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The Morning Grind / DayAhead |
Braun bolts
By John Mercurio
CNN Political Unit
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And then there were eight: Carol Moseley Braun, who defended Howard Dean against attacks from Al Sharpton in Sunday night's debate, will put her support behind Dean.
Story Tools
| ON CNN TV |
Watch CNN's live coverage of the planned campaign event in which Carol Moseley Braun is to bow out of the Democratic presidential race and endorse Howard Dean at 1:45 p.m. ET Thursday. Then see an interview with Braun on "Judy Woodruff's Inside Politics" at 3:30 p.m. ET.
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VIDEO
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CNN's Candy Crowley on the escalating rhetoric in the push to Iowa.
CNN's Bill Schneider on political similarities between Kosovo and Iraq.
KCCI's Todd Magel on the system that will provide results from Iowa.
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| UPCOMING PRIMARIES |
• Monday, January 19: Iowa caucuses • Tuesday, January 27: New Hampshire primary • Tuesday, February 3: Arizona, Delaware, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina primaries; New Mexico Democratic caucus; Virginia Republican caucus When is your primary? For more key dates in the 2004 election season, see our special America Votes 2004 Election Calendar |
SPECIAL REPORT
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Much like the campaign she has run for almost a year, Carol Moseley Braun's decision to quit and back Howard Dean today in Iowa will have little impact on the Democratic nomination battle. Her moves have, however, done wonders for a political career that seemed destined for dishonor when she lost her Senate seat in 1998.
We'll watch with interest this afternoon as Braun explains her decision to quit just four days before the Iowa caucuses and support Dean, whose campaign manager Joe Trippi started negotiating with Braun on Monday. Her choice of Dean should come as little surprise; their camps shared several top aides, most notably Andi Pringle, who resigned as Braun's manager to become Trippi's deputy last year.
But with no disrespect intended, we're going to move on this morning to a host of other political happenings in the dayahead. Not the least of which is the second superstar endorsement for four-star Gen. Wesley Clark. Michael Moore, the Academy-award winning Bush hater (not the former Mississippi attorney general), says Clark is "clearly the absolute best hope of defeating George W. Bush."
Dean and Bush head south
Meanwhile, we noticed that Dean and President Bush have something in common these days: They're both headed to Georgia to pal around with Democratic legends. Bush flies to Atlanta today to raise money with Zell Miller. Dean travels to the Peachtree State on Sunday, one day before the Iowa caucuses, to "go to church" with Jimmy Carter.
Unfortunately for Dean, however, it's Bush who has secured the explicit backing of his Democratic host, who'll introduce the president at a $2,000-a-head fund-raiser tonight at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. Sources tell the Grind that "several" Democratic state legislators, including state Rep. Mickey Channell, also plan to back Bush at today's event. Griffin Bell, who served as attorney general in the Carter administration and endorsed George H.W. Bush in '88 and '92, also may attend.
While Bush is grateful to Miller for his support, Dean's rivals say the president should really thank the Vermonter for the senator's backing. For if Dean weren't currently the '04 Dem front-runner, it's unlikely Bush would be drawing such enthusiastic support from Miller, who recently scoffed that Dean "knows about as much about the South as a hog knows about Sunday."
Miller, who played a crucial role in helping Bill Clinton's 1992 election by moving up the Georgia primary to follow closely after the New Hampshire vote, was celebrating his 50th wedding anniversary in Georgia and could not be reached for comment.
But the remarks he'll make tonight, and throughout the '04 campaign, will speak volumes about Dean and his potential struggle once the primary heads South and, if he wins the Democratic nomination, in Southern states this fall. Dean acknowledged as much recently when he started to discuss his personal religious beliefs more openly, something the New Englander says he must do in order to connect to Southern voters.
Making matters worse for Dean these days is Wesley Clark, who's not only breathing down his neck in New Hampshire but is starting to build a strong organization in Georgia. Clark was endorsed last month by Andrew Young, a former Atlanta mayor and U.N. ambassador, and last night unveiled the backing of Rep. Sanford Bishop, one of Georgia's two black congressmen.
Nonsense, says Kimberly Krautter, the Georgia director of Dean's campaign. Krautter told the Grind that the Dean campaign has 10,000 registered supporters in 44 counties (twice as many counties as have party chairmen in Georgia) and endorsements from 23 local officeholders (two state senators, 12 state representatives, seven county commissioners, one mayor and a DNC member).
Katherine Harris to run for Senate
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the South (Florida, to be exact) we hear that Katherine Harris, contrary to our gut prediction (See our January 8 Grind column), is poised to join the Senate race. A senior Republican Party source told CNN's Steve Turnham that party leaders expect Harris to make the announcement as early as Friday.
Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie spoke yesterday with Harris, according to RNC spokeswoman Christine Iverson, and issued this statement after they spoke: "Katherine Harris would make a great statewide candidate. I have known her for a long time, she is a good friend, and her leadership skills are an asset to both her state and her party."
Iverson cautioned that Harris did not tell Gillespie she intends to run. Party sources also say Harris came to Washington last week armed with internal polls showing that she would fare no worse than the other leading Republicans in a general election to succeed retiring Sen. Bob Graham.
Schwarzenegger to give Senate nod
And finally today, we head out to California, where we hear that Gov. Schwarzenegger (wow, it's still so funny to see that in print) will endorse Jones tomorrow in his race to unseat two-term Sen. Barbara Boxer. That's darn good news for Jones, who played an important behind-the-scenes role in Arnold's '03 campaign and consequently won the governor's trust. It's also viewed as a whack at former U.S. Treasurer Rosario Marin, who has slipped out of the White House's favor basically because, one source said, "she is utterly incapable of delivering a message."
Don't believe idle speculation that Schwarzenegger, by endorsing Jones, is defying a White House still angry that Jones backed John McCain in '00. Karl Rove wants to win California in '04, and that means forgiving a lot of past grudges.
