The Most Comprehensive Guide to U.S. Politics ... since 1997
| DIRECTORY:
Home | The Presidency
| P2008 Race | State/Federal
Candidates | Political Parties Calendar | Campaign Products & Services | Issues | News Blog | News Links | Job Bank FAQ | Site of the Day Award | Bookstore | Our Awards | Advertise | About Us | Email Us |
| BLOG ARCHIVE: FEBRUARY 1-15, 2007. FREE
SPEECH ZONE. REP.
NORWOOD DIES; EDWARDS DROPS IN; RUDY & MITT; OBAMA BACKLASH;
DOMENICI RUNS. FREE
SPEECH ZONE. TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE. FLORIDA
TO BUST SCHEDULE; OBAMA SCORES; HARKIN RUNNING AGAIN. FREE
SPEECH ZONE. OBAMA
IN; McCAIN DENIES SOFT MONEY TIES; DOES MILESTONE MARK COCHRAN'S
EXIT? FREE
SPEECH ZONE. BREAUX
A NO GO; FREE JOSH WOLF. FREE
SPEECH ZONE. NORWOOD
WORSENS; LAMONT EMAILS; MICHAEL SAVAGE EXPLORES P2008 RUN. FREE
SPEECH ZONE. FREE
SPEECH ZONE. GOP
SENS BLOCK IRAQ DEBATE; McCAIN'S HOMEFRONT; RUDY RUNS; NADER MUSES. FREE
SPEECH ZONE. HO-HUM
DNC WINTER MTG; HRC, RUDY, McCAIN LOOK STRONG; MILLER PROBE GROWS;
NO JOE '08. FREE
SPEECH ZONE. FREE
SPEECH ZONE. KANSAS
GOP NEWS; BIDEN-OBAMA GAFFE; THE NEWSOM AFFAIR. FREE
SPEECH ZONE. PATAKI'ING
HIS BAGS; CFG BLASTS HUCKABEE; DENNY STAYING; MARTY GOING; RUSS'
PLAN. FREE
SPEECH ZONE. |
BLOG
ARCHIVE:
POLITICAL BLOG ROLL: KINDA
NEUTRAL: DEM/LEFT: GOP/RIGHT: OTHER: For those who would like to track Politics1 with a newsreader, we publish a RSS feed:
|
I've
been busy helping my spouse -- Dana -- get everything ready for
his move to France on Thursday. He'll be enrolled full-time in
the culinary program at 
GOP
wave. Since then, Norwood was a safe incumbent who won six fairly
easy re-election contests. Potential successors are already lining
up for the special election. State Senator Ralph Hudgens (R) --
who lost runs for Congress in 1988, 1992 and 1994 -- already announced
he will run. Hudgens was the early frontrunner in the 1994 GOP
primary, but Norwood defeated him in an upset. State Representative
Barry Fleming (R) also is likely to run. State Representative
Jeanette Jamieson (D) and former Athens-Clarke County Mayor Doc
Eldridge (R) are also possible candidates, although CD-10 demographics
favor the GOP. Don't look for Governor Sonny Perdue to announce
any special election date until after Norwood's funeral.
GIULIANI
& ROMNEY: Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) found a way
to rain on former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's Presidential
announcement day. With the active help of former Massachusetts
Governor Paul Celluci, National Journal's Hotline reports
Giuliani has locked up endorsements of State Senate Minority Leader
Richard Tesei and at least 1-2 of the other four Republicans in
the Massachusetts State Senate. Nineteen GOP State Representatives
signed a letter endorsing Romney -- but another one endorsed McCain
and "other defections among the House members are expected."
The GOP legislators apparently feel Romney largely ignored them
during his four years as Governor. Roll Call also reports
that Congressman David Dreier (R-CA) -- the ranking Republican
on the House Rules Committee -- will endorse Giuliani. Congressman
Pete Sessions (R-TX) is another non-New Yorker also backing Giuliani.
Florida
Legislature, frankly, doesn't seem to care if the RNC and DNC
strip the state of nearly all its convention delegates. Matt Towery
of the Southern Political Report says nothing seems likely
to derail the bipartisan proposed state legislation that will
mandate Florida's 2008 Presidential primary takes place
just "one week after the New Hampshire primary" (January
29). While
all of the other large states -- California, New York and others
-- are looking to frontload the process by moving up to the first
week in February, Florida decided it would rather be a kingmaker
by overpowering the much smaller South Carolina primary on January
29. A win in Florida will generate big-time momentum for whomever
wins the GOP and Dem primaries, giving a major boost heading into
the February 5 "Super Tuesday" contests. More significantly,
it may mean the death of the national-party protected Iowa and
New Hampshire "first in the nation" status, as the party
leadership dictated schedules are rendered insignificant. This
writer is one of those who supports dusting off the old proposal
for having four regional primaries -- one region per month for
four months -- starting with the 2012 race.
two
of Iowa's longest-serving Democratic officials -- announced their
backing of Obama. At the same time, freshman Congressman Dave
Loebsack (D-IA) -- who was active in the 2004 Dean campaign --
played a prominent speaking role on stage at Obama's Iowa kickoff.
However, Loebsack did not yet make any official endorsment.
Capitol
in Springfield to hear Obama's announcement speech. Obama picked
the setting for the announcement because it was where Abraham
Lincoln served before being elected President -- and it not-so-subtly
highlights that Lincoln had even less years of experience in Congress
than does Obama. Early polls in key primary states show Obama
and former US Senator John Edwards (D-NC) fighting for second
place in the first tier behind US Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY).
resolution
in the US Senate. "I just wanted to remind people the campaign
may be over, but the issues are still there and this is yet another
opportunity to weigh in," said Lamont. The email also has
state Dems buzzing with speculation Lamont may be interested in
running against vulnerable Congressman Chris Shays (R) next year
... KANSAS CD-2: According to Roll Call, the '08
GOP primary for the Kansas CD-2 seat is already heating up. The
conservative Club for Growth has expressed support for ousted
Congressman Jim Ryun to make a comeback run. By contrast, the
centrist Republican Main Street Partnership is voicing encouragement
for State Treasurer Lynn Jenkins. The eventual GOP nominee will
face targeted freshman Congresswoman Nancy Boyda (D) ... SAVAGE:
Controversial conservative radio talk show host Michael Savage
tells NewsMax he is considering making a run for the 2008 GOP
Presidential nomination. "I know it sounds bizarre but when
you consider the people running for the Presidency, none seems
to be qualified ... A
non-politician who has a very large following, who is very conservative,
and who believes in a simple message of borders, language, and
culture, has a great chance of electrifying the American people,"
explained Savage. He said he does not think his candidacy would
hurt the Republican chances in November -- even if his run is
divisive and insulting towards other GOP hopefuls -- because the
GOP has "virtually no chance of winning right now."
Besides, Savage said the current field of Republican candidates
are "are all political apparatchiks .... [who] have never
stood for borders, language or culture" and are simply parroting
"sound bytes." Savage said he grew interested in making
the race when he remembered that Al Sharpton and Dennis Kucinich
earned spots in the 2004 Dem primary debates. They "were
given equal time on the podium during the debates with the leading
candidates," said Savage. He says he is "exploring"
the race and will obviously quit his radio show if he decides
to run. Savage -- whose real name is Michael Weiner -- has made
a name for himself with his incendiary racist, sexist, xenophobic
or homophobic comments over the years. He'll also need to explain
the sharp contrast between with his vitriolic conservative radio
persona and his 
said
he will not allow the matter to come for a vote unless the Dems
also allow two alternative GOP resolutions to come up for votes.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) vows the GOP resolutions
will not reach the floor ... Conservative foes of Senator John
McCain (R-AZ) within the Arizona Republican Party were able to
elect vocal McCain critic Randy Pullen as the new State GOP Chair.
The entire AZGOP staff immediately quit in response to Pullen's
election ... Ralph Nader told CNN he's considering making yet
another run for President in 2008, especially if Hillary Clinton
is the Democratic nominee. Of course, with billionaire NYC Mayor
Mike Bloomberg and US Senator Chuck Hagel both considering independent
runs for the White House, will anyone even care if Nader, Howard
Phillips, Lyndon LaRouche or any of the other perennials return
to make an umpteenth run ... Former State Representative Alan
Schlesinger (R-CT) scored a whopping 10% of the vote last year
as the GOP nominee against US Senator Joe Lieberman (Ind Dem).
According to the Palm Beach Post, Schlesinger is popping up at
GOP events in South Florida -- where he has a second home -- and
is considering making a run against freshman Congressman Ron Klein
(D) in CD-22. Reportedly, the GOP also has some prospective 2008
candidates who actually live in Florida ... Former NYC Mayor Rudy
Giuliani filed official candidate paperwork with the FEC on Monday
to make him an official candidate for the GOP Presidential nomination.
ho-hum
even with no real standout performances. At least, according to
crowd buzz, everyone performed as expected -- but nobody exceeded
expectations ... American Research Group is out with new independent
polls from Iowa and New Hampshire on the Presidential primary
contests. According to the ARG polls, Senator Hillary Clinton
leads to Democratic field in both early contest states. In Iowa,
Clinton had 35%, followed by John Edwards at 18%, Barack Obama
at 14%, Tom Vilsack at 12%, and all others scoring 2% or less.
In NH, Clinton had 39%, Obama was second with 19%, Edwards had
13%, and all others scored 2% or less apiece. On the GOP side,
Rudy Giuliani led in Iowa with 27%, followed by John McCain at
22%, Newt Gingrich had 16%, Mitt Romney had 11%, Chuck Hagel had
5%, and all others had 2% or less each. In NH, McCain was first
with 27%, Giuliani and Romney were tied for second with 20% apiece,
Gingrich was fourth with 11%, Hagel had 4%, and all other candidates
were at 1% or less ... According to the Los Angeles Times,
the FBI's corruption investigation of Congressman Gary Miller
(R-CA) has recently moved into high gear, with the scope of the
investigative probe rapidly expanding. The allegations involve
a questionable land deal and tax evasion allegations. Miller denies
all wrongdoing ... Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) quit the
Congressional Hispanic Caucus last week, complaining that Chair
Joe Baca (D-CA) is sexist and told people she was a "whore."
Baca denies Sanchez's claims ... In an interview with the Hartford
Courant, US Senator Joe Lieberman (Ind Dem-CT) flatly denied
he would agree to be John McCain's VP runningmate on the 2008
GOP ticket. "My days of seeking national office are over,"
said Lieberman.
some
of the state's top GOP elected officials, told her colleagues
she plans to run against Boyda regardless of whether or not Ryun
runs. If Jenkins jumps in, this race may quickly move from the
Toss-Up category to Leans GOP. At the same meeting, Secretary
of State Ron Thornburgh (R) made it clear he plans to run for
Governor in 2010 ... Why are we not writing about the Joe Biden
comments about Barack Obama? Frankly, it seems like a non-story.
Biden seemed to be trying to compliment Obama, however clumsy
he was about it, but certainly it seems to be a trivial comment.
"What I was attempting to be, but not very artfully, is complimentary.
This is an incredible guy. This is a phenomenon ... The word that
got me in trouble is using the word clean. I should have said
fresh. What I meant was he got's new ideas -- he's the new guy
on the block," said Biden, hours later on The Daily Show.
Biden botched his campaign launch, but it seems like nobody is
really paying him much attention these days anyways. Like I said:
non-story ... San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (D) admitted Thursday
he had been engaged in an extramarital affair with the wife of
his campaign manager. It won't be a big enough deal to trip-up
his re-election race this year, and may even kill the rumors spread
by Newsom foes that the pro-gay marriage Mayor is secretly gay.
early
contest states during 2005-06. He even rented an office in New
Hampshire for his PAC -- but recently placed it up for rent on
a popular classified ads website. This week Pataki told a small
group NH Republican leaders he was going to defer any decision
on the race for a few more months. According to the Manchester
Union-Leader, Pataki said he was "going to let the dust
settle and see where we are in a few months" -- and added
he would understand if his GOP friends wanted to take a closer
look at or endorse some of the announced GOP hopefuls in the meantime.
One guest at the small dinner told the newspaper: "He never
came out and said, 'I'm not running for President,' but everybody
basically saw the handwriting on the wall, which is he's out."
Pataki's spokesperson said the ex-Gov was still "considering
the possibility of running for President" but was instead
"focused on policy, not politics." Speaking of policy,
Pataki unveiled his own Iraq War peace plan on a 
government
spending, and increased regulation.” In response, Huckabee's
campaign spokeswoman told the Wall Street Journal that
"Huckabee pushed through the Arkansas Legislature the first
major, broad-based tax cuts in state history -- a $90 million
tax relief package for Arkansas families ... In total, Gov. Huckabee
cut taxes and fees nearly 100 times during his 10 and a half years
as Governor" and left office with the state with an $800
million budget surplus ... Roll Call reports former House Speaker
Denny Hastert (R-IL) sent out fundraising letters this week asking
for $2,100 contributions to his 2008 re-election campaign. So
much for all the early resignation/retirement speculation ...
Meanwhile, the AP reports seven-term Congressman Marty Meehan
(D-MA) is engaged in talks with the University of Massachusetts-Lowell
about becoming Chancellor. Meehan will be interviewed by the search
committee on Friday ... Republicans keep challenging Democrats
who oppose President Bush's Iraq War escalation plan to put forward
their own alternative plans. Yesterday US Senator Barack Obama
(D-IL) responded with his detailed plan. Today, US Senator Russ
Feingold (D-WI) released his detailed plan to end the war. Feingold's
plan "uses Congress’s power of the purse to force the
President to safely redeploy US troops from Iraq by prohibiting
funds for continued operations six months after enactment."
The
Presidency | P2008 Race | The
States | Calendar | Blog Archives
Political Parties | News
Links | Issues | Job Bank
| Issues | FAQ
Campaign Products & Services | Campaign
Buttons | Bookstore | About
Us | E-Mail
© 1997-2005 by Ron Gunzburger. All rights reserved.