Forget the primaries. Some analysts are predicting that the upcoming presidential election, like in 2004, will come down to Ohio. The latest shows Clinton would beat both McCain and Giuliani:
OHIO
Hillary Clinton - 46% John McCain - 42%
Hillary Clinton - 46% Rudolph Giuliani - 43%
John McCain - 41% Barack Obama - 38%
John Edwards - 44% John McCain - 41%
Barack Obama is new to many Ohio voters. 21% of voters who were asked about a McCain vs Obama match-up were unsure. Once Ohio voters get a chance to see Obama in the primaries, then he would likely pick up more votes.
Although Clinton does well in Ohio, she would lose New Jersey rather easily. In another poll conducted by Quinnipiac and given to New Jersey residents, the former First Lady loses to McCain 48% to 41%.
This morning, the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee heard testimony from the top scientists on the issue of global warming. Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) slammed the Administration for editing key phrases in government reports that outlined the impact that CO2 emissions have had on our climate. As the notes, some of these reports were edited by former oil men:
The congressmen were trying to investigate an allegation that PhilCooney, chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality and a formerlobbyist for the American petroleum industry, was quashing scientificreports that offered views on global warming that differed from thoseof the White House.
"The committee isn't trying to obtain state secrets or documentsthat could affect our immediate national security," Waxman said today."We are simply seeking answers to whether the White House's politicalstaff is inappropriately censoring impartial government scientists."
Below is a short clip of Henry Waxman noting the changes that some Administration officials made in these climate reports:
At the end of the week, the UN will release the most thorough and extensive on global warming. The report took six years to complete, and consulted more than 2,500 scientists from 130 countries.
Last night on the Daily Show, Jon Stewart made a complete fool out of the Fox News morning show "Fox & Friends" for its flawed depiction of Illinois Senator Barack Obama:
I normally don't post Daily Show clips on this site, since I assume that most of you watch it anyway. This was just too difficult to pass up.
From mass firings at the Justice Department to newly-found loopholes in the Patriot Act, the Congress is for some reason asleep at the wheel during this Executive power grab.
Most recently, as reported this morning in the , President Bush signed an Executive Order that "gives the White House muchgreater control over the rules and policy statements" on "public health, safety, the environment,civil rights and privacy."
This comes on the heels of all the recent firings by the Justice Department. Within the last few months, Alberto Gonzales' Justice Department started firing federal prosecutors in mass. We cannot be certain as to exactly how many have been fired. But there -- each of them with something in common: they investigated public officials for allegedly being involved in government corruption. Republican lawmakers, such as John Ensign (R-NV), lazily to question Gonzales about it. Democrats, like Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), chose to during a recent Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. The night before, she gave a on the Senate floor about this misuse of Executive power.
Interestingly, within the last few days, word circulated that a large quantity of new federal prosecutors have been hired by the Bush Administration. Because of an in the Patriot Act, Gonzales can hand-pick each nominee -- none of which have to be confirmed by the Senate. The nine new prosecutors that have been appointed by Gonzales just so happen to be from President Bush's inner circle.
This amounts to nothing more than a reckless consolidation of power by the Executive Branch. It happens because lawmakers and their staffers do not read bills carefully enough to notice secret provisions like the kind Gonzales is now using to personally appoint new Bush-friendly prosecutors.
In the coming weeks, Democrats may have to compromise on the minimum wage bill by allowing a line item veto amendment -- another example of how Congress is losing this battle.
Long summary short, the Democrat Democratic majority needs to stand up tall and use its muscle to stop allowing the Bush-Cheney Administration to wrestle power away from the Legislative Branch. So far, they have sent the message to the White House that it is okay to consolidate power like this without any Congressional investigation. John Conyers and Pat Leahy, who head the Judiciary Committees in either chamber of Congress, are for some reason missing in action.
Where is the Congress on this? Please email your and your two . Tell them to investigate these new Justice Department appointments, and to show some spine by investigating each misuse of Executive power.
When members of Congress take a step outside the closed off shell known as Capitol Hill -- whether for meetings with constituents or tours overseas -- they tend to re-develop their human side. Last week, the outrage by senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and John Kerry (D-MA) over President Bush's troop escalation turned very personal. They were informed about the that they met in Iraq over the holidays, who warned the senators what what troops were going through now that the military is over-extended to a breaking point:
Just before Christmas, an Army captain named Brian Freeman corneredSens. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) and John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) at aBaghdad helicopter landing zone. The war was going badly, he told them.Troops were stretched so thin they were doing tasks they never dreamedof, let alone trained for.
Freeman, 31, took a short holiday leave to see his 14-month-old daughter and 2-year-old son, returned to his base in Karbala, Iraq,and less than two weeks ago died in a hail of bullets and grenades.Insurgents, dressed in U.S. military uniforms, speaking English anddriving black American SUVs, got through a checkpoint and attacked,kidnapped four soldiers and later shot them. Freeman died in theassault, the fifth casualty of the brazen attack.
The death of the West Point graduate -- a star athlete from Temecula,Calif., who ran bobsleds and skeletons with Winter Olympians -- hasradicalized Dodd, energized Kerry and girded the ever-moreconfrontational stance of Democrats in the Senate. Freeman's death hasreverberated on the Senate floor, in committee deliberations and ontelevision talk shows.
You have to wonder why it takes something like this to happen for some senators to wake up and take a bold position on the war? The answer is that we are all human, and most human concerns are local. Sure, most of us are outraged by the war, and would like to see it end. But the people that are internally depressed because of Bush's failed policy are the ones that actually knew someone who lost their life in battle.
In other words, if all of the victims in this war were the family, friends and acquaintances of lawmakers, then we would not be in Iraq today. I guess it goes to show how removed the Washington establishment currently is from all the military communities that deal with this tragic reality on a daily basis.
Every morning I bring you some of the misellaneous political stories thatmight not be worthy of their own posts, but nonetheless are important:
The White House has hired a . "ChefYosses has impressed us from the start with his original anddelicious creations," the first lady said. "He has a light touch withdesserts, and the enthusiasm with which he approaches his professionmakes him a real asset for all of us." But there is something veryironic about this. Yosses just so happens to be the author of the book.
Apparently, former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer just blew a huge hole in Scooter Libby's defense case. This was the most significant testimony of the case thus far. summarizes what happened: "Ari Fleischer was told 'days earlier'..byCheney Chief of Staff Scooter Libby that Valerie Plame was not only JoeWilson's wife but that she worked in the CIA's counter-proliferationdivision. Fleisher also indicated that Libby said this info was on 'the QT.'" No wonder Patrick Fitzgerald did not agree to a plea deal with Libby. He has an excellent case against him!
The group VoteVets.org is targeting Republican Senators who oppose the Biden-Levin-Hagel resolution. It is launching in a number of television markets throughout the country. Republican Senators like Norm Coleman, who are up for reelection in 2008, had better be worried.
In response to the bloody battle in Najaf over the weekend, President Bush said, "My first reaction on this report from the battlefield is that Iraqis are beginning to show me something." Frank James of the replied, "Huh?"
Former U.S. Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) had a very of the President's State of the Union Address: "To me, what the President seems to be ignoring is the recommendationthat we have a better relationship with Iraq's neighbors. He didn'tmention one word in his speech about a better relationship with theIranians and the Syrians, in particular, but also Iraq's otherneighbors -- the Turks, the Saudis, the Jordanians, and the Kuwaitis."
Could this be the Gulf of Tonkin all over again? : "If Iran escalates its military actions in Iraq to the detriment of ourtroops and - or innocent Iraqi people, we will respond firmly," Bushsaid in an interview with National Public Radio.
There was a this week between the Clinton and Romney campaign teams. First, the Clinton team claimed Romney said U.S. forces should not be out of Iraq by January of 2009. Then Mitt Romney responded, saying that Clinton fails to view Iraq as part of the larger global war on terrorism. The rhetoric has quieted down for the time being.
In Indonesia, the rapidly. It has claimed the lives of 75 Indonesians, and has sickened approximately 4,800.
Former Congressman Harold Ford will .
The whole point of having this type of entry each morning is to post some stories that youmight not be able to learn about on other sites without spending half an hour scouring the internet. If this is all oldstuff to you, . And most importantly, feel free to add any new stories in the commentbo
Here are your political clips for Tuesday, January 30, 2007.
1) Cafferty explains how federal prosecutors are being replaced by Bush insiders. It was done through the Patriot Act. None of these prosecutors need to be confirmed by the Senate, thanks to this law. This is sooo unconstitutional!
2) Center for American Progress economist out-debates a right-wing guest on the state of U.S. economy.
3) Tony Snow dodges question about CIA leak case. It's understandable that he kind of had to.
4) Chris Matthews literally drools over Valerie Plame case. Again, quite literally. Watch closely.
5) Youtube considers allowing its users to make revenue off their postings. This makes perfect sense. It would be a similar formula to that of Google Adsense. The more hits a video gets, the more that user would get rewarded. However, this could cause a copyright war. In other words, users that post news clips from CNN, MSNBC and FOX News would be making money off those posts -- which would piss off the cable networks.
6) Somebody's favorite Congresswoman. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) talked about oversight on the House floor tonight.
7) McCain flip-flops. Politicians can no longer get away with flip-flopping.
More clips later today and tomorrow. Enjoy the day!
I enjoy reading polls more than any other because of how they break voters down into the most specific groups. On Monday night, released a poll taken by voters in New Hampshire that said they will likely to take part in the Democratic primary next January. It asked them point-blank: Clinton, Obama, Edwards or someone else? Putting it simply, Clinton has a commanding lead. But when you break the poll down into key social categories, you find which Democratic voters like which candidates. I will do my best to break this poll down for you all.
Overall, among likely Democratic primary voters, here are the results:
New Hampshire Hillary Clinton - 40% Barack Obama - 25% John Edwards - 23% Other Democrat - 9% Undecided - 3%
You might be thinking, "This race is over." But it's not.
Age-wise, Hillary carries every single age group. Obama is strongest among the 18 - 34 crowd, while Edwards is strongest among baby-boomers.
The Illinois Senator closes the gap among men, narrowly losing to Hillary by a 35% to 29% margin.
As far as ideology, this one is interesting. The "conservative" Democrats sure like Hillary:
New Hampshire "Conservative" Democratic Voters Hillary Clinton - 56% John Edwards - 19% Barack Obama - 18%
Clearly though, there is one key demographic that likes Hillary Clinton much less: independents:
New Hampshire "Independents" Hillary Clinton - 33% Barack Obama - 32% John Edwards - 21%
Among people that voted for Bush in 2004, Obama bests Hillary:
New Hampshire '04 Bush Supporters Barack Obama - 35% Hillary Clinton - 30% John Edwards - 21%
Obama also beats Hillary among those who did not vote in 2004:
New Hampshire '04 Non-Voters Barack Obama - 46% Hillary Clinton - 37% John Edwards - 17%
While John Edwards does not win over any category, he does come close among Democratic voters that oppose marijuana for medical purposes:
New Hampshire Primary Voters that Oppose Medical Marijuana Hillary Clinton - 38% John Edwards - 34% Barack Obama - 21%
There are a number of other fun categories too -- which you can .
All in all, Hillary Clinton is definitely way ahead in New Hampshire. She received a huge bounce in the week and a half since her announcement. However, if you want to make the case for the most electable candidate, Barack Obama certainly bests Clinton. He wins among independent voters. He wins among people that supported Bush in 2004. He wins among the few that did not vote in 2004. If Democrats are looking for new voters, then their best candidate might be Obama.
As far as where each candidate needs to improve, most of this is straight-forward. Edwards needs to court more youth voters, while Obama needs to go for the older ones. Both Edwards and Obama should strive to win over female voters, otherwise they will not win one primary.
This is just one of many polls between now and next January that I will break down so all of us can have a clear idea how each candidate needs to improve. Remember though, this is only New Hampshire. Iowa and Nevada vote before that!
You think it's all clear cut who we are fighting in Iraq? It turns out that the fierce battle over the weekend included an insurgent group with no ties to any political organization. How they were trained and so well-equipped is a mystery. reports:
A mysterious group of religious zealots who fought a fierce battlewith American and Iraqi troops on Sunday were armed with AK-47 assaultrifles, rocket-propelled grenades and five anti-aircraft machine gunsrigged on tractors - raising questions about how a group with no knownties to Iraq's current cast of political organizations came to be sowell equipped and trained.
"They fought according to a military arrangement, and theymoved as platoons and companies," Abdul Hussein Abtan, the deputygovernor of Najaf, said Monday.
Ali Nomas, a spokesman for the security forces in Najaf, saidthe militants, who numbered from 1,000 to 1,500, had purchased farmsand surrounded them with a dirt barricade and a bulldozed trench. Morethan 2,000 AK-47 assault rifles and 700 rocket-propelled grenades wererecovered after the battle, Nomas said.
Unless I was taught wrong in my Middle East class, I am pretty sure that Najaf is a Shiite area. This obviously raises concerns that a group like this may have been sponsored by Iran -- although there is certainly no proof to back up that claim.
Anyway, just what are we doing in Iraq? No, that is not a rhetorical question. I honestly want to know why we are in Iraq? Even after following this war on a daily basis and hoping for our soldiers to prevail, I still have no idea what needs to happen in order for us to leave. If our job is to quell the insurgency, then that is the wrong fight. Bush should know. Earlier this month, Bush about the insurgency in Algiers. He ought to know that conventional forces, like the coalition, do not determine how long an insurgency lasts. The insurgents decide how long an insurgency lasts. So again, I ask what are we doing there?
Today, during a White House press conference with Press Secretary Tony Snow, right-wing conservative radio host Lester Kinsolving threw a bunch of softballs at Snow, which came in the form of an editorial about Democrats:
Thankfully, Tony Snow mocked him a bit.
This reminded me of the a few years back. Gannon, whose real name was Matt Guckert, was sent in to throw softball questions at the White House Press Secretary. After who this man was, it turned out Guckert was a male prostitute. So much for the GOP's moral values.
Not to say that Kinsolving is any bit as bad as Guckert. But why all the softball questions?
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