The Obama-Clinton feud?
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/2008/images/01/23/art.feud.gi.jpg caption=" Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and Senator Barack Obama exchange words during the Democratic Presidential Primary Debate at the Palace Theater in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina."]
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
It's getting nasty between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and Bill Clinton seems to be enjoying it.
The former president had this to say: "I kind of like seeing Barack and Hillary fight. They're flesh-and-blood people and they have their differences – let' em at it."
But not everyone thinks it's becoming. Several top Democrats are concerned that the gutter politics will end up harming the party's image ahead of the general election.
Senator John Kerry, an Obama backer, wrote in an e-mail to supporters saying: "The truth matters, but how you fight the lies matters even more." Kerry doesn't mention Clinton by name, but says they're fighting back against anonymous e-mails questioning Obama's Christian faith.
Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, another Obama backer, says attacks coming from the Clintons are similar to what he's seen from Republicans and called comments about Obama from former President Clinton "distortions”. Daschle says such bickering ultimately destroys the party and that it will have a "huge lasting effect down the road... if it doesn't stop soon."
On the other hand, Democratic strategist Donna Brazile thinks this "generational fight" will make the party stronger in the end.
Meanwhile, an editorial in today's Wall Street Journal suggests that Obama "seems to be awakening slowly to what everyone else already knows about the Clintons, which is that they will say and do whatever they 'gotta' say or do to win." unquote.
Here’s my question to you: Is the Obama-Clinton feud helpful or hurtful to the democratic process?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
U.S. ready for woman or black president?
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and Senator Barack Obama exchange words during the Democratic Presidential Primary Debate at the Palace Theater in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
President Bush is desperate for a legacy. Oh, he'll be remembered, but for all the wrong reasons: an economy headed into recession, trillions of dollars of additional debt for somebody else to worry about, the illegal invasion of Iraq, Katrina, the destruction of our reputation worldwide, the failure to capture or kill Osama bin Laden, and countless investigations into the shadiest, if not the most outright corrupt, administration in memory.
But all is not lost. Perhaps President Bush will be remembered as the last white male to be allowed to serve as president for a good long while.
Think about it. The Republican presidential field is wide open, and whoever gets the nomination will have to run against the stuff mentioned above. No easy task. 70% of Americans think the country is headed in the wrong direction.
That leaves the Democrats. They're down to three candidates, and it doesn't look like John Edwards will be around much longer. So unless things change, it looks increasingly like the country will be called upon to elect either an African-American or a woman…something we've never done before.
And despite the tide running against another Republican occupying the White House, there are real questions about whether either can win. In the privacy of the voting booth, will the country make history?
Here’s my question to you: Is the U.S. more ready for a woman president or a black president?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Pork spending, will it ever end?
Capitol Hill at night. (PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
It just ain't Washington without the pork.
The New York Times reports that President Bush is unlikely to defy Congress on spending billions of dollars earmarked for pet projects. However, administration officials say he will probably insist that in the future, lawmakers give more justification for such spending.
A group of fiscal conservatives in Congress, along with budget watchdog groups, have been trying to get the president to clamp down on earmarks. They want him to issue an executive order that would instruct agencies to disregard earmarks not listed in the text of the legislation. Get this: more than 90% of earmarks are not actually included in the bills, but in committee reports.
Mr. Bush said in last year's State of the Union address: "The time has come to end this practice." Guess that time hasn't come quite yet.
Despite those calling for tougher rules when it comes to earmarks, there are more lawmakers who are trying to score such pet projects and brag about bringing home the bacon to their constituents.
The White House Office of Management and Budget shows that the 2008 spending bills signed by the president include more than 11,700 earmarks, totaling almost $17 billion.
Some of the pet projects this year include: museums, bicycle trails, control of agricultural pests, and aid to military contractors who are making things like "merino wool boot socks." The military contractors in this country definitely are a hardship case. Poor things.
Here’s my question to you: What will it take to get rid of pork spending by Congress?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Economy woes?
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/2008/images/01/22/art.wallst.ap.jpg caption=" U.S. flags adorn the facade of the New York Stock Exchange early Tuesday morning, Jan. 22, 2008. U.S. stock futures seesawed Tuesday after the Federal Reserve, responding to a growing financial market crisis, slashed interest rates 0.75 percentage point.."]
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
A messy day on Wall Street today... although things could have been much worse.
The Dow, which was down more than 460 points in early trading, recovered to close about 128 points down.
That's because the Federal Reserve made an emergency three-quarter point cut in interest rates. The Fed said it made the move because of signs that a downturn in the housing market was getting worse, unemployment had started to rise and the overall economy was weakening. That would include things like the credit crunch, our rising debt and the continuing fall of the dollar.
But it's clear what's happening to our economy is reaching far beyond our borders. World markets plunged yesterday on fears that the U.S. may be in a recession. The global sell-off, which continued today, includes some of the worst market drops since 9/11, and represents a loss of more than $5 trillion in value from stock markets this year.
As investors at home and abroad panic, the U.S. is scrambling to come up with a solution. Suddenly Washington has noticed the economy is headed straight south. But whatever they come up with, it's likely to be too little too late. The signs of trouble - housing crisis, credit crunch, falling dollar, etc. - have been around for months.
But it must be serious. The two parties in Washington are actually talking about cooperating to try to find a solution. Nothing like the threat of a depression to remind them who they work for.
Here’s my question to you: How concerned are you about the U.S. economy?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
McCain too old to be president?
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/2008/images/01/21/art.norris.ap.jpg caption="Republican Presidential hopeful, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee with actor Chuck Norris on Norris's Lone Wolf Ranch in Texas."]
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Chuck Norris thinks John McCain is too old to be president.
Campaigning for Mike Huckabee, Norris suggested the 71-year-old McCain might not even make it through a single term.
Norris said: "I didn't pick John to support because I'm just afraid that the vice president would wind up taking over his job in that four-year Presidency"
Get over yourself. You break boards in the movies for a living.
Norris thinks Huckabee, who is 52, is the logical choice.
The former Arkansas governor seemed to distance himself from Norris' comments, saying "Only John McCain and his hairdresser know for sure"... adding "I'm not going to say he's too old."
McCain quipped, "I'm afraid I may have to send my 95-year-old mother over and wash Chuck Norris' mouth out with soap."
If McCain wins, at 72, he would be the oldest person ever inaugurated as president for a first term. Although he has joked about being "older than dirt and having more scars than Frankenstein", McCain also emphasizes things like hiking the Grand Canyon with his son.
His doctors say the Arizona senator is in good health, although his medical history includes multiple bouts with skin cancer along with injuries from when he was a POW in Vietnam. Friends and staff say they have a hard time keeping up with him, and the candidate himself says he's never felt better.
Here’s my question to you: Do you agree with Chuck Norris that John McCain is too old to be president?
To see the Cafferty File Video click here
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
If Edwards drops out, who benefits?
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/2008/images/01/21/art.edwards.ap.jpg caption=" Democratic presidential hopeful former Sen. John Edwards, waves to the crowd before a Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas."]
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
By his own admission, John Edwards says he got his "butt kicked" in the Nevada caucuses, where he received only 4% of the vote.
Nonetheless, Edwards insists he's in the race "for the long-term" and will continue to fight for the things he cares about. In fact, he's now saying that he's the only Democrat who can successfully take on Republican John McCain.
But, now the former North Carolina senator heads into the South Carolina primary, where polls show him trailing far behind Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. The New York Times reports that even Edwards' closest advisers acknowledge he no longer expects to come in higher than third place. Edwards was born in South Carolina… this could be embarrassing.
But whether Edwards stays in the race, or gets out of it, he could affect the outcome. Some experts suggest that by staying in, Edwards might influence the result at the convention. They say even without taking first place in primary states, he could still wind up with "hundreds of delegates". And if the race is a tight one, those delegates could play a big role.
Other strategists say Edwards has another good reason to stay in it, at least in South Carolina, where he could end up sharing the white vote with Clinton - thus helping Obama win.
Here’s my question to you: Who would benefit most if John Edwards dropped out of the race, Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Giuliani's risky strategy?
Republican presidential hopeful, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani at a rally in Celebration, Florida. (PHOTO CREDIT: AP)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Florida could hold the keys to Rudy Giuliani's political future.
The former New York mayor has staked practically his entire campaign on winning in Florida. His strategy all along has been to skip the early races, so far there have been six of them, and focus on later, delegate-rich states like Florida.
But it may not be working. Not only has Giuliani failed to win anything up to this point, but the one-time national front-runner has finished far back in the Republican pack in the contests so far – placing behind Ron Paul in Iowa, Michigan, Nevada and South Carolina.
Giuliani calls Florida "our home field" and he says he thinks if he wins Florida, he'll get the nomination. But he admits that "a loss, and a bad loss, could be crippling."
In some ways, Giuliani's been lucky. So far there is no clear front-runner in the Republican race, with three candidates - Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, and John McCain - splitting the victories.
Polls in Florida suggest that Giuliani has not only lost the commanding lead he once had…but, in fact, is now tied with or trailing Romney and McCain. Florida is winner take all. And, in addition to picking up the state's 57 delegates to the convention, the winner rolls toward Super Tuesday when more than 20 states vote with a big head of steam.
And there is more of what might be troubling news for Giuliani: Two new polls out in his home state of New York suggest he's now in second place, trailing John McCain. Giuliani had been leading in New York polls as recently as last month.
Here’s my question to you: Was it a mistake for Rudy Giuliani to ignore the early races?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Candidates blaming the media?
You know things are really getting ugly out there on the campaign trail when the candidates start going after the media. And that's exactly what's happening now.
First, there was that heated exchange between Bill Clinton and a local TV reporter in California. The former president got visibly annoyed when the reporter asked him about the decision to allow caucuses in the Las Vegas casinos where a lot of Barack Obama's supporters work.
Enter Republican candidate Mitt Romney. When he was asked about the role of lobbyists in his campaign by an AP reporter yesterday, he became defensive. Said he doesn't have no stinkin' lobbyists running his campaign. What he does have is a high-level adviser who is also the chairman of a large communications firm. Oh.
And John Edwards is whining about the media, too. His campaign is launching a full-on assault on the media for what they claim is inadequate and unfair press coverage. His communications director says: "For the better part of a year the media has focused on two celebrity candidates." He wasn't finished whining. He said the media continue to focus on Obama and Clinton, despite the fact that Edwards beat Clinton in Iowa and that polls show competitive races in states like Nevada and South Carolina.
Complaining about the media comes as naturally to a politician as having his hand out.
Here’s my question to you: Is it the news media's job to keep all the candidates happy?
To see the Cafferty File video click here
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Gambling on Nevada’s caucuses?
Las Vegas Strip (PHOTO CREDIT: AP)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The show will go on, and so will the caucuses, in some Las Vegas casinos.
That's because a federal judge has refused to shut down nine casino-based locations for tomorrow's Nevada caucuses.
The decision is seen as a boost for Barack Obama, since he's been endorsed by the union that represents many of the shift workers who will use those casino locations to caucus.
The lawsuit had been brought by a state teachers' union that's endorsed Hillary Clinton, and the fallout over this case led to a dispute between the two campaigns.
The Clinton people deny playing any formal role in the lawsuit, but they are critical of the casino caucuses. They say the system "seems to benefit other campaigns" and is "unfair".
For his part, Obama welcomed the judge's decision, saying anything else would have meant disenfranchisement for many who work on the Vegas strip - people like maids, dishwashers and bellhops - all members of the culinary workers union that endorsed him.
The rules for holding the caucuses were set by Nevada state Democratic Party leaders.
Here’s my question to you: Do you see anything wrong with Nevada holding caucuses in casinos?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Winning the black vote?
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/2008/images/01/18/art.southcarolina.gi.jpg caption=" Barack Obama greets supporters at a political rally in Charleston, South Carolina."]
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/2008/images/01/18/art.clinton.baptist.ap.jpg caption=" Hillary Clinton, speaks at the Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Compton, California.."]
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton continue to fight it out for support from African-American voters.
And there's a very good reason why: They are expected to make up as much as 50% of voters in the South Carolina Democratic primary January 26th, and in four other Southern states that vote on February 5th: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia and Tennessee.
Here's the problem: Bill Clinton and by extension his wife, Hillary, have a long, close relationship with the African -American community. Bill Clinton was nicknamed "America's first black president”. But for the first time in our history, an African-American has a real chance to become president of the United States.
In some cases, the decision is splitting families and longtime allies in the civil rights movement. There seems to be a generational divide as well, with younger blacks moving toward Obama. It's even splitting members of the Congressional Black Caucus, with more than a third of them supporting Clinton or John Edwards.
Polls suggest that Obama has been increasing his support in the black community and now leads Clinton among this group. In fact, Obama has now surged ahead of Hillary Clinton when it comes to support from Africa -American Democrats. But we're a long way from Super Tuesday and any kind of a finish line.
And, if there is on thing history suggests it's when it comes to politics, don't ever count out the Clintons.
Here’s my question to you: What will ultimately decide whether Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton gets the most African-American votes?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
@jackcafferty on Twitter
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