Entries for March 22, 2007

"American officials are reluctant to speak about mortar attacks inside the Green Zone for fear of alerting insurgents to the accuracy and effectiveness of their attacks. So many of the attacks go unreported. The summit meeting earlier this month between officials from Iran, Syria, Iraq, and the United States, held just outside the [Green Zone], was a target of one such attack."

Etc.: Keeping the Lid on Iraq, on USNews.com

Well, ParkRidge47 has a name. For two weeks, watchers of this video on YouTube were left guessing the real name of the user who produced a spoof of a famous dystopian 1984 Apple Computers ad that ran during the Super Bowl. This version of the ad replaced the Big Brother figure with Hillary Rodham Clinton, and ended with the Apple trademark contorted into an "O" and a plug for Barack Obama's website. The spot has been viewed over 2 million times and garnered 4,700 comments. The Obama campaign denied any involvement.

In a column at Huffington Post today, the veil was lifted.

"Hi. I'm Phil. I did it. And I'm proud of it," declared the author, Phil de Vellis, an employee of Blue State Digital. At least, he used to work there. He got fired after making the admission.

The announcement this afternoon from presidential candidate John Edwards that he would stay in the race despite learning of his wife's recurring cancer put to rest rumors that he would suspend or leave the race, which could have transformed the Democratic primary into a two-way battle between Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. The Edwards campaign sent reporters a vaguely worded announcement late Wednesday night that the former North Carolina senator and his wife would hold a joint press conference today at noon, giving rise to speculation about the health of Elizabeth Edwards--who was diagnosed with breast cancer the day after Election Day 2004--and whether a recurrence would prompt Edwards to withdraw from the race.

Video: The announcement.

The website of The Politico reported shortly before today's press conference that Edwards would be suspending his campaign and possibly dropping out completely. The Edwards campaign immediately denied the report.

Update: The Politico dissects their error here.

With his high name recognition, formidable fundraising ability, and strong grass-roots organizations in early 2008 primary states, Edwards may be the only candidate in the sprawling Democratic field who has a real shot at competing with the celebrity candidacies of Clinton and Obama. In a Washington Post/ABC News poll last month, Edwards was running third in a theoretical Democratic primary, with 12 percent support, behind Clinton, who had 36 percent, and Obama, with 24 percent. Recent polls in Iowa, home to the first caucuses of 2008, have Edwards in first place.

Etc.: The Evolution of John Edwards, on USNews.com

From chief legal affairs correspondent Chitra Ragavan:

The Senate Judiciary Committee has asked Kyle Sampson, former chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, to "voluntarily appear" at a hearing next Thursday to discuss his role in the U.S. attorney firings, according to a letter released by Sampson's lawyer, Bradford Berenson.

But Berenson says he and his client need more time to go through the nearly 3,000 pages of documents that the Justice Department dumped on Congress early this week. Berenson says that if the White House agrees to provide additional documents, he and Sampson will have even more homework to do. Berenson also has a long-scheduled vacation planned with his family during the school spring break, he wrote in a letter to the committee chairman, Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, and the ranking minority member, Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican.

Berenson has asked whether the testimony can be postponed to the first week in April. See his letter here.

Etc.: Bush, Congress Dig in Their Heels, on USNews.com

This comes from reporter Will Sullivan:

The South is rising again. And so is the West.

That's the word from the U.S. Census Bureau, which minutes ago released its list of the counties experiencing the largest population increases between 2000 and 2006. The list points to the soaring population in the Sun Belt, where all but one of the 30 counties with the largest population growth are located. Topping the list is Arizona's Maricopa County, which has gained 696,000 residents since 2000.

The ranking testifies to the tremendous growth of America's Hispanic population and the powerful role it will play in the country's future population growth. Latinos made up only about 14.5 percent of the population in 2005. (The Census Bureau estimates the population growth of the counties until 2006, but breakdowns by race and Hispanic origin are available only up to 2005.)

At noon, John Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, will hold a press conference in Chapel Hill, N.C., to discuss her health and how it will affect the campaign. The day after the end of the 2004 campaign, the couple announced that Elizabeth had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Rudy Giuliani addresses the National Newspaper Association in Washington, D.C., and then heads to the Maryland suburbs for a fundraiser. Duncan Hunter also will speak before the newspaper association.

Mike Huckabee addresses the Institute for Health and Productivity Management in Orlando, Fla.

John McCain attends fundraisers in New York and New Jersey.

Update: Mitt Romney makes two stops in Iowa at Council Bluffs and Onawa.

This morning's top stories:

• The prime minister of Iraq has indirectly been discussing a cease-fire deal with Sunni insurgent groups over the past three months, the AP reports.
• The creator of the much-watched anti-Hillary Clinton ad for Barack Obama on YouTube that was a spoof on an old Macintosh ad, "1984," has been identified as an employee of Blue State Digital, a Washington company hired by the Obama campaign. The employee, Philip de Vellis, saying he acted on his own, resigned on Wednesday.
• A new push for alternative fuels is catching the attention of the biotechnology industry in what some are calling the "third wave" of biological engineering.
• Al Gore was in Washington Wednesday to testify about global warming in what the Baltimore Sun describes as a peculiar sort of homecoming.