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Monday, September 10, 2007
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Medical News Today: "Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, on Wednesday at a debate in Durham, N.H., said that he supports a constitutional amendment that would ban abortion, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The debate at the University of New Hampshire was moderated by Fox News' Brit Hume (Quaid, AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 9/6). Huckabee said he would "love to see" the U.S. adopt an amendment similar to one in the Arkansas Constitution "that says that we believe life begins at conception and that we ought to do everything in the world possible to protect it until its natural conclusion.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who also is running for the Republican nomination, was asked by Fox News' Wendell Goler about his abortion-rights position (Fox News debate transcript, 9/5). Top advisers last month said Romney supports a two-tiered process in which states first would obtain authority to regulate abortion after Roe v. Wade -- the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case that effectively barred state abortion bans -- is overturned. The second step would be a constitutional amendment that bans most abortions nationwide (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 8/23)."
Thanks to Oliver Willis for the link.
"2008 pres"
6:30:36 PM 
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Andrew Sullivan has video of Hillary Clinton questioning General Petraeus. From Mr. Sullivan, "After blaming the previous 'supine' Congress and Rumsfeld for our current impasse, she repeats that skepticism of Petraeus's report is merited. She seems to have conceded that there's no chance that the Congress can stop the continued escalation. That won't inspire the netroots, will it?"
The Moderate Voice:
In an exercise in lowering already low expectations, General David Petraeus told lawmakers today that U.S. troops levels in Iraq may be able to return to their pre-surge strength by next summer without jeopardizing what he characterized as hard-won progress. Then, lowering expectations further still, the top American commander in the bitterly divisive war tried to close the door on any decision on wholesale withdrawals until next spring when he said he would give another progress report.
The long-await report by Petraeus before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the House Armed Services Committee was anti-climactic and will do nothing to silence critics on the left and congressional Democrats not cowed by statements by he, President Bush and others that the surge is working, albeit slowly, and the U.S. can still succeed in Iraq.
Taking casualty trends since the surge began into account, another 500 or so Americans at minimum will die in Iraq and perhaps 20 times as many Iraqis before Petraeus returns to Capitol Hill in March to provide an update.
"2008 pres"
6:24:24 PM
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Political Wire: "A new SurveyUSA poll in California finds Rudy Giuliani leading the Republican presidential race with 28%, but Fred Thompson has closed the gap in the days after the announcement of his campaign and is just two points behind at 26%. Last month, Giuliani led by 20 points. Thompson now leads 'among men, Conservatives, Pro-Life voters, among those opposed to stem-cell research, among those opposed to same-sex marriage, among gun owners, among those age 65+, and among those who think global warming is made-up.'"
Political Wire: "According to a new Albuquerque Journal poll, Gov. Bill Richardson leads the Democratic presidential race in his native New Mexico with 44% support, followed by Sen. Hillary Clinton at 17 percent, John Edwards at 8% and Sen. Barack Obama at 8%. However, 52% of those surveyed thought Sen. Hillary Clinton would eventually win the Democratic nomination."
Josh Marshall: "Hmmm. Seems Fred Thompson logged a few law firm hours for the Libyan intel agents who blew up the plane over Lockerbie."
Guardian Unlimited: "Richardson, one of two candidate who speak fluent Spanish, objected to the debate rules that required all candidates to answer in English. The rule was designed to make sure that no candidate had an advantage in appealing to the Spanish-speaking audience.
"I'm disappointed today that 43 million Latinos in this country, for them not to hear one of their own speak Spanish, is unfortunate," said Richardson, the governor of New Mexico. "In other words, Univision is promoting English-only in this debate."
Political Wire: "The new USA Today/Gallup Poll shows Rudy Giuliani leading the Republican presidential field with 34%, followed by Fred Thompson at 22%, Sen. John McCain at 15%, and Mitt Romney at 10%. For the Democrats, Sen. Hillary Clinton continues to lead with 45% support, trailed by Sen. Barack Obama at 24% and John Edwards at 16%. Key finding: Republican voters are somewhat more satisfied with their candidates: 70% say they're pleased with the choice; 26% would like a new candidate. In April, a third wanted additional choices."
"2008 pres"
6:17:34 PM
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Say hello to State38.com. Our blog pal Jason Bane writes over there. We hadn't noticed it before. Thanks for the link y'all. Here's their RSS Feed.
6:11:00 PM
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Juan Cole: "Everybody's got a status report on Iraq these days. The consistently best and most clear-eyed wire service on Iraq, whose Pentagon correspondents are pointedly not invited to fly with the Secretary of Defense, is McClatchy (formerly Knight-Ridder). It has a long article on Sunday on how the security situation is not in fact better in Iraq now than last January. I'm going to pull out snippets below, some of them out of order...
"2008 pres"
6:24:40 AM
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Here's a look at rural voters from The Denver Post. From the article:
"You ask most of rural America, and they will say neither party has a vision or game plan for us," said Rich Campbell, a doctor, waiting for an early-morning coffee at Java Jar on Main Street, where most of the stores are independently owned. "There is no respect for agriculture. No planning for our infrastructure. No understanding of the long distances people have to go to access medical care."
That sentiment has many political and rural experts predicting a bitter battle between the political parties to capture the votes of rural America. Although these areas tend to lean Republican, support for President Bush and the Iraq war has waned, according to a bipartisan poll commissioned by the Center for Rural Strategies and released in June. Asked if they support a generic Democratic or Republican presidential candidate, rural voters narrowly picked the Democrat. Rural America remains conservative, with social issues in the forefront, but these voters are also consumed by economic concerns and the lack of job opportunities. Regardless of what party they belong to, many say they vote for the candidate who can help them, not the party...
Clinton, a Democrat, appealed to enough rural residents to receive almost 50 percent of their votes in 1992 and 1996. President Bush won in 2000 and 2004 by netting 60 percent or more of the rural vote. "It shows that to win as a Republican, you need the lion's share of rural votes. For Democrats to win, you have to neutralize those voters," said Seth McKee, a University of South Florida professor who analyzed rural voters in presidential elections from 1992 to 2004. Exit polling shows that religion, gender and what region of the country they live in take a back seat to the residents' rural status in voting, Mc Kee said.
"2008 pres"
6:15:41 AM
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© Copyright 2009 John Orr.
Last update: 3/15/09; 1:24:52 PM.
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