Wednesday’s campaign round-up

January 23, 2008

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:

* Barack Obama has already been doing pretty well in South Carolina if the polls are any indication, but it won’t hurt to pick the endorsement of The State, South Carolina’s largest newspaper.

* Hillary Clinton began hammering Obama yesterday on an apparent healthcare flip-flop. Clinton’s campaign put together a video featuring footage from a 2003 event in which Obama touts single-payer healthcare. The Obama campaign said the video takes the five-year-old comments out of context. Not having seen the full speech, I can’t say for sure who’s right.

* Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt (R) surprised quite a few people yesterday afternoon when he announced that he is retiring at the end of his term. Blunt said he wants to spend more time with his family, but the decision not to seek re-election may have had something to do with polls showing him badly trailing state Attorney General Jay Nixon (D). Chris Cillizza noted that rumored Republican candidates include Rep. Kenny Hulshof, Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, former senator Jim Talent and state treasurer Sarah Steelman.

* California’s Democratic primary is still two weeks away, but the latest Field Poll, arguably the most respected in the state, shows Clinton with a double-digit lead over Obama, 39% to 27%. The 12-point margin is slightly smaller than the 14-point lead Clinton enjoyed in December.

* How rough have things gotten for Rudy Giuliani? He’s already trying to downplay the significance of Florida’s primary, where he’s spending $350,000 per day in TV ads.

* John McCain picked up the support yesterday of former New York Sen. Al D’Amato.

* He’s also poised to pick up an endorsement from retired Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of the first Gulf War.

* The presidential campaign has spilled over into the world of basketball, as Magic Johnson (a Clinton backer) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (an Obama backer) made their cases for the respective candidates.

* There was going to be a debate between John McCain, Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday in Miami, but McCain pulled out and said he has to be in Tampa on Sunday morning.

* Joe Lieberman will be a co-chair of McCain’s leadership team in Connecticut.

* The Clinton campaign’s mischaracterizing of Obama’s “party of ideas” remark has now been turned into a radio ad.

* Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D), who has quite a political operation in his state, endorsed Clinton this morning.

* And John Edwards seemed to have a little fun on David Letterman’s show last night.

I hope Hil’s right.
Then maybe we can get him to flip-flop-flip and save a LOT of tax money not paying insurance companies for nothing of value.

Hil doesn’t seem likely to flip-flop. She’d make too many donors unhappy.

  • The Hill reports that the Republicans will have another big problem this year:

    The federal investigation into the firing of nine U.S. attorneys could jolt the political landscape ahead of the November elections, according to several people close to the inquiry…

    …Investigators from these offices have been questioning whether senior officials lied to Congress, violated the criminal provisions in the Hatch Act, tampered with witnesses preparing to testify to Congress, obstructed justice, took improper political considerations into account during the hiring and firing of U.S. attorneys and created widespread problems in the department’s Civil Rights Division, according to several people familiar with the investigation…

    http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/attorneys-probe-deepens-2008-01-22.html

  • Notice Hillary waited for Kucinich to be out of the debates, to start attacking Obama for mentioning the ‘single-payer’ word a long time ago. And Obama is really proving to be not very good at defending himself either.

    If Kucinich were around, he would ask both Hill & Barack to outline what exactly is wrong with single-payer – and THEN you would have a debate.

  • If Kucinich were around, he would ask both Hill & Barack to outline what exactly is wrong with single-payer… -Ohioan

    But then the moderator would laugh at him, cut his mic, and move on to more pressing questions like ‘What did you have for lunch today?’

  • If Guiliani would like to stop throwing away $350K per day in Florida, I know a few worthwhile non-profits that could use that money ASAP.

  • More breaking news…

    Dumbocrats in D.C. to not push Contempt Charges against Gonzo & Harriet in Attorney-Gate Scandal…

    More spinelessness from the spineless pukes in charge of the House & Senate… Way to go Nancy & Harry…

    P.S. Is it true that Nancy & Harry are actually ‘closet repugnicans’?

  • “I don’t think any candidate ever puts himself in a corner and says, must win, have to win, must win,” Rudy said.

    If any candidate has ever put himself in a position where he must win, have to win, it’s Rudy in Florida.

  • I hope Giuliani steals enough support from McCain for Romney to win Florida. Hell, I don’t care who wins Florida, as long as it is not McCain.

  • The Matt Blunt story is huge here in Kansas City, but you left out one small detail — another reason he may have decided against running again is because he has that nasty GOP habit of deleting emails he shouldn’t.

    Of course, last night the local ABC affiliate had a story on the issue, and mentioned that local Democrats may need to change strategy. Of course, the reporter got that info from … a REPUBLICAN.

    All the other stations did the same thing this morning.

    Believe it or not, there are actual Democrats in Missouri. Apparently, however, talking to one about what they plan to do now is out of the question for the local media.

    Assholes.

  • What is wrong with single-payer not-for-profit universal health insurance in America, Ms Hillary? Actually, there is no room for corporate greed and private profit. Ms. Hillary has been working hard for the last twenty years to keep corporate greed running health care.

    In a side note, do not be shocked if Hillary magically “wins” the South Carolina Democratic Primary Election. With Republican corporations like Diebold “counting the votes,” some GOP thugs may hack and rig the count electronically for Hillary as they did in New Hampshire… Corporations tend to support the most corporate candidates, even if they have to resort to cheating a little on the “vote counting.”

    Cheers.

  • ***Mark D***Same in Springfield and especially in St.Louis. Blunt only got the position because of his dad Roy Blint who has been cited by CREW as one of the most corrupt congressmen in the Legislature. Also, his picture is on the Sibel Edmonds site as one of the money laundering traitors selling nuclear secrets to Pakistan and others. Begs the question how much Matt blunt was involved in all of this corruption. Matt sounds like a teenager when he talks as if everything he says has been written for him to say. Dad was a major influence on him it seems and we dems are glad to see him go before he completely dismantles all the social programs in MO.

  • Schwarzkopf also supported W, not once but twice

    And pointing this out, ad naseum, will be key to negating any positive impact of the endorsement. Assuming McCain wins of course.

    With Mittens looking stronger in Florida, his chances of winning are starting to look much better. With Huckabee out due to no money and Fred out due to no interest, and Rudy out due to too much exposure, the GOP race will quickly narrow down to McCain vs. Romney. I know I prefer going against Romney in the general. Gooo Mittens!

  • “And pointing this out, ad naseum, will be key to negating any positive impact of the endorsement. Assuming McCain wins of course. ”

    Yes. Together with mass transmitting of “the hug.”

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