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News? Who knows? Just Call It Trail MixBy Rick Horowitz
The big hand's on the 12, and you know what that means -- it's the top of the hour, and time for Campaign Roundup! Let's get right to it: With his party's presidential nomination all but clinched, John Kerry pledged again today to unify the nation's Democrats for the fall campaign. But the Massachusetts senator rejected suggestions that his recent primary victories were largely due to borrowing rival John Edwards' campaign issues and rhetorical style. Said Kerry, "As the son of a mill worker, I take these charges very personally!" For his part, Sen. Edwards vowed to do whatever he could to help Kerry get elected. The North Carolina Democrat explained that he'd been smiling non-stop for six months, and could certainly do another eight. Meanwhile, fresh from his first primary victory, former governor -- and former frontrunner -- Howard Dean confirmed today that he would continue not to campaign in the four southern states holding the next round of primaries. Said Dean, "Hey, it worked in Vermont!" Washington's favorite guessing game -- Who's Number Two? -- has begun in earnest, as politicos and pundits try to figure out John Kerry's likely running mate. Among those prominently mentioned: Dick Gephardt, who could appeal to working-class voters in crucial Midwestern states; Bill Richardson, who could appeal to Hispanic voters in Florida and key Southwestern states; and Hillary Clinton, who could appeal to voters who don't think John Kerry is quite liberal enough. After enduring months of pounding from Democrats who want his job, President Bush began punching back this week, launching his long-awaited hundred-million-dollar advertising campaign in key battleground states. The theme of the president's first ads: "Steady leadership in times of change, and all the bad stuff is somebody else's fault." Republican campaign officials made clear today that later ads would take aim at Sen. Kerry's long record in Congress, and seek to paint him as "just another New England liberal." Or as one longtime strategist put it, "We've got plenty of experience with weapons of Mass. destruction." He's looking ahead, he says, to a "spirited" election campaign, but President Bush vowed this afternoon that he would not attempt to make political capital out of the war on terrorism. Said the president, "My promise today is every bit as solemn as the one I made nearly three years ago standing in the rubble of the twin towers." Recognizing what they called "years of priceless service" to the Republican Party, the Bush-Cheney re-election team today named its first honorary campaign chairman: Ralph Nader. It was expected to be a major bragging point on the campaign trail, but President Bush's plan to include prescription-drug coverage for seniors under Medicare hasn't yet given him much of a boost in the polls. While administration officials continue to wrestle with questions about the cost and scope of the new program, aides say Mr. Bush intends to press ahead with a pilot project in the pivotal state of Florida: a drug designed to blur the vision of seniors in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. Again. Despite saying four years ago that the issue of same-sex marriages should be left to the individual states, Vice President Dick Cheney made clear in interviews this week that he supports President Bush, who has proposed a constitutional amendment banning such marriages. In a related development, the vice president announced today that he's placing his daughter Mary in a blind trust. And finally: Softening his own stand against same-sex marriages, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today urged President Bush to declare April "National Grope Whoever You Want Month." That's the news -- would we lie to you? Posted 3/4/04. "Rick's"
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Rick Horowitz
