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

To: lurqer who wrote (35744)	1/20/2004 12:01:54 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 89467

lurqer: You may be right...Yet, IMO the nominee will be Clark, Kerry or possibly Edwards...It all comes down to electability and momentum. Don't rule out Clark. I didn't expect Dean to be seriously pummeled into 3rd place in Iowa. No one expected this -- and this may now look like a serious blow for Dean, which means that Clark may have the opportunity to get Dean supporters to replace any Kerry supporters he recently got who now switch back to Kerry. And Clark has a good chance of getting some of the Dean folks: they're voters who are disenchanted with Washington, who appreciate the power of the Internet, and who strongly opposed Bush's decision to go to war. Most importantly, entrance polls show that what many voters liked about Kerry and Edwards were (1) their ability to beat Bush (the commentators all use that dreadful "E" word; and (2) their allegedly "positive" campaigns (much truer in Edwards' case than Kerry's). And Clark's got exactly what people are buying there -- and possibly what a lot of the Dean voters Kerry and Edwards siphoned off want too. JMHO...The next few weeks will be interesting...;-) -s2@PoliticalHorseRace.com

To: lurqer who wrote (35744)	1/20/2004 12:16:37 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 89467

Check out The Charlie Rose Show... charlierose.com LIVE Coverage of the Iowa Caucuses with: REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC) JAMES CARNEY, Time KAREN TUMULTY, Time RICHARD COHEN, The Washington Post BRUCE REED, President, Democratic Leadership Council

To: lurqer who wrote (35744)	1/20/2004 1:18:56 AM
From: lurqer	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 89467

Annan stalls on sending UN mission to Iraq America emerged from the United Nations empty handed last night after a request for the UN to salvage the US strategy for a handover of power in Iraq failed to win immediate approval. Iraq's US governor, Paul Bremer, his British counterpart, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, and a delegation from the US-appointed Iraqi governing council asked UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, to send a team to Iraq to advise on the feasibility of quick elections, or alternatives for selecting a new Iraqi government. Mr Annan said he was considering the proposal, but that more discussions were necessary before he could reach a decision on whether to send a "technical" team. The US is hoping the review would conclude it is not possible for full and free elections to take place just yet - a key demand of the powerful Shia cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. The coalition's provisional authority had pledged to provide "full security" if the UN would return, said Annan. As the meeting began, around 100,000 Shi'ite Muslims took to the streets of Baghdad demanding early and direct elections. "The sons of the Iraqi people demand a political system based on direct elections and a constitution that realises justice and equality for everyone," said Ayatollah Sistani's representative, Hashem al-Awad. "Anything other than that will prompt people to have their own say." The crowd responded by chanting: "Yes, yes to elections! No, no to occupation!" "We are demanding democracy," said a cleric, Faras al-Tatrasani, 36. "And that's what America came to give us." But the US favours delaying direct elections until next year, and holding caucuses of the "great and good" to select an interim government by June 30. Mr Annan believes there is not enough time before the end of June to hold direct elections and the US hopes to get him to persuade Ayatollah Sistani. "The issue now is whether the technical, political or security conditions exist for general direct elections to take place as early as May this year," said Mr Annan. "Both the governing council and the CPA representatives have expressed a strong wish that the UN should quickly send a technical mission to Iraq to advise on the feasibility of elections within the next few months." Further discussions were needed. "Obviously, the scope for operational UN activities inside Iraq will continue to be constrained by the security situation for some time," he said. The UN is also wary about validating a process it has no role in formulating and submitting itself to a timetable dictated by President George Bush's desire for re-election. "Nobody can afford to see Iraq implode," said one UN official. "But we want to keep the interests of the Iraqi people at the centre of what we do, and we have to be careful in which way we go from here." guardian.co.uk lurqer