Wonkette - ronald brownstein

Category: ronald brownstein

DEC

2005

Daily Briefing: The New Caliphate

• Time reporter Viveca Novak says Karl Rove was the likely source of a July 2003 article about Valerie Plame. Novak: "I remember [Rove's lawyer] looking at me and saying something to the effect of 'Karl doesn't have a [Matt Cooper] problem. He was not a source for Matt.' I responded instinctively, thinking he was trying to spin me, and said something like, 'Are you sure about that? That's not what I hear around Time.' He looked surprised and very serious." [Time, NYT, WSJ]
• Sen. Frist threatens to use the "nuclear option" to save Samuel Alito from a filibuster. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.): "We're not close to a deal." [WP, NYT, LAT]
• White House flack Trent Duffy: "What you will see more of next year is the president going back to the basics -- winning the war and growing the economy and creating jobs." [WT]
• Sen. Clinton's quiet, centrist approach to Iraq "is drawing increasing scorn from liberal activists." [WP]
• Ronald Brownstein on Alito's abortion memos: "It's still not clear these disclosures will seriously threaten Alito's confirmation. And if they do not, both sides might need to rethink basic assumptions about the politics of the Supreme Court." [LAT]
• Gov. Mark Warner (D-Va.) tours battleground states for a head-start on '08. Warner: "As Democrats, what we have to do is put forward ideas and candidates that can win in places like Florida, that can win in places like Virginia." [NYT]

• Administration officials warn of impending caliphate; Rumsfeld says Iraq could "serve as the base of a new Islamic caliphate to extend throughout the Middle East, and which would threaten legitimate governments in Europe, Africa and Asia." [NYT]
• House and Senate have different views to the future of Medicaid. [NYT]
• Attorney, professor, and author John Yoo believes "the constitution itself gives the president lots of leeway, allowing him to invade Iraq without congressional permission and to disregard such treaties as the Geneva Convention." [LAT]
• Gov.-elect Corzine's appointment of Robert Menendez to his N.J. Senate seat fulfills childhood dream. [USAT]
• Investigators conclude John Snow's ownership of bonds did not represent a conflict of interest. [WSJ]

NOV

2005

Daily Briefing: 'Chin Up and Head Down'

• Approval of Bush rests at 36% in Newsweek poll: most Americans are pessimistic about the direction of the country and do not believe Bush can be effective; 65% disapprove of his handling of Iraq; and the Republican "base seems to be cracking." [Newsweek]
• Alito, in 1985, wrote that he believes "very strongly" that "the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion." [WT]
• Coalition of liberal groups including Naral, Planned Parenthood, the AFL-CIO, the Sierra Club, and the NAACP are set to launch an anti-Alito television campaign; line of attack will expand beyond abortion. [NYT]
• Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) says senators have learned to be critical of intelligence findings before approving military action: "We don't accept this intelligence at face value anymore." [WP]
• Brownstein says the GOP "has tilted its agenda so heavily to the demands of its conservative base that moderates feel alienated. Over the next year, the choice for Republicans is whether to adapt to that evidence." Democrats, meanwhile, must "coalesce behind comprehensive solutions to the problems most concerning the country." [LAT]
• Bush leaves today on four-day trip to Asia. [USAT]
• Time magazine names Mike Huckabee, Mark Warner, Kenny Guinn, Janet Napolitano, and Kathleen Seblius as the country's top governors. [Time]
• With close ties to Bush loyalists, "Progress for America often functions like an unofficial extension of the White House, advancing the president's policies alongside the Republican National Committee." [NYT]

• Congress is rushing to submit budget reductions before Friday deadline; Republicans "are caught between party loyalty to tax cuts and growing pressure to cut spending." [USAT, WSJ]
• Republican candidate for governor of New Jersey blames Bush's unpopularity for his loss. [NYT]
• Dean does not rule out filibustering Alito. [USAT]
• Clintons visit site of terrorist bombings in Jordan. [NYT]
• U.S. and Saudi Arabia begin ongoing "strategic dialogue" on terrorism, energy, military affairs, and development, but not democracy-building. [WP]
• Chertoff still intends to overhaul DHS. [WP]
• Harriet Miers is back to her "familiar role": "chin up and head down." [NYT]

OCT

2005

Daily Briefing: 'Leaning Toward Indictments'

• Fitzgerald will not issue a final report and possible indictments are not expected this week; lawyers involved say the prosecutor is "leaning toward indictments but continuing to weigh thousands of pages of documents and testimony." [NYT]
• Miers supported abortion ban in 1989; today she insists the court should not determine "social policy." McClellan: "[P]ersonal views and ideology and religion have no role to play when it comes to making decisions on the bench." [WP, NYT, LAT, WT, USAT]
• Miers' questionnaire lifts support among Republicans; Democrats have concerns about her abortion views. [LAT, WSJ]
• Miers was vetted by a few White House "insiders"; she met with Bush but not with Cheney or Rove. [USAT]
• Bush "made his displeasure known" to Rove two years ago and has "made his life miserable about" the leak investigation, says "presidential counselor." [NYDN]
• Bush announces $32b domestic security bill: "We're going to get control of our borders. We'll make this country safer for all our citizens." [NYT, LAT, WSJ, WT]
• White House to reduce next Gulf Coast relief package to around $20b. [WSJ]
• Republicans losing support among conservatives, moderates, and independents. Ronald Brownstein: "This two-front war complicates the challenge for the GOP as Bush tries to regain the initiative in Washington and the party prepares for the 2006 midterm elections." [LAT]

• Presidential tax commission unveils two simplified options; designed as a framework for upcoming proposals. [WP, NYT, WSJ, USAT]
• Republicans seek expansion of FBI's powers in regards to terrorism investigations. [NYT]
• 9/11 Commission members set to criticize White House and FBI in new report. [NYT]
• Miers holds assets of about $1.3m; drives a used Mercedes. [NYT]
• Senate intelligence committee will press Porter Goss today on the revival of CIA. [WP]
• Senate scraps 1.9% raise for lawmakers. [USAT]

OCT

2005

Daily Briefing: 'A Lot of Girl Talk'

• '06 brings anxiety for Republican candidates about their prospects; Elizabeth Dole faulted for weak performance as chairwoman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Analyst: "Is it poor recruiting or a bad environment? Probably both." [WP, LAT]
• Specter questions Miers' qualifications; Bush says she "has excelled at everything she has done." 27 GOP senators have expressed skepticism. [WP, WSJ, NYT, LAT, WT]
• Brownstein: "Bush picked Miers because he felt strong, not weak. . . Bush bypassed a long list of prominent federal judges who are known quantities to the conservative movement, but just names on a page to him. Instead, he picked someone who is a known quantity to him, but barely a name on the page to them. . . Bush simply overestimated their willingness to defer to him." [LAT]
• High-level single women in the administration have formed informal social network; Miers has "a lot of girl talk" with Rice. [NYT]
• Republicans worry about a White House without Rove. [WSJ]

• Bush commits "initial contribution" of $50m to Pakistan following major earthquake. [NYT]
• Miers' record in private practice offers little insight into her character. [NYT]
• Louis Freeh disparages Richard Clarke in new book: "If he was rushing around the executive branch trying to make a case that we were in imminent danger of a terrorist attack on our shores, he wasn't trying to make that case with me." [NYT]
• $300m ad campaign launched to educate seniors about new Medicare benefits. [WP]

SPONSORSHIP

Wonkette, part of the largest weblog media group, reaches over 400,000 political junkies each month. For sponsorship opportunities, click here for more information.

OCT

2005

Daily Briefing: 'From Hostility to Silence to Praise'

• Bush nominates Harriet E. Miers to the Supreme Court; seen as "a woman who broke barriers in the male-dominated Texas legal world but brings no judicial experience or constitutional background to her new assignment." Bush: "I know her heart. I know her character." [WP, NYT, LAT, WSJ, WT]
• Miers likely to avoid partisan fight. Kristol: "It's hard to explain why Harriet Miers is the right pick unless you're trying to avoid a fight about someone who has expressed a conservative constitutional philosophy... it's demoralizing for the president to pass over a host of publicly identified conservative constitutionalists." [WP, NYT]
• DeLay is indicted for alleged money laundering; former majority leader says prosecutor "is trying to pull the legal equivalent of a 'do-over' since he knows very well that the charges he brought against me last week are totally manufactured and illegitimate." Punishment for money laundering can be life in prison. [WP, NYT, LAT, WSJ, USAT]
• Many conservatives express skepticism, disappointment about Miers; responses range "from hostility to silence to praise." [WP, LAT, NYT, WT, USAT, USAT]
• Nomination viewed as "more like a bunt than a bid for a home run," writes Ron Brownstein. Bush "has no appetite, at a time when he and his party are besieged by problems, for an all-out ideological fight," suspects Richard Stevenson. [LAT, NYT]
• Critics allege cronyism, the perception of which "is especially risky because it comes at a time when the White House has been accused of putting under-qualified political associates in top positions throughout the government." [LAT, USAT]

• Andrew Card initiated a secret vetting of Miers last summer. Former White House counsel: "The president is very, very confident in his judgments about people, and he likes to reward loyalty." [WP, USAT]
• Miers' "very little record" on abortion is a challenge to pro-choice groups. [NYT]
• Colleagues say Miers is a "loyalist renowned for her long hours but not hard-right ideology"; drives a red Mercedes. [WP, LAT, NYT, USAT]
• Harry Reid, Laura Bush provided early support of Miers' nomination; Democrats seem optimistic. [LAT, USAT]
• Miers has donated over $20,000 to GOP causes since 1991. [LAT]
• Roberts survives his first day at the Supreme Court. [NYT]
• Roy Moore, vocal advocate of the Ten Commandments monument, will run for governor of Alabama. [LAT]

SEP

2005

Daily Briefing: 'He Listened. He Smiled. He Nodded.'

• Roberts supports privacy rights, wavers on Roe; Schumer is "pleasantly surprised." Gary Bauer: "A careful reading of the transcript shows he committed to nothing once [Roberts] is on the court. We are left with what we always had. . . a new conservative majority." [WP, WP, NYT, NYT, WSJ, LAT, USAT]
• Bush: "Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government, and to the extent that the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility. I want to know what went right and what went wrong." [WP, NYT]
• Roberts remained posed and cautious: "He listened. He smiled. He nodded." Brownstein: He "exuded the quiet confidence of a man who knew that he was ahead in the game during a lengthy but mostly sedate confirmation hearing Tuesday. . . Roberts' performance marked a bright spot for a White House battered by criticism of its response to Hurricane Katrina, and demonstrated the inherent vitality of presidential power." [NYT, LAT, NYT]
• FAA knew Al Qaeda wanted "to hijack a commercial jet and slam it into a U.S. landmark" in 1998 and knew vulnerability of airports. Kean: "[Katrina] is not a terrorist incident, but it brings into play all of the same issues and shortcomings. . . Whoever is responsible for acting in these places hasn't acted. Are they going to do it now? What else has to happen for people to act?" [NYT, WP]
• Democrats, led by Hillary, seek investigation of government's response to Katrina. [NYT]
• Homeland Security officials will oversee distribution of Katrina relief funds to ensure responsible spending. [WSJ, NYT]
• Texas grand jury issues more indictments in DeLay case. [WP, LAT]

SEP

2005

Daily Briefing: How 'A Good Man Looks At Life'

• Congress will approve $51.8b relief package for Katrina; joint House-Senate inquiry into hurricane response is approved. Budget director: "This will not be the last request." [WP, WSJ, NYT]
• Politicians look to gain momentum from Katrina fallout. Rothenberg: "Politicians see this as a potentially defining event and they are worried how they are going to be seen. Politicians realize that public opinion could turn on this, just the way it turned on 9/11." [WSJ, WP]
• Democrats launch multi-front attack on administration's response to Katrina. Pelosi on Bush: "Oblivious. In denial. Dangerous." Kerry: "What you see here is a harvest of four years of complete avoidance of real problem solving and real governance in favor of spin and ideology." [NYT]
• Hillary stirs up opposition with Katrina-related proposals as strategists warn Democratic rhetoric could backfire; "Privately, [Bill Clinton] has been incredulous over what he regards as the administration's failure to grasp quickly the perilous situation materializing in New Orleans, particularly for poor African Americans." [WP, LAT]
• Rehnquist showed "how a wise man looks at the law and a good man looks at life," Bush eulogizes. [WP, NYT, USAT]

• Army Corps of Engineers wasted hundreds of millions of dollars before Katrina on pork-barrel spending. [WP]
• Democrats want Roberts' legal memos. [WP, NYT, LAT]
• Lawmakers criticize Chertoff at private briefing. [NYT]
• Brownstein: Bush "may have enlisted Roberts for a job that others could have done: winning confirmation as a conservative replacement for the staunchly conservative Rehnquist. Meanwhile, Bush may have diverted Roberts from a mission for which he appeared unusually well-suited: winning confirmation to succeed O'Connor." [LAT]
• Schwarzenegger will veto gay marriage bill. [LAT, NYT, USAT]
• Scholar warns Western Europe could easily be a breeding ground for terrorism: "Fixing the Middle East is only part of the problem. It is a West European problem, too." [WP]
• MoveOn ad links Roberts to Katrina: "The images after Hurricane Katrina show we still live in a society where significant racial inequities exist. We believe John Roberts' record on civil rights. . . is clearly not the direction our country needs to head now." [USAT]

SEP

2005

Daily Briefing -- Rehnquist: 'We're All Extremists'

• Bush may tap Roberts to be chief justice; "the situation represents a rare chance to cement a more conservative court and his own legacy at the same time." [WP, LAT]
• Roberts' confirmation hearings likely to be postponed; advocacy groups mobilize. Bartlett on Rehnquist's successor: "There is a short list, and it's being worked very hard." [NYT, WP, NYT, WT]
• Fellow justices surprised by timing of Rehnquist's death. O'Connor: "I asked him, and he told me he really wanted to go another year and thought he'd be O.K. . . He was wonderful. He had a light touch. He never held a grudge." [NYT]
• Brownstein: "[W]ith Bush's sagging poll numbers and the turbulent aftermath of Hurricane Katrina threatening to disrupt much of his legislative agenda, the debates over Roberts and Rehnquist's successor could offer the president his best chance to energize his core supporters and generate victories on Capitol Hill." [LAT]
• Bush's options lead to a conservative court. Historian Robert Dallek: "These crises are such a heavy burden, and they are so self-inflicted, except for the court vacancies, that if he is not very careful and tries to put across someone who is seen as an ultraconservative, he is going to touch off a conflagration in the Senate." [WP, NYT, USAT]

• Profiles assess Rehnquist's legacy. Rehnquist: "We're all extremists together." [WP, NYT, WT]
• Stevens: "He was a good friend, maintaining his sense of humor and proportion throughout the difficult period that marked his most recent service." [WP]
• Religion will get attention at Roberts' hearings. [WP]
• Profiles of possible Supreme Court nominees. [WP]
• Social conservative leaders privately reiterate concerns about Gonzales' moderate positions. [WP]

---