** Wherein New York's Boldest is the moniker for the Dept. of Corrections, this is my weekly corrections column.
1. I called State Sen. Larry Grooms "Larry Broom." For that I was made fun of by a South Carolina political blog. It was a typo; maybe I thought "Broom" because he blew by me when I said hello.
2. A weird sentence construction implied that Mitt Romney was a "gay Republican." That was a typo, obviously, but still -- titillating.
3. Gill Action had nothing to do with Tony Fabrizio's poll. That one's on me.
4. The controversial Confederate flag in South Carolina was moved from atop the state house to a memorial nearby -- not to a museum.
5. It was a mistake NOT to post on Mitt Romney's dog-carrying practices.
2nd Quarter Fundraising: A Primer
The total amount raise is perhaps the least interesting, least informative number of them all. Certainly, the following figures are more revealing:
(1) Total contributor base
(2) Average donation
(3) Total raised for primary
(4) Average expenditure rate per month
(5) Total burn rate
(6) Staff salary burn rate
We won't be able to access the full reports until July 15, but here's what I'll be looking for:
(1) Who's polling the most?
(2) How much has Rudy Giuliani's campaign spent on staff and technology in Iowa, NH and SC?
(3) By how much has John McCain pared his campaign staff?
(4) Which major campaign consultants don't receive salaries?
(5) How much have the campaigns spent on microtargeting technology?
(6) Which vendors are getting rich.. and how closely connected are they to major donors?
(7) How many Dems maxed out to both HRC and Obama?
(8) What percentage of Edwards's haul comes from the trial bar?
(9) Have celebrities shifted their giving patterns?
(10) What's the $400 haircut gem of this cycle?
(11) How much has Mitt Romney spent on television ads?
A Romney Internal Memo: 2nd Quarter Expectations
Romney advisers Ben Ginsberg and Alex Castellanos have some pointers for Mitt Romney's senior staff to consider as they read news coverage about the close second quarter of nomination fundraising.
Point A is simple enough. Romney won't raise as much as he did last quarter. But that's not shocking, and nor is it evidence of any downturn in his support. We still expect him to raise more than Rudy Giuliani and John McCain, although perhaps -- just perhaps -- Giuliani might come closer than folks expect.
Secondly, Ginsberg and Castellanos explain Romney's decision to pump a personal loan into the campaign treasury. We're not sure how much yet -- that'll depend on how much was raised. Symbol and substance: Romney wants to show his donors that he's willing to part with his own money for the cause, and his campaign wants to stay on budget. Its early spending on voter contacts and television ads have paid off.
The breadth of Romney's fundraising network remains one of the surprises of the cycle, and a second healthy quarter in such a miserable fundraising environment for Republicans testifies to both his campaign's progress over the past few months and Romney's acumen as a collector of friends and allies.
This memo touches on one metric we'd like to know more about: the total numbers of contributors, which is a reflection of the depth of Romney's support, as opposed to its acknowledged breadth. Barack Obama's fundraising has those two dimensions -- breadth and depth.
The memo also reminds the campaign team to ignore what opponents raised for the general election -- Romney's not raising any, just yet.
To:
Beth Myers, National Campaign Manager
Spencer Zwick, National Finance Director
Darrell Crate, National Treasurer
National Finance Co-Chairs
National Finance Committee
From:
Benjamin L. Ginsberg, National Counsel, and Katie Biber Chen, General Counsel
Alex Castellanos, Senior Adviser
Date:
June 29, 2007
Subject:
A Guide to Second Quarter FEC Reports
With the second quarter FEC filing deadline on Saturday, Romney for President and the other campaigns will once again be releasing fundraising totals. You will see much reporting on the numbers and their meaning, especially in comparison to the first quarter. As we did in March, we would like to provide you with some guidance on what to expect.
First, the coverage will no doubt fixate on the "horserace numbers." This tells only part of the story given this cycle's unprecedented nature, and the competing needs of less well-known candidates, such as Governor Romney, for both fundraising dollars and political exposure. For example, we should expect Governor Romney's total for the quarter will be very strong but less than the first quarter total. Our total will reflect the campaign's strategic decision to include more political travel days in this quarter than in the first. For example, Governor Romney spent 8 days in New Hampshire and 12 days in Iowa this quarter, which was double the number of days he spent in those states during the first quarter. He also spent time preparing for and participating in three Republican presidential candidate debates. This resulted in important political strides (as increasingly recognized in the media, most recently by Dan Balz's piece in The Washington Post), but there has been a tradeoff with time spent fundraising.
Second, our overall fundraising total, and what the campaign has been able to do with the money, is more significant than just a snapshot of the amount raised for the second quarter. During this past quarter, the campaign succeeded in significantly expanding its political and financial base as Governor Romney continued to introduce himself to voters through aggressive campaigning and impressive debate performances. As you know, we should expect to see a doubling of the number of grassroots activists donating to our campaign. This is due in part to the success of events such as Sign Up America that brought more than 10,000 new donors into the fold.
Third, the totals raised will highlight that the field has split into two tiers – one that will be able to raise the funds to compete with the Democrats in the general election and one that will not. If history proves any guide, the issue of "electablity" will surface in the media. Remember that any campaign accepting taxpayer funding for the primary (and that will be tempting for any candidate who cannot show at least $15 million raised from January through June 30) is limited to spending about $50 million until the 2008 Conventions in September. Such a campaign will simply not be able to compete against Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama or John Edwards, who will be able to raise and spend unlimited amounts through their own convention.
Fourth, like in the first quarter, some campaigns will report totals that include funds raised for the general election. Since money raised for the general election cannot be used in the primary, this money is meaningless and should not be used as a factor in determining a campaign's strength. As you are aware, since January, Romney for President has raised no general election funds, while the McCain, Giuliani, Clinton, Obama and Edwards campaigns have raised both. Remember also that all their costs for raising this money must be paid for with
primary, not general, election funds so it also has a negative impact on their cash-on-hand totals with no concurrent primary election investment benefit.
Fifth, some attention will be focused on Governor Romney's personal loan to the campaign
treasury. Just as in 1994 and 2002, Governor Romney is committed to ensuring that the campaign continues to expand and that he can spread his message. Governor Romney is matching the level of commitment exhibited by supporters and contributors who are providing the campaign with the resources it needs to win in this very new type of campaign.
In conclusion, this memorandum should provide a better understanding of some of the reporting and analysis we can expect to see during the coming day
Pictures Of Thompson In South Carolina
Not sure which is more horrible: the abortion thing or -- gasp -- his membership in the Council on Foreign Relations. When I told this guy I was with the Atlantic, he looked at me as if I embodied the enemy.
CNN's Candy Crowley and producer Sasha Johnson plot their next move.
June 28, 2007
The All-American Presidential Forum On PBS: A Brief Review
** The word I heard most often: "invest," which means -- "spend taxpayer money" to...
** John Edwards knew the subject matter cold and the audience appreciated it.
** Mike Gravel was on his game. (Seriously -- no joke).
** The Democratic candidates seemed to endorse the idea of "tax fairness" without calling for changes to the federal income tax.
** Judging by the level of applause only, Barack Obama was not the "winner" -- but debates are not his format, and many of his answers had nuance that the white candidates did not muster. Anyway, why assume that the black candidate would automatically be the winner?
** Hillary Clinton did well. And she received the evening's only standing O.
** Joe Biden alternated between hectoring and preaching -- a strong night for him. Nice to know about his AIDS test. And that Barack Obama was tested with his wife Michelle, thank you, and not with Biden.
** Bill Richardson seemed unusually quiet, but he proved that he'd read moderator Tavis Smiley's book.
** The focus on criminal justice reform was new, but the candidates were short of solutions.
** Jim Jordan's going to kill me, but, um, Chris Dodd was the whitest guy up there. Sorry Dodd-dudes.
** Wouldn't it be fun to see the Republicans answer the same questions?
Obama Campaign Sends Memo To Press
I think this means that they've raised more than $20M but less than $27M.
To: Interested Parties
From: The Obama Campaign
RE: Primary v. General Funds – A Distinction with a Difference
The second quarter fundraising period ends at midnight on Saturday and the various Presidential campaigns will soon release their fundraising totals for that period. As you know, this is the first modern Presidential election when the candidates are simultaneously raising money for the primary and general elections. This has led to some confusion and misreporting in media accounts.
The only figure that truly matters is the total money raised for the primary.
General Election funds are not available until after candidate is officially nominated at the convention on August 28, 2008.
Candidates will continue to raise and spend primary funds from the moment they become presumptive nominee (likely early in 2008) until the convention.
There is no question that the eventual nominee will be able to raise sufficient funds for the general election, so there is no strategic advantage to raising general election funds now.
In reality, the funds raised for the general election serve no purpose other than inflating a candidate’s total.
The candidates who have raised the most general election money have done so because of a strategic decision to ask donors to write $4,600 checks (instead of the $2,300 per person allowed in the Primary).
The Obama Campaign has decided not to aggressively raise money for the general election (i.e. not ask all of our current maxed out donors to write a second check), because it doesn’t help us win the nomination and would distract from our efforts to get as many contributors as possible, which we believe is ultimately the most important metric. In addition to providing the broadest financial base, a large number of contributors provides a foundation of volunteers for the caucuses and primaries. The Obama campaign currently has more than 240,000 contributors.
In media reporting on the 2nd quarter fundraising number, the only truly accurate measure of strength and support is to compare the amount primary funds raised. The general election funds should be discounted and ignored. While it may be impossible to get an exact total of the primary funds raised right after the quarter ends, every campaign should be able to give you a good estimate of the breakdown.
Watching the PBS Debate
First candidate to mention the "covenant" -- Hillary Clinton.
First candidate to give props to Howard for paving the way for African Americans -- Barack Obama
First candidate to kiss up to Obama: Dennis Kucinich
First candidate to mention Katrina -- Clinton
First white candidate to try to sound like a preacher: Mike Gravel
Moderator who loves the sound of his own voice (and why not -- it's a sexy voice): Tavis Smiley
Has Obama Raised $30M In Primary Funds This Quarter?
It's possible.... his campaign isn't saying either way. Raising $10M more than Clinton is impressive -- almost as impressive as a 250K growth of one's donor base.
The fundraising story of this election is about the Democrats, generally, and how they've been able to build a massive, web-inspired donor base that rivals and in many cases exceeds what the Republicans built with direct mail.
Let's also stipulate that, while many in the press, including, occasionally, this here column, wonder whether the excitement that greeted Obama's entrance into the race has fizzled, the size and direction of his 2nd quarter haul gives one a reason to pause and review the physics of this race.
The Full Clinton Memo -- Annotated
Here's the 2nd quarter memo sent out by Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson. My annotations are inclined.
Friends,
Simply put, this has been a great quarter for us.
True. It's been a solid quarter. A few slips -- a misplaced Iowa memo, etc. haven't dampened the overall mood.
Hillary won both debates, demonstrating an enormous command of the issues and the unique ability to take on tough challenges and achieve real results. Millions of Americans saw that Hillary has the strength and experience to bring the kind of change that the nation needs.
And then millions more Americans saw Hillary's lighter side when she and President Clinton appeared in a video homage to the Sopranos that announced our campaign's theme song.
A very cute skit, but the Sopranos is an elite cultural phenom, and it's not clear whether the ad resonated more with elites than it did with Clinton's electoral base. And Celine Dion???
With the second quarter coming to a close, I wanted to take a moment to update you on the key developments of the last three months and where the campaign is headed in the days ahead.
Before the media does it for me.
President Clinton hits the campaign trail with Hillary next week, when they'll barnstorm together across Iowa. Later this month, he'll campaign with Hillary in New Hampshire.
We know that President Clinton is a huge asset in this race. He's uniquely positioned to talk about Hillary's biography and her lifelong commitment to children and families because he knows her life's story better than anyone.
As Hillary lays out her vision on the stump, he will be invaluable in filling in the details about her life, her background, and her accomplishments for Americans to get to know her better. For a preview of what he will say please go to: http://www.hillaryclinton.com/video/27.aspx
The Clinton campaign is confident that Hillary Clinton's identity as a political actor is secure enough to bring Bill Clinton on the campaign trail as a validator. Also, Bill Clinton has been itching to do retail politics. Their first event is in Des Moines on Monday night.
We expect to bring in about what we did in the First Quarter, or slightly more, which should put us in the range of $27 million. To put that figure in some perspective, it is more than any Democrat has ever raised in the second quarter of the "off" year. While that figure is record setting, we do expect Senator Obama to significantly outraise us this quarter.
Define "significantly."
Bottom line is that both campaigns will raise a great deal of money and that we will have all the resources we need to compete and win. Ultimately, this race will come down to the candidates themselves, their message and the quality of their campaigns. We feel very good about where the campaign stands, and our ability to win the primary and go toe-to-toe with any of the Republicans in the field.
Bottom line: The Democratic Party is not the Clinton Party anymore; if anything, it's the Howard Dean party. But Wolfson is right on points and style: I don't detect the same degree of nervousness among Clinton advisers I did when Barack Obama first entered the race.
Electability -- As Mark Penn likes to say, people always ask "can Hillary win?" but he has never had this asked of someone who is already winning. This week's national polls underscore that observation.
According to the latest CNN, Newsweek and USA Today/Gallup polls, Hillary beats all of the leading GOP contenders head-to-head, and she has solidified double-digit leads in all of the national primary polls. She's also leading in 34 out of the 36 states with recent primary polls, including the early states. Voters say she's the candidate most likely to win the general election and the primary, and according to a June Washington Post/ABC poll, Hillary leads by nearly 50 points on the question of who has the best experience to be President.
Mark Penn DOES like to say that. But she's not winning in Iowa, and the polls in South Carolina are equivocal. That Wolfson included this paragraph speaks to the fact that too many Democrats are worried that Clinton inevitably polarizes. We the press haven't made up our minds as to whether HRC MUST win Iowa or not.
One of the best examples of Hillary's electoral strength is the incredible support she continues to receive from women. The campaign has developed a large and growing network of Women for Hillary nationally and in key states. From grassroots organizations like EMILY's List and the National Organization for Women to respected leaders like Maya Angelou and Madeline Albright, Hillary is drawing key support from women who made up 54% of the electorate in 2004 and could be the "X-factor" in 2008.
As long as Obama's in the race, I don't think Clinton will become the movement candidate. But in a state like New Hampshire, where women usually make up MORE than 54% of the electorate, women are undeniable assets to Clinton's campaign.
In The States -- We continue to ramp up our efforts in the early states, where we're seeing growing grassroots excitement for Hillary's candidacy. In Iowa, for example, Hillary has traveled across the state with Governor and Christie Vilsack, visiting the Four Corners while the campaign signs up thousands of caucus goers. In New Hampshire, volunteers have clocked over 2,000 hours volunteering on her behalf while an incredible 50 state legislators have thrown their support to her. In Nevada, the campaign has launched African American, Hispanic and Asian American/Pacific Islander Leadership Councils and racked up 108 endorsements. Local observers say Hillary's superior state organization has helped her take a 20-point lead in the polls. In South Carolina, Hillary named former Governor Richard Riley a state campaign Co-Chair this week and won praise for her commencement address at historically black Claflin University.
She's running strong in NH and Nevada.
News & Notes
Please check out the campaign's news website, www.hillaryhub.com , which serves as a clearinghouse for the latest news, blog items and video clips on Hillary's race. And be sure to watch tonight's Democratic presidential forum on PBS at 9 p.m. EDT.
Finally, I hope you've seen coverage of Hillary's recent policy speeches which have previewed the change she would bring to this nation. In Florida, she laid out a plan to establish universal pre-Kindergarten to give every child in America a head start on learning. In New Hampshire, she pledged to lift the ban on stem cell research and pursue life-saving treatments for millions of Americans. And in New Orleans, she outlined a proposal to rebuild the Gulf Coast and restructure our disaster response system. Hillary is the only candidate with a clear vision of how to move this country forward, and the experience to hit the ground running on her first day in the White House.
Thanks again for everything you do for Hillary and this campaign.
Best,
Howard
An Obama Update
Bill Burton, an Obama spokesman, refuses to say whether Obama outraised Hillary overall -- and it really doesn't matter all that much. The campaign is proud that it received donations from about 1,550 donors per day since the beginning of the quarter. Since campaign manager David Plouffe sent an e-mail to Obama supporters bragging about the broad contributor base, 4,000 new donors have contributed. The total as of right now: 246,308
Clinton's Raised $27M This Quarter... About $20M For The Primary
Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign gobbled up more than $27M this quarter, her campaign said today.
It's an impressive sum befitting a frontrunner. A campaign spokesman said the finance team did not yet have a clear breakdown as to how much of that money was raised for the pre-nomination period, although the spokesman said the ratio would be similar to the first quarter, when Clinton raised roughly $20M for the primaries, about 6 million for the general election, and transferred about $10M from her Senate account.
That primary number is the key.
Howard Wolfson, the campaign's communications director, wrote in a memorandum posted to Clinton's website that "while that figure is record setting, we do expect Senator Obama to significantly outraise us this quarter."
The Clinton campaign released its 3rd quarter estimate on the same day that Obama's campaign told reporters it expected to recieve donations from more than 250,000 donors this fundraising period. By announcing their tally before the quarter offiically ends this weekend, Clinton's campaign may take the edge off news that Obama's campaign collected more money overall.
More....
Trouble For Republicans In Florida?
Ahead of the National Assosication of Latino Elected Offiicials conference in Washington, the St. Petersburg Times' Adam Smith sees "ominous signs for the Florida GOP when it comes to the state's fastest-growing ethnic group."
Makes you wonder why Sen. Fred Thompson is talking about illegal immigrants from Cuba.
And I've Officially Decided That My Blog Posts Have No Typos
It takes some gazones to proclaim to the world that you're in the top tier.....
From a Richardson press release:
Governor Bill Richardson Officially Breaks into Top Tier
For Immediate Release
June 27, 2007 Contact: Katie Roberts
(505) [REDACTED]
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson's campaign for the Democratic Presidential nomination is building momentum and gaining new support across the country. Earlier this week, the campaign released a poll showing a huge jump in Governor Richardson's support in Iowa. In fact, among the likeliest Iowa caucus-goers, Governor Richardson is now polling ahead of Senator Barack Obama.
"Governor Richardson's plans for getting all of our troops out of Iraq by the end of the year, providing health insurance to every American, and making our economy the strongest and fairest in the world are resonating with voters," said campaign manager Dave Contarino.
Governor Richardson continues to build strong upward momentum in polls across the board, and particularly in Iowa and New Hampshire. Today, an independent poll released by WHDH-TV and Suffolk University shows Governor Richardson tied with former Senator John Edwards in New Hampshire
Our Democratic Race Rankings
As always, a product of Chuck Todd and myself.
Well, we've finished the week of the Great "Sopranos" spoof -- but, oh Sen. Clinton, how could you go so wrong on the song? The only Canadian song worth a darn is their national anthem (which unfortunately is better than ours; if only our national anthem were "America The Beautiful"). On to the rankings...
These rankings are ordered by likelihood of winning the Democratic Party primary and are based on a number of factors, including organization, money, buzz and polling. Click here for Republican rankings.
1. Sen. Hillary Clinton.
She's had a pretty solid spring. She's been like Big Ten football -- three yards and a cloud of dust. Her press shop has been the most aggressive and most successful of either side. There's been quite a mix of positive press and negative opponent coverage that's given communications guru Howard Wolfson and company something to smile about every day. The Obama memo-Indian fundraiser example says it all. And wasn't there something about some Hillary biographies that were going to make a big splash? Anybody remember anything about those books? We didn't think so. Still, no knockout blows yet and we can't help but notice that the combined Obama-Edwards numbers would regularly top Clinton -- although that tends to be the case with most front-runners. If Edwards or Obama ever fades, can Clinton win a two-way? Many Clinton supporters claim that she and not Obama is the dominant "second choice" among Edwards supporters. We'll see.
.
2. Barack Obama
Will the Obama press shop ever be able to pass off a piece of negative press without it lashing back in its face? The press has bought the Clinton line on Obama that he should be held to a higher standard when it comes to "contrast" campaigning. Is that fair? Well, it is -- as long as Obama keeps apologizing. If he stops, the media might stop covering these incidents in the same message frame that they are now. The good news for Obama is that it appears his team is going to do great on the money front, which should erase what's been a mediocre press month for the campaign. Should he actually top Clinton (both of us believe that she'll outraise Obama this quarter), it will be another shot in the arm and will probably drive Obama's national numbers up a bit, which should keep the national press off his back for a few weeks.
Here are some of the highlights from GOP pollster Tony Fabrizio's mammoth survey of Republicans.
First, compared to 1997, when Fabrizio last surveyed a sample this size, more Republicans describe themselves as conservatives. The average Republican is older, attends church one a week, is a little less Protestant, a little more Catholic, or -- a lot more "other".
According to Fabrizio, the party’s social/cultural wing remains about the same size, while the economic wing has “shrunk by nearly two thirds.” Replacing those Republicans have been national security and defense voters. Free marketeers, per Fabrizio, comprise about 8 percent of the GOP electorate. They’re skeptical of government action, largely male, baby-boomerish, less frequent church-goers, and they’re not moralists. Fabrizio believes that these voters comprise Fred Thompson’s strongest voting block.
Then there are the Bush hawks – 20 percent of the Republican party, again, mostly males, they love Bush, they believe in the quest to spread democracy overseas, and many are new to the GOP.
The opposite, in some ways, of the Bush hawks are what Fabrizio’s taxonomy calls the “Fortress America” crowd, or what we used to refer to as the Buchanan Brigades. 8 percent of the party, they’re protectionist, anti-illegal immigration, and want to end the war in Iraq. They ain’t Bushies. Fabrizio says that nearly 50% of these voters hail from the south.
Then there’s one of John McCain’s strongest groups – the “Gov Knows Best GOPers”. They’re focused on “social” issues (as opposed to “cultural” issues). They’re lifelong GOPers and believe that government can and should intervene to solve social and environmental problems. They tend to have a libertarian streak and many aren’t comfortable with sky-high defense spending. This group is disproportionately female and coastal in geography.
The moralists are the largest chunk of the party – 24% in Fabrizio’s reckoning. In many ways, the media uses this group as a synecdoche for the entire GOP base. The moralists are strongly partisan, they’re very conservative, they have a lower average income than the rest of the party, mostly female and have the highest share of homemakers.
What issues circumscribe Republicans today? 36% are focused on the War on Terror and Iraq. 9 percent are driven primarily by immigration, 5 percent primarily by family values, and five percent primarily by tax cuts.
Some other nuggets:
53% of Republicans say that issue positions are more important to them than leadership qualities. Moralists are more concerned about issues than any other subgroup.
53%t agree with this statement: “The Republican Party has spent too much time focusing on moral issues such as abortion and gay marriage and should instead be spending time focusing on economic issues such as taxes and government spending”.
74% believe that Pres. Bush made the right call in Iraq.
Farbizio concludes that the is GOP united in:
– Desire to balance the budget
– Belief that government spends too much
– Belief that taxes are too high
– Belief that federal government is too big and does too
many things
– Belief that current immigrations laws should be
followed and no special treatment
– War in Iraq was the right decision
– Belief that our Foreign Policy should be based on our
own security and economic interests
– Support of employment non-discrimination for gays.
** Even 60 percent of moralists believe that private businesses should not have the right to discriminate against gay people.
There’s division in the GOP on–
Top priority – cutting taxes or balancing budget
– Whether health care coverage is a right
– Fund SS or allow private investment
– Level of military/defense spending
– Role of federal government in education
– Allowing gays to serve in the military
– Role of federal government on global warming
– Private initiative vs. government safety net
– Abortion
– Influence of religion on public policy
On abortion – 28 percent want it totally banned, 16 percent favor the status quo, and 50 percent want abortion legal only in certain circumstances. 61% identify themselves as pro-life.
June 27, 2007
Notebook: Thompson's South Carolina Consultant?
COLUMBIA -- Some items in the notebook:
-- Leading South Carolina Republican consultant Walter Whetsell was ubiquitous at today's GOP fundraiser featuring Fred Thompson. He even sported an "I'm With Fred" button. When one reported asked Whetsell whether he had signed on with Thompson, Whetsell demurred: "Not now." Whetsell, who is close to the SC GOP’s state chairman, specializes in direct mail and has worked on a host of state legislative races. He is a consultant for the non-partisan “Ed In 2008” campaign. Thompson aides have also been talking to consultant Rod Shealy, who somehow managed to convince South Carolinians to re-elect their colorful lieutenant governor despite the latter’s penchant for violating state speed laws and for precipitating the occasional plane crash. Shealy is known outside South Carolina for this.
-- Unaffiliated insiders say that Mitt Romney has built the strongest statewide organization, followed closely by Sen. John McCain. Rudy Giuliani’s efforts in South Carolina are just now ramping up; a new communications director, Braden Bunch, the research director for Gov. Mark Sanford’s re-election campaign. Braden’s boss on the campaign was Jason Miller, who now works in Giuliani’s New York press shop.
-- Giuliani had a rough week of press in the state; his state campaign chairman was indicted on cocaine distribution charges, and the replacement, the chairman’s father, Arthur Ravenel, has a seems to have a penchant for controversial comments.
--SC GOP chairman Katon Dawson tells me he will “definitely” move the party’s primary from January 29 to … he’s not sure how much earlier, but Republicans believe he could choose Jan. 15 as the date.
Robert Traynham Joins Team Thompson
COLUMBIA -- An aide to Fred Thompson confirmed that Republican strategist Robert Traynham has joined the campaign as a senior adviser. Traynham was Sen. Rick Santorum's long-time communications director and held a variety of senior positions with the Senate Republican Conference.
Thompson Supports Flag Compromise, Acknowledges Supreme Court Campaign Finance Ruling
COLUMBIA -- Sen. Fred Thompson avoided wading into the state's perennial debate over the a Confederate flag that used to fly over the capitol building here by agreeing with how South Carolinians settled the issue: they took the flag off the flagpole at the state capitol building and moved it down the steps to a memorial.
And, addressing Monday's Supreme Court ruling on the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform act, Thompson said that while he remained a supporter of the bill and its intentions, he thought the court's decision was sensible because, he implied, the sham issue ad provision "hasn't worked" as intended.
"I think Congress ought to amend the campaign finance legislation, keep the good parts, and get rid of this part."
Also, Thompson, a former lobbyist, Senate and Washington lawyer, admitted that he's no outsider. "I've never used the word 'outsider," he said.
Thompson's South Carolina Debut Well Received
Listening to South Carolina Republicans chew on Fred Thompson, one's reminded of the segue scenes in "King of the Hill" where Hank and friends stand on the sidewalk, beer in hand, mutter "Yep" and contemplate the world."
"Good ol' Fred."
"Yep."
"Good ol' Fred." Gonna save the party.
State Sen. Larry Grooms was more enthusiastic. “He’s going to be the next president,” Brooks replied.
Thompson blew into Columbia this morning for a test of the warm South Carolina waters. He brought his wife, Jeri, and young daughter, in tow.
“It’s the day, “ he said to a reporter who had asked whether he’d announce. “But it’s not THE day.” That will come in July. Thompson has to be very careful: if he utters the magic words – “I’m going to run” – then he has ten days to give the Federal Election Commission due notice. So he and his advisers are quick to say, when asked why Thompson was here, that he was simply invited to attend a fundraiser.
At a private breakfast with top South Carolina Republican donors, Thompson said it was not his ambition to become president, but that circumstances had a way of working themselves out. He took questions on immigration, tax reform and nuclear power.
Later, speaking to Republicans at a 50-dollar-a-plate lunch, Thompson was on the ball. He spent the bulk of his speech on terrorism, Iraq and immigration. The substance was about what you'd expect from a conservative candidate, but Thompson, for the time I've seen, seemed jazzed up. And the crowd reciprocated with several loud bursts of applause.
"We're can't be talking serious about national security while that's going on," he said. He introduced a new metaphor for immigration. America, he said, "is our home." "And we get to decide who gets to go into our home." More applause.
Scant mention of faith and religion and cultural issues. Thompson said that the guiding principles that made "America the most prosperous nation in the world" are "strong institutions, basic beliefs, the rule of law, a free market system..."
He didn't quite say it, but I got the feeling that Thompson wants to distinguish himself from other Republicans by presenting himself as the leader for the long-term, the guy who can see around corners, who basis his road map for the future on the principles and values that made America great in the past.
A standing ovation.
Obama Counterprograms The Clintons In Iowa
As Sen. Hillary Clinton campaigns in five Iowa cities with husband Bill next week, Sen. Barack Obama won't let the Clintons have the state all to themselves -- not even a populous slice of its eastern half. On Tuesday, Obama begins a two-day bus tour that winds through Keokuk, Mt. Pleasant, Fairfield, Oskaloosa, Pella and Beaversale. At points, he'll be less than an hour away from the Clintons.
The Clintons begin their Iowa journey on Monday night.
HillaryHub Highlights Obama's Swipe
Kind of interesting...
The Clinton campaign's Hillary Hub is highlighting Sen. Barack Obama's "experience" swipe... Recent polls show that Dems overwhelmingly find Clinton to be their field's most experienced candidate.
June 26, 2007
Chris Benoit, Murderer
And now it looks like Chris Benoit led a tortuous, rageful life, and ended by choking his wife and smothering his young son. The WWE spent three hours on cable Monday night eulogizing him, glorifying him, tenderly recounting his love for his young family. Now it seems macabre.
Maybe Benoit's death is a black swan that has nothing to do with the corporate culture of WWE. We'll see. Faced with competition, professional wrestling strove to compete with the real thing, and its "sport entertainers," as chairman Vince McMahon began to refer to his performers, faced growing pressure to bulk up, to subject themselves to ever-more dangerous stunts and spots. At what cost? The company barely survived a steroid scandal a decade ago.
WWE is a public company now, a big Connecticut employer, and its stockholders have generally refrained from interfering with the product. That will change, I bet.
Quietly, Obama Tweaks An Iowa Ad
It's easy to miss, but if you screened the new television advertisements Sen. Barack Obama begins to air in Iowa today, you might catch it: yesterday, when copies of the ad "Carry" were distributed to the press, the ad featured, among other Obama supporters, Tom Balanoff, the president of the Service Employees International Union local 1, which includes Chicago. He's seen on camera praising Obama's work as a community organizer.
But Balanoff is not in the ad set for air today. Instead, he's been replaced by Jerry Kellman, who hired Obama to be a community organizer.
Dan Pfeiffer, an Obama spokesman, confirmed that the ad makers removed Balanoff.
"Tom Balanoff is a longtime friend and supporter who has appeared in other materials" for the campaign, Pfeiffer said in a statement. "He was in the spot to testify as to what happened to the South Side of Chicago when the steel mills closed ... On reflection, he was concerned that his role as a member of the executive board of the SEIU international might imply an endorsement before their decision has been made, so we substituted Jerry Kellman, who hired Bartack as a community organizer in the 80s."
Pfeiffer declined to elaborate beyond the confirmation and his statement.
It's fairly common for campaigns to tweak ads in midstream, but it's not terribly common for a campaign to switch out a validator. The same ad is unique because it features praise from a Republican state legislator who endorsed Sen, John McCain.
Columbia Prepares For Thompson
I'm headed to South Carolina to attend Fred Thompson's inaugural fundraiser on behalf of South Carolina Republicans, so posting will be light today.
A sign that Thompson is serious about Iowa: he's hired Andrew Dorr, a well-regarded former political director for Rep. Jim Nussle, to be his Midwest political director. No word yet on whether Thompson will participate in the Ames straw poll or when he'll first set foot in Iowa.
Rep. Jennifer Dunn (R-WA) endorses Mitt Romney. (She's a centrist).
Not a huge fan of national polls at this point, but since this column has been accused of cheerleading for John McCain, it cannot resist linking to Charlie Cook's write-up of his latest national poll; McCain is tied for first with Giuliani.
The left's politics of grievance: John Edwards is raising money off Ann Coulter.
Yesterday, Jonathan told you that the folks who benefit from the status quo are attacking John personally because they don't want the country to hear his message.
And you know what happened when we called them out? The attacks started pouring in.
That same day, the Ann Coulter-wannabe Michelle Malkin blasted John on her blog. Fox News has been bashing him around the clock. And Coulter herself said, "if I'm going to say anything about John Edwards in the future, I'll just wish he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot."
That's the third fundraising appeal in three days.
Thompson Once Opposed "Sham" Issue Ads
In 2003, former Sen. Fred Thompson sharply criticized the sort of "sham issue ads," ostensibly banned by McCain-Feingold bill, that the Supreme Court appeared to revive in yesterday's Wisconsin Right to Life decision.
Thompson's view of those provisions are contained in an amicus brief he filed with the Court in 2003, when it first considered the constitutionality of the Bipartisan Campaign finance Reform Act (BCRA).
Thompson wrote that "sham issue advocacy by non-party groups" was a "problem" that BCRA "addresses." Congress, Thompson wrote, "had a compelling interest in enacting the BCRA reforms. The rapidly increasing practices of raising and spending soft money (with a significant focus on sham ‘issue ads’ that unquestionably influence federal elections) fully justify the BCRA reforms.”
Thompson refers to a series of television ads run by labor unions and national parties in the 1996 presidential election, ads he believed were "highly problematic in their own right because they were used to influence federal elections and not restricted to generic party-building uses" because they were funded from general treasuries -- that is, from soft money accounts.
It's not clear whether Thompson would have considered the Wisconsin Right To Life ad, which took aim at Sen. Russ Feingold's position on judicial nominations, to be a "sham ad."
(A spokesman for Thompson said last night that he had not yet taken a position on the Supreme Court's decision).
Rudy Giuliani, who has favored generic campaign finance reform legislation in the past, praised yesterday's ruling as a victory for free speech.
The court ruled yesterday that so long as an ad can be reasonably interpreted as having some other purpose than targeting a specific lawmaker for election or defeat, the admaker should be given the benefit of the doubt.
Proponents of campaign finance reform concede that the court has opened a major loophole through which virtually any ad run by unions, corporations or non-party entities can be funded from unregulated sources of cash and can be broadcast close to an election or primary.
Thompson was an early achitect of campaign finance legislation. In a Senate press release announcing the bill's introduction, Thompson said that the politicians" must get back to winning elections not on the basis of who can raise the most money, but on the basis of the competition of ideas."
A senior aide to Sen. John McCain recalls that Thompson often telephoned McCain to plot strategy for moving the bill through Congress and that Thompson even helped to author several key planks of what later became the BCRA bill. He later served as one of the bill's chief whips on the floor.
In 1997, Thompson used a Senate government affairs committee hearing to probe the electioneering of National Right to Life and other groups, and his subpoena request for internal NRTL documents was strongly resisted by counsel -- including James Bopp, Jr., who now advises Mitt Romney.
In 2001, Thompson told National Journal's Congress Daily that he wished his "name would be mentioned more often" in discussions about the bill. And in 2002, he praised Pres., Bush for "courage" in signing the bill over Republican opposition.
For conservative donors, Republican party functionaries in the states and in Washington, and for supporters and patrons of Washington's conservative interest groups, McCain's advocacy of campaign finance reform legislation has become a synecdoche for his willingness to subordinate the financial and political health of his party to his own political beliefs. Fundamentally, they argue that most forms of campaign finance legislation restricts political speech. Thompson disagreed, telling an interviewer in 2000 that the legislation "doesn't cut down on anybody's free speech at all."
Fortunately for Thompson, campaign finance has little resonance outside the precincts of party professionals and fundraisers. Additionally, he has not acquired a reputation for bucking his party leadership or for going out of his way to anger the conservative intellectual elites who influence base opinion.
And there are signs that Thompson is backing away from his belief in the efficacy of the legislation. He told the Wall Street Journal's John Fund last month that while he wasn't prepared to renounce his earlier views, " I wonder if we shouldn’t just take off the limits and have full disclosure with harsh penalties for not reporting everything on the Internet immediately."
In private meetings with Republican donors, Thompson said he worried about BCRA's effect on the political parties' ability to compete financially with better-funded third party groups.
If he turns his around entirely, he risks being tagged as a panderer. Romney once supported stringent limits on political finance activity, although his campaign insists that he never specifically supported the thrust of BCRA.
Not Zagat's(tm) Guide To Political Advertising: John Edwards In New Hampshire
"STRENGTH OF AMERICA" (out of three)
Production Values Message Impact Cost
3.0 2.0 2.0 TBA
"Evocative, pastoral" images fill this "general election-esque" new ad of John Edwards. An ad nicely "matched" for this "change" election. Edwards is shot "from down below," and a spotlight gives his head an "angelic glow." The "future-oriented" message should "appeal to independents" but "lacks" any specific policy details. One wag wonders "when Elizabeth" will "appear in an ad for Edwards."
A Professional Wrestler Is Murdered
Chris Benoit, the pro wrestler found murdered in his Fayetteville, Georgia home last night, was one of the reasons why professional wrestling, despite its ridiculous pretenses and bewilderingly predictable storylines, remains popular, profitable and culturally relevant.
I grew up a fan of wrestling and still admit to checking a pro-wrestling website from time to time. Not really sure why I enjoy watching it; I can come up with a string of theories as to why the WWE and its various competitors attract millions of fans: escapism, primal-rage satisfaction, morality-play substitution, soap operas for guys, homoerotic frustrations, cultural traditions, the will to violence. Maybe it's the athleticism -- a unique combination of genuine athletic skill, agility, grace, and acting. Consider: Ultimate Fighting Champsionship -- which is really real -- is a bit more bloody and not nearly as fun to watch. The wrestlers mostly spend their time locking one another in painful holds, rolling around on the mat, and trying to put those painful holds on the other guy.
Maybe it's the possibility, however faint, that we'll see something "real" -- someone get hurt, someone start to close his punches -- the NASCAR crash phenomenon.
A really good wrestler like Benoit can make even the most jaded fan suspend disbelief for just a few seconds. Benoit was characterized as a "scientific wrestler," which really meant that his performance skills blended a mix of Olympic (ironically, "amateur"-style) grappling with an unmatched ability to sell his interaction with other wrestlers. He was built like a pit-bull, and even he looked a little like one: he had a small, pug face that looked as if it were smushed into his neck. Speaking of necks, he was fond of breaking them -- he was probably the only active wrestler whose career survived these accidental injuries he inflicted upon others.
A horrible irony: the script for Monday night's World Wrestling Entertainment broadcast was supposed to feature a three-hour "commemoration" of the WWE's chairman, Vince McMahon, who was "killed" by a car bomb two weeks ago. McMahon, of course, was very much alive. At the beginning of tonight's Raw, a red-eyed, haggard-looking McMahon informed fans that Benoit had died, and that the night's broadcast would feature a real, tribute to Benoit.
June 25, 2007
No Reaction From Thompson On Campaign Finance
Checking this evening with a spokesman for Sen. Fred Thompson.
So far, no reaction about today's Supreme Court decision on campaign finance.
Thompson was one of the key architects of the bill that later became known as "McCain-Feingold."
A Dead Heat In Iowa Among Democrats
Bill Richardson's pollster, Paul Maslin, makes an interesting claim in a fundraising e-mail:
The Governor has rocketed up 10% among likely Iowa caucusgoers in just three months, and now stands at 13%. No other Democratic candidate has made gains anywhere close to that over the same time period. In fact, amongst the likeliest caucusgoers (those who attended the 2004 caucuses, voted in the 2006 primary and are definite to attend next year's caucus) the Governor has overtaken Senator Obama for 3rd place. [EMPHASIS ADDED]
Not entirely sure where he's getting that.
A new Mason-Dixon poll of Iowa shows the top three candidates -- not Richardson -- in a virtual dead heat.
A new Mason-Dixon poll shows that Clinton, Edwards, and Obama are all in a dead heat in Iowa. But the actual leader in the survey is someone who isn't even running -- and isn't even a person: It's "undecided".
In the poll -- which was taken of 400 likely Democratic caucus-goers from June 13-16, and which has a margin of error of +/- 5% -- Clinton is at 22%, Edwards is at 21%, and Obama is at 18%. Richardson comes in fourth at 6%, and Biden gets 4%; no other Dem gets more than 2%. But a whopping 27% say they are undecided.
On the Republican side, Romney has the clear lead at 25% (even over "undecided," which checks in at 21%). He's followed by Thompson at 17%, Giuliani at 15%, Huckabee at 7%, and McCain and Brownback at 6% each.
BTW: will Richardson raise more than John Edwards? Our Richardson sources are waving us away from that insinuation.
With Romney's Check, Campaign's Quarter Predicted To Exceed $20M
A week after tamping down fundraising expectations, donors close to the high command of ex-MA Gov. Mitt Romney are predicting that he'll raise close to $20M this quarter.
Talk about a green monster: 1,000 Romney fans showed up last night at Fenway Park. 600 fundraisers are spending their full day collecting donations for Romney -- they've been given the goal of $5000 each. Assuming that half the donors reach their goal, that'll net Romney a cool $1.5M.
Romney today told reporters that he would contribute his own money to the campaign. An aide to Romney said that the fundraising total would exceed $20M only with Romney's contribution. The indefatigable Jonathan Martin is blogging the day over at the Politico.
I'm a little gun-shy about my earlier prediction that Sen. John McCain will raise more than $13M; I'm not sure how low expectations deserve to be. McCain's campaign manager noted today in a fundraising e-mail that McCain "does not rely on big money contributions from Washington lobbyists and power brokers; he relies on contributions from hard-working supporters like you. That is why we need your help today." McCain hasn't lost fundraisers, but his fundraisers are having trouble convincing their friends to write checks to his campaign, which is regularly and unintelligently declared "dead" by elites on a daily basis. On the day a London newspaper owned by Rupert Murdoch declared McCain's candidacy all but dead, McCain was endorsed by Greenville, SC mayor Knox White. Some hearts are still beating.
I'm now able to slightly refine what I think ex-NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani will raise: between $14M and $16M.
As usual, look to the burn rate -- or, as Romney's team likes to call it -- the investment rate.
McCain's ratio of cash in to cash out was about 1 to 0.7. Since then, his campaign's pared about 50 jobs and has set a goal of spending half of what they raised. They've also deferred some of their state campaign expenses until the fall.
Giuliani ended last quarter with about $11M; assuming a burn rate of 50%, he'd end up with about 16M on hand. McCain's cash-on-hand total was by far the lowest of his two top-ticket rivals; if he raises $13M and spends $6.5M, he'd finish the quarter with a respectable $12M on hand -- not spectacular, but acceptable enough.
Some Changes In Obama's Communication Shop
From the start, Sen. Barack Obama's campaign has, for its media strategy, favored the long ball over minutia and tactics. When confronted with a charge from an opponent, Obama's aides would generally respond only when the accusation was manifestly unfair -- or if it repeated a direct falsehood about Obama's life, such as when Fox News repeated unfounded rumors that he was part-Muslim.
Occasionally, the aggressive push-back of the Clinton and Edwards campaigns -- both of whom have all-hours warroom operations -- has caused Obama to stumble.
Now the Obama campaign wants to better prepare itself for these day-to-day skirmishes.
Democrats familiar with Obama's operation said the campaign is looking to hire several Democrats with press and research experience who would man a 24/7 "warroom" operation.
Also, Dan Pfeiffer, formerly a senior adviser to Tom Daschle and Evan Bayh, has been brought back from the road to oversee the day-to-day communications planning.
Robert Gibbs, Obama's director of communications and one of his closest aides, will spend more time on the road with Obama to hone his message. Gibbs will work with campaign strategist David Axelrod on big-picture strategy and messaging.
An Obama spokesman declined to comment on internal campaign matters.
Bipartisan message ads like this work in New Hampshire... they're not seen all the much in Iowa, where the Democratic caucus electorate is (a) Democratic and (b) partisan.
On Friday, N.M. Gov. Bill Richardson, speaking to a crowd of more than 150 in Des Moines, discussed what kind of Supreme Court judges he would nominate if elected president. He stressed the importance of selecting judges who were distinguished scholars who would uphold American’s constitutional rights and said he would partially base his decision on their opinions of Roe v. Wade.
“I would say, 'Do you believe Roe vs. Wade is settled law?'” the governor said. “If they say yes, they have a good chance of getting picked. ... I say this because, you know, we always dance around this issue.”
The Progressive States Network, which is setting itself up to be a liberal alternative to the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), is urging Sen. Barack Obama to reject an ALEC invitation to speak before its annual meeting in Philadelphia.
Fear not -- "We were never going and never considered [it,]" says Dan Pfeiffer, an Obama spokesman.
What Is Rupert Murdoch's Tabloid Trying To Do?
A Times of London article quotes Dan Schnur and Randy Pullen as suggesting that Sen. John McCain might drop out by the fall.
Pullen is one of McCain's biggest critics; Schnur is a former McCain communications director. Neither have much standing to predict what McCain will do.
Supreme Court Clarifies Part Of McCain-Feingold
As expected, a 5 to 4 majority of the Court this morning clarified a flashy, if less-than-critical part of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance legislation this morning. The Court ruled that Wisconsin Right To Life was within its first amendment rights to broadcast a television ad that mentioned Sen. Russ Feingold by name, even though Feingold was up for re-election that year and the ad was broadcast within 60 days of the general election.
James Bopp, Jr., the plaintiff's attorney, said
"Today the U.S. Supreme Court created a safe harbor for grassroots lobbying from the blackout period created by the "electioneering communication" prohibition in McCain-Feingold."
The Court did NOT overturn the electioneering communications provisions in toto, although three of the eight justices wanted the Court to do so. But it did create a safe harbor provision for "genuine" issue ads. The blackout provisions -- the 30/60 day bans on corporate treasury-funded ads -- only apply if the ad allows no "reasonable interpretation other than as an appeal to vote for or against a specific candidate." That's a pretty broad harbor, in my opinion.
Romney gloats; McCain winces; Republicans exult; Fred Thompson.... ???
More later.
Obama's First Television Ads A Test Of Message
Tomorrow, Barack Obama's campaign launches a fairly frugal series of televison ads with a goal to remind Iowa caucus goers about Obama's biography, answering the "who" question, and connecting his life to his concrete campaign promises -- the "why" question.
One ad, "Choices," describes Obama's post-graduate work as a community organizer and notes that he refused lucrative law firm offers to help working class families instead. The other ad, "Carry," centers on his eight years in the Illinois legislature. Both seem targeted to appeal to mixed-gender, economically-oriented, class-sensitive Democratic caucus audience.
A campaign spokesman said the size of the buy is "low-level," and "modest," and would not elaborate. Those two adjectives generally describe ad buys that reach less than 50% of the voter pool -- about 500 gross ratings points, in TV jargon.
Two other Democrats -- Bill Richardson and Chris Dodd -- are broadcasting their own ads in Iowa.
But unlike Richardson and Dodd, Obama doesn't really need to introduce himself: his ads supplement a month's worth of voter contacts that began with a mass mailing of DVD biographies, followed by a day-long canvass that knocked on 30,000 doors.
Of course, the ads will be repeated ad nauseum on national cable television as well as in Iowa spot markets, so their actual reach will be magnified considerably.
Obama's opponents will be eager to suggest that the campaign's early advertisements suggest they are worried about how where Obama stands in the first in the nation contest, so the Obama campaign is going out of its way to de-emphasize the relative importance of the ad buy in the matrix of campaign activities.
Here is how a background memo describes the purpose of the ads:
The ads focus on Obama's commitment to the power of grassroots movements and his success in bringing people together to solve important challenges. By demonstrating how Obama has successfully dedicated his life to these values, Iowa voters will better understand that Obama's vision for bringing the country together to solve important problems is not just campaign rhetoric. For him, it's been a way of life. The ads will show what Obama will do as President after they learn more about what he's already done.
48 hours after story is knocked down, Drudge falsely reports that Fred Thompson will announce this week
The Boston Globe begins its biographical vet of Ex-MA Gov. Mitt Romney. Highly recommended.
Rudy v. Christie Todd Whitman on air quality at ground zero.
From Hair To Hair Cut: Attacks On Edwards Evolve
From the latest fundraising appeal sent by the Edwards campaign -- this one's in the name of deputy campaign manager Jonathan Prince:
Like many of you, I've been with John since 2004. The same folks who are attacking him now went after him then. You know why? Because the Bush inner circle sensed what the polls tell us today—that John Edwards is the best general election candidate we've got. Last time they attacked his hair; this time it's his haircut. But it's the same sad game. And this time, we can beat it.
From The Academy: Does An Additional Year Of Education Correlate With A Higher Chance Of Voting?
Steven Tenn, writing in Political Analysis on "The Effect of Education on Voter Turnout" finds that an additional year of schooling --- say, one year of college -- has no significant effect on voter turnout. That is -- even if the population at large advances its average education by a year, voter turnout will stay much the same. So why does education correlate with turnout? Tenn theorizes that some other factor must be at work.
Gus Vander Jagt
I missed the news that former Michigan congressman Guy Vander Jagt died last week at age 75.
As NRCC chair in the 70s, he hired and trained some of the best in the biz; he was in some ways the mentor to a large number of Republican operatives who are influential today, including:
Pollsters Ed Goeas, Brian Tringali, Dave Sackett. Bill McInturff, Glen Bolger, Linda DiVall and David Winston; media strategists Bill Greener, Jim Innocenzi, Rich Galen, Barrie Tron, Russ Schrieffer, Dan Mattoon, consultants Carlyle Gregory, Scott Cottington, Kenny Klinge, Sam Dawson , Jim Weber, Mark Maddox, John Maddox. Leigh Ann Pusey,Tom Hockaday, Ann McCord as well as ex-Sen. Spencer Abraham and NRCC chair Rep. Tom Cole.
