January 2008 Monthly Archive

January 30, 2008

McCain Wins Florida, Becomes Front-Runner

McCain Wins Florida, Becomes Front-Runner ... REPORT: "Arizona Sen. John McCain triumphed over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in Florida's Republican presidential primary, taking a trophy of 57 convention delegates -- and bragging rights to front-runner status for the party's nomination. He also was poised to receive the endorsement of the Republican field's onetime front-runner. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was planning to drop out and throw his support to Sen. McCain, associates said, after coming in a distant third and losing his must-win bet on the first state where he aggressively campaigned ..."

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Jackie Calmes - Wall Street Journal | Wednesday, January 30, 2008 | Topic: Breaking Story

 

January 29, 2008

Romney, McCain: Tight Race As Fla. Votes

After hammering each other on the economy and national security for a week, all that was left for Republicans John McCain and Mitt Romney to do Tuesday was urge their supporters to turnout as voting began in Florida's presidential primary.

The contest could solidify one man as the GOP front-runner. Polls opened at 7 a.m. EST, but more than a million ballots had already been cast, either through the early voting that began Jan. 14 or in absentee ballots returned by mail.

Critical phone calls, negative radio ads, and bitter, personal exchanges marked the final hours before the primary. The contest offers the winner the state's 57 delegates to GOP nominating convention and serves as a gateway to the 20-plus states with nominating contests on Feb. 5.

Recent polls show McCain, the Arizona senator, and Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, in a dead heat; both hope a Florida win will provide a burst of energy heading into the virtual national primary a week later.

Romney implored his campaign supporters to take friends to the polls as he wound up campaigning at an airport hangar in Jacksonville Monday night.

"This thing is this close," he said, holding two fingers an inch or so apart. "It's very, very close. And the difference tomorrow is going to be that we have people across Florida who are working to get their friends to go vote."

Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor who has lost six straight contests, is seeking a win to remain a viable candidate. But he is far behind in the polls, and a poor showing could force him to abandon his bid. Also lagging is Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor who hasn't won since the Iowa caucuses nearly a month ago and hardly competed in Florida.

The contest is so tight that just about any factor could tip the balance.

More so than his rival, Romney has a get-out-the-vote effort as well as early and absentee voting programs. He's spent considerable time and money in the state in the past year. The recent focus on the economy works in his favor; he's been pushing his private-sector credentials and arguing that he's the most capable to turn the country away from the brink of recession.

Conversely, McCain is backed by Florida's top two Republican elected officials, Sen. Mel Martinez and Gov. Charlie Crist, and has endorsements from a slew of Florida newspapers. The former Vietnam prisoner of war also has universal name recognition, as well as ownership of an issue important to the large number of veterans and active military in the state - national security.

Terri Rose, 50, a Republican voting in Neptune Beach, said she cast her ballot for McCain.

"I think he would be the best on the security issues," Rose said.

McCain is expected to do well in areas with a strong military presence - Pensacola, Jacksonville, Tampa. He's also hoping for a strong turnout in Miami, with its heavy Cuban-American population, and Orlando, a melting pot. Romney is fighting for the southwest part of the state around Fort Myers and Sarasota; it's much like the Midwest, where he was raised. Another likely stronghold, Palm Beach and Broward County, home to many Northeastern transplants.

Up for grabs is the corridor along Interstate 4 between Tampa and Daytona Beach, a swing area that has seen much growth and is home to roughly two-thirds of the Republican primary vote.

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Liz Sidoti - Associated Press | Tuesday, January 29, 2008 | Topic: Today's Top News

 

Kennedy Say He and the Clintons Are Still Friends

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Edward Kennedy may have thrown his political weight behind Democrat Barack Obama in the White House race, but he says that doesn't mean he harbors ill feelings toward his old friends, Hillary and Bill Clinton.

"Absolutely not. I'm not against the Clintons. I'm for Barack Obama," the Massachusetts senator and brother of the late President John F. Kennedy said on Tuesday.

"I've said I'm for Barack Obama. But I'm going to support Sen. Clinton or Sen. Edwards should they gain the nomination. It's imperative that the Democrats be successful," he said in an interview with NBC's "Today Show."

Kennedy, patriarch of one of the leading political dynasties in the United States, endorsed Obama at a raucous rally in Washington on Monday.

He was joined by his niece Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late president, and his own son U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy in backing Obama, a first-term Illinois senator who would be the country's first black president.

The endorsement was widely seen as a blow to Hillary Clinton, a New York senator who is Obama's chief rival for the Democratic Party nomination ahead of November's presidential election. Clinton would be the first female U.S. president.

Some analysts saw Kennedy's endorsement -- which cast Obama as an heir to the idealism of John Kennedy -- partly as a response to critical comments about Obama by Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton.

Not true, Kennedy said.

"This race really isn't about President Clinton. It's a race of enormous consequence for our country. The stakes are extremely high when we look at the challenges that we're facing here at home and abroad," Kennedy told NBC.

Kennedy and Hillary Clinton exchanged a brief handshake when they both attended President George W. Bush's State of the Union speech on Monday evening.

(Reporting by David Morgan; editing by Mohammad Zargham)

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Reuters | Tuesday, January 29, 2008 | Topic: Breaking Story

 

January 28, 2008

Romney insinuates that McCain is a false Republican but a true Democrat

WEST PALM BEACH, FLA. -- At a small airport rally here, Mitt Romney was in the middle of criticizing John McCain’s legislative record when someone in the audience shouted, “He’s a Democrat!”

“I don’t think McCain’s a Democrat … but I do recall a story that he was thinking about being John Kerry’s running mate—he gave that some thought,” Romney said.

“Had someone asked me that question, there would not have been a nanosecond of thought about it. It would’ve been an immediate laugh. And of course, if someone asked him if he would consider me as a running mate, he would have also laughed immediately.”

The Romney campaign has argued that McCain is not a true conservative. It has gleefully highlighted McCain’s endorsement by the liberal New York Times editorial board and Bill Clinton’s recent comment that the Arizona senator has a very friendly relationship with his wife Hillary.

“So, we are different,” Romney said at this morning’s rally. “I’m conservative.”

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Scott Conroy - CBS News | Monday, January 28, 2008 | Topic: Today's Top News

 

Romney Praises Dead Mormon President

WEST PALM BEACH, FLA. -- At an early-morning press conference at a Texaco gas station, Mitt Romney remarked on the death of Gordon B. Hinckley, the Mormon church president who passed away yesterday at the age of 97.

“We will miss him as a family, respect him as a man of great character and courage, but particularly his humility and ability to touch the lives of each individual is something for which he will long be noted,” Romney said. “His ability also to talk to people throughout the world and to make close relationships with people in the public sector and in the media distinguish him as one of the great leaders in our faith.”

Romney, a Mormon, knew Hinckley through his work leading the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. The former Massachusetts governor recalled a meeting he had with Hinckley, in which the LDS president showed such an impressive knowledge of detail of Salt Lake City that he knew the sewer system would be an obstacle for an event that was being planned on church-owned property.

Romney also said that Hinckley was friendly with Mike Wallace and that when Wallace interviewed Romney, the “60 Minutes” legend asked Romney about Hinckley.

Romney said that he hoped to attend Hinckley’s funeral in Utah.

The press conference was called at the gas station to draw attention to the McCain-Lieberman climate bill, which Romney said would raise gas prices and have a minimal impact on the environment.

He also attacked the Arizona senator for the McCain-Feingold campaign finance bill and McCain-Kennedy immigration reform bill.

“I would note that senator McCain is noted for three major pieces of legislation,” Romney said. “I think all of them were badly flawed and if somebody wants to know where he would lead the country, you simply have to look at the three pieces of legislation with his name at the top.”

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CBS News | Monday, January 28, 2008 | Topic: Today's Top News

 

Primary votes will count, Florida Democrats say

MIAMI (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidates have swarmed through Florida looking for votes but a family squabble has kept Democratic rivals out of the state or reduced them to sneaking inside its borders.

As the fourth-most-populous state heads into its presidential primary election on Tuesday, Democrats hoping to unseat President George W. Bush's Republican Party are betting that all will be forgiven in a dispute that stripped Florida Democrats of their voting clout.

"I believe that it absolutely will happen," Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen Thurman said. "Our voices do count and we're going to be heard and we're going to vote."

In the labyrinthine process to choose party nominees for the November election, the national parties set the rules and decide who goes first in the state-by-state race. Florida jumped the queue by moving up its primary election to January 29, hoping to have more of a say in the selection of candidates.

The Republican National Committee punished Florida by halving its allotment of delegates to its official nominating convention in September, to 57. But the Republican candidates have been all over Florida, in person and on television commercials and in advertisements stuffed into voters' mailboxes.

The Democratic National Committee dealt a harsher penance, stripping the state of all 210 delegates to that party's nominating convention in August. They also extracted a pledge from the candidates not to campaign in Florida, although the candidates are on the ballot for this Tuesday's voting.

Delegates representing all 50 states and U.S. territories traditionally select a party's nominees for president and vice president at the conventions.

Sen. Hillary Clinton, in an about-face last week, said she wants the Democratic delegates reinstated and counted in Florida and in Michigan, another earlier voting state where they were barred by the national party.

In those states, Clinton could stake a claim to nearly all the delegates to the nominating convention in question -- more than 350.

Wasting no time seeking support in Florida, Clinton said on Sunday she would visit the state on Tuesday evening after the polls close.

In Florida, leaders of both state parties are confident the national parties will relent in order to avoid angering Florida voters whose support will be needed to win in November.

"There's going to be an unwillingness there on the part of the candidates to alienate Florida by punishing it," Florida Republican Party spokeswoman Erin VanSickle said.

'COMMON GOAL'

"The common goal that we all have is electing a Democratic president and that will require us to go in united," said Thurman, the state Democratic chairwoman.

In the meantime, Democratic candidates have stealthily visited the state for private fund-raisers, which the rules allow, and prominent Florida Democrats are pleading with the party to release them from the no-campaign pledge.

Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink said the ban serves no purpose "except to give the Republican Party a head start for the general election."

Democratic candidate Barack Obama bought air time in a nationwide block on cable news channels CNN and MSNBC in a move criticized by rival Democrat Clinton as a violation of the pledge. Clinton aides said she would consider doing the same.

The flap likely will hurt Democratic turnout in Florida. In states that have already voted, Democrats turned out in greater proportion than Republicans.

In Florida, where registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans, 325,000 Republicans have already cast early ballots or returned mail-in ballots, compared with 296,000 Democrats.

(Editing by Michael Christie and David Wiessler)

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Jane Sutton - Reuters | Monday, January 28, 2008 | Topic: Breaking Story Highlights

 

McCain Edges into Lead in Florida

Republican John McCain opened a narrow lead on rival Mitt Romney ahead of a critical Florida primary after picking up the endorsement of Gov. Charlie Crist, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Monday.

McCain gained 3 points overnight after winning the Florida governor's backing on Saturday. The shift broke a tie at 30 percent and pushed McCain, an Arizona senator, into a 33 percent to 30 percent lead on Romney before Tuesday's primary.

The margin of error in the poll is 3.4 percentage points.

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John Whiteside - Reuters | Monday, January 28, 2008 | Topic: Breaking Story

 

January 27, 2008

Cheney's Daughter Joins Romney Camp

Liz Cheney, one of Vice President Dick Cheney's daughters, has signed onto Mitt Romney's presidential campaign as a senior foreign policy adviser.

Cheney most recently worked in the State Department handling Middle East affairs.

While her father and President Bush have both vowed to remain neutral as their fellow Republicans battle it out for the GOP nomination, the endorsement is likely to be well received among conservatives who comprise a critical primary voting bloc in both Florida, which votes Tuesday, and the 20-odd states voting Feb. 5.

Romney has also enjoyed the support of aides with ties to the Bush family, including top assistants to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and former President George H.W. Bush.

Liz Cheney, 41, is the elder of Dick and Lynne Cheney's two daughters. Her younger sister, Mary, has been more prominently in the public eye after revealing she is a lesbian and having a son last year with her partner, Heather Poe, despite the administration's opposition to gay marriage.

Liz Cheney, the mother of five children, said in a statement: "Throughout his campaign, (Romney) has distinguished himself as a leader who can guide our country with a clear vision for overcoming the threats we face today. ... I look forward to working with Governor Romney because he is the leader our country needs."

Romney said Liz Cheney brings the campaign "years of experience helping to formulate America's foreign policy and to advance democracy and reform in the Middle East."

Liz Cheney previously supported former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson, who dropped out of the race last week.

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Associated Press | Sunday, January 27, 2008 | Topic: Today's Top News

 

Despite Wealth, Romney Keeps Fundraising

Mitt Romney's millions aren't limitless, nor is his willingness to spend them, so the Republican presidential contender has begun taking valuable time from his primary campaign to raise money from outsiders.

Once in Massachusetts the day after the New Hampshire primary, three times here in Florida this weekend and three more times this coming week in California, Romney has scheduled fundraisers to underwrite the expense of his campaign.

He once hoped to cut the race short with back-to-back wins in Iowa and New Hampshire. But second-place finishes in both states extended his fight at least through the virtual national primary on Feb. 5.

Rivals have accused the former venture capitalist of trying to buy the White House with personal donations thought to exceed $35 million. Romney's wealth has been estimated at up to $250 million.

Romney insists he's trying to blend his own fortune with outside money to avoid the problems other candidates have faced.
Mike Huckabee has had to curtail campaigning for lack of funds. John McCain has taken to Web advertising as a supplement to more costly TV commercials. Rudy Giuliani had to leave the campaign trail in Florida last week to restock his campaign kitty with fundraisers in New York.

"I always want to get as much money as we can from individual contributors," Romney told reporters Saturday. "That has been the majority of the funding for my campaign. And it's an important part of keeping the campaign going."

Through Sept. 30, the date for the most recent federal campaign finance reports, Romney led the Republican field with $63 million in contributions. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, had $47 million, while McCain had $32 million. Romney has argued that if you set aside the $17.35 million he donated to his committee, the $45 million he raised for the primaries still outpaced the field.

Giuliani's take includes $5 million that can only be spent on a prospective general election campaign, leaving his primary account at $40 million.

Updated reports, showing contributions through Dec. 31, are due at the end of the month. Overall fundraising is expected to be up only marginally in the fourth quarter, but Romney's personal contribution is expected to double, given the heavy advertising undertaken by the former Massachusetts governor in the early voting states.

"All the candidates have limited time this month for fundraisers given the need for an aggressive political schedule as primary voting takes place, but we are raising the money we need," said Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom.

Romney aides say the challenge under the succession of primary and caucus contests is finding time to replenish the campaign account.

Elections are held once or twice a week. State staffs are trying to get Romney to hit key locales in vote-rich areas and the campaign has been trying to make greater use of free exposure through media coverage after Romney spent over $7 million on ads in Iowa and New Hampshire and still finished second.

The campaign saw an uptick in fundraising after Romney posted his first major win in the Michigan primary, and aides are hoping for a repeat if their boss can finish strong in Florida on Tuesday.

Romney had hoped to tap a gusher the day after the New Hampshire primary, scheduling a "national call day" in Boston the morning after so some of his top supporters could solicit donations from their business and social networks.

While Romney didn't win, his supporters garnered $1.5 million in fresh donations for his primary campaign and $3.5 million to set aside in the event he mounts a general election campaign.

Aides say Romney would likely forgo public financing for a general election campaign, believing he can raise $150 million with relatively little effort. The total amount the federal government is expected to offer candidates who remain within the public financing system will be closer to $80 million.

Romney dismissed the criticism of his own donations during a debate last week in Florida.

"I can't imagine having gone to my friends and asked them to do what they've done, going out and raising money in my behalf, without saying I'm going to put some of my contribution behind this effort as well," Romney said.

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Glen Johnson - AP | Sunday, January 27, 2008 | Topic: Today's Top News

 

Edwards keeps on running in presidential race

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (Reuters) - John Edwards just keeps on running. He hasn't won a single contest in the Democratic race for the U.S. presidential nomination but the millionaire lawyer with the movie star smile still hopes to be a player in the November election.

Edwards suffered a blow to his struggling White House bid with a disappointing third-place finish in Saturday's primary election in his native South Carolina -- the only state he had managed to win in his failed 2004 presidential bid.

But the former trial attorney and 2004 vice presidential nominee, who had hoped to win over voters by focusing on his humble roots and a pledge to combat U.S. poverty, will not quit before "Super Tuesday" early next month, when 22 states vote.

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Deborah Charles - Reuters | Sunday, January 27, 2008 | Topic: Today's Top News