The Iowa Daily Report, Wednesday, December 3, 2003

* NOTABLE QUOTABLES:

"This is political hate speech. And while people appreciate passion in politics, they reject hatred. And the voters instinctively know that anyone who's willing to demean the presidency in order to gain it is not worthy of having it entrusted to him," said Ed Gillespie, chairman of the Republican National Committee.

"Those of us who seek the Democratic presidential nomination owe the American people more than just criticism of the Bush foreign policy or anger or piecemeal solutions. We need to convince them that Democrats are responsible stewards of our national security and America's role in the world," said John Kerry.

"It may not decide who gets the nomination, but Feb. 3 will probably take a big chunk of the field out," said Joe Trippi, manager of the Howard Dean campaign.

“Marriage started out as a religious institution, and most people still think of it that way,” Dean said about his reluctance to support gay marriages.

“Lieberman’s comments are absurd. It’s been this President that has restored years of cuts in military funding, after years of the Democrats weakening the military,” said Julie Teer, a spokesman for the New Hampshire Republican Party.

“They are not the same in terms of goals and purpose. The war on terror is very different,” he said. “Iraq is a place where we need to have a success in the end,” said John Kerry.

"He [John Kerry] has kind of reinvented his candidacy a half-dozen times over the course of the year and eventually the hourglass is going to run out on him," said Steve Murphy.

"If you had met with him [President Bush] every week since 9/11, you'd be running for President," said Dick Gephardt on Jay Leno.

* TODAY’S OFFERINGS:

Howard Dean:

*Dean’s empire   *Dean reluctant on gay marriages   *Is Dean nuts?   *Unsealing records   *Dean as Achilles   *Dean’s fairness   *Political theater   *What the people think

Dick Gephardt:

*Gephardt’s story   *Nail biter   *Steel   *Another Union endorsement   *Money, money, money

John Kerry:

*Kerry’s moves   *Peanut butter & jelly brigade   *Rally round the flag   *Change everything   *Barney Frank’s visit

John Edwards:

*Edwards’ struggles

Joe Lieberman:

*It’s about taxes   *Lieberman disagrees with Clark

Wesley Clark:

*I have a plan   *He has supporters   *Clark’s fumbling on Cuban embargo

Dennis Kucinich:

*Willie Nelson concert

Caucus/Primaries:

*Moving on

* CANDIDATES & CAUCUSES:

Dean’s empire

Howard Dean has promised to use his Internet Empire to win Democrat control of Congress. His first test of whether his Internet army can be transferred to that cause is with Iowa Cong. Leonard Boswell. The reason for Boswell is only partially based on Iowa. The real reason is he voted against the $85 billion for our troops and rebuilding Iraq according to Dean’s architect of the program Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California. In fact, Boswell was the second choice the first Congressman she asked declined the offer. However, they are a targeted Congressman who voted against the $87 billion.

The Des Moines Register reports on Lofgren’s plan:

Lofgren said Tuesday that she was looking for a way to combine Dean's desire to help Democrats take control of the House with his campaign's use of the Internet.

She asked officials of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the political arm of House Democrats, for a list of targeted incumbent Democrats.

Lofgren said one of the criteria was whether the candidate voted against the $87 billion package to rebuild postwar Iraq.

"We wanted the first person, off the bat, to be in that position, although if this works, . . . we will expand it to the whole list," she said.

Dean reluctant on gay marriages

The San Francisco Chronicle reports on Dean’s reluctance to support gay marriages -- even though as Governor of Vermont he signed a gay union bill that grants legal coverage to gays.

Yet Dean, who speaks emphatically on the right of same-sex couples to receive the same legal privileges as anyone else, is hesitant to extend his demand for equality to the institution of marriage.

“I think that’s up to the people of each state,” Dean said Monday in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle. “We did not do gay marriage in Vermont. When I had the chance, we chose not to do it.”

Dean opposes a constitutional ban on gay marriage. He supports full equality on matters including filing joint tax returns, Social Security benefits, immigration and hospital visits. But he does not give a simple answer on whether he supports, or opposes, gay marriage.

Is Dean nuts?

A Washington Post’s Media Notes columnist questions Howard Dean’s judgment in his latest attacks on President Bush… headlined, "Is Howard Dean nuts?” Here are some excerpts:

"According to the Washington Post, here's what Dean said about President Bush in New Hampshire Sunday:

"1) Bush has 'no understanding of defense.' 'Mr. President, if you'll pardon me, I'll teach you a little about defense.' "2) 'He's made us weaker. He doesn't understand what it takes to defend this country, that you have to have high moral purpose. He doesn't understand that you better keep troop morale high rather than just flying over for Thanksgiving.' "3) Bush lacks 'the backbone to stand up against the Saudis,' who are funding radical Muslim schools 'to train the next generation of suicide bombers.' "4) 'The president is about to let North Korea become a nuclear power.' "5) Bush 'cut 164,000 veterans off' from medical benefits and at one point said 'he was going to cut the combat pay' for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan . . . Let's recap. A guy who has no foreign policy experience, opposed the war in Iraq, and went skiing after he escaped the Vietnam draft because of a bad back is calling a wartime president soft on defense. And despite cries of outrage from Republican pundits, luminaries, and party organs, he isn't letting up."

Unsealing records

A New York Times story reveals that Howard Dean is thinking of reversing himself on the question of his sealed records as Governor of Vermont:

"We're talking about trying to be accommodating," Dr. Dean told reporters here before a town hall meeting. "We think that transparency is important. But executive privilege is a serious issue, and there are private things in there that can't be let out. We are kind of having that internal discussion."

The story also asked an expert how long other states seal their executives records:

A survey by Charles Schultz, a professor at Texas A&M, showed that 29 of 42 responding states require departing governors to place their records into archives and that many must make them publicly available immediately. Others keep records sealed for as little as five years or as much as 30.

Dean as Achilles

Walter Shapiro in USA Today writes an editorial that portrays Howard Dean to Achilles. He points out that despite Dean’s poor performances and untruths, his opponents can’t slow him down. Yet, they still look for the weakness to destroy him. Shapiro has some advice on why the Clark and Kerry campaigns may not be successful:

The medal-draped Vietnam War records of Clark and Kerry are integral parts of their campaign biographies. But after eight years of loyally supporting Clinton against Republican draft-dodger charges, are the Democrats going to retroactively change the rules and declare that only war heroes can run for president? There is no evidence that Dean did anything more than use the same loopholes that millions of other middle-class men employed to gain a medical deferment. At some point there should be a statute of limitations in politics against endlessly debating the personal decisions that anyone made during the wrenching Vietnam years.

Dean’s fairness

Boston Globe columnist Scot Lehigh takes Dean on for probably breaking the state caps against fellow Democrat opponents. He is not kind to Dean:

Thus what we have here is Dean using the reaction to his own decision to justify a possible further violation of the spirit of fair primary play. That's why it's important to keep your eye on what Dean does in Iowa.

If the Vermonter does spend more than the Iowa cap, as seems likely, we'll have learned something important about him. Namely, he's not really a no-nonsense country doctor. He just plays one on TV.

Political theater

A Boston Globe story covers the taping of MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews. The story covers Friday’s tapping at Harvard where Howard Dean said ‘yes’ to the question of whether he wanted a deferment from Vietnam. It shows the ins and outs of the show:

Dean comes by for an early walk-through and gets a word of advice -- "be natural, be yourself" -- from IOP [Harvard's Institute of Politics] director and former Clinton secretary of agriculture Dan Glickman. "That's what politics is all about -- political theater," Glickman says.

What the people think

Des Moines Register columnist Rekha Basu is a good read today from the viewpoint of understanding the Dean phenomenon, as she gives her thumbs up for Dean in her column:

Which brings us to Howard Dean. Whatever apologists for the war say about Dean being too angry or too liberal, early on he tapped into a deep-seated disenfranchisement over the unprecedented first strike along with the administration's pandering to special interests. Anyone who has trouble understanding Dean's front-runner status apparently doesn't appreciate how serious that sense of betrayal is.

True, Dean didn't have to vote on Iraq, and he waffled over paying the $87 billion tab for continued operations. As detractors like to point out about his track record as governor of Vermont, it's a small, irrelevant state. Then again, where have you heard that before?

And:

America is a polarized place with complicated problems. If the 1992 election was about what Clinton adviser James Carville dubbed "the economy, stupid," this one is about everything from dealing with terrorism to the globalization of jobs to the growing health-care crisis for the elderly. It's about ordinary people. And ordinary people get to kick it off here in Iowa, 48 days from now.

Gephardt’s story

USA Today covers how Rep. Dick Gephardt use of stories about his personal life are adding an attention-getting aspect to his campaign:

In a season when almost all the Democratic contenders are relying on the personal to enhance the political, Gephardt is running perhaps the most personal campaign of all. Four, six, eight times a day, in living rooms, cafes, classrooms and libraries, he unspools The Dick Gephardt Story: an impassioned, occasionally wry tale of one man's life. It's all woven into an indictment of the Bush administration and plans for a Gephardt administration.

It's much livelier than what people expect from a man who spent 27 years in the House, 13 of them as Democratic leader. And it may be working.

The article is very long, covering family campaign issues and the fact that Gephardt is emerging as the candidate from the establishment that could stop Dean.

Nail biter

Rep. Dick Gephardt received news today from the Zogby poll that he is in a statistical dead heat in Iowa with Howard Dean. The poll gives Dean 26 percent to Gephardt’s 22 percent. The difference is within the margin of error.

Steel

Gephardt criticized President Bush yesterday on the steel tariff issue.

"President Bush is in Pittsburgh today making another campaign stop. Unfortunately, he's also shortchanging hundreds of thousands of workers in the steel industry who have worked hard, played by the rules and saw thousands of their friends and coworkers lose their jobs to a flood of foreign imports.

"The president appears poised to once again claim 'Mission Accomplished,' and we know what happened the last time he made such a premature claim without a plan of action to back it up. Our nation, the steel industry, its workers and the communities where they live can't afford to face a similar fate – the fight for fair trade and restoring the competitiveness of the steel sector is far from over."

Another Union endorsement

The Oklahoma United Automotive, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) today announced its endorsement of Dick Gephardt's candidacy for president. UAW of Oklahoma represents more than 7,000 retired and active members throughout the state.

Money, money, money

A Boston Globe story covers Gephardt and Kerry’s scramble for money. Gephardt is ahead of previous fundraising efforts, and Kerry is raising some and putting in his own money. Dean, in the meantime, is still going strong:

Gephardt campaign manager Steve Murphy said the candidate "will be in the ballpark" of $20 million, but that in any event he will make adjustments to keep to a tight budget for early voting states. Last month, the Gephardt campaign's higher-paid staff members took a pay cut.

Kerry’s moves

Sen. John Kerry continued his Iowa College Tour visiting the University of Northern Iowa and the University of Iowa. He stressed education at UNI, which was previously known as the Teachers College before becoming a university. The Waterloo Courier coverage of the events showed that some students had changed from Howard Dean to Kerry. However, Kerry remains back in third place behind both Gephardt and Dean:

UNI sophomore Courtney Blake, an early supporter of rival Democrat Howard Dean, said she decided to back Kerry after hearing about his educational policies.

"He lit a fire in me, I guess," Blake said of Dean. "And then I stepped back this fall and looked at their policies and both their ideas. On the surface, Dean's looked good, but when I dug a little bit deeper, Kerry's made a lot more sense."

Blake especially liked Kerry's "Service for College" plan. The program would allow students to earn the equivalent of four years' tuition to one of their state's public universities in exchange for two years of public service.

Kerry’s attack on Bush was harsh and he used a twist on his “Real Deal” theme, "Ask any teacher in America what kind of deal George Bush has given children in America, and they'll tell you it's a raw deal," Kerry said.

In Iowa City Kerry was joined by Congressman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., a leading legislator on environmental issues who has endorsed Kerry. Kerry said he would establish a "toxics task force" within the Environmental Protection Agency to identify and address the nation's top toxic threats.

Peanut butter & jelly brigade

A Manchester Union Leader story covers Kerry’s speech in Boston where he tried to recruit students to join his campaign over break.

“It was students who became known as the ‘peanut butter and jelly brigade,’ who went up to New Hampshire and knocked on doors and handed out leaflets and talked to people in houses and told them what was wrong with the war in Vietnam,” Kerry told the auditorium filled with students.

Rally round the flag

Massachusetts Senator John Kerry announced his state’s campaign and their joining to help him in Iowa and New Hampshire as well. Kerry released a 2,096 Steering Committee of Kerry Patriots today and the Massachusetts’ chairs who will lead the campaign’s efforts in his home state. These committee members will also canvass in New Hampshire, make phone calls to undecided voters in IA and NH and travel in early primary states in January as “Kerry Travelers”. In a rally at Boston University today, Kerry also urged students to join his “peanut butter brigade” and volunteer and canvass during January “Winternships”

Recent polls have shown that Kerry would lose his home state to Dean. This effort is clearly an attempt to dispel those rumors. Kerry in making the announcement sounded a little like Howard Dean in his “take back America” remarks. You know -- the one where he tells everyone the power is in this room, it is with you, and you have the power to take your America back.

“George W Bush is going to find our own secret weapon—he’s going to find an army of volunteers with the courage to change America and the energy to get it done. I couldn’t have come this far without all of you, and I can’t get it done in January without you either,” Kerry said.

Change everything

Candidate John Kerry, in a speech to the New York Council of Foreign Relations, announced his new plan to stem "a widespread and widening network of terrorists," such as targeting Saudi Arabia for sanctions and naming a special ambassador to the Mid East. Kerry also said that he would reverse President Bush’s foreign policy.

Kerry said that he would consider naming former Democratic Presidents Clinton and Carter as well as James Baker, secretary of state in the first Bush White House to the Mid East post.

Kerry's campaign said he would announce tough new actions to deny terrorist sanctuaries, cut off terrorist financing and improve intelligence. He also planned deal with what the campaign called Saudi Arabia's "marriage of convenience with terrorists," including imposing economic sanctions unless the Arab nation cracks down on terrorism.

Kerry said American can't neglect its role in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Mid East -- a breeding ground for terrorist activity. He pledged to appoint a presidential ambassador to the peace process, who would report directly to him and to the secretary of state.

Kerry is trying to use Howard Dean’s lack of foreign policy as reason to disqualify Dean for President. Look for Dean to respond with accusations about how Kerry and the others are disqualified because they voted to go to war.

Kerry's campaign manager, Mary Beth Cahill, touted his foreign policy pitch in a fund-raising letter to supporters. She said he would "immediately declare the Bush policy of unilateralism over" as president, and urged backers to donate $60 before Kerry turns 60 on Dec. 11.

Barney Frank’s visit

Kerry announced that Barney Frank would be campaigning in Iowa for him. In announcing Frank’s visit Kerry made no mention of the fact that Frank is an openly gay Congressman. Kerry said about Frank’s visit, “I am proud to have the support of Barney Frank, my friend and colleague from Massachusetts. He is a champion of the progressive causes that the people of Iowa care about - improving healthcare, supporting our schools, protecting our civil liberties, and chartering a smarter course internationally. Together we have fought to give the American people the real deal they deserve.”

Edwards’ struggles

Sen. John Edwards continues to receive attention, if not votes, in his candidacy in Iowa. And Edwards woke up to Iowa’s first snowstorm today (welcome to Iowa winter…). Yesterday he tramped through Southern Iowa -- known as the less populated, poorer part of the state -- on his “Working for Us Tour.”

Today Edwards is unveiling his plan to stop the "revolving door" between government and lobbying, including an end to campaign contributions from federally registered lobbyists.

The Associated Press reports that his proposal includes:

*Restrictions on moving between lobbying and government jobs. Lobbyists would be banned from taking senior government jobs with responsibility for the areas in which they advocated, and there would be a five-year ban on senior administration officials lobbying.

*Require lobbyists to disclose every two weeks which members of Congress or the administration they have met, and how much they spent lobbying.

*Ban all members of Congress and the president from taking money from federally registered lobbyists.

*Ban congressional pay hikes until the budget deficit ends, and ban bonuses to political appointees.

*Restriction on companies that won major contracts for work in Iraq, including restricting profits and reviewing existing contracts to identify "mismanagement and profiteering."

Yesterday in stops at Corydon, Lamoni, Mt. Ayr, Bedford, Corning, Clarinda, Sidney, and Glenwood, Edwards outlined the steps he will take to create jobs as president, including:

·        Exporting American Products, Not American Jobs. Edwards believes that our tax code should encourage companies to keep jobs here at home. He will give a 10 percent tax cut to corporations that produce goods here and eliminate tax breaks for companies that move jobs overseas.

·        Bringing Jobs and Capital to Hard-Hit Communities. Edwards will create a national venture capital fund that will bring equity and expertise to entrepreneurs and small businesses to create jobs in areas that are hurting. He will also designate hard-hit towns and areas as Economic Revitalization Zones. Tax credits and other assistance will be available to businesses that create jobs in these areas.

·        Investing in Working Americans. Edwards will create the REACH Fund to invest in entrepreneurs in small towns and rural areas that are losing jobs today. Edwards will also double funding for Community Development Financial Institutions to serve urban and other communities overlooked by most banks and other traditional financial institutions.

·        Rewarding Work. John Edwards believes that the way to grow our economy is to grow our middle class—help them save, invest, and create jobs. Edwards rejects George Bush's effort to cut taxes on the unearned wealth of the wealthy and shift the tax burden onto the work of the middle class.

It’s about taxes

Sen. Joe Lieberman believes high taxes on the middle class are bad and he wants to change it. Lieberman said that under his plan, a family of four in Berlin that makes a combined $50,000 a year would save $300 on their tax bill compared to current law. In contrast, Lieberman said that, if John Kerry gets his way, that same family would pay $300 more in taxes than they would under Lieberman -- the same as they'll pay under current law.

Howard Dean and Dick Gephardt would go even further, Lieberman said, forcing families to pay $2,000 more in taxes than they would under Lieberman's plan. That's equal to about 15 college credits, about two years of home heating oil, or a substantial portion of property taxes.

"I'm the only candidate who is stepping back and taking a fresh look at the whole system -- and presenting a fundamental tax reform plan," Lieberman said.

Lieberman disagrees with Clark

Sen. Joe Lieberman is staking out a different position from Wesley Clark on how to deal with terrorists. Clark has suggested shifting priorities to Afghanistan; Lieberman says the U.S. should keep its focus on Iraq. The Manchester Union Leader reports Lieberman was critical of Bush and remains a strong supporter of intervention:

“The best defense against terrorists is offense, and the offense is to know where they are, what they’re planning and strike against them before they strike against us,” Lieberman said.

Lieberman renewed his blame of President Bush for alienating America’s allies before the war in Iraq, forcing the U.S. military to shoulder most of the peacekeeping burden.

I have a plan

Wesley Clark, playing to the sympathies and fear of New Hampshire families of National Guard troops, criticized Bush for the call up of troops:

“This weekend, more than 500 members of three New Hampshire National Guard units received mobilization orders -- the largest mobilization of New Hampshire units since the end of World War II. This is one record we shouldn't try to break. Once again, the Administration shows it is moving in the wrong direction in Iraq… How can this Administration continue sending more American men and women to Iraq when they still don't have a plan to get our troops out?" said General Clark. "The White House cannot balance this war on the backs of our reservists and National Guard troops. We need a strategy to clean up the mess in Iraq. Mr. Bush does not have one. I do."

He has supporters

Senator Brian A. Joyce serving his fourth term in the Massachusetts Senate, representing the Norfolk, Bristol and Plymouth district, has endorsed Wesley Clark’s campaign.

Clark’s fumbling on Cuban embargo

The Miami Herald covers Wesley Clark’s Monday visit and his differing position on the Cuban embargo from those his opponents. He came just short of saying he would lift the embargo, but clearly would engage Cuba in some sort of commerce and exchange. The more revealing aspect was the follow-up -- with the campaign trying to clarify Clark’s position:

''If Gen. Clark wanted to play politics with this issue, it would have been very easy to do, but he chose not to do that,'' said James Rubin, a former State Department spokesman in the Clinton administration who is Clark's senior foreign policy advisor.

Clark's strategists add that the candidate feels no obligation to elaborate beyond broad themes to address specifics such as the controversial ''wet foot-dry foot'' immigration policy that allows Cubans to remain in the United States if they reach ground before being caught by the Coast Guard.

''He doesn't need to spell out his positions on everything just to show people that he's thought through foreign policy issues,'' Rubin said. ``If you're someone else who's never dealt with foreign affairs, you might feel you need to show people your full-throated view.''

Willie Nelson concert

Willie Nelson and The Dave Matthews Band’s outspoken guitar player Tim Reynolds will host a concert for Rep. Dennis Kucinich at one of America’s classic live music venues -- the Austin Music Hall -- on January 3. The release states,

Willie Nelson’s support of Dennis Kucinich’s campaign has been exceptional. In addition to committing to concerts of this type, Willie has done several radio ads in the early caucus state, Iowa, for the congressman. Says Nelson “I am endorsing Dennis Kucinich for President because he stands up for heartland Americans who are too often overlooked and unheard. He has done that his whole political career. Big corporations are well represented in Washington, but Dennis Kucinich is a rare Congressman of conscience and bravery that fights for the underrepresented much like the late Senator Paul Wellstone. Dennis champions individual privacy, safe food laws and family farmers. A Kucinich Administration will put the interests of America's family farmers, consumers and environment above the greed of industrial agribusiness. I normally do not get too heavily involved in politics, but this is more about getting involved with America than with politics. I encourage people to learn more about Dennis Kucinich at http://www.kucinich.us and I will be doing all I can to raise his profile with voters.”

Moving on

Iowa and New Hampshire are not over and campaigns are already moving their eye toward the Feb. 3rd Primary round. Candidates are opening offices, hiring staff, collecting endorsements and buying television ads. The Super Seven states are: Arizona, Delaware, Missouri, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Carolina.

These states are known as the super seven because of the exponential money, effort and skill that is required to fight state-by-state primaries in seven states. That, coupled with the fact that many campaigns surviving Iowa and New Hampshire are left broken and out of the race. The maximum number of candidates remaining in the race after Feb 3rd will be three. Around 200 delegates will be awarded of the 2,159 delegates needed to win the nomination.

Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri, in a make-or-break duel with Dean in Iowa, will air his first South Carolina ads within the week, and plans to eventually buy TV time in Oklahoma. Clark and Gephardt have staff in six of the seven states -- more than any other rival.

Dean’s advantage is the success of his fundraising. He is expected to raise $10 million this quarter. According to a survey conducted by the Associated Press, Dean has more paid staff than his rivals in Arizona (11), New Mexico (nine) and Oklahoma (seven). He and Gephardt each have three staffers in North Dakota.

* ON THE BUSH BEAT:

We’re going to the Moon

The National Review has a story that indicates President Bush will announce a return to the Moon.

When President Bush delivers a speech recognizing the centenary of heavier-than-air-powered flight December 17, it is expected that he will proffer a bold vision of renewed space flight, with at its center a return to the moon, perhaps even establishment of a permanent presence there. If he does, it will mean that he has decided the United States should once again become a space-faring nation. For more than 30 years America's manned space program has limited itself to low Earth orbit; indeed, everyone under the age of 31 — more than 125 million Americans — was born since an American last set foot on the moon.

On July 20, 1989, President George H. W. Bush marked the 20th anniversary of the first Apollo moon landing with a speech at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington in which he called for a permanent American presence on the moon and, ultimately, a mission to Mars.

Bill signing

President Bush is scheduled to visit the Department of Agriculture and sign the Healthy Forest legislation. Judges would have to weigh the environmental consequences of inaction and the risk of fire in cases involving forest-thinning projects. Any court order blocking such projects would have to be reconsidered every 60 days.

The Associated Press reports this legislation has been stalled for years, and the compounding of forest fires over the years was the impetus for action.

For three years, a deadlock in the Senate had prevented the passage of legislation intended to speed forest treatment. But 15 raging fires driven by Santa Ana winds through Southern California prompted Democrats to compromise on the bill. The wildfires burned more than 750,000 acres, destroyed 3,640 homes, 33 businesses and 1,141 other structures.

Even after the California fires, 2003 was slightly below average in terms of acres burned and nowhere near the severity of the 2000 and 2002 fire seasons. In the past year, 3.8 million acres have burned across the country. Twenty-eight firefighters died battling the blazes, according to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation.

The bill — the first major forest management legislation in a quarter-century — is similar to Bush's "Healthy Forests Initiative," which he proposed while touring a charred forest in Oregon in August 2002. The measure streamlines the approval process for projects to cut excess trees out of thick, overgrown forests or stands of trees killed by insect infestation.

It is expected that Bush will sign the Medicare legislation on Monday.

Bush in steel country

President Bush was lobbied hard on steel tariffs while picking up $850,000 in Pennsylvania. The WTO is about to levy tariff sanctions against the U.S. if the tariffs are not withdrawn. The tariff duties, of up to 24 percent, are spread over 10 different steel product categories.

Reuters reports that protesters greeted the President, braving chilly weather:

Outside, protesters shouted "Don't cave in," and one carried a sign warning of the political stakes. "Betray us now, lose in 2004," one sign read.

AP also reported:

Pennsylvania's other Republican senator, Rick Santorum, told reporters he expected Bush to lift some of the tariffs, but not all of them "across the board."

NASCAR at the White House

President Bush was in the fast lane yesterday with NASCAR officials. The association brought their fast cars and parked them in the White House driveway. Reuters reported that Bush enjoyed the downhome event:

"NASCAR is one of the fastest growing sports in America today -- 75 million Americans now count themselves as fans," he said.

Of those NASCAR fans in his government, Bush said: "I see a lot of the Bubbas who work in my administration who have shown up."

NASCAR driver Matt Kenseth, the 2003 Winston Cup champion, was featured on the White House Web site, taking questions from online readers in the "Ask the White House" section, which typically features senior Bush administration officials.

Editorial comment

In the Sioux City Journal: “Our president took a huge risk, flew over to Iraq, met with the troops, served them Thanksgiving dinner, ate with them, took pictures, and talked with them, all to show he was thankful for what they had given up and what they were doing for the United States and the world. Yet today, all the Democrats can do is keep criticizing him over it and there was very little praise for him doing it. If there was, it was, "Oh it was nice, but ... (insert criticism)." I sure didn't see the Democrats leaving in the middle of the night, heading to a war zone to spend a very special day with the American troops! Thank you, Mr. President.” -- Brett A. Lyon

* NATIONAL:

Non-EU citizen of the year

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has received one of the strangest awards yet. He has been elected European Voice's annual ‘non-EU citizen of the year’ by Internet voting. The award goes to the individual outside of Europe who has the greatest influence on Europe. Rumsfeld was given the award due to the internal soul-searching Europe is now undergoing as a result of Rumsfeld’s ‘Old Europe, New Europe’ comment.

Grab and go

USA Today covers V. P. Dick Cheney’s fundraising efforts. It seems there is criticism of the way Cheney behaves:

A sampling of recent news coverage:

• "Cheney's lucrative visit comes at a cost to city," said a Nov. 19 headline in The Buffalo News.

• "Cheney visit raises $750,000, along with voices of protest," said the Nov. 25 Plain Dealer in Cleveland.

• "Cheney motorcade stalls traffic," said the Nov. 7 Denver Rocky Mountain News.

Since June, when Cheney launched a fundraising tour, he has made 32 stops in 21 states and the District of Columbia that have raised $12.9 million for the Bush-Cheney ticket. He also makes fundraising trips for other Republican candidates.

The story reports Cheney only does fund-raising events and does not combine them with other policy events, which leaves people feeling cold:

"It's a big deal when the vice president comes to town," says Michael Hasel-swerdt, a political scientist at Canisius College in Buffalo. "To do it in a purely mercenary way without giving something else invites other kinds of coverage."

Big spenders

Republicans are having a Nicene battle over the spending going on in Congress. The Hill covers the story from an interesting viewpoint:

Well-placed sources said Bush hung up on freshman Rep. Tom Feeney after Feeney said he couldn’t support the Medicare bill. The House passed it by only two votes after Hastert kept the roll-call vote open for an unprecedented stretch of nearly three hours in the middle of the night.

Feeney, a former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives whom many see as a rising star in the party, reportedly told Bush: “I came here to cut entitlements, not grow them.”

Sources said Bush shot back, “Me too, pal,” and hung up the phone.

Nader’s run

The fear for Democrats of another Ralph Nader Presidential candidacy have become a little more real according to an Associated Press story:

The Nader 2004 Presidential Exploratory Committee was formed in late October as part of the consumer activist’s effort to gauge support for a run, said Theresa Amato, a committee director.

"He is using it to test the waters," said Amato, who served as Nader’s national campaign manager when he ran for president on the Green Party ticket in 2000. She said the organization is part of Nader’s overall strategy of "talking to people, calling people, seeing what level of support there is."

The new committee also has a Web site under construction, www.naderexplore04.org, which Amato said would debut "very soon" and play a key role in raising money.

Hate Bush gathering

Drudge reports on the follow-up to Laurie David’s Bush hating gathering. It seems probable that ‘Hate Bush’ was not in the invitation, as previously reported by Drudge:

While drawing distance from the electronic invite [Laurie David claims the subject line of her email was altered], David, nevertheless, explained how "Hate Bush" served as a surprising rallying call to gather on the boulevards.

"Tonight's meeting was organized on behalf of Americans Coming Together and the Media Fund," David told the cameras.

"The piece that ran on the Drudge Report was completely inaccurate in the characterization of this meeting and was a total misrepresentation of what we are doing here tonight. In fact, tonight's meeting is a private gathering for friends and colleagues to learn more about what they can do to elect a Democratic president and Democrats across the country.

"But the real story is the enormous response we got from this community once word got out of this meeting. It's obvious there's a strong desire to change the national leadership of our country.

 

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