Mitt Romney has been accused of flip-flopping by some Republican rivals, he has not gone so far as to switch parties. Fellow Republican Judd Gregg, a senator from early-voting New Hampshire, began an endorsement speech for Romney this way on Monday: "You know if somebody had said I was going to endorse a Democrat. ..." The crowd groaned. Gregg started over. "If somebody said I was going to endorse a Democrat, they'd be absolutely wrong," he said. "We don't need any more Democrats as president of the United States. We had enough when we had Bill Clinton"
Republican Presidential hopeful, Mitt Romney, looks for a pen to file his declaration of candidacy papers, to have his name on the ballot for the New Hampshire Presidential primary.
The crowd cheered as Gregg pivoted back to his scripted statement, a humorous reference to interstate rivalry. "But if somebody had also said I'd endorse a former governor of Massachusetts for president of the United States, I'd say, well, I didn't think the Red Sox would win the World Series twice in my lifetime either." That was a reference to the Boston baseball team that won the title Sunday night , a triumph that many in New Hampshire celebrated. Though Romney's GOP presidential rivals haven't labeled him a Democrat, they have said he has made major changes in his political stances on such issues as abortion and gay marriage since his campaigns in his home state.
With just over two months until the Iowa caucus, former Gov. Mitt Romney continues to lead the field although a new player is emerging as Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has gained significant ground, according to a new poll. Romney, who has campaigned relentlessly in Iowa and spent millions on ads there, tops all Republicans with 36.2 percent support from likely caucus voters, according to the University of Iowa Hawkeye poll. The next closest candidate is former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani with 13.1 percent and Huckabee with 12.8 percent. Huckabee was at just 2 percent in August.Rounding out the top GOP hopefuls in the poll of 285 voters were actor and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson 11.4 percent followed by Arizona Sen. John McCain at 6 percent. Giuliani continues to top national surveys but the Hawkeye poll shows Romney has increased his lead in Iowa over the ex-Big Apple mayor by eight percentage points. U-Iowa professor David Redlawsk, who conducted the poll, said the results show that Romney remains the clear favorite in Iowa. “We see no . . . candidate catching up to Romney,” Redlawsk said. On the Democratic side, meanwhile, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton continues to lead with 28.9 percent support, followed by Illinois Sen. Barack Obama with 26.6 percent and John Edwards at 20 percent. View all the poll results at http://www.uiowa.edu/election/.
Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney offered a verbal tour of "Hillary's House of Horrors" conjuring images of Halloween spook houses to underscore his criticisms of Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton."You go in one room, she wants to raise your taxes. You go in another room and she wants to have government taking over health care," Romney said to laughter and applause at a town hall meeting in southwest Florida. "You go in the next room and she's weakened homeland security by voting against the authority of our government to listen in to al-Qaida's calls." Romney said he would keep Clinton from reaching the White House not by acting like her _ an apparent dig at rival Rudy Giuliani _ but by building on the conservative foundation laid by Ronald Reagan. Romney also touted his bipartisan work with a Democratic legislature while he was governor of Massachusetts. Responding to an audience member who expressed frustration with Congress members who strictly vote along party lines, Romney pledged to work with opposition leaders."We had to agree to solve things together," Romney said, citing his state's health care reform effort and balanced budget. "I will not make it a personal, rancorous battle." Reached by telephone phone later in the day, Clinton campaign spokesman, Mo Elleithee said: "Given Governor Romney's long history of flip flopping on issues, we're not worried. We expect him to endorse us any day." This is Romney's 18th campaign trip to the Sunshine State, but a recent poll from Quinnipiac University showed him last among the top four Republican candidates, with 12 percent voter support. Giuliani remained ahead of the pack with 30 percent; John McCain and Fred Thompson were tied with 14 percent.Asked about the poll numbers after the town hall meeting, Romney acknowledged, "I've got a long way to go." "But if someone were fortunate enough to do real well in Iowa and New Hampshire, you can bet they're going to get a real boost in Florida," Romney said. "I'm pleased that in the early states where I've spent the most time, I'm doing the best. If it were the opposite, I'd be worried." Earlier in the day, Romney joined a procession of swamp buggies, all-terrain vehicles and high school marching bands in the annual Swamp Buggy Parade in Naples. Romney shook hands, kissed babies and let dogs sniff his knuckles during the almost hourlong trek. He was to speak at the Panhandle GOP Celebration Dinner in Fort Walton Beach later in the day.
Actor Chuck Norris, perhaps known best for his role in “Walker, Texas Ranger,” countless action movies, and his mastery of the martial arts, endorsed former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee for President on his blog.Norris stated in “My Choice for President” that, after considerable contemplation, he believes the “only one who has all of the characteristics to lead America forward into the future is ex-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.” “Part of our backward culture is reflected in the fact that we measure and value people by what they do, instead of first who they are. As a result, we nominate charisma, cast votes for articulation and repeatedly elect too many paper-thin corrupt politicians. Of course, I want a President who gets things done, but I first want one who has lived a life of integrity, commitment, truthfulness and respect. Mike is that man,” wrote Norris. Upon hearing the news, Huckabee said he was “gratified and honored” to receive Norris’ powerful endorsement. “Although I’m a fan of Chuck Norris – and my wife is an even greater fan – we’ve never had an opportunity to meet each other. Obviously I look forward to remedying that quick.”Norris wrote: “It’s not a coincidence that four out of the last five presidents we’ve had were governors because they proved their abilities, perseverance and heart for running our country by serving in those state capacities. “His proven ability to cast a compelling vision, as he did while governor, that transcends party, ideology and class might enable America to unite and begin to heal, an especially important goal at this point in our history,” he wrote. Norris concluded by urging “people to get off the bench and onto the playing field. If we are going to see a man like Mike Huckabee elected, it’s time to rally behind him, support him financially, pray for him daily and spread the word of his character, platform and experience,” he wrote. The star of more than 20 films and the television series, “Walker, Texas Ranger,” Norris also is a New York Times best-selling author. A martial arts expert, he was the first man in the Western Hemisphere to earn recognition as an 8th degree Black Belt Grand Master within the Tae Kwon Do system. He has served as spokesman for the United Way and the Veterans Administration.
Sen. John McCain has become the latest presidential candidate publicly to express opposition to ratification of the United Nations Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST). During a call with bloggers, McCain noted in response to a question about LOST: "I do worry a lot about American sovereignty aspects of it, so I would probably vote against it in its present form.”Other presidential candidates who have recently come out against ratification of LOST include former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson. LOST defines the rights and responsibilities of nations in their use of the world's oceans, establishing guidelines for businesses, the environment, and the management of marine natural resources. The United States has signed the treaty, but the Senate has not ratified it.
Edwards' Campaign Demands Student Journalist Yank Story From YouTube
A UNC-Chapel Hill journalism professor said John Edwards' Presidential campaign tried to kill a student's video story about his campaign headquarters. Associate Professor C.A. Tuggle said two top staffers for the former North Carolina senator demanded that the school drop the segment from the student-run television program "Carolina Week." They also asked to have the video removed from the YouTube Web site. Tuggle said they threatened to cut off access to Edwards for UNC student reporters and other student groups if the piece aired. "My gosh, what are they thinking?" Tuggle said. "They're spending this much time and effort on a student newscast that has about 2,000 viewers? They're turning a molehill into a mountain." A spokeswoman for the Edwards campaign said it had no problem with student reporters. "This is silly," campaign spokeswoman Colleen Murray said in a statement. "We love all reporters, the problem is the feeling isn't always mutual." The campaign would not answer questions about the incident. The segment, by graduate studentCarla Babb, began as a look at Nation Hahn, a UNC senior interning with the campaign. During the interview, Babb asked about a recent column in The Daily Tar Heel, the student newspaper, criticizing Edwards' choice of the posh Southern Village shopping center as the location for his headquarters.
Babb rewrote the piece to focus on that angle and interviewed the columnist, prompting the complaint from Edwards' campaign. In the video, James Edward Dillard, a columnist for The Daily Tar Heel, says that the location conflicts with Edwards' campaign goal of reducing poverty in America. "To pick that place as your campaign center, when you're going to be the man who advocates on behalf of the poor, I just think, why not turn the media's attention to somewhere where there are huge, huge problems," Dillard said. On the other side, Hahn is quoted saying that the choice of Chapel Hill over Washington, D.C., shows that Edwards is a candidate for the average person. "Frankly, Chapel Hill is a relatively affluent area, period, so I don't know where they would rather him place his headquarters," he said.
UNC student Carla Babb
Tuggle, who has overseen the "Carolina Week" news program for eight years and previously worked as a television reporter in Florida, said that it is not uncommon for the focus of a piece to shift during reporting. What made this case unusual, he said, was the decision to post it on YouTube before broadcast. Babb posted the piece to the popular online video-sharing site Tuesday to meet the deadline for an MTV "Choose or Lose" news contest. Despite the complaints, Tuggle said the piece will air as scheduled on Monday and will remain on YouTube.
Republican Mitt Romney said he would be willing to use a military blockade or "bombardment of some kind" to prevent Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon. The former Massachusetts governor, who has been advocating a hard line against Iran throughout his presidential campaign, said such action would be necessary if severe economic and diplomatic sanctions don't convince Iranian leaders to abandon pursuit of a nuclear weapon. The Iranian government contends its program is aimed toward providing nuclear power. "If for some reasons they continue down their course of folly toward nuclear ambition, then I would take military action if that's available to us," Romney told a crowd of doctors and nurses during a question period that followed a health care speech. He added: "That's an option that's on the table. And it's is not something which we'll spell out specifically. I really can't lay out exactly how that would be done, but we have a number of options from blockade to bombardment of some kind.And that's something we very much have to keep on the table, and we will ready ourselves to be able to take, because, frankly, I think it's unacceptable for Iran to have nuclear weapons." Romney heralded news Thursday that the Bush administration was announcing new sanctions designed to isolate the government in Tehran. Last year, while still governor, Romney refused to provide a security escort or any state services in support of former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, who visited Massachusetts to speak at Harvard University. In January, Romney traveled to a security conference in Israel, where he called for economic sanctions against Iran similar to those against South Africa during its apartheid period. Subsequently, he has called for indicting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for saying "Israel's Zionist regime should be wiped off the map." Romney suggested using the U.N.'s Genocide Convention against the leader on charges of inciting genocide. In September, he also chastised Columbia University for allowing Ahmadinejad to speak on its campus, and railed against the Iranian leader after he asked to visit ground zero.
We haven't seen him in many debates this time around. But republican Alan Keyes is making his third run for the White House. The former assistant secretary of state during the Reagan administration was in Little Rock last night. The well-known conservative showed up at the Clinton School of Public Service to speak on higher education. But before that he talked to reporters about how the race for the republican nomination is shaping up this year. And he's not too pleased. In fact, he calls this year's debate performance among republicans lackluster. "A lot of people are looking at what's available and saying we don't really have a good choice, the best choices are not out there. And that's part of the reason that I got involved," he said. His presidential runs in 1996 and 2000 garnered plenty of attention. But so far, his 2008 run has kept him close to the bottom of the polls and off television for the most part. So his campaign is more grass roots.The Maryland man who also served as an ambassador to a United Nations council isn't happy with the early start to the 2008 race, or the rush by states across the country to move up their primary dates, many to February. "Obviously what you would really want to do if you were caring about the people of this country, is make sure you scheduled the election in such a way that people would have a chance to learn, be informed about the candidates," he told us. As for former governor Mike Huckabee, Keyes respects him. "I think governor Huckabee represents those candidates who are more serious, I think, about their approach to these moral questions," he said. But he thinks most candidates view morality as a personal choice as opposed to a foundation for government. And he hopes voters will look hard at what each candidate stands for and make informed decisions. "They have to stop allowing media people, money people, to decide like the old Soviet Polit-bureau, who the slate of candidates will be," he said.
Republican Presidential candidate John McCain told workers of small weapons factory that he not only wants to catch Osama Bin Ladenif elected, but said he "will shoot him with your products". "I will follow Osama Bin Laden to the gates of hell and I will shoot him with your products," McCain said.McCain told reporters afterward he was joking when he made the comment at Thompson Center Arms in Rochester. "I certainly didn't mean I would actually shoot him. I am certainly angry at him, but I was only speaking in a way that was trying to emphasize my point," McCain said. "I would not shoot him myself."
Tancredo Calls Immigration Police On Participants Of Congressional Staff Meeting
Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), who runs his Presidential campaign on a platform of a tough immigration policy, alerted federal officials Tuesday to an event that he said would be attended by “several illegal aliens.” Tancredo brought to the attention of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) a staff briefing that was to be attended by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.). The briefing was meant to educate staff on the DREAM Act, a bill that would allow “certain long-term undocumented immigrant children to go to college or join the military if they meet stringent requirements,” according to Durbin’s office.A notice on the briefing, which said that students who would benefit from the DREAM Act would participate in the event, apparently caught Tancredo’s eye. “I call on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency to detain any illegal aliens at this press conference,” he stated. “Just because these illegal aliens are being used for political gain doesn’t mean they get immunity from the law.” The briefing was supposed to be held Tuesday afternoon in the Capitol. “If we can’t enforce our laws inside the building where American laws are made, where can we enforce them?” Tancredo asked.
Defending his campaign work schedule, Republican Presidential hopeful Fred Thompson said Monday his strategy is working and "I'm going to do it the way I want to do it." His absences in early-voting states have been noticed. Thompson hasn't been in South Carolina in more than a month, he scrapped a recent trip to New Hampshire and then canceled a news conference Saturday in Florida. "You can name a lot of places that I haven't been, and you can name a lot of places that I have been several times," Thompson said in an interview with The Associated Press."I've been to Florida three or four times," he said. "The mainstream media, with all due respect, likes to concentrate on the process game on a daily basis, and I can't get caught up in that. I'm going to do it the way I want to do it." Thompson pointed out he comes in second among Republicans in most national polls and has more than 100,000 contributors, despite making decisions that defy conventional wisdom. He addressed the same issue at Sunday night's Republican debate in Orlando, answering a question about whether he is lazy. Thompson described his trajectory from teenage father to factory worker to federal prosecutor to Watergate counsel and senator, saying, "If a man can do all that and be lazy, I recommend it to everybody."
During a campaign bus swing through South Carolina today, Sen. John McCaindemonstrated his love of hot dogs and declared his love of ABBA. The comments about the Swedish group came up on the bus as he talked about what’s on his iPod. “Dare I say ABBA. Everybody says, ‘Ehhh, ABBA.’ Why is that? ABBAwas the largest selling (recording act ever).Nobody likes them but they sold more records than anybody in the history of the world, including the Beatles. But everybody hates them. (But) you’re a no-class guy if you like ABBA. Why does everybody go see ‘Mamma Mia?’ Hypocrisy! Rank hypocrisy!I’m not embarassed to say I like ABBA, ‘Dancing Queen.’” More from McCain. If elected, “the background music would be ABBA in the elevators all over the White House.” And even more. “‘Take a Chance on Me.’ Maybe that’s what we should have as our (campaign) theme song. That would be good.”
In what he called "a major abuse of the electoral process," former Reagan administration diplomat and long-time national conservative activist Alan Keyeshas been blocked by the Florida GOP from participating in Sunday's Fox News presidential debate in Orlando. The Florida party used a 1% or better showing in polls from three of six polling firms as their criterion for inclusion in the event, even though none of the selected polling firms included Keyes, the latest entry in the presidential race, in any of their statewide surveys to date. However, had Keyes been included in these polls, objective observers — including staff of some of the polling firms in question — agreed, based on past electoral performance in Florida, and on current polling that is taking place in other states, that he would have received a percentage meeting or exceeding the threshold.In 2000, in the last contested GOP presidential primary, 32,354 — or nearly five percent — of Florida Republicans, and about one million voters nationwide, cast their vote for Keyes. He was included in the Values Voter Debate in Fort Lauderdale last month, after only three days in the race. In the post-debate straw poll, Keyes surpassed all the other candidates in the GOP field except Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul. The Des Moines Register's Iowa Poll, the most-recognized media measure in the first-in-the-nation caucus state, was released during the time period in question, showing Keyes at 2% after only two weeks in the race, equaling or surpassing several long-time GOP candidates, all of whom received invitations to the Orlando debate.When asked about his exclusion from Sunday's debate on the Adam McMannus radio program Wednesday, Ambassador Keyes said, "Rather than thinking about what they should be doing to make sure that voters are informed and able to get a clear idea of the choices available to them, [some party officials] are doing their best, I think, to make sure that articulation of the kind of conservatism that corresponds to what is on the heart and mind of most grassroots Republicans is not there." In later comments, Keyes asked, "Why such an effort to assure that the so-called top-tier candidates don't have to face me? Do they fear me because they're not good enough for the job that needs to be done, or because they don't represent the conscience and heart of the Republican Party or of the American people?"
Two former governors, Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, shared the limelight on Saturday, handily winning the top two spots in a straw poll of "values voters" conducted by the conservative Family Research Council in Washington. In the straw poll Romney came in first with 1,595 votes, followed closely by Huckabee with 1,565. Significantly, however, Huckabee won more than half of the 953 voters who voted at the conference; Romney received 99 votes among conference attendees, with the overwhelming majority of his support coming from voters online. Ron Paul finished in third place with 865 votes, followed by former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson with 564 votes. The straw poll, conducted online and at the conference, placed former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in eighth place, second to last, behind Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, who dropped out of the race on Friday, California Rep. Duncan Hunter and Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo. Arizona Sen. John McCain finished last, gathering 81 votes, or 1.4 percent. In a 40-minute speech that drew respectful applause on Friday, Giuliani invoked, as he often does, Ronald Reagan's admonition that "my 80 percent friend is not my 20 percent enemy.""My belief in God and reliance on his guidance is at the core of who I am, I can assure you of that," Giuliani said. "But isn't it better for me to tell you what I believe rather than change my positions to fit the prevailing wind?" It was among his better received lines. "He won simply by coming," said Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council, which sponsored the three-day conference. "He helped himself; he certainly didn't lose any ground." But his reception was in stark contrast to the ovations for Huckabee, a one-time Baptist preacher who is a sentimental favorite of many religious conservatives. Huckabee mixed humor, biblical references and the rhythms of a man used to the pulpit as he implored the crowd to put values above politics and not make expedient decisions. He called for a constitutional amendment declaring marriage to be between a man and a woman and decried the "holocaust of liberalized abortion." "We do not have the right to move the standards of God to meet cultural norms. We need to move the cultural norms to meet God's standards," he said, bringing the crowd to its feet. Their GOP rivals, in speeches courted the conservative religious voters, who have a tradition of influence in elections. People who paid a nominal $1 fee to join the council were eligible to vote in the online poll, which began in August.
Obama Says He'll Be Immune To Republican Attacks On Foreign Policy
Democratic Presidential contenderBarack Obama says his foreign policy record leaves him immune to attacks by Republicans. During a campaign stop in North Las Vegas, Obama told a crowd that if he were the nominee, his GOP opponent would not be able to say he supported the war in Iraq or that he flip-flopped on his positions, because he didn't. Obama also pointed out that he did not support a recent Senate resolution branding Iran's Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization.His chief rival for the party's nomination, Hillary Clinton, did vote for it. He didn't mention her by name. Earlier, in Reno, Obama told a crowd that President Clinton's effort to reform health care in 1993 failed because Hillary Clinton only worked with "her own people" and shut out potential allies. The Clinton campaign says it's unfortunate that Obama's camp is "abandoning the politics of hope and instead employing the same old attack" strategies.
Republican Presidential candidateMitt Romney says the United Nations is a failure. Romney told supporters in South Carolina this morning he would support a new coalition of what he called "the free nations of the world."The former Massachusetts governor says the U.N. Human Rights Council has repeatedly condemned Israel while taking no action against nations with repressive regimes. He says the US should withdraw from the council.
Presidential candidate John Edwards accused rival Hillary Clinton of acting like she’s already won the Democratic nomination. “Did I miss something? Did we already have the Iowa caucuses? Did we already have the New Hampshire primary?” Edwards joked to about 60 people gathered in a machine shed at a farm outside Harlan. The former North Carolina senator noted a recent New York Times story, in which unnamed Clinton backers explained the political reasons behind her Senate vote to label an Iranian military unit as a terrorist group.They said Clinton was switching from “primary mode,” to “general-election mode,” in which she would have to court more conservative voters. Edwards was incredulous. “Have we decided who the nominee’s going to be? Have you decided?” he said. “Instead of having primary mode or general-election mode, how about we have telling-the-truth mode? How about if we actually say what we believe?” Edwards said he believes the Senate declaration was flawed, and he noted that Clinton was the only Democratic presidential candidate to vote yes. Edwards said the vote could give President Bush an excuse to attack Iran, the way Bush attacked Iraq. “I think it’s a mistake. I don’t think you can give this president an inch when it comes to a war. I’ve learned my lesson the hard way,” he said, referring to his own Senate vote to authorize war against Iraq. Although Clinton leads in most national polls, Edwards and Barack Obama are in a tight competition with her for Iowa voters. Edwards has increasingly been singling Clinton out for criticism as he portrays himself as the best alternative to her.Clinton spokesman Mark Daley responded to Edwards’ statements. “Sen. Clinton is working her hardest to meet with Iowans and share her positive vision for change in America; it’s unfortunate Sen. Edwards isn’t doing the same,” he said. Daley also said Clinton believes that the Iranian group, called the Revolutionary Guard, is a terrorist organization. But, he said, she “was one of the first senators to make it clear that George Bush does not have the authority to go to war without congressional approval.”
A Republican Presidential candidate says people seeking visas to join relatives in the U.S. should take DNA tests to prove their family ties. Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo has introduced a bill requiring the DNA sampling. He says documents provided by immigrants are sometimes sketchy and unreliable.But Tancredo says the DNA tests would make sure applicants "are who they say they are" and "help protect the integrity" of the immigration system. Immigrants would pay for the DNA costs through visa application fees under the proposal.
Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho (not gay), has harsh words for presidential hopeful Mitt Romney in an upcoming NBC News interview, The San Francisco Examiner reported. The newspaper said it has obtained excerpts of the interview, conducted by NBC's Matt Lauer, with Craig (not gay) and his wife, Suzanne. The interview is scheduled to air Tuesday night.Craig -- who has announced he will serve out his Senate term despite a guilty plea in connection with his arrest at a Minneapolis airport men's room -- was one of two Senate liaisons for Romney's campaign for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination.Craig (not gay) resigned the position after his arrest became public, and Romney later said Craig (not gay) had "disappointed the American people." During the NBC interview, Craig (not gay) slammed Romney. "I was very proud of my association with Mitt Romney," Craig (not gay) said. "I worked hard for him here in the state. I was a co-chair of his campaign on Capitol Hill. And he not only threw me under his campaign bus, he backed up and ran over me again."
Presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani yesterday said preparedness will be key for all crises, even an attack from outer space.Guiliani, grin on his face at a town hall-style meeting, was responding to a young questioner who asked him about his plan to protect Earth, saying, “If (there’s) something living on another planet and it’s bad and it comes over here, what would you do?” Replied the former New York City mayor, “Of all the things that can happen in this world, we’ll be prepared for that, yes we will. We’ll be prepared for anything that happens,” said Giuliani, who spent the day campaigning in key early voting state. Being prepared is a recurring campaign theme for Giuliani, the mayor during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York.The boy’s question let Giuliani take a lighthearted turn as he wrapped up his answer on emergency preparedness. “This could be the new Steven Spielberg,” he said. “You want to be a science fiction writer or a scientist?” Then Giuliani asked the audience for another question: “Shall we take one question about this planet?”
Democratic Presidential hopeful John Edwards has spent two weeks questioning Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's judgment in voting to declare the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization. On Sunday, he questioned her sincerity. Last month, Clinton was one of 75 senators who voted for a resolution giving the president the authority to call the guards terrorists. She has characterized the vote as a way to gain leverage for U.S. negotiations with Iran, but some of her rivals, including Edwards and Sen. Barack Obama, argue it amounted to giving Bush another blank check to go to war. At several stops Sunday, Edwards referred to a New York Times column in which unidentified Clinton supporters say she voted for the resolution in part because she already has shifted from "primary mode," when she must appeal to liberals, to "general election" mode, when she must find broader support. "I may have missed something _ and you can tell me _ have we already had the New Hampshire primary? Have we decided who's going to win the New Hampshire primary yet? I think we're going to actually have a campaign and an election," Edwards said at a town hall meeting in a school cafeteria."Instead of moving from primary mode to general election mode, why don't we have tell-the-truth mode, all the time, and not say something different one time than we say another time?" he said. "We need to be able to trust both a presidential candidate and a president of the United States," Edwards said. A Clinton spokeswoman responded by noting that when he ran for president in 2004, Edwards said: "If you are looking for the candidate that will do the best job of attacking the other Democrats, I am not your guy." "Now that his campaign is stalled he has chosen instead to launch false attacks against other Democrats instead of presenting his ideas to New Hampshire voters," Kathleen Strand said. "Mr. Edwards knows that Sen. Clinton has repeatedly and consistently called for negotiations between the United States and Iran aimed at ensuring that Iran does not acquire nuclear weapons." Democratic presidential hopefuls Sens. Joe Biden and Chris Dodd voted against the resolution. Obama missed the vote to campaign in New Hampshire, prompting Clinton's campaign to argue that if he felt so strongly that the resolution would lay the groundwork for war he should have been there to vote against it.
Republican Presidential hopefulMitt Romney said he favored more seasonal visas to foreign workers in industries such as agriculture and tourism. Campaigning in northern Michigan, where many employers have struggled to fill jobs in hotels and restaurants during the summer tourist rush, Romney said more temporary workers should be allowed where there are labor shortages. "The answer to that is simple, which is issue more visas," Romney told reporters. "If our employment sector needs additional immigrant laborers, then issue the visas necessary to provide that work force." Federal law allows businesses in need of seasonal help to obtain what are known as H2B visas for foreign laborers _ if they can prove good-faith efforts to hire locally first. During a campaign stop later in Grand Rapids, Romney said he favors a system that would identify people who legally entered the United States to work. Employers that continue to hire illegal immigrants would face government penalties. "That'll stop the flow of people into this country for work because they won't be able to get work," Romney said. Some in the hospitality industry worried that President Bush's immigration plan, which stalled in the Senate this year, would have meant more paperwork and hurdles to bring in seasonal workers.Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, said he could appreciate such concerns because some hotels and restaurants in the Cape Cod resort area had similar problems. "I'm not going to leave America's employers without the capacity to meet the needs of our consuming public," he said. Romney, whose father was a Michigan governor and president of American Motors Corp., said that if elected, he would try to help the struggling domestic auto industry by boosting federal investment in energy-efficient technology. He said federal fuel economy standards have done little to improve gas mileage and have hurt domestic companies more than their foreign competitors. "Automobile efficiencyimprovements are important but they should be reached on a collaborative basis with the auto industry," Romney said. Romney also criticized the Democratic candidates who plan to bypass Michigan's primary after the state party moved up its contest in violation of Democratic National Committee rules. "The Democrats' walking away from Michigan, I think, is one more reason why Michiganders will support my candidacy and recognize that for me, Michigan is personal. This is not a state I'd walk away from," Romney said. In response, the state's Democratic chairman, Mark Brewer, said: "A Bush clone like Mitt Romney is going to have no attraction for Michigan voters."
McCain: Buddhist Monks Should Have Won Peace Prize, Not Al Gore
Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain said the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, announced today, should have gone to someone else other than former Vice President Al Gore. "I would have liked to see that prize go to the Buddhist monks who are suffering and dying in Burma," McCain said after a speech this morning in Davenport. Gore and the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the award for their efforts to spread awareness of global warming and lay the foundations for counteracting it. Gore's environmental film, "An Inconvenient Truth," won an Academy Award earlier this year.McCain, an Arizona senator, said he hoped Gore would now support nuclear power and a cap and trade proposal made by McCain and Sen. Joseph Lieberman to mandate that all sections of the U.S. economy reduce greenhouse gasses through a market-based system of trading emissions. McCain spoke to about 120 people at Genesis Health Care System's Adler Health Education Center. He was about 20 minutes late to the talk, in part, because his driver got confused an drove to Davenport's Adler Theater. McCain talked with the crowd about his plan for reforming health care through providing tax credits for people to purchase their own health insurance, allowing health insurance policies to be sold on a national basis, requiring more transparency from providers and drug companies and imposing limits on medical malpractice. "There is little doubt in my mind health care is the overriding domestic challenge and issue," McCain said.
Republican John McCain's Presidential campaign said that he has yet to decide whether to accept public financing in his bid for the nomination, despite his own assertion earlier in the day that he's not going to take matching funds. McCain told reporters his campaign was doing better nationally, but "we've got a lot of work to do." "No, I'm not going to give up Iowa. No, I'm not going to take matching funds, and no, I'm happy with our campaign," he said in response to a question about how he would jump start his campaign. But campaign spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker later played down the statement. "It is not a departure from what we've been saying," she said. "We are not taking matching funds now. We have not made a decision to take the matching funds. There is no final decision." McCain's remarks and the campaign's explanation comes as the presidential field enters an expensive 90-day sprint to the presidential caucuses in Iowa and the first-in-the-nation primary in New Hampshire, both tentatively scheduled for early January. The McCain camp said last week that he raised $6 million from July through September and that he had $3.6 million cash on hand. When he files his official fundraising reports with the Federal Election Commission by Monday, he is expected to show a debt of about $1.5 million.McCain had little cash and a staff upheaval on his hands at the end of June. At the time, his campaign said he was considering seeking public financing, a move that would pump at least $6 million into his presidential effort. Accepting such funds, however, would force him to live with spending limits in the primary states and an overall cap on primary spending of about $50 million. McCain, who had been focusing his efforts on New Hampshire, tried to reassure Iowans that he had not given up on the state. "I have to do a lot better job than I'm doing today. That's just a fact," McCain said Wednesday as he began a three-day trip through the state. "I intend to work, I've been here a lot. I'll be back." He called for stepping up oversight of private security firms in Iraq and blamed the Bush administration for not initially sending enough troops. Private security operations, such as Blackwater USA, were needed because U.S. troops were stretched too thin, said McCain, who has long called for increasing troop levels. "I would think it's important to point out that the reason why they're there is because we never had enough troops, we never had enough boots on the ground so they are carrying out responsibilities that normally American military would be carrying out," McCain said during taping of "Iowa Press" on public television. "I wish we had the size of Army, Marine Corps and Guard that we could send more troops."
Tancredo Says He Needs Top-3 Finish In Early Votes
Presidential hopeful Tom Tancredo says his campaign for president will be pretty much over with unless he finishes in the top three in either the New Hampshire primary or Iowa caucus. After his run, he says he'll then decide whether to seek re-election to the House from Colorado.Tancredo remains at the bottom of the field, ranking fifth in the latest home-state polls behind Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Mitt Romney. Tancredo says he has influenced the race by forcing other candidates to address his signature issue, illegal immigration. He blames President Bush and Congress for not doing enough to stop illegal immigrants from crossing U.S. borders.
In the wake of the exclusion ofPresidential candidate Alan Keyes from the Michigan, Presidential Debate, conservative leaders in the Wolverine State today criticized Michigan Republican Party Chairman Saul Anuzis, whose neutrality in the presidential race has been repeatedly called into question. "I think it is shameful that someone with Dr. Alan Keyes' experience in government and credentials in the conservative movement is being kept out of the debate," said Judy Zabik, Genesee County Republican Party Board member. "Voters in Michigan and across the country deserve to hear what this man has to say about where this country is and where it's going. He brings a principled, moral perspective to this race that nobody else brings." When Keyes officially entered the Presidential race on Sept. 14, Michigan's newly-created Sept. 11 deadline for inclusion on the party's list of recognized candidates submitted to the Secretary of State had already expired. Keyes supporters across the state have begun to gather the 11,569 signatures that are needed to assure that his name will appear on the GOP primary ballot. Under Michigan law, they have until October 23 to complete the process.However, the state party used inclusion on the Sept. 11 list as the criterion for participation in today's debate, which is being co-sponsored by the state party, CNBC, MSNBC, and the Wall Street Journal. Keyes supporters argue the party made an arbitrary rule that was impossible for Keyes or his people to meet - one with no connection to the former Reagan U.N. Ambassador's ability to qualify for the ballot. Dr. Levon Yuille, Chairman of the Michigan Black Republican Council, said, "I'm appalled that the Party of Lincoln would not include a man of Dr. Keyes' stature as part of the upcoming debate, at a time when my party is being accused of being insensitive to the black community. I think we would give our enemy an unnecessary issue that we don't need in this election. President Bush has made a concerted effort to reach out to the black community, and hopefully the Michigan Republican Party would reflect this concern and do the right thing." Yuille added, "Alan Keyes has been a stalwart national leader on a broad range of pro-life, pro-family issues for many years. He's also extremely knowledgeable in the areas of national defense, foreign policy, and economics. This debate is supposed to be about economics, I'm told. I hoped the state party would reconsider their decision and invite Dr. Keyes to participate. The perception by many that he is being kept out because of the partisan wishes of the state party leadership is very real." Ambassador Keyes, the only African-American in the Republican Presidential field, participated Sept. 27 in Tavis Smiley's PBS "All-American Presidential Forum" debate in Baltimore, Maryland, and in the "Values Voter" debate in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Sept. 17. During the Baltimore debate, which centered on issues of concern to the black community, Keyes commented that those Republican candidates who failed to attend "didn't show up at the Values Voter Debate, either--which, of course, sent a very negative message to the people who are interested in the issues that were discussed there." This week, Ambassador Keyes expanded on those remarks by commenting that "some Republican leaders obviously don't seem beholden to the people. To serve their own ambitions, they disregard the people's right to hear from all the candidates before choosing the Republican standard bearer. It's a question of the integrity and the openness of the political process. How can people make the best choice for America if they are not even allowed to consider it?"
Minnesotans are rejecting the major parties and identifying themselves as independents in the largest numbers in four years, according to a poll. Thirty-eight percent of Minnesota adults polled by the Star Tribune Minnesota Poll described themselves as independents, compared with 29 percent who said they're Democrats and 24 percent who consider themselves Republicans. The numbers were similar in December 2003, when the poll showed 39 percent of the respondents calling themselves independents, 27 percent Democrats and 25 percent Republicans. Kathryn Pearson, a University of Minnesota political scientist, called the results "incredible" in a time of intense polarization. "It's really striking that the public's disaffected with the Republicans and the Democrats," she said. Fully identified Democrats and Republicans are nearly at parity, but the Republicans remain at a distinct disadvantage when independents who lean toward the parties are factored in, the poll showed. When self-described partisans and leaners are combined, Democrats are ahead 45 percent to 33 percent. The poll, conducted Sept. 18-23, surveyed 802 Minnesotans and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.Recent national polls have found a comparable rise in the number of independents, mostly at GOP expense. A recent Pew Research Center poll showed independents and Democrats nationally tied with 34 percent support, lagged by Republicans at 25 percent. When leaners were factored in, the Democrats' advantage swelled to 52 percent to 35 percent. Pearson, however, had a warning for Democrats, noting that the approval ratings for Congress, which is controlled by Democrats, are even lower than those for President Bush. "Sure, people are dissatisfied with the Republicans, but they're dissatisfied with the Democratic leadership, too," she said. "They took control of Congress, have done nothing, so the public isn't very sympathetic to them." Minnesota Republican Party spokesman Mark Drake downplayed what he called "generic party identification," saying Minnesota "is a state that's always had an independent maverick streak. A lot of those independents are up for grabs." DFL chair Brian Melendez also focused on independents, particularly those who said they lean toward his party. "That's almost as good an indication of how we're doing as those who have a straight party ID," he said. "We really care about how people act at the polls. ... We care more about how they behave than whether they're card-carrying members of the party."
Fred Thompson, a veteran actor but a newcomer to presidential politics, steps onto a debate stage Tuesday for the first time in a decade. He's been practicing for weeks. Although nine Republicans will take part in the forum, which begins at 4 p.m. EDT in Dearborn, Mich., the focus will be on Thompson, a former Tennessee senator. A late entry into the race, Thompson has sometimes struggled to answer questions on the campaign trail in his initial weeks as a full-fledged candidate. He's no stranger to the small screen. He spent years acting on NBC's "Law & Order." But the last time he engaged in a political debate was 1996 during his successful Senate re-election campaign. Over the past two weeks, Thompson has held seven to nine debate sessions at his McLean, Va., campaign headquarters outside Washington, aides say. In each session, Thompson would answer timed questions on a variety of subjects. Aides then would stop and review answers with him.Among those helping: former New York Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, who has played Rudy Giuliani. "We think that we'll hold our own, but obviously every other candidate on the stage has been going to these debates all year long. They've already gone through their preseason. This is our first scrimmage," said Todd Harris, a Thompson spokesman. "The most important thing for us is for Fred's message and answers to connect with Republican voters, and that's been our focus." During the two-hour Michigan debate, Thompson will be positioned between top GOP rivals Giuliani and Mitt Romney. The debate is sponsored by The Wall Street Journal, CNBC and MSNBC and will focus on economic issues. Thompson entered the campaign on the same day as the fifth GOP debate last month. He chose to announce his candidacy on NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" in Los Angeles instead of debating in New Hampshire, a decision that drew attention.
White House hopeful Barack Obama stood in front of a pulpit Sunday and told worshippers that his faith ''plays every role'' in his life. ''It's what keeps me grounded. It's what keeps my eyes set on the greatest of heights,'' Obama told members of the Redemption World Outreach Center, whose 4,200-seat sanctuary was mostly full. Faith, he said, is ''what propels me to do what I do and when I am down it's what lifts me up.'' The Democratic presidential candidate said God ''is with us and he wants us to do the right thing,'' including breaking down the divisions between Democrats and Republicans and among religions. When people work together, he said, there is ``nothing that can stop us because that's God's intention.'' The Illinois senator is a member of the United Church of Christ, a church of about 1.2 million members that is considered one the most liberal of the mainline Protestant groups. The service at the center, founded by an International Pentecostal Holiness Church minister, had members on their feet much of the time singing, swaying and raising their hands. Thumping, rock-concert loud music played from a pulpit sometimes awash with fog and filled with a band and choir.Obama asked the church's members to pray for him and his family. ''Sometimes this is a tough role, being in politics. ... Sometimes you can become fearful. Sometimes you become vain and sometimes you will seek power just for power's sake,'' he said. Obama told the audience that people ask him, '`What role does faith play?' I say, ''It plays every role.'' ' Last week, Obama attended services at a black Baptist church in West Columbia and a white Baptist church a few miles away in Columbia. His campaign is in the midst of what it calls ''40 Days of Faith & Family'' -- an effort to introduce early voting South Carolina to how Obama's family life and faith have shaped his values. In an interview with The Associated Press last week, Obama was asked about walking the line where politics and the pulpit meet. ''There are no set guidelines or play book. When I go to church, I go there to worship. I am perfectly content to sit and listen to the music and pray and listen to the sermon,'' Obama said after last weekend's church services. Other times -- such as this Sunday -- Obama takes to the pulpit. In those instances, he said, ``my job is to try to draw a connection between the values that I express to the church and the challenges and issues that we face in politics. ... I don't think there's anything wrong with expressing faith in the public square and I think there's nothing wrong with public servants expressing religiously rooted values.''
Mitt Romney, trying to press his case on an issue near and dear to New Hampshire Republicans, put up a new radio ad today that boasts that he signed on the dotted line of a pledge not to raise taxes. "I'm proud to be the only major candidate for president to sign the tax pledge. The others have not," he says in the ad. "I signed the tax pledge because I want everyone to know where I stand. We've got to get taxes down and grow our economy." Romney -- who was the first to sign the pledge but has since been followed by second-tier GOP contenders Sam Brownback and Mike Huckabee -- also reminds primary voters of his promises to eliminate the estate tax and roll back income tax rates. Romney does not mention, however, that while campaigning for governor in Massachusetts in 2002, he refused to sign a similar pledge that his spokesman derided as "government by gimmickry" -- a fact gleefully pointed out today by the campaign of rival Rudy Giuliani.Romney said in 2002 that while he opposed tax hikes, he did not want to sign anything to tie his hands in office. Once elected, he managed to dig the commonwealth out of a huge budget deficit without any across-the-board tax increases, though he did support assorted fee hikes and closings of what he called corporate tax loopholes. Giuliani, John McCain, and Fred Thompson have given similar reasons to Romney in 2002 in refusing to sign the no-tax pledge from Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reforms. In a debate last month in New Hampshire, Giuliani said he would not sign the pledge as "a matter of principle." The former New York mayor and Romney have been going at each other hammer and tong on the tax issue since Thursday, when Romney sharply criticized Giuliani for opposing a presidential line-item veto and for supporting a commuter tax.
Two influential social conservatives ruled out a pro-life third-party candidate as a viable option for the Republican nomination in 2008 Friday. “I’d say possible, but probably unlikely,” former Executive Director of the Christian Coalition Ralph Reed said in an interview with Townhall at the American’s for Prosperity American Dream Summit in Washington, D.C. Former Ohio Secretary of State and 2006 Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate Kenneth Blackwell also indicated he did not agree with a third-party strategy. He told this reporter, “Given what is at stake in this election, I don’t think we can lose our focus and chase pipe dreams.” Blackwell said: “The reality is primary season is a season where we do the sorting out and the choosing of standard bearers.”Focus on the Family President James Dobson wrote in a New York Times op-ed that he and 50 other pro-family leaders had unanimously voted on a resolution in a September 29 meeting that read: “If neither of the two major political parties nominates an individual who pledges himself or herself to the sanctity of human life, we will join others in voting for a minor-party candidate.” Other voters at that meeting included Tony Perkins, who heads Family Research Council, where Blackwell is a senior fellow. Reed said raising a third-party candidate would be difficult to do this late in the 2008 campaign cycle. He noted a third-party candidate would “have to get going virtually today and I don’t think will get going today because they don’t know have an answer on whether or not the Republican nominee is going to be someone they can work with until probably February or March.” But, what if a pro-choice candidate, like former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani keeps his lead in the polls and captures the Republican nomination? Would social conservatives be forced to make a decision between principle and electability?” Reed said no. “The decision between do we stand on principle or we go with electability is a false choice,” Reed said. “The reality is, in a free society, it’s always a mixture….If you stand on principle and elect no one to office and don’t have the ability to do anything, your principles suffer because you can’t do anything to save the unborn, to strengthen marriage, to lower taxes, to protect the state of Israel and or to make sure we have an offensive strategy, instead of a defensive strategy on the war on terror.”Reed mentioned the successful election of Paul Coverdell to a U.S. Senate seat in 1992. “Coverdell said he was pro-choice,” Reed said. “He was not where we were on the abortion issue, but he was with us on funding, he was with us on judges, he was with us on partial-birth abortion. We really got his vote 99 percent of the time. He rose to leadership and helped defeat the Clinton health care plan. Were we mistaken to sit down and work out an understanding with him? Clearly not. It was the right thing to do.” Of Giuliani’s often-made promises to conservative circles he would appoint “strict constructionist judges” in the mold of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito to allay qualms about his spotty record on social issues, Reed gave some advice to the Giuliani campaign and the conservatives he’s courting. Reed said: “Mayor Giuliani has to make the case to social conservatives of the party and the social conservatives are going to have to decide if he’s with us on judges and if he’s with us on the Hyde amendment and if he’s with us on partial-birth abortion, if that’s enough.”
Log Cabin Republicans launched a television ad campaign Thursday using Mitt Romney's own words to discredit him. The 30 second television commercial will run nationally on Fox News Channel, with an additional concentration in Iowa, Log Cabin said. The ad highlights three issues: Romney’s support for abortion rights, his advocacy for gun control, and his denial that he is a Reagan Republican.The commercial uses video of Romney himself saying, “I was independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I’m not trying to return to Reagan-Bush.” Log Cabin President Patrick Sammon said that the group hoped to educate the American people about the former Massachusetts governor."Republicans deserve to know the truth about Romney," said Sammon. "Whether you’re a mainstream Republican, a libertarian Republican, or a social conservative, you just don’t know what he really believes." The ad also includes a 1994 clip from Romney’s debate with Sen. Ted Kennedy.Romney voices strong support for abortion rights, "I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country." “Whether it’s taxes, immigration, education, gay rights, gun ownership, stem cell research, abortion, campaign finance reform, or other key issues, Mitt Romney has a long list of flip-flops," said Sammon."As much as Governor Romney wants to re-invent himself, his record speaks for itself," the Log Cabin leader said. "The Mitt Romney of today is different from the Mitt Romney who was elected Massachusetts Governor and ran for the U.S. Senate. Romney may have forgotten what he used to believe, but Republicans won’t forget. The ad, however, does not point out another major flip flog by Romney - his position on same-sex marriage.In speeches throughout the country he has called for an amendment to the US Constitution to block gay marriages. But back in 1994, when he was running against Ted Kennedy for the Senate, Romney's position was far different. He told Boston gay paper Bay Windows that he opposed "extremists" who were trying to impose their positions on the Republican Party and that he believed marriage was a state issue. In a 1994 letter was written to the Log Cabin Club of Massachusetts Romney was attempting to court gay voters during his unsuccessful campaign against Kennedy. Citing Kennedy's record of advocacy for gays and lesbians, Romney wrote, ''For some voters, it might be enough to simply match my opponent's record in this area.But I believe we can and must do better. If we are to achieve the goals we share, we must make equality for gays and lesbians a mainstream concern.'' Lately Romney, who has said his positions on abortion and gay rights has evolved over the past decade has been running a radio ad casting himself as the only major GOP candidate backing a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. Romney raised $10 million and lent his presidential campaign $8.5 million more in the past three months, aides said Thursday. The size of the loan was unexpected and nearly matched his personal contribution to the campaign during the first six months of the year.
Representative Ron Paul’s campaign announced today that it raised more than $5 million during the third quarter. The figure more than doubled his second-quarter haul during a period when most candidates’ totals shrank. Jesse Benton, a spokesman, said that all $5,080,000 collected between July and September is for the primary, and the campaign has $5.3 million in the bank. On Tuesday, The Hotline, a political newsletter, speculated, “If Paul outraises Huckabee, won’t we need a new evaluation of ‘dark horse?’ ” With Mike Huckabee expected to report receipts of about $1 million, Mr. Benton thinks a re-evaluation is in order. In terms of money in the bank, Mr. Benton said, “we are going to be amongst the very top. I would argue that we’ve stepped into the first tier.”That argument might be hard to back up, as Mr. Paul continues to perform poorly in state and national polls. Nonetheless, the enthusiasm of Mr. Paul’s supporters is undeniable. Mr. Benton described the Paul base as people on the “old right with a good mixture of tech-minded people” as well as younger adults. The support has allowed the Paul campaign to expand both in reach and size. Mr. Benton said they are working on a second round of television spots (the first hit the Iowa airwaves in August) and that the staff has increased from 10 people to 44 over the past 10 weeks, and “we’re interviewing people right now, as we speak” to grow to around 50 in the next week. Information on the total number of donors is not yet available, but Mr. Benton said he expects that figure to increase “proportionate to or perhaps a little greater than” the increase in dollars.
