Friday’s political round-up

December 7, 2007

Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers:

* A new national AP/Ipsos poll reinforces other recent data showing Mike Huckabee on the upswing, and Fred Thompson moving in the other direction. The new poll shows Rudy Giuliani continuing to lead the field with 26% support, followed by Huckabee at 18%, up from 10% a month ago. John McCain is third with 13%, followed by Mitt Romney at 12%, and Thompson fifth with 11%.

* The same AP/Ipsos poll shows minimal movement in the Democratic race — Hillary Clinton is still out in front with 45%, followed by Barack Obama at 23%, and John Edwards with 12%.

* It appears the California GOP’s scheme to split the state’s electoral votes is faltering. “California Counts,” the right-wing outfit financed by Republican fat-cats, conceded yesterday that the group’s campaign will not have the necessary signatures to put the question on the June ballot. “Due to the tight calendar we are operating under and the challenge of raising money and gathering signatures during the Holiday season,” the group said in a statement, “we understand that submitting signatures and having them counted in time to make the June ballot, is no longer a realistic goal.” “California Counts” will, however, aim to bring the issue to the November ballot.

* NYT: “Gains made by Republicans among Hispanic voters in the presidential elections of 2000 and 2004 have been erased over the past year, with Hispanics returning to earlier levels of strong preference for the Democratic Party, a survey released yesterday by the Pew Hispanic Center in Washington shows…. According to the survey, 57 percent of registered Hispanic voters now say they are Democrats or favor the Democratic Party, while 23 percent say they align with the Republicans, yielding a gap of 34 percentage points between the parties. As recently as July 2006, that gap was down to 21 points, as Latino support for the Democrats dipped to 49 percent.”

* Fred Thompson may be struggling on the campaign trail, but he’s not going down quietly. In a new direct-mail piece, the former senator goes after Huckabee on taxes, and makes the ultimate Republican insult — he compares Huckabee to Bill Clinton.

* Remember the hilarious Giuliani ad parody that was everywhere last weekend? The very clever and creative guy behind the spot has two new ones. The first seeks to explain why Giuliani is such a hit with the ladies, and the second questions why Obama refuses to endorse Hillary Clinton. Take a look; they’re both very funny.

* Some of Clinton’s union support is paying dividends in Iowa, where the American Federation of Teachers has launched radio ads on the senator’s behalf. The 60-second radio ad features the voices of four women talking about their concerns for their children’s futures. “Education is the key to everything,” says one. “I’m supporting Hillary,” says another. “She really knows what’s going on,” says a third. “When she walks in, she’s gonna know what a president has to do.”

* The WaPo has some less encouraging news for the Clinton campaign: “Once, Garry Thomas counted himself a Hillary Clinton supporter — even signing up to be one of her 25 co-chairs in Iowa alongside with former Iowa First Lady Christie Vilsack. But Thomas now says he felt obliged to switch sides in recent weeks. “I think the Clinton campaign went negative,” Thomas said in a telephone interview on Thursday. He attributed his defection to the new tone Clinton took last weekend, describing it as divisive. Obama officials said Thomas committed to them this week.”

* Bill Richardson is asking New Mexico state workers for quite a sacrifice — he wants them to travel over the holidays to chilly Iowa to campaign for the governor. Those who agree will have to use their vacation days and pay their own way. The NYT reports, “It is unclear how many will go.”

* And finally, CBS News asked the candidates, “What is the biggest mistake you’ve ever made?” It drew some interesting responses, all of which are online.

A new national AP/Ipsos poll reinforces other recent data showing Mike Huckabee on the upswing, and Fred Thompson moving in the other direction. The new poll shows Rudy Giuliani continuing to lead the field with 26% support, followed by Huckabee at 18%, up from 10% a month ago. John McCain is third with 13%, followed by Mitt Romney at 12%, and Thompson fifth with 11%.

It’s cute how they write Ron Paul out of the story because he received below 10% (apparently) from landliners. I believe his number has grown to 8% nationally.

But after briefly searching I gave up trying to ascertain the exact AP/ipsos poll results. You’d think they’d link to the poll’s detailed report from the AP story sending up The Huckle-buck as the Corporate Military Industrial Media’s chosen one.

And there goes those Paulaholics, getting ready to launch a goddamn Ron Paul blimp for a month (at least) on the east coast.

But the analogy of 1984 doesn’t apply to polling methodologies here in Orwellville.

Landline-only telephone polls are serving the Corporate Military Industrial Media quite well. Who needs cell phones? Didn’t ya hear? Everybody’s switching back to landline only!

  • One essential detail from the CA story you left out- it’s likely even if the measure goes on the November ballot that;

    Gilliard said proponents were holding out hope that the measure could appear on the November ballot with the presidential contest. But he said that was a dicey scenario: Even if it is on that ballot and wins voter approval, it might not affect the 2008 election.

    The initiative might not kick in until 2012, Gilliard said — adding that courts likely would decide the matter.

  • “Due to the tight calendar we are operating under and the challenge of raising money and gathering signatures during the Holiday season,” the group said in a statement, “we understand that submitting signatures and having them counted in time to make the June ballot, is no longer a realistic”

    Hey, now…these Kalifornia Kounts Kooks just blamed their failure on Christmas. That’s sounding a lot like they’re declaring war on Christmas.

    WAR ON CHRISTMAS! WAR ON CHRISTMAS! QUICK—SOMEBODY CALL DR. DOBSON!!!

    *evil laughter ensues….

  • Obama’s answer to the Couric “biggest mistake” question. It’s golden. Great, great rhetoric”

    “Well, the biggest mistake that I ever made was when I was a teenager because I got involved with drinking and trying drugs. I was being raised by a single mom and by my grandparents, and I’ve written about this in my first book. You know, I was frustrated and didn’t have role models out there that made sense, and so I engaged in a lot of destructive behavior. And it, I pulled out of it in my first couple of years of college because I started thinking outside of myself. I started thinking about people I met who were struggling a lot worse than I was. You know, I didn’t come from a wealthy family, but it was a middle-class family and I never had to worry about whether I had enough to eat or I never had to worry about whether I had a roof over my head. And so just becoming more aware of the tough times that other people were going through, and I remember having a conversation with somebody and them saying to me that, “You know, it’s not about you. It’s about what you can do for other people.” And something clicked in my head, and I got real serious after that and I started applying myself at school. That’s how I started becoming a student activist and then, ultimately, a community organizer. And, you know, that’s probably the path that I’ve been taking ever since. That’s how I ended up where I am today.”

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