Also on CNN yesterday, Wolf Blitzer asked Vice President Dick Cheney about the prospect of Hillary Clinton running for president and his own post Bush White House plans:

I'm not worried about Hillary Rodham Clinton. I'm doing my job. I've got a job to do for the next three-and-a-half years. I love being vice president. I'm very proud to serve with this president. But at the end of that time, I'll mark close to 40 years in this business, Wolf, and I think it'll be time for me to move on to other pursuits.

Appearing on CNN’s “Inside Politics,” Indiana Democrat Senator Evan Bayh was asked about fellow Senator Joe Biden announcing his plans to run for president compared to Bayh’s more reserved approach:

If he goes forward, I think he will be a tremendous candidate. Others of us, myself included, are doing some of the practical things that you need to do to keep that open as an option if it makes sense when the time comes.

Boston Herald columnist Wayne Woodlief writes Mitt Romney should announce his White House intentions now and give up on running for re-election as governor of Massachusetts. Woodlief says Romney might not win a presidential campaign, but “could demonstrate that he inherited George Romney's love of country and self-confidence to at least try.”

In a taped interview during last night’s Scarborough Country on MSNBC, Karl Rove was asked what he thought of Jeb Bush:

I love Jeb Bush. He is a fantastic governor. He is -- I believe him when he says he has no interest in '08. But he is just -- what a fantastic human being and a great governor. He really is a remarkable person.

I don't know. Jeb Bush can be anything he wants to be. He is a really special guy. But what I hear him say is, “I'm not running in '08.” But he is a remarkable guy. You know, from being a Floridian, what a change he has helped bring about in that state.

When asked about his possible presidential ambitions, Virginia Governor Mark Warner tells local paper the News and Advance he won’t rule out a bid:

I'm not taking anything off the table or putting anything on the table& I will say that I want to be part of the debate to see if we can bring the Democratic Party back to the center. I think this country is way too polarized at this point.

Mitt Romney tells the Associated Press the health of his wife will be a major consideration when he decided whether or not to continue his political career. Ann Romney suffers from multiple sclerosis, but is currently in good health. Romney said:

Any reversal of her good health would almost certainly mean getting out of public office. I wouldn't run for another campaign, almost certainly.

White House communications director Dan Bartlett appeared on NBC’s Today show this morning. During the appearance, Bartlett was asked to respond to Democrat Senator Joe Biden’s filibuster and continued opposition to the nomination of John Bolton. Bartlett attributed most of Biden’s continued opposition to his emerging presidential campaign:

I see this as a week in which he launches his endeavors to be president of the United States in '08. He says he's running for president. I'm sure this is his first issue to campaign on. That's fine. He has that right to do so. We have put forward a qualified candidate who is going to reform the U.N. We are going to continue to push for an up or down vote. He has the majority of support in the Senate. We have a few Senate Democrats who are blocking this person who needs to go up and reform the United Nations, and we will keep pressing forward.

Mitt Romney tells the Boston Globe he will run for governor or the White House, but not both:

Romney's advisers have suggested that if he decides to run for president, he will not seek re-election as governor. Asked if one campaign precluded the other, Romney replied: ''I would not run for governor and walk away mid-term. That's been done too many times. . . . So I would be honest with people about what my plans were."

I would make the same pledge in running for reelection. I would not change the laws relating to abortion. I would keep them the same as we have now.

And speaking of George Pataki, the Republican Governor of New York doesn’t get much ink these days about a possible 2008 presidential bid. But he is well known to have national ambitions and would not necessary stand aside simply because Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton are apparently both already running. However, Pataki faces the same obstacle as Giuliani in overcoming the liberal Republican label. And unfortunately for Pataki, he does not receive the same credit nor convey the same image as Giuliani following 9/11.

What’s more, Pataki currently faces a decision that will define his views on abortion in more detail. The New York state assembly has approved a measure to allow the so-called morning after pill to be sold over the counter. Pataki is pro-choice, but has eased the concerns of the state Conservative Party by opposing late-term abortions and favoring parental notification for minors. On deciding whether or not Pataki will sign the morning after pill legislation, the New York Daily News finds:

A pro-choice Republican who has national political aspirations, Pataki risks huge fallout no matter what side he takes on the controversial issue.

Responding to Rove’s remarks, John Kerry said:

That spirit of our country should never be reduced to a cheap, divisive, political applause line from anyone who speaks for the president of the United States. It is really hard to believe that last night in New York, a senior adviser -- the most senior adviser to the president of the United States -- is twisting, purposely twisting those days of unity in order to divide us for political gain.

Hillary Clinton has demanded New York Governor George Pataki distance himself from Karl Rove’s comments blasting liberals for their reaction to 9/11. Pataki refused and said Clinton’s demand was “hypocritical," adding:

I have absolutely no intention of asking him to apologize, Senator Clinton might think about her propensity to allow outrageous statements from the other side that are far beyond political dialogue.

The Los Angeles Times gives a very fair look at hearings on abortion called by Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution chair Sam Brownback.

Brownback has called two abortion opponents and two advocates, as well as other legal experts, to the subcommittee to discuss how the argument over abortion has changed since Roe v. Wade was decided. On the landmark Supreme Court decision, Brownback said, “Roe was a mistake — a very, very costly one. Forty million abortions is way too many.”

However, while Brownback is personally opposed to abortion, he thanked those in the abortion rights corner for coming to the debate. In particular, Brownback praised Wisconsin Democrat Russ Feingold, who favors abortion rights but is opposed to the death penalty. Brownback thanked Feingold for taking part in a debate, "about the culture of life."

The New York Times picks-up on the theme I reported yesterday – that the Shaw/DeMint proposals to fund private accounts through the Social Security surplus might have a positive impact on Republicans running for re-election in 2006. In particular, Rick Santorum could benefit. The NYT says:

After months of inaction and divisions over the president's proposal, these plans give the Republicans a new platform to carry into the 2006 midterm elections.


Mr. Santorum, considered one of the most vulnerable incumbents in next year's elections, said, "I've not been to one town meeting where I've not heard, 'If you guys would just stop spending the Social Security surplus, things would be in good shape.' "

The Hotline reports John Edwards will visit Arizona, New Mexico, Michigan and Ohio during a three-day trip next week.

New Jersey is trying to get into the presidential primary mix. The state legislature has voted 36-1 to move their 2008 primary up from June to February. New Jersey has held the status of possessing the nation’s last primary. Acting New Jersey Governor Richard Codey said:

For too long our state has been relegated to the sidelines of presidential primary elections. That ends today. No longer will candidates just court our wallets, now they will court our votes.

Speaking of Karl Rove – appearing on MSNBC’s Scarborough Country last night, Rove would not rule out running another White House campaign. He did stress his plans to return to Texas and that he was a “Busy guy.”

As has been widely reported, there has been much fallout over Karl Rove’s, comments to the New York State Conservative Party. Democrats are up in arms over comments by Rove they say impugned their patriotism following 9/11. The Rove comment in question read as follows:

Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war. Liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers.

Possible 2008 presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, John Kerry and Joe Biden have added their names to the list demanding an apology from Rove. The White House is standing by his remarks. Out of the three, Kerry went so far as to say Bush should fire Rove.

The Free Enterprise Fund calls into the Buzz to clarify their position on the Shaw/DeMint Social Security reform proposal. Though they would prefer a stronger bill, FEF supports the legislation and do not consider themselves “critics” of it. You can read their take here.

Joe Biden appeared on CNN’s American Morning today. He was asked if he’s a “pessimist” based on his criticisms of President Bush’s Iraq policy. Biden answered:

I've been a supporter of this president. I've been the one who has been over there five times. I've been the one who has voted for the $87 billion and more money for Iraq. I've been the one that says we need more troops over there. So, I am not a pessimist at all. But I can tell you what, look at the polling numbers. The American people are beginning to think that this is not doable, because there is a gap between the reality of what's happening over there and the rhetoric they hear here. And this cannot go on. The president should go on national television, tell the American people what the progress is, tell them why we have to stay there and finish, tell them why we can't bring the troops home now, tell them they're going to stay there for a year, and how we're going to win, and get the American people's support. But we're losing it.

Zogby has numbers for 2008 Republicans as well.

John McCain leads all Republicans with 35.4 percent support. Rudy Giuliani comes in second, with just under 19 percent. Bill Frist and Newt Gingrich tie for third with roughly 5 percent each. A full 27 percent remain undecided.

Zogby has more poll numbers coming out today.

On the Democrat side, Hillary Clinton leads the 2008 field with 33 percent support. John Edwards and John Kerry tie, with roughly 14 percent each. And Joe Biden comes in third, with just over 5 percent. Nearly 20 percent of Democrats remain undecided.

The same Zogby poll says President Bush and John Kerry would finish in a dead heat if the 2004 election were held again today.

A new Zogby poll finds John McCain would “trounce” Hillary Clinton if the 2008 election were held today. According to Zogby, McCain leads Clinton in a possible match-up 54 to 35 percent.

Zogby says:

McCain has majority support in every single geographic region of the country. But more telling may be the fact that, even in the states carried by Kerry in 2004, McCain comes out comfortably on top—leading Clinton by 49 to 38% and Kerry by 50% to 40%. Among the states carried by President Bush, the margin is even wider, giving McCain a 58% to 33% lead over Clinton and 59% to 32% lead over Kerry.


McCain leads with most demographics, though Clinton would best him narrowly among Hispanic voters (45% to 38%) and would win African Americans by 80% to 19%. But that 19% would be the highest vote tally for a Republican with African Americans in decades. McCain leads Clinton with every age group except voters under 30, where the two are in a dead heat.

The New York Times runs an op-ed from a breathless (literally) college student fawning over Al Gore. The student, who is a Muslim, seems to imply that news coverage of the war in Iraq and allegations over abuses of the Koran in Guantanamo Bay make American Muslims like her feel ostracized.

The author then notes that while getting increasingly offended by her perceived status as victim of prejudice, she dropped her keys while running on a treadmill at her gym. Sure enough, Al Gore materialized, picking up the woman’s keys when she refused to do it herself.

The Hill’s Geoff Earle looks at Rudy Giuliani’s chances of winning the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and finds, “some congressional Republicans are taking a fresh look” at Giuliani.

Republican Senator Norm Coleman says of Giuliani:

He makes an impression just by walking in a room. He’s America’s mayor. I would never rule out Rudy Giuliani accomplishing anything he set out to do.

Electability will be a big issue in 2008. If Hillary Clinton decides to run for president, she’ll be a very firm opponent. I think it would be incumbent on the Republican Party to look at someone of national stature who’s electable.

He would win a general election if he got the nomination.

Even his biggest boosters can’t say for sure whether a big-city mayor who supports abortion rights can win over the social conservatives who hold overwhelming sway within the GOP.

The Washington Post reports Bill Frist and the White House are trying to pass responsibility to one another in pushing through John Bolton’s nomination as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

After meeting with President Bush, Frist agreed to have a third attempt to break the filibuster over Bolton’s nomination. However, Frist said he has done all he can to support Bolton and that the White House needs to get more involved:

The environment has to change, but it's not just up to the White House. It's really between the White House and Chris Dodd and Joe Biden.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist met with Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Al-Jaafari this morning. Al-Jaafari is in Washington today meeting with various government officials.

ABC News reports Wesley Clark will meet with Senators at the Democratic Policy Committee lunch on Capitol Hill today. Clark is expected to outline his plan for how Democrats should handle “the crisis” in Iraq and what Democrats need to do to win seats in the 2006 elections.

House Republican Paul Ryan also writes in USA Today on the Social Security reform proposal. Ryan is a co-sponsor of the House legislation and states:

While this proposal in and of itself would not completely fix Social Security's solvency problem, it is a clear step in the right direction. And it sends a message to the American people that Congress is getting serious about saving the Social Security surplus for their Social Security retirement benefits.

USA Today doesn’t like the new Social Security reform proposal but admits:

The plan has one distinct virtue. It would prevent that money from being used to fund other areas of government, a long-standing practice used to partially mask grossly irresponsible deficit spending.

Late yesterday, Howard Dean was forced to backpedal from his earlier comments on alleged voter fraud during the 2004 election in Ohio. Dean initially said the number of complaints filed with the DNC gave the “impression” Republicans tried to suppress the votes of minorities and young voters.

However, Cornell University professor Walter Mebane Jr., who was involved in the DNC’s study, disagreed with Dean’s take:

Where the partisan bias came from, where it went, we really have no basis for making any assertion about that and I don't believe the report makes any statements about that.

Bob Novak reports Joe Biden is using the buzz created by his presidential campaign announcement to conceal less admirable moves on the Senator’s part. According to Novak, Biden is blocking the president’s nomination of Dina Habib Powell to serve as the State Department’s officer for improving U.S. relations in the Middle East.

It’s not that Biden objects to Powell’s qualifications. He is quite literally demanding Bush re-appoint a longtime Biden political donor Norman Pattiz. Biden wants Pattiz re-appointed to the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

In 1992, Pattiz’s Westwood One was fined $75,000 for offering to illegally reimburse employees who contributed to Biden’s 1988 presidential campaign.

Hillary Clinton now says she will support legislation banning desecration of the American flag. But at the same time Clinton says that while she would in theory support such legislation, “I don't believe a constitutional amendment is the answer.”

The Wall Street Journal says the new Social Security reform proposal has “the potential to shake up the debate”:

Republicans are under no obligation to commit suicide by voting for benefit cuts in the House and Senate if reform has no chance of succeeding. The invest-the-surplus idea gives Democrats one more chance to join the reform party, while putting reformers in a stronger position going into 2006 if Democrats refuse.

The Los Angeles Times goes after the Social Security reform proposal. Amidst citing several Democratic members of Congress and liberal interest groups, the LAT finds one House Republican who thinks the bill doesn’t go far enough. Arizona Republican Jim Kolbe said: “You must eat your spinach before having dessert, and this plan only offers dessert — the personal retirement accounts.”

Here’s my take on the House and Senate Social Security reform proposals. While actual passage of the bill is far from certain, it could be used to create momentum on the issue and help Republican candidates in 2006. Most importantly, it will force Democrats to come to the table and defend raiding the Social Security fund.

Please take a look when you have a chance.

Senator Jim DeMint was on Fox News yesterday to discuss his Social Security reform legislation. DeMint made a point of emphasizing the misuse of today’s current Social Security surplus:

Social Security has been a secret slush fund for congress for over 20 years. We spent over trillion-and-a-half dollars of Social Security surpluses on other government programs. My bill is designed to stop that. Stop the raid on social security. If we don't pass this bill, we'll spend more than another $700 billion on social security money on other programs over the next ten years. So, this stop the raid bill simply takes the amount of money that's going into Social Security that's not needed now to pay benefits, and gives it to the workers who put it in there. So, it's saved, and safe government bonds, so it cannot be spent by congress.

The DNC has released a new study of 2004 voter access in Ohio. Not surprisingly, the partisan inquiry finds Democratic voters complaining of long lines when trying to vote last November. The report did stop short of accusing the Bush team of fraud in last year’s election.

For his part, DNC Chair Howard Dean said the “volume” of reports from black and young voters “suggested Republicans had tried to suppress the vote in heavily Democratic districts.” Dean said, "This is bad for America. We need to repair and restructure the way we conduct elections in America."

In response, RNC Chair Ken Mehlman dismissed the DNC report, noting the number of false voter registration forms submitted in Ohio during last year’s campaign by liberal groups. Mehlman said,
"Republicans will continue to register and inspire new voters, make it easier for everyone to vote at the polls and protect everyone's franchise from being canceled out by illegal or fraudulent registration.”

The Boston Globe compares the styles and beliefs of John McCain and Mitt Romney today (also noted in The Corner earlier here). On Romney, they say:

If you're a Republican activist in one of the states where his Commonwealth PAC has been sprinkling money about, you may have read rave reviews about Romney, courtesy of the ''memorandum" political aides Darrell Crate and Trent Wisecup sent out in early June.


From a Massachusetts perspective, however, what Romney is doing looks like presidential primary panderama. When he ran for governor in 2002, one of Romney's strongest selling points was that he was beholden to no one. But the man who won the governorship by portraying himself as independent enough to stand up to powerful Democratic interests here now seems awfully eager to placate Republican activists and ideologues everywhere else.

Although he proved himself a loyal Republican during the presidential campaign, McCain is no favorite of the far right. But among others, he's considered a straight shooter, one widely admired for his independence and his willingness to speak his mind.


As McCain and Romney explore national candidacies, here's a question the governor might want to ponder: In a race that emphasizes character, who seems more his own man?

Newt Gingrich and George Mitchell co-author an editorial in USA Today on the subject of U.N. reform. Gingrich and Mitchell agree a strong United Nations is “in the interests” of the United States, but that to get there, major changes must be made:

The unfolding oil-for-food scandal is testimony to the importance of long overdue managerial reform. Management systems common throughout the world in both public and private institutions are often lacking at the U.N. The task force concludes that U.N. internal reform should include the creation of a chief operating officer to provide strong operational management; the establishment of an independent oversight board; sunset provisions for programs mandated by the General Assembly; and the identification of operational programs that should be funded by voluntary contributions.

Gingrich also nudged the Senate on Bolton on NRO earlier this week.

Free Enterprise Fund Policy Director Phil Kerpen writes in to the Buzz with some thoughts on the Shaw/DeMint proposal:

1. The accounts include only the cash surplus, not the trust fund interest. With just the cash surplus, the biggest the accounts can get is 1.8%, versus 4% if interest is included (equal to Bush's plan). There is no real policy rationale for continuing to pay interest into the trust fund instead of the accounts--the issue is with CBO scoring, since interest paid to the trust fund isn't included in the deficit, but issuing those bonds to personal accounts would be.


2. The offset is dollar-for-dollar, which means that there is no upside for workers. Whatever the accounts are worth at retirement, that's how much Social Security benefits would be reduced. Since the accounts are too small to ever grow to be worth more than scheduled benefits, workers would receive the same low rate of return they get now. The proper way to do the offset is to make it proportional--so that if you paid in say 75% of your lifetime payroll taxes, you would get 75% of the benefits.

Listening to the Americans United to Protect Social Security right now. Dean Baker of the Center for Economic and Policy Research is already twisting the language of the DeMint/Shaw proposal. Baker says, “The basic story of their plan is to take money out of the Social Security trust fund. Take money from the surplus and put it into private accounts.”

Baker says the better plan is to simply wait till 2009 and re-evaluate the system then.

Finally, it’s worth noting some of the legislation’s actual details. In essence, the idea is to use the Social Security surplus to finance personal accounts.

Currently the annual Social Security surplus is in the range of $150 billion dollars. Congress uses the surplus as a stealth cash pot to fund other pet projects. Both sides are guilty.

To appease critics of personal accounts, the legislation eliminated the stock market option and limits investments to treasury bonds. In theory, if personal accounts proved successful, money could be transferred to them out of the general Social Security fund once the surplus deteriorates. And if personal accounts proved a failure they could be phased out as the surplus shrinks. At least under this plan your tax dollars would have the potential to earn a return. Right now, when it comes to the Social Security surplus, you don’t know where they are going or how they are being spent.

More than one GOP congressional source has admitted to me this week the odds of their Social Security reform legislation passing are nominal. However, there is both hope and confidence that presenting the bill will provide some positive momentum on the issue.

With polls showing broad public disapproval of Congress, Republicans are naturally eager to accumulate issues that could nationalize the 2006 elections in favor of conservative candidates. A “good-government” Social Security reform proposal seems like a good start.

A few more interesting points on this Social Security reform legislation. Politically, the timing speaks volumes about the legislation’s content and those members of Congress it would affect.

Rick Santorum is a co-sponsor of the Senate legislation and arguably the most vulnerable Republican up for re-election in 2006. On the House side, Clay Shaw and other members live in districts with some of the highest percentages of seniors nationally.

If their legislation is successful it would give Republicans the personal accounts they desire without fundamentally altering the system. Santorum and all other incumbents running for re-election would have this as an asset to deliver to cautious voters.

If the bill fails, Santorum and Republicans in both the House and Senate will potentially achieve a strategic victory. Democrats who oppose the bill will be painted as obstructionists who cannot be trusted as fair negotiators on the issue. In so many words Democrats will have to acknowledge they would rather raid the Social Security trust fund for other programs rather than making the system solvent today.

At 4pm today, the organization Americans United to Protect Social Security will hold a phone conference reacting to House Republican Clay Shaw and Senator Jim DeMint's Social Security reform proposal.

UPDATE:

The group is opposed to Social Security reform and has been targeting members who support the White House.

I’ll take part in the phone conference and bring you more details this afternoon about their reaction. I’ll also have more details on the plan and what lawmakers hope to achieve with the legislation running in NRO tomorrow morning.

There is new momentum building for Social Security reform. Earlier today, House Republicans Clay Shaw, Sam Johnson, Paul Ryan and Jim McCrery held a press conference to announce new Social Security legislation. Their bill would take money from the Social Security surplus and put it into private accounts.

Senator Jim DeMint, who is authoring a similar bill in the Senate, said:

I’m very happy that Republicans in the House and Senate are uniting to stop the secret raid on Social Security. This advances the most important principle of long-term reform: Social Security money must be used for Social Security. Americans are outraged over the raid, and they want it to stop now.

John McCain introduced Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai during a reception at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington yesterday. Despite some protests to visit, McCain said, “Thirty years after the war's end, I believe we should look to the future and its potential and not to the past and its pain.”

McCain also dryly noted Khai would visit the New York Stock Exchange tomorrow to ring the market’s opening bell. Or as McCain said, “The prime minister will ring the bell at that infamous den of capitalism, the New York Stock Exchange.”

Hillary Clinton remains undecided on legislation introducing a constitutional amendment to ban desecration of the United States flag. Clinton told reporters, “I'm studying the issue.”

The Associated Press calls Hillary Clinton and John McCain the “800 gorillas” of the 2008 campaign and offers advice to those others who want to get in the mix: Get busy.

Heading back over to the MSNBC studios. I am scheduled to appear at 12:30 with "The Truth About Hillary" author Ed Klein and Ari Berman of the Nation. We’ll be discussing the impact of Klein’s book and the road to 2008.

Should be back to blogging by the 1pm hour. See you then.

The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) writes favorably of Condoleezza Rice’s trip to the Middle East and meetings with foreign leaders. The WSJ says Rice has delivered a message to the rest of the world that:

America would no longer pursue "stability at the expense of democracy." The U.S. will now notice when peaceful Egyptian protestors are brutalized by government security goons, or when Saudi citizens are imprisoned for "peacefully petitioning the government"; and the future of both countries as American allies rests on the seriousness of their commitment to democratic reform.

It is time to abandon the excuses that are made to avoid the hard work of democracy. There are those who say that democracy is being imposed. In fact, the opposite is true: Democracy is never imposed. It is tyranny that must be imposed.

Condoleezza Rice is spending much of her current overseas trip promoting the rights of women in nations such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iraq. Rice acknowledged the delicate balance of pressuring foreign leaders to change their domestic polices, but said she has received encouragement from some of the leaders.

The Washington Post looks at Joe Biden’s speech yesterday and finds him part of a larger Democratic trend.

The Post says Democrats are trying to bolster their anti-war strategy by putting additional pressure on President Bush to discuss the war’s progress and details. Today, all 44 Democrat Senators are meeting to discuss the issue.

In a new CBS News poll, Hillary Clinton’s favorable ratings drop from 40 to 36 percent. Meanwhile, her unfavorable rating dropped as well, from 38 to 31 percent. However, what makes this poll hard to believe is that the number of respondents claiming they’ve never heard of Clinton actually rose from 22 to 32 percent.

Clinton’s highest rating in the CBS poll came in January 1999 when her approval was 50 percent and her disapproval 20. Her lowest point came in June of 2003, when her rating was 24 percent favorable and 32 percent unfavorable.

The Associated Press says Joe Biden’s Iraq speech yesterday was, “arguably the first campaign speech of the 2008 race.”

As I reported on the Buzz yesterday, Biden has been increasing his harsh rhetoric of President Bush’s Iraq policy as he seeks to bring attention to his own fledging candidacy. However, in the midst of this criticism, Biden sought to reassure his audience the speech “is not political,” and observed:

George Bush is our president. We have one president at a time. He is the president, and nobody is running against George Bush.

Mitt Romney was asked by the Associated Press about his 2008 plans. Romney responded:

If someone said, well, you know, the governor's testing the national waters, that's a fair characterization. But I'm planning on running for governor. Time will tell, I'll make a final decision and an announcement in the fall, and we'll go from there.

After meeting with President Bush, Bill Frist has reversed course and says he will not schedule a third vote on John Bolton’s nomination before the Senate floor:

The president made it very clear that he expects an up-or-down vote," Dr. Frist said at the White House, after lunching with the president.


"The decision in talking to the president is that he strongly supports John Bolton, as we know, and he asked that we to continue to work," Dr. Frist said. "And we'll continue to work."


"It's not dead," he said of the nomination. "It is going to require some continued talking and discussion.”

I’ll be going back on MSNBC today. Check in to “Connected: Coast to Coast” at 5pm. I’ll be appearing at the top of the show with Ari Berman of the Nation to discuss Dick Durbin and the 2008 presidential trail.

Reader Luis from Miami writes in on all the speculation surrounding Jeb Bush:

That USNWR (U.S. News and World Report) note on Jeb is 100% right on. Before being Gov, he lived a couple of minutes from me, and to the locals in the know, they know Columba hates all the trappings of power, and that running for Senate in '06 (let alone Prez in '08) was out of the question. I've even heard that re-election in '02 was iffy for a little while.
That's why I found the "Bush-Clinton rivalry continues in '08 with Jeb & Hillary" story foolish. It was reported by lazy MSM reporters that don't want to dig too hard for what the actual story is. Even the slightest of footwork would have quickly shown that Columba would veto any run for office.

In a Boston Herald op-ed, Mitt Romney explains how his healthcare plan would help ensure all of Massachusetts. But the Cato Institute says it sounds like Romney “is running for the liberal wing of the Democratic Party.”

The Boston Herald describes Howard Dean’s performance last night at a Boston fundraiser as “toned down.” However, the paper then goes on to describe some of the DNC Chair’s comments. Dean mocked Governor Mitt Romney, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and radio host Rush Limbaugh amongst others. But he saved his most outrageous comment for Republicans and Terri Schiavo:

They say they want small government, but their government is just big enough to fit inside Terri Schiavo's bed in the nursing home.

Buzz reader Michael from Seattle writes in on Hillary Clinton’s positive media coverage and asks:

The media has been falling all over itself to report on every positive poll result for Hillary on the democrat side of the presidential sweepstakes. Why has there been almost zero mention of Mayor Giuliani's almost stunning ascent to the top of similar GOP polls? Rudy, like Hillary is a political celebrity who inspires deep passion on both sides of the aisle. Is it possible that the mainstream media is afraid of helping Rudy in any way, knowing that if he were able to sneak through the primary process he would be unbeatable in a general election given the current electoral college?

The Hill looks at the number of GOP partnerships Hillary Clinton has formed. And quite a few of those include 2008 players such as Chuck Hagel, Sam Brownback and Rick Santorum.

However, the Hill notes John Kerry has actually sponsored more bi-partisan legislation than Clinton during the last two cycles. Of course, the Buzz would like to point out Kerry had a 15 year jump start on the Senator from New York in building relationships and alliances with members of the Senate.

The New York Daily News predicts Ed Klein’s new book on Hillary Clinton will:

Infuriate fans of the New York Democrat when it officially hits stores today, but experts predict it will be a political dud.

People always take a first spouse into account if he or she is at all controversial. I guarantee you, at some point voters will ask themselves, “Do we want this whole Clinton family circus back in the White House?” That will definitely be a factor.

Dick Morris takes a look at Hillary Clinton’s rising popularity and finds:

It seems that as the prospect of a presidential candidacy nears, Democrats are rallying around her. Right after Election Day last year, 40 percent of them wanted her to be the nominee in 2008. Today, 44 percent support her for the nomination.

Hillary's and Bill's surges are largely due to the complicity of leading Republicans in implicitly endorsing her move to the center by appearing with her. President Bush needs to get his father to pull back on his public bobsey-twins identification with Bill and Republicans need to let Gingrich et al know of their displeasure with his newfound best-buddy relationship with Hillary.


Those who feel that America is not ready to vote for Hillary need to think again. As the prospect of her candidacy nears, her ratings are going up, not down.

Back in the world of Tom DeLay, the New York Times is reporting news that could be good for the House Majority Leader:

A law firm under scrutiny for its role in arranging overseas trips for members of Congress says House ethics lawyers advised the firm several years ago that it could pay for some Congressional travel, an assertion that may bolster the argument of Representative Tom DeLay that he did nothing wrong in accepting lavish trips organized by the firm's star lobbyist.

According to ABC News, Joe Biden will make a speech today the Brookings Institution where he will outline criticisms of the administration’s Iraq policy. In the speech, Biden will say:

The disconnect between the administration's rhetoric and the reality on the ground has opened not just a credibility gap, but a credibility chasm. Standing right in the middle of that chasm are 139,000 American troops, some on their third rotations.

Biden gives his requirements for success in Iraq:

Success is leaving Iraq better than we found it. Not a Jeffersonian democracy, but a unified country with a representative government in which all the major communities have a stake; a country that is not a breeding ground or a haven for terrorists; and a country that is not a threat to us or its neighbors. Period."

Sorry for the light posting this morning. I’m doing some radio interviews and should be back to full posting shortly.

Condoleezza Rice yesterday criticized both Saudi Arabia and Egypt for their failure to enact democratic reforms and called on all nations to support the basic freedoms of its citizens. Rice told a group of government officials in Cairo:

Throughout the Middle East, the fear of free choices can no longer justify the denial of liberty. It is time to abandon the excuses that are made to avoid the hard work of democracy.

For all citizens with grievances, democracy can be a path to lasting justice. But the democratic system cannot function if certain groups have one foot in the realm of politics and one foot in the camp of terror.

Last night delivered another setback in the nomination of John Bolton. Once again, the Senate failed to gather the 60 votes necessary to end the filibuster on his nomination. In fact, eight senators did not even vote, including John Thune and Norm Coleman.

The obstruction is another victory for Joe Biden and Bolton’s critics. It is also another defeat for Bill Frist, who has been unable to show progress in the nomination. The momentum lost only shows the wisdom in George Allen’s assertion immediately following the Senate Foreign Relations Committee vote on Bolton that the Senate should have taken up his nomination immediately.

UPDATE: Made a correction up top. Originally, I mistakenly posted that eight Republican Senators did not vote. It was actually eight total senators.

Bill Frist has written a letter to Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid demanding a Senate floor apology from Dick Durbin. As most Buzz readers are aware, last week Durbin compared U.S. interrogators at Guantanamo Bay to Nazi and Soviet regimes. In the letter, Frist writes:

Subsequent statements by Senator Durbin indicate only that he was regretful if people misunderstood his remarks. We do not believe his remarks were misunderstood.

Chuck Hagel doesn’t mince words with U.S. News over his views on Iraq. Hagel blames the Bush White House for misleading the public over Iraq. He says the administration is not willing to accept responsibility and be honest with the American public about the situation:

Things aren't getting better; they're getting worse. The White House is completely disconnected from reality. It's like they're just making it up as they go along. The reality is that we're losing in Iraq.”

While Bill Frist has been getting a lot of bad press in recent months, the Washington Times writes he may be benefiting from the compromise over judicial filibusters. More than half a dozen judges have been approved since the compromise was reached and an end to the compromise could still lead to a vote ending judicial filibusters altogether. Those on the right who forged the compromise get some praise from the WT as well, who note:

Many conservatives, too, saw the deal as a betrayal by the seven GOP senators who signed onto the agreement to break the logjam and prevent a vote on Mr. Frist's motion. But a different picture is coming into focus. Mr. Bush is putting a bunch of very conservative judges on the Appeals Courts and changing the complexion of the nation's judiciary.

[ 06/20/2005 03:20 PM ]

U.S. News reports a widely circulated rumor that the real reason Jeb Bush will not run for president is opposition from his wife.

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has been trimming the overall government employee payroll since coming to office while simultaneously increasing his own.

Since Richardson took office in 2003, there are 42 fewer employees on the New Mexico government payroll. However, in that same period of time, Richardson’s personal staff has grown by 50 percent over his predecessor. Richardson’s staff has grown from 292 individuals to 437. That’s an increase of 145 over former Republican Governor Gary Johnson.

Earlier today I noted Joe Biden’s comment on running for president in 2008. Even with the rapid news cycle, announcing 2008 presidential intentions in 2005 does seem a bit premature. However, the Washington Post reminds us that in 2004 Biden played with the idea of running only to determine he had waited too long. Biden spokesman Norm Kurz on his boss’s early launch:

Now he understands it's a long march, and if he was to do it, he'd be much better prepared. He understands you don't parachute in at the last second. You can't wait until the day of the race to train. He's out there, he's looking at his stopwatch, seeing if his time is good enough.

Bill First made his second visit to South Carolina in less than a month. While visiting the primary state, Frist answered a question about his 2008 ambitions:

People always say: “What about the future? What about after you're majority leader?” I'm thinking about being a medical missionary, I'm thinking about returning to my cardiac-surgical practice and doing heart transplants where I have the opportunity to making people's lives better who are going to die of heart disease and I'm thinking of other ways of public service, including government.

David Brooks has some harsh words for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist in his New York Times column. Brooks argues Frist has been taking positions of the far right in an attempt to powerfully position himself for a 2008 run. However, Brooks says this pandering is what has actually hurt Frist’s chances:

These days he seems not so much the leader of the Senate conservatives, but someone who is playing the role. And because he is behaving in ways that don't seem entirely authentic, he is often trying just a bit too hard, striking the notes more forcefully than they need to be struck.

Sometimes in their quests to perform greater acts of service, people lose contact with their animating passion. And the irony is that the earlier Frist, the Tennessee Republican, the brilliant and passionate health care expert, is exactly the person the country could use.

Condoleezza Rice told Wolf Blitzer on CNN’s Late Edition yesterday that Iraqis are making progress in combating terrorists and insurgent fighters in their country. Rice says an improving Iraqi army equals a measured withdrawal for U.S. forces:

As they make progress then you will see fewer and fewer coalition forces engaged and fewer and fewer coalition forces needed. And that is absolutely our desire as well as, I think, the desire of the American people. But insurgencies are defeated not just militarily; they're defeated politically as well. And so you have to look also at the tremendous progress that the Iraqis are making on the political front, having held one election, writing a constitution now, and getting ready for elections again in December. The insurgency cannot continue to exist if it loses the Iraqi people; and with every day the Iraqi people see their future in their political process, not in some alternative.

Ted Kennedy says Mitt Romney still needs to prove he has the ingredients to be a presidential contender:

The real kind of question and challenge is whether he has the vision and the ability to mobilize both his party and the country in terms of national leadership. I think that's the big question.

While Condoleezza Rice is downplaying any talk of her running for president in 2008, Joe Biden is doing just the opposite. Biden told CBS’s Face the Nation, he will definitely run if he thinks he can compete. Biden said:

My intention is to seek the nomination. I know I'm supposed to be more coy with you. I know I'm supposed to tell you, you know, that I'm not sure. But if, in fact, I think that I have a clear shot at winning the nomination by this November or December, then I'm going to seek the nomination.

I've proceeded since last November as if I were going to run. I'm quite frankly going out, seeing whether I can gather the kind of support.

On yesterday’s Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace asked Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice about her intentions for 2008. Wallace asked Rice, “I know that you have ruled out running for president in 2008. But I want to ask you about that. Is there something about running for office that is unappealing to you, that either you don't like or think you wouldn't be good at?”

Rice responded:

I've just never wanted to do it, Chris. I didn't run for class president any time that I can remember. I like what I'm doing. And this is a time when I think I've got a chance to help this president make a difference, to help the United States in this moment of American influence to make a difference. And so I'll keep after that.

Finally, McCain was asked about his various splits with President Bush and socially conservative Republicans. McCain made a strong effort to highlight his similarities with Republican voters over his differences.

In addition, McCain said he would not run a third party campaign if he didn’t get the GOP nomination in 2008. On his relationship with Bush, McCain said:

The fact is that I have agreed with President Bush far more than I have disagreed. And on the transcendent issues, the most important issues of our day, I've been totally in agreement and support of President Bush. So have we had some disagreements on some issues, the bulk--particularly domestic issues? Yes. But I will argue my conservative record voting with anyone's, and I will also submit that my support for President Bush has been active and very impassioned on issues that are important to the American people. And I'm particularly talking about the war on terror, the war in Iraq, national security, national defense, support of men and women in the military, fiscal discipline, a number of other issues.

On the issue of abortion, Russert asked McCain if he believed Roe v. Wade was decided incorrectly. McCain answered:

Yeah, I certainly do to some degree because it was based on medical knowledge and technology at the time that indicated that children are not viable at its earliest stage as they are today. So it certainly wasn't based on sound, up-to-date medical technology. We save babies every day that are premature at a very early stage. Thank God.

John McCain was in top form on NBC’s Meet the Press yesterday. McCain clearly was trying to put his conservative views out up front during the interview. He had several interesting answers to Tim Russerts’s questions. Amongst other answers, McCain stressed his support for Justice Scalia, his disapproval of Roe v. Wade, his support for the war in Iraq and his support of President Bush.

Of course, on the question of 2008, McCain again admitted he would like to be president, but will wait to make a final decision on running:

I think it's an option. But, again, I want to emphasize, I'm going to wait two years before making that decision. I want to work hard and be a good senator. I want to represent the people that just returned me to the Senate, the people of Arizona. I think it's appropriate to do that.

Over on the main site, you can find NRO’s interview with Edward Klein, author of the new book, “The Truth About Hillary.”

When asked to define Hillary Clinton in a sentence, Klein said:

Hillary is not a victim (not of sexism, not of her husband, and certainly not of this book); she’s not a moderate (despite her effort to re-brand herself in the Senate). Even my sources on the left admit she’s positioning herself as a victim and moderate in order to win the White House.