For the GOP, no one First published: Sunday, January 27, 2008
So here's the country in its final year of the disastrous presidency of George W. Bush, still fighting a futile war in Iraq and now feeling the full effects of an economic policy that prefers tax cuts for people too rich to need them above all else. And what might the Republicans candidates vying to succeed Mr. Bush have to say about all that? More of the same, in essence. Stay the course, no matter how flawed. In a race where none of the major Republican presidential aspirants offers a compelling plan for withdrawal from Iraq, a departure from fiscal policies that have ignored the middle class and the poor or a commitment to the restoration of civil liberties, we can't endorse any of them in New York's Feb. 5 primary. The last time there was a contested race for the Republican nomination, in 2000, our choice was Sen. John McCain of Arizona. But Mr. McCain no longer is the refreshing and independent advocate for a more moderate Republican Party that he was eight years ago. On too many issues, most notably the war and the economy, he stands in lock step with Mr. Bush, his rival from that last campaign. Even when Mr. McCain does stand out from the rest of the Republican field -- his admirable opposition to waterboarding and other forms of torture, for instance, or his advocacy of an immigration policy that's at once sensible and compassionate -- he distinguishes himself from an otherwise unimpressive lot. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's divisive candidacy is little more than an exploitation of the Sept. 11 attacks. What first seemed like heroism in the aftermath of terrorism has given way to questions about how, under Mr. Giuliani's leadership, New York City could have been better prepared to respond to such a horrific crisis. That he can press on with his candidacy without disclosing just who the clients of his consulting business are underscores his contempt for the public he seeks to lead. His record as mayor showed a disregard for civil liberties every bit as callous as Mr. Bush's. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney brings disingenuousness to a new level. Where does this man stand -- now, that is, as he's trying to win the nomination of a party ever drifting to the right? His flip-flops on issues like abortion and gay rights make Sen. John Kerry, the last person from Massachusetts to run for president, look a like a political rock of Gibraltar. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is the preferred candidate of the evangelical fringe that's trying to take the Republican Party hostage. His populist-sounding rhetoric on economic issues is utterly discredited by policies like replacing the income tax with a national sales tax that will make things worse, not better. Still, the Republicans must vote next week. Their choice is clear as it is grim: None of the above. ISSUE:The Republican candidates for president are an unimpressive lot.THE STAKES:Come November, the country will be left with just one viable choice.
Ted Kennedy to Endorse Obama Sunday, January 27, 2008
Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts will endorse Senate colleague Barack Obama for president, party officials confirmed Sunday.
The endorsement will be announced Monday in Washington, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak for the record. An official close to the senator said the announcement will be made during an Obama campaign rally at American University, where he will be joined by Sen. Kennedy and his niece, Caroline Kennedy, who also has endorsed Obama.
In a television interview Sunday, Obama would not answer questions about an endorsement from Kennedy.
"I'll let Ted Kennedy speak for himself. And nobody does it better," he said on ABC's "This Week." "But obviously, any of the Democratic candidates would love to have Ted Kennedy's support. And we have certainly actively sought it. And you know, I will let him make his announcement and his decision when he decides it's appropriate."
Kennedy's endorsement was highly sought after by all the Democratic candidates. Besides his status as a liberal icon and member of the Kennedy dynasty, Kennedy boasts a broad national fundraising and political network as well.
Kennedy is friendly with the Democratic candidates. Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton both serve on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and Kennedy is chairman. Former Sen. John Edwards partnered with Kennedy on patients' rights legislation in 2001, and Kennedy was a key White House ally when President Clinton was in Office.
"It's going to be difficult choosing," Kennedy said in October. "I've got a lot of friends who want to be president."
Kennedy's endorsement of Obama will follow that of his niece, Caroline, who backed the Illinois senator on Saturday. In an editorial in The New York Times, she said Obama could inspire Americans in the same way her father, President Kennedy, did.
"I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them," she wrote. "But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president — not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans."
Theo Caldwell: Democrat or Republican? The question is shockingly easy Posted: December 26, 2007, 2:44 PM by Marni Soupcoff Theo Caldwell An obvious choice can be unnerving. When the apparent perfection of one option or the unspeakable awfulness of another makes a decision seem too easy, it is human nature to become suspicious.
This instinct intensifies as the stakes of the given choice are raised. American voters know no greater responsibility to their country and to the world than to select their president wisely. While we do not yet know who the Democrat and Republican nominees will be, any combination of the leading candidates from either party will make for the most obvious choice put to American voters in a generation. To wit, none of the Democrats has any business being president.
This pronouncement has less to do with any apparent perfection among the Republican candidates than with the intellectual and experiential paucity evinced by the Democratic field. "Not ready for prime time," goes the vernacular, but this does not suffice to describe how bad things are. Alongside Hillary Clinton, add Barack Obama's kindergarten essays to an already confused conversation about Dennis Kucinich's UFO sightings, dueling celebrity endorsements and who can be quickest to retreat from America's global conflict and raise taxes on the American people, and it becomes clear that these are profoundly unserious individuals.
To be sure, there has been a fair amount of rubbish and rhubarb on the Republican side (Ron Paul, call your office), but even a cursory review of the legislative and professional records of the leading contenders from each party reveals a disparity akin to adults competing with children.
For the Republicans, Rudy Giuliani served as a two-term mayor of New York City, turning a budget deficit into a surplus and taming what was thought to be an ungovernable metropolis. Prior to that, he held the third-highest rank in the Reagan Justice Department, obtaining over 4,000 convictions. Mitt Romney, before serving as governor of Massachusetts, founded a venture capital firm that created billions of dollars in shareholder value, and he then went on to save the Salt Lake City Olympics. While much is made of Mike Huckabee's history as a Baptist minister, he was also a governor for more than a decade and, while Arkansas is hardly a "cradle of presidents," it has launched at least one previous chief executive to national office. John McCain's legislative and military career spans five decades, with half that time having been spent in the Congress. Even Fred Thompson, whose excess of nonchalance has transformed his once-promising campaign into nothing more than a theoretical possibility, has more experience in the U.S. Senate than any of the leading Democratic candidates.
With just over one term as a Senator to her credit, Hillary Clinton boasts the most extensive record of the potential Democratic nominees. In that time, Senator Clinton cannot claim a single legislative accomplishment of note, and she is best known lately for requesting $1-million from Congress for a museum to commemorate Woodstock.
Barack Obama is nearing the halfway point of his first term in the Senate, having previously served as an Illinois state legislator and, as Clinton has correctly pointed out, has done nothing but run for president since he first arrived in Washington. Between calling for the invasion of Pakistan and fumbling a simple question on driver's licenses for illegal aliens, Obama has shown that he is not the fellow to whom the nation ought to hike the nuclear football.
John Edwards, meanwhile, embodies the adage that the American people will elect anyone to Congress -— once. From his $1,200 haircuts to his personal war on poverty, proclaimed from the porch of his 28,000-square-foot home, purchased with the proceeds of preposterous lawsuits exploiting infant cerebral palsy, Edwards is living proof that history can play out as tragedy and farce simultaneously.
Forget for a moment all that you believe about public policy. Discard your notions about taxes and Iraq, free trade and crime, and consider solely the experience of these two sets of candidates. Is there any serious issue that you would prefer to entrust to a person with the Democrats' experience, rather than that of any of the Republicans?
Now consider the state of debate in each party. While the Republicans compare tax proposals and the best way to prosecute the War on Terror, Democrats are divining the patterns and meaning of the glitter and dried macaroni glued to the page of one of their leading candidate's kindergarten projects.
Does this decision not become unsettlingly simple?
Well, it clearly appears that the reps have a much more appealing track record. Some folks, that are dems, that I have talked to,said that they would vote a rep in before one of their counterparts. But we will see. We have a ways to go yet.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
NOW-NY slams Kennedy "The ultimate betrayal" says women's group
By JAY JOCHNOWITZ, State editor Monday, January 28, 2008
The National Organization for Women's New York chapter today issued a scathing response to Sen. Ted Kennedys endorsement of Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential primary, calling it a "betrayal" of women.
Marcia Pappas, NOW-NY's president, wrote in a news release that on a host of issues and positions, "Women have forgiven Kennedy, stuck up for him, stood by him," but "We are repaid with his abandonment. He's picked the new guy over us. He's joined the list of progressive white men who can't or won't handle the prospect of a woman president who is Hillary Clinton." Pappas blasted several other people and Democratic groups, including national Democratic Chairman Howard Dean, Progressive Democrats of America, democrats.com, and "Kucinich lovers and all the other groups that take women's money, say they'll do feminist and womens rights issues one of these days, and conveniently forget to mention women and children when they talk about poverty or human needs or America's future or whatever." In an interview, Pappas said she's gotten mixed reactions to the statement, with some telling her it was "cathartic" to others saying, "How dare you, I'm quitting NOW."
If you want to know who support for president please un derstand that I have conflicting interests — one set as a citizen and another as a newspaper col umnist. As a citizen I want a president who will do what’s best for country, even if I long ago lost faith in the ability of any one person do much. As a columnist, I want a president who will keep me material, like Richard Nixon, say to use just one example that springs to mind. True, I am not a nationally syn dicated columnist like those who so admirably fill out the editorial page of this newspaper and don often write about national affairs but every once in a while I encoun ter a slow day, and I like to have something in reserve. My highest hopes so far have ridden on Mike Huckabee, con tender on the Republican side, in my capacity as a citizen but my capacity as a writer. I like disavowal of evolution; I like promise to amend the Constitution to square it with the Bible; I like proposal to give illegal immigrants 120 days to get out. I even liked his broad-minded ness on the subject of evolution the Genesis account of creation. “ you want to believe that you your family came from apes, I’ accept that,” he said at one point explaining his refusal to raise hand on an evolution question dur ing a televised debate. All of these positions had great potential for my purposes, when he came out on top in Iowa caucuses, I was much encour aged. We’re on our way, I thought foreseeing four years of good, solid backup material. Alas, he has not done so well since Iowa and now looks like might be selected against in struggle for political survival. So who else is there? Well, there’s “America’s mayor Rudy Giuliani, who as New York City’s mayor defended the rights of illegal immigrants to health services, supported gun control favored abortion rights, brought girlfriend into the house while wife and children were still present endorsed a liberal Democratic gov ernor for reelection, and now hops skips and tries to convince voters he is every bit as righteous as Rev Huckabee. He hates abortion, loves guns, and as for torture, well if another attack were in the works he would tell interrogators to “ every method they could think of thus going even President Bush better. He might even have signed on the Genesis account of creation, all I know. I haven’t followed every statement. So he has pretty good potential too, especially when you factor in his history of knee capping people who cross him. The Republicans seem to com pete with each other for my fa vor. Did one of them (Huckabee support in-state tuition rates educating the children of illegal immigrants when he was gover nor of Arkansas? Then another them (Romney) jumps all over as soft on foreign lawbreakers, they all scuttle for cover. We even have one of them (Mc Cain) accusing another (Romney of having once proposed a time table for withdrawal from Iraq, all lily-livered, un-American things to propose. Then back comes Romney, vindicate himself, and says would like to “double Guanta namo” and fire up the “enhanced interrogation techniques,” and can be tougher than that? Ron Paul has potential too, as the aspiring leader of our government who is most against government on principle, and he is charmingly erratic, being stoutly against the torture of terror suspects, like some namby-pamby liberal, but as unforgiving of illegal immigrants as his most red-blooded colleagues, but I don’t see him going anywhere except in online polls, where admittedly he is dynamite. If he ever did get to be president I’m sure he would keep me well stocked with material, but I’m not counting on him. On the Democratic side, we seem to be down to a two-person contest: a junior senator vs. a former fi rst lady, and I must say the former fi rst lady seems to me the more promising. Not just another chapter in the Bill-and-Hillary soap opera, and not just a husband-and-wife team as co-presidents, which has great possibilities, but the re-activation of the whole hate-Clinton movement which was so engrossing the fi rst time around. I believe I would be well served as a columnist, even if the citizen part of me hesitates. I did enjoy the endorsement of Barack Obama by Sen. Ted Kennedy yesterday and the response by the New York chapter of the National Organization for Women that this amounted to “the ultimate betrayal.” I guess the idea was that because Hillary is a woman, anyone who is halfway enlightened in matters of equal rights ought to support her. Maybe the endorsement will help Obama in the primaries, though in the general election, when Republicans participate, I expect it will come across as equal to an endorsement by Osama bin Laden. All of this could be grist for my mill, and I don’t necessarily despise any of the candidates, though when I look over the field, I can’t help it, I still get misty-eyed for the Rev. Huckabee. I’ll say a prayer for him, maybe, and see what happens. Carl Strock can be reached at 395-3085 or by e-mail at carlstrock@dailygazette.com.
While walking down the street one day a US senator is tragically hit by a truck and dies. His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance.
'Welcome to heaven,' says St. Peter. 'Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we're not sure what to do with you.'
'No problem, just let me in,' says the man.
'Well, I'd like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we'll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity.'
'Really, I've made up my mind. I want to be in heaven,' says the senator.
'I'm sorry, but we have our rules.'
And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him.
Everyone is very happy and in evening dress. They run to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people.
They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster, caviar and champagne.
Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly guy who has a good time dancing and telling jokes. They are having such a good time that before he realizes it, it is time to go.
Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator rises... The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens on heaven where St Peter is waiting for him. 'Now it's time to visit heaven.'
So, 24 hours pass with the senator joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns.
'Well, then, you've spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity.'
The senator reflects for a minute, then he answers: 'Well, I would never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better off in hell.' So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. Now the doors of the elevator open and he's in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage. He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls from above.
The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulder. 'I don't understand,' stammers the senator. 'Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time. Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable. What happened?'
The devil looks at him, smiles and says, 'Yesterday we were campaigning...... Today you voted. AIN'T IT THE TRUTH!!
McCain wins in Florida Giuliani expected to drop out of race, endorse senator BY DAVID ESPO AND LIZ SIDOTI The Associated Press
MIAMI — Sen. John McCain won a breakthrough triumph in the Florida primary Tuesday night, gaining the upper hand in the battle for the Republican presidential nomination ahead of next week’s contests across 21 states and lining up a quick endorsement from soon-to-be dropout Rudy Giuliani. “It shows one thing. I’m the conservative leader who can unite the party,” McCain said after easing past former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in a hard-fought contest. “It’s a very significant boost, but I think we’ve got a tough week ahead and a lot of states to come,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton was the Democratic winner in a primary held in defiance of national rules that drew no campaigning and awarded no delegates. The victory was worth 57 national convention delegates for McCain, a winner-take-all haul that catapulted him ahead of Romney for the overall delegate lead. Giuliani ran third, his best showing of the campaign but not nearly good enough for the one-time front-runner who decided to make his last stand in a state that is home to tens of thousands of transplanted New Yorkers. In remarks to supporters in Orlando, the former New York mayor referred to his candidacy repeatedly in the past tense — as though it were over. “We’ll stay involved and together we’ll make sure that we’ll do everything we can to hand our nation off to the next generation better than it was before,” he said. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee trailed, but told supporters he would campaign on. Texas Rep. Ron Paul was fifth, and last. Romney, who has spent millions of dollars of his personal fortune to run for the White House, also vowed to stay in the race. “At a time like this, America needs a president in the White House who has actually had a job in the real economy,” he told supporters in St. Petersburg. Florida marked the end of one phase of the campaign, the last in a series of single-state contests. The campaign goes national next week, with 21 states holding primaries and caucuses on Tuesday and 1,023 party convention delegates at stake. Returns from 73 percent of the state’s precincts showed McCain, the Arizona senator, with 36 percent of the vote and Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, with 31 percent. The victory was another step in one of the most remarkable political comebacks of recent times. McCain entered the race the front-runner, then found his campaign unraveling last summer as his stands in favor of the Iraq war and a controversial immigration bill proved unpopular. The war gradually became less of a concern after President Bush’s decision to increase troop deployments began to produce results. McCain also sought to readjust his position on immigration. By the time of the New Hampshire primary, he was primed for victory, and got it. He won the South Carolina primary last week, taking first place in the state that had snuffed out his presidential hopes in 2000.
As New York’s Feb. 5 Republican presidential primary quickly approaches, I want to remind all Republicans how important their vote is. No matter who you plan on voting for in the primary, it’s crucial that you get out and vote! A good voter turnout is an important indicator of Republican enthusiasm heading into this fall’s presidential campaign. Our party is fortunate to have so many tremendous candidates running for president: U.S. Sen. John McCain; former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani; former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney; former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee; and Rep. Ron Paul. It’s vital that you make your voice heard the Republican presidential primary Feb. . Polls are open from noon to 9 p.m. GERARD F. PARISI Rotterdam The writer is chairman of the Rotterdam Republican Committee.
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