<><>DEMOCRATS<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
THE FIELD
Elizabeth Edwards Is Back in the Spotlight
By Kate Phillips
New York Times
April 10, 2008
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Elizabeth Edwards has pretty well established by now that she’s not afraid to express her views, take on institutional figureheads whether they work in the media or in the political maelstrom. These days, she’s speaking out again — critical on policy issues but also strikingly buoyant for someone who ardently campaigned through a health crisis for her spouse but never got to leap that victory hurdle. In many ways, Elizabeth and John Edwards were as much the two-for-one couple as the Clintons when it came to pushing policy proposals…
Elizabeth Edwards touts Clinton health plan
Associated Press
April 10, 2008
WASHINGTON (AP) — Elizabeth Edwards put in a plug Wednesday for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's health care plan — possibly the closest any Democratic presidential candidate is likely to get to an endorsement from former rival John Edwards or his wife. Both Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama have been seeking the backing of John Edwards, whose home state — North Carolina — holds a primary on May 6 with 115 delegates at stake…
Clinton, Obama touch on foreign policy
By Johanna Neuman
Los Angeles Times
April 9, 2008
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton warned President Bush today not to "saddle the next president" with a security agreement that extends the U.S. commitment in Iraq beyond his presidency. "The U.S. Congress has to have the chance to review and vote on any long-term security agreement he is negotiating with the Iraqis," she said. One day after Army Gen. David H. Petraeus testified before Congress, Clinton called on Bush, who plans to make a statement on Iraq on Thursday, "to answer the question that Gen. Petraeus did not -- what is our end strategy?"
CLINTON
Sir Elton and Democratic Friends
By Julie Bosman
New York Times
April 10, 2008
Elton John played Radio City Music Hall bringing in $2.5 million to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign from ticket sales…
Chelsea Clinton Finds Her Voice
Daughter Evolves From Quiet Supporter to Self-Assured Campaigner
By Anne E. Kornblut
Washington Post
April 10, 2008
WEST CHESTER, Pa. -- With little fanfare the other day, Chelsea Clinton did what no one around her is ever supposed to do: She voluntarily brought up the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Speaking to a packed crowd of college students and recounting her mother's history of working with Republicans, the youngest Clinton talked for a minute about Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), who as a House member during the impeachment hearings against President Bill Clinton was "one of the people who prosecuted my father in the 1990s," she said. Not "someone you would think would be an ally for someone with the last name Clinton," the 28-year-old added wryly…
Clinton Says She Is Only Candidate Who Will End the War in Iraq
By Anne E. Kornblut and Shailagh Murray
Washington Post
April 10, 2008
ALIQUIPPA, Pa., April 9 -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday that she is the only presidential candidate who will end the Iraq war, as she sought to assert her foreign policy credentials a day after hearing congressional testimony from top U.S. leaders in Iraq. Speaking at an event with retired flag officers here, Clinton (N.Y.) accused her rival for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), of being disingenuous about his promise to end the war…
Clinton reiterates opposition to Colombia trade pact
Los Angeles Times
April 9, 2008
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton pledged Tuesday to defeat a free-trade agreement with Colombia, even as her presidential campaign was kept on the defensive by disclosures related to the proposed pact. Her camp acknowledged reports that Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, supports the deal with Colombia. The New York senator's campaign also was hit by another call for the outright ouster of longtime aide Mark Penn…
Lewinsky questions shadow Chelsea Clinton
Associated Press
April 10, 2008
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Chelsea Clinton is spending long days on the campaign trail telling college crowds about her mother's positions on everything from health care and student-loan costs to the Darfur crisis and gay rights…
OBAMA
Obama on Boycott: Wait, Then Decide
By Jeff Zeleny
New York Times
April 10, 2008
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has been pushing in recent days for President Bush to boycott the Olympics, and now Senator Barack Obama is suggesting a more cautious approach…
<><>REPUBLICANS<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
McCAIN
Asked About the Deficit, McCain Cites Reagan’s Example
By Michael Cooper
New York Times
April 10, 2008
WESTPORT, Conn. – When Senator John McCain was asked here this afternoon how he plans to balance the budget, he said that he hoped to do so by stimulating economic growth – and approvingly cited the example of President Ronald Reagan…
<><> PRIMARY CONTESTS<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
<><>RACE TO THE WHITE HOUSE<><><><><><><><><><><>
At Petraeus-Crocker hearing, eyes on '08 field
Petraeus and Crocker shared the stage with presidential hopefuls, who all had much at stake.
By Gail Russell Chaddock
Christian Science Monitor
April 10, 2008
Washington - For the three leading presidential contenders, the appearance of Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker on Capitol Hill this week set up the first Iraq war debate of the general election season. Sens. John McCain (R) of Arizona and Hillary Rodham Clinton (D) of New York rarely looked at each other during the Senate Armed Services panel hearing on Tuesday. Sen. Barack Obama (D) of Illinois, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, wasn't even in the same room…
'Change' campaigns: Can they deliver?
A president needs inspiring rhetoric, savvy, and a like-minded public.
By Alexandra Marks
Christian Science Monitor
April 10, 2008
"Change" has been a political siren song since the first disputed presidential election in 1796 between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. The 2008 season is no exception. Barack Obama wants to change partisan Washington to become more responsive to average Americans. Hillary Rodham Clinton vows to change "the failed policies and the wrong-headed priorities of this administration." Not to be outdone, John McCain pledges to change the capital's spendthrift ways…
Political campaigns meet military campaign
By Janet Hook
Los Angeles Times
April 9, 2008
WASHINGTON — The top commander of U.S. forces in Iraq traveled to Capitol Hill on Tuesday for a rare opportunity: He testified before the nation's next commander in chief. What wasn't clear was which one of the three presidential candidates sitting in two packed hearing rooms would be occupying the Oval Office next year…
<><>WAR/TERROR<><><><><>><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Democrats Decry Cost of Staying In Iraq, Republicans Cost of Exiting
By Yochi J. Dreazen
Wall Street Journal
April 10, 2008
WASHINGTON -- Two days of congressional hearings left a lot of uncertainty about the way forward in Iraq, but the sessions showed how Democrats and Republicans will likely seek to frame the war in the months ahead. Republicans used the four hearings with Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador, to accuse Democrats of choosing to lose in Iraq by pushing for a far-reaching military withdrawal just as the situation shows clear signs of improving…
Bush to Cut Army Tours to 12 Months
President Supports Suspending Pullout Of Forces in Iraq
By Peter Baker and Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post
April 10, 2008
President Bush plans to announce today that he will cut Army combat tours in Iraq from 15 months to 12 months, returning rotations to where they were before last year's troop buildup in an effort to alleviate the tremendous stress on the military, administration officials said. The move is in response to intense pressure from service commanders who have expressed anxiety about the toll of long deployments on their soldiers and, more broadly, about the U.S. military's ability to confront unanticipated threats. Bush will announce the decision during a national speech in which aides said he will also embrace Army Gen. David H. Petraeus's plan to indefinitely suspend a drawdown of forces…
Next President Will Discover If U.S. Footprint Stabilizes Iraq
By Michael Abramowitz and Karen DeYoung
Washington Post
April 10, 2008;
In deciding to leave behind a large presence of U.S. forces in Iraq at the end of his term, President Bush has made clear that he believes he will be doing the next president a favor, with more troops boosting the chances that his successor will inherit a more stable country. But many leading Democrats -- and even some Republicans -- worry that the president is squandering a unique opportunity to pressure the Iraqi leaders toward critical political compromises. Democrats, in particular, believe that Bush's decision to embrace Gen. David H. Petraeus's recommendation to postpone further troop withdrawals this summer could backfire, leaving the next commander in chief with an overstretched military and a more intractable political situation inside Iraq…
<><>CONGRESS<><><><><>><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Democrats Press Fight With Bush on Range of Issues
New Trade Deals, Funding for Iraq To Face Roadblocks
By Greg Hitt and John D. Mckinnon
Wall Street Journal
April 10, 2008
WASHINGTON -- Congressional Democrats served notice they will seek to frustrate President Bush's agenda on a broad array of issues, including Iraq funding and free trade, as part of a strategy to wrest concessions from a weakened administration. Most immediately at risk is the Colombia trade deal, though pacts with Panama and South Korea may be threatened down the road. In a meeting with Mr. Bush Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other senior Democrats signaled that they will also confront the president on other issues…
Fight Looms Over Bush's Mortgage-Insurance Plan
By Damian Paletta
Wall Street Journal
April 10, 2008
WASHINGTON -- Congressional Democrats blasted a Bush administration initiative to extend government mortgage insurance to 100,000 homeowners and said they planned to push ahead with a much broader program of their own. "They want to do it in a half-a- way and we think it's better to do it legislatively," said House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D., Mass.)…
Colombia trade pact may fall prey to November elections
Bush sends the free-trade agreement to Congress, but stiff opposition could derail it.
By Howard LaFranchi
Christian Science Monitor
April 10, 2008
Washington - If President Bush was looking for an opportunity to stir up a hornet's nest, he found it when he submitted the Colombia Free Trade Agreement to Congress this week. By sending Congress the free-trade agreement (FTA) that he negotiated with Colombia in 2006, Mr. Bush forces a vote on the controversial accord sometime over the next few months – just as members of Congress enter an election season with an electorate that is increasingly skeptical of free-trade policies and is also dealing with mounting job losses…
<><>OTHER NEWS<><><><><>><><><><><><><><><><><><>
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