Friday, September 15, 2006
The Morning Grind
 (A first look at today's political news) POTUS holds an 11:15 am news conference in the Rose Garden. Meanwhile, a quiet Friday on Capitol Hill. Check out the gallery schedules for details:
The Senate Radio-Television Correspondents' Gallery Daybook
The House Radio-Television Correspondents' Gallery Daybook
Rep. Bob Ney (D-Ohio) "has agreed with the Justice Department to plead guilty to at least one criminal charge in a deal that could be announced as early as today, Capitol Hill sources said Thursday," reports the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The guilty plea would make Ney "the first member of Congress to admit to criminal charges in the [Jack] Abramoff investigation," adds the New York Times.
Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt (R) plans to appeal a ruling by a state judge that "threw out Missouri's voter ID law on Thursday," reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Cole County Circuit Judge Richard Callahan ruled "that requiring drivers licenses and nondriver IDs constitutes 'an impermissible additional qualification to vote' in violation of the state constitution."
Barack Obama will appear in Iowa this Sunday at Tom Harkin's "Steak Fry." IL Comptroller Dan Hynes, Obama's former Senate opponent, "urged" Obama "to run for president" at a downtown Chicago news conference Thursday, reports the Chicago Tribune. "The comments from Hynes are among the strongest to date from a Democratic official about the prospect of an Obama presidential bid," adds the Trib.
An AP-Ipsos poll conducted Monday-Wednesday "asked Americans if the election for the House were held today, would they vote for the Democratic or Republican candidate in their district.... Democrats had a 14-point edge among likely voters, 53 percent to 39 percent... narrower than last month but still a wide gap."
And "some of Hollywood's most influential Democrats are throwing their support behind" the Republican Governator's re-election bid. Which members of the Dem "Glitterati" are getting on the Arnold bandwagon? Find out in Hot Topics below! *****
Political Hot Topics
(Today's top political stories from news organizations across the country)
"DISSIDENT GROUP" OF SENATORS REJECT BUSH'S PLAN FOR COMBATANTS: A Senate committee rebuffed the personal entreaties of President Bush yesterday, rejecting his proposed strategies for interrogating and trying enemy combatants and approving alternative legislation that he has strenuously opposed. The bipartisan vote sets up a legislative showdown on an issue that GOP strategists had hoped would unite their party and serve as a cudgel against Democrats in the Nov. 7 elections. Instead, Bush and congressional Republican leaders are at loggerheads with a dissident group led by Sen. John McCain (R), who says the president's approach would jeopardize the safety of U.S. troops and intelligence operatives. Washington Post: Senators Defy Bush On Terror Measure
POWELL WEIGHS IN ON TERROR SUSPECT TREATMENT: Colin Powell, the secretary of State in Bush's first term, spelled out his position in a letter to Sen. John McCain of Arizona. "The world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism," Powell said. "To redefine [a portion of the Geneva Convention] would add to those doubts." More than that, he said, it could lead to the mistreatment of American troops captured in Iraq and elsewhere during the war on terrorism. Powell's letter came as the Senate Armed Services Committee met in closed session to consider Bush's proposal. Los Angeles Times: Senate Panel Rebuffs Bush on Anti-Terror Legislation
POWELL'S LETTER (pdf via LAT)
"BLOWING AWAY THE FOG OF ANONYMITY" ON EARMARKS: The House voted yesterday to shed more light on narrow-interest tax and spending legislation called earmarks, an incremental step toward openness that ended the prospect for a more sweeping overhaul of federal lobbying laws this year. With a 245 to 171 vote, the House reacted to a year of congressional scandals by requiring its members to own up to the thousands of earmarks they sponsor each year... The House simply changed its internal rules to require that these targeted programs and their sponsors be disclosed in every type of bill, a procedure that does not currently exist... "We are blowing away the fog of anonymity," said Rep. David Dreier (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Rules Committee. Washington Post: House Votes To Disclose Earmarks
HOUSE APPROVES BORDER FENCE: The House yesterday easily approved building 700 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border in an effort to get major border-security legislation on President Bush's desk before November's elections."The time to address the border-security emergency is now, before Congress leaves for the November election," said House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, applauding the Republican-backed measure and introducing a slate of new border-security measures that he hopes to pass this month. Yesterday's border-fence bill was approved on a 283-138 vote. The vast majority of House Republicans were joined by 64 Democrats to support the measure. Washington Times: House passes border fence
AP-IPSOS SHOWS DEMS LEAD BY 14 IN GENERIC HOUSE POLL: The latest Associated Press-Ipsos poll found that voters view Republicans and Democrats as equally capable of protecting the country; Democrats had an edge last month. Approval of Bush's overall job performance also improved and the president earned slightly better marks for his handling of Iraq and the war on terrorism... The AP-Ipsos poll asked Americans if the election for the House were held today, would they vote for the Democratic or Republican candidate in their district. Democrats had a 14-point edge among likely voters, 53 percent to 39 percent. That's narrower than last month but still a wide gap. Since August, the GOP has attracted more married men, young people and those who live in the Northeast. Republicans also have drawn even on the question of who would best protect the country, with 43 percent of likely voters siding with Democrats and 41 percent choosing Republicans, numbers within the poll's margin of error. AP via Yahoo! News: GOP gains ground in battle for Congress
REPRESENTATIVE NO. 1 TO PLEAD GUILTY TO "AT LEAST ONE CRIMINAL CHARGE": Ohio GOP Rep. Bob Ney has agreed with the Justice Department to plead guilty to at least one criminal charge in a deal that could be announced as early as today, Capitol Hill sources said Thursday. The Justice Department and Ney's attorney would not discuss whether a deal has been reached. "I don't have anything I can share with you right now," said William Lawler, a lawyer for Ney. Ney's congressional office did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Capitol Hill sources close to Ney said the plea agreement was ready to be publicized on Thursday, but an announcement was delayed to avoid influencing a special election in Ney's congressional district. Cleveland Plain Dealer: Rep. Ney to plead guilty, sources say
PADGETT TAPPED IN SPECIAL PRIMARY FOR NEY'S SEAT: Republican voters overwhelmingly picked state Sen. Joy Padgett yesterday to replace U.S. Rep. Bob Ney as their party's nominee for Ney's hotly contested congressional seat. Padgett, of Coshocton, stepped in Aug. 7 after Ney withdrew from the race, citing the stress of an investigation into his relationship with since-disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. She won nearly two-thirds of the vote in yesterday's low-turnout election to take Ney's place on the ticket. Unofficial results show that she received 9,451 votes, or 66.5 percent of the total cast. Columbus Dispatch: Padgett wins special election
MO JUDGE THROWS OUT VOTER ID LAW: A state judge threw out Missouri's voter ID law on Thursday, saying it imposes too great a burden on the elderly and the poor. Cole County Circuit Judge Richard Callahan ruled in favor of a group of disabled, female and elderly voters who lack the required government-issued photo IDs. He agreed with their claim that requiring drivers licenses and nondriver IDs constitutes "an impermissible additional qualification to vote" in violation of the state constitution. Gov. Matt Blunt, a Republican, championed the law when the Legislature passed it in May. In a statement, Blunt said he was disappointed with the ruling and wants the state to appeal. St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Judge strikes down Missouri's voter ID law
OBAMA GETS A PRESIDENTIAL BOOST FROM FORMER OPPONENT: [IL] State Comptroller Dan Hynes urged his former opponent, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, to run for president, just days before Obama heads to Iowa for a major political event. "We are a nation divided like at almost no other time in our history," Hynes said Thursday during a downtown news conference to announce his support for Obama. "I believe Barack Obama can change this, that he, and he alone can restore the hope and optimism that has made this country great." Chicago Tribune: Ex-rival Hynes tries to start Obama national bandwagon
DAVIS TAPS JONES AS RUNNING MATE... WOULD BE FL'S FIRST BLACK LT GOV: On Thursday, [former FL State Senator Daryl]Jones, 51, who has remained on the political sidelines for the past four years, was tapped by Democrat Jim Davis to be his running mate. Davis said he was looking for "a fighter... somebody who is not afraid to stand up and say what they believe in as a Democrat, and a Floridian and an American." Jones' selection as the first black candidate for lieutenant governor in modern times is just one in a series of firsts. He has been named "the first black..." at nearly every pivotal point of his career. He was the first black statewide student council leader two years after his native Mississippi desegregated public schools in 1972; he was the first black candidate to run for Florida governor, in 2002, and was the first black Mississippian to enter a U.S. military academy. Jones grew up in segregated Jackson, Miss., was high-school valedictorian and attended the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Miami Herald: Jones has seen political storm
SCHWARZENEGGER'S TURNAROUND: Less than a year ago, Schwarzenegger's political prospects were grim. His popularity plunged after he veered to the right, proposing a package of four ballot initiatives that were all rejected by the voters in a special election."I stumbled along the way, no two ways about it," Schwarzenegger said in an interview. Since then, he has shifted to the left, bringing in a new set of advisers, some of them Democrats, and embracing a number of popular measures passed by California's Democratic legislature. Polls now show him leading his Democratic opponent, Phil Angelides, the state treasurer. Bloomberg: Schwarzenegger, Reeling a Year Ago, Heads Toward Re-Election
HOLLYWOOD "GLITTERATI" GETTING ON ARNOLD BANDWAGON: Some of Hollywood's most influential Democrats are throwing their support behind Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's reelection bid, following the lead of Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and media mogul Haim Saban. Schwarzenegger's campaign sent out hundreds of invitations this week to an event - hosted by Sherry Lansing, Casey Wasserman, Danny DeVito and wife Rhea Perlman, director James Cameron and more than two dozen others - asking the Hollywood glitterati to donate up to $22,300 each to attend a fundraiser for the Republican governor at Saban's Beverly Hills estate on Sept. 30. Los Angeles Times: Hollywood Dems Turn Out for Gov.
BEFORE PRIMARY, GOP NOMINEE ATTACKS DEM FRONTRUNNER IN MA: The battle for governor erupted across party lines yesterday, as Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey labeled Democrat Christopher Gabrieli a tycoon in a television ad that says he would enrich himself through his proposal to provide $1 billion in public funds for stem cell and other life science research. Without waiting for the outcome of Tuesday's Democratic primary, Healey, the GOP's choice for governor, singled out Gabrieli, delighting Gabrieli's aides who saw her strategy as evidence that he is the strongest Democrat in the race. Healey's aides insisted that the ad was a response to television attack ads aimed at her this week by a Democrat-connected union group. The GOP foray into the Democratic primary battle came out of the blue and triggered a new round of television ads in the closing days before Tuesday's primary. Gabrieli launched a response ad that described the claims as petty politics. Boston Globe: Healey ad opens new front in primary
PIRRO'S HUSBAND "THE GIFT THAT KEEPS GIVING [TO DEMS]": The husband of Republican attorney-general candidate Jeanine Pirro has landed in trouble again - nabbed yesterday for going more than twice the speed limit through a school zone. Al Pirro, 59, was clocked by police driving his Mercedes-Benz 51 mph in a 25 mph school zone in White Plains. It was the second speeding ticket in recent months for Pirro, already considered a major liability to his wife's campaign because of his felony conviction on tax-fraud charges and his fathering of a love child while married to Jeanine Pirro... "Al Pirro is the gift that keeps giving [to Democrats]," said one exasperated senior Republican operative. New York Post: FROM PIRRO TO 50
CORZINE NOT HOT ON McGREEVEY'S "CONFESSION": Count Gov. Jon Corzine as one person who won't be racing out for former Gov. James E. McGreevey's new memoir next week. Speaking on 610 WIP Sports Talk Radio in Philadelphia yesterday, Corzine expressed little interest in reading his former political ally's new book. He also seemed displeased by McGreevey's promoting the book by giving out details about his secret gay life in a pre-recorded interview on the Oprah Winfrey show Tuesday. Asked by co-host Al Morganti what he thought about McGreevey profiting "on some of the mess" he made in the governor's office, Corzine responded: "I think Jim would have served himself a little better just to continue to go on and build his life. I don't know what's in the book, and I'm not particularly interested." Newark Star-Ledger: Corzine put off by 'prurience' in McGreevey book
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