2 Days to Victory!!!
Broken Promises Calendar: No Results from Governor Granholm
PROMISE: The governor promised in 2002 to veto any legislation that would allow dove hunting (Humane USA Gubernatorial Questionnaire, February 2002).
NO RESULTS: After telling the Humane Society in 2002 she would veto a bill to allow dove hunting, Granholm quickly moved to do the opposite. In 2004, she signed a bill that permitted dove hunting (HB 5029 of 2004).
Polls…more polls…BUT the ONLY poll that counts is the one on election day.
This late in the game, polls in Michigan are notoriously wrong…and misleading. This poll actually used samples taken on Holloween…a day many of our voters are out with their kids. The numbers are also way off from all the other polls taken in Michigan, including Democrat pollster Ed Sarpuolus EPIC-MRA’s poll.
Dick DeVos and Mike Bouchard for the last two weeks are running closer than any other challenger have in recent history. The momentum and activity has been going our way.
There is NO rationale reason, political event or other rationale that would justify a huge shift like the Detroit Free Press is showing…except a “bad” poll, which is to say an aberration or a bad sample…and that happens.
I know we all can’t help talking about this stuff…it’s part of what makes the election cycle interesting. But it’s no more than a snap shot in time…and very likely a “bad snapshot” that is NOT representative of what is really going out there.
Stay focused and let’s make it happen. Maybe the Democrats will feel complacent and believe they have it locked up…great news for us. But I doubt it…they are probably as surprised and skeptical of these numbers as we are.
Only 60 hours left….we have had a tremendous week of activity across the state. We have people coming in who have taken a day or two off and are willing to volunteer and help. Walk in at Victory Centers are growing daily. It’s a great team effort, as county and district committees pitch in bringing folks together.
Michigan Republicans statewide made over 176,000 contacts on Saturday. We had a huge grassroots effort that including door to door, phone banks, football games, sign distribution, and massive cooperative efforts reported from Victory Centers statewide. Everyone who came in was taking local literature and combining it with our statewide info for distribution. We had people taking the last bumper stickers off the walls to put the on a car.
We had an unbelievable effort…we smell blood, we have great candidates and we are clearly ready and willing to make the extra effort to make this work.
To find a Victory Center near you go to:
http://www.migop.org/victorycenters/index.asp
Only 60 hours left until the polls close. Anything EXTRA you can do, a few hours of calling, knocking out an extra precinct, talking to your friends and neighbors…it matters.
I set up my car at church and put DeVos and Bouchard bumpers stickers in the windshield wiper for folks to pick up….all gone! Last week two different folks at the gas station asked where I got my stickers and I said I happen to have an extra and hooked them up. You can feel the momentum…the excitement.
Two day left…then we work the polls on election day. Join us, every hour, every call and every door you knock on will make a difference.
Thanks to all for what you do!!!
Saul Anuzis
STATE STORIES
http://www.mlive.com/news/jacitpat/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1162724827301460.xml&coll=3
For governor, make it DeVos for change
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Four years ago, we supported the election of Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm, whose charisma, confidence and leadership offered the hope of a fresh approach to governing. Today, however, we are recommending Dick DeVos as Michigan governor for the next four years.
Such a shift deserves an explanation. Ours is a pragmatic one: Michigan's two legislative bodies are controlled by Republicans and we believe a Republican governor would be able to get more done. Michigan is in crisis economically; we can't afford another four years of partisan politics as usual.
We give Gov. Granholm the credit she is due. She did bring a fresh approach. We were delighted with how she interacted with people, represented Michigan on the national stage, argued her position on issues, introduced new concepts like the "cool city" program and linked education to economic prosperity. We watched with genuine sympathy as she tried her best to work within the political reality of a state in which both chambers of the Legislature are dominated by Republicans.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061104/NEWS99/311040004
Former mayor says DeVos is the one to save Michigan
November 4, 2006
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani provided the campaign star power Saturday for Michigan Republicans, appearing with gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos at a series of rallies across southeast Michigan.
Giuliani said DeVos is "a very, very good man" who would provide the kind of leadership Michigan needs to get going again.
"There's no Republican or Democratic way to run Michigan," Giuliani said. "There's only a right way and a wrong way."
http://www.mlive.com/news/sanews/index.ssf?/base/news-20/1162639249124040.xml&coll=9
DeVos, two governors greet Spirit fans
Saturday, November 04, 2006
MARK CONSTANTINE
THE SAGINAW NEWS
Dan DeVos felt right at home even if his brother didn't.
DeVos' brother, Dick, is running for governor and stopped by TheDow Event Center Friday night to shake hands and sign autographs before continuing on into Wendler Arena to drop the puck to start the Ontario Hockey League game between the host Saginaw Spirit and the Barrie Colts.
Dan DeVos knows all about hockey because he currently owns the American Hockey League's Grand Rapids Griffins and at one time owned a piece of the Barrie franchise.
http://www.thetimesherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061104/NEWS01/611040310/1002
DeVos makes stop in Marysville
By CHRIS MACKINDER
Times Herald
MARYSVILLE - More than 100 Dick DeVos supporters crammed into the 4 Star Restaurant Friday morning to meet and greet the gubernatorial candidate.
DeVos, who was accompanied by Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, arrived on a bus at 8:15 a.m. and spent about 45 minutes in the restaurant shaking hands, having his photo taken and answering citizens' questions.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061104/NEWS99/311040003
Former president goes to bat for Granholm and Stabenow
November 4, 2006
When former President Bill Clinton took the stage Saturday morning at Wayne State University and began to talk about the election, the rowdy crowd of about 500 people suddenly became silent and attentive.
"It's like this everywhere," Clinton said, recalling a recent visit to Iowa, one of 29 states where he has campaigned for Democrats. "It was real quiet. Everywhere I go, people know there is something fundamentally wrong."
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061105/VIDEO01/61105001/1008/NEWS
On the campaign trail with Jennifer Granholm
Video produced by KATHY KIELISZEWSKI; narration by KATHLEEN GRAY/DFP; photos and audio by MANDI WRIGHT/DFP
A surge of support from women gave Gov. Jennifer Granholm a double-digit lead over Republican challenger Dick DeVos in a race for governor that's entered its final 48 hours.
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/politics/elections/15924587.htm
Posted on Sat, Nov. 04, 2006
Clinton, Giuliani campaign in Michigan ahead of election
DAVID EGGERT
Associated Press
DETROIT - Democrats rallied with President Clinton while former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani campaigned for Republicans Saturday as both sides concentrated on encouraging their supporters to go to the polls.
Noting there is a clear choice between Gov. Jennifer Granholm, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow and their GOP opponents, Clinton said it is time voters put more Democrats in office this election.
"There is something fundamentally wrong with the way our country has been run," he told hundreds of Democrats at Wayne State University's athletic center, where the party faithful lined up outside in cold weather before 8 a.m.
http://www.mlive.com/news/jacitpat/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1162724727301460.xml&coll=3
What can they do for Jackson?
Sunday, November 05, 2006
By Susan J. Demas
sdemas@citpat.com -- 768-4927
Andy Nastally swapped the assembly line for the unemployment line after spending almost his entire adult life at TRW Automotive.
Nastally, 28, was one of 400 workers let go when the plant closed in July. Now the Jackson dad worries how to pay his heating bill and afford clothes for his three kids.
"I'll never find another job like that," said Nastally, an almost 9-year TRW veteran. "It's getting used to poverty, I guess."
http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061104/ELECTIONS07/611040331/1412
Published November 4, 2006
[ From Lansing State Journal ]
Volunteers - the engine behind political races
Party faithful help drive campaigns
By Stacey Range
Lansing State Journal
The voice on the other end of the campaign call. The knock on the door. The envelope full of candidate literature.
Chances are if it comes from a political campaign, it has the fingerprints of any number of thousands upon thousands of volunteers.
Although campaigns, particularly Michigan's gubernatorial race, are constantly setting new spending records, very little of that money goes into actual operations. Most is funneled to advertising and consulting.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061105/OPINION01/611050321/1008
Sunday, November 05, 2006
DECISION 2006: Endorsements
Our choices for Tuesday's ballot
Michigan should pick stronger leaders, be frugal with taxes
The Detroit News
Michigan voters shouldn't kid themselves -- it does matter who and what wins on Tuesday. The outcome of this election will determine the direction of a state that is in an economic free-fall. Without the right leadership, that collapse will continue.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm has led this state for the past four years. Under her watch, conditions in the state have deteriorated without a meaningful response from the state government.
She can not be faulted for the implosion of the domestic auto industry, but she must be held accountable for not putting in place the significant structural reforms of the education system, regulatory environment and tax policy that would have mitigated the impact.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061104/NEWS99/311040001
2006 ELECTION: THE MICHIGAN POLL: Granholm surges in poll with boost from women
DeVos' final hope rests on big turnout
November 4, 2006
A surge of support from women gave Gov. Jennifer Granholm a double-digit lead over Republican challenger Dick DeVos in a race for governor that's entered its final 48 hours.
Granholm's overall 54% to 41% lead is fueled by her 26 percentage-point margin among women, according to the Detroit Free Press-Local 4 Michigan Poll. DeVos has a 1 percentage-point margin among men.
"That's the dynamic, that's what's opened it up," said J. Ann Selzer of Selzer & Co., which conducted the poll Oct. 31-Nov.2
http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1162704557306970.xml&coll=7
Gov.'s race: Turnout will be the key
Sunday, November 5, 2006
By Peter Luke
Gazette Lansing Bureau
LANSING -- An expensive, contentious campaign for governor is in its final weekend. with incumbent Democrat Jennifer Granholm attempting to seal the deal for re-election and Republican Dick DeVos continuing his case for change.
After a year of battling the head winds of a bad election-year economy, Granholm was acting last week as if she had a bit of a breeze at her back, as she spoke to friendly crowds of supporters stuffed into restaurants and coffee shops across the state. Granholm rallied with former President Bill Clinton in Detroit on Saturday.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/politics/15931202.htm
Posted on Sat, Nov. 04, 2006
Heading into elections, Michigan voters focused on economy
KEN THOMAS
Associated Press
DETROIT - In Michigan, it really is the economy, stupid.
State voters are sizing up races for governor, U.S. Senate and a long list of offices and ballot initiatives in a midterm election marked by pessimism about jobs and Michigan's once-dominant auto industry.
Linda Kaiser, a corporate trainer from Royal Oak, is skeptical of whether Republican Dick DeVos or Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm can turn around Michigan's economic malaise. She's still undecided on which one she'll support on Election Day.
http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1162704026306970.xml&coll=7
Local voters divided on governor's race
Sunday, November 5, 2006
By Jane C. Parikh
jparikh@kalamazoogazette.com 388-8558
Local supporters of Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm and her Republican challenger Dick DeVos agree on at least one thing: They don't like the negative campaign ads.
``I think negative campaign ads suck,'' said Robin Hall, a Kalamazoo resident who will be voting for DeVos.
Hall, a volunteer at Friday's Art Hop in the Park Trades Center building in downtown Kalamazoo, said DeVos will bring about the change that is needed to create jobs in Michigan and get people off the state's welfare system. She said ads attacking DeVos are ``no way to get the job done.''
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061105/OPINION01/611050562/1069
FREE PRESS EDITORIAL: The Silent Majority
Getting nonvoters back to the polls will take, above all, leaders who inspire
November 5, 2006
In Tuesday's election, a new silent majority will sit out in force.
They are the millions of voters who will decline to participate, leaving the noisy minorities on each end of our polarized political system to decide the future direction of this state and nation.
Then-President Richard Nixon coined the term "silent majority" in a 1969 speech to describe Americans who were not part of the loud, angry debate about ending the Vietnam War, but simply hoping that the nation could achieve a just and honorable peace.
http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1162704537306970.xml&coll=7
Less than half of eligible voters expected at polls
Sunday, November 5, 2006
By Julie Mack
jmack@kalamazoogazette.com 388-8578
If turnout mirrors the last few gubernatorial elections, about four in 10 voting-age Michigan residents will go to the polls Tuesday to cast ballots for governor and other state, county, local and national offices.
There's also a slew of state and local proposals on ballots, including state referendums on affirmative action and whether to guarantee inflationary increases in funding for K-12 and higher education.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1162712720198250.xml&coll=6
Senate race has stayed in shadows
Sunday, November 05, 2006
By Sarah Kellogg
Press Bureau
DETROIT -- The candidates in Michigan's rough-and-tumble U.S. Senate race have one thing in common in these final days before Tuesday's election: They cannot seem to get out from behind the shadows of their parties' candidates for governor.
Despite spending millions of dollars on television advertising and countless hours traveling the state, Democratic U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow and her Republican challenger Mike Bouchard are playing second fiddle to Gov. Jennifer Granholm and businessman Dick DeVos.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1162711089198250.xml&coll=6
Q&A: 86th House District candidates
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Name some concrete steps Michigan should take to increase employment and position itself economically for the future.
Melissa Casalina: Continue the Granholm Jobs Initiative, which is beginning to show dividends now. Improve access to higher education so we will have the qualified work force for the jobs of the 21st century. Replace the SBT with a tax that is fair for all types of businesses and does not penalize businesses for doing well.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061105/OPINION03/611050322/1008/OPINION01
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Nolan Finley
Dem billionaire out to buy Legislature
W hile everyone is watching the battle for Congress, not much attention is being paid to the very real possibility that Democrats could take control of the state Legislature, a development with far more impact on Michigan.
If it happens, credit will go to a reclusive West Michigan billionaire who's chosen as his new hobby manipulating the political make-up of Michigan.
Jon Stryker is the George Soros of Michigan. He's got roughly $2.1 billion and is spending $4.5 million to defeat Republican legislative candidates. When you have a couple of billion dollars in your pocket, $4.5 million is sofa cushion money. But it's paying for a ton of vicious attack ads.
http://www.mlive.com/news/fljournal/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1162644670283900.xml&coll=5
Candidates still stumping for votes in county
GENESEE COUNTY
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Saturday, November 04, 2006
By Marjory Raymer
mraymer@flintjournal.com • 810.766.6325
GENESEE COUNTY - Candidates continued to hit the campaign trail in Genesee County on Friday with gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos and U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow rallying supporters.
And Gov. Jennifer Granholm is expected to be here today for a pancake lunch from 12:30-2 p.m. at the Democrats' local campaign headquarters, 877 E. Fifth Ave., Flint. She will talk to volunteers before they canvass the county to leave literature with potential voters.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061104/NEWS99/311040002
Despite results of Prop 2 poll, voters can change minds at decision time
November 4, 2006
Michigan voters may be poised to reject Proposal 2 -- the controversial affirmative action issue on Tuesday's ballot -- according to the Detroit Free Press-Local 4 Michigan Poll. The poll showed 49% saying they would reject the proposal, 39% supporting it and 12% undecided.
On the other hand, voters could be confused about the proposal, a constitutional amendment to prohibit affirmative action that gives preference based on race or gender in government hiring, contracting and university admissions, or hiding their real feelings from interviewers, pollster J. Ann Selzer of Selzer & Co. in Des Moines, Iowa, said.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1162712689198250.xml&coll=6
Tuesday questions
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Near the bottom of each voter's ballot on Tuesday will be five statewide questions that deserve close attention. Two in particular -- Proposals 2 and 5 -- have long-term implications for government -- and life -- in this state. The following summarizes the proposals and our recommendations.
PROPOSAL 1: NO -- The purpose here is reasonable: to protect certain state recreation and conservation funds from being raided for other budget purposes. In fact, the Legislature and the governor should keep their hands off. The accounts consist mainly of dollars paid for by sportsmen for licenses and permits related to various pursuits: boating, fishing, hunting, state park use and snowmobiling, to name a few.
http://www.livingstondaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061103/NEWS01/611030322
At the polls, they're watching you — Political parties hire 'challengers' to man the voting process
The Democratic Party will have dozens of poll challengers observing the voting on Tuesday across Livingston County. Republicans, on the other hand, will focus their poll-watching efforts in other parts of the state.
Party Chairman Joe Carney said about 80 people went through state-sponsored training recently and are planning to staff the polls on Tuesday. He said the term "challenger," while technically correct according to state law, is a bit misleading.
http://www.mlive.com/news/fljournal/index.ssf?/base/news-40/116248081572190.xml&coll=5
Going, going, almost gone
FLINT
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Thursday, November 02, 2006
By Todd Seibt
tseibt@flintjournal.com • 810.766.6315
FLINT - The last big buyout bulges are looming at General Motors and Delphi Corp.
By the end of the year, hourly union members who signed up for early retirement plans or straight buyouts must be gone.
While thousands already have hit the plant doors one last time, the final departures will be huge. In Genesee County, GM and Delphi's current hourly work force will be cut by about 37 percent, from 12,868 to just 8,088 by year's end.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061105/NEWS04/611050612/1006
Birmingham students to face off as candidates
November 5, 2006
Ten-year-old Caity Dolan says the weirdest thing about this year's election season is there are days she feels like she actually is Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
"I've spent so much time reading about her and watching her, I actually think like her," says Caity of Beverly Hills, who is playing Granholm in a mock debate and election at school on Tuesday. "It feels pretty good."
NATIONAL STORIES
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061105/OPINION02/611050514/1070
RON DZWONKOWSKI: Polarized nation
Vote, disagree, but don't keep a closed mind to the other side
November 5, 2006
It was interesting to learn from a recent HBO documentary on former Arizona senator and Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater that had John F. Kennedy lived to run for re-election in 1964, the president and Goldwater were planning to campaign together, sharing an airplane for a barnstorming tour of the country in which voters could size them both up at once.
Conservative Goldwater and liberal Kennedy didn't agree on much, policy-wise, but they had served in the Senate together and got along personally. They both wanted the best for America but had drastically different ideas about how to achieve it.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061105/OPINION02/611050560/1070
Nation needs leaders, solutions
November 5, 2006
What is the exit strategy for poverty?
For the past few weeks, we have been virtually assaulted with overly sincere candidates and over-the-top campaign advertisements seeking desperately to sway us one way or the other. Time is running out, and they are pulling out all the stops to get our vote by any means necessary. If the truth needs to be twisted, fine. If the blows to the ear aren't working, then a few more blows below the belt should do the trick.
Enough already. What we need as a people is deliverance, not debate. We don't need all the clever phrases and bloody battles, because they don't solve a thing. We need deliverance.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/04/AR2006110401177.html
Democrats, on the Offensive, Could Gain Both Houses
By Dan Balz and David S. Broder
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, November 5, 2006; Page A01
Two days before a bitterly fought midterm election, Democrats have moved into position to recapture the House and have laid siege to the Senate, setting the stage for a dramatic recasting of the power structure in Washington for President Bush's final two years in office, according to a Washington Post analysis of competitive races across the country.
In the battle for the House, Democrats appear almost certain to pick up more than the 15 seats needed to regain the majority. Republicans virtually concede 10 seats, and a split of the 30 tossup races would add an additional 15 to the Democratic column.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1162711357198250.xml&coll=6
Will vote tilt balance of power?
Sunday, November 05, 2006
By Ed Golder
The Grand Rapids Press
When she filled out her absentee ballot, Marilyn Mennetti did something she has never done.
She voted straight Democratic.
The Grand Rapids real-estate agent describes herself as a political independent who has supported Democrats and Republicans. This year, she's mad at a politician who's not even on the ballot.
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/
Posted at 02:38 PM ET, 11/ 4/2006
Last Minute Money Moves in Battle for Congress
Hoping to maximize every last dollar in the final days of the 2006 campaign, the Democratic and Republican national party committees continued to move cash around the country on Friday.
The National Republican Congressional Committee was the biggest spender as it tried desperately to hold the GOP House majority -- a prospect that looks more and more dim. The committee dropped more than $1 million for ads in the open Illinois 6th District, which is served by the expensive Chicago media market. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has spent better than $3 million on that seat -- its largest single race expenditure in the country. Polls -- both public and private -- show state Sen. Peter Roskam (R) and Iraq war veteran Tammy Duckworth (D) in a dead heat.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BUSH?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Bush aims to mobilize 'values' voters
GREELEY, Colo. (AP) -- President Bush encouraged voters to select candidates who will lower taxes and defend "traditional values" as he kicked off the final campaign weekend in a state where gay marriage dominates the political debate.
Colorado voters face a pair of choices Tuesday that affect the rights of gay couples. The issue took on a new intensity last week with the allegations that a prominent Colorado Springs minister who criticized gay marriage secretly paid for sex with a man for years.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CHENEY?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Cheney back home in final campaign push
LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) -- With his old House district at risk, Vice President Dick Cheney told voters on Saturday to reject Democratic "resignation and defeatism" against terrorists.
"We live in a two-party state," Cheney said. "But I've got a feeling Wyoming Democrats don't find much in common with Democratic leaders like Howard Dean, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry and Nancy Pelosi."
Cheney's visit to this heavily Republican region reflected the high stakes for the White House. Democrats need to pick up 15 seats to win the House in Tuesday's elections.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/04/AR2006110400992.html
Bush, Cheney Blitz West In Final Campaign Drive
By Shailagh Murray and Peter Baker
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, November 5, 2006; Page A11
President Bush and Vice President Cheney blitzed through Western states yesterday, revving up conservative voters with threats of tax increases and legalized gay marriage if Democrats win big on Tuesday.
Bush delivered his weekly radio address live from a Colorado coffee shop, touting the tax cuts that a Republican-led Congress approved during his first term. A favorite line is to quote House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) declaring that Democrats also love tax cuts. "Given her record," Bush says at every stop now, "she must be a secret admirer."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/04/AR2006110401006.html
Fla. Candidate Battles the Anti-GOP Tide
House Hopeful in Heavily Republican District Tries to Rally Disenchanted Voter Base
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 5, 2006; Page A05
BRADENTON, Fla., Nov. 4 -- Vern Buchanan is the Republican congressional candidate in this heavily Republican district, hoping to succeed a onetime GOP icon, Rep. Katharine Harris. The self-made businessman has given his campaign $5.5 million, the third-largest cash dump in the history of House races. He has campaigned with President Bush, first lady Laura Bush, Gov. Jeb Bush and Vice President Cheney; today's guest was former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani.
But he's still in trouble.
http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061103/NEWS0206/61103032
Friday, 11/03/06
GOP says Memphis election cards missing
Official downplays fraud danger
MEMPHIS -- Tennessee's Republican Party chairman complained to Shelby County election officials that electronic voting machine cards were missing in Memphis, the hometown of Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Harold Ford Jr.
"It has come to our attention that several smart cards used in early voting are missing from at least one early voting site in Memphis, Tenn.," Bob Davis said in a later dated Thursday. "The lack of oversight and control over these smartcards has created a situation which could allow for voter fraud."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/04/AR2006110400733.html
Black Earmarks
Secrecy and pet projects are a bad combination. Just ask Duke Cunningham.
Sunday, November 5, 2006; Page B06
WHAT IF Congress approved funding for a secret "Bridge to Nowhere"? Some congressional earmarks are for pet projects that are flagrantly public, the subject of boastful press releases by the lawmaker who secured them. Others are shrouded in the secrecy of the "black budget," the $30 billion or so that the government spends on classified programs not subject to public review. This offers a tempting and dangerous opportunity for congressional mischief -- one exploited to the tune of at least $70 million by former representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Calif.), who used his earmarking power as a member of the House intelligence committee to steer that much in government contracts to two defense contractors who paid him $2.4 million in bribes.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SCOTUS_ABORTION?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Supreme Court to examine abortion cases
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Americans still will be chewing over election results Wednesday morning when the nine Supreme Court justices file into their courtroom for two of the biggest cases of the young term.
Voters in some states will be deciding whether to impose restrictions on abortions; one proposal would outlaw almost all abortions in South Dakota.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061105/OPINION03/611050301/1382
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Manny Lopez
Bush diplomat's analysis of Iraq trumps hysterics of critics
I f President George W. Bush did as good a job making his case about the situation in Iraq as well as Evan Galbraith, his critics would have less to complain about.
That wouldn't stop them from complaining, mind you, but their Chicken Little criticisms of every nuance, memo and action that doesn't go America's way in the war wouldn't carry near the weight with the public.
"If the militia groups (in Iraq) don't get on the bandwagon, they're going to get slaughtered -- by Iraqi troops, not American," the United States ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) said to The News' editorial board last week.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/04/AR2006110400794.html
Senators Question Posting of Iraqi Nuclear Papers
Associated Press
Sunday, November 5, 2006; Page A02
Four Democratic senators demanded yesterday that the Bush administration explain its decision to post documents from Saddam Hussein's covert nuclear program on a now-shuttered federal Web site.
The lawmakers told President Bush's director of national intelligence, John D. Negroponte, that it was "shocking that sensitive documents directly related to the design of a nuclear weapon were made public by the executive branch."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ_DOCUMENTS?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Dems seek answers on Iraq documents site
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Four Democratic senators demanded on Saturday that the Bush administration explain its decision to post documents from Saddam Hussein's covert nuclear program on a now-shuttered federal Web site.
The lawmakers told President Bush's director of national intelligence, John Negroponte, that it was "shocking that sensitive documents directly related to the design of a nuclear weapon were made public by the executive branch."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_IRAQ_CRITICS?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Iraq war proponents decry administration
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A leading conservative proponent of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq now says dysfunction within the Bush administration has turned U.S. policy there into a disaster.
Richard Perle, who chaired a committee of Pentagon policy advisers early in the Bush administration, said had he seen at the start of the war in 2003 where it would go, he probably would not have advocated an invasion to depose Saddam Hussein. Perle was an assistant secretary of defense under President Reagan.
"I probably would have said, 'Let's consider other strategies for dealing with the thing that concerns us most, which is Saddam supplying weapons of mass destruction to terrorists,'" he told Vanity Fair magazine in its upcoming January issue.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ_WAR_GAMES?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
1999 war games foresaw problems in Iraq
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. government conducted a series of secret war games in 1999 that anticipated an invasion of Iraq would require 400,000 troops, and even then chaos might ensue.
In its "Desert Crossing" games, 70 military, diplomatic and intelligence officials assumed the high troop levels would be needed to keep order, seal borders and take care of other security needs.
The documents came to light Saturday through a Freedom of Information Act request by the George Washington University's National Security Archive, an independent research institute and library.
Saddam, 2 others sentenced to death
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Saddam Hussein was convicted and sentenced Sunday to hang for crimes against humanity in the 1982 killings of 148 people in a single Shiite town, as the ousted leader, trembling and defiant, shouted "God is great!"
As he, his half brother and another senior official in his regime were convicted and sentenced to death by the Iraqi High Tribunal, Saddam yelled out, "Long live the people and death to their enemies. Long live the glorious nation, and death to its enemies!" Later, his lawyer said the former dictator had called on Iraqis to reject sectarian violence and refrain from revenge against U.S. forces.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/05/AR2006110500135.html
Hussein Sentenced to Hang for Crimes Against Iraqis
Thousands Take to Street in Tikrit in Defiance of Curfew
By John Ward Anderson And Ellen Knickmeyer
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, November 5, 2006; 7:52 AM
BAGHDAD, Nov. 5 -- Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was found guilty by a special tribunal Sunday of crimes against humanity for the torture and execution of more than 100 people from a small town north of Baghdad 24 years ago. He was sentenced to death by hanging.
Hussein, 69, was led into the courtroom by seven guards and immediately sat in his chair, refusing to rise for his verdict until Chief Judge Raouf Rasheed Abdel-Rahman ordered guards to force him to his feet.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/ISRAEL_OLMERT?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Israeli PM: Gaza offensive will continue
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Prime Minister Ehud Olmert refused Sunday to say when Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip will end, telling his Cabinet the operation will continue until Palestinian rocket attacks significantly decrease.
Israel moved into the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun last week in a bid to halt the rocket fire on southern Israeli towns. Forty-five Palestinians have been killed, including a Hamas gunman who was shot in the stomach Sunday, according to Palestinian officials.
