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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stockman_scott who wrote (26151)	8/23/2003 11:28:38 AM
From: T L Comiskey	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

Calif. Recall Support Waning, Poll Says Sat Aug 23, 8:01 AM ET By MICHELLE MORGANTE, Associated Press Writer SAN DIEGO - California voters are losing their thirst for recalling Gov. Gray Davis (news - web sites), according to a new poll released amid signs that both Democrats and Republicans are moving to throw support behind their respective front runners. The Los Angeles Times poll Friday showed half of likely voters support throwing Davis out of office, while 45 percent are opposed. Just 4 percent are undecided. The poll of 801 likely voters had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. Earlier surveys suggested the recall was supported by more than half of voters. "In 1998, I was called 'roadkill,' 'given up for dead' with about two months to go and we won by 20 points," Davis reminded reporters in San Diego. "So do not be surprised if you see some polls in the near future that are more favorable than the ones you have seen in the past. It's the nature of this business. It's a very volatile time." Democrats continued to oppose the effort to unseat Davis but began to rally behind Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante as a hedge against losing the governor's office to a Republican. Bustamante is the lone high-profile Democrat on the 135-candidate ballot. And some Republicans stepped up pressure on the GOP candidates that trail actor Arnold Schwarzenegger in the polls. GOP stalwarts fear the crowded field could split the party's vote and spoil Schwarzenegger's odds in the Oct. 7 special election. State Senate Minority Leader Jim Brulte said party leaders will need to get behind the top candidate and ask one or more of the other four major Republican candidates to drop out of the race. "Does it make any sense to have a Democrat finish first and Republicans to finish second, third and fourth?" he said. "At some point some of the leaders of the party are going to have to go to the candidates who are going to be nothing but a spoiler. No one should prejudge who those candidates should be at this point." Other high-profile Republicans on the ballot include former baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth, businessman Bill Simon and state Sen. Tom McClintock. The Republican who funded the recall petition drive, U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (news, bio, voting record), already dropped out. While the other candidates acknowledged that narrowing the field would be a good thing, there was no sign they would step aside. Simon said he wouldn't leave and McClintock said he would accept Schwarzenegger's endorsement. "If the most qualified candidate must defer every time a celebrity or a millionaire casts a longing eye on public office, well then we've lost something very important in our democracy, and it's called merit," McClintock told CNN. Meanwhile, the bodybuilder-turned-actor and Ueberroth, both millionaires, have poured money from their own fortunes into their campaigns and were raising money from wealthy friends and family members. During a visit to Huntington Beach, Schwarzenegger said he wasn't trying to muscle anyone out of the race. "Everyone has to make their own decision," he said. "I can't make it for them. Obviously, mathematically speaking, it's wiser to only have one candidate." The Lincoln Club of Orange County, which includes some of the state's most prolific Republican donors, endorsed Schwarzenegger on Friday and called on the other Republican candidates to abandon the race. Any of the candidates who drop out will remain on the two-part ballot. The first part asks if Davis should be removed. The second part offers 135 replacement choices if the recall succeeds. Also Friday, political columnist Arianna Huffington announced the resignation of her campaign manager, Dean Barkley, who in 1998 chaired Jesse Ventura's successful campaign for governor of Minnesota. Barkley "felt that his work as a lobbyist in Minnesota was an unnecessary distraction to the campaign," Huffington wrote on her campaign Web site Friday. Barkley's lobbying clients include Lorillard Tobacco Co. While Bustamante has picked up endorsements from the state's 33 Democratic members of the House of Representatives and the California Teachers Association, Davis would not commit to signing on to the "no on recall, yes on Bustamante" slogan. "As governor, I am the subject of the recall so my interests are obviously in question No. 1," Davis said. Davis and Bustamante rarely speak, but the governor has suggested the two could campaign together. Bustamante would not rule out a joint campaign between the two later.

To: stockman_scott who wrote (26151)	8/23/2003 12:49:28 PM
From: Rick Faurot	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

Fox News loses attempt to block satirist's book Judge: Cover creates no confusion over origin, sponsorship From Phil Hirschkorn CNN Saturday, August 23, 2003 Posted: 11:55 AM EDT (1555 GMT) Fox sought to halt distribution of author-comedian Al Franken's book. • Complaint: Fox News Network LLC v. Penguin Group (USA) and Alan S. Franken (FindLaw, PDF) NEW YORK (CNN) -- Saying "This is an easy case," a federal judge ruled Friday against Fox News in its lawsuit asserting that a book by liberal satirist Al Franken violates its trademarked slogan, "fair and balanced." Fox was seeking an injunction to halt distribution of "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right." Franken did not attend the hearing, but did tell CNN afterwards, "The irony upon irony of this lawsuit was great. First, Fox having the trademark 'fair and balanced' -- a network which is anything but fair and balanced. Then there's the irony of a news organization trying to suppress free speech." U.S. District Judge Denny Chin, after listening to about half an hour of oral arguments, said the lawsuit was "wholly without merit, both factually and legally." The 377-page book, which originally had a late September release date, went on sale Thursday. It has reassumed the No. 1 position on Amazon.com's bestseller list. Fox objected especially to its cover, which displays the "fair and balanced" phrase in its subtitle and an unflattering photograph of the news channel's most popular host, Bill O'Reilly. It argued that the cover layout "is likely to cause confusion among consumers as to the origin and sponsorship of the book." The judge disagreed. "There is no likelihood of confusion as to the origin and sponsorship of the book ... or that consumers will be misled that Fox or Mr. O'Reilly are sponsors of the book," he said. During oral arguments, Chin brought up one of O'Reilly's books, "The Good, the Bad and the Completely Ridiculous in American Life" as an example of a similar play on a well-known phrase -- in this case, the title of a Clint Eastwood movie, "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." "Isn't Mr. O'Reilly doing exactly the same thing?" Chin asked. Attorney Dori Hanswirth, representing Fox News, disagreed, saying the intent was different. She contended that Franken's book cover did not qualify as satire. "This is much too subtle to be considered a parody," she said. Responding to a comment by Franken that he intended the cover to be a joke, she told the judge that she thought the cover's message was "ambiguous," and called it "a deadly serious cover, and it's using the trademark of Fox News to sell itself." Floyd Abrams, representing Franken, said that under the First Amendment, "a book is allowed to criticize a holder of a trademark and mock a trademark as well." Abrams said the big word "lies" over the photo was a signal that the cover was "obviously tongue-in-cheek." "There is no way a person not completely dense would be confused by this cover to think that Fox is accusing Bill O'Reilly of being a liar," he said. "There is nothing confusing about this." As for the trademarked phrase itself, Chin said that it was "unlikely a valid trademark. ... The mark is a weak one as trademarks go." In a written statement after the ruling, a Fox News spokeswoman said, "We respect the court's decision and we're evaluating our options." Along with O'Reilly, still frames on Franken's book's cover also show President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and conservative commentator Ann Coulter in separate TV monitors, around the title's first word, "Lies." 'Not good enough to be endorsed by Fox News' Fox alleged the cover also tarnished it by association with defendant Franken. Although Franken has appeared as a guest on Fox News Channel at least 10 times in the past five years, according to Fox, he is not affiliated with the network, which, in court papers, called his commentary "not good enough to be endorsed by Fox News." Franken, who won four Emmy awards for his work on "Saturday Night Live," is the author of four previous books, including the recent bestseller, "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot." Presale orders of "Lies" first drove it to the top sales position at the online bookseller Amazon.com. Franken describes the Fox News Channel as "obviously slanted to the right" and its chairman, former Nixon-Reagan-Bush strategist Roger Ailes, as "a cynical Republican ideologue with no regard for fairness and balance." A chapter focused on O'Reilly is subtitled, "Lying, Splotchy Bully." Fox said the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted it a trademark for "fair and balanced" in December 1998, two years after the cable channel's launch. Franken's attorneys said, trademark or not, the phrase "fair and balanced" is as old as journalism itself, is a principle taught in journalism classes and is "common vocabulary of the news media dating back well before Fox even existed." In addition, Franken's attorneys say, the Fox motion is too late, because books are already in stores. The network first learned of the cover at a book fair in May but did not seek court action for 10 weeks. "Fox has ... sat on its supposed rights for too long," the author's attorneys say in court papers. "Fox has simply failed to act with the promptness required of a litigant seeking the extraordinary relief demanded here." Franken's publisher has shipped 270,000 copies to stores and has ordered a second printing of 90,000 copies, spokeswoman Lisa Johnson said.