Tuesday, January 2, 2007

WASHINGTON NEWS

GOP Challenges Bush On "Surge"

For some time now, the Bush Administration has been signaling that in order to enhance the security situation in Iraq, it intends to increase the number of US troops there. The Wall Street Journal reports White House officials now "say a troop 'surge' almost certainly will be the centerpiece of Mr. Bush's new strategy for Iraq." However, the Financial Times says Bush "is facing mounting opposition" on that proposal, with "a number of prominent Republican senators, including Arlen Specter and Richard Lugar, the outgoing chairmen of the Senate judiciary and foreign relations committees," voicing "strong scepticism about an increase in troops." The AP notes the senators' criticism, while syndicated columnist Robert Novak, offering a similar assessment over the weekend, said Republican leaders "around the country, anticipating that the 2006 election disaster would prompt an orderly disengagement from Iraq, are shocked that the president now appears ready to add troops."

U.S. News and World Report reports some senior Republicans "are looking at the next four weeks as 'make it or break it' time for the White House." In early January, "the Democrats will take over Congress and signal how aggressively they will confront the administration on Iraq and a wide range of domestic issues." By mid-January, President Bush "will have delivered his high-stakes speech setting forth 'the way forward' in Iraq."

Newsweek reports the White House "insists it knows that simply adding more troops isn't the answer. The plan being considered is far more nuanced than what has been reported in the media, a senior aide to Bush, who would only discuss the talks in Crawford anonymously, told NEWSWEEK." Another U.S. News and World Report story reports says the plan "will very likely include an economic package that will fund microloans for small businesses and jobs in neighborhoods that have been targeted by military strikes elements of classic counterinsurgency strategy that weave economic and political incentives together with armed measures."

This morning, in a 3,000-word, front page article, the New York Times reports that in interviews in Washington and Baghdad, "senior officials said the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department had...failed," during 2006, "to take seriously warnings, including some from its own ambassador in Baghdad, that sectarian violence could rip the country apart."

Media Portrays Saddam Hanging As PR Mess

In the aftermath of Saddam Hussein's execution, media accounts are portraying it as a public relations nightmare for the Administration. For one thing the Financial Times reports the Iraqi government Monday launched an inquiry "into how guards filmed and taunted Saddam Hussein on the gallows, turning his execution into a televised spectacle that has inflamed sectarian anger." In his Newsweek column, Fareed Zakaria says Saddam Hussein's "end - his capture, trial and execution - is a sad metaphor for America's occupation of Iraq. What might have gone right went so wrong." The Bush Administration "dismissed the idea of trying Saddam under international law, or in a court with any broader legitimacy" and it "put Saddam's fate in the hands of the new Iraqi government, dominated by Shiite and Kurdish politicians who had been victims of his reign. As a result, Saddam's trial, which should have been the judgment of civilized society against a tyrant, is now seen by Iraq's Sunnis and much of the Arab world as a farce, reflecting only the victors' vengeance." Newsweek also reports that "instead of a study in modern justice, the tyrant's end looked more like the result of a sectarian show trial. From Crawford, the only comment was a muted, written statement: no proclamation of 'mission accomplished,' just of 'an important milestone' after 'a difficult year for the Iraqi people and for our troops.'"

More examples of negative press: The Christian Science Monitor reports that "peace is unlikely to follow" Saddam's execution, and "while the US once believed Hussein's fall would help stabilize Iraq...that is no longer the case. What was once described as an insurgency largely made up of Baathist holdouts and some Sunni Islamist fighters, is now seen as a battle for power among Iraq's major sects." In contrast, USA Today says the "hasty execution" will "not hurt ongoing efforts to bridge ethnic rivalries and win backing for Iraq's fledgling government."

Moreover, Arab leaders also appeared displeased by the execution. The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Newsday and the Minneapolis Star Tribune ran stories over the weekend describing the sense of "stolen justice," as the New York Times, put it, even among strong Saddam critics. Graphic accounts of Saddam's hanging appeared on Sunday in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Washington Post, among other newspapers.

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Democrats' Quick Start Cuts Out GOP

House Democrats plan quick action on what they consider a modest agenda at the start of the 110th Congress and despite campaign promises to the contrary, they plan to move ahead without GOP input. The Los Angeles Times reports the Democratic leaders "will kick off their legislative campaign with a lightning-fast 100-hour agenda. But there won't be a revolution." House Democrats' "initial legislative foray will focus on modest, politically popular issues, including initiatives to expand stem cell research, lower prescription drug prices and tighten congressional ethics rules." And the Washington Post says in a front page story that instead of allowing Republicans "to fully participate in deliberations, as promised after the Democratic victory in the Nov. 7 midterm elections, Democrats now say they will use House rules to prevent the opposition from offering alternative measures, assuring speedy passage of the bills and allowing their party to trumpet early victories." The Washington Times /AP reports, "The new Democratic Senate, under Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, will take a parallel if somewhat more leisurely track." Meanwhile, the New York Times notes there are "divergent outlooks" within the Democratic caucus "over how best to fulfill the Democratic promise to clean up the House." That is an "illustration of a friction that could develop in the new Congress as the party takes control after 12 years in exile."

Democrats Plan Medicare, Stem Cell Bills The New York Times also reports the new Congress "will return to some of the biggest battles of the last decade as House Democrats try to rush through legislation requiring the government to negotiate lower drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries and overturning President Bush's restrictions on embryonic stem cell research."

Incoming Speaker On "Pelosi-Palooza" Tour The New York Times reports that during her 'first 100 hours as House speaker, Nancy Pelosi has vowed, she will sweep an aggressive legislative agenda through the newly Democratic-controlled House. But first comes Pelosi-palooza. In a three-day stretch of whirlwind events beginning on Wednesday, Mrs. Pelosi will celebrate her heritage (at the Italian Embassy), her faith (in a Roman Catholic Mass), her education (at Trinity College), her childhood (in Baltimore) and her current home (in a tribute by the singer Tony Bennett, of 'I Left My Heart in San Francisco' fame)."

Washington Pays Respects To Ford

President Gerald Ford's viewing attracted politicians from both parties to the Capitol, including President Bush. Praise for Ford is nearly universal, reflecting a shift in the consensus view of his legacy since he left office after his 1976 defeat. U.S. News and World Report, in a story capturing the tenor of much of the coverage, says this week that Ford "was remembered with almost universal respect and admiration as the man who did much to calm the nation after Watergate and the Vietnam War and to restore honesty and stability to the White House." Vice President Cheney and former President George H.W. Bush praise Ford in Newsweek, as does Henry Kissinger. In a U.S. News and World Report column, David Gergen says, "Why does Ford look so much better in the rearview mirror? Mostly, I suspect, because the personal qualities that he brought to public life seem so scarce these days. The simplicity of his burial reminds us again that Ford was, first and foremost, a humble man of the Midwest." Most "of all, Ford brought a forthright honesty to politics." This morning, Peggy Noonan lavishes praise on Ford in a Wall Street Journal column, "We were lucky to have him," she writes, "We were really lucky to have him."

The Los Angeles Times notes "Bush declared Tuesday a national day of mourning as a funeral service will be held for Ford at Washington National Cathedral. Most federal offices, including the courts and postal offices, will be closed." The Washington Times, USA Today, Washington Post and New York Times all describe the scene at the Capitol yesterday. The New York Times also reports that "of all the aging Washington power brokers who have re-emerged in the shadow of the death of former President Gerald R. Ford, there is one, Henry A. Kissinger, for whom the return to the spotlight may be as much curse as blessing." Kissinger "continues to evoke the passions about Vietnam that Donald H. Rumsfeld, the former defense secretary, evokes today about Iraq."

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CAMPAIGN NEWS

Giuliani Campaign Plan Leaked

The New York Daily News this morning reports that it has acquired a copy of Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign game plan, which "sets out the budgets, schedules and fund-raising plans that will underpin" Giuliani's "presidential campaign -- as well as his aides' worries that personal and political baggage could scuttle his run." The Daily News says it received the document from a source sympathetic to a potential White House rival of Giuliani, after it had been left at the site of a Giuliani event. One page in the document "cites the explicit concern that" Giuliani "might 'drop out of [the] race' as a consequence of his potentially 'insurmountable' personal and political vulnerabilities." The document lists Giuliani's central problems: "his private sector business; disgraced former aide Bernard Kerik; his third wife, Judith Nathan Giuliani; 'social issues,'" and "his former wife Donna Hanover."

Edwards Draws Big Crowds

Sen. Barack Obama isn't the only 2008 Democratic hopeful turning out big crowds these days. Former Sen. John Edwards, touring early primary states in support of his newly-announced bid, is drawing sizeable crowds too. The AP reported that Edwards was met by an "overflow" crowd at an event in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on Friday, with "nearly a quarter" of the 800 people who showed up standing outside the elementary school in freezing weather. On Saturday, a rally in South Carolina drew more than 1,500 activists while a second event in North Carolina was attended by more than 5,000, the Charlotte Observer reports.

Meanwhile, the Charlotte Observer reports that Edwards has stepped down as director of the University of North Carolina Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity. The Observer reports, "Though Edwards' $40,000 annual salary came from private money, critics questioned what they saw as an effort by a state-funded university to give Edwards a platform from which to launch a second presidential campaign."

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Clinton, Obama Voting Records A Contrast

An analysis piece published on the front page of the Washington Post reports on the differences in the voting records of New York Sen. Hillary Clinton (D) and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama (D), and the impact these differences will have on the Senators' perceived competition for their party's nomination for the 2008 presidential election. The piece leads off, "The attack ads practically write themselves: Hillary Clinton voted against ethanol! Barack Obama wants to increase taxes!" The Post notes that on 40 occasions, their votes differed, generating "a lot of material to mine, and even misrepresent." The Post notes that overall, the two voted alike on many issues during their joint tenure, but that differences can be perceived on such issues as "energy policy, congressional ethics and budget priorities, relations with Cuba, gun ownership, and whether a senator can hold a second job."

Elway Seen As Potential Senate Candidate

Legendary Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway would be heavily recruited by the GOP to run for Senate in Colorado should Sen. Wayne Allard (R) choose not to run again, former GOP Rep. Scott McInnis tells the AP. McInnis said that if Allard doesn't run, and Gov. Bill Owens (R) opts not to run, he would enter the race, but added that at that point, there would be a "substantial effort" to recruit Elway. McInnis added, "I think Elway could clear the field."

Lautenberg Expected To Run Again

New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D), who will turn 83 later this month, looks ready to run for reelection in 2008, the AP reports. He says his "health is excellent and frequent trips to the gym, plus skiing as often as he can, have the senator looking and feeling younger than his age. So he's thrown himself back into the job he loves and is looking forward to being part of the Democratic-controlled Senate in the next Congress."

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