“Why is Howard Dean
talking about religion now after not talking about
it all these years? It’s kind of like Pete Rose
admitting that he lied after all these years.”
– an Iowa caucus
goer.
To Howard Dean
at a forum meeting, "Please tone down the
garbage, the mean-mouthing of tearing down your
neighbor and being so pompous,"
said Dale
Ungerer, a 66-year-old retiree from Hawkeye, Iowa.
"Tax relief has got this
economy going again, and tax relief will keep it
moving forward,"
President Bush said.
"I think it is going to
be very difficult for a person, in the
post-September 11th world, who has no foreign
policy experience, no national security
experience, no military experience, very difficult
to stand up against a wartime president,"
John Kerry said.
Joe Lieberman
said on Fox News Sunday that Dean was
"running to meet Bush's polarization with anger
and polarization of his own."
“I think Wes Clark bet
the farm on skipping the Iowa caucus,”
said Mark
Kornblau, Kerry’s New Hampshire press secretary.
“That was a risky gambit that netted him one more
point in New Hampshire in recent polls despite
spending most of the last month here.”
"People might not like
the fact that you're attacking Howard Dean,"
said Arthur
Sanders, a political science professor at Drake
University. "But it may affect how they
think about Howard Dean."
“Last time they issued
the alert, I think everybody thought they ought to
start looking around for somebody suspicious or
somebody that they rarely find, like a
compassionate conservative,”
said John Kerry.
“I haven’t looked at all
the issues associated with Saddam Hussein,’’
Wesley Clark
said. “I’m very glad that our soldiers
captured him and do believe he should be brought
to trial.’’
“I just don't think we
can beat George Bush if you've got many, many
different positions on important issues,"
Dick Gephardt
said.
Coming back to Iowa after
a long absence, I was struck, as I have been
before, by the extraordinarily conscientious way
that those few souls approach what they see as
their serious responsibility in starting the
process that leads, a year later, to the
inauguration of a president. They sort and weigh
personal attributes and policy positions, then do
it again, before finally deciding which hopeful
they will stand up to support.
-- writes David
Broder.
Howard Dean may end up as
a footnote in history, but he has already earned a
place in the dictionary as the illustration
accompanying the word smug. --
writes Charles
Krauthammer.
"The premise is that the
campaign can't stand having too many candidates
for too long a period, and I'm not sure that's
true," Jay
Rosen, chairman of New York University's
journalism department says. "Why does the
field have to narrow? The whole expectations game
is a product of this insider culture."
The push is on
Howard Dean was rescued by what
was called a tourniquet endorsement by Sen. Tom
Harkin. Dean’s numbers have been eroding under
withering attacks by his opponents. He has stemmed
that tide first with Bill Bradley’s endorsement
and now by the Iowa Democrat Godfather Tom Harkin.
Harkin and Al Gore campaigned in Iowa to bolster
the faithful and breathe life into the stalled
Dean campaign that had begun to show slippage in
Iowa, New Hampshire and nation wide.
“If we
are going to take our country back, we’re going to
have to take our political system out of
receivership,” Gore said. “We’ve got to take our
country back from the special interests.”
Harkin
said, “I’m going to spend the next nine days — day
and night — doing what I can to ensure that Howard
Dean wins the Iowa caucuses.”
Dean did take a side trip to
Illinois to stir up the AFSCME union there. Dean
addressed an Illinois convention of the American
Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees. Although the union is backing him
already, Dean said he must energize rank-and-file
members
Dick Gephardt is in a political
life or death struggle and has closed in on Dean’s
lead to within the margin of error in polls. Dean
leads Gephardt 25 percent to 23 percent, with Sen.
John Kerry at 14 percent and Sen. John Edwards
right behind at 13 percent, according to a
Reuters/MSNBC/Zogby poll. Gephardt continues to
predict he will win Iowa.
There is much in this campaign
that is now going under the radar screen of public
view. There will be a barrage of direct mail
hitting Iowa’s mailboxes in the coming days. Dean
has already sent out a direct mail piece
specifically against Kerry on the issue of
electability. The mailer references Kerry is
hurting in his home state of Massachusetts and if
his home state will not support him he can’t beat
Bush. The
NY Times reports on some of the mailings:
“Howard Dean Tried to Deny Supporting Republican
Medicare Cuts — But He Got Caught," blares one
glossy mailing from Representative Richard A.
Gephardt recently sent to voters. On its cover: a
clench-jawed Dr. Dean with the tabloid-style
headline "CAUGHT."
A
mailing from Dr. Dean says Senator John Kerry is
"Bad for Iowa Farmers." Mr. Gephardt and Mr.
Kerry, another mailing from Dr. Dean asserts, "are
running one-state campaigns" and stand no chance
against President Bush.
One of the aspects of mailings
are the targeting of audiences.. women of a
certain age on an issue… Catholic communities like
Dubuque, Carroll and Sioux City and farmers in
certain size counties as examples. This is the
time that a message is honed for a particular
audience and the opposition doesn’t know what is
happening and can’t respond in time.
One of the key factors besides
creating viable groups is the turnout aspect of
the campaign. There are really only two campaigns
-- Dean’s and Gephardt’s, that have full-blown
capabilities of identifying and turning out their
voters. Kerry has some capabilities but not even
close to the other two, and Edwards has the least
of the top four candidates.
Dean’s inability to beat George
Bush remains a key part of his opponents’ themes.
Both Kerry and Gephardt carried that theme on the
Sunday Talk shows and in their stump speeches as
well. Gephardt stresses political experience and
Kerry stresses foreign policy experience. Gephardt
pushes hard, saying voters will not elect Dean
over Bush because of his constant misstatements.
"They
look at who has steady hands, experience, doesn't
make mistaken statements every day that have to be
clarified the next day," Gephardt said.
Both Gephardt and Kerry came
short of saying that Dean could not beat Bush if
nominated and both said the reason they were
seeking the nomination was to beat Bush.
Kerry brought in the star power
of Sen. Edward Kennedy to campaign for him in
eastern Iowa. Kennedy was asked about the
differences between his and Kerry’s vote on the
war according to Reuters:
"If he
(Kerry) had been president we wouldn't be at war
in Iraq," Kennedy told reporters after addressing
a rally of a few hundred people organized by the
Kerry campaign.
Kerry also received the
endorsements of Iowa newspapers: the Quad City
Times in Davenport; The Iowa City Press Citizen;
and the Burlington Hawkeye. The
Quad City Times in endorsing Kerry said that
he was an extraordinary individual, but most
important of all he listens:
He
ponders questions, asks follow-ups and answers
thoughtfully. He appears to be continually
learning, whether it is the kite-surfing he took
up a couple years ago, the guitar lessons he has
put on hold during this campaign, or asking our
opinion on Mississippi River lock expansion.
Kerry could be facing trouble
from John Edwards campaign, which is only a few
percentage behind Kerry in the latest poll.
Edwards received the Iowa’s largest newspaper’s --
the Des Moines Register -- endorsement. The paper
said it was his time. Edwards has been plagued by
questions of being too young. The Register said in
the editorial:
John
Edwards is one of those rare, naturally gifted
politicians who doesn't need a long record of
public service to inspire confidence in his
abilities. His life has been one of accomplishing
the unexpected, amid flashes of brilliance.
Edwards is handicapped by not
having the money or organization Kerry has. This
tightening of the race makes not only first and
second a race, but it is shaping up that third and
fourth between Kerry and Edwards could be equally
exciting. This could ruin Kerry’s bump out of Iowa
and take him out of the race entirely.
Interestingly, Kerry could get
some help from from an unlikely source – Howard
Dean. There is a move to offer excess votes to
Kerry in the caucus to keep him alive to take
votes from Wesley Clark in New Hampshire.
Des Moines Register columnist David Yepsen
writes about it in his column:
There's talk in his campaign of trying to help
Kerry win second place here. The gambit goes like
this: Once Dean sees he has won the most delegates
at a caucus, any extra Dean supporters will be
shifted to Kerry's preference group to help Kerry
beat Gephardt for second. The idea is that an
unexpected second-place showing for Kerry in Iowa
would help boost Kerry against Wesley Clark for
second place in New Hampshire, and Clark is the
guy Dean fears most in the contests down South.
Meanwhile, Dean is renewing his
attacks on President Bush and Washington. Dean
slammed the President regarding his plan to come
up with a new space vehicle that could take
America to Mars. At one stop where he said the
President wanted to go to Mars a member of the
audience shouted at Dean, “ send him.” Dean
replied, "I have news for you. The president
already is on Mars. He has no connection to what's
going on in ordinary communities anywhere."
Dean also treated a Republican
who challenged him at an Oelwein, IA stop with his
much waited for public anger. The Republican rose
to ask that candidates quit the bashing of Bush.
"Please tone down the garbage, the mean-mouthing
of tearing down your neighbor and being so
pompous," said Dale Ungerer, a 66-year-old retiree
from Hawkeye.
Dean
began by calmly replying: "George Bush is not my
neighbor."
However, when Ungerer stood and tried to
interrupt, Dean shouted: "You sit down. You had
your say. Now I'm going to have my say."
Dean did just that by offering
his typical Bush bashing tirade that indicated his
Christian teachings weren’t about loving his
neighbor, according to Reuters:
"George Bush has done more to harm this county
right here with unfunded mandates, standing up for
corporations who take over the farmers' land,
making it impossible for middle class people to
make a real living, sending our kids to Iraq
without telling us the truth first about why they
went," Dean said.
"It's
not the time to put up any of this 'love thy
neighbor' stuff ... I love my neighbor, but I'll
tell you I want THAT neighbor back in Crawford,
Texas where he belongs."
After leaving the meeting Unger
was questioned by most of the reporters who had
been following Dean. "This is the president of the
United States," he said. "I don't think that's
being a good neighbor to ordinary working people."
In the end, it’s all about
delegates. It’s all about being in Boston in
late July and winning a majority of the 4,325
delegates to lead the Democrat party against Bush.
And the first votes in electing delegates to that
convention are cast on January 19 … in Iowa.
Black & Brown debate
Eight Democrats gathered for the
Black and Brown debate and Al Sharpton nailed
Howard Dean on the issue of race. Dean had made
the statement earlier in the campaign that he was
the only candidate talking about race to white
audiences. Sharpton challenged Dean on his record
of hiring minorities in top cabinet posts while
Governor of Vermont (Dean’s record reveals a great
big zero…). It resulted in a heated
exchange between the candidates:
"If
you want to lecture people on race, you ought to
have the background and track record," said
Sharpton.
"I
will take a back seat to no one in my commitment
to civil rights," Dean said, pointing out he had
the most endorsements from members of the black
and Hispanic congressional delegations.
"I
think you only need co-signers if your credit is
bad," Sharpton responded later when he had the
chance.
It didn’t stop with Sharpton and
Dean. Carol Moseley Braun took on Sharpton as
well.
“You
can always blow up a racial debate and make people
mad at each other. But I think it's time for us to
talk about, what are you going to do to bring
people together?" she said.
Sharpton referenced the fact of
Dean lecturing Democrats on race throughout the
campaign, adding: "I want him to be accountable
since he brought up race. That's not racial
hysteria; that is accountability."
Sen. John Kerry leveled some of
his harshest criticism at President Bush once
again making the case that the war on terrorism
isn’t a war but a police law enforcement effort:
“This
president is actually playing to the culture of
fear in our country. The war on terror is far less
of a military operation and far more of an
intelligence-gathering, law-enforcement
operation…. And in order to fight an effective war
on terror, we need unprecedented cooperation with
other countries. The very thing this
administration is the worst at is they push other
nations away from us.”
One of the more humorous lines
came when Rep. Dennis Kucinich was asked his
opinion about going to Mars as President Bush is
expected to suggest:
“You
know, first of all, I've been wondering why the
president would, while we're still in Iraq, talk
about gong to the moon and going to Mars. Maybe
he's looking for the weapons of mass destruction
still.”
Sen. Joe Lieberman fumbled in
this debate and was not up to the shorter time
frames of the debate format. He had a proposal to
ask all the other candidates to sign a letter to
President Bush to enforce the new voter law but he
couldn’t get his question out in time and looked
foolish.
Dean also had trouble with the
format – he wanted a ‘plant’ from the audience to
answer his question and was denied.
Clearly Edwards was the
candidate who gained the most from this final
debate -- if anyone did. However, with no one
breaking away from the pack or committing a
disastrous mistake, the candidates emerged from
the final debate still locked in a tight race to
the Iowa Caucuses finish next Monday night.
Education woes
The
NY Times reports Democrats are in a bind on
the No Child Left Behind program. Most of the
Democrats running have voted for the bill creating
the program:
The
centrist Democratic Leadership Council last week
warned that backing away from the act was
conceding leadership on education to Mr. Bush. "It
is wrong to subordinate Democratic principles to a
fanatical determination to oppose Bush 100 percent
of the time," it said in a statement, "even on
those rare occasions when he moves in the right
direction, however fecklessly."
Dean’s religious problems
Howard Dean continues to have
problems figuring out his religious inclinations.
He recently lost track of the books of the bible
as to whether Job was in the New Testament or not.
He then said that signing the gay union
legislation was guided by his religious belief
that God made gays. Now, he criticizes Bush for
using religion in making decisions, according to
the
Associated Press:
“I
think we ought to make scientific decisions, not
theological and theoretical decisions,” Dean told
voters at a town hall meeting. “I think that what
the President did on stem-cell research was based
on his religious beliefs and I think that is
wrong.”
Deanies don’t play with others
The Washington Post has a
lengthy story about how the Dean troops don’t come
out to play with the other campaign staff:
"I'm
sure they think they're starting a revolution,"
says one press secretary for a rival campaign.
"Just like when I was in college, and I used to
listen to Rage Against the Machine a lot, and I
thought I was starting a revolution, too."
Dean’s trade blockade
The
Washington Times covers the issue of Howard
Dean’s statement that he would save manufacturing
jobs:
Mr.
Lieberman's campaign has compiled government trade
statistics that show Mr. Dean's trade policies
would cost the United States $1.2 trillion and
more than 8 million jobs. It would end all trade
with Africa, Central and South America and most of
Asia.
"It's
absolute economic insanity," said David Littman,
chief economist at Comerica Bank in Detroit.
"People call him a doctor, but he's clearly not a
doctor in economics."
Dean on MTBE
Democratic presidential
candidate Governor Howard Dean, M.D., today
criticized the Bush administration for protecting
MTBE manufacturers and distributors from state
lawsuits aimed at getting money to fund clean-up
operations. Dean also reiterated his support for
New Hampshire's suit to ensure that polluters, not
taxpayers, pay for decontamination efforts.
Excerpts:
"Unfortunately, the citizens of New Hampshire have
a front-row seat for one of the worst examples of
the interests of corporate contributors being
placed over the public interest," Dean said. "For
over ten years, the oil and gas industry was aware
that MTBE was a problem affecting the very water
we drink, yet it looked the other way. Now rather
than being held accountable for the costs of
clean-up - which could reach $30 billion - the
Bush White House and Republican Congress are
rewarding the oil and gas industry with immunity
from lawsuits and $23 billion in tax breaks."
”Even
though oil and gas companies knew about the
dangers of MTBE for at least 10 years, they
continued to use the gasoline additive,
contributing to the contamination of 9,000 wells
in 31 states. In New Hampshire, MTBE is thought to
be seeping into the state's ground water supply,
which provides drinking water for 60% of the
state's residents. The energy bill contains a
provision to provide immunity from liability to
the oil and gas industry and the main
manufacturers of MTBE. It also contains $23
billion in tax breaks for the oil and gas
industry.
"Washington's politics are not working for the
people's interest," said Dean. "As President, I
will break the strangle-hold of the oil and gas
industry on our political process. That will
enable us to have a new energy economy that will
create jobs, protect the environment, and keep our
energy dollars at home, rather than sending them
to the Middle East. To that end, I propose that by
the year 2020, 20% of our energy come from new
energy sources, such as wind, solar, and
hydrogen."
Gephardt on Dean’s extremists
Rep. Dick Gephardt continued to
attack Howard Dean on his statement that the Iowa
Caucuses are filled with special interests and
extremists, even though he campaigned for Gephardt
in Iowa in 1988.
Gephardt said, "Howard Dean simply doesn't get it.
After campaigning for me in Iowa, he left the
state thinking that the process was controlled by
'special interests.' He met with caucus
participants and he said they represent 'the
extremes.' Who are these extremes? Now, as he's
trying to win here, he suddenly says that he never
meant it and never believed that.
"I
still haven't gotten a clear answer to who these
'special interests' are. Are they organized labor?
Farmers? Middle-class families? Senior citizens?"
Kerry: Dean’s hogwash
Sen. John Kerry’s campaign
issued the following statement on Dean’s undefined
plan to reform taxes:
Howard
Dean is going to raise taxes on America’s Middle
Class. His own policy advisors say that his plan
to balance the budget will squeeze $2300 a year
more out of middle class families. That’s what we
know.
Now
Dean is playing “Gotcha!” with the middle class by
claiming to have a tax plan but insisting on
keeping the details secret. Dean also hasn’t
explained how he will meet his pledge to balance
the budget in six years and fund all the new
spending he has proposed while on the stump.
Why is
there no plan? Because what he proposes is
impossible. Unless, of course, Dean proposes to
slash Medicare as he did in 1995.
“Howard Dean has redefined ‘hogwash’ as when you
openly oppose tax cuts for the middle class one
day and then promise a secret plan the next,”
said Stephanie Cutter, spokeswoman for the Kerry
Campaign. “Every
day that goes by without any plan from Howard Dean
leaves Americans wondering: What is Howard
Hiding?”
As
every day passes, voters in Iowa and New Hampshire
are left with a decision: To support a candidate
like John Kerry who considers middle class tax
relief a bedrock principle or a candidate like
Howard Dean has doesn’t have any idea what he
would do to provide middle class tax relief and
won’t until after eight states have already held
presidential primaries.
The
Dean campaign has kept Shoot-From-The-Hip-Howard
under wraps for days to keep him from revealing
anything about his plan. Now they are hiding his
policy people from him.
Is
this the kind of policy development we can expect
from a Dean White House? One where staff has veto
power over what Dean can say and where plans are
developed in secret and only after political
pressure breaks the back of their long-held
beliefs.
America’s middle class deserves better than to be
treated as an afterthought.
Clark’s vision
Wesley Clark presented his
20-year vision for America in a release:
"I
don't believe America's best days are behind us. I
believe America's best days lie ahead of us,"
Clark told the Manchester audience, packed with
students. "And that's why I'm running for
president - to build a better future, not just for
the next four years, or the next eight, but for
the next generation."
"I
believe in an America that leads by caring and
listening - in the America of the New Frontier,
the New Deal, the Marshall Plan, and the moon
shot," Clark said. "I believe in an America that
is determined to do good and dares to be great.
One that pushes the frontiers of human potential
in the sciences and education, in health and the
arts."
Clark's vision for the frontiers
of science and technology, human potential, human
understanding, and the human spirit, include:
* In 2024, every American could be able to carry
their genetic map in their pocket, making medical
treatment much easier.
* New energy sources like wind power could
electrify entire communities and hydrogen fuel
cells could drive most cars, slowing global
warming.
* We can create a world in which every individual
fully recognizes that our differences are our
greatest strength.
Clark: more time in NH
The Manchester
Union Leader reports Clark will be spending
more time in New Hampshire:
Retired Gen. Wesley Clark will try to cash in on
his current momentum by spending even more time in
New Hampshire in the closing weeks leading to the
Jan. 27 Presidential primary.
“We
feel the wind at our backs right now,” Mo
Elleithee, Clark’s New Hampshire communications
director, said yesterday. “We didn’t want to slow
down.”
Clark’s correction
Wesley Clark offered a
correction to his statement in a November debate.
Clark said the United States should look beyond
the software industry as it seeks to create new
jobs. “We want to be ahead of the software
revolution,” he said. “Let them do the software in
India; we’ll do other things in this country.”
Clark offered the following
correction:
“I
didn’t say it’s OK. I said that software jobs are
moving overseas, but we’re going to create more
jobs in America,” Clark answered. “We will always
retain our software industry here, we have to . .
. As long as I’m President, we’ll protect promote
and develop our software industry in our country.”
Clark endorsed by Earth Day founder
Sen. Gaylord Nelson, who
represented Wisconsin in the U.S. Senate from 1963
to 1981 and will long be remembered as the founder
of Earth Day, endorsed presidential candidate
Wesley Clark. Nelson said he believes Clark will
be a strong leader on the environment. "I've read
his environmental statement," Nelson said. "It's
very good, and I agree with it. Clark's
environmental position is spelled out very well
and it hits the important points."
Nelson, who like Clark was
awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Clinton,
said he felt good about Clark even before they
met. "Clark looks presidential," Nelson said,
citing the former General's calm demeanor and
forthrightness in recent television appearances.
"He handles the tough questions better than anyone
else."
"I am honored to receive the
endorsement of Gaylord Nelson, one of our
country's senior statesmen and most ardent
environmental champions," Clark said this
afternoon while campaigning in Northern Wisconsin,
where Nelson is from. "His exemplary life of
service to our society, and to our planet,
underscores the importance of learning about
ecology, respecting nature, and preventing
environmental degradation."
Nelson, who was born in Clear
Lake, Wisconsin, served in the state senate from
1949 to 1959. He was Wisconsin's governor from
1959 until 1962, when he was elected to the U.S.
Senate. As a senator, Nelson helped enact
President Johnson's Great Society program and was
an early opponent of the Vietnam War.
Nelson is one of the leading
environmentalists in Senate history. He introduced
the first legislation to ban DDT in 1965, and
founded Earth Day on April 22, 1970, in a
successful effort to focus attention on the
nation's deteriorating environment.
The United Nations has twice
recognized Nelson for his achievements, and the
state of Wisconsin named Madison's Gaylord Nelson
State Park after the Senator to honor his service.
In 1995, in recognition of his environmental
legacy, President Clinton awarded Nelson the Medal
of Freedom, the highest award given to civilians
in the United States.
Edwards ending poverty
Sen. John Edwards sounded the
themes of Lyndon Johnson and called for the
lifting of 10 million Americans from poverty:
"We
really live in two Americas: one America for the
powerful insiders and the privileged few, and
another America for everybody else," Edwards said.
"And no one on the outside suffers more than 35
million men, women, and children who live in
poverty. Millions work 40 hours a week, millions
more work less because they can't find a job, and
still the American dream is out of their reach.
They aren't looking to their government for a
handout, but some help up and out of despair and
into the middle class."
Edwards noted that 3 million
more Americans are living in poverty since
President Bush took office, including 1.2 million
children. Instead of offering help to these
Americans, President Bush has cut taxes for the
rich and provided big giveaways to his friends in
corporate America.
"I
believe that our country has a moral
responsibility to ensure that Americans who are
working hard and playing by the rules should never
live a life that fails to beat back history's
timeless enemies: hunger, despair, and poverty.
They should share in the same middle class
experience that I had growing up," Edwards said.
Focusing on America's core
values of work, savings, learning and
responsibility, Edwards' plan to lift 10 million
Americans out of poverty includes:
Work. Unlike President Bush, Edwards will
reward and encourage work by expanding the earned
income tax credit and the child credit for poor
workers. His proposals help both parents and
workers without children, and include relief from
the heavy marriage penalty that falls on the
working poor. These steps will offer as much as
$500 per year to millions of Americans earning
less than $15,000. Edwards will also increase the
minimum wage and will create new jobs in
struggling communities by offering billions of
dollars in new venture capital. Finally, Edwards
will guarantee free health care for every person
in poverty and offer generous subsidies for
lower-income Americans to purchase health care, so
that poor families will not have to worry about
losing their health care if they enter the
workforce.
Saving. Edwards will help poor families save
money for their future. He will offer millions
access to no-fee banking accounts, pass federal
legislation to stop abusive fees and penalties
from payday lenders and predatory lenders,
increase support for community development
financial institutions, and offer tax credits that
help poor families save or buy a home.
Education. Education is the great equalizer in
our society and the key to opening doors of
opportunity. To help adults reach their full
potential, Edwards will improve job-training
programs and expand support for adult literacy. He
will help children get ahead at every step of the
way by ending America's two school systems. He
will expand early childhood education
opportunities, invest in our teachers, create
quality afterschool programs, and expand access to
higher education.
Responsibility. Edwards believes that everyone
must do their share. He will support efforts to
ensure that fathers take responsibility for their
children, including vigorous child support
enforcement so that money paid by noncustodial
parents actually goes to the families in need.
Edwards also supports
responsibility from the government. He has paid
for every initiative he proposes, and today, he
offers two new measures that will raise revenue
and encourage responsibility in corporate America.
To make sure that corporate executives and
high-level insiders look out for the long-term, he
will eliminate the favored treatment of executive
compensation that is "pumped and dumped": stocks
and options will be taxed as ordinary income, not
capital gains, unless the executives have held
them for a substantial period. In addition,
Edwards will crack down on executive pension
abuses and tax as ordinary income all executive
perks.
"It
will not be easy, but creating lasting change
never is," Edwards said. "Poverty has kept too
many Americans down. It's kept this country from
reaching its full potential, and it is time for
you and me to make a difference and lift 10
million Americans out of poverty and into the
middle class."
Lieberman endorsed by independents
More than 275 Independent
voters, including former New Hampshire Attorney
General Greg Smith, today endorsed Joe Lieberman
for President. Smith will serve as co-chair of the
new "Independents for Joe" steering committee
along with John McCain's former Strafford County
Chair Leonard Arkerson. Smith -- a life-long
registered Independent -- served as Attorney
General in the Granite State from 1980 to 1984. He
is one of the few Independents ever selected for a
constitutional office in NH and the only one to
endorse a candidate in 2004.
"Joe
Lieberman puts principle before politics, and
that's why I am supporting him," said Smith. "I
have made it a practice to choose the best
candidate based on his or her qualifications and
record not on party affiliation. Joe Lieberman
offers a rare combination of intelligence and
integrity. He's a candidate who has demonstrated
courage and conviction in public office, and he is
guided by what is right rather than perceptions of
what would be popular."
"Joe
Lieberman is clearly the best candidate for
Independent-minded voters," said Arkerson. "Like
John McCain, Joe Lieberman is a straight-talker
and tells it like it is. He offers a strong, tough
foreign policy and a progressive domestic agenda.
He's the only one who can defeat George Bush in
November by appealing to Independents."
This
group of 280 Independents joins the already more
than 100 former McCain supporters for Lieberman
and represent more than 100 communities across the
state.
Kucinich on O’Neill
Kucinich released this statement
in response to former Treasury Secretary Paul
O'Neill's charges that President Bush entered
office in January 2001 intent on invading Iraq and
was in search of a way to go about it:
"These
revelations are not just about the past. The Bush
Administration is still with us. They manufactured
justifications for the war, and they are now
manufacturing justifications for continuing this
occupation. The war is not over, and the invention
of justifications for it is not over. Even
Democratic presidential candidates are joining in.
But the idea that we can stabilize Iraq and
develop a legitimate democracy prior to turning
control over to the United Nations is as
impossible to believe as were the claims about an
imminent threat from vast stockpiles of weapons of
mass destruction."
Kucinich campaigning in D.C.
Tuesday is Washington, D.C.’s
unauthorized primary and Dennis Kucinich is going
to be there. Democratic Presidential Candidate
Dennis Kucinich has announced that he will
introduce a bill in Congress when it returns to
session that will make Washington, D.C. the 51st
state.
"The
residents of our nation's capital are taxed but
have no voting power in Congress," Kucinich said.
"Members of the armed services and the National
Guard from Washington DC can be sent to fight in
wars that DC has no power to vote on.
"The
citizens of our nation's capital live, work, and
pay taxes in the United States, and are denied the
right even to use their tax dollars to lobby for
statehood. This injustice must be brought to the
nation's attention and swiftly remedied."
Kucinich will be aided by Danny
Glover in contacting DC voters on Monday. A
recording by Glover will be used on an automatic
dialer to phone DC voters and urge them to vote
for Kucinich in Tuesday's primary.
Sharpton going first class
Financial records for Al
Sharpton’s campaign show that he is going first
class and then some. Financial records filed
through September showed Sharpton's campaign
expenses included $7,343.20 for three nights at
the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles and
$3,264.11 for one night at the Mansion on Turtle
Creek in Dallas.
There is trouble
Former Treasury Secretary Paul
O'Neill proved on CBS’s show Sixty Minutes
why he should no longer be Treasury Secretary. He
responded in what can only be characterized as
incredulity and surprise that his comments about
President Bush where unflattering. Anyone that
naive should not be in high office.
O’Neill’s accounts of Bush have
conflicting aspects but the criticism is familiar
to the criticism leveled at President Ronald
Reagan, who everyone said was not engaged. A
belief that was later found to be untrue. What the
facts are here will take some time to find out.
However, O’Neill’s response to questions for the
authoring of a book, "The Price of Loyalty," will
add new fodder for the Democrats who have found no
lack of subjects to attack Bush on before now.
The firing of O’Neill some 13
months ago came when he would not support the
second round of tax cuts. O’Neill was reportedly
concerned about deficits taking funds away from
fixing the Social Security problems. It was Vice
President Dick Cheney who delivered the message to
O’Neill that he was fired. According to O’Neil,
during that meeting Cheney also chastised him:
"You
know, Paul, Reagan proved deficits don't matter,"
he said, according to excerpts. Cheney continued:
"We won the midterms (congressional elections).
This is our due."
O’Neill states that the Bush
Administration was working from ‘day one’ to oust
Saddam Hussein:
"From
the very beginning, there was a conviction that
Saddam Hussein was a bad person and that he needed
to go," Mr. O'Neill said in an interview with the
CBS program "60 Minutes."
The White House had Commerce
Secretary Don Evans out countering O’Neill on the
talk shows this weekend. Evans said,
"I know how he leads, I
know how he manages.... He drives the
meetings, tough questions, he likes dissent, he
likes to see debate."
Wesley Clark jumped on O’Neill’s
statements saying they prove what he has been
saying all along:
"When
he writes that the Bush administration is planning
and exchanging documents on how to go to war with
Iraq as soon as they took office, that just
confirms my worst suspicions about this
administration," Clark said.
There have been some fringe
Democrats calling for impeachment of the President
because we have not found WMD. With O’Neill, it is
likely there will be a great deal more of that.
Wesley Clark is calling on Congress to investigate
Bush, according to the Associated Press. This
could offer Democrats a much needed vehicle to get
their revenge for Bill Clinton’s impeachment.
"We
went to a war in Iraq - we didn't have to go to,"
Clark told a group of supporters. "I'm calling on
the Congress of the United States to fully
investigate exactly why this country went to a war
it didn't have to fight."
When Chief of Staff Donald Regan
wrote his book about President Reagan it was
devastating to the administration. It was only
after the fact that Reagan was vindicated from his
former employee’s charges that he wasn’t capable
of handling the complex issues facing the country.
The Democrats have a new friend
in Paul O’Neill.
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