Thursday’s political round-up

July 5, 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:

* Former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) will endorse Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign today. It’s not entirely clear what kind of impact it will have, but Gephardt has enjoyed significant union backing in the past, and actually won the Iowa caucuses in 1988 (he finished fourth in 2000).

* Bill and Hillary Clinton were campaigning in Clear Lake, Iowa, yesterday when they ran into Mitt and Ann Romney at the same parade. After a couple of minutes of exchanged pleasantries, Mitt Romney said, “We’ll see you guys some more.” “Yes, you will,” Sen. Clinton quickly shot back.

* Barack Obama sat down for an interview with the AP yesterday, and covered quite a bit of political ground, including some thoughts on the last Democratic president. “I admire Bill Clinton, I think he did a lot of fine things as president and he’s a terrific political strategist,” the Illinois senator said. “What we’re more interested in is in looking forward, not looking backward. I think the American people feel the same way. They are looking for a way to break out of the harsh partisanship and the old arguments and solve problems.”

* Speaking of Obama, a 24-year-old man with an eight-inch knife was arrested outside the senator’s Iowa hotel after having been spotted loitering by Obama’s security detail.

* And the WaPo had an interesting item today about Alex Gage, who is working on microtargeting for Romney’s presidential bid after successfully employing it in George W. Bush’s 2004 campaign.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/07/04/not_all_would_put_a_heroic_sheen_on_thompsons_watergate_role/

Fred Thompson was a mole for the Nixon White House !?!?!?

Amazing

  • Here’s a link to the story about the guy who was arrested outside Obama’s hotel (with mug shot).

    It says

    They arrested Zakaryan and had him charged with driving without a license and possession of an illegal weapon. Police say he lives in Cincinnati, and add this may not be his first run-in with Obama’s security detail.

    “I think the car had been seen at an event prior, but I don’t know who was driving the car at that time,” Mike McDonough of the Ottumwa Police Department said Wednesday.

    http://www.wbbm780.com/pages/649005.php?contentType=4&contentId=664238

  • On Alex Gage:
    I vaguely remember The 480, by Lederer and Burdick (better known for writing the Ugly American), which was a political thriller from the 60s in which corporate and political types combined to divide the electorate into 480 categories which could then be micro-targeted (not their word). I don’t remember it being great literature, but it seems increasingly prescient these days.

  • Does it really matter who won what caucus in 1988? There will be Americans voting for president next year who weren’t even alive in 1988.

  • ” I think the American people feel the same way. They are looking for a way to break out of the harsh partisanship and the old arguments and solve problems.”

    Nah, although I can’t speak for the American people, I’m really just concerned about the preservation of our Constitutional Republic, but I understand that you’re not big into that, Barack. Maybe King George will bestow upon you some title of honor or nobility for having stood idly by while our Constitutional Republic was destroyed.

    How’s that for breaking out of the harsh partisanship, Barack?

  • Microtargeting convinces single-minded, single-issue voters to throw self-interest in the wind and vote for the greater of two evils for the shallowest reasons.

    No wonder a bottom feeder like Bush employed it.

  • Am I the only one that is reminded of Robert F. Kennedy and the Ambassador hotel when reading about that nutcase with a knife? I’m glad that Obama is getting Secret Service protection.

    Also, I’d like some coverage on Hillary Clinton. Specifically, the White House’s attacks on Hillary’s criticisms of Bush’s commutation of Libby and her husband’s last minute pardons.

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070705/ap_on_go_pr_wh/cia_leak_libby;_ylt=Ag.BrDUopROEsdrbKLIAih.s0NUE

    While I agree that the comparisons are not the same, nevertheless, the impression is that Clinton pardoned for money while Bush commuted for legal reasons (fear of risk, etc.). Hillary’s brother, Tony Rodham, wasn’t he involved in some lobbying for pardons in exchange for money? As it is, looks like we’ll be faced with another round of shaking down gullible clients that Hillary will pardon them.

    I think that this deserves separate discussion.

    Everybody believes that Hillary is “inevitable” but she was not only involved in several political scandals, some manufactured arguably by her enemies, but … where there’s smoke, there’s fire… and she has a brother who likes to shake up people for money for lobbying and pardons. She has major league weaknesses (including the most important weakness of all — the fact that 50 percent or more refuse to consider voting for her — how many people are willing to bet that the numbers will increase once the Republican spin machine gets through her?) even though the Dem leadership appears to be lining up behind her. I fear that we’re doing a Kerry 04 all over again.

  • The polling is pretty consistent against Hillary.

    If the alternative is bad, a lot of people can simply not vote at all or vote for a third person like Bloomberg.

  • Bill and Hillary Clinton were campaigning in Clear Lake, Iowa, yesterday when they ran into Mitt and Ann Romney at the same parade. After a couple of minutes of exchanged pleasantries, Mitt Romney said, “We’ll see you guys some more.” “Yes, you will,” Sen. Clinton quickly shot back.

    Oh, I love it.

  • On the other hand, if you ask me which of the Dem candidates I most trust to not get Swiftboated and take it lying down, Team Clinton wins easily. And that is why Kerry-Clinton comparisons are nonsense. Edwards and Obama have made their reps on being “nice.” And Obama is a rookie on this stage. Clinton (and just as important, Team Clinton) know well how to fight fire with fire, and can get just as nasty as those Swiftboaters. Indeed, if they start throwing mud at Clinton, I’d be looking for the popcorn and enjoying how badly bruised the Rethugs will come out of that fight.

    So Clinton may have higher negatives than her Dem rivals now, but put them through a hypothetical round of Swiftboating and I think Obama and Edwards’ negatives drop as far, maybe farther because they wont respond as well. There may be a lot of reasons to oppose Clinton, and I am still undecided among the top 3 plus Richardson and Dodd, but Clinton-Kerry comparisons actually point to one of the reasons to support HRC.

  • zeitgeist,

    Obama has always fired back when necessary, and still comes off respectful while doing so. He responded to nastiness from McCain with grace and dignity:

    The fact that you have now questioned my sincerity and my desire to put aside politics for the public interest is regrettable but does not in any way diminish my deep respect for you, nor my willingness to find a bipartisan solution to this problem…

    He also responded to Clinton herself when she told him to fire David Geffen (who didn’t even work for him) because Mr. Geffen had the nerve to exercise his right to free speech and criticize she who thinks the crown is hers.

    http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/9997.html

    Obama is hardly a rookie (anymore than you’d denounce Edwards as a rookie and who is to say that long federal senate tenure is proper Presidential training anyway?), and Hillary’s proximity to a Governor and a President do not experience make.

    Frankly, it would be great to have a ‘nice’ President who can sit across the table from world leaders and really reach a compromise. I’ve had enough of the my way attitude from the Oval Office, and frankly I think with Hillary it would be more of the same.

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