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Iowa primary precinct caucus and caucuses news, reports
and information on 2004 Democrat and Republican candidates, campaigns
and issues
IOWA
DAILY REPORT Holding
the Democrats accountable today, tomorrow...forever.
PAGE 1
Wednesday,
Aug. 13, 2003
Quotable:
“Just like human beings, once
you get past 50, you need a little rehabilitation.”
– Graham, discussing commitment to
infrastructure improvements during an Iowa stop
Quotable:
“On Monday, a number of
Republican state lawmakers from Florida
publicly warned President Bush that unless
U.S. policies changed drastically, he could
lose their backing in the 2004 election.”
– Los Angeles Times report from Miami
Quotable:
“Kucinich
supporters said they are drawn to their
candidate's liberal, progressive message
because it goes beyond that of former Vermont
Gov. Howard Dean.”
-- The Union Leader report yesterday
from NH
Quotable:
“I don't see any
difference between interracial marriages and
same sex marriages.”
– Moseley Braun, responding to inquiry
on gay marriages last night at Oklahoma State
forum attended by six wannabes. (Iowa Pres
Watch Note: She apparently missed biology
class.)
Quotable:
“We still consider
ourselves an insurgent. In fact, we're the
strongest insurgent in the history of the
party."
– Dean manager Joe Trippi,
rejecting reports that his wannabe is the Dem
frontrunner
Quotable:
“If the election were
held tomorrow it would be very close, but the
Republicans would win for one reason: Their
base is hot. Their base is rallied. Their base
is exercised. And ours is not.”
– Donna Brazile, commenting in Boston
Globe report about Dem divisions over how to
take on Bush
Quotable:
“This is an attack on
the institutions of our government. That's
what Republicans do.”
– Gephardt, criticizing the California
recall campaign against Guv Davis
Quotable:
“Although even
Gephardt's aides concede the seafarers
endorsement probably won't net the campaign
too much in Iowa.”
– Des Moines Register political columnist
David Yepsen. Iowa State Fair:
It’s
Older Iowans’ Day with those 60 years
old and over getting into the fair for $5
admission. Two of the standard fair favorites
on today’s schedule – the cow chip throwing
contest (featuring IA celebrities) at the
Heritage Village and the Grand Outlaw
National Tractor and Truck Pull in the
Grandstand.
GENERAL
NEWS:
Among
the offerings in today's update:
Big day
ahead for wannabes – Sioux City Journal
previews today’s cattle show with six Dems
(except Lieberman, Moseley Braun and
Sharpton) at Iowa Federation of Labor
convention
Also today,
Dean to support increased ethanol use and
limit giant farm operations in rural policy
proposal. In remarks set for Grundy County,
he’ll say the foundation of rural economy is
“crumbling.” Dean would give
locals veto power over big livestock
confinement facilities
Kucinich
opens New Hampshire headquarters with an
attack on GWB & Patriot Act
Wannabes
upset with treatment of Davis in CA recall
campaign, blame those radical, right-wing
Republicans
Subhead
of the morning – and possibly the campaign –
from Taranto’s “Best of the Web Today”
column:
“Howard
Dean, Sex Machine?”
Despite
mid-March primary, Dean manager says
Illinois a key state – and a source of
volunteers to invade Iowa for pre-caucus
activities… Washington Times editorial
says Lieberman’s “lightly occupied
bandwagon” more likely headed into the
political wilderness than Dean’s bandwagon.
Could the Dems’ 2000 VP nominee end up like
the Dems’ 1968 VP nominee – Muskie?
Yepsen: If
all Gephardt’s union supporters and
families showed at IA caucuses, it would be
a “blowout” – but “Teamsters haven’t been
big caucusgoers in the past”
In Iowa,
Graham finds another way to spend Bush tax
cut funds – infrastructure improvements
The LA
Times says this has been “a season of
growing dismay and discontent” for Cuban
Americans – which may have severe
ramifications for GWB in Florida
In New
Hampshire, Lieberman renews attack on
Bush for job losses, says administration
“acting as if they don’t even know this is
going on”
At Oklahoma
forum last night, six of nine Dem hopefuls
show up – Kucinich steals show by saying
it’s time to admit U. S. “made a mistake
attacking Iraq” while Sharpton cancels out
as Kerry and Graham skip event
Washington
Times features report that home fires are
flaming out for two senator-wannabes –
Edwards and Graham -- up for
re-election next year
Boston
Globe: Dem leaders are “increasingly
divided” on how best to take on Bush
Washington
Times report: Gun-rights advocates gaining
momentum in the states
Sports:
The Knoxville Nationals – sprint car’s
Superbowl with a purse of $760,000 – start
tonight All these stories below and more.
Morning reports:
Radio Iowa
reports that a race driver – Keith Hutton, an
Australia native who moved to Knoxville
– was killed last night when his sprint car
cartwheeled down the front stretch of the
Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa. The
Ultimate Challenge event last night was a
prelude to the Knoxville Nationals that
begin tonight
Radio Iowa
also reported that the captain of Sioux
City’s Argosy Casino says he may have to
suspend trips on the Missouri River due to
lower water levels. The river flow has been
reduced by the U. S. Army Corps to comply with
a federal court ruling
WHO-TV (Des
Moines) reports that – despite
record-breaking attendance so far – arrests
are down at the Iowa State Fair. The item says
49 arrests have been recorded –
including 23 underage tobacco citations, 19
for illegal alcohol possessions and one for
drunk driving
Newscasts around IA say no foul play was
expected in the death of a New
Hartford man – Todd Johnson, 40. He
suffered serious burns Monday night in an
explosion that occurred at his auto repair
shop.
… Wannabe
invasion begins – again. Six Dem hopefuls
to be in Waterloo today to address the
Iowa Federation of Labor convention –
Gephardt, Dean, Kucinich, Kerry, Edwards
and Graham. (See preview of forum
below)…Also today -- Kerry visits
the Iowa State Fair…Dean to roll out
rural development plan (See report below)
during stops in Dyke and New
Hartford…Edwards starts a six-day
campaign swing with appearances in Waverly,
Waterloo and Charles City…Graham
continues his Iowa “vacation” with trout
fishing in NE Iowa and a “Grillin’ with the
Grahams” event in Waterloo. Tomorrow –
most wannabes will attend a Vilsack-sponsored
health care forum at Drake University in
Des Moines. More – Dean in
state through Friday, Edwards scheduled
in thru Monday, Graham’s current
“vacation” swing concludes tomorrow,
Kucinich in state through Friday,
Lieberman at state fair on Friday.
… Dean –
after visiting Iowa’s 26 most rural counties –
to outline his rural development plan today.
Headline from South Carolina’s The State:
“Dean’s Policy Would Uproot Megafarming”
Excerpts from report filed by AP’s Iowa caucus
watcher Mike Glover: “Democratic
presidential contender Howard Dean is
proposing tax and investment aid for farmers,
corn-based ethanol in all gasoline and limits
on giant farm operations to help a rural
economy he says is falling apart.
Campaigning in Iowa, site of next year's
leadoff campaign caucuses, the former Vermont
governor said he was familiar with farm
problems – ‘I come from the most rural
state in the country,’ he declared - and
ready to do something about them. ‘The truth
is, the foundation of our rural economy is
crumbling,’ said Dean, in remarks
prepared for delivery Wednesday. ‘In rural
communities across the country, unemployment
has jumped over 50 percent and there are now
600,000 more people looking for work. We can
do better.’ Polls have shown Dean
bunched with the front-runners in the
Democratic presidential field after he started
off as a relatively unknown former governor.
He gained early attention with vocal
opposition to the war in Iraq and now is
trying to broaden that base to include more
traditional Democratic constituents. Much of
his farm policy is aimed at heading off the
increasing trend toward megafarm
concentration. He said that four companies
control 81 percent of the beef market, and one
company - Smithfield Farms - controls 30
percent of the nation's pork production. ‘The
destruction of the middle class and the
widening gap between the rich and poor is
being played out right before our eyes with
the concentration of the agriculture
industry,’ he said in the speech. He urged
new restrictions on giant factory farming
operations, including giving local residents
veto power over the building of big livestock
confinement operations nearby. Dean
called for new venture capital investments in
rural areas, coupled with tax credits for
farm-based business development and a boost in
grants for businesses that add value to basic
farm commodities. For the most part, he did
not estimate costs. He also urged stronger
backing for renewable energy sources such as
wind and biomass, along with a requirement
that there be 10 percent ethanol in gasoline.
Ethanol is distilled from corn, a crop that is
important to Iowa and many other farm states.
Dean was to outline his policies for rural
America on Wednesday at Grundy County Lake in
northeast Iowa. He chose the area to
underscore his commitment to conservation as
part of his development plan. The
appearance comes as Dean completes a tour of
26 of Iowa's most rural counties. His
speech and an outline of his policy proposal
were provided to The Associated Press.”
… So what? After
coverage of Oklahoma Dem forum last night –
with Kucinich and Moseley Braun getting better
play than Dean and Gephardt – it’s unlikely
the top tier contenders will return again
soon, or at least until writers figure out
who’s newsworthy. Who cares? Wannabes
at Oklahoma State – which doesn’t do any
better on debate sponsorship than playing
football. Headline from this morning’s
Washington Post – “Democrats Stump on GOP
Turf…In Oklahoma, Candidates Take Aim at
Bush from Different Angles” Excerpts from
report filed by AP’s Ron Jenkins in
Stillwater: “Democratic presidential hopefuls
came Tuesday to a state virtually ignored in
past races, bringing with them their criticism
of the Bush administration. Six of the nine
candidates spoke at Oklahoma State University
on health care, the economy and how they would
have handled the aftermath of the 9-11
attacks. ‘I say this is the time for the
United States to admit it made a mistake in
attacking Iraq,’ said Ohio Rep. Dennis
Kucinich, who says Bush has eroded
relationships with the United Nations and the
world community. Former Illinois Sen. Carol
Moseley Braun said Bush's approach has
‘frittered away all the good will we had’ and
said she wants U.S. troops out of Iraq. But
‘we have a moral obligation to at least put
that country back in shape,’ she said. ‘We
can't just leave, having blown them up.’ Asked
about gay marriages, Moseley Braun
recalled an aunt in an interracial marriage
decades ago and brought applause when she
said, ‘I don't see any difference between
interracial marriages and same sex marriages.’
Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman drew a mix
of boos and applause when he said he opposed
same-sex marriages. ‘I am the one Democrat
who can take Bush on where he's supposed to be
strong - security and mainstream values,’ said
Lieberman, and that made him the best
candidate to take on the ‘right-wing agenda’
that he called Bush's weakness. Candidates
challenged Bush's handling of the economy,
citing recently announced job cuts at a
Wrangler plant in Seminole. Vermont Gov.
Howard Dean described Bush's tax cuts as
perks for his wealthy corporate friends.
‘I wouldn't have cut taxes, period,’ Dean
said. ‘Most people would gladly pay the same
taxes they paid when Bill Clinton was
president if only they could have the same
economy ... when Bill Clinton was president.’
Dean favored independent pension plans
that travel with workers who change jobs,
saying corporations can no longer be trusted
to run their own pensions. Missouri Rep. Dick
Gephardt and North Carolina Sen. John
Edwards also were scheduled to speak at
the town hall-style event. About 4,000
people requested tickets for the forum.
Its start was delayed because the line of
people stretched down the street. Oklahoma
has not voted for a Democrat for president
since Lyndon Johnson in 1964. It has been
ignored by primary presidential candidates in
recent elections, prompting the Legislature to
move the 2004 election to Feb. 3, one week
after the New Hampshire primary, the nation's
first. It is one of seven states planning
primaries or caucuses Feb. 3. The others are
Arizona, Delaware, Missouri, South Carolina,
New Mexico and North Dakota…Florida Sen. Bob
Graham and Massachusetts Sen. John
Kerry were not taking part in the forum,
citing scheduling conflicts. The Rev. Al
Sharpton of New York was scheduled to
appear but canceled because of a last-minute
conflict.”
… High
stakes showdown in Waterloo today, especially
for Gephardt, as wannabes woo state’s labor
honchos. Headline from yesterday’s Sioux
City Journal: “Six Democratic presidential
candidates will descend on Waterloo Wednesday
to tout their records on labor at the Iowa
Federation of Labor Convention.
More than 200
union delegates from across the state are
expected to attend the three-day forum, which
runs Wednesday through Friday at the Five
Sullivan Brothers Convention Center.
At the
presidential forum Wednesday, the candidates
will have a half hour in front of a panel of
union representatives to answer questions
about their positions on economic and tax
policy, health care and trade issues.
Ken Sagar of the Iowa Federation of Labor, the
state branch of the AFL-CIO, said union
members are expected to be more active in the
presidential campaigns next year as trade
deficits and unemployment rates have risen.
‘Literally tens, if not hundreds of thousands
of good-paying manufacturing jobs have gone
away in the past 20-some odd months. I think
it has gotten everybody's attention,’ Sagar
said. The national AFL-CIO endorsement is
still up for grabs, after the union's national
leaders declined to hand out an endorsement at
their meeting in Chicago last week. U.S. Rep.
Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., is widely considered
the favorite for a national endorsement, which
would bring significant financial support and
backing from the AFL-CIO's 13 million members.
Spokesman Bill Burton said Gephardt is the
only candidate in the race who has earned any
international union endorsements, with 11 so
far, and said he thinks his message will
resonate with union members at the Waterloo
forum. ‘He has the strongest record of
fighting for working families of any candidate
in this race, and he looks forward to
comparing his record of economic leadership to
the failed Bush presidency that has cost Iowa
tens of thousands of jobs,’ Burton said.
Howard Dean wants to use the forum to
highlight his record during his time as
governor of Vermont, where he twice raised the
minimum wage and expanded access to health
care, said spokeswoman Sarah Leonard.
The campaign released a list last week with
the names of some 90 union activists in Iowa
who are backing Dean's candidacy. ‘We're
very proud of that. Gov. Dean's a good
friend of labor, and at the conference, he
plans to work aggressively to earn the support
of working Iowans,’ Leonard said. Jeff
Cohen, spokesman for Ohio Congressman Dennis
Kucinich, said the forum will help
distinguish his campaign as the one that's
‘100 percent worker.’ Kucinich is the
only candidate to call for the complete repeal
of the North American Free Trade Agreement,
which is being blamed by unions for the loss
of jobs overseas. Cohen said getting that
message out is a way to broaden Kucinich's
support among union members. ‘You're not just
looking for endorsements, you're looking for
rank and file,’ he said. ‘And we have a lot of
rank and file activists that are coming into
our campaign,’ he said. Also scheduled to
appear at the forum are Sen. John Kerry of
Massachusetts, Sen. John Edwards of North
Carolina and Sen. Bob Graham of Florida.”
…
Washington Times editorial. Lieberman’s
“lightly occupied bandwagon” vs. Dean’s
“political boom” Headline on yesterday’s
Times’ editorial: “Dean’s dividends” An
excerpt: “The Howard Dean political boom,
which had been simmering during the spring,
erupted in mid-July following the publication
of the second-quarter fund-raising results of
Democratic presidential candidates. It has
begun to pay dividends nationally. Mr.
Dean, who has been rising in national
polls, was the cover boy of both Newsweek and
Time last week. In the politically crucial
states of Iowa and New Hampshire, the former
Vermont governor has been climbing the polling
ladder. In the important ‘money primary,’ Mr.
Dean crushed his Democratic opponents in
the second-quarter heat. Raising $7.6
million, he smashed expectations. Mr. Dean
also benefited from the fact that several of
his opponents, including Rep. Dick Gephardt
of Missouri and Sen. John Edwards of North
Carolina, failed to meet their own low-balled
expectations. Mr. Edwards, whose
first-quarter total of $7.4 million led the
Democratic pack, raised only $4.5 million,
$500,000 less than expected. Sen. John
Kerry of Massachusetts raised $5.8 million
over the latest quarter, compared to $7
million raised during the first quarter. Sen.
Joe Lieberman raised $5.1 million,
compared to the $3 million he received during
the first quarter. (However, Mr. Lieberman
has only $4 million in cash on hand; through
June he has already spent more than half the
money he has raised, in part by hiring his own
children as $100,000-a-year fund-raisers.)
Mr. Gephardt limped across the June 30
deadline with a disappointing $3.8 million,
well below what he projected both at the
beginning and end of the quarter. Florida Sen.
Bob Graham raised $2 million during the
second quarter, not much more than the $1.5
million collected by Rep. Dennis Kucinich
of Ohio. Carol Moseley Braun, who
reportedly has begun declining speaking
invitations because she cannot afford the
airfare, raised $145,000, nearly three times
the $55,000 picked up by the Rev. Al
Sharpton. Perhaps the most astonishing
Democratic fund-raising statistic during the
quarter was the fact that Mr. Dean received
contributions from more than 73,000
individuals. That was 70 percent of the total
number of contributors to President Bush. The
number of Dean contributors more than tripled
the 23,000 donors to Mr. Kerry's campaign,
whose arithmetically challenged manager
inexplicably told the New York Times: ‘The
question about Dean has never been
about the intensity of his support. It's about
the breadth of it.’ More than half — $4
million — of Mr. Dean's quarterly take
came from donors who contributed less than
$200. (Mr. Bush raised $3 million from the
under-$200 crowd.) Particularly worrisome
to Mr. Dean's Democratic opponents must be the
fact that more than 60 percent of his
second-quarter receipts will qualify for
federal matching funds. That compares to a
normal matching rate of 25 percent to 33
percent. Mr. Lieberman recently
predicted that a Dean nomination would
be a ‘ticket to nowhere’ that would lead the
Democratic Party into ‘the political
wilderness.’ Maybe so. But at this stage,
the lightly occupied bandwagon of Mr.
Lieberman, the 2000 vice presidential nominee,
is looking more and more like it is headed
toward the same political crash that totaled
the 1972 bandwagon of Edmund Muskie, the 1968
Democratic vice presidential nominee.”
… So, where
are they doing well? Senator-wannabes Edwards
and Graham can’t crack the Wannabe Top Four –
and now the Washington Times reports they are
fading in home states too. Headline from
yesterday’s Times: “Home support falls for
hopefuls Graham, Edwards” Excerpts from
report by the Times’ Stephen Dinan and Charles
Hunt: “The two Democrats running for president
next year who are also up for re-election to
the Senate are losing support back home
because of positions they have taken on the
national campaign trail. Sen. Bob Graham of
Florida and Sen. John Edwards of North
Carolina have cast votes and made statements
unpopular back home, and polls suggest both
could be vulnerable if they choose to run
again for their Senate seats. A
Mason-Dixon poll last week showed Mr.
Graham with his lowest approval rating in more
than a decade, while in North Carolina,
Rep. Richard Burr, a Republican running to
unseat Mr. Edwards, has steadily closed
the gap between himself and Mr. Edwards
in Raleigh News-Observer polls during the last
six months. Mr. Edwards and Mr.
Graham have time before public pressure
or, in the case of Mr. Graham, state
law, forces them to choose between their
presidential or Senate bids. And with the
election more than a year away, they have
time to rebuild from what they say is a
natural dip in the polls at home anytime a
senator from a moderate state campaigns among
the country's more liberal Democratic primary
voters. But Republicans are tallying up
the votes and public statements and awaiting
their campaigns. ‘[Bob Graham] has given so
many 30-second ads we wouldn't know what to do
with them,’ said Chris Paulitz, spokesman for
Rep. Mark Foley, a Florida Republican who is
running for the Republican nomination for the
Senate seat. He pointed to Mr. Graham's
support for a filibuster to block the
confirmation of the first Hispanic federal
appeals court judge and the senator's
opposition to the Medicare bill that passed
the Senate. And then there are Mr. Graham's
rhetorical attacks on President Bush, in which
he questioned the president's honesty and
suggested he should be impeached for
misleading the nation into war. ‘The people
of Florida are starting to realize that the
man running for president is not the same guy
that was a two-term governor and a sitting
senator that a broad cross-section of
Floridians were voting for,’ said Paul
Seago, political director for Bill McCollum,
another Republican seeking the seat. Last
week's Mason-Dixon poll showed Mr. Graham
with 53 percent job approval — down from 63
percent last year. For his part, Mr.
Edwards faces similar poll numbers and the
same questions about votes and rhetoric. Visiting
the site last week of the shuttered Pillowtex
Corp. textile mill in Kannapolis, N.C., where
4,000 jobs were lost, Mr. Edwards had to
defend his vote made several years ago to
grant permanent normalized trade relations
with China. Workers blame free-trade
agreements for sending textile jobs overseas
in recent years. Mr. Edwards said he
stood by his vote and urged that federal money
be expedited to the laid-off workers. But few
episodes more clearly show the divergence
between the national and local audiences than
when Mr. Edwards told the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored
People's annual convention last month he was
‘tired of Democrats walking away from
President Bill Clinton, who did an
extraordinary job of lifting up and reaching
out to all of the American people.’ Ferrell
Blount, the new chairman of the North Carolina
Republican Party, said Mr. Edwards can
expect to see that used in a campaign: ‘Bill
Clinton — I don't know if I'd go so far to say
despised, but he certainly is not a revered
individual in the state.’”
… IOWA PRES
WATCH SIDEBAR: Under one of the better
subheads of the Dem campaign – “Howard
Dean, Sex Machine?” – James Tartanto wrote
in yesterday’s “Best of the Web Today” column:
“In a
gushing profile of Howard Dean, Salon's Joan
Walsh offers these observations (ellipsis in
original): * ‘He's also sort of… sexy, which I
mention because it counteracts the
associations folks have with short, which is
supposedly not charismatic or presidential,
and also probably because I'm shallow.’ *
‘Helen Chesser, a middle-aged grocery store
worker from Dallas, said she was 'sticking
with Gephardt right now, because of all the
years he's been there for us.' Then she took
my pen to get Dean's autograph, flirted with
him a minute, and he flirted back.’ * ‘Dean
positively flirts with Carol Moseley Braun at
debates and other joint appearances.’ Can it
be that women actually find small angry men
irresistibly attractive?”
… In Iowa, it’s the
same old story – eventually coming down to
getting folks out on a presumably cold January
night. Register columnist David Yepsen notes
Gephardt has support of IA unions with 30,000
members and it would be a “blowout” if they
and their families attend a caucus – but…
Headline from yesterday’s Register: “Teamsters
like old friend better than a new face”
Column excerpt: “James P. Hoffa Jr. arrived
at the Teamsters Hall in Des Moines in a
sport-utility vehicle on Saturday, but he
brought Dick Gephardt's presidential campaign
a truckload of hope: an endorsement by one of
the nation's most powerful unions. For
Gephardt, who always reminds audiences
he's the son of a milk-truck driver, the day
was an emotional one. Gephardt's father
passed away years ago, and his mother died
just recently. The congressman choked up as he
told a rally at the hall ‘how I wish my
parents could be here today to see this. How
proud my dad would be to see me here today,
getting the endorsement of the union that
fought for him. I will be a president every
day in that Oval Office for people like you
and for people like my parents.’ It's pretty
clear Gephardt hasn't forgotten where
he came from. Hoffa, the head of the
Teamsters, said in an interview that Gephardt
was the only viable candidate unions could
whole-heartedly support. He's not a candidate
who was with them 80 percent of the time,
Hoffa said. As a result, the Teamsters are
going to turn the crank hard for Gephardt.
They will have a full-time staffer working in
Iowa doing nothing but getting members and
their families out on caucus night. Members
are being asked to make campaign donations.
And Hoffa, one of the nation's most
charismatic labor leaders, said he will
personally be back to campaign for Gephardt in
Iowa this winter. Gephardt needs a little help
these days. His campaign failed to meet
the fund-raising expectations it set for
itself. A Des Moines Register Iowa Poll shows
former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean has
overtaken him for the lead position in Iowa. A
St. Louis Post-Dispatch story last week said
about a third of the Iowans Gephardt
has listed as supporters have defected. If you
talk to rank-and-file Democrats, including
union members, you'll hear people say they
like Gephardt but the Democrats need a
fresh face. For Hoffa and the Teamsters, an
old friend is better than a new face. But can
they produce for Gephardt? The Teamsters
have never been known as a highly Democratic
union. Many members are Republicans or
independents. Some aren't interested in
politics. It's precisely because the
Teamsters haven't been big caucus-goers in the
past that makes their support so delicious for
Gephardt. One trait of a winning caucus
campaign is the ability to bring new people
into the process…Here's a look at the Iowa
membership numbers of the largest unions that
have endorsed Gephardt, according to
his campaign office. The Teamsters have 11,928
Iowa members. The Iron Workers have 1,227, the
Steelworkers 5,238 and the Machinists 12,000.
That's 30,393 votes right there, and it
doesn't include anyone from smaller unions
that have also endorsed Gephardt. Those
include the maritime officers, some railroad
maintenance employees, theatrical stage
employees, bricklayers, boilermakers,
professional employees and seafarers.
(Although even Gephardt's aides concede
the seafarers endorsement probably won't net
the campaign too much in Iowa.) If every
Iowan who is a member of a union that has
endorsed Gephardt would get to a caucus on Jan
19 and bring a spouse, friend or relative,
Gephardt would win in a blowout. But
that's not going to happen. Some rank-and-file
members who support other candidates will just
stay home. Others would rather sit around,
drink beer or tinker with their Harleys,
preferring to complain about the nation's
problems rather than actually do something
about them, like elect the son of a Teamster
to the presidency. But even if Gephardt
gets only half the members of those unions,
plus a few of their relatives, it could be
enough to give him the victory he needs so
desperately in Iowa. At least some in the
labor movement don't forget an old friend.”
… Another view of
Philly forum. Headline from
yesterday’s Washington Post: “Dem.
Candidates Blast Republicans Over California”
Yesterday’s Daily Report carried a story about
the Dem wannabes commenting on tax cuts at the
Philadelphia forum, but they discussed other
topics. This excerpt from the Post – a Reuters
report – was one of the most interesting: “Democratic
presidential candidates blasted California's
recall campaign against Gov. Gray Davis on
Monday, calling it part of a larger Republican
assault on the U.S. electoral process. At
a political forum near the Liberty Bell, seven
of the nine Democrats vying for the right to
oppose President Bush in 2004 said
California was being swept by the same
right-wing tactics used against Democrats in
Florida and Texas and during the impeachment
of former President Clinton. ‘This is an
attack on the institutions of our government.
That's what Republicans do,’ U.S. Rep. Dick
Gephardt of Missouri told hundreds of
union leaders at Philadelphia's National
Constitution Center. Nearly 200 Californians,
including Hollywood actor Arnold
Schwarzenegger and porn magazine publisher
Larry Flynt, are hoping to replace Davis in a
special Oct. 7 recall election sparked by the
state's fiscal and economic woes. Republican
Congressman Darrell Issa, a wealthy
conservative, spent $1.7 million to fuel the
petition drive that led to the recall against
Davis, a Democrat who was reelected in
November. Bush, former governor of Texas,
weighed in last week by saying he felt the
Austrian-born Schwarzenegger would make a good
governor for the nation's largest state, which
Bush lost decisively to former Vice President
Al Gore in 2000. On Monday, Democratic
presidential hopefuls likened the California
contest to the political confrontation three
years ago in Florida that left the 2000
presidential election to be decided by the
U.S. Supreme Court. ‘We may disagree, the
seven of us here tonight, on a lot of things.
But we don't disagree on this one,’ said Sen.
Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, Gore's
2000 running mate. Some compared the
California recall to the wrangling between
Republicans and Democrats in Texas over an
aggressive Republican redistricting plan. ‘I
think it insults democracy in this country.
It's wrong,’ said Sen. John Kerry of
Massachusetts, who called on California voters
to retain Davis. ‘They should overwhelmingly
reject this right-wing, ideological
interference in the electoral process of the
United States of America,’ he added. Two
Democratic hopefuls -- Sen. Bob Graham
of Florida and Sen. John Edwards of
North Carolina -- did not attend Monday
night's forum in Philadelphia.”
… Lieberman
plods along with well-worn – and obviously
ineffective – attacks on GWB for job losses,
economy. Headline from yesterday’s The
Union Leader: “Lieberman hits Bush on
economy” Excerpt from report on
Lieberman’s campaign stop in Londonderry
by AP’s Stephen Frothingham: “Democrat Joe
Lieberman continued to call attention to
millions of domestic manufacturing jobs lost
during the Bush administration at a visit
yesterday to a small high tech manufacturer.
‘With all respect for the current
administration, they are acting as if they
don’t even know this is going on,’
Lieberman told a group of employees and
managers around a conference table at
Electropac Prototype. The Connecticut senator,
one of nine candidates seeking the
Presidential nomination, criticized President
Bush’s economic record and promised trade
policies that he said would help domestic
manufacturers but not stray into
protectionism. ‘We’re not going to have a
strong economy unless we’re making things
here,’ Lieberman said. Lieberman has
been a strong supporter of free trade
agreements, which he said are necessary. But
he said the President should spend more effort
enforcing trade agreements, protecting
intellectual property, demanding a stop to
currency manipulation by China, and
encouraging investment in domestic
manufacturing. He said the United States
has lost 2.4 million manufacturing jobs since
Bush took office. Lieberman has
proposed giving tax credits to companies that
keep manufacturing jobs in the United States,
and said he wants to eliminate the so-called
‘Bermuda loophole’ that allows companies to
register overseas to avoid some U.S. taxes.
He also wants to eliminate capital gains taxes
for investments in new manufacturing firms
that are small to mid-sized and offer
investment tax credits for purchases of
information technology. Julie Teer,
spokeswoman for the New Hampshire Republican
Party, said Bush has redoubled efforts to
eliminate piracy of intellectual property
abroad. She said Bush has also increased
federal research and development funding by
more than 25 percent, proposing $123 billion
for next year.”
… Graham’s Creative
Accounting 101: In Davenport, Graham says the
Bush tax cuts should be used for national
infrastructure improvements – which, including
health care and education proposals, is
probably the 250th way the wannabes
have found to spend the tax cuts. Even if they
had the tax cut money, it wouldn’t be enough
for all their collective ideas. Headline
from yesterday’s Quad-City Times: “Graham
touts economic plan during his first visit to
Q-C” Excerpt from report by the Times’ Ed
Tibbetts: “Democratic presidential
candidate U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla.,
pressed a four-point economic recovery plan at
a Quad-City forum Monday, arguing that
billions of dollars dedicated to tax cuts
should be spent instead on the nation’s
infrastructure. Graham met with about a
half-dozen people at the Downtown Deli,
his last public stop on a two-day swing
through the Quad-Cities that included meetings
with party activists and labor unions.
Graham is touring Iowa with his family in a
caravan of recreational vehicles. He says
his plan would create jobs and restore the
government to a balanced budget within five
years of him being elected president. In
addition to spending billions on school
buildings, roads, bridges and high-speed rail
connections, he would help cities upgrade
their sewers. Graham likened the
approach to the construction of the federal
highway system in the 1950s. Citing the age of
the country’s infrastructure, he said the
spending is necessary. ‘Just like human
beings, once you get past 50, you need a
little rehabilitation,’ he said. Graham’s
emphasis on infrastructure spending won praise
from forum participants such as Bettendorf
Mayor Ann Hutchinson. ‘That’s the best
place we can spend our money right now,’ she
said. But Graham also proposed an
incremental approach to extending health care
to the 41 million Americans who do not have
it, which contrasts with the preferences of
many in the party’s liberal base. Graham
said he would expand Medicare to help
near-retirees, Medicaid to help the working
poor and state-federal children’s health
programs to help youngsters. That is not
as ambitious a plan — nor as expensive — as
some of his rivals have pitched. Hutchinson
called Graham’s health-care approach
‘practical.’ But it differs from the national
health-care system she believes is a
necessity. Graham’s moderate credentials
have left some political observers wondering
how he will do during the Iowa caucuses in
January, which traditionally draw heavy
numbers from the progressive wing of the
Democratic Party. To the contrary, Graham said
he believes caucus-going Democrats reflect the
party mainstream in Iowa, and he argued that,
as a southerner from Florida, he is electable.
Graham said he expects to do better in
polls, which show him significantly trailing
other candidates.”
… NAFTA opposition,
Patriot Act criticism highlight Kucinich’s
campaign headquarters opening in New
Hampshire. Excerpt from yesterday’s The
Union Leader – datelined Manchester – by AP’s
Anne Saunders: “Democratic presidential
hopeful Dennis Kucinich opened his New
Hampshire campaign headquarters Monday with
promises he'd be a more frequent visitor to
the state. ‘He's just getting started,’
said supporter Ike Langendorfer, a Plymouth
resident who lived in Cleveland when
Kucinich was mayor there. ‘It'll pick up.
He's got a message that's different. He's got
the right message,’ he said. The Ohio
congressman spoke to his supporters Monday.
Rather than kissing babies, he found himself
on the receiving end of a baby's kiss as his
mother, Kelly Barham, came to offer her
support. Kucinich supporters said they are
drawn to their candidate's liberal,
progressive message because it goes beyond
that of former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean.
Kucinich said he wants to cut Pentagon
spending by $60 billion to free up money for
education, health care and housing. He also
pledged to repeal the North American Free
Trade Agreement. ‘Our American way of life
is being undermined by these trade
agreements,’ he said, accusing
corporations of pursuing the lowest wages in
the name of free trade. He also spoke out
against the Patriot Act, saying President Bush
is using fear as an excuse to roll back
long-standing civil rights. ‘We're fearful
based on lies we've been told by the
administration,’ he said. ‘Meanwhile the real
security issues have been ignored.’ The
Patriot Act, which passed with bipartisan
support six weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001
attacks, has been called ‘an essential tool in
the U.S. war on terror’ by the Bush
administration. Kucinich disagrees, saying
the U.S must work with the world community.
‘The safety of this country is not to be
found in the Patriot Act, in homeland
security. It's not to be found in missiles and
nuclear weapons, but the safety of this
country is found in ... an American
willingness to work for peace in the world.’”
… Dean manager:
Illinois will be key to his guy’s success –
and he sees the state as an important source
of volunteers to invade Iowa on Dean’s behalf.
Excerpt from report by Chicago Sun-Times
political reporter Scott Fornek: “Howard
Dean went from a team of seven paid staffers
and less than $157,000 in the bank at the
beginning of the year to raise more than $10.2
million, build an organization of 285,000
volunteers and find his face on the covers of
both Time and Newsweek. But don't call the
former Vermont governor the front-runner in
the Democratic presidential race. ‘We still
consider ourselves an insurgent,’ said Joe
Trippi, the former Evanston resident who is
Dean's campaign manager. ‘In fact, we're
the strongest insurgent in the history of the
party.’ Trippi was in town last week for the
AFL-CIO Democratic presidential forum at Navy
Pier and meetings with supporters. Illinois'
March 16 primary is late in the delegate
selection process, but Trippi said the state
will be a crucial base for fund-raising and
mobilizing volunteers to work in neighboring
Iowa before its Jan. 19 caucuses.
‘Illinois is going to be critical both in the
primaries and in the general [election],’
Trippi said. ‘Illinois' going to play a big
role in--probably being almost a second,
eventually in the general, almost a second
national headquarters--in the campaign.’
Trippi, 47, grew up in Los Angeles but lived
in Evanston for about four years in the early
1990s after marrying a woman from the North
Shore suburb. During that time, he did some
political work for Cook County Clerk David
Orr, who was briefly eyeing a run for County
Board president in 1994.”
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