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Politics : WHO IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT IN 2004 -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (5839)	10/26/2003 2:11:26 PM
From: Glenn Petersen	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10965

A new Boston Glove poll has Dean up by 13 in NH. Whatever the margin, Dean seems to have bounced back from the hit he took after Clark entered the race. Dean Holds 13-Point Lead in N.H. Poll story.news.yahoo.com BOSTON - Democrat Howard Dean (news - web sites) holds a 13-point lead over John Kerry (news - web sites) in New Hampshire, according to poll released Sunday, the latest to show the former Vermont governor ahead in a state that has a presidential primary Jan. 27. After weeks of attacks by rivals and the entrance of retired Gen. Wesley Clark (news - web sites) into the race, Dean is maintaining a double-digit lead in most of the surveys. Dean drew support from 37 percent of those surveyed for the Boston Globe/WBZ, while Kerry, a Massachusetts senator, had the backing of 24 percent. Dean had a 12-point lead over Kerry in the same poll a month ago. Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina was backed by 9 percent, Clark 8 percent and Rep. Dick Gephardt (news - web sites) of Missouri 7 percent. Sen. Joe Lieberman (news - web sites) of Connecticut had the backing of 5 percent, Dennis Kucinich was at 3 percent, and Carol Moseley Braun and Al Sharpton had less than 1 percent. The poll found that 7 percent were undecided or refused to answer. When asked which candidate would be the strongest against President Bush (news - web sites), more than a third, 35 percent, said Dean — while 20 percent said Kerry. The poll, by KRC/Communications Research, was conducted Oct. 20 to Oct. 22 of 400 Democratic and independent voters who could cast ballots in the New Hampshire primary. It had a sampling margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

To: American Spirit who wrote (5839)	10/26/2003 2:58:30 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10965

FYI...PRESIDENTIAL CONFESSIONS...(From Yahoo) First, I was not elected. I attacked and took over two countries. I spent the U.S. surplus and bankrupted the US Treasury. I shattered the record for the biggest annual deficit in history (not easy!). I set an economic record for the most personal bankruptcies filed in any 12 month period. I set all-time record for the biggest drop in the history of the stock market. In my first year in office I set the all-time record for most days on vacation by any president in US history (tough to beat my dad's, but I did). After taking the entire month of August off for vacation, I presided over the worst security failure in US history. I set the record for most campaign fund raising trips by any president in US history. In my first two years in office over 2 million Americans lost their jobs. I cut unemployment benefits for more out-of-work Americans than any other president in US history. I set the all-time record for most real estate foreclosures in a 12-month period. I appointed more convicted criminals to administration positions than any president in US history. I set the record for the fewest press conferences of any president, since the advent of TV. I presided over the biggest energy crises in US history. I refused to intervene when corporate corruption was revealed (e.g. convict Lay, Winnick, etc.) I cut health care benefits for war veterans. I dissolved more international treaties than any president in US history. I've made my presidency the most secretive and unaccountable of any in US history. Members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in US history. (The poorest multimillionaire, Condoleeza Rice, has a Chevron oil tanker named after her.) I am the first president in US history to have all 50 states of the Union simultaneously struggle against bankruptcy. I presided over the biggest corporate stock market fraud in any market in any country in the history of the world. Notably Enron, WorldCom and Global Crossing. I am the first president in US history to order a US attack AND military occupation of a sovereign nation, and I did so against the will of the United Nations and the vast majority of the international community. I have created the largest government department bureaucracy in the history of the United States, called the "Bureau of Homeland Security". I set the all-time record for biggest annual budget spending increases, more than any other president in US history (Ronnie was tough to beat, but I did it!!). I am the first president in US history to compel the United Nations remove the US from the Human Rights Commission. I am the first president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the Elections Monitoring Board. I removed more checks and balances, and have the least amount of congressional oversight than any presidential administration in US history. I rendered the entire United Nations irrelevant. I withdrew from the World Court of Law. I refused to allow inspectors access to US prisoners of war and by default no longer abide by the Geneva Conventions. I am the first president in US history to refuse United Nations election inspectors access during the 2002 US elections I am the all-time US (and world) record holder for most corporate campaign donations. The biggest lifetime contributor to my campaign, who is also one of my best friends, presided over one of the largest corporate bankruptcy frauds in world history (Kenneth Lay, former CEO of Enron Corporation). I spent more money on polls and focus groups than any president in US history. I am the first president to run and hide when the US came under attack (and then lied, saying the enemy had the code to Air Force 1) I am the first US president to establish a secret shadow government. I took the world's sympathy for the US after 9/11, and in less than a year made the US the most resented country in the world (possibly the biggest diplomatic failure in US and world history). I am the first US president in history to have a majority of the people of Europe (71%) view my presidency as the! biggest threat to world peace and stability. I changed US policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts. I set the all-time record for the number of administration appointees who violated US law by not selling their huge investments in corporations bidding for gov't contracts. I have removed more freedoms and civil liberties for Americans than any other president in US history. I entered office with the strongest economy in US history and in less than two years turned every single economic category heading straight down. RECORDS AND REFERENCES: I have at least one conviction for drunk driving in Maine (Texas driving record has been erased and is not available). I was AWOL from the National Guard and deserted the military during time of war. I refuse to take a drug test or even answer any questions about drug use. All records of my tenure as governor of Texas have been spirited away to my fathers library, sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view. All records of any SEC investigations into my insider trading or bankrupt companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view. Notably Enron, WorldCom and Global Crossing. All minutes of meetings of any public corporation for which I served on the board are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view. Any records or minutes from meetings I (or my VP) attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public review. GEORGE W. BUSH The White House, Washington, DC THE TRUTH HURTS.

To: American Spirit who wrote (5839)	10/26/2003 3:19:28 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 10965

Democrats forge new paths in primary race csmonitor.com

To: American Spirit who wrote (5839)	10/26/2003 4:52:37 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Respond to of 10965

My Party And Guns By Joe Lockhart As a senior adviser to President Clinton last year, I pushed hard to put gun control front and center for the president and the Democratic Party. We engaged the National Rifle Association directly in a bruising battle. I personally stayed up half the night on a presidential trip to India for the chance to trade insults with NRA Executive Director Wayne LaPierre on "Meet the Press." I did this because I believed in the issue and thought it was good politics. Put simply, I got it wrong. At my urging, the White House allowed the NRA to shift the debate away from common-sense safety measures to a demagogic debate on the right to own firearms. We managed to bring the White House and the president down to the level of the NRA, rather than raising the debate in a way that would have made the NRA irrelevant. Seasoned and savvy political observers now argue that gun control cost Al Gore the presidency and the Democrats control of the House and Senate. While I believe this analysis is overstated, it is clear gun safety was not a winning issue for Democrats in 2000. So what should Democrats do now on gun safety issues? Serious and thoughtful party leaders are privately warning candidates to stay away from the gun debate completely. But while these important Democrats have diagnosed the disease correctly -- a party that appears out of touch with the values of the 48 percent of the electorate that owns guns (a number approaching 70 percent in southern and mountain states) -- they're prescribing the wrong medicine: a full retreat from the issue. No one doubts Democrats will have a hard-time winning elections if they ignore or insult the values of gun-owning Americans. But trying to avoid the issue won't work. First, it's just not politically practical. In many districts, voters demand that more be done to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and kids, so gun safety advocates in Congress will fight for, and get, votes on their issue. Moreover, even if the party could shut down discussion on gun safety, it would backfire in many states and in presidential elections. A national candidate competing for votes in delegate-rich states such as New York and California will need to talk about guns. Second, there are genuine policy needs on guns: closing the gaping holes in our laws that allow criminals to get guns; passing tougher gun crime penalties; giving law enforcement the real tools it needs to crack down on gun traffickers. Finally, betting on the NRA to stay out of most races, much less endorse Democrats, is a sure loser. While the NRA is not quite an arm of the Republican Party, nothing will stop it from labeling most Democrats as anti-gun. From the NRA's perspective, the only good gun law is a repealed gun law -- a position few Democrats would back. Democrats have approached the issue of guns like a novice driver, drifting too far to the left after Columbine, with calls for sweeping federal gun laws by candidates Gore and Bradley, then trying to yank the wheel back to the right. Democrats should embrace a "third way" on guns that treats gun ownership as neither an absolute right nor an absolute wrong but as a balance between rights and responsibilities. This third way approach -- respecting gun owners' rights while supporting common-sense gun safety laws -- won overwhelmingly in ballot initiatives in Colorado and Oregon last fall. Voters in both states enacted laws requiring background checks at gun shows, thanks in large part to the efforts of Sen. John McCain and a new group on the scene, Americans for Gun Safety. That same duo is pushing a similar common-sense proposal this year in Congress -- the McCain-Lieberman bill -- that protects gun rights, closes the gun show loophole nationwide and helps crack down on gun crime. In campaigns, Democrats must stand for exactly these kinds of gun safety provisions -- making clear that those who oppose tough enforcement of the current gun laws and closing the major holes in those laws are not pro-gun but anti-gun-safety. These shifts in attitude, policy and message will not appease the NRA. But they will speak directly to gun owners, over 90 percent of whom are not NRA members and 65 percent of whom, according to a national poll, believe gun ownership is a right that allows for sensible gun laws. For Democrats, and like-minded Republicans, the answer is not to give up, give in or plow mindlessly ahead. It is to reach to the center, listen to gun owners, solve real problems and fight for gun rights and responsibilities. The writer was White House press secretary from October 1998 to October 2000.