Daschle ditches 2008 presidential run

Pat at Brainster came across the news that the former Democratic leader of the Senate, South Dakota's Tom Daschle, won't be running for president in 2008.

Daschle's chances of winning the nomination from his party were close to nil. Let's be thankful to Daschle that he fast-forwarded the inevitable by withdrawing from the race before even entering. At least there's no risk of his leaving a trail of unpaid bills. (Scroll down to a post from Saturday on that issue.)

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Kerry's "botched joke" botches 2008 presidential announcement

Up until his infamous "botched joke" about uneducated troops getting "stuck in Iraq," it was widely expected the Sen. John Kerry would try again to win the presidency in 2008.

From the Boston Globe:

Senator John F. Kerry's election-eve "botched joke" about the war in Iraq -- and the fierce denunciations his comments drew from fellow Democrats -- has led him to reevaluate whether to mount a run for the presidency in 2008 and has led him to delay an announcement about his decision, according to Kerry associates.

The Massachusetts Democrat is now leaning toward waiting until late spring before declaring his intentions, even as other candidates jump into the race and begin building organizing and fund-raising teams in early-primary states. Before the joke derailed his comeback, Kerry had signaled that he would decide whether to run by the end of January.

Kerry -- who had methodically resurrected his political standing after a tough loss to President Bush in 2004 -- was stunned by the swift, angry reaction to his Oct. 30 statement that underachieving students would end up "stuck in Iraq." Aides and friends say the senator was particularly stung by the fact that so many Democrats had joined Republicans in rebuking him.

The incident laid bare to the senator the lingering skepticism and resentment of him two years after he failed to unseat Bush, according to Kerry advisers who spoke on condition of anonymity.

By late spring, many of the better campaign aides would have been hired by other candidates. But Bob Shrum should still be available.

Technorati tags: Kerry Politics News Democrats Massachusetts 2008

Fiji coup set for Monday

Aren't coup d'état attempts supposed to be surprises? Well, I guess they do things differently in the Fiji Islands.

From AFP:

Fiji's military chief is likely to carry out his threat to overthrow the government early Monday, a report quoted government and military sources as saying.

The Fiji Sunday Post quoted the sources as saying the capital Suva was expected to be sealed by military roadblocks at the start of the operation from 3:00 am Monday (1500 GMT Sunday).

Speculation about when military commander, Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama, would move has mounted since midday Friday when a deadline passed for the government to accede to a series of demands or face the country's fourth coup in two decades.

The Sunday Post said under the plan, the government would be dismissed, parliament dissolved and an interim administration installed.

Time, date, and place. I'm impressed by the coup plotters planning skills. I just hope the sitting government doesn't get wind of this scheme and ruin it.

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And so it begins....an attack on Romney over who cuts his lawn

Expect a lot more of these types of attacks on presidential candidates, particularly Republicans.

Gov. Mitt Romney (R-Mass.) has positioned himself has a hawk on illegal immigration.

And now comes a story that his lawn has been cut by a firm employing illegal immigrants.

The same firm does landscaping work for the town of Chelsea, as well as the Massachusetts Port Authority.

But expect this story to go nowhere. From the Boston Globe:

Manuel Macias, an East Boston attorney who specializes in immigration law, said that someone who hires a contractor to perform services on his property has no obligation to make sure the employer's workers are in the country legally.

"If you hire a contractor, it's their responsibility, if they have employees, to [abide] by state and city laws, from workman's comp to immigration requirements," he said.

Technorati tags: Romney immigration politics Massachusetts 2008 Republicans

Edwards, Clark, still have unpaid 2004 debt

In the 1980s I worked at Chicago's Bismarck Hotel in the catering department. I was told by my boss that he learned a hard lesson when he allowed a couple of political fundraising events to be billed to the candidate's campaign committee--instead of paying up front. The candidate lost, and the hotel never got paid for those parties.

In short, he told me--Never issue a political campaign credit.

Twenty years later, that advice, one-hundred times over, is being spread around by burned vendors who issued credit to the political campaigns of John Edwards and Wesley Clark.

From AP:

Democrats John Edwards and Wesley Clark have debts of several hundred thousand dollars from their unsuccessful White House bids in 2004, a burden as they consider presidential runs in 2008.

Edwards, the 2004 Democratic vice presidential nominee, had about $2,200 in his campaign account at the end of September and more than $300,000 in unpaid bills from his failed campaign for his party's nomination.

Clark, who has said he will decide in the next few months whether to run again, had about $390,000 left from the last campaign and debts totaling more than $260,000.

According to the Federal Election Commission, candidates are not obligated to pay off debts from a past presidential campaign before starting a new one.

Now my 1980s deadbeat went on to run for office at least two more times, and that outstanding debt was a minor issue for that candidate. I have no idea if those old bills were ever paid.

Edwards and Clark are considering a 2008 reprise of their '04 runs, and their debt ought to be an issue should they choose to run again.

The AP article goes on to explain that some of the unpaid vendors are relatively small operations running on a tight cash-flow.

This should be, but probably isn't, a personal embarrassment to former Senator Edwards, who has lately attached himself to the hip of the anti-Wal-Mart group Wake Up Wal-Mart. Edwards portrays himself as a battler for "the little guy," but the "little guy" deserves to get paid for services rendered.

Retired General Wesley Clark, who ran a bizarre presidential campaign in '04, probably is oblivious to his campaign debt problems. A military lifer, he's used to other people paying the bills, sight unseen. And if they're not paid, well, again, it's all "sight unseen" to Clark.

Which makes sense, because if I'm reading the AP story right, Clark has sufficient funds in his 2004 campaign treasury to pay off his old bills.

Technorati tags: Wal-Mart Wake Up Wal-Mart John Edwards Wesley Clark politics Democrats 2008 elections

Evan Bayh to take bite into 2008 presidential race

Two years ago I heard quite a few radio commercials for Marvin Scott, the Republican candidate running against Indiana Democratic incumbent Evan Bayh. Scott's campaign purchased the spots I heard on expensive Chicago radio stations.

The theme of Scott's commercials was that Bayh acted as a moderate while in Indiana, but performed as a liberal in Washington. It didn't do much good for Scott, as he got steamrolled by Bayh in the general election, even though President Bush won Indiana by a comfortable margin.

A couple of months after Bayh's big win, he resigned his chairmanship of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, in a move believed to placate the left of the Democratic Party.

Earlier today is was disclosed that Bayh plans to form an exploratory committee for a possible 2008 presidential bid.

That could be a risky move for Bayh. His bid to win the Democratic nomination, like Iowa's Tom Vilsack's, is a longshot to succeed. And if he runs to the left to gain support in his quest, he risks alienating his largely conservative constituency in Indiana.

Technorati tags: Indiana Politics Evan Bayh Democrats 2008 Elections

Sanity Squad podcast on Eurabia and Iraq

Well, the power eventually came back on at home, which allowed me to accomplish one of my appointed tasks--via Mrs. Marathon Pundit--to shampoo most of our carpeting.

Sadly, much of central and Illinois and Missouri is still without electrical power.

While cleaning the carpets, I listened to the latest Sanity Squad podcast. The Sanity Squad consists of four Pajamas Media bloggers and mental health professionals: Neo-neocon, Siggy, Shrinkwrapped, and Dr. Sanity.

As for the future of Europe, the panel is not in agreement that it will end up either in a Eurabia, such as is outlined in Mark Steyn's America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It, or with a vengeful Europe described in this Ralph Peters op-ed.

Neither is a pleasant scenario.

Iraq, or I should say the possible surrendering of Iraq, is also discussed.

Listen or download here. Free subscriptions to Pajamas Media Politics Central podcasts are available at the iTunes web site.

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Christmas Scrooges in Chicago

I hesitated in blogging about this story, because I figured Mayor Daley would step in and end the idiocy. But so far he hasn't. Third Wave Dave has blogged a bit on it, now it's my turn.

Mayor Richard M. Daley is far perfect, but he is a practicing Catholic, and it's my belief--unlike other politicians who regularly attend religious services (I'm not mentioning names)--that his faith is genuine.

Earlier this week, a German American group opened up Christkindlmarket in Daley (named for the mayor's father) Plaza. One of the sponsors enlisted for the effort was New Line Cinema, and they had hoped to shop a preview of their upcoming film "The Nativity Story."

But officials with the City of Chicago Office of Special Events nixed the idea, in essence saying it was too religious and might offend others of different faiths. However, there is a Menorah and an Islamic star and crescent set up at Daley Plaza.

Then the Office of Special Events changed their story, claiming that because "The Nativity Story" is a theatrical release, that makes their sponsorship of the event, and the preview loop--too commercial.

Last week, however, the city had a parade roll down State Street called "The McDonalds Thanksgiving Parade."

Today, in a Chicago (free registration required) Tribune editorial, the Trib notes that a northern Virginia public high school will show "The Nativity Story" on school grounds, and the ACLU is fine with it.

Last night Chicago got it's first major snowstorm of the year, making the city "Look a Lot Like Christmas," as the old song goes.

Hello, Office of Special Events: Get in the Christmas spirit. If you can't, perhaps you can get the financial services firm of Scrooge & Marley to replace New Line Cinema as a Christkindlmarket sponsor.

Technorati tags: Christmas Chicago Illinois Daley ACLU Movies entertainment

Obama to take AIDS test today, but what about his smoking habit?

Obama-mania has hit the country hard and with full force. Later today, in front of members of a California mega-church, Senator Barack Obama (D-IL), will take an AIDS test alongside Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS).

As I pointed out last month, this is believed to be Obama's third AIDS test. Blogger Anna of A Rose By Any Other Name did point out to me that a second AID test with 90 days--Obama's last AIDS test was in Africa three months ago, I still believe--the importance of AIDS testing among the general public notwithstanding--that Obama's AIDS test today borders on being a publicity stunt.

AIDS is a serious health issue. So are the diseases and deaths that come from smoking cigarettes. Did you know Barack Obama is a smoker?

Yep, and not just on that link, but he smokes in this Maureen Dowd column, and on this Democrats Underground thread.

Smoking cigarettes leads to many health problems, as most even semi-intelligent people know. These ailments include various cancers, emphysema (which killed my grandfather), and heart disease. Second hand smoke can cause lung cancer and other respiratory problems for non-smokers. Fires caused by cigarettes, based on who you talk to, cause anywhere from one-quarter to one-third of all fire fatalities in the United States.

So, Senator Obama? In addition to that AIDS test you're taking today, how about vowing in front of that church audience that you're going to quit smoking?

Technorati tags: Brownback Obama Barack Obama smoking cigarettes AIDS California religion Politics

Power outage

The season's first major snowstorm has hit the Chicago area, and it's first major casualty is the power at my home.

I'm blogging from my Treo, hoping the power comes back up soon.