Entries for March 30, 2007

Reporter Elizabeth Green brings us this item:

After shaking up Harvard, Lawrence Summers has his sights on another target: public schools. The former university president and treasury secretary said today he plans to dedicate some of his newfound free time to the project, adding to a chorus of economic-growth-minded voices that have joined the national education debate in the past several years.

Former New York Times reporter Judith Miller, who in 2005 spent 85 days in jail for refusing to identify former White House aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby as a confidential source, said Friday she believes the media failed a major test when reporters and news organizations acquiesced to subpoenas issued them by federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, reports U.S. News & World Report media correspondent Liz Halloran.

"Had the press hung together," Miller said, and had more journalists protested the "pro-forma" confidentiality waivers issued by the White House, the damage done to the media during Fitzgerald's investigation into who leaked to reporters the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame would have been much less.

But, as it stands, she said, the investigation and Libby's recent trial that featured a parade of prominent journalists, including Miller, on the witness stand are cause for "enormous concern." Miller, speaking at the National Press Club during a media forum, blamed the nation's deep political divisions for making news organizations wary of fighting the orders to testify.

"These are very difficult times," said Miller, noting that there are at least 70 active subpoenas of journalists--"a chilling prospect.

"[This is] when solidarity really counts," she said.

Miller, who had become a lightning rod for complaints about faulty prewar reporting on weapons of mass destruction, also told those at the forum, sponsored by Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, that the New York Times has spent $2 million defending her in three separate cases--including the Libby case--in which she or her notes and phone records had been subpoenaed.

Here's a political truism: When it comes to running for president, it's best to be unemployed. Or at least work a day job with a lot of free time, like governor or vice president.

Truth is, it's hard out there for a senator running for president. Washington trivia nerds like to point out that John F. Kennedy was the last sitting senator elected president. There are any number of explanations for this, not the least of which is that senators have voting records. But two tight votes in the Senate this week, where two Republicans banded together with 48 Democrats to support a troop-withdrawal provision in a military spending bill, underscored another reason: They have to be in Washington three days a week.

Monday's 50-48 vote was the seventh time this year that a measure has come within a two-person margin of passing or failing, by our analysis. List of all 2007 roll call votes here. (Note: Some votes appear to be very close, but actually required 60 votes to pass.) This is bad news for the six current senators running for president. With the distinct possibility that one or two missing senators could spell the difference between victory or defeat, they will have a much harder time skipping out of Washington during the week.

While attending an event at the National Press Club here in Washington, U.S. News & World Report media correspondent Liz Halloran tells The News Desk that a planned April 16 luncheon with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales at the National Press Club has been postponed.

"There had been chatter about whether he would still be appearing at the sold-out luncheon, at which the guest delivers a speech and then takes written questions from the audience, which typically includes journalists, non-journalists and government officials," Halloran says. "Political types here [at the Press Club] are speculating as to what the postponement means."

Chief legal affairs correspondent Chitra Ragavan adds that Gonzales is expected to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee the next day, April 17.

"He may be reluctant to do a sneak peek for reporters the day before, and likely will be immersed in preparing for the hearings with top aides," Ragavan says.

Etc.: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Alberto Gonzales, on USNews.com

James Dobson takes it back: Maybe Fred Thompson is a Christian after all.

Two days after the Focus on the Family founder called U.S. News & World Report correspondent Dan Gilgoff out of the blue to share his thoughts on the field of 2008 Republican presidential hopefuls, Focus on the Family has issued a statement claiming Dobson's comments were mischaracterized.

In Gilgoff's piece, Dobson said of former Sen. Fred Thompson, a possible presidential candidate, "I don't think he's a Christian." He also lavished praise on former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich, whom he called the "brightest guy out there" and "the most articulate politician on the scene today."

"His words weren't intended to represent either an endorsement of former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich or a disparagement of former Sen. Fred Thompson. Dr. Dobson appreciates Sen. Thompson's solid, pro-family voting record and his position that Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided," the statement reads.

Gilgoff, who has a new book out, The Jesus Machine, that examines the inner working of the religious right in American politics, called Focus on the Family for a follow-up conversation before submitting his original story, which has received hundreds of thousands of hits since it was published on USNews.com.

Spokesman Gary Schneeberger told Gilgoff that Dobson "has never known Thompson to be a committed Christian-someone who talks openly about his faith."

"We use that word--Christian--to refer to people who are evangelical Christians," Schneeberger added.

U.S. News assistant managing editor Gordon Witkin tells us that he has spoken with Gilgoff and reviewed his reporting, and fully stands by the original story.

"We feel that Dan's piece was accurate and representative of the spirit of Dobson's comments," Witkin says.

--Chris Wilson

Mark your calendars, politicos: Feb. 5, 2008 could be a long night.

U.S. News & World Report's Dan Gilgoff takes a look at the bevy of states that are considering moving--or have already moved--their state's primary to the first Tuesday in February of 2008. If every state currently pondering the move were to do so, 24 states could select their candidate for the presidency that day.

Included in Dan's story is an interactive map developed by U.S. News with information on each state.

Democrats:

• Joe Biden attends a rally at the University of South Carolina-Sumter tomorrow morning, and then heads to Iowa City and Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
• Hillary Rodham Clinton raises money in Boston today and then heads to Concord, N.H. Tomorrow she'll be in Florida to campaign in Orlando and West Palm Beach before heading to Miami for a fundraiser with her husband.
• Chris Dodd also is in Iowa for "kitchen table meetings" in Iowa City and Cedar Rapids tomorrow and Dubuque and Maquoketa on Sunday.
• John Edwards campaigns in Cary, N.C., with Dave Matthews Band drummer Boyd Tinsley.
• Dennis Kucinich holds a meet-and-greet this afternoon in Olympia, Wash.
• Barack Obama is in Tallahassee, Fla., today for a fundraiser at the Challenger Learning Center. Tomorrow he's in Iowa, making stops at Council Bluffs and Sioux City on Saturday and Iowa City on Sunday.
• Bill Richardson is fundraising in Dallas today.

Republicans:

• Sam Brownback is in Manalapan, Fla., tomorrow to addresses the Club for Growth's annual winter meeting. He heads to Atlanta on Sunday.
• Rudy Giuliani is in Salt Lake City today for a private fundraiser. He will also be in Manalapan tomorrow for the Club for Growth's annual winter meeting.
• Duncan Hunter will be in Webster City, Iowa, tomorrow to speak at the Century Club of Hamilton County.
• Ron Paul will be in Concord, N.H., tomorrow to help build his "unofficial volunteer network."
• Mitt Romney fundraises in Palm Beach, Fla., today and speaks at the Club for Growth meeting tomorrow.