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Al Gore is challenging the next president of the United States, whomever that may be, to embrace an ambitious energy plan that would make the country’s electricity carbon-free within 10 years.
But while he outlined the steps he thinks the future president should take, he says he won’t be beside him as vice president, even if the Democrats win.
Gore dashed the hopes of those pining for an Obama-Gore dream team ticket in an interview with Katie Couric on the CBS Evening News Thursday. The interview was conducted after Gore gave a speech on alternative energy in Washington.
“I have a personal term limit,” said Gore, who served for eight years as Bill Clinton’s vice president. “Only two terms as VP.”
Couric then wondered what Gore would do if Barack Obama came to him and begged, “Al, buddy, listen. I really, really, really need you."
Gore said the answer would still be no.
Speculation about a possible Obama-Gore ticket has bubbled in the blogosphere since last month, when Gore gave Obama a hearty endorsement after the primary struggle with Hillary Clinton had already been settled.
Gore, who won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to draw the world’s attention to global warming, even used his website to solicit donations for Obama.
But when Couric suggested that Gore was playing coy in denying an interest in the VP spot, Gore shook his head and vowed, “This interview will not come back to haunt me. You can believe me.”
-- Kate Linthicum
This is another in The Ticket's continuing series of items called In His/Her Own Words, in which we dedicate the entire story to the full text of someone's remarks in politics.
Recent Ticket Word items have included Hillary Clinton speaking about Barack Obama, Obama explaining his view of lapel flag pins and Clinton, Obama and John McCain talking about one another at the end of the primary season.
This one is the complete text of Sen. McCain's first weekly radio address today, intended as a regular feature of his general election campaign to become president -- and to get the chance to give his own weekly presidential radio addresses that not that many people actually listen to but that have become a regular PR tool for White House residents for putting out a particular message they want to be seen/heard talking about.
Here's the text of today's McCain radio remarks:
"Good morning. I'm John McCain, and this week I've been on the road in Colorado, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. I've been holding town hall meetings to talk over the subject on most everyone's minds these days -- our slowing economy.
"More than 400,000 Americans have lost their jobs since December, and the rate of new job creation has fallen sharply. Americans are worried about the security of their current job, and they're worried that they, their kids and their neighbors may not find good jobs and new opportunities in the future.
"It's a big problem when gasoline, food and other necessities of life carry the price tag of luxury goods, and that's what it feels like to millions of Americans.
"I have a plan to grow this economy, and it starts with getting a handle on the cost of gasoline and regaining America's energy ...
Read more In his own words: John McCain on taxes, earmarks, the economy »
For some reason, we're having trouble shaking the image of a toreador, el toro and a little pas de deux.
While John McCain was focusing on businesswomen in Wisconsin today, Barack Obama made energy the theme in a talk before about 1,300 people at the Stivers School for the Arts in Dayton, Ohio, with our colleague Louise Roug in atten dance.
There wasn't much new in Obama's rhetoric on the subject, but there was one moment that jumped out, and reminded us of earlier speeches in which Obama used the same tactic. It points up a problem facing McCain, who has nurtured an image as a maverick despite spending the last quarter-century -- longer than his military service -- in Congress, first in the House and now in the Senate.
Obama's tactic is to wait for McCain to throw a rock at how Washington works, and the failed policies, and then chain McCain to his own political history. This is how it played out this morning: "Now, a few days ago, Sen. McCain said, and I'm quoting, 'Our dangerous dependence on foreign oil has been 30 years in the making, and was caused by the failure of politicians in Washington to think long-term about the future of the country.' I couldn't agree more. John McCain is exactly right. The only problem is that out of those 30 years of inaction, John McCain was one of the most powerful [men] in Washington for twenty-six of them. And in that time he has achieved little to help reduce our dependence on foreign oil. He voted against raising our fuel mileage standards when it could have made such a difference over the last decades and joined George Bush in opposing legislation twice in the last year that included tax credits for more efficient cars.'
McCain, Obama said, also "voted against alternative sources of energy. Against clean biofuels. Against solar power. Against wind power. Against an energy bill that represented the largest investment in renewable sources of energy in the history of this country."
You get the idea. Obama slides into the rhythm that sets him up for the insertion of the rhetorical blade (which may be what got us conjuring up images of a bullfight): "When John McCain talks about the failure of politicians in Washington to do anything about our energy crisis, understand that John McCain should look in the mirror because he has been a part of that failure."
As we've pointed out before, having a relatively limited voting record can be a good thing in the presidential bullring.
(UPDATE: No campaign utterance comes without pushback, in this case somewhat tangential to the point of the post, Obama's tactic of using McCain's statements to propel a counter-offensive. From McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds: "Barack Obama is the quintessential definition of what's wrong with Washington. Today Barack Obama claimed to be for change, while touting his own vote for the Bush-Cheney energy bill, that's just the type of Washington-style spin and empty rhetoric that John McCain has fought against his whole career.")
-- Scott Martelle
Photo by Cesar Rangel / AFP-Getty Images
The Republican National Committee is spending $3.4 million on television ads in four swing states blasting Barack Obama’s energy policy, according to a campaign finance report filed Monday.
The 30-second ad is part of an independent campaign on behalf of Sen. John McCain. It says McCain is “pushing his own party to face climate change,” and contrasts the presumptive GOP nominee’s energy stand against Obama’s.
McCain supports “alternative energy, conservation, suspending the gas tax, and more production here at home.” The reference to more production presumably is a reference at least in part to McCain’s recent call for offshore oil drilling, made shortly before he went to a fundraiser in Santa Barbara.
Obama, the spot says, opposes lower gasoline taxes, nuclear power and more drilling. “Just the party line,” says the ad.
The ad -- view it below -- is airing in at least Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Brad Todd, of the firm, OnMessage Inc., created the spot, and said it was expected to air through next week. In a statement, Todd explained the theme by saying energy security “is emerging as a defining difference in the race for president."
Obama spokesman Hari Sevugan slapped back, telling The Times' Dan Morain that McCain promises to “continue the Bush approach of trying to drill our way out of our energy crisis.” Obama is offering “historic investment in alternative energy development,” he added.
The $3.4-million buy is substantial. But it is likely only the ante for the RNC and the Democratic National Committee. The DNC alone spent more than $100 million in 2004 on behalf of Sen. John Kerry’s presidential run.
--Andrew Malcolm
Sen. Gordon Smith of Oregon, a potentially endangered Republican in November's election, raised many an eyebrow recently with an ad that included an unexpected cameo.
"Who says Gordon Smith helped lead the fight for better gas mileage and a cleaner environment?" asks a narrator. "Barack Obama."
TV viewers in the Beaver state then saw a flash of Obama's face and his campaign Web site as the ad went on to say the two lawmakers had teamed up "and broke through a 20-year deadlock to pass new laws that increase gas mileage for automobiles."
 Despite Smith's effort to scramble the partisan divide, it's comforting to know that in some cases, the old rules still apply -- such as a conservative Republican from Texas invoking a tried and true symbol of California liberalism, Sen. Barbara Boxer, as a way to raise money.
Boxer did her part to rate such a mention. On the Web site for a political action committee she set up, she recently conducted an online "Choose a Challenger" contest. Participants were given a list of various Democrats challengers trying to win GOP-held Senate seats this year and asked to vote on which one should be singled out for fundraising help by the PAC.
Down in the Lone Star State, Democrat Rick Noriega launched an effort to stack the deck. As part of his longshot bid to topple GOP Sen. John Cornyn, he urged backers to cast ballots for him in Boxer's tourney; a win, he said in an e-mail, could funnel "tens of thousands of dollars" into his coffers.
Not surprisingly, the Cornyn camp got wind of this and sought, in turn, to use it for its own financial advantage.
A solicitation to potential donors notified them that Noriega "is enlisting California Liberal (sic) Barbara Boxer’s help to raise money. The note continued: "Barbara Boxer, the one who opposed Chief Justice Roberts' nomination to the Supreme Court and verbally assaulted Justice Alito during his confirmation process."
"But it gets worse. You know what Senator Boxer is up to now? To quote her own website: 'I want you to know that I won't give up in our fight to stop the drilling…'
"Gas is approaching $4.10 a gallon with no end in sight and Rick Noriega is asking for help from Barbara Boxer, who is leading the charge to stop domestic drilling making us even more dependent on foreign oil?"
"While Rick Noriega is counting on Californians to help his campaign, John Cornyn is counting on Texans just like you."
Sounds like Cornyn would be loathe to get caught in the same elevator with Boxer.
But here's another side of Washington. Cornyn is the vice chair of the Senate Ethics Committee that Boxer heads. And about a week after the missive excoriating her, Cornyn's Capitol Hill office issued a release touting an amendment they were jointly offering to require members of Congress to publicly disclose their residential mortgages (a touchy topic these days in the Senate).
The release included both of their names in its headline, provided quotes from each promoting their mutual cause and offered nary a hint of discord between the two.
Noriega, by the way, triumphed in Boxer's contest (for the results, go here).
--Don Frederick
The Republican National Committee has spun off its own independent expenditure committee and plans an initial $3 million ad buy targeting Barack Obama in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, Politico reports.
Why the separate group?
Brad Todd, who will run the effort, blamed Obama in a statement to Politico: "Following Barack Obama's decision to become the only major party presidential candidate in history to not adhere to campaign spending caps, the Republican National Committee has begun an independent expenditure campaign in accordance with FEC regulations."
Under federal law there are no limits on how much the group can spend, though it cannot coordinate efforts with John McCain's campaign or the RNC. Still, both have helped to raise some of the funds that will launch the new effort.
So now we know where the RNC will be funneling some of its cash advantage over the Democratic National Committee to try to compensate for the record-breaking fundraising Obama has enjoyed. And the decision to target those Rust-Belt states underscores the GOP view that Obama is vulnerable in that part of the nation. Three of the four -- Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin -- went Democratic in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections.
Lot of white working-class men and women in those states, which account for 68 electoral votes.
-- Scott Martelle
Our colleague Noam Levey has a story today weighing John McCain's voting history and public stances on a wide range of energy issues. It's a mixed bag, Levey reports: "At times he has backed measures to ease restrictions on oil drilling off the coast and in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Other times he has voted to keep them.
"He has championed standards to require that automakers make vehicles more fuel-efficient, yet opposed standards to require that utilities use less fossil fuel by generating more power from renewable sources, such as wind and solar.
"McCain has rejected federal tax breaks for renewable energy producers, but backs billions of dollars in subsidies for the nuclear industry.
"He has criticized corn-based ethanol for doing 'nothing to increase our energy independence.' Yet while campaigning in 2006 in the Midwest corn belt, McCain called ethanol a 'vital, vital alternative energy source.'
"Senior McCain policy advisor Douglas Holtz-Eakin said McCain's positions reflected a pragmatic approach to governing. 'Sen. McCain is interested in getting results,' he said."
Beyond the policy confusion this can engender (and we'll leave that for others to dissect), it points up the inherent problem any legislator faces in running for president: The longer the service, the bigger the pool for opposition researchers to swim in.
So in an odd bit of political irony, here Barack Obama's relative lack of legislative experience could be an advantage -- fewer votes, fewer points of exposure.
-- Scott Martelle
Our cousins over at The Swamp picked up on this study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism. You can get the details over there but the graphic sums it up quite nicely.
What sparked this dominance? The Unity, N.H., appearance by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. It's a bit surprising, though, that the role of Bill Clinton was so light compared to the other mentions, since the former president is the major subtext to the Clinton campaign and Democratic unity.
According to the Project for Excellence in Journalism, "The wide gap in coverage between Obama and McCain can be attributed to several factors. In addition to Obama's efforts to unite his party, other story lines continued to generate press attention. Last week, James Dobson's accusation that the Democratic hopeful's view of the Bible is distorted -- and Obama's response -- filled 6% of the news hole. Rumors about Obama's religion coupled with Karl Rove's charge that he is an elitist helped lift various controversies surrounding Obama and his campaign to 11% of the coverage last week."
-- Scott Martelle
The Democratic National Convention is making a show of trying to be environmentally friendly, and as longtime polar bear fans we can't object. And as fans of a certain beverage that has been part of the human experience since, well, forever, we can't object to the way they plan to fuel their ethanol cars.
With beer. Coors beer, to be precise.
Turns out Coors has been converting some of its bad beer -- yes, there is such as thing -- into ethanol at a plant in Golden, a Denver suburb. They make about 3 million gallons of it a year to blend with gasoline for E85 ethanol (85% ethanol, 15% gasoline).
And come August, some of it will be poured into part of the Democrats' convention fleet of 450 vehicles, 20% of which will run on E85, DNC transportation director Al Timothy Andrew Ballard told KUSA-TV in Denver.
Coors is the official ethanol sponsor for the convention, and you have to wonder if someone in Coors marketing pondered the sagacity of being known as the firm that gave gas to politicians. But it all makes us wonder which will consume more alcohol August 25-28 -- the cars, or the delegates?
Our money's on the delegates.
-- Scott Martelle
Don't you hate it when old Navy guys just can't get along? John McCain took a swipe at Jimmy Carter the other day in an interview, with the transcript getting posted over at the Las Vegas Sun earlier today. As the folks at CNN's Politicker point out, it's not just a gratuitous political shot, since McCain has been trying to tie Obama to Carter, generally considered by the right (and quite a few centrists) to have been an ineffectual president.
But the comments are a bit jarring. McCain was asked by interviewer Jon Ralston, a Nevada political observer and blogger, about Yucca Mountain and nuclear waste and Carter's decision to end reprocessing, which McCain held up as a possible solution to the nuke waste problem. "Q: You know why he did that then?
"A: Yes, because Carter was a lousy president .... This is the same guy who kissed Brezhnev ...."
Ralston also asked McCain whether his call for a gas tax holiday for the summer amounted to pandering. "I don’t think so. When I meet a guy who owns two trucks that run on diesel, who says he's going out of business, but may not have to if he is spared the 24-and-half-cent tax, which goes to things like a bridge to nowhere in Alaska." Ralston pointed out a Republican (actually it was two, Sen. Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young) proposed that bridge. "As you know," McCain replied, "I've taken on Republicans and Democrats. Some of them dislike me intensely and some of them still won't endorse me."
Look out, Dale Carnegie.
-- Scott Martelle
Well, they did it, though it would have been quite the surprise if they hadn't after all the build up. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton shared the stage in Unity, New Hampshire, a few minutes ago and sought to put their often contentious pasts behind them and focus their supporters on the general election. (See video below.)
Given the goal of the day -- unity -- it wasn't a time to break out new policy, and Obama didn't. They essentially made nice, smiled a lot, sang each other's praises and then tried to rally the troops (The Swamp has a take on this, too).
And the coziness of the day began before they even left Washington, reports our colleague Noam Levey, who traveled with them. Obama and Clinton shared a half-embrace on the tarmac at Washingto n Reagan National airport then boarded the plane that Clinton used in her campaign. They settled in next to each other in the second row on the left side of the plane, Obama taking the window.
The chumminess continued once they arrived at Unity, with Clinton telling the crowd of more than 4,000 people, "Unity is not only a beautiful place, as we can see it's a wonderful feeling isn't it?" Obama joined the audience in applauding the sentiment, "And I know what we start here in this field in Unity will end in the steps of the Capitol when Barack Obama takes the oath of office as our next president."
Later, Clinton addressed the sometimes edgy tone of the campaign, saying "It was spirited because we both care so much." But we are one party, we are one America,” she said. We "are not going to rest until we take back out country and put it on the path to peace, prosperity and progress."
Then it was Obama's turn (his prepared comments are after the jump). He sang Clinton's praises as a rival, then made a direct play for unity citing her and Bill Clinton's lengthy presence in national politics. "We need them," Obama said.
"We need them badly... That's how we're going to bring about unity in the Democrat Party and how we're going to bring about unity in America."
After making some odd comments about Clinton campaigning in heels -- that won't do much to dispel anger among some of Clinton's female supporters -- Obama talked about the historic nature of both their campaigns. "Hillary and I may have started with separate goals in this campaign, but we have made history together.
"Together, we inspired tens of millions of Americans to participate, some to cast ballot for the very first time, others who voted for the first time in a very long time. And together, in this campaign, in 2008, we shattered barriers that have stood firm since the founding of this nation."
(UPDATE: Susan Pinkus of the L.A. Times Poll provides the following information:: In our latest Times/Bloomberg national poll, two-thirds of Clinton's supporters said they would vote for Obama, 11% said they would vote for John McCain, the Republican nominee, 12% said they were undecided and the rest went to third party candidates.)
--Scott Martelle and Michael Muskal
Photo credit: Mario Tama / Getty Images
Read more Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton tie the political knot in Unity »
John McCain and his main ally in Florida, Gov. Charlie Crist, on Thursday received what could prove some crucial cover from the man who dominated the state's political scene until term limits prevented him from seeking a third term as its chief executive -- Jeb Bush.
Bush, like most Florida politicians from both parties, long opposed oil drilling off the state’s tourism-friendly coastlines. But during a conference call with reporters including The Times' Peter Wallsten, he rose to the defense of McCain, who earlier this week endorsed such exploration as one answer to skyrocketing gasoline prices, and Crist, who in turn backed off his previous opposition to the proposal (and took some grief as a result).
“You can protect the natural resources and the coastline of the state and also be part of national effort to deal with a national security crisis that our country faces right now,” he said. “It’s a huge economic problem for a lot of Americans, which is four-plus dollars a gallon gasoline. It’s a burden that was never anticipated when we were discussing drilling policy 20 years ago, 10 years ago, five years ago, two years ago.
“So I think you’ve got to give people in public life a little bit of room when the context changes for them to also adjust their views.”
Pundits are wondering whether McCain, who had been viewed as the favorite to win Florida's 27 electoral votes in November, damaged his chances to do so with his call for an end to the federal ban on offshore oil drilling (he would let states decide for themselves).
Bush scoffed at such speculation.
“I don’t think it's going to hurt Sen. McCain,” he said. “I think the knee-jerk reaction, just to say 'no' without an alternative, you know, it may work when times are good but when times are tough and people are hurting, they’re not going to tolerate that.”
“My guess is if you did a poll … people support drilling in a reasonable way off Florida’s coast,” said the former governor, whose brother, President Bush, also had a change of heart this week on the issue (and who recently reminded folks that Jeb should not be written off as White House material).
Funny how all that works.
-- Don Frederick
Photo credit: Associated Press
It strikes us that both presidential campaigns this week ignored the cardinal rule of real estate: location, location, location.
 It was a foregone conclusion that Barack Obama would receive an official blessing from Al Gore, the question was when and where. The ringing endorsement Gore bestowed Monday came a bit later than might have been expected, but the real surprise was the setting -- a rally in Detroit, the leading city in the one state where words from perhaps the world's best-known advocate for transforming oil-based economies might be greeted with chagrin.
True, Gore carried Michigan by about 5 percentage points in his 2000 presidential bid. But in that campaign he did not stress the environmental call to arms that since then has become his life's mission.
Although we appreciate the skepticism with which many greet any analysis of Democratic maneuvering by Karl Rove, we do think he got it right on Fox's Hannity & Colmes when he said, "If you're an autoworker or in the auto-parts business or somebody who feels strongly about the auto economy, you don't want to have Al Gore sort of rubbing your nose in it in your own hometown."
Rove mentioned alternative sites for the Gore/Obama love-fest, and two made particular sense to us: Colorado or New Mexico, states expected to be battlegrounds in the general election and places where the environmental movement is revered by some and supported by most.
Similarly, of the possible venues for John McCain to announce his change in position of offshore oil drilling, was Houston the best choice? We don't think so.
McCain's decision to propose an end to the longstanding federal moratorium on oil exploration in coastal waters -- a ban he had long backed -- may play out as a bold stroke that benefits from growing public anger over rising gasoline prices. And, as the Houston Chronicle reported, McCain's audience at a ballroom "in the nation's energy capital gave him two standing ovations as he called for fewer federal regulations on oil exploration."
Maybe his campaign wanted to ensure he received a warm response. But the chosen audience also made it that much easier for critics to argue that McCain, on most issues, was little different than President Bush and that his policies were more oriented toward big business than the average citizen.
An audience of long-haul truckers or residents of exurbs in Ohio or Pennsylvania -- two of the key targets in November -- probably would have been just as welcoming toward McCain's new policy.
-- Don Frederick
Photo credits: Associated Press
If one attribute John McCain wants in a running mate is a good soldier's mentality, it would seem Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has passed the test with flying colors.
As McCain revealed Monday that he now favored an end to the federal moratorium on offshore oil drilling  -- a reversal for him -- and that he would flesh out his position in a speech today, much speculation immediately focused on the tough position in which Crist, an oft-mentioned veep prospect, would find himself.
The Washington Post wrote that the push by McCain to deep-six the ban as part of the response to raising gasoline prices and let each affected state decide the exploration issue "is sure to annoy two key Republican allies," California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Crist. Both have opposed coastal drilling.
In both states, support for the moratorium has been a given for most politicians (for more on how the issue plays in Florida, see this posting on the Chicago Tribune's Swamp blog).
MSNBC's First Read posting this morning noted the following: "No Republicans in Florida have gotten elected statewide without endorsing the moratorium on off-shore oil drilling, so McCain's decision is going to get its share of criticism even from VP wannabe" Crist.
But the item added that if "Crist tries to rationalize the McCain decision then we'll really find out just how much he wants on the ticket."
Apparently, very much.
A story posted by the Miami Herald a short while ago starts thusly: "Describing his position as evolving, Gov. Charlie Crist said he now supports exploratory drilling for oil and gas off Florida's coast because 'Floridians are suffering.' "
For more on Crist's change of heart, go here.
Schwarzenegger -- who, because he's a naturalized American citizen, is constitutionally prohibited from a spot on a presidential ticket -- is standing firm.
According to a statement ...
Read more Florida Gov. Crist climbs aboard the McCain oil-drilling express »
Here's what Democratic strategist and former Clinton aide James Carville says:
"If I was Sen. Obama, I would say the biggest economic problem we face is the biggest national security problem and the biggest environmental  problem. And if I were him, I would ask Al Gore to serve as his vice president, his energy czar, in his administration to reduce our consumption and reliance on foreign energy sources.
"That would send a signal to the world, to American people, to Congress, to everybody, that America's getting serious about this horrendous problem that we face."
Here's what Al Gore said last winter:
"I haven't ruled out the idea of getting back into the political process at some point in the future. Don't expect to. But if I did get back, it would be as a candidate for president, not in any other position. But I don't expect to ever get back into the political..."
To which Carville, a self-described "Capt. Cueball," responded today on CNN's "Situation Room:"
"Well, I'm not suggesting he's just any vice president. I'm suggesting that Sen. Obama as president would give him a lot of authority to deal with our consumption of oil."
James Carville supported, contributed to and wrote fundraising letters for the unsuccessful campaign of Sen. Hillary Clinton.
Here's another problem: Gore hasn't even endorsed Obama yet, raising some political eyebrows. He could be awaiting a grand televised entrance at the national convention in late August. And, actually, Gore has not expressed any interest in joining yet another Democratic ticket in the No. 2 spot.
--Andrew Malcolm
Photo Credit: AP
On this, the first anniversary of our Top of the Ticket blog, we are reminded of the mercurial, unpredictable nature of U.S. politics -- part of what makes what we do so fascinating.
Our goal -- one of us on the East Coast and the other on the far more important or at least less humid West Coast -- was to write about Campaign '08 virtually around the clock.
Our second-ever posting, 12 months ago today, previewed an upcoming L.A. Times/Bloomberg Poll; later in the day, we detailed the results of the nationwide survey. The findings were in line with other polls of the time.
In the Republican presidential race, which then seemed the most likely to last deep into the primary season, Rudy Giuliani was perched in first place. His lead wasn't overwhelming, but it was strong enough that he appeared certain to remain a major contender.
His liberal record on social issues loomed as an obvious liability within his party, but his tough-on-terrorism message was attracting substantial support from moderates and GOP-leaning independents.
His major headache among rivals last June was an as-yet-undeclared candidate who was riding a wave as the great conservative hope -- Fred Thompson. He ran a strong second in the poll.
Lagging far behind were John McCain and Mitt Romney, each barely with double-digit support. In our preview posting, we were especially scornful of McCain, noting sarcastically (and foolishly, as it turned out) that in the poll, he found himself "in heated competition with the 'Don't Know' category."
Meriting no mention from us was Mike Huckabee, one of several back-of-the-pack candidates barely earning any support across the country.
The Democratic race, at that point, seemed so much more cut-and-dried.
Hillary Clinton was the clear front-runner; Barack Obama was just as clearly ...
Read more Top of the Ticket, the start of Year Two »
Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton. The name sounds so familiar, doesn't it?
But unless you're in Oregon these days, you don't hear much about her. As the Illinois Democratic senator and the Arizona Republican senator go after each other in international spats as if the general election was already underway, the trailing New York senator tries to make her publicity marks with attacks on President Bush, who's far away, not really listening.
The Swamp's Jim Tankersley has today's Clinton campaign story here.
-- Andrew Malcolm
Why did we take notice when Rep. George Miller, a Democrat from the Bay Area, issued a release today ridiculing the gas-tax holiday plan that Hillary Clinton and her crew not only are promoting but are touting as a boon to them in their battle with Barack Obama?
 Because Miller is the longtime friend and ally of the highest-ranking Democrat in the land, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (who is second in the presidential succession line after the vice president).
Pelosi has chosen not to officially make a pick yet between Obama and Clinton. But when Miller came out for Obama back in early January, it was widely assumed he did so with Pelosi's tacit approval.
NBC Deputy Political Director Mark Murray wrote at the time: "This is perhaps the closest thing to getting a Nancy Pelosi endorsement as you can come without actually getting it. Miller is incredibly close with her politically. He wouldn't be doing this without her consent of sorts."
We wonder if Pelosi also was nodding her head over the release from Miller (a onetime chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee) that lambastes the call by Clinton (as well as John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee) for suspending the federal gasoline tax through the summer.
Miller's comments are notable not only for the blunt criticism one Democrat directs at another party member -- in so many words, he calls Clinton a purveyor of snake oil -- but also for the intimidation charge ...
Read more A Nancy Pelosi confidant hits hard at Hillary Clinton's gas-tax gambit »
Barack Obama refuses to be put on the defensive as the odd presidential candidate out in the great (though temporal) debate over the federal gasoline tax, steadfastly opposing the call by both Hillary Clinton and John McCain for suspending the levy through the summer. 
In Indianapolis today, Obama derided the proposal as the type of "phony" idea that politicians often promote "to win elections instead of actually solving problems." (For more, see this story by Times reporter Peter Nicholas.)
Camp Clinton, however, clearly likes the dog it's got in this hunt. Not only did did the candidate herself press her case today in North Carolina, but consider this quip by one of her campaign advisors, Doug Hattaway, to Times reporter Noam Levey: "The Obama campaign seems bitter about sliding in the polls and they're clinging to these gas tax attacks."
Hattaway, of course, was making a play on words now associated with Obama's mini-sociological dissection of small-town life. But Hattaway also might have been feeling chipper about the gas-tax issue because of where he was standing at the time -- the Auto Racing Hall of Fame, in Mooresville, N.C.
Hard to imagine anybody in his immediate vicinity -- or for miles around -- whispering a word against anything that might lower NASCAR racing costs.
-- Don Frederick
Photo credit: Getty Images
It feels sometimes like there is no news item that can't draw a prepared statement from a political candidate. And the new jobless numbers prompted John McCain and Hillary Clinton -- or, at least, some enterprising members of their staffs -- to toss out statements this morning.
We'll warn you right now there's not a whole lot of innovation here, mostly just using the moment to score already familiar points. And while Barack Obama's campaign didn't issue a statement, he wove the jobs report into a prepared speech in Indianapolis this morning. It's interesting to line them all up. First, McCain: "Today's job numbers are another clear indication of the economic challenges facing our country. With Americans hurting, we must act to strengthen our economy for families and small businesses. We must help Americans now through gas tax relief, which provides immediate relief from rising energy prices. We must also help those facing home foreclosure by enacting a HOME plan. At the same time, we need to act to lower taxes, streamline regulation, lower health care costs, ensure energy independence and open foreign markets. To help those who have lost jobs, we must focus on promoting effective worker re-training programs.
"The wrong course for our country would be to follow Senators Obama and Clinton and their siren songs of higher taxes, bigger government, greater isolationism and a government-run health care system."
Mind you, the new numbers show fewer people out of work than analysts expected, and the unemployment rate fell a tick from 5.1% in March to 5% in April ...
Read more John McCain, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama talk jobs »
Might Barack Obama come to regret his decision to pass on a debate with Hillary Clinton prior to Tuesday's primaries in North Carolina and Indiana?
 Yes, there have already been 21 such encounters. But we raise the question because, even as the tumult surrounding the Rev. Jeremiah Wright sucked up much of the campaign oxygen this week, a real, honest-to-goodness policy difference surfaced between the two Democratic presidential contenders (as we've noted before, there have been precious few such splits). And if expert opinion counts for anything, Obama could use a direct face-off with Clinton to make a powerful case against her call for a summer suspension of the federal gasoline tax.
Obama, when not consumed with putting as much space as possible between himself and Wright, has scoffed at the proposal -- also embraced by Republican John McCain -- as a gimmick that would save the average driver about half a tank of gas over the three-month period.
"This isn't an idea designed to get you through the summer, it's designed to get them through an election," Obama said in North Carolina earlier this week.
Meanwhile, the suggestion -- which hasn't a ghost of a chance of being enacted ...
Read more Barack Obama could rue his no-debate decision »
Just a few months ago, John McCain's White House hopes were barely on life support. The Republicans getting all the attention -- and the money -- included Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee and Fred Thompson; no one, it seemed, wanted to hear from the Arizona senator, whose campaign was almost broke (he fired many of his staff and flew on commercial flights by himself, in coach, to campaign appearances) and whose bipartisan work on legislation (including campaign finance reform and a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants) made him a pariah among the party's conservative base.
But in one of the most remarkable turnarounds in recent political history, McCain clinched the GOP presidential nomination last week. Now he's beginning another sort of campaign -- introducing himself to the American people not as the self-styled maverick on the Straight Talk Express, but as the presumptive leader of his party, hoping to knit its various skeins -- social conservatives, moderate pragmatists, immigration hard-liners, and so on -- into a tapestry that pictures him taking the oath of office on the Capitol steps in January.
To that end, he appeared Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes" ...
Read more John McCain on '60 Minutes': Reintroducing himself, in a new role »
Here's something you can't do with your newspaper.
The Times' Ben Welsh has deconstructed online the most common words from every one of President Bush's seven State of the Union speeches and one Budget Address. They total 40,655 words and it took Bush six hours and 57 minutes to deliver them all over his entire term. (Although last night's address, the longest by 174 words, was likely Bush's last State of the Union, some presidents like Ford and Johnson have chosen to speak to joint sessions one last time just days before they leave office.)
Now, don't ask someone who blogs with two fingers how Welsh did this, but he's imaginatively created what's called a word cloud. You can find it here on this website. Using the president's own words and the frequency in which he uses them, it's an amazing and creative tool for even non-historians to measure right before their very eyes how national times and presidential priorities change over the years.
Notice how the words in Welsh's word cloud are different sizes; the more often they're used, the larger the type. Now put your cursor on the little thingy with the arrows that runs across the top of the type and drag it to the left. The dates of the speeches change.
You are literally moving back through time and all eight speeches. See how the words change in size. "America" and "Americans" are usually large as are words like "Congress," "health" and "must" because they're used so often, perennially. So was "Saddam" and "Hussein" and "weapons" back before 2003. Now, not at all.
"Al Qaeda" doesn't appear until 2002. "Security" appears more often as time passes. "Children" are there along with "health" and then "retirement."
You can detect your own patterns over the years. Feel free to offer your observations in the comments below.
--Andrew Malcolm
Correction: An earlier version of this post included a comparison of exact word counts between years that was mistakenly drawn from an incomplete draft analysis. It has been removed.
You can tell a lot by a politician's schedule, which may be why Hillary Clinton's first lady schedule and documents are still locked in the Clinton presidential library. It's probably why Vice President Cheney never got around to releasing his meeting schedule on those long-ago energy consultations.
When you're a candidate, a daily schedule can reveal your whereabouts, goals and political intentions, which can attract protesters, tip off opponents on what you're up to or provide insight on how hard you're working some days. Which is why most presidential campaigns release schedules only a few days in advance, largely to obtain media coverage. And they intentionally leave time gaps, which usually means they're secretly wooing someone for money or support in person or by phone.
Mike Huckabee's schedule this year, for instance, has consistently revealed a reliance on free media appearances, which typically reach a broad audience, allow him to project his genial on-air personality (honed, not accidentally, by his long radio experience) and, did we mention, such free appearances don't cost him any money.
Sunday, for instance, by sitting in a Des Moines chair for 30 minutes, Huckabee reached an influential national television audience on "Meet the Press," allowing him to charge his main Iowa opponent, Mitt Romney, with "running a very desperate and, frankly, dishonest campaign," which on a slow news day allowed Huckabee to generate gobs of further free news stories across the nation. Then he went to church and, out of sight, taped some last-minute campaign ads.
This likely reflects the former governor's weak fundraising. The fourth quarter doesn't end until midnight tonight, so it'll be a couple of weeks before each campaign's official figures...
Read more What Mike Huckabee's schedule really reveals »
Numerous political activists and consultants are quietly establishing campaign organizations these days with the goal of influencing the 2008 presidential campaign.
It’s tough to tell which will actually develop and have any impact on the race. But The Times' Dan Morain, who monitors campaign finances, has come upon documents for voters to keep their eye on.
It's the American Alliance for Energy Independence.
Given the events in Washington this week, a practiced eye might assume that the United States’ energy future is likely to be an issue in the 2008 general election campaign. Congress approved and the president signed one bill increasing gas mileage requirements for all vehicles, and a second measure to grant loan guarantees to power companies that might seek to build new nuclear power plants.
And the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency blocked California’s effort to curb greenhouse gases.
While energy has received passing attention in the presidential campaign, two Democratic politicos are convinced that given the stakes, the issue needs a tad more attention. Hence, they took out papers recently to create American Alliance, a 527, so named for the revenue code section that defines rules governing such independent political organizations.
Both organizers come by way of former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, who had a short-lived presidential candidacy and sought to make energy a key issue before dropping out and endorsing Sen. Hillary Clinton.
Craig Varoga, the Alliance's president, was former campaign manager for Vilsack’s brief presidential effort. Joe Householder was the governor's communications director in his 2002 reelection campaign. In 2003 and 2004, Householder became communications director for Clinton, and now works at Public Strategies, a Texas-based consulting firm.
Varoga hopes to attract donations, say $2 million, for ads and activities to generate attention for the concept of energy independence and to urge presidential candidates to get specific on the topic, a perennial issue for the past several presidential contests.
“If we wake up in November 2008," says Varoga, "and there was no serious discussion about energy independence, we’ll be worse off.”
--Andrew Malcolm
Oh, the problems of scheduling when you're running for president and trying to be a legislator at the same time, as so many of the 2008 candidates are this time!
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, says he's likely to schedule an important procedural vote Saturday morning. Maybe you can miss a vote here or there, although Barack Obama skipped that vote on Iranian terrorism to campaign and Hillary Clinton nailed him for it in a debate. And he had to admit it was a mistake just as he was criticizing the way she had voted.
But the plot thickens. This important Senate procedural vote concerns an energy bill that includes sharp increases in the production of ethanol and biodiesel fuels, which are sacred fluids in Iowa, which is the first state to caucus Jan. 3 and which Obama was scheduled to campaign in Saturday.
But not just campaign. Campaign at two major rallies with someone called Oprah Winfrey.
What to do -- campaign or vote?
Sens. Joe Biden and Chris Dodd, neither of whom is figuring significantly in the Iowa race, have canceled their plans for Iowa today and tomorrow to be available to vote. Clinton, also scheduled to work the Hawkeye State both days, has not yet announced her choice.
This is when having the title former senator helps John Edwards.
(UPDATE: The Senate vote was changed to today, so Obama should be able to make the Iowa Oprah events on time. BTW, they are to be televised on C-SPAN.)
--Andrew Malcolm
Now that we're coming down to the last few precious days in the high-pressured presidential primary race to lead the country and the free world, former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee is ramping up his campaign schedule. After all, he's got seven other hard-working Republican campaigners hard on his tail.
This morning, according to the e-mailed schedule from Thompson's press office, Fred will begin his campaign day bright and early at 8:15 a.m. Eastern time with a telephone interview with Andy Peterson on WMT in Cedar Falls, Iowa. He'll follow that 25 minutes later with an interview on AM Tampa Bay on WFLA and then at 10:40 he'll be interviewed on WHO in Des Moines.
By 11 a.m., he should be done with that.
And that's it for the campaign day.
(UPDATE: Tonight, Fred appeared on the Fox News Channel where for some reason the Republican was asked about Democrat Bill Clinton sitting in his wife's cabinet. "Well," said Thompson, "you know he's got to have something to do. She might feel like that's the best place for him to be.")
--Andrew Malcolm
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger gets back in front of the camera (OK, as a politician he never really left, but still) as part of a new ad campaign geared toward pressuring recalcitrant members of Congress to move swiftly on legislation to lessen global warming.
The ad, to begin airing next week in 17 markets, was put together by Environmental Defense and features Schwarzenegger, Gov. Brian Schweitzer of Montana, a Democrat, and Jon Huntsman Jr., the Republican governor of Utah. All notably are governors of Western states with wide areas of stunning natural beauty -- and the tourism-based economy that goes with it.
Schwarzenegger has been pressing the federal government on global warming, but also has his own well-heeled baggage on the issue. Frustrated with what they view as a lack of federal leadership on the issue, Schweitzer and Huntsman also have struck out on their own.
The reason for the ad campaign now? Environmental Defense wants to make sure the issue gets its due during the current election cycle. And with Al Gore still not running for president, the political dialogue has revolved primarily around the war in Iraq and healthcare. Place your bets on how much attention the issue gets in tonight's Democratic debate in Las Vegas on CNN at 5 Pacific time.
-- Scott Martelle
And it's not just the war.
The daily Poll Track column at the National Journal collates a few disparate surveys this morning and finds that, to quote another politician in another time, we're in something of a national malaise. As Poll Track points out: "A full two-thirds of respondents to a new Marist/WNBC poll said they believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, a 9-point increase from fall 2006. Harris' 'Alienation Index' has also risen slightly since last year, as more Americans told pollsters this month that they feel the nation's leaders don't care about them and are out of touch with the country at large.
"Considering such widespread dissatisfaction with the status quo, it's no wonder 58 percent of registered voters responding to a new Gallup/USA Today poll said the outcome of the 2008 presidential race matters more to them than previous elections. For many months the conventional wisdom had placed the blame for the public's angst squarely on President Bush and the Iraq war. But recent polls suggest that Americans are increasingly worried about traditional bread-and-butter issues, too."
And the butter has been melting. So it's a "pox on both their houses" mood out there, though other polls show that more people think the Democrats are better suited to straighten the mess out than the Republicans. Those sentiments won't mean much in the primaries and caucuses, but they will come next November. And of course anything can happen between now and then to change the current mood.
But you have to wonder what might have happened had the national elections been this week instead of next year, and how many babies would have gone out with the bathwater.
-- Scott Martelle
Former Vice President Al Gore was named a co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize this morning for his work on global warming, capping 24 hours of speculation driven in part by his role in a San Francisco fundraiser for Sen. Barbara Boxer's 2010 reelection bid.
Gore was the scheduled headliner for the Thursday afternoon event, but canceled late Wednesday to attend a hastily scheduled global warming conference with top government officials in China. Boxer's campaign scuttled the event, e-mailed supporters who had bought tickets and began making plans to reschedule it for next month.
But about 8 a.m. Thursday, Gore called Boxer to say he was still in the country. The fundraiser was back on, as was the speculation that Gore might have received an inkling of the pending announcement and decided he'd rather be on home ground than in China when the word came (which regular Ticket readers knew yesterday).
Speaking before more than 400 Boxer supporters in an ornate ballroom of the Westin St. Francis Hotel, Gore reprised his now-familiar call for a new bipartisan and international approach to attacking global warming, as well as humanitarian crises such as Darfur. Calling such issues "a moral imperative," Gore said the world needed to change its consciousness and work to end such vast threats to human life.
The appearance also sparked -- no surprise -- an impromptu crowd chant of "Run, Al, run!," which he sought to cut off by waving his arms like a baseball umpire calling a runner safe. Gore, of course, has maintained he has no intention of joining the already crowded Democratic field of presidential contenders despite the persistent urging of a loyal band of supporters.
Many Democrats still believe that Gore won the 2000 election decided by the Supreme Court. And he was greeted by the liberal Democrats in San Francisco as something of a conquering hero.
On stage, Gore followed a short musical set by pop performers Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne. While talk of a possible Nobel swirled in the crowd, Gore did not mention it from the stage.
But the work that earned him the honor was front and center. Gore argued that half a century ago concerns that an unsettled Europe might spawn another world war led to the development of the Marshall Plan -- and the result is a much different world perception of Europe. Gore said: "Europe saw things differently after they had the opportunity to work together. Consciousness has changed. Thinking has changed. It hasn't been that long ago that it wouldn't have been ... absurd to ask how likely is it that Germany will invade France or France will invade Germany. But now, thank goodness, because of the political changes in consciousness of the last 50 years, that ... is utterly absurd. We need to create a future in which when people say, 'How likely is it we'll have a genocide in Africa this year?' people will say, 'That's absurd.' Right now, it's not absurd."
-- Scott Martelle
About 300 supporters of the Clintons assembled in Brentwood the other night eager to hear the guest speaker, former president Bill Clinton, and contribute to her campaign for that privilege. The ex-president was also in town to push his new book.
Just as he was about to speak in the backyard pool area of David O'Connor and Lona Williams' home when the power went out. Not just in the house and yard but in the entire neighborhood.
According to the Wilshire and Washington blog account, people quickly assembled candles and flashlights and shined them on the former leader of the free world. "There are a lot of great things about the modern world," one guest reported Clinton as saying, "Predictable electricity may not be one of them." Just imagine the chatter on the Secret Service's radios.
Clinton carried on like a professional showman, loyally touting his wife's attributes to be president. Ironically, a significant portion of his remarks dealt with energy policy.
--Andrew Malcolm
Washington's traditional career path is politician-turned-lobbyist. Fred Thompson, when he finally enters the Republican presidential race, will test the political cost of following the opposite route.
Before he won his Senate seat from Tennessee in 1994, Thompson toiled for years as a lawyer who specialized in greasing the wheels of government (while also beginning his acting career). Today, Politico.com spotlights a controversial project he promoted, which it characterizes as "one of his home state’s biggest government-funded boondoggles."
The Politico's Kenneth P. Vogel gets to the nub of the challenge looming for Thompson in writing: "It’s a part of his past that runs counter to the fiscally conservative outsider image he’s seeking to cast as he positions himself for an all-but-certain bid for the Republican presidential nomination."
The venture in question is the Clinch River nuclear breeder reactor, an experimental enterpri | |
