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Democrats racists?
Drudge reports that the Democrat National Committee worked to elect a
white mayor in New Orleans over a black incumbent mayor Ray Nagin:
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) secretly placed political operatives
in the city of New Orleans to work against the reelection efforts of
incumbent Democrat Mayor Ray Nagin, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.
DNC Chairman Howard Dean made the decision himself to back mayoral candidate
and sitting Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu (D-LA), sources reveal.
Dean came to the decision to back the white challenger, over the
African-American incumbent Nagin, despite concerns amongst senior black
officials in the Party that the DNC should stay neutral.
The DNC teams actively worked to defeat Nagin under the auspice of the
committee's voting rights program.
The party's field efforts also coincided with a national effort by Democrat
contributors to support Landrieu.
Landrieu had out-raised Nagin by a wide margin - $3.3 million to $541,980.
Journalists prosecutions
The
NY Times covers the attorney general’s statement that journalists and
media that reveal state secrets can be prosecuted:
The government has the legal authority to prosecute journalists for
publishing classified information, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales said
yesterday.
"There are some statutes on the book which, if you read the language
carefully, would seem to indicate that that is a possibility," Mr. Gonzales
said on the ABC News program "This Week."
"That's a policy judgment by the Congress in passing that kind of
legislation," he continued. "We have an obligation to enforce those laws. We
have an obligation to ensure that our national security is protected."
Where are conservatives going?
The
LA Times reports on how deep the conservative rift is in the Republican
Party:
Republican leaders, worried that their party's conservative base is
demoralized, lean hard on one reed of hope these days: Election day is
almost six months away, leaving lots of time to get voters mobilized.
But there already are signs that the surly mood of the party's core
supporters is taking a toll around the country — in morale, in fundraising
and in early election contests.
Drip, drip of scandal
The
NY Times reports on the continuing drip, drip, drip of the Jack Abramoff
scandal:
A former White House budget official is scheduled to go on trial this week,
the first defendant to face a jury in the corruption scandal centered on the
lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
The former official, David H. Safavian, is charged with lying about his
contacts with Mr. Abramoff and about the circumstances of their 2002 golfing
trip to Scotland by private jet.
Federal prosecutors have signaled that Mr. Abramoff, the former Republican
lobbyist, is unlikely to testify, which suggests that the Justice Department
may fear a grueling cross-examination that would damage the case against Mr.
Safavian.
Gravel (who?) to New Hampshire
The
Union Leader reports on Democrat Mike Gravel’s maiden trip to New
Hampshire as an announced candidate:
His name is Mike Gravel and he’s running for President.
Gravel, 75, is a former two-term United States senator from Alaska, last
serving 25 years ago. He is an officially declared candidate for President
of the United States and he’s coming to leadoff primary state New Hampshire
next week.
Although about 40 people have filed Presidential campaign documents with the
Federal Election Commission, Gravel’s official campaign announcement a month
ago at the National Press Club in Washington was believed to be the first
such event of the 2008 cycle. It also attracted a wide range of news
coverage, including stories in the Washington Post and USA Today.
Gore’s Internet skills
The Washington Times’ "Inside the Beltway" reports on Al Gore's latest
blunder -- on his website that promotes the theory of global warning:
Patrick J. Cleary, senior vice president for
communications at the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), says he
"couldn't stop laughing" this past weekend.
"In what must be a colossal mistake, the father of the Internet, Al Gore,
on the blog on the site touting his new [global-warming] film --
www.climatecrisis.net/blog -- features a link to the NAM blog," he says.
Why is this so funny?
"We have a section dedicated to debunking global warming," Mr. Cleary notes.
"This is a blunder and is hilarious."
Indeed, NAM is a leading voice warning against Mr. Gore's "global-warming
jihad" -- as Mr. Cleary refers to it.
Then again, perhaps Mr. Gore wants Americans to weigh both sides of the
global-warming argument.
"I'm sure if they got a press call, they'd say they were interested in
having a conversation on global warming," says Mr. Cleary, adding: "Right.
Then why are there no other dissenting voices on there?"
Midterm review
The
Washington Post reports on Republicans' strategy for midterm elections:
The Rove-Taylor view is that one-third of Americans agree with liberal
Democrats calling for immediate withdrawal and another third support staying
the course. The middle third wants a new strategy, but would be leery of
pulling out and leaving behind a volatile Iraq, a position strategists
believe leaves those voters open to persuasion.
"Look, we're in a sour time -- I readily admit it," Rove said in a speech
last week. "I mean, being in the middle of a war where people turn on their
television sets and see brave men and women dying is not something that
makes people happy and optimistic and upbeat." But, he added, "ultimately,
the American people are a center-right country who, presented with a
center-right party with center-right candidates, will vote center-right."
Perhaps the most important element of the emerging strategy will be to "move
from a referendum to a choice," as Republican National Committee Chairman
Ken Mehlman put it. Instead of a verdict on Bush, Republicans want to frame
the election as a contest with Democrats, confident that voters unhappy with
the president will find the opposition even more distasteful.
"We're moving from a period where the public looks at things and says
thumbs-up or thumbs-down, to a time when they have a choice between one side
or the other," Mehlman said.
Gingrich’s good idea
Editorial by: Roger Wm. Hughes
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said on a Sunday talk show that
President Bush should convene a conference at Iowa State University
dedicated to making America free from foreign oil. Iowa’s Congressional
delegation was ranked as the third most powerful state in the nation.
Have you heard anything from these Congressmen and Senators about convening
this conference?
It is clear that the first state in the nation who will declare themselves
free of foreign oil will be Iowa. Iowa is a haven for bio-renewable fuels.
Iowa is already well ahead of most states when it comes to: wind-turbines;
ethanol; bio-diesel; and hopefully soon with hydropower. Yet, Iowa’s
Congressional delegation is silent when it comes to calling for the
President to follow up on Gingrich’s idea.
Call our Congressional delegation and tell them to get on the stick.
Cold cash
The
NY Times reports on Democrats' worst nightmare:
The F.B.I. accused Representative William J. Jefferson, Democrat of
Louisiana, on Sunday of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes
from a Kentucky businessman and stashing $90,000 from the scheme in his home
freezer in Washington.
Pataki in Iowa
Gov. George Pataki (R-NY) attends a fundraiser for state senate candidate
LaMetta Wynn (R-IA) in Maquokete, IA on Friday, May 26.
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