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By Mark Kilmer Posted in Archived — Comments (33) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Sunday, August 12, 2007

It was Harold Ford and Markos Moulitsas debating on MTP, with David Gregory moderating. It was nothing. Ford says the Dems need to run to the center, Moulitsas says the country is liberal and the party should be proud to be liberal. They almost embraced at one point, but Moulitsas was angry that Ford blamed Harry Reid and Ford was angry that Moulitsas blamed him for John Breaux. Go figure. But they didn't mess up the playground, so the kids can keep having fun.

Mitt Romney was on FNS, and I thought he did well with the softballs. There was the matter of Romney saying he did not spend money to win the straw poll, which could be overlooked, but there was the more serious matter of Romney continuing to compare himself to Ronald Reagan on abortion. That cannot be overlooked. But on the matter of Romney saying that though his sons did not serve in the military, they served their country by working for his campaign, Romney gave the right answer. He said that he misspoke and that the two were not comparable.

On TW, Brownback is in the race, suggested that there are "three or four" tickets out of Iowa's caucuses in January, and he's hopeful that he'll get one. Later, Dennis Kucinich declared himself to be at the new center of the Dem Party.

On FTN, Jim Axelrod was in for Schieffer, and he interviewed Mike Huckabee. The former governor was on his game, comparing his finish in the straw poll to one of Jesus' miracles and declaring that he was now a top tier candidate. He said that the GOP was pwned by Wall Street and he wants it to be owned by Main Street. And the obligatory shot at the winner: "It [Huckabee's support] was a movement; it wasn't just, hey, we're giving out [goofy yellow] t-shirts."

First on LE, with guest host Joe Johns in for Wolf, was Transportation Secretary Mary Peters. Peters said that it was not that we were spending too little money on the nation's infrastructure; rather, it was how it was being spent. Johns suggested that bridges to nowhere were the problem, while Peters mentioned art museums and the like. Johns played a clip of Newt exclaiming that bureaucratic government was broken and Peters agreed. She reiterated that the problem was with how we were spending the money, though I don't know that Gingrich meant that, per se.

Next on LE, Johns spoke with David Dreier for Rudy, Jim Talent for Romney, and Buddy Roemer for McCain. This was each campaign spinning the current situation in the manner that looked best for their candidate. The campaigns do it on shows like this and for the other media outlets, and people do the same thing here in diaries at RedState. It is one of my favorite parts of a Presidential campaign, perhaps because it can be alternately maddening and confounding.

The complete, show-by-show review is below the fold. ...

FORD AND 'KOS ON MTP. This was a real treat. David Gregory was in for Russert, hosting a debate about the future of the Democratic Party between ex-Congressman Harold Ford, jr., and Markos Moulitsas of the Daily Kos weblog. David Gregory quoted from an op/ed Ford cro-wrote for the Washington Post concerning how Democrats must not ignore the "vital center." Ford replied by congratulating Moulitsas for building whatever it is he's built, "giving a voice," etc. He claimed some credit for his DLC, but he noted that the MVP of the Democrat Party was George W. Bush. At this point, he admonished everyone not to "get caught up in claiming credit." He argued that factions should merge.

Moulitsas, who also co-wrote a WashPost op/ed, declared that the left was now the mainstream of the Democratic Party after the party had undergone 20 years of being afraid to show "passion" and be proud to be Democrats. He said that despite what the mainstream party advisors said, the United States is not a conservative country.

Moulitsas proclaimed that the DLC was a failure and had filed the Democratic Party. He declared that "people want out" of Iraq, and that any questions about methods or timing were mere semantics. Gregory tried to explain that how we leave and when we leave are important, but Moulitsas wouldn't budge. He insisted that he was a logistic expert, and he knows that it would be impossible to pull everyone out overnight.

But there was a thaw, if one were needed, between Ford and Moulitsas. Both men came very close to touching each other, and there were a few cautious preliminary moves toward a handshake, even an embrace, but neither seemed to be certain of the other or if it would be good politics to be seen as making contact. "Harold," as Moulitsas called him, promised with definiteness to attend next year's version of Yearly Kos.

Ford told Moulitsas that they should not argue. Moulitsas countered that Ford should stop blaming Harry Reid.

Then there was some sort of incoherent spat about John Breaux -- whom I'd long called the "Mullah of the Moderates" and the "Sultan of the Centrists" – so I couldn't be certain if the two left the building as friends or if there would be more angry "truth-to-power" claptrap. Moulitsas claimed millions of followers, so you can check the millions of Daily Kos diaries for the reaction if you're of the mind.

ROMNEY ON FNC. Mitt Romney, yesterday's straw poll winner, was host Chris Wallace's guest on FOX News Sunday. Romney handled slow-pitch magnificently. The host pointed out that for all the money Mitt spent in Iowa before the straw poll and the number of votes he received, it was as if he had spent about $800 vote. Romney answered that he hadn't spent all that money for victory in the straw poll; rather, it was spent building his base for the caucuses next January. It sounds like a good answer until you remember that Romney had said last month that scaling back spending for the poll: "We've cut back on our target from that standpoint to a level where we think we can win, but we're not trying to overwhelm anybody."

Romney mentioned the argument that his total in the Iowa straw poll had actually been enhanced by the fact that Rudy, Fred, and McCain did not participate. It showed, he said some argue, that those three knew that they couldn't compete with the Mitt Machine.

Wallace asked Romney if he were the frontrunner. Romney smiled and replied: "Oh, wouldn't that be nice." He said that he doesn't think he is at this point, but he added that he could be by December or January.

Romney said that he is "pleased that my message is connecting." He said that he's also glad that the "barbs" from his opponents are not connecting.

Romney talked about all the jobs he lured to Massachusetts and how he had been "rebuilding the State."

Then Wallace asked Romney about abortion. He played the old clips of Romney stating that he'd defend a woman's right to abort, and Mitt repeated the story about how he became governor and finally decided to bring in people to inform him about the nature of abortion. This sounded fair enough to me, but then he repeated his big lie, saying that his conversion was "exactly what Ronald Reagan did." It does not at all resemble what Ronald Reagan did, and I expect better from a man who wants to be the nominee of what in a lot of ways is Mr. Reagan's party. His cynical view ought to hurt him with the party's Reaganites conservatives.

Finally, Wallace gave Romney a chance to explain two of his more minor mistakes. Asked about his dog Seamus, Romney pleaded ignorance of the Massachusetts law against dogs riding in carriers on top of cars and he explained that Seamus loved it up there, went up there on his own.

When asked about his recent comment that his sons may not have served in the military, but they performed their national service by campaigning for him, Romney said exactly what I hoped he'd say: "I misspoke there. … There's no comparison." This was a case where one might believe that he misspoke and hope that he misspoke, but it is a measure of the man if he will admit it. He did, and there's really nothing to say.

In the preview of these shows, I had written that Romney's wife Ann would be on with him, but that turned out not to be the case. She was FNS's "Power Player of the Week."

SAM BROWNBACK ON TW. Host George Stephanopoulos first spoke with the straw poll's third place finisher, Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas. The Senator was all smiles, but: "We wanted to win it. But we're still in it." Coming in third "is a ticket on through to the caucuses." He thinks he's "still in a position to be able to win."

On the new dates of the contests, Brownback suggests that he might do his Christmas shopping in Iowa.

Steph asked if he needs Iowa; Brownback replied that Iowa "would be helpful." He explained that the "country trusts them with this process."

Steph asked Brownback if Mitt's "pretty convincing victory" meant that he's put the abortion question away. Brown said that he doesn't think so, but that Romney is "maxing out his vote." He congratulated Romney: great team, great organization.

Brownback said that there were "about three or four tickets out of Iowa," and he thinks he can be one.

Brownback thinks conservative voters should select him over Mike Huckabee because of his foreign policy experience.

Steph brought up General Lute and the draft, where the war czar took a different position than that taken by his President. Brownback said we do not need a draft, and he said that we needed to start pulling troops from the front in Iraq. He complained that we've seen no political progress, and Steph proclaimed that we would see no progress before General Petraeus's September report. Steph said that McCain would continue supporter the surge anyway, and Brownback responded that we really need political progress. Steph asked what Brownback would do differently than President Bush is doing, and Brownback said that he'd "park" Jim Baker in that region as the "political surge."

For the current credit crunch, Brownback would "go after those individuals who have unscrupulous lending practices." He would not bail out the subprime lending market.

From here, Brownback is headed, he said, to New Hampshire, South Carolina, and some of the other primary States. (Although it has nothing to do with the Senator, such talk always brings to mind the following: "YEAAARRRRGH!")

KUCINICH ON TW. Steph and the original Marvin the Martian, Dennis Kucinich. Steph pointed out that Dennis is getting lots of laughs with his little, funny lines, but he's raising less money than he did four years ago and he is even lower in the polls. Dennis said that everybody's paying attention to the frontrunners right now, but people are starting to recognize that he's the one who cares about the things they do.

Steph said that Dennis says that he's what America wants but he really appeals to the left wing of the party. He quotes Harold Ford from the WashPost (linked in the MTP review above) as saying that President Bush is handing them a Herbert Hoover moment where everyone will support them if they appeal to everyone, not just to the left. Dennis replied that the center of his party had shifted to the point where he represented the center and the other candidates were to the right.

Wow. Just wow.

It was at this point that the signal was blocked and overpowered by the bad guys from Neptune who declared Dennis to be a traitor to the cause who should be sent to the salt mines of Rebulon IV.

You know the drill.

MIKE HUCKABEE ON FTN. CBS Washington Correspondent Jim Axelrod, substituting for Bob Schieffer, talked to former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who said "it was a great day for us in Iowa, yesterday." He added that he was "in the first tier by anyone's estimation." He compared his performance to one of Jesus' miracles -- feeding 5,000 people with five loaves of bread – to characterize his high finish with few resources.

"It was a movement; it wasn't just, hey, we're giving out t-shirts."

Axelrod asked for perspective, pointing out that the other first tier candidates didn't play. Huckabee said that the other first tier candidates "forfeited" Iowa, because they'd do lousy. Agreeing with Romney, Huckabee feels that it enhanced his win.

Axelrod took the diminished turnout between 2000 and this year and decided it meant that the GOP was in trouble. Huckabee explained that they were competing with the Iowa State Fair, which he compared to "Barry Bonds: a state fair on steroids."

Axelrod asked Huckabee if Romney were a conservative. Huckabee said that he would give Romney the benefit of the doubt but had said only that the Democrats would use Romney's changes against him.

Huckabee accused the GOP of being "owned" by Wall Street; he said he wants the GOP to be owned by Main Street.

Huckabee said he could relate to Americans who have had to struggle.

Axelrod said that he was "having trouble" imaging how Huckabee could win. Huckabee explained, basically, that he was consistent, honest, and non-confrontational. He said that Americans were looking for "vertical leadership" – lead the country up or down – rather than horizontal, or party and ideology.

Axelrod posted that someone who supported the troop surge could not win. Huckabee explained that the surge was showing signs of success and that America had to "do this right."

MARY PETERS, SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION, ON LE. Joe Johns was in for Wolf Blitzer on CNN's Late Edition this morning, and he first spoke with Transportation Secretary Mary Peters about the Minneapolis bridge collapse. She still doesn't know why it collapsed and suggested that the investigators do not want us to "leap to conclusions."

One of the things at which they're looking, Peters conceded, was that the repair equipment on the bridge at the time was too heavy for the span to support.

Johns put up a graphic of how many bridges need repaired, costing $188-billion. Secretary Peters said that we have to look at how we're spending money today versus how it should be spent. Better priorities. She complained that much of the money is being earmarked for projects not related to infrastructure. It's not the amount of money we're spending on this; rather, it is where it is being put.

Johns suggested raising taxes. Secretary Peters said that before we "ask the American people for more money," we have to guarantee that the current money is being spent properly.

Johns underscored "earmarks" and the "bridges to nowhere" in Alaska. He asked if talk of the bridge to nowhere "has put a pall" on infrastructure spending. Peters mentioned art museums and the like.

Johns mentioned "broken government" and played a clip of Newt proclaiming that "bureaucratic government does not work." Peters said that "he has it about right," and that it is important to determine how the money is being spent.

The gas tax has not been increased since Clinton and the Dems did it in 1993. Johns suggested that it might be time to raise it again.

TOP ADVISORS ON LE.Joe Johns next spoke with David Dreier for Rudy, Jim Talent for Romney, and Buddy Roemer for McCain. How significant was Romney's victory, what with McCain and Romney sitting out. Talent said that the money spent by Romney was "well worth it." He claimed falsely that Romney received more votes than the 2nd and 3rd place finishers alone. Talent said "we have to have a candidate who can take the fight anywhere."

Johns asked Dreier about the possibility of a Rudy/Huckabee ticket. Dreier joking said he might suggested it, adding that Rudy was a great leader. This was a straw poll, he said, and Rudy knows that the caucuses are important.

Johns asked Roemer if McCain is getting trounced because of his stance on Iraq. Roemer reminded that the President was not elected yesterday, and that "Mitt" got fewer than 5,000 votes. He promised that John McCain will veto earmarks and pork.

Johns played the clip of Mitt on FNS saying that McCain and Rudy didn't compete yesterday because they knew he couldn't. Roemer said that the race is a "marathon." He compared yesterday's poll to an "inept exhibition game," in which the starting quarterback didn't play.

Dreier said that he missed Roemer in Congress. Talent asked, What about me? Dreier forced a smile and said that he would welcome them both to Camp Rudy. Dreier declared that Rudy was a "Ronald Reagan conservative," and one wonders if Dreier – bless 'is heart – would know one from an empty jar of stale jellybeans.
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Have at it.