Articles of Interest 12-13-07

329 Days until Election Day

MORNING UPDATE:

Congressman Dave Camp is up to be the leading Republican on the Ways and Means Committee.  See my commentary here:

http://migop.blogs.com/blog/2007/12/dave-camp-is-th.html

Also see the Evans & Novak Report had to say about Dave Camp:

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=23941

DNC member Debbie Dingell and I held a “press roundtable” at the National Press Club in DC yesterday to describe the Dingell-Anuzis proposal for the 2012 presidential primary.  Details here:

http://migop.blogs.com/blog/2007/12/dingell-anuzis.html

Give a Gift this Holiday Season that Will Last a Lifetime!

The Michigan Republicans moved their headquarters to the Secchia-Weiser Republican Center in 2006 and plan to install a legacy site to honor those who have served the party and the citizens of Michigan.  The legacy site will create a well-deserved tribute to honor Michigan’s past, present, and future Republican leaders!  Buy a brick to celebrate, to inspire, or to commemorate friends, family, or yourself this holiday season!  They are a great way to honor others in memoriam, birthdays, anniversaries, or any special occasion.  Your honoree will receive a certificate commemorating their personalized brick.  Choose from our four different options and be a part of the Michigan Republican Party Legacy! 

To order your personalized Legacy Brick please visit www.migop.org/legacy, or contact Erin Meteer, Major Donor Program Manager at emeteer@migop.org. 

THE REST OF THE STORY:

No further commentary today.

Saul Anuzis

STATE STORIES

http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/michigan/index.ssf?/base/politics-1/1197497385101350.xml&storylist=newsmichigan

State GOP leader wants to hold debate at

Detroit

auto show

12/12/2007

By KEN THOMAS

WASHINGTON (AP) — Michigan Republicans are hoping to stage a presidential debate at the Detroit auto show two days before the Michigan primary featuring the top three GOP finishers from the New Hampshire primary and Iowa caucus. Michigan GOP Chairman Saul Anuzis said Wednesday that he was proposing to hold the debate at Cobo Hall on Jan. 13, the first day of the media preview of the North American International Auto Show. The presidential primary is Jan. 15. Anuzis said he has spoken to representatives for all the main candidates in the Republican field as well as potential television partners, but said no final decision has been reached.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071212/OPINION01/712120315/1007/OPINION

State shouldn't collect union political funds

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

The

Detroit

News Editorial

It's understandable that public employee unions would seek to use the machinery of government to further their own ends. But it would be helpful if those in charge of government -- the Granholm administration -- would put up a little more resistance.  The state employer, the official responsible for bargaining with the government employee unions, will ask the Civil Service Commission this month to agree to let state government deduct payroll contributions from the workers to the unions' political action committees (PACs). The unions have offered to pay a fee to state government in return for this service. Still, the machinery of state government would in essence be used to further the interests of political special interests.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071212/POLITICS/712120368/1408/LOCAL

Suit aims to block Democratic primary

State party says there's no merit to federal lawsuit alleging primary disenfranchises voters.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Charlie Cain /

Detroit

News

Lansing

Bureau

LANSING

-- Michigan Democratic Party officials say a federal lawsuit seeking to abort the Jan. 15 Democratic presidential primary on grounds that it disenfranchises voters is a frivolous legal action. "We think the lawsuit is meritless," Jason Moon, spokesman for state Democrats, said late Tuesday. He was responding to a suit filed Monday in U.S. District Court on behalf of a Kent County Democratic activist who says the primary is meaningless to her since the names of four of the Democratic candidates, including top-tier hopefuls Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, won't appear on the ballot here and that none of the eight presidential hopefuls will campaign in Michigan in compliance with national party rules.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071212/COL04/712120337/1081/COL

Salvaging the primary wreckage

December 12, 2007

BY BRIAN DICKERSON

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse,

Michigan

's Democratic leaders have figured out a way to make participation in their party's Jan. 15 primary even more meaningless. Most observers figured the Democrats' primary fiasco had reached bottom last month, when Democratic state lawmakers couldn't muster the votes to assure that all their party's presidential candidates would appear on the

Michigan

ballot. But now, in a new voter guide unveiled this week, state party leaders are urging voters who support any of the four Democrats who've dropped out of the Michigan primary to cast their ballots for "Uncommitted," effectively ceding their voices to an unknown slate of delegates to be named later in party caucuses across the state.

http://blog.mlive.com/annarbornews/2007/12/register_to_vote_in_presidenti.html

Register to vote in presidential primary by Monday

December 12, 2007

by John Mulcahy

People who want to vote in Michigan's Jan. 15 presidential primary but are not yet registered have until the end of the business day Monday to register, said Derrick Jackson, director of elections for Washtenaw County.Residents can register at their local city, village or township clerk's office, at the County Clerk's office, or at a Michigan Secretary of State's branch, Jackson said.  Village residents can register either at the village clerk's office or at their township clerk's office.

http://www.ourmidland.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19107785&BRD=2289&PAG=461&dept_id=472542&rfi=6

Camp gets backing to move up in powerful committee

12/12/2007

By Stuart Frohm

Republican Rep. Dave Camp reportedly is "getting a lot of encouragement" and growing support as he seeks the

U.S. House Ways

and Means Committee's top Republican slot -- and perhaps its overall chairmanship -- in 2009. That progress report came Tuesday afternoon from Sage Eastman, Camp's spokesman. Without downgrading Camp's chances, a political consultant who was a former Ways and Means chairman's chief of staff said the decision "is way far down the road."

http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/michigan/index.ssf?/base/business-14/1197416061291510.xml&storylist=newsmichigan

Bush nominates

Dearborn

businessman to ambassador post

12/11/2007

The Associated Press   

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Bush will nominate

Dearborn

businessman Yousif B. Ghafari to serve as

U.S.

ambassador to

Slovenia

. The 55-year-old Ghafari is the founder and chairman of Ghafari Inc., an architectural and engineering firm with offices in

Dearborn

,

Chicago

,

Qatar

and

India

. The company serves clients around the globe in the aviation, manufacturing, government and commercial sectors, according to its Web site. Ghafari is one of the

Detroit

area's leading philanthropist and a prominent Republican fundraiser. He is a member of the

Michigan

finance committee for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/columns-3/119747510282870.xml&coll=7

Wanted: a less costly, more competent Legislature

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Kalamazoo

Gazette Editorial

The idea of a part-time Michigan Legislature is beginning to sound better and better.

In May, we said that there was once a time we would have rejected the idea of

Michigan

having a part-time Legislature. There was so much work to be done in

Lansing

that it was hard to conceive how a part-time lawmaking body could get it all done. But the current Legislature has convinced us a full-time body is not giving

Michigan

taxpayers their money's worth. The Kalamazoo Regional Chamber of Commerce has kicked off a campaign to place on the November 2008 ballot a proposal to change. The proposal would make the Legislature part-time, limit the body to 100 days, eliminate lifetime benefits for lawmakers once they leave office and cut lawmakers' pay by at least half. And here's the part we like best: Remove term-limit restrictions. We believe term limits are the absolute reason

Michigan

is saddled with a Legislature that can't figure out how to do its job.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071212/POLITICS/712120367/1408/LOCAL

State Senate snuffs ban on smoking

Workplace bill sent to committee led by foe, where it is likely to die.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

By Gary Heinlein

LANSING

-- Democrats failed to maneuver smoking ban legislation into a friendly Senate committee on Tuesday, likely signaling an end to the latest effort by health groups and legislative allies to pass the prohibition they long have sought. The bill would outlaw smoking in nearly all workplaces, including restaurants and most bars. Cigar bars, tobacco specialty shops, bingo parlors and horse racing tracks would be the few exceptions. Last week, it passed the Democrat-controlled House by a 56-46 vote. That was considered historic: Proponents have been pushing similar legislation for years, but never before got it through one of the chambers.

http://blog.mlive.com/grpress/2007/12/hoogendyke_may_run_against_lev.html

Hoogendyk may run against Levin    

December 12, 2007

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON

-- Two Republicans are nearing a decision on whether they will challenge Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., next year despite long odds against the five-term senator. Businessman Andrew "Rocky" Raczkowski and state Rep. Jack Hoogendyk said they are leaning toward entering the Republican primary for U.S. Senate next year. Hoogendyk, R-Kalamazoo, said he was leaning toward entering the race and would make his intentions known next month. He formed an exploratory committee a few weeks ago and is starting to receive contributions from supporters. "I'm past the 50 percent point. I'm definitely leaning," he said. "With each passing day as I talk to more people I get more positive feedback."

http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/michigan/index.ssf?/base/news-49/11974874656760.xml&storylist=newsmichigan

AP Interview: After tough year, Granholm ready to move on in 2008

12/12/200

By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN

LANSING

,

Mich.

(AP) — Even in tough times, it's hard to destroy Gov. Jennifer Granholm's natural optimism. Battered by a year that saw her job approval rating slump to 35 percent amid budget shortfalls, tax increases and high unemployment, Granholm remains a cheerleader for turning Michigan into a state that can compete for the best of the jobs emerging in alternative energy, health care and cutting-edge automotive technology. "We're going to be great. We really are. But we need everybody to understand that this is not just a cycle, that we are waiting to come back," she told The Associated Press. "We have got to reshape this economy. And that takes a lot of work, and it takes all hands on deck."

http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071212/NEWS06/71212042

State House committee sees jury reform as positive

Proposal would get jurors from wider pool of candidates

December 12, 2007

By

DAWSON

BELL

A proposal to draw potential jurors from a wider variety of sources, designed to increase minority representation on juries, especially in

Wayne

County

, underwent friendly review Wednesday before a state House committee. No vote was taken on the plan, sponsored by Rep. George Cushingberry, D-Detroit. But House Judiciary Committee Chairman Paul Condino, D-Southfield, called the jury reform package some of the “most important” legislation to come before the committee in recent years, and said it will be on top of the agenda in 2008. The bills could potentially add the names of taxpayers, registered voters and the recipients of government assistance to the pool of potential jurors; currently, jury pools are formed from lists of driver's license and state identification card holders.

http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071212/NEWS06/71212070

Congress quizzed Nestle about its

Michigan

water-bottling operation

Company denies that

Mecosta

County

pumping hurts water flow

December 12, 2007

By TODD SPANGLER

WASHINGTON

– A Nestle official was asked at a congressional hearing today about whether the company continued to pump groundwater from its

Michigan

wells this summer as a stream fed by underground aquifers fell to dangerously low levels. Heidi Paul, vice president of corporate affairs for Nestle Waters North America, re-

sponded by saying the company’s scientists say its Mecosta County pumping facilities aren’t hurting water flow and that stream levels like those seen along what is called Dead Stream aren’t unusual. “There are low flows and high flows for water bodies, naturally occurring,” she said. nThe exchange came as the long-running battle between Nestle and environmentalists in

Mecosta

County

reached Capitol Hill, with Rep. Dennis Kucinich, an Ohio Democrat and presidential candidate, convening a House Oversight subcommittee hearing to discuss the environmental impact of bottled water operations.

http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/michigan/index.ssf?/base/news-49/1197413956202000.xml&storylist=newsmichigan

Lawmakers want to avoid

Mackinac

Bridge

fee hikes

12/11/2007

By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN

LANSING

,

Mich.

(AP) — A state senator is pushing a measure that would use transportation dollars for maintenance on the

Mackinac

Bridge

rather than toll increases. Republican Sen. Jason Allen of

Traverse City

said it makes sense to use $5.25 million in federal transportation funds so tourism and business isn't harmed by the increase, which could hike the toll for cars from $2.50 to $4. Gov. Jennifer Granholm vetoed a similar move in 2003, and it didn't sound likely Tuesday that she'd support Allen's idea.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071212/OPINION03/712120347/1350/OPINION0309

This time

Michigan

isn't the weak link

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

By Daniel Howes

A thin new book called "

Rich

States

, Poor States" is out and the big loser -- drum roll, please -- is not

Michigan

.  That, by itself, should be news. Even more: The leaders in declining competitiveness -- the vanguard of "has-been states" losing population, increasing state and local tax burdens and regulating the kind of businesses that actually create jobs -- are home to the politicians who seem determined to mount jihad against the industrial heartland.  Oh, sweet justice, could it be?

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071212/METRO/712120406/1408/LOCAL

Detroiters seeking tax breaks flood panel

Thousands more homeowners claim hardship, want 2007 property bills forgiven.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

By David Josar

DETROIT

-- A controversial city agency that is supposed to give hardship tax breaks to poor people was flooded with a record number of applications this year -- more than 5,200 -- from Detroiters who say they can't pay their 2007 property taxes.

City officials attribute the increase, up from about 3,500 in 2006, to

Michigan

's struggling economy and to a Detroit News investigation in mid-October that brought the program to the awareness of homeowners who didn't know it existed.

NATIONAL STORIES

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,316594,00.html

Republican Candidates Face Off in

Iowa

Debate

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Fox News

Nine Republican presidential hopefuls squared off in

Des Moines

,

Iowa

, Wednesday in a rapid-fire short-answer battle that yielded a common theme: cut federal spending. The Des Moines Register/Iowa Public Television debate in Johnston, Iowa — the last GOP debate before the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses — came at a time when illegal immigration has emerged as a central theme in the GOP race. But the format glossed over the issue in favor of concentrating on economic questions. In the opening exchange, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani called for across-the-board federal spending cuts." We have to reduce government spending and we have to be very disciplined about that," he said. "And we have to do it by imposing spending caps on the civilian agencies and governments, 5 percent, 10 percent, maybe 15 percent." He predicted savings of more than $20 billion through that and other steps. He also called for reducing corporate taxes and eliminating the estate tax.

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1263254020071212

Republican rivals find lots of agreement in debate

Wed Dec 12, 2007

By John Whitesides

JOHNSTON, Iowa (Reuters) - Republican presidential contenders took shots at China, budget deficits and the debate moderator but avoided attacking each other on Wednesday in their final encounter before Iowa kicks off the 2008 White House race on January 3. In a debate that did not address hot campaign trail topics like the

Iraq

war and immigration, the Republicans found plenty of room for agreement on the need to rein in federal spending, bring down taxes and achieve energy independence.

http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OTAwYTYyYWQ5NTQyNzFhNGU0OGM5YjA5YTRmOWQ3OGQ=

Iowa PBS and the

Des Moines

Register: Making CNN Look Good

Saying I hated this debate is like saying George Soros can spare some change. The retired brigadier general who was on Hillary’s gay and lesbian steering committee was bad. This one was… egregious.  Appalling. Extraordinarily frustrating. Alternately an uncontrolled circus and a banal snore-fest. Some of the questions were extraordinarily stupid – “is it more important to have a nominee that is socially conservative or fiscally conservative? What New Year’s resolution would you recommend for one of your rivals?” And what was with the video snippets of each candidate? What, each guy is going to get too much time with nine guys on stage? This was a disastrous format, with insane time limits on candidates, all mismanaged by a brusque, snippy moderator who seemed to think Iowans did not want the candidates to finish their sentences.

http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/romney-not-losing-sleep-over-taxing-the-rich-2007-12-12.html

Romney not losing sleep over taxing the rich

December 12, 2007 

By Klaus Marre

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said at the Republican presidential debate Wednesday that he does not “stay awake at night worrying about the taxes that rich people are paying.” Romney, whose personal wealth is estimated to be $200 million, said that he instead worries about “the taxes that middle-class families are paying” when asked which segment of society is paying “more than a fair share of taxes relative to everyone else.”It is middle-class families that are facing the greatest pressure, Romney said. He was the only candidate to provide a direct answer to the question.

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/12/first_take_the_final_republica.php

First Take: The Final Republican Debate

12 Dec 2007

By Marc Ambinder

The headline is that no one laid a glove on Mike Huckabee. And that Mitt Romney had a hell of a good afternoon. He seemed more sinewy than usual, less programmed, quite (dare we say) presidential, and even-tempered.  The debate format was not given to exchanges, and the moderator peremptorily took immigration off the table. The audience did not cheer, really, or validate, or boo. Romney and Huckabee were like two cultivars of fine

Iowa

maize. Both appealed directly to middle class Iowans. Romney said he was concerned about the tax burden on middle class families and promised health insurance for all by the end of his first term.

http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/2007/12/post_debate_notes.html

Post Debate Notes

December 12, 2007

by TOM BEVAN

JOHNSTON

,

IA

- Alan Keyes made himself the story today, which is exactly why he shouldn't have been invited to the debate in the first place. The fact that Keyes will grab at least a portion of the headlines with his unhinged performance, in addition to the fact that no serious blows were landed in the debate, means today's event is unlikely to change a thing.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/470waesg.asp

Fred Wins,

Iowa

Loses

Why Carolyn Washburn should keep her day job.

12/12/2007

by Dean Barnett

HERE WE WERE on Wednesday, a nation of political junkies gathered around our televisions to watch the candidates debate each other one last time, and we had as a moderator one Carolyn Washburn, the editor of the Des Moines Register. I don't mean to go all East-coast-elitist on you; I'm sure there are people in

Iowa

who could capably moderate a presidential debate. Unfortunately, and obviously, Carolyn Washburn is not one of them.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=23941

ENPR: Huckabee Surge Is for Real

December 12, 2007

by Robert Novak and Timothy P. Carney

Despite the continuing partisan stalemate on appropriations in Congress, there almost surely will be no government shutdown. Congress would get the blame for that, and Democrats as the majority party will not let that happen. The best bet is that the government will be kept running by a continuing resolution (CR) until early next spring, postponing determination of the actual spending level until then. Behind this postponement are major splits in both parties. Democrats were unable to get their act together the past week for an omnibus appropriations bill. Anti-earmark Republican senators are bitter that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is willing to make across-the-board cuts in order to save earmarks for himself and other senators.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20071212/D8TFTFTO0.html

Republicans Retain 2 Vacant House Seats

Dec 12, 2007

By JOHN SEEWER

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) - Republicans maintained control of both congressional seats that were up for grabs in special elections Tuesday in Ohio and Virginia, disappointing Democrats who had hoped to extend their gains in the House. In

Ohio

, a state representative defeated a Democrat making her third run for the seat. And in

Virginia

, a first-term state legislator easily won. Both elections were to fill seats left vacant by deaths. Jo Ann Davis, who had represented a southeastern

Virginia

district for seven years, died of breast cancer in October. Rep. Paul Gillmor, first elected in a northwest

Ohio

district in 1988, died in a fall in September.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2007/12/12/giuliani_backers_attack_taxach.html

Giuliani Backers Attack 'Taxachusetts Romney'

December 12, 2007

By Michael D. Shear

Former

Massachusetts

governor Mitt Romney may be in a tussle in

Iowa

with rival Mike Huckabee, the former governor of

Arkansas

. But former

New York

mayor Rudolph Giuliani is not about to let up the pressure in

New Hampshire

either. Tomorrow, a group of former members of Congress who back Giuliani will head to the

Granite

State

armed with what they claim is a list of dozens of fees that Romney raised while he was governor of the neighboring state. Calling him "Taxachusetts Romney," the Giuliani campaign alleges that as governor he raised nearly a half billion dollars in fees on the state's residents. That message will be carried to

New Hampshire

today by the former lawmakers: Senator Larry Pressler (SD), Congresswoman Susan Molinari (NY), Congresswoman Nancy Johnson (CT) and Congressman Jim Coyne (PA).

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8TFL9B81&show_article=1

 

Huckabee Questions Mormons' Belief 

Dec 11 2007

By LIBBY QUAID

WASHINGTON (AP) - Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, asks in an upcoming article, "Don't Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?" The article, to be published in Sunday's New York Times Magazine, says Huckabee asked the question after saying he believes Mormonism is a religion but doesn't know much about it. His rival Mitt Romney, the former

Massachusetts

governor, is a member of the Mormon church, which is known officially as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

http://www.motherjones.com/washington_dispatch/2007/12/huckabee-faith-baptist-pastor-sermons.html

Huckabee Hides His Full Gospel?

December 10, 2007

By David Corn and Jonathan Stein

Washington

Dispatch: Is Mike Huckabee the presidential candidate shunning Mike Huckabee the preacher? Before entering politics, he was a pastor at two Baptist churches. Now his campaign tells Mother Jones it won't make his sermons available to the media and the public.  Now that he has his moment in the political spotlight, former

Arkansas

governor Mike Huckabee does not want his days at the pulpit to be scrutinized.

http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=12427

Border Skirmishes

12/12/2007

By Liz Mair

Yesterday former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney launched the first negative TV ad of the 2008 cycle, hammering former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in

Iowa

for having "supported in-state tuition benefits for illegal immigrants" and "taxpayer-funded scholarships for illegal aliens." While a valid critique (Huckabee has never denied Romney's assertions), it was an odd maneuver. Obviously, Romney's campaign is concerned about Huckabee rising in the polls -- especially in

Iowa

, where caucus night is less than a month away. But launching the ad meant Romney is attacking on what is, at best, shaky ground. Although he did veto a bill offering in-state tuition to illegal immigrants, Romney has hardly been an immigration hawk.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20071212/D8TFUIO80.html

Romney: Attacks on Religion Go Too Far

Dec 12, 2007

By GLEN JOHNSON

BOSTON

(AP) - Republican Mitt Romney, amid questions about his faith raised by rival Mike Huckabee, said Wednesday that comparing political records on the stump and through the airwaves is legitimate for presidential contenders, but "attacking someone's religion is really going too far." In an article to be published Sunday in the New York Times, the front-running Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, asks, "Don't Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?" Romney, vying to become the first Mormon elected president, refused to answer that question during an interview Wednesday, saying church leaders in

Salt Lake City

had already addressed the topic

http://www.observer.com/2007/it-s-not-romney-s-religion-his-reversals

It’s Not Romney’s Religion, But His Reversals

December 11, 2007

by Jennifer Rubin

                              

Mitt Romney is panicked. He has invested over $7 million to get his pro-family policy message out to the social conservatives who dominate the

Iowa

caucuses, and has held nearly 200 events there to solidify his support. Then Mike Huckabee, a Baptist preacher with a sterling pro-life record, emerged. Rising to first in

Iowa

polls and second nationally, Mr. Huckabee threatened to become the alternative to Rudy Giuliani. Based on the idea that he had lost his lead because of “the Mormon problem,” Mr. Romney devised The Speech to assuage religious-right voters that his religious values are basically the same as theirs. But his problem isn’t simply his religion.

Mr. Romney’s decline is rooted in something more basic than that.

http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/2007/12/how_negative_will_romney_go.html

How Negative Will Romney Go?

December 12, 2007

by TOM BEVAN

JOHNSTON

,

IA

- Out of tactical options. That's how an aide from a rival campaign summed up his opinion of where the Romney campaign stands in

Iowa

right now. Now trailing by more than 10 points in the RCP Average with only three weeks until the caucuses, Romney now faces the dangerous and unenviable task of trying to burst Huckabee's bubble and bring him back to earth.So far Huckabee hasn't been slowed by stories about Wayne DuMond.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/11/AR2007121102168.html?hpid%3Dtopnews&sub=AR

Folk Ways

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

By Dana Milbank

Tell us, Fred Thompson, about your national security policy.

"The good guys win and the bad guys lose -- how 'bout that?"

Profound. And your economic policy?

"Free people, free markets, doin' free things together."

Well said. Do you worry that tax cuts might cause lost revenue?

"It ain't lost, it's in my pocket."

As for how he came to hold certain views on health care, he has this answer for his audience in

Anderson

,

S.C.

: "I had a conversation with my little mama back in

Franklin

,

Tennessee

."

http://www.wmur.com/politics/14826607/detail.html

Poll:

Clinton

Loses Lead, Romney Out In Front

December 12, 2007

WMUR New Hampshire

MANCHESTER

,

N.H.

-- A new poll shows that while the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for president holds a comfortable lead in

New Hampshire

, the Democratic race has tightened dramatically. According to the latest WMUR/CNN poll, Hillary Clinton's 20-point lead has vanished. She now has 31 percent support, with Barack Obama in a statistical tie at 30 percent. John Edwards is third with 16 percent, and Bill Richardson has slipped slightly to 7 percent. The poll was conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center over the weekend. Oprah Winfrey held a rally for Obama on Sunday, and it might have given him a bounce, analysts said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN1264728120071212

Clinton now faces tough path in New Hampshire

Wed Dec 12, 2007

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton faced a tougher-than-expected path in

New Hampshire

on Wednesday after seeing a big lead slip there, and a top aide denied reports of turmoil in her camp. Already staring at a close contest in

Iowa

with rivals Barack Obama and John Edwards, the former first lady has seen her double-digit lead vanish in

New Hampshire

.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2007/12/12/post_235.html

Clinton

N.H.

Official Warns Obama Will Be Attacked on Drug Use

December  12, 2007

By Alec MacGillis

DOVER

,

N.H.

-- Billy Shaheen, the co-chairman of Hillary Clinton's campaign in

New Hampshire

, raised the issue of Sen. Barack Obama's past admissions of drug use in discussing the relative electability of the Democrats seeking the presidential nomination today.  In an interview, Shaheen said, he remains perplexed about why, at this fraught point in history, voters and the media are not giving more attention to experienced Democratic candidates such as Sens. Chris Dodd and Joe Biden and are instead elevating into the first tier alongside Clinton a pair of candidates with less experience in Washington, Barack Obama and John Edwards. Shaheen also expressed his personal misgivings about whether Obama or Edwards would be electable if they became the party's nominee.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2007/12/12/2007-12-12_bill_clinton_to_aid_hillarys_campaign.html

Bill Clinton to aid Hillary's campaign

Wednesday, December 12th 2007

BY KENNETH R. BAZINET and THOMAS M. DeFRANK

WASHINGTON

- Bubba to the rescue! Alarmed by his wife's slide in the polls and disarray within her backbiting campaign, a beside-himself Bill Clinton has leaped atop the barricades and is furiously plotting a cure - or coup. "She's in big trouble and he knows it," a top Democratic operative and Hillary Clinton booster told the Daily News.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/12/edwards-takes-aim-at-republicans/

Edwards Takes Aim at Republicans

December 12, 2007

By Julie Bosman

GRINNELL, Iowa – Maybe it was the buzz around the Republican debate today, or a new CNN poll that showed John Edwards beating all of the top Republican contenders in a hypothetical presidential election. But today on the campaign trail, Mr. Edwards seemed to be racing against Republicans, not Democrats. He switched up the opening of his stump speech in

Iowa City

earlier today, rallying the crowd at a local public library with a fiery charge against the Republicans.

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/dems-and-gop-deadlocked-as-adjournment-draws-near-2007-12-12.html

Dems and GOP deadlocked as adjournment draws near 

By Alexander Bolton 

December 12, 2007 

Congress has been brought to a grinding halt by hardening Democratic and Republican stances on taxes and spending just days before lawmakers begin leaving Washington for Christmas and New Year’s. The two sides are, in some cases, refusing even to speak to each other about the massive omnibus and an Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) bill.Senate Republicans refused to meet Democrats Tuesday on spending and House Democrats rejected the Senate’s AMT “patch,” preparing a new version paid for with corporate tax increases. 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/12/AR2007121201791.html

House Passes $696B Defense Policy Bill

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

By ANNE FLAHERTY

WASHINGTON

-- The House passed a defense policy bill on Wednesday that would authorize $696 billion in military programs, including $189 billion for the wars in

Iraq

and

Afghanistan

. The measure, which covers the budget year that began Oct. 1, does not send money to the Pentagon. But it is considered a crucial policy measure because it guides companion spending legislation and dictates the acquisition and management of weapons programs. The Senate intended to follow suit this week and send the bill to President Bush, who is expected to sign it. The House vote was 370-49.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1196847320451&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

France

worried by Iran-Israel tension

December 12, 2007

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in an interview published Wednesday that there is a danger of war erupting over

Iran

's nuclear program if "the Israelis consider their security truly threatened." In the interview with Le Nouvel Observateur magazine, Sarkozy said

France

was more worried about tensions between

Iran

and

Israel

than between

Iran

and the

United States

. "I have never been for war," Sarkozy was quoted as saying. "The problem for us is not so much the risk that the Americans could launch a military intervention, but that the Israelis consider their security truly threatened. "The danger of a war exists," he was quoted as saying.