Political Bulletin

CAMPAIGN NEWS

Media Fixated On Obama-Clinton Fight

Coverage of the clash between Democratic presidential rivals Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, over comments made about Clinton by Hollywood's David Geffen, continues, with a lengthy report on NBC and a front-page story in the New York Times. NBC Nightly News said an effort to "tamp down what has been an unusually early and bitter fight between two of the top contenders" for the Democratic nod is underway. NBC (Gregory) added that Obama was "on the campaign trail today trying to clear the air with Hillary Clinton." Obama: "It should be about the issues and not about personalities or what supporters say." Gregory: "The response, an attempt to overcome a rift started by Hollywood mogul David Geffen, longtime Clinton friend and fundraiser turned foe. His attacks this week caused her campaign to lash out" at Obama. The New York Times writes that "after weeks of watching in frustration" as Obama "presented himself as a fresh face gliding above partisan politics," Clinton "has drawn Mr. Obama onto a muddy political field, engaging him in a back-and-forth that recalls the kind of Washington bickering Mr. Obama has decried."

Analysis remains mixed on who won this fight. The New York Times concludes, "When it came to tallying the final score on the most intense engagement so far in the 2008 presidential race, even Mr. Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, seemed to acknowledge that he may have been outmaneuvered." An AP analysis piece says the "Hollywood-style brawl" is just "the latest in a series of speed bumps tripping up Hillary Rodham Clinton's early presidential moves. From the Clinton team's decision to criticize -- and therefore publicize -- producer David Geffen's complaints about both Clintons to increasingly skeptical questions about Sen. Clinton's nuanced explanation of her 2002 vote authorizing the Iraq war, it became apparent even a battle-tested front-runner can fall prey to missteps."

Ultimately, though, it may be both candidates that suffer in this spat, says some observers. In his Washington Post column, E.J. Dionne said the outbreak of the feud "was a good day for Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, John Edwards, Bill Richardson, Tom Vilsack -- and, what the heck, Dennis Kucinich. It was a bad day for Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and David Geffen. It was a good day for the Republican Party, particularly George W. Bush, John McCain and Dick Cheney. It was a bad day for the Democratic Party, opponents of the Iraq war and advocates of national health insurance." Similarly, in an analysis piece in the New York Daily News, Thomas M. DeFrank writes that Clinton and Obama "both emerge as losers from this skirmish, with potentially unsavory implications for the party in November 2008."

Rock Star Giuliani Swarmed In Florida

Rudy Giuliani made his first campaign swing through Florida yesterday, and was treated like a rock star by fans in both parties during a stop there. The Palm Beach Post reports that Giuliani "may be running for president, but to more than 150 former New Yorkers who came to see him Thursday at a popular deli west of Delray Beach, Giuliani was still their mayor. Speaking and often shouting in the unmistakable accents of New York, Giuliani was crushed by a score of fans as soon as he stepped from his car. ... And most of them were Democrats, who will not be able to vote for him in the GOP primary." The AP reports that many fans "rushed toward his car when he arrived at Lox Around the Clock and greeted him with thick New York accents. ... 'You don't know what you did for New York, you just don't know,' said Michelle Landa, a retired New York teacher who spends about a month each winter in Boynton Beach." The Miami Herald reports that the "crush of people" greeting Giuliani "showed Thursday that Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama don't hold the monopoly on celebrity."

The Herald also reports that Giuliani is already making strong inroads in Florida, "even without any visible campaign operation." One of former Gov. Jeb Bush's campaign managers has now signed on as his top advisor in the state, and Giuliani said, "I think that our campaign is right on schedule. This is kind of happening faster than people expected, but I think we have tremendous support in Florida."

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McCain Signs On Key Supporter

The Munster (IN) Times reports that Sen. John McCain has secured the backing of Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R), who endorsed him yesterday and said, "The term 'great American' applies to very few people, but it indisputably fits John McCain." Daniels' endorsement may also signal a move by the Bush crowd to swing toward McCain, as Daniels was a high-level Bush advisor prior to becoming governor.

Aide Says Johnson May Run For Re-Election

The AP reports this morning that an aide to South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson (D), sidelined since December as he recovers from a brain hemorrhage, says his boss may to run for reelection in 2008. While a final decision has not been made, Chief of staff Drey Samuelson said "the senator's recovery has been so strong that a re-election campaign is possible."

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WASHINGTON NEWS

Lieberman Could Flip Senate Over Iraq

Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Democratic VP nominee in 2000, is warning his party not to try to de-fund US efforts in Iraq. In an exclusive interview with the Washington-insider publication The Politico, Lieberman said he has no "immediate plans to switch parties," but "suggested that Democratic opposition to funding the war in Iraq might change his mind." Said Lieberman, "I have no desire to change parties. ... If that ever happens, it is because I feel the majority of Democrats have gone in a direction that I don't feel comfortable with." Asked "whether that hasn't already happened with Iraq," Lieberman said, "We will see how that plays out in the coming months." He "suggested...that the forthcoming showdown over new funding could be a deciding factor that would lure him to the Republican Party."

With Democrats holding a slim 51-49 majority, a Lieberman switch would allow the GOP (with Vice President Cheney casting the deciding vote) to regain control of the Senate. In addition, Democrats have been playing a man down in the Senate, as South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson (D) continues to rehabilitee from a brain injury hemorrhage suffered in December. On its website, Time reported yesterday Lieberman "has been indulging in some fairly immodest political footsie. Early this year he terrified fellow Democrats by skipping several of the weekly caucus lunches that cement party fidelity in the Senate. Recently he was spotted in the Republican cloakroom talking with South Carolina's Lindsey Graham about reforming Social Security. He even says he might vote Republican for President in 2008, a not-so-veiled hint that he would prefer John McCain."

Democrats Prepare Gambit The AP reports that Democratic "aides and others familiar with private discussions" said last night "Senate Democrats are drafting legislation to limit the mission of US troops in Iraq, effectively revoking the broad authority Congress granted in 2002, officials said Thursday." One draft "would restrict American troops in Iraq to combating al-Qaida, training Iraqi army and police forces, maintaining Iraq's territorial integrity and otherwise proceeding with the withdrawal of combat forces." The sources added "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is expected to present the proposal to fellow Democrats early next week for their consideration."

The New York Times discloses that "the chief authors" of the new bill "are Senators Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, and Carl Levin of Michigan, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee. The plan is to try to attach the proposal to an antiterrorism bill the Senate expects to begin considering Tuesday." The Times adds, "Lawmakers and senior aides said that such a plan was unlikely to pass Congress, and even if it did, it would certainly be vetoed." But "Democrats say their intention is to keep pressure on both Mr. Bush and Congressional Republicans." The Washington Post focuses on Democratic splits on the way forward in Iraq, and quotes Sen. John Kerry saying, "I've had enough of "nonbinding."' Kerry is described in the story as someone involved in "helping to draft the new Democratic proposal."

GOP War Opponent Breaks With Murtha McClatchy is reporting this morning that "a longtime Republican opponent of the Iraq war, Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina, broke ranks Thursday with Democratic Rep. John Murtha over Murtha's plan to attach conditions to war funds." That "split signals that divisions among war opponents are likely to emerge next week when Congress returns from recess. Murtha and other Democrats have said they'll look at how they might use congressional power over military regulations and funding to pressure the Bush administration to redeploy US forces out of Iraq."

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times profiles GOP Rep. Sam Johnson, the House Republicans' "John McCain-like war hero," who was the cellmate of the Arizona senator in Vietnam. Johnson "has emerged as the House GOP's point man in an escalating fight in Congress over Bush's execution of the war -- a position that puts him opposite another decorated Vietnam veteran," Murtha.

Powell: Give "Surge" One Year The Journal and Courier of Lafayette, IN, reports this morning that former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who has often been critical of the administration's handling of the Iraq war since he left the cabinet, "told an audience at Purdue University that he supports sending more American soldiers to Iraq." But "if the troop surge does not quell what he characterized as a 'civil war' within a year, the United States should begin to leave, he said."

Army: Walter Reed Stories True But Unfair

This morning, the Washington Post runs two stories on the problems at Walter Reed Army Medical Center near the front of the A section this morning. On page A3, the Post notes that the "Army's surgeon general yesterday criticized stories" in the Post disclosing problems at Walter Reed, saying the "series unfairly characterized the living conditions and care for soldiers recuperating from wounds at the hospital's facilities." Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley said during a news conference, "I'm not sure it was an accurate representation. It was a one-sided representation." The Post notes that, "until now, the Army had not challenged any aspect of the Post series." After the news conference, Kiley was "asked to elaborate on his comments." He said he "does not dispute the facts in the Post stories. 'It's not the accuracy I question, it's the characterization,' he said." But on the facing page A2, Dana Milbank criticizes the military's response in a story headlined "Painting Over The Problems At Walter Reed's Building 18." Milbank writes, "It's not every day one gets to witness a whitewash in action, but Walter Reed...provided just such an opportunity yesterday." A Sunday Post story "described the woeful conditions of Room 205 in Walter Reed's Building 18," and "the Army mobilized. Painters were deployed to cover the offending wall with a fresh coat of white semigloss. And television crews were invited in to inspect the result. ... Mission accomplished? Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley thought so."

The New York Times runs an editorial on the ongoing controversy, saying that "when the Senate next debates whether to debate the Iraq war, members would do well to visit Walter Reed. ... There they can run a stark reality check on how the country is failing the war's wounded despite all those Capitol orations about unstinting support of our fighting troops. ... The shameful neglect at Walter Reed is more proof of how America's leaders...are failing the nation's warriors in this disastrous war."

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Bush Promotes Energy Plans

A day after promoting his healthcare plans in Tennessee, the President visited North Carolina Thursday. His focus: energy policy. The Daily Dispatch reports this morning that Bush "promoted a major reduction in gasoline use" during his visit "to a Franklinton biotechnology facility doing cutting-edge research in the production of ethanol, one of the fuels at the heart of the plan." Bush "told an audience at the Novozymes facility outside Franklinton," near Raleigh, that "the company's role in ethanol production was a key to American energy independence." The Washington Post says "Bush's energy proposal is among the few items in his domestic agenda likely to receive support from Democrats in Congress," while McClatchy says it was "another step" in Bush's "tour across the country to pitch the priorities he outlined in his State of the Union address in January."

But much of the newspaper coverage this morning focuses on the lighter side of Bush's visit. The New York Times says the President "spoke buoyantly about new technologies," and after listening to company executives describe the role of enzymes in reducing the cost of ethanol, Mr. Bush jumped in to ask a layman's question: 'So is this like a distillery?'" Raleigh's News & Observer says inside the company, Bush "donned a white lab coat with his name and the company's name," and the AP recounts that at one point, "the president held up a beaker of nearly complete ethanol, sniffed it and laughed: 'I quit drinking in 1986,' he said. Then he turned serious. 'Someday you're going to be able to use this in your car,' Bush said." Remarking on that anecdote, the Los Angeles Times titles its report "Bush Gets A Whiff Of Alternative Fuel." Meanwhile the Herald-Sun, a local paper, notes Bush honored a local volunteer after his visit to the ethanol plant. The volunteer is "a mentor at the Youth Life Learning Center of Durham, an outreach program originally founded by King's Park International Church."

US Used Ethiopian Bases To Attack Al Qaeda

On its front page, the New York Times reports this morning the US military "quietly waged a campaign from Ethiopia last month to capture or kill top leaders of Al Qaeda in the Horn of Africa, including the use of an airstrip in eastern Ethiopia to mount airstrikes against Islamic militants in neighboring Somalia," according to American officials. The "close and largely clandestine" relationship with Ethiopia "also included significant sharing of intelligence on the Islamic militants' positions and information from American spy satellites with the Ethiopian military."

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POLITICAL HUMOR

The Latest From Late Night Comedians

Jay Leno: "In fact, do you know what happened today? Did you hear about this? Do you know what happened today in the national security trial involving Vice President Cheney's chief of staff Scooter Libby? You know what happened? Neither do I! I can't get any news! It's all celebrity news!"

Jay Leno: "Now, I don't understand where this is coming from, but it looks like Hollywood is starting to turn on Hillary Clinton. Hollywood mogul David Geffen, he gave, like, $18 million -- some huge amount -- to the Clintons over the years. Well, he told columnist Maureen Dowd of 'The New York Times' that Hillary Clinton was too scripted, that Bill Clinton is reckless and both the Clintons lie so easily, it's troubling. That's what he said. Bad scripts, reckless behavior and lying. Thank God that kind of thing can never happen here in Hollywood."

Jay Leno: "It's bad enough Hillary had to deal with the vast right wing conspiracy. Now it looks like there's a vast left wing conspiracy, too."

David Letterman: "How about that Dick Cheney? He's at it again. You know the Vice President, Dick Cheney? He's on a world tour. He was in Japan, and now he's in Australia, and not going well in Australia, by the way. No, no, no. He went nuts and hit a guy in the face with a boomerang."

Conan O'Brien: "I've got some international news I'm going to start with. I don't know if you're aware of this, but Denmark and Lithuania have announced they're going to pull their troops out of Iraq. Denmark and Lithuania. They're taking them out, yeah. Yeah, apparently Denmark and Lithuania are going to pull out on the same day so all four guys can carpool."

Conan O'Brien: "Of course, President Bush is busy. President Bush flew to North Carolina today to discuss ideas for cutting gas consumption. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, the best idea was for Bush to not fly Air Force One to North Carolina. He should take a bike next time."

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