216 Days until Election Day
MORNING UPDATE:
Our Michigan delegation presented our “Victory Plan” to the national McCain campaign in conjunction with the RNC yesterday. Michigan is a swing state that will play a key role in this fall’s election. We are ready to help elect our next President…John McCain.
In other action, the RNC Rules Committee passed the Ohio Plan, taking the first step towards changing the rules for the 2012 presidential process. Next step the full RNC meeting in August and then, on to the convention.
I opposed the Ohio Plan and will support amendments at the RNC meeting to a) eliminate the IA, NH, NV & SC “first in the nation” preference and b) eliminate 19 other states pre-determined timing advantage over MI under all circumstances. Additionally, the Ohio Plan almost assures that we would have to use a “convention” rather than a primary to select our nominee…a mixed blessing giving conservatives a stronger voice in the process.
I think the current system, with an amendment moving the timetable back to a start date in March, which maximizes our flexibility and protects state rights to chose their own timetable, is a better deal for Michigan Republicans than the Ohio plan. Damn those Buckeyes!
It saddens me to inform you that long time Republican activist Ed Wysinski passed away the afternoon of April 1st. More information about Ed’s funeral is below.
THE REST OF THE STORY:
The California GOP Chair shared the following, which echoes many of my concerns:
The RNC’s Rules Committee has reported out a proposal for reforming the presidential nominating schedule for 2012. The “Ohio Plan” sets up a calendar for states to hold their primaries that puts four states first (Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada), followed by a window for 19 small states to vote next. Lastly, the remaining states would vote regionally in three groups, with those three groups rotating in order every four years.
The net effect of the Ohio plan is that large states like California will never be among the first states voting. Under the plan, at least 23 states will always have voted before California’s regional primary window.
Here is Congressional Quarterly’s description of the Ohio Plan:
• Ohio Plan: Promoted by Ohio Republican leader Bennett… the Ohio Plan would create a pod of small-population states that would be permitted to vote first in every presidential election year. It differs from the Delaware Plan in that the Ohio Plan’s three other pods would be based on region and not scaled according to state size. These groupings — one of states in the Eastern and Midwestern United States, one encompassing the South and other covering the West — would have roughly similar allocations of electoral votes, and would rotate their order in the nominating process every four years. (emphasis added)
The RNC Rules Committee plan is only a recommendation. The Republican National Convention’s rules committee will next determine what is referred to the floor of the national convention for adoption. The national convention has the final word, and may choose a different route. Small states have a disproportionate vote on the RNC and convention rules committees, where each state is represented equally, compared to the full convention which is more proportional by population.
As the California state chairman, I cannot support a primary system that does not give California a fair opportunity to be among the first states voting in future presidential elections, at least on a rotating basis. Unless amended, under the Ohio plan California will never vote before at least 23 other states have cast ballots. Given that any change in California’s primary date must be approved by the state legislature, I can’t see why our state would embrace a plan where we are permanently in the bottom half of the batting order.
-I want to share with you a note Ed’s wife Kay sent around to many about Ed and funeral arrangements:
My son James and I are sad to tell you that Ed died this afternoon at Eaton Community Hospice in Charlotte , MI . He suffered a massive stoke on Thursday night, just an hour after our good-night conversation from the hospital. He was in a complete coma as a result and suffered no pain in his final days. Many of you know that Ed had several health issues not the least of which was Multiple Sclerosis. Ed had suffered much for the past three years and we are sad but happy that he has been called home.
There will be a memorial visitation at Holihan-Atkin Funeral Home, 406 N Bridge St, Grand Ledge, MI 48837 517-627-2531 on FRIDAY, April 4, 2008 from 3-8 pm with a rosary at 7pm. The funeral will be held at St. Michael Church, 345 Edwards Street, Grand Ledge, 517-627-8493 at 11am on SATURDAY April 5 with a visitation in the church at 10 am.
Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Most of you know Ed’s sense of humor and great wit so you’ll appreciate that he decided to leave us on April Fool’s Day as his final joke.
Saul Anuzis
STATE STORIES
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080403/OPINION03/804030377/1409/METRO
Mayor Kilpatrick's troubles splitting region
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Laura Berman
As if we don't have enough problems in this region, associates of Kwame Kilpatrick are now trying to flush out hostile voices of those who don't have the right credentials to speak up. After a Kilpatrick staffer sent an e-mail urging citizens to form a "Media Watch" to voice support for the mayor and against those who lack an "authentic interest" in the city, the mayor's office didn't endorse it -- and didn't mind. "We are pleased to have employees who support the vision our mayor has to move Detroit forward," said James Canning, the mayor's deputy press secretary. But this isn't forward, it's backward: the e-mail wail of the besieged, hunkering down in the bunkers and shutting down any voices that might belong to foes. It's not a sign of strength -- and worse, it can be crippling to a city that needs outside support, whatever the fortunes of its mayor.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080403/METRO/804030353
City Council may probe Ferguson
Questions are raised about contracts awarded to Kilpatrick's friend.
David Josar, Christine Macdonald and Robert Snell / The Detroit News
Thursday, April 3, 2008
DETROIT -- City Council members this week are expected to call for an investigation into government contracts awarded directly or indirectly to Ferguson Enterprises Inc., a heavy construction firm owned by a friend of the mayor, as the fallout continues to widen from the text message scandal. Those seeking a probe want to know, among other things, if Ferguson was shown favoritism because of his friendship with Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. "There are questions that haven't been answered. We've tried to find answers but now more is surfacing that makes one question if all the contracting rules have been followed," said Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel. She said she is prepared to initiate the probe Friday, in the Budget, Finance and Audit Committee she chairs.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080403/NEWS01/804030428
Mayor: Tap casinos to spur city growth
$300-million plan for upgrades, jobs hinges on rise in gambling tax revenue
BY ZACHARY GORCHOW
April 3, 2008
The City of Detroit can fund crucial upgrades to its aging infrastructure and create jobs by tapping into increasing revenues from the three new permanent casinos, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick said Wednesday as he unveiled the details of his $300-million economic stimulus plan. The plan's linchpin is $200 million in public works projects to rebuild everything from police and fire stations to streetscapes and parks. Reaction to the plan included worries about whether the money would materialize to repay the bonds the city hopes to sell and criticism that shiny new facilities are meaningless if the city doesn't have enough employees to deliver services. The plan also drew praise for addressing infrastructure. It's still unclear whether the city will need the state's permission to sell the bonds because it's late in submitting its 2006-07 fiscal year audit. But city officials voiced optimism.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080403/METRO/804030381
Mayor adds to stimulus proposal
Critics say borrowing money while the city has high deficits is bad move.
Christine MacDonald / The Detroit News
Thursday, April 3, 2008
DETROIT -- Embattled Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick on Wednesday released more details on his proposed $300 million economic stimulus plan, saying he hopes the City Council will "look past politics" and approve the borrowing that would pay for a variety of big-ticket projects. But he's likely to face questions from skeptical council members, who last month called for him to resign over the $8.4 million whistle-blower scandal, in part citing the city's precarious finances. Several declined comment on the plan Wednesday, saying they needed to review the information. But they have long lists of questions about how the deal would work. A timeline suggested Wednesday by Kilpatrick assumes the council would approve the plan by the end of next week. Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel said it will be "impossible" for the council to do a thorough review of the proposal in the timeline sought by the mayor. "It will take a great deal of in-depth analysis," she said.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080403/METRO/804030443/1409/METRO
Cockrel eyes mayor run
Mark Hicks / The Detroit News
Thursday, April 3, 2008
DETROIT -- City Council President Kenneth Cockrel Jr. says he is considering running for mayor. "It's definitely something I'm thinking about but I haven't made any formal decision," he said late Wednesday. "I'm not in a position to say I'm a candidate for 2009." The topic arose this week during a Michigan Municipal League conference in Lansing when a reporter asked about his plans. Cockrel, who would step in if Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick leaves office, acknowledged last month he was drafting plans to run City Hall in case of the mayor's resignation or removal. Kilpatrick can be removed from office by the City Council only if he is convicted of a felony. AFSCME Local 207 President John Riehl declined to comment on Cockrel's qualifications, but said, "If he does become mayor, I hope he reverses privatizations of public jobs and brings back services we've seen in the past."
http://www.macombdaily.com/stories/040308/loc_local04.shtml
Cox wants Web site to let taxpayers track spending
Transparency key to open, clean government, says attorney general
By Chad Selweski
PUBLISHED: Thursday, April 3, 2008
Attorney General Mike Cox on Wednesday called for the creation of an interactive Web site that would allow taxpayers to quickly track information about how the state's $42 billion budget is spent. The online site would provide "transparency and accountability," Cox said, by offering information about department expenditures, contracts, purchases, tax breaks, salaries and wages, fringe benefits, rent and equipment. "Michigan has a history of clean government and open government, and I think those two things go together," said Cox, who in February established a Web page detailing his office's expenses. Twelve states have Web sites that offer spending information and 15 other states are moving in that direction. The federal government launched a site in December that grew out of bipartisan legislation co-sponsored by Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080403/AUTO01/804030354
Carmakers fight fuel rules state by state
Industry hopes to convince them not to adopt Calif.'s tougher emissions regulations.
David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington Bureau
Thursday, April 3, 2008
WASHINGTON -- Automakers are taking their battle against even tougher fuel efficiency requirements from the nation's capital to state capitals around the country. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the trade group that represents Detroit's Big Three, Toyota Motor Corp., Daimler AG and five other automakers, is trying to convince states not to adopt California's emissions rules, which are stricter than federal regulations and would require a 30 percent reduction in tailpipe emissions by 2016. That would force automakers to build cars that average 43.7 miles per gallon and light trucks that average 27 mpg. At least 20 states have already adopted California's standards or are considering doing so. Since the beginning of the year, Dave McCurdy, CEO of the auto alliance and a former Democratic congressman from Oklahoma, has met with the governors of Utah, Wyoming, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Montana, as well as numerous state legislators.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080403/OPINION01/804030312/1007/OPINION
Exporting Calif.'s rule would wreck vehicles
Let automakers focus on meeting higher fed fuel standards
William H. Noack
Thursday, April 3, 2008
No sooner had the ink from President Bush's signature dried on last year's long-awaited energy bill -- calling for a 35 miles-per-gallon average for cars and trucks by 2020 -- than environmental activists and their lawyers began turning up the heat for an even tougher standard. This time the object of their affection was an import from California, a fuel economy measure disguised as a way to lessen the threat of global warming. The California standard requires strict limits on tailpipe carbon dioxide (CO2), and the only way to achieve them is to drive farther on a gallon of gasoline. More specifically, to meet the standard, vehicles must reach an average of 43 miles per gallon by 2016. Most auto people will correctly point out that the 43 mpg number threatens the existence of the industry. It's not good environmentalism, they say; it's insanity. Even so, the far more odious element of the California measure is not just its level of stringency.
http://www.mlive.com/business/index.ssf/2008/04/governor_signs_bills_aimed_at.html
Governor signs bills aimed at easing mortgage foreclosure crisis
The Associated Press
Wednesday April 02, 2008, 11:11 AM
Governor Jennifer Granholm has signed bills aimed at making state housing loan programs available to more Michigan residents. The bills signed Wednesday are designed to help lessen the wave of mortgage foreclosures gripping Michigan. Some homeowners struggling with rising adjustable rate mortgages will be able to get lower fixed rate loans through the Michigan Housing Development Authority. Another program helps people who have been delinquent on payments and are at risk of losing their homes. The programs will be paid for by taxable bonds. Homeowners will be responsible for the full value of their refinanced mortgages.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080403/OPINION01/804030316/1007/OPINION
Don't shift mortgage burden to taxpayers
The Detroit News
Thursday, April 3, 2008
The key principle that should govern any federal legislation to aid homeowners and lending institutions in the mortgage crisis is that American taxpayers should be protected. Unwise mortgage lenders and unwary or sometimes unscrupulous borrowers should not have an unending claim on the federal treasury. Nor should local communities end up with an inventory of foreclosed houses that banks couldn't sell. Democratic and Republican senators are working on legislation they hope to usher through their chamber this week. It reportedly will include authorization of $10 billion in bonds to refinance home loans, $4 billion in funds for cities or local housing authorities to buy foreclosed houses, a $200 million counseling program for homeowners facing foreclosure and a tax credit for buyers of foreclosed homes or unsold new homes. Additional legislation would give the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) authority to ensure up to $400 billion in mortgages.
http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080403/NEWS01/804030345/1001/NEWS
House panel rejects legislation to create two Michigan casinos
Foes fear setting of precedent; backers cite need for jobs
Ken Thomas
April 3, 2008
WASHINGTON - A House committee registered its opposition Wednesday to two proposed Indian casinos in Michigan that have split the state's congressional delegation. The House Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to recommend that the full House reject separate measures that would advance two proposed casinos in Romulus and Port Huron. Rep. John Conyers, a Detroit Democrat who chairs the Judiciary Committee, said the legislation "would set a dangerous precedent blazing a wide new pathway to opening new casinos, not just in Michigan, but all over the country." The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians and the Bay Mills Indian Community reached agreements in 2002 with the state to take land in Romulus and Port Huron, respectively, and build off-reservation casinos. The bills would provide land to house the two new casinos in exchange for settling 110 acres of land claims near Charlotte Beach in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Congress needs to approve the deal.
Liquor rules: Legislators need to review pricing scheme on alcohol
A Lansing State Journal editorial
April 3, 2008
The Michigan Liquor Control Commission wants to hire six more investigators to deter smuggling. This would cost Michigan about $500,000 more for an agency that will spend $15.6 million this year. A better job for the Legislature right now is to consider why smuggling is so prevalent and the need for investigators so acute. Maybe legislators should look to market forces to govern liquor sales, rather than a state distribution and taxation scheme that makes spirits far more expensive here than in neighboring states. In making the spending request to a Senate panel last week, commission officials said the investment could yield an additional $14 million in liquor taxes now lost to smuggling, reported the Gongwer News Service. Further, "Julie Wendt with the LCC said buying liquor in Indiana or Illinois to sell in Michigan could yield retailers about 30 percent additional profit on their sales. 'So it's quite lucrative for retailers to import illegally,' she said."
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080403/OPINION01/804030356/1068/OPINION
Fix failing schools
Calloway's Detroit plan aims to serve students better
April 3, 2008
When Detroit Public Schools Superintendent Connie Calloway took the job, she said she'd be a leader driven by sound data, not by tradition or community pressure. Calloway's decision to remove all the teachers and administrators from five larger schools that will be broken up into smaller independent schools honors that early promise. Frankly, she'd be irresponsible to continue DPS' defensive stand against reams of national data showing why smaller schools work and why many Detroit schools lead more students away from education than into college. Calloway's call is a solid one that would be made stronger by collaborating with the Detroit Federation of Teachers, whose members, like it or not, remain the foot soldiers of any plan for change.
Paul Opsommer: Radio chips easily can be misused by government
Efforts to secure passports have gotten out of hand
State Rep. Paul Opsommer:
April 3, 2008
Federal passports received more black eyes last week. Along with concerns over compromised personal data came allegations that taxpayers are again being overcharged, with passport prices increasing at the artificially high rate of more than 50 percent since 1998. One reason for the illegal passport profits came with the revelation that the radio frequency identification chips in our passports were being assembled in Thailand, supposedly because no American supplier met the RFID standards of the United Nations' International Civil Aviation Organization. This obviously raised several valid security concerns, and is yet another example of the federal government pushing too quickly for embedding RFID in our identity documents. When one considers that the world's biggest RFID card market is in communist China, I'm not convinced we should be rushing into this at all.
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/04/republicans_weigh_calendar_cha.html
GOP Weighs Calendar Changes for 2012
Chris Cillizza
April 2, 2008
An astute reader notes that the actual "pods" for the large states were amended during the process and no longer split only on geographic lines. The new pod lists are after the jump. Also, Saul Anuzis, the chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, said he opposed the Ohio plan, and, in an email to supporters said the plan could drastically extend the primary fight in 2012. "The Ohio Plan almost assures that we would have to use a 'convention' rather than a primary to select our nominee...a mixed blessing giving conservative a stronger voice in the process," wrote Anuzis
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080403/METRO/804030355
Stabenow's husband entangled in prostitution sting
Jennifer Chambers
April 3, 2008
TROY -- Radio executive Tom Athans, husband of U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, expressed remorse Wednesday after being caught in February by a Troy police sting aimed at catching prostitutes. Stabenow said she wanted "folks to know that I'm grateful for their prayers and support." Athans, in a statement, said: "No words can fully express how sorry I am. At the time this incident occurred, I took responsibility for my actions and fully cooperated with law enforcement. My family and I are dealing with this matter in a personal and private way." Athans, the co-founder and former CEO of the liberal-progressive Democracy Radio, was stopped Feb. 26 by undercover officers investigating a possible prostitution ring in a room at the Residence Inn near Big Beaver and Interstate 75. Athans paid a 20-year-old prostitute $150 for sex in the Troy hotel but was not arrested, according to police reports obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by The Detroit News.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080403/NEWS03/804030431
Stabenow: Work is focus
Husband's action now a family issue
BY KORIE WILKINS and TODD SPANGLER
April 3, 2008
Saying she's going through a "very difficult and personal time," U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow on Wednesday promised to focus on her job in Washington while dealing with revelations that her husband paid a prostitute $150 for sex in a Troy hotel. Talking to the Free Press in Washington, Stabenow, a 57-year-old Democrat from Lansing who married radio talk-show executive Tom Athans in 2003, refused to discuss whether the two remain together or how she learned what he told Troy police detectives in late February. She would say only that "we'll be working through this as a family." The story, reported first on freep.com Wednesday morning, is the latest in a string of sex scandals touching figures in public life. Last month, New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned after reports he had bought sex through a high-priced prostitution service. His replacement, David Patterson, the former lieutenant governor, began his governorship by acknowledging extramarital affairs.
http://metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=12749
Dr. K's bad idea
The odds are heavily against Dr. Kevorkian getting on the ballot, let alone getting elected.
by Jack Lessenberry
4/2/2008
Fourteen years or so ago, Jack Kevorkian called me to ask a question. Someone had told him you could collect signatures and get an amendment put on the ballot to change the Michigan Constitution. Yes, I told him. That was absolutely true. "Well, how many do you need?" he asked. I looked it up; back then it was only about 260,000. "Is that all? Why, we can get that many in no time," he said excitedly. "I could get that many by myself." Later, he checked in again. He had never voted. Was that a problem? Well, you need to register, I said. How do you do that, he asked? Eventually, he got himself registered, and Kevorkian and his supporters — he then had quite a few of them —went to work. But they never got anything close to the number of signatures they needed; insiders told me that when their time expired, they had less than half that.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080403/OPINION01/804030317/1007/OPINION
Wayne County shouldn't bet on horse racing
Prime land near airport sold for $1 for proposed race track
The Detroit News
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Wayne County taxpayers are about to become major investors in one of the riskiest of entertainment enterprises -- horse racing. The county commission gave tentative approval for the transfer of 320 acres of prime, publicly owned development land in Huron Township near Detroit Metropolitan Airport to a group that plans to build a horse racing track. The sale price: $1. The developers of Pinnacle Race Course agreed to pay $16 million, or $50,000 an acre, if they don't create 1,100 jobs at the track in six years. In addition, they'll pay Huron Township $700,000 a year to defray road, sewer and other improvements. But when the county began buying up land for the 800-acre Pinnacle Park more than a decade ago, it envisioned leveraging the proximity to the airport to attract manufacturing plants, warehouses and transportation businesses.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080402/METRO/804020437
Frankenmuth's Christmas king Bronner dies at 81
Detroit News staff and wire reports
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
FRANKENMUTH -- Wallace "Wally" Bronner, who started a retail empire in his parents' basement before moving it to a 28-acre store, has died. He was 81. Bronner, a fixture in Frankenmuth for decades, turned his Bronner's Christmas Wonderland into a tourist attraction that drew millions annually. But he made sure to keep an emphasis on the Nativity and Christian traditions. "We regard every person who comes here as a visitor," Bronner told The Detroit News for an article published Nov. 28, 1982. "If they happen to buy something, fine. But we treat them as visitors, not customers." He usually wore a green blazer and red pants and would meet visitors with a Merry Christmas greeting in one of 70 languages. His store was considered to be the largest of its kind in the world. His son, Wayne, was named president and chief executive of Bronner's Christmas Wonderland in 1998, and daughters Carla Spletzer and Maria Sutorik were named vice presidents.
NATIONAL STORIES
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/politics/bal-mccain0402,0,4146187.story
McCain credits lessons learned at Naval Academy
'Service to America' campaign tour makes stops in Annapolis
By Paul West and Josh Mitchell
10:18 PM EDT, April 2, 2008
John McCain, promoting his life story with a "service to America" campaign tour, stopped Wednesday at the place that service began more than half a century ago, the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee's weeklong swing is designed to publicize aspects of McCain's biography that, his strategists hope, will work to his advantage in the general election against the less experienced Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. Deliberately or otherwise, the heavily scripted events, centered on his military career and 5½ years in a North Vietnamese prison, have also drawn attention to McCain's temper and age.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/04/service_to_america_us_naval_ac.html
"Service to America" U.S. Naval Academy
John McCain
April 02, 2008
Thank you. I am very happy to be here. Annapolis holds a special place in my life, and in the years that have passed since my father drove me to the gates of the Naval Academy to begin my plebe year, memories of my experiences here are often bathed in the welcome haze of nostalgia for the time when I was brave and true and better looking than I am at present. But witnesses to my behavior here, a few of whom are present today, as well as a nagging conscience, have a tendency to interrupt my reverie for a misspent youth, and urge a more honest appraisal of my record and character here. In truth, my four years at the Naval Academy were not notable for exemplary virtue or academic achievement but, rather, for the impressive catalogue of demerits I managed to accumulate. By my reckoning, at the end of my second class year, I had marched enough extra duty to take me to Baltimore and back seventeen times -- which, if not a record, certainly ranks somewhere very near the top.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-mccain-economyapr03,1,6491901.story
John McCain zeros in on the economy
Chided as aloof on pocketbook issues, Republican picks tax day to lay out vision
By Jill Zuckman
11:40 PM CDT, April 2, 2008
WASHINGTON — Ever since he pondered aloud last December what sorts of attributes he would want in a vice president, Sen. John McCain has been fighting off Democratic charges of indifference to Americans' economic pain. "The issue of economics is something that I've really never understood as well as I should. I understand the basics, the fundamentals, the vision, all that kind of stuff," McCain told reporters as his campaign bus rolled through New Hampshire. "But I would like to have someone I'm close to that really is a good, strong economist. As long as Alan Greenspan is around, I would certainly use him for advice and counsel." With the economy likely in a recession, Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have zeroed in on the comments, depicting McCain as uncaring and incompetent when it comes to confronting a faltering and fragile financial landscape.
McCain Considering Vice President Picks
By Michael Cooper
April 2, 2008, 8:35 am
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Senator John McCain said Wednesday that he had begun the process of weighing the names of possible running mates, and that he hoped to be able to make a selection before the Republican convention in early September. “We just started this process of getting together a list of names and having them looked at, and I don’t know how long it takes,’’ Mr. McCain said in a radio interview Wednesday morning with Don Imus. “But if I had a personal preference, I’d like to do it before the convention to avoid some of the mistakes that I’ve seen made in the past, as you get into a time crunch and maybe sometimes don’t make the announcement right.’’ Previously Mr. McCain and his aides had said that they were merely trying to settle on a process to try to select a vice presidential running mate, but that they were not yet making up a list of names.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080403/NATION/613725381/1002
Barr bid could hurt McCain
By Stephen Dinan and Ralph Z. Hallow
April 3, 2008
Can a conservative former congressman who helped impeach President Clinton, is a board member of the National Rifle Association and has done contract work with the ACLU dent Sen. John McCain's presidential bid? That's exactly what Mr. McCain would face if Bob Barr, the former Republican who joined the Libertarian Party two years ago, wins his adopted party's presidential nomination. "Barr obviously is dangerous. At least he negates any possible Nader benefit," said David Norcross, a New Jersey member of the Republican National Committee and its Rules Committee chairman, arguing Mr. Barr would hurt Republicans at least as much as Ralph Nader, who has announced his own independent presidential bid, would hurt Democrats.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YTZlMmIwMmIyNGRjY2UwNzc0YzRhN2Q4NThjODdjZWI=
The Year that Wasn't
Democrats were supposed to enjoy a banner 2008.
By Victor Davis Hanson
April 3, 2008 12:00 AM
For the Democratic party, 2008 was supposed to have been an ideal year. There’s an unpopular, lame-duck Republican president presiding over an iffy economy and an unpopular war. Plus, the Democrats won big in the 2006 elections, and there’s no Republican vice president in the race to draw on the power of incumbency. No wonder that for much of 2007, the polls suggested that the only mystery would be by how much Sen. Hillary Clinton would beat former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani in the general election. Indeed, for Democrats not to walk into the presidency in November 2008, the conventional wisdom was that the absolute unthinkable would have to transpire. And now it almost has.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ODdlNGYxZjM4Zjc2MTY3MWE2ZmE2NzQyOGUxYmRlMTU=
Wright Stuff vs. the Woods Model
Do Americans really want an “authentically black" president?
By Clifford D. May
April 3, 2008 12:00 AM
The same pundits who declared John McCain dead and Hillary Clinton inevitable are now saying Barack Obama has weathered the storm over his association with Jeremiah Wright. Color me skeptical. The reason? Tiger Woods. Ask yourself: Why do Americans adore Tiger Woods? Because he’s a winner, of course. But also, I suspect, because he seems so comfortable with his multi-racial heritage. He calls himself a “Cablinasian” — a Caucasian-black-Indian-Asian. He famously told Oprah Winfrey: “I’m just who I am, whoever you see in front of you.” How classy is that? And, if you are among those who still think of America as a melting pot, how all-American?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/02/AR2008040202044_pf.html
Obama: I'd Hire Gore
By DEVLIN BARRETT
Wednesday, April 2, 2008; 4:22 PM
WALLINGFORD, Pa. -- Sen. Barack Obama said Wednesday he would give Al Gore, a Nobel prize winner, a major role in an Obama administration to address the problem of global warming. At a town-hall meeting, Obama was asked if he would tap the former vice president for his Cabinet to handle global warming. "I would," Obama said. "Not only will I, but I will make a commitment that Al Gore will be at the table and play a central part in us figuring out how we solve this problem. He's somebody I talk to on a regular basis. I'm already consulting with him in terms of these issues, but climate change is real. It is something we have to deal with now, not 10 years from now, not 20 years from now." Since leaving the White House, Gore has gone on to become one of the world's leading voices for combating the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. His work earned him a share of the Nobel last year.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/02/us/politics/02web-seelye.html?pagewanted=print
Clinton’s Persistence Could Help Obama
By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE
April 2, 2008
PITTSBURGH — For someone supposedly in a heap of trouble, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is looking pretty relaxed these days. She hopped out of her motorcade at the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre airport on Tuesday afternoon, chatted with some residents and then took a relatively long stroll across the tarmac to her plane. The sun was out for the first time in days. Her bright fuchsia jacket — gone was the dark coat of winter — drew the eye, and she gave a jaunty nod as she bounded up the stairs of her plane. Earlier, she had staged a somewhat elaborate April Fool’s stunt, with a mock-serious news conference, and later she had drolly told reporters about her days playing half-court basketball and bowling at Camp David. Thursday night she is to appear on “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno and on Monday, “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.” This is not to say she has gone soft. When it is message time, Mrs. Clinton is focused.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/04/candidate-clint.html
Candidate Clinton to Richardson: 'Barack Obama Can't Win'
ABC News
Share April 02, 2008 7:39 PM
ABC News' George Stephanopoulos Reports: Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and former President Bill Clinton are making very direct arguments to Democratic superdelegates, starkly insisting Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., cannot win a general election against presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. Sources with direct knowledge of the conversation between Sen. Clinton and Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M., prior to the Governor's endorsement of Obama say she told him flatly, "He cannot win, Bill. He cannot win." Richardson, who served in President Clinton's cabinet, disagreed. At a rally in Oregon, standing next to Obama, Richardson insisted, "My great affection and admiration for Hillary Clinton and President Bill Clinton will never waver." But he added, "It is time, however, for Democrats to stop fighting among ourselves and to prepare for the tough fight we will face against John McCain in the fall."
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/04/post_28.html
Clinton Fatigue Driving Pressure to Quit
By Steven Stark
April 03, 2008
This past week, Vermont senator Patrick Leahy joined a growing chorus of politicians, pundits, bloggers, and Barack Obama supporters urging Hillary Clinton -- trailing by a little more than 100 delegates with a number of contests still to go -- to quit the Democratic race in the interests of party unity. It is, in truth, an argument virtually without precedent in modern political history, at least at this stage of such a close race. And while it does have its origins in an effort to preserve party unity, it also has its roots in an odd and vitriolic crusade to purge the Clintons and hand the nomination to a candidate who has yet, after all, to win a single large state's primary (other than his own), let alone the nomination.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/04/02/BAVNVU2PJ.DTL&type=printable
Bill Clinton's tirade stunned some delegates
Phillip Matier,Andrew Ross
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
The Bill Clinton who met privately with California's superdelegates at last weekend's state convention was a far cry from the congenial former president who afterward publicly urged fellow Democrats to "chill out" over the race between his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Barack Obama. In fact, before his speech Clinton had one of his famous meltdowns Sunday, blasting away at former presidential contender Bill Richardson for having endorsed Obama, the media and the entire nomination process. "It was one of the worst political meetings I have ever attended," one superdelegate said. According to those at the meeting, Clinton - who flew in from Chicago with bags under his eyes - was classic old Bill at first, charming and making small talk with the 15 or so delegates who gathered in a room behind the convention stage.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MGNlODk1N2I5OTIzMjgxZGZmNjZhY2M5MDY5ZDdjY2I=
1994 Redux
Senator Clinton hasn’t changed a bit.
By James C. Capretta
April 2, 2008 4:00 AM
In his 1994 State of the Union address, President Bill Clinton waved his pen at the Democratic-controlled Congress and said he would veto any health-care-reform bill that did not “guarantee” the right to health insurance for every American. The threat worked. Congress didn’t send him a bill he would have to veto — or any reform bill at all, for that matter. Then-First Lady Hillary Clinton, heading up her husband’s health-care task force, undoubtedly had a hand in that disastrous 1994 line in the sand. Now that she is running for president, she says she has learned her lesson. But has she? It hasn’t seemed so over the last two months on the campaign trail, as the take-no-prisoners rhetoric and finger-pointing ultimatums have returned with a vengeance.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120719334102885625.html?mod=sp_deals
Democrats Fear Florida Backlash
A Failure to Seat Delegation Is Seen Hurting in November
By JUNE KRONHOLZ
April 3, 2008
WASHINGTON -- Florida's congressional Democrats and the national Democratic Party are concerned about their November election prospects if the Florida delegation isn't seated at this summer's national convention in Denver, party chairman Howard Dean said in an interview. Whether the state's 210 delegates are seated "makes a difference" in the congressional races in Florida, where the party hopes to pick up one or two seats, and in the presidential race, Mr. Dean said. "I don't think we can have a vote in Denver about whether or not Florida is to be seated" without prompting a divisive floor fight that could damage the party in the November polls, he added.
Dean: Dems will seat Fla. Delegates
Ken Thomas
April 02, 2008
Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean said Wednesday the party is committed to seating Florida's delegates at this summer's convention as long as any agreement is supported by the party's two presidential contenders. Dean met with Florida lawmakers to discuss ways of allocating delegates among Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton and prepare for the fall campaign in the battleground state. The party stripped Florida and Michigan of their delegates to the national convention in Denver because they ignored party rules and moved their primaries to January.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0408/9350.html
DNC convention stance surprises campaigns
By DAVID PAUL KUHN
4/2/08 7:19 PM EST
The Democratic National Committee said Tuesday that Florida and Michigan members will be seated on the three standing committees — including the critical Credentials Committee—at the party’s 2008 national convention, a position that could affect the selection of the Democratic nominee. While both states were stripped of their delegates to the convention, according to the DNC’s interpretation of party rules, members from those states will be seated on the Credentials Committee. The Credentials Committee, which can meet prior to convention, resolves disputes over whether to seat delegates at the convention. “The DNC interpretation is that there are 186 members of the Credentials Committee and both states are seated on the standing committees,” said DNC spokeswoman Stacie Paxton. Under the DNC's interpretation of the rules, Florida members of the credentials committee would not be allowed to vote on the question of whether to seat Florida's delegates to the presidential nominating process.
Democrats’ Campaign in Puerto Rico Becomes Entangled in Statehood Issue
By SARAH WHEATON
April 3, 2008
At 11 a.m. on March 27, hours after an indictment against Gov. Aníbal Acevedo Vilá of Puerto Rico was unsealed, his allies met members of the rival party in San Juan. The discussion was not about the charges. It was about Senator Barack Obama’s campaign. The 19-count federal indictment on charges of campaign finance violations and tax fraud was not the only complicated aspect of Mr. Obama’s high-profile endorsement from the governor. In advance of the Puerto Rican Democratic primary on June 1, his campaign, like that of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, is seeking to avoid being mired in the issue that defines local politics — the island’s status in relation to the United States. If the nominating contest lasts until June 1, Puerto Rico, with its 63 delegates, is expected to play an outsize role, with Mrs. Clinton hoping for a big victory. But the perennial debate over the status of the island looms, with the two candidates staking out positions of adamant neutrality.
http://www.campaignsandelections.com/articles/?ArticleID=0AF7D52B-1422-17E0-F8802D14F11DB073
State Tectonics: How Redistricting Will Shift the Political Landscape
By Reid Wilson
04/01/08
In the heat of the Democratic presidential contest, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton held their final debate at Cleveland State University. But that same night, Democrats in New York took a step closer to a goal that has eluded them for two generations: retaking the Empire State Senate. When Assemblyman Darrel Aubertine, a Democrat, beat Republican William Barclay to fill the remainder of an unexpired term in the state's Senate, Democrats reached 30 seats in the chamber, just one shy of the Republican majority (the Democrats subsequently lost a vote in the chamber when newly appointed Gov. David Paterson vacated the post of lieutenant governor.) Since New York state senators have two-year terms, every one of the 62 Senate seats are up in 2008, and again in 2010. And while the outcome of the presidential contest will likely affect at most four sets of congressional elections in New York, a new Democratic majority in the New York state Senate-and in a few other state legislatures-could determine the partisan makeup of Congress for a generation or more.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/03/washington/03earmark.html?ref=washington&pagewanted=print
Republicans to Call for More Disclosure on Earmarks
By ROBERT PEAR
April 3, 2008
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans will call Thursday for the disclosure of more information about the thousands of pet projects secured each year by members of Congress, lawmakers say. A five-member panel appointed by the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, will also recommend a change in Senate rules to require that all earmarks be set forth explicitly in the text of spending and tax bills, not buried in committee reports. The proposals do not go as far as Senator John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, or House Republican leaders want. They favor a one-year moratorium on earmarks. But the Senate proposals do increase the likelihood that Congress will impose new restrictions this year. Critics of earmarks say it will be easier for them to challenge specific projects if the items are included in the text of bills.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MmI0YWQ3MDgzYzNkODU1OTc0ZjE1Y2UwOTYwYmRjZTM=
The Strange Case of SEIU
Do unions prefer civil war to immigration reform?
By Carl F. Horowitz
April 2, 2008 4:00 AM
If numbers were all that mattered, Andrew Stern would be America’s most successful labor leader, hands down. For over two decades, he’s led the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) — first as president John Sweeney’s chief strategist, and since 1996 as Sweeney’s successor. Under Stern, SEIU’s membership has nearly doubled to around 1.9 million, a feat all the more remarkable given that most unions during that period shrank or held steady. Union members held nearly a third of all non-farm private-sector jobs between 1950 and 1965; now they hold about 12 percent, and a mere 7.5 percent of private-sector jobs. SEIU’s dramatic increase has persuaded Stern that he’s found a model for organized labor to regain its clout at the bargaining table and in the corridors of power — what he calls a progressive business model, a rough hybrid of Martin Luther King and Steve Jobs.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MGRjODA3MWIwOWMyN2Y3ZWZjODZhYzAyMzg2MTBhYzE=
The Evolution of Religious Bigotry
Courage without consequence.
By Jonah Goldberg
April 2, 2008 12:00 AM
I just watched Fitna, a 17-minute film by Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders. Released on the Internet last week, Fitna juxtaposes verses from the Koran with images from the world of jihad. Heads cut off, bodies blown apart, gays executed, toddlers taught to denounce Jews as “apes and pigs,” protesters holding up signs reading “God Bless Hitler” and “Freedom go to Hell” — these are among the powerful images from Fitna, Arabic for “strife” or “ordeal.” Predictably, various Muslim governments have condemned the film. Half the Jordanian parliament voted to sever ties with the Netherlands. Egypt’s grand imam threatened “severe” consequences if the Dutch didn’t ban the film.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/02/AR2008040203714.html?hpid=topnews
Archbishop Steps Onto Main Stage
By Jacqueline L. Salmon
Thursday, April 3, 2008; A01
When Pope Benedict XVI arrives in Washington in two weeks, he will be greeted by a close ally. Archbishop of Washington Donald W. Wuerl "epitomizes the kind of bishop that Benedict is looking for," said the Rev. Thomas Reese, a senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Seminary at Georgetown University. Both are reserved scholars more focused on firming up church doctrine than opening doors to new interpretations. Yet the pontiff declined an opportunity last year to elevate Wuerl to the highest ranks of the Roman Catholic hierarchy. The promotion might well come in a few years, and a successful papal visit now could only enhance Wuerl's reputation. For the hardworking archbishop, who usually prefers to operate behind the scenes, hosting the pope April 15 to 18 is a high-profile mission. Wuerl's "stock goes up not only in Rome but in the United States if all this goes well," said Chester Gillis, a professor of theology at Georgetown University. "His stock will go down if something goes really poorly."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/02/AR2008040203952.html?hpid=topnews
Chinese Spy 'Slept' In U.S. for 2 Decades
Espionage Network Said to Be Growing
By Joby Warrick and Carrie Johnson
Thursday, April 3, 2008; Page A01
Prosecutors called Chi Mak the "perfect sleeper agent," though he hardly looked the part. For two decades, the bespectacled Chinese-born engineer lived quietly with his wife in a Los Angeles suburb, buying a house and holding a steady job with a U.S. defense contractor, which rewarded him with promotions and a security clearance. Colleagues remembered him as a hard worker who often took paperwork home at night. Eventually, Mak's job gave him access to sensitive plans for Navy ships, submarines and weapons. These he secretly copied and sent via courier to China -- fulfilling a mission that U.S. officials say he had been planning since the 1970s. Mak was sentenced last week to 24 1/2 years in prison by a federal judge who described the lengthy term as a warning to China not to "send agents here to steal America's military secrets."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120718399181985179.html?mod=todays_columnists
Hearts and Minds, Again
By DANIEL HENNINGER
April 3, 2008
Is it uncharitable to suggest that when the fighting erupted in Basra last week between Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army and the U.S.-trained Iraqi army, some opponents of the war hoped it would become George Bush's Tet Offensive? That is, a battle whose military details are largely irrelevant, but whose sudden violence "proves" to voters that a U.S. military commitment is unwinnable and should be abandoned? It was hard not to miss the antiwar spin coming off reports of the fighting, after a year of unmistakable gains from the Petraeus surge strategy. An Obama foreign policy adviser, Denis McDonough, said it "does raise a handful of concerns as it relates to the surge and, more importantly, about the prospect of political reconciliation."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120718691572085211.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries
The Second Iran-Iraq War
By KIMBERLY KAGAN
April 3, 2008
Iran now causes the majority of the violence and instability in Iraq, a trend that began in July 2007, according to U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, when U.S. and Iraqi military offensives swept al Qaeda from its safe havens around Baghdad. Senior officials of the Iranian government, the U.S. military has noted in press briefings, support and in some cases control, illegal armed groups that are fighting American forces and undermining the Iraqi government. In particular, the recent fighting in Basra and Baghdad is not at root a civil war between Iraqi Shia political factions, but an ongoing struggle between the Iraqi government and illegal militias organized, trained, equipped and funded by Iran.
http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/931okgvl.asp
The Basra Business
What we know and what we don't.
by Frederick W. Kagan & Kimberly Kagan
04/01/2008 5:01:00 PM
MUCH OF THE DISCUSSION about recent Iraqi operations against illegal Shia militias has focused on issues about which we do not yet know enough to make sound judgments, overlooking important conclusions that are already clear. Coming days and weeks will provide greater insight into whether Maliki or Sadr gained or lost from this undertaking; how well or badly the Iraqi Security Forces performed; and what kind of deal (if any) the Iraqi Government accepted in return for Sadr's order to stand down his forces. The following lists provide a brief summary of what we can say with confidence about recent operations and what we cannot.
http://www.investors.com/editorial/editorialcontent.asp?secid=1502&status=article&id=291939735890525
Summit Will Test West's Readiness To Deal With A Resurgent Russia
BY DANIEL MCGROARTY
Posted 4/1/2008
Against the backdrop of a U.S. presidential election where "foreign policy" means Iraq and "national security" means al-Qaida, the sitting president of the United States arrived in Europe on Tuesday as a reminder that other global issues demand America's attentions. The question for President Bush and his would-be successors is whether the present European visit marks another milestone ending last century's Cold War — or the onset of a new one. In the cavernous "People's House" built during the last days of Nicolae Ceausescu, Bush and 25 other heads of state will meet in Romania's capital for the summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Key issues on the NATO agenda give the gathering a decidedly post-Cold War feel: joint participation in "out of area" military operations in Afghanistan, discussions on the continued enlargement of the alliance with Albania, Croatia and Macedonia next up in the NATO queue, and the prospect of former Soviet republics Georgia and Ukraine adding their names to the NATO list.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080402/wl_afp/argentinabritainfalklandsdiplomacy_080402201109
Argentine president lays 'inalienable' claim to Falklands
AFP
Wed Apr 2, 4:11 PM ET
BUENOS AIRES (AFP) - Argentina's claim to the Falkland Islands, which remain in British hands after the 1982 war between the two countries, is "inalienable," President Cristina Kirchner said Wednesday. "The sovereign claim to the Malvinas Islands is inalienable," she said in a speech marking the 26th anniversary of Argentina's ill-fated invasion of the islands, located 480 kilometers (300 miles) off shore. The April 2, 1982 invasion prompted then British prime minister Margaret Thatcher to deploy naval forces to retake the Falklands, known as the Malvinas in Spanish. The short, bloody conflict led to Argentina's surrender on June 14, 1982 after the death of 649 Argentines and 255 Britons. Historians saw the invasion as an attempt by Argentina's ruling military junta, which was then in power, to divert attention away from domestic problems. In her speech Kirchner called for Argentina to strengthen its representation in international bodies to denounce "this shameful colonial enclave in the 21st century."
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23468958-16741,00.html
Mugabe must end the Zimbabwe nightmare
The Australian
April 02, 2008
The international community can no longer do nothing
NOW that the people of Zimbabwe have spoken, the international community, in particular South Africa, should apply as much moral and economic pressure as possible to lever the evil madman Robert Mugabe out of power. Given the rebuilding task that awaits, virtually from ground zero, he should be made to go as soon as possible. As The Australian reports today, Mugabe's security cabinet, which met on Sunday to consider its position, is split between declaring martial law to block the opposition taking power or falsifying the results. At this stage, Mugabe appears to have opted for the latter course. Official results from Saturday's election continue to trickle out painfully slowly. Zimbabwe's state-run newspaper, the only one available, is proclaiming the result "a tight contest".
