As top US officials, including President Bush and Vice President Cheney, warn against Iran's efforts to expand its nuclear program and possibly build a nuclear weapons, Mohamed ElBaradei, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is seeking to cool the tough talk. Newsweek reports the Administration "says that it's trying to avoid a war, not charge into one. ... Still, coming on top of weeks of hawkish anti-Iran rhetoric from Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and other top US officials, some US allies worry that, as [a] European diplomat said, 'the US administration is going ahead on its own.'"
NBC Nightly News reports ElBaradei, "who once urged the US to go slow in pursuing the war against Iraq, is sounding a similar warning tonight about Iran and the heated rhetoric he fears may be pushing the two countries toward confrontation." ElBaradei on Sunday "said there is no evidence that Iran has an active nuclear weapons program." Appearing on CNN's Late Edition, ElBaradei said, "What we are doing right now is, through the IAEA and the European Union...to try to make sure that we control the nascent enrichment capability in Iran and create the conditions for Iran and the European, particularly the US, to go into negotiation."
The New York Times says lawmakers appearing on Sunday television talk programs "were divided on whether efforts to influence Iran had been helped or hindered by the administration's tough talk." On ABC's This Week, Sen. John McCain said, "We cannot allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon. But I do believe that to start talking about specifics, a bombardment or something like that, I think would be a terrible mistake." On NBC's Meet the Press, Sen. Christopher Dodd said, "Clearly this administration is moving in that direction, towards military action against Iran."
Sen. Carl Levin, on CBS's Face the Nation said, "I think the sanctions are the right way to go, a lot of diplomatic pressure, a lot of economic pressure." Sen. Lindsey Graham, also appearing on CBS's Face the Nation, said, "I think the President is dead right that the Iranian president has told the world that he desires to destroy the state of Israel. I don't think they're making any bones about it."
Iran Seen Likely To Withstand Sanctions On its front page, the Washington Post reports, "Confronted by mounting US and UN pressure, Iran has been steadily shifting its trade from West to East and, with the benefit of record high oil prices, is likely to be able to withstand the new US sanctions, according to US, European and Iranian analysts."
In another Middle East hot spot, Turkish military forces and Kurdish rebels are clashing along the Turkey-Iraq border. NBC Nightly News reported the Turkish army "is reporting a major operation against Kurdish separatists along the border with Iraq," and officials "say 20 Kurdish guerillas were killed." The AP reports, "Attack helicopters buzzed over a hilly region in southeastern Turkey on Sunday looking for Kurdish rebels after troops reportedly killed 15 separatist guerrillas in a morning operation far from the increasingly tense border with Iraq."
The New York Times notes Turkey "has so far refrained from beginning a large-scale military incursion into Iraq," but "operations against the PKK in its southeastern region have been taking place for several weeks, the government has said." Meanwhile, the Christian Science Monitor reports from the predominately Kurdish town of Yuksekova, Turkey that residents "are sympathetic to the rebel aims of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) but are tired of the fighting. They worry that recent political gains will be lost."
Iran Says US Backs Kurdish Separatists The Los Angeles Times reports Iranian Foreign Minister Manoucher Mottaki, "at a news conference Sunday with his Turkish counterpart, accused the United States of backing Kurdish separatists waging warfare against Turkey and Iran." Mottaki called "PKK, PEJAK and the Mujahedin Khalq organization terrorist groups and suggested the US was supporting them."
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The AP reports First Lady Laura Bush, "an increasingly prominent voice on matters at home and abroad, says the difference lately is not her policy role in the White House but rather the attention she gets for it." Appearing on Fox News Sunday, the First Lady said, "The fact is, I've been involved for a long time in policy, and I think I just didn't get a lot of coverage on it."
The Los Angeles Times notes that "at home, where Bush has promoted literacy and public education, her approval ratings are overwhelmingly positive, even as her husband's have been dragged down by the Iraq war." The Hill says the First Lady also "went to bat for her husband on children's health care and foreign policy. Calling the state children's health insurance program (SCHIP) 'a perfect issue' for Democrats to demagogue on, Bush waded into largely uncharted public territory for her by taking exception to the party that opposes the president." The First Lady "appeared genuinely upset about the Democrats' tactics on the issue."
The Washington Post reports that after "laying low for two months since leaving the White House, Karl Rove is beginning to resurface." On Friday, Rove "showed up at Pat Robertson's Regent University in Virginia Beach, where he and the president's younger brother Jeb took on retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey and former Democratic senator Max Cleland of Georgia in a lively debate about whether America should bring democracy to the world." It was "an interesting and eclectic group, given the evident hostility toward Rove and the White House from Cleland." The debate "quickly gave way to a sharp exchange about the Iraq war."
Under the headline "Real ID That Spitzer Now Embraces Has Been Widely Criticized," the New York Times reports that Gov. Eliot Spitzer's "plan to provide three kinds of driver's licenses, two that would meet new federal security regulations and a third that would be available to illegal immigrants, has put New York on pace to be among the first states to adopt the federal identification program known as Real ID." The governor's "new position" places New York "among a handful of states agreeing to implement a federal identification system that has faced intense opposition from civil libertarians, immigration advocates and many lawmakers."
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The primary season calendar is falling into place. On Sunday, Iowa Democrats opted to schedule their caucuses for the evening of Thursday, January 3, when Republicans will also vote, the AP reports. The big question is now when New Hampshire will vote. In The Politico, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn chided New Hampshire for approaching "setting its primary date as if it were as inconsequential as the date of a high school class reunion" and said New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner should make up his mind now. But in an interview with NPR's Day To Day on Friday, Gardner said he will not act until "some time after" this coming Friday, when the candidate filing period ends. Sen. Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney lead most polls in both Iowa and New Hampshire.
In the race for Iowa, the New York Times reports on Democratic candidates' efforts to win over the state's "growing presence of Hispanics" without "offending conservative white voters concerned about immigrants flowing into their state," while Iowa's Ames Tribune reported Sunday that John Edwards and Sen. Barack Obama focused on rural issues during a Saturday event. Meanwhile, The Politico sees an Iowa dilemma for Sen. John McCain: "Should the candidate place his last few chips on one square or two?" A New Hampshire win is essential, but some say there is no way he can pull that off "unless he performs at least credibly in Iowa," where he is now in fifth place.
Meanwhile, independent voters "will make all the difference in New Hampshire," the Washington Post says. They make up more than 40 percent of the electorate and can choose to vote in either primary -- which was responsible for McCain's 2000 win there. While Obama "has drawn perhaps the most attention for his attempts to woo New Hampshire's independents," Rudy Giuliani "is set to begin a direct-mail and radio campaign of his own aimed at persuading unaligned voters to back his candidacy."
Michigan Michigan will vote on Tuesday, January 15, an early date that defies a Democratic Party edict. Because of this, major Democrats are not campaigning there, and some, including Obama, have taken their names off the ballot. The Washington Times says some analysts think this was a mistake for Obama. Sam Riddle, who was a field director for Jesse Jackson's victorious 1988 Michigan primary campaign, said, "He could have won in Michigan with a base of very enthusiastic students and middle-class workers." Clinton's name remains on the ballot. Clinton has big leads in Michigan polls; on the GOP side, Giuliani and Romney are both running strong.
South Carolina South Carolina Republicans vote on Saturday, January 19, in what the New York Times says is "shaping up as a pivotal battleground" where Giuliani, McCain, Romney, and Fred Thompson all see a "solid shot of winning." Romney "has been the most aggressive in the state as of late." Democrats vote in South Carolina on Tuesday, January 29, the same day as the Florida primary. Clinton leads South Carolina polls, while GOP polls split between Giuliani, Romney, and Thompson.
Florida The Florida contest is becoming key for Democrats, even though, like Michigan, the early vote breaks party rules. As The Hill reports, the national party is sanctioning the state by taking away all 210 of its convention delegates, and the top Democratic hopefuls all skipped the Florida Democratic Party's annual convention -- "no Obama, no Clinton, and no Edwards," as CNN put it. The Los Angeles Times says that the national committee "strong-armed" the candidates into staying out of the state. Still, the AP reports, a panel speaking at the state convention agreed the attention the winner gets "will still be a huge boost. 'If I have the choice between a good headline and a bunch of delegates, I'll take the good headline,' said Craig Smith, a former political adviser to President Clinton." Clinton and Giuliani lead Florida polls.
A new study concludes that the "news media are more obsessed than ever with the horse-race aspects of the presidential campaign," the New York Times reports. The AP says that within "the first five months of the presidential contest, the media effectively had reduced the field to five candidates" -- Sen. Hillary Clinton, Rudy Giuliani, Sen. John McCain, Sen. Barack Obama, and Mitt Romney. "Cancer-stricken" Elizabeth Edwards "received almost as much media attention as her husband." Obama got the most favorable coverage, while McCain was covered most negatively.
NBC Nightly News reported that Sen. Barack Obama said he plans on "taking the fight more forcefully" to Sen. Hillary Clinton. In an Iowa interview, the Financial Times reports, Obama "adopted a more aggressive tone" against the Democratic frontrunner, "accusing her of ducking tough questions over the future of the Social Security system." The Washington Post says Obama "characterized Clinton's approach to addressing the issues as 'You should hedge, dodge and spin, but at all costs, don't answer.'" The New York Times said in a Sunday front-page story that Obama's new tactic comes "after a long period in which his aides, donors and other supporters have battled -- and in some cases shared -- the perception that he has not exhibited the aggressiveness demanded by presidential politics."
Obama Concert Series Begins Obama's three-city South Carolina Gospel concert series opened Sunday night. Obama was not at the event, the Washington Post says, but he "was here in spirit, appearing by video screen." The concerts had hit an early sour note last week, due to the participation of singer Donnie McClurkin, whom the AP says "has angered gay rights groups by saying homosexuality is a choice."
On Saturday, the Washington Post Style section ran a flattering profile of the John Edwards campaign in Iowa. As he criss-crosses Iowa, "the jeans-clad former North Carolina senator says little" about Sen. Barack Obama but mentions Sen. Hillary Clinton by name, hitting her for allegedly shifting "from primary mode to general election mode." Edwards "says he feels far more confident than he did when he ran for president and then vice president four years ago."
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The Christian Science Monitor says Fred Thompson, "the most impassioned candidate on entitlement spending," is planning to lay out a reform plan "in the coming weeks." The generally positive piece says Thompson, "alone among the top-tier Republican candidates," is "willing to take the risky step of discussing cuts in benefits."
As the Los Angeles Times notes that Mike Huckabee has "inched past" Mitt Romney in the Rasmussen daily presidential tracking poll, the Washington Times says on its front page that a "bitter fight is taking place behind the scenes" over the conservative Baptist's viability. Conservatives "are clashing over whether Mr. Huckabee is capable of keeping evangelicals from fleeing the GOP to form a third party or if he's too liberal fiscally for the Republican electorate." Huckabee supporters "say he's just who the conservative party leaders should be looking to if they hope to prevent a dangerous fracture."
The Houston Chronicle reports Rep. Ron Paul, "hoping to defy more expectations," is "ratcheting up his maverick Republican presidential campaign by launching TV and radio commercials in early primary states and setting an ambitious $12 million fundraising goal." But as the primary season nears, "experts question whether the libertarian-leaning congressman...can expand his intense following to make a credible showing in these early contests." Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times reports Paul backers are trying some retail politicking in San Francisco in the hopes of picking up some California delegates on February 5.
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The Connecticut Post reports that Sen. Christopher Dodd's efforts to block a bill "that would grant retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that violated the privacy rights of its customers" has made the Democratic presidential longshot the "darling" of the "so-called Net Roots activists," with over $200,000 in online donations rolling in this month.
California's North County Times reports that while Rep. Duncan Hunter "is polling no more than 3 percent outside California and has raised a relative pauper's sum of less than $2 million" for his presidential bid, he recently told the newspaper "he has no thoughts of dropping out." Hunter said, "I'm not afraid of an election. To get out before the first numbers come in doesn't make any sense."
The Washington Post says Sen. James Webb's "role in the debate over Iraq and Iran has helped raise his profile far beyond that of the typical Senate newcomer." The Virginia Democrat is already "being mentioned as a potential ticket-mate for the party's nominee in 2008."
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The late night comedians were in re-runs on Friday night.
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