Monday, November 06, 2006
CNN Political Ticker AM
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Compiled by Stephen Bach CNN Washington Bureau Making news today... POLL OF POLLS Likely Voters' Choice for Congress CNN Nov. 3-5 58% (D) 38% (R) Newsweek Nov. 2-3 54% (D) 38% (R) Time Nov. 1-3 55% (D) 40% (R) ABC/W.Post Nov. 1-4 51% (D) 45% (R) Pew Nov. 1-4 47% (D) 43% (R) AVERAGE = 53% (D) 41% (R) "It says to me the Senate is still very much in play and could go either way," says Stu Rothenberg in USA Today. President's Schedule: At 2:30 pm ET, Bush speaks at the Pensacola Civic Center. At 5:30 pm ET, Bush attends a rally at the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport in Bentonville, home of Wal-Mart. POTUS wraps with a 8:05 pm ET speech at the Reunion Arena in Dallas, TX. ================================================================= Political Hot Topics (Today's top political stories from news organizations across the country) SADDAM VERDICT A "MILESTONE" FOR IRAQ, SAYS BUSH: President Bush on Sunday seized on the conviction of Saddam Hussein as a milestone in Iraq, seeking to rally Republican voters with the issue of national security as some polls suggested that his party might be making gains in the final hours of the campaign. The White House said the timing of the announcement, two days before Election Day, had nothing to do with American politics and had been dictated by the Iraqi court. But Mr. Bush moved quickly to put it to use in what has been his central strategic imperative over the past week, trying to rouse Republican voters to turn out. "Today we witnessed a landmark event in the history of Iraq: Saddam Hussein was convicted and sentenced to death by the Iraqi High Tribunal," Mr. Bush said to roars of approval in a hockey auditorium packed with supporters in Grand Island, Neb. New York Times: Bush Trumpets Iraq Verdict to Rally Support "ADDS A TWIST" TO MIDTERM RACES: The guilty verdict in Saddam Hussein's trial became the latest in a string of dramatic developments that could influence tomorrow's elections, as Democrats and Republicans launched a barrage of ads and get-out-the-vote efforts in a campaign dominated by views about the Iraq war... The decision that Hussein should be hanged for crimes against humanity was the latest development that could influence the midterm elections, from the congressional page scandal that led to the resignation of Representative Mark Foley , a Florida Republican, to Senator John F. Kerry's comment that suggested US troops are uneducated, to an editorial slated to appear today by the Military Times media group calling on Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld to resign. Boston Globe: Verdict latest chapter in '06 campaign story GETTING OUT THE "ONES AND TWOS": In the campaign's final weekend, candidates weren't trying to turn out voters who might not vote their way. They were chasing the "ones and twos," political-junkie shorthand for the most likely supporters on their computer-generated lists, and firing up their volunteers. President Bush stumped for red-state Republicans in Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska. Former president Bill Clinton rallied the Democratic base in New Jersey, Michigan, Florida and Maryland. Republicans warned that if House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) becomes speaker, Democrats will impose hippie values on the heartland. Democrats warned that if Bush gets another rubber-stamp Republican Congress, America will "stay the course." Washington Post: Campaigns Implore the Party Faithful To Bring Their Loyalty to the Polls INSIDE THE 72-HOUR PLAN: At a field office in Boca Raton, dozens of volunteers turned up to knock on doors and talk to voters. A staffer distributed clipboards with printed pages of names, addresses and detailed maps. The printouts came from the "Voter Vault," the GOP's national database, which tagged voters with labels showing why they were worth contacting: Some were dubbed "socos" (social conservatives) or "fiscos" (fiscal conservatives) or "soft Dems" (crossover voters). Each had already been identified as ready to favor Shaw. The goal was to persuade each one, using hints from the database, to make the effort to go to the polls. Party leaders have built a 72-hour plan for every significant GOP race in the nation. The effort was developed by Rove and Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman after the 2000 election, in which Democrats outpaced the GOP in grass-roots activism and nearly won the presidency. Los Angeles Times: Two parties far apart in turnout tactics too EVANGELICAL LEADER SAYS HE'S "GUILTY OF SEXUAL IMMORALITY": Banished from the pulpit that brought him to national prominence, the Rev. Ted Haggard confessed in a letter read Sunday at New Life Church to "sexual immorality," calling himself "a deceiver and a liar" who has long struggled against dark forces. But in baring his soul to an outside board investigating claims that he paid a gay male prostitute for sex, the 50-year-old Haggard denied being gay or engaging in homosexual behavior, the board chairman told reporters. Haggard's admission to the four- member panel that he solicited a massage from his accuser - former male escort Michael Forest Jones of Denver - was grounds enough to fire him Saturday for "sexually immoral conduct," said the Rev. Larry Stockstill. At the same time, Stockstill cautioned Sunday that the board found discrepancies in Haggard's account. He did not elaborate. Denver Post: Haggard: "I am a deceiver" HAGGARD'S LETTER (pdf via DenverPost.com) CHENEY WILL SPEND E-DAY HUNTING IN SD: Vice President Dick Cheney will spend Election Day hunting in South Dakota, his press secretary said Sunday. It will be Cheney's first hunting trip since February, when he accidentally shot a hunting companion while attempting to fire at a covey of quail on a private ranch in Texas. Cheney, who voted early in Wyoming, will work Monday morning at the White House, and then depart Washington for South Dakota, said Lea Anne McBride, his press secretary. Tuesday's trip, to a private hunting lodge near Pierre, is an annual outing, said McBride. She said he spent Election Day at the same lodge four years ago. Cheney will be accompanied by his daughter, Mary, and his political director, Mel Raines, who will help him keep track of the election returns, McBride said. CNN: Cheney hunting for victory on Election Day DISCONTENT WITH HASTERT'S "HANDS-OFF STYLE IS PALPABLE": House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert's future is in doubt even if the Republicans retain control of the House because of unease among GOP lawmakers about his handling of the Foley page scandal and what a House ethics committee investigation might conclude about him, according to several Republican aides... [I]f Democrats seize control of the House in tomorrow's election, as many political analysts and pollsters are predicting, then Hastert is widely expected to exit the leadership stage and allow a new generation of Republican leaders to try to recapture the majority. Hastert, 64, the longest-serving Republican speaker, remains personally popular with House Republicans, but the discontent with his often lackadaisical, hands-off style is palpable. Washington Post: Hastert May Face Post-Election Unrest GOP CUTS DEM LEAD IN LATEST PEW POLL: A nationwide Pew Research Center survey finds voting intentions shifting in the direction of Republican congressional candidates in the final days of the 2006 midterm campaign. The new survey finds a growing percentage of likely voters saying they will vote for GOP candidates. However, the Democrats still hold a 48% to 40% lead among registered voters, and a modest lead of 47%-43% among likely voters. The narrowing of the Democratic lead raises questions about whether the party will win a large enough share of the popular vote to recapture control of the House of Representatives. Pew Research Center: Republicans Cut Democratic Lead in Campaign's Final Days FULL POLL RESULTS (pdf via people-press.org) NEW USA TODAY #S: Democrats, poised to score gains in the U.S. Senate, are struggling to pull ahead in the final seat they need to win control, USA TODAY/Gallup Polls in six key states find. KEY RESULTS (sampling error +/- 4%): MISSOURI McCaskill (D) 49% Talent (R) 45% MONTANA Tester (D) 50% Burns (R) 41% NEW JERSEY Menendez (D) 50% Kean (R) 40% RHODE ISLAND Whitehouse (D) 48% Chafee (R) 45% TENNESSEE Corker (R) 49% Ford (D) 46% VIRGINIA Allen (R) 49% Webb (D) 46% USA Today: Polls: Dems' lead shrinking, but still strong OBAMA AND FORD DROP IN ON TN CHURCH SERVICES: Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and Democratic congressional colleague Harold Ford Jr. testified to the power of God and the political process during a whirlwind tour of church services Sunday. Ford's senatorial campaign, with Obama in tow, dropped in for a morning service at Mt. Zion Baptist Church, a large, predominantly African-American house of worship nestled in a Nashville strip mall. There, Obama and Ford did a little teaching and a whole lot of preaching. "We appreciate our staffs that put in long hours, they work hard, they're sophisticated, they have polling. ... But the congressman said something pretty wise. We have another Manager," Obama said glancing upward briefly and smiling broadly at the gathering. Memphis Commercial Appeal: Putting on their Sunday best OBAMA ALSO STUMPS IN ST. LOUIS: Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic Party's hottest campaign commodity, wowed a crowd of more than 1,000 St. Louisans on Sunday with an election eve pitch for change in the Senate. "Two more days before we vanquish the politics of fear and favor the politics of hope," Obama, D-Ill., said at a campaign rally for U.S. Senate candidate Claire McCaskill, the Democrat trying to unseat Sen. Jim Talent, R-Mo. Talent spent the day campaigning in Cape Girardeau, Poplar Bluff and Rolla. Obama said Republicans have used the politics of fear to divide voters. But "it's not working so good this election, that whole strategy of divide and conquer," Obama said, warming up a crowd at the World's Fair Pavilion in Forest Park. St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Obama lends a hand during campaign's final moments ...AND IA, WHERE HE SAYS HE'S GIVING WH BID "SERIOUS CONSIDERATION": Illinois Sen. Barack Obama said Sunday he would give a presidential campaign "serious consideration" after midterm elections are complete. For now, the Democrat said he was focused on helping his party's candidates get elected Tuesday. "Keep in mind that we're two days out from an incredibly important election," Obama told The Associated Press while traveling to a rally here for Iowa gubernatorial candidate Chet Culver. "I think the message is that this country is in a mood for a new direction... I think that's why some of the typical attacks aren't working." Obama was making his third swing this year through Iowa, where precinct caucuses traditionally launch the presidential nominating season. AP via Quad City Times: Obama may get 'serious' about '08 A QUICK HANDSHAKE ON THE STREET FOR LAMONT, LIEBERMAN: Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman and his main challenger, Ned Lamont, briskly shook hands Sunday at a Veterans Day parade made more solemn by the mounting U.S. death toll in Iraq. Then they resumed their march toward Election Day and the end of a campaign that has focused on the war and each man's experience, priorities and loyalties... Lieberman, a petitioning candidate since losing the Democratic nomination to Lamont, marched in the Hartford parade Sunday with U.S. Rep. Nancy L. Johnson, R-5th District, and a conservative radio host, Brad Davis... Lamont, who marched in the parade with U.S. Rep. John B. Larson, D-1st District, and other Democrats, intends to deliver his own closing speech at noon today at a labor hall in Hartford. He welcomed the news that an Iraqi court had found Saddam Hussein guilty of crimes against humanity, but said his opposition to the war is unchanged. Hartford Courant: Rivals Meet On The Street ALLENS GETS A BOOST FROM GIULIANI: Sen. George Allen talked terrorism and football yesterday as he made a late pitch for votes. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani made a quick trip from Florida to Virginia to talk up the Republican senator's record on combating terrorism. "This isn't a time for inexperience," Giuliani said, an indirect reference to Allen's Democratic opponent, Jim Webb. "This isn't a time for turning back the clock, which is, after all, what George's opponents want to do. They want to go back before Sept. 11, when we used to play just defense against terrorists." Giuliani spoke at a rally at the Northern Virginia Criminal Justice Academy in Ashburn. Richmond Times-Dispatch: Giuliani praises Allen FL'S CRIST TO SKIP BUSH EVENT: Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist decided Sunday to skip an appearance with President Bush in favor of crisscrossing the state in the final hours before Election Day. Crist, the state attorney general, is in a close race with Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Davis to replace the president's brother, Gov. Jeb Bush, who can't seek re-election because of term limits. Crist's chief of staff, George LeMieux, said the decision to skip the Monday rally with Bush in Pensacola wasn't a snub of the president, but a choice to appear in seven other cities where Crist has a chance of gaining ground. "It's a big state. We need to be in all the places we need to be," LeMieux said. "It's because of the time and it's because there are some opportunities." Davis seized on the news, saying the president is one of the Republican's biggest supporters. AP via Yahoo! News: Fla. governor hopeful skips Bush event |
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The CNN Political Ticker provides the latest political news.To sign up for our twice daily Ticker emails, visit CNN.com member services page. If you do not have a CNN.com account, you can register here. If you have any feedback, suggestions or news tips, drop us a line here. NEW IN THE TICKER
• GOP, Democrats battle it out in the final hours• Biden predicts 50-50 Senate • Boehner: GOP might delay leadership elections • Boehner defends his remarks on Rumsfeld • Cheney would not answer a congressional subpoena • Cheney: Midterms won't alter Iraq policy • Snow dismisses Hussein verdict tied to elections • Cleland predicts more violence in Iraq • Cantwell has a double digit lead in Washington • Webb and Allen in a dead heat SUBSCRIBE
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