January 26, 2004

It’s warm in frozen New Hampshire

Here’s the latest from New Hampshire, where Democrats vote in the state’s presidential primary tomorrow: -- John Kerry appears to be the likely winner. He leads in every poll I’ve seen. He also seems to be taking large bites out of Wesley Clark’s support. Kerry’s key: broader-based support among Democrats than Howard Dean, who (according to the Survey USA poll linked below) leads only among liberal Democrats. -- However, Dean seems to be bouncing back from his third-place Iowa finish and his “I have a scream” speech. Dean looks to be a solid second and may be in a position to challenge Kerry. -- John Edwards is gaining support. If he edges past Clark – a distinct possibility according to these polls – it would be a major blow to the former general’s chances. DailyKOS has the tracking poll results here. And here is a new Survey USA poll. This is not a tracking poll, but a full poll of more than 400 “certain” New Hampshire voters. Lots of bloggers are working New Hampshire. Our cross-state colleagues at the Spokesman-Review in Spokane are blogging by camera-phone. Among other things, the paper's Jim Camden has put together the sound track for this campaign movie from the favorites the candidates are playing at their appearances: -- John Kerry: Springsteen’s “The Rising” and “No Surrender.” -- Howard Dean: Jackson Browne’s “Doctor My Eyes” and Eric Clapton’s “Come Back Baby.” -- John Edwards: John Mellencamp’s “Born in a Small Town.” -- Wesley Clark: “In the Mood” and other swing favorites (this was at a VFW post, where the crowd included some War 2 vets). Camden reports that one CNN veteran of the 1992 New Hampshire campaign said any music was OK, "as long as we don’t have to listen to Fleetwood Mac,” a band that was a Clinton favorite. Also see: Joshua Marshall Tapped, which reports that Dean is the first Democratic candidate to get his own “Mean Dean” action figure – which, of course, plays the “I have a scream” speech. But we have to ask: is it a good thing for any Dem to be in company with President "Mission Accomplished" and Ann Coulter?

Posted by tbrown at 11:52 AM

Playing catch up

I took a day off from blogging Friday and, predictably, a lot of things surfaced that are worth noting. Here are a few: Grand jury takes testimony in the Valerie Plame case: Time mag says jurors are hearing first from “third party” witnesses -- people who were not directly involved in the leaking of the CIA agent’s name, but may know who was. Later, those more directly involved presumably will be called. "No one knows what the hell is going on," says someone who could be a witness, "because the administration people are all terrified and the lawyers aren't sharing anything with each other either." Kind of warms your heart, doesn’t it? Steven Aftergood’s excellent Secrecy News notes that "Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) and several colleagues introduced a ‘resolution of inquiry’ to request that the Bush Administration provide Congress with ‘all documents... relating to the disclosure of the identity of Ms. Valerie Plame as an employee of the Central Intelligence Agency during the period beginning on May 6, 2003, and ending on July 31, 2000.’ " Window dressing? Not necessarily. Such resolutions "are often much more effective in obtaining information from the executive branch than one would expect," according to a Congressional Research Service report cited by Aftergood. (You can view Secrecy News archives or subscribe to it for e-mail delivery here.) Halliburton watch: The oilfield services company formerly run by Vice President Dick Cheney, already under investigation in France for possible bribery in Nigeria, had to cut a check for $6.2 million to the U.S. government to reimburse “overpayments” that may, in fact have been kickbacks to some officials of its KBR subsidiary. (Thanks to reader Zak Johnson for the link.) This prompted Cheney to complain that the good name of his former employer is being unfairly besmirched. Rush Limbaugh’s shark tries to plead him out: It looks like Rush really doesn’t take responsibility for his actions. Maybe he's a hypocrite after all. Can you believe it? “Palm Beach County prosecutors rejected an overture last month from Rush Limbaugh's attorneys that would have allowed the conservative commentator to enter drug rehabilitation rather than face criminal charges for prescription drug abuse. “Prosecutors say they think they have evidence that Limbaugh committed at least 10 felonies by illegally obtaining overlapping drug prescriptions … " I have little faith in the legal system when it comes to prosecuting rich, white junkies. But this is beginning to look interesting.

Posted by tbrown at 11:45 AM