Whoever Wins, They All Offer a Third Bush Term

Today the American people take their first, long-awaited step toward electing a new President. While none of the Republican candidates have generated much excitement on the campaign trail, one thing has become crystal clear: whoever wins the Republican caucuses, a vote for any one of them is a vote for a third Bush term. 

J.C. WATTS, Las Vegas Review-Journal

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've noted in presidential campaigns present and past that most viable candidates are always looking to "enlarge their territory" by appearing before groups that may not be obvious constituencies.

To wit: Seven short years after referring to Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and other evangelical leaders as "agents of intolerance," John McCain was the commencement speaker at Falwell's Liberty University this past spring.

This is referred to in political circles as expanding your base. Or mending fences.

To wit again: Rudy Giuliani, America's mayor, who has not been known as a friend of the Second Amendment, recently addressed the national convention of the National Rifle Association. This speech came complete with an "unexpected" phone call from Mrs. America's Mayor, whereupon Mr. Mayor asked if she wanted to "say hello" to the conventioneers. How endearing.

This too, is a base-expanding, fence-mending operation.

This leads me to observe the obvious oversight (diplomatically speaking) of many of the Republican candidates for president this year.

By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG, New York Times

Scott Reed, a Republican strategist, was at a dinner in Philadelphia on Monday night when his cellphone and Internet pager began beeping like crazy. Only later did he learn why. His party was buzzing with news of a sex scandal involving a Republican United States senator — again.

Just when Republicans thought things could not get any worse, Senator Larry E. Craig of Idaho confirmed that he had pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct after an undercover police officer accused him of soliciting sex in June in a Minneapolis airport restroom. On Tuesday, Mr. Craig, 62, held a news conference to defend himself, calling the guilty plea “a mistake” and declaring, “I am not gay” — even as the Senate Republican leadership asked for an Ethics Committee review.

We have seen some lame fundraising pitches over the years, but we never thought we'd see one that topped Liddy Dole's fake NRSC "survey." OK, maybe that one wasn't so much "lame" as "blatantly dishonest." But, Rudy is certainly in the running for his incredibly lame "Team Rudy" card.

Here's Rudy Giuliani's latest fundraising missive featuring the "first edition Team Rudy member card," which supporters are asked to "activate" with a contribution. This appears to be little more than a gimmick, since the accompanying letter does not indicate cardholders get any special benefits or even discounts at participating locations.

"I’ve learned one thing in listening to all the debates and reading about all these people running for office, and the one fact I’ve learned, I can’t get out of my mind, is that Rudy Giuliani has been married more times than Mitt Romney’s been hunting."

- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), quoted by the New York Times.

The former New York City Mayor is politicizing September 11th in his 2008 presidential bid. Here's what he said at a recent campaign stop in New Hampshire:

"If a Democrat is elected president in 2008, America will be at risk for another terrorist attack on the scale of Sept. 11, 2001... Never ever again will this country ever be on defense waiting for (terrorists) to attack us if I have anything to say about it. And make no mistake, the Democrats want to put us back on defense!"