Political Bulletin

CAMPAIGN NEWS

Dems Trounce GOP In Campaign Cash

The presidential campaign finance filings for the 2nd quarter are in, and one thing is abundantly clear: the Democrats are, as a whole, vastly outraising their GOP counterparts. Under the headline "Democrats Continue To Beat Republicans At The Donor Box," the New York Times reports the "eight Democrats running for president raised more than $80 million from April 1 to June 30, while the 10 Republicans raised less than $50 million."

Among Democrats, Sen. Barack Obama raised $32.8 million, Sen. Hillary Clinton $27 million, John Edwards $8.9 million, Gov. Bill Richardson $7 million, Sen. Christopher Dodd $3.25 million, Sen. Joseph Biden $2.3 million, and Rep. Dennis Kucinich $757,000. On the Republican side, Rudy Giuliani raised $17.3 million, Mitt Romney $13.7 million, Sen. John McCain $11.2 million, Rep. Ron Paul $2.4 million, Sen. Sam Brownback $1.4 million, Mike Huckabee $763,000, Tommy Thompson $445,000, and Jim Gilmore (who quit the race Saturday) $182,000.

In terms of cash on hand that can be used for the primaries, Obama leads the Democrats with $34.5 million, followed by Clinton $32.7 million, Edwards $12.1 million, Richardson $7 million, Dodd $5 million, and Biden $1.8 million. On the GOP side, Giuliani has $14.6 million, Romney $12.1 million, McCain $3.2 million, Paul $2.3 million, Brownback $460,000, Huckabee $437,000, and Tommy Thompson $122,000.

Still, despite all the attention being paid to the cash primary, the Wall Street Journal cautions, "While money is a measure of organization and early appeal, it is hardly predictive of how nomination contests will turn out."

One thing that is drawing a fair bit of attention in the fundraising race is Barack Obama's ability to appeal to small donors. The Washington Post has a feature on how small donors are boosting Obama by giving him "an unusually large fundraising base. The 258,000 donors who have given to his campaign this year are more than the combined total who have given to" Giuliani, McCain, and Romney. Obama said his "fundraising effort is 'the largest grass-roots campaign in history for this stage of a presidential race,'" and Jerome Armstrong, "an Internet adviser for Howard Dean's insurgent campaign four years ago, didn't dispute that." The Los Angeles Times says $9.7 million of Obama's second quarter fundraising came in contributions of less than $200 each -- "a number that is unusually high and a surprise to campaign finance experts."

Gilmore Quietly Exits Race

The Washington Post reports former Virginia governor and Republican National Committee chairman James Gilmore "ended his long-shot Republican presidential campaign yesterday, saying he was unable to raise enough money to communicate his conservative vision to Americans." The AP adds that Gilmore "barely registered in the polls and his latest financial disclosure report showed him with about $90,000 in cash on hand."

Radio Iowa reported on its website that "Gilmore's most notable contribution to the contest was the phrase: 'Rudy McRomney.' Gilmore uttered it in Des Moines this spring to criticize the three leading candidates -- Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Mitt Romney -- all of whom Gilmore alleged were not conservative enough to be the GOP's standard-bearer in 2008."

This doesn't mean that Gilmore's political career is over, however. The Politico says Gilmore "said he has been approached about running for Virginia governor a second time, and about running for U.S. Senate" if Sen. John Warner retires. He said he "will consider both options."

Sign up here to get the US News Political Bulletin emailed to you each morning at 8 a.m.

Giuliani, Clinton Have Double-Digit Leads

A new poll out from American Research Group, an independent New Hampshire-based pollster, shows Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton holding broad leads over their primary foes nationally. Clinton leads the Democrats with 38%, followed by Barack Obama, 25%; John Edwards, 16%; all other candidates are at 3% or less. Giuliani leads the Republicans with 30%, followed by Fred Thompson, 17%; John McCain, 14%; and Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney at 10% apiece. The rest of the field is at 1% or less.

Clinton, Romney Tops In New Hampshire

A Research 2000 poll of likely New Hampshire voters taken for the Concord Monitor shows Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton leading their respective primary fields. Clinton is tops among Democrats with 33%, followed by Barack Obama, 25%; John Edwards, 15%; Bill Richardson, 7%; and the rest of the field at 3% or less. On the GOP side, Romney leads with 27%, followed by Rudy Giuliani, 20%; John McCain, 16%; Fred Thompson, 15%; and the rest of the field at 1% each.

Sign up here to get the US News Political Bulletin emailed to you each morning at 8 a.m.

Top

WASHINGTON NEWS

GOP Goes To War Over Iraq

The war in Iraq has sparked a civil war within the Republican Party. On Friday, Sens. Richard Lugar and John Warner unveiled a troop realignment proposal that the media cast as a watershed in the Iraq debate, as both senators are known for their moderation and foreign and military policy expertise. The two veteran Republicans appeared together on ABC's This Week Sunday -- where Warner said, "We're trying to force the President to change the strategy now" -- while White House National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley appeared on three Sunday morning shows to counter this latest GOP blow to Bush Administration Iraq policy. Most coverage last night and this morning puts Lugar and Warner in a positive light, while painting Hadley -- and the White House -- as on the defensive.

NBC Nightly News set the tone by saying the "effort to curb the US mission" in Iraq "comes from two of the most respected voices in the GOP and will be difficult to ignore." But "despite efforts to curtail the war the President is holding firm, insisting the surge strategy must be given time to work." Similarly, ABC World News said that "despite all the wrangling in Congress," Bush has shown "no signs of changing course" on Iraq. The CBS Evening News said the White House's response to Warner and Lugar was "a respectful thanks for the suggestion but no thanks."

The Los Angeles Times, under the headline "White House Rejects GOP Call On Iraq," says "Hadley demonstrated the difficult task President Bush faces in trying to stem Republican defections on his Iraq policy after last week's congressionally mandated report, which showed that the Iraqi government had failed to make substantial progress on most key political goals." The Washington Times also notes that "although Mr. Hadley said the administration could not accept the Lugar-Warner plan, he did praise the senators and left the door open to considering their recommendations in the fall." Likewise, the New York Times reports Hadley "played down the criticism implied by the Lugar-Warner plan, saying the senators were 'not calling for an arbitrary withdrawal deadline.' Still, asked if he could live with their proposal, Mr. Hadley replied, 'No.'"

On ABC's This Week, Hadley said, "These are two serious men, and I've talked to them about Iraq, will continue to do so. ... And they've raised some interesting issues that we need to think about as we see how we might move to a next phase in Iraq when our military forces might have a different role." Over on Fox News Sunday, Hadley said Lugar and Warner "are not calling for an arbitrary withdrawal deadline or a withdrawal schedule. ... And if you listen to them, they're also talking about we're going to have to be engaged as a country in Iraq in some form for a considerable period of time" -- a point he also made in similar language on ABC. Hadley defended US operations in Iraq in broader terms on CBS's Face The Nation, saying, "If you listen and observe the reports of what is happening on the security side, it is working." The Politico says that "at every turn," the White House advisor "sought to put a positive face on a new interim administration report that the Iraqis have failed to meet a series of benchmarks for self-governance."

Senators Spar On Sunday Shows Lugar and Warner weren't the only senators talking Iraq on Sunday morning. Things turned heated on NBC's Meet The Press, where anti-war Democrat Jim Webb, a former Navy secretary, spared with pro-war Republican Lindsay Graham. When Webb said Graham had "never been to Iraq," Graham replied, "Yes, I have. Several times." Webb came back, "You go to see the dog and pony shows." Webb later said he takes "objection to...these politicians who try to put their political views into the mouths of soldiers." Graham vehemently disagreed with Webb's remarks and said "the worst thing we can do as a country is when we're close to getting it right is to withdraw because of the next election." In its report on the bitter exchange, the AP wryly observes that "when senators from opposing parties call each other 'friend' and pat each other as they talk, there's a fighting chance they're angling to wring each other's neck."

The senatorial cacophony continued on the other Sunday shows. On CBS's Face The Nation, Republican Lamar Alexander said, "No, I don't think the strategy is working. I think we need a new strategy. I think most senators do and the country does and I wouldn't be surprised if the President does." On Fox News Sunday, Democratic Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin said, "Most of the troops that are there now are right in the middle of a civil war and we want to get our troops out of a civil war." Foreign Affairs Chairman Joseph Biden, a Democratic presidential hopeful, said on CNN's Late Edition that President Bush's "only strategy here is to keep this from completely imploding and handing it off to the next president." Democrat Jack Reed, recently back from Iraq, said on that same program that "frankly, I don't know anyone in the Pentagon who will say that they can maintain this war structure beyond April of next year." Trent Lott, the number two Republican in the Senate, was a rare voice of support for Bush, saying on CNN's Late Edition that "we ought to at least give [the surge] a chance to see if they can do enough militarily so that progress can be made politically."

White House "Extremely Worried" Despite the positive words from its designated representative on Sunday, other reports suggest that, behind the scenes, the White House is very worried. The Chicago Tribune said Saturday that the Lugar-Warner proposal "perhaps marks the most significant challenge yet of Bush's war policy from within his own party," and U.S. News and World Report says this week that there are "growing signs that the public's frustration with the war...is splintering congressional Republicans away from the president's proclaimed strategy for victory." That view was also expressed in a Sunday Washington Times story that said GOP officials "say there has been some erosion in the base because of the Iraq war." Newsweek quotes Sen. Susan Collins, a GOP moderate, saying, "There is a real step-up of activity in the White House. I think they are extremely worried, and they should be. There is a steady erosion of support for their policies."

For his part, the President held his ground over the weekend. On Saturday, NPR's All Things Considered reported President Bush "used a glass-half-full approach" in his weekly radio address "to reiterate his belief that the US must stay the course in Iraq. Pointing to the interim progress report released this week, the president said that while progress in eight areas was deemed unsatisfactory, progress in eight others -- several of them security benchmarks -- is cause for optimism." That line may be bolstered by a report from Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch in Iraq that "attacks on civilians were down 20 percent and civilian deaths had declined 55 percent since April," the Washington Post reports. However, the Los Angeles Times notes Lynch said there is more to do. Lynch said, "We need to add confident, capable Iraqi forces to maintain security. They are getting better every day, but they are just not enough."

Maliki Takes Back "Any Time" Remark Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki got a lot of attention, most of it negative, for saying Saturday that US troops can leave Iraq "any time they want" -- and on Sunday, the CBS Evening News reported, "a spokesman said he was misunderstood." USA Today says Iraqi Brig. Gen. Qassim Atta "sought to soften" Maliki's comments, saying Iraq's troops "are capable but they need support" targeting enemies.

But US officials may not agree. The Financial Times reports that "while Republicans and Democrats remain divided over the best way forward" in Iraq, "both parties are increasingly united in their disapproval of the Maliki government." The New York Times said Sunday that Maliki "has been under attack by American officials and many Iraqi politicians for leading a government mired in disputes and unable to make progress on major legislation seen as crucial to stabilizing the country."

US Diplomats Holed Up In Kabul

U.S. News and World Report's Washington Whispers column reports that at the US embassy in Afghanistan's capital city Kabul, workers are "restricted to two small compounds, connected by a tunnel," and are "allowed out only with full security escorts." One recent visitor "met a U.S. diplomat who hadn't left the embassy in over six months."

Sign up here to get the US News Political Bulletin emailed to you each morning at 8 a.m.

GOP May Shut Down Senate Over Nomination

Roll Call reports Senate Republican leaders "have privately mapped out a retaliatory plan" for Democrats' stalling of the nomination of Leslie Southwick to the Fifth US Circuit Court of Appeals "that involves blocking passage of Democratic legislation from now until the August recess." GOP senators "have been in discussions for weeks about how to get political mileage out of President Bush's stalled judicial nominees." The action could come if Southwick "fails to make his way" out of the Judiciary Committee "for an up-or-down vote this month."

Does Reagan Have Pardon Lesson For Bush?

In the Washington Post, Walter Pincus flips through "The Reagan Diaries" to consider how the 40th president acted on various potential pardons, including those of Iran-contra figures Robert McFarlane, Oliver North, and John Poindexter. On Reagan's "last full day in office," he wrote in his diary that Attorney General Richard Thornburgh "came 'to see me about pardons.' Reagan went on: 'He doesn't believe I should pardon...North, Poindexter or McFarlane. I'm afraid he's right.'" Pincus writes that now that President Bush "has commuted the sentence of I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, it would be interesting to know what roles Bush's attorney general and White House counsel played in the decision."

Bush: Here's To You, Jackie Robinson

All three broadcast networks briefly reported that, as ABC World News put it, President Bush "hosted a T-ball game at the White House today to honor 60 years since Jackie Robinson became the first African-American to play major league baseball." The game "featured Brooklyn and Los Angeles, the homes of Robinson's breakthrough team, the Dodgers." NBC Nightly News said Bush "retired the number" of the "baseball great."

Sign up here to get the US News Political Bulletin emailed to you each morning at 8 a.m.

Top

POLITICAL HUMOR

The Latest From Late Night Comedians

Jay Leno: "Today, Homeland Department Security Chief...Michael Chertoff said he had a gut feeling Senator Vitter's marriage may be in trouble."

Jay Leno: "According to the current issue of 'Sports Illustrated,' Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has become a golf nut. She's pretty good, too. The only sand trap she can't get out of: Iraq."

Jay Leno: "According to 'USA Today,' more and more churches are taking in illegal aliens and shielding them from deportation. In a related story, more and more churches also report they are saving a fortune in housekeeping and gardening expenses."

Jimmy Kimmel: "President Bush held a press conference yesterday to discuss the latest report out of Iraq. He says there's plenty of reason for optimism. Although, I'm starting to feel he doesn't know what that word means."

Sign up here to get the US News Political Bulletin emailed to you each morning at 8 a.m.

Top