Election Watch
Bipartisan Group Eyes Independent Bid
12.29.07 -- 6:25 PM
New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, a potential independent candidate for president, has scheduled a meeting next week with a dozen leading Democrats and Republicans, who will join him in challenging the major-party contenders to spell out their plans for forming a "government of national unity" to end the gridlock in Washington.
Those who will be at the Jan. 7 session at the University of Oklahoma say that if the likely nominees of the two parties do not pledge to "go beyond tokenism" in building an administration that seeks national consensus, they will be prepared to back Bloomberg or someone else in a third-party campaign for president.
Conveners of the meeting include such prominent Democrats as former senators Sam Nunn (Ga.), Charles S. Robb (Va.) and David L. Boren (Okla.), and former presidential candidate Gary Hart. Republican organizers include Sen. Chuck Hagel (Neb.), former party chairman Bill Brock, former senator John Danforth (Mo.) and former New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman.
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On Upswing, Huckabee Attracts Funds, Backers
12.29.07 -- 6:00 PM
Wealthy Texas financier Gene Phillips had thought about getting behind Republican Mike Huckabee's presidential bid for some time, but it was only after the former Arkansas governor surged in the polls that Phillips decided to open his wallet and his sprawling Dallas estate for a fundraiser.
"When I saw his numbers start to move, that impressed me," Phillips said. "Then his numbers went from single digits to double digits, and I got on the phone to his campaign and offered to help."
For most of the year, as Huckabee remained at the back of the Republican pack, his campaign struggled to raise money. Only a handful of big-dollar bundlers were aboard, and those were mostly from Arkansas. For a time, he had no finance director, relying instead on his daughter-in-law to organize fundraising.
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Republican moderates look to chart new course in Iowa
12.26.07 -- 3:06 PM
On a recent ice-swept morning, a group of self-described moderate Republicans met in a hotel convention room, looking to find a way to break the chill of a presidential season that has found many of them left out in the cold.
"Our goal is to get traditional centrist moderate Republicans to get to the caucus and make their voices heard," said former Iowa Lt. Gov. Joy Corning.
"The moderates who are out there, they've been rather quiet for a few years. Many of them have dropped out of the party or become independents, and so this is an effort to regroup and encourage people to be active," she said.
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Lieberman to Endorse McCain
12.16.07 -- 6:43 PM
Sen. John McCain, trying to build momentum toward a reprise of his 2000 New Hampshire primary victory, is piling up high-profile endorsements, including one from another political maverick, Sen. Joseph Lieberman.
The Connecticut senator, an independent who was the Democrats' 2000 vice presidential nominee, was scheduled to announce his support for McCain at a town hall meeting Monday morning in Hillsborough.
A Lieberman adviser said the senator decided to back McCain despite being a Republican because he believes his colleague from Arizona ''has the best chance of uniting the country in its fight against Islamic terrorism.''
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Ron Paul meets -- and exceeds -- 4Q fundraising goal two weeks early
12.16.07 -- 6:13 PM
At $13.8 million and counting, the presidential campaign of Republican Rep. Ron Paul says it has already topped its fourth-quarter goal of raising $12 million.
The campaign just sent out the word in an e-mail blast to reporters.
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Kucinich Putting Finishing Touches to Articles of Impeachment Against Bush
12.11.07 -- 7:49 AM
Touching on issues ranging from Yucca Mountain to the Patriot Act and the war in Iraq, presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich spoke to a crowd of several hundred people in Reno Saturday.
Despite a steady snowfall outside, a standing-room-only crowd packed into two meeting rooms at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center to hear what the Ohio Congressman and Democrat had to say about issues he's most closely associated with: the environment and opposition to the war and the Bush administration in general. Those expecting Kucinich to deliver harsh words about the president weren't disappointed, as the half-hour campaign speech soon turned to talk of impeachment.
"On the way over here, I was reading a 50-page document that relates to Articles of Impeachment for the President of the United States," Kucinich said to a standing ovation. "And I want you to know that I'm actually preparing this document for submission to the House."
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Huckabee Sees More Attacks
12.11.07 -- 5:21 AM
Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee said on Monday that his surging popularity was drawing attacks from opponents and money from supporters as new polls released on Monday showed him in a virtual tie nationally with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
The folksy former Arkansas governor has vaulted from single-digit figures just a few short weeks ago to the lead spot in opinion polls in the crucial state of Iowa.
A new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll put Huckabee nationally at second place. In it he had the backing of 22 percent of Republican voters, just behind Giuliani's 24 percent.
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Poll: Obama Gains on Clinton in New Hampshire
11.30.07 -- 6:51 AM
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is gaining on rival Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire, while Republican Mitt Romney’s lead in the early voting state is stable, according to a new poll by Suffolk University for Boston’s WHDH TV.
Likely voters in New Hampshire’s Jan. 8 Democratic primary, which includes independents, gave 34 percent support to Clinton, while 22 percent backed Obama and 15 percent picked former North Carolina senator John Edwards. Just 12 percent were undecided. Her current 12-point spread contrasts to June when Clinton led Obama by 18 points.
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Tempers still raw after fractious Republican debate
11.29.07 -- 10:06 AM
Tempers were raw between rival Republican presidential candidates Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney on Thursday after a lively debate that included what the Romney camp called a nasty attack by Giuliani.
The two candidates -- Giuliani ahead in national polls and Romney leading in the two early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire -- went toe-to-toe on Wednesday on illegal immigration and other issues.
In the sharpest exchange of the night, Giuliani had a tough response when Romney insisted New York had been a sanctuary for illegal immigrants when Giuliani was mayor.
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SEC Opens Investigation Into Company Whose Founder Spent Heavily on the Clintons
11.22.07 -- 12:26 PM
The Securities and Exchange Commission has opened an investigation into spending by database marketer in Omaha which already faces a lawsuit alleging the company misspent millions -- some of it on Bill and Hillary Clinton.
The shareholder lawsuit questions why InfoUSA Inc. founder Vin Gupta used private corporate jets to fly the Clintons on business, personal and campaign trips, why Gupta gave Bill Clinton a $3.3 million consulting contract and why the company paid for extravagant luxuries Gupta enjoyed.
The company said in a filing Tuesday that it would cooperate with the SEC's request for documents related to expense reimbursement, transactions with related parties, some corporate expenditures and certain trades of company stock.
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