Thursday, September 14, 2006
The Morning Grind
 (A first look at today's political news) The President begins his day on Capitol Hill, speaking to the House Republican Conference at 9:30 am ET. He is expected to ask GOP members "divided by the politics of war to support his drive for more power to spy on, imprison and interrogate terrorism suspects," reports the AP.
At 11:00 am ET, Bush will meet with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun.
Tonight, at 7:45 pm ET, President and Mrs. Bush "participate in a Social Dinner in Honor of The Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz," followed by entertainment at the White House.
In what Democrats dismiss as "election-year politics," the House "is expected to approve nearly 700 miles of new fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border today," reports the Washington Times. Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois) and the GOP leadership will hold a news conference on border security at 1:00 pm ET.
The Senate Radio-Television Correspondents' Gallery Daybook
The House Radio-Television Correspondents' Gallery Daybook
Former Texas Governor Ann Richards died Wednesday after a six-month battle with cancer. She was 73. "Richards was the quintessential Texas woman," says the Houston Chronicle, "with a sassy homespun charm, sharp wit and tough pioneer spirit."
A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows Dems lead Republicans 48-39 "in voters' preference of which party they want to control Congress."
An ABC News poll showed registered voters favored Dems 50-42, "a narrower Democratic advantage than the 13-point lead they held all summer, and half what it was last January."
And something to look forward to... election officials are saying the 2006 vote is shaping up to be "the most technologically perilous since 2000." Why? Find out in Hot Topics below!
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Political Hot Topics
(Today's top political stories from news organizations across the country)
FORMER TX GOV ANN RICHARDS DIES AFTER BATTLE WITH CANCER: Ann Richards, who shed the role of homemaker to rise through Texas politics to become the state's 45th governor and a national celebrity, died Wednesday after a six-month battle with cancer. She was 73. Richards was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in March. Richards was the quintessential Texas woman, with a sassy homespun charm, sharp wit and tough pioneer spirit. With bright silver hair, a weathered face and an affinity for cobalt blue suits and pearls, Richards was instantly recognizable to national television audiences... Polls showed Richards was the most personally popular governor in 30 years. But a liberal image kept her job approval rating beneath 50 percent, and she lost her 1994 re-election bid to Republican George W. Bush, the future president. Houston Chronicle: Groundbreaking politician, quintessential Texas woman
DEMS ALLOW GOP "TO FIGHT AMONG THEMSELVES" ON WIRETAPS, TRYING TERROR SUSPECTS: The White House took a critical step on Wednesday in its effort to get Congressional blessing for President Bush's domestic eavesdropping program, but it ran into increasingly fierce resistance from leading Republicans over its plan to try terror suspects being held in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The mixed results signaled the tough road the White House faces in trying to sell the two key planks in its national security agenda to sometimes skeptical Congressional Republicans less than two months before the midterm elections. Democrats have allowed Republicans to fight among themselves over the issues, and appear willing to allow the issues to come to a vote rather than risk charges of political obstructionism in an election season. New York Times: Panel in Senate Backs Bush Plan for Eavesdropping
BUSH GOING TO THE HILL TO "RALLY GOP": President Bush will be facing a tough crowd as he steps behind closed doors to ask House Republicans divided by the politics of war to support his drive for more power to spy on, imprison and interrogate terrorism suspects. For Bush, the unusual visit to Capitol Hill on Thursday caps a week of high-profile administration pressure to rescue bills mired in turf battles and privacy concerns. It also gives GOP leaders a chance to press for loyalty among Republicans confronted on the campaign trail by war-weary voters. AP via Yahoo! News: Bush to go to Capitol Hill to rally GOP
U.N. INSPECTORS CALL HOUSE REPORT ON IRAN "OUTRAGEOUS AND DISHONEST": U.N. inspectors investigating Iran's nuclear program angrily complained to the Bush administration and to a Republican congressman yesterday about a recent House committee report on Iran's capabilities, calling parts of the document "outrageous and dishonest" and offering evidence to refute its central claims. Officials of the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency said in a letter that the report contained some "erroneous, misleading and unsubstantiated statements." The letter, signed by a senior director at the agency, was addressed to Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.), chairman of the House intelligence committee, which issued the report. A copy was hand-delivered to Gregory L. Schulte, the U.S. ambassador to the IAEA in Vienna. Washington Post: U.N. Inspectors Dispute Iran Report By House Panel
NBC/WSJ POLL SHOWS VOTERS PREFER DEM-CONTROLLED CONGRESS 48-39: Less than two months until Election Day, the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds that more than half of registered voters disapprove of President Bush's job performance, even more disagree with his handling of Iraq and a strong plurality prefer a Congress controlled by the Democrats -- all suggesting that Democrats are still poised to pick up seats in the upcoming midterms... According to the survey, 42 percent of registered voters approve of Bush's job -- up from the 40 percent who said that in July's NBC/Journal poll. In addition, only 38 percent approve of his handling of Iraq, but that's an increase of three percentage points since that last poll... Also in the poll, Democrats hold a nine-point advantage over Republicans (48 percent to 39 percent) in voters' preference of which party they want to control Congress. NBC News: Dems seem likely to pick up midterm seats
TERRORISM HELPS GOP CLOSE GAP: Terrorism has inched up in importance in the 2006 midterm elections and Republicans have regained an edge in trust to handle it - helping George W. Bush's party move closer to the Democrats in congressional vote preference. The Republicans lead the Democrats in trust to handle terrorism by 48-41 percent among registered voters in this ABC News poll, a flip from a seven-point Democratic advantage last month. And 16 percent now call terrorism the top issue in their vote, a slight five point gain... All told, 50 percent of registered voters now favor the Democratic congressional candidate in their C.D., 42 percent the Republican - a narrower Democratic advantage than the 13-point lead they held all summer, and half what it was last January. It's a similar 51-44 percent among likely voters. ABC News: Republicans Inch Closer in '06 Election Preference (pdf)
'06 SHAPES UP TO BE "MOST TECHNOLOGICALLY PERILOUS SINCE 2000": Eight weeks before elections that will decide control of Congress, a rush by state and local governments to prepare new voting machines and train poll workers is raising the possibility of trouble reminiscent of the 2000 presidential election standoff. Problems range from delayed delivery of new equipment to an insufficient supply of trained technicians to fix anticipated problems, voting experts say. Already this year, glitches have occurred in Arkansas, California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and West Virginia. Maryland became the latest on Tuesday, when technical problems, human errors and staff shortages led officials to keep some polls open an extra hour. The fall elections shape up as the most technologically perilous since 2000, election officials say, because 30% of the nation's voting jurisdictions will be using new equipment. USA Today: Election glitches 'could get ugly'
ADMIN EXPLORES "OTHER WAYS TO KEEP [BOLTON] IN THE JOB": President Bush's nomination of John R. Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations appears increasingly endangered in the Senate, prompting the administration to explore other ways to keep him in the job after his temporary appointment expires in January, officials said yesterday. The situation represents a sharp turnaround from two weeks ago, when the White House was confident it could finally push through Bolton's long-stalled nomination. But last week's surprise move by Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee (R-R.I.) to delay a vote convinced Republicans on Capitol Hill that the nomination may be doomed, prompting a search for alternatives. Administration officials said they have not given up. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Chafee yesterday to kick off a lobbying campaign that will continue today when he returns to Washington after his hard-fought Republican primary victory in Rhode Island on Tuesday. Washington Post: White House Seeks a Way to Keep Bolton at the U.N.
HOUSE "EXPECTED TO APPROVE" 700-MILE BORDER FENCE: The House is expected to approve nearly 700 miles of new fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border today as part of a final effort by House Republicans to place major border-security legislation on President Bush's desk before the November elections. The Secure Fence Act, which is nearly identical to an amendment the House easily approved last year, would deploy cameras, ground sensors and unmanned aerial vehicles to monitor the border. In addition, it would change current policy to give Border Patrol agents the authority to forcibly disable fleeing vehicles along the border. Washington Times: House set to OK border-fence bill
AFTER HOURS OF DEBATE, 9/11 RESOLUTION PASSED ON 9/13: Partisan pre-election jockeying over the war on terrorism ratcheted up Wednesday as the House overwhelmingly passed a 9/11 commemorative resolution that Democrats said was unduly politicized, but Republicans defended as saluting actions they said have prevented another attack on the United States. In more than five hours of debate that preceded the 395-22 vote, talk of unity in the face of a terrorist threat was overshadowed by partisan differences over wording of the resolution, which included praise for such actions as passing the Patriot Act and House approval of an immigration act that critics said is anti-immigrant and unworkable. San Francisco Chronicle: Contentious House passes 9/11 resolution
NOVAK WOULD LIKE TO CLARIFY WHAT ARMITAGE "REALLY DID": "When Richard Armitage finally acknowledged last week he was my source three years ago in revealing Valerie Plame Wilson as a CIA employee, the former deputy secretary of state's interviews obscured what he really did. I want to set the record straight based on firsthand knowledge. First, Armitage did not, as he now indicates, merely pass on something he had heard and that he "thought" might be so. Rather, he identified to me the CIA division where Mrs. Wilson worked, and said flatly that she recommended the mission to Niger by her husband, former Ambasador Joseph Wilson. Second, Armitage did not slip me this information as idle chitchat, as he now suggests. He made clear he considered it especially suited for my column." Chicago Sun-Times: The real story behind the Armitage story
"SHORT OF A CRIME, ANYTHING GOES AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS" OF INTERIOR: The Interior Department's chief official responsible for investigating abuses and overseeing operations accused the top officials at the agency on Wednesday of tolerating widespread ethical failures, from cronyism to cover-ups of incompetence. "Simply stated, short of a crime, anything goes at the highest levels of the Department of the Interior," charged Earl E. Devaney, the Interior Department's inspector general, at a hearing of the House Government Reform subcommittee on energy. "I have observed one instance after another when the good work of my office has been disregarded by the department," he continued. "Ethics failures on the part of senior department officials -- taking the form of appearances of impropriety, favoritism and bias - have been routinely dismissed with a promise 'not to do it again.'" New York Times: Interior Official Assails Agency for Ethics Slide
NEXT DEM WHIP... CLYBURN OR EMANUEL? With political pundits predicting that Democrats will recapture the House this fall, Democratic lawmakers are debating who would become the majority whip: Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), moving up one step from caucus chairman, or Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), the campaign wizard who would have orchestrated the victory. Although only Clyburn has declared his interest in the position, the escalating rivalry between the two was on display this week when news broke that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) would funnel $60,000 into each of 40 House districts, breaking a stalemate between the DNC and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Several Democratic officials credited Clyburn with brokering the deal... Allies of Emanuel, however, dispute Clyburn's influence, arguing that the agreement was engineered solely between staff. The Hill: Clyburn v. Rahm for whip
MODERATES MAY BE AN ENDANGERED SPECIES: In Rhode Island, moderate Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee defeated a challenge Tuesday from a much more conservative opponent - a result that cheered GOP centrists, who have seen their influence wane within their party... But elsewhere, centrists struggled in several of Tuesday's contests. Candidates identified with their party's ideological vanguard won a closely watched Republican House primary in Arizona and a Democratic House primary in New Hampshire. In Maryland, Democratic Rep. Albert R. Wynn held a narrow lead pending a final tally of uncounted ballots against a liberal challenger who denounced his vote for the Iraq war. "Despite Chafee's success... the trend toward increasing polarization continues," said Alan Abramowitz, a political scientist at Emory University in Atlanta. "That doesn't mean moderates can't survive - but it's difficult." Los Angeles Times: Survival Is No Cakewalk for Moderates
DEMS FACE OFF BEFORE MA GOV PRIMARY: The three Democratic candidates for governor picked apart one another's positions on taxes, education, and crime in a robust debate last night, but avoided the rancor that dominated a similar face-off last week. In their final appearance together before Tuesday's primary, Deval L. Patrick, Christopher F. Gabrieli, and Thomas F. Reilly offered primary voters strongly differing visions of how to roll back the state income tax and bickered over the value of charter schools and whether their campaign had taken an unecessarily harsh turn. Patrick, who has taken a lead in recent polls, appeared at times defensive and off balance. His two rivals targeted him in the debate, suggesting he was vague in his proposals. Gabrieli asked Patrick at one point: "You have been in the race a year and a half; got any specifics?" Boston Globe: Democrats clash over taxes, crime, education
ARNOLD REALLY HAS TO SECURE THAT WEB SITE: A Los Angeles talk radio station says it easily accessed the same part of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Web site that his Democratic rival's campaign used to obtain a private conversation and leak it to a newspaper. "We've been hacking them for years, if this is hacking," Jason Nathanson, a former producer for the Jon Ziegler show on KFI 640-AM in Los Angeles, said on the show Tuesday night. AP via Yahoo! News: Talk show accessed Schwarzenegger's site
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