September 16, 2006
The Saturday Brunch
What will Ney do now? .... Dodd got the silent treatment from Lieberman .... A secret Bloomberg '08 meeting.... The Globe zings Gabrielli on the weekend before the election....Cardin fires staffer over racially insensitive blog posts...
The Brunch is an exclusive Saturday political news digest and tip sheet from the editors of The Hotline.
WHAT'S BREWING
A sophisticated and previously unrevealed experiment by Democratic interest groups could provide Democratic candidates in as many as nine states with an unanticipated edge in the November elections. If the state modeling projects work, America Votes hopes to setup a similar effort in every battleground state in 2008. (Hotline)
National Journal's Richard Cohen sent the Brunch this e-mail: "Be aware that there is considerable anxiety among House Republicans about what Bob Ney does next. To cut to the chase, they all want him to resign NOW. And, from what I hear, he has not responded accordingly. Republicans know that it’s bad news for them if he remains as a member of the House into next week. I am told by a reliable House GOP source that Hastert and Boehner already have told Ney that he has to go, but that he hasn’t taken the hint. It’s unclear if/how Ney’s rehab fits into this, at least in his mind. My sense is: 1) If he hasn’t formally submitted his resignation letter to Hastert by Tuesday morning when the House next meets, the Dems will go ballistic; and 2) I wouldn’t be surprised if the House then would move to expel him on a bipartisan basis, possibly as quickly as next week. That’s essentially what happened in the House when our friend Traficant refused to resign (on the eve of the 2002 election) after he was convicted in federal court….Traficant actually spoke in the House chamber during that debate. I can’t imagine that Ney would do that. But, who knows?
Pres. Bush's threat to "end the interrogation program seemed to make little impression on the Republican dissidents who have balked at his interpretation of the Geneva Conventions." Sens. John McCain, and Lindsey Graham, two of four GOPers "who voted against Bush's position on Thursday, again rejected his logic after the news conference," and a 5th GOP senator, Olympia Snowe "joined the rebellion against the president."
In NH yesterday, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) tried to put some distance between himself and fellow CT Sen. Joe Lieberman. Dodd told a group of NH Dems a story of how he was trying to reach Lieberman by cell phone during the week before the primary and he never returned his calls. Dodd said the he was trying to reach Lieberman to prep him for the fact he wouldn't support an indie bid. Dodd also said Lieberman never told him anything about the indie plans. (Hotline sources).
Bob Novak's column has Rep. Tom Reynolds being the most influential Republican in the caucus, Illinois Dems pushing Obama to run, and much more.
WCBS's Andrew Kirtzman has details about a secret Bloomberg '08 meeting, with Al From playing a supporting role.
Speaking in IA, Sen. Evan Bayh warned Friday that Dems can't come across as "a bunch of wimps" on security issues.
Karl Rove, keeping a low profile, in Seattle, for some fundraising.
Meet the Press hosts its second SEN debate series with Sen. George Allen (R-VA) and Dem challenger Jim Webb. Face the Nation hosts NSA Stephen Hadley, and Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Arlen Specter (R-PA), and Carl Levin (D-MI). This Week hosts Hadley and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). Fox News Sunday hosts House Maj. Leader John Boehner and Hadley. Late Edition hosts George Soros and Sens. Evan Bayh (D-IN) and John Cornyn (R-TX).
Watch CSPAN tomorrow at 3:15 pm ET forSen. Barack Obama (D-IL) at the Steak Fry
"Bush maintains he did nothing wrong."
SENATE RACES
CT: Sen. Joe Lieberman (I) yesterday criticized Republicans who accuse Democratic critics of the Iraq war of encouraging terrorists. He said such talk "demeans the freedom we are all fighting for."
MD: Rep. Ben Cardin's (D-MD) has fired a staffer who blogging racially insensitive statements on her personal blog. Among the charged comments the staffer wrote under the pseudonym "Persuasionatrix" was one about Oreo cookies relating to a Michael Steele campaign event. Cardin spokesperson Oren Shur: "We became aware of this blog today. We utterly condemn the sentiments expressed in it. It is not an accurate reflection of Ben Cardin or his campaign. The junior staffer responsible for the contents of this blog is no longer employed by the campaign.”
Sen. Hillary Clinton is asking some of her top fundraisers to help other Dems; One, Dan Turrentine, has been detailed to help Cardin.
MO: Foreign policy - notably the war in Iraq and illegal immigration - monopolized the talks and ignited tempers Friday during the first debate between Sen. Jim Talent (R) and Dem Claire McCaskill.
OH: Rep. Sherrod Brown (D) is unloading a trio of campaign ads this weekend, focusing on issues of lost jobs and the economy. Meanwhile, Sen. Mike DeWine and Brown "slugged it out Friday during a telephone conference call with central Ohio editorial boards. "We've drifted in this state with no real leadership," Brown said. Countered DeWine: "Sherrod does a lot of talking, but I'm the one who gets things done."
PA: Sen. Rick Santorum accepted an invitation from Green Party candidate Carl Romanelli to a statewide debating tour during the final two-week push before the election Nov. 7. (Bob Casey won't be there).
RI: We’re so sorry. This wasn’t our fault. Pay no attention to sheldonsucks.com. That’s right. We had nothing to do with Sheldon Sucks.com Sheldonsucks.com. From the Chafee campaign: "It has been brought to the Chafee campaign’s attention that if web users type in the url sheldonsucks.org, they are immediately brought to the Chafee for Senate website. This is not the work of the Chafee campaign, its website host, or anyone involved with the organization. Unfortunately, the website provider has covered their tracks and it is impossible to determine who registered this domain name."
HOUSE RACES
OH 18: Hours after Rep. Bob Ney (R) pled guilty to charges related to the Jack Abramoff investigation, OH GOP leaders called on him to resign. Meanwhile, in unrelated OH GOP scandal news, the RNC said yesterday that $45,400 in donations from ex-coin dealer Tom Noe, given to President Bush’s '04 re-election campaign, will be given to charity.
PA 07: A Rep. Curt Weldon/NRCC internal poll has the incumbent leading 52-33% over Joe Sestak.
MN 05: "In the first of three Fifth Congressional District debates scheduled for today, Republican Alan Fine repeated his personal attacks on state Rep. Keith Ellison, the DFL nominee."
GOVERNORS RACES
MA: Check out how an 8 year old story at a Gabrielli stock sale (where there was no wrongdoing found)makes the paper the Saturday before the election... Who did the Globe endorse again?
SC: So Gov. Mark Sanford has found a way to take PAC money?
Ex-Sen. John Edwards stumps this weekend for Jim Davis (D); Gov. Mitt Romney (DA) stumps for Charlie Crist.
The Examiner's Garcia writes that the CA GOV tape fiasco this week produced a vivid tale of two campaigns in — one surging forward with confidence and focus, and the other foundering over a strategic blunder and lack of a coherent theme. Guess which is which.
CROSSING OUR TRANSOM
Pres. Bush plans to spend virtually the entire month of October stumping for Republicans across the country. He'll avoid certain areas, to be sure, but the White House and the RNC have concluded that the best way to stir up the base ahead of the midterms is to employ the base's number one spoon.
Ex-Pres. Clinton makes his second appearance on the Daily Show.
Posted at 10:48 AM
Comments
In the third bullet in "Saturday Brunch" you link to a Peter Baker story in the WP that does a very poor job of even naming the FIVE prominent republican senators who oppose the Bush Torture plan.
Like you, Baker doesn't even mention Collins, and you chose to omit the Chairman Of Armed Services?
David Hopsicker | 09.16.06 01:38 PM
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