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Vilsack's Withdrawal Troubles Centrist Democrats
Tweet Share on Facebook February 26, 2007 CommentU.S. News White House Correspondent Kenneth T. Walsh reports this item:
Democratic centrists are deeply troubled by the withdrawal Friday of former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack from the presidential race. They see Vilsack's pullout -- which he blamed on the enormous difficulties of fund-raising and his lack of money when compared with his better-known rivals -- as the latest example of how pragmatic centrists are leaving the Democratic field to candidates who are perceived as more liberal, such as Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards.
"It really limits our choices," says a prominent Democratc organizer who had close ties not only to Vilsack, but also to two other centrists who decided not to run -- Indiana Senator and former Governor Evan Bayh and former Virginia Governor Mark Warner.
An additional problem is that the Democratic front runners are all veterans of Washington and have no experience actually running a government. Clinton and Obama are senators, and Edwards is a former senator. In recent years, it has been governors who gave the Democrats their White House successes -- former Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996, and former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter in 1976. Party insiders say New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson could fill the bill, but he lags far behind the front runners in national and state polls, and apparently in the money race.
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Reader question: When is a dismissed juror replaced?
Tweet Share on Facebook February 26, 2007 CommentOur first question comes from Liz in Pennsylvania, who asks, "When a juror is dismissed, isn't an alternate chosen to replace the dismissed juror?"
Liz's question comes in response to news that Reggie Walton, the judge in the trial of former Cheney-aide Scooter Libby, dismissed one of the jurors after she was exposed to media coverage of the trial. Walton sent the remaining 11 jurors back to deliberate.
U.S. News chief legal affairs correspondent Chitra Ragavan looked into it for us. She caught up with defense attorney Barry Boss, co-author of Federal Criminal Practice, who had this to offer: "The rules provide that after deliberations have begun, the court has discretion, upon finding 'just cause,' to excuse a juror and allow a valid verdict by 11 jurors, even absent agreement by the defendant or the prosecutor."
But that only applies to the first dismissal. If a second juror is dismissed, both the prosecution and the defense must agree in order for the trial to continue with only 10 jurors.
Have a question for us? Submit your queries to newsblog@usnews.com or click the "Ask a question" button under every post.
Etc.: No Libby Legacy for the Press? on USNews.com -
The 2008 presidential pool just got (slightly) larger
Tweet Share on Facebook February 26, 2007 CommentU.S. News Whispers editor Paul Bedard sends us this item:
A new presidential candidate is to join the race on Tuesday who will be running on only one issue -- health care for all children. The Children's Defense Fund tells U.S. News that they will be fielding little Susie Flynn tomorrow at a press conference.
"She may be young, but she knows her numbers," said a CDF official. "We can provide health insurance to all children in the United States for the equivalent of 16 days of military spending, three and a half months in Iraq or five and a half months of the tax cuts to the richest 1 percent," he added.
The CDR already has a website for Flynn, www.electsusie.com (though it's not active yet), and an ad campaign that promotes the effort to give health care to some 9 million children without health care.
Read more Washington Whispers here.
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Daily Doc: jetBlue posts Customer Bill of Rights
Tweet Share on Facebook February 26, 2007 CommentEmbattled airline jetBlue has released a Customer Bill of Rights (pdf) in response to a barrage of negative press in the past two weeks. The airline cancelled more than 1,000 flights when a brutal storm hit the East Coast on Valentine's Day. Hundreds of customers were stuck on the frozen tarmac, some for as long as 10 1/2 hours.
Today was another bad day today for jetBlue, which canceled at least 68 flights due to continuing winter weather.
Founder and CEO David Neeleman publicly apologized to customers last week, and the company took out full-page ads in East Coast newspapers assuring customers that they were making major changes would prevent a repeat of the travel problems.
Etc.: Q&A with Business Travel Coalition founder Kevin Mitchell, on USNews.com -
Afternoon Buzz: A dismissed juror and an offending Jesus documentary
Tweet Share on Facebook February 26, 2007 CommentHere are the hot stories making headlines this afternoon around the Web:
- One of the 12 jurors in the much-watched trial of former Cheney aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby was dismissed today by Judge Reggie Walton, who sent the other 11 back to continue their deliberations. The juror, Walton said, was exposed to something over the weekend that disqualifies her from the jury, but he did not offer specifics. Jurors have been told to avoid media coverage of the trial.
- The United Kingdom will soon deploy an additional 1,400 troops to Afghanistan, an announcement that comes on the heels of an announced withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
- A forthcoming Discovery Channel documentary called "The Lost Tomb of Christ" is drawing fire from both archaeologists and church officials. The documentary suggests that Jesus--and possibly his family as well--were buried in southern Jerusalem, contradicting the story as told in the gospels.
- During his surprise stopover in Pakistan en route to Afghanistan, Vice President Cheney sought the support of Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf in stepping up his country's push against the Taliban and al Qaeda. The New York Times reports that White House officials do not feel that Musharraf is living up to his promise to vigorously root out terrorists in Pakistan, particularly along the border.
Etc.: A bold new take on the historical Jesus, on USNews.com -
Daily Poll: Overall, Giuliani, Obama are most favorable candidates
Tweet Share on Facebook February 26, 2007 CommentA Gallup poll released this morning found that, among major presidential candidates, Republican Rudy Giuliani and Democrat Barack Obama have the highest "net favorability" -- the percentage of people who rate the candidate as "favorable" minus those who rate him or her "unfavorable" -- among both all of respondents and just those who identified themselves as independents.
Within a candidate's own party, however, Hillary Clinton was the runaway winner among Democrats with 77 precent -- 87 percent favorable minus 10 percent "unfavorable." Giuliani led the Republicans with 70 percent.
The other two Democrats listed in the poll, Obama and John Edwards, each had a high number of Democratic respondents say they had not formed an opinion on the men (24 and 22 percent, respectively), while only 10 percent of Republicans registered themselves as undecided for either Giuliani or John McCain.
The poll, conducted Feb. 9-11, surveyed 1,006 adults and carries a margin of error of 3 percentage points for the entire pool.
Etc.: Good numbers for Dems, but watch out for overexposure, on USNews.com -
On the Trail: Feb. 26, 2007
Tweet Share on Facebook February 26, 2007 CommentHere's a rundown of where some of the presidential candidates are taking to the stump today.
The Democrats
- John Edwards attends a fundraiser in Colts Neck, N.J.
- Barack Obama makes two stops in Ohio: a fundraiser in Cincinnati and a rally in Highland Hills.
The Republicans- Sam Brownback holds a town hall meeting in Spartanburg, S.C..
- Rudy Giuliani headlines a GOP fundraiser in Tyson Corner in northern Virginia.
Have you attended a campaign rally for a 2008 presidential candidate recently? Send us your review at newsblog@usnews.com and maybe we'll share it here.Keep reading for an explanation of how we compile this info.
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Morning Buzz: Feb. 26, 2007
Tweet Share on Facebook February 26, 2007 CommentOne of the two Iraqi vice presidents survived an assassination attempt this morning when explosives were detonated inside the office building in Baghdad where he was speaking, the AP reports. Ten people reportedly died in the blast, which knocked the Shiite leader, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, to the ground but did not significantly harm him.
Meanwhile, the president of Iraq, 73-year-old Jalal Talabani, was hospitalized yesterday after he fell ill and was flown from Iraq to a hospital in Jordan, where he is conscious and in stable condition. Talabani, a member of the Kurdish minority in Iraq, is largely a ceremonial leader.
Back home, former vice president Al Gore won an Academy Award at last night's Oscars for his documentary on climate change, "An Inconvenient Truth." Gore's victory, however, was largely overshadowed in this morning's headlines by the best director award, which went to Martin Scorsese, who finally won an Academy Award for his eighth nomination, "The Departed."
New on USNews.com this morning, Dan Gilgoff offers an inside look at the Evangelical base of the Republican Party and its search for a presidential candidate who can take up its causes. Meanwhile, Gilgoff writes, the Democrats appear more comfortable talking about faith than they have in recent memory.
Coming up at the News Desk 10 a.m. ET: Analysis of a new Gallup poll finds which 2008 presidential candidates are most and least popular among members of their own party.
Etc.: Bedard: Could Al Gore Bankroll His Bid?, on USNews.com
