Friday, March 02, 2007
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Compiled by Stephen Bach CNN Washington Bureau Making news today... President's Schedule: Later, Bush flies to Kentucky to raise money for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) - the president's "political field general," as the Washington Times described McConnell Thursday. Bush meets with Students from The McConnell Center at 3:55 pm ET at the Seelbach Hilton in Louisville. He'll speak at a McConnell for Senate and NRSC dinner at 5:45 pm ET. Also on the Political Radar: The Phoenix event is McCain's "first major fundraiser," and "preferred seating" is $2,300/person. "Reserved seating" is $1,000/person. (Arizona Republic) ================================================================= Political Hot Topics (Today's top political stories from news organizations across the country) AT CPAC, CHENEY WARNS AGAINST QUICK IRAQ WITHDRAWAL: A quick withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq could allow victorious Muslim extremists to fan out into other countries, with some militants going to Afghanistan to fight alongside a resurgent Taliban, Vice President Dick Cheney says. The vice president, just back from a trip that included unannounced stops in Afghanistan and Pakistan, addressed a conservative conference Thursday night where he sharply criticized efforts by some Democrats to restrict funds for President Bush's troop buildup in Iraq or to place restrictions on their deployment. While noting that the House already had passed a nonbinding resolution voicing opposition to Bush's Iraq policy, Cheney said that "very soon both houses of Congress will have to vote on a piece of legislation that is binding." AP via Yahoo! News: Cheney warns against hasty Iraq pullout AGREEMENT ON IRAQ APPROACH REMAINS "OUT OF REACH" FOR DEMS: Senate Democrats tried Thursday to bridge their political differences over how to confront President Bush on Iraq even as they acknowledged that agreement on an approach remained out of reach. "We have not gotten our arms around how the caucus is going to move forward," Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, said as Democrats searched for a plan that would satisfy antiwar lawmakers, keep the party's centrists on board and win over some Republicans. The leadership had been preparing to move forward this week with a proposal that would have essentially repealed the 2002 resolution granting Mr. Bush the power to invade Iraq and imposed new restrictions on how American troops could be used there. New York Times: Senate Democrats Vow to Confront Bush on Iraq but Are Still Working Out the Details WALTER REED COMMANDER FIRED AFTER POST SERIES ON "SQUALID" CONDITIONS AND NEGLECT: The commander of Walter Reed Army Medical Center was fired yesterday after the Army said it had lost trust and confidence in his leadership in the wake of a scandal over outpatient treatment of wounded troops at the Northwest Washington hospital complex. Army Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, who assumed command of Walter Reed in August, will be temporarily replaced by Lt. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley. But the appointment of Kiley, who had earlier been the facility's commander, surprised some Defense Department officials because soldiers, their families and veterans' advocates have complained that he had long been aware of problems at Walter Reed and did nothing to improve its outpatient care. The action came 10 days after a Washington Post series exposed the squalid living conditions for some outpatient soldiers at Walter Reed and bureaucratic problems that prevented many from getting the care they need. Washington Post: Army Fires Commander of Walter Reed AMERICANS WILLING TO PAY HIGHER TAXES FOR AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE: A majority of Americans say the federal government should guarantee health insurance to every American, especially children, and are willing to pay higher taxes to do it, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll. While the war in Iraq remains the overarching issue in the early stages of the 2008 campaign, access to affordable health care is at the top of the public's domestic agenda, ranked far more important than immigration, cutting taxes or promoting traditional values. Only 24 percent said they were satisfied with President Bush's handling of the health insurance issue, despite his recent initiatives, and 62 percent said the Democrats were more likely to improve the health care system. New York Times: Most Support U.S. Guarantee of Health Care FULL POLL RESULTS (via NYTimes.com) BUSH VOWS TO BREAK "LOGJAMS" HOLDING BACK MONEY FROM GULF COAST: Standing in the once-flooded basement of one of New Orleans' 31 charter schools, President Bush on Thursday reiterated his commitment to help the storm-ravaged city rebuild and "break through" bureaucratic "logjams" to allow more of the federally dedicated $110 billion to begin flowing into the Gulf Coast. With only $53 billion spent thus far, "part of the day today we talked about if the money is out the door in Washington, where is it and how come it hasn't been out farther?" the president said. "And that's one of the things we're going to continue to work on, to make sure that obligated money ends up in somebody's pocket, so it helps." New Orleans Times-Picayune: U.S. funds will get to city, Bush says 88 PERCENT OF NATIONAL GUARD UNITS "NOT READY": Nearly 90 percent of Army National Guard units in the United States are rated "not ready" -- largely as a result of shortfalls in billions of dollars' worth of equipment -- jeopardizing their capability to respond to crises at home and abroad, according to a congressional commission that released a preliminary report yesterday on the state of U.S. military reserve forces. The report found that heavy deployments of the National Guard and reserves since 2001 for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and for other anti-terrorism missions have deepened shortages, forced the cobbling together of units and hurt recruiting. Washington Post: Shortages Threaten Guard's Capability GUARDIAN OF "FIRST IN THE NATION": [NH Secretary of State Bill Gardner] is the one and only person in New Hampshire with the power to schedule the state's presidential primary. It has been first since 1920, making the vote a signal event on the national political calendar - and giving voters of this tiny state an enormous say every four years in deciding who sits in the White House. It has been Gardner's mission, his obsession, since 1976 to preserve the state's preeminence, and nothing - not lobbying, not threats, not even the occasional flicker of self-doubt - can dissuade him from doing whatever it takes to make sure New Hampshire's primary always, always comes first. (By mutual understanding, Iowa holds the first caucuses, eight days beforehand.) "What's been established as a tradition is a tradition," Gardner says with a certitude as plain and simple as the peanut-butter-on-whole-wheat sandwiches he packs in his brown-bag lunch. This does not go over well outside the state. Los Angeles Times: Holding New Hampshire's primary in place CA NO LONGER "GENERALLY IRRELEVANT" IN PRIMARY PROCESS: While the 2008 presidential campaign is well under way in traditional bellwether states, candidates are also making an early and furious run at voters in this delegate-rich but, in past primary seasons, generally irrelevant state. As lawmakers prepare to move the state's presidential primary from June to Feb. 5, campaigning here has taken an uncharacteristic urgency, with presidential aspirants from both parties jockeying to make an impression on Californians beyond the state's big donors who have long been a financial mainstay of presidential campaigns. New York Times: California Enjoys Electoral Muscle FEC ANSWERS PUBLIC FUNDS ELIGIBILITY QUESTION: The Federal Election Commission said Thursday that presidential candidates may accept private contributions for potential general election campaigns and still remain eligible for public financing if they ultimately win their party's nomination. The ruling came after a request for clarification from Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), who has suggested he would like the option of running a publicly financed general election campaign - with its associated spending limits - if he could convince a future Republican opponent to do the same. Political observers, however, say the ruling is likely a moot point since a financial truce is highly unlikely in an era where political advertising, organization and travel are extremely expensive and both parties will be ferociously fighting for a White House with no incumbent. Chicago Tribune: FEC rules on presidential campaign funding SUN REPORTS OBAMA'S ANCESTORS OWNED SLAVES: Many people know that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's father was from Kenya and his mother from Kansas. But an intriguing sliver of his family history has received almost no attention until now: It appears that forebears of his white mother owned slaves, according to genealogical research and census records. The records - which had never been addressed publicly by the Illinois senator or his relatives - were first noted in an ancestry report compiled by William Addams Reitwiesner, who works at the Library of Congress and practices genealogy in his spare time. The report, on Reitwiesner's Web site, carries a disclaimer that it is a "first draft" - one likely to be examined more closely if Obama is nominated. According to the research, one of Obama's great-great-great-great grandfathers, George Washington Overall, owned two slaves who were recorded in the 1850 census in Nelson County, Ky. The same records show that one of Obama's great-great-great-great-great-grandmothers, Mary Duvall, also owned two slaves. Baltimore Sun: A new twist to an intriguing family history STAGE SET FOR "EXTRAORDINARY POLITICAL SHOWDOWN" IN SELMA: Bill Clinton will join Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton at a commemoration of the 1965 civil rights march in Selma, Ala., on Sunday, bringing his star power and popularity among African Americans to a weekend of events that had been shaping up as a showcase for the candidacy of Sen. Barack Obama.It will be the former president's first major public appearance with his wife since she launched her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination last month. Obama (D-Ill.) announced several weeks ago that he would deliver the keynote speech at a service honoring the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, joining Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) and other veterans of the civil rights movement in marking the historic event... The convergence of the Clintons and Obama in the small Alabama town... sets the stage for an extraordinary political showdown -- and media circus. Washington Post: At Site of '65 March, an '08 Collision McCAIN GOES BACK TO AZ FOR FIRST MAJOR FUNDRAISER: Sen. John McCain returns to Phoenix today for the first major fundraiser of his nascent 2008 presidential candidacy. McCain, the Arizona Republican who on Wednesday told CBS late-night comic David Letterman that he will make a second run for the White House, will host an "Exchange of Ideas" at the downtown Phoenix Convention Center. It is McCain's big-money splash in an accelerated election cycle with fundraising pressures so intense that a candidate is expected to need at least $100 million by the end of the year to stay competitive. The forum-style event comes at a time when McCain, at one time the presumptive GOP front-runner, is falling behind former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in national polls. He also is trailing him in the preliminary race for dollars. Arizona Republic: McCain returns to Phoenix for high-ticket fundraiser today GILMORE TO CALL OUT ROMNEY, GIULIANI, AND McCAIN AS "PHONY": Former Virginia Gov. James S. Gilmore III will become the first Republican presidential contender to say publicly that the three top-ranked party candidates are phony conservatives. Unlike the Democratic competition for the presidential nomination next year, where supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois already are trading snide remarks and negative innuendos, Republicans have been observing their 11th Commandment about not speaking ill of one another. However, Mr. Gilmore singles out former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and Sen. John McCain of Arizona in an ad that will be posted tomorrow on YouTube.com and his campaign Web site (www.gilmoreforpresident.com) as well as e-mailed to likely voters in the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses. "The three leading challengers for our party's nomination may be good men, but they simply do not share our conservative values," Mr. Gilmore says in the ad. Washington Times: Gilmore to reveal 'false' conservatives ROMNEY TAKES AIM AT McCAIN, GIULIANI: Mitt Romney suggested last week that he and his fellow Republican presidential contenders would avoid the "rancor" that flared between Democrats after one of Barack Obama's fundraisers questioned Hillary Rodham Clinton's honesty. This week, with polls showing him running third, the former Massachusetts governor took sharper aim at his leading rivals, Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. McCain, Romney told New Hampshire voters on Thursday, was devising an immigration policy that was the "wrong course" for the nation. And Giuliani's positions on abortion, gay marriage and gun control were a losing combination in the GOP primary, he told a television audience replete with Christian conservatives. AP via Yahoo! News: Mitt Romney criticizes main rivals NO SOUR GRAPES, BUT...: Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack criticized public opinion polls Friday and said his presidential campaign was running stronger in Iowa than early surveys reflected before he gave up his bid for the 2008 Democratic nomination a week ago. "I don't want to sound like sour grapes, but you should not pay attention to early polls," Vilsack said during taping of "Iowa Press," a public affairs program on Iowa Public Television. "Iowa polls are not accurate in terms of caucus support," he added, saying that polls sponsored by news organizations do not screen for the small audience of Democratic Party activists who plan to attend their precinct caucuses. Des Moines Register: Vilsack says early polls didn't show his strength |
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• Giuliani to begin raising private funds for genera...• Libby judge: No verdict likely this week • Romney goes after McCain, Giuliani • Hunter drops two advisers after controversial comm... • General who oversees Walter Reed hospital relieved... • McCain: Should have said "sacrificed" instead of "... • Obama defends McCain's comments • Democrats eye cuts to 2008 Iraq war request • FEC allows Obama to preserve public funding option... • Ted Olson, former solicitor general, backs Giulian... SUBSCRIBE
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