The Huckabee image gets a reality check

If nice folks do indeed finish last, Republican Mike Huckabee might as well end his presidential campaign right now. Assuming, of course, that he truly is, as the Washington Post characterized him in a lengthy feature story on Friday, an "affable, compassionate, good guy."

The Post piece was simply the latest to chime in with the common chord being struck by many when discussing the former Arkansas governor.

Back in mid-June, in a prescient South Carolina newspaper article that tabbed Huckabee as a candidate worth watching in the White House race, the state's GOP chairman, Katon Dawson, termed him one of the "nicest and kindest" politicians he had known. Newsday's James Pinkerton, in a recent column headlined "Huckabee: a Republican who can lead us back home," wrote that the candidate "comes across as a nice guy." Democrat Barack Obama, during his appearance last week on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," opined that Huckabee seemed "sincere and decent" (you can see the entire segment here).

It's gotten to the point that a Newsweek takeout on him asserted that he's "too nice to be president" (the problem--lots of Republicans fear he's not mean enough to deal with Hillary Clinton in a general election face-off).

We've enjoyed Huckabee's presence in the presidential scrum as much as anyone (if for no other reason than that he's the only candidate who even attempts an impersonation of the Rolling Stones' Keith Richards). But when the chorus of coverage begins singing the same song, it's always good to hear a discordant voice. And one came along this week from John Brummett, a veteran observer of Arkansas politics.

Casting a bemused eye on the national image congealing around Huckabee, Brummett wrote that among those who would be surprised by the adjectives he's invoking is ex-Sen. Dale Bumpers. Huckabee, in unsuccessfully challenging the Democratic incumbent in 1992, aired ads that "characterized Bumpers as a pornographer," based on Senate votes supporting the National Endowment for the Arts, Brummett noted.

And there's also "the editor of the liberal local weekly, the Arkansas Times, which found itself cut off from routine notifications ... by Huckabee's taxpayer-provided press office."

It's a column well-worth reading. And one that shouldn't shock. Given that Huckabee thrived in Arkansas politics (he held the governor's office for more than 10 years), he couldn't have been Mr. Nice Guy all the time.

-- Don Frederick

Clinton, Obama workers show differing concerns

Times reporter Scott Martelle is up in Northern California these days researching a story on the divergent grass-roots approaches that the Clinton and Obama campaigns are taking as they gear up for the California primary Feb. 5.

You can look for his story on this website and in the print editions over the coming holiday weekend. But as often happens when an experienced observer starts asking questions, Martelle stumbled upon a curious thing, not earthshaking but revealing. This is by no means a scientific observation, but it does highlight a trend he's seen elsewhere.

In an inaugural training session for Hillary Clinton volunteers Wednesday night, more than 50 people showed up, self-selected through the Clinton campaign website. About half of them said they had never before volunteered in a presidential campaign.

The next night, at the third meeting of Barack Obama's Congressional District 14 committee, about 24 people showed up. This one was geared toward updates and creating subcommittees, not a general call for volunteers like the Clinton session. But fully 17 of them said this was their first presidential campaign.

In talks and comments before their full groups, the Clinton volunteers tended to cite specific reasons they joined -- a desire for universal healthcare, wanting to elect the first woman as president, seeking fundamental change in national policies and so forth. The Obama supporters, on the other hand, talked with more of a sense of joining a broad social and political movement, and effecting wide national change through political engagement. They cared less about specific policy issues.

And of the 50-plus supporters at the Clinton meeting, only 14 were men. Of the 24 at the Obama meeting, 13 were men -- a much more even distribution.

-- Andrew Malcolm

BREAKING NEWS: Sen. Craig to resign

The Associated Press is reporting out of Boise, Idaho that Sen. Larry Craig has decided to resign his Senate seat and will make the formal announcement Saturday.  It will be welcome news among his party members in Washington and reportedly take effect Sept. 30.

Earlier today, we reported the following on the scandal involving the 62-year-old Republican's arrest in a Minneapolis men's room for lewd conduct: He pled guilty later to disorderly conduct charges and denied that he was gay. But his political support rapidly began evaporating. And it creates more political woes heading into 2008 for Republicans, already laboring under an unpopular war and president and nearly twice as many Senate seats as Democrats to defend in the November 2008 election.

With the exception of Idaho's GOP Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter, a longtime friend, fellow Republicans rapidly distanced themselves from Craig. This included presidential candidate Mitt Romney, whose campaign Craig was supporting. Several, including Sen. John McCain of Arizona, called for his immediate resignation; others, especially those who also face re-election challenges next year, strongly hinted that Craig's departure would be a good thing.

"If I was in a position like that," said Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, who heads the Republican Senate campaign committee, "that's what I would do. He's going to have to answer that for himself."

GOP Senate leadership also got Craig's resignation from all committee assignments and sought an ethics committee investigation, though his misdemeanor offense may not violate Senate rules.

Political sources in Idaho, where the three-term Craig has received very little public support, say talks have been held between Craig and Otter, the goal being to name a replacement Republican as soon as possible to get past the scandal and allow another Republican to hold the seat next year in the strongly GOP state. Although Rep. Mike Simpson has been mentioned as a possible replacement, the most likely new nominee would be Lt. Gov. Jim Risch, who served as acting governor for seven months last year when Dirk Kempthorne stepped down to become Interior secretary.

The Times has a news story on the likely resignation on this website and in Saturday's print editions.

--Andrew Malcolm

More Senate woes for Republicans

Facing the likely imminent resignation of one scandal-plagued senator from Idaho, Senate Republicans got the not-too-surprising news today that one of their most senior and respected members was retiring.

John Warner of Virginia, who will have served 30 years, said he would leave his seat upon completing his current term in January 2009. Richard Simon has the full story elsewhere on this site.

The 80-year-old former Navy secretary and World War II and Korean War veteran is highly respected for his military expertise and recently called on President Bush to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq.

Politically, Warner's retirement adds to the GOP nightmare in 2008, facing Democratic congressional majorities and an unpopular war and president in a presidential election year. Warner's departure gives Democrats another chance at increasing their slim current 51-49 Senate majority. Popular former Democratic Gov. Mark Warner and Republican Rep. Tom Davis and former Gov. Jim Gilmore, who recently bowed out of the presidential race, are likely to contend to join Democrat Jim Webb as Virginians in the Senate.

Already the GOP must defend 22 Senate seats in 2008, while the Democrats will defend only 12. Republican Wayne Allard of Colorado, where Democrats have been gaining strength, has also announced his retirement.

To compound those challenges, a number of Republican senators have been involved ...

Hillary Clinton the comedian

Must-see TV it wasn’t.

Hillary Clinton has become something of a regular on "Late Night with David Letterman," and during her appearance Thursday night it was evident why. It’s a cakewalk for her.

Letterman isn’t paid to ask penetrating policy questions, though he has been known to make his guests squirm a bit. But he treated the front-runner in the Democratic presidential race with kid gloves. He didn't even ask about her major fundraiser, Norman Hsu, who plans to turn himself in on a fugitve warrant today.

The pair did have some fun at the expense of the candidate’s spouse, former president Bill Clinton. Asked if husband Bill could serve as her vice president, she said, "Believe me, he looked into that." Then, she admitted if the Constitution did not forbid a third term, "he might be running."

Letterman did elicit from Clinton memories of what she termed her favorite summer job. After graduating from college, she said, she traveled to Alaska and took on the task of “sliming”—or cleaning—fish. "Best preparation for being in Washington that you can possibly imagine," she said.

She offered a few platitudes about the rigors of campaigning: “It’s exhausting but it’s also exhilarating.” When asked her strengths as a campaigner, she replied: “Stamina.” Asked by Letterman if she had any weaknesses, she replied, “Sure.” And cleverly left it at that.

Letterman also asked, “What’s the deal with Sen. Craig?” That remark about the Idaho senator arrested in an airport men's room sparked audience laughter. Once the studio quieted, Clinton termed it simply, “Very sad.” And said she wished the best for him and his family.

Broaching the issue of Iraq, Letterman said it seemed to him that U.S. troops would be stationed in that country forever. “Well, I hope not,” Clinton responded, an answer that’s tough to disagree with. She then reiterated her oft-stated position that the U.S. needs to start bringing troops home now, but “in a responsible way.”

Clinton wrapped up the appearance by offering her own version of Letterman’s Top Ten List. The tongue-in-cheek campaign promises included: "Bring security and long-term stability to 'The View.'” "My vice president will never shoot anyone in the face." "We will finally have a president who doesn't mind pulling over and asking for directions."

And she concluded with a jab at her host, who has been known to crack wise about the former first lady’s tastes in fashion. “One more pantsuit joke and Letterman disappears.”

--Don Frederick

Jimmy Carter isn't endorsing, but he sure likes a fellow Southerner

The Carter clan (that would be former president and his kin, not the famed country-music family) is sending mixed signals in the Democratic presidential race.

Jimmy Carter lavished John Edwards with praise as the two shared a stage Wednesday at Georgia Southwestern State University, Carter's alma mater. His kind words came the same week that his son, Jack Carter, announced he was backing Joe Biden.

The senior Carter remains on the sidelines in terms of a formal endorsement and, as a party elder statesman, may well stay there. But here's what he had to say about Edwards:

"I can say without equivocation that no one who is running for president has presented anywhere near as comprehensive and accurate a prediction of what our country ought to do in the field of environmental quality, in the field of health care for those who are not presently insured, for those who struggle with poverty."

Edwards, a renowned trial lawyer before he entered poltiics in North Carolina, could not have made stronger case in his bid to cast himself as the most committed progressive among the major Democratic candidates.

It stuck us that in many ways, the political personas of Carter and Edwards have followed similar trajectories.

In his improbable march to the White House, Carter ...

Police release transcript of Sen. Craig's interview

Although he later pled guilty to a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge, at no point during the police interrogation of Sen. Larry Craig in the Minneapolis airport did the Idahoan admit to wrongdoing. In fact, he seemed in more of a hurry to catch his plane.

According to a transcript of the interview released today between Sgt. Dave Karsnia and Craig, the senator accused the officer of entrapment. "You solicited me," said Craig. An audio version of the tape is available here.

"O.K., we're going to get, we're going to get into that," replied the officer.

After reading the senator his rights, Karsnia asked for his account. "I sit down to go to the bathroom," said Craig, "and you said our feet bumped. I believe they did because I reached down and scooted over and the next thing I knew under the bathroom divider comes a card that says Police. Now that's about as far as I can take it. I don't know of anything else. Your foot came toward mine, mine came towards yours. Was that natural? I don't know. Did we bump? Yes, I think we did. You said so. I don't disagree with that."

"O.K.," replied the officer, "I don't want to get into a pissing match here."

Craig: "We're not going to."

Karsnia: "Good."

Craig: "I don't, I'm not gay. I don't do these kinds of things and..."

Karsnia: "It doesn't matter. I don't care about sexual preference or anything like that."

Craig: "I know you don't. You're out to enforce the law."

Karsnia: "Right."

Craig: "But you shouldn't be out to entrap people either."

Karsnia: "This isn't entrapment."

Craig: "Allright."

The officer appeared to grow impatient. "You're skipping some parts," he said. "What about your hand?"

Craig said he reached down to pick up a piece of paper. "Well," replied the officer, "you're...

Huckabee scores a coup

We Googled this and found that, depending on the citation, 70%, 80%, 85% or 90% of success in life is simply a matter of showing up (with Woody Allen given as the source for several of the different figures).

Regardless, it's a formula that worked for Republican presidential contender Mike Huckabee.

The International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, in a nod to the estimated third of its roughly 700,000 members who are Republicans, took the unusual step Thursday of making dual labor endorsements in the presidential race. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton received the union's support. In the GOP race, Huckabee won its blessing for a pretty simple reason: he was the only Republican who actively sought it.

Union officials had said the organization would only consider bestowing its imprimatur upon candidates who vied for it through personal appearances earlier this week at a conference in Orlando. Among the GOP contenders, Huckabee was the sole attendee.

Union President Tom Buffenbarger (hard to imagine a better surname for a labor chieftain) said the former Arkansas governor "was the only Republican candidate with the guts to meet with our members and the only one willing ...

THOMPSON UPDATE: He's in

Republican Fred Thompson will formally announce his long-anticipated presidential candidacy on a webcast next Thursday, he and his top aides told supporters wired into a conference call today.

The Times' Joe Mathews reports that the call also revealed that after the webcast airs and Thompson files the necessary paperwork with federal election officials, he will travel to the key early states in the nomination battle: Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.  And he will conclude his opening tour with a stop in his hometown of Lawrenceburg, Tenn., on Sept. 15.

Mathews was told that during the call, which was not open to reporters, no mention was made of an effort to schedule a Thompson appearance on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" next Wednesday -- the same night of a Republican presidential debate in New Hampshire.  But Mathews reports that sources close to Thompson say negotiations between the campaign and NBC remain in the works.

On the money front, Thompson's backers were told that he has raised about $6 million -- far less than the two leading contenders in the GOP race, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney.  Not surprisingly, Thompson plans to focus on picking up his fundraising pace. The Times Joe Mathews has the complete story here on this website now and in Friday's print editions. You can also vote there on whether you think Thompson waited too long to enter the race.

-- Don Frederick

BREAKING NEWS: Thompson expected to (finally) make it official

Fred Thompson got the message -- his delays in officially proceeding with his White House campaign were hurting him.  So this afternoon (1 p.m. Pacific time) he's scheduled a conference call with supporters, where it's expected he'll tell them what they have been wanting to hear: He is definitely seeking the Republican presidential nomination.

He's apparently stealing a play from the game plan that California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger used in launching his political career.  Thompson's campaign is seeking to set up an appearance on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" next Wednesday as part of the roll-out of an announcement tour, according to Times reporter Joe Mathews.

That's the venue Schwarzenegger famously used in 2003 to announce his plan to run for governor.  And the Thompson appearance would occur on the same night that GOP candidates who have been running for months conduct a debate in New Hampshire.  Not much doubt here about which event will win the ratings game.

Mathews will have a story on what Thompson tells his supporters later today on our website and in Friday's print editions.

-- Don Frederick