Veepstakes: Carly gets some criticism
Posted: Thursday, July 10, 2008 9:07 AM by Domenico Montanaro
The Los Angeles Times calls out Carly Fiorina for having "taken some license with McCain's positions." The paper cites her courting women and saying, "There are many health insurance plans that will cover Viagra but won't cover birth control medication. Those women would like a choice." "But as the abortion rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America was happy to point out, McCain twice voted against measures that would have required insurance companies to cover birth control -- in 2003 and 2005. The Republican said Wednesday that he did not recall those votes. 'It's something that I had not thought much about,' he added. A campaign aide who refused to speak by name said the Arizona senator opposed all mandates.
She also told women in Ohio that McCain "has never signed on to efforts to overturn Roe vs. Wade." But "according to his campaign website: 'John McCain believes Roe v. Wade is a flawed decision that must be overturned, and as president he will nominate judges who understand that courts should not be in the business of legislating from the bench.'"
The San Francisco Chronicle adds that Fiorina is being “buffeted by intense criticism that, as a star campaign surrogate, she is playing fast and loose with the facts.”
More from NBC/NJ’s Mike Memoli…
DEMOCRATS: Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) joined Hillary Clinton in voting against FISA. Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) was among 21 “mostly moderate Democrats” voting for it. "With tensions rising" over Iran, Biden opened a hearing yesterday "by scolding the Bush administration for not adequately engaging Iran on its nuclear programs." Biden: "Let me be blunt: In my view, as a result of the policies this administration has pursued, Iran, not freedom, has been on the march in the Middle East."
Stateline looks at governors in states where the opposite party dominates, and says that Sebelius is one of the few who may be succeeded by someone in her own party. A local analyst calls her efforts “to boost the Democratic infrastructure and fundraising capacity” her “great legacy.” And for the first time in six years, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D-KS) endorsed in a Democratic primary for state Senate.
REPUBLICANS: Some of Mitt Romney’s top donors say his fundraising efforts have earned him a spot on the ticket. McCain was asked if he and Romney have buried the hatchet. “Oh yeah, we've spent a lot of time together, spent time together and -- And you know I've seen other primaries," McCain said, "and they've been much more spirited and sometimes much rougher than ours was."
The Palm Beach Post does the latest “engagement helps VP chances” story for Charlie Crist, but it has this interesting sentiment from Crist. He says that “having a wife would make him a better governor,” even as he “disputed the notion that marital status matters much to voters.” “Voters are very smart, and I think they have a great ability to see through all of this sort of stuff that might be thrown at you during the course of a campaign," Crist said.
