Mitt Romney formally endorsed Sen. John McCain's bid for the White House yesterday. In addition, says the AP, Romney "asked his national convention delegates to swing behind the likely nominee." Standing alongside McCain, the former Massachusetts governor said yesterday, "Even when the contest was close and our disagreements were debated, the caliber of the man was apparent. ... This is a man capable of leading our country at a dangerous hour." McCain said, "Primaries are tough. ... We know it was a hard campaign and now we move forward, we move forward together for the good of our party and the nation." The Los Angeles Times reports "Romney won about 280 delegates who will now be urged to back McCain, who began the day with 843 delegates. Huckabee had 242 delegates and Texas Rep. Ron Paul had 14." The Romney delegates "would be enough to put McCain past the 1,191 delegates needed for the GOP nomination."
McCain, appearing on CNN's Larry King Live, said, "I was a bit surprised because it's been a short time since the primary, since he decided to suspend his campaign. I'm very appreciative. He could have waited until like March 4, as you well know, after the Texas and Ohio primaries. So I was a little surprised. But I'm very appreciative he came out very quickly and this is an important time, as you know, to keep the momentum going in the race." The CBS Evening News reported, "Campaign sources say that immediately after Romney got out of the race last week, McCain called him, and their staffs have been in touch with each other ever since. However, they also say this was Romney's decision and his alone, and was not the result of pressure from the McCain campaign."
The media today see Romney's endorsement as surprising, given the acrimony between the two on the campaign trail. ABC World News said "the endorsement seemed an about-face, for the two men who had often locked horns in about a dozen debates." The Wall Street Journal notes the endorsement came "two weeks after declaring 'Washington is broken' and...McCain part of the problem." During the primary campaign, adds the Journal, "there was little warmth between the two men. They pounded one another in TV advertisements, automated phone calls, stump speeches and debates." The Washington Post recounts that Romney "called McCain 'wrong' and 'dishonest' and demanded that he apologize for saying the former governor wanted to withdraw troops from Iraq." He also "called McCain 'virtually indistinguishable' from" Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
In a potential preview of the general election fight, NBC Nightly News reported that John McCain "peppered" his regular stump speech in Rhode Island yesterday "with new jabs" at Barack Obama over how much pork he has brought home for his state. McCain said, "The senator from Illinois who says that he wants transparency in government will not reveal the number of earmarks that he received in 2006 and 2005." McCain "has long railed against taxpayer funded pet projects known as earmarks that lawmakers take on to unrelated legislation. McCain trumpets that he requested zero earmarks."
ABC World News reported McCain "was clearly looking ahead to the general election," and "seemed to save his harshest attack for Obama." McCain was shown saying, "Sen. Obama had, according to the National Journal, the most liberal Senator in the Senate. I had a very high ranking on the conservative side." Matthew Dowd, ABC News political contributor, said "He knows that right now Barack Obama is the hardest candidate for him to beat in November."
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Hillary Clinton has staked the future of her presidential bid on Ohio and Texas on March 4, and down the road, in Pennsylvania on April 22. A pair of new polls out yesterday from Quinnipiac University show her to be the early frontrunner in at least two of those states. In Ohio, Clinton leads Barack Obama 55%-34%, while in Pennsylvania, Clinton leads Obama 52%-36%.
In general election trial heats, Clinton also out-performs Obama against John McCain, although by only a small margin. In Ohio, McCain leads Clinton 44%-43% and Obama 42%-40%. In Pennsylvania, Clinton leads McCain 46%-40%, while Obama leads him 42%-41%. In Florida trial heats, Obama and Clinton perform about the same against McCain. McCain tops Clinton 44%-42% and Obama 41%-39%. Quinnipiac surveyed 1,009 likely Florida voters; 1,748 likely Ohio voters; and 1,419 likely Pennsylvania voters from February 6-12.
The New York Post headlines its coverage "Do Not Write Hill Obit Just Yet. Huge Poll Leads In Ohio & Pa. Firewalls," and says, "The electoral coalition that delivered big wins to Clinton in California, New York and New Jersey also appears to be holding in Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to the polls. Ohio women back Clinton by 56 to 30 percent, while men back her 52 to 42."
The AP reports Barack Obama "has won the backing of the United Food and Commercial Workers, a politically active union with significant membership in the upcoming Democratic battlegrounds." The support from the "1.3-million member UFCW gives Obama an organizational boost in vital March 4 contests, with 69,000 members in Ohio and another 26,000 in Texas. The two states have a large number of delegates and are where Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton hopes to stop Obama's winning streak." The union also has "19,000 members in Wisconsin, which holds a primary Tuesday." The Los Angeles Times describes the move as "a blow to" Clinton, "whose campaign had also sought the union's backing."
Obama may score a second key union endorsement in the coming days. Ben Smith writes in The Politico, "Two labor sources tell Politico that the giant Service Employees International Union, which has been neutral through the primary, is on the verge of throwing its support to Sen. Barack Obama. 'It's done,' said one person close to the union." The New York Times adds that the UFCW and SEIU "did not make endorsements until now largely because they were so torn among" Obama, Clinton and John Edwards. However, "with Mr. Edwards out and Mr. Obama winning eight straight contests, many of the top leaders of the unions decided it was time to back him."
ABC World News reported Hillary Clinton "took the gloves off" yesterday and "unleashed a bare-knuckles attack" on Barack Obama, "criticizing him in more direct and specific terms than we've been hearing." Clinton was shown saying, "Over the years you've heard plenty of promises. From plenty of people, in plenty of speeches. But speeches don't put food on the table. Or do anything about that stack of bills that keeps you up at night." NBC Nightly News reported, "On Valentine's Day there was no love lost between" the two as Clinton "upped her attacks today in Ohio which votes March 4." Clinton said, "You know, some people may think words are change. But you and I know better. Words are cheap. I know it takes work." Clinton "is also hitting Obama hard for refusing to debate in Wisconsin which votes Tuesday."
The AP reports that Clinton, "criticized for taking special interest contributions, sought Thursday to become the populist of the presidential race by proposing restrictions on an array of industries and casting...Obama as more beholden to corporations." The Los Angeles Times reports that "during her visit to the Lordstown GM plant, Clinton tried to cast Obama as beholden to special interests, and she released a plan to cut tax breaks for the oil industry and to limit fees and impose other rules on the insurance, credit card, student loan and other industries."
Superdelegates, those delegates to the Democratic National Convention who are free to vote for whichever candidate they choose, are increasingly the focus of the Democratic campaigns. The AP (2/15) reports, "Campaign committees controlled by" Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton "have donated at least $890,000 to the campaigns of superdelegates," according to a report from the Center for Responsive Politics. Obama "donated the largest amount, about $694,000, to those campaigns in the past three years, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. Clinton donated $195,500."
The New York Daily News notes, "The report finds Obama, and to a lesser extent Clinton, funneled money to superdelegates - prompting her camp to unload on the new Democratic front-runner. 'I guess the hope in Hope Fund stands for "I hope you'll endorse me,"' said Jay Carson, a Clinton spokesman, referring to Obama's political action committee, Hope Fund, from which many of these donations were made."
Clinton May Lose Support Of Two Prominent Black Super-Delegates The AP reports that in "a fresh sign of trouble" for Clinton, "one of the former first lady's congressional black supporters intends to vote for Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention, and a second, more prominent lawmaker is openly discussing a possible switch." The AP adds Rep. David Scott's "defection" and Rep. John Lewis' "remarks highlight one of the challenges confronting Clinton in a campaign that pits a black man against a woman for a nomination that historically has been the exclusive property of white men." On its front page, the New York Times reports Lewis, "an elder statesman from the civil rights era and one of...Clinton's most prominent black supporters, said Thursday night that he planned to cast his vote as a superdelegate for...Obama in hopes of preventing a fight at the Democratic convention."
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After what both ABC World News and the AP called "a day of political brinkmanship," the White House and the Democratic-controlled House appeared to be no closer to resolving their differences over the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance, or FISA, bill. ABC reported President Bush "threatened to postpone his long-scheduled trip to Africa, until the House extends the government's power pass last summer to eavesdrop without a warrant. Any delay, he said, will harm national security." House Democrats, however, "disdainfully contrasted...Bush's message with President's Roosevelt's assurance that Americans have nothing to fear but fear itself." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, "President Bush tells the American people that he has nothing to offer but fear. And I'm afraid that his fear mongering with this Bill is not constructive."
As House and Senate conferees took up the bill, USA Today notes, "Democratic leaders allowed House members to leave town for a week-long recess," even as Bush "warned that inaction 'could reopen dangerous gaps in our intelligence.'" Pelosi's action allowed the FISA bill to expire. Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler said in an interview that Bush's warnings "might make some (Democrats) squirm," but "I think enough of the people in the country know that he lies all the time, anyway."
NBC Nightly News merely noted House Republicans "stopped all work for a time today and staged a walkout...to protest the Democrats' refusal to renew" the bill and instead hold a vote charging two Bush aides with contempt. The Chicago Tribune also reports on the GOP's "noisy walkout from their chamber Thursday, protesting" Speaker Nancy Pelosi's "decision to risk allowing the act to expire rather than passing a bill to meet the deadline. The Republicans accused Pelosi of playing politics with national security." The AP also reports, "House Democrats didn't budge" and "angry Republicans staged a walkout down the Capitol steps."
Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell, in an op-ed for the Washington Post, said, "Some have claimed that expiration of the Protect America Act would not significantly affect our operations. Such claims are not supported by the facts. We are already losing capability due to the failure to address liability protection." In an interview with CNN's American Morning yesterday McConnell also stressed the importance of immunity for telecoms, saying, "Quite frankly we cannot do the job we have to do without the cooperation of the private sector."
White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said on Fox News, "The House Democrats are basically doing the bidding of the trial lawyers, who are licking their chops, hoping that they could get a piece of a big class-action lawsuit against these telecommunications companies, which did their patriotic duty to help America in the immediacy following 9/11 when we weren't sure if there would be another attack."
The Washington Post reports, "Without the law, administration officials said yesterday in interviews and statements, the monitoring of terrorist groups overseas will be severely hampered." The New York Times notes Speaker Pelosi "and other House Democrats said Mr. Bush and Congressional Republicans were at fault because they had resisted temporarily extending the bill to allow disagreements to be worked out." The Washington Times notes House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said yesterday that if "the president and Republicans really believe their own rhetoric, then their actions are grossly irresponsible."
The House yesterday voted to hold White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers in contempt for their failure to testify about the White House's involvement in the dismissal of US Attorneys. The AP reports, "Angry Republicans boycotted the vote and staged a walkout." The final tally "was 223-32," and the "citations charge Miers with failing to testify and accuse her and Bolten of refusing Congress' demands for documents related to the 2006-2007 firings."
The Politico notes that "at the White House, press secretary Dana Perino called the contempt motions 'unprecedented,' 'outrageous,' an 'incredible waste of time' and 'a blatant sop to the far left.'" The Washington Post notes that Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey "has told Congress that current and former White House officials who have refused to testify in a congressional inquiry probably did so based on the Justice Department's ruling that Bush's assertion of executive privilege was proper. That means that the Justice Department cannot now criminally charge someone for defying Congress based on its own previous legal advice, he said."
The New York Times says the vote "moved House Democrats closer to a constitutional showdown with President Bush." McClatchy also notes the White House "has said that the Justice Department won't act on the criminal contempt request, setting up what's expected to be a long court battle."
DNC Seeks Disclosure Of RNC Emails The AP reports the Democratic National Committee "asked a judge Thursday to order the disclosure of 68 pages of White House e-mails that the Bush administration is trying to keep secret." The DNC "is suing the Justice Department over the firing of US attorneys, seeking electronic messages by White House staffers who performed political duties on e-mail accounts of the Republican National Committee."
McClatchy reports the "combination of a fiscal stimulus package and successive interest-rate cuts should spark an economic rebound by the middle of the year, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson testified Thursday." Before "an often-testy Senate Banking Committee, both men also rejected criticism that they were slow to respond to an unfolding economic crunch."
The Washington Post reports Bernanke "was trying to strike a tricky balance." He and Paulson "each aimed to show they were responding aggressively to risks to the financial markets and the economy, while not indicating a sense of panic that might make the situation worse." In his "Washington Sketch" column, Dana Milbank writes in the Washington Post that "if Paulson and his fellow Bush economic advisers get any more laid back about the state of the American economy, they'll have to make their next appearance before Congress in a horizontal position."
The Los Angeles Times notes Bernanke also "said central bank officials were ready to cut interest rates further to offset the effect of a slumping housing market, weak employment and financial institutions that remain deeply reluctant to lend." The Wall Street Journal also notes Bernanke "left the door open for a sizable interest-rate cut next month." The Federal Reserve "has slashed the target for its benchmark federal-funds rate to 3% from 5.25% last summer." The New York Times runs a similar story under the headline "Fed Chief Leaves Room For More Rate Cuts."
USA Today reports Bernanke also "said he expected inflation to moderate, suggesting concerns about price pressures were not strong enough to stand in the way of further rate cuts." The Christian Science Monitor reports, "Economists described the testimony as an effort to reassure the nation but still honestly highlight the risks."
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The Wall Street Journal reports a "tax break for home builders and higher caps on state mortgage-revenue bonds are among the proposals Senate Democrats plan to take up this month to address the troubled housing market." With one "economic-stimulus bill now signed into law, top Democrats said they intend to turn to a second package focused on housing-related matters -- a potent political issue this election year."
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports the National Association of Home Builders "stepped up its attack on the $168 billion economic-stimulus package that President Bush signed into law on Wednesday, calling it too weak to help the ailing housing market." At the home builders' annual meeting, "which is attended by more than 100,000 builders, appliance makers and other housing suppliers, the industry's leaders struck an angry tone and said the package won't make a big enough difference to their battered industry."
And USA Today reports, "Underscoring the breadth of the real estate recession, sales of existing homes fell in 45 states and Washington, D.C., in the last quarter of 2007, and prices dropped in more than half the metro areas it tracks, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday."
USA Today reports Roger Clemens "could receive a pardon from President Bush if the seven-time Cy Young Award winner is ever pursued for lying to federal officials, a lawyer for Clemens' accuser said Thursday." In the "latest accusation of partisanship after Wednesday's congressional hearing pitting Clemens against the trainer who says he injected him with performance-enhancing drugs, Richard Emery says President Bush could side with Clemens."
In a Los Angeles Times column, Christine Daniels says, "Wednesday's congressional hearing on the Mitchell Report introduced us to two new influential political action groups: Republicans for Roger Clemens. Democrats for Brian McNamee."
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Jay Leno: "What do you call it when Bill and Hillary get together on Valentine' Day? A fundraiser."
Jay Leno: "This has not been a good week for Hillary. I guess Bill bought her a dozen roses for Valentine' Day. It turns out, seven of the roses have committed to Michelle Obama."
Jay Leno: "Major League Baseball players reported to spring training today. Well, half of them did. The other half reported to Congress."
Jay Leno: "Did you see Clemens in Congress, sitting before that committee? Didn't he look uncomfortable? Huh? He looked like President Bush trying to play 'Jeopardy,' didn't he?"
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