campaign notebook
Originally published in the Cleveland Plain Dealer
A roundup of notes from the presidential campaign.
Executive Tim Timken, one of President Bush's favorite Ohio fund-raisers, who recently helped raise $750,000 for the president, is offended by big campaign money.
Hosting a $2,000-per-person event Monday featuring Vice President Dick Cheney, Timken told an audience of Cleveland's wealthiest business and civic leaders that such money was intended to "subvert democracy" and was an "attempt to buy democracy."
Timken, of course, wasn't talking about his money, or that of other Republicans who filled a banquet room at the Cleveland Clinic's InterContinental Hotel & Conference Center. He was referring to more than $12 million that liberal philanthropist and billionaire Peter Lewis has pledged to give to organizations such as MoveOn.org that oppose the president.
Timken didn't mention Lewis by name, but he referred to him as an Ohioan who is one of several people in the country writing large checks to defeat the president. To counter such an effort, Timken said, Republicans need to continue to contribute money to Bush. The audience, missing the irony, applauded.
The anti-Rush
There are several schools of thought on Dennis Kucinich's candidacy, one being that he's an annoyance to the "viable" Democratic candidates in the race for his party's nomination. But the longer he stays in, the more his gamble might be paying off in terms of recognition (even though his poll numbers remain bargain-basement low), courtship offers from single women, and in some quarters admiration for his intensity. The Des Moines (Iowa) Register editorial board last week said that if Kucinich doesn't make it to the White House - yep, the word was "if" - Kucinich's friends might want to ask him to get into talk radio.
"He seems like someone who could be the long-sought liberal answer to conservative domination of the airwaves," the Register wrote. "He takes no prisoners in the expression of his views. He's passionate, he's engaging - and he's likable."
Hold the gravy
A long tradition at the White House is to pardon a turkey before Thanksgiving, saving the bird from a date with cornbread stuffing and gravy. Kucinich intends to uphold the tradition. "Absolutely, he'll pardon the turkey," said his spokesman, Doug Gordon. "He's a long advocate of animal rights."
And what did the vegan eat for Thursday's supper?
"Tofu turkey and many vegetables."
Sharpton's surprise
Academics and pundits are debating whether Democrats should give up on trying to win the South, yet one southern state - South Carolina - still matters in the early primaries. And South Carolina Democrats, going to the polls Feb. 3, are paying attention to a candidate who's getting less traction in the north: The Rev. Al Sharpton.
A new poll by the Feldman Group shows John Edwards, the senator from North Carolina, leading in his neighboring state, with 17 percent of likely Democratic primary voters saying they "lean" toward voting for him. But Sharpton came in second, at 12 percent. Sharpton is popular among South Carolina's black Democrats, who are expected to make up about half the primary voters in that state.
Close behind Sharpton - and all within the margin of error - were Howard Dean, Wesley Clark, Joe Lieberman and Dick Gephardt. Twenty-two percent of those polled were still undecided, and the new poll is at odds with an earlier one by American Research Group, which put Sharpton at 5 percent. The Feldman poll also shows that while Sharpton comes in second in the leaning-toward category, he comes in fourth - after Edwards, Gephardt and Lieberman - in favorability ratings.
"I think we're going to surprise a lot of people with how strong we come out in the final result," Sharpton told the Associated Press.
Do you believe in Santa?
Sharpton wants to go with a group of clergy to Iraq to minister to U.S. troops during the coming holidays. He's asking for President Bush's support.
And the activist and presidential candidate is asking the White House, and the American public, to believe there's no political motive for his proposed trip.
"The purpose of this trip is not political, as I would be traveling in my capacity solely as a minister and an American, and not a candidate for office," Sharpton wrote in a letter to the White House on Tuesday.
Not home free yet
More proof that the longer he sticks around, the more people pay attention: Rather than ignore him during last week's debate in Des Moines, Kucinich got a rise out of his Democratic rivals by calling for a speedy withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. Kucinich wants U.S. troops replaced by United Nations peacekeepers within 90 days.
"I'm waiting for someone here to say they will join me with a plan to end this occupation," he said. But at least two of his Democratic foes questioned the wisdom of such a strategy.
"The U.N. is not willing or able to go into Iraq right now," said Clark, a retired general. Then former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun jumped in.
"Dennis talked about a plan to bring our troops home," she said. "I want to bring them home, too. But I think we have to bring them home with honor. They've done their duty by responding to the direction of their government."
At a breakfast with reporters in Washington, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle made clear that he, too, disagrees with the notion of a quick pullout. Daschle, one of the few Senate Democrats not running for president, said Bush "needs a plan for success, not an exit strategy" from Iraq.
Last laugh
On the MSNBC cable program "Hardball" before the Monday Democratic debate, Republican Chairman Ed Gillespie defended a new GOP television ad that suggests some Democrats advocate a "retreat" from the war on terror.
"Which Democratic candidate has called for retreat?" demanded "Hardball" host Chris Matthews.
"Obviously, Kucinich," Gillespie replied.
Matthews, who has been critical of Kucinich's candidacy, laughed. "Start with the contenders, will you," he told Gillespie. [ed. note: Hey, he must be getting somewhere if the Republicans hate him]
The days ahead:
With the Iowa caucus only seven weeks away, campaigning steps up. Edwards spends tomorrow through early Thursday in Iowa; Sen. John Kerry is there tomorrow, and Dean on Tuesday.
Clark is scheduled to be on CNN's "Late Edition" today at noon. Dean will be on Diane Rehm's public radio show tomorrow. Gephardt will be on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" on Tuesday (with actress Naomi Watts and singer Phil Collins).
Kucinich visits his hometown, Cleveland, tomorrow for a fund-raiser, then goes to New York on Tuesday. Lieberman starts the week in South Carolina.
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