"I'm not going to come
before you ... and say what's fashionable in our
politics. That I'm a Washington outsider, that I
couldn't find the nation's capital on a map, that
railing against the system is good enough, that I
don't have decades of experience around the
world," said
Dick Gephardt.
"We can't win if we keep
lying," Howard
Dean said.
"Of course it's going to
have an effect,"
said Joe Trippi, Dean's campaign manager.
"Who can get hammered this long without it having
some effect?"
“He ]Dean] looked like a
deer caught in the headlights." --
comment about
Howard Dean during the Black and Brown Debate by
Jeff Bovee, 33, a professor of exercise science at
Central College and a Dean supporter.
"The issue here is this
candidate is not a Democrat,"
former New
Hampshire Gov. Jeanne Shaheen told reporters at
Kerry's campaign headquarters. "Wes Clark
is not a Democrat."
"I think a lot of couples
are like us, where they have two career-couples,
and both careers are very important to the
individuals,"
Dr. Steinberg, 50, wife of Howard Dean, said in an
interview this fall. "Each individual has
to do what works for her. What works best for me,
and what I'm best at, is being a doctor."
"'When he first became
governor, he acted like a doctor,'
says Jeanne
Keller, a health-care policy analyst who was
president of a statewide employer coalition on
health during most of Dean's tenure.
'Accept our word for it. We know the answer.' It
was like, 'Take this legislation and call me in
the morning.'"
“…Dean does sometimes
talk before he thinks and he stomps on his own
message. But some of the time, he does think and
what he says reflects thought -- but of the
unorthodox kind. He said something worthwhile
about Saddam Hussein's capture and something
reasonable about the Iowa caucuses. The truth is
supposed to make you free. In politics, it will
make you unemployed.”
-- writes
Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen.
"They didn't say much
about the war now, did they? They didn't say much
against No Child Left Behind either. Who was the
one who was willing to take on George Bush when
his popularity was at 70 percent?”
said Howard
Dean.
"The way to win is
through hard work, determination, and commitment,"
Minnesota
Timberwolves NBA player Fred Hoiberg said in a
statement. "These words describe John
Edwards' life."
"To the extent we blew up
Iraq, we have to undertake the rebuilding to the
extent we caused the deaths of innocent and
noncombatant women and children,"
Dennis Kucinich
said. "Those families ought to be paid
reparations.”
"Partisan Democrats have
a different perspective than the general
electorate, and more moderate people may not be
sympathetic to Dean's style,"
said McGrath, a
Central College professor. "Senator Kerry
perhaps could do better in that regard."
"If there was someone
with my views who’s out of the back of the pack,
maybe I’d support him,"
Carol Brown, of
Hampton Falls, NH said. "Dean’s no less
electable than any other candidate.”
"I'll have a cabinet that
looks like America when I'm president,"
said Wesley
Clark.
"Now I'm glad that Wes
Clark changed his party affiliation to become a
Democrat,"
former Governor Jeanne Shaheen said. "I'm
glad that he says he's seen the light. But I just
don't think that somebody who raised money for
Republicans, who praised George W. Bush after he
had begun his systematic reversal of President
Bill Clinton's policies and who as recently as
this past summer refused to rule out running for
president as a Republican should be the Democratic
nominee of the party."
"When it comes to Wes,
voters have to consider the fact that he has taken
six different positions on whether we should have
gone to war against Saddam Hussein,"
said Joe
Lieberman.
"I've always liked John
Kerry and we've always had a very good
relationship,"
Wesley Clark said. "I don't know what my
campaign's put out, but there's a statement saying
that he'd never attack me because he liked me. I
think that these attacks are old-style politics
that's all I can say about it."
Clark said Bush "misled
this country, I think when the American people
understand it -- they'll come to a boiling point
and throw him out. It's not just on the war... in
Iraq, it's on his lack of effort with the war on
terror. It's the money going back to the wealthy.
It's the stealth cuts in the environment. It's the
neglect of his duties as president of the United
States. He is not dutiful in the sense of
following through on what the president of the
United States should be doing."
Not long ago, a
politician who used the word "moral" was about to
talk about "permissiveness" and "cultural
decline." But the new "moral majority" being
forged on the campaign trail is built on a
yearning for community and a promise of social
justice. --
writes Washington Post columnist E. J. Dionne Jr.
Dean: a pin cushion no more
Howard Dean quit trying to be
Mr. Nice and said that he would no longer be a pin
cushion for his opponents, accusing the media and
his opponents of ganging up on him.
This
is what's been going on for two months and we're
not going to put up with it any more," he said.
"We've been attacked by everybody, including the
establishment news media, the establishment
candidates from Washington."
Dean used one of his familiar
anti-Washington lines on the stump as well.
"We need real change, and we
don't just need a change in presidents," Dean
said. "We need a change in Washington, and we're
not going to get it by electing someone from
Washington."
Dean even took on Sen. John
Edwards who recently was endorsed by Iowa’s
largest newspaper, The Des Moines Register.
Edwards is known for his positive campaign. Iowa
Sen. Tom Harkin praised Edwards during his
endorsement of Dean because Edwards is pulling
from those who would support Dick Gephardt.
"You go to Washington, you're a
Washington politician," Dean said referring to
Edwards.
Edwards responded in Storm Lake,
Iowa, telling reporters that if caucus-goers
wanted a candidate "who has been in politics for
nearly two decades and is good at sniping at other
Democrats, they have other choices, that's not
me."
Howard Dean first started in
politics in Vermont in 1983.
Dean, who was assailed by Al
Sharpton at the recent Brown & Black forum for his
record on civil rights, was obviously still shaken
by the experience:
“I'm
not the least bit ashamed or defensive about my
civil rights record. I was taken aback by the
Reverend's attack and I should have perhaps been a
little quicker on my feet," Dean told reporters.
The attacks and criticism of
Howard Dean continues to result in his supporters
sending more money to Dean. Campaign spokesman
David Carle said Monday that they collected about
$1 million last week. Campaign Manager Joe Trippi
sent out e-mails when The Club for Growth ran an
ad characterizing Dean's campaign as a
"tax-hiking, government-expanding, latte-drinking,
sushi-eating, Volvo-driving, New York
Times-reading, body-piercing, Hollywood-loving,
left-wing freak show." The e-mail was sent last
Wednesday after posting a message on its website
earlier in the day telling supporters about the
ad.
Dean, campaigning in Davenport,
brought up the Democrats’ new hero Secretary of
the Treasury Paul O’Neill’s comments. Dean stated
that the new book by O’Neill puts added pressure
on Democrats who voted for the resolution
authorizing war in Iraq to explain themselves.
Dean also stirred up his
opponents in a conference call back to New
Hampshire, according to New Hampshire Politics.com.
He once again used O’Neill’s comments on the War
in Iraq. In the call, he criticized his opponents
for supporting the war and said that he would
welcome congressional oversight of his
administration’s intelligence data. The expected
comments about ‘open up your records in Vermont’
followed. His accusations also evoked the
following statements:
“Sounds like a one-trick pony going back to his
one trick as he free-falls in the polls,” Kerry
spokesman Mark Kornblau said. “Howard Dean’s
built his candidacy demonizing Democrats who asked
the tough questions and acted responsibly on the
war, and he’s continuing to do so until the last
day.”
“The
only issue [Dean] really has here that’s propelled
his candidacy is the war,” Gephardt spokeswoman
Kathy Roeder said. “As he feels threatened in New
Hampshire, he’s returning to that red meat issue
that he can get voters really hot about by
politicizing the war. He doesn’t have a coherent
domestic agenda.”
“We’re
certainly flattered that the presumed frontrunner
in this race thinks we’re enough of a threat in
this race to attack us,” Clark spokesman Mo
Elleithee said. “But I’ve got a little secret for
Gov. Dean. If you repeat an untrue charge it still
doesn’t make it true. The bottom line is that Gen.
Clark has always been against the war.”
In a response to Sen. Tom
Harkin’s endorsement of Dean, Gephardt campaign
manager Steve Murphy said, “We haven’t seen much
impact, in the field or in the polling,” he told
reporters. He said labor is the base of Harkin’s
support network and labor is with Gephardt.
AFSCME President McEntee and
Martin Sheen, Rob Reiner and Kirsten Dunst
campaign on Gov. Dean's behalf in Iowa.
Rep. Gephardt speaks to the
Council on Foreign Relations this morning and
campaigns in Washington state this evening -- live
coverage in New York, affiliate coverage in
Washington. Gephardt is profiled tonight at 6:30
pm ET by ABC's "World News Tonight," as the latest
installment of its special series "Who is … "
Dean minority record defended
A member of Vermont’s black
community defended Howard Dean’s record of
recruiting minorities, according to the
Associated Press. Vaughn Carney, a lawyer and
executive with a financial services company stated
that he had been asked to serve in his
administration and to recommend other minority
possibilities:
"He
asked if I had an interest or if I knew of anyone
who had an interest," said Vaughn Carney, a lawyer
and executive with a financial services company.
"I myself was constrained by other commitments. I
wasn't aware of anyone who would be qualified or
would be available."
In other coverage not everyone
was complimentary of Dean…
"'In retrospect, most people
could easily have done better,' says Robert Appel,
executive director of the Vermont Human Rights
Commission. 'The opportunities were there to make
good on that vision.'"
Jason Riley calls Howard Dean
the "un-Clinton" when it comes to black voters —
coincidentally a significant part of the
Democratic Party base. Dean is trying, Riley
argues, but he doesn't understand what he needs in
order to accomplish what has to be done — do at
least as well among black voters as Al Gore did in
2000 — nine out of every 10 black votes.
Sharpton said that despite his
tough words for Dean on Sunday, he doesn't want
minority voters to refuse to cast votes for Dean
should he win the nomination.
Dean’s wife
The
NY Times profiles Howard Dean’s wife (Dr.
Judith Steinberg) and the beginning controversy
surrounding her lack of participation in the
campaign and in Howard’s life:
Some
Dean backers see Dr. Steinberg as a role model for
independent women balancing careers and children,
but others in the campaign increasingly regard her
absence as a potential liability for a candidate
who is known for his reluctance to discuss his
personal life or upbringing. Yet the topic is all
but off-limits with the candidate. Voters also
have begun to ask about a marriage in which the
partners are so often apart — she skipped Dr.
Dean's birthday-party fund-raiser, the
family-oriented Renaissance Weekend, even the
emotional repatriation ceremony of his brother's
remains in Hawaii.
Dean’s conversion not selling
The
Washington Times reports Howard Dean’s saying
he is going to talk about his religion has made a
lot of skeptics in South Carolina:
"A lot
of Democrats here are calling it his 'Road to
Columbia conversion,' " said one senior state
Democrat, referring to the state's capital city.
"I
don't think he's had any Damascus conversion,"
said Ike Williams, a veteran of South Carolina
politics and former head of the state branch of
the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People. "Dean is practicing the politics
of convenience."
Gephardt the funny man
Rep. Dick Gephardt did the top
ten on the Letterman show and was above average
for these Presidential wannabees who turn comedian
Wannabees in search of votes. In a parody of the
event, ABC’s The Note offered ten reasons
to not be in Iowa:
Top Ten Reasons to Not Be In Iowa Six Days
Before the Caucuses
10. You're giving a foreign
policy speech at the Council of Foreign Relations,
in which Bush is referred to thirteen times in
various disparaging ways but there is nary a
mention of any of your Democratic opponents.
9. You are doing some
much-needed fundraising in New York and Los
Angeles, where the votes may be few but the big
money is bigger than in areas where thousands of
jobs have moved to China.
8. You're feeling more confident
in your performance on the 19th, since one of your
staffers has concluded you are first on the
"second-choice list" of likely caucus-goers' and
Howard Dean is last — because he's polarizing.
Edwards is second on the second-choice list, since
few can find something really wrong with him and
Kerry is third.
7. You're in good hands with
labor coordinator Chuck Rocha and five presidents
of the major unions, who have endorsed you.
6. Howard Dean and John Edwards
are out-of-state, too.
5. You are receiving the nod
from former South Carolina governor Jim McNair
today.
4. You are running a national
campaign and must make your rounds to plan for
caucuses in Washington State on Feb. 7th and the
primary in Michigan, where Internet voting has
already begun.
3. Your new ads are going up in
Iowa and the expensive Boston markets that reach
southern New Hampshire, so you're covered.
2. You have surrogates pouring
in from around the country to campaign for you,
including eleven members of Congress who will
rally Iowans on your behalf. Also, your daughters
Chrissy and Kate, son Matt and your wife Jane will
all be in Iowa for the final push. Even "The Creek
Dippers," an unknown folk band found their calling
and arrived in Iowa to jump on your campaign
trail.
1. You got an NYPD escort and
sped through midtown Manhattan in rush hour
traffic to make the taping of The Late Show with
David Letterman on time, and that beats riding in
a mini-van on I-80 any day.
Gephardt criticizes recycled Cold War
Rep. Dick Gephardt speaking at
the Council on Foreign Relations said that Bush is
conducting foreign policy based on "bluster and
recycled Cold War taunts." According to the
Associated Press, Gephardt stressed his
experience:
"I'm
proud of my experience," said Gephardt, first
elected to Congress in 1976 and the leader of
House Democrats for eight years. "I think we could
use more of it, not less of it, in the White House
next year. And if you don't think seasoning and
experience matters, you should probably vote for
someone else."
It also reports that his
criticism was extended to Bush’s foreign policy
team:
"My
problem with the Bush foreign policy team and the
cold warriors they've brought out of
semiretirement to run it, is their overwhelming
arrogance and lack of appreciation for the
subtleties of democracy-building or
alliance-strengthening," he said.
In a question from the audience
at the event Gephardt said, "The greatest failing
of this administration is that they are doing
little to deal with the root causes of this
problem. This is a serious, long-term,
multi-layered problem."
In a reply that was aimed at
Howard Dean, Gephardt stated:
"I
don't apologize for that, and I'm not sorry Saddam
Hussein is gone," he said. "But the burden of
proof for a failed foreign policy does not rest
with those who supported it on good faith and with
America's security at heart."
IA Governor’s wife endorses Kerry
Sen. John Kerry had Iowa
Governor Tom Vilsack and his wife Christie as
guests at his home in Massachusetts. Kerry was a
gracious host and it paid off, according to
Christie -- it made a strong enough impression
that Christie endorsed the Senator.
Kerry invited her into a
discussion of policy matters he was having with
Gov. Tom Vilsack at the Kerry home in
Massachusetts. This left the impression he was a
strong advocate for women. Christie also sees
Kerry’s military service as a strong asset in
facing Bush
Kerry’s snowball fight
At the Mt. Pleasant, Iowa,
endorsement by Christie Vilsack, Sen. John Kerry
and the press got into a snowball fight. According
to
ABC News Kerry campaign reporter Ed O'Keefe,
it was the snowball fight of the year:
Driving off the porch, the 60-year-old Senator
quickly surveyed the scene and, without
hesitation, took the most aggressive tactic
possible, driving straight at his pen and pad-less
opponents. A daring move, mind you, as he
immediately faced hostile fire from ABC on the
right. Doing his best "Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon," Kerry jumped and with both legs in the
air managed to avoid what seemed to be an
inevitable hit.
Kerry
continued his counter-offensive, pointing his
right index finger at his intended target: David
Halbfinger of the New York Times.
Halbfinger fired a solid pitch; the Senator was
only glanced, slowed but not stopped, and thus
forcing Halbfinger's retreat into the neighbor's
yard. Picking up fresh arsenal from the Governor's
ice-soaked lawn, the Senator and the reporter
charged simultaneously, locking arms, before there
was a final peace.
Kerry & Kennedy
The
Washington Post reports on some private
conversations between Ted Kennedy and John Kerry:
Sen.
Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass) shared with reporters
what he described as a "private moment" with Sen.
John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) as he campaigned Saturday
in Iowa with the Democratic presidential
candidate.
"John,
did you ever think when you were a young man that
you would grow up to be a hero in Vietnam, get
elected to the United States Senate and be a
candidate for the presidency of the United States,
a winning candidate?" Kennedy said he asked Kerry.
"He
said, 'No -- boy, am I lucky,' " Kennedy
recounted. Then, Kennedy said, Kerry turned to him
and asked, "When you were young, did you ever
think that you would grow up to be the
uncle-in-law of an Austrian-bodybuilder Republican
governor of the state of Cauli-fooor-nia?"
"I
said, 'No, but aren't I lucky?' " Kennedy said.
Kerry: joined Carole King
John Kerry joined
singer-songwriter Carole King at a “Women for
Kerry” concert in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, at the
Paramount Theater. Carole King is spending the
week in Iowa talking to undecided caucus-goers to
rally support for Kerry. King is best known for
her songwriting success in the 1960’s and 1970’s
with hits like “I Feel the Earth Move” and “It’s
Too Late”.
Edwards endorsed
John Edwards' campaign in Iowa
announced today that State Treasurer Michael
Fitzgerald has endorsed Edwards for President.
Fitzgerald, who has served as state Treasurer
since his election 1982, is currently Iowa's
longest continuously serving statewide elected
official.
"I
have watched all the candidates closely, and
considered them carefully," Fitzgerald said. "It's
my judgment that John Edwards is the best choice
for Iowa and for the whole country. Edwards
understands the issues in Iowa and has laid out a
detailed plan of real solutions for how we address
the nation's problems. He has what it takes to win
against George Bush in 2004, and I hope Iowans
across the state will join me in standing up for
Edwards on caucus night."
The Edwards' campaign also
announced the endorsement of Linn County
Democratic Party Chair Joel Miller on Monday.
Miller is a resident of Robins and was recently
re-elected to his second term on the Robins City
Council. He has been chair of the Linn County
Democratic Party since 2000.
Edwards: Nation divided
Sen. John Edwards continued his
class warfare message while campaigning in Iowa.
His two America theme is running heavily in his TV
ads as well. The message is mixed with the
constant theme of Howard Dean’s anti-Washington
message. With Edwards, the code phrase is
‘Washington insiders.’
Edwards message in Sioux City,
Iowa, was that America is divided into two
countries -- one populated with those who have
easy access to anything they want, the other with
those who have to work hard for everything.
Edwards said the rich and the government insiders
shouldn't have a tax code, public school systems
or health care plans that are unavailable to
hard-working common people like those in Sioux
City.
"This democracy does not belong
to that crowd of insiders in Washington. It
belongs to you," he said to applause.
Clark: Bush failed Latin America
Wesley Clark statement
concerning President Bush’s trip to Mexico:
"President Bush's trip to Mexico highlights a
litany of broken promises to the Hemisphere.
During the 2000 campaign, President Bush said: 'I
will look south not as an afterthought, but as a
fundamental commitment' and 'Those who ignore
Latin America do not fully understand America
itself.'
It is
hard to imagine a more damning indictment of
President Bush's failed policy toward Mexico and
the rest of Latin America than his own words.
U.S.-Mexico relations were supposed to be the
crown jewel of the President's Latin America
policy. But the relationship sunk to such a low
level that President Bush refused to take
President Fox's calls for a long time.
The
U.S.-Mexico relationship suffered because of
President Bush's diplomatic failure on Iraq.
President Bush has been too busy punishing Mexico
for disagreeing with us on Iraq - the way most of
the world did - to promote a relationship that is
extremely important to the United States and to
the millions of Latinos in this country. This lack
of cooperation has paralyzed immigration reform.
At
this week's Monterrey Summit, attended by 34 heads
of government, the Administration has squandered
an opportunity to get its Hemispheric policy back
on track by failing to come up with a consensus
agenda that addresses the deep-seated crisis
facing most countries in the region.
The
deterioration of our relationship with Latin
America is symptomatic of an administration that
doesn't treat its friends with respect, ignores
their concerns, and is then surprised when they
are not with us in a crunch."
Familiarity creates dislike
The Abenaki Nation at Missiquoi
has endorsed Wesley Clark. The tribe said that
their decision was as much a statement against
their former governor as for Clark. The tribe has
about 4,000 members in Vermont, about 2,000 in New
Hampshire and smaller numbers in Maine,
Massachusetts and Quebec.
Clark: the al-Qaida connection
In an October 2002 news
conference in which he endorsed a New Hampshire
Democrat for Congress, Clark said, "Certainly
there's a connection between Iraq and al-Qaida."
The Manchester Union Leader
reports that Wesley Clark is trying to explain why
he is so critical of the War in Iraq if he told
the candidate that there was a connection to al-Qaida:
"It
would be naive to think the Iraqi intelligence
agency never tracked anyone from al-Qaida, but
that's a far cry from saying there's any
relationship between Saddam Hussein and 9/11," he
said. "I've always said there's no relationship. I
was doing nothing but explaining a New York Times
front-page story of that day and discounting it."
Lieberman in Arizona
While Wesley Clark is spending
more time in New Hampshire, New Englander Sen.
Joe. Lieberman is where it is warm -- in Arizona.
He was offering his comprehensive health care
plan. Joe Lieberman pledged to strengthen
children's health care by giving all children
access the same kind of care that Members of
Congress receive from the moment they are born,
and creating a $150 billion center to speed the
development of cures for chronic diseases.
Also on his visit to Arizona,
Lieberman picked up a surprise endorsement from
Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik -- the top law
enforcement official in Arizona's second largest
county.
"Hubert Humphrey once said that you judge a
society by the way it treats people at the dawn of
life and at the twilight of life -- children and
seniors," Lieberman said. "If we judge leaders the
same way, George W. Bush has failed us."
"I've
got the practical and progressive plans to treat
our children right," he continued. "I'll give
every family the chance to enroll their newborn
babies in low-cost, high-quality health insurance.
Rich or poor. White or black or Latino. Boy or
girl."
Visiting Phoenix Children's
Hospital, Lieberman pointed out that last year
alone the population of uninsured Americans rose
by 2.4 million an increase equal to twice the
total population of New Hampshire. Among those are
9 million kids nationwide and 260,000 children in
Arizona alone.
Lieberman discussed "MediKids,"
which would cover children from birth until age
25, and would also be modeled on the federal
employees' health care system. Parents would
choose from a menu of private health care plans
that offer comprehensive care for reasonable
premiums and the government will keep costs down
by capping profits for insurance companies.
"When I'm President, newborn
babies won't go home just with a name and a birth
certificate," Lieberman said. "All American
children -- rich or poor -- will have health
insurance that stays with them from birth all the
way to age 25."
Under Lieberman's plan, there
would be no cost for the neediest families, and
middle class families will buy in at a sliding
scale. The plan will also create a new network of
school based health centers across the country to
bring care directly to students, and a $150
billion American Center for Cures, to speed the
development of cures for chronic diseases that
afflict children and adults.
Overall, the center will
identify promising new treatments and help
translate them into practical cures. It will work
with companies that need its assistance not with
large pharmaceutical companies that don't. The
Center will also help bring down bureaucratic
barriers to drug approval faced by small
companies, while maintaining safety.
According to independent
analysis by Kenneth Thorpe, a health care expert
at Emory University, Lieberman's plan would cover
more people at a lower cost per newly uninsured
American than any other plan in this race.
Also on his visit to Arizona
today, Lieberman met with Democratic activists at
the Rose Garden restaurant in Tucson, greeted
supporters at El Portal Restaurant in Phoenix, and
spoke at a Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration in
Scottsdale.
"Arizonans voting on February 3 have a choice,"
Lieberman said. "And we Democrats running to
replace George W. Bush have a choice, too. We can
try to match him pound for polarizing pound. Or we
can rescue our country from divisiveness, bring it
together again, and move it forward."
"That's the leadership I'm offering -- and have
been offering for 30 years," he continued. "I
believe there is a path of progress, hope and
opportunity. Following mainstream Democratic
values to build on our shared values and put
America first."
Kucinich in Iowa
Dennis Kucinich campaigned in
Des Moines calling for America to pay war
reparations to Iraq and get the U.N. in and the U.
S. out. He also touched on two of his constant
themes of globalization and gay marriages.
"It's
not about nations anymore. It's about global
corporations making money by moving jobs out of
the country into countries where wages are low,"
he said. "They make money by paying people less
and make huge profits by doing that."
"America must protect the rights of all,
regardless of race, color, creed or sexual
orientation," he said. "If two people love each
other and they want to get married, they should be
able to do that without society rejecting them."
Kucinich in D.C.
In the final days before the DC
primary, the local Kucinich for President
Campaign, DC for Dennis, has put forth a unique
approach to electoral politics in seeking the
votes of DC voters. Using a Hip Hop street team
combined with traditional local campaign
volunteers, the campaign has distributed 35,000
pieces of literature, knocked on doors, made phone
calls to registered voters, and raised visibility
for the their candidate by posting signs and
posters throughout the District. The Hip Hop
street team distributed literature at local Hip
Hop clubs and poetry sets; talking up Kucinich to
partygoers and poets, while other local Kucinich
supporters worked on getting out the votes in
local farmers' markets, churches, favorite
neighborhood hang-out spots, and various metro
stops in targeted locations. The residents of the
District of Columbia will also be receiving a
phone call today from actor/UN Peace Messenger,
Danny Glover, asking them to vote for Dennis
Kucinich in today’s primary.
"In a primary where it's not
receiving a lot of national attention, we are
trying to use innovative ways of getting out the
votes not only to raise awareness for our
candidate, but to also support a primary that is
trying to bring awareness to the fact that
residents of DC lack representation in Congress,"
said Yu-Lan Tu, the DC/MD State Coordinator for
the Dennis Kucinich for President Campaign.
On January 9th, 2004,
Congressman Dennis Kucinich announced that he will
be introducing legislation to obtain DC Statehood
once Congress reconvenes for the 108th Session.
This announcement has brought in praises and
support from local DC statehood activist and
elected officials. DC Shadow Senator Paul Strauss
said, "I am elated with Congressman Kucinich and
his team for making such a significant step on the
behalf of DC and its residents." Sean Tenner,
Executive Director of DC Democracy Fund states,
"Congressman Kucinich has shown that he is a great
friend of the District of Columbia. He deserves
the gratitude of every disenfranchised resident of
DC for working to end our unequal status."
Mr. Clean goofed
Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich, Ohio
Democrat, violated House ethics rules in his
campaign for the presidential nomination, Roll
Call reports. The newspaper said Mr. Kucinich's
campaign failed to abide by House regulations
forbidding a member's campaign from immediately
publicizing material released by his congressional
office. The rules are designed to prevent a member
of Congress from using government resources to
help his political campaign. More than three-dozen
press statements issued by Mr. Kucinich's House
office, the newspaper said, immediately were
placed on his campaign website.
Soros: gunning for Bush
Billionaire George Soros called
on Americans to reject President Bush in the polls
next election and he is putting his money where
his mouth is. Soros made the comments during the
launch of his new book, "The Bubble of American
Supremacy," much of which is devoted to lambasting
U.S. foreign policy under Mr. Bush.
Reuters reports that the Democrats are likely
to outspend Bush despite his war chest:
Bush
has raised more than $130 million in campaign
funds toward a goal of at least $170 million. But
even with the large war chest and a big advantage
in fund-raising over Democratic candidates, the
Bush campaign says it could be outspent because
Soros and others will spend up to $400 million on
issue advertisements.
Soros
said the invasion of Iraq was an example of the
"Bush doctrine" which he charges entails
pre-emptive military action and lack of tolerance
for military rivals, suggesting two levels of
national sovereignty in which the U.S. is "exempt"
from constraints of international law.
"This
is reminiscent of George Orwell's famous book
Animal Farm in which all animals are equal but
some animals are more equal than others," said
Soros, a Hungarian-born American.
"If we
re-elect Bush in 2004 we endorse the Bush doctrine
and we will have to live with the consequences,"
he added.
FYI…
Today is the Washington D.C.
primary.
Interesting read…
The
Des Moines Register 's Laurie Mansfield
notes the charitable efforts of various campaigns
in Iowa.
Take backs
Former Treasury Secretary Paul
O’Neill said that he regretted some of what he
said about President Bush in his recently aired
interview with Diane Sawyer, according to Reuters:
Asked
about his comment that during Cabinet meetings
Bush was like "a blind man in a room full of deaf
people," O'Neill said he regretted some of the
language he used to describe his former boss.
"If I
could take it back, I would take it back. It has
become the controversial centerpiece."
Pressed whether he would vote for Bush in the
November presidential election, O'Neill said he
probably would, but he said the American people
needed to demand more of their leaders.
O’Neill on NBC’s Today Show said
that the documents he shared were provided to him
by the Treasury general counsel.
Going to the Moon
President Bush will ask for
international participation in his plan to resume
missions to the moon and to send human crews to
Mars within the next 20 years, a senior
administration source said. The decision means
foreign launch vehicles or spacecraft components
likely would play an important role in the space
effort. For more on the story go to The
Washington Times.
Canada can bid
President Bush informed Canada
that they can bid on American contracts to rebuild
Iraq according to the
Associated Press:
In a
breakfast meeting with new Canadian Prime Minister
Paul Martin, Bush said he had told Martin of the
shift in policy. Martin "understands the stakes"
in rebuilding a free and peaceful Iraq, Bush said.
It was
Bush's second fence-mending session in two days.
On Monday, Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox
put aside two years of differences and said they
see eye-to-eye about a new U.S. proposal to grant
legal status to millions of undocumented workers
in the United States, many of them Mexicans.
She’s back
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton
plans to focus this year on improving health care,
beginning with a proposal designed to modernize
the sharing of medical information nationwide.
Hillary is going to take a second run at reforming
American healthcare. This time it will be from the
floor of the Senate instead of the White House.
"Americans need a new, modern,
21st-century version of health care delivery,
based on the premise of information in the hands
of the right people at the right time," Hillary
said.
She wants new legislation that
would increase research on the quality and
effectiveness of care, and provide the public with
a standardized reporting system that would allow
patients to compare performance on hospitals and
other providers.
It seems standardized reporting
is okay in health care. Now, if it was just okay
in education…
MoveOn.org flexing its muscle
MoveOn.org held its gala banquet
in NY to announce the winner of their TV ad
contest. The winner portrayed images of children
toiling on a grocery line and in a tire factory
coupled with a simple line of text — "Guess who's
going to pay off President Bush's $1 trillion
deficit?" Charlie Fisher, 38, of Denver, Colorado
submitted the ad.
“I wanted to point out how the
Republican administration are big spenders, and
it's my children and your children who are going
to be footing the bill," Fisher said.
Fisher's ad and some of the
runners up will air nationally on CNN from
Saturday through next week, when President Bush
delivers his State of the Union address, said Eli
Pariser, MoveOn's campaigns director.
Soft Money
The
Washington Post reports on the Republican
National Committee plan to ask the Federal
Election Commission today to ban the raising of
$300 million or more in "soft money" by
pro-Democratic groups seeking to pay for voter
mobilization and TV ads in this year's elections
like MoveOn.org. Democrats have set up ‘527’
committees that take advantage of the 527 section
of the IRS code and have begun collecting
unlimited funds from individuals.
“It is
now incumbent upon the FEC to not sanction the
undermining and evasion of [the McCain-Feingold
law] through the activities of newly formed 527
organizations dedicated to electing or defeating
specific federal candidates," wrote RNC lawyer
Charles R. Spies.
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