Oh-eight (R): Enter Qatar
Posted: Wednesday, November 07, 2007 8:51 AM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
Republicans
The AmSpec's Jennifer Rubin reports, "Key women advisors to the Thompson, McCain, Rudy and Romney campaigns met for a panel discussion moderated by Kate O'Beirne at the National Press Club. There was a stark absence of whining, complaining or fretting about the life of a female campaign advisor and a consensus that Washington pollsters and pundits have missed the boat in labeling certain issues as "women's issues" and trying to pigeonhole women voters. Each voiced the main themes and appeal of their candidate and in some cases tried to highlight the weaknesses of their opponents… In a nutshell we saw a microcosm of the race: Romney is running on the three-legged stool while his opponents make the argument he is not a credible messenger. Rudy runs on leadership while his opponents focus on his positions on social issues. Thompson runs on an aura of comfort and McCain on foreign policy expertise. Now if the candidates were only as polished, likeable and effective as these advisors the GOP would have 2008 in the bag."
 |
|
GIULIANI: There has been chatter for some time that Giuliani's business ties include foreign governments. Well, the
Wall Street Journal reports today that Giuliani Partners has provided "security advice" to the government of Qatar. "Qatar is a strategic U.S. military ally and energy supplier, yet also a country that has been criticized for its conduct toward al Qaeda -- a potential political pitfall for a candidate pitching himself as an uncompromising foe of Islamic terrorism." The piece goes on to detail the fact that Giuliani's firm has not publicly released its client list.
More: "Barring disclosure from Mr. Giuliani, it isn't known how much the consulting contract in Qatar contributed toward his income. In addition, Mr. Giuliani receives $1 million in guaranteed income each year from his law firm, Bracewell & Giuliani, which opened an office in Qatar's capital, Doha, in June."
File this under: business ties a Republican could get away with politically, but not a Democrat…
The New York Sun's Gitell writes that Judith Giuliani's first solo campaign appearance "exceeded expectations." "Mrs. Giuliani spoke comfortably and with authority on an issue with which she, as a former oncological nurse, was familiar. She scored on one important rule of politics: Preparation counts. The night prior to her speech, she toured the hospital's Norris Cotton Cancer Center and referenced it during her remarks, a fact that connected with the audience of health care providers, advocates, and patients."
HUCKABEE: The New Hampshire SEIU may endorse Huckabee. The union’s executive board will meet with Huckabee “Friday, with an eye toward endorsing him in the GOP primary.”
Yesterday, Huckabee put out a statement saying that he was disappointed that one of his mentors, Paul Weyrich, endorsed Romney – based, Huckabee said, on incorrect information about the former Arkansas governor. "I love Paul Weyrich and he has been a political mentor to me. It hurts that he has accepted some misinformation as fact, but I will forever respect and appreciate him. I will continue to support Paul even if he doesn't support me, " Huckabee said. "One thing is for sure---when I was a 23 year old communications director for a Christian organization that helped launch Christian involvement in public affairs, Paul Weyrich was one of my heroes and I'll bet in the late 70's and 80's Mitt Romney wasn't listening to cassette tapes of Paul Weyrich speeches like I was."
MCCAIN: It may only be via surrogate, but the McCain campaign is
stepping up its criticism of Giuliani, a candidate that McCain has previously shied away from criticizing. "A top supporter of Senator McCain is assailing Mayor Giuliani for making light of sleep deprivation as a form of torture, saying his joke is ‘an insult to all American soldiers who have had to endure real torture and mistreatment while in enemy hands.’”
During a recent campaign swing in Iowa, Mr. Giuliani called the idea that sleep deprivation was torture "plain silly" and quipped that if that were the case, "I'm getting tortured running for president of the United States."
In Iowa yesterday, McCain criticized the Bush admin on global warming.
The Columbia State looks at McCain's efforts to reignite his campaign in South Carolina.
PAUL: The
Politico profiles the man behind the one-day fundraising idea for Ron Paul. His name is Trevor Lyman of Miami Beach. The next big fundraising push will be over the weekend of December 15 and 16, the anniversaries of the Bill of Rights and the Boston Tea Party. Politico's Vogel coins a new term in the piece: viral e-bundling. "Whether or not Lyman can match the total from Monday (also symbolic, since it’s the anniversary of a failed effort to blow up the British parliament), he may have already pioneered a new breed of fundraising -- call it viral e-bundling."
ROMNEY: Now, the campaign is never going to complain when it gets endorsements like the one it got from conservative Paul Weyrich. But did it really want Weyrich to use the
phrase "flip-flop"? "I believe that he has flip-flopped in our direction, if you will -- the direction of the values voters -- and I think he will stay there," Weyrich said in a telephone interview, the first since he endorsed Romney. "I think he has a good deal of presence and ability to explain things, and so I think he's the candidate this year."
More Weyrich: "In analyzing the primary situation, I believe it's going to come down to a contest between Giuliani and Romney and I don't want Giuliani," Weyrich said from his home in Virginia. "I feel that it would be a mistake for the Republicans to nominate him - so I decided that Romney would be the better of the two."
The AP's Sidoti writes an analysis asking what it's going to take to stop Romney and his money. "Everyone who isn't Mitt Romney is sitting around looking at their cash on hand, looking at their opposition research and trying to figure out what the silver bullet is, when do I shoot it and how do I make sure it kills," Phil Musser, a Republican strategist backing the former Massachusetts governor.”
THOMPSON: NBC/NJ's Adam Aigner-Treworgy was with Thompson in Spartanburg, SC last night. Nearly every GOP presidential candidate has visited the Beacon Drive-in, with the notable exception of Giuliani. But according to owner Sam Maw, the turnout for Thompson’s dinnertime speech on Monday night was pretty impressive, if only because many of the other candidates’ visits have occurred during the day. Thompson didn’t disappoint the more than 100 people who crammed into the tiny side room of the Beacon’s main dining hall to hear him speak, telling the crowd that “we can’t afford” to elect a Democrat as president.
“We can’t turn the keys of this country over to the most left wing part of a left wing party,” Thompson said. “If the Democratic Party was a chicken it’d be fourteen left wings and no legs …’cause it’s not going to go anywhere.”
The
Washington Post's Mike Shear notes the stepped up campaign activity of Thompson and leads, "Thompson appears to be stepping it up, at least to a slow trot." As evidence, Shear points to the new TV ads the campaign launched yesterday in Iowa and, nationally, on Fox News. Also: "Thompson plans to campaign in Iowa next week after undertaking an unusually busy week that included a day in New Hampshire, two days in South Carolina and an event at the Country Music Association Awards in Tennessee.
The New York Daily News reports on Thompson’s FOX open mic: “As a miked-up Fred Thomspon awaited an appearance on Fox News, reporter Carl Cameron urged his crew to hurry up: ‘The next President of the United States has a schedule to keep.’ ‘And so do I,’ Thompson deadpanned, according to the London Telegraph, underscoring complaints that his heart really isn't in the race. As his surprised aides cringed, Cameron exclaimed, ‘You can't do that kind of stuff!’”
