“Whether it's economic
policy, national security or social issues, John
Kerry is out of
sync with most voters,''
Republican
National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie told an
audience of conservatives in suburban Washington,
D.C.
“Who would have guessed
it? Ted Kennedy is the conservative senator from
Massachusetts,''
said Ed Gillespie.
“He's been there, done
that and gotten a few holes in his T-shirt,''
said former Sen.
Max Cleland about Sen. John Kerry’s service
record.
"I thought he [Howard
Dean] did what he had to do to stop the
bloodletting and let the healing begin,"
said Donna
Brazile, a Democratic strategist who is not
affiliated with a campaign. "Now it's time
to recapture his fire, go out there and charm his
neighbors."
"That [confederate] flag
belongs in a museum,"
Clark, a former
NATO commander, told the crowd. "It is a
flag of the past. The American flag is our flag,
and that is the flag of the future.”
"It used to be Iowa and
New Hampshire and then a six-week break before the
next contest,"
DNC spokesman Tony Welch said. "It's a much
more diverse calendar this time."
“The New Hampshire
presidential primary's long history as the first
in the nation, and its tradition of town meetings
and candidate house parties, has always made it a
sort of sentimental favorite. But alas, its time
has passed.” --
writes the NY Times.
“We believe that the
Iranians have been actively and aggressively
pursuing an effort to develop nuclear weapons,"
Vice-President
Cheney said.
Kerry on the rise
Sen. John Kerry has the momentum
and is trying to look ahead. That may be why Sen.
Fritz Hollings (S. Carolina) was in New Hampshire
with Kerry. Hollings offered an ‘unwelcome’ to
Wesley Clark at a Veterans rally in New Hampshire
billed as a Band of Brothers:
``We're gonna teach that fellow in South Carolina
that there are more lieutenants, than generals,''
said Hollings in reference to Clark disparaging
Kerry as a junior officer earlier in the week.
Kerry is shown leading Howard
Dean in most polls by 12 to 15 percent. Kerry
reportedly has raised $1 million this week,
following his victory in Iowa. If that isn’t
enough proof of his front-runner status, then
Republican National Committee Chairman Ed
Gillespie’s attack on Kerry at the Conservative
Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington,
D.C. is.
Kerry also upstaged the Clark
campaign with the endorsement of Walter Mondale,
who said Kerry could do the job of President on
‘day one’ and had the character and integrity
needed. That was a far cry from Clark’s spokesman
Jamie Rubin (from the Clinton administration), who
just keeping singing the same old song about
Clark.
Kerry is embracing Sen. Ted
Kennedy and former New Hampshire Governor Jeanne
Shaheen, National Campaign Chair, to rally Granite
State voters in Nashua, Hampton and Somersworth
tomorrow. He also continues to receive
Congressional support from the Iowa momentum.
Howard Dean has long hoped that his money would
drain his opponents’ energy to compete and pay his
way in to the nomination. Now, both Sen. John
Edwards and Kerry are able to take Dean on in the
Feb. 3 rounds. Edwards still must win South
Carolina on Feb. 3 in order to knock Wesley Clark
down. However, Clark and his not ready yet for
prime time campaign is certain to help Edwards
out.
Former New Hampshire Gov. Jeanne
Shaheen sent an e-mail for Kerry, stating: "We
know that a strong showing in the New Hampshire
primary can provide essential momentum as the
presidential race intensifies, beginning with
contests on February 3rd in Missouri, Delaware,
Arizona, North Dakota, New Mexico, South Carolina,
and Oklahoma. Over the last 24 hours, I've talked
to our campaign organizers in many of those states
and they report that John Kerry's victory in Iowa
and the strength of our New Hampshire campaign are
creating waves of enthusiasm all across the
nation."
R. W. Apple of the
NY Times reports that Donald L. Fowler --
former chairman of the National Democrat Party --
has been worried Kerry would not put in a strong
effort in South Carolina on Feb. 3. He received a
call back from Mary Beth Cahill saying they are
definitely going South.
Expect a series of attacks on
Kerry’s record in the U.S. Senate, the NY Times
story reports:
For
example, at the end of the cold war, Mr. Kerry
advocated scaling back the Central Intelligence
Agency, but after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, he
complained about a lack of intelligence
capability. In the 1980's, he opposed the death
penalty for terrorists who killed Americans
abroad, but he now supports the death penalty for
terrorist acts. In the 1990's, he joined with
Republican colleagues to sponsor proposals to end
tenure for public school teachers and allow direct
grants to religion-based charities, measures that
many Democratic groups opposed. In 1997, he voted
to require elderly people with higher incomes to
pay a larger share of Medicare premiums.
Clark not ready for prime time
Wesley Clark’s campaign
continues to demonstrate that it’s helpful to have
a candidate who knows what they are supposed to do
and when. Clark has spent precious time continuing
to explain whether he was, or ever was, for the
war. He is also having trouble explaining how he
became a born-again Democrat after voting for
Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. It seems there
was no road to Damascus conversion. He just didn’t
want to be a lonely Republican… his words.
The Washington Post details
Clark’s basic plan is not working, and in fact
there may be no plan at all. Even Clark’s campaign
spokesman Matt Bennet is showing signs of the
campaign’s lack of direction and stability:
"Had
anyone considered that John Kerry would win?"
Bennett asked. "Kerry's got a lot of momentum
here."
Where was Bennet when Iowa Sen.
Tom Harkin warned Clark not to skip the Iowa
Caucuses because he might not be able to stop
Iowa’s momentum in a shortened nominating process?
The Post also covers Clark’s
ever-changing positions. Clark emphatically said
in an interview with the Times of London that he
would not restrict abortion in any way. Clark
emphasized no restrictions. Later this
week, he made a ‘clarifying’ (translation: change
of position) statement, according to the
Post:
But at
a news conference Thursday, the general embraced
some limitations. "I support Roe v. Wade as
modified by Casey," he said, referring to
two controlling Supreme Court decisions. "I am not
going to go into detail," he added when reporters
pressed for more.
Clark doesn’t seem to be able to
stand on his own in questioning. He even
challenged FoxNews Brit Hume’s integrity
concerning his Democrat credentials and poor
performance in the New Hampshire debate, according
to an
Associated Press story:
Brit
Hume of Fox News Channel, who worked as both
moderator and questioner during the two-hour
debate with the seven candidates, pressed Clark
about when he had first realized he was a
Democrat.
Clark
told reporters Friday, "I looked at who was asking
the questions, and I think that was part of the
Republican agenda in the debate."
Rally ‘round the Dean
Reports indicate Howard Dean has
become a disciplined candidate. In 72 hours, he
has been relentlessly on message, somewhat
charming, less aggressive and very much in the
zone for the first time in months. Reports
indicate that Dean is feeling confident again and
it is rubbing off on the crowds… or maybe the it’s
the crowds that are picking him up.
Every event on the Dean schedule
is packed -- more than 1,000 turned out in Keene
to hear him speak. The Deanies are online and
getting out their plastic (as in, credit cards) to
go even further in debt to support of their
candidate. It is reported that more people are
signing up for Dean at his website than in a long
time.
The
NY Times offers a look at Dean giving the
public his ultimate sales pitch:
"If
you just want to change presidents, go to the
polls on Tuesday and vote for whoever you want,"
Dr. Dean told about 100 people at the Lions Club
in Londonderry just after 8 a.m. "But if you
really want to change America, I ask for your
vote. I think we need somebody outside the
Washington game, somebody who just doesn't promise
everything, somebody who's actually balanced
budgets and delivered health care."
The Nashua
Telegraph Times offers a look at Dean’s
hopeful perspective on New Hampshire:
“Four
days is not a long time, but New Hampshire has
done some things before that are unusual and
different than what went on in Iowa. We’re out
there fighting, and New Hampshire likes a
fighter,’’ Dean said during a Telegraph interview
in his campaign van.
The Telegraph Times reports that
the Deanies are still blaming others for their
problems:
“What passes as news is beholden
to the corporate line as witnessed by the
relentless replaying and distortion of the pep
talk you gave the other night,’’ said Kathy
Johnson, a former physician and current computer
programmer.
The Dean campaign has pulled its
ads in the Feb 3rd round. The NY Times
reports they are still trying to figure out what
to do. Why don’t they put it to a vote?
The
campaign was still deliberating on Friday night
whether to show a new commercial, shot after Dr.
and Mrs. Dean sat for an interview with Diane
Sawyer on ABC.
Dr.
Dean's campaign officials said that in the new
spot Mrs. Dean would laud her husband as a doctor
and a father.
But
officials said that they might not want to alter
their current New Hampshire mix, which includes a
recently added spot that shows Dr. Dean meeting
last weekend with former President Jimmy Carter
and ends with a prolonged shot of Dr. Dean smiling
widely.
Or maybe if they just shout loud
and long enough the public will believe what they
believe… hey, didn’t Dean try that one already?
Edwards against Corporate America
Sen. John Edwards is following
in the footsteps of a long line of Presidential
contenders who have battled corporate America --
the most famous being Republican President
Theodore Roosevelt. Edwards has picked up the
pace, trying to forego the inevitable label of
“Trial Lawyer” and position himself as the
peoples’ champion against corporate America. The
Boston Globe reports on the scene in New
Hampshire:
Edwards has sung this tune before, standing before
average people and imploring them to do the right
thing, to make sure the wrongdoers are punished.
Now he's adapting the tactics that made him a
legend in the courtrooms of North Carolina to the
presidential campaign. He's approaching the New
Hampshire electorate as a giant jury, wooing it
with Southern charm and then insisting it make the
big corporations pay: He's become Bill Clinton
with vengeance.
Back in the state that he must
win, South Carolina, against Wesley Clark, Edwards
is having to play catch-up. Edwards spent a
disproportionate amount of time in Iowa, giving
Clark an advantage. However, the Charlotte
News Observer shows that his message can take
on a Southern flavor with a Yankee twist:
Edwards ticked off the number of unemployed, the
number of children without health care, the
growing poverty rate. He said that he would fight
for federal judges who would enforce civil rights
laws and that he backs affirmative action.
"I am
reminded of what John Kennedy said when he was
president," Edwards said. "He said, 'Here on
Earth, God's work must truly be our own.' Brothers
and sisters, we have important work to do in this
country."
Edwards also seems to be joining
those who want something approaching impeachment
proceedings against the President for misleading
Congress on the bill of particulars to go to war,
according to the
Reuters:
Asked
if he felt the Bush administration had misled
lawmakers when making its case for war, Edwards
said, "That's exactly why ... we need an
independent commission to get to the bottom of
this."
Force necessary
Vice President Dick Cheney
speaking in Davos, Switzerland said, “Free
nations, working together, must not shy from using
force if diplomacy cannot deter terrorism and
check the spread of the world's most dangerous
weapons.”
Cheney offered even more serious
reproaches to the European nations, according to
the
Associated Press:
"Europeans know that their great experiment in
building peace, unity and prosperity cannot
survive as a privileged enclave, surrounded on its
outskirts by breeding grounds of hatred and
fanaticism," Cheney said.
"The
days of looking the other way while despotic
regimes trample human rights, rob their nations'
wealth, and then excuse their failings by feeding
their people a steady diet of anti-Western hatred
are over."
Those independent women
British Prime Minister Tony
Blair is undergoing a bit of 10 Downing Street
dissension. It seems his wife is quoted in a new
book expressing a feeling that parallels most
Democrats. She feels that President Bush stole the
election, according to the Times of India:
She
believed Al Gore had been "robbed" of the
presidency and was hostile to the idea of her
husband "cozying" up to the new President.
Even
as they flew to Washington for their first meeting
with the presidential couple, Mrs. Blair was in no
mood to curry favour, the book stated.
The
book's disclosures of Mrs. Blair's forthright views
will cause embarrassment in Downing Street,
because of Blair's good working relations with
Bush, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office,
although they will not surprise officials or
ministers who know her well.
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