a rally in Denver.

DODD: In a new ad, the campaign is running in Iowa, Dodd focuses on his hair. He “argues that his hair turned white because of the work he's done in Congress.

Dodd went after both Clinton and Obama on Iran yesterday. "Too many people went along with it, including one of leading candidates for president," the Connecticut senator said at a campaign event attended by about 30 people at a coffee shop here. "Barack Obama is criticizing Hillary for the vote, but Barack missed the vote," Dodd said. "What the hell is he talking about? There is a third choice." Moments later he said: "I get wound up. I gotta calm down."

EDWARDS: The Edwards camp made the same point about Obama on Iran. Edwards adviser Mike Signer said, "This is a question for the campaign or for him: Why, if it was so important, didn't he come back from New Hampshire?"

With a community meeting in Coulter in Franklin County on Saturday, John Edwards will become the first Democratic candidate for president to visit all of Iowa’s 99 counties, NBC/NJ’s Tricia Miller reports. Tommy Thompson, the former GOP governor of Wisconsin who dropped out in August, had also visited every county, as has Josh Romney, Mitt Romney’s third son. Edwards will celebrate the milestone with a “99 County, 50 State Path to Victory” event at Drake University on Saturday.

KUCINICH: OK, so Dennis Kucinich and Shirley MacLaine have shared UFO stories. Uh-huh... shocking? Not so much.

OBAMA: Obama is airing a radio ad in Iowa featuring Duffy Lyon, the sculptor of that butter cow. “You know, you see a lot of manure in our line of work,” Lyon says.  “It’s a lot like politics.  You got to know what’s bull and what’s for real.” More: “Barack Obama’s got a real plan for rural America. And it’s gutsy because it looks out for us, not lobbyists.”

Gospel music superstar Donnie McClurkin "says he was surprised to wake up Tuesday morning to a media firestorm," the Chicago Trib reports. McClurkin "is scheduled to perform this weekend at Senator Barack Obama’s three-day concert series in South Carolina. Bloggers, for the most part, are calling for the senator to cancel the singer’s Sunday night appearance, saying that his views are anti-gay and incite hate. His ideals and most importantly his ministry, he says, were severely misconstrued."

“‘Most of the things that were said were totally out of context and then other things weren’t true,’ says McClurkin in an exclusive interview with the Chicago Tribune. ‘My only concern is to be in place with Senator Obama in unity and bring all the factors together for the sake of change. That’s my only thing. Of course some agents have twisted it as though he [Obama] were embracing a racist or a Nazi, and that is anything but true.’”

“He now says that he is straight and that his ministry is open to those who say they no longer want to live life as a gay person. What he doesn’t do, he says, is crusade against homosexuality. ‘I don’t believe that even from a religious point of view that Jesus ever discriminated toward anyone nor do I,’ he says. ‘There’s never been a statement made by me about curing homosexuality. People are using that in order to incite anger and to twist my whole platform on it. There’s no crusade for curing it or to convert everyone. This is just for those who come to me and ask for change.’”

Will McClurkin’s interview stop this? The Hill reports, “The nation’s biggest gay rights group is trying to force Sen. Barrack Obama (D-Ill.) to cancel presidential campaign event with a controversial preacher who claims he was homosexual but has been cured… The influential [Human Rights Campaign] representing a powerful Democratic constituency, let Obama’s campaign know that it would issue a public demand if Obama did not immediately cancel the event, said a person who had been briefed on the exchange.”

NBC/NJ's Aswini Anburajan notes: The issue of McClurkin raises a more interesting point with Obama, however. When a candidate wants to have a big enough tent to embrace voters from across the red-blue spectrum, there's going to be controversy. Is this only the beginning of the red-blue culture clashes that we'll see as Obama attempts to win over more conservative voters?

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) officially got behind Obama yesterday. And, in turn, Obama got behind the Red Sox in the World Series. The rally drew about 9,500 people. 

RICHARDSON: Yesterday, the campaign announced it is donating $10,000 to the Red Cross to assist in relief efforts as a result of the wildfires in Southern California.

While in Nevada yesterday, Richardson touted his "A" rating from the NRA.

Meanwhile, did he get caught in another flip-flop yesterday? Nevada's chief political analyst Jon Ralston reports, "So Bill Richardson says he has always stood with the state on Yucca Mountain and yet he voted for the Screw Nevada Bill as a congressman and let the dump go forward as secretary of energy." The Denver Post's Susan Greene "broke the Screw Nevada Bill story in today's editions and has some great quotes from Bob Loux and Bob Fulkerson about Richardson's record.”

Here's the Denver Post piece.

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