Wednesday, January 31, 2007
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Compiled by Stephen Bach CNN Washington Bureau Making news today... In an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer yesterday, Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) spoke about the debate within his own party: SPECTER: "We had a meeting today, a closed-door meeting of Republican senators, and I have never seen such -- such emotion and such concern. It's a life-and-death situation... I have been in the Senate a while now. And I haven't seen any issue that's gripped the Senate like this one has." Meanwhile, "Democrats, who are united in their desire to stop the escalation, are regarding the Republican divisions with some glee," the Post reports. ABC's Betsy Stark asked Bush about his "tough talk" on Iran's role in Iraq: BUSH: "It's not tough talk to say that the Commander in Chief expects our troops to be protected. That's common-sensical talk, it seems like to me. Some are trying to take my words and say, 'Well, what he's really trying to do is go invade Iran.' Nobody's talking about that." His website, joebiden.com, is now live, and tonight he'll appear on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart." Appearing earlier today on CNN's American Morning, Biden was asked about his fundraising and relatively low standing in the polls: BIDEN: "This is a process. This is a marathon, and ultimately it comes down to the living rooms in people's homes in Maquoketa, Iowa, and Berlin, New Hampshire, and down in Sumter, South Carolina. And that's where the competition will be, and I think I can compete there." Find out in Hot Topics below! President's Schedule: Also on the Political Radar: ================================================================= Political Hot Topics (Today's top political stories from news organizations across the country) DEMS REGARD GOP DIVISIONS ON IRAQ "WITH SOME GLEE": Republican misgivings over President Bush's new war strategy are increasingly dividing the GOP as the Senate moves toward a showdown over the deployment of 21,500 additional troops to Iraq. Republican strategy had envisioned a single resolution that would allow the party's senators to express doubts about the plan without stating their outright opposition. Instead, Republicans appear to be balkanizing, with at least five GOP drafts now in play and more Republicans stating their reservations... Democrats, who are united in their desire to stop the escalation, are regarding the Republican divisions with some glee. Washington Post: For GOP, Discord In Dissent On Iraq FALLON SAYS HE HASN'T "GOTTEN INTO THE DETAIL" OF IRAQ PLANS: The admiral picked by President Bush to oversee his new strategy for Iraq testified yesterday that he does not know much about the plan that the administration says will determine whether the U.S. wins the war. "I have not gotten into the detail of these plans," Adm. William J. Fallon told the Senate Armed Services Committee, adding that he has been concentrating on his current job as head of the U.S. Pacific Command. Adm. Fallon specifically declined to endorse Mr. Bush's plan, saying he first has to get to the region and assess matters. The admiral's lack of knowledge startled some senators. "I'm surprised that you don't have that understanding going in, frankly," said Sen. Carl Levin, Michigan Democrat and panel chairman. He had asked whether the flow of new troops could be slowed based on battlefield conditions. Washington Times: 'I don't know the details' OBAMA INTROS BILL TO REMOVE ALL TROOPS BY 2008: Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama said Tuesday U.S. combat forces should be out of Iraq by spring 2008 to end "a foreign policy disaster." The senator introduced a bill to force the redeployment under law, but that's unlikely while Bush is president. Still, Obama said he's taking Bush up on his challenge to critics to offer alternatives. ''It is important at this point that Congress offer specific constructive approaches to what's proven to be a foreign policy disaster,'' Obama said, "because we've got too much at stake to simply stand on the sidelines and criticize." Obama's bill would cap troop levels in Iraq at the early January level of around 130,000 service members. It would require that troops begin coming home May 1 with the goal of removing all combat brigades by March 31, 2008. Chicago Sun-Times: Obama wants '08 deadline for U.S. pullout BUSH SAYS HE "MIGHT HAVE BEEN MISUNDERSTOOD" ON IRAN: President Bush believes he might have been misunderstood when he started speaking about the need to go after Iran for its involvement in aiding the insurgency in Iraq. As he traveled to Illinois today to share good news on the economy, he said the subject has been overshadowed by the war in Iraq, and he clarified his stance on Iran, which he does not plan to invade. "Nobody's talking about that," he told ABC News' Betsy Stark. "To say that defending ourselves in Iraq... has some greater goal is just simply not the case." Rather, Bush is going after those who may try to harm U.S. troops. "We'll deal with it by finding their supply chains and their agents and... arresting them, getting them out of harm's way. In other words, we're going to protect our troops," Bush said. "It's not tough talk to say that the commander in chief expects our troops to be protected." ABC News: Bush Says Invading Iran 'Not the Plan' NEGROPONTE QUESTIONED ON "CONFRONTATIONAL POLICY WITH IRAN": John D. Negroponte, nominated as deputy secretary of state, defended the Bush administration's more confrontational policy with Iran in a Senate confirmation hearing that was peppered with demands from both sides of the aisle that the United States show restraint in dealing with Tehran. In a sign that the debate over Iraq is increasingly becoming a debate over Iran, Mr. Negroponte, appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, found himself answering the same questions, over and over again. "Do you think we are drifting toward a military confrontation with Iran?" demanded Senator Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska. "I don't think that has to be, Senator," Mr. Negroponte replied. "I think we would strongly prefer that the issues between us and Iran be resolved peacefully." New York Times: Choice for No. 2 at State Dept. Defends Bush's Stance on Iran IRAN SUPPYLING "VARIETY OF POWERFUL WEAPONS" TO IRAQI MILITIAS, SAYS ODIERNO: Iran is supplying Iraqi militias with a variety of powerful weapons including Katyusha rockets, the No. 2 U.S. general in Iraq said Tuesday. "We have weapons that we know through serial numbers... that trace back to Iran," Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno said in an interview with USA TODAY. His comments came as the Bush administration has been taking an increasingly tough stance against what it alleges is Iranian meddling in sectarian violence in Iraq. Last week, the White House confirmed that the president had authorized U.S. troops to take action against Iranian agents in Iraq who present threats... Odierno did not provide further details on how weapons were linked to Iran. The Iranian government has denied providing weapons to Iraqi militias. USA Today: General says U.S. has proof Iran arming Iraqi militias PENTAGON STOPS F-14 PARTS SALES PENDING "COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW": The Pentagon said Tuesday it had stopped selling surplus F-14 parts, announcing the step after congressional criticism of security weaknesses that had given buyers for countries including Iran access to the aircraft parts and other valuable gear. Sales of parts from the recently retired fleet were halted last Friday, Defense Logistics Agency spokesman Jack Hooper said, adding that marketing of the parts will remain suspended until a "comprehensive review" is completed. He did not immediately elaborate. The decision comes as a Democratic senator moves to cut off all Pentagon sales of surplus F-14 parts, saying the military's marketing of the spares "defies common sense" in light of their importance to Iran. AP via Yahoo! News: Pentagon halts sale of F-14 parts MILLER SAYS "VERY IRRITATED AND ANGRY" LIBBY TOLD HER ABOUT PLAME: Former New York Times reporter Judith Miller yesterday helped the prosecutor who landed her in jail and forced her into the witness chair, providing potentially damaging information about the confidential administration source she tried to shield, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Deliberately and sometimes defensively offering her account in Libby's perjury trial, Miller told the jury that "a very irritated and angry" Libby told her in a confidential conversation on June 23, 2003, that the wife of a prominent critic of the Iraq war worked at the CIA. Libby had told investigators he believed he first learned that information from another journalist nearly three weeks later -- the assertion at the core of the charges against him. Washington Post: Reporter's Account Hurts Libby Defense AN "ORCHESTRATED CAMPAIGN TO MISLEAD THE PUBLIC ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE," SAYS WAXMAN: As a United Nations panel readied an update on global warming this week, charges erupted in Congress on Tuesday over alleged White House political manipulation of scientific climate-change research. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said at a hearing that evidence indicated Bush administration officials had tried to "mislead the public by injecting doubt into the science of global warming." Two advocacy groups released a survey to the panel in which a number of government climate scientists said either that their research had been edited to change the meaning or that they were told to delete references to "global warming" or "climate change" from reports. Chicago Tribune: Warming data allegedly manipulated FBI LOOKING INTO CA REP'S LAND DEALS: After months of GOP ethics scandals, House Republicans chose Rep. Gary Miller (R-Calif.) as the ranking member of a panel charged with investigating financial institutions - even as the FBI was looking into his land deals. Ranking member Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) named Miller to the top GOP spot on the oversight and investigative subcommittee Jan. 9, according to a committee release. Watchdog groups have been raising red flags on several of Miller's land deals since The Hill and other media outlets first scrutinized them early last year. Yesterday, a spokesman for the southern California city of Monrovia confirmed that agency officials had contacted the city about Miller's land deals in the last two months. The Hill: Rep. Gary Miller, in senior perch, is part of FBI probe BIDEN TO ANNOUNCE BID, APPEAR ON "THE DAILY SHOW": When U.S. Sen Joe Biden launched his first bid for president in the 1988 campaign, he did so the old-fashioned way: with a flag-waving rally surrounded by hundreds of supporters at the Wilmington Train Station. Today, when the Delaware Democrat announces his second run for the Oval Office, the process will be, well, different. No rally. The candidate will barely even be in his home state. But in true cyberage style, today should provide Biden with plenty of national exposure, including the debut of his campaign Web site and an appearance on, of all networks, Comedy Central. The News Journal: Biden to make it official on Comedy Central BIDEN'S SON HUNTER SUED: R. Hunter Biden, a Washington lobbyist and son of U.S. presidential hopeful Senator Joseph Biden, fraudulently excluded a partner from the purchase of a hedge-fund investment firm, the partner claims in a lawsuit. Biden and his uncle James Biden squeezed investment consultant Anthony Lotito Jr. out of the 2006 acquisition of New York-based Paradigm Cos., Lotito says in a complaint filed Jan. 5 in New York state court. The Bidens lied to Lotito about their joint offer while negotiating a better deal alone, Lotito's complaint says. The Bidens deny the claims. "He wants back what was stolen from him," said Lotito's lawyer, Brian Wille of Kostelanetz & Fink LLP in New York. "He entered into this transaction believing in the honesty and integrity of the Bidens." Bloomberg: Biden, Senator's Son, Is Sued Over Purchase of Hedge-Fund Firm SOME TOUGH TALK FOR COMPETITION: Senator Joseph Biden doesn't think highly of the Iraq policies of some of the other Democrats who are running for President. To hear him tell it, Hillary Clinton's position is calibrated, confusing and "a very bad idea." John Edwards doesn't know what he's talking about and is pushing a recipe for Armageddon in the Middle East. Barack Obama is offering charming but insubstantial fluff. And all of them are playing politics. "Let me put it this way," Mr. Biden said. "You didn't hear any one of them get in this debate at all until they announced for President." New York Observer: Biden Unbound: Lays Into Clinton, Obama, Edwards EDWARDS ALSO HAS SOME CRITICISM FOR DEM RIVALS: In 2004, John Edwards rarely had an unkind word to say about his rivals for the presidency. But it isn't 2004 any more. Should Hillary Clinton apologize for backing the Iraq war? "That is a moral decision she has to make," Edwards told me. Is George Bush a "good man in difficult circumstances trying to do the right thing?" No, Edwards said. He is not. That nonbinding resolution against the Iraq troop surge favored by Barack Obama? "Useless," said Edwards. "Exactly like a child standing in the corner and stomping his feet." Success teaches little; failure is a wonderful instructor. And Edwards has learned a lot from running and losing last time around. The Politico: Edwards '08: Talking Tough ROMNEY IN SOUTH CAROLINA: Endorsements won't get the next president of the United States elected, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said Tuesday. And that's why, the 2008 Republican presidential candidate said, he is pursuing a campaign of grass-roots politics that attracts voters, not necessarily their elected officials. "The lead is with people and whether they warm to the message and are excited about the candidate," Romney said in an interview with The State. "And that's what counts. A message is what people want to hear. And when you decide who you want to vote for, you don't say, 'Gosh, I wonder what my city counselor is going to do.'" Romney acknowledges he is not the front-runner to win South Carolina's pivotal first-in-the-South presidential primary. That is a spot held by U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. The State: Romney stops by Columbia "QUESTIONS ABOUT HIS FAITH": Republican Mitt Romney on Tuesday dismissed questions about whether his Mormon faith would be an impediment to his White House aspirations, echoing the argument that voters will be choosing a president not a pastor. The former Massachusetts governor faced questions about his faith in this Bible Belt state where a few Republicans expressed deep reservations about backing a Mormon. Romney said he was making inroads with the GOP in this early voting state. "I've had a number of meetings with pastors of various faiths and religious leaders," Romney said in an interview with The Associated Press. "Almost to a person they've subscribed to what Dr. Richard Land (of the Southern Baptist Convention) said, which was: 'We're not electing Mitt Romney as pastor in chief.'" AP via Yahoo! News: Romney faces questions about his faith ANTHEM OPEN MIKE SHOWS NEW MEDIA PITFALLS: On Saturday, one week into [Hillary Clinton's] presidential campaign, the threat of a new, unflattering image surfaced: MSNBC used a microphone to capture Mrs. Clinton singing the national anthem in Des Moines. Her voice was, shall we say, off key. The recording was quickly downloaded to YouTube, the video-sharing Web site, and the Drudge Report - no friend of Mrs. Clinton - was steering readers to watch it. (By Tuesday afternoon, more than 800,000 had.) Clinton advisers found out about the YouTube video within minutes, and their campaign war room made a calculated decision: not to respond at all. They did not want to draw news media attention to the video; nor did they want to upstage their preferred news of the day, Mrs. Clinton's debut in Iowa. New York Times: To '08 Hopefuls, Media Technology Can Be Friend or Foe |
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• Feingold urges Dem colleagues to cut off funding f...• '08ers weigh in on global warming • Lawmakers want more public money in presidential c... • Anti-war protesters arrested outside Clinton's off... • Biden's first campaign event: live Webcast • Pelosi, back from Iraq, calls conditions 'catastro... • Hastert recovering after gall-bladder surgery • Iraq at 'precarious juncture,' U.S. intel chief sa... • Maine considers rule to bar text messages from lob... • White House lawyer: Libby said, 'I didn't do it' SUBSCRIBE
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