Mitt Romney for President

Guiliani rattles some with Vito Corleone's voice

2007-04-07T14:25:00.000-05:00

(from a Drudge Report cite)

Rudy rattles some with Vito Corleone's voice

BY CRAIG GORDON
craig.gordon@newsday.com

April 6, 2007, 12:11 AM EDT

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Rudolph Giuliani launched into a California campaign speech recently with an opening line the crowd surely didn't expect -- his husky-voiced impersonation of Don Corleone in "The Godfather."

"Thank youse all very much for invitin' me here tuh-day, to this meeting of the families from different parts'a California," Giuliani said, recycling his old New York gag to laughter and scattered applause.

Then this week, Giuliani used the reference again, invoking the mob's code of honor to explain why reporters should lay off his wife. "I am a candidate. She's a civilian, to use the old Mafia distinction," he said.

Other Italian-American politicians have shunned references to organized crime, fearful of being tarred unfairly by anti-Italian stereotyping. Not Giuliani, who has in the past embraced such talk to remind voters he helped bust up the New York mob as a federal prosecutor. Plus, he's an unabashed "Godfather" fan.

But some political analysts are puzzled why a man seeking to become the first Italian-American president would dabble so blithely with the darkest stereotypes of his heritage, especially before voters really get to know him.

And a leader in the nation's largest Italian-American organization said Thursday that Giuliani should drop his Corleone impersonations because they are insensitive to Italian-Americans trying to dispel the linkages between being Italian and being in the mob.

"It's unfortunate for him to make light of a stereotype that creates a lot of discomfort for millions of other Italian-Americans," said Dona De Sanctis of the Order Sons of Italy in America. "We would hope that Mr. Giuliani would try to find humor in other aspects of his candidacy rather than his Italian heritage that way.

"We don't think it's funny," she said of such jokes. "We stopped laughing a long time ago."

Giuliani's campaign Thursday night issued a statement that did not address the Sons of Italy directly. "Mayor Giuliani is proud of his Italian heritage and has a record celebrating the country's culture and the important contributions Italian-Americans have made to New York City and the United States."

Giuliani's comments didn't bother Joseph Scelsa, president of the Italian American Museum in New York and the Coalition of Italian American Associations. He called himself a Giuliani supporter and said the mob references were "in jest. ... He's done more to advance the image of Italian-Americans."

So far, Giuliani's heritage -- he is the grandson of Italian immigrants -- has not been in an issue in the campaign, seemingly because so many Americans already know him and his record in New York City and on 9/11.

But the Marlon Brando impersonation has been a longtime favorite of Giuliani's, including from his days giving paid motivational speeches. One real-estate Web site quoted him at a March 2006 convention appearance, saying in the Brando voice, "Welcome to Las Vegas -- a city which we used to own."

In the February appearance in California, Giuliani told the crowd he opened with the impersonation because he listened to 2,000 hours of men on tape talking that way to carry out his groundbreaking mob prosecutions in the "Pizza Connection" case and others. Plus, it's important to have a "sense of humor" about such things, he said.

Staff writer Carl MacGowan contributed to this story.
Copyright 2007 Newsday Inc.

New Gingrich Tries to Translate His Remarks on YouTube

2007-04-06T12:55:00.000-05:00

(from The Washington Post)

Newt Gingrich Tries To Translate His Remarks on YouTube

By Jose Antonio Vargas
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 6, 2007; C01

On Wednesday, former speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, who's mulling a White House run, apologized in a YouTube video for his recent remarks equating bilingual education with "the language of living in a ghetto."

The apology was delivered in English and Spanish, with the three-minute Spanish video, "Mensaje de Newt Gingrich," subtitled in English. Can't get any more bilingual than that.

(However: Memorando al Señor Gingrich: In Spanish, the "r" is rolled and the syl-la-bles are se-pa-ra-ted.)

In an interview yesterday, the Georgia Republican called his choice of words "clumsy."

"Look, people are misunderstanding what I'm saying," Gingrich said. "What I was simply saying is that a language barrier -- any language barrier, whether you speak Hindi, Chinese, Vietnamese -- hampers a person's ability to communicate in the language of prosperity."

Last Saturday, Gingrich struck a similar chord. In a speech to the National Federation of Republican Women, he said Americans "believe English should be the official language of the government." In the past, he's frequently called for the end of bilingual education in schools, and in 1995, a year after taking the House speakership, he said that bilingualism poses "long-term dangers to the fabric of our nation."

"We should replace bilingual education with immersion in English," he told the women's group last weekend, "so people learn the common language of the country and they learn the language of prosperity, not the language of living in a ghetto."

The remarks drew a barrage of comments from the Latino community, and were quickly repudiated on popular Web sites such as Latin Americanist, Latino Pundit and Vivir Latino-- U.S. Latino life in blog form. A headline on Vivir Latino read "Newt -- Not Ghetto Fabulous," with Maegan Ortiz, the site's New York-based editor, writing: "Don't you love how politicos use Spanish when it works for them and when it doesn't, they trash it?" Similarly, Hispanic organizations such as the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund were incredulous, calling Gingrich's comments "hateful."

"There is a clear understanding among Latino citizens and Latino immigrants that you must learn English to get good jobs, to fully participate in this society. There is no resistance to that fact," said Peter Zamora, a credentialed bilingual education teacher who is the co-chairman of the Washington-based Hispanic Education Coalition, which supports bilingual education.

Added Ortiz, who, like Zamora, watched Gingrich's mea culpa Wednesday night: "It's just so ironic that he'd use a video spoken in his ghetto Spanish to say sorry about a nasty, racist remark directed at the Latino community. I mean this is a guy whose own official Web site has his own biography written in Spanish. How hypocritical is that?"

As of yesterday afternoon, Gingrich's YouTube apology, the Spanish version, had been watched more than 34,000 times on the video-sharing site. Comments kept coming in, some viewers sympathetic to Gingrich, many not, others simply LOLing -- laughing out loud.

"While the rest of the world rushes to make their children bi- and trilingual, this linguistically arrogant [person] bring his narrow mindedness to light," as one commenter put it.

"Keep it up, Newt. You're absolutely right," wrote another. "People who speak English have better opportunity in this country. That's not a racist or anti-Spanish statement, it's just the reality that speaking the dominant language of a country is a first step at being successful."

Another wrote: "This is freaking hilarious. Newt makes Bush sound like an expert in Spanish."

Gingrich said he began taking "intensive" Spanish lessons in 2001, before the Sept. 11 attacks. In the past year and a half, he'd finished "about 100 hours" of lessons, he said, adding that it took him three takes to tape his YouTube video.

Of the final product, he said with a laugh: "I hope it wasn't too painful to watch."

NY TIMES article

2007-04-06T10:52:00.000-05:00

(from the NY Times.)

April 6, 2007
Romney Used His Wealth to Enlist Richest Donors
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

WASHINGTON, April 5 — Mitt Romney, the multimillionaire founder of a giant private equity firm, knew he did not need other people’s money to mount a presidential campaign. But as they began planning a campaign more than two years ago, Mr. Romney and his advisers wanted to avoid the fate of two other millionaires, Steve Forbes and Ross Perot, whose self-financed campaigns went down as quixotic indulgences.

“By Mitt or anyone else self-funding, you don’t have a lot of people making investments in you,” said Spencer Zwick, 28, the campaign’s fund-raising director and a close aide whom the candidate sometimes calls his sixth son. “To be credible, you have to show that you have raised resources from around the country.”

Instead of tapping his own money directly, Mr. Romney embarked on an effort to leverage his personal fortune into donations to his Republican primary campaign.

He spent $6 million of his own on the campaign that made him governor of Massachusetts in 2002. Then he almost immediately began parlaying his own wealth, a network of his fellow Mormons and financiers, and his fund-raising role for the Republican Governors Association, into a national operation that quietly has signed up some of the biggest supporters of President Bush. Thus, although he remains the least known of the Republican front-runners, he has already locked up some of the most important donors.

At the start of the first quarter of this year, for example, Mr. Romney lent his campaign $2.35 million to pay for an elaborate demonstration of just how fast he could raise money from others. He rented the Boston convention center, furnished it with more than 400 laptop computers, loaded each with custom software and had more than 400 telephone lines installed.

He invited 400 wealthy supporters, including dozens of chief executives he knew through business connections, to a reception at an adjacent hotel. The next day each sat down before a personal-contact list loaded into an assigned laptop, with dozens of technical support staff and campaign finance advisers standing by to assist. Reporters watched from the sidelines for hours as Mr. Romney’s supporters raised $6.5 million.

“It was a great show,” said Ron Kaufman, a White House political director under the first President Bush.

Mr. Kaufman said he walked out thinking, “That was the most impressive thing I have ever seen.”

By the end of the first quarter, Mr. Romney had brought in more than $20 million, vaulting ahead of his better-known rivals for the Republican nomination, Senator John McCain of Arizona and Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York mayor. Mr. Romney’s campaign calls the money evidence of his broad appeal.

“His message sells,” Mr. Zwick said.

Mr. Romney’s financial support is deep but narrow. He amassed $20 million from fewer than 33,000 donors, according to figures disclosed by his campaign. By comparison, Mr. McCain raised $12.5 million from nearly 50,000 donors while Senator Barack Obama, Democrat of Illinois, raised $25 million from more than 100,000. Their average contributors each gave about $250; Mr. Romney’s gave more than $600.

Mr. Romney’s backers note that he raised the money despite very low name recognition nationwide. .

“It is why he is a viable candidate for president,” Mr. Kaufman said, asserting that it helps demonstrate the candidate’s management skills.

Mr. Romney has not always avoided putting his money behind his political career. When he left his private equity firm, Bain Capital, in 1998 to take over the foundering Salt Lake City winter Olympics, he threw in $1 million to start the turnaround.

In addition to the $6 million he spent on his 2002 campaign for governor, Mr. Romney last year dipped into his own pocket to contribute to Republican candidates for governor in potentially pivotal states — $3,500 in South Carolina, $2,000 in Iowa and $1,000 in Minnesota. (In Utah, he also gave $10,000 to the campaign of Gov. Jon M. Huntsman Jr., whose father is a major donor to Mr. Romney’s campaign; and $3,400 to the unsuccessful Michigan campaign for governor of Richard DeVos, a big conservative donor.)

But soon after he was elected governor of Massachusetts, Mr. Romney turned into a fund-raising machine, setting up a series of federal and state political action committees that together let individual donors give far more than the federal campaign spending limits.

To fill them, Mr. Romney turned in part to connections in the tight-knit world of wealthy fellow members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Of the roughly 450 people who have given the $5,000 maximum allowed annually to his federal political action committee, about a quarter are from Utah, the center of the Mormon church. And of his top eight donors, four — J. Willard Marriott Jr. and his brother, Richard Marriott, the hotel executives; Jon M. Huntsman Sr., the plastics mogul; and L. E. Simmons, the software chief executive — are Mormons who each gave more than $100,000, according to data compiled by the National Institute on Money in State Politics.

In addition, Mr. Romney tapped many of the financiers with whom he used to make deals as Bain Capital’s founder. More than 70 of the donors who contributed the maximum to his federal political action committee came from the investment business. They included several top executives of Bain and the giant buyout firms HM Capital Partners; Thomas H. Lee; Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Co.; and The Blackstone Group. Stephen A. Schwarzman, Blackstone’s billionaire co-founder, gave about $50,000 to Mr. Romney’s various funds.

His biggest PAC donor, Peter Karmanos Jr., the chairman of Compuware, said he is both a family friend and a business connection, according to a company spokesman, who declined to elaborate. Mr. Romney’s brother, G. Scott Romney, sits on the Compuware board, and Mr. Karmanos gave about $250,000 to Mr. Romney’s committees.

Beginning in 2002, Mr. Romney also steadily climbed the fund-raising ladder of the Republican Governors Association, becoming its chairman in 2006 and impressing some of the major conservative donors he met through the association, according to Mr. Kaufman.

For example, Mr. Romney and Mr. Zwick, the campaign fund-raising director, visited with Bob J. Perry, the Texas homebuilder who was one of President Bush’s top supporters, a little less than two years ago.

“He asked in that first meeting, ‘Mitt, are you going to run for president?’ ” Mr. Zwick recalled.

Mr. Perry eventually gave $2.05 million to the governors’ association and more than $100,000 to Mr. Romney’s political action committees. Mr. Perry was impressed that Mr. Romney was “a strong leader and not a career politician,” said Anthony Holm, his spokesman.

About the same time, Mr. Romney met Carl H. Lindner Jr., the founder of the American Financial Group and patriarch of a family that is among the biggest conservative donors in the country. Mr. Romney visited Mr. Lindner’s Cincinnati home to give a speech at a fund-raiser for a local campaign, and the two millionaires found that they had much in common, Mr. Zwick recalled.

Since then, Mr. Zwick said, Mr. Romney and his wife, Ann, have traveled to spend time socially with Mr. Lindner and his wife, Edyth, and with their son Craig and his wife.

Mr. Lindner gave $150,000 to the Republican Governors Association under Mr. Romney, and about $245,000 to Mr. Romney’s political action committees.

More than 20 major Bush donors have given also to Mr. Romney, including Ambassador Sam Fox; Ambassador Mel Sembler; the real estate developer Robert Congel of New York; and Ted Welch of Tennessee, an investor.

In all, Mr. Romney helped the Republican Governors Association raise $26 million and his political action committees raised a total of $8.8 million to build support for his presidential campaign.

Some of the association expenditures may have dovetailed with Mr. Romney’s fund-raising in his campaign for the presidential nomination. The association directed $1 million to the campaign for governor of Mr. DeVos at the same time Mr. DeVos himself was giving $2 million to the association. He lost the election and is not yet supporting a candidate.

Romney makes gains in New Hampshire

2007-04-05T15:21:00.001-05:00

(from The Hill)

Romney makes gains in New Hampshire
By Klaus Marre

April 05, 2007

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has surged in the Republican primary field in New Hampshire and is now tied for first place, according to a new Zogby poll released Thursday.
With 25 percent of support, Romney is tied with Sen. John McCain (Ariz.). Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is third among Republican presidential contenders, with 19 percent.

The poll rounds off a successful week for Romney, who last month polled at 13 percent in New Hampshire. His campaign disclosed earlier this week that the former governor won the GOP fundraising battle in the first quarter, hauling in $20.63 million and outdistancing McCain and Giuliani.

“Score this as a big week for Mitt Romney,” said pollster John Zogby. “These poll numbers, together with the small increase in Iowa and a huge fundraising effort, puts him into the top tier and makes him a major player in the race for the GOP nomination.”

The poll was conducted between April 2 and 3 and has a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points.

Another poll released Wednesday, this one conducted by CNN and WMUR, has McCain and Giuliani leading with 29 percent and Romney coming in third with 17 percent. The survey had a margin of error of 5.5 percent and also shows that McCain's favorability rating has increased the most of any GOP candidate in the past month.

Newcomers' Fundraising Shakes Up Field

2007-04-04T19:50:00.000-05:00

(from The Washington Post. frankly, i find it extremely interesting that the liberal media is so shocked that governor romney raised so much money. and, quite frankly, i hope the liberal media stays away from giving coverage to the governor until this summer. better to lay under the radar for a bit and let the talk of mccain and guiliani bore people then to jump up front and wear out the national interest too early...)

Newcomers' Fundraising Shakes Up Field

By Chris Cillizza
washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 4, 2007; 3:20 PM

Amid a sea of seasoned politicians, two new faces stole the headlines this week in the critical chase for campaign cash.

Sen. Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) announcement today that he had raised $25 million during the first three months of the year rocked the Democratic field, just as former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's $21 million haul shook up the Republican side a few days ago. Most of Obama's money and all of Romney's take can be spent in the primaries next year, giving the two a huge advantage over some of their rivals whose funds must be divided between their primary and general election campaigns.

Obama and Romney have each won just a single election to statewide office and have spent a combined six years in those posts. Statewide and national polls have shown Obama running second or third behind Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and former Sen. John Edwards in the Democratic race, while Romney on the Republican side had been mired in the single digits before his recent surge in popularity in New Hampshire and Iowa.

So, why then were they able to outshine far better known political commodities like Clinton (N.Y.) and Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain?

"We are coming off of back-to-back eight year runs in the White House," said Alex Vogel, a GOP lobbyist not affiliated with any of the current presidential candidates. "It makes sense that the American people are interested and enamored with new brands."

This is the first time since 1952 that neither party has an incumbent president or vice president seeking the nomination of their party. The wide-open nature of the field coupled with the presence of several high-profile candidates on each side has created an excitement and interest among voters that has not been seen in recent political history.

In a bid to capitalize on that hunger for change, Romney and Obama both have played up their credentials as outsiders -- promising voters a departure from the status quo in Washington.

For Obama, a charismatic speaker, that means a laser-like focus on his long-held opposition to the war in Iraq. The war has proved to be the single most animating issue for many Democratic primary voters who are disappointed in Clinton for supporting the 2002 use-of-force resolution against Iraq and who has not been forceful enough in her more recent condemnation of the conflict.

Romney's message is less issue-centric. Instead, the former businessman and governor offers a broad call for "innovation and transformation" that, he subtly suggests, has been missing from his party of late.

"Even as America faces a new generation of challenges, the halls of government are clogged with petty politics and stuffed with peddlers of influence," Romney said in his announcement speech.

The surprising financial strength of Obama and Romney seems to show that their messages are resonating in dramatic fashion.

In some ways, Obama's campaign finance success is more surprising than that of Romney's. Romney was the immediate past chairman of the Republican Governors Association as well as a co-founder of Bain Capital and the head of the 2002 Salt Lake City winter Olympics, which were all lucrative fundraising avenues. Obama, in contrast, arrived in the Senate in 2004 with a skeleton of a national fundraising operation and was forced to build one on the fly after formally announcing his candidacy just ten weeks ago.

Obama's rapid financial growth, fueled by more than 100,000 donors and $7 million raised via the Internet, has forced a recalibration of the handicapping for the Democratic competition as Obama proved to be a much stronger fundraiser than many assumed, said several party sources without ties to any of the candidates.

"Today's announcement is a complete game changer," said Stephanie Cutter, who served as communications director for Democratic Sen. John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign. "Obama exceeded all expectations, and demonstrated that his message and candidacy has taken hold and has significant staying-power because he's appealing to new donors and grassroots' support."

Prior to Obama's decision to enter the race, Clinton had been expected to enjoy a broad financial advantage over her rivals for the Democratic nomination. Her perceived financial superiority was considered key to her status as the frontrunner -- especially in light of decision by officials of large states like California and New York that are expensive to campaign in to move up their primaries to next Feb. 5.

The Clinton campaign had been talking up Obama's fundraising numbers for the past several weeks in hopes of diminishing the impact of today's announcement. "I would expect Senator Obama is going to have a comparable amount of money to what we have," Clinton finance chairman Terry McAuliffe said during a Sunday conference call with reporters.

Patti Solis Doyle, Clinton's campaign manager, echoed that sentiment in a statement put out by the campaign after Obama's fundraising figures were made public today.

"We are thrilled with our historic fundraising success and congratulate Senator Obama and the entire Democratic field on their fundraising, which demonstrates the overwhelming desire for change in our country," said Solis Doyle.

On the Republican side, Romney's showing drew kudos from a wide variety of political operatives who praised not just the eye-popping total but also the campaign discipline it took to raise such enormous sums.

"I think the Governor surprised more than a few folks and not just by the amount of money he raised, but the organizational ability it takes to raise it," said Chris LaCivita, a leading Republican consultant.

Romney's success has already forced McCain to alter his approach to fundraising. Former House member Tom Loeffler of Texas, who is serving as McCain's finance chairman, will now oversee the entire fundraising operation. The campaign has also created McCain's 200 (for donors who gather $200,000 or more in contributions) and McCain's 100 ($100,000 or more) to provide some rigor to its bundling program. "There are now new metrics of accountability in place," said McCain communications director Brian Jones.

McCain is also moving quickly to re-establish his policy credentials with a series of speeches over the next three weeks. He'll deliver an Iraq-centered speech at the Virginia Military Institute next Wednesday and will follow that up with an address on economic policy and government waste in Memphis, Tennessee on April 16 . A third speech, also focused on domestic policy, is set for April 23 although no location has yet been chosen.

The question for McCain is whether this reshuffling of the deck within his organization and revised message can resurrect the image that led him to the precipice of the Republican nomination in 2000.

Romney is working to keep McCain on the mat, announcing today that Doug Struyk and David Tjepkes, two Iowa state representatives who had previously signed onto McCain's Straight Talk America PAC, were switching allegiance to Romney. The former governor is also back on the television airwaves in Iowa and New Hampshire with an ad touting his fiscal discipline.

"In Washington, the echo chamber of what's happening there and the constant bang and clatter from inside 'The Beltway' leads everyone to believe that it's the center of the universe," said Romney spokesman Kevin Madden.

"There's a frustration with the status quo mentality, and since Governor Romney's message is one of change that essentially says 'Hey, Washington needs a fresh set of eyes and new ideas,' we're seeing a greater degree of support that agrees with Governor Romney's approach," he added.

Jackpot won, Romney Now Works on Name Recognition

2007-04-04T19:43:00.000-05:00

(from the New York Times

Jackpot Won, Romney Now Works on Name Recognition
By MICHAEL LUO

MANCHESTER, N.H., April 3 — Mitt Romney dashed across southern New Hampshire on Tuesday, enjoying the media attention that has come with his new fund-raising haul while trying to raise his profile among voters.

He started the day in a television studio in Watertown, Mass., doing interviews with the morning shows of all three broadcast networks, before driving to Keene, N.H., for a community forum that attracted a few dozen people along with a sizable news media contingent.

Mr. Romney’s campaign announced Monday that it had raised $20 million in the first quarter, outpacing efforts by his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination. But he has trailed Senator John McCain of Arizona and former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York, the most established Republican contenders, in most nationwide polls. His supporters say the reason is largely that few people outside Massachusetts, where he was governor until three months ago, and Utah, where he was chief executive of the organizing committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics, yet know who he is.

So in introducing himself Tuesday to voters here in the state with the first presidential primary, Mr. Romney focused on his biography. He took them through his successful career in management consulting and venture capital, then his experience tackling the problems of the troubled Salt Lake City Olympics and finally his record as a one-term governor.

In a stump speech that he is still smoothing, he portrayed himself as a Washington outsider who would bring his private-sector experience to bear on reforming government.

“Whether you agree with me or disagree with me on issue after issue, one thing that is clear is I bring change to an organization I’m associated with,” he said during an afternoon speech in Manchester at offices of Easter Seals. The country requires change, he said, from “business-as-usual lifelong politicians always debating and arguing and poking at each other about the way things get done.”

The candidate also sought to play up his large family as evidence of the kind of values he espouses. He and his wife, Ann, high school sweethearts, have 5 children and 10 grandchildren.

Their oldest son, Tagg, who quit his job as a marketing executive for the Los Angeles Dodgers to join his father in campaigning, was with him Tuesday, along with Tagg’s 11-year-old daughter, Allie. They were introduced to audiences at several events.

“I have a big incentive to do a good job: 5 sons, 5 daughters-in-laws and 10 grandkids,” Mr. Romney said in his stop at Easter Seals, adding, in remarks to a group that included a large number of older people, “I want to make sure that the America my grandkids inherit is an America with just as much promise, just as much opportunity and just as much hope as some in your generation gave to me and my kids.”

Mr. Romney’s conservative critics have dogged him in recent months, raising questions about his conservative credentials. Some have noted that as recently as 2002 he supported protecting abortion rights in Massachusetts and that he joined the National Rifle Association only after it became clear that he was planning to run for president.

But perhaps because many people are still getting to know him, voters in Keene and Manchester did not press him on those issues Tuesday.

Local reporters did sharply question him, however, and he responded with well-practiced answers.

“I did change my view on abortion, but my view on same-sex marriage is the same,” he said. “I’ve opposed same-sex marriage from the beginning. Of course, with time and experience, I’m going to change my views where I’ve learned I’ve been wrong.”

In an interview, he explained: “I have always been personally pro-life. The issue for me was, What should the role of government be?” But, he said, he came to believe that states should be permitted to restrict abortion.

Several voters said Tuesday that they believed Mr. Romney’s change of position was genuine.

“I think we all grow,” said Canon Samir J. Habiby, a retired Episcopal priest, who dropped by to hear him in Keene. “I think he’s believable.”

Mr. Romney, a Mormon, was not asked by his audiences Tuesday about his faith, which some analysts have suggested could make him unelectable. In the interview, he said his religion was usually raised only by reporters.

When asked about the issue, one New Hampshirite, Cindy Meade, said it was irrelevant. “Religion shouldn’t come into it,” said Ms. Meade, an administrative assistant at Granite State Manufacturing, a Manchester company Mr. Romney visited Tuesday. “That to me is discrimination.”

Mr. Romney mentioned that his $20 million first-quarter take had come from some 32,000 to 33,000 donors. But though he said his fund-raising triumph showed that his message was resonating, his events Tuesday were mostly small affairs. Money will allow him to begin to change that and reach large audiences, he said. He expects to make major purchases of television time and build an extensive field operation as he focuses on the early primary states.

“Obviously I’m not as well known as Senator McCain and Mayor Giuliani at this stage,” he said, “but raising money from people who support my effort gives me the opportunity to build the kind of awareness that we’ll need to win the primaries and the caucuses.”

While he may be able to raise a lot of money, though, he does not always carry much of it around. Having sampled a piece of blueberry pie and a glass of milk at a diner in Peterborough, N.H., he had to borrow $5 from his son to pay. “I’ve got 55 cents,” Mr. Romney said.

Romney vows vetoes of excess spending

2007-04-04T14:30:00.000-05:00

(from Politico's link to Iowa paper)

Romney vows vetoes of excess spending
By JONATHAN ROOS
REGISTER STAFF WRITER

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney burnished his image as a tight-fisted conservative at Statehouse press conference today, where he was joined by a group of GOP legislators backing his presidential bid.

"Washington is a broken place right now, dysfunctional in some respects," said the former Massachusetts governor. "We have to rein in spending," said Romney, touting his proposal to cap non-defense discretionary spending and promising to veto spending bills that would exceed the cap.

Romney rapped House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Syria and Democratic leaders' efforts to set a timetable for the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. Pelosi and Senate leader Harry Reid shouldn't "dictate to the commanders in the field and the commander in chief," he said.

Romney also announced that a dozen Republican legislators have endorsed his candidacy.

Later today, Romney is scheduled to open his Iowa headquarters at 5:15 p.m. at 3590 109th St., Urbandale and hold a "Ask Mitt Anything" Tele-Town Hall
Meeting at the headquarters at 6:30 p.m.

Obama raises $25 million

2007-04-04T10:43:00.000-05:00

(from yahoo. personally, i've never thought hillary would win the nomination and i'm sure thse type of numbers from obama her freaking her people out. but watch out for edwards. should he decide richardson for his VP, then it'll make for a competitive D v. R after Feb '09)

Obama raises $25M from 100,000 donors By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer
14 minutes ago

Democrat Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) raked in $25 million for his presidential bid in the first three months of 2007, placing him on a par with front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton and dashing her image as the party's inevitable nominee.

The donations came from an eye-popping 100,000 donors, the campaign said in a statement.

The figure was the latest evidence that Obama, a political newcomer who has served just two years in the Senate, has emerged as the most powerful new force in presidential politics this year. It also reinforced his status as a significant threat to Clinton, who'd hoped her own $26 million first quarter fundraising total would begin to squeeze her rivals out of contention.

The campaign reported that the figure included at least $23.5 million that he can spend on the highly competitive primary race. The Clinton campaign has yet to disclose how much they can use for the primary verses money that is designated for the general election.

While Clinton has honed a vast national fundraising network through two Senate campaigns and her husband's eight years as president, Obama launched his bid for the White House with a relatively small donor base concentrated largely in Illinois, his home state. But his early opposition to the Iraq war and voter excitement over his quest to be the first black president quickly fueled a powerful fundraising machine.

More than half the donors contributed via the Internet a total of $6.9 million, the campaign said.

"This overwhelming response, in only a few short weeks, shows the hunger for a different kind of politics in this country and a belief at the grassroots level that Barack Obama can bring out the best in America to solve our problems," said Obama finance chairwoman Penny Pritzker.

Romney Outpaces GOP Pack in Fundraising

2007-04-03T07:51:00.000-05:00

(from The Washington Post. Oh! and can i just say that the best part about Hardball last night was Kevin Madden who, my room-mates and I all agree, is just about the hotest campaign man we've seen in a long time. *wink*)

Romney Outpaces GOP Pack in Fundraising
McCain's Team Regroups at No. 3

By Matthew Mosk and Perry Bacon Jr.
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, April 3, 2007; A01

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney provided a jolt to the Republican presidential contest yesterday, reporting a haul of $21 million in the first three months of the year, as Sen. John McCain of Arizona posted a lackluster third-place finish that even his campaign manager called a disappointment.

As campaigns release their first meaningful fundraising figures in what appears certain to become the most expensive presidential campaign in history, McCain's $12.5 million total also put him behind former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, who leads the Republican field in public polls and reported taking in $15 million in the first quarter.

Among Democrats, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) has set the pace for the field so far, reporting Sunday that she had raised $26 million in combined primary and general election funds and transferred an additional $10 million from her Senate campaign account. Her total was followed by that of former North Carolina senator John Edwards, who raised $14 million. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois has so far declined to release figures for his campaign.

The totals of the major contenders easily surpassed the record $8.9 million raised by Al Gore in the first three months of 1999.

Romney has labored in single digits in polling but has been an aggressive fundraiser. He launched his campaign with a "National Call Day" at the convention center in Boston in January, where nearly 400 of his supporters, including Meg Whitman, the chief executive of eBay, and Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt called friends to ask them to back Romney. The event raised a whopping $6.5 million in a single day.

But the showing by McCain, who had been ordained the front-runner in the GOP contest from Day One and had worked to win over many of the fundraising Pioneers and Rangers who helped fill President Bush's coffers in 2000 and 2004, was a surprise to both analysts and rival campaigns. Most characterized the numbers as an unexpected sign of distress for a campaign that has been building its machinery for eight years and was one of the first to set up a fundraising committee.

"By any historical measure, $12.5 million is a lot of money," said Alex Vogel, a Republican strategist not affiliated with any candidate. "But McCain was the front-runner for so long, the expectation was he would not come in third."

McCain campaign manager Terry Nelson acknowledged as much yesterday, coupling his release of the dollar figure with the gloomy admission that "we had hoped to do better."

Nelson said the campaign has begun to aggressively revamp its fundraising operations and insisted in an interview that the showing does not reflect a lack of support for the Arizona senator.

"While we wish we would have done better in this quarter, certainly we did well enough to fight an effective campaign, which is what we're going to do," he said.

Nelson added that a new system of accountability, including targets for individual fundraisers, has been established for the members of McCain's finance team. The campaign also announced that its general co-chairman, former Texas congressman Tom Loeffler, recently was put in charge of fundraising and began a review of fundraising operations.

In interviews yesterday, key 2008 fundraisers blamed McCain's lackluster quarter on a host of shortcomings, most notably his difficulty summoning support from traditional Republican donors who were unhappy about his campaign finance reform agenda in the Senate and his earlier clashes with Bush.

"I think there are a lot of people out there who got turned off during the South Carolina primary eight years ago and never returned," said Richard Hug, who won Ranger designation because he raised more than $200,000 for Bush's campaign efforts.

"It was very bitter," said Hug, who is assisting Giuliani. "I don't think [McCain] has a whole lot of support among the Bush people in general."

Wayne Berman, a Washington lobbyist and Bush Pioneer who is backing McCain, said yesterday that the disappointing figures stem from a failure to organize large donor events earlier in the year. He said the campaign held just a handful of events in January and February, and started to pick up the pace in March, with 23 fundraisers.

"The opportunities simply weren't there for people to give," Berman said.

But Berman discounted the impact the numbers would have on the campaign moving forward. He said McCain already has two dozen events scheduled for April and a similar number on the books for May.

A large fundraising take at this stage "is hugely important if you have to prove you are a credible candidate," Berman said. "McCain is an enormously credible candidate already. He is extremely visible, and is the most visible on the most difficult and defining issue of the day. He's in Iraq, he's on TV, he's talking about the broader war on terror."

In the first quarter, the candidate who benefited the most was Romney. In addition to announcing his formidable total, his campaign also pointed out that all the money he raised can be spent in the primaries. Romney also lent his campaign about $2 million, putting his total figure closer to $23 million.

Scott Reed, a Republican strategist who is not affiliated with a 2008 campaign, said Romney "cemented his position as a first-tier candidate."

"This reinforces the notion that he can go the distance," Reed said.

Ronald C. Kaufman, a lobbyist who has been advising Romney on his fundraising effort, said the candidate built on a range of connections he has made over his lifetime. He said donors included supporters from Michigan, where Romney's father served as governor; contacts from his career as a management consultant, running the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002 and serving as Massachusetts governor; as well as fellow Mormons.

"I think he did a really good job of tapping into all those worlds," Kaufman said.

Romney's showing rivaled the almost $30 million that then-candidate Bush raised in the second quarter of 1999.

Early success in fundraising is no guarantee of results at the ballot box. In 1995, then-Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas raised more than $8 million and had $13.5 million on hand at the end of the first quarter of campaigning, but he did not stay in the Republican contest beyond a fifth-place finish in Iowa.

Fergus Cullen, a former Gramm staffer who is now the chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party, said experience taught him that McCain, a candidate with a formidable campaign organization in the state, should not be counted out.

"I know firsthand that money isn't everything," said Cullen, who is not backing a candidate in the Republican primary. Gramm "had all the money and none of the votes."

Because full campaign finance reports will not be available until April 15, it is unclear just how much of a financial handicap McCain will face. None of the candidates have released figures on how much they spent during the first quarter, and among the Republicans, only Giuliani announced how much money remained in his account when March ended.

Giuliani aides announced that he had raised $15 million overall, $14 million of which is eligible to be spent in the primaries, and had $11 million in cash on hand.

Jack Oliver, who headed Bush's finance effort, said it is "critical to look at what the burn rate is." He said, "If it cost you a lot of money to raise these amounts, they aren't nearly as much help."

Staff writers Dan Balz and Michael D. Shear contributed to this report.

McCain only raises $12.5 million

2007-04-02T14:40:00.000-05:00

from Hotline -- seriously one of my favorite websites -- reports that McCain only raised $12.5 million. for the "front-runner" that pretty much stinks. and i can not emphasize enough that the liberal toying of the RNC field by declaring we merely anoint the next-in-line is WRONG. obviously we are more intelligent than to work on mere political pedigree.

romney is the winner. guiliani will be plagued by the kerik trial, tommy thompson doesn't have a whole lot of traction, and fred thompson won't be able to swallow the financial distance because the hollywood money does not go to republicans. that leaves the others in the field and, quite frankly, at this point the field is down to the top three.

to quote a famous Congressman: "Romney is the next Reagan." 'Enough said.

Romney 1st quarter fundraising tops field

2007-04-02T10:09:00.000-05:00

(from Hotline. i don't care what you say...this is AMAZING!!! and for those relying on all those polling stats, all i have to say -- not to feed the machine of insanity -- is that 8% nation-wide polling on name recognition can be eaten up by this type of numbers. CONGRATS TO THE ROMNEY TEAM!)

April 02, 2007
More Romney Details
From the campaign:

Romney for President raised $23 million in total receipts for the First Quarter ending March 31, 2007.

The Campaign opted to raise no general election funds and raised $20.63 million in primary contributions.

The total includes a $2.35 million loan from Governor Romney and a $20,000 transfer from his 1994 Senate campaign.

Contributions were received from all 50 States and Washington, D.C.

Romney Raises $23M -- Tops GOP Field

Ex-MA Gov. Mitt Romney raised $23M this quarter, more than enough to top the field of Republican contenders.

That Romney was able to squeeze so many low hanging fruit sources in what has inarguably been a rough political quarter for him speaks highly of the relationships he’s cultivated over these years. It's also a testament to his fundraising team, led by Spencer Zwick, and the campaign's technologically advanced ComMitt activism platform. All Romney's money was raised into his primary campaign accounts.

Romney's burn rate -- tbd.

We await Sen. John McCain to report in. That might happen tomorrow.

His advisers are steeling themselves for a sobering number. Our educated estimate is that, of the top tier Republicans, McCain will raise the third most amount of money and have the third most on hand.

Fundraising Reports Not Likely To Pack Knockout in WH Race

2007-03-30T06:48:00.001-05:00

(from the politico)

Fundraising Reports Not Likely To Pack Knockout in WH Race
By: Jeanne Cummings and Kenneth P. Vogel
March 29, 2007 08:48 AM EST

The much hyped first-quarter fundraising deadline for presidential candidates is unlikely to fundamentally scramble the leader board of either party, an outcome that will surely increase pressure on them to keep up the pace in the next quarter.

Fear of being caught by surprise by a competitor and knocked out of the top tier has driven all the campaigns into a frenzied money-raising mode. Fundraising events are scheduled right up to Saturday's midnight deadline.

The tallies for the first three months of this year, due to the Federal Election Commission by April 15, are likely to set a first-quarter fundraising record. And the presidential campaign is expected to be the nation's first $1 billion race.

"Everybody's going to have a decent quarter," predicted Fred Baron, finance chairman for Democratic hopeful John Edwards.

So while there may be some reordering of the top fields, it appears as though a knockout punch is not in the offing. Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and Edwards and Republicans John McCain, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney are the front-runners going into Saturday's deadline and expected to remain after it, even if one falls short in the expectations game.

That could mean the broader impact of the first-quarter reports will be twofold: Elevating the importance of second-quarter fundraising, when the front-runners must show they can maintain momentum, and providing a pecking order to the second-tier candidates who are trying to cling to fourth place and a chance to break through later.

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"The candidates now are generally gathering donations from core supporters and pre-identified donors," said Anthony J. Corrado Jr., a campaign finance expert at Colby College in Maine. "In the second quarter, we will see who is moving beyond their base and building a national fundraising base."

The primary reason for this cycle's heated first-quarter pace is Edwards' surprising showing in 2003, when he outraised Democratic front-runner John F. Kerry and catapulted to the top of the primary field.

But later quarters also have a history of reshaping primary contests. In 1999, George W. Bush raised $29.5 million between April and July 1 when he was governor of Texas, and within weeks, lesser-funded candidates began dropping out of the GOP race. In 2003, Howard Dean pulled in $15 million in the third quarter, dramatically reshaping the primary's leading candidate roster and elevating the war in Iraq as an issue.

Republican Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, is trying to emerge as his party's candidate of choice for conservatives much as Dean captured the Democrat's liberal wing. "The debates are going to really start showing what the candidates are about and, on those nights, we're not going to be wearing name tags with how much money we raised," Huckabee said.

Even so, in these final hours of the first quarter, the candidates are still racing for last-minute donations.

Huckabee will hold a Washington fundraiser Thursday night headlined by Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska). Clinton and Obama, as well as Romney, will close the quarter with events in Florida. Edwards continues a tour through West Virginia, Indiana and Ohio before winding up at a Saturday fundraising event in home state North Carolina.

Candidates hoping to become "tier jumpers" are also working the circuit and many have the ability to record their own eye-catching numbers in the first quarter. And former FEC chairman Michael E. Toner says that could draw fresh attention from the news media and donors "and suddenly you have to treat them like they're in the top tier."

Much attention will focus on Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), who ended the year with nearly $5 million in his campaign account that can be transferred to his presidential coffers. He also can tap his wealthy hometown constituents and others in nearby New York. His ascendance to chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee provides an advantage by bringing him into regular contact with deep-pocketed lobbyists and executives.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Cabinet secretary in the Clinton administration, has a history of generating cash. He raised $14 million for his reelection campaign last year. He also has a national fundraising network cultivated during his leadership of the Democratic Governors Association and the 2004 Democratic National Convention.

His campaign manager, Dave Contarino, says Richardson will have a "respectable" first quarter total. But his primary focus will be on the early primary states, particularly nearby Nevada.

"We believe that the governor has a lot of attributes that Westerners like and that the voters in Nevada will like. We're going to be expected to show something in Nevada, but that doesn't change the fact that in Iowa, where I realize that the press has zero expectations for the governor, and maybe New Hampshire, where they have zero plus one, we expect our candidate to do quite well," Contarino said. He added: "If we can show momentum and start to take off, then the money will follow."

Similar strategies are being adopted on the Republican side. Former Wisconsin governor Tommy G. Thompson, who served in the Bush Cabinet, raised $6.5 million for his last gubernatorial campaign in 1998, giving him a home state base to tap. On the presidential field, he is banking on a good showing in the Aug. 11 straw poll in Iowa to elevate his candidacy later in the cycle, says spokesman Tony Jewell.

Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) has also been quietly working Iowa, hoping his deep roots in the agriculture community and long-standing ties to the conservative wing of the GOP will give him momentum. But he's got competition for the conservative moniker from Huckabee and former Virginia governor Jim Gilmore.

Gilmore did not hold his first fundraiser until Monday, a week before the end of the first quarter. His campaign consultant, Christian Josi, said Gilmore raised $200,000 and will pick up the fundraising pace in the second quarter. However, he said, Gilmore is not aiming to catch the front-runners.

"Our challenge is to emerge as the (conservative) alternative, as the fourth front-runner," Josi said. "And to do that, frankly, we don't need $100 million."

TM & © THE POLITICO & POLITICO.COM, a division of Allbritton Communications Company

Fred Thompson

2007-03-28T09:28:00.000-05:00

(this from the Washington Post. personally, i find all this chatter about thompson interesting. is he viable? obviously that decision is up to our primary voters but the larger discussion is the fact that the current TN governor phil bredesen will be term-limited out in the next election in which case bill frist will surely want to toss his hat in. if he doesn't, then maybe it's fred thompson. either way, both men are "power players" in tennessee and what better way to cement your reputation and build chatter around your future gubernatorial run then to have the national media hunt you down for POTUS in '08?

i'm just sayin'...something to think about...)

Fred Thompson: Man About Town
That Fred Thompson really gets around!

After having lunch Monday at the Mayflower hotel restaurant with Republican Party master strategist Ed Gillespie, the actor and former Tennessee senator met for three hours Tuesday at the same location with former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, also of Tennessee.

The back-to-back meetings underscore just how serious Thompson is about mulling a run for the presidency. And who wouldn't run after managing to place third among GOP presidential candidates without even lifting a finger? Click here to see the new USA Today/Gallup poll, which has Thompson - an undeclared potential candidate - ahead of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and others, trailing only former New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani and Arizona Sen. John McCain.

Eric Euland, a former top aide to Frist when he was Senate majority leader, confirmed that Thompson sought Frist's guidance this week.

"Sen. Frist has been talking to lots of old friends whenever he is in town, including Sen. Thompson, whose common-sense conservative credentials are part of the national conversation Republicans are having now about the 2008 race as they examine the field and the positions of various folks ready to carry the party's banner forward to keep taxes low, bring spending under control, see continued economic growth and new jobs created, respect life and succeed in the war on terror."

A Frist confidant familiar with the meeting between Thompson and Frist said he thought Thompson was "deadly serious" about learning as much as he could from Frist, who had considered a run for president himself and who, as the former top Republican in the Senate, is a proven fundraiser and has a Rolodex full of donors' names.

The source, who asked not to be identified because he was discussing sensitive political matters, said the two former Volunteer State senators had a "good conversation" and now consider themselves "friends," despite some tension in the past when they served together in the Senate, where Thompson, a recognizable face from television and movies, naturally got more media attention that Frist, a no-name heart surgeon.

A close Thompson confidant, meanwhile, told The Sleuth that Thompson has "the luxury of sitting back and waiting" before jumping in the '08 waters. And while the former senator has been "bombarded" with requests to appear on TV shows to discuss his potential candidacy, the source said, he's going to "wait and see how things develop."

Former Tennessee GOP Sen. Howard Baker, who is urging Thompson to run, feels that with no clear frontrunner in the GOP primary field, and with Thompson's name and face recognition, he would be a viable contender, according to the Thompson confidant.

"But if we're wrong and McCain or Guiliani jumps ahead and is really rolling along, [Thompson] probably won't get in at all," the source said.

Michael Madigan , a partner at the law firm Akin Gump who served as chief counsel to Thompson in the Senate, said he didn't know about Thompson's meeting with Frist and couldn't comment on if or when Thompson might enter the presidential race.

He did, however, say that Thompson is "giving thoughtful and serious consideration" to running and that "Fred is unique in that he has both the leadership and charisma to inspire people and the intellectual goods to back it up."

Dems perspective: "More Than You Wanted to Know About Health Care"

2007-03-25T13:38:00.000-05:00

(i know i've been a slacker about posting but there has been so much going on. i got a promotion, yeah, but back to the foremost domestic issue: healthcare. this is what the dems have to say about that...from the politico)

More Than You Wanted to Know About Health Care
By: Roger Simon
March 24, 2007 10:16 PM EST

LAS VEGAS -- Because you did not want to spend your Saturday sitting in a room for three hours listening to Democratic presidential candidates tell you how they are going to provide universal health care for America, Politico did it for you.

The candidates appeared in a forum sponsored by the Service Employees International Union and the Center for American Progress Action Fund. It was moderated by Karen Tumulty of Time magazine.

Here are the highlights in the order that the candidates appeared:

JOHN EDWARDS

The former senator from North Carolina got a tough first question from Tumulty. How could he do two “all-consuming” things at once: Both run for president and deal with his wife’s incurable cancer?

“We take our responsibility to serve our country very seriously,” Edwards, whose wife attended the forum with him, replied. “We want to serve. Both of us. Which is why we made the decision to go forward.”

Then he added: “I think we are getting far too much credit when you look at all the millions of women struggling with what Elizabeth has without her great health care coverage. A lot of women with exactly the same diagnosis as Elizabeth had to get up the next morning and go to work.”

What is his plan?

“I would cover all Americans. There would be shared responsibilities: Employers must cover their employees or pay into a fund. The government would create health care markets and you could choose your health care provider. Some would be private and some would be Medicare-plus -- kind of single-payer (i.e. government-run) plan. Everyone in America will be required by law to be covered by a health care plan.”

How much will it cost and how will he pay for it?

Edwards said his plan will cost $90 billion to $120 billion per year in government costs. The money would come from tax increases, though he prefers the phrase “additional sources of revenue.”

“I do not believe you can have universal health care without finding additional sources of revenue,” he said. “You don’t get universal health care for free."

When will we get it?

In his first term.

Most intriguing line:

“Some candidates say they will provide health care, improve the environment, end poverty, and eliminate the federal deficit. They probably have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you, too. America needs a president who is honest and honesty starts right here.”

BILL RICHARDSON

The governor of New Mexico said, “We spend $2 trillion a year on health care and 31 percent of that is spent on bureaucracy and red tape. We must devise a strategy that, first of all, does not create any more bureaucracy.”

What is his plan?

All Americans should be able to purchase the same coverage as members of Congress and the president. Americans 55 and over should be able to purchase their coverage through Medicare. Veterans would have access to health care “anywhere they want, anytime they want.”

How much will it cost and how will he pay for it?

Richardson did not give a cost. As to paying for it, he said: “Get out of Iraq and put the $400 billion we are spending there into human needs. Reduce and eliminate inefficiencies (in the health care system). This is a plan that could be paid for without any new taxes."

When will we get it?

“With a Democratic president and a stronger Democratic Congress, the plan I outlined will be achieved in my first year as president.”

Most intriguing line:

“I just signed a statewide smoking ban in New Mexico (banning smoking in bars, restaurants, stores, and workplaces). I would do that as president.”

BARACK OBAMA

The junior senator from Illinois admitted he does not yet have a health care plan but said he will announce one in the next few months.

“The basic principles,” he said, “are everybody is in it, there has to be more money for prevention, and some form of pooling of costs and risks. If we have another forum in a few months and my plan is still not on my Web site, I will be in trouble.”

How much will it cost and how will he pay for it?

Obama did not mention cost, but said, “I think we are going to have to put some money in on the front end. I think we can make the system more efficient and get a lot of money out of the system. I haven’t foreclosed on needing additional revenues, but we should not underestimate the amount of money that can be saved.”

When will we get it?

He didn’t say.

Most intriguing line:

“Every four years, somebody trots out a health care plan. The question is do we have the political will and sense of urgency to actually get it done. I want to be held accountable to get it done.”

HILLARY CLINTON

The junior senator from New York said, “A lot of people like what they have now. We don’t want people feeling that government will come in and tell me what to do and what doctor I want to go to. We will give people a choice. We have to look at that as a framework.”

What is her plan?

“I am in favor of universal health care coverage that brings in the 47 million who are uninsured and that begins to guarantee coverage to those who already have insurance. Insurance companies spend a lot of money trying to avoid insuring you and if they insure you, they try to avoid paying for the health care you need. Every health insurance company will have to insure everybody with no exclusions for pre-existing conditions.”

How much will it cost and how will she pay for it?

She did not give the cost. She said: “There will be some investments, but when I talk about how much money we need to spend, I cannot see us spending more money as a national expenditure without modernizing, ending discrimination, and promoting wellness. I don’t think we should say we will put more money into a system that is broken.”

When will we get it?

At a forum in Carson City, Nev., last month, Clinton said: “President Kennedy said he wanted a man on the moon by the end of the decade. I want universal health care coverage by the end of my second term.”

On Saturday, in Las Vegas, she was less clear as to her timetable. “I think we are all going to start as soon as possible,” she said. “Make no mistake, this will be a series of steps.”

Most intriguing line:

“I vaguely remember being young.”

CHRIS DODD

The senior senator from Connecticut reminded the audience that the United States “ranks 26th in life expectancy and 28th in infant mortality, yet we account for more than 50 percent of the money spent worldwide on health care.”

What is his plan?

Dodd said his plan has four principles: universality, increased emphasis on prevention, expanding Medicare and Medicaid, and increasing the use of modern technology to lower health care costs.

How much will it cost and how will he pay for it?

He did not say how much it will cost. He did say, “We can pay for it if we can get rid of permanent tax cuts for the top one percent of earners and get rid of the Iraq war, which is costing us $2 billion a week.”

When will it happen?

“I am impatient. I will make this the first order of business in a Dodd administration. I would want to see it far sooner than four or eight years.”

Most intriguing line:

“My house is a Petri dish. One of my children has strep throat and another has some kind of adenoidal infection.”

DENNIS KUCINICH

The congressman from Ohio wants a single-payer health care system. He didn’t deal with costs or say when it would be achieved. But he did say he would fight for it no matter what the odds.

“What if Lincoln had decided there was just too much resistance to emancipation?” he said. “Think if suffragettes said there was too much resistance to women voting. Think if Martin Luther King had said we can only push so far for civil rights.”

Most intriguing line

“You need a president who didn’t fall out of a Christmas tree. You need a president who doesn’t have a key in the back being wound up by special interests.”

MIKE GRAVEL

The former senator from Alaska wants a single-payer plan that uses vouchers issued to every American. But he is really running for president to promote a plan for direct democracy that would allow citizens to enact laws without having to rely on Congress.

Yet, when asked to explain how that would work, Gravel said: “I don’t want to take the time to go through the whole process. It is a national ballot initiative. It is revolutionary. It is out of the box.”

Most intriguing line:

“You can’t have everything you want. You can’t have a burp and run for the doctor.”

Huizenga endorses Romney

2007-03-20T14:40:00.001-05:00

(from Hotline)

Normally, the addition of a single name to a roster of 77 fundraisers wouldn't be noticed, but this is different: Ex-MA Gov. Mitt Romney has won the support of one of the most high profile, influential entrepreneurs in all of Florida -- a major GOP fundraiser to boot. This get will earn him some positive Sunshine State press. H. Wayne Huizenga is #153 on the list of Forbes's 100 richest Americans. His nickname in South Florida: "King Midas."

H. Wayne Huizenga Is The Creator Of Several Corporations, Including Three Fortune 500 Companies – Waste Management Inc, Blockbuster Video And AutoNation. He is the owner of the Miami Dolphins and, with the franchising of the Florida Marlins and Florida Panthers, was the driving force behind the introduction of baseball and hockey to South Florida. Huizenga is a renowned philanthropist whose beneficiaries include Nova Southeastern University where the business school carries his name.

The Washington Post writes on Romney's hair!?!!

2007-03-20T14:36:00.000-05:00

from the esteemable Washington Post, a discourse on the hair of Mitt Romney and two of his top aides: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/sleuth/

Gov. Romney names Senator Stewart \iverson as Adviser to Iowa Campaign

2007-03-15T12:18:00.000-05:00

Governor Mitt Romney Names Senator Stewart Iverson As Adviser To Iowa Campaign

Thursday, Mar 15, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Kevin Madden (857) 288 - 6390

Boston, MA – Governor Mitt Romney has named former Senate Majority Leader Stewart Iverson (R-Dows) as an adviser to his presidential campaign in Iowa.

"Stew is a proven leader at the Statehouse and I am pleased to have him as an adviser on my campaign," said Governor Romney. "He has a long-standing reputation at the Statehouse, and across Iowa, for his unflinching conservatism and fiscal responsibility. He will be an important part of my team as we continue building our momentum with enthusiastic, grassroots Republicans."

Iverson served as the Iowa Senate's top-ranking Republican from 1997-2006. Most recently, Iverson was a top Iowa adviser to Governor George Pataki's 21st Century Freedom PAC.

On today's announcement, Iverson said, "Governor Romney is a proven conservative leader and will continue his strong leadership for our great nation. I look forward to working with Governor Romney and his strong Iowa organization."

Background On Stewart Iverson:

Stewart Iverson Has Had A Distinguished Career In The Iowa Legislature. Iverson served in the Iowa House from 1989-1994, and the Iowa Senate from 1994 to 2006. He was instrumental in securing Republican control of the Senate in the 1996 elections. From 1997-2006, Iverson served as the top-ranking Republican in the Senate. From Dows, in north-central Iowa, Iverson is a leader in the agricultural community, where he managed his own farm and worked with seed companies to market their products to buyers. He has been active in a number of agricultural and civic boards, and was a Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps. Most recently, Iverson served as a top adviser to Governor George Pataki's 21st Century Freedom PAC.

Romney on Hannity and Colmes last night

2007-03-13T11:16:00.000-05:00

(The Governor did great last night. Poor Governor Romney. He looks more tired now then two months ago...actually, I feel sympathic towards all the POTUS candidates. I can't imagine the level of stress and exhaustion they must feel. NY Times had a good article about the ramped up primary campaign yesterday. Read it here: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/12/us/politics/12primary.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=politics&pagewanted=print

But first, Mitt Romney was on "Hannity & Colmes":

On his standing in the polls: "It's way too early to be looking at polls. This is very, very early in the presidential process. People start concentrating on these elections and making opinions in the fall. And by the fall and December, I'll be building my strength. Actually, there have been a lot of people in the past who have followed the same course. John McCain was one of them, Bill Clinton, of course. So front-runners usually have a difficult time, and I'm expecting that to happen in this election's case, as well."

FNC's Hannity: "[Giuliani]'s pro-choice. He has said he would appoint originalist justices like Scalia, and Thomas, and Alito. On that issue of judges, is that the type of justice you'd be looking for?"

Romney: "Well, of course, we're all going to talk about appointing judges that will follow the law and not legislate from the bench. But being pro-life is, of course, broader than just the kind of judges you appoint. There's legislation, which month to month and year to year comes forward, that can either protect the sanctity of time of can take it away. As governor, I had several measures that came to my desk, which affected life. And they were not court decisions; they were legislative decisions which I faced as governor. And if you're pro-life, then you're going to come down on the side of life. And if you're pro-choice, you'll take the other direction. And it's something where my record is clear. When my legislature tried redefine when life began, I said no. When they said they were going to clone human embryos for research purposes, I said no. When they said that they were going to block the education of our kids on abstinence in school, I said no. So we're going to be able to define ourselves based upon our positions on issues, and people can decide where they line up" (FNC, 3/12).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GOVERNOR ROMNEY!

2007-03-12T13:38:00.001-05:00

Clinton foe Gingrich admits impeachment-era affair

2007-03-09T11:04:00.000-05:00

(i admire gingrich for confessing and owing up to this but i also wonder the motivation? is he trying to let the media hammer him on this issue before he announces for the presidency or...well...does he trying want to cleanse himself and find redemption on this issue? either way, presidential politics is a tough game. shoot! politics period is tough!)

Clinton foe Gingrich admits impeachment-era affair
By Randall Mikkelsen
Reuters
Friday, March 9, 2007; 8:28 AM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Newt Gingrich, who led the U.S. House of Representatives as it prepared to impeach Bill Clinton in a sex-and-perjury scandal, acknowledged in an interview released on Friday that he was having an affair at the time.

Gingrich, a potential 2008 presidential candidate, was asked by James Dobson of the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family, whether he was engaged in an extramarital affair when former President Clinton was involved with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

"The honest answer is 'yes,"' Gingrich said in an interview released on the group's Web site. "But it's not related to what happened."

The affair has been widely reported previously.

Referring to his efforts as House speaker to oust Clinton, a Democrat, Gingrich said he was not judging the president personally.

"I drew a line in my mind that said even though I run the risk of being deeply embarrassed, and even though at a purely personal level I am not rendering judgment on another human being, as a leader of the government trying to uphold the rule of law, I have no choice except to move forward and say that you cannot accept felonies and you cannot accept perjury in your highest officials," Gingrich said.

Gingrich stepped down as speaker and quit Congress in 1998 amid ethics allegations and Republican losses in midterm elections.

Although the House impeached Clinton in December of that year for perjury and obstruction of justice, he was acquitted two months later in a Senate trial.

Gingrich has been married three times. In an often-told story, he discussed divorce details with his first wife, Jacqueline, while she was recovering from cancer surgery.

In 1981, he married Marianne Ginther, and they were divorced in 2000. Later that year he married a young congressional aide, Callista Bisek.

Congressmen Conaway endorses Gov. Romney

2007-03-07T21:43:00.000-05:00

(yeah for more Texans showing luv for Governor Romney)

U.S. Representative Mike Conaway Endorses Governor Mitt Romney

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Kevin Madden (857) 288 - 6390

Today, U.S. Representative Mike Conaway (R-TX) announced his support for Governor Mitt Romney. Representative Conaway will be joining the 23 other members of Governor Romney's Congressional Whip Team.

"I am honored to support Governor Romney and his vision of a stronger America. He shares the values of the people of my District – a belief in strong families, a strong military and lower taxes. A man of deep character and integrity, Governor Romney is the only conservative candidate who can bring real change to Washington. I am proud to be a part of his team," said Representative Conaway.

Welcoming Representative Conaway's endorsement, Governor Romney said, "I am pleased to have the support of Representative Conaway. Our country faces a new generation of challenges. The solution is not more government but to call upon the strength of people in places like West Texas. We are building a strong network in Texas and I am gratified that Representative Conaway will be serving on my campaign."

Background On U.S. Representative Mike Conaway:

Representing The 11th Congressional District Of Texas, Representative Conaway Has Demonstrated Strong Leadership In Washington And Is Currently An Assistant Republican Whip. A CPA, he has been a vocal proponent of fiscal responsibility, a simpler and fairer tax system, accountability in government and reducing the national debt. Representative Conaway currently serves on the House Agriculture, Armed Services, Budget and Republican Party Committees. As a member of the Armed Services Committee and an Army veteran, he has taken steps to support the fight against militant Jihadists. Representative Conaway served as Chief Financial Officer of Bush Exploration.

Cardenas does Romney radio ad for Spanish-speaking voters

2007-03-06T16:44:00.000-05:00

(sorry. it's been a crazy few weeks. not that it matters b'ce the only people who read this are my room-mates. haha.)

BOSTON (AP) -- Presidential contender Mitt Romney has tapped a prominent Cuban- American Republican in Florida for his first radio ad targeting Spanish-speaking voters.

Al Cardenas, former chairman of the Florida Republican Party and a close ally of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, describes Romney as a friend of the Hispanic community and an ally in its drive for a Democratic Cuba.

"It is a difficult time in the world, in the Americas, and in our Cuba in transition," Cardenas says in his native Spanish during the spot, which promotes Romney's speech Friday at a Lincoln Day Dinner in Miami-Dade County. "Mitt Romney understands the dynamic of Cuba."

During an appearance in Florida last month, Romney declared he supported the current U.S. embargo on Cuba to avoid enriching Cuban President Fidel Castro, a Communist dictator he accused of disrupting peace and stability in the region.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a leading rival for the GOP nomination, similarly supports the embargo and has picked up the support of three prominent Cuban-American lawmakers, Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Mario Diaz-Balart, all Florida Republicans.

Romney has enjoyed the backing of several major Bush allies, including Ann Woods Herberger, who is a top Romney fundraiser, and Sally Bradshaw, who formerly worked as chief of staff to the Florida governor.

Last month, Romney announced a 77-person Florida finance committee, including Boca Raton developer Mark Guzzetta and former U.S. Ambassador Mel Sembler of St. Petersburg.

Romney on the Current Environment Debate

2007-02-23T17:02:00.001-05:00

Governor Mitt Romney on the Current Environmental Debate
Friday, Feb 23, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Kevin Madden (857) 288-6390

Boston, MA – Today, Governor Mitt Romney issued the following statement on the current environmental debate:

"Governor Mark Sanford is right. Unfortunately, some in the Republican Party are embracing the radical environmental ideas of the liberal left. As governor, I found that thoughtful environmentalism need not be anti-growth and anti-jobs. But Kyoto-style sweeping mandates, imposed unilaterally in the United States, would kill jobs, depress growth and shift manufacturing to the dirtiest developing nations.

"Republicans should never abandon pro-growth conservative principles in an effort to embrace the ideas of Al Gore. Instead of sweeping mandates, we must use America's power of innovation to develop alternative sources of energy and new technologies that use energy more efficiently."

Vilsack out

2007-02-23T10:36:00.001-05:00

(from Hotline)

Vilsack's Dropping Out

Ex-IA Gov. Tom Vilsack will drop out of the 2008 presidential race today, three independent sources who were briefed on the decision said.

Developing...

Huckabee: Don't Forget Me

2007-02-23T10:34:00.000-05:00

(from Politico)

Huckabee: Don’t Forget Me
By: Mike Allen
February 23, 2007 10:01 AM EST

Exclusive: Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee plans to make a splash on Capitol Hill on Friday with the surprising announcement that Rep. Don Young of Alaska has signed on as congressional chairman of his Republican presidential exploratory committee.

In a letter to House Republicans, Young says Huckabee will help produce “a reawakening of the conservative values that make our country a land of opportunity.”

Huckabee, who moved out of the mansion in Little Rock in January, is rushing to catch up with the front-runners’ massive organization and plans to officially announce his candidacy in the next few months. He said in a telephone interview that the debates – including the MSNBC-Politico debate on May 3 at the Ronald Reagan Library – will be critical to his chances of breaking out.

“Best I can determine, the floor is the same level for everybody at the debates,” Huckabee said on his cell phone as he ran errands in Little Rock on Thursday. “This election will eventually become focused not just on rhetoric but the results behind the rhetoric.”

Candidate Information
For information on more presidential candidates, visit the Politico's Candidate Page.
Huckabee noted with a chuckle the disadvantages of being the front-runner this early in the campaign. “There’s only one direction you can go, and it’s not a good one,” he said.

His campaign got a critical boost in South Carolina, which has one of the earliest nominating contests, when he was endorsed earlier this month by former South Carolina first lady Iris Campbell. Her youngest son, Mike Campbell, will serve as a senior national adviser to the campaign. The late Gov. Carroll Campbell and his family played a critical role in helping Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bob Dole and George W. Bush win the South Carolina primary.

Young, the third-ranking Republican in Congress, is no diplomat but he has deep personal connections with almost every member because he was chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which put him in charge of massive amounts of pork.

Young said in an interview from Puerto Rico that Huckabee is “a man of character and a hell of a speaker.” Young said he’ll travel on Huckabee’s behalf. “He may be a long shot now,” Young said. “But when this settles down, people will see that a governor is best positioned to bring the country together. They have the experience of bringing the opposite sides of a legislature together. People always ask me who I think I going to win, and when I say Governor Huckabee, they say, ‘Who?’ So we just need to convince people that he’s a leader with great character.”

Also Friday, Huckabee plans to announce that Rep. John Boozman of Arkansas will be congressional co-chairman of his presidential exploratory committee. Boozman is a member of the Republican Study Committee, the conservative caucus, and so has ties to a group of members whose support could really help Huckabee.

Boozman said in an interview that Huckabee “has a tremendous ability to communicate” and has positioned himself well as a conservative. “This thing is wide open,” Boozman said. “His greatest challenge is going to be coordinating a national campaign.”

Romney's first ad

2007-02-20T16:26:00.001-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTiOLGtiEPQ

Mitt Romney: Too Good to Be True?

2007-02-20T16:08:00.001-05:00

(from newsweek)

Mitt Romney: Too Good to Be True?
By Jonathan Darman and Evan Thomas
Newsweek

Feb. 26, 2007 issue - There is something a little too good to be true about Mitt Romney. The former governor of Massachusetts and candidate for the Republican presidential nomination is so buff and handsome in late middle age that when a brochure from a recent campaign showed him standing, bare-chested, on a swimming float, he was accused of sexually pandering to women voters. Romney, who is still married to his high-school sweetheart, doesn't drink, doesn't smoke and doesn't swear. His wife has said that, in private, he never even raises his voice.

As a candidate, he can appear slightly overproduced, a little too smooth for the hurly-burly of the hustings. Lately, Romney has been courting the evangelical vote, key to winning Republican primaries. He knows that some evangelicals regard his religion, Mormonism, as heresy (according to the National Journal, more than a quarter of self-identified evangelicals tell pollsters that they won't vote for a Mormon). So last week, at a lackluster rally in the Bible belt of South Carolina where maybe 300 people half-filled an auditorium, Romney was trying, a bit unctuously, to show his down-home piety. As the crowd trickled out, Romney, his voice still at full decibel from his stump speech, grabbed the hand of state Rep. Bob Leach, a Baptist. "This man," proclaimed Romney, "his prayers bring down the power of the Lord!"

Romney's campaign aides like to stress that he is a "turnaround" artist. They are referring to Romney's great success at salvaging failing companies as a venture capitalist in the 1980s and '90s and his near-miraculous rescue of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City from scandal and debt. The label carries the promise that Romney could reverse the fortunes of the GOP and the nation after the Bush years. But Romney's turnaround on the burning social issues of gay rights, stem-cell research and abortion has raised questions about the candidate's sincerity—a dangerous doubt at a time when voters seem to crave authenticity. In Massachusetts, as an unsuccessful Senate candidate in 1994 and in his winning race to become governor in 2002, Romney cast himself as liberal-to-moderate on social issues. But as Romney aims for the conservative Republican votes he will need to secure the presidential nomination, he has emerged as staunchly pro-life and anti-gay marriage. Was he, his critics ask, pretending then? Or is he pretending now?

Romney says he's always told the truth. On gay rights, he says, his basic views have not changed; rather, the political and cultural landscape has shifted. He still opposes discrimination against gays, but he does not favor recognizing gay marriage. "I never in a million years thought that we would have people of the same gender being told that they have a constitutional right to marry," Romney says. On the right to life, he did experience a turning point, he says, when he had to consider directly the morality of destroying human embryos in stem-cell research. In the wake of the failed presidential campaign of Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, Romney is well aware of the risks that a reputation for flip-flopping can pose to a national candidate. Questioned by NEWSWEEK about his apparent shifts on social issues, Romney grew uncharacteristically testy and said he'd rather be talking about "jihad, Iran and China." Questions about Romney's evolving views on abortion and gay rights could be a bigger issue with evangelicals than Romney's Mormonism, says Mark DeMoss, a Christian media strategist who's done evangelical outreach for the Romney campaign. A reconstruction of how Romney changed his views does not seriously challenge Romney's account of the evolution of his thinking, but it does suggest that political timing, as much as moral virtue, may have been on his mind.

Romney is not the sort of person who reveals inner doubt. Former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld, who has worked closely with Romney in business and politics, talks about Romney's "calmness" and "serenity." Over more than a decade, says Weld, "I've seen him laugh nervously a couple of times, maybe." Romney can be stiff. "He's a terrible joke teller," says Weld. "He thinks he's funny but he's not." And yet Weld, a moderate Republican who disagrees with Romney on abortion and gay rights, backs him for president: "I take him at his word. He is a straight shooter."

Romney is hardly the first Republican presidential candidate to be accused of expediency on social issues. Both Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush moved to the right on abortion. A successful politician knows when to make compromises without appearing to abandon his or her dignity or moral compass. Romney's lifetime shows a history of getting along and going along—but also a capacity for boldness and an almost ruthless willingness to force change.

Romney grew up in the privileged, WASPy bastion of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., where he attended an elite prep school, Cranbrook; he matriculated to Stanford. His father, Gov. George Romney, played speed golf in the morning (shades of George H.W. Bush) and otherwise projected a comfortable, country-club Republicanism. But the father could be unusually blunt: he was driven from the 1968 presidential campaign when he admitted that he had been essentially "brainwashed" by the military on Vietnam. Young Romney always said that he never felt pressure to become a politician; on the other hand, when he was 14, his father would drive him to crowded parking lots and then sit in the car and watch his son gather signatures supporting his dad. After his freshman year at Stanford, Mitt left sunny California to do his Mormon mission in a grimy, industrial suburb of Paris, where he converted very few secularized Roman Catholics. He then transferred to Brigham Young University to marry his high-school love, who was attending the school, and whom Romney had been zealously pursuing since they were teenagers.

At Harvard Business School, not a few of Romney's peers tagged him—and not another classmate, George W. Bush—as a true politician. Romney went off to make a fortune as a businessman, but he showed the kind of drive and enormous self-confidence that would suit him well as an aspirant for higher office. When one of his partners at Bain Capital in Boston went to Romney with frightening news—that the partner's teenage daughter had vanished after a rock concert in New York—Romney swung into action. He closed down the company for a few days and put his partners and staffers on a chartered plane to New York, where they organized a massive search. The missing girl was soon found.

Romney has never been dogmatic. In the business world, his method was to remain open-minded, study the facts—and then do whatever it took. "He's not unwilling to have his mind changed," says Meg Whitman, the CEO of eBay and a Romney friend who worked with him at Bain in the '80s. "He's very comfortable with blurry, gray areas." When he took over the Salt Lake City Olympic Games, he immediately cut out the lavish meals and travel boondoggles. "We're going to have pizza and it's a dollar a slice," he announced. He charged executives 25 cents for a soda and had meals served on paper plates. Romney himself worked without a salary. The message got through: the organization went from deep in the red into the black by the close of the Games.

Romney was probably not thinking all that hard about controversial social issues when he ran against Ted Kennedy for the Senate in 1994. His attitude seemed to be, "You want me to talk about abortion? How about mergers and acquisitions?" says Democratic operative Tad Devine, who worked on the Kennedy campaign. (At the time Romney said he'd taken the abortion issue seriously since his 20s, when a relative had died in an illegal abortion.) Romney was influenced by Rich Tafel, then the executive director of the pro-gay Log Cabin Republicans. At a three-hour meeting early in the '94 campaign, Tafel tells NEWSWEEK, he suggested that Romney be even more supportive of gay rights than Kennedy. Romney did so, writing letters and talking publicly about his support for selected gay issues. "No one supported gay marriage then," says Tafel.

Romney can place a date on the moment he took a stand against gay marriage. On Nov. 18, 2003, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld gay marriage in the commonwealth. Romney's chief counsel, Daniel Winslow, recalls printing out the decision and carrying it to the governor's corner office. "It was as though he'd been punched in the solar plexus," Winslow tells NEWSWEEK. "I think he was stunned—and it was genuine, too, because it was in private." Romney was reacting against liberal judicial activism as well as taking a position against gay marriage, say his advisers, who do not wish to be identified discussing the candidate's thinking. The gay community is skeptical, as gay-activist blogger John Aravosis puts it, that Romney could go from claiming "he's better than Teddy Kennedy on gay rights" to being "right of Jerry Falwell." "You don't get to be both of those unless something wild happened in your life," says Aravosis. "But Romney doesn't have anything to point to. If the Virgin Mary came down and spoke to him, maybe."

Romney had a "Road to Damascus moment" on stem-cell research, says his son Taggart, 36. As Romney himself has described the incident in interviews, in November 2004 he met with a scientist from the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. The scientist told him, "Look, you don't have to think about this stem-cell research as a moral issue, because we kill the embryos after 14 days." (The scientist, Dr. Douglas Melton, has disputed Romney's account; a Harvard spokesman says "the words 'kill' and 'killing' are not in Dr. Melton's professional vocabulary.") Taggart tells NEWSWEEK his father "had a genuine change of heart" that pushed him from tolerating pro-choice laws to wanting to change them. Though Romney had long been "personally pro-life," says Taggart, Romney had always told his son, "Listen, I don't want to impose my values and beliefs on other people." But after the Harvard stem-cell meeting, Romney became a true believer on trying to protect all human life from the moment of conception. "He felt so strongly that Roe v. Wade was a having a negative impact on the country, and cheapening life, he said, 'You know what, this is something that has to change'," Taggart says. Romney promptly came out against stem-cell research and vetoed a July 2005 bill making available Plan B, or "morning after" contraception.

Romney's timing was, at the very least, fortuitous for his political ambitions. In November 2004, the Republicans lost three seats in the Massachusetts Legislature, making even steeper Romney's uphill climb against the Democratic-dominated state house. Some foes, as well as a few friends, speculated that Romney was beginning to eye a grander stage. By early 2006, he was openly talking about running for president—and beginning to emphasize his rightward tilt on the social issues.

Romney may ultimately win over doubters on the right. "There is a subtle prejudice in that flip-flop charge," says Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention. "People who are liberal can't understand why someone might move from a more-liberal position to a more-conservative position. Conservatives don't see it that way. They see it as someone who has seen the light." Christian media strategist DeMoss notes that evangelism is all about conversion, so, he says, "we accept an evangelical's conversion if he told us it happened this morning."

Romney's reputation as a family man with a wife of 37 years and five proud sons will also help with conservatives. Among top-tier candidates, Romney is more appealing to the Christian right than John McCain or Rudy Giuliani. Romney is beginning to get some important backers, too: he has the political machine of former Florida governor Jeb Bush behind him, an immensely important asset if, as predicted, Florida moves up its primary. (Bush's parents, George H.W. and Barbara, are said to be fond of Romney.) Romney may not be a funny man (though he loves "The Three Stooges"), but he can be a deft debater. When his opponent in the 2002 governor's race, Shannon O'Brien, accused him of pandering to pro-choice voters, she quoted Ted Kennedy's crack that Romney's not "pro-choice, he's multiple choice." He hit back by calling her "unbecoming," i.e., unladylike. "He did a masterful job of turning me into the overly aggressive female who couldn't get off that point," says O'Brien. But most important will be Romney's capacity for working through difficult challenges. Bill Weld recalls that as a businessman, Romney would come into a failing company "and turn everyone upside down and shake their pockets until all the facts came out." Romney, who dislikes running even a minute late, will bring the same relentlessness to his campaign operation. He will not hesitate to change personnel—or policy positions—in his search for a winning formula.

With Daniel McGinn and Samantha Henig in Boston and Holly Bailey, Eve Conant and Eleanor Clift in Washington

GOP candidate Romney (has the backing of Jeb Bush's friends) defends religion in Villages

2007-02-18T18:57:00.000-05:00

(from the Orlando Sentinel)

GOP candidate Romney defends religion in Villages
Nin-Hai Tseng
Sentinel Staff Writer

February 17, 2007

THE VILLAGES -- Before former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney could tout his conservative credentials Friday in this tri-county hotbed of Republicanism, he first had to defend his religious background as he begins the long road toward the 2008 GOP presidential nomination.

About 800 people packed Lake Miona Regional Recreation Center in this retirement community of 65,000. It was standing-room only.

But what got the crowd roaring wasn't a pitch for safe offshore oil drilling or health care. It was his religion. If he were to win the White House, Romney would become America's first Mormon president.

A man stood amid the crowd and called Romney "a pretender" who doesn't know "the Lord."

The crowd booed the man from the room, and Romney responded: "First of all, I believe in God."

Based on his experience so far -- just three days after announcing his candidacy -- Romney said most people don't take issue with his religion and are focused more on faith.

Resident Jerry Liebergen, 69, defended Romney: "They said the same thing about John Kennedy, because he was Catholic, that he'd never be president."

However, some political pundits have questioned whether fundamental Christians would take issue with his beliefs. Romney has changed his mind in the abortion debate -- he supported abortion rights until about two years ago, and now says he opposes abortion.

Romney said he supports an environmentally sensitive plan for offshore oil drilling that would not impact Florida tourism. He didn't go into specifics, but Floridians, liberal and conservative alike, agree that offshore drilling is unpopular in the state.

The candidate, who arrived from an earlier stop in Jacksonville, touched on issues ranging from immigration and health care to Iraq. He said the important issues for Floridians would continue to be the catastrophic storm fund, health care and education.

The Villages has become a must-stop for GOP candidates running for state and national offices. Gov. Charlie Crist visited the community -- which takes in parts of Lake, Sumter and Marion counties -- more than once during his successful campaign last year. President Bush became the first sitting president to visit The Villages when he stumped here in 2004, cheered on by about 15,000 residents.

Romney, a former venture capitalist and the son of former Michigan Gov. George Romney, was elected governor of Massachusetts in 2002. He did not run for a second term last year. He joins a crowded field of Republicans seeking the presidential nomination, including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

Romney doesn't have the star power of Giuliani or McCain, but former allies of former Gov. Jeb Bush are in his corner, including former Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings and former House Speakers Allan Bense and John Thrasher.

"Gov. Bush said, 'Before you commit, I want you to meet Mitt Romney. He is the kind of guy you will like no matter what,' " Jennings said. "The governor was very candid about the fact that he really liked this guy."

She and a who's who list of Florida politicos are now in the Romney camp, an edge they hope will help their candidate overcome a lack of name recognition in a state that could have a larger role in the nomination.

"He's charismatic and has a good business background," said winter resident Everett Sherman, 65, of New Bedford, Mass.

Smitten with Mitt TV

2007-02-17T19:59:00.000-05:00

(Mitt Romney will be the next POTUS and this article expresses it well. From The Politico)

Smitten with Mitt TV
By: Terry Michael
February 16, 2007 06:50 AM EST

To experience why former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney may be a better than even bet for next Leader of the Free World, point your web browser toward “Mitt TV,” the streaming video site of Mitt Romney's presidential exploratory committee.

“Experience” is key here, because you won’t get an understanding of his appeal from the print journalism caricature of telegenic (but Mormon) family values conservative (but Mormon) elected in liberal Massachusetts (in spite of being Mormon).

No one else in either party’s field of presidential wannabes comes close to Romney’s communication skill and executive presence. He makes Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., look like just another charming candidate for high school class president.

For the past year, I have been haranguing the college political journalists I teach with the prediction that Romney is going to get the Republican nomination and will likely be the next president, because Democrats have no farm team of successful governors. And America almost never elects a sitting member of Congress president (only three times in our history, Garfield in 1880, Harding in 1920 and Kennedy in 1960) because voters intuitively know the difference between a legislator and a leader.

But I have been hedging that bet lately, after George Bush drove Republicans over an electoral cliff in November, and because the Talibanic wing of the Republican Party is so out of sync with the center of the electorate on social and cultural issues. Can anyone wearing an elephant label overcome those liabilities in 2008, even if Democrats can draw a presidential candidate only from their legislative bench?

All of that was before I had actually seen more than a still photo of Romney. But now, having viewed the Mormon (did I mention Mormon?) ex-governor of liberal Massachusetts in digital, virtual reality flesh, every bone in my libertarian Democrat body tells me the presidency is Mitt Romney's to lose.

The images and sounds of the “savior” of the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympics bring to mind former White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers’ observation about Bill Clinton: He seduces women, he seduces men, he seduces pets.

Mitt Romney is Bill Clinton with his pants up. And he’ll very likely be cast in 2008 (“nominated,” if you prefer the political science verb) against Clinton’s wife, who has all the seductive qualities of John Kerry in a pants suit.

Kerry’s problem in 2004 was not flip-flopping, not that he had changed his mind. Rather, he came off as a candidate whose mind often held two simultaneously competing views: for and against the war in Vietnam, for and against the war in Iraq.

Ms. Rodham Clinton (two competing names) would have you believe she is tough on defense for her initial support of the war in Iraq, at the same time she is also, now, against it. Or that perhaps, like Romney’s father in his short-lived 1968 presidential candidacy, she was brainwashed into war support.

But unlike the late Michigan Gov. George Romney’s son, and unlike her husband, but very much like Mr. Kerry, Ms. Clinton is unable to seduce you into a state of cognitive dissonance that will allow you to ignore the contradictions. Observe how Romney looks straight into the camera and almost laughs off his switch from gay rights in his failed Senate campaign to anti-gay marriage in his presidential bid. Just got 13 years older, more gray hair and wiser, he deadpans.

If all that reads like cheap armchair psychoanalysis of the candidates and the voters, go to Mitt TV and see what I mean. I scared myself. I believe the Iraq war is a nearly criminal enterprise. I’m a social-cultural leftie who wants the government out of my bedroom and away from my body. But I was nearly mesmerized by a guy whose religion I consider akin to a cult, whose Iraq war support angers me and whose posturing against gays I find obnoxious.

So, I find it kind of appalling that I find him appealing.

Political seduction is a powerful drug.

Terry Michael is executive director of the Washington Center for Politics & Journalism.

Back at Home, McCain Annoys the G.O.P. Right

2007-02-17T11:15:00.000-05:00

(from the New York Times)

February 17, 2007
Back at Home, McCain Annoys the G.O.P. Right
By JENNIFER STEINHAUER

SURPRISE, Ariz., Feb. 13 — The chairman of the local Republican Party here in the most populous county in Arizona has in his possession a bright yellow button with a black line slashed through the name McCain.

“I don’t wear it out very often,” said the chairman, Lyle Tuttle of the Maricopa County Republican Committee, in a slightly sheepish coda to a 20-minute vituperation about the state’s senior senator, served up from his living room chair.

“I think those who do not support Senator McCain,” Mr. Tuttle continued, “if they could just get the word out and help people to understand what has happened with him, we could have an impact.”

No doubt about it, Senator John McCain, the Arizona Republican who would like to be president, is a popular man in his state, having won re-election in 2004 with about 76 percent of the vote.

But a vocal slice of the state’s most conservative Republicans, reflecting concerns about Mr. McCain held by some conservatives nationwide, are agitating against him in a way that they hope might throw off his incipient presidential campaign.

In a recent telephone poll by Arizona State University, 54 percent of the state’s Republican voters who were queried favored Mr. McCain in a presidential primary next February, a small enough majority to incite his critics and encourage some Republican rivals.

“Arizona is one place where we are very well organized,” said Kevin Madden, a spokesman for the presidential campaign of Mitt Romney, the Republican and former Massachusetts governor.

“We think we can go out there and make the case on pro-family issues, on fiscal issues and on strong borders,” Mr. Madden added.

Meanwhile, disgusted with Mr. McCain’s position on proposed changes to immigration laws (he advocates legalization that would not require illegal immigrants to leave the country), with what some see as wavering on the issue of gay marriage (he lent his name to a state ballot initiative to ban it but did not support a constitutional amendment), and with the campaign finance act that bears his name, some Arizona Republicans are making trouble for Mr. McCain.

They have elected local party leaders whom he opposes, criticized his policy positions and thrown early support to other potential primary candidates — all in the hope of tripping up Mr. McCain on his own doorstep.

“They can make trouble for him,” said Bruce D. Merrill, an Arizona State University political scientist and polling expert. “It is too early in terms of voting to tell, but it certainly could potentially affect people’s decision to give him money.”

The senator’s supporters are quick to write off the detractors as a fringe of the raucous state party that will be flattened like pita bread once primary day arrives next year. As a practical matter, Mr. McCain’s supporters point out, Arizona’s large swaths of independent voters can vote in the Republican primary, which will be a boon to Mr. McCain even if he loses some votes within his own party.

“When I was a little kid, I was really into western movies,” said Matt Salmon, former chairman of the Arizona Republican Party, who resigned with the intention to work for Mr. McCain’s presidential campaign. “In one of those, the cavalry was outmanned by attacking Indians, so they put a bunch of branches on the backs of horses, who then kicked up a lot of dust to make it look like there were a lot more people than there were. These guys drag around a lot of branches and kick up a lot of dust.”

Outnumbered or not, Mr. McCain’s critics now hold leadership positions in Maricopa County, the state’s most Republican enclave and biggest media market, which includes Phoenix. Their passion about the immigration issue, their flirtations with other candidates and their persistent harping underscore the skepticism about Mr. McCain that already exists among many hard-line conservatives here and around the nation.

They have been angered by Mr. McCain’s opposition to tax cuts backed by the White House; by his immigration position, which places him on a collision course with other Republicans; by his moves to close a loophole on gun purchases; and by his vote for the fetal stem cell research bill.

The Maricopa County Republican Party recently conducted a straw poll that depicted Mr. McCain as losing badly to Representative Duncan Hunter of California, a conservative unknown to the majority of Arizona voters, then touted it with unmasked glee. The poll was derided as a sham by Mr. Merrill, the political scientist, and others who questioned the methodology.

Among some Republicans here, Mr. Romney, a Mormon who may benefit from his faith’s strongholds around the state, is also mentioned as a viable alternative to Mr. McCain. Mr. Romney is supported by Joe Arpaio, the Maricopa County sheriff, among others.

Mr. McCain “can’t just take it as a given that he is going to win here,” said Randy Pullen, the new chairman of the Arizona Republican Party, who got the post by narrowly defeating a more moderate Republican backed by Mr. McCain. “He is going to have to work.”

In some ways, Mr. McCain’s troubles here reflect a fracas within the state party that has pit its more centrist members, long the stronghold of its leadership, against its most hard-line factions who call Mr. McCain “elitist.”

For several years, various critics have complained that he has been aloof, that he has a brittle temper and that he has made missteps on key conservative issues.

Although Mr. McCain was ultimately victorious in the 2000 presidential primary, Gov. Jane Dee Hull of Arizona, a fellow Republican, took the unusual step of endorsing his opponent, George W. Bush, who was then Texas governor.

In 2001, two unsuccessful recall movements arose against the senator. In 2005, some groups around the state that advocate a strict deportation policy for illegal immigrants wrote letters of censure or displeasure attacking Mr. McCain for his stance. “The grass roots are burning mad,” said Gary Watson, former chairman of the Mohave County Republican Central Committee. “We want to defend our borders. We don’t want them to have citizenship.”

So who would be better for Arizona?

“I am real excited about Rudy Giuliani,” said Mr. Watson, even though the former New York mayor has a more liberal record on abortion rights, gun control and gay rights than Mr. McCain. “The social issues are a little bit looser than what I appreciate,” Mr. Watson said. “But he is stronger than McCain on the border issue, and the border issue is so immense to deal with.”

While much of the rumbling against Mr. McCain is among party leaders, they have managed to leave an impression among some voters.

“I could be persuaded to vote for someone else,” Kathleen Hall, 60, a Republican who supported Mr. Bush in 2000, said as she sipped coffee in a Scottsdale outdoor mall this week. “McCain is not my favorite candidate. He would just as easily tomorrow turn into a Democrat.”

Mr. McCain, who was elected to Congress from Arizona in 1982 and who succeeded Barry Goldwater in the Senate in 1986, does not appear to be shivering.

“Folks recognize that he is a principled and committed conservative who has delivered for his constituents,” said Danny Diaz, a spokesman for Mr. McCain’s presidential exploratory committee.

And plenty of people think it is a fool’s errand to try to prove otherwise.

“Anybody who thinks John McCain wouldn’t win a Republican primary in Arizona is not living in the real world,” said Mr. Merrill, the Arizona State University political scientist.

That does not mean they won’t try.

“He would do a lot better in the general here than he would do in the primary,” said Jack Hustead, who chairs the Apache County Republican Committee, “because in a primary, there are other options.”

Romney's DC Show of Force

2007-02-15T12:37:00.000-05:00

(from Hotline)

Feb 27: Romney's DC Show Of Force

Mitt Romney is ready to play with the big boys on their turf. With 23 Congressmen listed as honorary chairs of the campaign, Romney plans to infiltrate DC later this month with a 2/27 luncheon fundraiser at the Mayflower Hotel on Connecticut Ave. He's allowing those who want to attend the VIP "Leadership Reception" to max-out on donations for the GOP primary at $2,300/person. The actual lunch will cost $1K/person.

Among the names of lobbyists and lawyers serving as co-chairs: American Gas Asso. EVP Rick Shelby, ex-Delay CoS Drew Maloney, Ken Sarr wife Alice Starr, Lobbyist/Latter-Day Saints stake president William Nixon, and George H.W. Bush daughter/George W. Bush sister Doro Bush Koch.

Romney kicks off White House run

2007-02-14T09:45:00.001-05:00

(from the USA Today)

Romney kicks off White House run
Updated 2/13/2007 9:10 PM ET
By Jill Lawrence, USA TODAY

DEARBORN, Mich. — Only one Republican presidential candidate has run a business, governed a state and turned an ailing Olympics into a success story. That record, Mitt Romney said Tuesday, makes him uniquely qualified to transcend Washington's "petty politics" and deliver change.
The former Massachusetts governor and venture-capital CEO, kicking off his campaign, said the country needs "innovation and transformation." He said "lifelong politicians" won't make it happen.

"I do not believe Washington can be transformed … by someone who's never run a corner store, let alone the largest enterprise in the world," Romney told supporters at the Henry Ford Museum in the state where he was born and raised.

ROMNEY'S RUN: Will his faith hurt his bid? | Video

Romney reprised his message later for about 300 people at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines. South Carolina and New Hampshire, weather permitting, were on his itinerary today. All four states have early primaries or caucuses. The Michigan primary is tentatively set for Feb. 5.

The Michigan launch allowed Romney to focus on his Midwestern roots rather than the liberal state he governed until last month. But he said he has the same goals for the nation as he had for Massachusetts, including strong families, lower taxes and affordable, portable health care.

In foreign policy, Romney said "America must regain our standing in the world" and define its international role "not only in terms of our might, but also by our willingness to lead, to serve and to share." He said he would forge closer partnerships with other nations to support moderate Muslims and block Iran's nuclear ambitions.

On Iraq, Romney stuck with President Bush — for now. "So long as there is a reasonable prospect of success, our wisest course is to seek stability in Iraq, with additional troops to secure the civilian population," he said.

Romney, 59, is trailing former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and Arizona Sen. John McCain in national polls. But he has fundraising clout — he raised $6.5 million in one day last month — and other strengths that political experts say make him a contender.

"We elect governors for president, not senators and mayors of cities," says Ed Sarpolus, an independent pollster based in Lansing. "Romney is very well positioned. He has a good organization. He is not divorced. And he's got a record."

Romney's challenges include his Mormon religion and changing positions on issues such as abortion, gay rights, emergency contraception and stem-cell research. He has moved to the right on all of them.

He said Tuesday that "I believe in the sanctity of human life." He also said that "unelected judges" should not make laws. Gay marriage is legal in Massachusetts as a result of a state court ruling. Romney pushed for and won passage of a bill that puts gay marriage on the ballot.

Romney and his Democratic legislature enacted the country's first statewide, universal health-coverage plan. It treats health insurance like auto insurance — individuals must have policies. People with low incomes will pay less for coverage.

Walter Schmidt, 58, a Lutheran minister from Grosse Pointe Woods, called Romney "a good middle-of-the-road Republican. Traditional, but not a far-right fundamentalist. That's what I think we need." He added, "I would prefer that he wasn't Mormon," but "the family values that he reflects are more important" than his faith.

Romney's wife, Ann, his five sons and their families were onstage with him here. He talked of his Michigan childhood and his late father George's careers as an auto executive and governor.

Romney attended Harvard law and business schools. He lost a 1994 Senate race to Sen. Edward Kennedy. In 1999 he became CEO of the struggling 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. He averted financial ruin and ran an extensive security operation for the Games shortly after 9/11.

Contributing: Lisa Rossi of the Des Moines Register

He's the real deal, too good to be true...

2007-02-13T13:31:00.000-05:00

(from the Politico. hey...if they are now trying to tarnish you by saying you are "tood good to be true," then you must be doing something right. he's the real deal...POTUS in 707 days...)

Is Romney Too Good To Be True?
By: Roger Simon
February 13, 2007 01:17 PM EST

DEARBORN, Mich. - - Mitt Romney is so good he is almost too good.

Candidates want people to come away from their events thinking “presidential,” not “slick.”

But Romney is so polished and looks so much like a president would look if television picked our presidents (and it does) that sometimes you have to ask yourself if you are watching the real deal or a careful construction.

Romney has chiseled-out-of-granite features, a full, dark head of hair going a distinguished gray at the temples, and a barrel chest. On the morning that he announced for president, I bumped into him in the lounge of the Marriott and up close he is almost overpowering. He radiates vigor.

And he can’t wait to stand next to John McCain on a stage and invite comparison. (McCain, who looks less hearty than Romney, was severely injured while fighting for his country as a Naval aviator. Romney never served in the military, though the band at his announcement played both “Anchors Aweigh” and “The Marines’ Hymn.”)

Romney’s campaign is not flawless. Far from it: Romney selected the Henry Ford Museum as the place to announce for president Tuesday.

And Ford, aside from being a prodigious inventor and businessman, was also a notorious anti-Semite.

It is a mixed message for Romney to send, since he is depending on Americans truly to believe in religious tolerance, because of his own Mormon religion, which has become the subject of much attention.

Saulius “Saul” Anuzis, chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, told me that recent e-mails sent to reporters by the National Jewish Democratic Council raising the issue of Ford’s anti-Semitism “was a partisan hit on Romney.”

“This is a historic site and one of the most visited sites in the Midwest,” Anuzis said. “I don’t think anybody in the Romney campaign even thought about it.”

No kidding.

In his speech, Romney said he chose the location “because it’s filled with cars and memories.” He stood next to a Ford Escape hybrid and an old Rambler. Suspended from the ceiling behind him was a looming, blue-nosed DC-3.

The only mention of religion in Romney’s speech was: “I believe in God and I believe that every person in this great country, and every person on this grand planet, is a child of God. We are all sisters and brothers.”

He hopes so. Greeting Romney outside the door of his hotel room in the morning was a USA Today with a large picture of Romney on the front page and the headline: “Will Mormon faith hurt bid for White House?”

Polls indicate that it certainly might. Romney likes to compare his challenge with the one John Kennedy faced when he became the first Catholic president of the United States in 1960.

But Catholics were about 25 percent of the U.S. population back then and just about everybody knew someone who was a Catholic.

As of 2003, Mormons comprised less than 2 percent of the U.S. population and, as USA Today bluntly put it, it is a religion “that has an unusual theology and a past scarred by racism and polygamy.”

Which is not Romney’s only problem. He has been accused of flip-flopping on key conservative issues, the most important change of mind coming on abortion. Once he was pro-choice and now he is pro-life.

As Romney told the National Journal recently, “I did change my view on abortion. And that happened, as you know, about two years ago.”

Which means he changed his mind on abortion when he was 57, just about the same time he decided to run for president.

What benefits Romney is that all three top Republicans -- McCain, Romney and Rudy Giuliani -- have positions that social and religious conservatives are not happy with.

The power that social and religious conservatives have within the Republican Party is sometimes exaggerated.

They were not that thrilled with George W. Bush when he first ran for president and refused to back an amendment banning abortion. Nor were they thrilled with his father, George H.W. Bush, who once referred to the far right wing of his party as the “extra-chromosome set.” (He later apologized to the parents of children with Downs Syndrome, a disability caused by an extra chromosome.)

Both men ran in the Republican primaries against candidates far more conservative than they were and both won.

But the election of George H.W. Bush was viewed as Ronald Reagan’s third term and Bush’s son was, by virtue of being Bush’s son, the favorite of the Republican establishment.

This time, there is no odds-on establishment choice. McCain comes closest because of his 20 years in the Senate, but because the race is so open, if social conservatives can unite behind one candidate, they could exert a critical influence.

Every Republican running wants to be the social and religious conservatives’ choice. (And it should not be overlooked that candidate Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas, is a Southern Baptist minister, and has said: “I do not necessarily buy into the traditional Darwinian theory, personally.” Religious conservatives tend to like that.)

Ronald Reagan is the apotheosis of modern conservatism and Romney used Reagan’s themes and sometimes his phrases Tuesday.

“I believe we are overtaxed and government is overfed,” Romney said. “Washington is spending too much money.”

And: “How is the American family made stronger? With marriage before children! With a mother and a father in the life of every child! With taxes that are lower. And with leaders who strive to demonstrate enduring values and morality!”

And: “I believe the best days of this country are before us because I believe in America!”

If that is pure Ronald Reagan, Romney’s position on Iraq is pure John McCain: Romney believes U.S. troops must stay there and win because if they do not the region will descend into chaos and the troops will have to return.

“I believe that so long as there is a reasonable prospect of success, our wisest course is to seek stability in Iraq, with additional troops endeavoring to secure the civilian population,” Romney said

So can Romney woo and win the Republican right?

“The conservative movement is splintered right now,” said Greg Mueller, who ran the presidential campaigns of Pat Buchanan and Steve Forbes. “Governor Romney is working hard to show his stripes as a Reagan conservative. This will help him as long as he isn't just paying lip service to conservative issues.”

“But the Christian right is still looking,” Mueller added. “They are not sold or uniting behind anyone yet.”

Full Text of Gov. Romney's POTUS announcement

2007-02-13T09:51:00.000-05:00

(full text of speech pre-delivery, from Drudge)

GOVERNOR MITT ROMNEY'S PRESIDENTIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
EMBARGOED UNTIL DELIVERY
Tue Feb 13 2007 08:31:33 ET

"I am happy to be in Michigan this morning. I'm happy to have my brother Scott and Sister Lynn here. And I'm proud to have all my children and grandchildren here too.

"Michigan is where Ann and I were born. It is where we met and fell in love. I still love Ann. And I still love Michigan!

"During my parents' campaigns, I visited all 83 Michigan counties, doing my best to convince Michiganders that Romneys and Republicans could lead the state back to prosperity.

"You know my father as a business leader, a governor, and as an advocate of volunteerism. But he came from humble roots. He labored with lath and plaster. He never graduated from college. But like many other Americans, he made his dreams come true.

"And he made a difference. My father worked here to improve Detroit Schools. He worked to write a new state constitution. And he worked as your governor for six years to get Michigan on the move. His character and integrity left an impression that has lasted through the decades.

"It was Mom who did the lion's share of raising Lynn, Jane, Scott and me. Dad said, that as a successful Mom, she had accomplished more than he. Later she worked in charities, in foster care, in music and the arts, and in volunteerism. She even ran for U.S. Senate.

"I always imagined that I would come back to Michigan someday. That's why I took the bar exam here. I hadn't imagined it would happen this way, but I sure have come back to Michigan today.

"I chose this site for a number of reasons. It's filled with cars and memories. Dad and I loved cars. Most kids read the sports box scores. Dad and I read Automotive News. We came here together, him teaching me about cars that were built before my time.

"The Rambler automobile he championed was the first American car designed and marketed for economy and mileage. He dubbed it a compact car, a car that would slay the gas-guzzling dinosaurs. It transformed the industry.

"This place is not just about automobiles; it is about innovation, innovation that transformed an industry, and in doing so, gave Americans a way of life our grandparents could never have imagined.

"The DC 3 above us was the first true commercial airliner. It transformed aviation from a luxury to a standard mode of transportation.

"Next to us is a Ford hybrid. It is the first giant step away from our reliance on the gasoline engine. It is already changing the world of transportation.

"Just outside is Thomas Edison's laboratory. There, electricity that Benjamin Franklin discovered was transformed from a novelty into a necessity.

"Innovation and transformation have been at the heart of America's success. If there ever was a time when innovation and transformation were needed in government, it is now.

"We have lost faith in government, not in just one party, not in just one house, but in government.

"We are weary of the bickering and bombast, fatigued by the posturing and self-promotion. For even as America faces a new generation of challenges, the halls of government are clogged with petty politics and stuffed with peddlers of influence.

"It is time for innovation and transformation in Washington. It is what our country needs. It is what our people deserve.

"I do not believe Washington can be transformed from within by a lifelong politician. There have been too many deals, too many favors, too many entanglements…and too little real world experience managing, guiding, leading.

"I do not believe Washington can be transformed by someone who has never tried doing such a thing before, in any setting, by someone who has never even managed a corner store, let alone the largest enterprise in the world.

"Throughout my life, I have pursued innovation and transformation. It has taught me the vital lessons that come only from experience, from failures and successes, from the private, public and voluntary sectors, from small and large enterprise, from leading a state, from being in the arena, not just talking about it. Talk is easy, talk is cheap. It is doing that is hard. And it is only in doing that hope and dreams come to life.

"This Christmas, Ann and I gathered my five sons and five daughters-in-law to ask them whether I should run for President.

"We talked about the special time this is in the history of America – the challenges and the opportunities. We talked about the qualities that are needed in our leaders. They were unanimous. They know our hearts. They know our values. They know my experience innovating and transforming, in business, in the Olympics, and in Massachusetts. And they know we love this country.

"And so, with them behind us, with the fine people of Michigan before us, and with my sweetheart beside me, I declare my intention to run for President of the United States.

"It has been said that a person is defined by what he loves and by what he believes and by what he dreams.

"I love America and I believe in the people of America.

"I believe in God and I believe that every person in this great country, and every person on this grand planet, is a child of God. We are all sisters and brothers.

"I believe the family is the foundation of America – and that we must fight to protect and strengthen it.

"I believe in the sanctity of human life.

"I believe that people and their elected representatives should make our laws, not unelected judges.

"I believe we are overtaxed and government is overfed. Washington is spending too much money.

"I believe that homeland security begins with securing our borders.

"I believe the best days of this country are ahead of us, because…

"I believe in America!

"At this critical time, we must 1) transform our role in the world, 2) strengthen our nation, and 3) build a brighter future for the American family.

"Today, as we stare at the face of radical violent Jihad and at the prospect of nuclear epidemic, our military might should not be subject to the whims of ever-changing political agendas. The best ally of peace is a strong America!

"Our role in the world must be defined not only in terms of our might, but also by our willingness to lead, to serve, and to share. We must campaign for freedom and democracy in our own hemisphere, now threatened by a second aspiring strongman. We must extend our hand to Africa's poor and diseased and brutalized. We must lead the world's civilized nations in a partnership that will support moderate Muslim nations and peoples, to help them embrace principles of modernity and defeat violent Jihad. We must link arms with all responsible nations to block Iran from realizing its nuclear ambition. America must never engage and negotiate with Jihadists who want to destroy us, destroy our friends, and destroy our way of life!

"Across the nation, there is debate about our future course in Iraq. Our desire to bring our troops home, safely and soon, is met with our recognition that if Iraq descends into all-out civil war, millions could die; that Iraq's Sunni region could become a base for Al Qaeda; that its Shia region could be seized by Iran; that Kurd tension could destabilize Turkey; and even that the broader Middle East could be drawn into conflict. The possible implications for America and for American interests from such developments could be devastating. It could mean a future with far more military involvement and far more loss of American life. For these reasons, I believe that so long as there is a reasonable prospect of success, our wisest course is to seek stability in Iraq, with additional troops endeavoring to secure the civilian population.

"And no matter how Iraq is resolved, we must honor and care for the veterans who risked their lives, and for the families whose loved ones made the ultimate sacrifice. Our nation has a sacred pact with those who defend freedom. It is a pact we must never break!

"America must regain our standing in the world. Our influence must once again match our generosity. Over the entire 20th century, no nation gave more, shed more precious lives, and took less for itself than America. Our sacrifice for freedom and for human dignity continues unabated. But this is not the way it is seen by others. America's goodness and leadership in the world, must be as bright and bold as our military might!

"America can also overcome our challenges and seize our abundant opportunities here at home, but only if we follow the right course.

"There are some who believe that America's strength comes from government – that challenges call for bigger government, for more regulation of our lives and livelihood, and for more protection and isolation from competition that comes from open markets.

"That is the path that has been taken by much of Europe. It is called the welfare state. It has led to high unemployment and anemic job growth. It is not the path to prosperity and leadership.

"I believe the American people are the source of our strength. They always have been. They always will be. The American people: hard working, educated, innovative, ready to sacrifice for family and country, patriotic, seeking opportunity above dependence, God-fearing, free American people. When we need to call on the strength of America, we should strengthen the American people, not the American government!

"We strengthen the American people by giving them more freedom, by letting them keep more of what they earn, by making sure our schools are providing the skills our children will need for tomorrow, and by keeping America at the leading edge of innovation and technology.

"Our government has become a weight on the American people, sapping their strength and slowing their climb. We must transform our government – to become a government that is smaller and less bureaucratic, one with fewer regulations and more freedom for our people. The innovation we need today is to make government more responsive to the needs of everyday American citizens. It's time to put government in its place, and to put the American people first!

"At America's core are millions of individual families: families of children and parents, aunts and uncles and cousins, grandparents, foster parents. There is no work more important for our nation's future than the work done in the home.

"But the work done in the home isn't getting easier. Values and morals that have long shaped the development of our children are under constant attack. In too many cases, schools are failing. For some, healthcare is inadequate. Family expenses and government taxes take a larger and larger bite. America cannot continue to lead the family of nations if we fail the families at home.

"How is the American family made stronger? With marriage before children. With a mother and a father in the life of every child. With healthcare that is affordable and portable. With schools that succeed. With taxes that are lower. And with leaders who strive to demonstrate enduring values and morality.

"This was the agenda I pursued as Governor of Massachusetts. This is the agenda I will pursue if elected President.

"When I was a boy, the American dream meant a house in the suburbs. The American dream today must mean more than a house. The new American dream should include a strong family, enduring values, excellence in education, dependable and affordable healthcare, secure employment and secure retirement, and a safe and prosperous homeland. It's time to build a new American dream for all of America's families.

"How will this new American dream be built? Our hopes and dreams will inspire us, for we are an optimistic people. But hope alone is just crossing fingers, when what we need is industrious hands. It is time for hope and action. It is time to do, as well as to dream!

"As we look around us in this museum, we see the evidence of American innovation – airplanes, automobiles, appliances. But these are not America's greatest innovation. America's greatest innovation is freedom. Without freedom, we have nothing. With freedom, nothing can hold us back.

"Freedom has made the American dream possible. Freedom will make the new American dream possible. And with the work, sacrifice, and greatness of spirit of the American people, freedom has made America – and will keep America – the greatest nation on earth. God bless America."

END

Giuliani on Romney

2007-02-13T09:46:00.000-05:00

(from Hotline)

Giuliani, to reporters at a windy press conference after his speech before about 500 Silicon Valley business executives: "Governor Romney is a good friend, he was somebody I campaigned for very, very hard when he ran for governor of Massachusetts, helped him get elected. I don't think I'll be campaigning for him for the Republican nomination this time. I have another candidate that I think is probably going to be better, but I really wish him well. He's a very, very good man."

Romney Joines 2008 Presidential Race

2007-02-13T09:38:00.000-05:00

(if the Wash Post can make such flattering comments, then you know he's a contender. that's right. Gov. Romney is in it for real...)

Romney Joins 2008 Presidential Race

By LIZ SIDOTI
The Associated Press
Tuesday, February 13, 2007; 9:34 AM

DEARBORN, Mich. -- Mitt Romney officially entered the 2008 presidential race Tuesday, a former one-term Republican governor of Massachusetts suggesting that his record of leadership inside and outside government uniquely positions him to tackle the country's challenges.

"I do not believe Washington can be transformed from within by a lifelong politician," Romney said, seeking to turn a potential liability, his limited political experience, into an asset. "There have been too many deals, too many favors, too many entanglements _ and too little real world experience managing, guiding, leading."

Romney's remarks were also a veiled swipe at his chief rival for the GOP nomination, four-term Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

In elective office only four years, Romney is not nearly as well known nationally as McCain and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, political celebrities who consistently lead popularity polls.

But Romney, a serious contender even though he is little more than a blip in such surveys, is seeking to convince Republican primary voters that his record of success in the private, public and voluntary sectors proves he has the know-how to lead a country at a crossroads.

If elected, Romney will be the nation's first Mormon president.

"We have lost faith in government, not in just one party, not in just one house, but in government," Romney said. "It is time for innovation and transformation in Washington. It is what our country needs. It is what our people deserve."

And, Romney said, he is the candidate who has proven he can deliver.

"Talk is easy, talk is cheap. It is doing that is hard. And it is only in doing that hope and dreams come to life," Romney added.

A successful venture capitalist who amassed a fortune and the savior of the scandal-plagued 2002 Winter Olympic Games, Romney hopes the party's conservative wing will focus on his deft managerial skills _ and set aside any uneasiness it may have about his faith and his credentials on issues it holds dear.

In what amounts to a made-for-TV coming-out tour, Romney announced his candidacy in Michigan, the place of his birth and upbringing as well as an important stop on the path to the GOP nomination. He then heads to other states that hold early primaries and caucuses _ Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina _ before returning to Boston for a major fundraiser. The three-day swing intended to introduce the strikingly handsome candidate to the nation.

Opening the tour, Romney gave a speech to hundreds of supporters at the sprawling Henry Ford Museum outside of Detroit, the automotive capital and a site chosen for its emphasis on ingenuity that changed the nation.

Juxtaposing the present with the past, Romney stood on stage at a podium before an American Motors Corp. Rambler from yesteryear and a Ford Escape Hybrid in the airport-hangar-like Henry Ford Museum, as he invoked the memory of his late father. A Michigan governor in the 1960s and an AMC chief executive, George Romney made a short-lived attempt at the presidency four decades ago.

A son seeking to succeed where a father failed, Romney became an official GOP presidential candidate flanked by his wife since 1969, Ann, their five sons and five daughters-in-law, and the Romneys' ten grandchildren _ a not-so-subtle message that he is a family man.

In his speech, Romney laid out his vision for the country, saying that the United States must build a brighter future for the American family, transform its role abroad and strengthen itself at home.

On Iraq, Romney reiterated his support for President Bush's policy in the nearly four year old war, although he did not name the president, and said that failure in Iraq "could be devastating" for the United States and could mean "a future with far more military involvement and far more loss of American life."

"So long as there is a reasonable prospect of success, our wisest course is to seek stability in Iraq, with additional troops endeavoring to secure the civilian population," he said.

Seeking to convince conservatives that he is one of them, Romney invoked God and emphasized principles considered the bedrock of the GOP.

"I believe the family is the foundation of America and that we must fight to protect and strengthen it," he said. "I believe in the sanctity of human life."

"I believe that people and their elected representatives should make our laws, not unelected judges," Romney continued. "I believe we are overtaxed and government is overfed. Washington is spending too much money."

"I believe that homeland security begins with securing our borders," he added.

Romney long has been laying the groundwork for a presidential run, and his entrance into the crowded GOP presidential field came as no surprise.

He's a prolific fundraiser who is expected to easily collect the tens of millions of dollars needed for a serious bid. He has built a national campaign organization staffed with top political operatives, and he has strong grassroots support in several important states.

Romney, 59, also has a long record of accomplishment in the private, voluntary and public sectors, effectively turning struggling entities into successful enterprises in each sector.

A businessman, Romney helped found a multibillion-dollar venture capital firm, Bain Capital, that invested in companies like Staples, the office-supply giant.

Later, he stepped in to take over the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City. A bribery scandal had threatened to implode the games, but they ended up a success with Romney at the helm.

As governor of Massachusetts, Romney was credited with closing a $3 billion budget deficit without raising taxes and pushing a comprehensive overhaul of health insurance system the state.

He tried to enter politics in 1994 with a failed bid to unseat Democratic lion Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. It wasn't until 2002 that he tried again, running as he did in his first race as a moderate in one of the most liberal states in the country. Now he's having to answer for his statements and positions back then as he tries to campaign as the more conservative candidate to McCain and Giuliani.

During the Senate race, he wrote a letter promising a gay Republican group he would be a stronger advocate for gays and their rights than Kennedy. Nevertheless, he insists he has been an unflinching opponent of gay marriage.

Also, in the two previous campaigns, he said that regardless of personal beliefs, abortion should be safe and legal. Now, he describes himself as pro-life and argues that Roe v. Wade should be replaced with state abortion regulations.

MittRomney.com to Strem Live Gov. Romney's Formal POTUS announcement

2007-02-12T14:41:00.001-05:00

MittRomney.com to Stream Live Governor Mitt Romney's Formal Presidential Announcement
Monday, Feb 12, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Kevin Madden (857) 288-6390

Boston, MA - On Tuesday, February 13, Governor Mitt Romney will travel to Michigan, the state where he was born, to declare his intention to seek the Presidency of the United States of America. Governor Romney's announcement will be streamed live on MittRomney.com at 9:00 a.m. EST.

To watch Governor Romney's announcement, please click the following link and pre-register to receive a reminder on the morning of the event:

http://www.visualwebcaster.com/event.asp?id=37812

Obama's Texas fundraiser

2007-02-12T14:39:00.001-05:00

(from Hotline)

Obama Nabs Top Dem Fundraiser For Texas

We hear that Sen. Barack Obama's campaign has signed veteran Democratic fundraiser Adrienne Donato to head the Illinois Senator's Texas fundraising operation. There's a lot of Dem money in those parts, be it nestled in the suburbs of Dallas or in the tonier precincts of Houston. [MARC AMBINDER]

Romney makes Iowa ID Calls

2007-02-12T14:38:00.001-05:00

(from Hotline)

The Daily Troika: Romney's Making Iowa ID Calls

Iowans, lend Mitt Romney your ears. On the even of the ex-MA Gov.'s announcement tour, the campaign has volunteer phone banks set up to tell Iowa Republicans about Romney's schedule -- and to see whether they'd yet made any commitments to a candidate. Early phone banking isn't unusual, but making a so-called "ID" call -- where the caucus-goer is asked to identify which candidate they're supporting at the moment -- is.

A Romney adviser said the callers also asked Iowans some "general questions" about issues. By combining the two types of calls, Romney's campaign avoids inundating these Republicans will too many phone calls, a tactic that might reap them some goodwill.

Romney's not the only Republican making phone calls. Ex-WI Gov. Tommy Thompson's campaign called to inform Republicans about Thompson's event schedule.

And paper stock from both Romney and Thompson landed in mailboxes this past week. Romney's campaign sent an informational postcard to thousands of Republicans. Thompson sent a colorful two-sided invitation to his event. (If you're a Des Moines Republican, you received an invite to his Des Moines event). For Thompson, the prospecting paid off: he drew crowds in excess of 80 -- which, for him, is a good number -- at least twice this weekend.

Family Matters

2007-02-12T14:37:00.002-05:00

(from Hotline)

Family Matters

The Big Three all seemed to touch on matters close to home over the weekend.

The St. Pete Times reports that one of McCain's sons, Jimmy, is likely heading with his Marine unit to Anbar province this summer. But in an interview, the senator declines to expound. "I won't talk about my kids."

Giuliani, in a chat from his South Carolina trip last weekend, admits to The State: "I made mistakes in my private life. There may be a few candidates who never have. I don’t know who they are." He adds: "The question is: Have we grown? I think I have.”

Speaking to the Michigan GOP's convention in Grand Rapids yesterday, Romney invoked his father, the former governor of the Wolverine State. "He got Michigan moving again."

And last, but certainly not least, a Show Me State spy shares that in introducing her husband at the Missouri GOP's Lincoln Day Dinner last night, Ann Romney got a little saucy. "The biggest difference between Mitt Romney and the other candidates," she said, is that Mitt has "only had one wife."

I understand that the jibe was told in a light-hearted fashion and was meant to evoke the great line that National Review's Kate O'Beirne got off last summer in assessing the Republican contenders. "The only guy in the GOP field with only one wife would be the Mormon."

Campbells endorse Huckabee

2007-02-12T14:37:00.001-05:00

(from Hotline)

Endorsement Watch: Campbells Endorse Huckabee
Who: Ex-SC first lady Iris Campbell, and son Mike Campbell

For: Ex-Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR)

Who else courted them: Ex-MA Gov. Mitt Romney, Sen. John McCain

Significance level: (1 to 10) 6

Background: Iris Rhodes Campbell is the wife of the late Carroll Campbell II, beloved SC governor from '87 to '94,, and before that, a critical player in the movement to make SC a must-win primary for GOP presidential candidates. Seen as a bit of a kingmaker for GOP presidential candidates. Did we mention: beloved by many rank-and-file Republicans?

Campbell was SE regional chair for George H.W. Bush's campaign in '88 and endorsed George W. Bush in '00. Son Mike Campbell lost a run-off primary bid for SC Lt. Gov. in '06.

Note that Carroll Campbell III, the couple's other son, endorsed Sen. John McCain. Also, be aware that Warren Tompkins, who is Romney's chief consultant in the state, was never a favorite of the Campbell family.

Huckabee's release notes this bit of history: "In 1980, the first South Carolina primary was held. That year the SC party established led by Sen. Strom Thurmond and former Gov. Jim Edwards supported early frontrunner, John Connelly. However, Carroll and Iris Campbell decided to support the underdog, Ronald Reagan."

The full release is after the jump.

McCain Taps Cash He Sought to Limit

2007-02-11T16:59:00.000-05:00

(from the Wash Post)

McCain Taps Cash He Sought To Limit
Onetime Reformer Calls on Big Donors

By John Solomon
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, February 11, 2007; A01

Just about a year and a half ago, Sen. John McCain went to court to try to curtail the influence of a group to which A. Jerrold Perenchio gave $9 million, saying it was trying to "evade and violate" new campaign laws with voter ads ahead of the midterm elections.

As McCain launches his own presidential campaign, however, he is counting on Perenchio, the founder of the Univision Spanish-language media empire, to raise millions of dollars as co-chairman of the Arizona Republican's national finance committee.

In his early efforts to secure the support of the Republican establishment he has frequently bucked, McCain has embraced some of the same political-money figures, forces and tactics he pilloried during a 15-year crusade to reduce the influence of big donors, fundraisers and lobbyists in elections. That includes enlisting the support of Washington lobbyists as well as key players in the fundraising machine that helped President Bush defeat McCain in the 2000 Republican primaries.

After enduring his own brush with scandal in the early 1990s, when he and four Senate colleagues pressured regulators on behalf of Charles Keating, chairman of a failed savings and loan association, while collecting donations and favors from him, McCain became a leader in the effort to eliminate "soft money" in elections -- large donations from corporations, labor unions and wealthy individuals. In 2002, McCain joined forces with Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) to finally push through legislation ending soft money and placing strict limits on donations.

But now the contrast between McCain the presidential candidate and McCain the reformer can be jarring. McCain's campaign says that he is still studying whether to forgo the public financing and spending limits he has long supported, but that he will not be handicapped by restrictions his competitors will not face in 2008.

McCain the reformer worked unsuccessfully through Congress and the courts to try to stop nonprofit political groups known as 527s from using unlimited donations to run political ads and fund other activities aimed at influencing voters in the run-up to elections. He reintroduced legislation last week to end 527 donations, but there appears to be little appetite in Congress to pass it.

McCain the candidate now expects Republicans to use the same big-money 527 groups in the 2008 elections to beat Democrats, if the groups remain legal. "The senator believes that both parties should be subjected to an even playing field. If Democratic organizations are allowed to take advantage of 527s, Republican organizations will, too," said Mark Salter, a senior McCain adviser. The senator declined to be interviewed.

McCain the reformer relentlessly argued that six- and seven-figure "soft money" checks that corporations, wealthy individuals and unions were giving to political parties to influence elections were corrupting American politics. "The voices of average Americans have been drowned out by the deafening racket of campaign cash," he warned just a few years ago.

McCain the candidate has enlisted some of the same GOP fundraising giants who created and flourished in the soft-money system, including Bush's fundraising "Pioneers" and "Rangers," who earned their designations by raising at least $100,000 or $200,000 for his campaigns.

At least six of McCain's first eight national finance co-chairmen have given or raised large donations for political parties or 527 groups, campaign and IRS records show. In all, the finance co-chairs have given at least $13.5 million in soft money and 527 donations since the 1998 election.

They include former Bush moneymen such as lobbyist Thomas G. Loeffler and financier Donald Bren, whose personal and corporate donations total in the hundreds of thousands of dollars each in recent elections.

In key states, McCain has enlisted the likes of New York financier Henry Kravis, one of the GOP's largest donors over the past two decades, and Texas energy executive Robert A. Mosbacher, the architect of the Republicans' "Team 100" fundraising machine that helped make soft money a staple of politics by raising $20 million in large donations to help Bush's father win the presidency in 1988.

The big moneymen gravitating to McCain are politically pragmatic. They may not always agree with him, but they say they admire the Arizona senator for his work on campaign finance reform, his Vietnam War record, his support of Bush on Iraq and his recent campaigning for GOP candidates.

"He did things for our country that very few people I know would have had the courage to do," said Brian Ballard, a Florida lobbyist and longtime fundraiser for former Florida governor Jeb Bush who signed on this month to raise money for McCain.

Ballard said most of the big-money players he knows are not fazed by McCain's attacks on the political-money and lobbying systems, calling it more of an issue for consultants who make their living off big donations.

"I myself don't mind him calling out lobbyists when they've done something bad," Ballard said.

Lobbyists have been a favorite target of McCain the reformer, who proposed legislation requiring so-called grass-roots groups that organize average citizens into lobbying forces to disclose their financial backers.

But McCain the candidate switched positions and last month voted against that disclosure requirement after influential GOP groups such as Focus on the Family and National Right to Life strongly opposed the idea. McCain also hired as his campaign manager one of the grass-roots-lobbying industry's key consultants, Bush strategist Terry Nelson.

"When the senator heard from legitimate public-interest organizations in January of last year that a provision in the legislation would unfairly penalize them for Jack Abramoff's behavior, he agreed and withdrew his support for the provision at that time," Salter explained, referring to the lobbyist in prison for fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy.

In December, Sen. Trent Lott (Miss.), a darling of GOP conservatives and lobbyists, acted as a surrogate for McCain at a fundraising meeting with a group of lobbyists at a Capitol Hill hotel. McCain's political action committee has collected donations -- capped at $5,000 -- from several big-name lobbyists, including Loeffler and fellow Bush fundraiser Wayne Berman, whose blue-chip clients frequently have issues pending before Congress and the White House.

"Both Wayne Berman and Tom Loeffler are longtime supporters of the Republican Party, President Bush and Senator McCain," Salter said. "Senator McCain is pleased to have their support."

Ed Rogers, one of Washington's most influential GOP lobbyists and strategists, said the embrace of McCain is not surprising. "Lobbyists are the ultimate pragmatists, and they deal with the world as is," said Rogers, who last year gave $5,000 to McCain's political action committee, though he says he has not yet endorsed a candidate.

Perenchio, now a member of McCain's finance committee, funneled more than $1.4 million in soft money to Republican causes in the 1998, 2000 and 2002 election campaigns, often in amounts McCain used to criticize. For one GOP fundraising dinner in the spring of 2001, for example, he donated $250,000. Perenchio has also been a major donor to the 527 groups formed to exploit a loophole in the legislation sponsored by McCain and Feingold.

Taking their name from a little-known provision of the IRS tax code, the groups began raising large donations -- some in the millions of dollars -- and running ads and funding other activities designed to influence the 2004 presidential election. Federal election regulators have refused to rein in the groups and their donations in the past two elections.

Perenchio gave $4 million to a pro-Republican 527 group called Progress for America, which helped Bush in the 2004 campaign. In the 2006 congressional races, Perenchio gave $5 million more to the same group.

In the summer of 2005, McCain's allies in the reform movement went to court seeking to force the Federal Election Commission to regulate the 527 groups and make them abide by the same donation limits as other political committees.

In a friend-of-the-court brief, McCain and Feingold specifically cited Progress for America as an example of what was wrong with 527 groups. The court filing cited one of the group's pro-Bush commercials -- which starred a 16-year-old whose mother was killed in the Sept. 11 attacks -- to illustrate the impact large donations had on the election. Perenchio was not mentioned.

"The deployment of section 527 groups as the new vehicle for using soft money to conduct political activities to influence federal elections is simply the latest chapter in a long history of efforts to evade and violate the federal campaign finance laws," the McCain court filing stated. "Sadly, it is another chapter in the FEC's failure to enforce the campaign finance laws."

Perenchio declined to be interviewed. Salter said Perenchio's support of McCain "pre-dates the existence of 527s. Perenchio served on Senator McCain's fundraising committee in 2000, and the senator is pleased to have his continued support."

That support has come in a number of ways. Tax records show that Perenchio's Chartwell Foundation donated $100,000 on March 1, 2002, to the Reform Institute, a nonprofit foundation of which McCain was co-chairman and which was advocating the end of big political donations.

At the time, McCain was chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees the broadcast industry, and Univision had numerous issues pending before the government. Cablevision, another broadcaster, also donated $200,000 to the McCain foundation around the same time the senator took action in Congress favorable to that company.

McCain's allies in the campaign finance reform movement seem resigned to the fact that he will not abide by many of the principles he advocated for a decade as a reformer, including public financing and its associated spending and fundraising limits.

"Certainly we are disappointed that he has decided not to take the lead in fixing the presidential-financing system he is competing in," said Mary Boyle of Common Cause, the ethics watchdog that cheered McCain's reform efforts for years. "But it is understandable he is opting out.

"It is apparent to us that to run a competitive presidential campaign inside a system that is still broken, that is what he has to do," she said.

others add staff

2007-02-10T15:51:00.000-05:00

(from yesterday's hotline)

A short Troika today, with staff news only. Mark Daley, a former IA Dem party comm. dir, will serve as Sen. Hillary Clinton's communications director in NH. He'll work for JoDee Winterhoff, Clinton's state director.

As state director, Nick Clemons is unquestionably a big get for Clinton in NH. (Writes James Pindell: "Due to his experience and his prominent political family, Clemons is the biggest New Hampshire "get" who had not yet signed with a candidate." Still, a prominent New Hampshire Dem who isn't yet supporting any candidate e-mailed us with some local perspective: "I don’t think his appointment will impress the grassroots/rabble. And [a friend] laughed at the ‘intensive search’ description. Clinton and Nick got where they are through nepotism – Nick’s mother is a state rep." That she is -- she's a very prominent, powerful Nashua Dem. But Clemons has credentials: his first presidential campaign experience was based in Nashua: he was the city field dir. for Al Gore's '00 presidential bid, working under Nick Baldick, a very senior aide to John Edwards.

EX-Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR), fresh on the heels of announcing Iowa endorsements and a campaign manager who can raise money (Chip Saltzman), today received the endorsements of of ex-Manchester GOP cmte chair Cliff Hurst, and ex-NH state school board member Fred Bamante. We're not obsessed with money, but it would be more comforting to fans of the AR governor if he released the names of some GOP donors who're supporting him.

White House on Sidelines in 2008 Contest

2007-02-10T15:46:00.000-05:00

(from yesterday's Wash Post)

White House On Sidelines In 2008 Contest
Absence of a Candidate Shapes Race, Bush's Term

By Peter Baker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 9, 2007; A01

No one in the West Wing is booking tickets to Iowa. No one is scouring matchup poll numbers or hiring campaign managers or dialing for dollars. As candidate after candidate jumps into the race for president, the White House sits unaccustomedly on the sidelines.

This is the first White House in 80 years without someone running for president, a twist of history that will shape not just the campaign but also the remainder of the Bush administration. With neither a president seeking reelection nor a vice president positioned as the heir presumptive, the Bush team will increasingly turn into a spectator in the nation's political debate.

Its absence in the contest will spare the White House the trials of a campaign, easing the tensions between governing priorities and election imperatives that traditionally tear at the institution. Yet, at the same time, it means that no one will be making the case for the Bush legacy as 2008 nears. To one degree or another, all of the candidates, including the Republicans, will distance themselves from the president, particularly if he remains as unpopular as he is today.

"It creates a fundamentally different situation than we've known in the past," said Craig Fuller, chief of staff to then-Vice President George H.W. Bush as he prepared for his 1988 presidential run. "What's so starkly different about this situation is that not only is the president, by virtue of the calendar, a lame duck, but there's no champion out there on the field for him."

The early and especially intense start of the 2008 race, marked by a rush of announcements in recent weeks, has foreshadowed the changing dynamics. Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the Republican most closely identified with Bush's Iraq policy, made a point of assailing the administration's performance as a "train wreck." And the focus is turning to the future. Voters dislodged Bush's Republican majorities in Congress in November, and a Newsweek poll last month found that 58 percent would like the Bush presidency to be over; 21 percent of Republicans agreed.

For Bush, the challenge will be to assert his leadership anyway. As a wartime commander in chief sending more troops to Iraq, he is more relevant than most lame-duck presidents. But he seems eager not to let the election debate pass him by. When Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) in Iowa criticized Bush's actions as "the height of irresponsibility," the White House called reporters to denounce her "partisan attack that sends the wrong message to our troops."

Still, Bush's advisers see advantages in not having a candidate in the race. Bush can push energy, immigration and Iraq plans without gauging electoral consequences. When he proposed a dramatic increase in ethanol production, no one linked that to Iowa caucus politics. "I actually think it is liberating in some ways, and it keeps them from being distracted," said former Republican National Committee chairman Ken Mehlman. "The fact that you have a White House that isn't thinking at all about politics . . . is good for the nation and good for the president."

Other advisers said the White House will still think about politics but will be free to focus on broader goals, such as party building. And they take solace that top Republican candidates -- McCain, former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney -- have backed Bush's troop increase. But they recognize that the support will not last if the situation in Iraq does not improve in six months.

The situation for Bush defies modern tradition. The last time neither president nor vice president actively ran was in 1928, when Calvin Coolidge did not seek reelection and hated Vice President Charles G. Dawes so much that he made it clear that fellow Republicans should not consider him. Even so, Coolidge had a stake in the election, with his commerce secretary, Herbert Hoover, carrying the banner. The only election since then without a president or vice president on a major-party ballot was in 1952, when Vice President Alben W. Barkley, at 74 and with no support from Harry S. Truman, lost the Democratic nomination to Adlai Stevenson.

Friction typifies relations when vice presidents step forward to seek the Oval Office. Even George H.W. Bush, who vowed not to disrespect Ronald Reagan during his own presidential bid, began to distinguish himself in the summer of 1988, first by publicly disagreeing with administration talks with drug-running Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega and later by promising a "kinder, gentler" presidency.

This can fracture a White House, with the president's staff focused on polishing his legacy and the vice president's on winning votes. The schism between Bill Clinton and Al Gore after the Monica Lewinsky scandal grew so pronounced that, at one point in 2000, Tipper Gore refused to go into a reception with the president. Gore chose a Clinton critic as his running mate and kept the president off the campaign trail.

"There are always tensions," said Roy Neel, a longtime Gore adviser who also served as Clinton's deputy chief of staff. "In the Clinton-Gore years, the tensions were minimal until Gore's campaign had to begin. And then what happened was all of the expected tensions . . . [were] exacerbated substantially by the problems that Clinton was having and the backlash onto Gore."

George W. Bush avoided that in 2000 by tapping Dick Cheney, who swore off interest in the Oval Office from the start. "My advice to him is untainted by any concern I might have about how the folks in Iowa will look at me with connection with the 2008 Iowa caucuses," Cheney told CBS News last year. "And when I speak out on an issue, it's because somebody needs to speak out on the issue, and I can do it without fear, in a sense that I'm not here trying to burnish my image."

With no campaign at stake, Cheney's influence within the White House, though still potent, has clearly diminished. The rise of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the fall of ousted defense secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld signaled a shift. Cheney's handling of a hunting accident last year, in which he shot a friend in the face and kept quiet about it for a day, drove a wedge between him and Bush aides who blamed him for needlessly exacerbating the president's political problems.

Since then, according to some in the administration, the Cheney mystique within the White House has faded. Presidential aides are no longer as intimidated by Cheney's staff as they once were, and some who have seen the vice president in private lately said he seems personally down. His combative tone in a CNN interview last month, even as Bush was trying to reach out to Democrats, surprised presidential aides and hinted at his frustration over the turn of events.

Advisers played down reports of tension and noted that Cheney's decision not to run makes him the most loyal vice president in modern times. "Contrary to popular belief, he doesn't freelance," said Mary Matalin, a former aide. "You don't have to work parallel agendas -- the president's and your own."

Bush plans to remain neutral in the GOP primaries -- "helpful to all, partial to none," in the words of one aide. His political guru, Karl Rove, is likewise staying out of the race and refuses to handicap it even among friends for fear of showing favoritism. Some Bush advisers, such as media strategist Mark McKinnon, have signed on with McCain, while the candidates compete for the president's fundraisers.

Within the White House, there is no sentimental favorite, no candidate in the Bush mold who excites his loyalists. McCain's long rivalry with Bush makes him anathema to many, but some top aides appreciate that he has always supported the president on the issue that matters most, the Iraq war. On domestic matters, many in the White House are attracted to Romney, seeing him as the most electable conservative. Giuliani has admirers for his performance on Sept. 11, 2001, but many consider him too liberal on social issues.

As the campaign begins to heat up without him, Bush may find it irritating not to have a role. As Timothy Walch, a historian and director of the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library, put it: "It's very hard, I think, psychologically and politically, for somebody who has been the most powerful person in the world to begin gradually to detach themselves from power."

trial lawyers and democrats

2007-02-10T15:32:00.000-05:00

(from the Wash Post. it's intersting to note litigation reform is never a favorite of the trial lawyers although an extremely important need in today's litigious society. as a harvard law educated attorney, romney is himself cream of the legal crop and, if i may, gov. romney has one of the best lawyers in the entire country onboard: the legendary ben ginsberg -- patton boggs.)

For Lawyers, No Clear Favorite
Litigators Backed Edwards in 2004, but He Has New Competition

By Matthew Mosk
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, February 10, 2007; A04

In the last presidential election, John Edwards had the powerful support and deep pockets of the nation's trial lawyers behind him. But when the lawyers gather for their winter conference today in Miami Beach, it will be Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) delivering the meeting's keynote speech.

Edwards, a trial lawyer who became a senator and now a presidential candidate, will be there, too. But the North Carolina Democrat no longer has a lock on the backing of the lawyers. This time around he will be battling it out with others in the Democratic field, who are seen as sympathetic to plaintiffs and their attorneys.

"John is certainly respected by every trial lawyer in the country," said Joseph W. Cotchett, a lawyer from the San Francisco area who helped raise more than $33,000 for Edwards in the 2004 cycle. "Many people though are looking at the bigger picture here."

Thomas V. Girardi, a Los Angeles personal injury lawyer who helped raise more than $230,000 for Edwards as finance co-chairman of his 2004 bid, agreed. Girardi hosted a luncheon last month for Biden and said he intends to do the same for Edwards and for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.).

In the last election, Girardi said, "Senator Edwards was a much better candidate for the issues we care deeply about." Now, Edwards, Biden, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Clinton "all are very positive in terms of the philosophical view," he said. "So you have a different situation with respect to our support."

Edwards continues to work hard to win over trial lawyers. "He's getting good support from them," campaign spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri said. "I wouldn't read too much into the leanings of any one person."

Winning the backing of trial lawyers is a significant coup for Democratic candidates. The 55,000-member American Association for Justice, which advocates for trial lawyers, ranks fifth on a list of the nation's 100 largest donors since 1989, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The group's members gave more than $27 million to political candidates during that period, with 90 percent going to Democrats.

Fred Baron, a Dallas-based trial lawyer who leads Edwards's fundraising efforts, as he did in the last campaign, said this year may be different, but support from the legal community has not softened.

"When we started four years ago, we really did rely very heavily on trial lawyers," Baron said. Now Edwards "has a much broader base of support than that one community."

Other Democratic candidates have worked hard to win support from trial lawyers. Obama has recruited Julianna Smoot, who served previously as Edwards's finance director and on the staff of the lawyers association. Biden's finance director, Chris Koerner, has also worked for the group.

Edwards was a principal beneficiary of the group's giving in the 2004 campaign. Lawyers' contributions accounted for almost two-thirds of the money he raised during the first quarter of 2003, when he surprised pundits and rivals by outraising the rest of the field. By the end of the campaign, more than $10 million had flowed to Edwards from lawyers, many of whom were plaintiffs' attorneys.

They were giving to one of their own. In the mid-1980s, Edwards developed a reputation as a skilled attorney who won significant damage awards for his clients. A North Carolina legal journal calculated that, in the two decades before he joined the Senate, Edwards won $152 million in 63 lawsuits.

His legal career made him a target for Republicans, especially when he became Sen. John F. Kerry's running mate in the 2004 presidential campaign.

This time around, Edwards's aides say, he is expanding his base of support, also focusing on unions, antiwar activists and others. Baron said Edwards has seen an increase in donations from Wall Street, Hollywood and Silicon Valley.

"Money is coming from all areas," Baron said.

But the quest for lawyers' money has continued. Four years ago, Baron shuttled Edwards around the country on his private jet to introduce him to other lawyers. Now, Baron is working to reinforce Edwards's standing with some of his backers from the last campaign.

One of those is Greg Allen, who said he was won over by Edwards four years ago. Contributions to Edwards by members of Allen's Alabama law firm totaled more than $50,000 in the last cycle, and Allen remains an avid supporter.

"I like him and I trust him," he said.

But others, such as Todd Smith, a Chicago trial lawyer, say they are looking around. Smith's firm raised more than $12,000 for Edwards and donated $50,000 to his leadership committee in 2004. But Smith said he simply cannot ignore the work Biden has done on the Senate Judiciary Committee to fight proposals that aimed to shield health-care providers and other businesses from legal liability.

"Because of that long-standing, clear, unwavering approach, he's deserving of support," Smith said.

John Cooney, another Chicago lawyer whose firm directed more than $50,000 to Edwards's PAC, said none of the candidates "has demonstrated more loyalty to my clients" than Biden.

"In some years, there is one candidate who draws everyone's attention," Cooney said. "This year, there seems to be a plethora of very good candidates."

Gov. Romney on cover of National Journal

2007-02-10T15:27:00.000-05:00

http://nationaljournal.com/

Text of Obama's Announcement

2007-02-10T15:26:00.001-05:00

(from the New York Times)

Senator Obama’s Announcement

Following is the prepared text of Senator Barack Obama's announcement for president on Saturday in Springfield, Ill., as provided by his campaign:

Let me begin by saying thanks to all you who've traveled, from far and wide, to brave the cold today.

We all made this journey for a reason. It's humbling, but in my heart I know you didn't come here just for me, you came here because you believe in what this country can be. In the face of war, you believe there can be peace. In the face of despair, you believe there can be hope. In the face of a politics that's shut you out, that's told you to settle, that's divided us for too long, you believe we can be one people, reaching for what's possible, building that more perfect union.

That's the journey we're on today. But let me tell you how I came to be here. As most of you know, I am not a native of this great state. I moved to Illinois over two decades ago. I was a young man then, just a year out of college; I knew no one in Chicago, was without money or family connections. But a group of churches had offered me a job as a community organizer for $13,000 a year. And I accepted the job, sight unseen, motivated then by a single, simple, powerful idea – that I might play a small part in building a better America.

My work took me to some of Chicago's poorest neighborhoods. I joined with pastors and lay-people to deal with communities that had been ravaged by plant closings. I saw that the problems people faced weren't simply local in nature – that the decision to close a steel mill was made by distant executives; that the lack of textbooks and computers in schools could be traced to the skewed priorities of politicians a thousand miles away; and that when a child turns to violence, there's a hole in his heart no government could ever fill.

It was in these neighborhoods that I received the best education I ever had, and where I learned the true meaning of my Christian faith.

After three years of this work, I went to law school, because I wanted to understand how the law should work for those in need. I became a civil rights lawyer, and taught constitutional law, and after a time, I came to understand that our cherished rights of liberty and equality depend on the active participation of an awakened electorate. It was with these ideas in mind that I arrived in this capital city as a state Senator.

It was here, in Springfield, where I saw all that is America converge – farmers and teachers, businessmen and laborers, all of them with a story to tell, all of them seeking a seat at the table, all of them clamoring to be heard. I made lasting friendships here – friends that I see in the audience today.

It was here we learned to disagree without being disagreeable – that it's possible to compromise so long as you know those principles that can never be compromised; and that so long as we're willing to listen to each other, we can assume the best in people instead of the worst.

That's why we were able to reform a death penalty system that was broken. That's why we were able to give health insurance to children in need. That's why we made the tax system more fair and just for working families, and that's why we passed ethics reforms that the cynics said could never, ever be passed.

It was here, in Springfield, where North, South, East and West come together that I was reminded of the essential decency of the American people – where I came to believe that through this decency, we can build a more hopeful America.

And that is why, in the shadow of the Old State Capitol, where Lincoln once called on a divided house to stand together, where common hopes and common dreams still, I stand before you today to announce my candidacy for President of the United States.

I recognize there is a certain presumptuousness – a certain audacity – to this announcement. I know I haven't spent a lot of time learning the ways of Washington. But I've been there long enough to know that the ways of Washington must change.

The genius of our founders is that they designed a system of government that can be changed. And we should take heart, because we've changed this country before. In the face of tyranny, a band of patriots brought an Empire to its knees. In the face of secession, we unified a nation and set the captives free. In the face of Depression, we put people back to work and lifted millions out of poverty. We welcomed immigrants to our shores, we opened railroads to the west, we landed a man on the moon, and we heard a King's call to let justice roll down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.

Each and every time, a new generation has risen up and done what's needed to be done. Today we are called once more – and it is time for our generation to answer that call.

For that is our unyielding faith – that in the face of impossible odds, people who love their country can change it.

That's what Abraham Lincoln understood. He had his doubts. He had his defeats. He had his setbacks. But through his will and his words, he moved a nation and helped free a people. It is because of the millions who rallied to his cause that we are no longer divided, North and South, slave and free. It is because men and women of every race, from every walk of life, continued to march for freedom long after Lincoln was laid to rest, that today we have the chance to face the challenges of this millennium together, as one people – as Americans.

All of us know what those challenges are today – a war with no end, a dependence on oil that threatens our future, schools where too many children aren't learning, and families struggling paycheck to paycheck despite working as hard as they can. We know the challenges. We've heard them. We've talked about them for years.

What's stopped us from meeting these challenges is not the absence of sound policies and sensible plans. What's stopped us is the failure of leadership, the smallness of our politics – the ease with which we're distracted by the petty and trivial, our chronic avoidance of tough decisions, our preference for scoring cheap political points instead of rolling up our sleeves and building a working consensus to tackle big problems.

For the last six years we've been told that our mounting debts don't matter, we've been told that the anxiety Americans feel about rising health care costs and stagnant wages are an illusion, we've been told that climate change is a hoax, and that tough talk and an ill-conceived war can replace diplomacy, and strategy, and foresight. And when all else fails, when Katrina happens, or the death toll in Iraq mounts, we've been told that our crises are somebody else's fault. We're distracted from our real failures, and told to blame the other party, or gay people, or immigrants.

And as people have looked away in disillusionment and frustration, we know what's filled the void. The cynics, and the lobbyists, and the special interests who've turned our government into a game only they can afford to play. They write the checks and you get stuck with the bills, they get the access while you get to write a letter, they think they own this government, but we're here today to take it back. The time for that politics is over. It's time to turn the page.

We've made some progress already. I was proud to help lead the fight in Congress that led to the most sweeping ethics reform since Watergate.

But Washington has a long way to go. And it won't be easy. That's why we'll have to set priorities. We'll have to make hard choices. And although government will play a crucial role in bringing about the changes we need, more money and programs alone will not get us where we need to go. Each of us, in our own lives, will have to accept responsibility – for instilling an ethic of achievement in our children, for adapting to a more competitive economy, for strengthening our communities, and sharing some measure of sacrifice. So let us begin. Let us begin this hard work together. Let us transform this nation.

Let us be the generation that reshapes our economy to compete in the digital age. Let's set high standards for our schools and give them the resources they need to succeed. Let's recruit a new army of teachers, and give them better pay and more support in exchange for more accountability. Let's make college more affordable, and let's invest in scientific research, and let's lay down broadband lines through the heart of inner cities and rural towns all across America.

And as our economy changes, let's be the generation that ensures our nation's workers are sharing in our prosperity. Let's protect the hard-earned benefits their companies have promised. Let's make it possible for hardworking Americans to save for retirement. And let's allow our unions and their organizers to lift up this country's middle-class again.

Let's be the generation that ends poverty in America. Every single person willing to work should be able to get job training that leads to a job, and earn a living wage that can pay the bills, and afford child care so their kids have a safe place to go when they work. Let's do this.

Let's be the generation that finally tackles our health care crisis. We can control costs by focusing on prevention, by providing better treatment to the chronically ill, and using technology to cut the bureaucracy. Let's be the generation that says right here, right now, that we will have universal health care in America by the end of the next president's first term.

Let's be the generation that finally frees America from the tyranny of oil. We can harness homegrown, alternative fuels like ethanol and spur the production of more fuel-efficient cars. We can set up a system for capping greenhouse gases. We can turn this crisis of global warming into a moment of opportunity for innovation, and job creation, and an incentive for businesses that will serve as a model for the world. Let's be the generation that makes future generations proud of what we did here.

Most of all, let's be the generation that never forgets what happened on that September day and confront the terrorists with everything we've got. Politics doesn't have to divide us on this anymore – we can work together to keep our country safe. I've worked with Republican Senator Dick Lugar to pass a law that will secure and destroy some of the world's deadliest, unguarded weapons. We can work together to track terrorists down with a stronger military, we can tighten the net around their finances, and we can improve our intelligence capabilities. But let us also understand that ultimate victory against our enemies will come only by rebuilding our alliances and exporting those ideals that bring hope and opportunity to millions around the globe.

But all of this cannot come to pass until we bring an end to this war in Iraq. Most of you know I opposed this war from the start. I thought it was a tragic mistake. Today we grieve for the families who have lost loved ones, the hearts that have been broken, and the young lives that could have been. America, it's time to start bringing our troops home. It's time to admit that no amount of American lives can resolve the political disagreement that lies at the heart of someone else's civil war. That's why I have a plan that will bring our combat troops home by March of 2008. Letting the Iraqis know that we will not be there forever is our last, best hope to pressure the Sunni and Shia to come to the table and find peace.

Finally, there is one other thing that is not too late to get right about this war – and that is the homecoming of the men and women – our veterans – who have sacrificed the most. Let us honor their valor by providing the care they need and rebuilding the military they love. Let us be the generation that begins this work.

I know there are those who don't believe we can do all these things. I understand the skepticism. After all, every four years, candidates from both parties make similar promises, and I expect this year will be no different. All of us running for president will travel around the country offering ten-point plans and making grand speeches; all of us will trumpet those qualities we believe make us uniquely qualified to lead the country. But too many times, after the election is over, and the confetti is swept away, all those promises fade from memory, and the lobbyists and the special interests move in, and people turn away, disappointed as before, left to struggle on their own.

That is why this campaign can't only be about me. It must be about us – it must be about what we can do together. This campaign must be the occasion, the vehicle, of your hopes, and your dreams. It will take your time, your energy, and your advice – to push us forward when we're doing right, and to let us know when we're not. This campaign has to be about reclaiming the meaning of citizenship, restoring our sense of common purpose, and realizing that few obstacles can withstand the power of millions of voices calling for change.

By ourselves, this change will not happen. Divided, we are bound to fail.

But the life of a tall, gangly, self-made Springfield lawyer tells us that a different future is possible.

He tells us that there is power in words.

He tells us that there is power in conviction.

That beneath all the differences of race and region, faith and station, we are one people.

He tells us that there is power in hope.

As Lincoln organized the forces arrayed against slavery, he was heard to say: "Of strange, discordant, and even hostile elements, we gathered from the four winds, and formed and fought to battle through."

That is our purpose here today.

That's why I'm in this race.

Not just to hold an office, but to gather with you to transform a nation.

I want to win that next battle – for justice and opportunity.

I want to win that next battle – for better schools, and better jobs, and health care for all.

I want us to take up the unfinished business of perfecting our union, and building a better America.

And if you will join me in this improbable quest, if you feel destiny calling, and see as I see, a future of endless possibility stretching before us; if you sense, as I sense, that the time is now to shake off our slumber, and slough off our fear, and make good on the debt we owe past and future generations, then I'm ready to take up the cause, and march with you, and work with you. Together, starting today, let us finish the work that needs to be done, and usher in a new birth of freedom on this Earth.

Bucks for McCain

2007-02-10T15:24:00.001-05:00

(from Drudge Report)

BUCKS FOR MCCAIN

Sen. John McCain on Wednesday personally appealed to an invitation-only meeting of some 50 possible supporters to sell $2,300 tickets for a March 21 reception at Washington’s Mandarin Hotel that he considers vital to his campaign for the Republican Presidential nomination.

McCain said the money raised for the dinner would be credited to the March 31 Federal Election Commission report on contributions, which he called “the invisible primary” to show fund-raising prowess.

Wednesday’s meeting, held in a non-government office building near the Capitol, was attended by both longtime McCain backers and new allies who supported George W. Bush against McCain in 2000.

sorry

2007-02-10T15:20:00.000-05:00

sorry y'all. it's been a crazy week but, since the only folks who seem to read this are my roomies, i think y'all know why! =)

happy trails to barak who officially announced today:

(from the Drudge Report)

Sen. Obama Launches White House Run

Feb 10, 11:33 AM (ET)

By NEDRA PICKLER

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Democrat Barack Obama declared himself a candidate Saturday for the White House in 2008, evoking Abraham Lincoln's ability to unite a nation and promising to lead a new generation as the country's first black president.

The first-term senator announced his candidacy from the state capital where he began his elective career just 10 years ago, and in front of the building where in another century, Lincoln served eight years in the Illinois Legislature.

"We can build a more hopeful America," Obama said in remarks prepared for delivery. "And that is why, in the shadow of the Old State Capitol, where Lincoln once called on a divided house to stand together, where common hopes and common dreams still live, I stand before you today to announce my candidacy for president of the United States."

Obama did not mention his family background, his childhood in Hawaii and Indonesia or that he would make history if elected president.

Instead, he focused on his life in Illinois over the past two decades, beginning with a job as a community organizer with a $13,000-a-year salary that strengthened his Christian faith.

He said the struggles he saw people face inspired him to get a law degree and run for the Legislature, where he served eight years before becoming a U.S. senator just two years ago.

"I recognize there is a certain presumptuousness, a certain audacity, to this announcement," Obama said. "I know I haven't spent a lot of time learning the ways of Washington. But I've been there long enough to know that the ways of Washington must change.

"Each and every time, a new generation has risen up and done what's needed to be done," he said. "Today we are called once more - and it is time for our generation to answer that call."

Obama, 45, gained national recognition with the publication of two best-selling books, "Dreams From My Father" and "The Audacity of Hope," and by delivering the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. His optimistic message and his compelling biography immediately sparked talk of his White House potential.

Initially he said he would not run for president. But he said last fall that he was considering it after receiving so much encouragement. He formed a presidential exploratory committee last month.

Despite his thin political resume, Obama is considered New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's chief rival among many vying for the Democratic nomination.

Obama planned to travel throughout Iowa on Saturday and Sunday before a rally Sunday night in Chicago, where his campaign has its headquarters.

He planned to visit New Hampshire on Monday on the heels of front-runner Clinton, whose first visit to the state as a presidential candidate over the weekend provided some early competition for attention from Obama's announcement.

Thousands of people in their warmest winter wear came out for Obama's campaign kickoff despite temperatures in the teens. The crowd huddled in close for warmth and to squeeze into the closed off streets around the Old State Capitol.

"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for us," said Bethany Scates of Ridgway, Ill., who drove four hours with her family for the announcement.

Brenda and Michael Calkington of Muncie, Ind., said they have never been involved in a political campaign, but both were laid off from jobs with a lighting company and plan to volunteer for Obama.

"He makes you feel like it is possible to change things," Brenda Calkington said.

She seemed to be reading from Obama's songbook.

He spoke of reshaping the economy for the digital age, investing in education, protecting employee benefits, insuring those who do not have health care, ending poverty, weaning America from foreign oil, fighting terrorism while rebuilding global alliances.

"But all of this cannot come to pass until we bring an end to this war in Iraq," Obama said. "America, it's time to start bringing our troops home. It's time to admit that no amount of American lives can resolve the political disagreement that lies at the heart of someone else's civil war."

Obama was not yet elected to the U.S. Senate when Congress voted to give Bush the authority to go to war in Iraq, but Obama gave a speech in 2002 opposing the war. He said Saddam Hussein posed no imminent threat to the United States and predicted the invasion would lead to an occupation with undetermined costs and consequences.

Obama has introduced a bill to prevent President Bush from increasing troop levels in Iraq and to remove U.S. combat forces from the country by March 31, 2008 - legislation that has virtually no chance of becoming law while Bush is president.

Obama's address was steeped in American history.

He talked how previous generations have brought change - fighting off colonizers, slavery and the Great Depression, welcoming immigrants, building railroads and landing a man on the moon.

He repeatedly referred to Lincoln and his success in moving a nation. He said it is because of Lincoln that Americans of every race face the challenges of the 21st century together.

"The life of a tall, gangly, self-made Springfield lawyer tells us that a different future is possible," Obama said. "He tells us that there is power in words. He tells us that there is power in conviction. That beneath all the differences of race and region, faith and station, we are one people. He tells us that there is power in hope."

Giuliani's in and here's a look at his Finance Team

2007-02-06T15:50:00.000-05:00

(from The Fix)

Giuliani's Finance Team

After setting a $100 million fundraising goal for 2007, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani is filling out the team charged with collecting that cash for his all-but-declared bid for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination.

As the former mayor of the nation's financial capital, Giuliani's campaign coffers are expected to be full. (Reuters photo)The group will be led by Donna Henderson, who will serve as the campaign's national finance director. Henderson has raised money for a variety of Republican candidates and causes including the National Rifle Association and the National Republican Senatorial Committee. She replaces Anne Dickerson, who will move into a consulting role for the campaign. Dickerson was intimately involved in the major donor efforts during President Bush's 2004 reelection campaign.

Tom McGill will be Henderson's deputy. McGill led the fundraising effort for former Rep. Mark Kennedy's (R) unsuccessful campaign for the open Minnesota Senate seat last year -- a race that saw Kennedy bring in $10 million. McGill also raised cash for the Bush reelection campaign.

The Giuliani finance team also includes Tom Benedetti and Abby Farris, whose fundraising firm did work for former Sen. George Allen (Va.), the Republican National Committee and the NRSC. Benedetti & Farris will head up Giuliani's mid-Atlantic fundraising efforts.

"This is a fantastic team and marks a significant expansion in our national finance operation," said Katie Levinson, Giuliani's communications director.

Given his political base in New York City, Giuliani is expected to be one of the financial frontrunners in the Republican race. After forming a presidential exploratory committee in November, Giuliani reported raising $1.4 by the end of the year and had $1 million left in the bank. Giuliani also showed nearly $500,000 on hand in his Solutions America political action committee, although none of that money can be transferred to a presidential account.

Money alone will not win Giuliani the Republican nomination. He must find a way to answer critics of his liberal social views without alienating more conservative voters who tend to decide the GOP nominee. Money can help Giuliani introduce himself (on his own terms) to voters in Iowa, New Hampshire and beyond. And he appears well on his way to raising more than enough to do just that.

Here's a look at the other members of the Giuliani finance operation:

* Christine Walton: The southwest region finance director, Walton most recently raised campaign cash for Sen. Jon Kyl's (R-Ariz.) successful 2006 reelection bid.

* Gretchen Adent Picotte: Adent Picotte will be tasked with collecting cash from the donor heavy state of Florida. She has raised money for a variety of Florida Republicans, including former Rep. Clay Shaw and Sen. Mel Martinez (the current head of the RNC).

* Brent Lowder: No state has more political money for the taking than California, where Lowder will ply his wares. He previously raised money for Bill Simon's (R) 2002 gubernatorial campaign (Simon is a major Giuliani backer) and served as deputy finance director for Matt Fong's (R) unsuccessful challenge to Sen. Barbara Boxer (D) in 1998.

* Carol Reed: Giuliani has close Texas ties among his political inner circle, and Reed will head up his fundraising in the Lone Star state.

Home State turf wars

2007-02-06T09:29:00.001-05:00

(from Hotline)

Hey! That's MY Home State

The back-and-forth eye-poking between Sen. John McCain and Ex-MA Gov. Mitt Romney over who can accumulate the most endorsements from the other's home state strikes us as a little pissy.

You can blame the apostates on the vagaries of state politics.

McCain remains popular with rank-and-file Republicans in Arizona, but a sizable portion of the party elite -- state legislators, county chairs, donors – find him, well, demonic, almost. With a tiny majority, they managed to elect RNC member / McCain critic Randy Pullen as state chair. (The entire staff of the party promptly resigned in protest). The fissures go way back and have a lot to do with sharing the spoils of state party power.

In Massachusetts, Romney's problems with some Republicans have nothing to do with Mitt Romney, per se. Romney's present circle of advisers worked for the imperious but whip-smart ex-state treasurer Joe Malone. Malone often butted heads with with ex-Gov. L. Paul Cellucci, who eventually beat him in a ’98 gubernatorial primary. Malone also tangled at various times with GOP governors William Weld and Jane Swift. The factions don't get along, and they've used the canvass of state party politics to skirmish for years. (The Boston Phoenix has plenty more background.)
. [MARC AMBINDER]

In 2004, Romney, frustrated that conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans were stymieing his government reform initiatives, spent his own money to recruit and elect Romney-ite Republicans to the state legislature. Some lost in the primary, and Democrats wound up gaining seats overall. The state party elite never really embraced Romney’s choice for lieutenant governor, Kerry Murphy Healy, and, their support for her subsequent gubernatorial bid was thin. Luckily for Romney, the newly elected state chair in Massachusetts -- ex-Rep. Peter Torkildsen-- is a fan. (He's also moderately pro-choice -- sssh.) One sign that Romney’s charm was able to heal some old wounds; Weld, never of fan of Malone’s, warmed to Romney, and is now raising money for him.

One other presidential candidate who might have trouble with members of his home state party: Ex-Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR). Huckabee was an insurgent, didn’t have a political pedigree, tussled frequently with legislative leaders of his own party, who pointedly did not embrace his wife's secretary of state candidacy. (The Arkansas Times’ Warwick Sabin knows as much about this as anyone ) .

And just yesterday, the chairman of the New York State GOP, Joseph Mondello, was asked about whether he’s supporting ex-NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani’s presidential bid. “If I were to do that, it would be somewhat embarrassing. Oh, my options are open. I can do whatever -- what I have to do. I want to do the right thing for New York and the right thing for the state and for the country.”

The Democrats seem to have it pretty good. In Illinois, House Speaker Mike Madigan sees no moral question in proposing to move the state's primary date up to help Sen. Barack Obama. It's hard to imagine a New York Democratic leader who won't support Sen. Hillary Clinton, although a good number of Democratic fundraisers are gravitating toward Obama

Romney is officially on Facebook

2007-02-05T14:17:00.000-05:00

(from Hotline)

Romney Launches Official Facebook Group

Mitt Romney's campaign became the first WH '08 GOP effort to officially start a pro-active recruitment effort today on Facebook.com. The membership drive started over the weekend when Romney online communications director Stephen Smith sent a message to about 40 or 50 activists asking for their help with today's launch.

Though Smith asked recipients to keep the effort quite until now, MittReport.com published the full version of message, which included a goal of getting 1,000 members in the first 24 hours. The profile went up a little after noon today, and just over 35 people joined within the first hour of its launch. According to someone with knowledge of the online effort, the goal is for this profile to be a "hub" for existing facebook groups.

The hit-the-ground-running strategy? It worked for Obama's one million strong group, which was still getting ink over the weekend for its ever-increasing numbers. But this is the first facebook page run by a GOP's campaign team, so it will be interesting to see whether there's similar Facebook support out there for Dems as Republicans. Or can no one be as popular with college students as Obama?

Romney on Clinton and Iran

2007-02-05T11:57:00.001-05:00

Governor Mitt Romney on Senator Hillary Clinton and Iran
Saturday, Feb 03, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Kevin Madden (857) 288-6390

Louisville, KY - Tonight, Governor Mitt Romney will keynote the Kentucky GOP Lincoln Day Dinner. Governor Romney will make remarks on the right strategy to deal with the threat posed by Iran.

Excerpt Of Governor Romney's Remarks As Prepared For Delivery:

"Recently, the question of how we deal with Iran has been the subject of debate between myself and another potential White House candidate.

"In a speech two days ago in New York City, Senator Hillary Clinton said that she needs to quote 'understand' unquote Iran better - and we need to quote 'engage Iran' unquote. She argued that our strategy of engagement with the Soviet Union during the Cold War was a model for how we could deal with Iran.

"I believe this strategy to be a mistake, and yesterday, to a group of fellow conservatives, I said as much. Advocating engagement displays a troubling timidity toward a terrible threat. The right strategy is not engagement, but economic and diplomatic isolation.

"Instead of responding to my policy criticisms, Senator Clinton has chosen to attack me personally. Let's take a step back and consider the broader and more pressing issue at hand - Iran, Syria, Hizbullah, and Hamas and the threat they pose to us, Israel, and the civilized world.

"Ten days ago, I was in Israel and heard firsthand from those who have been on the front lines of the war against the Jihadist radicals. Indeed, just a few months ago, the Israelis were confronted with a war by Hizbullah, a terrorist organization sponsored by Iran and Syria.

"Against the backdrop of last summer's war, I was especially stunned to learn that Senator Clinton is now advocating for better 'understanding' of Iran, Syria, Hizbullah, and Hamas. Rather than attacking me, why doesn't she join me in calling for a policy that puts even more pressure - not less - against these adversaries?"

Romney at the Republican Study Committee

2007-02-05T11:56:00.001-05:00

This story brought to you by Politico.com

Romney Explains Shifts
By: Jonathan Martin
February 3, 2007 07:55 PM EST

BALTIMORE – Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney laid out his conservative credentials, explained his shift on social issues and took a few shots at two potential opponents Friday.

Appearing before the conservative Republican Study Committee, Romney stuck to his usual explanation for his change of heart, but presented himself not as a convert but as a student who had received an education on key social issues.

The one-term governor said his time on Beacon Hill had "confirmed some principles and educated me on some principles." Romney told about 50 members of the GOP group that he ran as a fiscal conservative, but "learned some unexpected lessons about social conservative issues."

"Massachusetts became center stage for the most important social issues of our time," he said, detailing his efforts to limit stem cell research, thwart same-sex marriage and curb abortion rights.

At the end of his governorship, the man who ran supporting abortion rights and some gay rights said he'd undergone a transition.

"This fiscal conservative became a social conservative as well," he said.

After reporters were shooed out of the hotel ballroom, the Republicans asked Romney to elaborate on his abortion views.

According to one who remained in the room, Romney used a familiar anecdote to describe his change on the issue.

Romney, recounting a meeting with Harvard University scientists in 2004, recalled how they nonchalantly explained their cloning of embryos. That, Romney notes, was the moment when he first realized how the sanctity of life had become so cheapened.

In a brief press availability after what Romney described as a "probing follow-up" to his speech, the former governor said he felt like he had passed the examination.

In an interview, Rep. Wally Herger, R-Calif., said he was satisfied with Romney's explanation.

"I felt very comfortable," said Herger, who is so far uncommitted in the presidential contest but offered that he could "absolutely" back Romney.

Rep. Darrell Issa, another California Republican, noted that while Romney said what he needed to say to the conservative audience, his address was short on specifics.

"There wasn't a lot there," said Issa, who has also yet to weigh in on 2008. "He touched on a lot of broad themes that require a lot of money."

Asked about Romney's accounting of how he had come to oppose abortion rights, Issa acknowledged that it was "artful,'' but probably not quite as clear-cut as Romney tried to make it.

Unmistaken were two shots the former governor took at Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y. and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. – both presidential contenders.

Discussing his views on Iran, Romney noted that in addressing pro-Israel AIPAC Thursday night in New York, Clinton said the United States needs to "understand" Iran better. Emphasizing the quotation, Romney added that Clinton had also called for America to "engage" Tehran.

"Somebody who doesn't 'understand' Iran hasn't been paying attention," Romney said, adding that Clinton's view amounted to a "troubling timidity" toward the prospect of a nuclear Iran.

"We don't need a listening tour of Iran," he said.

Responding, Clinton campaign spokesman Mo Elleithee said the senator "believes that no option should be taken off the table when it comes to developing nuclear weapons."

"Given his record flip flops," Elleithee said, "the only thing that's timid are Governor Romney's convictions."

Romney's tweak of his GOP rival wasn't as pointed, nor as public.

A staffer in the room for Romney's private exchange with Republicans said that the former governor drew a standing ovation when he called McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform "a horrible policy."

Then, with a grin, Romney added: "I could have, of course, just called it campaign finance reform."

McCain's camp declined to comment.

New McCain Team Made Attack Ads He Once Faulted

2007-02-03T18:19:00.001-05:00

(from NY Times)

February 4, 2007
New McCain Team Made Attack Ads He Once Faulted
By JIM RUTENBERG

WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 — Senator John McCain, intent on succeeding where his freewheeling presidential campaign of 2000 failed, is assembling a team of political bruisers for 2008. And it includes advisers who once sought to skewer him and whose work he has criticized as stepping over the line in the past.

In 2000, Mr. McCain, Republican of Arizona, said the advertisements run against him by George W. Bush, then the governor of Texas, distorted his record. But he has hired three members of the team that made those commercials — Mark McKinnon, Russell Schriefer and Stuart Stevens — to work on his presidential campaign.

In 2004, Mr. McCain said the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth advertisement asserting that Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts had not properly earned his medals from the Vietnam War was “dishonest and dishonorable.” Nonetheless, he has hired the firm that made the spots, Stevens Reed Curcio & Potholm, which worked on his 2000 campaign, to work for him again this year.

In October, Mr. McCain’s top adviser expressed public displeasure with an advertisement against former Representative Harold E. Ford Jr., Democrat of Tennessee, that some saw as having racist overtones for suggesting a flirtation between Mr. Ford, who is black, and a young, bare-shouldered white woman, played by a blond actress.

The Republican committee that sponsored the spot had as its leader Terry Nelson, a former Bush campaign strategist whom Mr. McCain hired as an adviser last spring. In December, just weeks after the Ford controversy broke, Mr. McCain elevated Mr. Nelson to the position of national campaign manager.

Taken together, the moves provide the strongest indication yet that Mr. McCain intends to run a far tougher campaign than the one he ran in the 2000 primary. And they come as he transitions from being a onetime maverick to a candidate seeking to gather his party around him and create an air of inevitability about his prospects for winning nomination.

As Mr. McCain assembles his team, he is also making it that much harder for his Republican challengers by scooping up a significant circle of the party’s top talent.

In recent years, Mr. McCain has made a concerted effort to mend fences with Mr. Bush and reassure the Republican base that he is a reliable conservative. But his moves have focused new attention on the extent to which he may risk sacrificing the image he has long cultivated of being his own man, driven by principle rather than partisan politics.

Mr. McCain’s advisers said he was not changing. But they were unapologetic about putting together a group dedicated to doing what it takes to reach the White House and employing lessons from his defeat at the hands of Mr. Bush in 2000.

“This is about winning at the end of the day,” said John Weaver, Mr. McCain’s longtime senior strategist. “I don’t want to be in a knife fight ever again, but if I am, we’re going to win it.”

Mr. McCain’s representatives said he would not provide an interview.

Seven years ago, Mr. McCain charmed the news media and the public with his Straight Talk Express bus tour. He had a lean operation befitting an upstart candidacy, and he regularly spoke out against attack advertising, a quaint notion in retrospect.

In the end, he ran his share of confrontational advertisements, once even leveling the ultimate Republican-to-Republican insult: that Mr. Bush was as dishonest as Bill Clinton. But he was perceived as having been knocked back on his heels by the rougher, tougher Bush campaign.

Now Mr. McCain is building a larger organization, bringing together the heart of the bare-knuckled Bush crew once overseen by Karl Rove while keeping most of the advisers who ran his shoestring effort of 2000.

“It’s like an all-star World Wrestling Federation cage match, except that instead of fighting one another, all of the brawlers are on the same team,” said Steve McMahon, a strategist for the Democratic National Committee. “There are very few people who play this game at the highest level, and on the Republican side these guys are among the best.”

Mr. McCain has also hired Brian Jones, an adviser to Mr. Bush’s 2004 campaign; Fred Davis, a media consultant for Mr. Bush in 2004; and Steve Schmidt, who oversaw Mr. Bush’s 2004 war room, exploiting any tidbit that could help paint Mr. Kerry as a “flip-flopper.”

The hires are another signal that the 2008 primary campaign could be a combative one all around.

On the Democratic side, John Edwards, the former senator from North Carolina, has wasted no time attacking Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s position on Iraq. And Mrs. Clinton’s team includes strategists who invented the concept of the modern campaign war room for her husband 15 years ago. But Senator Barack Obama of Illinois drew cheers at a party gathering on Friday when he warned his fellow candidates against attacking one another.

Mitt Romney, a Republican and the former governor of Massachusetts, has hired Alex Castellanos, a onetime Bush strategist who also famously produced the 1990 commercial for Jesse Helms, the former North Carolina senator, in which a pair of white hands crumpled a rejection letter as a narrator said, “You needed that job and you were the best qualified, but it had to go to a minority because of a racial quota.”

Given Mr. McCain’s history with some of the people on his team, the evolution of his staff may present an early challenge: How does he stay true to the “Straight Talk” spirit of his 2000 campaign, which helped him win the stature he has now, while also engaging in the political brinkmanship it can take to win?

The Democratic National Committee is already criticizing Mr. McCain for his hires, issuing a statement this week calling them “a testament to how far he’s gone down the do-anything-to-win path.”

Tony Fabrizio, a Republican pollster who is not yet allied with a candidate, said Mr. McCain was running the risk of looking “politically expedient” and of blunting his brand as “Senator Straight Talk.” He said the risk was highlighted by Mr. McCain’s recent suggestions that he may not use the campaign finance system he has long championed.

In 2000, Mr. McCain received money from the system, which gives public financing to candidates who agree to strict fund-raising and spending limits. Mr. Weaver, the senior strategist, said Mr. McCain was keeping his options open because others, including Mrs. Clinton, were planning to work around the system.

As Mr. McCain’s aides often point out, for all its appeal, the McCain 2000 campaign was a losing one. And they said it would be unfair to suggest that because Mr. McCain was augmenting his team he was somehow preparing to change who he was.

“There are no negotiations regarding his principles,” Mr. Weaver said.

In an interview on Friday, Mr. Jones, the campaign communications director, said Mr. McCain was not allowing his distaste over the Swift Boat commercials to interfere with his relationship with Stevens Reed Curcio & Potholm, with whom Mr. McCain has his own decade-long association. In addition, he said, Mr. McCain hired Mr. Nelson because of his breadth of experience in national campaigns. “The campaign,” Mr. Jones said, “is not going to let past contests on the battlefield limit how it’s going to go after talent.”

Presidential politics are rich in fungible allegiances. James A. Baker III ran the primary campaigns of Gerald Ford and the elder George Bush against Ronald Reagan, only to become Mr. Reagan’s chief of staff. This year, David Axelrod is serving as a senior strategist for Mr. Obama; he was a senior strategist to Mr. Edwards in his 2004 campaign.

“You could dissect any campaign this way: this guy did this ad this one time,” said Mr. Schriefer, the former Bush media strategist, who will run Mr. McCain’s advertising team. “There’s a tremendous history of foes becoming allies.”

Mr. McKinnon, who led Mr. Bush’s advertising group in 2004, said he saw no inconsistency in working for Mr. McCain. Mr. Bush was right for 2000, he said, and Mr. McCain is right for 2008. “At the end of the day, the campaign will be won or lost on the character of the candidate and his or her core message,” Mr. McKinnon said. “Of course, I believe that will be John McCain.”

Asked if the senator would avoid the attacks he criticized in 2000, Mr. Jones said that while Mr. McCain had yet to declare his candidacy, any campaign he ran would be “consistent with his beliefs and values.”

AWOL Senators running for POTUS

2007-02-03T08:45:00.000-05:00

(not necessarily sure I agree with everything Dick Morris has said or done but here is an interesting discourse on the six senators running for POTUS while trying to do their day jobs. it makes for a compelling argument for either quitting their day job to focus on their dreams of being POTUS or scaling back on their presidential campaign efforts to make sure they are doing what the taxpayers -- especially their constitutents -- are paying them nearly $200K a year to do.)

The AWOL Senators Who Are Running For President

By DICK MORRIS & EILEEN MCGANN

February 2, 2007 -- Is it too much to ask those U.S. Senators who are presidential candidates to continue to show up for work at the Senate jobs they're paid for?

Apparently some Senators think so — particularly Sam Brownback (R-KA), who is running on a pro-values platform that apparently doesn't include doing the job he was elected to do: being a U.S. Senator.

Absent Sam has been AWOL for more than 50 percent of the roll call votes this year. Are hard work and responsibility to one's constituent's part of his core values?

His poor attendance record comes despite the fact that he's already had almost 11 weeks off between the time Congress adjourned last year on October 4, 2006 and its new session that started early in January. During that period, he only had to show up for a few days in November and December, but, even then, he skipped two of the five-day December session.

Then, even when the session started again, Brownback missed all of the votes in the first week of the new Congress. Too busy to participate in the ethics reforms, he left it to his colleagues to deal with those mundane things. His excuse? He was on a government-sponsored trip. (Junket?) But, maybe he should have scheduled it during the 11-week adjournment immediately preceding his trip. Common sense would dictate that. Or, how about traveling on a weekend like Senator Clinton did?

Brownback hasn't been working much this week, either, missing all of the votes on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. He planned to travel and campaign all week, but, after press inquiries about his questionable campaign schedule, he cancelled his South Carolina and Florida stops and scurried back to Congress to vote on the minimum wage bill.

There are now at least six members of the U.S. Senate who are running for president: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Chris Dodd, Joe Biden, John McCain and Sam Brownback. And a seventh contender could be Chuck Hagel.

They've got a collective problem.

After the abuses of the last Congress, including an average two-day workweek, the Senate announced a substantially expanded schedule. In January of 2007, there were actually two weeks where votes were scheduled on every day from Monday to Friday.

That makes it hard to campaign and attend fundraisers all over the country.

So what's a Senator/Presidential candidate to do?

It depends on the candidate, but the answer tells a lot about the individual candidate's sense of responsibility.

The three frontrunners — Hillary, Obama and Mc Cain — have made sure that they take good care of their day job. Obama has a perfect attendance record and Hillary has only missed one day — when she took her recent trip to Iraq. As a member of the Armed Services Committee, the visit to the war zone, Pakistan, and Afghanistan was definitely legitimate Senate business, even if there was a deliberate political component to it. So, in effect, she, too, has a perfect record. Senator McCain has missed only two votes. One was the first vote of the new session — a resolution honoring Gerald Ford and the other was a confirmation of a judicial nomination on a day that he participated in a panel at the World Economic Conference in Davos, Switzerland.

But not all Senators have shown such fidelity to their obligations as elected officials who are paid $162,500.00 a year to show up and vote.

Brownback's attendance record suggests arrogance — and stupidity — that doesn't bode well for any serious candidate for President. He claims to be a leader, but has anyone told him that you can't lead if you're not there?

He's not a leader; he's a no-show.

Right behind him in racking up absences is Senator Joe Biden, who has missed nine of the 40 votes so far this year. Like Brownback, he didn't spend much time at the five day December 2006 session, missing four days of votes. Senator Biden's campaign didn't have a great start yesterday with his gratuitous comments about Barack Obama. His lack of attention to his real job could hurt him even more.

Senator Chuck Hagel hasn't announced that he is running for President, but there's been a lot of buzz about the possibility. He's missed nine votes this month. He also skipped a day in the December session.

Chris Dodd missed six votes in January, with two days of absences.

It's a long way from now to Election Day in 2008. Given the very low opinion that the American voters already have of members of Congress, it won't help the candidates if further abuse the system.

There's no justification for campaigning for President during official Senate work time. Senators aren't elected to campaign for another job or to raise funds for another office. And the voters will be watching this year.

Imagine if someone tried to get away with that in the real world!

Excerpts from Romney's Remarks at Conservative Members Retreat

2007-02-02T15:16:00.000-05:00

Excerpts from Governor Mitt Romney's Remarks at the Conservative Members Retreat
Friday, Feb 02, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Kevin Madden (857) 288-6390

Baltimore, MD - Today, Governor Mitt Romney will make remarks at The Heritage Foundation Conservative Members Retreat - a gathering of members of the conservative Republican Study Committee (RSC). Governor Romney will address his record of strong conservative leadership and the right strategy to deal with the threat posed by Iran.

Below are key excerpts of Governor Romney's remarks as prepared for delivery.

Governor Romney's Conservative Leadership:

"When I ran for governor, I ran as a fiscal conservative - I had a background in building businesses, and I could tell there was a better way to run our state government. Massachusetts, like a lot of states in 2002, was facing a fiscal crisis - and I wanted to help solve that crisis, without resorting to higher taxes.

"I am proud to say that we did just that - but a funny thing happened along the way. The fiscal crisis was solved, but a new set of crises began.

"Massachusetts became a center stage for the most divisive issues facing our nation today.

"The issue of gay marriage came up. In the 2002 campaign, I was asked for my view on the matter, and I gave it - I was then and remain today, opposed to gay marriages and civil unions.

"But a year later, judges decided to legalize gay marriage in the state - the voters didn't get to decide, the legislature didn't get to decide, certainly I wasn't asked for my opinion, and I guess 3,000 years of recorded history didn't matter either. By a 4 to 3 margin, the judges on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decided to redefine the institution of marriage.

"And meanwhile, just a few T stops from the Statehouse, over at Harvard; scientists were preparing to clone human embryos - experimenting with human life itself.

"I didn't ask for these issues to be put on my plate. But as Governor I didn't have the luxury of silently sitting on the sidelines. I spent a lot of time looking at these issues, talked to a lot of people, and thought seriously about them and their implications.

"The issues of marriage and life are at the heart of a civil society. We need to be wary of those who experiment with life, who experiment with our kids, and those who toy with the building blocks of the family and society.

"The sad truth is that these experiments have been playing out for decades, and the ones who pay the price for failure are not the scientists, or the university sociologists, or the judges, or the liberal policymakers - the ones who pay the price for liberal experiments sometimes don't even have a voice. And it's time they have a voice.

"So on the issue of life, this fiscal conservative became a social conservative as well. I'm committed to defending the institution of marriage, family, and human life.

"I believe in a divine creator. And I believe every single person in the entire world is a child of God - and that as a civilized people we ought to respect life.

"I believe fundamentally that there's nothing more important to society than the family.

"And I believe in treating all people with respect and dignity and tolerance despite our differences."

Governor Romney On The Right Strategy To Prevent A Nuclear Iran:

"Someone else considering a run for the White House recently addressed the Iran issue, and you won't be surprised to find out that I don't agree with her approach.

"In a speech last night in New York City, Senator Hillary Clinton said that she needs to quote 'understand' unquote Iran better - and to help her with her education process, that we should quote 'engage Iran' unquote.

"Friends, someone who doesn't understand Iran hasn't been paying attention - at this point, we don't need a listening tour with Iran. While I support gathering intelligence about our adversaries in any way possible, engaging is not the right policy. To the contrary, economic and diplomatic isolation must be our priority.

"Indeed, she argued that our strategy of engagement with the Soviet Union during the Cold War was a model for how we could deal with Iran. Now, for all the former Soviet Union's flaws, at least they maintained a commitment to national survival. They were not suicidal. The same cannot be said about the Iranian regime. And we must stop making analogies that are disconnected from the world in which we operate.

"And someone who wants to engage Iran displays a troubling timidity towards a terrible threat."

McCain, Giuliani Skipping Some Conservative Events

2007-02-02T10:36:00.000-05:00

(from Politico)

McCain, Giuliani Skipping Some Conservative Events
By: Jonathan Martin
February 2, 2007 08:34 AM EST

A speech given by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney before a National Review-sponsored conference last week may have been panned as unfocused, but in the eyes of those who attended, he at least had one thing going for him: He showed up.

Sen. John McCain and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, both of whom face serious skepticism from many conservatives, skipped the National Review event, and neither plans to attend a gathering of the Republican Study Committee, a group of conservative House members, this weekend in Baltimore.

Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas, the RSC chairman, is "looking forward to hearing Mitt Romney and believes that the RSC retreat offers a unique opportunity for some of the top minds in the conservative movement to come together to strategize, discuss and be heard," said Brad Dayspring, a spokesman for the group.

Romney, who is aggressively seeking the favor of conservative leaders, is on the schedule to address the RSC on Friday. In March, he is scheduled to speak at the Club for Growth's winter conference in Florida and to appear before the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington.

David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union and one of the chief organizers of CPAC, said his group hadn't heard back yet from either McCain or Giuliani about whether they'll be at the three-day meeting, which starts March 1. "I frankly don't get it," Keene shrugged in an interview Wednesday. "On the one hand," he said, McCain has been "trying to court the right, but on the other, he seems to be dissing them."

Keene, who has not picked a candidate, readily admits that he has his differences with the maverick senator, but suggested that McCain has pluses that would resonate before a conservative audience, notably his hawkish stance on government spending and the Iraq war.

Asked to explain why they would pass on an opportunity to make their case before such influential audiences, members of McCain's camp said they don't have as much to prove.

"It's important to keep in mind that the senator has served as a conservative for over 20 years in Congress," said campaign spokesman Danny Diaz. "These people know him, they know his pro-life record, his fiscal conservatism, his stance on the war on terror. The same can't be said for others in the race."

When McCain cannot attend an event, he has sent surrogates, Diaz said. Conservative activist Bob Heckman was at the National Review conference, and former Sen. Phil Gramm is standing in for him at the RSC meeting in Baltimore. As for the CPAC gathering in March, Diaz said a decision would be made in the "coming days and weeks."

Giuliani's team excuses his absence from National Review and RSC by pointing out that he is speaking to conservative audiences in places that will have considerable sway in deciding the next nominee. The former mayor was in New Hampshire last weekend addressing the Republican convention, said Giuliani spokeswoman Katie Levinson. "This weekend he's down in South Carolina at the invitation of the state party." He'll also speak to the state party's executive committee.

Reaching out to Republicans across the board is important to Giuliani, she said, and is something he'll continue to do aggressively.

A decision has not been made on if Giuliani will attend CPAC, but he plans to speak before the board of the conservative Hoover Institution when it meets for a conference next month in Washington.

As with McCain, ACU's Keene predicts Giuliani would get a decent reaction should he also make it to CPAC in part because he's a celebrity of sorts. "Many conservatives admire his performance in NYC on crime, taxes and after 9/11," he said.

To Romney's camp, there is truth to Woody Allen's maxim about the importance of just showing up.

"As the old saying goes, a true friend is the person who walks into the room when all the others get up and walk out," quipped Kevin Madden, a spokesman for the former governor. "As a conservative Republican who wants to lead our party to victory and champion our ideals, Governor Romney prefers to reach out to these important groups as opposed to ignoring them."

Pawlently allegedly supports McCain

2007-02-02T10:31:00.000-05:00

(from Politico)

Pawlenty Boosts McCain
By: Jeff Patch
February 1, 2007 04:49 PM EST

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said Thursday that his fellow partisans must regroup after a bruising 2006 election cycle and decide between ideological purity and electability in the 2008 contest -- a not-so-veiled plea for conservatives to take a fresh look at Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

"The marketplace just told Republicans something," said Pawlenty, who will take the reigns of the Republican Governors Association this summer. "It told them that we are choosing for now to select the products and services of your opponent."

In a session with reporters at the Washington offices of lobbying firm Clark & Weinstock, Pawlenty outlined his position and legislative outlook on several topics, including the economy, energy, health care and immigration. But the buzz of the conversation, hosted by former Minnesota Republican congressman Vin Weber, centered on Pawlenty’s role as Minnesota co-chair of the exploratory committee of McCain,. Weber supports former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who Pawlenty will replace at the RGA.

Pawlenty took pains to avoid negative comments about fellow Republicans and focus the conversations on what he views as McCain's pluses.

"I believe he's in a league of his own," he said, also dismissing concerns that McCain will lose credibility by supporting President Bush’s troop boost in Iraq.

Pawlenty acknowledged that there are concerns among conservatives about whether McCain’s record is “sufficiently conservative." Pawlenty’s comeback: "If you hold any of these candidates to a purity litmus test, with the possible exception of (Kansas Sen.) Sam Brownback, we'll have nobody left," Pawlenty said.

"Senator Brownback also fails, too" chimed in Kate O'Beirne, the Washington editor of the National Review, a conservative weekly.

Minnesota's chief executive also had a simple, if glib, answer for what President Bush should do now that the Democrats gained power in Congress, similar to Democratic gains in Minnesota.

"Pray."

The second-term governor, who pledged to focus on Minnesota and eschew higher office during the 2008 cycle, also took a shot at Democratic Senate hopeful Al Franken, the liberal comedian.

"I don't think he'd be right for Minnesota," Pawlenty said, nonetheless conceding Minnesota's penchant for oddball elections. "You'd be hard-pressed to point to what he's done that would lead you to the conclusion that he should be helping -- be in the United States Senate at this time."

Huckabee's comments on Rommey & Brownback

2007-02-02T10:30:00.000-05:00

(Hotline quoting On the Record)

HAIR RAISING ISSUES
And Mike Huckabee was on "On the Record":

On Mitt Romney: "He's got better hair than I do."

On the differences between him and Brownback: "I think there it's a matter of Senate versus executive experience. Senator Brownback and I would be very much kindred spirits in terms of many of the social issues. I don't know that we have a big disagreement there. So, it would primarily be in terms of experience and what we would bring to an executive branch job" (FNC, 2/1).

Giuliani Hires War Room Director

2007-02-02T10:29:00.000-05:00

(from Hotline)

Giuliani Hires War Room Director

Ex-NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani is adding a war room director to his campaign staff. Tom O'Brien was the dep. research director at the NRCC in the '02 cycle, part of a team that the Hotline said at the time "ran circles" around Democrats. Most recently, O'Brian was the dep. comm. dir. of the MTA in NY. O'Brien took a law degree from Fordham and has taught American history.

2007-02-01T10:46:00.000-05:00

(from today's NY Times)

Biden Unwraps ‘08 Bid With an Oops!
By ADAM NAGOURNEY

WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 — In an era of meticulous political choreography, the staging of the kickoff for this presidential candidacy could hardly have gone worse.

Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, who announced his candidacy on Wednesday with the hope that he could ride his foreign policy expertise into contention for the Democratic nomination, instead spent the day struggling to explain his description of Senator Barack Obama, the Illinois Democrat running for president, as “the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.”

The remark, published Wednesday in The New York Observer, left Mr. Biden’s campaign struggling to survive its first hours and injected race more directly into the presidential contest. The day ended, appropriately enough for the way politics is practiced now, with Mr. Biden explaining himself to Jon Stewart on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.”

Earlier, in a decidedly nonpresidential afternoon conference call with reporters that had been intended to announce his candidacy, Mr. Biden, speaking over loud echoes and a blaring television set, said that he had been “quoted accurately.” He volunteered that he had called Mr. Obama to express regret that his remarks had been taken “out of context,” and that Mr. Obama had assured him he had nothing to explain.

“Barack Obama is probably the most exciting candidate that the Democratic or Republican party has produced at least since I’ve been around,” he said, adding: “Call Senator Obama. He knew what I meant by it. The idea was very straightforward and simple. This guy is something brand new that nobody has seen before.”

Asked about Mr. Biden’s comments, Mr. Obama said in an interview, “I didn’t take it personally and I don’t think he intended to offend.” Mr. Obama, who serves with Mr. Biden on the Foreign Relations Committee, added, “But the way he constructed the statement was probably a little unfortunate.”

But later in the day, with Mr. Biden coming under fire from some black leaders, Mr. Obama issued a statement that approached a condemnation. “I didn’t take Senator Biden’s comments personally, but obviously they were historically inaccurate,” he said. “African-American presidential candidates like Jesse Jackson, Shirley Chisholm, Carol Moseley Braun and Al Sharpton gave a voice to many important issues through their campaigns, and no one would call them inarticulate.”

For Mr. Biden, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, it was an inauspicious beginning to his first presidential campaign since 1988, when he dropped out after acknowledging using without attribution portions of a speech from a British politician. By the end of the day on Wednesday, Democrats were asking only half-jokingly whether Mr. Biden might be remembered for having the shortest-lived presidential campaign in the history of the Republic.

Shortly after 6 p.m., Mr. Biden issued a written statement. “I deeply regret any offense my remark in the New York Observer might have caused anyone,” he said. “That was not my intent and I expressed that to Senator Obama.”

Under questioning from reporters at his announcement conference call, Mr. Biden was pressed on what he meant in his description of Mr. Obama, particularly in his use of the word clean.

“He understood exactly what I meant,” Mr. Biden said. “And I have no doubt that Jesse Jackson and every other black leader — Al Sharpton and the rest — will know exactly what I meant.”

When he was asked, again, what he meant, Mr. Biden — known in Washington for his long-winded ways and his love of the microphone and the spotlight — bristled as he struggled over the squawk of feedback and echoes.

“I’m not going to repeat everything I just said,” he said. “There is a vote that starts at 2:30, it takes 11 minutes to get to the floor. I can take one more question but not on the subject I have already spoken to.”

And after taking one more question, Mr. Biden did something entirely out of character: He announced he was done talking.

Mr. Biden’s assurances notwithstanding, both Mr. Jackson and Mr. Sharpton — African-Americans who have run for president — said they had no idea what Mr. Biden meant. And both suggested they felt at least a little offended by the remarks.

Mr. Jackson described Mr. Biden’s remarks to the Observer, which also included critical statements about the Iraq positions of two of his Democratic opponents — Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina — as “blabbering bluster.”

A wounded note to his voice, Mr. Jackson pointed out that he had run against Mr. Biden for the 1988 Democratic nomination, and had lasted far longer and drawn more votes than did Mr. Biden. Mr. Biden was forced out in September 1987.

“I am not sure what he means — ask him to explain what he meant,” Mr. Jackson said. “I don’t know whether it was an attempt to diminish what I had done in ’88, or to say Barack is all style and no substance.”

Mr. Sharpton said that when Mr. Biden called him to apologize, Mr. Sharpton started off the conversation reassuring Mr. Biden about his hygienic practices. “I told him I take a bath every day,” Mr. Sharpton said.

No stranger to electoral intrigue, Mr. Sharpton was quick to offer a political motive: That Mr. Biden was drawing distinctions between Mr. Obama and African-American leaders like Mr. Sharpton and Mr. Jackson, to “discredit Mr. Obama with his base.”

At the very least, Mr. Biden’s remarks obscured a campaign roll-out in which he said that Mr. Bush had “dug America into a very big hole” with the war in Iraq and that the nation would need a leader experienced in foreign policy to take over during dangerous times. More than that, it seemed sure to harden Mr. Biden’s image in political circles as politically undisciplined, an image he had been working scrupulously to change in what has emerged as a long-term political rehabilitation project for him.

In his conference call, Mr. Biden quoted his mother in trying to explain what he meant about Mr. Obama. “My mother has an expression: Clean as a whistle and sharp as a tack,” Mr. Biden said, showering more praise on one of his biggest opponents for the nomination.

On Comedy Central, he told Mr. Stewart: “What got me in trouble was using the word clean. I should have said fresh. What I meant was he’s got new ideas.”

Mr. Biden’s comments also focused new attention on remarks he made about Indians last year, when he said, “you cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I’m not joking.”

Before he went on television, Mr. Biden found himself sharing a stage with Mr. Obama at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Iraq, where he was noticeably solicitous to his new presidential rival as members of the committee questioned Henry Kissinger, the former secretary of state. Mr. Biden chastised Senator John Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat, to keep his comments short (“just one minute, Senator, or we will have everybody else”).

But he could not have been more accommodating to Mr. Obama as the senator from Illinois began wrapping up: “I know I’m out of time.”

Mr. Biden would have none of that. “That’s O.K.,” he told Mr. Obama. “You’re making a very salient point.”

Jeff Zeleny and Helene Cooper contributed reporting from Washington, and Conrad Mulcahy from New York.

DNC launches '08 Research Effort

2007-02-01T10:45:00.002-05:00

(from Hotline)

DNC Launches '08 Research Effort
Coverage of the Democratic National Committee's Winter Meeting

Republican presidential candidates take note: if you didn’t think the Democratic National Committee was serious about scrutinizing your every utterance this early in the cycle, look at the resume of the man Howard Dean hired to be his new director of research.

Back in 2003, when Gehrke worked for John Kerry, Dean fell victim, often, to Michael Gerhke’s opposition research. “The chairman has a unique appreciation of tough he is and how critical he is to the effort,” says DNC communications director Karen Finney.

Gerhke will head an expanded DNC research department with the grand title of “Victory 2008.” Primarily, his team will dig deeply into the backgrounds of Republicans running for office. In this era of YouTube politics and oppo research blogs, you’ll see a lot more of their research be released on-the-record, and a lot earlier than usual. Victory 2008 will coordinate with other levers of the party. When the Democrats nominate their '08 presidential candidate, Gehrke and his team will have reams of research to hand over to the campaign.

Gerhke spent the ’06 cycle as the exec. dir of the Senate Majority Project, which was formed to target out of-cycle Senate Republicans. Remember the developing meme that John McCain was pandering to conservatives? A lot of the credit (or discredit, if you’re inclined) belongs to Gehrke’s brain, within which is imprinted a minute-by-minute chronology of everything the Arizona senator has ever said. It’s very easy for Gerhke to download his brain to an e-mail and then to zip it to reporters. The New Hampshire phone jamming scandal? Gerhke’s efforts raised its profile this year.

The DNC’s effort began with Devorah Adler, now the research director for Sen. Barack Obama. It will expand under Gerhke, who, working for John Kerry, knows a thing or two about defining presidential candidates early – or, in this case, having another presidential candidate define your candidate early.

The RNC has a similar, but less public plan. And two of the top GOP oppo researchers in the business -- Barbara Comstock and Matt Rhoades -- have taken positions with Ex-MA Gov. Mitt Romney. [MARC AMBINDER]

Ralph Reed

2007-02-01T10:45:00.001-05:00

(from Hotline)

Ralph Reed Likes Giuliani, Too...
Let's get to the bottom of this Ralph Reed business once and for all.

Has Mitt Romney ever met Ralph Reed? "Yes," says Kevin Madden, Romney's spokesman.

Has Mitt Romney spoken with Reed over the past six months? Yes. Just once. They shook hands at the National Review Institute dinner last weekend.

Has Romney spoken with Reed more than once over the past six months. "No."

Is Reed an informal adviser to Romney's campaign? No.

Does he participate in calls the Romney campaign holds with outside advisers? "No."

Does Reed ever speak to Romney advisers? Yes. Reed's friend, Peter Flaherty, is Romney's deputy campaign manager for outreach. Flaherty's job is to stay in touch with conservative leaders.

Which candidate was Reed heard talking up at the National Review Institute? Not Romney. It was ex-NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani, according to a person who discussed the presidential race directly with Reed. That induced "a number of odd looks and rolled eyes from many of the attendees," according to our source. [CHUCK TODD AND MARC AMBINDER]

Impressive James Bopp, Jr. supports Romney

2007-01-31T09:52:00.000-05:00

Governor Mitt Romney Announces Support of James Bopp, Jr.
Tuesday, Jan 30, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Kevin Madden (857) 288-6390

Boston, MA - Today, Governor Mitt Romney announced that James Bopp, Jr., will be joining the Romney for President Exploratory Committee as Special Adviser on Life Issues.

"For almost three decades, Jim has been at the center of the fight to protect the sanctity of human life. Representing numerous national and state pro-life and pro-family organizations, he has helped defend the rights of those seeking to promote life," said Governor Romney. "Jim will be a powerful spokesman for my vision of a greater tomorrow. I look forward to his counsel derived from many years of service and to working with him as we move forward."

With today's announcement, Jim Bopp said: "As Governor, Mitt Romney has stood side-by-side with those seeking to protect the weakest and most innocent of our society. In one of our country's most liberal states, he has acted to protect the sanctity of life. Governor Romney's record on fundamental life issues is one of not just words but action. I am proud to count myself among his supporters."

Background on James Bopp, Jr.:

James Bopp, Jr., Has Had A Long Distinguished Career Practicing Law And In Public Service. At the law firm of Bopp, Coleson & Bostrom, Bopp's practice focuses on non-profit corporate and tax law, on campaign finance and election law, on life issues including abortion, and on U.S. Supreme Court practice. His clients have included the National Right to Life Committee, Focus on the Family, Susan B. Anthony List, All Children Matter, Catholic Answers, Christian Broadcasting Network, Gerard Health Foundation, Priests for Life, Traditional Values Coalition, Salem Radio, Vision America, the Christian Coalition, and the Republican parties of Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Texas, and Vermont. He has argued numerous campaign finance cases in defense of pro-life, pro-family, conservative and Republican party groups, including four cases in the U.S. Supreme Court. He also serves as General Counsel for the James Madison Center for Free Speech and is a member of the Republican National Committee. He is a veteran of all levels of government.

A viewpoint on the role of religion in politics

2007-01-30T16:17:00.000-05:00

(by Wendy Doniger, Professor the History of Religions, U. of Chicago's Divinity School, as posted on Newsweek and Wash Post)

The Great Pumpkin Goes to Washington

I don’t care a fig about our next president’s personal religious views. The candidate can worship the Great Pumpkin, for all I care, as long as he or she doesn’t assume that the rest of us do too, and that the Great Pumpkin told him to do things such as, to take a case at random, invade Iraq.

But I certainly want to know what any presidential candidate thinks government should and should not do to protect freedom of religion and freedom from religion. The candidate may be a person of deep faith or a godless atheist, but what matters to me is the candidate’s willingness, and ability, to ensure that the law protects the rights of other people to have their own deep faith or godless atheism, and keep them from messing with one another.

I pledge allegiance to the first amendment, which I interpret to mean that government shouldn’t traffic with religion—neither promote it nor persecute it—and this means that, in the public arena, the candidate should not use religious rhetoric, which does nothing but harm, fogging over the clear lines of argument on the issues and eliciting irrelevant and irrational choices in the electorate.

As someone once said of objectivity in science, just because we cannot produce a perfectly sterile environment is no reason to perform surgery in a sewer. In the context of the presidential elections, this would mean that the candidates should debate the issues entirely on their own merits, not with reference to whatever religious (or other) feelings or beliefs may have brought them to their conclusions.

Of course religious (or non-religious) beliefs will play an important part in their judgments about such matters as abortion and euthanasia and stem cell research and the rights of homosexuals to marry, and a less obvious part in judgments about poverty, war, justice, and even about health care, the homeless, and global warming. But those judgments must stand, and be judged, on their own merits, regardless of what beliefs underlie them.

I don’t care how they got to where they stand; I care about where they stand.

This is what I think should happen. What will actually happen is, alas, just the opposite. But let’s try to keep the surgery as far out of the sewer as we can manage.

Romney adds Iowa staff

2007-01-30T13:47:00.001-05:00

(from Hotline)

Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA) added IA advisers today to augment his exploratory cmte. Among them: House Speaker Brent Siegrist and former Rep. candidate (IA-01) Brian Kennedy. Calling IA "a critical state", Romney intends "to have a strong presence in Iowa." His new IA hires also include:

IA Director Gentry Collins: Former Political Dir. for the Republican Governors Assa., IA GOP Executive Dir. ('03-'04)
Political Dir. Jill Latham: WI GOP Political Director ('04)
Straw Poll Dir. Nicole Schlinger: President, founder of Captiol Resources, Inc.
Communications Dir. Tim Albrecht: Field staff on the Forbes 2000 presidential caucus, House Communications Dir. for IA House Speaker Christopher Rants.

Romney IA chair Doug Gross said Romney's new crew adds" experience and knowledge needed for a successful caucus campaign." Yet of Romney's presidential ambitions, Gross spoke vaguely: "As we begin looking toward a possible presidential campaign, this team will offer serious guidance..."

Clinton adds staff

2007-01-30T13:46:00.001-05:00

Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign now includes Mo Elleithee, a veteran of a half dozen major campaigns of the past eight years. Elleithee will be the campaign's senior spokesperson and will oversee its regional press shop. Elleithee, currently a partner at Hilltop Public Solutions, was the New Hampshire comm. dir for Sen. Bill Bradley's presidential campaign in '00, the NH comm. dir for Ret. Gen. Wesley Clark in '04, the nat'l press secretary for Sen. Bob Graham's presidential bid before Clark, and most recently, the comm. dir on Tim Kaine's successful VA governor campaign. (Elliethee also worked for Mark Warner's '01 GOV campaign.) He joins Phil Singer, the campaign's deputy communications director and nat'l spokesman, Kim Molstre, the campaign's long-term communications planner, and Howard Wolfson, the as-yet-untitled maestro of Clinton's public image.

Romney on Nightline last night

2007-01-30T11:27:00.000-05:00

In Case You Missed It: Governor Mitt Romney on "Nightline"Tuesday, Jan 30, 2007

ABC's "Nightline"
January 29, 2007

Click Here to Watch Interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnzmBaDBMEE

ABC's Terry Moran On The Trail With Governor Mitt Romney:

ABC's TERRY MORAN: "One of the contenders you might not have heard much about yet. The competition for the Republican nomination's wide open, so pay attention to the man from Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, and the big question about him. How much will his faith be a factor? I spent the day with him in Iowa as part of our series, 'The Contenders.'"

GOVERNOR MITT ROMNEY: "Wow. Look at the size of this group. Oh, my."

MORAN: "Mitt Romney, a Republican candidate for president, sure is nice."

...

MORAN: "He's personable, polite, cheerful, nice all the time, it seems."

...

MORAN: "Do you find people know you out here?"

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: "They don't yet. But that's exactly what I mean. That's an itch. I mean, you know, we got a year to go. So it's just a lot of trips, get to know people, learn who they are on a personal basis. They get to know you."

...

MORAN: "But a lot of people think Mitt Romney is going to be a formidable candidate. He's got the money, the skills, the looks, and the track record that might appeal to a lot of Republicans."

...

MORAN: "Romney is definitely smooth, polished, a political pro."

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: "When you face challenges, you go to your core beliefs. And I happen to believe something about America's source of strength."

MORAN: "He's already assembled a top-flight campaign team. They managed to pack every event when we were with him. And he's done his homework on the issues. Here he is at a massive ethanol plant in rural Iowa."

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: "As a nation, we need to support the development of new technologies and the adoption of new technologies so that we can free ourselves from the non-market OPEC stranglehold on energy in this country."

...

MORAN: "As he ends this campaign day with a lot more ahead of him, Mitt Romney seems full of hope. Hope that Republicans and Americans, in general, are ready for a new face, a pretty handsome one at that, and a new voice, a voice that just happens to belong to a Mormon."

Governor Mitt Romney On His Faith:

MORAN: "But there's something else about Mitt Romney, something that makes him different from every other candidate. He's a Mormon. Would you describe yourself as a devout Mormon? True believer?"

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: "Absolutely. I'm proud of my faith. It's part of my heritage. I think the American people respect individuals of faith. That's the kind of person they wanna lead the country."

Governor Mitt Romney On His Pro-Life Record:

MORAN: "What's your position on abortion?"

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: "I'm pro-life."

...

MORAN: "Your critics say you're flip-flopping rather conveniently when you're running for president."

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: "Well, you know, we all learn from experience. And I'm just like other people in this nation. Not everything I believed 12 or 13 years ago is the same today, with regards to the issue of abortion. And so about two years ago, I said I am pro-life. And prior to that time, I had a different position."

Governor Mitt Romney On Iraq:

MORAN: "Was it the right thing for the United States to invade Iraq?"

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: "Well, I supported the President at the time. He indicated that based on intelligence, we had weapons of mass destruction, a threat to this land. He proposed a solution and I supported it. And I'm not going back in trying to second-guess that. I don't have the data or inside sources to suggest doing that."

...

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: "There's no question about the fact that we have not conducted the war as effectively as we might ... and it's been problematic and has caused part of the problems we face today."

Romeny at the Nat'l Review Conservative Summit

2007-01-29T10:39:00.001-05:00

In Case You Missed It: Governor Mitt Romney at the National Review's Conservative Summit
Sunday, Jan 28, 2007

Washington, D.C.
January 27, 2007

Governor Romney On The Need For Fiscal Responsibility In Washington:

"As we look to the nation, you know that we face some extraordinary and in some respects, and in most respects, unprecedented challenges. Let's talk about some of them that affect us right here.

"One, spending in Washington is simply out of control. It's not just pork-barrel spending and earmarks, it is particularly entitlements. And you know the figures on this. Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and interest expense are going to grow by the end of the next President's second term to well over two-thirds of federal spending. How can we remain the world's economic superpower and military superpower with that kind of entitlement expense trajectory?"

Governor Romney On Making Tax Cuts Permanent:

"[W]hen we face tough times in this country, and the economy is challenged like it was following 9/11, liberals turn and say as they always do, 'How do we make government bigger, how do we make sure that we have all the money we need to have the government programs work in tough times like this?' So they want to raise taxes.

"And Republicans say, and conservatives say, 'How do we make sure that we get taxes down in these tough times.'

"And thank heavens our President stood up. And I guess the number of naysayers, the Democratic naysayers and even some in our own party. And he said, 'You know what, I trust Main Street more than I trust K Street.' We're going to put money in the hands of our citizens, and that's going to get the economy going, and it did.

"By the way, I saw Grover Norquist here, I'm proud to be, I think I'm the first person who's thinking about an '08 race, who's signed his 'Taxpayer Protection Pledge' not to raise taxes, and that's easy. I've been living that. By the way, we do need to make those Bush tax cuts permanent."

Huckabee announces on Meet the Press

2007-01-28T11:34:00.000-05:00

(this came from yahoo -- as i have yet to watch my tivo-ed Meet the Press. i guess when Huckabee joked w/Chris Matthews that he was going to wait to see how his book was selling, he realized the game is majorly on.

p.s. pick up this week's TIME. showed up yesterday and it's interesting, although not necessarily ground-breaking in its analysis.)

Mike Huckabee launches presidential bid 1 hour, 10 minutes ago

Conservative Republican Mike Huckabee, seeking to repeat the success of another former governor from Hope, Ark., said Sunday he is taking the first step in what he acknowledged is an underdog bid for the White House in 2008.

"I think this is an opportunity to show the American dream is still alive and there's hope and optimism that can be awakened in a lot of people's lives if they think that a person like me can run and actually become president," Huckabee told The Associated Press

The 51-year-old Huckabee, who took over as governor at the height of Bill Clinton's Whitewater scandal, comes from the same small town — Hope — in the same rural state as the former Democratic president.

Huckabee, who left office Jan. 9 after serving 10 1/2 years as governor of a Democratic-leaning state, faces steep odds in a crowded GOP field that includes well-known and well-funded hopefuls such as Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) of Arizona, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

"One of the reasons that I'm running for president is because I think that America needs folks who understand what it is to start at the bottom of the ladder and climb their way to the top," Huckabee said in a broadcast interview. "We've got a lot of people who are born on third base and think they've hit a triple.

"America loves an underdog. America loves people who have had to struggle and for whom every rung of the ladder has been sometimes three rungs up and two back down, Thank God for the one you've gained, and keep climbing," Huckabee said.

He planned to travel to Iowa, an early nominating state, on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Huckabee is setting up an exploratory committee that will allow him to raise money and hire campaign staff in an effort to gauge his prospects.

Huckabee is a staunch opponent of abortion rights and gay marriage, but faces a tough fight from other conservatives in the field for support from the GOP's right flank. This is an important voting bloc in the nominating contests.

Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback (news, bio, voting record), a favorite son of the religious right, is already in the race. Other conservatives, such as California Rep. Duncan Hunter (news, bio, voting record) and Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo, will battle for their share of the vote.

While Arkansas is a predominantly Democratic state, Huckabee won two full terms in landslides. He championed tax increases for public schools, expanded state insurance programs for the children of the working poor and opposed banning state services for illegal immigrants.

Nationally, Huckabee is perhaps best known for his dramatic weight loss and his emphasis on healthy lifestyles. He shed 110 pounds after being diagnosed with diabetes. He also saw his political profile rise when he headed the National Governors Association for one term.

Since he left office, Huckabee has been on a nationwide tour to tout his book, "From Hope to Higher Ground: 12 Stops to Restoring America's Greatness." With chapters on taxes and foreign policy, Huckabee's book lays out his potential talking points for a presidential campaign.

Huckabee appeared on "Meet the Press" on NBC.

Romney and Congressman Hal Rogers & friends

2007-01-26T14:52:00.001-05:00

This story brought to you by Politico.com

Romney Making Rounds on the Hill for Friends and Money
By: Jonathan Martin
January 25, 2007 05:20 AM EST

Mitt Romney's courting of House Republicans for his presidential bid is picking up steam.

In town last week for the Republican National Committee's winter meeting, the former Massachusetts governor spent a lot of time wooing Hill Republicans. Romney made his pitch to the GOP's Theme Team, which handles communications strategy. One excited Romney ally close to the campaign noted that 46 members showed up to hear Romney; last fall, he drew only about 25 from the conservative House Republican group.

After the lunchtime meeting, Romney had a more intimate sit-down hosted by Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., a senior member of the Appropriations Committee. Rogers is exactly the sort of congressional Republican on whom Romney's team has been focusing. A 14-term House veteran, he has considerable political influence both in his Eastern Kentucky district and on Capitol Hill. As an appropriator, Rogers has friends throughout K Street who could help raise significant money for Romney's campaign. Rogers's office would not confirm that he's backing Romney, but his hosting of about 12 fellow Republicans speaks volumes.

As symbolic as getting support from the likes of Hal Rogers, picking up the endorsement of Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., would perhaps carry more practical weight. Rep. Rogers, who another Romney source says committed to their team on Tuesday, could lend a hand in the early Alabama primary (though it would be far outweighed if Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., nails down the formal endorsement of his close friend, Gov. Bob Riley).

Individually, picking up Hill endorsements may not move a lot of votes. Collectively, though, such backing makes a statement about where some of the most prominent figures in the party are headed. Winning support from so many congressional Republicans so early in 1999 helped then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush create a much-sought sense of inevitability in his presidential bid.

By scoring Hill endorsements, Romney's camp wants to pre-empt any such perception for McCain. "It's pretty hard to be inevitable and be behind in every poll" to former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, "while members are endorsing us," said the Romney ally. "The worst campaign strategy is to say 'elect me because I can win' because when you lose ground, you're in trouble."

Clinton News

2007-01-26T10:06:00.001-05:00

(from Hotline)

A Digest Of Clinton News | Shame On Reuters!

1. The campaign announced that JoDee Winterhoff, who managed Sen. Tom Harkin's '96 re-election, will serve as IA state director for Sen. Hillary Clinton. Two other prominent Iowans have also signed on: ex-IA A.G. Bonnie Campbell and Andy McGuire, a doctor who served as gubernatorial candidate Mike Blouin's running mate in 2006.

2. Reuters reports that actress Elizabeth Taylor wrote a $100,000 check to Hillary Clinton. Reuters doesn't tell you that the contribution limit is $4300 per person because, presumably, Reuters' editors didn't know enough to conclude that Ms. Taylor didn't know enough about federal campaign finance law. Whoops!

While the rest of Hollywood starts to choose sides in the 2008 U.S. presidential race, Taylor has already picked the New York Democratic senator as her favorite candidate and written her a $100,000 check for the campaign.
3. Shades of the Dean campaign in '03, the Clinton campaign sent out a press release bragging that 140K Americans have given their e-mail addresses to the campaign.

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) throws his hat in too

2007-01-26T10:04:00.000-05:00

(from the NY Times) January 26, 2007
2nd Republican Enters Race for Presidency
By SARAH ABRUZZESE

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25 — Representative Duncan Hunter, Republican of California, announced his bid for the presidency on Thursday in Spartanburg, S.C., then boarded a motor home to tour the state, where he hopes to gain support from a conservative electorate.

Mr. Hunter, 58, said his candidacy would emphasize his support for the war in Iraq, his opposition to abortion and his belief in free trade.

Serving his 14th term as a congressman, Mr. Hunter, of San Diego, is a Vietnam veteran and a lawyer. He was the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee until this year and is now the ranking Republican on the panel.

In a release earlier this month, he paved the way for his candidacy, saying, “America needs a way ahead in the ongoing war against terrorists and a policy of economic opportunity, with a reaffirmation of faith in the principles of our founding.”

He said yesterday that he would also emphasize the need to restore the balance of trade with China.

“This is not free trade, this is not fair trade,” Mr. Hunter said according to the text of his speech. “It is cheating.”

Mr. Hunter, who has a 92 percent lifetime conservative rating from the American Conservative Union, repeated his opposition to abortion this week, telling thousands of anti-abortion demonstrators here that, if elected, he would not nominate judges who supported abortion.

Mr. Hunter also opposes embryonic stem cell research and supports tighter controls on illegal immigration. Mr. Hunter is the second Republican to announce his intention to run for the presidency. Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas did last week. Senator John McCain of Arizona and Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, are also expected to seek the nomination.

CA, FL, NJ and IL likely to move up primaries to Feb. 5

2007-01-25T09:56:00.000-05:00

(from today's NY Times)
Big States’ Push for Earlier Vote Scrambles Race
By ADAM NAGOURNEY

WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 — As many as four big states — California, Florida, Illinois and New Jersey — are likely to move up their 2008 presidential primaries to early next February, further upending an already unsettled nominating process and forcing candidates of both parties to rethink their campaign strategies, party officials said Wednesday.

The changes, which seem all but certain to be enacted by state legislatures, mean that the presidential candidates face the prospect of going immediately from an ordered series of early contests in relatively small states in January to a single-day, coast-to-coast battlefield in February, encompassing some of the most expensive advertising markets in the nation.

The changes would appear to benefit well-financed and already familiar candidates and diminish the prospects of those with less money and name recognition going into such a highly compressed series of contests early next year.

Associates of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, the New York Democrat, and Senator John McCain, the Arizona Republican, said that should either of them stumble early on, the respective party primaries in California and New Jersey — two states that would seem particularly hospitable to them — could offer an expensive but welcome firewall.

But at the same time, states like New Jersey and California could provide an opening for Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, who faces the daunting prospect of overcoming resistance among social conservatives in the Republican contests in Iowa and South Carolina in January.

And several party analysts suggested that having such delegate-rich states at stake on Feb. 5 could persuade candidates who might otherwise step out after a defeat in Iowa or New Hampshire to press on in hopes of a dramatic recovery on the new Super Tuesday.

“I think this is huge,” said John Weaver, a senior adviser to Mr. McCain. “And the unintended consequences could be even bigger.”

While officials in both parties are wary of the changes, final say over the calendar rests with the states. Advisers to Republican and Democratic presidential candidates say they have come to view substantial changes as inevitable and they have begun to plan accordingly.

“We don’t set the calendar, and we don’t control the calendar, but we are going to compete aggressively in all these states,” said Patti Solis Doyle, who is the manager of Mrs. Clinton’s exploratory presidential effort. “And I will also tell you we have the resources and the organization to compete in all those states.”

The developments mark the latest upheaval in a political calendar already in disarray. The Democratic Party voted last year to allow Nevada and South Carolina to move their nominating contests into the narrow period at the beginning of the process that once was confined to just Iowa’s caucus and New Hampshire’s primary.

But New Hampshire officials, protective of their first-in-the-nation primary status, have responded by saying they will schedule their primary as early as it takes, even before Jan. 1, to protect its traditional role. And no one seems to know where the scramble for influence among the states will end.

“This is completely out of control,” said William F. Galvin, the Massachusetts secretary of state. He is the leader of a National Association of Secretaries of State committee that is monitoring this movement and trying to push back against it.

“The issue has been bad,” Mr. Galvin said. “But it’s never been as bad as it has been this year. In New Hampshire, they are going to be singing Christmas carols and voting.”

The developments suggest that the national parties are losing any control they have had over the calendar by which they will nominate presidential candidates in 2008. California, New Jersey, Florida and Illinois are most likely to move their primaries early, probably to Feb. 5, joining at least five smaller states that had already scheduled primaries for that day. Illinois lawmakers are talking about moving their primary to help Senator Barack Obama, a Democratic contender; if history is any guide, it is possible that the other candidates might decline to compete in the home state of one of their rivals.

But final votes have not been taken, and state officials said it was possible they could end up going even earlier. Florida in particular has talked about holding its primary seven days after New Hampshire’s, at the risk of sanctions from the Democratic National Committee. And officials said that other states, viewing this surge to the front of the pack, could join in as well.

The Democratic National Committee had adopted a new calendar last year, reducing the once dominant influence of Iowa and New Hampshire, after years of consideration. The Republican Party has so far deferred to Democrats on the changes, waiting to see the outcome of the back-and-forth.

Democrats and Republicans said that the changes would be the latest step in the evolution of a presidential nominating system that increasingly seems resistant to the kind of dark-horse presidential bid that was possible back when small states like Iowa and New Hampshire enjoyed such influence over the nominating process.

It has sowed unease and confusion among campaign staff members as they have tried to measure its implications, and has prompted them to begin making moves now to prepare for a whole different nominating system. While conventional wisdom is that the best-known candidates would benefit, views about how the shift might play out vary among strategists.

Tad Devine, a Democratic consultant who was a senior adviser to Democratic presidential candidates in 2004 and 2000, said the calendar changes, combined with the presence on the Democratic side of three strong and well-financed candidates — Mr. Obama, Mrs. Clinton and, probably, John Edwards, the former North Carolina senator — could mean that the battle for the nomination drags on for months.

“I think there’s a very good chance that we are going to be sitting here at the end of next March saying, ‘How are people going to put together a majority of delegates with 80 percent of the delegates gone?’ ” he said. “The nominating process in 2008 is not a little different. It’s fundamentally different.”

And the campaigns are adjusting accordingly. Mr. McCain recently hired Steve Schmidt, a former Bush campaign operative who managed the re-election bid of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the California Republican, in no small part because of what he saw as Mr. Schmidt’s command of California politics.

Similarly, Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, has turned his attention to Florida, where he sees a strong prospect of knocking out Mr. McCain by appealing to social conservatives, and installed a campaign team that includes two top political advisers to former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida. He is about to announce the hiring of more than six top aides in Florida.

Last weekend, Mr. Romney went to New Jersey, where his aides also think he could make a strong appeal.

“The focus of our efforts publicly have been in Iowa, South Carolina, Michigan, New Hampshire,” said Kevin Madden, Mr. Romney’s press secretary. “But we are very well organized in Florida.”

In the case of Florida, Democrats and Republicans have welcomed the prospect of having to spend heavily on an early primary because that could prove an early investment for the general campaign, as well, considering how competitive that state is. That is not the case in California or New Jersey, two expensive states that have been solidly Democratic in recent presidential races.

And some Democrats disputed the notion that a California victory could help someone recover from a poor showing in the early states. Nick Baldick, a senior adviser to Mr. Edwards, noted that Howard Dean spent heavily in states that held their primaries after New Hampshire and Iowa and never recovered.

“All that mattered was momentum and winning in Iowa,” Mr. Baldick said Wednesday. “I would argue that more states on Feb. 5 makes that exponentially more true. That if you don’t have momentum going into states like those four big states, then forget it and just go home.”

Rep. Pete Hoekstra will be Intelligence Adviser

2007-01-24T12:36:00.001-05:00

Governor Mitt Romney Announces Representative Pete Hoekstra as Intelligence Adviser
Wednesday, Jan 24, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Kevin Madden (857) 288-6390

Boston, MA - Today, Governor Mitt Romney announced that U.S. Representative Pete Hoekstra (R-MI), the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, will be joining the Romney for President Exploratory Committee. Representative Hoekstra will serve as Governor Romney's adviser on all matters pertaining to U.S. intelligence.

Governor Romney also named Representative Hoekstra as a Co-Chair of his Michigan state organization helping to organize areas of Western Michigan.

"I am honored that Representative Hoekstra will serve as my intelligence adviser. From his many years of service on the House Intelligence Committee, he has become a leader in America's Intelligence Community," said Governor Romney. "Today, our country faces grave threats and our intelligence professionals must have the resources necessary to safeguard the American people. Our first priority is a safe America and that requires a strong Intelligence Community."

Joining the Romney for President Exploratory Committee, Representative Hoekstra said: "As a governor and as chief executive of the 2002 Winter Olympics, Governor Romney knows good intelligence is necessary for our security. Governor Romney will provide those on the frontlines of the war against radical militant Islam with the resources necessary to win. I know that the professionals who serve in the Intelligence Community will be well served under Governor Romney."

Background On Representative Pete Hoekstra:

Representing Michigan's Second Congressional District, Representative Hoekstra Is An Authority On U.S. Intelligence Issues. In August 2004, he was named Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, where he had served since 2001. As the current top Republican on the Committee, he is helping to lead Congressional oversight and ensure a strong Intelligence Community.

Representative Hoekstra was originally sworn in to the 103rd Congress in 1993. He served a key role in the development of the Contract with America and is a member of several task forces and caucuses, including the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus.

Hastert supports Romney

2007-01-24T09:59:00.001-05:00

Governor Mitt Romney Announces Support of Former Speaker Dennis Hastert
Tuesday, Jan 23, 2007

Boston, MA - Today, Governor Mitt Romney announced that former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) will be joining the Romney for President Exploratory Committee.

"I am honored to have the support of Speaker Hastert. As a leader in our Party and former Speaker, his long and continued career of service has been marked by a deep commitment to improving the lives of the American people. Under his leadership, Congress passed the most significant tax relief in a generation, and in the aftermath of September 11, approved historic legislation protecting the American people and supporting the men and women defending our country," said Governor Romney. "Today's announcement is a clear indication that our message is being embraced across the country."

With today's announcement, former Speaker Hastert said: "Our nation needs proven executive leadership. Whether in business or public service, Governor Romney has demonstrated a unique ability to inspire people to go further and reach new levels of accomplishment. He sees the challenges before us and is not afraid to confront them. Governor Romney is the right kind of leader for America."

Others On Governor Romney's Growing Congressional Team:

- Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC)
- Representative Jim McCrery (R-LA)
- Representative Howard "Buck" McKeon (R-CA)
- Representative Dave Camp (R-MI)
- Representative Tom Feeney (R-FL)
- Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)

Excerpts from Gov. Romney's Remarks at the Seventh Annual Herzliya Conference

2007-01-23T10:48:00.000-05:00

Excerpts from Governor Mitt Romney's Remarks at the Seventh Annual Herzliya Conference
Tuesday, Jan 23, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Kevin Madden (857) 288-6390

Herzliya, Israel - Today, Governor Mitt Romney will make remarks at the Seventh Annual Herzliya Conference on the nature of threat posed by Iran and the actions necessary to address this threat.
To see Governor Romney's speech live beginning at 8:20 a.m. EST, please click here: http://web11.mediazone.co.il/media/idc/LIVE/20070121/?logo=6&lang=eng

Governor Romney's Five Step Plan Of Action To Prevent A Nuclear Iran:

" First, we must continue tighten economic sanctions. Our model should be at least as severe to the sanctions imposed on Apartheid South Africa. We should demand no less from the international community today ...

"We must also be imaginative in the way we pressure Iran economically - an issue I have been looking into. In my meetings this week in Israel, I have become aware of the potential of U.S. pension funds to further isolate the Iranian economy. We should explore a selective disinvestment policy. After a series of briefings here, I have contacted the Treasurer of my own state of Massachusetts and Governors of other states to begin this process by meeting today with senior Israeli leaders in Boston.

" Second, we must impose diplomatic isolation of Iran's Government. Ahmadinejad should not be provided the trappings, respect, and recognition of a responsible head of state as he travels. In fact, when former Iranian President Khatami traveled to Boston last year to lecture at Harvard University, I denied him state police security for his visit. The real question is: why was he invited in the first place? Ahmadinejad is even more strident than Khatami. He should neither be invited to foreign capitals nor feted by foreign leaders. This would have important symbolic significance, not just to Ahmadinejad, but to the people of Iran.

"Diplomatic isolation should also include an indictment of Ahmadinejad for incitement to genocide under the Genocide Convention. The United States should lead this effort.

"The full title of the Genocide Convention is the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Remember that word: Prevention.

"Article III of that treaty establishes that 'public incitement to commit genocide' is a punishable crime. Every signatory to this treaty, including the U.S. and most European countries, shares an obligation to enforce it. So do human rights groups that care about international humanitarian law.

"Nobel Prize Winner Elie Wiesel, and human rights advocate and former Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Cotler have spoken out on this issue.

"In addition, former U.S. Ambassador John Bolton has been a forceful advocate for this effort, and is joined by Alan Dershowitz. If these two can agree, they must be on to something.

" Third, Arab states must join this effort to prevent a nuclear Iran. These states can do much more than wring their hands and urge America to act. They should support Iraq's nascent government, They can help America focus on Iran by quickly turning down the temperature of the Arab-Israeli conflict - stopping the financial and weapons flows to Hamas and Hizbullah ... thawing relations with Israel ... and telling the Palestinians they must drop terrorism and recognize Israel's right to exist.

" Fourth, we must make it clear that while nuclearization may be a source of pride, it can also be a source of peril. The military option remains on the table. And further, nuclear material that falls into the hands of terrorists would surely provoke a devastating response from the civilized world.

" Fifth, our strategy should be integrated into a broader approach to the broader Muslim world. I agree with our friend, former Prime Minister Aznar of Spain, that a central purpose of NATO should be to defeat radical Islam. I believe this has two critical dimensions. The first is an unquestionably capable military. This will mean a greater investment by the United States as well as other nations. The second is a global partnership which includes NATO and other allies. Its mission would be to support progressive Muslim communities and leaders in every nation where radical Islam is battling modernity and moderation. This Partnership for Prosperity should help provide the tools and funding necessary for moderates to win the debate in their own societies. They need secular public schools, micro credit and banking, the rule of law, adequate healthcare, human rights, and competitive economic policies. In the final analysis, only Muslims will be able to permanently defeat radical Islam. And we can help."

Other Key Excerpts Of Governor Romney's Remarks As Prepared For Delivery:

"And on Iraq, I would just like to make another point. Some Congressional leaders in the United States today are arguing that the President is not authorized to allow our forces to pursue Iranian elements inside Iraq - which are attacking our own troops. That would be folly."

RNC's first stab at Hillary the Candidate

2007-01-23T09:57:00.001-05:00

(from Hotline)

(How long have they been waiting to use that word?)

The Research Briefing is after the break.

(Says Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson: "Republicans attacking on Iraq? Funny.")

Clinton Advisor Said Sen. Hillary Clinton's (D-NY) Vote For Use Of Force Was Vote For Negotiations:

Clinton Advisor Terry McAuliffe: "She voted to give the President the authority to negotiate and to have a stick to go over there and negotiate with Saddam Hussein." (NBC's "Today Show," 1/22/07)

Sound Familiar? Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) Kicked Off Campaign Claiming Use Of Force Was Not A Vote For Force, Either:

Sen. Kerry Announcement Of Candidacy In 2003. Sen. Kerry: "I voted to threaten the use of force to make Saddam Hussein comply with the resolutions of the United Nations." (Sen. John Kerry, Remarks At Announcement Of Candidacy, Patriot's Point, S.C., 9/2/03)

Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) Claims Kerry Believed "Use Of Force" Vote Was A "Use Of Negotiations" Vote. "Levin said Kerry believed the resolution would help President Bush negotiate with Iraq but didn't think Bush would use it to go to war." (Dee-Ann Durbin, "Levin, Stabenow Endorsing Kerry," The Associated Press, 2/5/04)

Clinton's Latest Criticism On Iraq, No Doubt Caters To Left Wing:

"Clinton ... Has Been Criticized By Many In The Party's Left Wing For Voting To Authorize The Iraq War In October 2002 ..." (Glenn Thrush, "Race For President Clinton Will Run," [New York] Newsday, 1/21/07)

"Clinton's Third Trip To Iraq Comes As She Faces Pressure From Her Party's Left Wing To Renounce Her Vote." (Glenn Thrush, "Shuttle Diplomacy," [New York] Newsday, 1/13/07)

"Clinton ... Had Been Criticized By The Democratic Party's Left Wing For Voting To Authorize The War In 2002 And Not Taking Hard Stance Against It Later." (Charlotte Raab, "Clinton Steps Up Bush Criticism As She Mulls Presidential Bid," Agence France Presse, 1/18/07)

More Clinton Staff Assignments

2007-01-23T09:49:00.000-05:00

(from the NY Times)

More Clinton Staff Assignments
By Patrick Healy

Three hard-working New Yorkers are taking on some weighty assignments for Hillary ‘08.
Joining Mandy Grunwald’s media team is Jimmy Siegel, the former Madison Avenue ad man who made some memorable, humanizing commercials last year for Eliot Spitzer’s successful gubernatorial campaign and for Andrew Cuomo, who was elected attorney general in November.
In a Times profile last fall, Mr. Siegel praised Mrs. Clinton as “smart, hard-working, 100 percent qualified — yet also someone who would benefit from an ad man’s touch. Where advertising could help her is, she could create a little more emotional bond with voters.”
“People say there’s a lot of warmth, sense of humor, and wit there. That humanity has got to come out for her to win.’
In an interview this afternoon, Mr. Siegel said that her warmth came through in his first, 90 minute meeting with her, where the senator was cracking everyone up.
“She has a truly personable nature which maybe isn’t apparent to people who haven’t met her,” he said. “She’s very down to earth and very funny. She’s just quick with a line and makes great, sharp, funny observations.”
Mr. Siegel said he worked on the campaign announcement video on hillaryclinton.com, contributing to the script, which he said was a team effort that included Mrs. Clinton, who had “large input” in the wording.
He said he helped come up with one of the more memorable lines in the video: “So let’s talk. Let’s chat. Let’s start a dialogue about your ideas and mine. Because the conversation in Washington has been just a little one-sided lately, don’t you think? And we can all see how well that works.”
Mr. Siegel said he had an open-ended arrangement with the Clinton campaign and hoped to be with them for the duration, designing commercials and media strategy. He said he was not sure when the first 2008 commercials would air.
Ms. Grunwald, reached this afternoon, declined to comment on Mr. Siegel’s hiring or on the media strategy.
Also taking a new role is Jennifer Hanley, the senator’s New York-based press secretary, who has long shown a fair and steady hand in dealing with the mob that is the New York City press corps. She will be traveling press secretary for the campaign. See you in Des Moines, Jen!
And Blake Zeff, the spokesman for the New York State Democratic Party, will become a spokesman for the campaign. Blake starts around the beginning of February and is moving to Washington, where Senator Clinton has decided to base her presidential campaign headquarters.
Mr. Zeff earned his stripes working for Senator Charles E. Schumer (other Schumer alums now in Hillaryland are Howard Wolfson and Phil Singer), and he sometimes seemed to be channeling Mr. Wolfson’s hard-hitting tactics as he manned the Democrats’ rapid-response attack operation against New York Republicans last year.

Giuliani Hires E-Campaign Expert

2007-01-22T15:56:00.000-05:00

(from my fav, "The Fix")

Giuliani Hires E-Campaign Expert

As Dan Balz and I wrote in today's Post, presidential candidates on both sides are focused heavily on bolstering their Internet presence through a variety of new tools, including video, podcasts and even online video chats.

To brainstorm and implement these new innovations, the campaigns are chasing after a small group of people in their 20s and early 30s versed in the language of the new media.

One of the real "gets" on the GOP side of that world is Patrick Ruffini, who served as the Web master of President Bush's 2004 reelection campaign and then served in a similar role at the Republican National Committee. Ruffini gained recognition in national Republican circles for his blog, which was one of the first serious attempts on the Republican side at building an online community.

Ruffini has signed on with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign as an e-campaign adviser. The hiring is only the latest sign that Giuliani is serious about a run for national office in 2008.

In building a national staff, Giuliani has recruited a number of former Bush operatives to his cause -- the latest being Brent Seaborn, who will be the director of strategy for the campaign. Seaborn was intimately involved in the microtargeting efforts credited with growing the number of Republican votes for Bush in 2004. Seaborn was a co-founder of TargetPoint Consulting, which specialized in microtargeting and data mining.

In his new role on the Giuliani campaign, Seaborn will be tasked with the construction of a consulting team -- from picking the pollster and the media consultant to organizing the direct-mail operation. As The Fix has noted before, the major gap in Giuliani's political team at the moment is in the consulting world. In past races he has used Adam Goodman for media and Frank Luntz as his pollster, but the hiring of Seaborn -- and his job description -- would seem to suggest that Hizzoner is on the hunt for a new team.

As for campaigning online, Giuliani is far from the only candidate to recognize the opportunities and perils of the Web. Sen. John McCain's campaign employs a videographer who records many his political speeches; former Gov. Mitt Romney (R) has several staffers tasked with monitoring the blogging world and a video team on retainer to tape and produce segments like like these.

Democrats, too, are deeply invested in Web video and other technological advances. Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), and Barack Obama (Ill.) and former Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) each announced their campaign plans via video, and all three campaigns are putting special emphasis on building a Web presence. Clinton will host the first in a series of online chats tonight at 7 p.m ET.

Romney to Visit Israel

2007-01-22T09:31:00.000-05:00

Governor Mitt Romney's Visit to Israel

CONTACT: Romney Press Shop (857) 288-6390

Boston, MA - On the evening of Saturday, January 20, Governor Mitt Romney will travel to Israel on a trip sponsored by the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC). On Tuesday, January 23, Governor Romney will deliver public remarks at the Seventh Annual Herzliya Conference. Governor Romney will return to the United States on Thursday, January 25.

Public Event:

Governor Romney delivers remarks at the Seventh Annual Herzliya Conference.
Tuesday, January 23
3:15 p.m. (Local Time)
Herzliya, Israel

Since its inception, the Herzliya Conference has become a leading and world-renowned summit of Israeli and international leaders for the discussion of Israel's national security. Participants at the Conference include: government officials, Knesset members and ministers, defense officials, business leaders, senior academics, media, representatives of leading Jewish organizations, and dignitaries from abroad.

Private Meetings During The Governor's Trip Will Include:

-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert

-Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres

-Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni

-Mr. Meir Dagan, Director of the Mossad

-Avi Dichter, Minister of Public Security

-Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak

-Natan Sharansky

-Former Prime Minister and former Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

-Dr. Salam Fayyad, former Palestinian Finance Minister

Private Visits Include:

-Helicopter tour of Israel's Northern and Southern borders and Security Fence

-Tour of surveillance and security measures at Ben-Gurion Airport

-Tour of Yad Vashem

-Tour of the Old City

Clinton's Inner Circle

2007-01-22T09:30:00.001-05:00

Who's Who at Team Clinton

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-N.Y.) presidential campaign may be less than 48 hours old, but she already has a full stable of senior staffers in place. Here is a look at the people who will guide Clinton's White House bid.

Patti Solis Doyle: Unquestionably a first among equals in Clinton's inner circle, Solis Doyle will manage the campaign. She has been with Clinton since her days as the first lady of Arkansas.

Mike Henry: A newcomer to the Clinton circle, Henry will be deputy campaign manager. He made a name for himself by leading Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) to victory in 2005 and then overseeing Senate Democrats' national ad campaign in 2006.

Howard Wolfson: Wolfson will oversee the communications operation for Clinton, reprising the role he played in her 2000 Senate race. Wolfson has deep roots in New York Democratic Party politics, having worked for Sen. Charles E. Schumer and Rep. Nita M. Lowey.

Evelyn S. Lieberman: Lieberman, a former undersecretary of state and senior aide in President Bill Clinton's White House, will be chief operating officer of the campaign.

Jonathan Mantz: As finance director, Mantz has the Herculean task of raising the millions Clinton will need to compete in the four early voting states and beyond. Before joining Clinton, Mantz oversaw fundraising for New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine (D).

Neera Tanden: Tanden served as policy adviser to President Bill Clinton and went on to work as the legislative director in Hillary Clinton's Senate office. She will be the campaign's policy director.

Kim Molstre: Fresh off a stint in the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Molstre will serve as director of scheduling and long-term planning. In 2004, Molstre worked on the presidential efforts of former congressman Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) and Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.).

Mandy Grunwald: A veteran of Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign, Grunwald designed the ads for Hillary Clinton's 2000 and 2006 Senate races. She will be the lead media consultant in 2008.

Mark Penn: The pollster of choice during President Bill Clinton's second term, Penn, like Grunwald, has been with Hillary Clinton since her run in 2000.

Phil Singer: Singer, the deputy communications director, is extremely close to Schumer, for whom he worked at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in the 2006 election. He also has experience in past presidential politics as a member of Kerry's rapid-response operation.

Leecia Eve: Eve, a Buffalo native, will be a senior policy adviser to the campaign. She worked as counsel to Clinton in her Senate office, leaving to make an abbreviated bid for lieutenant governor in New York in 2006.

Minyon Moore: Moore served a stint as political director in the Clinton White House and will be a senior adviser in the campaign. Moore, an African American, oversaw minority outreach for Kerry's 2004 campaign.

Ann Lewis: Lewis is a longtime Clinton loyalist. She was deputy campaign manager for President Bill Clinton's 1996 reelection race and handled communications during Hillary Clinton's 2006 reelection contest. She will be a senior adviser to the '08 campaign.

Bill Richardson is in too

2007-01-22T09:28:00.001-05:00

N.M. Governor Joins Presidential Race

By Chris Cillizza
washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Monday, January 22, 2007; A06

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson began a run for the Democratic presidential nomination yesterday, betting that his long résumé and Hispanic heritage will boost his chances in a field already stocked with better-known candidates.

"I am taking this step because we have to repair the damage that's been done to our country over the last six years," Richardson wrote in an e-mail to supporters. "Our reputation in the world is diminished, our economy has languished, and civility and common decency in government has perished." Richardson also announced his intentions -- in Spanish and English -- on his campaign Web site.

Richardson will file paperwork with the Federal Election Commission today to establish a presidential exploratory committee but will not formally announce his bid until New Mexico's legislative session ends in March.

His announcement comes just one day after Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) joined the Democratic race and less than a week after Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) made his intentions clear. Polling done in early-voting states such as Iowa shows Clinton and Obama in the Democrats' top tier along with former North Carolina senator John Edwards.

Richardson joins a group running behind the top three that includes Sens. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.) and Christopher J. Dodd (Conn.) as well as former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack.

Unlike the other second-tier candidates, Richardson is making history as he seeks to become the first Hispanic president of the United States. Although Richardson said his ethnicity is not a point of emphasis in the campaign, it could help his chances. Hispanics are the largest minority group in the United States and are becoming increasingly active and influential in national politics.

Acknowledging that he is not yet on the level of the front-runners, Richardson argued that he alone in the field has a record of creating solutions to tough problems. "I can talk the talk and walk the walk," Richardson said.

Richardson spent 15 years in Congress before being named U.S. ambassador to the United Nations by President Bill Clinton in 1997. A year later he was appointed energy secretary. Richardson returned to elected office in 2002, winning the gubernatorial race. Last fall he cruised to a second term with 69 percent of the vote.

Throughout his career in public life, Richardson has also served as a roving diplomat, dispatched to defuse crises in hot spots including North Korea and Iraq. He spent several days in Sudan last week before making his presidential intentions known.

On Iraq -- the issue which most animates Democratic primary voters -- Richardson has called for a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops to be completed by the end of this year. "There is no military solution," he said.

Regardless of the strength of his résumé, Richardson faces a rocky path to the nomination. In a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll, 1 percent of Democratic voters said they would support Richardson in a primary. By contrast, Clinton took 41 percent, Obama 17 percent and Edwards 11 percent.

Asked how he can compete with nationally known candidates such as Clinton and Obama, Richardson said: "I'll outwork them."

Meanwhile, Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) declined to rule out an independent candidacy for president in 2008.

"I have not decided I am going to run for president, so maybe that'll be the next set of questions that you could ask after I decide what I'm going to do," Hagel said during an interview with C-SPAN.

Hagel has been perhaps the most vocal Republican critic of President Bush's handling of the war in Iraq -- a position that could make it difficult for the senator to make a serious run at the GOP nomination.

The Religious Test

2007-01-22T09:21:00.000-05:00

(from today's USA Today)

The religious test
Posted 1/21/2007 7:28 PM ET
By David E. Campbell and J. Quin Monson

Should Americans fear Mitt Romney because he is a Mormon? In spite of what some political pundits have recently argued, the answer is a resounding no.
Should Romney fear how some Americans will react to his religion? Unfortunately, recent polls say yes. But just like another Massachusetts politician who faced questions about his religion, namely John F. Kennedy, Romney can, and should, tackle uneasiness about his religion head-on — sooner rather than later.

Romney has not yet officially announced his plans to run for the Republican nomination, yet the darts have already begun to fly. In fact, some critics have argued that Romney should not be elected solely because of his membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS):

•Writing in Slate, columnist Jacob Weisberg says that if Romney truly believes in his religion, "I don't want him running the country."

•Damon Linker, in The New Republic, says voters should reject Romney on religious grounds. Echoing precisely the same concerns raised about Kennedy's Catholicism, Linker argues that a Mormon president would be controlled by his church's hierarchy. In his words, "would it not be accurate to say that under a President Romney, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would truly be in charge of the country?" Actually, no, it would not be accurate, any more than it was accurate to say that Kennedy would take orders from the Vatican. And neither would it be accurate to accuse the LDS church of pulling the strings of other prominent Mormon politicians, such as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., the late Rep. Mo Udall, D-Ariz., and numerous others.

It is true that, like many religious groups, the LDS church occasionally makes policy pronouncements, as it did last June in support of a federal constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. However, this kind of political activity has not served to constrain Mormon elected officials. Reid, at the time the Senate minority leader, led the opposition to the amendment. In response to a reporter's question about his open opposition to the LDS church's public position, his press secretary Sharyn Stein said that the church had asked members to express their opinions on the issue, so her boss was doing so "loudly and repeatedly on the Senate floor."

A President Romney would have the same autonomy to speak and act independently of his church.

Kennedy's approach

Romney's challenge, however, is to make this clear to the American public. It is here that the parallel to Catholicism is instructive.

John F. Kennedy was not the first Catholic to run for president. That distinction belongs to Gov. Al Smith, D-N.Y., who, after winning the Democratic nomination in 1928, faced outright hostility to his Catholicism and suffered an ignominious defeat at the polls. The anti-Catholic bigotry that Smith confronted was in the living memory of many Democrats as Kennedy began his bid for the presidency. In an era when primaries were non-binding and often ignored by the leading candidates, Kennedy entered the West Virginia primary to show that a Catholic could win in a heavily Baptist state and thus settle the "Catholic question." He won the primary and the nomination. But still doubts lingered in the minds of the electorate about his religion.

To put those doubts to rest, Kennedy marched into the proverbial lion's den and delivered a speech to Protestant ministers in Houston. That speech is a classic appeal for religious tolerance. In it, Kennedy declared, "I do not speak for my church on public matters, and the church does not speak for me."

Similarly, enough Americans have doubts about Romney's religion that he should not wait for the primaries to tackle the "Mormon question." Recent polls find that about four out of 10 Americans say that they are unwilling to vote for a Mormon. We suspect that many voters are simply reflecting the fact that Mormonism is unfamiliar to them; it is natural to be uneasy with the unknown. However, Romney's own election in Massachusetts as well as the elections of Gordon Smith, Rep. Ernest Istook, R-Okla., and former U.S. Representative Richard Swett, D-N.H., demonstrate that voters outside the Mountain West, where Mormons are most heavily concentrated, can become comfortable with Mormon candidates from across the political spectrum.

Making his case — now

The heavy scrutiny focused on presidential candidates, even this early in the campaign, and the unease of some voters with a Mormon president, means that Romney should do now what Kennedy waited until the fall of 1960 to do. Romney needs to take a page from the Kennedy playbook and address his religion forthrightly, in a high-profile venue.

At a time when religion and politics are increasingly intertwined, it would be an opportunity to remind all Americans why the wall between church and state has served the country well.

Whatever issues voters might have with Mormonism, it is wrong to reject Romney because of his faith, just as it was wrong to reject Kennedy for his, or to disqualify today's Catholic politicians, such as Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., for theirs. It is no different from dismissing Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., because of her gender or Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., because of his race.

This is not an endorsement of Romney — we leave it to the voters to decide whether he deserves to be president. Rather, we endorse the spirit of Article VI in the Constitution, which states that there should be no religious test for public office.

Kennedy captured that spirit well in 1960 when he said: "While this year it may be a Catholic against whom the finger of suspicion is pointed, in other years it has been — and may someday be again — a Jew, or a Quaker, or a Unitarian, or a Baptist."

Or even a Mormon.

David E. Campbell teaches political science at the University of Notre Dame. J. Quin Monson teaches political science at Brigham Young University. The views expressed are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of their respective institutions.

Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL) supports Romney

2007-01-21T09:28:00.000-05:00

Governor Mitt Romney Announces Representative Tom Feeney's Support

Boston, MA - Today, Governor Mitt Romney announced that U.S. Representative Tom Feeney (R-FL) will serve as a key liaison to fiscal conservatives and organizations promoting fiscal responsibility in Washington.

"I am pleased to have the support of Representative Feeney. He has been a powerful watchdog for fiscal responsibility in our nation's capital. I look forward to working with him as we strive to restore basic fiscal conservative values, curb runaway spending, and protect taxpayers' money," said Governor Romney.

With Governor Romney's announcement, Representative Feeney said, "I am proud to be part of Governor Romney's team. With his record of fighting for lower taxes and balanced budgets, Governor Romney is the right kind of leader to bring fiscal sanity back to Washington. Governor Romney will be a strong fiscal steward of the American people's tax money."

Background On Representative Tom Feeney:

Representative Tom Feeney Has Been A Leader For Reform And A Watchdog For Fiscal Responsibility. Elected in 2002 to the U.S. House of Representatives, Feeney represents the people of Florida's 24th Congressional District in Central Florida encompassing areas of Brevard, Orange, Seminole and Volusia Counties. He previously served as Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives and was Governor Jeb Bush's running mate in his first race for governor in 1994.

In Congress, Feeney sits on the powerful Financial Services and Judiciary Committees. He also serves on the Steering Committee of the Republican Study Committee, the largest caucus in the U.S. House representing 100 conservative members, and is the Chairman of the House Conservatives Fund which helps elect true Reagan conservatives to the U.S. House of Representatives. Additionally, Feeney co-founded the Washington Waste Watchers, a working group formed to combat waste and fraud in the federal government.

Clinton and Brownback are in

2007-01-21T09:13:00.000-05:00

Here they are: Senator Clinton and Senator Brownback (R-KS) are in. Wow. This is going to be F-U-N! I think the Dems won't figure this out before their nominating convention...

context

2007-01-19T09:39:00.000-05:00

(it's interesting that in politics, when an individual thoughtfully considers how life's events affect his everyday decisions and choses to evolve based upon events, he is lambasted for changing his mind. however, should said individual "stay the course" -- akin to POTUS 43 -- and hold strong to his decisions irrespective of the circumstances around him, he is also lambasted for not changing his mind.

with this article from the Boston Globe, it's important to note the conundrums a politicans can find himself in...especially when quotes are selected, dissected, interpreted and juxtaposed without regard to context.)

Romney vs. Romney
By Scot Lehigh | January 19, 2007

LADIES AND gentlemen, welcome to the first virtual debate of the new political season, a mock matchup to help take the true measure of two men locked in ideological conflict.

Our first candidate is Mitt Romney.

Candidate number two? Why, that's Mitt Romney as well.

The first Romney is the man who ran for the US Senate in 1994 and for governor in 2002.

Let's label him Moderate Mitt, or MM for short.

Romney number two is the conservative Romney has become since catching Potomac Fever. We'll call him Romney2008.

A note on the proceedings: While our forum is fanciful, the words in quotation marks are real.

Let's begin.

Where do you stand on abortion?

MM: "I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country. I have since the time that my mom took that position when she ran in 1970 as a US Senate candidate. I believe that since Roe v. Wade has been the law for 20 years that we should sustain and support it. . . . You will not see me wavering on that."

Romney2008: "I am pro life. I believe that abortion is the wrong choice except in cases of incest, rape, and to save the life of the mother. I wish the people of America agreed, and that the laws of our nation could reflect that view. But while the nation remains so divided over abortion, I believe that the states, through the democratic process, should determine their own abortion laws and not have them dictated by judicial mandate."

Please give us your views on gun control.

MM: I supported the Brady Bill, which instituted a five-day waiting period before you could buy a handgun, and a ban on assault weapons. As I said in 1994, "That's not going to make me the hero of the NRA." But then, "I don't line up with the NRA." As I said in my gubernatorial campaign, "We do have tough gun laws in Massachusetts. I support them. I won't chip away at them."

Romney2008: "I have a gun of my own. I go hunting myself. I'm a member of the NRA and believe firmly in the right to bear arms. In our state . . . there are a series of laws restricting gun ownership in various ways. Over the past four years, I've worked very closely with the Gun Owners' Action League here, which is an affiliate of the NRA, and we've made some changes which I think they feel have been positive steps. And so you are going to see that, I think, hopefully, in other states as well, as they make progress, perhaps further than Massachusetts has."

MM: Ah, excuse me, but isn't that son Josh's gun?

Romney2008: Um, well, yes, but so what? He has several guns out at our vacation place in Utah, and I use them "from time to time."

Would you sign a no-new-taxes pledge?

MM: As I said in 2002, "I'm not intending to . . . sign a document which would prevent me from being able to look specifically at the revenue needs of the Commonwealth." My spokesman had it right when he called those pledges "government by gimmickry."

Romney2008: Why, I just signed one for Grover Norquist and Americans for Tax Reform. As my campaign spokesman explained: "At a time when Democrats in Washington are using code language about their plans to raise taxes and spending, the governor's pledge makes it clear that he opposes those actions."

What political leader do you particularly admire?

MM: "I was very close to my dad, and I look at him as a role model, as a mentor, as a person who I would very much like to be like. He . . . was unique in so many dimensions, I can't possibly be as great as he was, but I aspire to be like he was in many ways." As I also said in 2002, "He did exactly what he thought was right without regard to the political consequences."

Romney2008: "Ronald Reagan is . . . my hero. . . . I believe that our party's ascendancy began with Ronald Reagan's brand of visionary and courageous leadership."

MM: May I interject? "I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I'm not trying to return to Reagan-Bush."

Romney2008: Well, you're not running for president.

Alas, we've run out of time. But I hope our forum has revealed something important about the positions, character, and convictions of these two very different politicians.

Scot Lehigh's e-mail address is lehigh@globe.com.

Giuliani Hires a Rove-Linked Consultant

2007-01-19T09:31:00.000-05:00

(from the NYT) January 19, 2007, 8:34 am
Giuliani Hires a Rove-Linked Consultant
By Patrick Healy

Rudolph W. Giuliani has hired Olsen & Shuvalov, a prominent Texas consulting firm with ties to Karl Rove, to assist his presidential exploratory committee with fundraising, voter outreach, and development of his political message, according to campaign officials.

The hire is part of an expansion of staff and operations that Mr. Giuliani’s team plans to announce in the next few weeks. The plans include adding finance officials for the campaign, and more senior staff members to help organize strategy and field work in Iowa, New Hampshire, and elsewhere.

While Mr. Giulaini has tapped a respected Republican strategist, Mike DuHaime, to serve as executive director of his exploratory committee, the team has not expanded as swiftly as those of two potential rivals in 2008, Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts.

Indeed, Mr. Giuliani’s inner circle is still dominated by people who worked for him at City Hall when he was mayor of New York City, from 1993 to 2001. Some Republicans close to Mr. Giuliani have said that he must build an impressive political operation more quickly if he wants to be taken seriously in the early nominating states.
Mr. Giuliani’s timetable for making a final decision on the presidency has been somewhat fluid, but he is expected to make a decision by the spring.

Olsen & Shuvalov is a communications and political strategy firm in Austin, Texas, that grew out of the old Karl Rove & Company direct-mail fmarketing firm. When Mr. Rove joined George W. Bush’s presidential campaign in 1999, he sold the assets of his firm to Todd Olsen and another former employee.

Mr. Rove, now a top aide to President Bush, no longer has any formal ties to the firm.