The Washington Post reports Republicans "remain sharply divided over whom to choose as their presidential nominee and which of the five leading candidates best embodies the core values of a fractured GOP, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll." Rudy Giuliani "continues to lead the Republican field in the national poll, but his support is at its lowest point this year." Mike Huckabee "has more than doubled his support among likely GOP voters since early November and runs just behind Giuliani." On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton is "far ahead of" Barack Obama "and the rest of the field."
ABC World News' George Stephanopoulos added Giuliani has "taken a hit among two, key voter groups: Conservatives and people who are watching the race very closely. He's taken a nine-point drop among conservatives, a twenty-point drop among people who are watching the race closely. Conservatives are finding out his positions on abortion and gay rights. Plus, he's had a spate of bad stories." Gibson: "One of the other things that interested me about this poll, that consistently in polls recently Iraq has been the issue that concerned Americans most. But not so this time." Stephanopoulos: "Not anymore. For the first time, Charlie, Americans now say the economy is their number one issue. It's now 44% that say that. It's up 15% in a month."
The Washington Post-ABC News poll of 1136 adults shows Giuliani backed by 25% of likely GOP primary voters, followed by Huckabee, 19%; Mitt Romney, 19%; Fred Thompson, 14%; John McCain, 12%; and Ron Paul, 3%. On the Democratic side, Clinton leads with 53%, followed by Obama, 23%; John Edwards, 10%; Bill Richardson, 3%; and Joe Biden, 3%.
CNN /Opinion Research polling data released yesterday suggests that while Mike Huckabee may be surging in the GOP primary, he has a lot of work to do to be competitive in a general election. In trial heats, Huckabee trails Hillary Clinton, 54%-44%; Barack Obama, 55%-40%; and John Edwards, 60%-35%. John McCain is the best GOP performer. He leads Clinton, 50%-48%; ties Obama, 48%-48%; but still trails Edwards by 52%-44% points. Giuliani trails all three Democrats Clinton beats him 51%-45%; Obama, 52%-45%; and Edwards, 53%-44%. Romney trails all three by even larger margins Clinton tops him 54%-43%; Obama, 54%-41%; and Edwards, 59%-37%.
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National Review Online, the website of the conservative weekly magazine, endorses Mitt Romney today, writing, "More than the other primary candidates, Romney has President Bush's virtues and avoids his flaws. His moral positions, and his instincts on taxes and foreign policy, are the same. But he is less inclined to federal activism, less tolerant of overspending, better able to defend conservative positions in debate, and more likely to demand performance from his subordinates. A winning combination, by our lights. In this most fluid and unpredictable Republican field, we vote for Mitt Romney."
With Mitt Romney targeting him for being too soft on immigration in a TV ad this week, Mike Huckabee picked up an endorsement yesterday likely to counter that charge. The CBS Evening News reported Huckabee "was able to announce he's been endorsed by Jim Gilchrist. He founded the Minuteman Project which patrols the Mexican boarder to keep out illegal immigrants." The AP adds Gilchrist said, "For months now, I've been searching for a candidate to support for president of the United States." Gilchrist "said he settled on Huckabee as the candidate whose plans were most likely to halt 'this illegal immigrant invasion problem.'" Huckabee "described Gilchrist as 'a person who just got fed up with what he saw as a breakdown of his own government.' 'Since October of 2004 he's been one of the leading voices in this country trying to bring sanity to an issue that's spiraled,' said Huckabee."
With Barack Obama basking in the glow of Oprah Winfrey's endorsement, Hillary Clinton is working hard to woo a player who has equal star power in the financial sector. The Wall Street Journal reports Clinton and Obama "are vying for the affections of legendary investor Warren Buffett, as the economy eclipses Iraq as a key election issue." Buffett has said "he won't endorse a candidate but that he is willing to throw his substantial fund-raising capabilities behind both Sens. Clinton and Obama." Buffett headlined a million-dollar fundraiser for Clinton in San Francisco last night, highlighting his ability to draw dollars and attention.
Candidates may be racing around Iowa trying to win over voters before the electorate checks out for Christmas, but mother nature put a stop to many of those efforts yesterday. An ice storm across the state yesterday forced the cancellation of most events, the New York Sun reports. The CBS Evening News reported, "With the Iowa caucuses just 23 days away, an ice storm was about the last thing the presidential candidates needed." The storm "forced former President Clinton to cancel rallies in eastern Iowa." NBC Nightly News added, "Mike Huckabee, John Edwards, Bill Clinton, all cancelling appearances in Iowa, as the deadly storm coated the nation's mid-section. Forecasters warned there was more icy weather to come."
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Congress remains mired in the appropriations process, unable to reach a compromise on the remaining spending bills to fund government operations or "emergency" supplemental funds for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. As a result, a government shutdown reminiscent of 1995 looms, with the President and Congress engaging in a contest of budget chicken -- and no evidence of a potential compromise emerging. The Hill reports that yesterday, Senate Republicans "refused to meet Democrats Tuesday on spending," while House Democrats "rejected the Senate's AMT 'patch,' preparing a new version paid for with corporate tax increases." On the Senate side, says Roll Call, Majority Leader Harry Reid "finds himself the subject of the same accusations of leading a 'do-nothing' Congress that as Minority Leader he heaped on then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) in recent years."
Meanwhile, the New York Times reports Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell "and his fellow Republicans are playing such tight defense, blocking nearly every bill proposed by the slim Democratic majority that they are increasingly able to dictate what they want, much to the dismay of" Reid and "frustrated Democrats in the House." And yet, the only hint of movement in the spending standoff appeared to come from the GOP side. The AP reports that in "a break with" Bush, Minority Leader John Boehner "endorsed $7.4 billion in new emergency spending, even as he vowed to stick with White House's demands to hew to the president's budget limits for domestic programs."
But Democrats have not found a way forward. The Hill reports "a proposal to eliminate all congressional earmarks to meet the White House's steep demands on domestic spending ran into deeply skeptical senators from both parties Tuesday, signaling that many lawmakers will fight to keep their pet projects as Democrats struggle to finalize their year-end budget plans." And Roll Call notes that when asked what "the next step" is to ease the spending standoff, Appropriations Chairman David Obey told reporters, "God only knows."
Democrats Deride "Grand Obstructionist Party" Even as the standoff continues, both parties are pondering what their message will be in the upcoming recess. Roll Call reports one Democratic aide "noted that a major segment of the expected message will be 'making sure we talk about who's responsible for this.' 'One thing is for sure, the American people will know that George Bush and his allies in Congress did everything they possibly could to block important investments in our nation,' the aide added." The New York Times reports Democrats "have taken to calling the G.O.P. the 'grand obstructionist party.'" The Democrats "send out daily tallies of the number of Republican filibusters, which the Democrats say will set a record."
House Links Hedge Fund Tax, AMT Relief The Wall Street Journal reports House Democrats "plan to pass another bill Wednesday that would collect more taxes from hedge-fund managers in order to fund relief from the alternative-minimum tax for millions of people." But "the revenue-raising provisions, included by the House so that the legislation complies with the paygo budget rule, aren't likely to become law in the short term, amid Republican resistance to offsetting the cost of AMT relief."
DOD Outlines Plan For Civilian Furloughs The Washington Post's "Federal Diary" column reports, "The Pentagon expects to notify Army and Navy commanders this week to begin preparing to lay off civilian employees, a Defense Department official said yesterday." The DoD said it "plans to send about 100,000 civil service employees home without pay because of a budget dispute between the White House and the Congress."
Democrats' Earmarks Since 2006 Examined USA Today says Democrats "won control of Congress in part by criticizing billions of dollars spent on pet projects. Now, freshmen Democrats are benefiting from the same kind of spending, a USA TODAY analysis shows. All 49 new Democratic lawmakers sponsored or co-sponsored at least one project...inserted into the House and Senate spending bills, the analysis found. Freshmen Democrats were the sole sponsors on projects worth $351 million, an average of $7.6 million. Republicans got approval for projects worth $65 million, or $5 million each."
Pelosi Has Spent $16,000 On Flowers The Hill reports, "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has spent $16,000 on flowers since taking office, one reason why she spent 63 percent more in her high-profile inaugural year than her low-key predecessor did last year." Pelosi "spent a little more than $3 million in the first nine months of 2007, records show, compared to the $1.8 million Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) spent during the same period in 2006."
CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden testified behind closed-doors before the Senate Intelligence Committee Tuesday on the destruction of videotapes of terror suspects' interrogations. Hayden, who was not director of the agency during the time the tapes were made or destroyed, reportedly offered little information on the matter. The CBS Evening News said the Senate committee "grilled" Hayden about the destruction of videotapes, but it "didn't happen on Hayden's watch, so he did not have all the answers." Similarly, NBC Nightly News noted that Hayden "promised the Senate answers as the agency's crisis escalates."
Taking a more critical tone, USA Today reports that Hayden "failed to answer central questions" about the tapes' destruction. Chairman Jay Rockefeller called the committee's session with Hayden "a useful and not yet complete hearing" and "vowed the committee would get to the bottom of the matter." The Washington Post reports that one Administration official said yesterday that Hayden is "in a difficult position" because "he wasn't at the CIA when the tapes were made, and he wasn't there when they were destroyed; he just gets to clean it up."
The New York Times says Hayden "distanced himself on Tuesday from the decision to record and subsequently destroy" the tapes. According to the Times, on Thursday Hayden indicated in a statement to agency employees "that he supported the decision to destroy the videos," but "did not reiterate that support in his public comments on Tuesday, although he did not say the decision was wrong."
The AP reports that at the White House, press secretary Dana Perino "said the CIA interrogation program approved by the president is safe, tough, effective and legal." But she said that Hayden will not "talk about techniques and explain to the enemy what we are doing" during two days of questioning on the Hill.
Meanwhile, in an interview with ABC World News yesterday, Bush was asked about his knowledge of the tapes. When asked: "You knew nothing about those tapes?" Bush responded: "That is true. My first recollection of whether the tapes existed or whether they were destroyed was when Michael Hayden briefed me." The Financial Times notes Bush also told ABC, "There's a preliminary inquiry going on and I think you'll find that a lot more data, facts will be coming out, that's good. It will be interesting to know what the true facts are."
The Washington Times reports a Senate proposal "to end subsidies to farmers in lieu of a stronger crop insurance program was defeated yesterday as the chamber began debate on a $286 billion measure to renew federal farm programs for the next five years." The proposal, "which senators rejected 58-37, would have provided farmers with expanded crop insurance policies covering either 85 percent of expected crop revenue or yield, or 80 percent of a farm's five-year average adjusted gross revenue."
Meanwhile, the Washington Post's Robert Samuelson writes, "Corn that had been selling at about $2 a bushel is now more than $3; wheat that had been averaging $3 to $4 a bushel has recently hovered around $9. ... It's the extra demand for grains to make biofuels, spurred heavily in the United States by government tax subsidies and fuel mandates, that has pushed prices dramatically higher. The Economist rightly calls these U.S. government subsidies 'reckless.'"
The Wall Street Journal reports, "Risking the possibility of a White House veto, Senate Democrats try again tomorrow to pass an energy bill that includes some provisions President Bush has said he won't accept." The Senate Finance Committee "made a few changes to the measure's $21 billion tax package that appeared to gain more support from Republicans on the panel," including removing "a section requiring utilities to make 15% of their electricity from 'renewable' sources." The Washington Post reports "analysts, including some Republicans, said the tax portion of the energy bill, which would raise about $13.5 billion by trimming tax breaks and depreciation allowances for the biggest oil firms, would make little difference to oil companies."
The New York Times reports, "The White House, echoing a position taken by auto manufacturers and a coalition of industry groups, is asking that the energy legislation be changed to specify the highway safety administration as the primary enforcer of fuel efficiency standards, with the E.P.A. in only an advisory role."
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The late night shows continue to be in reruns due to the ongoing writers' strike.
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