Friday’s political round-up

May 25, 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:

* When the Senate voted yesterday on the president’s war-funding bill, only 14 senators opposed the measure. Among them were three of the four Dem senators running for president: Clinton, Dodd, and Obama.

* Speaking of Clinton, the senator unveiled her healthcare policy yesterday, acknowledging the fact that the issue caused her some trouble a decade ago.”Now, I’ve tangled with this issue before, and I’ve got the scars to show for it,” Clinton told an auditorium packed with medical students and doctors at George Washington University. “But I learned some valuable lessons from that experience. One is that we can’t achieve reform without the participation and commitment of healthcare providers, employers, employees and other citizens who pay for, depend upon and actually deliver healthcare services.” Clinton offered a proposal Thursday focused on reining in healthcare costs.

* Rudy Giuliani scored a few cheap points in the last debate at Ron Paul’s expense, but Paul is still trying to capitalize on the exchange. Yesterday, the Texas lawmaker questioned Giuliani’s qualifications to be president, suggesting he would not support him unless he’d read several specific books and “report back to me.” He suggested that the former mayor read four books: “Imperial Hubris” by Michael Scheuer, “Dying to Win” by Robert Pape, “Blowback” by Chalmers Johnson and the 9/11 Commission Report. Paul was joined by Scheuer, the former head of the CIA’s Osama bin Laden unit.

* Speaking of cheap points from the last debate, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) is having so much fun making fun of John Edwards’ expensive haircut, the Huckabee campaign is building a whole fundraiser around it. His campaign site now features a message explaining, “[W]e added a Barber pole to my campaign website, the kind that hangs inside or outside of barbershops all over this country, but probably not where John Edwards gets his haircut!”

Question: Does Huckabee understand that Edwards most likely won’t win the Republican nomination??

Better question: Does Huckabee understand that Huckabee most likely won’t win the Republican nomination??

  • This early in an election, lesser candidates want to stand out.

    Congratulations, Biden, you’re the most Bush-like of any Democrat running.

    Here’s your copy of our home game. Thanks for playing.

  • If Hillary’s healthcare plan is anything like the first time around, it isn’t much of a plan. In fairness, she was doomed from the start the first time. Big Med, Big Pharma, and Big Insurance are superpower adversaries. But the original Clinton plan made the mistake of trying to placate those huge concerns by proposing a plan so watered down that it would have been little better than the status quo.

    Real healthcare reform means what the health profiteers call “socialized medicine.” Or what other countries just call “medicine.”

  • It’s hard to get excited about him, because he’s got no chance, but I’m starting to think Dodd might be worthy of some love and support. I’m ranking them something like this these days:

    Obama

    Edwards
    Dodd

    Richardson

    Biden

    Our Lady of Perpetual Triangulation

    The Two Lefty Nuts

  • Senator Clinton’s voting record on health issues can be found at: Senator Clinton’s Voting Record

    Senator Clinton’s history of speeches on health care can be found at: Senator Clinton’s Record of Speeches

    Senator Clinton’s ratings from special interest groups on health issues can be found at: Senator Clinton’s Interest Group Ratings

    For more information on Senator Clinton’s position on health issues please visit Project Vote Smart or call our hotline at 1-888-VOTE-SMART.

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