With a major new report on climate change coming this week, here is Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signing California’s landmark legislation last fall on Treasure Island in
San Francisco Bay in this NWN video.
** Incidentally, welcome to the Hotel California.
** HILLARY’S STEPFATHER-IN-LAW DIES. The Democratic presidential frontrunner had earlier today postponed her scheduled weekend trip to New Hampshire on account of the serious illness of her husband’s stepfather, Richard Kelley. He has, sadly, just passed away. Richard Kelley married the former president’s late mother, Virginia Kelley, and by the various accounts brought a modicum of happiness to her somewhat challenging life. Bill Clinton was close to his stepfather, who remained an integral part of the Clintons’ lives after his mother passed away during his first term in the White House. He was 91. Richard Kelley was a Little Rock food broker who met Bill Clinton’s mom at a racetrack and married her while “the youngest ex-governor in American history,” as Clinton self-deprecatingly styled himself in those days, ran to regain the Arkansas governorship in 1982.
** OIL HITS A FOUR-WEEK HIGH. Crude oil prices have further moved up to around $58 per barrel. The theory that Saudi Arabia is keeping prices substantially lower as part of an overarching strategy to pressure Iran now looks very flawed. The Saudis have actually cut their oil production. And there are signs they want to work with Iran to stabilize the region.
** SILICON VALLEY COMEBACK. Silicon Valley is coming back strong, according to the report for 2007 of Joint Venture Silicon Valley. The region south of San Francisco added over 30,000 jobs last year, by far the best performance since dot-com crash of 2001. Part of the turnaround is due to Web 2.0. But much of it is due to the emergence of greentech. Venture capital investment in new energy and environmental technologies is up nearly 1000% over the past two years.
** HILLARY NEW HAMPSHIRE TRIP POSTPONED. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, who just had a very successful trip to Iowa last weekend, has posponed this coming weekend’s trip to New Hampshire. Her stepfather-in-law is reportedly very ill. She reportedly hasn’t been to the Granite State for years. Clinton leads there in a new private poll for the Democratic presidential primary.
** PATAKI HOLDS BACK. Former New York Governor George Pataki, a potential Republican presidential candidate, told backers in New Hampshire that he will hang back a few months to see how the presidential field takes shape before making a decision about a candidacy. While you never want to say never, with the acceleration of the race, that is probably tantamount to a demurral.
** TERROR WAR SLANG. Noted military blogger and Gulf War vet Austin Bay has compiled contemporary military slang. It’s some amusing and clever stuff.
** SCHWARZENEGGER WEBCAST AT 11:30 AM. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger holds a press conference today to discuss his comprehensive health care proposal, viewable via this link.
** MCCAIN HOUSE WHIPS. Senator John McCain announced a team of a half-dozen Republican members of Congress to serve as his whips to build congressional support. They are Michigan’s Fred Upton, Alabama’s Spencer Bachus, Arizona’s John Shadegg, Illinois’ John Shimkus and Mark Kirk, and California’s Dan Lungren.
Lungren is a long-time favorite of conservative Republicans in California. The amiable former state attorney general of California was the 1998 Republican nominee for governor of California. He ran a staunchly conservative race and lost to Democrat Gray Davis.
** GIULIANI IN CALIFORNIA. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is in California today raising money in the southland. He’ll be back in state next month for a keynote address to the California Republican Convention and a few days of campaigning.
** ONE WAY FOR BIDEN TO BREAK THROUGH THE CLUTTER. With eye-raising, provocative commentary on his leading opponents, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards.
** FAST TRACKING THE EARLY CALIFORNIA PRIMARY. State Senator Ron Calderon’s aide Rocky Rushing says the senator’s bill for an early California presidential primary is moving on to a fast track with action in the Senate Rules Committee this week. It could move to the state Assembly by next week. Democratic and Republican leaders there say they back the bill.
** GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE SUMMIT LATER THIS YEAR? With a major new report on climate change coming at the end of the week from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, support is growing for new United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon of South Korea to call a special summit later this year to break the impasse on the issue. The report from top scientists around the world will show a a 90% probability that climate change is due to manmade greenhouse gases.
** BIDEN ANNOUNCES FOR PRESIDENT. U.S. Senator Joe Biden of Delaware announced this morning that he is running for the Democratic presidential nomination. The knowledgeable chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was first elected to the Senate in 1972. He enters the race as a decided underdog, albeit one with plenty of seasoning. An earlier run for the 1988 nomination ended in disarray, with the revelation that he was using lines from then British Labor Party leader Neil Kinnock without attribution.
Biden rejects both the Bush policy for Iraq and a rapid withdrawal, instead saying that Iraq should be “federalized” with Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis given “breathing space in their own territories” and a sharing of oil revenues. He would have a phased withdrawal of US combat troops and major reconstruction aid. Biden would convene a regional security conference which would include Iran and insist that all parties concur in the power-sharing arrangement and respect Iraq’s sovereignty. “Iraq,” he says, “risks becoming what it was not before the war: a haven for radical fundamentalists.”
** Monitor computer memory prices on a daily basis. Prices are stable.
** Track global and national energy prices in near real time via Bloomberg. Crude oil prices are around $55 to $56 per barrel.
Read 
| Comments (0) |
Biden sounds pretty sensible. I don’t know how he gets into the leader group, though.
Biden wants to talk to Iran. What is he, some kind of Communist? lol
One way he might break through is by saying provocative things, like what he just said about Obama. I’m trying to get a working link.
NWN:Biden would convene a regional security conference which would include Iran and insist that all parties concur in the power-sharing arrangement and respect Iraq’s sovereignty.
Way To Go Joe! Diplomacy …talks…with all in the region including Iran and Syria.
Yesterday, there were several news reports on the web and cable how frustrated he was with this administration not allowing for “engaging” with Iran and Syria.
George Voinovich, the Republican senator and ex-governor from Ohio said much the same thing yesterday about engaging Iran and Syria.
Since Biden’s senate seat is up in 2008, is he retiring from the Senate or is re-election still an option?
Sulihan,
Didn’t Joe Lieberman run for both VP and reelection to the Senate in 2000? If so, than it would seem reelection for Biden would be an option.
Barbra writes:
“NWN:Biden would convene a regional security conference which would include Iran and insist that all parties concur in the power-sharing arrangement and respect Iraq’s sovereignty.
Way To Go Joe! Diplomacy …talks…with all in the region including Iran and Syria.”
I agree fully. It’s about time something like this happens, bringing all the players to the table.
One problem with that, though. Who in the Bush administration is competent to participate in such an effort?
Wikipewdia notes regarding LBJ “While he ran for vice president with John F. Kennedy, Johnson also sought a third term in the U.S. Senate. His popularity was such that Texas law was changed to permit him to run for two offices at the same time.” So depending on the laws of their respective states Biden and Lieberman might be able to run for both offices.
I don’t think Biden’s giving up his Senate seat.
Biden said what? lol
Biden will get less votes than Kucinich.
Meanwhile, government scientists are finally able to be heard re global climate change after years of censorship by the anti-science fossil fuel funded Bush cabal:
EPA Scientists File Mass Petition for Action on Global Warming
Washington, DC – In an unprecedented action, representatives for more than 10,000 US Environmental Protection Agency scientists are calling on Congress to take immediate action against global warming, according to a petition released [nov. 29] by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The petition also calls for an end to censorship of agency scientists and other specialists on topics of climate change and the effects of air pollution.
The petition stresses that time is running out to prevent cataclysmic environmental changes induced by human-caused pollution and urges Congress to undertake prompt actions: “If we wait, we will be committing the next generation of Americans to approximately double the current global warming concentrations, with the associated adverse impacts on human health and the environment.”
more: http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=789
It is true that Kucinich was first in the caucuses on Maui last time around …
The governor of Delaware is Ruth Ann Minner, a Democrat whose term expires in January, 2009. So if Biden were to resign his seat, he would be replaced by a Democrat. Or at least that’s the assumption.
that would depend on what they were smoking… for some reason Kucinich is popular in the Bay Area among folks who think he can somehow make the democratic party more progressive, a lost cause in my opinion. But it is still strange that the one candidate who was correct and consistent in opposing the invasion and occupation of Iraq is taken less seriously than those who admit they were stupid enough to have been fooled by the lies of Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld-Rice-Powell.
I like Dennis. But as you know, he opposes everything like that, so he is bound to be correct sometime.
California’s gonna do it. God help us all.
Lungren?…that’s interesting…he voted against CIRA last time around …I wonder since McCain is re -introducing a new and improved CIRA in the very near future what he will do this time around in the House?
He’ll probably vote against it.
Mr. Lungren is far too conservative for California. However, that is why he will help Sen. McCain a great deal in the primary here.
Honestly, I am not sure John McCain can win the primaries unless, somehow, the conservative base really begins to trust him — and it doesn’t look like they will.
Biden is correct about Iran. Iran must be part of the process..along with all the countries along Iraq’s border …There are reports that the Saudi’s and the Iranians are talking…this is the only good news at the moment…last night Cooper Anderson interviewed war -reporter Michael Ware last night…the transcript is available at: :http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0701/30/acd.02.html From his perspective and analysis there are actually 4 wars going on. This interview is well worth your time to read if you missed the program. (Excerpts Below)
War on War 1: Sunni insurgents against US
What we saw almost from the beginning is that elements from the military and from the Baath party and from within the Sunni community begin the insurgency. What started as small ad hoc without coordination eventually emerged as a structured and extremely effective guerrilla fight…. they were opposed to if not al Qaeda, at least the idea of al Qaeda. And we certainly saw through the early years of the war and, to a degree, continuing now, great friction between these elements of America’s enemies.
Ware on War 2 al Qaeda and War 3 the civil war Sunni/Shia
Now, what you need to remember is after the success of the invasion of Afghanistan and al Qaeda was driven out of its sanctuary, its base from which it launched September 11 attacks and many other things, we saw now an organization put under great stress. It had to retreat into the mountains of Waziristan and Pakistan and it had to disperse. So what we saw for Zarqawi and what we’ve now seen for al Qaeda more broadly, is that the invasion of Iraq gave them the next platform that they’d been looking for. So in many ways, the invasion played directly into the hands of al Qaeda.At the core of it, apart from the fight against the Americans, what Zarqawi wanted to do was to strike up a war between the Sunni sect of Islam and the Shia sect of Islam. He believed it was through this that his and al Qaeda’s Sunni branch of Islam would awake from its slumber and rise up to defend itself and eventually conquer all before it. And it was through Iraq that he saw that they would do that COOPER: This third war you talk about, this civil war in Iraq really is a victory for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. It’s what he wanted all along.
WARE: Absolutely. As he spelled out from the very, very beginning, what he believed was that if we attack the Shia, they will be forced to respond. Then this sleeping giant, the Sunni sect of Islam, will be forced to rise up. He believed that was the key to the way forward.
So essentially, he created the civil war that not only now exists in Iraq, but is dominating the political and military landscape. This is Zarqawi’s legacy.
Essentially, this is a Shia-led government. To the Sunnis, they see this as America entrenching the power of the Shia, and clearly, its main supporter, Iran.
So, to them, this was a battle line. This is one of the reasons that they say they’ve had to take up arms, not just against the government and the death squads, but also against the Americans
Ware On Iran: War 4.
COOPER: The fourth war that’s going on in Iraq, the proxy war against Iran, how did Iran get involved?
WARE: Iran’s been involved from the very, very beginning. Don’t forget, you know, Iran and Iraq share a land border. There’s many tribes and families that live on both sides of this border. In the ’80s, Saddam launched a vicious eight-year war against Iran. So Iran very much has legitimate national security interests in terms of Iraq. And we’ve seen Iran aggressively pursue those interests. What happened during the invasion, as U.S. and British forces advanced from Kuwait to the north, clearing Saddam’s forces as they went, we saw essentially an Iranian backed invasion at the same time that filled the vacuum that was left behind. It was extremely well organized and coordinated. And, in fact, the irony is we saw Iran use the very same successful tactic that the American Green Berets used in Afghanistan to win against the Taliban and al Qaeda against U.S. interests in Iraq.
WARE: During Saddam’s regime, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Shia fled to Iran. Iran saw many of these people not only as brethren and refugees to be protected, but as an asset. Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of these Iraqi Shia who were in Iran were mobilized and used by the Iranians within its armed forces.
COOPER: What would they do? They went in with money? They went in with arms?
WARE: With everything. What they did is, in the chaos and the vacuum of power that was left behind the advancing coalition forces, they took power. They took the governor’s office, the police chief’s office, the Baath party headquarters, and they never really left.”
CADTS, just who is the candidate preference of the Republican conservative base? And do they have as much influence as they used to regarding who gets the nod?
I’m going to Las Vegas to bet on McCain.
The wingers have Romney, a fake.
If Jim Webb’s analysis is correct on the Scots-Irish (He wrote a very interesting book on the subject) then McCain should just do fine with the REEP Conservative Base including the Christian Conservatives…WEBB’s book asserts Scots-Irish were big voters for Reagan and Bush, have high populations in key primary states (including California especially Bakersfield) He contends that what really is important to them are leaders with personal strength and values… and military tradition, as that the Scots-Irish Americans are the “dominant culture” of the military and the Christian Right
It is a very interesting insight into the Reep base and Jim Webb is a very bright man …I think McCain will appeal to many conservative Reeps..
Barbara,
Very interesting comment regarding the Scottish-Irish voters.
I recommend Senator Webb’s book on Scot Irish…I have not read any of his fiction …but it’s on my reading list!
John McCain would be one of the biggest beneficiaries of a February California Primary, where the Democratic presidential candidate had already been anointed. In that scenario, DTS voters would assuredly pull him across the finish line. But if DTS voters primarily play in a hot Democratic race, then I think McCain pulls short on Republican support.
Surprisingly enough, many on the conservative right are taking a stronger look at Mike Huckabee — in spite of the numerous “issues” that surround his tenure in Arkansas.
He has a few things going for him.
1.) He is southern.
2.) He is considered very approachable and “down-to-earth”. He actually plays/played bass in a non-Christian rock band. He actually sat in with a country band from New Hampshire at a Republican event in Manchester last summer.
3.) He has never swayed from the base — with a few exceptions — on key issues like abortion, gay marriage, stem cells, etc.
4.)You all joke about Cruz, but the weight loss thing can be a very important message of perserverance, strength of character, etc. As long as its framed in a more subtler context than our friend Cruz did.
5.)Huckabee is a pretty smart guy with an ability to discuss a multitude of issues.
6.)He was a Governor and was elected in both cases with over 60% of the vote. He crushed the Democrat in both cases and scored big among independents and Dems alike.
Romney is a fake but for some odd reason still has a certain amount of attraction for conservatives — but I think to some degree that will wane in the coming months. Brownback is to out there for most conservatives — which is odd to say I know.
Actually Dana, they probably have less influence after this disastrous administration. The one caveat to that would be the perception amongst many conservatives that they have acheived alot in this administration as well — two Supreme Court justices for example.
McCain will not, and consistently, has not, done well amongst social conservatives — ya know, the ones who generally come out to vote in droves in primaries. They don’t trust him, they feel his flip-flopping on Bush has hurt him and, believe it or not, his waffling on gay marriage (plus the vote against the amendment), his support of stem cell research and, couple that with the 2000 campaign still in the back of their minds — and you have a recipe for disaster.
Plus, the aura of McCain has worn off some. He is 70 years old (and will turn 72 during the general) and, while healthy, clearly does not hold the same sway he did eight years ago. At that time, he looked like a true maverick and, now, with his pandering to the right wing, the indepedents and moderate Republicans don’t really trust him either.
Sorry, but I think John is DOA upon arrival as a presidential candidate.
Depending on who is still in the Presidential race by the time the CA primary rolls around, it will be an interesting test of the Arnoldistas’ contention that Republican voters are much more moderate that the Republicans in the Legislature.
If so, then I concur with Brasky’s point on McCain.
But look it from the Dem side. These jokers nominated Phil Angelosers. They have as much political horsesense as Speaker Pelosi. Sorry, Dems, I’ll have to lay a side wager that the winner of the CA primary will ultimately lose.
That last sentence should just read “Sorry, but I think John is DOA as a presidential candidate.”
An underlying law of political physics.
You can’t beat somebody with nobody.
McCain may or may not win, but he is anything but DOA.
Giuliani would probably need independents in a Republican primary more than McCain.
Okay, maybe DOA is too strong a word…but his campaign is already on a respirator and taking IV fluids to stay alive. And the future diagnosis ain’t promising.
And for the exact reasons I stated. As there is no vice-president running for President (thank god for that in this case), McCain is generally considered the “heir apparent”. Unfortunately, in an effort to be all things to all people, McCain has proceed to alienate too many voters in these key states. Honestly, I liken his campaign to Gore in 2000 in that respect.
While I have seen the baseline polls, the crosstabs would undoubtedly confirm these conclusions. They would show independents trusting him last (independent/moderate Republicans) are the real strength of the Republicans in NH.
And Huckabee isn’t a nobody — except maybe to certain pundits — but he isn’t unknown in Iowa,NH or South Carolina. Reep party activists or, more importantly, social conservatives in both states. Given where we are in the cycle, I am not sure calling him a “nobody” is really accurate.
Remember Bill, you got a year to go on this thing. McCain is going to be savaged over the next year every time he makes a move. Not to mention, he will have to defend a nationally-know Huckabee is doing the right things — raising money, making his visits and building a strong field operation.
Dana – Some are attributing McCain’s predicted weak showing, at least among activists, to his authorship of McCain-Feingold, but I would think the GOP base has probably also feels let down by his insider dealings on issues like supreme court judge votes, the Iraq resolution, etc. As for me, I am a proud owner of a McCain 2000 T-Shirt.
If the rabid wing of the Reeps starts an “Anyone But McCain” campaign that sticks, he’s sunk. If somehow the Reep base can be convinced to swallow their convictions to win, he’s a frontrunner. I don’t think anyone can replicate what Arnold did in that respect, but I could be wrong, especially if Hillary adopts the role of Phil. God I hate sequels.
I think you’re way off, CADTS. You really need to check the things you cite to buttress your ironclad pronunciamentos.
Your comparing McCain’s position to Gore’s, for example. Gore dominated the Democratic presidential race. He never lost a state.
>Honestly, I liken his campaign to Gore in 2000 in that respect.
Then this. The “nationally known Huckabee.”
Taint no such thing.
>Not to mention, he will have to defend a nationally-know Huckabee is doing the right things — raising money, making his visits and building a strong field operation.
Oh, and Hillary ain’t Phil Angelides. I know a Phil when I see one, having ID’d him as a weak candidate a year ago, long before the labor folks and consultant class started ineffectually whining about him.
Huckabee is a creationist. lol
I think that Guliani has to be kept in mind as a formidable GOP candidate, one who could also fare well in an early CA primary, even if the democratic candidate isn’t locked in by then. I believe he appeals to an even wider “base” of DTS voters than does McCain.
I think Biden is the guy who comes out of this race with his reputation enhanced. As long as he is behind, he can be the ‘honest’ candidate who lets it fly. And his partition plan, looks like the best option out there.
Now, if he starts thinking he can win, then he’ll become like any other candidate and will not get the positive press that he will garner if he is the ‘straight shooter’.
Edwards is trying to pull a Schwarzenegger and switch positions quickly. He now is the union guy and against the war. He better be careful that he doesnt look like a snake oil salesman. But, Edwards is leading in Iowa and is NOT a woman or African American. Thus, people may say that he can win. Especially since he is from the South-see Clinton, Carter. A big difference is Edwards is trying to win from the left.
Of course you think I am way off Bill…imagine my incredible surprise as it is an opinion that differs from yours.
First thing first: actually I didn’t complete the sentence…and had nothing to do with a nationally known Huckabee.
It should have said “he (McCain)will have to defend a nationally-known record.”
Given the previous sentence, it doesn’t make sense otherwise. However, I can see you, as you tend to skim posts, might come to that conclusion. So, I apologize for my failure to be clear.
Gore didn’t “dominate” the campaign as you say. In fact, if he had, the candidate Bill Bradley wouldn’t have run to begin with and wouldn’t have done reasonably well.
Indeed, we would have been talking about President Gore’s legacy today.
The biggest reason is that Gore’s numbers among Democrats sank hard among those who felt he had deserted Clinton, (who still commanded ENORMOUS strength with the base — as you will note, Bush still does now.)and showed tremendous disloyalty to a sitting president was still had numbers in the 60′s.
In turn, it led to serious doubts about his credibility among party faithful in the primaries and later, moderate Dems and independents in the general.
It sure as hell cost Gore the election in states he never should have lost — including Tennesee, West Virginia and New Hampshire. Never mind some of the other swing states.
And if you actually think about it, Gore’s campaign was an effort to appeal to everyone on everything. He did the ENTIRE time before the runup the primaries and it impacted his numbers on a consistent basis within the party faithful.
In either a primary or general, McCain has much the same problem. And,Bill, you as an experienced political hand, should know that history shows can be the difference between winning and losing — just ask Al Gore.
And who the heck said Hillary is Phil Angelides? I never made that comparison.
The problem with your posts is they don’t hang together.
You said that McCain is like Gore. That supports the idea of him winning the nomination, not losing it.
I hope I don’t have to repeat this.
Incidentally, the Phil reference was not about your post.
I am a DTS..not sure how typical I am as far a sthe DTS profile goes…but I could vote for McCain even though I do not support the surge and regret that he is supporting it, I feel like I understand why he is doing it… so it does not bother me all that much when I think of the “entire man” that is John McCain …I love what Guliani did for NY, becaus eI LOVE Manhattan…but I would need to see and hear a great deal more from him before I could vote for him…any way,… I waiting for Hagel….
Edwards, Clinton, Biden , Obama are great candidates for a variety of reasons …it will be really interesting to see what the Dems do here..or rather what California does! Since the consensus appears to be we will be the decider…
It sounds like Biden already blew it!
We’ll see. Biden is a motormouth, but handled right this is not the worst thing in the world.
The Saudis are far more interested in making money than in promoting the policies of a lame duck American presidency and the Israelis.
Jesus…f(*&*()&89ing Biden!!
Barbara, where is Hagel in the process? I do like him.
Bill, it appears I have to repeat myself.
I said McCain is acting like Gore did — and that attitude cost Gore the election in the end. It just so happens McCain is doing that now. Unfortunately, he is doing in a more crowded primary where many consider him to be the “heir apparent” to the President.
To put more simply: McCain is acting like Gore by trying to please everyone and ends up alienating everyone.
It doesn’t presume McCain will win the primary. However, if you consider what I ACTUALLY said, what McCain is doing (pleasing everyone and no one)is running this campaign the same exact way as Gore did in 2000.
Is that clear enough??
Sorry, CADTS, once again you ignore my points about what you actually said.