October 29, 2007
Sunday Snapshot
There was a lot of discussion about the situation with Iran and the federal response to the CA wildfires on the Sunday shows this past weekend. But here are are the political highlights:
THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING
Chris Dodd was on "Meet the Press":
Asked if the Senate vote on the Iranian Guards was a de facto vote for war with Iran: "I think it gives a justification for it. That's my concern with it here. Much as you saw back in '02, 2002 in October, the resolution which I supported at the time, said the president ought to look at diplomatic approaches in that language, but clearly had no intention of doing that as we've subsequently learned. And it gave them the argument that the Congress gave overwhelming support, almost by the same vote, I might add. ... Seems to me that's why that vote was such a bad one, and I think Mrs. Clinton, my colleague from New York, cast the wrong vote on that issue, terribly so."
NBC's Russert: "You voted for the war, you voted for funding for the war. You were against timetables for withdrawal of troops. Then you became a presidential candidate, and suddenly it was about oil and you were against the funding and you were for timetables."
Dodd: "I did vote for funding along the way because the argument was we were trying to get a decent conclusion to this here. And then a year ago when I was there and came back, drew the conclusion, as many others have along the way here, that this is just not working here. And my view was, at that point and is today, that Congress has one responsibility. If the policy has failed and it's not working, that we ought to terminate the funding for it here. Clearly the administration doesn't want to do that, not likely to do it, so it's up to the Congress to achieve that result."
Russert: "And no political expediency?"
Dodd: "No, none at all, Tim. I think this is a process here you go through as you make decisions what you think is right on this thing here."
On his Banking Cmte experience: "Coming out against hedge funds doesn't require any great leap of understanding. Doing what's right and responsible on the issue is critical. I've been on this committee for a quarter of a century. I know these issues very, very well. No one has fought harder against the credit card industry, no one's fought harder against the predatory lending and the housing issues, no one's fought harder against the defrauds that went on in the student loan business. There's a long history. I've also stood up where I thought the financial services sector was doing the right thing. Having someone running for the presidency as a Democrat who understands these issues is not a liability, it's an asset."
On polls showing him at zero percent: "We've got a lot of room to grow."
More: "The more important question may be why aren't these leading candidates, who get all the attention every single day, why aren't they doing better?"
Asked if the WH campaign doesn't work out, if he'll seek re-election to the Senate: "I haven't made that decision yet, and I'm counting on this working out" (NBC, 10/28).
HE AND BOB DOLE ARE NOT GRUMPY OLD MEN THE SEQUEL
John McCain was on "This Week."
ABC's Stephanpoulos: "Mayor Giuliani has said he can guarantee that Iran would not get a nuclear weapon under his watch. Can you make the same guarantee?"
McCain: "I can say that we cannot allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon. But I do believe that to start talking about specifics, a bombardment or something like that, I think would be a terrible mistake. In January of 1981, Ronald Reagan was sworn in, on that date, as president of the United States. On that day, the hostages came home from Tehran. Now, it's not exactly comparable. But the Iranians would know when I'm president, they're facing somebody who's not going to let them have it. But I'm not going to make a lot of empty threats that I can't carry out."
Asked about the memo from his campaign that Giuliani's nomination would have "devastating results" for the GOP: "I think that it's hard for me to accept the fact that we would nominate someone who has fundamental disagreements with one or more of the principles."
Asked about it again: "I'm hoping that whoever is the nominee of our party that we will support that nominee. But it's hard for me to imagine that someone who holds the views on some of these issues and a record of it would be at the end of the day the nominee of the party."
Asked to explain Giuliani's lead in the nat'l polls: "I think because he is deservedly a popular individual who was -- his performance after 9/11 was very excellent, and he rallied the country. I think as people begin to examine the candidates, their positions, but most of all their ability to lead this nation in the transcendent challenge against radical Islamic extremism. I have a consistent, conservative, reliable record. And polls today show that I am most likely to be able to beat Senator Clinton in a head-to-head matchup."
Asked if he has problems with Giuliani's performance post-9/11: "Everything I saw, it's fine."
Stephanopoulos: "What do you say to Republicans who are concerned -- they are worried that, you know, you're going to have to take public financing, and if you do that, even if you get the nomination, you're going to be handicapped for that long period between February likely and the conventions in August?"
McCain: "We won't have the same problem that Bob Dole had. That's what we look at. Because there will be a strong party involvement, individual involvement as far as state and local parties and national parties, if we do that. But we haven't made the decision yet. I have never won a campaign on money. I almost beat obviously in 2000, we were outspent 10, 15, 20 to one. The nature of campaigning in South Carolina, New Hampshire and Iowa, as you know, is the townhall meetings, the interface, the retail politics. Thank God. It's good for America, but it's also very good for my campaign. And I see increased enthusiasm. I see increasing support, and I think we're going to do very well. And whatever we do, I think we'll have enough money to be competitive" (ABC, 10/28).
DON'T MESS WITH A MAN WHO HAS CHUCK NORRIS IN HIS CORNER
Mike Huckabee was on "Late Edition":
On suggestions he has no foreign policy experience: "People sometimes forget that while governors may not be on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, governors actually deal head-to-head with CEOs of multinational corporations, and the heads of state as we sign trade agreements and multicultural agreements. We travel extensively as governors on trade missions. And we deal with governments. So it's not that we have no experience. And I would also remind people that Ronald Reagan came into office with a criticism, that he just didn't know enough about foreign policy. Within 10 years of his being sworn in, there wasn't a Soviet Union, the Berlin Wall was down and this was a better, safer world because he had convictions and character."
Asked if Giuliani is a conservative: "Compared to the Democrats, absolutely. Compared to me, that's why I'm in this race. I can give folks a hardworking, consistent conservative with a strong record having run a government in a conservative way. But let's not attack Rudy in the sense that there are some issues with which he and I disagree, particularly on the social issues. But Rudy has a good record in terms of fiscal conservativism. And I think it would be dishonest or disingenuous on my part to try to paint him as something other than that. That's a good record."
On the attacks against him: "The fact is, yesterday, I went pheasant hunting in Iowa. Something I've learned about hunting, you never point your gun at the carcass of a dead animal. You only take aim at something that's alive that you want to put on the wall. So in a way, I'm kind of enjoying, as it were, in a sort of wicked kind of way, the fact that all these attacks are coming, whether from the left or from the right. It proves that, like the pheasant being flushed out of the brush, I'm flying. And people see it. The money that is coming into our campaign in the last six days is more than we've raised in the first three months of the campaign, and that's just online. People are resonating with this message. They're realizing that they have a genuine, authentic conservative in the race. Different kind? You bet I am. But I'm the kind that I think America is looking for, not mad at everybody. I don't want to go in and burn the place down. I want to build this country up, and that's what I think this country needs and is looking for in its leader."
Asked if he thinks abortion is a holocaust: "I think it is. When you think about millions and millions of completely innocent unborn lives that have been terminated before they ever had a chance to live, I don't know what else you can call it. It's really a horrible thing when you realize that we have allowed millions of what could have been our fellow citizens that never saw the light of day."
Huckabee: "I've got the endorsement this week of Chuck Norris. Now people are going to be afraid not to support me" (CNN, 10/28).
THE FLOTUS CLUB
Laura Bush was on "Fox News Sunday" and was asked if being FLOTUS qualifies a person to be POTUS:
Bush: "I don't know. I mean, who knows? ... There's no doubt about it that you know everything about living in that house, for instance. And the other thing you know is you know how things are going to happen that you're not going to expect, that you better be prepared for. And I would certainly say September 11th is the example that -- the most, you know, obvious example of things happening while you live there that you don't expect, that you have to deal with. But on the other hand, I think one thing about the American political process, especially running for president, is it's so difficult. It requires such endurance, both physical endurance as well as mental and, you know, emotional endurance to run for president, that what happens is we usually see the people who are experienced enough get the job just because they can live through the campaign and work -- do that hard work through the campaign."
FNC's Wallace: "You have supported qualified women for big jobs -- secretary of state, Supreme Court justice. Are you at all torn by Senator Clinton's candidacy?"
Bush: "No. Not really. I mean, I'm looking forward to voting for a Republican woman, whenever that is, but I'll be supporting the Republican."
Wallace: "So the fact that she's a woman doesn't matter?"
Bush: "No, it doesn't matter to me. And I hope it doesn't matter to other people. I hope that people will choose the candidate that they think really has the views that they want, you know, that they believe in, and that represent them in the way that they want to be represented" (10/28).
ROUNDTABLE ROUNDUP
The "This Week" roundtable discussed the economy.
The "Fox News Sunday" roundtable discussed the Dem '08ers and Iran and the CA wildfires.
The "Late Edition" roundtable discussed Obama getting tough with HRC and how the candidates are doing in IA [EMILY GOODIN].
Posted at 08:51 AM
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