Wednesday, March 21, 2007
CNN Political Ticker AM
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Compiled by Stephen Bach CNN Washington Bureau Making news today... "... a defiant President Bush on Tuesday refused to make White House political strategist Karl Rove available for public questioning under oath." (Los Angeles Times) "Bush spoke in sometimes defiant terms, criticizing Democrats for trying to 'score political points.'" (Baltimore Sun) "The man who calls himself the decider sounded defiant." (Yellin, "GMA") "Bush defiant in prosecutors probe" (USA Today headline) The ad will begin running during drive time in the morning and will run for five days. The audio will be available at dccc.org later this morning. President's Schedule: Also on the Political Radar: Gore will also testify at 2:30 pm ET before the full Senate Environment and Public Works committee. ================================================================= Political Hot Topics (Today's top political stories from news organizations across the country) "WE WILL NOT GO ALONG WITH A PARTISAN FISHING EXPEDITION": President Bush and Congress clashed Tuesday over an inquiry into the firing of federal prosecutors and appeared headed toward a constitutional showdown over demands from Capitol Hill for internal White House documents and testimony from top advisers to the president. Under growing political pressure, the White House offered to allow members of Congressional committees to hold private interviews with Karl Rove, the president's senior adviser and deputy chief of staff; Harriet E. Miers, the former White House counsel; and two other officials. It also offered to provide access to e-mail messages and other communications about the dismissals, but not those between White House officials. Democrats promptly rejected the offer, which specified that the officials would not testify under oath, that there would be no transcript and that Congress would not subsequently subpoena them. New York Times: Bush Clashes With Congress on Prosecutors FOOL US ONCE...: Dozens of reporters and about 10 cameras awaited the arrival of White House Counsel Fred Fielding outside the House Judiciary Committees offices Tuesday, but the media pack missed Fielding as he slipped in a side door around the corner from the cluster. Determined to catch Fielding's exit, the cameras and reporters repositioned themselves along both corridors outside the Judiciary hearing room and the various doors leading into the committee's offices. A Democratic aide said that as the meeting wrapped up a White House staffer went out to scout which door Fielding should leave to avoid the Capitol Hill press corps. With a hearing now underway in the room Fielding used to enter, the aide returned and broke the news to the counsel and his entourage that "there's no way out." The aide suggested Fielding walk out and "not say anything" as he left the meeting. The Ticker: No Way Out PELOSI "TALKING TOUGH TO WAVERING LAWMAKERS" ON IRAQ FUNDING BILL: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is holding the implied threat of lost committee seats over the heads of Democratic Caucus members who may vote against her $124 billion Iraq war supplemental bill. Faced with the possibility of losing the first really big vote since taking majority control in the November elections, Pelosi is talking tough to wavering lawmakers and isolating those opposed to the bill. Democrats picked up some undecided lawmakers yesterday as they edged closer to the 218 votes they need to pass the bill when it reaches the House floor tomorrow or Friday. Pelosi is spending 90 percent of her time trying to sway the 10 percent of the caucus that is either undecided or opposed to the bill, according to a senior lawmaker and a leadership aide. The Hill: It's tough to get 218 votes, so Speaker gets tough, too GORE RETURNS TO THE HILL: The last time Al Gore appeared publicly inside the United States Capitol, he was certifying the Electoral College victory of George W. Bush. He returns on Wednesday, a heartbreak loser turned Oscar boasting Nobel hopeful globe trotting multimillionaire pop culture eminence. For Mr. Gore, who calls himself a "recovering politician," returning to Capitol Hill is akin to a recovering alcoholic returning to a neighborhood bar. He will, in all likelihood, deliver his favorite refrain about how "political will is a renewable resource" and how combating global warming is the "greatest challenge in the history of mankind." He will confront one of his fervent detractors, Senator James M. Inhofe, Republican of Oklahoma, who derides Mr. Gore as an alarmist. New York Times: Star in New Role, Gore Revisits Old Stage BLANCO WON'T RUN FOR RE-ELECTION: Under fire for her handling of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath and trailing badly in the polls, Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco announced Tuesday that "after much thought and prayer," she has decided not to seek re-election this fall. "I am choosing to do what I believe is best for my state," the Democratic governor said in a letter to her staff. "I believe there is nothing more important to Louisiana's future than a strong recovery, free from politics." Blanco's decision opens the way for another prominent Democrat to step forward to try to keep the governorship out of Republican hands. Former U.S. Sen. John Breaux, now a Washington lobbyist, is being mentioned, although the state GOP has already run an ad charging he no longer qualifies as a Louisiana resident because he lives in Maryland. The Ticker: Embattled Louisiana governor won't seek second term CANDIDATES RUSH TO COLLECT AHEAD OF Q1 REPORTS: Presidential candidates are collecting contributions at a record-setting pace and are racing to load their schedules with fundraising events ahead of March 31, the campaign's cutoff for financial reports that will be filed next month. The amounts that contenders can bring in will shape the narrative of the race for months to come -- potentially vaulting a candidate into the top tier -- and could spell an early exit for some. Fundraising professionals say they expect the candidates to greatly exceed totals from previous cycles, perhaps by hundreds of millions of dollars. Washington Post: Candidates Stress Early Fundraising "THIS IS COOL," SAYS BILL, AS HE HELPS HILLARY RAISE $2.7 MILLION: Former President Bill Clinton joined his wife, Hillary, for a rare joint campaign appearance last night, raising $2.7 million for her presidential bid and telling about 1,000 donors he always thought she was the best public servant of their generation. "This is cool -- I get to introduce Hillary," Mr. Clinton said at the fundraising event that, in true Clinton style, started more than an hour after the announced time. As the couple stood together on the raised stage at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Mr. Clinton described his wife as someone who already has had the experience in the White House and in the world, noting that she visited 82 countries as first lady and has been proved correct on her health care proposals from early in his administration. Washington Times: Hillary brings on Bill for a D.C. fundraiser GRANITE STATER SHAHEEN JUMPS ON HILLARY BANDWAGON: Prominent Democratic attorney Bill Shaheen today will be named a co-chair of Hillary Clinton's national and state Presidential campaign. "I've looked at all the candidates and Hillary is just one of these people that when someone knocks her down she comes back up stronger," Shaheen said yesterday. He called the New York senator "a good and honest person, intelligent, and she can get things done." The Shaheen endorsement will be formally unveiled today at a news conference at the Merrimack Restaurant in Manchester. Shaheen is the husband of former New Hampshire Gov. Jeanne Shaheen and a partner in the Shaheen and Gordon law firm. They reside in Madbury. New Hampshire Union-Leader: Bill Shaheen to co-chair Clinton run CLINTON MASH-UP FIRST (OF MANY?) VIRAL VIDEO ATTACKS: It's the first viral attack ad of the 2008 presidential campaign: a clever idea, visually arresting images, the sound of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's voice and, all too fittingly in this YouTube age, an anonymous filmmaker. The 74-second spot has been viewed more than a million times online, making it far more popular than any of the official videos posted by the presidential contenders. It's a "mash-up" of Ridley Scott's 1984 Super Bowl commercial that portrayed IBM as an Orwellian Big Brother and introduced Apple's Macintosh as the bright new vanguard of computing. But now it's Big Sister, Clinton, vs. the upstart, Sen. Barack Obama... this ad's reach blows up any notion that candidates and mainstream media outlets can control the campaign dialogue. Especially online. Washington Post: Watching Big Sister OBAMA DISTANCING HIMSELF FROM SOROS ESSAY: Leading Democrats, including Senator Obama of Illinois, are distancing themselves from an essay published this week by one of their party's leading financiers that called for the Democratic Party to "liberate" itself from the influence of the pro-Israel lobby. The article, by George Soros, published in the New York Review of Books, asserts that America should pressure Israel to negotiate with the Hamas-led unity government in the Palestinian territories regardless of whether Hamas recognizes the right of the Jewish state to exist. Mr. Soros goes on to say that one reason America has not embraced this policy is because of the influence of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Yesterday, Mr. Obama's presidential campaign issued a dissent from the Hungarian-born billionaire's assessment. " Mr. Soros is entitled to his opinions," a campaign spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, said. New York Sun: Obama Rebuffs Soros EDWARDS PUSHES "AGGRESSIVE" STEPS TO DEAL WITH CLIMATE CHANGE: America should drastically cut carbon dioxide emissions, conserve electricity and increase the fuel economy of its cars, former U.S. Sen. John Edwards said here Tuesday. The North Carolina Democrat, who is running for president, said few scientists doubt that the Earth is warming because of human activity. The trend will lead to disaster unless dramatic steps are taken, he said. "Unfortunately, Washington has sort of turned a blind eye to this; dealt with it as a problem of the future, not as an emergency, not as something we need to deal with now." Edwards said his proposals are "clearly at the aggressive end of the scale," but he said they are necessary and feasible. Des Moines Register: America must cut emissions, Edwards says ...SAYS HIS OWN HOME IS MODEL OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY: Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards on Tuesday defended the construction of a sprawling, 28,000-square-foot house in North Carolina, arguing that his home is a model of energy efficiency. "The house was built from the beginning, both in its location for passive solar and the use of active solar, to help provide some of the energy for the house," Edwards said in an interview with The Associated Press. "It doesn't provide all of the energy, but it provides some." Sitting on 102 secluded acres, the 28,000-square-foot estate that Edwards and his family call home has a main house with five bedrooms and six-and-a-half baths. It's connected by a covered walkway to a bright red addition known as "The Barn," that includes its own living facilities along with a handball court, an indoor pool and an indoor basketball court with a stage at one end. AP via Yahoo! News: Edwards touts his energy efficient home BERRIES AND BLOGS COULD HURT McCAIN ON STRAIGHT TALK EXPRESS: Two new realities of this election cycle will test whether McCain, given his self-styled, shoot-from-the-hip persona, can sustain the all-access, all-the-time approach to campaigning that lifted his first campaign for the White House in 2000. First is the rise of the "B'n'B's." No, not bed-and-breakfasts, but the BlackBerry and blogs. In 2000, the BlackBerry was a year old and had not become the powerful political and news tool that it is now. Also in 2000, the Internet was still in its political infancy and blogs were but a gleam in the eye of opinionated political activists and copy-hungry editors. The Politico: Media's Technology, Attitude to Make McCain's Ride Bumpier REAGAN ALSO HAD A CHANGE OF HEART ON ABORTION: This year, Republicans are trying to come to grips with the 180-degree turn on abortion executed by Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who has become a top-tier presidential contender and the favorite of many GOP conservatives. Romney until just a few years ago firmly supported abortion rights; he reversed field in 2004 and now calls himself "pro-life." That has spurred a pressing debate among conservative Republicans over whether they can trust him to be a true champion of the anti-abortion position. As the history of abortion maneuvers shows, voters have come to accept some changes of heart as sincere and durable. Reagan, for example, eventually became a hero of anti-abortion activists even though, as California governor, he signed a law vastly expanding legal abortion. But at other times, voters have viewed abortion converts - whether they shifted to favor or oppose abortion rights - as lacking commitment on a fundamental issue. Los Angeles Times: Romney isn't the first to flip on abortion "A FULL-SCALE, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONSERVATIVE, WITH A SMILE": Iowa - It's just past 8:30 a.m. on a snowy weekend morning when the unassuming presidential candidate strolls into a hotel conference room. "Hey, folks. I'm Sam Brownback. Good to meet you," says the Republican senator from Kansas, personally greeting the sparse crowd of some two dozen people munching on pastries and sipping coffee. Standing at the podium, Brownback eschews talk of his accomplishments and criticism of his better-known rivals. Instead, he explains where he stands on various issues and seeks to define himself for the right-leaning GOP voters who matter in primaries — "a full-scale, economic and social conservative with a smile." AP via Yahoo! News: Kan. senator seeking conservative mantle |
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• No Way Out• Louisiana governor will not seek re-election • McCain takes a page from Tony Soprano's playbook • Clinton snags top New Hampshire political operativ... • Bush warns Democrats to accept offer • Thompson to make presidential announcement in Iowa... • Leahy does "not accept" White House offer • Several GOP senators give "cold assessment" of Gon... • California lawmaker announces environmental bill a... • Tancredo becomes first GOP presidential candidate ... SUBSCRIBE
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