Tuesday, January 23, 2007
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Compiled by Stephen Bach CNN Washington Bureau Making news today... Insight Magazine, which is owned by the same company as The Washington Times, reported on its Web site last week that associates of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-New York, had unearthed information the Illinois Democrat and likely presidential candidate attended a Muslim religious school known for teaching the most fundamentalist form of Islam. Reporting by CNN in Jakarta, Indonesia and Washington, D.C., shows the allegations that Obama attended a madrassa to be false. CNN dispatched Senior International Correspondent John Vause to Jakarta to investigate. "I came here to Barack Obama's elementary school in Jakarta looking for what some are calling an Islamic madrassa ... like the ones that teach hate and violence in Pakistan and Afghanistan," Vause said on the "Situation Room" Monday. "I've been to those madrassas in Pakistan ... this school is nothing like that." (see the full report at CNN.com) "It's running 45 to 50 minutes long," said one senior administration official. The increasing length of the speech is due in part to the fact that the President plans to cover a lot of ground on the international and domestic fronts. In addition to Iraq and the war on terror, Bush will address health care, education, immigration, energy and energy security, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said. Also, CNN Pipeline is offering a free preview today. Has Bush Done Anything To make You Angry? Yes 67% No 32% (Sampling error: +/-3% pts) Angry at Bush Now 67% 2006 61% 2004 51% (Sampling error: +/-3% pts) Bush as President Success 39% Failure 55% (Sampling error: +/-4.5% pts) Bush Policies Would Move Country In... Right direction 32% Wrong direction 61% (Sampling error: +/-3% pts) Bush is a... Uniter 30% Divider 64% (Sampling error: +/-3% pts) For more on the poll, see CNN.com: Bush faces angry, dissatisfied electorate in speech. President' Schedule: Also on the Political Radar: ================================================================= Political Hot Topics (Today's top political stories from news organizations across the country) BUSH WILL FACE "DEEP SKEPTICISM" TONIGHT FROM BOTH SIDES OF THE AISLE: President Bush plans to reach out to the opposition in his State of the Union address tonight with new and recycled proposals on health care, energy, immigration and education, but the uproar over his decision to send more U.S. troops to Iraq has eclipsed potential consensus on domestic policy. As he addresses a Congress controlled entirely by Democrats for the first time since he took office, Bush faces deep skepticism inside the chamber, even within the House Republican leadership, which yesterday made proposals intended "to hold the Bush administration... accountable" for the progress of his latest Iraq plan. Washington Post: Bush To Face Skeptical Congress TOP BUSH "BUZZWORDS" - "TERRORISTS," "IRAQ," "FREEDOM," "ECONOMY": In President Bush's State of the Union address Tuesday night, odds are he will make reference to insurgents, perhaps more than once. President Bush, though, would be only the latest U.S. chief to give the word major airtime. In his 1861 State of the Union, President Lincoln decried "insurgents in open rebellion to loyal citizens who are even now making great sacrifices," a line that could be borrowed for tomorrow night's address... Chirag Mehta, a 26-year-old IT manager from St. Petersburg, Fla., created a tool that breaks down most major presidential speeches -- State of the Union speeches, inaugural addresses and war declarations, among them -- going all the way back to the birth of the nation. Wall Street Journal: Web Site Tracks a History Of Presidential Buzzwords US PRESIDENTIAL SPEECHES "TAG CLOUD" WEBB EMBODIES IRAQ'S PERSONAL COST TO SOME LAWMAKERS: Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., lost his nephew, Philip, in Iraq. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., says his son, Alan, had two close calls: one from an improvised explosive device, the other from a sniper. Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., credits his nightly prayers with his son Perry's narrow escape from a mortar attack in Fallujah. Almost four years into the war, the conflict in Iraq has begun to touch some of the lawmakers who authorized it in a very personal way. That reality - which stands in stark contrast to the popular stereotype of Congress - will be embodied tonight by Sen. Jim Webb, the Virginia Democrat delivering the response to President Bush's State of the Union address. Webb's eldest son, Jimmy, is a Marine in the combat zone. He can't bring himself to talk about his son - not even to the president - but others speak eloquently of their loved ones' sacrifices. USA Today: Lawmakers have loved ones in combat zone "MR. PRESIDENT... GO BACK AND LOOK AT ALL THE OPTIONS," SAYS WARNER: Senator John W. Warner of Virginia, one of Congress's leading authorities on the military, presented a bipartisan proposal on Monday that soundly rejected President Bush's plan to send more American troops to Baghdad and urged the administration to find a new course in Iraq. "Mr. President," Mr. Warner declared, "go back and look at all the options." On the eve of the State of the Union address, the proposal by Mr. Warner and two fellow Republican senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Norm Coleman of Minnesota, along with Ben Nelson, Democrat of Nebraska, was offered as an alternative to an Iraq resolution backed by Democratic leaders and is to be debated this week by the Foreign Relations Committee. New York Times: Key Republican Senator Offers Bipartisan Call to Reject Bush Plan for More Troops in Iraq FBI FAULTED FOR "FAILING TO TAKE ACTION" ON FOLEY: The Justice Department on Monday released a report criticizing the FBI for failing to take action to ensure the safety of congressional pages after receiving copies of e-mails sent by former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley. In the 31-page report, Inspector General Glenn Fine said that although the failure to begin a formal investigation was "not misconduct," agents had enough information to "have raised enough concerns to warrant some action." Fine also found that the FBI misled reporters by saying the e-mails they received were incomplete, with much of the writing blotted out. That was not true, Fine said. Palm Beach Post: Justice report faults FBI on Foley, says agents should have done more AMERICAN SAMOA, GUAM, PUERTO RICO, AND U.S.V.I. MAY GET A VOTE: Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her House Democrats plan to push through legislation Wednesday that would increase the size of the 435-member House on most matters by giving votes to delegates from four U.S. territories and the District of Columbia. Republicans are outraged by the plan, referring to it as a "greedy power grab" in a statement from the office of Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio. But they are probably powerless to stop it. The proposal would allow the elected members from Washington, D.C., American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands a vote when the House sits in the "committee of the whole," a parliamentary device used during most of the debate, amending and voting on legislation. Four of the members involved are Democrats, and one, the so-called resident commissioner from Puerto Rico, is a Republican. San Francisco Chronicle: Dems push to let territorial delegates vote "NOT COMPLETELY REPRESENTATIVE" JURY PICKED FOR LIBBY TRIAL: A federal judge empaneled a jury yesterday in the perjury trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, seating a largely apolitical, educated group of D.C. residents to decide whether Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff lied to investigators about his role in divulging the identity of a covert CIA officer. The nine women and three men selected for the jury -- as well as four alternates -- are scheduled to hear Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald and one of Libby's attorneys, Theodore V. Wells Jr., lay out opposing portrayals of the celebrated case in opening statements today... In a city where most residents are black, 90 percent are Democrats and the local culture is steeped in politics, the jury is not completely representative. Ten of the 12 jurors -- and two of the alternates -- are white. Most said during questioning that they have no political opinions about the administration's handling of Iraq or do not follow the news. Washington Post: Libby Jury Is Chosen; Arguments Set to Start MOTHERHOOD "APPEARS TO BE A SURE WINNER" FOR CANDIDATES: In recent days, female politicians have risen to new power and prominence. And they did so - deliberately - surrounded by reminders of their motherhood. Whether being a woman is an asset or liability in national politics may be an open question, but being a mother - or a grandmother - appears to be a sure winner. Strategists say that talking about motherhood is reassuring to voters, some of whom are still uncomfortable with women in powerful jobs. It also helps create a narrative for their lives that connects them to mainstream and traditionalist voters. "Raising children is certainly something both have in common with millions of Americans, and parents everywhere worry about their kids' future, so why not talk about it?" said Democratic strategist Stephanie Cutter. "It's really no different than talking about a military record or experience in running a business - it gives voters a sense of who you are." Los Angeles Times: Mom is at home in House, Senate PUBLIC FUNDS SYSTEM "MAY HAVE QUIETLY DIED OVER THE WEEKEND": The public financing system for presidential campaigns, a post-Watergate initiative hailed for decades as the best way to rid politics of the corrupting influence of money, may have quietly died over the weekend. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York became the first candidate since the program began in 1976 to forgo public financing for both the primary and the general election because of the spending limits that come with the federal money. By declaring her confidence that she could raise far more than the roughly $150 million the system would provide for the 2008 presidential primaries and general election, Mrs. Clinton makes it difficult for other serious candidates to participate in the system without putting themselves at a significant disadvantage. New York Times: Death Knell May Be Near for Public Election Funds ALSO, on A1 of Washington Post: Clinton Bid Heralds Demise of Public Financing $50 MILLION BY DEC. 31 JUST BUYS YOU "A PLACE AT THE TABLE": The Iowa caucuses that kick off the presidential campaign are nearly a year away. For the most viable contenders, make that one year and $100 million away. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) has that capacity, and other contenders believe that they do as well. To wage a serious presidential campaign in 2008, the ante is $50 million raised by Dec. 31 of this year, said one adviser to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). And that is just to get a place at the table. Those are daunting figures. To make the $100 million mark in a year, a candidate must bring in an average of nearly $2 million a week. That's $274,000 a day, including Sundays and holidays, all of it raised in increments legally limited to no more than $2,100 per person. Chicago Tribune: Big bucks needed to wage presidential campaign HILLARY WILL MAKE OBAMA "FIGHT FOR EVERY BLACK ENDORSEMENT AND EVERY BLACK VOTE": Far from conceding African-American support to the most credible candidate ever of African descent, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., the Clintons are pushing aggressively for the help of their longtime allies in the black business, political and entertainment elite. [Hillary] Clinton's supporters say she intends to make the Illinois senator fight for every black endorsement and every black vote. It's a strategy that pushes Obama to decide just how black he can afford to be: Will he pitch himself to African-American voters as the black candidate, or hew to the post-racial line that's helped make him sensationally popular with white Democrats? "He's not built to be the black candidate," said a Clinton adviser, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The Politico: Clinton Woos Black Vote, Targets Obama "HILLARY CARE," ROUND II? Former President Clinton has signaled privately that his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), will include aggressive healthcare proposals in her campaign for the White House, despite the debacle of what critics labeled "Hillary Care" 14 years ago. In remarks to Democratic operatives last month, the ex-president caused a buzz by strongly defending the substance of his wife's 1990s plan, claiming it was a moderate, private-sector approach grossly mischaracterized by its critics. The former president's statements, delivered during a Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) conference at the Charles Hotel in Cambridge, Mass., have been interpreted as signaling that candidate Clinton could revive aspects of her 1993-94 approach that was vilified by Republicans and health-industry groups. The Hill: Reprise of 'Hillary Care' GIULIANI "MOVING TO SELL" STAKE IN INVESTMENT COMPANY: Rudy Giuliani, a 2008 GOP White House front-runner, is moving to sell the Wall Street wing of his multi-pronged business - the strongest sign yet that he's making a serious play for the presidency, The Post has learned. Officials at Giuliani Partners have been meeting quietly with several firms about buying the firm's stake in Giuliani Capital Advisors, an investment banking company, sources familiar with the discussions said. The Chicago-based investment firm is the largest arm of the former mayor's self-named business, and may be the biggest cash cow of Giuliani's four-unit business. New York Post: Prez-Minded Rudy To Shed Finance Biz KERRY "CAN AFFORD TO TAKE HIS TIME," AIDES SAY: With the 2008 Democratic presidential field taking shape fast, Senator John F. Kerry still hasn't decided whether to join the race, and maintains that the early announcements from other candidates won't push him to act in haste, according to Kerry aides and associates. Kerry has indicated that he will announce his intentions by the end of January, in keeping with his publicly stated intention to do so "shortly after the turn of the year." His aides have drafted a "John Kerry for President '08" financial plan that will restart his fund-raising efforts with a series of house parties organized by activists around the country -- if he decides to pursue the presidency again. With $13 million still in his campaign account and wide name recognition stemming from his failed 2004 run, Kerry advisers feel that the senator can afford to take his time, unlike some other Democrats already in the race. Boston Globe: As Kerry ponders, Democrats crowd in MARK WARNER IS OUT. SERIOUSLY: Mark Warner's recent travels look like a revived presidential bid. Not so, says the Virginia Democrat. "I have no intention of getting back in the race," Warner told The Associated Press late last week, just hours before he headlined a dinner in South Carolina for about 50 people who had supported him in the early primary state. The former Virginia governor surprised the political world last October when he abandoned the 2008 race despite raising more than $6 million and hiring veteran strategists... [A] trip to an early voting state such as South Carolina has stirred speculation and some Democrats wonder if Warner could be persuaded to change his mind. In October, he did say his decision on 2008 "doesn't mean that I won't run for public office again." AP via Yahoo! News: Warner refutes rumors of revived '08 bid JINDAL ANNOUNCES LA GOV. BID: Republican Rep. Bobby Jindal yesterday declared his candidacy for the Louisiana governorship but vowed to delay campaigning until after the April conclusion of the state's legislative session to avoid politicizing Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts. Mr. Jindal, who lost to Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco in 2003, has a significant edge in early polling over Mrs. Blanco, a Democrat who has drawn criticism for her handling of the response to Katrina. "Politics has a way of impeding progress, and Louisiana cannot afford to lose another second," Mr. Jindal wrote in his e-mail announcement sent to supporters. "The upcoming state legislative session this spring is vital. We cannot afford failure, and the surest way to attain failure is to politicize every initiative and decision." Washington Times: Jindal to run again to lead Louisiana EMANUEL BREAKS BREAD WITH 10 REPUBLICANS: In a private, upstairs room at the Monocle, a storied meeting place for lawmakers, lobbyists and the like, a dinner of unlikely companions took place Monday night. A high-ranking member of the House Democratic leadership broke bread with 10 Republican congressmen, hoping to heal the rifts of the last election and possibly find common ground for future legislative endeavors. The impresario was as improbable as the guest list--Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), chairman of the House Democratic Caucus and the architect of the Democratic effort to throw Republicans out of the majority last year. The renowned political street fighter shelved the shiv for a salad fork, putting on his best manners for an evening of crab cakes, steak and red wine. Chicago Tribune: Emanuel joins GOP for dinner |
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