June 05, 2007
Hotline After Dark -- The Heart And Soul Edition
Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) was indicted and TV was on the story:
CNN’s Cooper: “The alleged crime spanned two continents, and the sentence could add up to more than two centuries” (“AC 360,” 6/4).
CNN’s Toobin: “This is just an overwhelming case. And several of his colleagues in this scheme have already pleaded guilty and will testify. I don't know what the defense is going to be here.” More: “If he's convicted, there's a 100 percent certainty he will see a lot of jail time” (“AC 360,” 6/4).
FNC’s Angle: “Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the charges against Jefferson extremely serious, but said he must be considered innocent until proven guilty, suggesting she is unlikely to support any effort to expel him” (“Special Report,” 6/4).
GOTTA HAVE FAITH
CNN had the Sojourners Faith Forum on last night. CNN’s S. O’Brien: “While Obama used his time to emphasize Christianity's demand for collective responsibility, Edwards and Clinton got more personal, talking about the role of religion in their own lives” (“AC 360,” 6/4).
Afterwards, “PZ Now” had on Joe Biden, Bill Richardson, Chris Dodd and Dennis Kucinich on to talk about their faith:
Biden, asked if he blamed God for the accident that killed his first wife and daughter: “I have to admit to you, initially, I did. … I was really angry. And, for about eight or nine months, I couldn't understand how that could happen. But my mom has an expression. Out of everything terrible, something good will happen, if you look hard enough for it, and God sends no cross that you cannot bear. And it took a while, but, with a lot of help and rejuvenation of my faith, I was able to deal with it. And a lot of other people have dealt with things worse than I have.”
Richardson: “I consider myself a good Catholic. From my grandmother and my Catholic faith, I believe I have gotten my sense of social justice, which basically is protecting those that are poor, that have been left behind. And I'm inspired policy- wise whenever I am pressed to push legislation like increasing the minimum wage, doing something about child poverty, insuring kids under 5.”
Dodd: “My spiritual home is the Catholic faith, that's the faith I was raised in. The church that I attend on Sundays. My wife is a Mormon. And so we're raising two daughters who have been baptized in the Catholic Church and blessed in the Mormon faith. And obviously as they grow older, they're attending both and they're going to have to form some decisions about that. But the idea, I see it in terms of faith. It informs my decisions, it informs my politics. It doesn't define them.”
Kucinich, asked if there is too much emphasis on faith: “I don't think there could ever be too much emphasis on it. As a matter of fact, I think the founders intended America to be a country which celebrated spiritual principles. They didn't want church and state to be together. They wanted separation of church and state and I support that. But separation of church and state was never meant to separate us from spiritual values. Let us live our spiritual values" (CNN, 6/4).
Richardson was also on "Money & Politics":
On the 6/3 Dem debate: "The first hour ... was primarily Clinton, Obama and Edwards as the frontrunners. I'm moving up. In Iowa and New Hampshire, I'm a close third. ... But what I wanted to do at the debate yesterday was to just establish my record, my credentials. ... But I've also got a lot of ideas" (Bloomberg, 6/4).
THE WRITE STUFF
And Bob Shrum was on "Hardball" last night to talk about his book. He also responded to Elizabeth Edwards' 6/3 interview on CNN's "Late Edition", where she said Shrum incorrectly remembers an incident where J. Edwards described himself "uncomfortable" around gay people.
Shrum: "I remember it correctly. But the explanation that's being given -- and there have been several different explanations, by the way. The explanation that's being given, I don't know if it makes things better. What I say in the book is not very different, actually, from what I think Elizabeth Edwards is trying to say, not those specifics, which is John came out of a tradition that made him have great difficulties with this issue. He said that in New Hampshire a few months ago. I think he's clearly evolved on that issue. I accept the notion that the evolution is genuine. And it's also a political necessity in the Democratic Party. But if you read that entire little section of the book, the fact of the matter is that I'm saying that John Edwards started in one place, ended up in another place" (MSNBC, 6/4). [EMILY GOODIN and KATHERINE LEHR]
Posted at 08:06 AM
Comments
It is a disgrace and a betrayal for "Demoratic consultant" Mr. Shrum to write a book with these type of "gotcha" stories about current, active Democratic candidates. Shame on him.
I am not an Edwards supporter, but no person who has made a fortune off of Democratic candidates has any business turning around and trashing them in order to make more money.
kathy | 06.05.07 10:23 AM
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I haven't read the book yet, but it doesn't seem like Shrum made an effort to trash Edwards. Until I read it, I'm not going to assume this was his intent. He says he wrote the whole story of Edwards.
If Dems keep believing that candidates don't have flaws, or shouldn't move their positions, or shouldn't evolve over time, then we'll never get a president elected. Many people in America have moved on gay issues--and incredibly rapidly. Why is it so awful for a current candidate to have done so?
Sam | 06.05.07 05:13 PM
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