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Politics : American Presidential Politics and foreign affairs -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: calgal who wrote (22847)	9/20/2007 1:15:34 AM
From: calgal	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71588

Giuliani in Britain Vows to Thwart Iran Wednesday, September 19, 2007 1:11 PM Article Font Size LONDON -- Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani met with Britain's prime minister Wednesday and vowed the U.S. would take any action necessary to keep Iran from becoming a nuclear power. The former New York mayor is the latest GOP candidate to travel to Britain, meeting the new political guard and visiting former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, an icon for American conservatives. Giuliani met Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his predecessor Tony Blair. He was to deliver a lecture at the Atlantic Bridge, an organization that promotes ties between British and American conservatives. He said he discussed Iran with Brown and was "very, very much heartened by how seriously he sees it." He insisted Iran would not be allowed to become a nuclear power soon. "We will use any options we believe is in our best interest to stop them becoming a nuclear power. With the absolute assurance that if they get to the point that they are going to become a nuclear power, we will prevent that or set them back five or 10 years. That is not said as a threat. That should be said as a promise," he said. Giuliani's moderate stances on gun control, abortion and gay rights have put him at odds with many U.S. conservatives and religious leaders. But several world leaders have sought his opinions on security in the wake of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, when he was mayor of New York. He said the alliance between the U.S. and Britain was essential to defeating terrorism. "It is now such a strong relationship that it is going to endure whatever we have to endure to overcome Islamic terrorism," Giuliani said. Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney, two other Republican candidates, have also recently come to Britain to visit Thatcher _ dubbed the "Iron Lady" by the Kremlin during the Cold War and considered a mentor to many conservatives who are trying to distance themselves from the policies of President Bush ahead of the elections. Thatcher is remembered by many in the United States for her close relationship with former President Ronald Reagan, who died three years ago. Giuliani said recently that the United States was lacking "strong, aggressive, bold leadership like we had with Ronald Reagan." newsmax.com

To: calgal who wrote (22847)	9/28/2007 12:29:50 AM
From: Peter Dierks	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71588

"Hillary's last health plan still looms large " Dems, especially Clinton, try not to repeat her mistakes September 25, 2007 Publication: Chicago Sun-Times Author: Editorial -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It has clearly ticked off the other Democratic candidates that Hillary Clinton has been receiving so much positive press for her newly unveiled health care plan. There has been a sympathetic column from David Brooks of the New York Times, an appearance with Wolf Blitzer on CNN's "Situation Room," a polite interview with Melissa Block on NPR's "All Things Considered" and many other interviews. Of course the attention is not because Clinton's health care plan is more brilliant than the other candidates' proposals; it comes from Clinton's spectacular failure as first lady to shepherd through a complicated and expensive health care plan during her husband's first term in office. At that time, Dick Armey, the Republican Texas congressman, said Clinton's thoughts on universal health insurance "sound a lot like Karl Marx." Democrats were also deeply annoyed by Hillary's proposal. They felt they'd been left out of the process. And they were right. Hillary did shut them out and in the process turned herself into a symbolic voodoo doll to be pinned and prodded by gleeful Republicans. Carl Bernstein notes in his book, A Woman in Charge, that "Instead of being the new administration's strongest suit, health care reform ... had become a rallying cry for all the Clintons' opponents and enemies." So, this time around, interviewers wondered, how is she going to pull it off? Clinton has tried to douse any suggestion of socialism by noting there will be no new government bureaucracy, that those who like their health plans can stick with them, that the funding for it will come from sources such as a rollback of President Bush's tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and cost savings from using electronic files. And this time she sounds like she has a grip on the issue, even convincing New York Times columnist Brooks that her "health care plan is a huge step forward from 1993. It's better than the G.O.P. candidates' plans (which don't exist)." But John and Elizabeth Edwards yelled foul. Copycat, they cried, declaiming Clinton's health care plan as a rip-off of theirs, except that she wants to work with health insurers and pharmaceutical companies. Edwards blames lobbyists from insurance companies, HMOs and pharmaceutical firms for the failure of Clinton's first effort. He says in a video posted on YouTube: "The lesson that Sen. Clinton seems to learn from her experience is that if you can't beat them you just join them." "Hillary Clinton has come out with a health plan that's just like mine," Sen. Barack Obama told a group of voters in Ames, Iowa, last week. But he added "I'll be honest with you, they [the candidates' health plans] are all pretty similar." And he is right. Except for a few differences in the amount it will cost, the decision whether or not to require universal coverage and other minor details, the health plans look pretty much the same. But what else could anyone expect? Both Obama and Edwards carefully studied what Clinton did wrong last time around and were going to make darned sure they didn't make the same mistakes. But so did Clinton. She doesn't want to go down in flames a second time. The other sticking point for Obama and Edwards -- who did not get the same intensity of coverage when they introduced their health plans -- is that Hillary is the leading candidate and has remained so consistently from the start. To be sure, anything can happen until the primaries. As David Axelrod, Obama's media strategist, points out, former presidential candidate John Kerry came into Iowa in 2004 well behind and still won. But if things continue as they have for the last six months, it looks as if Clinton may very well betheDemocrat who carries the banner for universal health insurance. You can hear the Republicans sharpening their knives already. freedomworks.org

To: calgal who wrote (22847)	11/27/2007 12:49:23 AM
From: Peter Dierks	Respond to of 71588

Michigan's early vote is good news for George Romney's son and Bill Clinton's wife. Monday, November 26, 2007 12:01 a.m. EST What if we look back on the 2008 presidential nomination contests and conclude one or both were effectively decided by a single vote--and among a group of judges at that? Democratic partisans still argue that the 2000 presidential contest was decided by a single vote in the U.S. Supreme Court, even though media recounts of Florida ballots showed that the outcome would not have been changed if Bush v. Gore had gone the other way. But there's no doubt that a 4-3 ruling by the Michigan Supreme Court last Wednesday saved that state's Jan. 15 presidential primary, which was in danger of being scrapped over a dispute about whether it adhered to the state constitution. The winners are likely to be Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton Mr. Romney pushed hard for an early primary because he has a natural advantage in Michigan. He was born in Detroit, and elderly voters still fondly remember George Romney, his father, who served as governor in the 1960s. Mr. Romney is counting on winning Iowa on Jan. 3--he has more paid workers there than all the other GOP candidates put together--and he plans to use his advantage as a former governor of next-door Massachusetts to win New Hampshire's Jan. 8 primary. Winning Michigan would then give Mr. Romney three straight victories before the critical Jan. 19 South Carolina primary. Among Democrats, Hillary Clinton is for now the only leading Democratic candidate to appear on Michigan's ballot. The other top-tier contenders withdrew, following the guidance of the Democratic National Committee, which is threatening to take away Michigan's delegates because it is scheduling a primary against the party's rules. But few observers believe the state will actually be stripped of its delegates in the end, so if she remains the only significant name on the ballot, Mrs. Clinton may pick up some momentum, a publicity bounce and some delegates to boot by exerting almost no effort. Democratic National Committee member Debbie Dingell, wife of Rep. John Dingell, will try to persuade the state Legislature to amend the primary law to restore the names of Barack Obama, John Edwards, Joe Biden and Bill Richardson. But that could be a tough sell given that Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, the state's top elections officer, says the primary is already well behind schedule and any further delay will make it impossible to get absentee ballots out. John McCain could also benefit from the Michigan primary should he do well enough in New Hampshire to remain viable. Michigan has no party registration, and in 2000 the votes of independents and Democrats helped Mr. McCain crush George W. Bush in Michigan's primary. Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson are less likely to be able to capitalize on the Michigan primary because they have not built large grass-roots organizations in the state. Similarly, Mike Huckabee has not spent any significant time or money in the Wolverine State. In allowing the primary to go forward, Michigan's high court overturned two rulings that had held that it would be unconstitutional because the two major political parties would have exclusive access to the list of those who voted in the primary. The Supreme Court, using dubious reasoning, said the public's interest in having open primaries as opposed to conventions of party activists outweighed the need to provide equal access to what are clearly public records. It sided with those who wanted publicity for the state over those who wanted public disclosure. (The law setting the primary had a "nonseverability" clause, so that the courts could not order the vote to go forward in compliance with disclosure laws.) Michigan has now shaken up the primary calendar in a fundamental way. Among Democrats, look for Mrs. Clinton's rivals to work behind the scenes to get their names on the Michigan ballot, whether or not delegates are at stake. Media coverage has become the true currency of politics, and no Democratic opponent of Mrs. Clinton wants to hand her an uncontested victory. Among Republicans, the pressure will be for Mitt Romney to win Iowa and New Hampshire. He is saturating Iowa with mail and ads and is currently spending $200,000 a week on ads on New Hampshire's ABC affiliate. If he wins both, he will then try for a triple slam with Michigan. Rudy Giuliani, who is trailing badly in Iowa, may now have to focus on winning New Hampshire to avoid giving Mr. Romney a clean sweep in the early states. The pressure on Messrs. McCain and Thompson to poll well somewhere is now more intense. Iowa and New Hampshire are often said to be the launching pads for successful presidential nominees. This year Michigan may rival them in importance. opinionjournal.com