IPW Daily Report, Thursday, Jan. 298, 2004

* QUOTABLE:

From the ‘Here’s another fine mess you’ve gotten us into’ category…

“I think we already look like Kool Aid Drinkers, who happened to get ripped off by our big brother Joe [Trippi]” – on the Dean weblog.

“…until we get some answers, I cannot keep pouring money into a bottomless pit, nor can I continue to ask people to work on the campaign when those of us who have been out carrying the water and getting people involved just got a painful kidney punch by.” – on the Dean weblog.

"I think you're going to see a leaner and meaner organization," Howard Dean. "It's not going to be a front-runner's campaign. It's going to be a long, long war of attrition.'

"I did not ask Joe to leave," Howard Dean said. "I hope he'll come back after he's thought this through a bit."

If your campaign is beset by money problems, management problems, and personnel problems, the best solution is probably not to seek advice from Al Gore.  -- writes ABC’s The Note.

From the Iraq War/WMD category…

"I have every belief that some of these weapons could be found as we move forward," Iraqi foreign minister Hoshiyar Zebari said , an Iraqi Kurd, told a news conference in Sofia. "They have been hidden in certain areas. The system of hiding was very sophisticated."

"When we see suffering, and tyranny, and starvation and brutalization this nation will act," President Bush said. "We've made some tough choices recently but all these choices are aimed at one thing, to make America more secure, the world more free, and the world more peaceful."

"Nobody will want to know better and more about what we found when we got to Iraq than this president and the administration," National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice said.

From the subtle and not-so-subtle snipes category…

"The test of running for the president is a long one and it's a tough one. I expect to compete with the same underdog mentality. I'm going to fight for every vote and I'll be at it every day, every minute," said John Kerry.

"I've traveled all over this state," Joe Lieberman said. "And every town I visit, every coffee shop I stop in, health care is the single greatest concern of middle class families. George W. Bush didn't create all these problems in the last three years -- but he has turned his back on them one by one."

"As we get closer to this decision, the pool of voters widens," said veteran political organizer Gloria A. Totten. "And everywhere I go, the number one driving force among progressives and Democrats is the anyone-but-Bush approach. It's just astounding the unity that exists among voters."

"We all make strategic decisions, but to write off regions of the country... and I think one was quoted as saying you can win without the South... I don't think is a wise and prudent way for the Democratic party to try and regain the White House, by insulting a whole region of the country, one. And two, you can't win without the South. Rather than dismiss people you ought to engage people, cause we can win the South. I just think we've been going at the wrong side of the South." said Al Sharpton.

Kerry told New Hampshire that he had seriously disadvantaged people: "I've been a prosecutor. I've sent people to jail for the rest of their life." He punctuated this manly indifference to syntax by noting that he is a gun owner who supported the 1996 welfare reform. It repealed the entitlement Aid to Families With Dependent Children. -- writes George Will.

"To the extent to which there is an establishment, it wants what the Democratic primary voters want: the strongest candidate in the fall," said Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana. "I think the consensus is that John will be a more formidable candidate than Howard."

"I think we understand the case people would make against John Kerry: a 20-year voting record that some would characterize as liberal," said Chris Gates, the Colorado Democratic chairman.

I once wrote that the only way a first lady could have her own job was if she were a brain surgeon. Only then could she leave the West Wing, open a cranium, and come home for dinner without incurring public criticism. Nobody would trash her clothes -- surgical green -- and her beeper could go off in the middle of a boring state dinner. (Is it too late for Judy Dean to change her specialty?)  -- writes Ellen Goodman.

* TODAY’S OFFERINGS:

Howard Dean:
*Pulls Ads from 7-State Primary *Reorganizing

John Kerry:
*Riding the Wave *Get ready *Botox?

John Edwards:
*Supports 9/11 investigation
*Boasts wide support *No reparations

Joe Lieberman:
*On the 9/11 Commission *O’Klahoma!

Dennis Kucinich:
*Promises hearing on WMDs

* CANDIDATES & CAUCUSES:

Dean pulls ads from Super 7 States

“I think we already look like Kool Aid Drinkers, who happened to get ripped off
by our big brother Joe [Trippi],” said a Deanie on the Dean Blog.

Stop the presses! It looks like there’s a bit more to the Dean Campaign than a change of regime. Accusations have been flying of a rift between Trippi and Dean concerning participation in all seven states in the Feb. 3^rd Super Primaries… Dean was for all seven, Trippi was not. Dean made it public that he would run in all seven.

End of discussion? Not by a long shot!

Landing the axe of discontent on Trippi’s neck, Dean demoted Trippi to a lesser position and anointed former Gore Camp Washington Lobbyist insider Roy Neel as the new CEO for the campaign. To which Trippi responded with a resounding, “I QUIT!” (formally announced as a resignation).

End of discussion? Not by a long shot!

The Dean Blog, long touted as the bulwark of the campaign, was already sniffing blood in their own waters. Yesterday the Deanies online were worrying about nasty no-money rumors… that the campaign has already spent $35 of the $40 million raised, with little to show for it AND a long way still to go.  Into that muddle of posted comments came the news that Trippi was gone, BUT well fatted by the $$$ commission Trippi’s own ad agency garnished doing all the TV ads for the campaign. Salted into that was revelation of Dean staffers being asked to take a two-week pay deferment. Thus, some reality slowly sunk in at the Dean blog.

To this group of already sore and testy (and broke) Deanies came today’s blow that the campaign has PULLED ADS OUT of the seven states in the Feb. 3^rd primaries. For a group that’s famous for their anger and denial thereof, even they could not spin their angst as “hope.” Pulling TV ads spelled D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R. And “mo-money” turned to “no-money”…

“WTF – we’re pulling out our ads in all seven states? Maybe there’s more to this money thing than we think…”

“Face it, the money’s gone. They had to pull the ads. Why do you think they asked staffers to take a 2 week pay deferment?”

“I think we already look like Kool Aid Drinkers, who happened to get ripped off by our big brother Joe [Trippi]”

Numerous Deanies decried the situation, posting demands for a full accounting of the facts from Dean Headquarters (in Burlington, Vermont):

“It seems the campaign has lost sight of the supporters who got them this far.”

“I have been on board for a few years now. The silence is deafening!! I am a prominent supporter in 2 special interest groups, and need answers to serious questions about this campaign.

1. How do I explain to supporters in the 2/3 states that all the work they did is now down the toilet because the campaign p!ssed away $40 MILLION DOLLARS and now can't compete? WE NEED TO KNOW THE TRUTH

2. Sounds more and more like Trippi set up a good deal for himself -- let's see -- 15% of $30 MILLION spent on advertising = a cool $4.5 MILLION for Trippi and his firm. And, Dean staffers are being asked to skip their paychecks??? And Trippi's firm still has the ad contract??? SOMETHING IS VERY, VERY WRONG HERE. WE NEED TO KNOW THE TRUTH

3. I hope the media reads the blog and runs with this since we are not getting answers from people who have them. People gave up their Christmas so money could go to this campaign, people made sacrifices for this campaign, people have given their lives to this campaign -- to have the money spent irresponsibly?? WE NEED TO KNOW THE TRUTH

But until we get some answers, I cannot keep pouring money into a bottomless pit, nor can I continue to ask people to work on the campaign when those of us who have been out carrying the water and getting people involved just got a painful kidney punch by

End of discussion? Not by a LONG shot…

Dean: Reorganize!

Roy Neel, a longtime aide to former Vice President Al Gore and an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at Vanderbilt University has been moved into heading the Howard Dean campaign. Dean campaign manager Joe Trippi resigned the campaign after Neel was brought in. Trippi left a short note on the Dean Blog urging the support of the cause. Dean made a statement to the press saying he hoped Trippi would return to the campaign.

“Howard Dean is the guy who is going to fight for the country for real change and [I] hope people stick with him," Trippi said as he left campaign headquarters with his wife, Kathy Lash, who also worked for Dean.

"If it hadn't been for Joe Trippi, we wouldn't be where we are," Dean said

From 1977 to 1994, Neel served in key roles in Al Gore's Washington operations, becoming Chief of Staff for Senator and later Vice President Gore. Prior to leaving the White House, he served as President Clinton's Deputy Chief of Staff, responsible for coordinating all policy and communications activities for the President. Neel also managed the Vice President's campaign in 1992 and was a central figure in the Clinton-Gore transition that followed that successful election.

During 2000, Neel was Director of Vice President Gore’s presidential transition planning. During the post-election challenge in Florida, he managed the transition efforts for Gore.

“He was replaced by Roy Neel, who to many epitomizes the type of Washington insider Dean rails against in every speech,” writes the USA today.

ABC’s The Note reports:

Several said they planned to quit. The fear of mass restructuring was so high early Wednesday that several junior to middle level campaign aides began to call reporters to ask them what they knew.

Others said they looked forward to a manager, Mr. Neel, who had a more easy temperament than the famously up-tempo Trippi.

Mr. Neel's largest and most pressing internal problem, according to other senior aides, is the budget.

Supporters are beginning to be shaken by Dean’s failure to win. Congressional support and Gore’s advice on his campaign are having increasing sway over the direction he is now taking. Dean has asked his staff to defer payment for two weeks.

"Success in the next 10 days is absolutely essential" for the campaign to remain competitive financially, and Dean knows it,” campaign spokesman Steve Grossman said.

"I think if he had knocked out these first two states you would have seen some of the regular Democratic donors moving in his direction, but I don't see that," said Harold Ickes, a former Clinton administration official now raising money for a Democratic-leaning political group. "He's fortunate that he's not relying on the big donors."

Dean scheduled a rally Thursday at Michigan State University, choosing to re-emerge after his New Hampshire loss in a state that doesn't even vote on Tuesday.

Again, ABC’s The Note reports that:

Despite published reports that the campaign has about $5 million on hand, ABC News has learned from several with access to the numbers that the actual figure is somewhat less than that.

"If we had $5 million in the bank, we would not be asked to defer our paychecks," one senior member of the staff said yesterday.

MSNBC’s The First Read reports on the internecine fighting that went on within the Dean Campaign:

Management isn’t, however, the only reason Trippi ultimately felt he had little choice but to resign. Since his hiring, he has been feuding subtly with Governor Dean’s longtime aide Kate O’Conner. Concerned with the details and always at the Governor’s side, O’Connor is a uniquely powerful arbiter of the campaign’s direction and aides noted she didn’t deal well with the chaos in Burlington. Indeed, it seems many of Dean original staffers didn’t and with Trippi’s resignation Dean’s longtime Vermont cohorts are now more firmly in charge, leaving questions as to how the campaign’s new CEO will fit in.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees political action committee has spent more than $1.6 million on get-out-the-vote drives and ads promoting Dean independent of his campaign. Their efforts are continuing in full support of Dean.

There were growing concerns about the quality of the television ads provided by Trippi’s firm who was exclusive in producing ads for Dean. The Boston Globe reported:

"Please hire a pro ad agency and use those millions we've given you to buy EFFECTIVE ads," wrote Bradford in Jacksonville, Fla. "The ones in Iowa and New Hampshire were wretched."

McMahon and Squier will continue to make ads for the campaign, but as part of a broader team, said one top adviser.

The place where Dean hopes to provide the win that Congressional supporters have told him he must achieve is in Wisconsin on Feb. 17. Dean will compete in all of the states hoping to achieve viability and the awarding of some of the 297 delegates that are up on Feb. 3. It takes a 15 percent viability threshold to win delegates.

There is only one way to secure the Democratic nomination for president and that is to secure 2,161 delegates to the Democratic National Convention.

The current delegate count is: Howard Dean 111; John Kerry 102; Dick Gephardt 44; John Edwards 37; Wesley Clark 30; Joe Lieberman 21; Carol Moseley Braun 3; Al Sharpton 3; and Dennis Kucinich 2.

Kerry is riding the wave

"All I was saying was if Al Gore had won New Hampshire [in 2000], he would have been president without a southern state," Sen. John Kerry said. "I am not saying that's the way to run."

"Florida will be the battleground state in the election," Florida Democrat Chairman Scott Maddox said, "and I think John Kerry can absolutely carry the state of Florida. The thing with Dean is he seems — his persona — is more liberal. I don't think he's as liberal as they make him out to be, but the question is could he shake the moniker."

Kerry is riding the wave of being the front-runner. He is beginning to clarify his statement on not having to win a Southern state and picking up important endorsements, as reported yesterday by IPW. It is the product of victory and a short schedule that takes us to the Super Seven States on Feb. 3 primaries and caucuses. Kerry’s front-runner status brings him greater scrutiny in media coverage. Consensus is that his record is worth scrutinizing, for it could prove to be his undoing. Normally, the press would be splashing this. But this is not a ‘normal’ week in the press -- Sunday is the Super Bowl, and top media coverage will be on it instead of politics, leaving Kerry nicely under the radar going into the Feb. 3^rd Big Seven Primaries. Kerry also benefits from Howard Dean’s campaign being in disarray and topping the media coverage; therefore, keeping questions about Kerry’s record out of the news.

Kerry still has skeptics. One prominent South Carolina Democrat when asked about Kerry’s statement that he could win the Presidency without winning in the South, said, “That’s crazy.” Kerry is the front-runner but he is not the presumptive nominee. There seems to be a lot of pressure from top Democrats to have the selection of the presumptive nominee happen very quickly. Dean’s being told by his Congressional supporters that he ‘needs a number-one win soon, or else,’ is an example of the wish by many to get this bloody process over.

The way it is

However, the week leading into the Feb. 3 Super Seven round of Presidential selection process shows very little possibility of an early end to the cacophony of sound coming from the Democrats. Lieberman is still walking around dead. Kucinich will never stop -- he may even be on a ticket with Ralph Nader. It is possible. Dean could still win. Wesley Clark doesn’t understand he has proven himself irrelevant. John Edwards is still the best campaign without money that the Democrats have.

Kerry is also benefiting in the shift of region and that makes his vote to go to war less salient. The Washington Post reports on the issue:

But with the primary battleground shifting to southern and western states where the war may be even less salient, it appears that the hatchet has been buried among the major candidates. And it was the voters who buried it.

"I think in their daily lives more Democrats are hurt by Bush's war on work than by his war in Iraq, and it should come as no surprise that pocketbook issues would rise to the fore," said Bruce Reed, president of the Democratic Leadership Council, a centrist group that has argued for more than a year that the party should not build its message on an antiwar foundation.

Get ready

National Republican Chairman Ed Gillespie has some questions about why we should trust Sen. John Kerry, "In 1984 he called for a freeze on testing, production and deployment of nuclear warheads, missiles, and other delivery systems. In 1985, he introduced a Comprehensive Nuclear Freeze Bill, and sponsored two amendments to freeze SDI-related nuclear development until the Soviet Union tested a nuclear weapon. In 1991, he acknowledged Saddam Hussein's possession of WMD, but voted against military action. In 1993, Sen. Kerry introduced a plan to: cut the number of Navy submarines and their crews; reduce the number of light infantry units in the Army down to one; reduce Air Force tactical fighter wings; terminate the Navy's coastal mine-hunting ship program; and force the retirement of no less than 60,000 members of the Armed Forces in one year... In 1995, Sen. Kerry voted to freeze Defense spending for 7 years, cutting over $34 billion from Defense."

Kerry’s Botox

The Howard Dean Blog is alive with the hopes that Sen. John Kerry has had wrinkle-erasing Botox injections – an accusation already denied by the Senator. Deanies think catching Kerry in a lie about using Botox would derail his candidacy.

Step One for the Deanies , though, is to first prove Kerry had the wrinkle-erasing injections. Well, The NY Daily News has a story featuring an M.D. confirming the Deanies’ hopes that Kerry has indeed received Botox injections.

Dr. Gerald Ember, an attending plastic surgeon at New York Presbyterian Hospital, agreed.

"The pictures ... show a marked absence of the horizontal lines of the forehead and wrinkles between the eyes. Only Botox or a forehead lift would do this," he said. "And I say good for him!"

Edwards supports 9-11 investigation

Siding with members of the independent bipartisan commission probing the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Senator John Edwards on Wednesday called on the White House to support giving the terror investigation more time.

"If we are serious about preventing another attack, then we need to be serious about this investigation," Senator Edwards said. "The American people have a right to know what went wrong on 9/11, but that wont happen until Congress and the Bush administration give the commission the time and evidence it needs."

Members of the commission voiced concerns that the current May 27 deadline would prevent the probe from being as thorough as possible. "We are telling the Congress and the president what we need to do the best possible job," said Thomas H. Kean, chairman of the panel. "Much work remains, and some hard work in finalizing our report."

Kean requested a deadline extension from Congress, but the idea has already met serious resistance by the White House and Republican leaders on Capitol Hill.

The work of the 10-member panel has been plagued by delays. For months the Bush administration has bogged down the panels inquiry by holding key documents and not committing to public testimony from numerous White House officials.

Senator Edwards supported creation of the commission and said last year that the deadline may need to be extended because of Bush administration foot-dragging on turning over information requested by the panel.

Edwards boasts of wide support

Sen. John Edwards website boasts of new support in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, N. Dakota, Michigan and Wisconsin Steel Workers and Missouri. Edwards is trying to show that he is viable in other states besides South Carolina, which he must win.

Edwards could read the Boston Globe to check in on the current rhetoric concerning the class warfare issue and read Robert Kuttner, who suggests that Democrats should continue the policy of ‘take from the rich and give to the poor.:’

There's nothing "antigrowth" about insisting on a progressive tax system or a public policy that balances drug company profits against the public's health. In the glory years of the post-World War II boom, well-to-do Americans lived nicely with higher tax rates, and corporations did just fine despite tougher regulation. That regulation saved capitalism from its own excesses. And Wall Street might have been spared the carnage of 2000-2001 if tougher financial, accounting, and securities regulations hadn't been gutted in the 1990s (with Lieberman cheering on the repeal).

Edwards says no reparations

Sen. John Edwards, who claims an affinity with Black voters, today in Ssouth Carolina said that he was not for “Slavery Reparations.”

I'm not for reparations. What I'm for is dealing with the root causes of the disparity," Edwards said in Greenville, South Carolina, where he was to debate the other Democratic presidential candidates on Thursday night.

Edwards will participate in the debate tonight on MSNBC.

Where they are today

Sens. Kerry and Edwards, Al Sharpton, and Rep. Kucinich are in South Carolina all day.

Gov. Dean is in Michigan this morning and South Carolina for the debate.

Wesley Clark and Senator Lieberman are in Oklahoma before heading to South Carolina.

Debate tonight with Tom Brokaw.

Lieberman on 9-11 Commission

Responding today to news reports that the Bush Administration is effectively blocking an effort to extend the deadline of the commission investigating the 9/11 attacks, Lieberman vowed to fight to extend the commission's deadline -- and proposed for the first time to create a permanent commission to fight terrorism. Lieberman joined John McCain as one of the original champions of the independent commission.

"There should be no expiration date on finding the truth about September 11," Lieberman said today. "The Bush Administration won't give the 9/11 commission the time it needs to finish its work. What is he hiding? Why would we not want to know everything we can to prevent another terrorist attack?"

"I worked with John McCain to create the commission and we will work tirelessly to give it all the time it needs. But we shouldn't stop there -- we should create a strong permanent commission on terrorism. Just when we think we have the problem under control, it could surprise us again."

According to today's New York Times, the 9/11 commission announced Tuesday that it would seek an extension of its deadline to complete its investigation -- but that the White House and Republicans in Congress have vowed to oppose the extension, fearing the release of a damaging report in the midst of Bush's reelection campaign.

O’Klahoma!

Senator Joe Lieberman campaigned in Oklahoma, hoping that the state’s more conservative Democrats could give him a win. He campaigned on the issue of health care.

Joe Lieberman said his health care plan would help Oklahoma families by moving the country toward universal access to affordable health insurance, reducing spiraling costs for families and businesses, improving the quality of care, and finding cures to chronic diseases.

"I've traveled all over this state," Lieberman said. "And every town I visit, every coffee shop I stop in, health care is the single greatest concern of middle class families. George W. Bush didn't create all these problems in the last three years -- but he has turned his back on them one by one."

Speaking today at the National Health Policy Council forum, Lieberman said his plan would fill provide affordable coverage to more than 31 million Americans who currently lack health insurance including every child in the country for a lower cost per person than any of his Democratic competitors. Lieberman said his plan would also guarantee that no one would lose their health care if they lose their job. And it would deploy smart new tools to prevent illness and make America healthier.

"I'm the only candidate who will cover all children from the moment they are born by giving them access to a menu of high-quality health insurance plans," Lieberman said. "I'm the only candidate with a bold ambition to find new cures to the diseases that afflict 100 million Americans."

Lieberman said that his plan stands out as the most cost-efficient in the field. An independent analysis by Dr. Ken Thorpe of Emory University said that his plan would spend less per newly insured person than anybody else in the race. Among other things, the Lieberman plan would:

·        Give all children the ability to get affordable health insurance the moment they are born, through an innovative new program called MediKids. This approach, first proposed by the nation's pediatricians, is modeled on the successful system for federal employees. It will offer comprehensive care, real choice, low premiums and substantial assistance to low-income families.

·        Create a national network of school-based health centers that would work in tandem with MediKids to provide today's busy families with easy access to quality care, preventative services, and health education. There are currently 1,500 such centers across the country, and the Lieberman plan would expand the presence of these facilities in the nation's 66,000 elementary schools particularly in rural and other high-need communities

·        Create a new streamlined purchasing pool called MediChoice -- to provide affordable health insurance to adults who are currently falling through the cracks: single moms, part-time and seasonal workers, small business employees, and the unemployed. Like MediKids, MediChoice will offer subsidies to low-income workers to make sure they can get coverage.

·        Deliver health care that's always there even if you lose your job. The Lieberman "KeepCare" initiative would provide a combination of tax credits, COBRA subsidies, extensions of employer-sponsored health insurance, and new choices to help workers who are laid off keep their coverage.

·        Reduce costs, cut waste and improve efficiency by adopting sensible malpractice reform, investing in new technologies, incentivizing new disease management practices, and sharing better information with consumers.

·        Improve patient care by rejuvenating our public health system, increasing investments in preventative services and health education, ending racial and gender disparities in treatment, and cutting medical errors, which kill upwards of 100,000 people a year, in half within five years.

·        Find cures to the diseases afflicting 100 million Americans. As he announced earlier this year, Lieberman will create an American Center for Cures, whose sole mission will be to translate the breathtaking research being done in labs across the country into lifesaving treatments for chronic illnesses. He also promises to rescind the regressive Bush restrictions on stem cell research on his first day in office.

Kucinich promises hearing on WMD

Rep. Dennis Kucinich today announced plans to create, as President, a full public inquiry into why the Bush Administration made the claims it did about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. He asked the other Democratic candidates to make the same commitment.

However, Kucinich went on to show transcripts of Sen. John Kerry and Howard Dean saying Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and that they might not be willing to investigate the way he would.

* ON THE BUSH BEAT:

WMD investigation

Reuters reports on the Bush administration trying to stave off new independent investigations concerning weapons of mass destruction used in calling for going to war against Iraq:

The administration sought to put the blame for any intelligence gaps on looters and former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, whom National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice said was so secretive that "he allowed the world to continue to wonder" what weapons he still had.

Rice told NBC that the intelligence community had already launched its own investigation -- "a kind of audit of what was known going in and what was found when they got there."

"The judgment is going to be the same: This is a dangerous man in a dangerous part of the world and it was time to do something about this threat," she said.

Are they angry?

Bush-Cheney 04 chief strategist Matt Dowd's latest memo, "Political Perspective Post-New Hampshire, writes about the results of Republicans voting in the Democrat New Hampshire Primary

"The notion that 'so many' Republicans voted in the Democratic primary this year, that their 'enthusiasm' on primary day showed how angry they are at President Bush and that this will 'spell trouble' in November is flat wrong. The facts from Tuesday's exit polls provide some objectivity: a higher percentage of Democrats voted in the Republican primary in 2000 (4%), than Republicans voted in the Democratic primary this year (3%). And in 2000, there was a seriously contested Democratic primary between Gore and Bradley to keep Democrats interested. More voters cast ballots in the relatively uncontested Republican primary this year than cast ballots in the uncontested Republican primary in 1984 when Reagan ran for re-election."

 

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