Redstate

And no one defended Larry Craig. (Well, Lanny Davis did.)

By Mark Kilmer Posted in Special Features — Comments (5) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Sunday, September 2, 2007

This morning on FOX News Sunday, Arlen Specter pointed out that Larry Craig will not resign for a month. Arlen Specter said that Larry Craig should not resign. Arlen Specter said that Larry Craig should fight his charges. Patrick Leahy declared that David Vitter's solicitation of the DC Madame almost a decade ago was worse than Larry Craig's men's room hijinks and that the GOP had a double-standard. This was a Democrat talking point this morning.)

Next on FNS, Presidential advisor Ed Gillespie said that the GOP could win control of the Senate next election if the top of the ticket is strong.

Over on ABC's This Week, chuck Schumer declared that the Democrats will win everything because the American people demand change and reform. John Ensign said that the Democrats refused to reform earmarks.

Also on TW, Mike Huckabee joked (I think) that the Southern Baptist Convention should give him back his money because Richard Land said that he couldn't beat Hillary. Huckabee said that to beat Hillary, the GOP candidate has to satisfy the Republican base. He does that.

Tim Russert on MTP had another political roundtable between three successful political operatives and Bob Shrum. But Shrum got off the line of the morning, when talking about Larry Craig: "And there is a wide stance between what he had said about gay people and his personal conduct." That's garbage, of course, but it's still funny.

On FTN, Joe Biden dismissed General Petraeus as one would a child and insisted that nothing good will come of Iraq unless we adopt the partition plan which Leslie Gelb (CFR) drew up for his campaign a few years ago (but Biden claims as his own). Lindsey Graham, interviewed after, sounded as upbeat as I've heard him on the situation in and the eventual outcome for Iraq. Things are going well, he said, and it's time to "pour it on," not to withdraw.

On LE, former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawas Sharif said that he's going back to Pak on September 10, though he expects Musharraf to arrest him. He said he hasn't talked to Musharraf about this plans, like has former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, because "democrats don't talk to dictators."

Next on LE, former Clinton (Bill) hatchet man Lanny Davis admitted that the Alberto Gonzales situation was political in nature and suggested Ted Olson to replace him. He said that the Larry Craig situation was a private matter and that there was a double standard amongst Republicans for Craig and for Vitter. Republican attorney Ben Ginsberg argued that Craig's guilty plea is "fairly significant," and he agreed with Davis on Olson, allowing also some other names. He did not mention John Madden. (See the review below the fold.)

Indeed, see the show-by-show review below the fold. …

SPECTER AND LEAHY ON FNS. On FOX News Sunday, host Chris Wallace began by interviewing Senators Pat Leahy and Arlen Specter. (It seems to me these two are usually on Schieffer's show at 10:30.) Leahy blamed Larry Craig's resignation on the Senate Republican conference and on the Republican Party itself. He said that Louisiana's Republican Senator David Vitter calling the DC Madame from the House cloak room was just as bad as what Craig is alleged to have done and that thus "there is a double-standard" among Republicans.

Specter said that Larry Craig has not resigned yet; rather, he's said that he "intends to resign." He hopes Craig does not resign and instead chooses to fight the charges against him. On the evidence, Specter said, he would not be convicted of anything. (Senator Craig has already pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and there are no charges of homosexual hand signals pending, so I'm not sure what Specter wants Craig to fight, where. Unless Billy Martin can fix it so he can reverse his August 6 disorderly conduct plea.)

On the matter of the resignation of Alberto Gonzales, Specter said that AGAG told the President only what we wanted to hear. He declared that the next attorney general should be someone "who tells him what he doesn't want to hear." He wants a contrarian attorney general, he said, because that is good for vigorous debate.

Pat Leahy said that Alberto Gonzales accepted the proposition that Alberto Gonzales was a bad as Nixon AG John Mitchell, though he admitted that he wasn't there for Mitchell. He said that Arlen Specter was. (He wan't.) He wants the new attorney general to "restore confidence in the Department of Justice." (No one bothered to mention that neither Gonzales nor Mitchell killed anyone.)

ED GILLESPIE ON FNS. Presidential advisor Ed Gillespie was next up for Wallace, and he pointed out that David Vitter had not been convicted of a crime, as had Larry Craig. On the Republicans chances in the Senate next election, Gillespie said: "We are not almost certain" to lose seats. We have opportunities. We can make gains." With a strong ticket on top, Gillespie posited, the GOP could retake the Senate.

Gillespie predicted that the new AG will be confirmed because the appointment is the "President's prerogative" and because the name will be of someone Senators will see as confirmable.

He spoke of Democrats seeking a "dangerous, precipitous withdrawal" from Iraq. Wallace asked him if there would be the promised "spending showdown" between the White House and Congress. "I hope not," Gillespie responded. He said that the President wants to expand the government-run health care S-CHIP program by 20%, but the Dems want to increase taxes to suck people into the government program who do not need it and do not belong there.

When asked if the President were a lame duck, Gillespie said that the President understands that he has 18 more months to complete his work. The President is going to initiate a spending bill related to failed mortgages, Gillespie promised.

The President, Gillespie averred, will use Executive Orders where Congress fails to act.

SCHUMER AND ENSIGN ON TW. On ABC's This Week, host George Stephanopoulos opened by talking to New York Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer and Nevada Republican John Ensign. Schumer complained about student loans and sneered that "most of the Republicans in the Senate obstruct." He said that he "hopes and prays" that with Karl Rove and Alberto Gonzales gone, that "there is a new type of George Bush who will work with us instead of stand on Mount Olympus throwing thunderbolts."

Of Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu, Schumer said the guy has turned himself in. He is no longer a fugitive, said Schumer, and he never knew Hsu had been a fugitive. The DSCC has already returned Hsu's money, said Chuck: "I knew him. I didn't know him well." Schumer said that the Democrats want "reform" and "change." Ensign said that the Democrats have refused to reform earmarks.

Schumer said that he hopes Mark Warner will run for the seat being vacated by Republican John Warner in Virginia. Ensign offered that New Mexico's Pete Domenici will seek reelection.

Steph pointed out that the Dems defend 12 seats next election, while the Republicans will be forced to defend 22. Schumer said that "the wind is at our backs." He offered four words: "The people want change." This means change, he said, in the White House and from Republican obstructionism in the Senate.

MIKE HUCKABEE ON TW. Steph had Mike Huckabee on to campaign a little. It was this stuff. Steph did say that Republicans do not take Huckabee seriously because they don't think he can beat Hillary. To bolster this argument, he quoted Richard Land of the Southern Baptists Convention: "We like Mike a lot, but nobody thinks he can beat Hillary, and a fear of another Clinton White House outweighs almost everything." Huckabee replied that he's been with the Baptists for a long time, and he'll have to ask for his money back in Land won't support him. (I suspect that was a bit of the famous Huckabee humor.)

Huckabee said that Hillary is a "strong, strong competitor," and that "our candidate has to rally our base." He can do that, his reasoning goes.

ANOTHER RUSSERT ROUNDTABLE. Tim Russert (NBC's Meet the Press) filled another show with a roundtable: Bob Shrum, James Carville, Mary Matalin, and Mike Murphy. They're all top-tier political ops. Russert started things off with Larry Craig's promise of resignation, contrasting it with last Tuesday's defiance.

Russert insisted that Senate Republicans claim a difference between this and the Vitter case being that Vitter solicited his prostitute while in the House. Bob Shrum – advisor to Al Gore, John Kerry, and John Edwards – wisely pointed out that the Senate Republicans could not have claimed that if Vitter had "committed murder in the House, I don't think they could give that defense." He said that there was a double-standard, and that the GOP was ganging-up on Vitter because he's gay.

Shrum did slip in a great line with a straight face, though: "And there is a wide stance between what he had said about gay people and his personal conduct."

Russert played that clip (from MTP) with Craig saying that Clinton is a "bad, naughty boy." Jim Carville laughed at this. (Well, given hindsight…) Carville pointed out that no one at all said that Larry Craig was a good guy who had problems.

Mary Matalin asserted that "normal people" think first that such a thing is a "family tragedy." The second thing, she said, is that they wonder why everyone is Washington is so obsessed with the story. ("Don't you people have something better to do?") She said she hasn't heard the tape, but those who have tell her that it sounded like entrapment. She doesn't think that the story has political legs, and she doesn't think Hillary's best strategy would be to attack Republicans by defending her husband for his activities. Also delving into the past where Hillary might not want to go, Matalin suggested, was that Hillary has a "Johnny Chung redux scandal."

And they talked about other things and the world was amused. You can see several clips here on the MTP page.

JOE BIDEN ON FTN. Yeah, Bob Schieffer opened the interview portion of CBS' Face the Nation by talking to Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden, who was campaigning in Dubuque. Iowa.

Joe Biden is "not sure what's going to happen" in Congress over the next few weeks, but he declared that we have to get out of Iraq. He said that we will never see a peaceful Iraq in our lifetimes. There will be no national police force in Iraq. They need to "separate the parties," as per the plan Leslie Gelb (CFR) drew up for his campaign a few years ago.

Joe Biden said "God love General Petraeus," and he iterated that he thinks General Petraeus is a "great guy," but he implied that General Petraeus doesn't know what he's talking about. Nothing will be solved, he said, unless we implement his plan to split Iraq into three parts.

Joe Biden wants an attorney general who will tell the truth, who won't torture people, who knows that it is unconstitutional to spy on Americans, and who will demand that we shut down Gitmo. "I hope that the President has a learning curve here and gets someone who will tell the truth."

Joe Biden said "absolute not" to Michael Chertoff as the next attorney general. He doesn't like Ted Olsen or the other names. He suggested "former Fourth Circuit judge Billy Wilkins." (William Wilkins was the chief judge of the Fourth Circuit.)

LINDSEY GRAHAM ON FTN. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham was next up on FTN. Schieffer thought Biden had said Madden, whom he said Graham supports, but Graham said he supports Wilkins, who's the guy Biden actually mentioned and the man Graham actually supported.

I don't know about Madden, but he might be the guy who coached the Los Angeles Raiders of Oakland and now draws on our television screens.

Graham said: "The surge has worked," providing a new level of security. He pointed out that Anbar is not just about the troops; rather, it's the Iraqi people being involved.

On Iraq: "The central government is failing, but it's not a failed state."

Schieffer complained that the Iraqi government went on vacation last month and was no closer to any sort of reconciliation. Graham disagreed, telling him about the progress that has been made of late, predicting that there will be "political reconciliation at the central government level" soon. Now, he said, is not the time to withdraw: "It's the time to pour it on."

"The moment is right now in Iraq," he said. He suggested that the International community should come in and support them. He said, "We're about to turn a corner. We certainly have militarily," and we're about to do so politically.

Lindsey Graham was the most upbeat I've heard him in a long time.

BLITZER AND SHARIF IN LE On CNN's Late Edition, host Wolf Blitzer's first guest was former Pakistani President Nawas Sharif.

Sharif said that he will go back to Pakistan by September 10, though he knows Musharraf might arrest him because "he doesn't understand the rule of law, he doesn't understand ethics and morality." Wolf played a clip of former Pak Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto saying that she's talked with the Musharraf regime. Sharif don't like it. (It's an old song. Sorry.) He said that "democrats do not talk to dictators." He said that Musharraf had made overtures to him, but he did not respond because he does not speak to dictators.

Sharif said that the military has no place in the Pakistani government, and it doesn't matter whether Musharraf is in uniform or out of uniform. This was in response to Bhutto's assertion that Musharraf would leave the military soon.

As for fighting the Taliban and al Qaeda, Sharif said that everyone opposes terror, he would fight terror, and he has been the target of terror. He said that a government cannot beat terror unless the people are behind it, and the people do not support Musharraf. He does not want Pakistan to be confused with Musharraf. They are not the same.

LE: WHITHER (WITHER?) LARRY CRAIG? Wolf next asked Republican council Ben Ginsberg and former Clinton (Bill) hatchet man Lanny Davis about Larry Craig's legal future. Ginsberg thinks that it will be "awfully difficult" to reverse his guilty please. Davis said that he does not understand why Republicans are so quick to ditch their own colleagues and not let the people of Idaho decide. He argues that Vitter's situation was worse, and that the voters should decide.

Ginsberg explained that one pleaded guilty, while one didn't.

Lanny said that, "Some things are distinctions without differences."

Ginsberg thinks that the guilty plea is "fairly significant."

Blitzer suggested that Craig could argue entrapment, like he suggested in the taped conversation.

Davis said that this should be a political issue and he apologized if he were making it seems like it were one. He thinks the people in Idaho should decide, and it isn't about parties.

Wolf pointed out that he pleaded guilty on August 6, almost two months after the incident, during which time had had time to think about it and consult an attorney. Davis faulted the Iowa Statesman and said this was a personal decision. Ginsberg agreed.

Lanny Davis agreed that there was some politics involved with Alberto Gonzales's situation but that Gonzales was a lousy attorney general. Ginsberg said that it was all politics, but he applauded Gonzales for realizing that it was time to go.

Davis feels that Gonzales undermined the credibility of the Justice Department. He recommended Ted Olson. (And, he pointed out, he's blogged it over at one of The Hill's blogs.)
-----

And that's it from here. What did you see?