October 15, 2007
Sunday Snapshot
John McCain was on "Face the Nation":
Asked if he was accusing Romney of being a con when he said he was the only real GOPer in the race, McCain: "I don't think that it's appropriate to say, as Governor Romney did, that he's the only person that represents the Republican Party. In fact, he certainly doesn't represent the Republican Party that he characterized himself as such some years ago."
Asked if it's Romney's abortion position: "It's not just the abortion issue, although he certainly was passionate in his advocacy for being pro-choice. ... I mean, look at literally every major issue, whether it be immigration reform or taxes or immigration or any other issue. There has been changes in his position and perhaps all of those are evolved. But I think that that brings to mind the question is, isn't consistency on fundamental issues an important factor in this race? And I don't think that consistency has been there."
On Giuliani being against the line-item veto: "I think an advocacy of opposing the line-item veto is opposing what 43 governors or 50 governors have, taking to court so that you can preserve pork-barrel projects within the City of New York is not what Republicans are all about. ... And so it is in direct contradiction, I think, to a fundamental Republican principle of being economic conservatives and eliminating waste and pork-barrel projects if you oppose the line-item veto. We can write and have now written a line-item veto which we are confident the United States Supreme Court will declare constitutional. And with all this wasteful spending out of control, with our Republican base becoming angered and dispirited, the former members of Congress in jail, then we ought to give the president of the United States the same power that 43 governors in America have, and they have to balance their budgets."
On Iran: "That's not the time to call in the lawyers, as Governor Romney stated. I meant that there are many experts, as is well known, believe that Iran is within about two years of reaching a tipping point. In other words, they have achieved enough technical capability and enough material that inexorably they would acquire a nuclear weapon or weapons. That's the tipping point in the view of many experts. And in the view of some, that if we didn't take action before that time, then we would be placing -- then Iran would be on the path that is -- would lead to the acquisition of nuclear weapons" (CBS, 10/14).
TURNING AROUND, ROUND, ROUND
Speaker Nancy Pelosi was on "This Week":
On Iraq: "Every week we have more than one resolution holding the administration accountable for the conduct of the war in Iraq. This week, this past week and next week we'll be dealing with profiteering, about corruption in contracting and the rest. The cost of the war is now astronomical. It will be a trillion-dollar war if it stopped today."
On the Iranian Revolutionary Guards: "There's never been a declaration by a Congress before in our history before the Senate acted that declared a piece of a country's army to be terrorist organization."
Asked if she'll bring up the resolution in the House: "No." More: "This has never happened before, that a Congress should determine that one piece of somebody's military is that. And if it is a problem to us, to our troops, a threat to our troops in Iraq, and they are in Iraq, we should deal with them in Iraq."
On cong. approval ratings: "I respect the dissatisfaction with the war and myself would not give Congress high marks on ending the war. We don't have a veto -- the pen to sign or -- not to veto. But we are doing all we can to change the debate. But I do think that many of the things that we have done ... about the safety and security of our country and the strengthening our families and protecting our environment are very important to our base and to the country. And for that reason, we are double-digit in practically every issue you can name, would you vote for a Democrat or Republican in relationship to health, education and the economy, the environment, et cetera. So I'm not sad about our Democratic numbers. They're excellent. Turning the opinion of Congress around is a big task, and we're working on it. And you're right, most of it -- much of the dissatisfaction is from the Democratic base."
ABC's Stephanopoulos: "How strange is that for you, though? You know, your entire career, you get attacked as a San Francisco liberal, and now your most vociferous opponents are on your own side."
Pelosi: "Well, I'm one of the most vociferous opponents of the war, and so that is even more ironic. But again, I was an advocate myself. By their nature, they are dissatisfied, persistent, and just keep fighting. And I respect that. It's an important part of our democracy. And I, you know, wish this war would end, as well. And we will continue to pass legislation to make that point. And we happen to be blocked by a 60-vote hurdle in the Senate, but the public doesn't care about that. They just want us to end the war."
More: "I'm very proud of our caucus, the consensus we have on bold agenda to take us in a new direction. And again, sometimes, our base is not happy with that, but I think in the long run we will prevail in next year's election with an even stronger majority and a Democrat in the White House. And I look forward to that" (ABC, 10/14).
I'D TALK ABOUT SEN. CRAIG, BUT I REALLY DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT HIM
Senate Min. Leader Mitch McConnell was also on "This Week":
On Iraq: "Most of us have not given up. We believe we can win. And my definition of winning is a stable country and an ally in the war on terror. I think we're making significant progress toward that end. And with regard to public opinion -- you know ... I think the vast majority of people who are unhappy about the war are unhappy about it because they don't think it's been handled very well. And they now look at it and see that we're actually making progress toward having an acceptable conclusion."
ABC's Stephanopoulos: "But how do you respond to Speaker Pelosi's point that there may be some military progress and the violence may be down, but no movement at all politically on the part of the Iraqi government?"
McConnell: "I'd have to say that I agree with her. I think the central government in Iraq has been an embarrassment. They've not been able to produce any of the kind of political compromises that we had hoped for. Having said that, you can't ignore the dramatic success at the local level, particularly in Anbar province, where the local tribes have basically switched sides. They're now with us against al Qaeda. The south is relatively secure. So is Kurdistan. Baghdad is improving."
On Sen. Craig: "Well, Senator Craig's matter, as you know, is before the Senate Ethics Committee, and that's the way we handle it in the Senate."
Asked if the Ethics Cmte can expel Sen. Craig: "The Senate Ethics Committee will be dealing with these allegations surrounding Senator Craig. That's the way we handle it procedurally in the Senate" (ABC, 10/14).
GETTING THE HOUSE IN ORDER
House Min. Leader John Boehner was on "Fox News Sunday":
Boehner: "Republicans need to get back to the principles of being Republicans. I think when it comes to the issue of fiscal responsibility, to some extent over the last three or four years, we lost our way. ... We've got to be the party of solutions. The American people don't care who's in charge of Congress. I think they're tired of all the partisan bickering and all the noise here, and they want solutions. ... We as a political party need to provide solutions to those concerns that Americans have."
FNC's Hume: "A new contract with America?"
Boehner: "No, but solutions built on Republican principles" (10/14).
House Min. Leader Steny Hoyer was also on "Fox News Sunday":
On SCHIP: "This is not about assessing blame on Republicans. That would be not a bad thing perhaps, but irresponsible. This is about including four million additional children under health care coverage."
Asked if it will die if the veto is sustained: "No, it's not going to die. We're going to go back and we're going to pass another bill" (10/14).
ROUND TABLE ROUNDUP
The "Face the Nation" roundtable discussed the bombing in Syria and WH '08:Politico's Vandehei: "I don't think that Gore will jump in to this race. There's been a lot of speculation about that since he won the prize, but I do think if he were to come out and back Obama, maybe even campaign with Obama, that might help energize that Obama campaign and make this a more competitive race."
The "Fox News Sunday" roundtable discussed WH '08 and the situation in Iraq:
NPR's Liasson, on Gore: "It's 90 days away from voting. I think he's not going to get in. I think there are no polls that show that he would be anything higher than third choice among the candidates now. I think the field is set. I don't think Al Gore has shown any inclination or appetite for going to battle with Hillary Clinton for the nomination."
Weekly Standard's Kristol, on who'll get the Dem nod: "I'm betting on the Obama upset, and here's why. ... Kentucky beat number one-ranked LSU yesterday in triple overtime. Oregon State beat number two California. The gods of college football are the gods of politics."
The "Late Edition" roundtable discussed WH '08:
CNN's Henry: "I talked to another close confidant of Al Gore ... who said while Al Gore still yearns to be president deep down, he's looking at this field, and he is personally thinking that Hillary Clinton has all but locked it up, is very formidable, and Al Gore does not want to take her on. It would bring up so much baggage, Gore versus Clinton, and he just doesn't want to go down that road, and it's highly unlikely he'll do it. It's possible that he could beat her. But it's too dicey at this point. He's got the Nobel Peace Prize under his belt now, and this confidant said it's highly unlikely he'll get in."
CNN's Johns, on McCain going after Romney: "He's absolutely got nothing to lose. And the other thing is, if you look at Romney, perhaps his biggest vulnerabilities are that so-called evolution he made from varying positions, gun control, abortion, and so on. So that question of who's the real, bona fide conservative and who's been the conservative all along has the potential to dog Romney and it could inure to the benefit of a guy like McCain."
The "This Week" roundtable discussed WH '08:
ABC's Stephanopoulos: "I don't think Romney can survive this double barreled attack from both Giuliani and from McCain at the same time going at his Republican credentials. If he starts to fall that goes to John McCain. He gets the Republicans this time."
George Will: "Surely Obama and Edwards are watching what McCain does to Romney because they have to do that to Mrs. Clinton" [EMILY GOODIN].
Posted at 08:34 AM
Comments
It'd be nice if McCain could actually cite a single "expert" who believes Iran is only two years away from becoming a nuclear threat.
Thomas Allen | 10.15.07 11:33 AM
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