- Mon. Sep. 8, 2008
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A Different Kind of Contest
Hillary Rodham Clinton won the primaries in Texas and Ohio, and Democrats are now in uncharted territory. While everyone scratches their heads about what comes next, it's time to drop one shopworn metaphor -- the horse race.
In a horse race, somebody wins -- decisively. Fans of bicycle racing will recognize in the newfangled Democratic contest all the hallmarks of another kind of competition, the Tour de France. In that grueling, multistage race, the rider who turns in the fastest overall time wins. So far, Barack Obama is wearing the yellow jersey, having racked up about 135 more delegates, and Clinton is giving chase. What's the best strategy for each?
"Obama should put his team in front of him to block the wind [deflect the hard questions] and set a fast pace to discourage attacks," said veteran racing coach Max Miley. "Hillary needs to attack, attack, attack to try to reveal weaknesses in her opponent."
It won't be pretty. "A final sprint," Miley added, "can get nasty and comes down to the person with the most guts and willingness to throw a few elbows on their way to the finish line."
-- Randy Barrett
Murmurs
Psst! Things have been tough, fundraising-wise, over at the National Republican Congressional Committee, which still hasn't reached its goal of $7.5 million for the group's annual dinner on March 12. Some once-dependable K Street lobbyists -- infuriated with the anti-earmark fervor and the ethics restrictions on Capitol Hill -- are staying away. One appropriations lobbyist says he typically brought in more than $100,000 annually for the party, including a good chunk for the dinner, but hasn't raised a dime in some time. Still, says NRCC spokeswoman Julie Shutley, fundraising for the dinner picked up last week ... So the Mike Huckabee press plane had a game: If you caught someone napping, you put a sheet of paper with a cute caption in front of him or her and took a picture. After much trying, participants finally snapped Huckabee last week, with the cutline: "If I close my eyes, it feels like Air Force One" ... How is the Democratic National Committee going to solve its delegate debacle? Little birds tell us to expect new primaries in Michigan and Florida in May, just after the Pennsylvania contest ...
Vital Statistics
5,163,271: Number of voters in Michigan and Florida currently disenfranchised in the Democratic and Republican presidential primaries
-- Gov. Jennifer Granholm, D-Mich., and Gov. Charlie Crist, R-Fla.
4.3: Percentage decrease in annual gross domestic product output in fourth quarter of 2007
-- Bureau of Economic Analysis
Flying Aces
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has called in the Air Force. Sort of. This week, the agency announced the environmentally safe deployment of phorid flies to battle nasty, stinging fire ants that have invaded much of the American South and Southwest. The aggressive, non-native crawlies have been known to kill livestock and pets, the government said. As well, the ants feed on crops and build large, hard nests that can damage farm equipment. The tiny flies, also imports, dart in and lay their eggs inside the heads of worker ants. After about 10 days, the fly larvae consume the brain and muscle -- and the fire ant's head falls off. Voila! A safe and effective biological control agent.
-- Randy Barrett
No Hard Feelings
Here's a strange-bedfellows tale. Qwest Communications contended it was the lone holdout among telecom companies when the Bush administration sought secret partners in 2001 for an eavesdropping program (revealed in 2005 by The New York Times). Qwest said that saying no to the Bush team cost the company government contracts -- a charge that the administration denied. Perhaps time does heal all wounds. This week, Qwest announced it is trading its services to Republicans in exchange for becoming the GOP's official "exclusive provider of high-speed Internet as well as voice and data lines" at the Republican National Convention in September. "Qwest will be a terrific partner," convention President and CEO Maria Cino, a former acting Cabinet member for President Bush and an erstwhile RNC deputy chairwoman, enthused this week.
-- Alexis Simendinger
Out the Door
Infighting has hit Freedom's Watch, resulting in the resignation of its president, Brad Blakeman. Sources close to the conservative nonprofit say that he drew fire for focusing too much on administrative tasks and neglecting major projects since the group sponsored a $15 million television ad campaign in 2007 to back the Iraq troop surge. Freedom's Watch reportedly plans to spend as much as $200 million on pro-Republican TV ads on national security and domestic issues this year. Meanwhile, the group's key sugar daddy, Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson -- worth about $26 billion, according to Forbes magazine's new survey -- has chipped in much of the $2 million being spent on a separate TV and radio ad blitz (including radio spots in D.C.) to pressure House Democrats to vote for the Senate surveillance bill, sources say. That campaign is the handiwork of a new 501(c)(4) dubbed Defense of Democracies.
-- Peter H. Stone
Q&A With John Brennan
Chairman, Intelligence and National Security Alliance
NJ: You were the first director of the National Counterterrorism Center. Assess the government's efforts to deter terrorist attacks since 9/11.
Brennan: I am a strong proponent of focusing more of our efforts on the upstream phenomenon of terrorism. Since 9/11, understandably, we've focused downstream, on those terrorists who might be in our midst or trying to kill us. But we have to be looking at foreign policies, aid programs, and international efforts that are going to stem the flow of terrorists further upstream. I think the United States is a lot safer because we put in place the security filters to prevent terrorists from coming into our country. Now we have to look at the longer-term issues.
NJ: You're now a foreign-policy adviser to Barack Obama's presidential campaign. Are candidates divided between the public-diplomacy approach and military or covert action?
Brennan: Along with public diplomacy, there needs to be discussion about acting forcefully to ensure that U.S. lives and property are protected. Some of the statements you see coming from the Democratic side are to reassure the American public that although public diplomacy is going to be a major part of that foreign-policy approach, it's not going to be at the expense of ensuring that we're able to utilize military and other measures to take action against the threats. (Read the full interview at www.nationaljournal.com.)
-- Shane Harris
Reality Check
"The Taliban had a bad year when it came to military operations. And are they still dangerous? Yes, they're dangerous. They're still capable of convincing young kids to go in and blow people up with suicide vests.... Are they overwhelming the government? No."
-- President Bush, March 1, 2008
The Taliban came under heavy attack from American and NATO forces last year, but saying it had a "bad year when it came to military operations" strains credibility: 2007 was the deadliest year since the 2001 invasion for both soldiers and aid workers, according to the Afghanistan Study Group and the United Nations. Furthermore, while some Taliban leaders have been killed or captured, the group's influence on the country is expanding. On February 27, just three days before Bush's remarks, Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Taliban controlled about 10 percent of Afghanistan, while President Hamid Karzai's government controlled only 30 percent.
-- Corine Hegland