June 07, 2007
Hotline After Dark -- Drawing Straws
A relatively quiet night of TV with a hodge podge of topics -- the immigration debate, more fallout from the GOP debate, the missing KS teenager's body found, and Rudy Giuliani's decision to not participate in the Ames, IA, straw poll:
Newsweek's Fineman, on Giuliani's not competing in the IA straw poll: "That is part of the calculus. Rudy is saying, you know what, Iowa is loss for me anyway, I think he's saying. Whatever I get there, I get. Maybe it's a tactical mistake, but that's what he's doing" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 6/6).
CNN's J. King: "Giuliani's own supporters are very disappointed in this. His campaign said it is a question of resources, they promise they still will compete to win in the Iowa caucuses. ... But by skipping the summer straw poll, they have not only caused a bit of a morale crisis among their own supporters in the state, they have many Republicans, especially social conservatives in Iowa, saying Rudy Giuliani has made a tactical decision to all but give up on Iowa. Again, the Giuliani campaign says, no, but he's going to have to prove that over the next coming weeks because he has disappointed even his own people out there" ("Situation Room," 6/6).
RON'S TAKE
Ron Paul was on "Tucker":
Paul: "I think the message that has to be gotten out is that conservatives can be opposed to military adventurism and wars and huge spending that entails operating an empire. And if we don't accept that message, I don't know where they are going to go. I think many of them are going to just flat out stay home, because ... the Democrats don't offer a real option" (MSNBC, 6/6).
MORE DEBATE 101
Washington Post's Balz: "In many ways, the immigration issue is to the Republicans what Iraq has been to the Democrats. An issue that is very divisive ... and one in which there's no easy solution or simple compromise" ("NewsHour," PBS, 6/6).
GOP pollster Frank Luntz was on "Hannity & Colmes" to talk about a focus group he did on the GOP debate. Luntz: "I've never seen any group turn on somebody like they turned on Senator McCain. And that's because this issue of immigration is so powerful, so destructive, so divisive, and John McCain is on the wrong side of that issue" (FNC, 6/6).
Washington Post's Milbank, on the GOP debate: "If these guys got any more aggressive about attacking President Bush, they'd find themselves on some Secret Service watch list as potential threats to him. Not only are they getting more aggressive in each debate, they are now more aggressive in attacking Bush than the Democrats have been in attacking Bush" ("Countdown," MSNBC, 6/6). [EMILY GOODIN]
Posted at 08:44 AM
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