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Chuck Close: Spend Stimulus Money on Art
Tweet Share on Facebook April 26, 2010 CommentBy Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
Artist Chuck Close has a way to spruce up the country and spend loose stimulus money. Have artists teach kids or buy their art for public buildings. "Artists are shovel ready," says Close, who gives U.S. embassies his art.
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Petraeus 2012? New Poll Has Little Love for Iraq-Afghanistan War Boss
Tweet Share on Facebook April 23, 2010 Comment (3)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
It's a good thing that Iraq-Afghanistan war boss Gen. David Petraeus has been so forcefully rejecting Republican calls to jump into the 2012 presidential primary race. Because in a surprising result in our latest Washington Whispers poll, just 7 percent want him to run.
Our Synovate-eNation poll tested the names of some famous generals who might follow in the footsteps of Dwight Eisenhower to become president some day. But the results seem to suggest that the public isn't ready for a current war general as their president and in fact nearly 80 percent of the respondents split between a retired general, Colin Powell, and no general at all.
Powell probably surged to the top of the generals list because he has had a long life in public service as a White House national security advisor and as former President Bush's secretary of state. But like Petraeus, Powell has rejected the presidency.
Another blow to Petraeus potential bid is that he didn't even come in third to None and Powell. He followed Norman Schwarzkopf, the first gulf war boss, who received 11 percent. Last on the list was the second Iraq war boss, Tommy Franks, at just 4 percent.
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Zogby: Obama’s Polls Even Out in Time for Financial Push
Tweet Share on Facebook April 23, 2010 Comment (5)Pollster John Zogby updates our weekly Obama Report Card with a grade on the president's performance. Zogby uses his polling, expert analysis and interaction with major players to come up with a grade and some comments that capture how he see's the president's week ending.
John Zogby on Week 66:
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Idol Winner Takes Haiti Passion to Congress
Tweet Share on Facebook April 23, 2010 Comment (8)By Maura Judkis, Washington Whispers
The destruction in Haiti has dropped out of the news since February. But one unlikely source came to Washington to remind lawmakers to keep Haiti in their memories--recent "American Idol" winner Kris Allen.
Allen traveled with the U.N. Foundation to Haiti in February for 10 hours, where he handed out food and sang for women and children. He shared his experience with "American Idol" fans during the special "Idol Gives Back" program, for which he hosted a D.C. watch party at the Hard Rock Café.
"It was devastating. I've been to a lot of different places, but I've never seen destruction like that before," Allen told Whispers over dinner at Neyla restaurant in Georgetown on Wednesday. "There are no houses. That's the only picture in my mind that I have of Haiti--a bunch of rubble."
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Blackballed Novel Suggests Carter Iran-Hostage Plot
Tweet Share on Facebook April 23, 2010 Comment (13)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
He's been widely published by the industry's biggies and his personal memoir is being released by Simon & Schuster next year, but when conservative pundit Douglas MacKinnon offered his newest tale of a politically-incorrect private investigator, the publishers ran. Even his past editors turned a cold shoulder to Vengeance Is Mine.
"While disappointed, I was not surprised to find out that the mainstream publishing editors I spoke with found the traditional beliefs of my main character troublesome and objectionable," MacKinnon tells us.
Or maybe it was something else in his book that will be published instead by Amazon.com. In it, the former Pentagon aide writes of a real-life tip he received from a player in the fatal and disastrous Desert One mission ordered by former President Jimmy Carter to retrieve our hostages held in Iran 30 years ago April 21. Paying tribute to the eight killed that night, MacKinnon wonders if the operation failed because Carter may have rushed it trying to finally get positive press in his Democratic primary battle with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.
"In my novel, the main character was involved in that operation and speaks to that rumor," he tells us.
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Hoyer Sees Election Trouble for House Democrats
Tweet Share on Facebook April 22, 2010 Comment (8)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
Nationally-recognized election prognosticator Charlie Cook isn't the only one who sees the majority for House Democrats slipping away. Today, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer agreed, but said that he and others will mount a strong campaign to try and convince the public that better times are right around the corner.
In his recent analysis, Cook suggested a 30-40 seat lost in November for House Democrats, adding it could be worse if the current anti-incumbent and anti-Democrat trend continues. Republicans need to pick up 41 seats to take back the majority.
Asked about it at a media breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor today, Hoyer says, "It's an accurate view of what the polls reflect right now. Yes. I have great respect for Charlie Cook."
He explained that Americans are "angry and fearful" because of job losses and that's blinding them to the recovery on Wall Street and other areas of the economy. "Roosevelt said, 'We have nothing to fear but fear itself,' and what he meant by that is fear can prevent sort of reasoned analysis. The proposition that I think that I've made is that things are in fact improving and they are improving as a result of policies put in place in '09 and that we continue to pursue. If that occurs over the next five months, six months, I think that's going to change the perception of the public," says Hoyer.
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Both Sides Decry Wall Street's Influence
Tweet Share on Facebook April 21, 2010 Comment (2)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
Republicans and Democrats play the bad guys in two new web video's out today from advocates in the bid to reform Wall Street.
Americans United for Change led the way early this morning when they issued a video titled "Dragnet" that accused Republicans of going to bat for Wall Street and trying to kill President Obama's reform plan. "With all 41 Republican senators publicly opposed to financial regulatory reform, it's clear they've been listening to the 1,500 Wall Street lobbyists and CEO's camped out in their offices this week a lot more than their constituents back home who lost their jobs and retirement savings in the wake of the financial crisis," said Tom McMahon, acting executive director, Americans United for Change. His ad singles out Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. John Cornyn, head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, for criticism for meeting with hedge fund managers.
But within hours, that ad was matched by one from the Republican National Committee that accuses Obama and the Democrats of paying back banker campaign contributions with a plan to save them at all costs with taxpayer funding. "President Obama's tough rhetoric against financial institutions is just a smokescreen for the millions of dollars he and congressional Democrats took from big banks and a bill that makes American taxpayers pay for bad decisions made by Wall Street and Washington. President Obama and congressional Democrats need to stop this political circus," said RNC chairman Michael Steele.
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How Sarah Palin Will Win the GOP Presidential Nod
Tweet Share on Facebook April 21, 2010 Comment (13)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
Sarah Palin's roller-coaster ride from GOP darling to dunce is speeding up the track again. Not only has the respected National Journal made her their cover girl with a headline of "No Dummy," but now even Democrats are starting to worry about her influence. "Don't count her out yet," says Democratic pollster Celinda Lake. Why? While many GOP-ers think Palin could win the Iowa GOP presidential caucus in 2012, some think her luck would end there because conservatives don't do as well in the following primaries. But Lake says Palin could also do well in more liberal New Hampshire, giving her the Big Mo to win the nomination. Her reasoning: New Hampshire Republicans like to vote for women. "It's one of the most pro-female Republican primaries," says Lake.
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GOP Dismisses Harry Reid’s Comeback Plan
Tweet Share on Facebook April 20, 2010 Comment (7)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's effort to portray polls showing him losing reelection as flawed is receiving the expected brush off, and laughter, from Republicans closely watching the race in Nevada.
Reid's associates last week suggested that the polling done on his race has been inaccurate and flawed because it hasn't factored in the long list of opponents he expects to face on the fall ballot and the availability of "None" on the ballot. Reid's team believes that with many voters angry at Washington, "None" will score high as will third party candidates, leaving him enough support to beat the leading Republican, party boss Sue Lowden.
But Republican sources are heckling that claim and providing polling data showing that Reid still loses to Lowden, 47 percent to 37 percent, when the full ballot of eight candidates and the "None" option are offered poll recipients. They have been shopping around that Mason-Dixon poll, published in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "There have been 30 different polls going back to late 2008 and every single one of them has Reid losing," said a Republican official closely watching the Reid race.
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Supreme Court Denies C-SPAN Requests
Tweet Share on Facebook April 20, 2010 Comment (5)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
Transparency, apparently, isn't a word in Black's Law Dictionary. Just ask C-SPAN and its big media backers. Seven times they asked the court to immediately turn over audio tapes of oral arguments this term and seven times they were shot down. It's a worsening trend. Last year, seven of nine were denied. Since 2000, 25 requests have been denied, and 21 agreed to.
