Articles of Interest 1-21-2008

290 Days until Election Day

MORNING UPDATE:

Thanks again to everyone who participated, helped, volunteered and got involved in the Presidential primary process.  It was a great success for Michigan!

Education Action Group created a response to the Bill Bonds' TV ad and it can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOnUlZSUcVc

EAG is not part of any "Right to Work" campaign but just wanted to call out Bonds for his arrogance in thinking that unions know what is better for workers than individual workers do.

Here is a link to Newt’s latest Platform of the American People…great stuff.

http://www.americansolutions.com/general/?Page=92410b2c-4bee-4ed9-80d6-c6c7ade635a3

or the .pdf version here:

http://www.americansolutions.com/media/4CDF1CEC-779C-4699-A123-A8992F4D9219/ba996614-8c97-4bad-8088-da0f4343ad81.pdf

I hope we use much of this information for our next platform.

Recalls are progressing…House Republicans are challenging the Governor’s tax and spend policies, Senate Republicans are pushing for structural reforms…the Governor’s and Democrat’s tax increase is costing taxpayers $39 a second…and they want more!

THE REST OF THE STORY:

The Presidential primary process….a big win for Michigan!!!

Anyway you look at it, the January 15th primary and everything that led towards it was a big success.

EVERY Republican candidate for President knows Michigan and better knows the issues uniquely affecting the state of Michigan.

Our last two Mackinac Island Leadership Conferences were enhanced by the fact that Presidential candidates and their surrogates joined us for our leadership conference efforts.

Presidential campaigns built organizations here, hired staff and helped recruit and motivate Republican activists…that helped build the party.

Presidential candidates helped Michigan Republicans, House and Senate caucuses, District and County parties raise MILLIONS of dollars for our campaigns over the past two years.

We hosted a Republican Presidential Debate…and almost got a second one!

We reminded everyone in America that Michigan makes cars and that much of the middle class was built on the backs of the domestic auto industry.

And finally we got lucky, Democrats not only ignored but boycotted Michigan.  This allowed Michigan’s independent voters and Reagan Democrats to personally meet and get to know our candidates, which should pay dividends come November 2008!

Now let’s get back to those “tax and spend” Michigan Democrats and help turn Michigan around!!!

Saul Anuzis

STATE STORIES

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5&docID=news-000002658056

‘Front-loading’ Frustration Spurs GOP Talk of a Fix

By Greg Giroux, CQ Staff

CQ TODAY

Jan. 20, 2008 – 3:52 p.m.

The winter meeting held by Republican National Committee (RNC) and concluded this weekend did not even seek to compete for attention with the presidential nominating events on Saturday in

Nevada

and

South Carolina

. But they did, in a low-profile manner, revive a debate over whether and how to fix a presidential nominating process that many participants and observers view as broken.

The GOP officials meeting in

Washington

,

D.C.

, did not miss the fact that the

Nevada

caucuses and

South Carolina

primary were already the fifth and sixth Republican voting events in the 2008 campaign — by Jan. 19 — with their multicandidate field hurtling toward a historic traffic jam of 21 Republican nominating events scheduled for Feb. 5.

With concerns about the uncontrolled “front-loading” of the presidential nominating schedule on the rise, at least among the political class, the RNC’s Rules Committee held preliminary discussions Thursday about proposals for overhauling the system that its members will be considering over the next few months.

http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1200813370259910.xml&coll=6

Election aftermath

Sunday, January 20, 2008

The presidential primary train steamed past

South Carolina

Saturday after a stopover in

Michigan

earlier in the week. Voters in both states, fatigued by the onslaught of television commercials, direct mail and automated campaign calls, may be happy to see the caboose disappearing in the distance.

Still,

Michigan

's primary did a huge service to this state and the nation. Candidates talked about our economy. For a brief time the country and world focused on this state's sour jobs picture and uncertain prospects. In fact, the

Michigan

primary seemed to be a turning point not just for Republican winner Mitt Romney, who could ill-afford a loss in the state where his father was a beloved three-term governor, but for the entire race. With the country on the threshold of recession, candidate talk has turned profitably to economic policy.

Michigan

's presidential primary began as a challenge to the national Democratic and Republican parties. Leaders there are determined at nearly any cost to protect the calendar primacy of

Iowa

and

New Hampshire

.

Michigan

violated party rules by scheduling an early primary. Now the state is being punished. Republicans say they'll refuse to seat half of

Michigan

's delegates at their convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Democrats have vowed not to seat any delegates when they meet in

Denver

. Driving the point home, Democrats even canceled coveted hotel rooms reserved for

Michigan

delegates.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MI_INDOOR_TANNING_MIOL-?SITE=MIPON&SECTION=STATE&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2008-01-20-19-55-49

Michigan

may add to regulations for indoor tanning salons

By TIM MARTIN

Associated Press Writer

Jan 20, 7:55 PM EST

LANSING

,

Mich.

(AP) -- That pre-spring break trip to a tanning salon could soon come with some extra paperwork.

A bill pending in the state House would strengthen existing health code requirements that customers under 18 get a parent's permission to get that manufactured golden glow. All customers regardless of age would have to sign a statement indicating they had read a written health warning upon their first visit and signs noting the potential dangers of ultraviolet radiation would have to be posted.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080121/NEWS06/801210368/1008

2 in GOP poised to challenge Levin

BY KATHLEEN GRAY

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

January 21, 2008

Now that the presidential primary season is over in

Michigan

, politicians and the politically minded are looking forward to the next round of elections.

Michiganders again will go to the polls in less than seven months -- the primary election is Aug 5; the general election follows on Nov. 4.

Republicans Andrew (Rocky) Raczkowski, 39, a former state representative from

Farmington Hills

, and state Rep. Jack Hoogendyk, 52, of

Texas

Township

in southwest

Michigan

, are making final preparations to announce their challenge to U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, a Democrat. Both have formed exploratory committees for the Senate race.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MI_SENATE_RACZKOWSKI_MIOL-?SITE=MIPON&SECTION=STATE&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2008-01-20-11-40-50

Raczkowski to challenge Levin for Senate

By KEN THOMAS

Associated Press Writer

Jan 20, 11:40 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former state Rep. Andrew "Rocky" Raczkowski plans to announce his second challenge to Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., on Monday, arguing that a newcomer is needed to help bolster's Michigan's economy and offer bipartisanship.

Raczkowski, a 39-year-old

Southfield

businessman, said he will seek the Republican nomination to challenge Levin because the state has declined in recent years. He said his military service in the U.S. Army Reserves in the Horn of Africa from 2003-04 made him "realize more than ever that partisan politics isn't what's going to get the job done."

"This time around, I know what I'm up against, I know what an undertaking it is but yet the same fervor that made me fight for what I believe, that Michigan families need, is the same thing that's propelling me now," he told The Associated Press.

http://battlecreekenquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080120/OPINION02/801200302

Maximizing

Michigan

's moment in spotlight

By T.R. SHAW JR.

GUEST COLUMNIST

The past few weeks have been an exciting time for news junkies like me, especially being a Michigander. After watching the caucuses and primaries in

Iowa

and

New Hampshire

, I took a lot of interest in the mass invasion by the national media into the

Great Lakes

State

.

They expressed and reported affection and sometimes a contempt for

Michigan

. It was an interesting study in media operations. The week before and during the primary,

Michigan

was analyzed, studied, celebrated and condemned by the national media's talking heads. Stand-ups were done in such exotic locations as

Ypsilanti

and

Kalamazoo

.

Michigan

was in the national spotlight but not always for the right reason. I was often embarrassed for my state as our problems were laid wide open in front of the rest of the world.

http://www.thetimesherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080118/NEWS01/801180307

States act to protect water

Officials: Water already is being utilized regionally

By NICHOLAS DESHAIS

Times Herald

Michigan

is drowning.

There is plenty of water here.

Lake Huron

alone contains more than 900 trillion gallons of water. Combined, the Great Lakes account for 95% of

America

's freshwater and 22% of the world's freshwater.

Despite those numbers, some people in the Blue Water Area are asking the same question: Is there enough?

Most agree we have enough water to fulfill our own needs - crops are sustained, there's plenty of drinking water to go around, power plants are cooled - but are unconvinced we have enough to share, sell or otherwise spread the water wealth to the rest of the nation.

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080120/OPINION03/801200310/1271/OPINION

Primary revealed a miserable

Michigan

Nolan Finley

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Moving up

Michigan

's presidential primary was intended to focus national attention on

Michigan

issues. And, boy, did it ever.

Google the coverage leading up to last Tuesday's balloting and you'll find a lot of this:

• "

Detroit

and smaller factory towns across southeastern

Michigan

have been ravaged by plant shutdowns and the layoffs of nearly a half-million workers since the mid-1980s. In places such as

Flint

and

Pontiac

, old auto plants have become ghost dumps, abandoned to decay." -- the

Los Angeles

Times.

• " an economically devastated place." -- BBC Radio.

• " economic gloom has has seeped through so much of this state." -- New York Times.

• "

Michigan

has the highest unemployment rate in the country and a badly hurting economy." -- motherjones.com.

http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080120/COL32/801200548/1068/OPINION

Soup, salad, and go easy on the politics

By RON DZWONKOWSKI

FREE PRESS COLUMNIST

January 20, 2008

Some folks got together recently, for supper and a leisurely conversation about hopes and dreams and fears and families and

Michigan

. They talked some about issues, but it was mostly personal, about getting to know each other better.

Man, was that an overdue meal.

The evening was arranged earlier this month at a private home for Gov. Jennifer Granholm, House Speaker Andy Dillon and Senate Republican Leader Mike Bishop. Bishop and Granholm brought their spouses, but Dillon's wife was ill, so he went alone.

There was no formal theme, but the principals agreed between courses that 2007 had been a tough, unfortunate and even embarrassing year for state government, and none of them wanted a repeat in 2008.

http://www.livingstondaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080120/OPINION01/801200345/1014/OPINION

Politics, politics, politics

Rich Perlberg

When the Straight Talk Express pulled into the

Crystal

Gardens

parking lot last Sunday afternoon in

Genoa

Township

, it delivered Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., into a packed gathering of mostly enthusiastic supporters. Then, two days later, Republican voters in the county made it clear that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was really their favorite son.

That shows, obviously, that you can't predict an election result based on the attendance at a campaign stop.

But it also shows that the core vote in

Livingston

County

is still ruled by the loyal conservative base, especially in a Republican primary, which is where most local elections are decided.

http://theoaklandpress.com/stories/012008/opi_20080120236.shtml

Stimulus deal must include public projects

By GLENN GILBERT

Of The

Oakland

Press

Sunday, January 20, 2008

There is an upside to the fact that 1) we are in a political campaign season and 2) there is increasing talk about the possibility of a national recession.

It means that it is time to start talking about the need for a federal economic stimulus package. And there is really no point in fighting it because the politicians -- led by some of the presidential candidates -- already have started the stampede toward it.

Better just to hold out your hand and hope

Oakland

County

and the rest of

Southeast Michigan

get their fair share of the money.

http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-40/1200813366259910.xml&coll=6

Blue-collar revival: factories or fiction?

By Julia BauerThe Grand Rapids Press

Sunday, January 20, 2008

GRAND RAPIDS

-- About the last thing beleaguered Michiganders wanted was another taste of bitter reality.

So, when Republican presidential candidate John McCain said he was telling

Michigan

voters the truth, he played a far too familiar tune: Factory jobs are being lost forever, retraining is the ticket to the new economy.

Happier talk carried the day for his opponent, Mitt Romney. In a feisty message, Romney told voters he would fight for every job, that manufacturing would see a revival. He vowed to head an automotive summit within the first 100 days of his presidency.

http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080120/OPINION01/801200541/1068/OPINION

The road to vitality

Political abandonment has proved deadly to

America

's crucial centers of strength

FREE PRESS EDITORIAL

January 20, 2008

American cities -- places of immense problems and enormous possibilities -- have vanished from the political landscape. No candidate is offering an urban agenda in this election year. It's dangerous for the country and shameful. Cities hold so many keys to solving the nation's problems -- if you can fix them there, you can fix them anywhere -- that anyone aspiring to be president ought to be pounding city pavements with ideas for shoring up our centers of population, culture and commerce.

To be sure, each presidential candidate has talked about issues that are important to cities, such as healthcare and jobs. But none has set forth a comprehensive revival program.

NATIONAL STORIES

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/us/politics/20assess.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

No Quick Knockouts as Races Move to New Terrain

By ADAM NAGOURNEY

Published: January 20, 2008

CHARLESTON

,

S.C.

— With his victory in

South Carolina

on Saturday, Senator John McCain of

Arizona

has accomplished what no other Republican presidential candidate has been able to do this year: he has captured two competitive contests. Not incidentally, this one was in the state that effectively sank his campaign in 2000.

In almost any other year, a victory like this — particularly in a state with a history of backing the eventual Republican nominee — would send the winner hurtling down the road toward the nomination.

But perhaps not this year, and perhaps not this candidate.

At the very least, Mr. McCain’s victory has helped him slow the rise of one of his main rivals, Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, who had looked to South Carolina, with its sizable base of evangelical Christians, as fertile ground for his appeal. After winning in

Iowa

, Mr. Huckabee has now lost three successive primaries.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/G/GIULIANI?SITE=MIPON&SECTION=POLITICS&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2008-01-20-18-23-24

Giuliani Puts Campaign Focus on Economy

By JENNIFER LOVEN

Associated Press Writer

Jan 20, 6:23 PM EST

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. (AP) -- Rudy Giuliani said Sunday he's the best pick in the GOP field for any voter concerned about lower taxes and less government spending, counting on a shift in emphasis to the economy to boost him to victory in this must-win state.

"The case for me is that I am the strongest fiscal conservative in the race," he said on ABC's "This Week," launching a two-day bus tour through

Florida

nine days before the state's primary.

The main focus of Giuliani's early campaign was his response to the Sept. 11 attacks on

New York

. That leadership claim still is prominent, just not dominant. The 2001 attacks themselves are only tangentially mentioned. Instead, he talks broadly - and briefly - about how he would prevail in the "Islamic terrorist war against us."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/H/HUCKABEE?SITE=MIPON&SECTION=POLITICS&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2008-01-20-19-42-22

Norris Says McCain Too Old for President

By APRIL CASTRO

Associated Press Writer

Jan 20, 7:42 PM EST

NAVASOTA

, Texas (AP) -- Campaigning for Mike Huckabee, actor Chuck Norris said Sunday that Sen. John McCain is too old to handle the pressures of being president.

"I didn't pick John to support because I'm just afraid that the vice president would wind up taking over his job in that four-year presidency," said Norris, who was hosting a fundraiser for Huckabee at his Lone Wolf Ranch.

"So we need to find someone that can handle it for four years or eight years ... that has the youth and vision and communication skills to make that work." Norris, 67, is four years younger than McCain, who will be 72 in August.

Huckabee will be 52 in August.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YjFiOWRjNmUwMDczODFlOWI3N2U1NmIwZWE1Njc0NjM=

In

South Carolina

, McCain Finally Gets the Home-Field Advantage

How the state political establishment put him over the top.

By Byron York

January 20, 2008

Charleston

— In the end, the same South Carolina Republican establishment that killed John McCain’s presidential candidacy in 2000 saved it in 2008. And when you say “establishment,” you’re not talking about some faceless organization – no, the same people who supported George W. Bush and worked hard to sink McCain in 2000 are here tonight, at the Holliday Alumni Center on the campus of The Citadel, celebrating McCain’s victory in the South Carolina primary. Things change.

Bobby Harrell, the powerful speaker of the state House of Representatives, is here, just as he was — as the powerful chairman of the

House Ways

and Means Committee – at the Bush victory party in 2000. Lots of other top officials and influential political figures are in the same position, and I ask Harrell what difference their support made.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/21/opinion/21kristol.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Thoroughly Unmodern McCain

By WILLIAM KRISTOL

Published: January 21, 2008

In his victory speech after winning the

South Carolina

primary Saturday night, John McCain acknowledged the economic challenges we face, and then said: “But nothing is inevitable in our country. We are the captains of our fate.”

McCain comes from a generation that, in its youth, was made to memorize poetry. And when I was able to get in touch with him Sunday in

Florida

, he told me that one of the poems he had memorized in school was William Ernest Henley’s “Invictus” (1875). McCain actually recited snatches of the poem in our cellphone conversation — not something he does every day on the campaign trail, he pointed out.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/novak/750145,CST-NWS-Novak20s1.article

McCain deals blow to Huckabee

GOP |

Arizona

senator comes out on top in key first Southern primary

Robert Novak

January 20, 2008

CHARLESTON

,

S.C.

--The state that devastated Sen. John McCain eight years ago gave him a victory Saturday that keeps his campaign vigorously alive for a historic showdown for the Republican presidential nomination with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

McCain scored a relatively close but absolute victory in the

South Carolina

primary against former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

If he had lost here, McCain's strategists here admitted privately, his comeback campaign would have been in big trouble. Instead, Huckabee's surprisingly successful candidacy may be dead after losing in the first Southern primary.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8U9QUJG0&show_article=1&catnum=3

Huckabee Hopes to Regain Momentum

Jan 20 03:27 PM US/Eastern

By APRIL CASTRO

Associated Press Writer

NAVASOTA, Texas (AP) - After a disappointing second place showing in the South Carolina Republican primary, Mike Huckabee hoped a fundraiser at the ranch of television star Chuck Norris Sunday would be the start of a momentum shift in his favor.

"Starting today, we reset the clock," Huckabee said. "I woke up this morning and I thought 'the momentum is back.'"

Huckabee needed to win

South Carolina

to validate his win in the

Iowa

caucuses on Jan. 3. Instead, he came in second to John McCain, who solidified a shaky GOP front-runner status that he first claimed after winning the

New Hampshire

primary Jan. 8.

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YjllYTYyNGZmZTNiYzQwN2NmODg5NTc2ZWVhOTc0ZDA=

Is Romney Viable?

Jonathan Adler

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Romney leads in the delegate count, but I think this weekend's results show astounding weakness in the candidate who was supposed to be the most electable conservative in the race.  Consider two things: 1) Romney spent $4 million and 22 days in

South Carolina

, and still finished behind Fred. 2) Romney has not one any seriously contested constest. 

Nevada

?

Wyoming

?  Please.  Where Romney has made a major investment (

Iowa

,

New Hampshire

,

South Carolina

) he has failed. 

Michigan

?  No other candidate made a comparable investment or effort to winning the state, so I'm not sure that helps the case.

What's Romney's problem?  For many folks (my self included), it is a perceived insincerity.  I too often get the sense that Romney is saying what he thinks folks want to hear instead of what he believes.  It isn't just the "evolution" of his views, it is also the small things: The small, subtle exaggerations that arise when Romney is trying to ingratiate himself with various groups. (Remember Romney the life-long hunter?) The blatant pandering to the auto industry in

Michigan

in a way that suggests some very unconservative views.  Romney's MBA style does not help much here, as it reinforces the perception of Romney as someone who solves problems without much regard to underlying ideological principle.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080120192446.fbi5p9xa&show_article=1&catnum=3

Republican lawmaker Hunter abandons bid for White House

Jan 20 02:24 PM US/Eastern

Republican long-shot candidate Duncan Hunter on Saturday dropped out of the race for his party's presidential nomination after a poor showing in the

Nevada

caucuses, his campaign said in a statement on Saturday.

"Today we end this campaign," the

California

lawmaker said in the statement.

"I ran the campaign exactly the way I wanted to, and at this point not being able to gain traction in conservative states of

Nevada

and

South Carolina

, it's time to allow our volunteers and supporters to focus on the campaigns that remain viable," he said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/20/AR2008012002521.html?hpid=topnews

GOP Field Readies for True Test In

Florida

The Top Candidates Finally Go All-Out In a Closed Primary

By Dan Balz

Washington

Post Staff Writer

Monday, January 21, 2008; Page A01

COLUMBIA

,

S.C.

, Jan. 20 -- Riding the momentum from his weekend victory in

South Carolina

, John McCain turned his attention Sunday to

Florida

and the high-stakes primary there that will test whether the

Arizona

senator can consolidate support among Republican voters and take control of the GOP nomination battle.

The Jan. 29 contest in

Florida

will be the first Republican primary closed to independent voters, who have provided McCain with his margins of victory in both

New Hampshire

and

South Carolina

. A victory, strategists agreed, would stamp McCain as the front-runner in what has been a muddied Republican race and give him a clear advantage heading toward Super Tuesday on Feb. 5.

Leaving

South Carolina

on Sunday, McCain at first seemed hesitant to adopt the mantle of Republican leader. "I don't know how to define a front-runner," he told reporters asking him if he believed he was now the candidate to beat in the GOP race.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/G/GOP_FLORIDA_BOUND?SITE=MIPON&SECTION=POLITICS&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2008-01-20-19-55-48

GOP Presidential Race Turns to

Florida

By LIZ SIDOTI

Associated Press Writer

Jan 20, 7:55 PM EST

MIAMI

(AP) -- The Republican presidential race turned to

Florida

on Sunday, ever more chaotic and contentious as four candidates began a 10-day sprint to win the state and momentum heading into the de facto national primary next month.

A fifth candidate, Fred Thompson, weighed the future of his bid after a disappointing third-place finish in

South Carolina

.

With

Florida

next in the nomination fight, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney wasted no time angling for the upper-hand. They heaped criticism on John McCain, the

Arizona

senator coming off hard-fought

New Hampshire

and

South Carolina

victories, hours before he arrived in

Miami

.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FLORIDA_PRIMARY?SITE=MIPON&SECTION=POLITICS&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2008-01-20-11-31-16

GOP Primary a Toss-Up in

Florida

By BRENDAN FARRINGTON

Associated Press Writer

Jan 20, 11:31 AM EST

TALLAHASSEE

,

Fla.

(AP) -- So close to Republican hearts,

Florida

is a state of bewilderment for the party now.

Its changing population, shifting political alliances and states-within-a-state diversity make it a wild card in the race for the GOP presidential nomination, and a card that matters. The state that gave new meaning to elections too close to call is playing its unpredictable self again.

Quite by design,

Florida

now finds itself in play after years of little impact in nomination contests.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CAMPAIGN_TESTS?SITE=MIPON&SECTION=POLITICS&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2008-01-20-14-34-59

Clinton

, McCain Next Face Tough Tests

By ALAN FRAM

Associated Press Writer

Jan 20, 2:34 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The voting blocs that made winners of Hillary Rodham Clinton and John McCain in weekend presidential contests don't automatically spell victory for them in the contests next up.

Democrats vote in

South Carolina

on Saturday, followed by the Republican contest in

Florida

three days later.

Clinton

won

Nevada

Democratic voters by capturing majorities of whites and Hispanics. Barack Obama got eight in 10 blacks in the campaign's first true test of the two rivals' appeal to that constituency.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NTQwNGI1YTgwN2NhNWYwZTI4MjBiM2E2ODUzMmM3YjI=

Mostly Decent Politics

Campaign memories.

By Michael Barone

January 19, 2008 12:00 AM

My campaign and election memories go back to 1960, when I was one of the few who backed John Kennedy at an election night party that my parents were throwing.

The early broadcasts had him winning big (they extrapolated that his gains in heavily Roman Catholic Connecticut would be matched across the mostly Protestant country), and I was too young to stay up for the dramatic conclusion.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/21/us/politics/21memo.html?hp

On Eve of King Holiday, Race Dominates Campaign

By JEFF ZELENY

Published: January 21, 2008

ATLANTA — As he stood at the pulpit of Ebenezer Baptist Church here, addressing worshipers at the former congregation of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Senator Barack Obama was doing something Sunday that he has rarely done in his months of campaigning for the presidency.

He was appearing before a black audience, and he was speaking about race.

For nearly a year, as the fight for the Democratic presidential nomination wound through

Iowa

and

New Hampshire

, Mr. Obama has strived to run a race-neutral campaign. Yet this week, as the campaign converges on

South Carolina

, a new test is at hand for Mr. Obama: Can he draw significant support from African-Americans while maintaining the appeal of a candidate who seeks to transcend race?

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0108/8002.html

Obama faces off against both

Clintons

By: Carrie Budoff Brown

Jan 20, 2008 09:19 PM EST

ATLANTA

– Illinois Sen. Barack Obama launched Sunday what his top aides described as a more aggressive bid to challenge “unbelievable falsehoods” pressed last week in

Nevada

by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and former President Bill Clinton.

With Obama’s new strategy, the Democratic nomination fight took on a new contour: It’s Obama versus two Clintons, not just one. And the line of attack emerging from his second consecutive primary loss appears to be this: The Clintons are a couple whose words cannot always be trusted.

“You know the former president, who I think all of us have a lot of regard for, has taken his advocacy on behalf of his wife to a level that I think is pretty troubling,” Obama told ABC’s “Good Morning America” in an interview taped Sunday and set to air Monday. “He continues to make statements that are not supported by the facts — whether it's about my record of opposition to the war in

Iraq

or our approach to organizing in

Las Vegas

. This has become a habit, and one of the things that we're gonna have to do is to directly confront Bill Clinton when he's making statements that are not factually accurate.”

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/D/DEMOCRATS_BLACKS?SITE=MIPON&SECTION=POLITICS&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2008-01-20-19-47-27

Obama Urges Unity;

Clinton

Visits

Harlem

By NEDRA PICKLER

Associated Press Writer

Jan 20, 7:47 PM EST

ATLANTA

(AP) -- Barack Obama called Sunday for unity to overcome the country's problems and acknowledged that "none of our hands are clean" when it comes to healing divisions. Hillary Rodham Clinton picked up a

Harlem

church leader's endorsement.

Heading into the most racially diverse contest yet in the presidential campaign, Obama took to the pulpit at Martin Luther King Jr.'s

Ebenezer

Baptist

Church

on the eve of the federal holiday marking the civil rights hero's birth 79 years ago. He based his speech on King's quote that "Unity is the great need of the hour."

"The divisions, the stereotypes, the scapegoating, the ease with which we blame the plight of ourselves on others, all of that distracts us from the common challenges we face: war and poverty; inequality and injustice," Obama said. "We can no longer afford to build ourselves up by tearing each other down. We can no longer afford to traffic in lies or fear or hate. It is the poison that we must purge from our politics; the wall that we must tear down before the hour grows too late."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CLINTON?SITE=MIPON&SECTION=POLITICS&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2008-01-20-14-59-20

Clinton

Heads to Harlem After

Nevada

Win

By KAREN MATTHEWS

Associated Press Writer

Jan 20, 2:59 PM EST

NEW YORK (AP) -- Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton attended services Sunday at a historic black church in Harlem, a day after her victory in the Nevada caucus and with a fresh challenge looming ahead of her in South Carolina.

Clinton

received a standing ovation from the congregation at the

Abyssinian

Baptist

Church

, founded by Ethiopian sea traders more than 200 years ago. Rev. Calvin Butts, a

Clinton

supporter, introduced her as someone who "has been our friend."

In her remarks,

Clinton

told churchgoers how pleased she was to be there on the weekend before the federal holiday honoring Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and she recounted how she had gone with her church youth group to hear him speak.

http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080121/NEWS01/801210342/1001/news

The dream: Has it yet become a reality?

40 years after King's death, some call progress slow

Kathleen Lavey

Lansing

State

Journal

Published January 21, 2008

Forty years ago this April, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in

Memphis

,

Tenn.

By 1968, most of the

United States

was aware of the civil rights leader's dream of equality for all races.

He delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech in August 1963 in

Washington

,

D.C.

, demanding an end to segregation and discrimination against blacks.

In 1964, accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, he brought home the point that the job that earned him the honor was not yet done.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/96369

Stimulating Talk, Redux

Washington

will stimulate the economy by enacting pet agendas in the name of recovery from a perhaps nonexistent recession.

George F. Will

Jan 28, 2008 Issue

When Bob Kerrey, governor of and then senator from

Nebraska

, was asked about dating the actress Debra Winger, he said she was his "stimulus package." That versatile locution is back in vogue and is being applied to the economy, of all things.

Partisanship in

Washington

can be costly, but so can consensus, and suddenly there is agreement that the economy needs to be stimulated. The supposed crisis that is causing this meeting of political minds is that the market is correcting some mistakes made about something central to capitalism, not to mention progress—risk taking. There has been too much risky lending to unqualified ("subprime") borrowers, who were living riskily.

Corrections are necessary: When too much housing has been built, the market must clear the inventory. Corrections can be painful: Housing prices have declined. Lower housing costs are not an unmixed curse: Partly because of something dating from 1913 (the mortgage-interest deduction) and partly because of recent low interest rates, too much American wealth is tied up in housing. But houses are most Americans' largest assets, so homeowners, feeling less wealthy, are curtailing their spending, which causes lenders to curtail their lending, which further inhibits spending.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ?SITE=MIBAT&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

US: Armor-Piercing Bomb Attacks Down

By KIM GAMEL

Associated Press Writer

Jan 20, 7:52 PM EST

BAGHDAD

(AP) -- The

U.S.

military worried Sunday about "mixed messages" from

Iran

, listing a dramatic drop in Iranian-made weapons reaching

Iraq

but no reduction in the training and financing of Shiite militants.

The report card further muddles U.S.-Iranian relations as

Washington

ratchets up its anti-Tehran rhetoric in the shadow of a recent intelligence report that the Islamic Republic halted a nuclear weapons program four years ago.

A second suicide bombing in two days, meanwhile, killed six people in Anbar province, birthplace of the Sunni movement against al-Qaida in

Iraq

that has been a major factor in a recent downturn in nationwide violence.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080120174701.146sv1bp&show_article=1&catnum=3

Iran

,

Pakistan

to be at the heart of Rice's

Europe

trip

Jan 20 12:47 PM US/Eastern

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice begins in

Berlin

on Tuesday a new tour of Europe expected to focus on the nuclear standoff with

Iran

and

Pakistan

's political turmoil.

In

Germany

's capital, Rice will meet with her counterparts from

Britain

,

France

,

Germany

,

Russia

and

China

to discuss a proposal to impose new sanctions against

Iran

over its refusal to halt its disputed nuclear program.

Washington and its European Union allies are pushing for a third set of United Nations sanctions against Iran for defying international demands that it stop uranium enrichment activities that they fear could be used to make a bomb.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080120192806.p1z1bpat&show_article=1&catnum=3

US rejects

Japan

request over fuel use in 'war on terror': report

Jan 20 02:28 PM US/Eastern

The

United States

has rejected a request by

Japan

that it verify

Tokyo

's contribution to the US-led "war on terror" in

Afghanistan

is not used for military operations in

Iraq

, a report said Sunday.

Japan

on Thursday ordered two naval ships back to the Indian Ocean after parliament forced through the resumption of the mission to provide fuel and other support to coalition forces operating in

Afghanistan

.

Ahead of the resumption, scheduled for mid-February,

Japan

and the

United States

are making arrangements to exchange documents on details of support later this month, according to Kyodo News service.