January 1, 2008

2 Days Until the Iowa Caucuses

CONSERVATIVE EDITORIALS

LIBERAL EDITORIALS

POLITICAL BLOGS

Photo Attributions

Click Here for Photo Attributions

 

 

 


 powered by FreeFind
Giuliani Leads by 2.5%
Giuliani 20.8
Huckabee
 18.3
McCain 16.0
Romney 13.5
Thompson 11.8
Paul 4.0
See All Polls
Clinton Leads by 22.2%
Clinton 46.0
Obama 23.8
Edwards 13.5
See All Polls
STATE PRIMARY LEADERS
(EARLY STATES)
Iowa
Huckabee +2.9%
Clinton +3.3%
New Hampshire
Romney +4.7%
Clinton +2.9%
South Carolina
Huckabee +7.3%
Clinton +1.5%
Michigan
Romney +0.5%
Clinton +31.0% No Delegates
Florida
Giuliani +2.0%
Clinton +23.7%
Nevada
Romney +3.5%
Clinton +17.5%
Clinton 48.5
Giuliani 45.5
Clinton 47.0
Thompson 42.0
Clinton 45.0
McCain 48.5
Clinton 49.8
Romney 44.3
Clinton 51.3
Huckabee 42.0
See All Head-to-Head Polls

Why the Ref's Poll Averages Are Superior

 

The Ref's Calls

Bhutto's Assassination Might Hurt Huckabee and Obama                     

In American politics the events that occur overseas generally only matter if they dominate the news cycle for at least twenty-four hours.  If the story lasts for more than three days because of demand for the story, as opposed to media driven interest, the story will begin to have a major impact for as long as the story lasts. If the story becomes an issue of constant fascination it can change the American political landscape. 

The assassination of Benazir Bhutto, while tragic, will likely not prove to impact the American primaries significantly. The story will probably fade by the time Americans go to work on Tuesday morning. The horserace will take over the news cycle on Tuesday and dominate until the caucuses on Thursday.

One can imagine, however, a different scenario where pockets of voters focus on the Bhutto story more than the rest of us and change their vote because of it.  Voters who have underestimated the significance of terrorism in the newly elected president’s next term may be reminded of it and reevaluate their options.

In the Democratic race one might imagine that some Iowa voters have strayed from Hillary and to Obama because they are uncomfortable with her less than zealous opposition to the Iraq war. Perhaps some voters on the periphery might defect from Obama in favor of Hillary's somewhat more hawkish approach. Hillary is not hawkish except when compared to Obama. They might do this because the Bhutto story reminds them that we live in a dangerous world. 

On the Republican side one might imagine that Huckabee stands to lose the most as a result of the story. He is perceived to be softer on terrorism than Giuliani, McCain and Romney because of his distancing himself from the Bush "bunker mentality." This story reminds Iowa voters that terrorism is a danger we must deal with.

This story might aid Romney is drawing the contrast between his Huckabee's approaches to terrorism. This in conjunction with the attack on Huckabee from conservative talk radio might be enough to swing Iowa to Romney.  The Ref - Dec. 28, 2007

 

Thanks to FreeFind for providing the search technology for this website.  

 

The Ref's Daily Political Brief

32% 26%   32%    25%

Trustworthy Iowa Poll Shows Obama and Huckabee with Leads, But Within Margins of Error

Chelsea Clinton to 9 Year Old: "I'm sorry, I don't talk to the press and that applies to you, unfortunately."

Huckabee Uses Old Political Trick . . . It Worked

Iowa: Romney and Huckabee in a Dead Heat


Yahoo! News: Politics News

Obama heads to Ohio looking for health care votes (AP)

In this image released by NBC David Axelrod, President Barack Obama's top political adviser, is interviewed on NBC's Meet the Press in Washington Sunday, March 14, 2010. Axelrod said Sunday that lobbyists are gathering on Capitol Hill 'like locusts' to try to derail health care legislation, that passage will be a struggle, but that he's confident the overhaul will soon become law. (AP Photo/NBC, William B. Plowman) NO ARCHIVES. NO SALESAP - Still seeking votes for his proposed health care overhaul, President Barack Obama appears ready to reverse his position and allow unpopular deal-sweetening measures in the hopes of finding Democratic support for legislation whose future will be decided in coming days.




US census forms arrive in the mail: What to expect (AP)

FILE - In this Jan. 25, 2010 file photo, U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Groves arrives in the remote Inupiat Eskimo village Noorvik, Alaska in a dogsled driven by Noorvik resident Brian Coffin, 11, to formally launch the nation's 2010 count. More than 120 million U.S. census forms begin arriving Monday, March 15, 2010, in mailboxes around the country, in the government's once-a-decade population count that will be used to divvy up congressional seats and more than $400 billion in federal aid. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)AP - Let the count begin.




Dodd seeks difficult consensus on financial rules (AP)

FILE - In this Nov. 10, 2009, file photo Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., announces a financial reform package during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Dodd is expected to unveil a new sweeping regulatory proposal Monday, March 15, 2010, that will abandon his initial plan for a stand-alone consumer financial protection agency and for a single powerful regulator to oversee all of the nation's banks. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)AP - Combining Obama administration and Republican priorities, the leading Senate author of a sweeping rewrite of the nation's financial regulations is looking for consensus with a proposal that neither side of the political spectrum is ready to embrace.




Dodd: Wall St. reform 'cannot wait' (Politico)
Politico - Chris Dodd will unveil a revised financial reform bill Monday that seeks to find middle ground.

Scandal has Ensign under seige (Politico)
Politico - A persistent drip of info about his sex scandal has colleagues asking if he can serve effectively.

AP Exclusive: Pentagon gun was from Tenn. police (AP)

FILE - In this Nov. 6, 2007 file photo, Miami police chief John Timoney speaks during a news conference. Law enforcement officials say two guns used in high-profile attacks, one at the Pentagon, and another from the fatal January shooting of an officer at a Las Vegas courthouse, both came from the same unlikely place: the police and court system of Memphis, Tennessee. (AP Photo/David Adame, File)AP - Two guns used in high-profile shootings this year at the Pentagon and a Las Vegas courthouse both came from the same unlikely place: the police and court system of Memphis, Tenn.




US lawmakers attack China ahead of Nov. elections (AP)

Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., speaks with reporters at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Monday, March 8, 20201, after accompanying President Barack Obama on Air Force One to Arcadia University in Glenside, Pa., where he spoke about health care reform. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)AP - China is once again the country Congress loves to hate.




Sen. Harry Reid's wife released from hospital (AP)

Democratic party lawmakers (L-R) House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) confer during a bipartisan health reform summit with U.S. President Barack Obama and lawmakers at Blair House in Washington, February 25, 2010. REUTERS/Jason ReedAP - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's wife has been released from a Virginia hospital, where she was taken after being seriously injured in a traffic accident.




Common problems when filling out US census forms (AP)
AP - Some common problems when filling out U.S. census forms, which arrive by mail beginning Monday:

White House stands ground on high court criticism (AP)

David Axelrod, Senior White House Adviser, appears on AP - The White House on Sunday defended President Barack Obama's scathing criticism of a Supreme Court decision that allows unions and corporations to funnel unlimited dollars to political campaigns.




Obama, Medvedev encouraged on arms talks accord (AP)

President Barack Obama walks out of the Jane E. Lawton Community Recreation Center in Chevy Chase, Md., Saturday, March 13, 2010, after ha Obama and the first lady attended their daughter Sasha's basketball game. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)AP - President Barack Obama on Saturday had what the White House described as an "encouraging" phone conversation with Russian President Dmitrty Medvedev as the two countries sought to work out the remaining issues on a treaty to significantly reduce nuclear arsenals.




Child abuse claims sweep Catholic Church in Europe (AP)

In this photo released by Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Pope Benedict XVI, left, meets Archbishop Robert Zollitsch during an audience in his private library at the Vatican, Friday, March 12, 2010. Germany's top bishop has informed Pope Benedict XVI on cases of clerical sex abuse in the pontiff's native Germany and said the pope encouraged him to pursue the truth and assist the victims. Zollitsch said the pope was greatly dismayed and deeply moved as he was being briefed on the scandal during Friday's meeting at the Vatican. (AP Photo/Osservatore Romano) EDITORIAL USE ONLYAP - It often starts as a voice in the wilderness, but can swell into an entire nation's demand for truth. From Ireland to Germany, Europe's many victims of child abuse in the Roman Catholic church are finally breaking social taboos and confronting the clergy to face its demons.




Irish police free 4 in alleged artist murder plot (AP)
AP - Four people, including an American woman, arrested over an alleged plot to assassinate Swedish artist Lars Vilks have been freed without charge, but three others remain in custody, Irish police said Saturday.

Health Care 101: A consumer primer on Obama's bill (AP)
AP - It took lawmakers a year to shape President Barack Obama's health care bill. If it finally passes Congress, it'll take the better part of a decade to write the user manual for consumers and doctors, employers and insurance companies.

Obama's health care legacy hangs on power of Clyburn's persuasion (McClatchy Newspapers)

House Majority Whip James Clyburn of S.C., left, Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., center, and others leave the White House in Washington, Thursday, March 11, 2010, after the Congressional Black Caucus met with President Barack Obama. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)McClatchy Newspapers - WASHINGTON — The looming vote for final passage of the historic health-care bill is the stiffest challenge House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn has faced in his three-plus years as the lawmaker responsible for counting heads and ensuring passage of major legislation.




RSS Software
Increase Online Traffic