Democrats in four states go to the polls tomorrow, and in the two most prominent contests, Ohio and Texas, the races remain too close to predict. The CBS Evening News reported, 'With less than 48 hours to go until what is being called 'do-or-die Tuesday' for Hillary Clinton, the latest polls tonight shows she is neck-and-neck with Barack Obama. The two are virtually died in Texas where 193 delegates are up for grabs on Tuesday, and in Ohio, where 141 delegates are at stake." NBC Nightly News reported, "There have been bigger states and bigger delegate prizes up for grabs. Yet in many ways, the stakes in this Tuesday's primary contest don't get much higher, possibly determining whether the head-to-head fight for the Democratic nomination goes forward or effectively ends." The New York Times reports, "This week, more than any other of the 2008 Democratic campaign, has acquired an air of decisiveness. That is because four primary contests on Tuesday could extinguish" the Clinton campaign, though "the hinge could still swing either way. If Mrs. Clinton carries the behemoths of Ohio and Texas -- despite her opponent's momentum and financial advantage -- Mr. Obama may rue this week as both an end and a beginning."
Richardson, Kerry, Durbin Say Clinton Should Exit Race If She Loses Tuesday Contests The New York Times reports, "Top supporters of Senator Barack Obama, joined by at least one prominent Democrat yet to endorse a candidate, put pressure on" Clinton yesterday "to bow out of the presidential race unless she scores clear victories in the crucial big-state primary contests on Tuesday. 'I just think that D-Day is Tuesday,'" said New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, "who has yet to throw his support behind either candidate. And two Obama supporters, Senators John Kerry and Dick Durbin, pushed for Mrs. Clinton to withdraw if she does poorly at the polls on Tuesday." The Politico reported on its website that on "Fox News Sunday," Durbin said of Clinton, "I hope that her decision on her future after Tuesday is made in the interest of unity of our party and ultimately winning in November."
According to US News and World Report, if there is a "split decision" Tuesday, the Democratic presidential race "probably will go on, with Obama likely to have a slight lead in delegates. If Obama wins Ohio and Texas, it's likely that Clinton can't win" the nomination.
However, The Hill reported on its website that California Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D), a supporter of Clinton, said on "Fox News Sunday" that Clinton "should continue her quest for the nomination regardless of the outcome of Tuesday's primaries. 'There's been a lot of talk well, if Senator Clinton loses this state, she should kind of pack it in. I disagree with that. I think she should stay in the race,' Feinstein said. 'This is not an also-ran candidate. Hillary Clinton is a major candidate. She has every right to stay in the race if she chooses to do so.'"
A Mason-Dixon poll of 625 likely Ohio Democratic primary voters taken February 27-29 for McClatchy and MSNBC shows Sen. Hillary Clinton leading Sen. Barack Obama 47%-43%. An American Research Group poll of 600 likely Ohio Democratic primary voters taken February 29-March 1 shows Clinton leading Obama 51%-44%. The Washington Times cites a Suffolk University poll showing Clinton leading Obama by 52 percent to 40 percent. In contrast, a Zogby International poll of 761 likely Ohio Democratic primary voters taken February 29-March 2 shows Obama leading Clinton 47%-45%.
Candidates Focus On Foreign Policy In Ohio The candidates focused on national security issues Sunday as Clinton "opened an Ohio campaign marathon, sweeping across the state on a series of appearances lasting until the wee hours of Monday," in the words of the AP. On its front page, the Washington Post reports Obama "sharply questioned" Clinton's "claims of extensive foreign policy experience Sunday, pushing back against her argument that only she is prepared to handle national security as president as the two raced toward a pair of potentially decisive primary contests." Obama said Clinton "argues that she has 'all this vast foreign policy experience' but failed to read the National Intelligence Estimate before voting to authorize the war in Iraq in 2002." The New York Times says Clinton "again suggested" Obama's "speeches were empty and that the first-term senator was too green to occupy the Oval Office in a time of crisis."
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A Zogby International poll of 748 likely Texas Democratic primary voters taken February 29-March 2 shows Obama leading Clinton 47%-44%. A Mason-Dixon poll of 625 likely Texas Democratic primary voters taken February 27-29 for McClatchy and MSNBC shows Obama leading Clinton 46%-45%. An American Research Group poll of 600 likely Texas Democratic primary voters taken February 29-March 1 shows Clinton and Obama tied at 47% apiece.
Candidates Seen As More Pro-NAFTA In Texas Campaigning across Ohio last week, both Clinton and Obama sought to portray themselves as opposed to NAFTA, going as far as to suggest re-opening negotiation on the treaty. However, the Wall Street Journal reports this morning that "after weeks of hammering" NAFTA "on campaign stops in Ohio, the Democratic presidential candidates are singing a different tune in Texas," where the trade pact "is largely seen as an economic boost to the state's border communities." The Politico has a different take on the NAFTA debate saying that by focusing on the negatives of the trade pact, Clinton and Obama "have cast their lot with Ohioans instead of Texans when it comes to the issue of free trade."
The Washington Times reports Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign questioned Sen. Barack Obama's "ties to a Chicago developer whose federal corruption trial begins this week, prompting" the Obama campaign "to make its most direct reference to the Whitewater scandal that plagued the Clintons in the 1990s. Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson, appearing yesterday with Obama adviser David Axelrod on ABC's 'This Week,' demanded that the senator from Illinois release any records related to his dealings with Tony Rezko."
On ABC's This Week, Wolfson asked, "How many fund-raisers did Mr. Rezko throw for Sen. Obama? What did Sen. Obama do for Mr. Rezko? Did he write letters for him? What projects of his did he support? ... How many business meetings did he attend where Mr. Rezko had business associates there? What are the full details of this very unusual real estate transaction that Mr. Rezko and Mr. Obama entered into?" Axelrod responded, "There have been 255 stories done on this issue, many by the Chicago media, others by the national media. All these questions have been asked. All these questions have been answered. ... I would think that the Clinton campaign would be the last person to be wanting to characterize any real estate transaction as unusual."
US News and World Report reports President Bush "has started doing what his aides have long predicted in this election year -- raising tons of money for Republicans and trying to frame the debate." Bush "raised a whopping $10.6 million for the GOP at a dinner in Washington for the Republican governors, showing that he can still rake in big bucks from true believers in his party despite his low job-approval ratings among voters."
Roll Call reports this morning that with all three top presidential candidates "also doubling as Senators," their allies in the Senate "already are anticipating using the chamber as a key staging ground for the campaign and quietly plotting a months-long strategy to bring up politically divisive issues to force tough votes on the candidates. Senators in both parties say it is inevitable that the Senate will serve as a sideshow for this year's election since both parties will -- for the first time in history -- tap one of their own to serve as the presidential nominee." Democrats "are looking at holding votes related to the environment, health care or even the war that could force" Sen. John McCain "to take politically toxic positions, miss key votes or reconcile previously held stands," while Republicans "also are hoping to do the same to the Democratic contenders, particularly on issues related to national security, taxes and spending."
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ABC News reported on its "Political Punch" blog that according to the New York Observer "feminist icon" Gloria Steinem, a backer of Sen. Hillary Clinton, "belittled" Sen. John McCain's times as a POW in Vietnam "and said the media would treat that war record differently if it were a woman veteran's record." Steinem is quoted suggesting that were McCain a woman, he would have been criticized for being captured. "Referring to his time in captivity, Steinem said, with bewilderment, 'I mean, hello? This is supposed to be a qualification to be president? I don't think so.'" In a story headlined "STEINEM MOCKS MAC'S POW ORDEAL," the New York Post reports, "The red-faced Clinton campaign quickly denounced Steinem's remarks. 'Senator Clinton has repeatedly praised Senator McCain's courage and service to our country,' campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson said."
While the Democrats are locked in a tight battle for the nomination, Sen. John McCain kicked back yesterday and hosted a barbecue for political reporters at his Arizona ranch. The Washington Post reports at his "weekend cabin just outside Sedona on Sunday afternoon," McCain "took a break from campaigning and grilled ribs and chicken for three dozen reporters, some staff members and a few Republican friends from the Senate." Dressed in "jeans, an L.L. Bean baseball cap, sunglasses and a sweat shirt featuring a picture of his family, McCain held court the way he does almost daily aboard his 'Straight Talk Express' bus." The Arizona Republic reports McCain "commanded the gas grill on the porch of his Arizona getaway, which some believe could become the Western White House of a McCain presidential administration. A relaxed McCain gave cooking tips and exchanged quips with a few dozen reporters at the informal culinary event."
The Wall Street Journal reports in a front-page story that in a "wide-ranging interview last week," Sen. John McCain "offered the most-detailed account to date of his thinking on economic issues." McCain "cast himself as a defender of the Bush tax cuts he voted against, but added caveats to a 'no new taxes' vow he made on a Sunday television talk show two weeks ago." On Social Security, McCain said he "still backs a system of private retirement accounts that President Bush pushed unsuccessfully, and disowned details of a Social Security proposal on his campaign Web site." McCain said "the Federal Reserve should cut interest rates now to bolster the economy, but added that as president, he couldn't be so explicit on monetary policy." The Wall Street Journal runs excepts from the interview on its website.
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U.S. News and World Report reports US stock markets finished off last week "by handing investors a serious beating, as the Dow fell 315 points, the Nasdaq 60, and the S&P 500 37 on Friday." Friday's economic news "was roundly awful." Another U.S. News and World Report article adds that "there are signs that the housing recession is turning into a full-fledged economic meltdown in what the Federal Reserve recently called an 'adverse feedback loop.'" The result: "A full-blown recession as nasty as Americans have seen in a generation." Yet another U.S. News and World Report article notes that "in Moody's most pessimistic (and most unlikely) scenario, existing-home prices plummet by 40 percent from their peak. A drop like that would certainly plunge the economy into a deep recession, push unemployment to around 9 percent, and hamstring economic growth in a way that could take years to undo."
The Christian Science Monitor notes the "dreaded blend of economic stagnation and persistent rising prices is suddenly a topic of concern. The word stagflation cropped up 562 times in major newspapers and wire services in February, compared with 12 times in the same month last year." The Wall Street Journal reports, "Two fears hang over the U.S. economy: wrenching recession and spiraling inflation." Yet history "suggests the two almost never happen at the same time. And that explains why the U.S. Federal Reserve, for now, has chosen to focus on the first threat rather than the second."
Small Business Owners More Optimistic U.S. News and World Report reports, "Nearly everyone seems to be feeling worse about the economy these days. One surprising exception, however, is small-business people. Their assessment of economic conditions actually improved in February, for the first time in over six months, according to the Discover Small Business Watch survey released this week."
The Wall Street Journal reports in a front page story that as crude-oil prices "climb to historic highs, steep gasoline prices and the weak economy are beginning to curb Americans' gas-guzzling ways." In the "past six weeks, the nation's gasoline consumption has fallen by an average 1.1% from year-earlier levels, according to weekly government data." That is the "most sustained drop in demand in at least 16 years."
OPEC Reconsiders Production Cuts The New York Times reports with high oil prices "weighing on a struggling economy, the OPEC oil cartel is reconsidering its plans to cut production, a move that could push prices above their current record levels. Instead, OPEC is likely to keep output unchanged when its members meet Wednesday." After "trading near $103 a barrel during the session Friday, the next-month contract for crude oil settled at $101.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 75 cents."
The AP reports House Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes "expects a compromise soon on renewal of an eavesdropping law that could provide legal protections for telecommunications companies as President Bush has insisted." Reyes "did not specifically say whether the House proposal would mirror the Senate's version. The Senate measure provides retroactive legal immunity to the companies that helped the government wiretap U.S. computer and phone lines after the Sept. 11 attacks without clearance from a secret court."
The New York Times reports Reyes "said in an interview on CNN that the committee had been talking to the companies 'because if we're going to give them blanket immunity, we want to know and understand what it is we're giving immunity for.'"
The Wall Street Journal reports as the White House "and congressional Democrats wage an increasingly fraught battle over domestic surveillance, one person is set to play the role of power broker: Sen. Jay Rockefeller, the easygoing Democratic chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee." Rockefeller "has become a crucial link between two sides hardly on speaking terms. As the House and Senate attempt again to find common ground this week, his support will be crucial to any final agreement."
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Roll Call reports a fundraiser for Rep. John Murtha "raised the ire of anti-earmark activists because it came roughly three weeks before lawmakers are due to hand in their appropriations requests. The groups argue Murtha effectively is selling taxpayer-funded projects for campaign cash - a charge bolstered by the fact that every private entity that received a Murtha earmark last year had contributed to his coffers at some point since 2005." But Murtha, the chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, is "hardly the only panel member staging fundraising events in the runup to the deadline for earmark submissions." At least "19 appropriators held events last week or have them planned in the two weeks ahead."
Roll Call reports President Bush "and Senate leaders are signaling no compromise is in the works for nearly two dozen agency-level nominations, including four now-vacant Federal Election Commission seats that shuttered the campaign regulator indefinitely after the new year." White House spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore "told Roll Call on Friday that the administration remains committed to long-standing GOP demands that FEC nominees Robert Lenhard and Steven Walther - both Democrats - and Republicans Hans von Spakovsky and David Mason all be considered together by the Senate."
Roll Call reports the select committee "charged with investigating an August voting snafu on the House floor may call upon fewer lawmakers to testify than initially anticipated, opting instead to rely on videotapes and other records of the disputed vote." Panel chairman Rep. Bill Delahunt "said Friday that the panel soon will meet to determine which witnesses, including Members, will be asked to testify at public hearings expected to begin in April."
The New York Times reports the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, "has for decades played an important though informal role in the formation of the United States government's Middle East policy." But "two former senior analysts for AIPAC, Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman, are charged with violating the World War I-era Espionage Act when they told colleagues, journalists and Israeli Embassy officials information about Iran and Iraq they had learned from talking to high-level United States policymakers." Unless the government "suddenly backs down, the courtroom will become the stage for an extraordinary parade of top officials being forced to testify" in the case. The officials could include Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley.
Long Island Newsday reports Sen. Charles Schumer said in the "years following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, many flight schools that operate nationwide are still not properly screening foreign students." Schumer "blasted the Transportation Security Administration for allowing 8,000 foreign students to attend flight schools or obtain pilot's licenses without proper background checks."
USA Today reports Federal prosecutors "are using documents seized from Iraq's intelligence ministry and other government buildings in at least a dozen spy cases against alleged Iraqi agents operating in the USA during the Saddam Hussein era." The Justice Department "has not brought charges against so many foreign agents from a single nation since the Cold War days, says Ken Wainstein, head of the department's national security division."
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Jay Leno: "In a press conference today, President Bush announced America is not headed into a recession, especially if you own an oil company."
Jay Leno: "President Bush said that last year an intelligence gap opened up. Last year? Didn't that open up about 2001, right after the inauguration?"
Jay Leno: "Everyone is so concerned now, where all the candidates were born. McCain was born on a military base in Panama, Hillary was born outside Chicago, and if you believe the media, Barack Obama was born in a manger."
David Letterman: February 29 is Leap Day, which "comes every four years," but it "really doesn't mean anything. It's like Ralph Nader running for president."
Conan O'Brien: "Political experts are saying that Barack Obama" should choose "a running mate who is older, a veteran, and from a different part of the country. ... So today, Obama chose John McCain."
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