DNC RESEARCH DEPT.: McCain Picks Up Joementum!

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Read what the Republicans Wish You Wouldn’t …
December 17, 2007

TOP HEADLINE: McCain Picks Up Joementum!

Noting Liberman’s appeal among unaffiliated voters in the 2004 Democratic primary, a top McCain aide said the Connecticut senator's backing "gives credence to, and more horsepower behind, our 'Independents for McCain' effort in New Hampshire and nationally."
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1207/7418.html

FLASHBACK: Exit polls following the 2004 New Hampshire primary showed Joe Lieberman taking fifth among Independent voters, behind John Kerry, Howard Dean, John Edwards and Wes Clark. He did beat out Dennis Kucinich and Al Sharpton. He also failed to win the vote of Republicans who voted in the Democratic primary.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/primaries/pages/epolls/NH/index.html

Oh THAT NRA … Mitt Was Endorsed by National ROMNEY Association

Under Russert's grilling about guns on this morning's "Meet the Press," former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney claimed an endorsement he'd never won.

In answer to questions about whether he would sign an assault weapons ban, Romney said: "Just as the president said, he would have, he would have signed that bill if it came to his desk, and so would have I. And, and, and yet I also was pleased to have the support of the NRA when I ran for governor. I sought it, I seek it now. I'd love to have their support."

Later in the interview, he added the following:

"I just talked about, about guns. I told you what my position was, and what I, what I did as governor; the fact that I received the endorsement of the NRA."

The problem?

He was never endorsed by the NRA, and didn't have their official support during his 2002 gubernatorial campaign.
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2007/12/16/romney_claims_nra_endorsement.html

SHOCKER! Rudy Exaggerated Record on US Attorney Service

ON “Meet the Press” a week ago, Rudolph W. Giuliani attempted to deflect criticism of his close relationship with his former police commissioner, Bernard Kerik, by saying that his misjudgment of Mr. Kerik had to be weighed against his other accomplishments. “How can I not have pretty good judgment about the people who work for me and not been able to turn around the United States attorney’s office?” he asked. But Mr. Giuliani’s claim to have turned around the Manhattan United States attorney’s office is not only untrue, it is an insult to the outstanding men and women who have served in that office over the last 50 years.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/17/opinion/17martin.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Huckabee Was Just Helping To Spread The Giving Spirit Throughout The Year – Hit For Gifts From Appointees

A $1,000 pair of cufflinks from a supporter, tens of thousands of dollars of clothing from a wealthy Little Rock businessman and thousands in gift certificates and cash from staff and appointees were among the lavish gifts given to Republican presidential candidate and unexpected frontrunner Mike Huckabee while he was governor of Arkansas.

The gifts fell within Arkansas's ethics rules but have raised questions among the governor's political opponents and ethics analysts at a time when scrutiny of the candidate is intensifying, and are at odds with the humble persona Huckabee has adopted on the campaign trail.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections08/story/0,,2227481,00.html

Wonder What Fred Got For Mike Huckabee? – Others Campaign, Thompson Shops

Rudy Giuliani spent today on the trail in Florida, Mike Huckabee was in New Hampshire, Mitt Romney Iowa and John McCain South Carolina.

Fred Thompson took to the Neiman Marcus at the Tysons Galleria in suburban Washington.
. . .
But 19 days out to the caucuses, and on a prime weekend campaign day, it does not help the cause of a candidate already fending off a "lazy" rap to be seen perusing the racks at Neiman Marcus. This is the danger of running a campaign inside-the-beltway -- there are are always people watching and ready to share such sightings.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/1207/Fred_shops__but_not_for_votes.html

McCain Endorsed By Own Employee – If Only He Hadn’t Laid Off Half His Staff In The Summer!

In what will shock the South Carolina political landscape, Former SC House Majority Leader turned professional blogger Rick Quinn has endorsed John McCain for President on his blog Palmetto Scoop. Quinn is a paid adviser to Senator McCain.
http://shotpolitics.com/former-sc-house-majority-leader-endorses-john-mccain.htm

Rudy Repackages Same Ol' Stuff

TAMPA, Fla. (Associated Press) -- Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani's "bold" vision for the nation sounded a lot like the same ideas he's been talking about for months, but delivered in a new package Saturday.
http://omaha.cox.net/cci/newsnational/national?_mode=view&_state=maximized&view=article&id=D8TI3NP00&_action=validatearticle

No Repackaging This… Tab Poll Shows People Don’t Like Judi or Rudi

A straying husband is bad. But a home wrecker is worse - at least when it comes to who should end up in the White House.

That seems to be the judgment of women polled by the Daily News. More were likely to punish Judith Giuliani for trysting with the then-married mayor when she was Judith Nathan than Bill Clinton for cheating on his wife in the Oval Office.

The News' national poll of female voters found women - by a 40% to 35% margin - said Judith Giuliani's affair with Rudy made her less suitable to be First Lady.
. . .
When asked whom they'd prefer to watch their kids, 36% of the women polled would rather have Bill and Hillary Clinton baby-sit, while 21% would pick Rudy and Judith Giuliani.

"I might let Mrs. Giuliani watch my kids, but not Rudy. If his own children won't speak to him, I don't want my kids speaking to him," said Deborah Taylor, 58, of Derby, Kan.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2007/12/17/2007-12-17_women_more_willing_to_forgive_monica_sca.html

Giuliani Partners "Official F” Back In The News – Victims Object To Rudy’s Defense of Placa

Monsignor Alan Placa, a priest and lifelong friend of Giuliani, was accused in a 2003 grand jury report of molesting boys and helping to suppress abuse complaints about other priests. Placa was stripped of his priestly duties in 2002 while a special grand jury investigated allegations of sexual abuse at the Diocese of Rockville Centre on Long Island. That year, Giuliani hired Placa, who is also a lawyer, for his consulting firm, Giuliani Partners, LLC.

Placa works as a consultant for the company, which helps clients with legal, security and business improvement issues. Sunny Mindel, a spokeswoman for the firm, would not elaborate on Placa's duties or his salary. Placa is not involved with Giuliani's campaign.

No charges were filed against Placa or the 22 other priests accused of crimes in the grand jury report because the statute of limitations had expired. But the Suffolk County district attorney believed it was valuable to investigate the diocese and produce a report detailing the diocese's handling of sexual abuse complaints.

. . .

Since the priests were not formally charged, they are not named in the report and are instead identified only by a letter. But the report offered sufficient details about the priests that Newsday, a Long Island newspaper, determined some of the priests' identities, including Placa, who was "Priest F." The grand jury report had described "Priest F" as "a parish priest who became a teacher at a boy's high school and later a civil attorney who went on to write the diocese's policy on sexual abuse."

Placa denies the allegations, which include groping at least three boys and purposely neglecting to tell sexual abuse victims that he was a lawyer for the diocese as well as a priest. "Priest F" is painted as the central figure of a conspiracy that kept secret decades of sexual abuse.

. . .

Giuliani was asked about Placa in an Oct. 23 interview with WBZ, a Boston television station.

"He's a friend of mine for over 35 years," he said, according to a transcript provided by Mindel. "And the fact is, he hasn't even been formally accused of anything. So, to hold this against him is really kind of, not the right way to do it. I know, I understand that people feel very hurt about this issue in general, they have every right to. But then you just can't, just can't assume that people are responsible for things that they're accused of. You've got to give the whole process a chance, right?"

But victims' advocates say Giuliani's point is moot since New York's statute of limitations on criminal charges prevented prosecutors from filing charges.
http://concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071216/FRONTPAGE/712160331

Dana Perino Has Competition! Romney Rushes To Bush’s Defense

Raising the stakes with his main rival in the crucial Iowa caucuses, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney accused Mike Huckabee yesterday of insulting President Bush and called on him to apologize for criticizing Bush's foreign policy as "arrogant."
…
"That's an insult to the president, and Mike Huckabee should apologize to the president," Romney said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/12/17/romney_huckabee_rivalry_heats_up/

Will Huckabee Call on Mitt to Apologize for Reagan Comments?

In the debate, Kennedy tried to portray Romney as a turn-back-the-clock conservative, and Romney took exception, essentially disavowing Reagan. On October 27, 1994, the Boston Herald reported the exchange this way:
Kennedy attempted to link Romney several times during the debate to conservatives such as Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) and accused him of trying to return the country to the policies of the Reagan-Bush administrations.
Romney objected to the characterizations, saying: "I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I’m not trying to return to Reagan-Bush."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/19/opinion/main2281102.shtml

Romney BORKED! He Might Not Like It, But Looks Like Reagan-Bush Is Flocking To Him

Judge Robert Bork has endorsed Mitt Romney for president. He explains:

No other candidate will do more to advance the conservative judicial movement than Governor Mitt Romney. He knows firsthand how the judicial branch can profoundly affect the future course of a state and a nation. I greatly admired his leadership in Massachusetts in the way that he responded to the activist court's ruling legalizing same-sex 'marriage.'

Our next President may be called upon to make more than one Supreme Court nomination, and Governor Romney is committed to nominating judges who take their oath of office seriously and respect the rule of law in our nation. I also support Governor Romney because of his character, his integrity and his stands on the major issues facing the United States.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives2/2007/12/019291.php

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