The Blue State

Reid: Republicans block bills they actually support

The Democratic Party used its radio address to help set the stage for the ultimate battle after the 4th of July recess.  Understanding that a majority of the country is dissatisfied with the Congress, as they are dissatisfied with Bush's Iraq policy, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are going to push for a July vote to end the war. 

This is the real deal.  No non-binding resolutions.  No wimpy efforts to bring it to a cloture vote.  This is it.  After the 4th of July, Democrats will force GOP senators such as Richard Lugar, John Warner, Chuck Hagel, Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, Norma Coleman -- including other Republicans on the fence -- to take a stand.

Reid hinted at this plan in the radio address:

"Voting against a bill on a matter of principleis one thing," the Nevada senator said during the weekly Democraticradio address. "To go forward, we will need far more Republicans to putpartisan politics aside and work with us for the American people."

While seeking their votes on defense legislationnext week, Reid accused GOP lawmakers of blocking ethics reform andenactment of the 9/11 Commission recommendations.

"Republican obstruction has gotten so bad that now they're blocking bills that they actually support," Reid said.

Will Reid really put his foot down, or is this another effort to excite people for nothing?  One thing is for sure: the Democrats have not pressed hard enough to end the war in Iraq.  Yes, the need 67 votes.  But you won't be able to pressure Republicans to change their mind if it is debated only once each month.  Multiple bills to end the war should be submitted each week.  If the Democrats tried that strategy, Senate Republicans would buckle.  Imagine being a Republican and running for reelection with the following line appearing in your opponent's campaign ad: "This Repoublican Senator voted against troop redeployment 15 times."

So keep bringing the Iraq bills to the floor.  Dare them to vote against it.  Once each month is not going to cut it.

DCCC moves against GOP incumbents early

We are not even one year removed from the previous election, and theDemocratic Congressional Campaign Committee is already moving against anumber of Republican House incumbents.  According to CongressionalQuarterly, the DCCC is launching a major ad blitz around the Fourth of July against certain GOP lawmakers thatvoted against benefits for military families:

Playing off the patriotic themes that will abound during the July 4celebration, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC)will be waging media and mass phone-calling campaigns accusing the GOPincumbents — all of whom have supported President George W. Bush’s Iraqwar policies — of failing to provide sufficient support for members ofthe U.S. military.

“Next week, Republicans are going home to talk up their support forour nation’s troops and veterans. But, their constituents deserve toknow that the Republican record on veterans is all talk and no action,”said DCCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen, a representative from Maryland, ina statement. “America’s troops and veterans deserve more than patrioticspeeches this Independence Day.”

Here is an example of what the radio ads will sound like.

The GOP incumbents that the Democrats are targeting are the following:

• Robin Hayes (NC-08)
• Joe Knollenberg (MI-09)
• Jon Porter (NV-03)
• Jim Walsh (NY-23)
• Don Young (AK)
• Shelly Moore Capito (WV-02)
• Sam Graves (MO-06)

This is great!  Every time the Republicans play the military card and then turn around and vote against military families, let's hold them accountable.  No more being silent like we were.

Is Hillary using Bill to win Iowa -- where is the feminism in that?

Between Monday and next Saturday, Hillary Clinton will barnstormthrough the state of Iowa in an attempt to gain ground on caucusfrontrunner John Edwards.  She may succeed in doing that.  From Mondaythrough Wednesday, the former First Lady will use her husband BillClinton as a mechanism to attract more media attention as she tours. TheDes Moines Register reports that Hillary is going all-out this week:

The Clintons are planning a three-day, six-city swingbeginning Monday evening at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines.

Theevent kicks off a series of campaign rallies and represent the firsttime the former president will campaign anywhere for the former firstlady, outside of attending fund-raisers for her.

The campaign iscasting a wide net to promote the Monday event, putting out a recordedtelephone message in central Iowa, whose recipients included peopleregistered as Democrats and independents.

The Clintons also arescheduled to campaign together at the University of Iowa in Iowa Cityand in downtown Davenport on Tuesday afternoon. On Wednesday, they planto participate in the Clear Lake July 4th parade before headlining anafternoon event at the National Cattle Congress in Waterloo and anevening event in Cedar Rapids.

What's stunning is that Mrs. Clinton attracts the support of manyfeminists, yet she uses her husband in order to obtain a competitiveadvantage over Obama, Edwards and Richardson.  As a male that evenconsiders myself a feminist, I think Hillary would be an inspiration ifshe won it on her own, and didn't use a her husbandin a campaign ad every time she needs to meet certain fundraisinggoals.  Just a thought.

Seventh Justice Department official resigns -- no one wants to work for Alberto anymore

Assistant US Attorney General Rachel Brand became theseventh Justice Department official to resign amid the ongoing scandalinvolving Alberto Gonzales.  Strategically, Brand even used her post as a launchingpad to try and become areplacement for one of the fired US attorneys:

When officials were planning to fire prosecutors in San Diego, SanFrancisco, Michigan and Arkansas, Ms. Brand was named as a possiblereplacement for Margaret Chiari in Michigan, according to documentsreleased as part of a Congressional inquiry.

The Justice Department is in shambles.  The Bush Administration ishaving a very difficult time trying to fill the Justice Department vacancies.  For example, last week thePresident's nomineeto fill the third most powerful Justice Department spot withdrew hisname just days before the Senate confirmation hearings.

No one wantsto work for Mr. Gonzales and have their resume permanently tarnished.  I sure would not.

Blue Radar

As I post each morning, here are some of the political stories thatmight not be worthy of their own posts, but are nonetheless newsworthy:

• CNN: 51% have a favorable view of the Democratic Party, and 36% have a favorable view of the Republican Party.
• CBS: Bush job approval rating at 27%.
• A mystery pollsteris conducting surveys of whether Americans would vote for MichaelBloomberg in 2008.  Many think this pollster is connected to Bloomberghimself.  The New York Mayor is refusing to comment.
  
• The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case about detainees from Guantanamo Bay that want a right to a fair trial.
• Democrats want to cut funding for Guantanamo Bayin half.  This would force the closure of the prison.  Guantanamo'sannual budget is $125 million per year.  At the moment, the bill has 145 supporters in the House.
• The European Union says it has run out of cash for Darfur peacekeepers.
  
• GOP presidential candidate Sam Brownback has a lot of anger for the Clinton family.  As he writes in his new book, "I was considering what I should say when I confronted all the angerthat I held for the Clintons.  I thought, I hate them for what they are doing to the country and I feel justified in hating them for it."
• NBC News:Among the '08 contenders that Americans say they definitely would notvote for, Hillary Clinton (52%) is first, followed by Mitt Romney(46%).  McCain, Edwards and Giuliani are next.
  

If we left anything out, feel free to add any stories in the commentbox.

Blue Nightowl Clips

It's the end of the week, finally!  As we post at midnight every 24 hours, here are some of the popular political clips making their rounds on the blogs at this hour:

1. Elizabeth Edwards talks to Wolf Blitzer about Ann Coulter.
2. Bill Moyers on Rupert Murdoch.
3. Bush: "I'm an exercise guy...I exercise a lot."  (LOL Still has the deer in the headlights look)
4. Christian Broadcasting Network slams European media.  Hardly any real evidence to support their findings.

More clips tomorrow.

Iraqi Sunnis to boycott government

This terrible news crossed the wires today.  The Arab Sunni bloc is boycotting government meetings.  BBC:

Iraq's main Sunni Arab bloc has said it will boycottgovernment meetings because of legal steps being taken against one ofits ministers.

The Iraqi Accord Front (IAF) has six ministers, and itsmove is seen as a blow to the Shia-led cabinet as it tries to reconcilethe two communities.

Earlier this week, an arrest warrant was issued for Culture Minister Asaad Kamal al-Hashemi, an IAF member.

The case concerns the killing of two sons of a Sunni politician in 2005.

Obviously it adds further downward momentum to a war that will probably be ended by Congress.

More Iraq news:

• 329 US soldiers have been killed during the second quarter of 2007.  It represents the worst death toll of any quarter since the invasion in March of 2003.
• General Patraeus estimates that half of Baghdad is now under control.
• Insurgents bombed an oil pipeline south of Baghdad.  Remember though, this is a capital with with 2.5 million people.
• CBS Poll: 77% say the war is going "badly"; 66% want the number of US troops decreased; 40% want all US troops out.

Calling all wanna-be bloggers

If you are a political junkie looking for a chance to become a regular on an up-and-coming blog, now is your chance.  Once in awhile, I send an open invitation to anyone interested in joining our team of bloggers here at The Blue State.  If you can write a post or two once every few days, and are interested in making a political impact online, then send us along an email.  Tony and I will be spending a lot of time between now and September building this site into a major online progressive community.  While we do that, we will need other people to pick up some of the slack on the writing side.  If you are interested, let us know.

The second quarter '08 fundraising hype

In a few days, each of the 2008 candidates will report their second quarter fundraising totals.  Today and tomorrow marks what political junkies like me call the 'expectations game'.  Campaigns strategically play down or play up their expectations based on which strategy will get the most positive media attention.

Already, the Clinton for President Campaign is saying they raised just under $30 million for this quarter, raising the bar incredibly high for Obama and Edwards.  By announcing early, Clinton's camp wants the media to be fixated on the following question: can Edwards and Obama match her.  Clinton is doing this because her campaign probably knows that neither Obama nor Edwards will meet that mark.  So when they finally do announce, the media can say, "Clinton is still the front-runner."

Of course, there can be surprises.  Last quarter, Obama waited for what seemed like forever before announcing that he surpassed Clinton in primary money.

Lastly, Bill Richardson announced today that he raised roughly $7 million this quarter, which is very impressive for a second tier candidate.  A few days ago, it was rumored that Richardson would even beat John Edwards in money.  I doubt that will be the case.  According to my sources, Edwards will raise somewhere between $9 million and $9.5 million.

So the big question then is how will Obama do?  Clinton will finish somewhere between $27 and $30 million.  Obama raised $25.7 million last quarter.  Some of the hype behind his candidacy has died down.  So will he do it?  We will know as early as Sunday.

Bloomberg talking smack about Obama

In what could be a future attack line if he runs for president as an independent, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg told a friend that Barack Obama is not experienced enough to be president:

A reader who ran into Mike Bloomberg at Primavera on the Upper East Side last night is the second source to reporthearing Bloomberg describe the Illinois senator as too inexperienced tobe president.

Bloomberg, according to my spy, said he had met Obama for the firsttime about a year and a half ago, in the Senate subway, and was struckby Obama's eloquence.

But "he simply is not experienced enough to become president,"Bloomberg, I'm told, said. That's in part, at least, because "senatorshave absolutely no idea what executive decision making is all about" —a familiar Bloomberg theme and one that would disqualify a number ofcandidates.

Another source also recalls Bloomberg saying, several weeks earlier, that Obama doesn't have the experience for the job.

Under that same logic, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, John Edwards, Ron Paul, Chris Dodd, Duncan Hunter, Dennis Kucinich, Tom Tancredo, and Joe Biden are also unqualified to be president.  Oh, and don't forget John F. Kennedy too.  He was in the Senate before being elected.

On the other side of the coin, George W. Bush was Governor in Texas.  That qualifies as an executive.  Yeah, that experience sure paid off, didn't it?