Richardson Returning to Iowa Next Week

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 564

From the inbox today:

Democratic Presidential Candidate Bill Richardson to Campaign in Eastern Iowa

Richardson Will Hold Events in Bettendorf, Clinton, Maquoketa, Dubuque, Manchester, Independence, Waterloo and Cedar Rapids and Visit “Field of Dreams”

DES MOINES ---- New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson will return to Iowa on July 10 and 11 for a swing through Eastern Iowa. During his visit, the third in three weeks, he will visit nine Eastern Iowa communities: Bettendorf, Clinton, Maquoketa, Dubuque, Dyersville, Manchester, Independence, Waterloo and Cedar Rapids. He will hold his signature “Presidential Job Interview” events in six of the communities, in addition to a house party in Dubuque and a Meet & Greet event in Cedar Rapids. He will also visit Dyersville’s famed “Field of Dreams.”

Tuesday, July 10

Scott County Presidential Job Interview
WHEN: 11:30 AM
WHERE: United Steelworkers Local 105 Hall, 880 Devils Glen Rd., Bettendorf, IA 52722

Clinton County Presidential Job Interview
WHEN: 3:15 PM
WHERE: Riverside Restaurant, 517 N. 2nd St., Ground Floor, Clinton, IA 52732

Jackson County Presidential Job Interview
WHEN: 5:15 PM
WHERE: Costello’s Old Mill, 22095 Highway 64, Maquoketa, IA 52060

Dubuque County House Party
WHEN: 7:00 PM
WHERE: Residence of Christine and Tom Sinsky, 1390 Valentine Dr., Dubuque, IA 52003

Wednesday, July 11

“Field of Dreams” Visit
WHEN: 9:00 AM
WHERE: “Field of Dreams,” 28963 Lansing Rd., Dyersville, IA 52040

Delaware County Presidential Job Interview
WHEN: 10:00 AM
WHERE: Cedar Lodge Steak House, 205 S. 12th St. Development, Manchester, IA 52057

Buchanan County Presidential Job Interview
WHEN: 11:15 AM
WHERE: Pizza Ranch, 1900 1st St. West, Independence, IA 50644

Black Hawk County Presidential Job Interview
WHEN: 12:45 PM
WHERE: La Chiquita Restaurant, 301 E. 4th St., Waterloo, IA 50703

Linn County Meet & Greet
WHEN: 3:00 PM
WHERE: Richardson for President Cedar Rapids Office, Cypress Plaza, 4350 16th Ave. SW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404

Again with the Haircut?

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 564

For those of you who haven’t taken a look at 2008 Central yet, you should definitely click through and pay them a visit. It is a site run by a couple of very sharp guys who do a consistently good job analyzing the 2008 race right across the political spectrum. Even when I disagree with what they write, I respect their ability to present their analysis and coherently state their case.

I was looking over their site a little earlier this evening, and came across a recent post titled, “Update: I Still Do Not Care About John Edwards’ Haircuts.” The post had a couple of points to which I wanted to respond, and I duly began typing out a comment on their site. However, the length began to run way past what anyone could reasonably consider a “comment,” and went on to become more of a full length rant in its own right. So, rather than clog up their site with it, I decided it made more sense to just post it here.

[Note: I urge you to read the 2008 Central post linked to above before proceeding; the rest of this likely won’t make much sense, otherwise.]

As one who has made some of the very points referred to in the article (see this post), allow me to respectfully differ with its author, and to take a moment to make my position clear.

I agree that Edwards’ money makes him no different from most other Democratic candidates (see this post for some thoughts on this). But the problem I find with John Edwards is not that he has money and still espouses concern for the poor and middle class, because, again to the author’s point, all candidates do this. The problem I have with John Edwards in this regard is not that he wants people to believe he is concerned for the lot of the ordinary American, but that he still claims to be one of them.

Contrast this with Franklin Roosevelt. He came to the White House as possibly the richest president, in comparative terms, that we have ever had. Yet he also did more to better the economic and social condition of the great mass of the American people than any other president in our history. The distinction here is that FDR never attempted to persuade people that he was economically and socially “one of us;” rather, he offered hope to a country sunk in misery and was elected on the strength of his record as governor of New York, and of his policies and ideas, which contrasted so greatly with those offered by Hoover and the Republicans of the time.

What FDR got that John Edwards doesn’t get is that the American people don’t necessarily need to see their mirror image when they look at who they will make their president. Rather, the American people, I believe, are more interested in where a candidate stands than in where a candidate comes from. That John Edwards expresses concern for the underprivileged is commendable, and I find no fault with him for doing so; I do not think him insincere, nor discount his own personal experience in rising from poverty himself. Rather, the problem arises when, on top of these things, John Edwards lays claim to being a common man. He isn’t. He doesn’t have to be. But he still insists on asking voters to make the not inconsiderable leap of believing he is. It is, simply put, laying it on just a little too thick for his own good.

And that’s what the haircut stuff is all about : it goes to the heart of this problem. When you’re blogging about the haircut, you’re blogging about this. With respect, it is not trivia, precisely because John Edwards appeals for support in no small part based upon personal qualities.

So yes, absolutely let us talk about substance, let us debate policy and records in office. But let us not put on blinders to other things that matter – because there are, and they do – when considering the claims of those who seek to lead us.

Hillary & Bill Clinton at the Fairgrounds

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 566

Hype, defined as "extravagant or excessive publicity," is an integral part of any political event worth the name. And there was no shortage of hype leading up to last night's public debut of Bill Clinton campaigning at his wife's side.

But it is no small thing to be present at history in the making, and that is what this was, hype or no hype. A former president campaigning on behalf of his wife's presidential bid? Nothing like it ever before in American history.

The event was held in front of the Agriculture building at the State Fairgrounds, and was attended by an estimated 7,000 people. Show time was listed as 7:30; I got there a little before 6:30, and found at least 1,000 people there ahead of me. Still, after some scouting around, I found a spot about 10 feet from the flatbed trailer that served as the stage and settled in to wait. I always enjoy listening to the conversations taking place around me at these things, and I heard a lot more uncommitted talk around me than I expected.

There's been lots of mainstream media coverage of this event, of course, and much of it has been centered on how Bill Clinton appears to react to campaigning for Hillary. But what I haven't seen mentioned that struck me quite forcibly last night, is the impact on Hillary of having Bill campaigning with her. Yes, having him introducing her and appearing with her on stage is meant to illuminate her middle-class background, her commitment to public service, and all the rest. But more than any of those things, and in ways that I think cannot be mere affectation, being on stage with her husband softens Hillary Clinton and humanizes her in exactly the way the media has been saying she needs. Whether this is as a result of drawing charm from Bill Clinton by osmosis, or the halo effect of campaigning with a former president, or being buoyed by the energy imparted to a crowd anywhere Bill Clinton appears is a question that lots of people will be discussing as the campaign goes on. For myself, however, having been there and seen it first hand, I believe this softening is simply the by-product of Hillary campaigning with the one person who, for all their well-publicized marital travails, knows her to her soul, and in whose judgment and opinion she has absolute confidence.

I'll refer you to the mainstream media links below for details about Hillary's speech and the other aspects of the event. But I did shoot some video of the goings-on, so have a look and form your own opinion.




Des Moines Register

New York Times

Washington Post

Los Angeles Times

British Broadcasting Corporation

Candidate Reactions to the Libby Commutation

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 567

The following are statements issued by the Democratic candidates in reaction to President Bush's commutation of Scooter Libby's jail term.

Joe Biden:

"Hours after a federal appeals court ruled that I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby would have to begin serving his prison sentence while appealing his conviction for crimes of perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to investigators, President Bush commuted his sentence.

Last week Vice President Cheney asserted that he was beyond the reach of the law. Today, President Bush demonstrated the lengths he would go to, ensuring that even aides to Dick Cheney are beyond the judgment of the law.

It is time for the American people to be heard.

I call for all Americans to flood the White House with phone calls tomorrow expressing their outrage over this blatant disregard for the rule of law.

202-456-1414
Remind George Bush what he told staffers during a swearing in ceremony for White House staff back in January 2001:

"[We] must remember the high standards that come with high office. This begins with careful adherence to the rules. I expect every member of this administration to stay well within the boundaries that define legal and ethical conduct. This means avoiding even the appearance of problems. This means checking and, if need be, double- checking that the rules have been obeyed. This means never compromising those rules. No one in the White House should be afraid to confront the people they work for, for ethical concerns, and no one should hesitate to confront me as well. We are all accountable to one another. And above all, we are all accountable to the law and to the American people."

Click here to watch the video of George Bush addressing staff: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjwLlfFKerU"

Hillary Clinton:

"Today's decision is yet another example that this Administration simply considers itself above the law. This case arose from the Administration's politicization of national security intelligence and its efforts to punish those who spoke out against its policies. Four years into the Iraq war, Americans are still living with the consequences of this White House's efforts to quell dissent. This commutation sends the clear signal that in this Administration, cronyism and ideology trump competence and justice."

Chris Dodd:

"By commuting Scooter Libby's sentence, the President continues to abdicate responsibility for the actions of his Administration. The only ones paying the price for this Administration's actions are the American people."

John Edwards:

"Only a president clinically incapable of understanding that mistakes have consequences could take the action he did today. President Bush has just sent exactly the wrong signal to the country and the world. In George Bush's America, it is apparently okay to misuse intelligence for political gain, mislead prosecutors and lie to the FBI. George Bush and his cronies think they are above the law and the rest of us live with the consequences. The cause of equal justice in America took a serious blow today."

Barack Obama:

"This decision to commute the sentence of a man who compromised our national security cements the legacy of an Administration characterized by a politics of cynicism and division, one that has consistently placed itself and its ideology above the law. This is exactly the kind of politics we must change so we can begin restoring the American people's faith in a government that puts the country's progress ahead of the bitter partisanship of recent years."

Bill Richardson:

"It's a sad day when the President commutes the sentence of a public official who deliberately and blatantly betrayed the public trust and obstructed an important federal investigation," said Governor Richardson. "This administration clearly believes its officials are above the law, from ignoring FISA laws when eavesdropping on US citizens, to the abuse of classified material, to ignoring the Geneva Conventions and international law with secret prisons and torturing prisoners.

There is a reason we have laws and why we expect our Presidents to obey them. Institutions have a collective wisdom greater than that of any one individual. The arrogance of this administration's disdain for the law and its belief it operates with impunity are breathtaking.

Will the President also commute the sentences of others who obstructed justice and lied to grand juries, or only those who act to protect President Bush and Vice President Cheney?"

First Casualty of Poor Q2 Fund Raising: McCain's Staff

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 567

In considering how best to approach the money race for the 2nd quarter, I decided pretty early on to leave the bean-counting to others, and wait instead until all the checks had been written and then focus on the impact of fund raising success (or failure) to the various campaigns.

Not hard to do, at least today.

The first casualty: John McCain's campaign organization and staff. According to the Associated Press, McCain did so poorly in raising money during the quarter ending June 30 that he will be getting rid of at least 50 staff members, and slashing pay for those who remain, even at the most senior levels.

There's no indication at this point that McCain is considering dropping out of the race, nor, the AP article notes, is a major reshuffle planned for the campaign's senior staff. However, with poll numbers going through the floor not just in Iowa, but nationally, the McCain camp must undertake some type of action to get a little momentum back on their side. And if McCain's upcoming return to Iraq to trumpet the success of military escalation there is part of that plan, his campaign is in deep, deep trouble.

All this is astonishing, really, for the candidate who just a few months ago was considered the frontrunner for his party's nomination.

Some Tiers Must Fall

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 572

I’ve been watching, with interest, the fanfare greeting the news that New Mexico Governor and Presidential candidate Bill Richardson has gotten a bump in the polls of late.

This started a couple of weeks ago with the release of a CNN-WMUR TV poll that showed Bill Richardson had climbed to 10% in New Hampshire, and in so doing moved even with John Edwards there. Governor Richardson’s numbers began to rise after a widely-praised ad campaign built around a “Presidential job interview” theme. Then, earlier this week, Richardson’s campaign announced that its own internal polling now shows their candidate at 13% in Iowa, which, if you disregard the 4.4% margin of error, would put him ahead of Barack Obama here. Finally today, Pollster.com announced that it has added Richardson to its “Top Democrats” ranking, based on its findings that Richardson alone among the candidates is experiencing a substantial upturn in his numbers in both Iowa and New Hampshire.

Richardson’s campaign, of course, has eagerly seized on these developments, today alone sending out not one, but two emails drawing attention to their candidate’s numbers and going so far as to proclaim “Richardson Officially Breaks into Top Teir.”

Let me hasten to say that I don’t question the legitimacy of these latest polls or the use made of them by the Richardson campaign; indeed, I would do the same. What I do question, though, is when and how in the course of this historically dynamic campaign there came to be a top tier of candidates to begin with.

For example, if I were writing on this topic a year ago, any discussion of top tier candidates would have included Tom Vilsack, who, as outgoing Governor of Iowa would at that time have been presumed to exert disproportionate influence upon the campaign in his home state, in very much the same way as Tom Harkin in 1992. Following the accepted wisdom of the time, I would undoubtedly also have written about John Kerry’s generally anticipated second run for the White House, and the impact on the race of his name recognition and 3 million-plus member email subscription list. Vilsack, of course, withdrew his candidacy back on February 23, and Kerry opted not to get into the 2008 race all.

This brings us to today’s “top tier” of Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Barack Obama, and, so as not to quibble, now Bill Richardson. Each candidate has taken a different road to arrive in the “top tier,” but they all, Richardson excepted, since he only today “officially” arrived among them, have three things in common: good poll numbers, good fund raising numbers, and lots and lots of free media. None of these things, of course, measures the actual strength of anyone’s ground game here or in New Hampshire (has anyone else noticed that Dodd just opened 8 new field offices in Iowa?), ignores the outcome of the South Carolina and New Hampshire debates (as I’m sure Joe Biden’s people would hasten to point out), and provides absolutely no guidance as to future trends.

Which is to say that handicapping the candidates into ordinal tiers at this stage in the campaign is meaningless. It is all trying to call the result of a horse race before the track has even opened. If the outcome of presidential campaigns were determined by Vegas odds makers or media pundits, then graduate students in political science today would be laboring over theses on the history of Thomas Dewey’s presidency and the legacy of Lyndon Johnson’s 1968 landslide reelection.

I’m not trying to deny Bill Richardson, or anyone else, their day in the sun. I’m merely pointing out how fast the weather can change.

2008: How Desperate are Republicans?

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 573

The big question right now among Republicans is how to remove Vice President Cheney from office. Or so says Sally Quinn in an op-ed piece in today's Washington Post, shockingly titled, "A GOP Plan to Oust Cheney."

Are things really that bad among Republicans? You bet they are. The GOP is still reeling from its epic defeat in last year's elections, and lives in daily dread of next year's contest for the White House. It isn't hard to understand why.

Just take a look at the candidates fielded by each party. For the Democrats: Joe Biden, a Senator with awesome policy chops; Hillary Clinton, already a political legend whose star is in all probability still rising; Chris Dodd, who is rapidly becoming a one-man idea factory in this campaign; John Edwards, with proven populist appeal; Barack Obama, the ultimate political rock star; and Bill Richardson, with as impressive a resume as any person who has ever sought the Oval Office. For the Republicans: a crop of anonymous pols so generic and colorless that one of their own number coined the definitive collective moniker of dismissal for them all: Rudy McRomney.

But back to Sally Quinn. Surveying the beleaguered state of the current administration, Quinn recalls an anecdote concerning a previous Republican disaster in office, Richard Nixon, who, as an aside, is starting to look pretty good in comparison to George W. Bush. In Quinn's story, Barry Goldwater is wrestling with the dilemma of whether it is actually time to deliver the news to Nixon that the angry villagers are in full pitchfork mode and it is time to go. According to Quinn, a similar moment may be at hand for Dick Cheney, with John Warner as the messenger.

But that's not the really desperate part. No, the really desperate part of this story is that Quinn goes on to postulate that Cheney is replaced as Vice President by - wait for it - Fred Thompson, whose rise to power heals the party at a stroke, reverses the country's historically low estimation of the GOP, and allows Thompson to ride his white charger roughshod over all challengers to win the Presidency with ease.

And it appears that some in the GOP are seriously considering the scenario Quinn discusses in her article. But that's not the story. The story is that current circumstances and future prospects are so bad for Republicans (or should that be Republicants?) that they resort to this sort of utter fantasy for comfort.

As the sloganeers of the gun lobby might put it, Dick Cheney will give up his office only when they pry it from his cold, dead hands. That Republicans dream otherwise shows the true extent of their desperation.

Obama Goes on the Air: Two TV Ads in Iowa

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 574

Barack Obama is putting up his first ads in Iowa this week. One, called "Carry," is a 30-second spot focusing on Obama's work in the Illinois State Senate, and features clips of Republicans and Democrats extolling Obama's bipartisanship. The other, called "Choices," is a 60-second spot recounting Obama's experience as a community organizer in Chicago. Here's a link to the video.

Huh?

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 576

I realize, of course, that the end of the second quarter fund raising period is at hand, and, to judge by the email piling up in my inbox, every campaign is out there leaving no stone unturned to come up with every last penny they can before the end of the month.

All the same, some appeals just leave me shaking my head, and none more than today's missive from John Edwards' campaign, with the subject line, "Obscene Money Game or Policies that Matter?":

"With 7 days left until the end of the quarter, we are closing in on $7 million and everyone is doing their part. Small change for big change is working.

But while thousands of people are building up this campaign, the Washington establishment is trying to write us out of the race. And their reason? They say it's MONEY - they don't think we are raising an obscene enough amount. But the truth is, they don't want people to hear what John Edwards is saying, because it will mean the end of big money's stranglehold over our government.

Our plan calls for raising $9 million this quarter and if we do - no matter what the chatter boxes say - we will be ahead of pace to have the resources we need to compete and win in the early primary states. That's when the Edwards campaign will have our day in the sun, but we need your help to get there.

We have 7 days to reach $9 million and every dollar counts. Please give what you can.

If you're ready for big change on the issues that matter, your time is now.

End this war. Take on poverty. Build one America. Work for economic justice. Stand up for truly universal health care. Take action on global warming.

The policies are real. And John Edwards is the candidate who is leading on every issue.

But only you can make it happen.

Please do what you can today to help take the next bold step for real change.

Because in a time when millions have lost faith in Washington, we are building faith in each other. What you do today matters. This campaign we are building together matters.

And your time is now.

Help us reach $9 million in 7 days.

Thank you,

-Joe Trippi
Saturday, June 23, 2007"

Where in this message is anything said about campaign finance reform, or doing anything to lessen the role of money in American politics and government? The entire point of the note is to try to downplay the importance of money in the Edwards campaign on the one hand, and then ask for more money on the other. This is infuriating in its cynicism, and more than a little embarrassing in its transparency.

Do people actually fall for this? Maybe so. But this note is emblematic of a problem I've seen in John Edwards for a long time: the desire to have it both ways. For the war when it was popular, against the war when it wasn't. Man of the people, $400 haircuts. Carbon neutral campaign, behemoth mansion. And now: we don't care about money, but please send us more of it.

Perhaps not much to my own credit, I try to look past these things, and try to see in John Edwards what I hear about from his supporters. I must confess that this becomes a little harder to do each time I get an email like this.

There Goes Rhymin' Simon: Paul Simon to Join Chris Dodd on Iowa Bus Tour

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 578

Well, this will perk things up on the road! From the inbox:

"Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter Paul Simon will join presidential candidate Chris Dodd and his family for part of Dodd’s 'River to River' bus tour of Iowa during the week of the Fourth of July. Simon will campaign with Dodd on July 6th and 7th, appearing with him on those days’ tour stops and adding informal performances to Dodd’s events.

'I am thrilled that Paul will be joining Jackie, our daughters, and me in Iowa,” said Senator Dodd. “Paul is a long-time friend and one of the most important voices in American music, and he has been tireless in his service to the greater good of people throughout our country and the world.

'His music and his commitment to bettering our world reflect the leadership and optimism that my campaign is all about.'

Simon will join the Dodd family at stops in Mason City, Fort Dodge, Sioux City, Carroll, and Council Bluffs."

And every stop is neatly planned for a poet and a one-man band...