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Home > Window on Washington > Archives > 2008 > August
August 2008
Gustav forces GOP convention changes
Hurricane Gustav knocks GOP convention off schedule.
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No smoke-filled rooms at convention, so what is Boehner to do?
National political conventions have long been associated with smoke filled rooms, where all kinds of secret deals are cut by pols. Not any longer, though.
The Excel Energy Center in St. Paul, where the Republicans will gather this week, is a smoke-free facility, just like the Pepsi Center in Denver, where the Democrats held their convention last week.
So will House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio, a chain-smoker, be able to survive the week in the proceedings in the Excel Energy Center?
“Of course,” an irritable Boehner snapped to an inquiring reporter after an hour long lunch at a hotel near the Excel Energy Center on Sunday.
Boehner, the convention chairman, then quickly left the hotel, which also bans smoking, for a quick smoke break outside before heading to the next event on his schedule.
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No media whining here, just wining (and dining)
How can you stay a snarky, jaded journalist when these relentlessly nice folks with accents like the cast of the movie “Fargo” keep smiling and insisting that you eat another ear of roasted sweet corn?
Not just any corn on the cob, mind you. Minnesota sweet corn that probably won a blue ribbon at the state fair going on across town. With the husks still attached to one end to form a handle. That was needed to dunk the eating part into a vat of melted butter before sprinkling on salt and pepper and strolling over to gnaw it off while gazing at the Mississippi River and “Pillsbury’s Best Flour” sign atop a building on the other side.
Such was the scene at the Saturday night “Media Party” thrown by the twin cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul for the 15,000 or so journalists who have come to cover the Republican National Convention, scheduled to start Monday. Many flew in directly from Denver where the Democrats nominated Barack Obama.
A crowd of journalists, delegates and other invited guests enjoyed the corn and other Midwestern delicacies, not to mention the open bars and live music, at an outdoor gathering by the river and in the nearby Guthrie Theater and Mill City Museum.
The media party is a tradition of all political conventions and journalists compare all against the gold standard set at the 1996 Republican National Convention in San Diego. There, restaurants from all over California set up booths and Wolfgang Puck himself was cooking fish tacos. Last week, Denver opened up an amusement park for the assembled reporters.
The consensus on Saturday night? The food in Minneapolis rivaled that of San Diego.
Read on to see the menu:
Wild game pate. Roasted red pepper hummus. Huge boiled shrimp in little cocktail glasses with a dab of guacamole at the bottom of the glass. Minnesota wild rice chicken paella. Grilled portabello mushrooms on little slices of sourdough bread with roasted garlic sauce and melted parmesan cheese. Roasted red and black bean salad. Watermelon gazpacho (spicy hot and better than it sounds). Salmon with fresh dill served on whole wheat crackers. Barbecued ribs and little barbecue sandwiches with cole slaw. Roast duck in little pastry cups. Wild mushroom risotto cake with crushed tomato and prosciutto.
The Guthrie Theater is a sleek, elegant place — called “a 21st Century dream factory” by Time Magazine — named not for Woodie or Arlo but for Sir Tyrone Guthrie, a playwright and the theater’s founder. It has fantastic views of the city and river and, on Saturday night, there was food, drink and a musical combo around every turn of the carpeted ramp.
Among the sponsors of this shendig was Minneapolis St. Paul More to Life, a corporate-funded campaign to improve the images of the Twin Cities.
The traditional media parties are all given in hopes that sated journalists will present a favorable picture of the host cities to the world. Generally, they work.
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GOP convention media party
Media party night at the Republican National Convention. Check it out.
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Big mall ready for big GOP convention
The nation’s biggest mall is ready for GOP delegates headed to Minneapolis-St. Paul for their national convention.
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Texans celebrate Obama nomination
It was a moving night for Texas delegates at the Democratic National Convention.
Click the above to see them at Invesco Field as Barack Obama accepted the Democratic presidential nomination.
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Feeding the beast
Reporters, like regular people, must eat.
And at the Democratic National Convention in Denver this week this is pretty much where they had to eat.
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Hutchison shoots down VP talk
We caught Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison after she addressed the Texas Association of Counties this morning. She said she’s not going to be McCain’s running mate.
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Wanted: 2 Obama tickets. Willing to trade: A kidney.
The hottest ticket in Denver today is the ticket to Mile High Stadium for Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama’s acceptance speech tonight.
How hot is it?
Scalpers are reportedly selling them on the street for $100 a piece. On Craigslist.org, the price is up to $600 a ticket. But some folks are even more desperate to see Obama.
On Craigslist, for example, someone in the Denver area is offering a kidney for two tickets for himself and his girlfriend.
The ad says: “Are you in need of an extra kidney? Know of someone who needs one? I have 2 good kidneys which is a little excessive. I’ll give you one of them for two tickets to tonight’s speech.”
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Obama Volvo
Living the stereotype: Democrats and Volvos and bumper stickers.
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Austin shout out
Howdy from Denver via MSNBC this morning.
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DNC: Behind the Scenes Part 3—Bloggers in the Big Tent, Obama Girl, and the Elusive Conservative Blogger
A look at the Big Tent set up for non-affiliated, independent bloggers. Interviews with bloggers such as “Hissyspit,” the Obama Girl, and a search for an elusive conservative blogger in a room filled with vocal Obama supporters.
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Delegate votes still recorded despite Obama acclamation
Although Democrats declared Barack Obama their presidential nominee by unanimous acclamation Wednesday afternoon, ballots for chief rival Hillary Clinton were still recorded in some state delegations.
Delegates started marking their paper ballots in their hotel rooms Wednesday morning, hours before the actual roll call of the states that ended prematurely when Clinton herself moved that the convention unanimously declare Obama their 2008 presidential nominee.
In the Texas delegation, for example, Obama got 124 delegate votes and Clinton got 96, with only one of Clinton’s pledged delegates switching to Obama.
Clinton asked the convention delegates to make Obama’s nomination unanimous “in the sprit of unity, with the goal of victory.”
Her request came midway through the traditional roll call of the states and was the culmination of a painstaking agreement worked out between both campaigns to present a unified front on the eve of Obama’s acceptance speech.
At the time of her request, the roll call vote stood at 1,549.5 votes for Obama and 341.5 votes for Clinton.
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Invesco Field: Too big for Barack?
There’ll be a big crowd at Denver’s Invesco Field Thursday night when Barack Obama gives his acceptance speech. But Democratic consultant Stan Greenberg says it might become a big mistake. See the stadium and hear his concerns.
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Carville says Bill Clinton and Obama warming to each other
Longtime Clinton confidante James Carville told reporters Wednesday that the healing process between former President Bill Clinton and soon-to-be Democratic presidential nominee Bill Clinton “has accelerated.”
“He and Obama have talked more in the last week probably than they have in their entire life,” Carville said at a press lunch hours before the former president was to address the Democratic national convention. “My sense is the healing process has accelerated.”
There has been a lot of speculation about Clinton this week, with some news accounts suggesting the ex-president is still upset with the Obama campaign for suggesting his conduct in the primaries in support of his wife Hillary was racist.
But Carville said it would be obvious, once Clinton addressed the convention delegates Wednesday night, that he enthusiastically supports Obama for president and is ready to campaign for the nominee.
“This is going to be a much warmer thing than you had with Reagan and Ford (at the 1976 Republican convention),” Carville said. “It’s going to be a much warmer thing than you had with Kennedy and Carter (at the 1980 Democratic convention. And the Clinton and Gore relationship in 2000.”
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Convention transportation
Best way to get around Denver during the Democratic National Convention? Bikes.
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A night at the convention
It looks a lot different in person than it does on TV. Take a look at the chaos, confusion and choreography.
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Romney crashes Democratic convention
Mitt Romney, the former GOP Massachusetts governor, sneaked into Democrat territory Tuesday night, making a television appearance from the Pepsi Center in Denver.
Romney, rumored to be a potential running mate for presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, slipped behind some risers on the second level of the center on his way to the interview, and was surrounded by television cameras as he made a quick dash out of the center.
“I have a lot of friends here,” he said, brushing off inquiries from reporters about how he was greeted at the Democratic National Convention.
“Mitt Romney?” exclaimed one delegate when told who was in a private broadcast booth. “Mitt Romney? What? Has he become a Democrat?”
Another wasn’t so charitable.
“Are we going to beat him up when he comes out?”
Romney left the center without incident.
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Florida delegation a few decibels higher than the rest in Denver
With her red hair and orange vest, it’s hard to miss Terrie Brady as she directs the, um, spontaneous demonstrations of the Florida delegation.
Like on Tuesday night, when three of the eight Democratic first-time congressional candidates spotlighted on the floor of the Democratic National Convention floor were from Florida. On Brady’s signal, the delegates stopped chatting or talking on cell phones and jumped into action — hollering and whistling and raising such a ruckus that one of the candidates — Joe Garcia — seemed a tad embarrassed and motioned them to cool it.
Christine Jennings and Raul Martinez, the other congressional candidates on the stage, received a similarly raucus appreciation from the delegates. The noise level from the Florida delegation was many decibels above that for the candidates from other states.
Martinez, the former mayor of Hialeah, is running against incumbent Republican Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart. Garcia is challenging Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, Lincoln’s younger brother and also the incumbent. Both races are in greater Miami. Jennings is running against Republican Rep. Vern Buchanan of Sarasota.
“These are targeted races” chosen by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee — and not the only races where Democratic challengers have good chances of unseating incumbent Republicans, said Brady.
With her whips passing out “Hillary” buttons before New York Sen. Clinton made her speech, Brady explained her job as to be “in charge of the delegation” on the floor. Signs seem to materialize from nowhere and she sees that every Florida delegate has one to hold up and knows when to do it.
Her command post is beside the tall sign with “Florida” spelled vertically. When the roll call vote comes Wednesday night, she has already warned the delegates they had better be ready and not have to say “Florida Passes.”
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Convention hardball at Coors Field
It’s baseball. It’s politics. It’s lobbyists. It’s at Denver’s Coors Field during the Democratic National Convention. See how it all comes together in the batter’s box.
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Romney says he has fewer homes than Kerry
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, acting as a surrogate for Republican John McCain’s presidential campaign during the Democratic convention, was ready for the question at a lunch with reporters in Denver on Tuesday.
The question came as a result of the recent controversy over McCain not knowing how many homes he owns.
When asked how many homes he himself owns, Romney replied, “One less than John Kerry,” the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee who is married to Teresa Heinz of the Heinz food fortune.
That would mean four homes for Romney, a multi-millionaire, compared to seven (or maybe eight) for McCain.
Asked whether pushing the total of homes owned by the Republican ticket to 11 (or maybe 12) might hurt his chances to be chosen as McCain’s running mate, Romney replied, “I’m not here to talk about (that).”
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GOP war room in Denver
Take a look at the Republican “war room” operation near the Democratic National Convention in Denver.
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Austinite biking the streets of Denver for NBC
Austin Anderson, a longtime Austinite and TV cameraman, has a bike and a camera and is rolling through downtown Denver for NBC.
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The streets of Denver
Let’s take a walk through downtown Denver and find out about the protests and products that have popped up in conjunction with the Democratic National Convention.
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Zogby poll shows Barr could affect presidential election
Former Georgia Congressman Bob Barr, the Libertarian candidate for president, is polling enough support in key battleground states to effect the outcome of the White House race between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain.
According to a new poll by Zogby International, Barr is the presidential choice of eight percent of voters in Ohio, five percent in Florida and five percent in Pennsylvania, perhaps the three most important states in the 2008 presidential.
John Zogby, head of the polling firm, said the Georgian could hurt McCain “going down the stretch.”
In a statement reacting to Zogby’s polling, Barr, a former Republican congressman, said, “Americans recognize that neither John McCain nor Barack Obama are agents of change in this country.”
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Florida a problem for McCain, Dems say
“If John McCain does not win the state of Florida, he has no chance to win the presidency,” Barack Obama’s national campaign manager declared Monday.
Democratic strategist David Plouffe said Florida is one of the most important of the 18 battleground states that will decide the election between his candidate, Sen. Obama of Illinois, and his Republican opponent, Sen. McCain of Arizona.
Plouffe briefed reporters on the situation in the battleground states — only four of which were carried by the 2004 Democratic candidate, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry.
Plouffe said Obama is already much stronger in Florida than the Democrats ended up four years ago.
Kerry lost by 380,000 votes, Plouffe said. However, 500,000 registered African Americans did not turn out to vote in Florida in 2004. This turnout will undoubtedly greater with the first African-American on the presidential ticket and Obama will get more than 90 percent of these vote, the campaign manager predicted.
In 2004, 900,000 registered young voters did not turn out to vote in Florida, he said. Obama has inspired young voters to get to the polls, he said.
Kerry lost the Hispanic vote in Florida because the Cuban-American community went against him, Plouffe said. “We’re leading with Hispanic voters in Florida.”
Plouffe said the convention will give Americans a better idea of who Obama is and also contrast the candidates’ visions for the coming years. Speakers will tie McCain to President Bush.
“We’re going to make it abundantly clear that John McCain offers more of the same,” said Pouffe.
He said the election equation has two parts — undecided voters and turnout. Slightly more than 10 percent of the electorate remains undecided — and undecided women voters are “a lurking problem” for McCain.
The Republican hopeful has made progress in shoring up his base in recent weeks, but “we think McCain is going to struggle with turnout,” he said.
Bush won, at least in part, because his supporters were more enthusiastic and came out to vote, he explained. A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll showed Obama with a 52-28 lead in enthusiasm over McCain.
However, “This is going to be a close election,” Pouffe said. “They always are. We are a divided country on the presidential level.”
But Obama has more ways to reach the 270 electoral votes needed to win, he said. He said McCain can’t afford to lose either Florida or Ohio — two battleground states Bush carried in 2004.
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CNN Grill a popular meeting place for newsmakers and media elite
Just a stone-throw away from Denver’s Pepsi Center, where the Democratic national convention got under way today, is Brooklyn’s Grill, a popular sports bar that this week has morphed into the CNN Grill.
The Grill has quickly become a gathering place for newsmakers and media elites to relax, have a beer or burger, exchange the latest gossip, be interviewed or watch convention coverage on one of the 10 plasma TV screens in the grill.
Entrance is by invitation only, with security guards posted at the gated entrance to make sure the average person, like, say, an actual convention delegate doesn’t wander in unexpectedly.
CNN officials declined today to comment on the Grill, but in a news release announcing the temporary takeover of Brooklyn’s, CNN Washington bureau chief said the CNN Grill is part of the cable news network’s efforts to provide viewers “the best seats in the house” at the convention.
CNN plans to have a CNN Grill at the Republican national convention, too. In St. Paul, the CNN Grill will take over the Eagle Street Grill next to the Xcel Energy Center, where the GOP gathering will be held.
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The convention’s driving force
“My job is just making it all happen,” explained Christina Boltin, finance director of the Florida Democratic Party, as she wheeled a van of delegates and one journalist down I-70 in Denver.
That’s right — the state party’s finance director is driving a van between the three hotels where the state’s delegates are staying.
Boltin, who grew up in Tampa but now lives in Tallahassee, said this is her first visit to Denver, so she takes a wrong exit occasionally but pretty much knows the route between the Timbers, the Red Lion and the Embassy Suites.
The rest of Denver’s roads are more problematic. Many of the top Florida Democratic officials are pitching in with the driving, with sometimes mixed results. One of the several Florida delegation vans provided by the Democratic National Committee got penned in amid the tight security around the Pepsi Center and “may be still there,” said Boltin.
When rides are needed, she said, “everybody says, ‘let me go find some keys.’ “
She didn’t receive any van-driving lessons, said Boltin, but did gain some experience driving a van from Tallahassee to a Democratic gathering in Orlando.
So what does she do when she’s not driving?
Oh, the little things like overseeing morning delegation breakfasts, lining up speakers and dealing with the bills.
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Convention Photo: Michelle Obama Previews Podium
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Democratic Convention: Behind the Scenes Setting up a National Convention
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Democrats achieve potty parity
With just over half of the convention delegates being female, the Democrats have decided that there should be twice as many facilities for women as for men.
They arrived at this 2-to-1 ratio by consulting experts (yes, National Journal says, there are some), who have calculated this ratio by studying wait times.
Democrats appear to be taking the lead on this issue. Rep. Edolphus Towns, a New York Democrat, and 65 co-sponsors (all Democrats), have introduced a bill mandating a 2-to-1 ratio in federal buildings.
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The beaches of Denver
Inside the, um, goodie bag given to all Florida delegates at their convention-opening breakfast in Denver on Monday were two items — sunglasses featuring twin pink flamingoes and a giant plastic water bottle.
“What’s this for — a urine sample?,” joked Marna S. Davidson, a delegate from Boynton Beach, as she pulled out the water bottle.
The sunglasses were to wear at the opening session of the 2008 Democratic National Convention on Monday evening.
“It’s Florida night,” explained Joel Stieglitz, a delegate from Wellington. The delegation will wear resort attire from the state — including the pink flamingo sunglasses — on the floor of the Pepsi Center.
The delegation will meet every morning at 8 a.m. for a breakfast to plan the day’s activities and hear Democratic speakers.
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Democratic convention preparations
Last-minute preparations and wiring are underway in the Pepsi Center as Denver prepares for the Monday opening of the Democratic National Convention.
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John Lewis to appear in Kennedy documentary
Rep. John Lewis of Georgia will appear in what will likely be the emotional high point in Monday’s festivities at the Democratic Convention in Denver—the screening of a documentary about the life and times of ailing Sen. Ted Kennedy.
According to Politico, Lewis will join Kennedy and his wife in the documentary produced by Ken Burns, who made “The Civil War” and “Baseball,” among other productions.
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Police respond quickly and quietly to protest rumor at Democratic convention
Unity is one of the major themes of the Democratic National Convention, which opens Monday and ends Thursday with the nomination of Barack Obama to be president of the United States.
But the watchword Sunday, on the eve of the gathering, was security, especially amid rumors that protesters were preparing to rush the security check point into the convention complex.
As protesters marched by the check point, one of them beating a steady cadence on a drum, the number of riot-equipped law enforcement officers at the site increased suddenly and noticeably. But when no confrontation occurred, the extra officers dispersed almost as quickly as they had arrived.
Denver officials have said they hope to avoid the kind of mass arrests and extended detentions that have occurred recently at other national conventions.
Even so, police distributed a pamphlet reminding protesters of where they have a right do demonstrate and warning them they can be arrested if they refuse a lawful order to disperse.
Glenn Spagnuolo, co-founder of Recreate 68, an anti-war group that was expected to lead the first protests Sunday, responded to the police pamphlet with disdain: “We have a pamphlet called the Constitution,” he said in a statement. “A lot of us have read it already.”
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Party with the press at the Democratic National Convention
Check out the Saturday night media party at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.
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Obama names convention vice chairs
Rep. Robert Wexler of Florida was named Saturday as one of three vice chairs of the Democratic National Convention.
The convention committee and Barak Obama’s campaign named several new officers including Wexler, Mayor Michael Coleman of Columbus, Ohio, and Maria Elena Durazo, an AFL-CIO official in Los Angeles, as convention vice chairs. Wexler is also scheduled to speak at the convention on Wednesday night.
Collin McCough, a decorated veteran of both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars from Savannah, Ga., was selected as Doorkeeper and Sharon Hanshaw, a Katrina survivor and Executive Director of Coastal Women for Change, was named Timekeeper.
“We are excited to have them join with our Permanent Chair Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi” and co-chairs Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin to oversee the four-day convention, said Steve Hildebrand, Obama for America Deputy Campaign Manager.
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Two-senator tickets
The newly-minted Democratic ticket of Obama-Biden is the party’s second two-senator ticket in a row, following Massachusetts” John Kerry and North Carolina’s John Edwards four years ago. Kerry-Edwards was the first two-senator Democratic ticket since Lyndon Johnson and Hubert Humphrey in 1964, which followed Kennedy-Johnson in 1960.
Prior to that, to find a two-senator ticket on the Democratic side you have to go back to 1852 when Sen. Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire was atop the ticket and Sen. William King of Alabama was his running mate. King died of tuberculosis 45 days after becoming vice president.
If GOP candidate John McCain, an Arizona senator, picks a fellow senator as his running mate it would be the Republicans’ first two-senator ticket since the first GOP ticket. California’s John Fremont (the party’s first presidential candidate) and William Dayton of New Jersey unsuccessfully teamed up in 1856.
The last U.S. senator elected to the White House: Kennedy in 1960.
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Overnight battle over Biden
Think politics isn’t a 24-hour job? Here’s what went on while most of you were sleeping last night as Barack Obama announced his selection of a running mate.
Word of the selection leaked to media early this morning, forcing the Obama campaign to move quickly to send out the text message and e-mail that it had promised would be sent first to its supporters. It went out around 3 a.m. EDT.
Here’s the text message:
“Barack has chosen Senator Joe Biden to be our VP nominee. Watch the first Obama-Biden rally live at 3pm ET on www.BarackObama.com. Spread the word!”
Here’s the e-mail:
“Friend, I have some important news that I want to make official. I’ve chosen Joe Biden to be my running mate. Joe and I will appear for the first time as running mates this afternoon in Springfield , Illinois - the same place this campaign began more than 19 months ago. I’m excited about hitting the campaign trail with Joe, but the two of us can’t do this alone. We need your help to keep building this movement for change. Please let Joe know that you’re glad he’s part of our team. Share your personal welcome note and we’ll make sure he gets it: http://my.barackobama.com/welcomejoe. Thanks for your support, Barack P.S. - Make sure to turn on your TV at 2:00 p.m. Central Time to join us or watch online at http://www.BarackObama.com.
But Republican John McCain’s campaign, at 2:23 a.m. EDT, already was out with its first criticism of the selection of Biden.
“There has been no harsher critic of Barack Obama’s lack of experience than Joe Biden. Biden has denounced Barack Obama’s poor foreign policy judgment and has strongly argued in his own words what Americans are quickly realizing - that Barack Obama is not ready to be president,” said spokesman Ben Porritt.
And at 6:07 a.m. EDT, the McCain campaign announced a TV ad reacting to the Biden selection. See it above.
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Candidates agree on debate rules
The Obama and McCain campaigns today released a joint statement announcing they have agreed on rules and specifics for the three presidential candidate debates and the one featuring the vice presidential candidates.
Click continue reading to see the deal, which includes a presidential debate in which all questions will come from the audience or the internet:
First Presidential Debate:
- Date: September 26
- Site: University of Mississippi
- Topic: Foreign Policy & National Security
- Moderator: Jim Lehrer
- Staging: Podium debate
- Answer Format: The debate will be broken into nine, 9-minute segments. The moderator will introduce a topic and allow each candidate 2 minutes to comment. After these initial answers, the moderator will facilitate an open discussion of the topic for the remaining 5 minutes, ensuring that both candidates receive an equal amount of time to comment
Vice Presidential Debate
- Date: October 2nd
- Site: Washington University (St. Louis)
- Moderator: Gwen Ifill
- Staging/Answer Format: To be resolved after both parties’ vice presidential nominees are selected.
Second Presidential Debate
- Date: October 7
- Site: Belmont University
- Moderator: Tom Brokaw
- Staging: Town Hall debate
- Format: The moderator will call on members of the audience (and draw questions from the Internet). Each candidate will have two minutes to respond to each question. Following those initial answers, the moderator will invite the candidates to respond to the previous answers, for a total of 1 minute, ensuring that both candidates receive an equal amount of time to comment. In the spirit of the Town Hall, all questions will come from the audience (or Internet), and not the moderator.
Third Presidential Debate
- Date: October 15
- Site: Hofstra University
- Topic: Domestic and Economic policy
- Moderator: Bob Schieffer
- Staging: Candidates will be seated at a table
- Answer Format: Same as First Presidential Debate
- Closing Statements: At the end of this debate (only) each candidate shall have the opportunity for a 90-second closing statement.
All four debates will begin at 9 p.m. ET, and last for 90 minutes. Both campaigns also agreed to accept the Commission on Presidential Debates’ participation rules for third-party candidate participation.
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Cecile Richards to speak at Democratic convention
Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood of America and daughter of the late Texas Gov. Ann Richards, has been added to the Democratic National Convention speaker lineup for next Tuesday night in Denver.
Richards will speak on an evening when the convention theme will be “Renewing America’s Promise.” She will address women’s health care issues.
Her late mother - shown above as she delivered the keynote speech at the Democrats’ 1988 convention in Atlanta — will be honored and remembered at several convention-related events.
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Latino Group Targets Key States for Voting Impact
With about three months to go before voters decide on the next president, a nonprofit organization announced Tuesday that it will target key states with some of the largest Hispanic populations, including Texas, Georgia and Colorado.
The organization, Nuestra America, seeks to increase the political influence of Latinos through voter education and registration. Throughout the summer, representatives plan to canvass sporting events, cultural events, beaches and college campuses.
“The U.S. Latino population is no longer concentrated in a handful of cities but rather is spread across the country,” said executive director Adam Alonso in a statement. “Our target list takes into account the diaspora that has occured over the last two decades while energizing the traditional Latino states.”
Texas has the second largest Latino population with more than 8.4 million Hispanic residents, according to Nuestra. The group made up about 32 percent of the electorate in the 2008 presidential primary. Nuestra believes the sizeable population and the voting rate makes Texas an appealing state for political activism.
Colorado has the eighth largest Latino population with about 927,000 Latino residents and Georgia has a Hispanic population of 770,816 residents.
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Obama’s poll numbers slip; cliches rise rapidly
On this past weekend’s edition of “The Journal Editorial Report” on FOX News Channel, The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page editor Paul Gigot discussed a new poll showing that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s lead over Republican rival John McCain has dwindled.
He asked Democratic pollster Doug Schoen whether allowing a roll-call vote for Sen. Hillary Clinton at the Democratic convention would hurt Obama. Schoen replied: “I think time will tell. The proof is in the pudding, so to speak. We’ll have to see how the process plays out.”
Schoen forgot to mention that still waters run deep, and the early bird catches the worm. Not to mention, it’s not over until the fat lady sings.
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Dan Bartlett signs on with CBS
Former longtime George W. Bush aide Dan Bartlett is joining the commentating class.
CBS News today announced that Bartlett is now one of its on-air analysts and will do on-air analyzing at the upcoming national political conventions.
Bartlett is keeping his day job at Austin-based Public Strategies.
Click continue reading to read the CBS announcement.
Former White House communications official Dan Bartlett has joined CBS News as a political analyst, it was announced today by Sean McManus, President, CBS News and Sports. Bartlett will provide on-air analysis on a variety of political issues, including at the Democratic and Republican National Conventions and beyond. The appointment is effective immediately. He joins Joe Trippi in that role for CBS News.
“We’re very pleased to have Dan Bartlett join our team,” said McManus. “We now go into the final stages of this fascinating political season with two analysts — Dan and Joe — who have had unique and extensive hands-on experience in major political campaigns and government.”
Bartlett was, most recently, Counselor to the President (January 2005-July 2007), responsible for all aspects of President George W. Bush’s strategic communications planning, the formulation of policy and the implementation of the President’s agenda.
He also oversaw the White House Press Office and the Offices of Communications, Media Affairs and Speechwriting.
Before that, Bartlett was Assistant to the President for Communications and White House Communications Director (June 2002-January 2005) and Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy to then-Counselor to the President Karen Hughes (January 2001-June 2002).
Prior to joining the Bush Administration, he was a senior spokesman and Director of Rapid Response for the Bush for President campaign in Austin, Texas. He served President Bush since 1993, working on both successful campaigns for Governor of Texas. Bartlett worked in the Governor’s Office as Deputy to the Policy Director (1994-98) and, during the 1998 re-election campaign, as Issues Director. Before that, he worked for Karl Rove and Company, an Austin-based political consulting firm.
Bartlett is currently a senior strategist based in Austin for Public Strategies, Inc., a strategic communications firm.
He was born in Waukegan, Ill. Bartlett was graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor’s degree in political science.
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Vermont: Where’s W?
Click on the above for insight into the only state President Bush has not visited since taking office.
Read more http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/nation/08/18/0818bushvermont.html
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Maybe Pelosi should try baring her fangs
House Republicans held a press conference Thursday to call attention to their continuing protest on Capitol Hill. Since Aug. 1 when the House began its traditional summer recess, Republicans have been taking turns on the House floor, demanding that Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., call a special session to vote on oil drilling.
They suggested Pelosi may be avoiding a vote because she must spend time promoting her new book, “Know Your Power: A Message to America’s Daughters.” House Minority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., played straight man for Rep. John Linder, R-Ga. “John, do you have any idea how many books the speaker may have sold on her book tour or where she is today?” he asked.
“She’s somewhere — she’s, I’m told, somewhere, after two weeks, about 5,700 books. And my guess is that Republicans have spoken to more people on the floor of the House than that,” Linder replied.
Even if not cleanly delivered, his joke was on target. Amazon.com ranks her book at No. 2,717, far below the No. 1 selling book, Breaking Dawn, about vampire antics.
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Bush Warns Russia: “Cease All Military Activities” in Georgia
President Bush called on Russia Wednesday to “cease all military activities” in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, and to withdraw from the embattled country all Russian forces that have entered since fighting broke out there last week.
And, as Moscow’s critics have called for its expulsion from the prestigious Group of Eight industrial democracies, Bush warned that “Russia is putting its aspirations at risk,” by pressing its week-old military campaign in Georgia, where the capital of Tibilisi was thought to be under potential threat.
Bush sent a giant U.S. military cargo plane to Georgia, saying it was the beginning of what would be a “vigorous and ongoing” effort to provide medicine and other humanitarian aid to a country where an estimated 2,000 have been killed and 100,000 left homeless by the fighting.
“We will use U.S. aircraft, as well as naval force, to deliver humanitarian as well as medical supplies,” Bush told reporters in a hastily called White House announcement.
Bush also dispatched Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Paris to confer with French President Nicholas Sarkozy on a united U.S.-European response to Russia’s invasion of parts of Georgia.
Bush spent the morning monitoring events in Georgia from the White House situation room and talking by telephone with Sarkozy and Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili.
He said Rice would go from France to the Georgian capital of Tibilisi, to meet there with Saakashvili, as a sign of this country’s “unwavering support for Georgia’s democratic government” and part of a broader campaign to “rally the free world in the defense of a free Georgia.”
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McCain fundraiser with Reed under fire from watchdogs and DNC
John McCain always maintained he was suckered into the meetings in the 1980’s in which Charles Keating tried to stop an investigation of his savings and loan. Keating eventually went to jail and McCain was tarred as one of the “Keating Five,” the senators who received more than $1 million in campaign donations and political favors from the S&L executive before his conviction.
McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, can’t use that excuse about his upcoming fundraiser with former Jack Abramoff associate Ralph Reed, however. He conducted the Senate investigation that explored the ties between Abramoff and Reed. And ethics watchdogs are warning him to call off the fundraiser with Reed.
Reed plans to host a fundraiser Monday for McCain, and the event is also drawing fire from Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean.
“John McCain’s decision to cozy up to one of the central figures in the Republican culture of corruption shows how far he is willing to go to win,” Dean said Wednesday. “Despite all of his rhetoric about reform, McCain’s willingness to accept tainted money raised by tainted Abramoff cronies like Ralph Reed shows that McCain simply cannot be trusted to bring change to Washington politics.”
Abramoff pleaded guilty in 2006 to fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy charge after federal investigation unearthed an extensive effort to buy influence with Republican lawmakers by showering them with gifts and campaign contributions.
Emails made public during the investigation revealed that Reed had received at least $4.2 million from Abramoff to help his clients.
On the campaign trail, McCain has bragged about holding the hearings that investigated Abramoff. But in the hearings, McCain never called Reed to testify.
However, an independent ethics watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), has posted online the 66 pages of correspondence between Reed and Abramoff that McCain’s committee obtained. And CREW has suggested that McCain review those documents before proceeding with the fundraiser with Reed.
The documents can be viewed at www.governmentdocs.org.
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Oil politics not always smooth for GOP
The House Republican effort to embarrass Democrats who oppose offshore drilling for oil has gotten a little, well, sticky for the GOP.
Georgia Rep. Lynn Westmoreland jetted back to the capital Wednesday to lead the daily Republican chorus demanding that House Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi call the members back from recess and vote on an energy bill. But Westmoreland also had words for the two Georgia Republican senators, who have been consorting with Democrats on a compromise energy plan.
“I think it’s given the Democrats a place to hide—some cover,” Westmoreland complained of the so-called “Gang of Ten” senators, who include Georgians Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss. Their plan doesn’t go far enough on drilling, the congressman said.
Westmoreland stopped short of remarks made by fellow Georgia Republican Rep. Phil Gingrey, who last week dismissed the Senate Gang of Ten’s energy compromise as “procedural pleasantries.”
But it turns out that Gingrey has joined a bipartisan efforts, too. He is one of the more than 100 cosponsors of a House “compromise” energy plan (HR 6709) that would allow drilling offshore but not in ANWR, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Asked about the House compromise, Gingrey defended it as a “giant step forward” in ending offshore drilling bans, even if it doesn’t include ANWR. “I am proud to join Republicans and Democrats alike in advancing this debate.”
And how’s that different from the “Gang of Ten” in the Senate? Gingrey’s staff didn’t say except to cite summaries suggesting the House compromise bill is broader.
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Dems throwing convention doors open with town hall event
Democrats are throwing open the doors to their national convention this month with a town hall format in which Americans everywhere can ask questions though videos submitted online or in person.
“America’s Town Hall,” as the Democrats are calling it, will take place on the second night of the convention, with elected officials responding to videotaped questions, pre-selected by party officials.
There also will be an opportunity for live call-ins, but convention officials have not yet disclosed the details of how that will work.
Voters can submit questions at http://www.demconvention.com/townhall. The party has also arranged for “open calls” in eight cities for people to record their questions in person, including the Atlanta area on Wednesday, August 13, at the Decatur City Square, 599 N. McDonough St., Decatur, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
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Standing tall for domestic oil
Some House Republicans are continuing their protest this week, demanding that Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., end the August recess to allow a vote on oil drilling. Since Aug. 1, they have been taking turns discussing energy policy on the House floor, even though the microphones are turned off. Some tourists sit in the chamber each day, listening, applauding or, in the cas