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Iowa Presidential Watch's

IOWA DAILY REPORT

Holding the Democrats accountable today, tomorrow...forever.

Our Mission: to hold the Democrat presidential candidates accountable for their comments and allegations against President George W. Bush, to make citizens aware of false statements or claims by the Democrat candidates, and to defend the Bush Administration and set the record straight when the Democrats make false or misleading statements about the Bush-Republican record.

 

THE DAILY REPORT for Sunday, September 28, 2003

 

… Among the offerings in today’s update:

·        General Clark says he'd relieve Rumsfeld of his command

·        Clark calls for a new patriotism of dissent

·        Ted Kennedy campaigns with Kerry on health care

·        Caucus-goers more concerned about domestic issues than foreign policy

·        Dean and Gephardt neck-and-neck in Iowa

·        Dean’s Texas Rangers

·        Clark lobbied for company’s technology to spy on citizens

 

* CANDIDATES/CAUCUSES:

·        … General Clark says he'd relieve Rumsfeld of his command:
Gen. Wesley Clark added his name to Dean’s and Kerry’s as he told a New Hampshire audience Friday night he had only fired one person in his life. On Saturday he said he wanted to fire a second person: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. When asked at a house party on the Seacoast about what he would do in Iraq if elected president today, he was met with applause when he said, "First of all I would change the Secretary of Defense. Then I would go to the commanders of the ground and go to Iraq myself personally and I would develop an exit strategy that gives us a success and lets us downsize our commitment there." Besides Rumsfeld, Clark also criticized Bush's National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice for her views of the world and then U.S. House Majority Leader Tom Delay, also a Republican, for his vote on a measure involving Kosovo.

·        … Clark calls for a new patriotism of dissent:
While campaigning in New Hampshire, Clark laid out a vision of a “new patriotism,” that he said must include a lot more than mere flag waving, being grounded in the freedom to criticize. “In a democracy we’re founded on dialogue,” Clark said. “We’re founded on discussion, we’re founded on disagreement, and even dissension. And it’s not wrong — it’s the highest form of patriotism — to speak out and let your voices be heard across this land.”

·        … Ted Kennedy campaigns with Kerry on health care:
Stealing a line from rival Howard Dean, Kerry described Kennedy as "the undisputed, absolute leader of the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party." Kerry, while campaigning with Sen. Edward Kennedy at the AME Church in Waterloo, Iowa said he's not concerned the media spotlight settled on retired Gen. Wesley Clark earlier this month after Clark became the 10th Democrat to join the presidential race. "It will turn. I'm not worried about it. I have more national security experience, and I certainly have more experience with the domestic issues, and I think that will break through. I'm very confident about it," Kerry said. Kerry touted the health care plan he's proposed, arguing it's the only one offered that deals with spiraling health care costs. Kerry's proposal calls for the government to pay for the most catastrophic and expensive cases, avoiding driving up costs for others. Events in Des Moines, Waterloo and Dubuque on Saturday were aimed at pitching expanded health care. Kerry and Kennedy were introduced by nurses who are part of a heath care reform effort. In Des Moines, Carol Shores, a middle school nurse in Saydel, told of youngsters who come to school sick.

·        … Caucus-goers more concerned about domestic issues than foreign policy:
In a Quad City Times story by Ed Tibbetts shows that a poll, conducted for Lee Newspapers in Iowa that people who plan to go to the caucuses are far more swayed by domestic issues and political concerns than they are by foreign policy, even at a time when hundreds of thousands of U.S. soldiers are stationed in Iraq and when the nation just has observed the two-year anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. .The poll showed that 29 percent of the public is most impressed by a candidate’s ideas on the economy and jobs, followed by 18 percent preferring a plan for health care. Another 12 percent said they are looking for a candidate who is electable in the fall 2004 election against President Bush. Only 9 percent said they would choose a candidate based on their ability to make foreign-policy decisions. When asked to select from a series of priorities for which they would agree to raise taxes, only 5 percent said they would do so to pay for strengthening the military and defense. At the top of the list was providing health insurance for all Americans, at 34 percent, and next was paying for a prescription drug benefit for senior citizens. The poll said 16 percent would agree to a tax increase to pay for that. In an interview with David Loebsack, a political science professor at Cornell College who is backing Dean, said he was not surprised at the emphasis on domestic issues. And he does not expect that to change before the Jan. 19 caucuses. But, like others who watch politics, he knows the relatively low importance placed on foreign policy and defense concerns always could change. “Another significant attack would change it,” Loebsack said.

·        … Dean and Gephardt neck-and-neck in Iowa:
Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and U.S. Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri are running a dead heat in the race to capture Iowa’s Democratic caucuses, according to a Lee Enterprises poll of likely caucus-goers. Dean and Gephardt each received 19 percent backing from the 400 registered voters surveyed, including 339 likely Democratic caucus-goers surveyed, including 49 independent voters who are “very likely’’ to attend. U.S. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts was third at 10 percent. The poll, conducted by Davenport-based PMR between Aug. 26 and Sept. 6 and on Sept. 10, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percent. However, more than one-third of those surveyed said they are undecided. And more than half said they might pick a different candidate before Jan. 19, when Iowa’s caucuses fire the starting gun on a sprint to the nomination. MSNBC concurs on Gephardt’s gains ranking him a close second in their Demo Derby.

·        … Dean’s Texas Rangers:
The Dean Campaign flew 170 ’Dean’s Texas Rangers’ into Iowa and New Hampshire this weekend according to the Dean Campaign. The Dean volunteers went door-to-door in Democratic neighborhoods asking them to support Dean in the Iowa Caucuses. A Des Moines Television station asked the Dean campaign how much it cost to fly the Dean’s Texas Rangers around the country, but the campaign was unable to provide the cost.

·        … Clark lobbied for company’s technology to spy on citizens:
Just after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, Clark sought out dozens of government and industry officials on behalf of Acxiom Corp., a data powerhouse that maintains names, addresses and a wide array of personal details about nearly every adult in the United States and their households, according to interviews and documents. Clark, a Democrat who declared himself a presidential candidate 10 days ago, joined Acxiom’s board of directors in December 2001. He earned $300,000 from Acxiom last year and was set to receive $150,000, plus potential commissions, this year, according to financial disclosure records. He owns several thousand shares of Acxiom stock worth more than $67,000. Clark’s consulting role at Acxiom puts him near the center of a national debate over expanded government authority to use personal data and surveillance technology to fight the war on terrorism and protect homeland security. In a measure of the intensity of that debate, Congress this week cut funding to the Defense Department’s Information Awareness Office, a research project run by retired Adm. John M. Poindexter, after the office proposed a global data surveillance system to identify terrorists before they attack.

 

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