Iowa primary precinct caucus and caucuses news">
Iowa primary precinct caucus and caucuses news, reports
and information on 2004 Democrat and Republican candidates, campaigns
and issues
IOWA
DAILY REPORT Holding
the Democrats accountable today, tomorrow...forever.
Tuesday,
July 1, 2003
Quotes from the Front
“You
could argue that Tim Russert helped him. I
had e-mail messages from ‘Deanies’
denouncing Russert and talking about his
game of ‘gotcha.’ I think it helped
Dean. They saw a charter member of
the Beltway establishment belittling their
guy, and they started contributing…[
Dean’s fundraising surge] means
that Dean really is now target No.
1. If he thinks Russert was bad, wait
until he sees what some of these other
guys have in store for him.”
--
Larry Sabato, director of the Center for
Politics at the University of Virginia,
commenting on the Dean campaign’s
financial bonanza in yesterday’s Orlando
Sentinel
”As impressive as Howard Dean’s
fund-raising may be, he is still no George
W. Bush.”
–
From CNN transcript of Judy Woodruff’s
comments on “Inside Politics” program
yesterday concerning GWB’s Florida
fundraising exploits during final hours
before the FEC disclosure deadline.
Among the offerings in this morning’s update:
Boston
report -- GOP maverick McCain gives “nod”
to Kerry, says he’s not sure Dean can “play
with a broader electorate, the American
people”
In all due
respect to Dolly Parton, who believed that
real Americans worked 9-to-5, it appears the
Dem wannabes may soon drop from 9-to-4.
Numerous reports indicated that in addition
to the Bothersome Threesome (Kucinich,
Moseley Braun and Sharpton) the Inept Two –
Lieberman and Graham – may soon be eating
campaign trail dust. In the latest “Last
Man Standing” FEC competition, it appears
four – Dean, Edwards, Gephardt, Kerry
– are still standing. USA Today report says
Lieberman is in “most peril.”
Meanwhile, Graham aides – sounding
like Chicago Cubs’ fans – are saying wait
until the next FEC quarter
Beware of
Dean political overdosage today. It
appears that every media outlet – at least
those that focus on politics – have focused
on Dean over the past several news
cycles, for his campaign’s Internet
domination or his newfound fundraising
prowess or his escalating anti-Bush rhetoric
or all those reasons
Is it
possible to construct a perfect Dem wannabe?
The New York Times’ Nagourney gives it a try
Nader to
play Dem spoiler again in ’04? Greens report
he’s “leaning toward a run”
Orlando
report: Graham – relying on his “Bobcats”
– will be “lucky to report $3 million for
his second quarter of fundraising”
Also from
Orlando, Dean doubles dollar amount
raised during first quarter as Dems respond
to “people-powered Howard”
At Iowa
City law office, Elizabeth Edwards
says that GWB is counterfeit – “The most
selfish among us seem to be running our
government” – and that husband John can
appeal to broader voter constituency than
other Dems, such as Gephardt
Washington
Times’ Pierce highlights Wall Street Journal
editorial about Dean’s “partisan
furor” and “angry” political temperament
Dean’s
“adopting Iowans” campaign hits IA airwaves,
newspapers
Too good to
pass up: Lieberman today to be first to
open AZ campaign headquarters – a Phoenix
storefront behind Uncle Jed’s Cut Hut.
Chicago Tribune’s Zeleny reports that Latino
“vote up for grabs” and that Kucinich
“stirred awkward laughter” reading Spanish
passages. Sharpton says GWB “wrong in
English and Spanish”
Guv Vilsack
appoints 10 of 11 members to blue-ribbon
group that will spend $503 million to spur
the state’s economy. Eleventh to be
appointed next week All
these stories below and more.
(Editor’s Note: Because this is the Iowa
Pres Watch – with an unyielding
commitment to put a premium on the miscues
of the Dem wannabes – some regular Daily
Report features have been excluded this
morning to provide more extensive coverage
of the misadventures of the various
Democratic candidates. We will return –
unless the Dems are as inept tomorrow as
they’ve been during the past 24 hours – to
the standard format and regular programming
tomorrow. We apologize on behalf of the Dem
candidates for their overall ineptness that
required today’s format change.} Top Cartoons:
New Cartoon:
Morning
Updates:
… Central Iowa newscasts this morning say a
Des Moines middle school teacher –
Amy Felton, 25 – was one of two adults who
were arrested along with three juveniles on
weapons-related charges. Urbandale
authorities, indicating that gang activity
may have been involved, said Felton and four
others allegedly pointed a gun at a driver
of a car Saturday afternoon…The Daily Iowan
(University of Iowa) reports today that the
U. S. Army Corps of Engineers has approved a
plan to build the nation’s first summer camp
for Muslims north of Iowa City.
Developers were ordered, however, to scale
back the proposal for environmental
reasons.
… “How to
Build the Perfect Democratic Contender” –
New York Times online headline. The Times’
Adam Nagourney attempts the impossible –
creating the ideal Dem wannabe: a Frankenstein
candidate. Excerpts from Nagourney’s
report: “For despairing Democrats looking
for the perfect candidate to run against
President Bush next year, rest assured: he or
she is out there. Well, sort of. Yes, most
Americans in a recent New York Times/CBS News
poll could not name a single Democrat seeking
the presidential nomination, evidence that
this crew is not making a deep impression on
the national psyche. And, yes,
conversations with Democrats in Iowa and New
Hampshire, where people know something about
these things, are more likely to turn up an
unhappy accounting of candidates' shortfalls
than a celebration of their strengths. Yet
if all of the nine candidates have their
weaknesses, most bring a few strengths. As
that realization takes hold, it is not
uncommon to hear Democrats fantasize about
creating the Frankenstein candidate (though
some Democrats prefer the term Composite
Candidate) — picking among the strengths,
while leaving the weaknesses behind. ‘The
self-deprecating charm of Joe Lieberman
— you have got to start with that,’ said Anita
Dunn, a Democratic strategist. ‘And Bob
Graham's résumé. Al Sharpton's
one-liners! No one has better one-liners
than Al Sharpton. Howard Dean's
ability to excite activists and new people.’
Ronald A. Klain, a Democratic strategist and
senior aide to Al Gore in 2000, said this kind
of pining is common early in presidential
campaigns, when candidates are green and
unknown, and voters, especially in the
out-of-power party, are grumpy. ‘We go through
this every time — Oh, would there be a
candidate who had had F.D.R.'s vision and John
Kennedy's charisma, and all this other stuff,’
Mr. Klain said. So it is that John Edwards,
the North Carolina senator, may seem a little
too young and slight to be Leader of the Free
World; in White House circles, he is
mockingly known as the ‘Breck Girl.’ But it is
not hard to find Democrats who would like to
bottle his charm and personable campaign
style. John Kerry, the Massachusetts
senator, may not seem as if he would be happy
eating corndogs in the jostling crowd at the
State Fair in Des Moines. But leave the
congeniality to the résumé-challenged Mr.
Edwards: Mr. Kerry has a war record
that any candidate would love — two tours in
Vietnam that brought him a few medals, and a
tour back home leading the opposition to the
war.”
… “McCain gives nod to Kerry campaign” –
headline from yesterday’s Boston Herald.
The Herald’s Andrew Miga visited with McCain:
“GOP
maverick Sen. John McCain, whose breezy
straight-talking style ignited the 2000 White
House race, predicts Sen. John Kerry could
rekindle the same campaign magic this time
around.
‘He certainly can,’ McCain (R-Ariz.) said in a
telephone interview with the Herald from
Arizona. ‘He's smart, he's tough and he's
experienced. He has the capability.’
McCain, meanwhile, was skeptical that
upstart Democrat Howard Dean, who
considers himself the McCain of the 2004 race,
could ultimately show wide political appeal.
‘He is coming out of a kind of
antiestablishment role that clearly resonates
with some voters,’ said McCain. ‘But I
don't know if that can play with the broader
electorate, the American public.’
Dean's appeal to hard-core liberals has
undercut Kerry, particularly in New
Hampshire, the leadoff primary state that
Kerry can't afford to lose. McCain
defended Kerry from Dean's recent attacks
charging the Bay State senator lacks ‘courage’
on such issues as tax cuts, the war with Iraq
and education. ‘I do not believe that's a
fair criticism,’ said McCain. ‘Governor
Dean has spent some time apologizing to people
recently for some of the things he's said.’
Kerry and McCain, both decorated
Vietnam veterans, forged a friendship working
on the POW-MIA issue several years ago. Asked
if Kerry was the Democratic candidate
most closely resembling him, McCain demurred.
‘I don't know,’ he said. ‘He and I are very
good personal friends, so my objectivity is
probably skewed.’ McCain said he would not be
surprised if political foes and the press try
to pick apart or distort Kerry's combat
record. ‘Primaries are awful nasty,’
McCain said. ‘But I would be surprised if
there's anything in John Kerry's
military background that would hurt him.’ …Kerry
wants to borrow a page from the political
playbook of McCain, whose war-hero status
helped propel his underdog campaign in a
string of early presidential primary contests
against George Bush…While painfully aware
that Kerry lacks McCain's personal
charisma, the Kerry camp nonetheless is
modeling much of its primary campaign after
the Straight Talk Express, McCain's novel
presidential bid that featured guerrilla-style
tactics and populist rhetoric. Other
Democratic presidential hopefuls are also
scrambling to inherit McCain's campaign mantle.”
… Is this
really the political version of college
basketball’s the “Final Four” national
championship round? Numerous – and we do
mean numerous – media reports, talking heads
and conventional wisdom specialists speculate
that two senator-wannabes (Lieberman
and Graham) could soon be political
toast in the presidential derby because of
inadequate second-quarter financial showings.
There are lots of choices this morning, but at
Iowa Pres Watch we’ll go with excerpts form
Jill Lawrence’s report in yesterday’s USA
Today, primarily because she says Lieberman
is about to face a day of reckoning: “At
least one, former Vermont governor Howard
Dean, says he will report raising more than $6
million, which would propel him into the top
tier of the nine-person field. But other
hopefuls, notably Sen. Joe Lieberman of
Connecticut, could face a day of reckoning.
Tonight at midnight is the deadline for filing
reports on second quarter fundraising activity
to the Federal Election Commission. The
field probably won't shrink immediately as a
result of the filings, but the fundraising
totals will be a concrete measure of each
campaign's organizing and sales skills. That,
in turn, will influence where future donors
send checks. ‘It's likely money will flow
toward the candidates that have a stronger
showing,’ says Douglas Hattaway, a party
strategist based in Boston. ‘The writing
could be on the wall for those who don't fare
so well.’ … Three campaigns -- those of
Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich, former Illinois
senator Carol Moseley Braun and civil rights
activist Al Sharpton -- are fueled far more by
speeches and debate appearances than money.
The other six are in a different league, one
that involves consultants and staffs and media
buys and organizations in states across the
country. President Bush is setting the pace in
that league; he expects to raise up to $30
million by today's deadline. Analysts say
Lieberman, the 2000 vice presidential nominee,
is in the most peril. He was in fourth
place last quarter with about $3 million. That
was less than half the amounts raised by
fellow senators John Edwards of North
Carolina and John Kerry of
Massachusetts, and only slightly ahead of the
$2.6 million reported by the far lesser-known
Dean. Lieberman ‘ought to be
well ahead, given his status in the party,’
says Larry Sabato, director of the Center for
Politics at the University of Virginia in
Charlottesville. ‘If he doesn't do well for
the second quarter in a row, he's going to
hear comments suggesting that he should drop
out.’ Lieberman said in April that
he entered the race late, after Al Gore's
December decision not to run, so he shouldn't
be judged until the end of June. ‘We're
playing some catch-up,’ he said in an
interview this month, ‘but we're having a
significantly better second quarter than
first.’ Even so, he is expected to be
fourth or fifth. Another candidate with a
stiff second-quarter test is Sen. Bob Graham
of Florida, who also got a late start after
heart surgery early in the year. ‘Graham
has a lot to prove,’ Sabato says. ‘He'll have
to be in the top three to be taken seriously.’
Handicappers say it is more likely Graham
will be fifth or sixth. He raised just $1
million in the first quarter and, like
Lieberman, said his second-quarter numbers
would demonstrate his fundraising prowess.
But now Graham aides are saying he will come
into his own in the third and fourth quarters.
“
…”Spouse of
Dem hopeful slashes Bush’s policies” –
Headline from yesterday’s Daily Iowan
(University of Iowa), reporting on Elizabeth
Edwards’ weekend stop at an Iowa City
law firm. The report by the DI’s Annie Shuppy:
“The wife of a 2004 presidential hopeful
told local Democratic activists Sunday morning
that their party needs a candidate who can
reach out to voters in what she called one of
the most important elections in recent years.
Elizabeth Edwards, who is married to Sen. John
Edwards, D-N.C., criticized President
Bush's tax plan, adding that the country's tax
burden will be carried by working people. In
order to reverse what has happened under
Bush's presidency, she said, the Democratic
Party needs to win back seats in Congress as
well as the White House. ‘Bush is honoring
wealth; we're trying to honor the hard work
that brings wealth,’ she said to a crowd of
55, many of whom said they believe John
Edwards has a shot at the White House.
‘The most selfish among us seem to be running
our government.’ The 53-year-old, who met
her husband in law school at the University of
North Carolina-Chapel Hill, said that when
their family decided whether he should run,
there were a number of candidates they could
have supported - including Rep. Richard
Gephardt, D-Mo. - but realized that her
husband has the potential to connect with a
wide voter constituency. The distinction
between her husband and President Bush, she
said, is comparable to the difference between
a real dollar bill and a counterfeit one. ‘You
don't realize it's counterfeit until you lay
it down next to a real dollar bill,’ she said
during the event at the Larew Law Office, part
of her third visit to Iowa. ‘That's what we
need to do in this election.’”
… Kucinich may lose option to become Green
Party standard-bearer – looks like Ralph might
Dem dreams (again) with a 2004 run.
Headline from Washington Times report: “Greens
spurn Democrats, hope for another Nader run”
Excerpt from a Steve Miller weekend
report: “The Green Party is not likely to
sit on the sidelines for the presidential race
next year, a party official said this
week, fueling speculation that consumer
advocate Ralph Nader will once again
make a presidential bid. Meanwhile,
national Democrats have been in constant
contact with Green Party leaders, urging them
to cooperate by not running a candidate so
President Bush can be defeated in 2004. ‘It is
a very slim possibility that we will not run
somebody next year,’ said Sarah
Charlesworth, a member of the Green Party's
presidential exploratory committee. Mr.
Nader is ‘leaning toward a run,’ said Juscha
Robinson, who leads the party's Coordinated
Campaign Committee. ‘He has been in touch
with us for some time now,’ Miss Robinson
said. ‘We have an ongoing dialogue with him.’
The field of Democratic presidential
candidates is not strong enough at this point
to deter a Green Party candidate on the 2004
ticket, said Green Party spokesman Scott
McLarty. Mr. Nader, whom some Democrats blame
for Al Gore's loss to George W. Bush in 2000,
captured 3 percent of the vote that year.”
… From
Orlando, a dismal forecast for Graham’s
fundraising performance – maybe it’s too few
“Bobcats” raising too little money, but Bob
has been trying to fire them up. Excerpt
from yesterday’s article by the Sentinel’s
Mark Silva: “U.S. Sen. Bob Graham of
Florida will be lucky to report $3 million for
his second quarter of fund raising.
Graham, whose presidential campaign was
delayed by heart surgery Jan. 31, had just one
month to raise money during the first quarter
of the year, and he reported raising just more
than $1.1 million. In the past few days,
Graham has been conference-calling hundreds of
‘Bobcats,’ people who have pledged to each
raise $1,000 for him, to help close his
second quarter today at a respectable level.
He has more than 600 Bobcats. ‘It was Sen.
Graham reaching out to the Bobcats,’
campaign spokesman Jamal Simmons said Sunday.
‘He did one on Friday and one on Saturday,
looking to reach out to the Bobcats and give
them a little contact with the senator and get
them fired up. It was probably hundreds of
people on one of those open-line dial-in
deals.’”
… The Orlando
Sentinel – headline, “Fund raising may
drive Dean to front of primary race” –
joins the media crowd in frenzy of stories
about Dean’s surprising fundraising display
during the second quarter, especially
during the week since inadequate showing on
NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Excerpt from Mark
Silva’s coverage in yesterday’s Sentinel:
“Howard Dean, the former governor of
Vermont boasting of a grass-roots campaign for
president, will report raising $3 million in
the past week alone -- fueled by a sudden
surge of small Internet-driven donations. The
Democrat's fund raising for the second three
months of the year will surpass $6 million,
his campaign manager said Sunday. This will
double what Dean raised in the first quarter
of the year and should place him on a
financial par with his party's perceived
front-runners when the fund-raising quarter
closes today. ‘It's people-powered Howard,’
said Joe Trippi, Dean's campaign
manager. ‘I know of no precedent, at this
point in the summer, six months before the
primaries, to have this kind of surge,’ Trippi
said Sunday, sorting through another $200,000
of Internet donations…Of course, President
Bush will overshadow his Democratic rivals
when the campaign fund-raising quarter closes
tonight: The president is ready to raise more
than $3 million in one day alone, today in
Florida. Bush will arrive in Miami and
then fly to Tampa for two $2,000-per-ticket
receptions capping a two-week campaign launch
corralling up to $30 million for his
re-election bid. But in the Democratic
contest, the fund-raising feat that Dean
has performed will place new pressure on
more-established party leaders perceived for
months as the ones most likely to claim the
2004 Democratic nomination for president.
‘If this is true, then he is at a minimum the
co-front-runner,’ Larry Sabato, director of
the Center for Politics at the University of
Virginia, said Sunday. ‘No one has raised that
kind of money on the Internet before.’
Ironically, Dean's $3 million week -- $2.2
million alone coming from Internet-driven
donations of typically $100 or less --
followed what was widely viewed as a bad day
on NBC's Meet the Press. Host Tim Russert
pummeled Dean with questions that Dean
was sometimes unable to answer. The Internet
started buzzing that Sunday, Trippi says, and
on one day alone, Friday, Dean's campaign
collected $500,000 from Web-site-surfing
donors.”
… “Dean
Uses Internet In Iowa Campaign…Dean’s
Web Site Urges Supporters to Write Iowans”
– Headline from KCCI-TV (Des Moines).
Although Iowa Pres Watch had a related story,
including brief mention of the Iowa-oriented
Dean campaign project, Iowa media
outlets yesterday picked up the coverage.
Excerpt from KCCI online: “Democratic
presidential candidate Howard Dean is mounting
an online ‘adopting Iowans’ campaign to make
thousands of backers across the country a
force in Iowa's leadoff precinct caucuses.
The former Vermont governor already actively
uses the Internet in his campaign. Now, he's
posted a video on his campaign Web site asking
backers to use regularly scheduled monthly
‘meet-ups’ to each write two letters to
Iowans urging them to consider Dean's bid.
Campaign manager Joe Trippi said it's a chance
to get supporters involved in Iowa.”
… Lieberman opens AZ campaign headquarters
today. Chicago Tribune’s Zeleny expands on
weekend coverage of Latino confab.
Excerpts from yesterday’s Chicago Tribune –
under the headline, “Democrats targeting
Latino vote out West” – report by national
correspondent Jeff Zeleny: “The states of
Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico are
under the careful watch of Democrats these
days as party strategists begin punching their
calculators and sketching their road maps for
the 2004 presidential campaign. The four
Western states, often overlooked as mere
flyover territory by politicians en route from
Washington to California, may hold a trove of
voters that could benefit the Democratic
Party’s uphill quest to win back the White
House…Tuesday, Sen. Joseph Lieberman of
Connecticut will become the first of the
Democratic presidential candidates to open a
campaign headquarters in Arizona, in a
storefront office between Uncle Jed's Cut Hut
and a Coast Guard recruiting office in
downtown Phoenix. At the weekend forum,
Democratic hopefuls criticized Bush for
allowing the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks
to stand in the way of the immigration reform
that he pledged during his last
campaign…Howard Dean, the former governor
of Vermont, began his address to the National
Association of Latino Elected Officials in
Spanish. Sen. John Kerry of
Massachusetts peppered his remarks in Spanish.
And Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio read long
passages in Spanish, but his halting, slow
delivery stirred awkward laughter from some in
the audience. Finally, when it was Al
Sharpton's turn to address the crowd, he
admonished his fellow Democrats for pandering
to the Latino audience but failing to address
their issues of concern. ‘I remind you that
George Bush can speak Spanish,’ said Sharpton,
the New York civil rights activist. ‘But
he's wrong in English and Spanish.’ In the
Pew Hispanic Center poll conducted last year,
registered Latino voters ranked education as
the most important issue, followed by jobs and
the economy. Only 8 percent of the respondents
listed Social Security as the most important
issue, while 5 percent listed terrorism.
Rudolfo de la Garza, a political science
professor at Columbia University, said some
politicians mistakenly believe Latino voters
are interested in different issues than other
voting blocs. And even more candidates,
he said, mistakenly try to speak Spanish.
‘Most of those things are really cosmetic,’
said de la Garza, who has extensively studied
the Hispanic electorate. ‘Latinos have made it
clear for sometime now that they want you to
speak their language, but that could be in
English or Spanish.’ Despite surveys that
say Hispanics are likely to lean Democratic,
several party officials say the Latino
electorate is independent-minded, difficult to
categorize and almost certainly up for grabs.
No place more so, perhaps, than in New Mexico,
where Bush lost to Al Gore by only 366 votes.”
IOWA/NATIONAL
POLITICS: This
morning’s headlines:
Des Moines
Register, top front-page headline: “Palestinians
begin to take control… Renegades: Gunmen
kill foreigner…Bethlehem: Israelis discuss
turnover”
Quad-City
Times, main online stories: “Market ends
quarter up 14.9 percent” Bolstered by its
biggest quarterly gain in four and a half
years, the stock market closed out the first
half of 2003 up 10.8 percent, putting it on
track for its first up year since 1999. & “Tropical
storm soaks South”
Featured
heads, New York Times online: “Stocks End
Second Quarter With Best Gains Since 1998”
& “In a Momentous Term, Justices Remake the
Law, and the Court” Report says the
Supreme Court term that ended last week will
leave as big an imprint as any in recent
memory.
Daily Iowan
(University of Iowa) nation/world online
headlines: “Troops jail U-S.-backed Iraqi
mayor” & “Israel OKs returning
Bethlehem”
Top online
headlines, Sioux City Journal: “Iowa GOP
takes first step in veto challenge”
Republican lawmakers took the first step
yesterday toward legal action against Guv
Vilsack’s use of item-veto power to strike
down tax and regulatory reform measures. &
Iraq – “U. S.-appointed mayor of Najaf
arrested, removed”
Omaha
World-Herald online, nation/world headlines: “Israelis
to give up control of Bethlehem” & “Explosion
at mosque kills at least five Iraqis”
Chicago
Tribune, top online heads: “Allied forces
arrest Najaf mayor” & “City: Porch was
illegal” Chicago building commissioner
says the porch that collapsed killing 12 and
injuring more than 50 was built illegally
without a permit.
Iowa Briefs/Updates:
… KCCI-TV (Des
Moines) reported last evening that the
investigation continued into a 10-car
freight train wreck near Carroll in
western Iowa. The Union Pacific indicated
that the 93-car train was headed to Chicago
from North Platte, Neb. Nine of the 10
derailed cars were carrying pot ash with the
tenth hauling potatoes. No injuries, and no
hazardous waste materials were
involved…Several media outlets report that
Iowa City – where thoughts usually
center on winning Big Ten athletic
championships – has captured another
somewhat un-coveted title: Iowa’s parking
ticket capital. Records indicate that
Iowa City police wrote 201,711 tickets
last year – or more than three tickets for
every resident. That’s almost more parking
tickets than were written by officers in
Ames, Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, Council
Bluffs, Davenport, Dubuque, Sioux City
and Waterloo.
… From the
Iraqi Front: BBC News -- under the
headline, “Iraq cleric condemns US plans”
– reported: “Iraq's most senior Shia cleric
has issued a religious ruling, or fatwa,
opposing US plans to set up a council of
Iraqis to draft a new constitution.
Ayatollah Ali Sistani called for general
elections in the country to choose
representatives of the Iraqi people instead.
The US administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer,
plans to set up a new political council as the
next step towards a future Iraqi government.
But BBC regional analyst Sadeq Saba says
Ayatollah Sistani's ruling is a serious blow
to the American plans to establish a new Iraqi
government. Ayatollah Sistani is Iraq's
highest religious authority and his fatwas are
followed by many Shia Muslims, who are in the
majority in Iraq. The American forces in Iraq
have repeatedly praised him for his moderate
views as he believes in the separation of
religion and state and he rarely makes
political statements.”
… VOANews
(Voice of America) headline: “Pakistan
Diplomat Sets Up Office in India” Excerpts
from the VOA report: “For the first time in
over a year, a Pakistani diplomatic
representative to India is setting up office
in New Delhi. Pakistan's new high
commissioner to India, Aziz Ahmad Khan,
crossed over the tightly controlled land
border between the two nations Monday, en
route to his posting in New Delhi. The arrival
of Mr. Khan, a former foreign ministry
spokesman, marks the first permanent Pakistan
representative to India in over a year.
India is expected to reciprocate later this
month. The Indians cut ties over two years
ago following a terrorist bombing on their
Parliament, an attack which New Delhi says was
supported by the Pakistani intelligence
agency. Pakistan, which denies any involvement
in the bombing, responded by withdrawing its
representative some months later. The exchange
of envoys is the latest step in the two
countries' inch-by-inch movement toward peace,
after narrowly avoiding war last year.
India and Pakistan are also negotiating to
resume direct bus service, now slated to
reopen in late July or early August. Other
talks are planned to discuss renewing air
travel between the two countries.”
…
WHO Radio (Des Moines) reported
yesterday that Guv Vilsack has appointed a
group of labor and business leaders to oversee
spending of a $503 million fund designed to
spark the state's economy. The group will
play a key role in shaping the state's
economic development efforts for the next
seven years. Vilsack announced the panel
Monday at a news conference in West Des
Moines. During a special session, the
Legislature approved the fund to lure the
biotech industry and other companies to the
state. The measure doesn't spell out
details of how the money will be spent, but
calls for an 11-member board to oversee the
spending. Vilsack has named 10
members of the group. The final member will be
named later in the week. Appointed to the
panel yesterday: Mary Chapman, vice president
for Workforce Development and community
partnerships at Des Moines Area Community
College in Ankeny…Kathy Alden, CEO of
Creative Solutions Unlimited in Dougherty…Bonnie
Barney, of Integrated DNA Technologies in
Tiffin …Nancy Dunkel, Fidelity Bank and
Trust, Dyersville…Holmes Foster,
Clive business consultant…Gerald (Gary)
Kirke, West Des Moines
insurance executive…Craig Lang of Brooklyn,
president of the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation
…Marcia Nichols, a state union representative
from Johnston…Henry Royer, a retired
bank executive from Cedar Rapids…Toby
Shine, of Shine Brother Steel, in Milford. Today’s
editorials:
… Today’s
editorials, Des Moines Register: “Privatize
Medicare: A bad idea… Private options in
the past have cost taxpayers more, not less.”
& “A glimmer of Mideast hope…President
Bush will need to remain engaged until truce
turns to peace.”
… DSM 7 a.m. 70, mostly cloudy.
Temperatures at 7 a.m. ranged from 60 in
Mason City to 61 in Marshalltown,
Estherville and Audubon to 69 in
Burlington and 70 in Des Moines.
Highs today 88, partly sunny. Low tonight 65,
partly cloudy. Wednesday’s high 90, partly
sunny. Wednesday night’s low 68, partly
cloudy…Fourth of July: T-storms possible,
high 85, low 68. From WHO-TV’s Ed Wilson:
“There is going to be some very hot weather
moving in for the rest of the week. Sunshine
and highs near 90 the next three days. Then
the next chance for rain comes on the Fourth.”
top
of the page
click here
Paid
for by the Iowa Presidential Watch PAC
P.O.
Box 171, Webster City, IA 50595
privacy
/ agreement
/
/ homepage
/
search engine
… Washington Times’ Greg Pierce – under the
subhead “Partisan furor” -- reported on the
Wall Street Journal’s editorial criticism of
an “angry” Dean. In his “Inside
Politics” column yesterday, Pierce wrote: “More
than various policy details, what's notable
about Democratic presidential candidate Howard
Dean ‘is his partisan furor,’ the Wall Street
Journal says. ‘While articulate and smart,
he's also angry, especially at Mr. Bush.
The President isn't merely wrong, he's a liar.
He isn't merely conservative, he's a 'radical'
who is 'dismantling the New Deal.' The Bush
EPA wants 'to put more pollution into the
air,' and his tax cut is denying health care
for kids. In all of this Mr. Dean
is touching something deep in the current
Democratic psyche,’ the newspaper said in an
editorial. ‘The polls all show that while most
Americans like Mr. Bush and approve of his
performance, a large core of Democrats loathe
him and despise his policies. Without
control of the White House or any part of
Congress for the first time in 50 years, they
are increasingly frustrated and angry.
Their mood matches that of the liberal pundit
class, whose bile seeps through nearly every
column. They're mad as hell and they're not
going to take it anymore. Mr. Dean is doing
well because he's as mad as they are. Readers
of these columns won't be surprised to learn
that we doubt this is a winning platform.
Americans have come to like and trust Mr.
Bush, and Democrats won't prevail in 2004 by
asking, as Bob Dole did in 1996, 'Where's the
outrage?' There's a debate to be made on GOP
policies, but anger is not an agenda,
especially in a nation as inherently
optimistic as America. The danger for the
Democrats in 2004 is that they will indulge
their outraged inner liberal rather than
compete for the political center.’”
to read past Iowa Daily Reports
THE CLINTON COMEDIES: