The Note
W A S H I N G T O N, Dec. 12—
, 2003 -- Today's Schedule (all times Eastern):
—7:30 am: Rep. Richard Gephardt appears on ESPN 2's "Cold Pizza"—8:10 am: Rep. Gephardt appears on Fox News's "Fox and Friends"—9:00 am: The University of Virginia's Center for Politics, The Hotline, and The New Hampshire Institute of Politics host a day-long forum at Saint Anselm College about the New Hampshire primary, Manchester, N.H.—9:45 am: Off-camera press gaggle with White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan—10:45 am: Gov. Howard Dean holds a town hall meeting with Pottawattamie County residents, Council Bluffs, Iowa—12:15 pm: On-camera press briefing with White House Press Secretary McClellan—1:30 pm: Vice President Cheney speaks at an event for Matt Blunt, Kansas City, Mo. —2:45 pm: President Bush names a new Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the White House—2:30 pm: Rev. Al Sharpton signs his "Al on America" book at Joseph-Beth's Book Store, Cincinnati, Ohio—3:00 pm: Gov. Dean meets with Madison County residents, Winterset, Iowa —4:00 pm: Sen. John Edwards speaks at the Commonwealth Club of California, San Francisco, Calif.—4:00 pm: Rep. Gephardt appears on MSNBC's "Lester Holt Live"—4:00 pm: Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun speaks at the National League of Cities, Nashville, Tenn.—4:45 pm: Gov. Dean meets with Warren County residents, Indianola, Iowa—5:15 pm: Rev. Sharpton speaks to the press at St. Stephen AME Church, Cincinnati, Ohio—6:10 pm: Gen. Wesley Clark speaks about his health care plan, Knoxville, Tenn.—6:30 pm: Vice President Cheney speaks at a Bush-Cheney '04 fundraiser at the Clarion Hotel, Jackson, Miss.—7:15 pm: Gov. Dean meets with Dallas County residents at a Commit for Change Rally, Perry, Iowa—7:30 pm: Gov. Dean meets with community members at a gathering hosted by Men of Vision, Des Moines, Iowa—7:30 pm: Rev. Sharpton speaks at an Our Voice! Our Choice! Presidential kick-off rally at St. Stephen AME Church, Cincinnati, Ohio—9:00 pm: Gov. Dean attends the Annual Iowa Democratic Holiday Party at Studio 55, Des Moines, Iowa
NEWS SUMMARY
As we drift into Holidayville, things are politically quiet out there today — maybe too quiet.
All you need to know about the Dean Alternative issue today you can find, here's:
A. Jill Lawrence's USA Today piece that nicely makes the case: Dean's success has been built on some old-fashioned basics of politics — not just high techia. LINK
B. The Boston Globe 's Michael Kranish continues the unpacking of the Globe's oppo work, with a story about Howard Dean, special Bermuda-style tax breaks for big business, and Enron. LINK
This story will cleave the communication strategists in the offices of Kerry, Lieberman, Edwards, Clark, and Gephardt into two distinct groups.
On the one hand, you'll have those who think that THIS time there will be a silver bullet that will open the eyes of the voters and the still-too-dormant press to the notion that Howard Dean is Mr.-Say-One-Thing-But-Do-Another.
The other group is comprised of those who will feign enthusiasm at the senior staff and communications meetings this morning, but in their hearts and inner voices they will be thinking that they have seen this movie before, and, so far, it always has the same ending.
In Burlington, they will laugh all the way into the weekend and say: the media is too undisciplined to stay with any of these anti-Dean stories for too long, and this one makes him seem pro-business anyway — a great general election pivot message!!!
C. Michael Kinsley makes Howard Dean's case better than Dean does about the political and intellectual trouble of those candidates who voted for the Iraq resolution but are now critics of the war. Said candidates won't like how Kinsley lets Dean skate on his own inconsistency. (See (B) above.) LINK
D. Could it be a Joecemeber to Remember as the Lieberman forces get energized by losing the Gore endorsement? What IS Al Gore's fav/unfav with New Hampshire independents?
E. John Kerry goes after Dean on national security with the Boston Globe (whose ed board is in the midst of hosting all the Dems), and David Lightman surveys the "can Dean beat Bush?" question. LINK
While it's hard to break through on December weekends, keep your eyes on John Edwards in the next 72 hours, what with his Sunday appearance on "60 Minutes" and today's intriguing speech.
Senator Edwards will speak at the California Commonwealth Club today to give a speech in "Defense of Optimism."
Look for the trained lawyer to build on the case he made at the Iowa J-J dinner where he argued that Democrats won't win in '04 if all they offer voters is a "message of anger."
Now.
The last thing any serious journalist wants is to become part of the story — we want to objectively cover the news, not be a character in the drama.
In the last few days, many of you who are supportive of the candidacy of Rep. Dennis Kucinich have been given some false and highly misleading information about ABC News.
This is an important topic and ABC News takes it very seriously.
Before we let you know what facts some of you are missing, let us tell you a bit about our view of some key aspects of the Kucinich candidacy.
Rep. Kucinich has succeeded in raising decent amounts of money in small contributions and building grass-roots support in no small part because he has consistently espoused a message that is distinct from the rest of the field and has appeal to many Americans who feel the Democratic Party and the leading candidates don't speak to their aspirations for the nation and the world.
Kucinich's views on foreign policy, defense spending, corporate influence, trade, the politics of meaning, and social welfare are all quite similar to those of his friend Ralph Nader.
These views resonate with many Americans, which was made evident by Nader's success in 2000, and has been confirmed by the following that Kucinich has built this year.
It is an important and distinctive message, but is not likely to capture the Democratic nomination.
However, it does attract a committed and intense following, and it is the responsibility of all major news organizations to report on the substance of that message and the reasons it has appeal for millions of Americans, and to strike a balance in coverage that doesn't inhibit the ability of such messages to find an audience.
To that end, and contrary to the impression some of you have, ABC News has demonstrated its commitment to all the major candidates running for the Democratic nomination by devoting more resources to covering the Kucinich, Moseley Braun, and Sharpton campaigns than any other news organization in the world.
That's right and unambiguous: ABC News has spent more time on the trail with the Kucinich campaign than any other news organization. If you don't believe us, please ask the Congressman himself at the next event you attend which reporter has covered him the most this year.
Or ask David Bauder of the Associated Press or Mark Jurkowitz of the Boston Globe how many days their news organizations have assigned reporters to cover Dennis Kucinich during the entire campaign.
Again: Contrary to the impression many of you have, ABC News has devoted more time and expense covering the Kucinich campaign than has any other news organization.
Contrary to what some of you have been led to believe, we continue to have a reporter assigned to cover the Congressman, covering his major events and staying in touch by phone and e-mail, the way other news organizations do on many stories.
Melinda Arons of ABC News has covered the campaign since September and is one of just two reporters — print or broadcast — to have been assigned to cover the campaign exclusively.
Only Arons, though, has been traveling with Kucinich everywhere as he makes his case for his candidacy.
She has written daily about a candidate who rarely receives press coverage in any newspaper; she has logged more hours of Kucinich footage than anybody else; she is one of the very few to have produced a video package dedicated solely to Kucinich; she is one of the few to have written and voiced a long radio package detailing a day in the life of the Kucinich campaign.
In short, Melinda Arons has probably covered Dennis Kucinich in person more than all other reporters combined during this campaign.
In fact, in her writing and broadcast work about Kucinich, Arons, has covered just about every issue in his platform.
To name just a few:
*His fervent opposition to the Iraq war, his insistence on bringing the troops home immediately, his 3-point plan to get U.S. troops out of Iraq that includes handing over all oil contracts to the UN, relinquishing any say over privatization, and handing over the cause of governance to the UN.
*His plan to provide universal single payer health care, for which he's introduced legislation as embodied in HR 676.
*His plan to cancel NAFTA and the WTO and his reasons for wanting to do so.
*His plan to universal pre-kindergarten for ages 3, 4, and 5, paid for by a 15 percent cut in the what he calls "the Pentagon's bloated budget."
*His plan to provide free public college tuition, paid for with the money gained by repealing the Bush tax cuts for the top bracket.
*His introduction of legislation to repeal the Patriot Act.
*His plans to rejoin the world community by signing the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty, the Land Mine Treaty, the Small Arms Treaty, to sign the Kyoto climate treaty, to join the International Criminal Court, etc.
*His being one of the few candidates to fully support gay marriage, not just civil unions.
*His change of heart on abortion.
*His plan to create a WPA-type program to ensure a full-employment economy.
In addition, Arons has captured the major themes of Kucinich's campaign and how they make him unique among he candidates, including:
*His "holistic" world view which envisions "the world as one, with everything interconnected and interdependent."
*His desire to rejoin America with the world community and build up the UN's standing.
*His insistence that he can win against President Bush because he provides the strongest contrast to him and will therefore entice Greens and other third-party or independent voters.
Some of you might have heard by now that ABC News this week decided to change the way we are deploying our limited resources by having our reporters covering Dennis Kucinich, Al Sharpton, and Carol Moseley Braun not travel full time, every day with those candidates.
The reporters are still assigned to report multiple times each day by phone and e-mail on these campaigns, meaning that ABC News continues to cover these three candidacies more closely than all but perhaps one other news organization.
This decision was made early this week, unrelated to any other events, and is, frankly, a routine coverage decision.
If there is criticism to be made regarding news organizations failure to devote resources to taking the Kucinich candidacy seriously, we believe ABC News should be last in line for that, not first.
In September, ABC News sent out nine campaign reporters equipped with DV cameras to cover each of the Democratic presidential candidates.
Our campaign reporters (known as "off-airs" internally) are as intimately involved in covering the campaigns as anybody out there.
They travel with the candidate and their staffs everywhere the campaign goes; they know everybody on the campaign and speak to staff members who don't travel with the candidates; they are often the only broadcast reporters documenting the candidates.
And they constantly assist ABC's news division, from filing reports on ABC News' Radio network to helping the writers, producers, and correspondents of World News Tonight and other programs.
They also, as you well know, contribute daily to this publication, giving candidates like Kucinich extensive daily coverage well beyond what has received from any other news organization, including his hometown paper.
ABC News has a principled and demonstrated commitment to make sure many political voices are heard in our democracy, and our ongoing commitment to covering the Kucinich campaign reflects that.
But like our competitors, we have very finite resources that we can spend on covering America's great democracy.
And that means we have to make choices all the time.
We don't want to play any role in deciding who the Democratic Party will nominate. But based on the totality of our reporting, we believe it is necessary to make certain the candidates who are more likely to win the nomination and therefore the White House get covered as well in a way that will help voters make their decisions.
So for you Kucinich supporters who say we have "stooped to new lows," that our coverage has been "biased, misleading, inaccurate, and just plain crap," that we have "marginalized," "dismissed," and abandoned the three candidates — we agree that we have a responsibility to strive to let all voices be heard, and we take that seriously, but we hope you have a different perspective now that you have the facts.
Today, St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., hosts the 2003 American Democracy Conference sponsored by the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, and The Hotline.
The one-day powerhouse shindig includes panels on national media coverage of New Hampshire, polling in New Hampshire, and even a live session of Dr. Sabato reading from his "Crystal Ball." [No flash photography please.]
If you're not already there, then you probably won't be. But fear not, all the fun and excitement is available live on C-SPAN and C-SPAN 2, where you'll see the likes of John DiStaso, Carl Cameron, Susan Page, Chuck Todd, and many more! (LINK)
Oh Brian Lamb, how thou art loved and cherished by all ye who know thy name.
President Bush will name a new Secretary of Housing and Urban Development this afternoon at the White House. He is quiet tomorrow and attends the Christmas in Washington celebration on Sunday evening. Maybe he'll watch C-SPAN!!
Vice President Cheney is in Kansas City and Jackson, Miss. today.
Gov. Dean campaigns in Iowa today. He leads a rally in Atlanta and attends a fundraiser in Miami tomorrow, and campaigns in San Francisco on Sunday.
Senator Kerry is quiet today. He discusses healthcare in Iowa over the weekend.
Rep. Gephardt appears on ESPN 2's "Cold Pizza" this morning and MSNBC's "Lester Holt Live" this afternoon. He campaigns in South Carolina over the weekend.
Senator Lieberman has no public events today or over the weekend.
Gen. Clark speaks about health care in Tennessee today and travels to The Hague to testify in the trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic tomorrow.
Senator Edwards speaks to the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco today. He campaigns in Southern California tomorrow and in Illinois on Sunday.
Rep. Kucinich has no public events today. He campaigns in Iowa over the weekend.
Rev. Sharpton speaks to the press and leads a rally in Cincinnati today. He campaigns in Detroit tomorrow.
Ambassador Moseley Braun speaks at the National League of Cities meeting in Tennessee today. She has no public events over the weekend.
Campaign finance:
The Wall Street Journal 's Cummings and Angwin write, "Though the Supreme Court this week upheld sweeping new campaign-finance restrictions, wealthy individuals and deep-pocketed corporations and unions have plenty of options for using their money to influence elections and curry favor with politicians."
Al Hunt has a very smart (no surprise) piece on the Internet factor in all of this fundraising and spending business, and of course he mentions you-know-who.
E.J. Dionne writes that money talks, and the Court listens. LINK
George Washington University Prof. Spencer Overton has an op-ed in the Boston Globe where he says that the next step is to "empower average Americans by increasing the importance of the smaller contributor."LINK
According to the AP, sponsors of a campaign finance law that survived a court fight now have a new goal: eliminating the Federal Election Commission. LINK
The land of 5-plus-2-equals-7:
The New York Times ' Glen Justice smartly reports on the mushrooming world of the 527s, mentioning some of the Note's absolutely favorite people, including: Craig Shirley, Susie Ballantyne (whose name is misspelled!) and Steve Rosenthal (again!) LINK
Keep an eye on that Ney committee, folks.
One Michael Lux is featured in graph two of Jeanne Cummings and Julia Angwin's Wall Street Journal piece, which Notes "a handful of left-leaning groups have announced plans to raise $200 million or more to finance voter registration and mobilization efforts and broadcast advertisements. Republicans have been slower to form such groups, but 'it's absurd to think that conservatives are going to sit on the sidelines,' says one influential Republican attorney."
And back to the group from the left responsible for the ads highlighting Howard Dean's NRA-friendly record, Americans for Jobs, Healthcare & Progressive Values.
We've been trying and trying to spark interest in the idea of figuring out just who, exactly, these wily would-be Wyly Brothers are …
ABC News' Gayle Tzemach reports the idea for the group developed over last summer and into early fall, with the initial idea of highlighting issues such as jobs and health care, as the group's current name suggests, as well as trade, on which Dean and his competitors had policy differences. Fundraising progressed apace, with leaders of several major unions friendly to Rep. Dick Gephardt interested in the idea.
One union leader, who asked his name not be used, said he was approached by the group's treasurer, David Jones, a longtime Gephardt aide, and backed the 527 idea — until he learned that the group's first ad was going to focus on guns.
"We said if this was the direction they were going to go in, we couldn't justify" being part of it, said this source.
As for the group, Tzemach reports they switched ad traffic last night and went up last evening with a new spot targeting Dean's record on trade, Medicare, and the NRA. The ad is running in Iowa, and the buy is said to be in the $200,000-plus range. LINK
Script:
Announcer: Just the facts. Howard Dean backed the Republican plan in Congress to cut Medicare by over 250 billion dollars. Howard Dean and George Bush stood together and supported the unfair NAFTA trade agreement. And in Vermont, Howard Dean was endorsed eight times by the National Rifle Association — the NRA even gave Dean an "A" rating — an A! So, if you thought Howard Dean had a progressive record … check the facts … and please think again.
We can imagine how happy this one is going to make Mr. Trippi and Ms. Glanz.
ABC News Vote 2004: Bush-Cheney re-elect:
President Bush finished his 2003 fundraising with a bang yesterday, bringing in $1 million at a lunch event in McLean, Va., and raising the BC04 total to at least $110 million so far.
This sizable campaign war chest "dwarfs the entire Democratic field — and Bush's own record from 2000," AP's Loven reports. This figure is also a low-end estimate because it does not include money raised through the Internet or mail, which will not be reported until the end of year. LINK
President Bush's reelection campaign has brought in loads of cash even though the president intends on refraining from "campaigning" until next summer.
Make sure you Note DeFrank's reporting on Vice President Cheney possibly becoming politically visible sooner rather than later. LINK
Following the New York Daily News, New York Times , and the Washington Post , Ed Chen and Maura Reynolds of the Los Angeles Times decided they too should write up the Bush-Cheney '04 interest in a Bush v. Dean match-up. LINK
The Washington Times looks at how the Bush-Cheney campaign will keep the president out of the Democratic muck early in the election year and use the RNC as a guard dog and an attack dog.
"'No sense having President Bush dive into a cesspool that has most recently been clouded by the f-word,' said the Bush source."LINK
The Wall Street Journal 's Hitt and McKinnon report that the White House is looking for ways to show it can control the federal deficit and cut spending in order to "dispel criticism from conservatives about escalating government and from Democratic presidential contenders about the widening deficit" in the election year.
The Boston Globe 's Glain looks at the connection between a rising stock market and President Bush's re-election chances and reports that a growing share prices and employment figures could produce a recovery windfall heading into the election. LINK
ABC News Vote 2004: The Invisible Primary:
The Washington Post 's Michael Kinsley has a wonderfully written lead for his piece examining Iraq as an issue in the field: "The only presidential candidate with a truly coherent position on President Bush's Iraq policy is President Bush. He supported it before the war started, he supports it now and he thinks or pretends to think it's working well." LINK
Walter Shapiro writes about the importance of undecided voters, but Notes that "time is running out to change the dynamics of the primary contest." LINK
The Wall Street Journal 's Jackie Calmes has several interesting things in Washington Wire today, and confirms the mad scramble for high-powered endorsements along the lines of a certain former Vice President.
And some movement in National Journal's Democratic Insiders Poll. Edwards is climbing this week, and Kerry dropping.
Dean:
The electability question in regards to Howard Dean looms large in the Hartford Courant today. While party leaders (understandably) will not go on the record criticizing the obvious Democratic front-runner, the buzz is loud enough that we cannot ignore it.
"Party faithful are coming to accept the idea of Dean as the nominee; many unaligned analysts and representatives of Democratic-leaning groups don't want to criticize him on the record."
"But the concerns that he'll be a tough sell persist, and center on the perception that he's too liberal and lacks the stature to take on a sitting president."
"Dean, the argument goes, would take the party back to a time it would rather forget, when it was too often viewed as the voice of the left."LINK
Deborah Orin writes up the latest ARG poll showing President Bush trouncing Howard Dean in New Hampshire in a hypothetical general election match-up. LINK
USA Today 's Jill Lawrence thinks Dean's campaign is like no other. LINK
The Miami Herald 's Wallsten describes the "complications" Howard Dean's Middle East policies are creating with Jewish voters. LINK
The Boston Globe 's Michael Kranish looks at an interesting aspect of Vermont's tax structure during Gov. Dean's tenure. LINK
The Washington Post 's Jonathan Finer gives a little historical play-by-play on the sealing of those gubernatorial records. LINK
The Boston Globe 's Scot Lehigh doesn't use the word Teflon, but he might as well. LINK
Charles Krauthammer thinks that the "story of this campaign is the energy and anger of the Democratic base." LINK
The New Republic's Ryan Lizza writes about the Gore endorsement. Per Lizza, "Gore is doing what Nixon shrewdly did in 1964 when he backed Goldwater while all the establishment Republicans sat on the sidelines. Goldwater's troops remembered that in 1968." LINK
Karenna Gore-Schiff, via Lloyd Grove, defends her father's endorsement behavior and says, "I was with him that night as he was trying to get Lieberman on the phone the whole night. He was calling literally every few minutes. He definitely called many times, and he was told that there was a Lieberman event and the senator wasn't with a staff person, and he couldn't get him on the phone." LINK
Roll Call 's Kondracke looks at Al Gore's announcement this week on remaking the Democratic Party and sees it as another sign of the former VP's moving further to the left.: "Judging by where Gore has been and where he's heading, 'remaking' the party means tearing it away from the winning formula established by his old mentor, former President Bill Clinton."
From ABC News' Dean campaign reporter Reena Singh:
After a day with his family in Vermont, Gov. Dean takes off in a Gulf Stream headed for the Midwestern states of Nebraska and Iowa.
Saturday, Dean Air heads south to Georgia for a scheduled meeting with African-American leaders, where he will receive the endorsement of local Atlanta officials. Also under the endorsement category in a yet-to-be-determined location, ABC News has learned the former Vermont Governor will get the official nod from Rep. Elijah Cummings, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Read more from the trail with Dean on abcnews.com:LINK
Gephardt:
U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn touts Democratic presidential candidate Dick Gephardt in a new television commercial to air in South Carolina this week, The State reports. LINK
From ABC News' Gephardt campaign reporter Sally Hawkins:
Endorsements from six South Carolina politicians brought good news for the Gephardt campaign on the eve of his trip to the Palmetto State, where he will make the rounds to several local colleges and black churches on a statewide bus tour this weekend. Gephardt will be joined by Rep. Jim Clyburn as well as Rep. James Spratt, who endorsed him earlier this year.
Clyburn hits the South Carolina airwaves Friday, debuting in a new Gephardt ad entitled "Carolina" that focuses on jobs and trade.
The ad, which will run statewide, was shot last weekend, when Gephardt's media strategist paid a visit to South Carolina prior to the formal endorsement announcement. Clyburn also talked up Gephardt's candidacy on CNN's Inside Politics Thursday, where he said, "I think Gephardt has a real good chance here in South Carolina."
Read more from the trail with Gephardt on abcnews.com:LINK
Kerry:
The New York Times ' David Halbfinger reports on Kerry's promises to crack down on crime in corporate offices. LINK
The Boston Globe 's Pat Healy reports on Kerry calling Dean's foreign policy portfolio weak. LINK
The Globe's Glen Johnson reports on Kerry's ongoing collection of endorsements. LINK
From ABC News' Kerry campaign reporter Ed O'Keefe:
Somewhere amidst the chaos of a presidential campaign, the holiday season, and turning 60, it seems Senator Kerry forgot to invite his favorite group — the press — to the his birthday (and fundraiser) bash in Beantown. Alas, such a move forces shunned reporters to dig, work sources, and, inevitably, turn to one never failing source: the stars.
Eugenia Last, an astrologist whose forecasts appear in one of the Senator's hometown papers, the Boston Globe , wrote of a 12/11 Sagittarius such as Kerry, "This will be a year of accomplishment if you focus totally on getting ahead. Take charge and delegate work. Be sure to have a well laid-out plan. Nothing is impossible, but everything will depend on how you handle each project you undertake."
Unfortunately, Kerry's ascribed lucky numbers — 4, 13, 22, 31, 40, 48 — match the dates of only four primary contests.
Despite promises not to tell (or publish) what Teresa Heinz Kerry would give her husband for his birthday, Heinz Kerry adamantly withheld the secret, only saying, "It's something he wants but doesn't know he's going to get."
An unnamed, smart-alecky ABC reporter responded, "The White House?" To which, the African Lion shot back, "No, no, no."
Undeterred, we turned to sources deep within the walls of the chortle-and-Sam Adams filled Copley Plaza to report that in Heinz Kerry's introduction of her husband she joked, "Earlier today, I gave John the perfect gift. We wheeled in a cake and three uncommitted Iowa caucus members jumped out."
When asked what he actually wanted for this significant occasion, the candidate himself at first demurred, then replied, "Thirty more years." Kerry then reflected for a moment and Noted, "It's been a long journey."
Read more from the trail with Kerry on abcnews.com: LINK
Clark:
Adam Nagourney and Ed Wyatt Note the influence The General's military tradition has on his campaign.LINK
The New York Post 's Stefan Friedman sees yesterday's official Rangel endorsement as an attempt by Wes Clark "to trump Al Gore's endorsement of Howard Dean in Harlem … " LINK
Michael Blood heard some Gore mocking too. LINK
The General is taking a break from the trail to fly to the Netherlands Saturday and testify in the U.N. war crimes trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, the AP reports. LINK
Read more from the trail with Clark on abcnews.com:LINK
Edwards:
The AP Notes that Senator John Edwards has named his campaign chairman in New Hampshire, Senator Lou D'Allesandro. LINK
From ABC News' Edwards campaign reporter Gloria Riviera:
So what exactly is the scenario at the moment on the Edwards campaign?
This is what we know now: "Body Man" Hunter Pruette is thousands of miles away from the boss, having leaped ahead to San Francisco. Edwards dropped off his own campaign for a rare night home with Emma Claire and Jack, after having wooed Big Apple donors at venues crisscrossing the social sphere from Staten Island to the swank city club GO (where for $100 dollars you too could have met John Edwards).
And now? As JRE (as he is referred to on the campaign internally) catches up to Hunter, he is preparing to deliver a speech at the Commonwealth Club at 1:00 pm ET today.
It's always a sign something is up when Edwards kicks off his day with a speech. And there have been hints this one may deliver Edwards in not a new light, but perhaps an alternative light to refresh everyone's minds about why he's running and what he offers that the rest of the field doesn't.
Read more from the trail with Edwards on abcnews.com: LINK
Lieberman:
USA Today 's Andrea Stone follows up on the Gore fallout for his former veep peep. LINK
The AP's Holly Ramer writes of Senator Joe Lieberman's re-energized campaign following THE endorsement. Speaking at a campaign stop in Manchester, Lieberman reminded the audience of one thing: "Don't ever make a candidate mad — he gets determined."LINK
The New York Times ' Diane Cardwell calls it a plan to capitalize on sympathy, "working overtime to turn a high point for the Dean campaign into a boon for its own." LINK
The AP reports that, with their candidate lagging in the polls, it is a tough time for centrist Democrats. LINK
From ABC News' Lieberman campaign reporter Talesha Reynolds:
Aaron Houston has been looking for months for a clear position from Lieberman on the prosecution of users of medicinal marijuana. Houston, campaign coordinator for Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana, has dogged Lieberman at his public events and on call-in radio and television shows in an effort to get the senator on record.
Every time Houston or one of his surrogates, planted in audiences at Lieberman town halls, asked the question, Lieberman gave the same response. Lieberman repeatedly said that DEA raids on sick people using marijuana to relieve pain was something he just didn't know enough about and he was having his staff look into it.
On Dec. 3, Houston issues a release blasting Lieberman for stalling on this issue. Then days later, he issued an ultimatum for all the Democratic candidates. They had to denounce the raids by Jan. 1 or receive a failing grade in GSMM's voter guide.
At the taping of Lieberman's town hall in Manchester today, Linda Macia asked Lieberman about the issue and he was ready with an answer. Lieberman said that while he opposes the legalization of marijuana, he would support the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes by patients for whom other methods of pain relief have not worked provided there is doctor supervision. As for the raids, "cracking down on sick people … would not be a priority" for Lieberman.
Houston, who watched the taping with members of the press in another room, was pleased. "He's really come full circle around back to a dialogue with us," he said and called Lieberman's statement "a start."
Read more from the trail with Lieberman on abcnews.com:LINK
Kucinich:
The AP profiles Ohio's comeback kid. LINK
The New York Times ' Sheryl Gay Stolberg on a candidate who captured "a vote, if not a heart." LINK
Read more from the trail with Kucinich on abcnews.com:LINK
Sharpton:
John Wildermuth of the San Francisco Chronicle heard Al Sharpton preaching to the choir at the Commonwealth Club. LINK
The New York Times details Sharpton's lack of support among New York politicians and the threats he is making to those abandoning him.
"Many Democrats say Mr. Sharpton has himself to blame for his lukewarm reception among black elected officials in the city. These Democrats point out that he has been too preoccupied with cultivating a national audience to tend to his political base, where a political free-for-all has ensued over the presidential primaries." LINK
A Town Hall editorial BASHES Saturday Night Live for inviting Sharpton to host, Noting his controversial past.
"The problem isn't that Sharpton is comfortable with himself, although he shouldn't be. The problem is that so many others who claim to revere racial harmony, rhetorical civility and the truth are comfortable with Sharpton. Swap races, and imagine a white activist making a career out of falsely accusing blacks of rapes, leading marches that caused mentally unstable whites to kill in fits of rage. Does that reversed composite sound like great hosting material for "Saturday Night Live"? Who next, Lorne Michaels? Abortion clinic bomber Eric Rudolph? I bet he's "comfortable with himself," too." LINK
The Cincinnati Post looks ahead to Sharpton's visit today. LINK
From ABC News' Sharpton campaign reporter Beth Loyd:
Rev. Sharpton made his first swing along the West coast today, campaigning in San Francisco and East Oakland with Rep. Barbara Lee and doing lunch with golf course designer Robert Trent Jones.
Back in the trenches, campaign manager Charles Halloran explained Sharpton's discomfort with the location of Al Gore's endorsement of Howard Dean on permanent Sharpton stomping ground. Halloran told ABC News that Sharpton believes choosing Harlem as the venue was "a slap in the face." The Reverend was not amused. A number of New York talk radio stations asked the question, "What? Does Sharpton own Harlem?"
Read more from the trail with Sharpton on abcnews.com: LINK
Moseley Braun:
The Washington Post 's Helen Dewar brings back to life the days Carol Moseley Braun spent in the Senate, particularly her fight against the renewal of a patent for the insignia of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. LINK
The AP's J.M. Hirsch writes on Carol Moseley Braun's well-received reference to "South Park."LINK
Read more from the trail with Moseley Braun on abcnews.com:LINK
Iowa:
Iowan Nicholas Johnson writes about Iowans and the Iowa caucuses and how they shape Iowa's role in determining a president for Iowa (and the rest of the country). LINK
Democratic National Convention:
The Boston Globe 's Joanna Weiss reports on hotel room assignments for delegates. Note: no cruise ships. LINK
The politics of national security:
Two stories lead the politics of national security today, and neither offers the kind of headlines the White House likes to see. (Meanwhile from the Washington Post 's expert Mr. Milbank: "Stars and Stripes is blowing the whistle on President Bush's Thanksgiving visit to Baghdad, saying the cheering soldiers who met him were pre-screened and others showing up for a turkey dinner were turned away." LINK
Back to the two biggies:
1) Leads the New York Times , "A Pentagon investigation has found evidence that a subsidiary of the politically connected Halliburton Company overcharged the government by as much as $61 million for fuel delivered to Iraq under huge no-bid reconstruction contracts, senior military officials said Thursday." LINK
The Washington Post Notes this is the first time "the Pentagon has said it believes that major contracts" for war and reconstruction have been mishandled." LINK
The Wall Street Journal writes, "the larger audit is sure to become politically explosive because of Halliburton's past ties to Mr. Cheney and allegations by the administration's critics that the company won its lucrative contracts in Iraq through political favoritism. KBR's (Kellogg Brown & Root ) contracts in Iraq are currently valued at $5 billion."
Salon on the Waxman Connection. LINK
2) The contracting story continues, with Administration types acknowledging "Mr. Bush's position had enraged the very nations the administration was now seeking help from" and that James Baker now faces "a more chaotic situation than he had expected." LINK
Note the former Secretary of both Treasury and State will "not have a press secretary, reporters will not travel with him, and he is not expected to hold news conferences overseas" because he doesn't want to overshadow Secretary of State Powell. The blind quotes in the New York Times , however, do just that.
The Washington Post writes that "even as Bush took a hard line in public, there were signs that he was working privately to calm the furor," Noting that Hill Republicans "kept their distance from the contracts policy." LINK
USA Today reports that some members of Congress want more troops, not necessarily to be deployed. LINK
Lots of opinions on the situation:
The Gray Lady's ed board says Baker is a "supremely qualified choice" to be the president's Debt Envoy, but argues he must "sever his ties to all firms doing work directly or indirectly related to Iraq." LINK
The Washington Post 's ed board writes the policy "reverses at a stroke months of patient efforts" by the administration "to overcome the divisions its Iraq policy created" and says "the real price will be paid by Iraqis and the American soldiers and civilians trying to help them." LINK
The Wall Street Journal 's ed board says that "beyond the issue of possible bad timing, the Bush Administration is right on target in principle," but does Note that "a friendly gesture to Iraq, either in debt forgiveness or the provision of troops, might elicit a friendly gesture from the U.S."
Paul Krugman says he thinks the "administration's hard-liners are deliberately sabotaging reconciliation." LINK
And Ambassador Bremer says U.S. commanders are making progress but do fear "loyalists of the old government and Islamic militants could increase attacks on Americans and Iraqi officials in the period leading up to independence." LINK
Note his call for "televised debates," "town hall meetings," and "focus group meetings" for the people of Iraq.
The economy:
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 10,000 Thursday for the first time since May 24, 2002, ABC News' Ramona Schindelheim reports, driven by new retail numbers showing spending up on cars, clothes and dining out in November. The Dow hit the magic number shortly after the minutes from the Federal Reserve's October meeting became public, indicating that interest rates would stay low in the near future.
Overall, Schindelheim reports, the Dow is up 37 percent from the October 2002 low, and will need to gain another 17 percent to match the all-time highs of January 2000. The NASDAQ 100 is up 74 percent from the October 2002 low of 1114.11, and the S&P 500 is up 38% from the October 2002 low of 776.76.
Also worth Noting, Schindelheim reports, is that the markets headed up after the October 2002 lows and dipped in mid-March, just before the war with Iraq. On March 12, they began climbing again, once it was clear that the U.S. would go to war with Iraq.
The Wall Street Journal 's E.S. Browning has more analysis on yesterday's market activity.
Browning's colleague Michael Schroeder writes that retail sales were more brisk than anticipated in November, helping to boost the economic recovery and not fading after the initial impact of low mortgage rates and tax cuts. Car sales were up most dramatically, rising 2.6 percent — the biggest jump in eight months.
Meanwhile, Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan said that even if China let the yuan rise against the dollar, it wouldn't bring back American jobs, reports the Wall Street Journal 's Greg Ip. China is under pressure by Congress and the White House to let its currency float rather than be pegged to the dollar, which gives it an advantage in the U.S. market.
Under the surface of the economic recovery, problems are brewing, writes Brian Wesbury in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. Scratch the top layer and find big government spending, business regulation and trade protectionism, not to mention threats of inflation.
Big Casino budget politics: Medicare
About a dozen states said Thursday they are exploring ways to buy cheap prescription drugs from Canada and make them widely available to Americans, even though importing the medicines is illegal. LINK
The Clintons of Chappaqua:
Democratic money machine Hillary Rodham Clinton will headline a DNC fundraiser in Miami next week. LINK
Re-map flap:
The Washington Post 's Lee Hockstader reports on the battle moving into court in Austin. LINK
So does the AP. LINK
Politics:In California, the assembly OK'd a budget reform plan largely crafted by Gov. Schwarzenegger and Democratic lawmakers. LINK
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's getting more attention after a $2 million fundraiser, Bloomberg's Matthew Cox reports. LINK
Some possible contenders to replace Rep. William Janklow: former Rep. John Thune LINK; and Libertarian Terry Begay LINK
Among others scheduled to speak at the services for Simon, who died Tuesday, are former President Bill Clinton, Democratic Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy, former Wyoming Republican Senator Alan Simpson, and Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, who took Simon's seat when the liberal icon retired in 1997. LINK
Coupling:
Venerable bachelor John Warner is getting married, again, reports ABC News' Ann Compton. Monday at the National Cathedral. The Virginia Republican Senator introduced his fiancée to President Bush at the White House and Vice President Cheney at his residence during holiday parties this week. Warner also broke the news to Elizabeth Taylor, who was his bride when he was first elected to the Senate.
Warner says when he introduced Jeanne Vandermyde to President Bush at a White House Christmas party, the president insisted on getting an invitation to Monday's ceremony at the National Cathedral. "I won't come," said the president who never attends such events, "but I'll send a nice gift."