McClatchy reports Sen. Barack Obama "began campaigning as the front-runner" yesterday following his big wins on Tuesday, and his campaign manager, David Plouffe said it is "highly unlikely" that Hillary Clinton can win enough votes in the remaining states to win the nomination. Plouffe said Clinton would "have to win Ohio, Texas and virtually all other remaining primaries by roughly 2-to-1 margins over Obama. 'We see no evidence that that's going to happen,' he said." The Dallas Morning News adds that Plouffe told reporters yesterday, "Even the most creative math doesn't get" Clinton "back to even in terms of pledged delegates. ... We believed all along the pledged delegate leader would be the nominee of the party."
ABC News reported on its website that the Clinton campaign in response "argued Obama won't have the support of enough delegates and superdelegates to sew up the nomination before the party's August convention either." The Hill reports the Clinton campaign "said Wednesday that voters in Ohio and Texas next month will help the New York senator close the delegate gap." The Hill adds, "Clinton should be within 25 delegates of Obama after March 4, the date of primaries in Ohio, Texas, Rhode Island and Vermont, said Guy Cecil, the campaign's political director, in a conference call with reporters. Obama's campaign has said that it now leads Clinton by 136 delegates, though news organizations said Obama's lead is as small as 25 delegates. That margin, Cecil said, is less than 1 percent of the total number of delegates that will have been committed after March 4."
The New York Times reports that with "every delegate precious," Clinton's advisers "made it clear that they were prepared to take a number of potentially incendiary steps to build up Mrs. Clinton's count. Top among these, her aides said, is pressing for Democrats to seat the disputed delegations from Florida and Michigan, who held their primaries in January in defiance of a Democratic Party rules." Clinton's advisers "acknowledged that it would be difficult for her to catch up in the race for pledged delegates even if she succeeded in winning Ohio and Texas in three weeks and Pennsylvania in April."
The media today sees Hillary Clinton's campaign as struggling to regain its footing following a string of losses. The Wall Street Journal reports in a front page story that Clinton "campaigned across South Texas yesterday with a more populist message, as her new campaign manager sought to reshape a campaign that has lost eight straight primaries in a week." The Journals says the campaign "has something of a shellshocked feel." The Washington Post reports Clinton "signaled yesterday that she will challenge her rival more aggressively, launching new television ads and attempting to overcome the Obama campaign's clear organizational advantages" but the "pummeling" she took Tuesday "raised new questions about her campaign's message and strategy, which Democratic strategists said she must fix if she hopes to slow Obama's growing momentum in time to defeat him in what are now must-win contests in Ohio and Texas on March 4."
The Los Angeles Times reports that Clinton "scurried to reassure anxious donors Wednesday," in a morning conference call, and "struck a more combative tone to ramp up pressure on" Obama. Meanwhile, "her supporters are watching the streak with mounting unease." The New York Times adds "the heart of Mrs. Clinton's current political challenge" is that "she and her team showered so much money, attention and other resources on Iowa, New Hampshire and some of the 22-state nominating contests on Feb. 5 that they have been caught flat-footed - or worse - in the critical contests that followed, her political advisers said." She "also made a strategic decision to skip several small states holding caucuses, states where Mr. Obama scored big victories, accumulating delegates and, possibly, momentum."
However, not all media see Clinton's cause as dire. Newsday reports, "Clinton's road ahead is a hard one, but insiders say there's still hope if Clinton regains her mojo with women and working-class whites; sweeps Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania; keeps a grip on her super delegates; contests a handful of small states and goes negative -- carefully -- on Obama."
Clinton herself launched a new line of attack against Obama yesterday as she campaigned across Texas. The Dallas Morning News reports Clinton "sharpened the contrast she's drawing" with Obama and "let her punches fly as Mr. Obama looked toward the closing bell." Speaking to a "crowd of 2,000 in McAllen," Clinton said, "There is a very important choice and a big difference between the candidates in this race. I am in the solutions business. My opponent is in the promises business."
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While Hillary Clinton's campaign focuses on retooling itself, Barack Obama began to act like the de facto nominee yesterday, laying out his economic plan and going after likely GOP nominee John McCain. The AP reports Obama, campaigning at a General Motors assembly plant in Janesville, Wisconsin, said as president he would "spend $210 billion to create jobs in construction and environmental industries." The investment "would be over 10 years as part of two programs. The larger is $150 billion to create 5 million so-called 'green collar' jobs to develop more environmentally friendly energy sources." The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports Obama took "several shots" at John McCain, "saying 'if you want the same we've had the last seven years I think John McCain is going to be a great choice.'" The CBS Evening News said Obama "sounded like a man warming up for the general election."
The Wall Street Journal says releasing the economic plan "served a dual purpose for Mr. Obama: It answered charges" from Clinton's campaign and Republicans "that he is more rhetoric than reality, and it may help him make inroads with working- and middle-class voters who have formed Mrs. Clinton's base during much of the primary season." On its front page, the Washington Post agrees, saying Obama answered "skeptics who contend he has not matched his inspirational talk with a mastery of policy."
USA Today reports Sen. John McCain's campaign "is planning to bring in new people, raise more money and trot out new themes" as the focus switches to the general election race. The "revamped campaign will have the same short-term goal as the existing one: Unify a fractious Republican Party, particularly conservatives who have clashed with McCain over such issues as immigration and campaign-finance reform." The Christian Science Monitor writes that "whatever challenges McCain campaign manager Rick Davis," who met with about 40 reporters at a Monitor-sponsored lunch Wednesday, "deals with today, they pale in comparison with the shortage of funds, sagging political support, and staff turmoil he faced when he took the job last summer." The Washington Times says Davis said McCain "will not pander for conservative support" despite doubts on the right about McCain, and The Politico says Davis, looking ahead to the fall campaign, "sent an unmistakable message" to Obama over his "effort to stoke the obvious age contrast between himself and the 71-year-old McCain: Bring it on."
John McCain, his role as the GOP nominee nearly cemented, met with the GOP House members yesterday, many of whom had been skeptical of his candidacy, and came away with new support. The CBS Evening News reported McCain "picked up a couple of key endorsements" on Wednesday: "House GOP Leader John Boehner and Republican Whip Roy Blunt." The Washington Post says McCain was "unexpectedly endorsed by the entire House Republican leadership" a day after his latest primary victories. While Republican leaders "had said Tuesday they intended to remain neutral," after an "hour-long, closed-door session with" McCain, Boehner, Blunt, and House Republican Conference Chairman Adam Putnam "all fell in line." The Politico reports, "According to aides and members in attendance, McCain walked away with the endorsement of the party's top three House leaders, won three standing ovations, was lauded for his commitment to his party and got just one question about immigration."
McCain Holds Wide Lead A Strategic Vision poll out this morning shows Barack Obama leading Hillary Clinton 45%-41% in the Wisconsin Democratic primary, which is slated for Saturday. On the GOP side, John McCain leads Mike Huckabee 45%-27% with Ron Paul at 7%. In general election trial heats, Obama tops McCain 45%-44% while McCain tops Clinton 48%-43%. Strategic Vision polled 800 likely Wisconsin voters from February 8-10.
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President Bush yesterday signed the economic stimulus plan passed by Congress. Two network newscasts ran brief reports: ABC World News noted Bush called the package "a booster shot for the economy and praised Congress for acting quickly, and compromising to pass the $168 billion measure, which calls for most households to receive checks between $300 and $1200." The CBS Evening News said "the checks will go out beginning in May."
The Hill notes House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also "praised the quick action by the federal government to address an economic slowdown" and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid "joined the chorus of praise." The Financial Times reports, "If successful, the move could add up to 3 percentage points to US gross domestic product in the third quarter on an annualised basis, economists say allowing the economy to spring back from the woes that have brought it to the brink of recession."
Likewise, USA Today reports economists say the plan "could minimize the pain of a possible downturn. But it won't resolve longer-term issues bedeviling the economy, such as a free fall in home sales and prices, and a credit crunch that has persisted despite aggressive Federal Reserve interest rate cuts." The Washington Post reports, "In the past two months, the political system moved quickly and with an uncommon degree of consensus. During that time, however, the unemployment rate spiked, job growth turned negative, and surveys indicated that big segments of the economy were contracting."
The Wall Street Journal notes, "Most taxpayers won't have to fill out additional paperwork to receive the tax-rebate checks that will be mailed out starting in May, the Internal Revenue Service said." The AP reports, "Whether people actually spend the money remains to be seen. A recent Associated Press-Ipos poll indicates most people have other plans. Forty-five percent said they planned to pay off bills, while 32 percent said they would save or invest it. Only 19 percent said they would spend their rebates."
Builders Group Stops Campaign Donations The Washington Post reports the National Association of Home Builders, "one of the top 10 corporate donors to politicians, has stopped contributing to congressional candidates after it failed to get what it wanted in recent anti-recession legislation." The "powerful lobby" said this week that "it was taking the unprecedented action of halting its campaign-giving to protest Washington's failure to address 'the underlying economic issues that would help to stabilize the housing sector and keep the economy moving forward.'"
The Washington Post reports Sen. Larry E. Craig (R-Idaho) "was rebuked yesterday by the Senate ethics committee over his conviction for disorderly conduct in an airport men's restroom, with the panel concluding that he committed the offense and citing him for actions 'which [have] reflected discreditably on the Senate.'" The Los Angeles Times, The Hill, and The Politico also run brief reports on the committee letter.
The Democratic-controlled House, in a largely symbolic move, will vote on Thursday on holding White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers in contempt of Congress for their refusal to testify regarding the controversial firing of a number of US Attorneys. The Hill reports the House Judiciary Committee "approved contempt citations against Bolten and Miers by party-line vote in July." Democratic leaders' "decision to hold a vote follows repeated efforts by Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) to obtain information related to the firing of several United States attorneys. White House officials have refused to allow Bolten and Miers to testify before his committee."
Roll Call reports, "Urged on by left-leaning bloggers" and by Conyers, "House Democratic leaders finally gave the go-ahead to consider the motion, which is likely to set up a lengthy legal fight with the White House."
In an editorial, the New York Times says, "Alberto Gonzales may be out, but the country is still waiting for a full accounting of how he and his White House patrons cynically politicized the Justice Department." If Congress "fails to enforce its own subpoenas, it would effectively be ceding its subpoena power."
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A day after the Senate approved a bill reforming the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act -- which is set to expire in two days -- President Bush called on the House to pass the measure. In his remarks, USA Today reports, the President warned that "terrorists are planning new attacks on our country...that will make Sept. 11 pale by comparison." USA Today adds, "At issue is the debate over retroactive immunity -- which the White House has called for and the Senate bill includes -- for telecommunications companies that helped the US intelligence community eavesdrop on phone calls and e-mails between suspected terrorists."
Standing beside Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell, says the Financial Times, Bush "warned that the House's failure to pass the Senate bill would 'jeopardise the security of our citizens.'" Evoking "the image of planes crashing into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in 2001," the AP reports the President called on lawmakers to "rubber-stamp" the Senate bill "so he can sign it into law immediately." Bush "said he wouldn't approve another extension" and the House said it "wouldn't either -- Republicans led a 229-191 vote turning down a 21-day extension."
The Washington Post says the failure by the House to secure an additional extension "marked a notable victory for Bush, who had threatened to veto any delay." Roll Call notes Democratic leaders "scrambled to come up with a backup plan after the vote and appeared resigned to allowing the FISA expansion law to expire at the end of this week." The Wall Street Journal reports Democrats "appeared to be caught off-guard when the extension was rejected 229-191," while the Washington Times notes that "thirty-four Democrats, including members of the conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, voted against the measure. No Republicans voted yes."
None of the networks reported the story last night. Fox Special Report reported, "The President threw down the gauntlet that he's not going to accept any more extensions." In a similar report under the headline "Bush Plays Hardball On FISA Legislation," The Hill says the President's decision not to sign an additional extension "puts great pressure on the House."
NYTimes Report Takes Issue With Bush Taking issue with Bush's arguments, the New York Times reports "the lapsing of the deadline" would in fact "have little practical effect on intelligence gathering" as officials "would be able to intercept communications from Qaeda members or other identified terrorist groups for a year after the initial eavesdropping authorization for that particular group."
The President's maneuver also drew scathing criticism on some editorial pages. Under the headline "Bush Uses Scare Tactics To Railroad Flawed Spying Act," USA Today says, "President Bush is rarely as vivid about the specter of terrorism as he is when he's trying to stampede Congress into doing something it should think twice about."
In an editorial, the Washington Post writes, "Bush's pass-it-now-or-the-terrorists-will-win rhetoric is overheated fearmongering. He should agree to a second extension, which would allow intelligence agencies to operate under the existing law."
The death of Imad Mughniyah, one of the world's most wanted terrorists, in a Damascus car bombing on Tuesday was welcomed by the United States. USA Today reports State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, "The world is a better place without this man in it." The AP notes the US blames Mughniyah for numerous terrorist attacks that killed hundreds of Americans, including the 1983 car bombing of the US Embassy in Beirut and the simultaneous truck bombings of the US Marine barracks and French military base in Beirut in the same year. The US military, says the Washington Post, was also "elated by Mughniyah's death. The Pentagon says he was also involved in the 1996 bombing of Khobar Towers, a compound for foreign military personnel in the Saudi city of Dhahran, where 19 American service members were killed."
Calling him "one of the world's most wanted terrorists," NBC Nightly News said Mughniyah "was like a ghost -- wanted by 40 countries, rarely photographed, only left one fingerprint." The New York Times reports that "long before Osama bin Laden founded Al Qaeda and initiated the Sept. 11 attacks against the United States," Mugniyah "was perhaps the world's most feared terrorist." The Financial Times and Washington Times run similar reports.
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Jay Leno: "Barack Obama now considered the front-runner," after winning the "last eight primaries," but "they say the race between Barack and Hillary could be decided by the voters of Texas." That "is a comfort, because when it comes to providing smart politicians, Texas is the place you want to go."
Jay Leno: "The CIA has admitted to destroying videotapes of terror suspects being tortured. They said today the reason they destroyed the videotapes was, under a new agreement, they didn't want to have to pay the writers residuals every time they showed up on the Internet."
Conan O'Brien: "Senator Hillary Clinton, of course, in the news" after losing "eight primaries in a row to Barack Obama. ... Yeah. Hillary dismissed Obama's success by saying, 'He's only winning states with a huge African-American population, like Maine.'"
Conan O'Brien: "After John McCain swept yesterday's primaries, he purposely stole a line Barack Obama's been using, 'I'm fired up and ready to go.' Yeah. When Obama heard this, he stole a line McCain's been using, 'I'm old, and not sure where I am.'"
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