DNC RESEARCH DEPT.: Convicted Felons For Giuliani!

The Daily Flipper
Read what the Republicans Wish You Wouldn’t …
December 19, 2007

TOP HEADLINE: Convicted Felons For Giuliani! Another Shady Character Emerges From Mayor’s Past. . . And He’s Bringing Ammo

Ray was one of Kerik's closest friends and the best man at his 1998 wedding. As Kerik was rising to become New York's police commissioner, Ray was in touch with him regularly -- lending him money, discussing possible business opportunities, and using Ray's contacts in Russia to arrange a meeting for Giuliani with former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

Much has changed since then. Giuliani is now a leading Republican presidential candidate. Kerik has pleaded guilty to state ethics charges and is under federal indictment. And Ray, a convicted felon now in prison on a parole violation, has turned on his former friend. He has provided to state and federal authorities half a dozen boxes of e-mails, memos, faxes, financial statements, photographs and other materials about Kerik's alleged wrongdoing.

That evidence, reviewed by The Washington Post, shows that Kerik brought Ray into contact with Giuliani on a handful of occasions documented in photos and that he invoked Giuliani's name in connection with a New Jersey construction company with alleged mob ties that is now at the heart of the criminal cases.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/18/AR2007121802333_pf.html

Giuliani’s Sordid Past Keeping Him From Closing the Deal in NH

Giuliani's policy positions shouldn't be as troublesome for him in New Hampshire, which is more secular and socially moderate than Iowa and South Carolina. But it's personal issues, not policies, that are dragginghim down. When pollsters asked New Hampshire Republicans in the December survey which candidate was the most believable or the "most likely to keep the same positions on important issues," Giuliani trailed both Romney and McCain. On the question of which candidaterespondents saw as "least likely to act like a typical politician," Giuliani came in last, at just 9 percent (Romney and McCain were tied at 18 percent). Voters mayagree with what Giuliani has to say, but they just don't know if they can trust what he's saying.

That makes it difficult not only for Giuliani to sell himself, but also to criticize other candidates. Consequently, it was McCain, not Giuliani, who was the first to send direct mail to New Hampshire voters attacking Romney as a flip-flopper.
http://nationaljournal.com/members/buzz/2007/onthetrail/121907.htm

Conveniently Suppressed? Romney ‘Doesn’t Recall’ Attending Planned Parenthood Fundraiser

Mitt Romney, who has taken hits from his Republican presidential rivals for his change of heart on abortion, waved off a photo, sent yesterday to several news organizations, that shows him at a fund-raiser for Planned Parenthood.

Nicki Nichols Gamble, a former president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, said the photo shows Mitt and Ann Romney at a private home in Cohasset in June 1994. At the time, Romney was hoping to unseat US Senator Edward M. Kennedy and was eager to show his support for abortion rights, said Gamble, who is pictured in the photo with her back to the camera.

Romney dismissed any significance of the photo.

"I attend a lot of events when I run for office. I don't recall the specific event," Romney said while campaigning in South Carolina, according to the Associated Press. "I think I've made it very clear. I was prochoice, or effectively prochoice, when I ran in 1994. As governor I'm prolife and I have a record of being prolife and I'm firmly prolife today."
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/12/19/romney_dismisses_photo_taken_at_fund_raiser_says_he_is_firmly_antiabortion/

Tax Evaders For Mitt!! Romney Helped Clients Avoid Paying Taxes in US

While in private business, Mitt Romney used shell companies in two offshore tax havens to help eligible investors avoid paying US taxes, federal and state records show.

Romney gained no personal tax benefit from the legal operations in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. But aides of the Republican presidential hopeful and former colleagues acknowledged that the tax-friendly jurisdictions helped attract billions of additional investment dollars to Romney's former company, Bain Capital, and thus boosted profits for Romney and his partners.

In the Cayman Islands, Romney was listed as a general partner and personally invested in BCIP Associates III Cayman, a private equity fund that is registered at a post office box on Grand Cayman Island and that indirectly buys equity in US companies. The arrangement shields foreign investors from US taxes they would pay for investing directly in US companies.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/12/19/romney_utilized_offshore_tax_havens_to_help_investors/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+2008+campaign+news

Huckabee Hits Romney On Non-Pardon Of Iraq Vet

Mitt Romney's new TV commercial questions the judgment of Mike Huckabee, his fellow Republican presidential contender, noting the rival issued 1,033 pardons and commutations as governor of Arkansas while Romney issued none while leading Massachusetts.

Left out of the spot is perhaps Romney's most noteworthy pardon denial: his rejection of the request of an Iraq war veteran who was trying to become a police officer after his National Guard service.

Anthony Circosta's offense? Shooting a friend in the arm with a BB gun as a 13-year-old. The impact didn't break the skin.. . .
Huckabee, appearing yesterday in Houston, was questioned about the ad. He said he exercised discretion and acted responsibly in reviewing the requests.

The former governor added: "People need to understand the real record here. Did Mitt Romney act in the best interest of Anthony Circosta or in the best interest of Mitt Romney? If you're gonna be elected to the job you need to be elected to do the job that's best for the citizens, not for your own political future."
http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Romney+no-pardons+boast+forgets+war+vet&articleId=1970b114-92c7-41a8-af4d-a4fbe35e37a7

Romney Aggressively Courted Iowans While Governor of Massachusetts; Used PAC Contributions to Aid Campaign

Romney was not always the dominant force in Iowa that he became. In mid 2005, polls indicated that Romney's support was in the single digits, within the margin of error of zero. He was virtually unknown.

So he started building relationships on the ground here early, and it paid off. In a series of interviews with 37 of Iowa's 99 Republican county chairs conducted by Huffington Post's OffTheBus project as part of a collaboration with Iowa Independent, it was revealed that Romney made quite an impression on key GOP activists across the state before some other candidates were even paying attention.

"The Romney campaign did an event in Fall 2005," said Mitch Hambleton, chair of the Republican Party in Dallas County, which contains many of Des Moines's heavily Republican suburbs. Romney was only halfway through his second term as Governor of Massachusetts when he gave the keynote speech at the Dallas County GOP's annual steak fry fundraiser. "He was just getting ... established in the state. I had the opportunity to meet him and share views," said Hambleton.

Romney did not announce his candidacy until February 2007 -- nearly a year and a half after the steak fry -- but that did not stop him from building the beginnings of his Iowa organization. "We saw Romney a whole lot. He was in Iowa quite a bit from 2005 to present day," said Hambleton.

Steve Schmitt, chair of the Blackhawk County GOP, said Romney's campaign first began courting him in the spring of 2006, about a year before he declared his candidacy. "If I remember correctly, the first conversation that I had [with a presidential campaign] was with the Romney campaign," he said. "[Romney] actually came and spoke to our county convention, which would have been in February, March of 06."

But Romney's strategy did not rely entirely on personal visits. He also made strategic donations to local Republicans across the state in the same timeframe, and he developed a bit of a reputation for it. One county chair, Kelly O'Brien from O'Brien County, said the Massachusetts Governor sent checks to everyone he could reach.

Ann Trimble-Ray, who chairs the GOP in Sac County, said "Gov. Mitt Romney's Commonwealth PAC was the first [presidential candidate's] organization to contact our county -- with a $250 donation in 2006. The contact was via mail and they had no requirements for the donation they sent to build the party."
http://iowaindependent.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1674

Where in the World Is Rudy Giuliani?

The national frontrunner, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, is not here in Iowa this week. Giuliani's not competing to win in first-in-the-nation caucus state Iowa and first-in-the-nation primary state New Hampshire, instead focusing on big delegate-rich states that hold their primaries and caucuses later in the nomination process.

As Giuliani's pursued this strategy he's dropped to third or fourth place in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Perhaps of greater concern for Giuliani is his steady drop in the polls nationally, from 53% in February to 26% today.

His greatest decline has been among men, conservatives and those following the race very closely - voters who might be award of some of his baggage. A danger for the former Mayor his absence from a continued presence in these early states means that the media and his opponents are the ones deciding what voters are hearing about him.

Republican strategists and ABC News contributor Matthew Dowd thinks Giuliani's strategy carries some risk. "His destiny will begin to be out of his control when the voting starts in Iowa as people go to the polls and a candidate wins," Dowd said. "He won't be able to dominate the news coverage."
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/politics/national_elections&id=5843788

Stepping It Up. . . Giuliani To Face More Criticism From NY Firefighters

A group of New York firefighters who lost sons in the Sept. 11 World Trade Center attacks is organizing a political committee to take on former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani in Republican primary states.

A leader of the 9/11 Firefighters and Families group met Tuesday with union leaders and political consultants, readying plans to set up a tax-exempt committee that would fund appearances and a media drive against Giuliani.

Jim Riches, a New York deputy fire chief whose firefighter son was killed during the attack, said the group aimed to raise doubts about the central premise of Giuliani's presidential campaign -- his leadership role on Sept. 11. "If we have to follow him around all 2008 we'll do it," Riches said.
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-antirudy19dec19,0,2935502.story?coll=la-politics-campaign

Huckabee, Making Bill O’Reilly Proud

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee on Tuesday defended his Christmas ad amid suggestions that the ordained Baptist minister had gone too far mixing religion and politics.

Huckabee is courting evangelical voters and other religious conservatives in his bid to win the Iowa caucuses Jan. 3. In Texas for a fundraiser, he said the ad was a harmless holiday greeting even though it excludes other religions.

"If we are so politically correct in this country that a person can't say enough of the nonsense with the political attack ads could we pause for a few days and say Merry Christmas to each other then we're really, really in trouble as a country," Huckabee said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071219/ap_on_el_pr/huckabee_christmas_ad;_ylt=AnraLAjEzavNbuMPiKCc4x1p24cA

Apparently We Missed His Stint As Secretary of State; Thompson Swears He’s Got The Top Foreign Policy Credentials

Most of the top Republican candidates for president don't have the foreign policy experience to handle the dangers the United States faces, Fred Thompson told Gannett News Service Tuesday.

"The fact of the matter is that among the so-called top candidates, John McCain is the only one with any experience in these areas," Thompson said in an interview.

"I'm not sure where some of these other guys are. When I read that Mr. Huckabee believes that if we played nice with other people they'd like us, (that) causes me to consider whether he understands the world that we live in."
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071219/NEWS09/712190365/-1/caucus

Ron Paul: Pro-Obesity?

Unlike other presidential candidates who want to control obesity and smoking to cut health care costs, Republican candidate Ron Paul said he would not promote preventive medicine.

"I wouldn't promote it," Paul, a Texas congressman, said after a meeting Tuesday with the Linn County Medical Society. "I want the patient to make the decision."

Paul, a 72-year-old former Air Force flight surgeon and obstetrician who has delivered thousands of babies, had a lot in common with several of the 10 medical society members he spoke with in Cedar Rapids.
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071219/NEWS09/712190378/-1/caucus
If You’re Saddling Fred, Better Bring The Spurs

Republican Fred Thompson says if he can be a presidential horse for conservatives to ride in the campaign, "All I've got to say is saddle me up."
http://www.examiner.com/a-1111739~Thompson_Says__Saddle_Me_Up__in_Campaign.html

What Is It About Fred Thompson? Maybe That You Can Always Get Him On The Phone?

What was it about Fred Thompson that made Condoleezza Rice, after he left the Senate ask him to help her go through, decipher issues of nuclear proliferation. What was it about Fred Thompson that made President Bush call him to help be the shepherd for now, thank goodness, God bless, Chief Justice John Roberts. What is it about Fred Thompson?
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/289532.aspx

All We Found Is A Case of Snickers Wrappers And A Dog Collar, But We’re Saving That For 2008

For Huckabee, becoming the front-runner also means being more closely scrutinized.

"We've got a lot of people doing Dumpster diving in Little Rock right now," Huckabee joked to reporters, referring to a recent spate of critical news stories examining his record.

Romney backer Collins welcomed that examination. Most voters assume Huckabee is a conservative on taxes, spending, crime and ethics, he said, "but that's incorrect. The guy could essentially be a pro-life Democrat."
http://www.twincities.com/allheadlines/ci_7739744?nclick_check=1

Being Dogged By Scandals Can Be Ruff: Michael Vick and David Huckabee . . .

http://shotpolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/huckvick.jpg

What do these two men have in common?

It certainly is not a sub 4.3 forty-yard dash and the ability to elude top NFL defenders.

Actually, it appears both these men have abused and killed a dog. While you probably recognize Michael Vick, the other person pictured above is David Huckabee, son of presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. According to Newsweek:

As Mike Huckabee gains in the polls, the former Arkansas governor is finding that his record in office is getting more scrutiny. One issue likely to get attention is his handling of a sensitive family matter: allegations that one of his sons was involved in the hanging of a stray dog at a Boy Scout camp in 1998.
http://shotpolitics.com/the-huckabee-dog-killing-cover-up.htm

Don’t Touch The Phone …NH AG Says Anonymous Push Polling Legal Despite State Statute

As a telephone poll floods the state with positive comments about one Republican candidate and "factual information" about his rivals, the state's deputy attorney general said yesterday the state law banning "push polling" does not apply to the presidential primary.

Orville "Bud" Fitch noted in an interview that he has testified before lawmakers in favor of expanding the law, but the provision he supported failed to pass the Legislature.
. . .
Fitch's comments came as the director of a Virginia-based conservative non-profit called Common Sense Issues promised to continue making nearly 100,000 calls a night in the Granite State this week to support Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee and to provide "factual information" about other GOP candidates.

Patrick Davis said that before the end of the week, he expects the telephone marketing firm his group has hired to have called 430,000 households in the state, which he said is about 100 percent coverage. He said the calls will then stop during the week of Christmas and may begin again after Jan. 1.
http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Political+'push+poll'+probed&articleId=8d2932da-b53d-4fcc-ac4e-3eabe5e1ad7c

The Daily Flipper is distributed by the DNC Research Department. Items are not intended for attribution to the DNC, its chair or spokespeople.

DNC RESEARCH DEPT.: Not Ready For Primetime? Huckabee Facing Mounting Scrutiny As He Campaigns

The Daily Flipper
Read what the Republicans Wish You Wouldn’t …
December 18, 2007

TOP HEADLINE: Not Ready For Primetime? Huckabee Facing Mounting Scrutiny As He Campaigns

Now that the soft-spoken Huckabee has emerged as the darling of the GOP field and is surging in polls, he has earned the weighty burdens of a true contender: heightened public scrutiny and the not-so-welcome assaults from his GOP rivals.

During a campaign swing through Los Angeles on Monday, the former Arkansas governor had to respond to an attack ad on his record of granting clemency to criminals, criticism about his slight about President Bush's foreign policy, and questions about a 10-year-old comment he made about women subjugating themselves to their husbands.

Huckabee also had to answer questions Monday about the criminal history of a wealthy Beverly Hills businessman, one of his top financial supporters in California, who was hosting an afternoon fundraiser for him.

Fundraiser C. Frederick Wehba, 60, co-founder of the real estate investment giant BentleyForbes LLC, was convicted in a Texas federal court in 1995 of fraudulently concealing his interest in his Beverly Hills home. At the time, he owed money to a failed Texas financial institution, Vernon Savings & Loan.
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-me-huckabee18dec18,1,2937793.story?coll=la-politics-campaign&ctrack=1&cset=true

Mean Mike … Huckabee Blamed Society’s Problems on Gays, Environmentalists (Before He Blamed Them On Saturated Fats)

Huckabee was obviously trying to come across as a friendly and reasonable fundamentalist who eschewed the politics of division. But not too long ago, Huckabee was quite willing to be divisive. In a 1998 book decrying American culture, Huckabee was no seeker of common ground. He drew stark lines, equating environmentalists with pornographers and homosexuality with pedophilia and necrophilia. He also declared that people who do not believe in God tend to be immoral and to engage in "destructive behavior." He drew a rather harsh picture of an American society starkly split between people of faith and those of a secular bent, with the latter being a direct and immediate threat to the nation. . . .

In Kids Who Kill, Huckabee argued that school shootings were the product of a society in decline, a decline marked (and caused) by abortion, pornography, media violence, out-of-wedlock sex, divorce, drug use, and, of course, homosexuality. Huckabee and his coauthor bemoaned the "demoralization of America," observing, "Despite all our prosperity, pomp, and power, the vaunted American experiment in liberty seems to be disintegrating before our very eyes." Huckabee, who was governor at the time and a well-known social conservative, blasted away at those whom he held responsible for America's ills, and he took a rather tough stand against government social programs and their advocates. In lamenting the "cultural conflicts" besetting the country, he wrote, Abortion, environmentalism, AIDS, pornography, drug abuse, and homosexual activism have fragmented and polarized our communities.

http://www.motherjones.com/washington_dispatch/2007/12/huckabee-homosexuality-environmentalism-book.html

Huckabee Wants Two Weeks To Get Ready For “Meet.” What Exactly Has He Been Doing The Past 11 Months?

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is refusing to let his staff put his name forward as a guest with Tim Russert on "Meet the Press." "There is no way he'll do it without at least two weeks of prep time and we can't do that now," says a new arrival to Team Huckabee in Iowa. "He's focused on winning Iowa, note playing 'gotcha' and being embarrassed on 'Meet'."

Russert is believed to have wanted Huckabee for the 23rd or 30th, but has been put off.
http://www.spectator.org/blogger.asp?BlogID=9938

Following the Money Trail. . . Huckabee Once Lived in the Pocket of Big Tobacco

Just when it appears [Mike] Huckabee might be the man of conviction that grassroots Republicans are yearning for, we get the news that he was once a wholly owned subsidiary of the tobacco industry.

It turns out that, while Huckabee was serving as lieutenant governor of Arkansas back in 1994, R.J. Reynolds helped finance a nonprofit organization that paid Huckabee to crisscross the country and attack Hillary Clinton's health-care plan. The tobacco giant's role was kept secret for years - Huckabee neglected to report this income on his '94 state financial disclosure form - but now it's all coming out. A former Huckabee political adviser - who doubled as a consultant to R.J. Reynolds - is talking openly about how the tobacco giant put money in Huckabee's pocket. . . . The company has now confirmed it.

But here's the good part: Huckabee claimed last Friday that he didn't know he was taking big-tobacco money while he was on the public payroll. His former adviser, J.J. Vigneault . . . recalls that Huckabee met with R.J. Reynolds officials in his Little Rock apartment.

Vigneault is quoted as saying: "There's no way he could not have known about the money from R.J. Reynolds. If he's saying he didn't know about the Reynolds money, he's been less than truthful."
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20071218_The_American_Debate___Huckabee_tobacco_tie_puffs_out.html

NH AG To Make Announcement on Romney Push Polling Before Primary

Others are asking where is the report on the now weeks long investigation of the anti-Mormon calls. When I talked to the AG's office a few weeks back they expressed the view that it was not a priority to reach a conclusion before the primary. While no stone should be left unturned in the search for truth and the political calendar should not drive the result the reputation of the NH AG's office would certainly be enhanced by a prompt resolution that can answer basic questions like : was the law broken and by whom? Rushing an investigation to make news before a primary would be entirely inappropriate but so would needlessly delaying its conclusion. Voters and the candidates need to feel that the legal system did its job in a timely and fair manner.

Posted By: Jennifer Rubin

Re: NH AG Report - Monday, December 17, 2007 @ 5:31:42 PM

Actually Jennifer, I spoke to the New Hampshire AG's office today, and was told that they hope to make an announcement before the primary.

Posted By: Philip Klein
http://www.spectator.org/blogger.asp?BlogID=9935

Russert:1, Romney: 0. . . Mitt Still Facing Fire Over Sunday Performance … If You Will

One day after his first appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press, Romney faced an onslaught of questions from reporters about his answers on the show, as well as from a voter who chastised him for not answering all the questions he was asked.

Asked about why he was mistaken on the show about his non-endorsement from the NRA during his gubernatorial race, Romney explained, “We checked with them again and said, ‘OK, what are the signals here?’ And they said, ‘Well, we didn’t give you the official endorsement,’ but they phone-banked members here around Massachusetts, or in Massachusetts... So it was, a if you will, a support phone bank, not an official endorsement.”
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/12/17/522418.aspx

Somebody Must Have Deflated Giuliani’s Balloon. . . Rudy Starting To Resemble Lollygagger Freddie On the Trail

But like a boxer in the late rounds of a match, Mr. Giuliani's team appeared to be slowed from a series of blows in recent weeks. The mayor spoke for a little more than 35 minutes to an audience made up largely of workers at Goss International, which manufactures much of America's printing press equipment. His demeanor seemed sober and somewhat subdued. Gone was the swagger he demonstrated at a series of weekend events in New Hampshire just after Thanksgiving.
http://www.nysun.com/article/68248?page_no=1

Anybody Got a Plan C? Giuliani’s Effort in NH Is Too Little Too Late

The increased attention Rudy Giuliani has been giving to New Hampshire doesn't seem to be paying off. The Republican still trails in the first-in-the-nation primary and also faces likely defeats in other early voting states.

Pinning his hopes on big states that come later in the primary season, the former New York mayor is struggling to regain momentum after a series of setbacks. The next month could provide a severe test for his unorthodox approach to winning the GOP nomination.

In November, after weeks of flooding mailboxes here with literature, Giuliani started running upwards of $2 million in TV ads to court New Hampshire voters, and he visited repeatedly over a several-week span. Despite that effort, polls show him lagging Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, even as Arizona Sen. John McCain surges.

Given that lack of progress and to save money for later contests, Giuliani is scaling back his TV ads somewhat this week in the state. Aides say clutter on the airwaves during the holiday season was a factor and he may boost his television presence again. He plans to return to New Hampshire Friday.
http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071217/NEWS81/517681601/-1/FOSNEWS0406

Not Practicing What They Preach. . . Christian Group Does Not Approve of GOP Candidates’ Investments

The Biblically Responsible Investing Institute, a North Carolina organization that tracks corporate involvement in activities that Christians might find objectionable, has given a thumbs down to how these major Republican presidential candidates are investing their own money.

"We obviously come at the whole issue from an evangelical Christian perspective," said Rusty Leonard, who heads the institute as well as a money-management firm that advises investors on investing based on Christian principles. "You can't help but acknowledge that they have not...made sure that their investments don't stand in opposition to what they claim to stand for."

For its report, the institute combed through financial disclosure statements for the five major Republican candidates -- Huckabee, Romney, Thompson, McCain and Rudy Giuliani All five own stock, either directly or through mutual funds, in companies that "aggressively promote a homosexual lifestyle," the report says, because they either offer same-sex partner benefits or make significant contributions to gay-rights groups.

The candidates also get slammed for investing in casino businesses and for investments in companies that contribute to Planned Parenthood or make what the group considers abortion drugs.
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2007/12/17/bad_reviews_for_gop_field_from.html

How Weird Is The Republican Race? The Guy Who Wants To Legalize Hemp Just Raised $6 Million

Despite the new respectability, Paul's not letting his less conventional side go. Responding to a question about ethanol subsidies, he demonstrated the free-hearted sentiment that has garnered support among libertarians and new young voters. "I think there's a chance that you might get more ethanol if you raised hemp," he responded. "But hemp is illegal in this country. So in my idea of a free society, a farmer would be allowed to raise hemp."

"Not only would that be a good product possibly to make ethanol," he concluded excitedly. "There might be a whole lot of other products you could make with hemp. Like the Canadians do!"
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/12/17/521852.aspx

Thompson Takes the Tancredo Road. . . Tries To Scare Voters Into Supporting Him

About three months after his initial campaign kick-off, Republican candidate Fred Thompson returned to Iowa with a re-invigorated pitch in his final appeal to the early voting state.

Thompson -- who will spend 15 days in Iowa leading up to the Jan. 3 caucuses -- warned the country is "one successful terrorist plan away from nuclear attack."

Barely pausing to clear his throat, the former Tennessee Senator boomed, "it's not time for on-the-job training," a familiar jab on this year's campaign trail. Thompson believes he has the leadership skills to lead the country in national security issues.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2007/12/thompson-more-s.html

It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s. . . Bill Frist On a Segway?

As he segues into private life, former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist was seen out in front of the White House Monday on a Segway. Frist, we hear, is filming a new commercial for Coca-Cola. He joins Bob Dole as a former Republican pol turned pitchman after his party’s fortunes went south.
http://www.examiner.com/blogs/Yeas_and_Nays/2007/12/18/Frist-Segways-past-White-House

The Daily Flipper is distributed by the DNC Research Department.

RNC Research Dept.: Senator Clinton's Tax Shelter Hypocrisy

This significantly hurts Senator Clinton’s credibility on the issue of tax shelters and is further proof that voters can’t trust her. The fact that the Clinton family is profiting from an investment Senator Clinton has denounced could be a problem down the road…

D-

CLINTON TAX SHELTER HYPOCRISY

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) Has Called For An End To Offshore Tax Shelters:

“In 2004, Hillary Clinton … Said She Wanted To ‘Close The Loopholes’ For ‘People Who Create A Mailbox, Or A Drop, Or Send One Person To Sit On The Beach In Some Island Paradise And Claim That It Is Their Offshore Headquarters.’” (Timothy J. Burger and Ryan J. Donmoyer, “Clinton’s Ties To Burkle Include Funds In Offshore Tax Haven,” Bloomberg, 12/17/07)

Sen. Clinton Has Called To “Close The Loopholes, End The Unjustifiable Tax Breaks, And Stop Subsidizing The Movement Of Jobs To Foreign Tax Havens.” (Sen. Hillary Clinton, Policy Speech On “Rebuilding The Middle Class: Hillary Clinton’s Economic Blueprint For The 21st Century,” Cedar Rapids, IA, 10/8/07)

But Former President Clinton Has Investments Based In The Cayman Islands That Could Earn Him “Tens Of Millions Of Dollars”:

Bill Has Holdings In Three Investments Controlled By Billionaire Ron Burkle; All Three Funds Are Based In The Cayman Islands. “The disclosures that Hillary Clinton, 60, is required to make as a lawmaker and candidate show that her husband has holdings in three [Ron] Burkle-controlled funds -- YGOF GP Ltd., Yucaipa Global Holdings and Yucaipa Global Partnership Fund LP - - all listed at Yucaipa’s Los Angeles address. An October filing with the SEC by Burkle, Yucaipa’s lead partner, names YGOF as a Cayman Islands corporation and the latter two as Cayman Islands partnerships.” (Timothy J. Burger and Ryan J. Donmoyer, “Clinton’s Ties To Burkle Include Funds In Offshore Tax Haven,” Bloomberg, 12/17/07)

“[A] Person Familiar With The Matter Confirmed A Report Last Year In The New York Times That Bill Clinton Stands To Make Tens Of Millions Of Dollars With Little Risk If The Yucaipa Funds He Is Involved In Profit Beyond A Certain Level.” (Timothy J. Burger and Ryan J. Donmoyer, “Clinton’s Ties To Burkle Include Funds In Offshore Tax Haven,” Bloomberg, 12/17/07)

A Clinton Spokesman Would Not Confirm When The Clintons Discovered The Funds Were Based Offshore. “Bloomberg’s questions to the campaign involved the nature and amounts of his compensation from Yucaipa, why the holdings were listed as Los Angeles-based rather than Cayman Islands entities, and when Hillary Clinton became aware that the funds were offshore. [Clinton spokesman] Carson didn’t address those questions.” (Timothy J. Burger and Ryan J. Donmoyer, “Clinton’s Ties To Burkle Include Funds In Offshore Tax Haven,” Bloomberg, 12/17/07)

DNC RESEARCH DEPT.: McCain Picks Up Joementum!

The Daily Flipper
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

The Daily Flipper is distributed by the DNC Research Department.

DNC DAILY FLIPPER: Giuliani-Barbour = Christmas Present forDNC Research

The Daily Flipper
Read what the Republicans Wish You Wouldn’t …
December 14, 2007

TOP HEADLINE: Giuliani Firm May Have Violated Federal Law With Florida Client

Rudolph W. Giuliani’s consulting firm was hired in 2002 to help a Florida company build its business under a contract that called for Mr. Giuliani’s firm to be paid in part for lining up work with the federal government and other clients, company records show.

Federal law prohibits payment of a commission in return for a federal contract, a standard that the firm, Giuliani Partners, said it did not violate.

The deal between the firm and the contractor, Seisint of Boca Raton, was signed with the expectation that Mr. Giuliani’s high profile and connections would help the start-up company obtain federal contracts as well as nongovernment work, said Michael Brauser, co-founder of Seisint and once a major shareholder.

“He had a lot of credibility, and half the battle is getting people to listen to you,” Mr. Brauser said Thursday in an interview. “They were being compensated on a success basis. If they bought us to Company X, and Company X hires us or a government agency hires us and we receive fees, they would be compensated.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/14/us/politics/14giuliani.html?_r=2&ref=politics&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Haley Barbour Floated As Giuliani VP – Because Adding A Tobacco Company Lobbyist to the Ticket Will Distract From Giuliani’s Shady Clients?

Political allies of former Big Apple Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour are actively pushing the two together, with the 9/11 mayor and New Yawker on top of a ticket that would feature the just re-elected drawling hero of his state's Hurricane Katrina victims as veep. They are being dubbed the "Masters of Disasters."
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/washington-whispers/2007/12/13/a-rudy-haley-ticket-in-play.html?s_cid=rss:a-rudy-haley-ticket-in-play.html

“Read My Lips” Never Really Worked For Anyone. . . Voters Starting To Doubt Giuliani’s Lofty Economic Statements

On the campaign trail, Rudy Giuliani touts the supply-side economics popular among Republicans since Ronald Reagan was president.

Giuliani consistently echoes President Bush’s assertion in February 2006: “You cut taxes and the tax revenues increase.”

But there’s a growing sentiment among many conservative economists — including those who generally support cutting taxes to spur economic growth and job creation — that Giuliani’s statements are simplistic and at worst misleading.

The current conservative consensus is that tax cuts, coupled with reductions in spending, are intended to pare down the size of government; not expand it.

The “On The Issues” section of his website, pointing to his record as New York mayor, says, “City government saw its revenues increase from the lower tax rates.” And in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, Giuliani stated, “I cut taxes 23 times as mayor of New York City with a Democratic City Council and state Assembly, and saw that lower taxes can result in higher revenue.”

But Chris Edwards, tax policy studies director at the libertarian CATO Institute, said: “It sounds like Mr. Giuliani was a little sloppy in his statements there.”

Giuliani’s claim that tax cuts could recoup the trillion or so dollars that the AMT currently collects “seems like a silly argument,” Edwards added.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1207/7257.html

Ross Perot … Katherine Harris … KT McFarland … Mike Huckabee Hires Consultant With A Resume That Looks Like A Jay Leno Monologue

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee scored a major victory Thursday when he secured the support of prominent GOP insider Ed Rollins, who will serve as national chairman of Huckabee’s campaign.
http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/rollins-to-serve-as-huckabees-national-chairman-2007-12-14.html

Did They Arrive By Blimp? Ron Paul Ships Anti-Huck Arkansas Legislators to Iowa

Two former Republican legislators from Mike Huckabee 's home state are in Iowa this week criticizing Huckabee's record on immigration and taxes on trips paid for by Ron Paul, Huckabee's Republican presidential rival.

Paul's campaign said Thursday it was paying former Sen. Jim Holt and former Rep. Randy Minton about $5,000 each to go to Iowa for a series of radio interviews criticizing Huckabee's 10 1/2 years as Arkansas governor.

"We just want to make sure Iowans get the full picture of what Governor Huckabee did when he was in office," said Paul's campaign spokesman, Jesse Benton. "There hasn't been a whole lot of information going out to Iowans and we want to make sure they get the full picture."
http://www.examiner.com/a-1104189~Paul_Brings_Huckabee_Critics_to_Iowa.html

“Mike Huckabee: Building A Bridge To The 19th Century” -- Mike Says Women Should ‘Submit’ To Their Husbands

White House hopeful Mike Huckabee is under fire again in the GOP holy war - this time for endorsing a Baptist church statement years ago saying that women should "graciously submit" to their husbands.

The Baptist preacher and ex-Arkansas governor signed a full-page ad in USA Today in 1998 with 129 other evangelical leaders. His wife, Janet, also endorsed it.

"A wife is to submit graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ," the Southern Baptist Convention says in its statement of faith.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/12142007/news/nationalnews/holy_huck_faces_snit_over_gals__submit_887443.htm

Pwned! Fred Thompson Wants In On the Fun, Issues Gotcha Apology To Hucakbee

In what has to be one of the first uses of the fake-out apology in this race, Thompson's staff released a sarcastic press release Thursday, that was full of a mea culpa that was nothing of the sort.

It begins:

"In light of Mike Huckabee's heartfelt apology to Mitt Romney for making reference to Romney's religion in the New York Times Magazine, we at the Thompson Campaign would like to offer Huckabee our own heartfelt apologies for some references we've made about his record as Governor of Arkansas.

We apologize for pointing out that as Governor of Arkansas, Huckabee offered in-state tuition to illegal immigrants. That's something he'd probably just as soon no one talk about. "

It then goes on to mock apologize for mocking Huckabee's past support for lifting the Cuban embargo, tax increases for Arkansans and for " telling reporters that a BA in Biblical Studies from Ouachita Baptist University doesn't, in fact, make Huckabee more qualified to fight the war on terror than say...Fred Thompson."
http://weblogs.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/blog/2007/12/fred_goes_borat.html

Giuliani Heavily Investing in NH. . .With Only 12 Staffers?

Giuliani's campaign sees an opportunity in New Hampshire's Jan. 8 primary, campaign manager Michael DuHaime said. First, however, Giuliani must overcome the lead by former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who lives less than 50 miles from the New Hampshire border.

Giuliani has 12 campaign workers in New Hampshire and a cadre of volunteers "that has been diligently working over the past few months," campaign spokeswoman Maria Comella said.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2007-12-13-Giuliani_N.htm

Mayor vs. Mayor: Bloomberg Praises Immigrants; Giuliani Says Send ‘Em Back

For those who had thought the presidential campaign was too small for two divorced mayors of New York who favor gay rights and abortion rights, things certainly are taking an interesting turn. Just as Mayor Bloomberg was in China offering an optimistic vision of the benefits immigrants bring to America, Mayor Giuliani was releasing a television commercial boasting of how he was going to keep immigrants out of America. What a contrast.
. . .

Said Mr. Bloomberg, "America became the world's leading economic nation by welcoming immigrants — and New York became America's leading commercial city by inviting them to stay. …Consider this: Half of the Americans who won Nobel prizes in physics in the past seven years were born abroad; More than half the people with PhDs working in America are immigrants; Revolutionary technology companies like Sun Microsystems, Yahoo, and Google were all founded or co-founded by immigrants. In fact, a quarter of all Silicon Valley companies were started by entrepreneurs from two just countries: China and India.…Right now, our immigration laws are preventing too many of tomorrow's entrepreneurs from working in America."

Mr. Giuliani's campaign commercial, which the campaign said is airing in New Hampshire and Boston, took the opposite approach. It says, "People are frustrated over immigration because the government has been talking about solving this for twenty or twenty-five years, and it's just gotten worse. What we need here is leadership. Build a fence. Train the border patrol. Have a BorderStat system. Have a tamperproof ID card. And then if you become a citizen you have to be able to read English, write English, speak English and understand American civics. We can end illegal immigration. The technology exists to do it, the people exist to do it. Now we need the political leadership and will to get it done. I'm Rudy Giuliani and I approve this message."
http://www.nysun.com/article/68088

Payback is a _____. Pataki Dangles Giuliani Endorsement

Mayor Bloomberg's potential presidential aspirations are now taking their toll on actual candidates. Even as Mayor Giuliani and the other Republican candidates court George Pataki, the former New York governor is staying on the sidelines in part because Mr. Bloomberg is viewed as increasingly likely to run.
. . .
"In a sense it's already a bad story for Giuliani that Pataki has not endorsed him," observed one Republican insider. "But anyone who understands the history understands why this is a tough call for Pataki."

That history begins October 24, 1994, when Mr. Giuliani — one year into his term as the first Republican New York City mayor in decades — snubbed Mr. Pataki by endorsing Mario Cuomo, a Democrat, for governor. To say Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Pataki were enemies isn't much of an exaggeration.
http://www.nysun.com/article/67966

Foul Ball! Jim Bunning Blocks Release of Presidential Records

The bill would nullify the Bush executive order and re-establish procedures to ensure the timely release of presidential records that the Presidential Records Act was designed to ensure. The bill also has broad bipartisan support in the Senate, and cleared the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee by voice vote earlier this year.

We were well on our way to reclaiming our history, when, on Sept.24, Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., objected to floor consideration of H.R. 1255/S. 886 under unanimous consent, holding up a vote on the bill. Despite repeated requests from a host of historical, news media and open government organizations, Bunning has refused to state the reasons for his opposition to the bill. Recently, the White House reiterated its threat to veto the bill should it pass Congress.
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071214/OPINION01/712140392/1055/OPINION

Does McCain Want to Come in 6th in Iowa?

From the home office in Des Moines, Iowa ...
>>>
From:
"Carrie Giddins"

Date:
12/12/2007 2:49 PM
Subject:
DEBATE RELEASE: Does McCain Want to Come in 6th in Iowa? Advocates Eliminating Ethanol Subsidies that Spurred Industry Growth (Wednesday, December 12, 2007)



For Immediate Release
Contacts: Carrie Giddins/Chris Allen
Wednesday, December 13, 2007



Does McCain Want to Come in 6th in Iowa?

Advocates Eliminating Ethanol Subsidies that Spurred Industry Growth



Des Moines – Mere seconds after proclaiming that he wanted Iowans to be able to sell their agricultural products around the world, John McCain said that he would eliminate ethanol subsidies as president – crippling a vital Iowa industry. The leading renewable energy industry in Iowa would not be where it is today without these subsidies that allowed companies to grow without the constant pressure of meeting a bottom line.



“With statements like these, it’s no wonder that John McCain isn’t competing in the Iowa caucuses,” said Carrie Giddins, Iowa Democratic Party Communications Director. “Iowans understand how important government subsidies have been to creating and growing the ethanol industry that will help the state declare its independence from foreign oil.”



McCain Would “Eliminate Subsidies on Ethanol.” [Des Moines Register Debate, 12/12/07]



###





Carrie Giddins

Communications Director

Iowa Democratic Party

Sounds Kind of Like My Dog Ate My Homework. . . Giuliani Continues To Offer Questionable Excuses On Judi Security

The Daily Flipper
Read what the Republicans Wish You Wouldn’t …
December 12, 2007

TOP HEADLINE: Sounds Kind of Like My Dog Ate My Homework. . . Giuliani Continues To Offer Questionable Excuses On Judi Security

Notably, Giuliani also got grilled at the Chronicle over the Judith-security issues that his campaign would like to die. And Rudy is still trying to make the case that by funnelling payments for police details through the loft board and similarly obscure agencies his administration was incredibly transparent about the whole thing:

"These accounts were discoverable. If these had been paid directly by the Police Department, it never would have been discovered, because they are exempt from Freedom of Information."

From this, we gather that the Giuliani strategy on this issue is to keep giving the same answers over and over, even if they don't make any sense, in hopes that they'll eventually become accepted through repetition. But really: Isn't this the lamest of all the excuses and explanations he's come up with?
http://weblogs.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/politics/blog/2007/12/rudys_world_where_hidden_equal.html

Disclosure? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Disclosure!! Giuliani Chided For Refusing To Release Client List

Look at Republican presidential candidate Rudolph W. Giuliani's financial disclosure form, and you will see some big numbers. You will see that between January 2006 and May 2007, when the form was filed, Mr. Giuliani earned $4,108,328 from Giuliani Partners, a security firm he founded after stepping down as New York mayor. You will see that Mr. Giuliani took in another $1,200,901 from his law firm, Bracewell & Giuliani. What you won't see are the identities of the clients that Mr. Giuliani's firms represented. According to Mr. Giuliani, you shouldn't expect to, nor should you be particularly worried about it.

"When you deal with clients, and you take on the problems of clients, and you try to help them, it may be that somewhere, someplace, they did something that was questionable or arguably questionable," he told NBC's Tim Russert on Sunday. "So you can't vouch for every single thing they did. The things we have done with them are honorable, ethical, useful and helpful."

So why not disclose the identities of the clients? Mr. Giuliani has two responses to this. The first is that "about every single client of Giuliani Partners, which is my security company, has been discussed, has been examined, certainly every significant one." If so, that's no thanks to Mr. Giuliani, who has declined to release that information.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/11/AR2007121101984.html

The Field Flips… Now Trying to Out-Tancredo Tom Tancredo!!

More than any other question, Republican presidential candidates are asking voters to consider a single issue in the weeks before primary voting begins: Who detests illegal immigration the most?

Not only are the candidates toughening their own stances and language, they are using the issue to paint each other as out of step with the border-enforcement wishes of conservative voters. Surveys show that in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, illegal immigration is an issue of significant concern to GOP voters -- more so than some strategists had predicted. A poll published this month in Newsweek magazine showed that 63% of likely Iowa Republican caucus-goers considered a candidate's views on illegal immigration "very important."

But Giuliani, once viewed by immigrant-rights advocates as the politician most sympathetic to their cause, made it clear this week that he will not be outdone in his opposition to illegal immigration. In an interview for "Meet the Next President," a new book by Washington Examiner reporter Bill Sammon, he lamented that the federal government should have deported all the illegal immigrants in his city -- not just the few hundred that were removed during his time in office.

"If they could, I would have turned all the people over," Giuliani said in a book excerpt published Tuesday in the Examiner. "It would have helped me. I would have had a smaller population. I would have had fewer problems."

The biggest about-face has come from Huckabee, long admired by the immigrant rights movement for his policies as governor of Arkansas. Now, however, he is toeing the hardest anti-illegal-immigration line of any top-tier candidate, with a new "secure the borders" television ad in Iowa and a plan, announced last week, to require all 12 million people here illegally to leave the country within four months or risk serious punishment.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-immig12dec12,0,3612843.story?coll=la-tot-national&track=ntothtml

Everyone Pile On Huckabee: Debate Promises To Be All Huck, All the Time

What's that on Mike Huckabee's back? Looks like a political bull's-eye.

The former Arkansas governor, riding a double-digit lead in Iowa polls and gaining nationally, likely will be the prime target when Republican presidential candidates meet near Des Moines this afternoon in their final debate before the first-in-the-nation caucuses Jan. 3.

"The gloves are off," said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion. "If you're Mitt Romney, if you're Fred Thompson, you certainly want Huckabee to be roughed up a little bit."

Huckabee's pleasing manner and his adroit debating style won him a pass in the early faceoffs, mostly because smart money predicted then he was going nowhere.

Gearing up for today, a senior operative for one of Huckabee's GOP rivals laughed, "Welcome to the NFL."

Huckabee is quite vulnerable on immigration, tax increases, the reversal of his opposition to Cuba trade sanctions and his clemency intervention for a felon who later killed a woman, officials of rival campaigns said,
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2007/12/12/2007-12-12_mike_huckabee_to_be_main_debate_target.html

Not Gunning For the Utah Vote . . Huck Has Some Interesting Thoughts On Mormon Religion

I asked Huckabee, who describes himself as the only Republican candidate with a degree in theology, if he considered Mormonism a cult or a religion. ‘‘I think it’s a religion,’’ he said. ‘‘I really don’t know much about it.’’

I was about to jot down this piece of boilerplate when Huckabee surprised me with a question of his own: ‘‘Don’t Mormons,’’ he asked in an innocent voice, ‘‘believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?’’
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/12/magazine/16huckabee.html?_r=2&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all

Tancredo Calls Out GOP Group for Anti-Mormon Questionnaire

Presidential candidate Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO) today released a statement in response to the remarks released by a group calling themselves “GodVoter.org”.

“The attached “questionnaire” purports to be intended to help voters in Iowa determine the Christian qualifications of those seeking the Republican nomination for President of the United States,” Tancredo said. “I believe it is anything but Christian in its tone and intent and I call on every candidate to repudiate it.”

Among the numerous prejudiced responses, Godvoter.org refers to “Mormonism as a Christ-dishonoring cult” while bashing Governor Mitt Romney and calling for him to renounce his religion.
http://shotpolitics.com/does-tancredo-favor-mitt.htm

Rudy Digs His Planned Parenthood Hole Even Deeper: Says He Donated To Promote Adoption?

In an interview for the book, Sammon asked Rudy why he gave money to Planned Parenthood at least six times in the 1990s

“Those were contributions that were made by my wife and by me at the time,” Giuliani told [Sammon]. “I can't remember exactly the reasons for them, but Planned Parenthood, I also always thought, is an organization that made information available about adoption.”

They do offer family-planning advice of all kinds, including about adoption options. But they also are the largest abortion-provider in America.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/1207/Book_excerpt_Rudy_cites_adoption_to_explain_contributions_to_Planned_Parenthood.html

MA v. Romney? Ex-Gov. Warns of Mitt’s Flip-Flop Vulnerability

In her op-ed, Swift recalls her own political history with Romney.

Swift, then lieutenant governor, succeeded Cellucci as acting governor in 2001 when he resigned to become U.S. ambassador to Canada. She planned to mount her own campaign for governor in 2002, but tearfully stepped aside after Romney returned from the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics and made it clear he would challenge her for the nomination.

"As a Massachusetts state senator, I was one of Mitt's early supporters in his 1994 contested primary for the U.S Senate. As acting governor of Massachusetts in 2002, I ended my own campaign for the Republican nomination to give Romney the best opportunity to beat the Democratic candidate that November," Swift wrote.

"Once elected governor, however, Romney began his transformation of consciousness. His flip flops on social issues are well documented," she added. "As his national ambitions grew larger, it seems Massachusetts grew smaller in Romney's rearview mirror. The governor who promised to be the salesman-in-chief for his state's economy instead toured the country using us as the butt of his jokes."

Swift closed with a pitch for McCain that itself included jabs at Romney.

"I have great admiration for John McCain because he sticks to his beliefs, even when they are not politically popular," she wrote. "We disagree on important social issues, but I know where he stands and why."
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071212/NEWS/712120315/-1/NEWS01

Republican Strategist Says Party in Worst Shape Since 1974

On Tuesday, the New York Times and CBS News released a national survey that had none of the Republican presidential hopefuls receiving more than 23 percent support. The top three - Mike Huckabee, Rudy Giuliani, and Mitt Romney - all were within six percentage points of each other, with Giuliani leading at 22 percent.

The results, even Republican strategists admit, reflect a dire political situation: only weeks before the Iowa caucus, the party is extremely vulnerable, and despite nearly a year of campaigning, it remains without a true leader.

"The party is in uncharted waters right now and the GOP had never been so rudderless," Craig Shirley, a Republican consultant, told the Huffington Post. "You combine this with the financial condition of the GOP and the stench of corruption and you'd have to go back to the fall of 1974 to find the GOP as bad off as it is today."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/12/11/republican-strategists-se_n_76304.html

You Scratch My Back, I’ll Scratch Yours. . .Romney Wins National Review Endorsement, After Pouring Out Donations

In the months before announcing his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts contributed tens of thousands of dollars of his personal fortune to several conservative groups in a position to influence his image on the right.

Last December, a foundation controlled by Mr. Romney made contributions of $10,000 to $15,000 to each of three Massachusetts organizations associated with major national conservative groups: the antiabortion Massachusetts Citizens for Life, Massachusetts Citizens for Limited Taxation and the Christian conservative Massachusetts Family Institute.

Mr. Romney and a group of his supporters also contributed a total of about $10,000 to a nonprofit group affiliated with National Review. Over the past two years, he contributed $35,000 to the Federalist Society, an influential network of conservative lawyers. And in December 2005, he contributed $25,000 to the Heritage Foundation, a leading conservative research organization.

The recipients of Mr. Romney’s donations said the money had no influence on them. But some of the groups, notably Citizens for Life and the Family Institute, have turned supportive of Mr. Romney after criticizing him in the past.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/11/us/politics/11romney.html?pagewanted=print

Fred Done In NH … In Other News, Ice is Cold

Fred Thompson has decided to abandon the Granite State, and will campaign in Iowa full-time until the January 3 caucuses.

The former Tennessee senator is planning to begin a bus tour of the Hawkeye State next week that will run through the end of the year, with a brief break for the Christmas holiday, campaign spokesman Jeff Sadosky tells CNN.

A "strong finish" in Iowa "will allow us to springboard into South Carolina, Florida and the rest of the February 5 states in a very strong position," said Sadosky.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/12/11/fred-thompson-is-done-with-new-hampshire/

There Is Such A Thing As Too Much Information … Reporter Sees Candidate’s Skivvies

On the eve of the 2002 Olympics, The Sun's Candus Thomson was one of a handful of reporters invited to dinner at Mitt and Ann Romney's Park City, Utah, home, a $5 million "cabin" on Rising Star Lane.

Rather than make the reporters line up to use the facilities off the kitchen, Romney sprinted down the hallways of his home, pointing out other bathrooms. Thomson ended up in the one off the Romneys' master bedroom.

But Thomson, ever on duty, noticed a pair of underwear hanging on the back of the door as she reached for the knob to leave.

Not that she'd really care about her host's undies. (Assuming, of course, they were his and not somebody else's.) That is, unless five years later, he was running for president, and TV talking heads were wondering aloud if he wore regular underwear or the Mormon kind - a garment similar to an old-fashioned union suit that's sacred to Mormons and, well, a little odd to the rest of us.

The answer, which should be good for a free drink anywhere but the Romney White House: regular, off-the-rack Fruit of the Loom briefs, size 34.

I ran all that by Romney spokeswoman Sarah Pompei. She was not amused and not commenting.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.vozzella12dec12,0,5820165.column

The Daily Flipper is distributed by the DNC Research Department.

Governor Pot, Meet Mayor Kettle

Governor Pot, Meet Mayor Kettle

After launching a negative ad misleading Iowa on his immigration record, flip-flopping on the issue of amnesty for undocumented workers, and after getting caught having undocumented workers doing his yard work TWICE, Mitt Romney issued the following press release criticizing Rudy Giuliani for -- you guessed it -- flip-flopping and harboring illegal aliens. Upside for the Romney camp? Its as accurate as it is shameless. Rudy Giuliani's continuing effort to exaggerate and revise his real record as mayor continues...

Mike Gehrke
Research Director
Democratic National Committee

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Tuesday, Dec 11, 2007

"THE PEOPLE WHO
WE WANT IN THIS CITY"

"That's The Federal Government's Problem. ... If You're Not Hurting Anybody In My City, I Don't Care." – Mayor Rudy Giuliani On Immigration (Bill Sammon, "Book Excerpt: In New York, Illegal Immigration Took A Back Seat To Making The City Safe," Washington Examiner, 12/11/07)
In A Recent Interview, Mayor Giuliani Says He Wanted To Turn In New York City's Illegal Aliens:
Mayor Giuliani Now Claims He Wanted To Turn All Illegals In To Authorities, Saying, "I Would Have Turned All The People Over." "Rudy Giuliani says he wanted to deport all 400,000 illegal immigrants from New York City when he was mayor, but ended up welcoming most of those who were 'causing me no trouble.' ... 'If they could, I would have turned all the people over. It would have helped me. I would have had a smaller population. I would have had fewer problems,' the Republican presidential candidate told The Examiner in an interview. 'But the practical reality was, they were going to make an infinitesimal, statistically insignificant contribution to the problem. I was stuck with it. And no matter what their promises, they weren't going to do anything about it.'" (Bill Sammon, "Book Excerpt: In New York, Illegal Immigration Took A Back Seat To Making The City Safe," Washington Examiner, 12/11/07)
FACT: As Mayor, Giuliani Welcomed Illegals, And Did Not Want To Turn Them In To Authorities:
But As Mayor, Giuliani Actually Invited More Illegal Immigrants To Come To New York City. "[Mr. Giuliani said,] 'If you come here and you work hard and you happen to be in an undocumented status, you're one of the people who we want in this city. You're somebody that we want to protect, and we want you to get out from under what is often a life of being like a fugitive, which is really unfair.'" (Deborah Sontag, "New York Officials Welcome Immigrants, Legal Or Illegal," The New York Times, 6/10/94)
Mayor Giuliani Did Not Think That The INS Should Deport All Illegal Immigrants. MAYOR RUDY GIULIANI: "The Immigration and Naturalization Service isn't going to deport them. I don't think they should." (Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Remarks At The National Press Club, Washington, D.C., 5/27/97)
Giuliani Said The INS Would "Terrorize" Illegal Immigrants. GIULIANI: "What we're being asked to do in practicality is to turn names over to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service will do nothing with those names but terrorize people." (NPR's "Weekend Edition Saturday," 10/12/96)
Mayor Giuliani Said "I Don't Care," And Welcomed Illegal Immigrants. "So the mayor resigned himself to the federal government's inability or unwillingness to deport illegal immigrants. In the process, he absolved himself of any blame for the city's ongoing status as a haven for 400,000 illegals. 'That's the federal government's problem,' he told The Examiner. 'If you're not hurting anybody in my city, I don't care.' But Giuliani's 'I don't care' attitude toward illegals sometimes morphed into unabashed cheerleading, as if he were rolling out the red carpet for them." (Bill Sammon, "Book Excerpt: In New York, Illegal Immigration Took A Back Seat To Making The City Safe," Washington Examiner, 12/11/07)

So Much For Full Disclosure. . . Giuliani Won’t Release Client List Or Cut Ties With Firm

The Daily Flipper
Read what the Republicans Wish You Wouldn’t …
December 10, 2007

TOP HEADLINE: So Much For Full Disclosure. . . Giuliani Won’t Release Client List Or Cut Ties With Firm

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, citing “confidentiality agreements,” said Sunday that he won’t release a list of clients, nor sever his ties to Giuliani Partners.

“I'm an owner,’’ the Republican presidential contender said on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” “We do all of the financial disclosures. I did a complete financial disclosure I think in May. I'll do some more complete financial disclosures, but I'm not doing more than what is absolutely required.”
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1207/7276.html

Like Clockwork … Giuliani Says Everything About His Clients is Out, Then Something Else Comes Out

A lobbying blitz by some of the U.S.'s biggest utility companies is likely to strangle the most potent provision in energy legislation that's making its way through Congress.

Southern Co., American Electric Power Co. and other producers hired top Washington lobbyists, including Rudy Giuliani's firm, to help defeat a measure that would force them to boost electricity generated by wind, solar and other forms of renewable energy to 15 percent of the U.S. total by 2020. That's up from less than 2 percent today, and is a move the industry says would cost at least $67 billion.

Southern Co. has spent $7.26 million this year lobbying Congress, more than Exxon Mobil Corp. or General Motors Corp., according to the Washington-based Center for Responsive Politics. It hired such firms as Bracewell & Giuliani LLP, where Republican presidential front-runner Giuliani is a partner.

The Giuliani firm's involvement goes deeper: Scott Segal, a Bracewell lobbyist, is director of the Electric Reliability Coordinating Council, an industry group that focuses on air- quality issues and includes Southern Co., Progress Energy Inc. and other utilities.

``Advocates for the renewable-portfolio standards have a tough road ahead of them to get the votes in the Senate,'' says Segal, who adds that his firm also represents renewable-energy companies on other issues.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=acdJZHj_UlBI&refer=politics

Isn’t It Just Like Rudy To Blame It On the Dead Guy?

Giuliani, who again said he made a mistake regarding Kerik, said he did not recall ever being briefed on the matter, but if he had "known that I wouldn’t have appointed him."

As he recalls it, Giuliani assigned Edward Kuriansky, his Commissioner of Investigations, to vet Kerik.

"Ed told me that he had some recollection of having told me of briefing me on this," said Giuliani. "He also told me that he had cleared Bernard Kerik for the appointment." Kuriansky passed away in July of this year due to a battle with cancer.

Giuliani went on to explain that neither he nor another member of his staff recall Kuriansky raising the issue, but that Kuriansky believes he did after he found a scheduling note regarding that meeting and that it was a topic he planned to discuss.

"He was not sure whether he briefed me or not, he just said he had a note," Giuliani added.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2007/12/giuliani-says-h.html

Here’s A Followup Worthy Of Looking Into … How Close Did KSH Cone To Working With GP?

In Qatar, Mr. Giuliani's firm operates out of a suite of offices on the 10th floor of the Four Seasons Hotel in Doha, the country's capital, say people familiar with its operations there. Hotel records show the offices are registered to a company called Al-Barra Trading.

The hotel records list in parentheses the name "Ali Soufiyan" next to another suite also registered to Al-Barra Trading. That appears to be an alternative spelling for Ali Soufan, an Arabic-speaking former FBI agent who is now the international business-development director for Giuliani Security & Safety International, one of Mr. Giuliani's firms.

In the aftermath of the 2001 terror attacks, Mr. Soufan played a crucial role investigating al Qaeda. Mr. Soufan quit the FBI in 2005 to work for Mr. Giuliani.

Mr. Soufan's personal relationship with the crown prince of Qatar, Tameem Bin Hamad Al-Thani, is the driving force behind Mr. Giuliani's contract, according to the people familiar with the company's work. The Al-Thani family has ruled the Islamic monarchy since the mid-1800s. Its representatives haven't responded to requests for comment.

Mr. Soufan didn't respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for Giuliani Partners, Sunny Mindel, said the firm wouldn't make him available to comment.

The Qatar government in the mid-1990s invited al Qaeda operative Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his family to live in Qatar, the 9/11 commission found. Mr. Mohammed was given a job at the Qatar Ministry of Electricity and Water. At the time, Mr. Mohammed was under indictment in the Southern District of New York for his role in a plot to blow up U.S.-bound jetliners. He was also wanted for questioning in connection with the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119725124969118909-BL5qr_9Xj6xOB4TFd3_UD3QNW4Q_20080108.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top

Giuliani’s Record Has More Than A Few Major Blotches On It

Rudolph Giuliani spent much of his hour-long stint on Meet the Press this morning defending his judgment -- about Bernard Kerik and about business deals that have connected him to a Qatari government official with ties to alleged 9-11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad and a Hong Kong businessman with ties to North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il.

Regarding Kerik, his one-time police commissioner now under federal indictment on corruption charges, Giuliani said that was a big mistake in vetting for which he took responsibility.

But the former New York mayor urged MTP host Tim Russert to take the quantitative view: He's appointed hundreds of people to high positions and very few of them have gone south like Kerik.

Of course, very few of them have leveraged friendship with Giuliani to win nomination to be secretary of Homeland Security, either.

Giuliani tried to defend his relationship with the government of Qatar -- one of his firms does security consulting there -- as a way of engaging people who might otherwise be inclined to hostility to the U.S.

Problem is, one of the key government ministers is Interior Minister Abdullah bin Khalid al-Thani, who is suspected of Al Qaeda sympathies and, in 1996, is thought to have warned KSM that the FBI wanted to arrest him. KSM fled and remained free to plan the attack that did so much to make Giuliani a politically-viable household name in 2008.
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2007/12/rudys_judgment_questioned_on_m.html

Rudy’s Hamptons-Gate Defense At Odds With The Facts

Rudy Giuliani, on the hot seat Sunday for the most exhaustive grilling of his presidential campaign, doggedly insisted that death threats against then-girlfriend Judith Nathan prompted the NYPD to launch her taxpayer-funded chauffeur services.

"These were all based upon threat assessments made by the New York City Police Department ... of what was necessary to protect her life, my life, other people's lives," Giuliani told NBC's Tim Russert. "Every single thing done here was done based upon the assessment of someone else that this was necessary."

His explanation of Nathan's police car service doesn't square with Friday's Daily News exclusive report, citing multiple witnesses and a law enforcement source, that she was being protected by city taxpayers months before the affair was revealed in May 2000.

"The threats were after" their romance became known, Giuliani maintained Sunday.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2007/12/10/2007-12-10_rudy_giuliani_plays_defense_on_press.html

What Year is Huckabee Living In? Gov. Still Thinks That AIDS Patients Should Have Been Isolated

GOP presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee said Sunday he won't run from his statement 15 years ago that AIDS patients should have been isolated.

Huckabee acknowledged the prevailing scientific view then, and since, that the virus that causes AIDS is not spread through casual contact, but said that was not certain. He cited revelations in 1991 that a dentist had infected a patient in an extraordinary case that highlighted the risk of infection through contact with blood or bodily fluids.

"I still believe this today," he said in a broadcast interview, that "we were acting more out of political correctness" in responding to the AIDS crisis. "I don't run from it, I don't recant it," he said of his position in 1992. Yet he said he would state his view differently in retrospect.

Huckabee, as a Senate candidate that year, told The Associated Press that "we need to take steps that would isolate the carriers of this plague" if the federal government was going to deal with the spread of the disease effectively. "It is the first time in the history of civilization in which the carriers of a genuine plague have not been isolated from the general population, and in which this deadly disease for which there is no cure is being treated as a civil rights issue instead of the true health crisis it represents," he said then.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071209/ap_po/huckabee;_ylt=ApRGDGjekKyLuvJhDAsgiaBp24cA

Speaking of Feeling Isolated… Does Huckabee Have a “Boots on The Ground” Problem? Just 14 Staffers in Iowa (That’s 28 Boots, more or less)

When Huckabee returned to Iowa last week, he had climbed 20 percentage points since Labor Day in polls of Iowa Republican caucusgoers.

He was met by an Iowa campaign staff of just 14. He also encountered a pack of national media trying to determine how Huckabee had leapfrogged better-financed candidates Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson to take the lead in The Des Moines Register's Iowa Poll. Huckabee raised only $1 million in the third quarter of 2007.

"Where we don't have offices and paid staff, we have something even better," Huckabee said in Des Moines last week. "We have an army of ordinary people who are out there, not because someone is paying them to love me."
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071209/NEWS09/712090333/1001/NEWS

Pardon Me Huckabee (BTW, Arkansas Arrested Keith Richards and Only Got Him On Traffic Offense?)

Although the Republican presidential contender and Southern Baptist preacher plays down any personal involvement in that release, Huckabee granted 1,033 pardons and commutations in his 10 1/2 years as governor of Arkansas. The acts of clemency benefited the stepson of a staff member, murderers who worked at the governor's mansion, a rock star and inmates who received good words from their pastors.

"It seems to be true at least anecdotally that if a minister is involved, (Huckabee) seems likely to grant clemency," prosecutor Robert Herzfeld said in 2004 after successfully battling the then-governor over the release of a killer.
Examiner.com Related Articles:

Whitewater figure David Hale, a government witness in the trial that forced Gov. Jim Guy Tucker's resignation and let Huckabee ascend to the office, was pardoned after being sentenced to 21 days in a state insurance case. Huckabee complained it would cost too much to hold him. The price tag: $1,200.

Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards received a gubernatorial pardon for a 1975 traffic offense. Huckabee prepared the paperwork to clear the rock star's good name after he met him at a North Little Rock concert.

During his years as governor, Huckabee granted clemency an average of about once every four days. Huckabee's successor, Mike Beebe, has issued 40 so far this year, fewer than one a week. Bill Clinton, Frank White and Tucker granted 507 clemencies in the 17 1/2 years they served as governor.
http://www.examiner.com/a-1096100~Huckabee_Pardons_Under_Scrutiny.html

When Will Huckabee Reveal His True Colors On the Campaign Trail?

Arkansas voters saw the funny, down-to-earth Huckabee. Political pros who tangled with him away from the cameras say the governor they dealt with was anything but easygoing. Republican state Rep. Jeremy Hutchinson says Huckabee has an explosive temper. He recalls one heated conversation with Huckabee about a health bill Hutchinson didn't want to support. Huckabee began screaming at him, and banged his fists on his desk so hard that "trinkets started falling off."
http://www.newsweek.com/id/74469/output/print

It’s Lonely At the Top. . .Can Huckabee Take the Heat As Scrutiny Grows?

Hundreds of Republicans arriving to hear Mike Huckabee speak this weekend were greeted by a man in prison stripes with a rubber mask and this sign: "Hey Mike, Thanks for the Pardon."

It was a reference to a convicted rapist who was paroled (not pardoned) when Mr. Huckabee was Arkansas governor, and who went on to murder a woman. It also was an indicator of how the Republicans' hot new presidential prospect faces tougher scrutiny of both his record and his views.

Mr. Huckabee risks being seen as a flip-flopper, a charge that dogs Mr. Romney, who has changed his positions on abortion, same-sex marriage and other issues. Much of the Huckabee appeal is as an anti-Romney candidate: He campaigns as someone with deeply held convictions that haven't changed.

Mr. Huckabee is also vulnerable on some key issues, including taxes and immigration. He plans a new TV ad starting today in Iowa emphasizing the need to secure the border.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119722135120318584.html?mod=special_page_campaign2008_leftbox

Thompson May Talk Tough On Illegal Immigration, But Records Show He’s Got a Soft Spot

Fred Thompson has made the tough enforcement of immigration laws a cornerstone of his presidential campaign platform, running television ads in Iowa titled "No Amnesty" and skewering rivals for their immigration records.

But at least twice as a US senator, Mr. Thompson personally intervened on behalf of immigrants at risk of deportation, according to papers in his Senate archives here and interviews with the immigrants.

In 1999, he pleaded with the US Immigration and Naturalization Service to reinstate a green-card application from a Korean family who became illegal when their visas expired. In 2000, Thompson passed a private law to grant green cards – or permanent residence – to a disabled Bolivian widow and three of her children. Under public law, the family would have had to leave the United States.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1210/p02s01-uspo.html

Pander Pander Everywhere. . . GOP 08ers Offer New Rhetoric On Immigration at Spanish-Language Debate

Facing a Spanish-speaking national audience for the first time, the Republican presidential candidates soft-pedaled their hard-line stances on immigration and sidestepped questions about the estimated 12 million undocumented workers already living in the United States.

Candidates made the appeal that stopping illegal immigration would preserve legal immigration, and that it would be unfair to allow undocumented workers to cut in front of people who have been following the law.

Mike Huckabee, the one-time underdog rising in the polls, even struck a sympathetic note.

''When people come to this country, they shouldn't fear,'' the former governor of Arkansas said. ``They shouldn't live in hiding. They ought to have their heads up.''

Huckabee didn't mention his plan released two days ago, which calls for deporting undocumented immigrants who don't return to their home country, fining employers who hire them, and building a fence along the Mexican border by 2010.
http://www.miamiherald.com/campaign08/story/338693.html

Did They Really Want to Use The Word "Exploding?" Ron Paul Blimp Coming To A City Near You

It's a bird. It's a plane. No, it's a blimp — and the fiercely devoted fans of White House hopeful Ron Paul hope it will turn him into Superman.

With much ado and a little hot air, the official Ron Paul Blimp — all 197 feet of it — will be released this morning from a tether in North Carolina and drift northward, its bulbous sides bright with atypical campaign messages meant for curious voters down below:

"Who is Ron Paul?" "Google Ron Paul" and "Love Revolution."

The blimp will arrive in the skies over the nation's capital just in time for rush hour, and linger for 48 hours. But Mr. Paul has nothing to do with it. The airship comes courtesy of the self-proclaimed "Paulites," who independently raised $420,000 to rent the craft, and craft the campaign.

"This blimp isn't coming from us, and yes, it came as a surprise. It's just another example of the tremendous, amazing, spontaneous grass-roots support which has been exploding around the country," said Jesse Benton, the Paul campaign's spokesman.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20071210/NATION/112100033/1028/election

Lollygagger Watch: Fred Schedules An Event Today (But Down Tomorrow)

NEW* THOMPSON in Miami, FL: “Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson visits the Bay of Pigs Museum in Miami, Florida.” [CNN Political Ticker, 12/10/07]

Memo to Fred: Don't Forget to Stop At The Bookshop For Dana Perino's Christmas Gift:
Appearing on National Public Radio 's light-hearted quiz show "Wait, Wait . . . Don't Tell Me," which aired over the weekend, Perino got into the spirit of things and told a story about herself that she had previously shared only in private: During a White House briefing, a reporter referred to the Cuban Missile Crisis -- and she didn't know what it was.

"I was panicked a bit because I really don't know about . . . the Cuban Missile Crisis," said Perino, who at 35 was born about a decade after the 1962 U.S.-Soviet nuclear showdown. "It had to do with Cuba and missiles, I'm pretty sure."

So she consulted her best source. "I came home and I asked my husband," she recalled. "I said, 'Wasn't that like the Bay of Pigs thing?' And he said, 'Oh, Dana.' "

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/09/AR2007120901336_pf.html


The Daily Flipper is distributed by the DNC Research Department.

Reviews Are In. . .Romney Speech Didn’t Move Any Mountains

The Daily Flipper
Read what the Republicans Wish You Wouldn’t …
December 7, 2007

TOP HEADLINE: Reviews Are In. . .Romney Speech Didn’t Move Any Mountains

Most conservative Christian political activists and pastors who studied Mitt Romney's speech on Thursday addressing his Mormon faith agree it was something he had to do.

But few said it was strong enough to change the minds of evangelicals - a powerful force in Republican politics.

Romney, a third-generation Mormon, did not talk about the doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in his speech. Instead, he promised to "serve only the common cause of the people of the United States."

That wasn't enough for the Rev. Frank Cook, pastor of Union Park Baptist Church in Des Moines, who remains unconvinced that Romney would make a good president.

"He was doing the Potomac two-step around the issues that concern many evangelicals," Cook said. "Most evangelicals, including myself and my church, agree with Governor Romney's stand on most moral issues in our country. Our objection with his candidacy is not so much with his public stance as it is with how the Mormon faith has tried to disguise the tenets of their faith."
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071207/NEWS/712070374/-1/caucus=interstitialskip

He’ll Always Be Her George Washington

Ann Romney believes her husband's speech on religion Thursday will go down in history, and in Las Vegas on Thursday night, she found many people who agreed with her.

"People were saying, 'It was like George Washington,' 'It was the Gettysburg Address,' " she said in an interview just after working a room of about 120 audience members, mostly women, at a restaurant in the JW Marriott in Summerlin.
http://www.lvrj.com/news/12243536.html

Now Romney Just Has To Give a ‘Flip Flop’ Speech and He’ll Be Home Free!

Mitt Romney's religion is only part of his problem. A bigger threat to his Republican presidential candidacy, advisers say, is a record of policy flip-flops and nagging doubts about his credibility.

And so Romney's highly anticipated address Thursday was as much about his character as his Mormonism. He used an intensely personal issue — his religion — to address voters' concerns about his authenticity and integrity, about the strength of his convictions.

No single speech is likely to fix such a big concern.

"Americans do not respect believers of convenience," Romney said. "Americans tire of those who would jettison their beliefs, even to gain the world."

This from a man who campaigned for governor of Democratic-leaning Massachusetts as a supporter of abortion rights, gay rights and gun control — only to switch sides on those and other issues in time for the GOP presidential race. The first thing he did as a presidential contender in January was sign the same no-tax pledge an aide dismissed as "government by gimmickry" during the 2002 campaign.

"The Romney strategy with the speech appeared to be to try to kill two birds with one stone — to placate voters who are apprehensive about him as a Mormon or as a flip-flopper," said Costas Panagopoulos, a political scientist at Fordham University.

"But I am not convinced he was successful in doing either," Panagopoulos said. "At the end of the day, it is very difficult to change voters' pre-existing beliefs, and it would probably take a much more powerful speech than the one Romney delivered today."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071206/ap_po/romney_authenticity;_ylt=AoXNPN1DePM7SvNld3J5SI1p24cA

More From Hamptons-Gate. . . Giuliani (Shockingly) Failed To Disclose Judith’s Earlier Security Detail

Judith Nathan got taxpayer-funded chauffeur services from the NYPD earlier than previously disclosed - even before her affair with then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani was revealed, witnesses and sources tell the Daily News.

"It went on for months before the affair was public," said Lee Degenstein, 52, a retired Smith Barney vice president who formerly lived at 200 E. 94th St., Nathan's old building.

"It was going on longer than anybody thought," added Degenstein, who, along with others in the neighborhood, said they often saw Nathan hopping into unmarked NYPD cars in early 2000, before the affair was revealed that May.

When pressed by The News Thursday, aides to the Republican presidential hopeful conceded that Nathan got police protection "sporadically" before December 2000 - the previously acknowledged beginning of her taxpayer-funded detail.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2007/12/07/2007-12-07_judith_nathan_got_security_earlier.html

Well Somebody’s Gotta Pay For the Louis Vuitton (And It’s Seat On the Plane). . . Giuliani Turned Down For Seeking Hefty Consulting Fee

Rudy Giuliani asked for a consulting fee of at least $20 million when he pitched the Recording Industry Association of America five years ago, the group’s former head said.

Hilary Rosen, a Democrat who supports Sen. Hillary Clinton for president, offered the information in response to an inquiry from The Wall Street Journal. Rosen said the industry group didn’t hire Giuliani, now a Republican candidate for president, because he wanted too much money. “It was just the greed of the fee was too staggering,” Rosen said. She said she told Giuliani and his team: “There’s no way the industry is going to shell out that kind of money.”

Sunny Mindel, a spokeswoman for Giuliani Partners LLC, said, “We do not comment on meetings with clients or potential clients.” The campaign has referred all questions on Giuliani’s work at Giuliani Partners to the firm.
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2007/12/06/giuliani-sought-a-hefty-consulting-fee/

Another Installment of Presidential Candidate Giuliani vs. NYC Mayor Giuliani . . . Rudy Vows To Fight AIDS, But Mayoral Records Shows Otherwise

On World AIDS Day last weekend, Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani vowed that if he were elected president he would "continue America's life-saving role as a leader in the global fight against HIV/AIDS until the day humanity can declare victory against this deadly disease."

But in his eight years as mayor of New York City, Giuliani "showed absolutely zero concern for people living with AIDS and HIV," said Charles King, president of Housing Works, the New York-based service provider for people with the illnesses. He called Giuliani's declaration "gross hypocrisy."

"We had to litigate against him from the beginning of his term to force his administration to follow New York law with regard to the provision of services and care to persons with AIDS and HIV," King said.

Giuliani's administration pulled his group's city contracts, he said, as retaliation for their frequent, very aggressive criticism of the mayor and his policies.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/12/07/group_assails_giuliani_comments_on_aids_as_hypocrisy/

Fred Thompson: The Adult in the GOP Race (Check Out the Picture)

Fred Thompson told Charlie Rose why he’s running: “We’re going to need adults … someone that had the experience and knows this country and knows the people and knows the world.”

So, Rose asked, “What Republicans aren’t adults?”
http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/story/393481.html

Freddie Clearly Needs His Beauty Rest

Now that we're coming down to the last few precious days in the high-pressured presidential primary race to lead the country and the free world, former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee is ramping up his campaign schedule. After all, he's got seven other hard-working Republican campaigners hard on his tail.

This morning, according to the e-mailed schedule from Thompson's press office, Fred would begin his campaign day bright and early at 8:15 a.m. EST with a telephone interview with Andy Peterson on WMT in Cedar Falls, Iowa. He'd follow that 25 minutes later with an interview on AM Tampa Bay on WFLA and then at 10:40 he'd be interviewed on WHO in Des Moines.

By 11 a.m., he would be done with that.

And that's it for the campaign day.
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2007/12/a_short_day_in_the_life_of_the.html

No Straight Talk From John McCain On Tax Cuts

But when he came to the Globe Wednesday, McCain took refuge in a supply-side myth: the notion that President Bush's tax cuts have created a compelling revenue surge.

Queried about funding programs like expanded healthcare for children by letting some of the Bush tax cuts expire, McCain replied, "I would suggest that most economists agree that there was an increase in revenues . . . associated with the tax cuts." Letting those tax cuts expire might actually have the opposite effect on revenues, the Republican presidential candidate warned.

Asked specifically about the idea that tax cuts pay for themselves, McCain said that "a lot of economists" believe the Bush tax cuts had stimulated the economy and that without them, "the economy would not have boomed, and therefore you would not have seen these increases in revenues."

His campaign later insisted McCain didn't mean that tax cuts pay for themselves. But the notion that tax cuts somehow leave the federal government with as much revenue - or nearly as much - as it would have had without them is a popular one in the Republican universe.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/12/07/straight_shooter_wacky_tax_idea/


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