Commentators are giving mixed reviews to the President for his recent trip overseas. On CNN's Situation Room, correspondent Ed Henry said, "There's no doubt that this trip has generated positive press around the world. The tougher question is whether he accomplished much." Obama "tried to make sure there was one dominant image," that of a "new American leader...doing more listening than talking." But this "only raised expectations for Mr. Obama. ... The results were mixed."
Under the headline "Obama Tries Out Role As Apologizer-In-Chief," the Washington Times reports Obama repeatedly "tried to pre-empt criticism of the United States by expressing it first himself -- a sharp break from the practice" of President Bush.
Morton Kondracke writes in Roll Call, "Obama is clearly liked overseas -- adored, in many quarters. But is he respected?" Kondracke adds that "even though every slight and slap at Bush was interpreted by some conservative commentators as Obama's denigrating the United States itself, some of it was legitimate. And some of it was not." Obama "was needlessly (if only implicitly) negative toward Bush" in saying the US "'is not and will never be at war with Islam.' The truth is that it never was, as Bush said again and again."
Daniel Henninger writes in the Wall Street Journal remarks on Obama's "eloquent description of ecumenical civility" during his visit to Turkey, saying that "in reality, the experience of Arab Christians living now amid majority Islamic populations is often repression, arrest, imprisonment and death."
Apparent Obama Bow To Saudi King Angers Conservatives The Chicago Sun-Times reports a photo and footage of President Obama "apparently bowing" in front of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah "is stirring a royal-size controversy." While the image was "largely ignored by mainstream media outlets," it "created outrage in some quarters." The "conservative Washington Times" wrote in an editorial that "such an act is a traditional obeisance befitting a king's subjects, not his peer. There is no precedent for US presidents bowing to Saudi or any other royals." But "an Obama aide speaking anonymously denied that the president was bowing. 'It wasn't a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he's taller than King Abdullah,' the aide was quoted as saying by Politico.com Wednesday." The Weekly Standard retorted that "that explanation was 'absurd.'"
David Pryce-Jones, on the National Review's website, writes, "It's an accepted courtesy to royalty to make a little nod with the head, but film and photographs show Obama bending from the waist in a gesture of humble obeisance, as it were, acknowledging his inferior status. And there were the rest of us foolishly thinking that the whole purpose of the republic set up by the founding fathers was that its representatives would be on equal footing with monarchs." Another conservative outlet, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, editorializes this morning that "in the least, it was an embarrassing protocol faux pas," but "'The Bow' actually was worse than that. It's a troubling metaphor for a deferential presidency."
In what media reports are casting as a major US shift from Bush-era policies, the State Department said Wednesday that the Administration would join in the so-called "P5+1" international talks with Iran over its nuclear program. Calling the move "a major policy change," ABC World News briefly noted that the Administration said "it will join in face-to face-talks with Iran over its nuclear policy. NBC Nightly News, meanwhile, called the move "another strong signal from the Obama Administration that it intends to seek what it calls direct engagement with Iran." The AP reports the State Department said the US "would be at the table 'from now on' when senior diplomats from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany," known as the P5+1, "meet with Iranian officials to discuss the nuclear issue."
The Wall Street Journal notes that the decision "is the latest move marking a shift in US policy toward Iran," while the Washington Post reports that the decision "broke with the Bush administration's policy of supporting talks...but not participating in them." The New York Times says that "by showing a readiness to engage Iran, American officials said, the administration is trying to build support among allies like Germany and France, and more skeptical players, like Russia, so that if diplomatic efforts fail, it can marshal support for tougher sanctions against Tehran."
AFP reports the US allies "welcomed the new direction of US policy" and "strongly urge[d] Iran to take advantage of this opportunity to engage seriously with all of us in a spirit of mutual respect." On CNN's Situation Room, political analyst Gloria Borger said a new CNN poll "shows, 59%" say "yes, we should engage in diplomatic talks with Iran. But 40% say only after Iran makes significant changes."
Ahmadinejad Welcomes "Honest" Talks Prior to the announcement yesterday by the State Department, the AP reports, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his country "welcomes talks with the United States should the American president prove to be 'honest' in extending its hand toward Iran, one of the strongest signals yet that Tehran welcomes...Obama's calls for dialogue." The Wall Street Journal calls the Iranian leader's remarks "one of the strongest signals yet that Tehran might respond positively to Mr. Obama's calls for dialogue."
The Washington Post, however, notes that Ahmadinejad "also said he planned to announce 'good nuclear news' to the nation Thursday," in what "some experts said" would likely be a claim of "progress in uranium enrichment."
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The Chicago Tribune reports federal authorities "have questioned a former chief of staff to ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich and other cooperating witnesses about an attempt by friends of Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. to raise funds for Blagojevich to encourage him to pick Jackson for the U.S. Senate." The Chicago Sun-Times reports Jackson said, "I have done nothing wrong and reject pay-to-play politics." Referring to the preliminary review being conducted by the Office of Congressional Ethics, he added, "I'm confident that this new ethics office -- which I voted in favor of creating -- will be able to conduct a fair and expeditious review and dismiss this matter." The Politico reports Jackson said he "was notified about the inquiry last week." The Wall Street Journal reports Jackson "has acknowledged he was 'Senate Candidate A,' one of a group of potential candidates for the Senate seat identified by federal authorities in the corruption case" against Blagojevich.
The New York Times reports in a front-page story that the Obama Administration "is encouraging several large investment companies to create the financial-crisis equivalent of war bonds: bailout funds." The idea "is that these investments, akin to mutual funds that buy stocks and bonds, would give ordinary Americans a chance to profit from the bailouts that are being financed by their tax dollars." There is a "deeply political motivation as well: to quiet accusations that all of these giant bailouts will benefit only Wall Street plutocrats."
Life Insurers Get Modest TARP Boost The Wall Street Journal reports life insurers "got a lift from the government's plan to extend rescue funds to the industry, but questions about timing and details trimmed gains in the share prices of potential aid recipients." The Treasury Department "has decided to include a number of life-insurance companies among the financial firms eligible for capital infusions from the Troubled Asset Relief Program." The Washington Post reports that Treasury "has determined that a small number of insurers are eligible for funds under" TARP, "and it is evaluating their requests on a case-by-case basis using the same criteria it applies to banks." The Financial Times reports life insurers' stocks "surged" Wednesday on the news. McClatchy notes that the "only insurer to date to receive bailout money is American International Group."
Treasury Department OKs Auto Parts Payment Guarantee The Washington Post reports the Treasury Department "yesterday gave cash-strapped auto suppliers the green light to begin shipping parts with the promise that the government would guarantee payment." Treasury "left it up to General Motors," which will initially get $2 billion, and Chrysler, which will receive $1.5 billion, "to decide which suppliers would be eligible for the aid."
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Roll Call reported on its Website, "With the recanvassing process nearly complete, Republican Jim Tedisco was clinging to a 17-vote lead at the end of the day Wednesday in New York's still-too-close-to-call special election in the" NY20 Congressional District. Tedisco has "77,035 votes to Democrat Scott Murphy's 77,018, according to totals reported by the state board of elections Wednesday afternoon."
In a blog posting, The Politico reported that while Tedisco currently leads Murphy by "a 17-vote" margin, "the NRCC points to the party breakdown of the absentee ballots already returned as evidence things are looking good for their guy. According to the state board of elections, 3,111 of the absentee ballots as of Tuesday returned are from Republicans and 2,394 are from Democrats."
In a story headlined "Tiptoeing Through Absentee Tally," the Albany Times Union reports on the tedious process of counting the absentee ballots in the NY20 contest, and notes that GOP "election commissioner Diane Wade said she expected the process to take a week to a week and a half of eight-hour days to complete."
Roll Call reported on its Website, "A new survey released Wednesday paints a bleak 2010 picture for Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning (R), who was already considered the most vulnerable Senate incumbent up for re-election. The automated survey by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling gave" Bunning "a 28 percent job approval rating with 54 percent disapproving." Four prospective Democratic challengers "who are either running or have been mentioned as possible candidates in the race -- beat Bunning in hypothetical matchups."
In a blog posting, The Politico reported, "Even among Republicans, Bunning wasn't especially popular -- just 42 percent approved and 36 disapproved. When tested against the four most likely Democratic candidates, the incumbent trailed every one of them."
In a story headlined "Four Dems Would Beat Bunning in 2010," CQ Politics reported that the PPP survey of 610 Kentucky voters conducted April 2-3 (+/-4%) showed KY6 Rep. Ben Chandler (D) leading Bunning 47%-33% (20% undecided), Attorney General Jack Conway leading Bunning 42%-33% (26% undecided), State Auditor Krit Luallen (D) leading Bunning 42%-34% (25% undecided), and Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo (D) leading Bunning 43%-36% (21% undecided).
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The Politico reports, "Closing a loop on the campaign finance side of the Sarah Palin clothes saga, the" RNC "late last month filed an amended report detailing exactly which disbursements were clothing purchases for the" GOP "vice presidential candidate and her family." The amended report "shows that the committee paid about $23,000 for clothing in the three weeks before and after Election Day -- which is actually $7,000 less than previously reported. That new report brings the total Palin clothing costs paid by the RNC down to about $173,000 and also makes it easier to spot clothing purchases that had previously gone undetected."
"Unofficial" Legal Defense Fund For Palin Created The AP reports, "A Texas man has established a Web site soliciting donations for Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to pay legal fees, but Palin can't accept the money, her spokeswoman said Wednesday. 'This is not the official legal defense fund and so neither the Governor nor her attorney can accept the monies from this fund,' Palin family spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton said in an e-mail to The Associated Press."
The Politico reports, "The conservative group Free American Citizens has created a questionable legal defense fund for...Palin, apparently to raise money off her popularity. The home page of 'Sarah Palin's Defense Fund' proclaims that 'SARAH PALIN NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT!!!' But a click on 'donate now' directs the user to the website of Free American Citizens," which "is staffed by two people -- one in Pacific Palisades, Calif., and another in Weatherford, Texas, according to its website."
In a blog posting, CNN reported, "The site, sarahpalinsdefensefund.com, is not business owner Clayton Paslay's first pro-Palin endeavor. He is also the man behind FreeAmericanCitizens.org, an independent political action committee which was formed in opposition to mandatory seat belt laws."
Levi Johnston Continues To Criticize Palin The Politico reports, "The father of Sarah Palin's grandchild accused the Alaska governor on Wednesday of lying about him and his family. Levi Johnston said during an interview on CBS's 'Early Show' that he moved into the governor's house a few weeks before Bristol Palin gave birth to their child. Palin's camp has denied the claim, but Johnston insisted the governor is not telling the truth. 'They said I didn't live there,' he said. 'I was like, 'OK, well, whatever you want to call it. I had my stuff there." Asked if Palin was lying about him, Johnston simply said: 'Yes.'"
The New York Daily News reported on its Website that during his appearance on the CBS program, Johnston said "he's heart-broken over the end of his engagement with" Bristol Palin, and "also accused the governor and her family of lying." The AP reports, "A worsening feud has developed between...Johnston and the governor's family in the wake of Johnston's complaints about not being able see his young son Tripp, often enough."
The Washington Post reports that ex-DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe announced Wednesday that "during the first quarter of 2009 he raised more than four times as much as one of his chief rivals in the Democratic nomination for governor of Virginia." McAuliffe "raised $4.2 million during the first three months of the year." Brian Moran (D) "raised $800,000 during the same period this year -- more than he raised in the previous six months."
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that while the ex-DNC chief "has friends with deep pockets across the country," McAuliffe "says the money he has raised has come from more than 3,400 donors. McAuliffe's campaign said $760,000 of the $4.2 million originated from Virginia donors." The Washington Times quotes University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato as saying, "McAuliffe is as advertised - potentially the best-funded gubernatorial candidate Virginia's ever seen." Yet, notes the Times, "a high fundraising total doesn't guarantee a win in Virginia politics."
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The late-night talk shows were reruns last night.
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