Political Radar: Hunter, Duncan

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Palin: Global Warming Not Man-Made

August 29, 2008 8:21 PM

ABC News’ Rick Klein Reports: Among the issues Sen. John McCain will have to smooth over with his new running mate: global warming.

In an interview for the September issue of the conservative magazine Newsmax, Gov. Sarah Palin, R-Alaska, said she does not believe climate change is caused by human behavior.

“A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. I'm not one though who would attribute it to being man-made,” Palin said in the interview, which was posted online Friday.

McCain, R-Ariz., by contrast, has broken with his party’s dogma by supporting a mandatory program to cap carbon emissions -- a point of pride for McCain as he burnishes his independent reputation.

Palin’s quote about global warming not being manmade is also at odds with the freshly approved GOP platform for 2008. That language -- adopted by the party this week -- marks the first time the Republican Party’s policy document addresses climate change.

"The same human activity that has brought freedom and opportunity to billions has also increased the amount of carbon in the atmosphere," the document reads. "Increased atmospheric carbon has a warming effect on the earth."

A McCain campaign spokeswoman, Maria Comella, disputed suggestions that Palin does not recognize the reality of global warming. As governor, she created a new “sub-cabinet” agency last September, to advise her office “on the preparation and implementation of an Alaska climate change strategy.”

She has also endorsed efforts to learn more about human impacts on climate change.

“Governor Palin not only stands with John McCain in his belief that global warming is a critical issue that must be addressed, but she has been a leader in addressing climate change,” Comella said.

Palin and McCain disagree on another key environmental issue: drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, in Palin’s home state of Alaska. Palin is for it, while McCain wants to keep the refuge off-limits.

"It's nonsense not to tap a safe domestic source of oil. I think Americans need to hold Congress accountable on this one," Palin told Newsmax about drilling in ANWR.

August 29, 2008 in Hunter, Duncan, McCain, John, Palin, Sarah, Veepstakes, Vote 2008: Republicans | Permalink | User Comments (377)

How Palin Came to the Top of the List

August 29, 2008 3:08 PM

ABC's Jan Crawford Greenburg reports: It wasn't until Sunday night that John McCain, after meeting with his four top advisers, finally decided he could not tap independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut to be his running mate. One adviser, tasked with taking the temperature of the conservative base, had strongly made the case to McCain that it would be a disaster for the party and that the base would revolt. McCain concluded he could not go that route.

The next day, McCain studied the three men at the top of his shortlist: Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge. All had different strengths and negatives, but McCain was not satisfied. None of them had what McCain believed he needed to do -- and would have done -- with Lieberman.

McCain wanted to shake up the ticket.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's name was in the mix as an unconventional choice for months, but she had not been considered a front-runner. So, over the next few days, with McCain continuing to believe he needed someone who had more of a maverick streak than his other choices, lawyers reviewed her vetting information. They kept their activities from even some in McCain's most senior inner circle.

Pawlenty had been the youthful pick advisers believed would represent a fresh direction -- and one they could use to argue the Republican VP pick was more experienced than the Democratic presidential nominee. But Pawlenty's flaw -- what cost him the VP -- was that he would not have stirred things up. He was safe, and McCain was not inclined to take the safe route.

The campaign secretly flew Palin into Dayton last night. She and McCain met privately for a couple of hours. McCain concluded she would "shake up the system" and was "a maverick," qualities he believed Lieberman would have brought to the ticket. But she also would appeal to conservatives -- which Lieberman most certainly would not have done.

After their meeting, McCain concluded he was comfortable with his choice. He notified Pawlenty this morning that he was going in a different direction.

August 29, 2008 in Hunter, Duncan | Permalink | User Comments (268)

The Note: VP Guessing Game Keeps GOP in Headlines

August 29, 2008 10:11 AM

ABC News' Rick Klein reports in Friday's Note:

DENVER --

Now that we know Sen. Barack Obama is going to fight for this thing, we’re about to see why he’ll need to.

No rest for the weary leaving Denver for St. Paul: It was Obama’s night on Thursday, but as the confetti wafts down the mountain, Friday is Sen. John McCain’s day -- since he’ll have someone to share it with, at last.

The birthday boy puts his veep out at a noontime ET joint rally in Dayton, Ohio -- and away we go all over again (if the GOP can buy any luck with the weather).

And the process-of-elimination/obfuscation game resumes in full force: Gov. Tim Pawlenty, R-Minn., called it a “fair assumption” that he wasn’t it, since he isn’t going to Dayton on Friday: “It was an honor to be considered,” he told a local radio station.

He got the formal call from McCain Friday morning -- told he was not going to be the selection, per ABC’s Jan Crawford Greenburg.

Read the rest of The Note -- and get all the latest on the 2008 election, Congress, the White House and the wide world of politics every day -- from Rick Klein by bookmarking this link.

Fox News’ Carl Cameron reports that former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass., is in Boston, Friday and won’t be in Dayton -- and isn’t the pick. ABC’s George Stephanopoulos confirms that Romney is not in Ohio on Friday -- and a source tells Jan Crawford Greenburg that Romney hasn’t been chosen.

No Huckster, either: “There are reports that I’m on my way to Dayton tonight. Not true,” former Gov. Mike Huckabee, R-Ark., wrote late Thursday in a message to supporters. “Wasn’t invited to be there, and any reports that I’m going to be there are a big surprise to me. I have never been contacted by the McCain campaign at any point about the VP slot.”

And a plane from Alaska had the overnight/early morning buzz on Gov. Sarah Palin, R-Alaska; Karl Rove tells Fox News that it “smells like” it’s her.

But ABC’s Kate McCarthy reports that, per Palin spokeswoman Sharon Leighow, Palin is at home in Wasilla, Alaska, on Friday, with plans to attend the Alaska State Fair -- and won’t be in Dayton, either.

Continue reading today's Note by clicking HERE.

ABC News' Hope Ditto contributed to this report.

August 29, 2008 in Biden, Joe, Bush, George W., Giuliani, Rudy, Hunter, Duncan, Kucinich, Dennis, Palin, Sarah, Romney, Mitt, Tancredo, Tom, Thompson, Fred | Permalink | User Comments (161)

Minnesota's Pawlenty Gets Call: He's Not McCain's VP Pick

August 29, 2008 9:19 AM

ABC News' Jan Crawford Greenburg reports: Scratch another one from the McCain veepstakes list. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has received a call from Sen. John McCain and has been told he's not going to join the Republican contender on the GOP ticket.

McCain, R-Ariz., is in Dayton, Ohio, awaiting a high noon event at which the campaign has said the Republican contender will announce his running mate.

With Gov. Sarah Palin in Alaska, speculation is narrowing to an even smaller list: former Govs. Mitt Romney and Tom Ridge, and Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn, the only presumed contender who is actually in the Buckeye State at this hour.

But could the wily McCain be planning a surprise for his 72nd birthday? It's anyone's guess (and, despite Barack Obama's historic nomination acceptance speech last night, EVERYONE is guessing).

Stay tuned...

August 29, 2008 in Hunter, Duncan, Thompson, Fred | Permalink | User Comments (90)

McCain VP Contender Palin in Alaska, Not Ohio

August 29, 2008 8:54 AM

ABC News' Kate McCarthy reports: As vice presidential speculation swirls, Gov. Sarah Palin is watching the fireworks from her home in Wasilla, Alaska.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is in Dayton, Ohio, awaiting a high noon event at which the campaign has said the Republican contender will announce his running mate.

All eyes are on a short list of contenders including Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, former Govs. Mitt Romney and Tom Ridge, Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and Palin.

But the possibility of a surprise pick also looms as the McCain camp remains mum at this hour about just who will be joining their candidate on stage in battleground Ohio.

But one person who will not be there: Palin. The governor's spokesperson, Sharon Leighow, tells ABC News she's going to the State Fair in Anchorage, Alaska.

Stay tuned...

August 29, 2008 in Hunter, Duncan, Thompson, Fred | Permalink | User Comments (450)

Obama Camp on Pawlenty: Bring It On

August 28, 2008 5:39 PM

ABC News' Teddy Davis reports: The Obama campaign signaled a willingness on Thursday to go after Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, R-Minn., for the 2007 Minneapolis bridge collapse, while saying that the populist argument it is building against Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., will continue, even if the presumptive Republican presidential nominee taps the son of a truck driver as his running mate.

"I don't think it's particularly relevant who the running mate is if the running mate is willing to embrace, in total, the Bush-McCain economic doctrine," Obama strategist David Axelrod told ABC News.

"Every day, Americans understand that those policies aren't working for them," he continued. "And if you have one more person out there saying we've made 'great progress' on our economy and that we ought to continue doing what we're doing, I'd be eager to have him travel far and wide. I think it's a losing message."

"Whoever he picks, it doesn't change the fact that it's John McCain's agenda on the ballot," added David Plouffe. The Obama campaign manager joined Axelrod at a breakfast with reporters in Denver, which was held on the same day that Obama is set to deliver a speech accepting the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.

Some GOP strategists have speculated in private about whether Pawlenty's odds of becoming McCain's running mate improved vis-a-vis Mitt Romney, in the wake of the Arizona senator's seeming inability to tell Politico how many houses he owns.

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor who ran against McCain for the Republican presidential nod, is a multimillionaire with four houses to his name.

Trying to undermine Romney in advance of a possible vice presidential announcement, the Obama campaign has been steadily painting him as an "expert" on "Cayman Island tax shelters."

"You couldn't have a more out of touch ticket," Plouffe recently told The Atlantic magazine.

Pawlenty, by contrast, owns only one house.

He recently told ABC's Jan Crawford Greenburg that he owns a $335,000 suburban home outside Minneapolis, and was quick to note that he still pays the mortgage and cuts his own grass.

Obama adviser Robert Gibbs acknowledged that a Pawlenty pick would leave the Democrats with less populist ammunition than a Romney selection. Gibbs was quick to add, however, that there is a "treasure trove" of other issues that can be used against Pawlenty, including the 2007 Minneapolis bridge collapse which killed 13.

"Each of these guys have their own thing," Gibbs told ABC News. "It would be nice to talk about Romney's stuff. But just because McCain picks a guy with only one house doesn't mean that we're going to stop talking about McCain's seven houses."

August 28, 2008 in Hunter, Duncan, Kucinich, Dennis, Romney, Mitt, Tancredo, Tom, Thompson, Fred | Permalink | User Comments (175)

The Note: Obama Poised to Claim Democratic Party

August 28, 2008 10:19 AM

ABC News' Rick Klein reports in Thursday's Note:

DENVER --

Even if it’s disappointed those who were looking for chaos rather than comity, they’ve had their roles: The defeated rival, coming to terms with a real kind of inevitability; the former leader, bestowing his blessings at long, long last; an evening capped by the grizzled veteran, basking in his moment -- and lighting the path for the chosen one.

In case Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., needed to see how it was done on Thursday, a couple of old pros made it work for him Wednesday. By the time Obama heard the roar of the crowd for himself, a convention that looked dangerously close to veering off track was tantalizingly close to fulfilling its goals.

Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., made the case for Obama -- and against Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. -- more eloquently, coherently, and tactically than maybe even that guy at the top of the ticket.

Former President Bill Clinton completed the sentiments his wife started (but didn’t finish) articulating the night before -- and for a night, and perhaps now for a campaign, we witnessed grace and generosity.

And the masterstroke: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D- N.Y., made the final, minutely choreographed gesture herself. “Clinton did the honors for the man who had denied her dream of becoming the first woman ever nominated to lead a major party,” Dan Balz and Anne Kornblut write in The Washington Post.

(Suddenly, with McCain poised to pick a running mate, does it seem that the drama is drifting in the general vicinity of St. Paul?)

At last, a message: “This week's events served as a national debut, of sorts, for the Obama campaign attack machine, even if that machinery is operated mostly by supporters and aides, rather than the candidate himself,” Peter Wallsten and Doyle McManus write in the Los Angeles Times. “It was clear that the campaign has settled on its favorite theme: portraying McCain as out of touch economically and an identical twin to President Bush.”

Now, Obama just has to give at least the second-best speech of his life Thursday night at Invesco Field at Mile High -- while not letting the setting become the story. (He’s presumptive no more, but that doesn’t take care of presumptuous.)

“His campaign has gambled on the historic moment by creating a stage that will magnify his performance,” Eli Saslow writes in The Washington Post.

“Succeed here, in front of the largest Democratic National Convention crowd in nearly 50 years, and Obama's speech will be remembered as one of the most powerful moments in modern politics, a perfect launch into the final stage of the general election,” he writes. “Fail, and Obama risks fueling Republicans' criticism that he is an aloof celebrity, fond of speaking to big crowds, but incapable of forming genuine connections.”

Continue reading today's Note by clicking HERE.

ABC News' Hope Ditto contributed to this report.

August 28, 2008 in Biden, Joe, Bush, George W., Hunter, Duncan, Kucinich, Dennis, Palin, Sarah, Romney, Mitt, Tancredo, Tom, Thompson, Fred, Veepstakes | Permalink | User Comments (62)

The Note: DNC Takes Sharper Tone as Hillary’s a Hit

August 27, 2008 10:37 AM

ABC News' Rick Klein reports in Wednesday's Note:

DENVER --

One Clinton down, one to go. (And yes, the party’s getting there, even if that other Clinton is heeding his wife’s words and going a bit early.)

To the extent that a single speech can suck the drama out of a convention that was stuffed with it -- and a party that’s grown sick of it -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton did her part Tuesday night.

With two political futures at stake, she gave the party something to be excited about -- and to ensure that if her backers don’t come around to Sen. Barack Obama, it won’t be her fault. (If she didn’t heap on the praise, at least she was genuine.)

The Denver Post goes with capital letters: “THE TEAM PLAYER.”

If you looked carefully enough, you saw a message coming together at the Pepsi Center -- a procession of speakers competing for sound-bite-of-the-night (and how about Gov. Brian Schweitzer, D-Mont.?) in bashing Sen. John McCain -- then Hillary tying it in a neat bow for the Democratic Party to marvel at.

Now, it’s Bill Clinton’s chance to make sure it doesn’t unravel. (And it falls to Obamaland to reconsider/redesign/spin the setting for Thursday night. A Greek temple? Were they out of Roman thrones?)

As for Wednesday’s marquee speech (with apologies to Joe Biden, who has a pretty big night on tap himself):

“Take away the context of this campaign year, and they could be pals, perhaps even big and little brothers of the Democratic family -- the so-called first black president mentors a prospective real black president. But context is everything in politics, and because of that, their relationship is anything but close,” David Maraniss writes in a Washington Post must-read-and-digest.

“He intends to do what is expected of him, according to many friends and associates, and try to convince the public that Obama has the toughness and wisdom to be commander in chief,” Maraniss continues.

“But though the speech might be as important to Clinton as it is to Obama, those close to him say he will deliver it with lingering feelings of estrangement that have surprisingly little to do with the fact that Obama defeated his wife in the primaries. ... Clinton associates, long familiar with his habits and rhythms, say it would take little more than phone calls on a somewhat regular basis to keep him satisfied.”

(Mr. President, we ask again: Is he ready?)

“We’re not nervous at all,” Obama advisor Anita Dunn said in the campaign’s morning convention conference call, per ABC’s Sunlen Miller.

Continue reading today's Note by clicking HERE.

ABC News' Hope Ditto contributed to this report.

August 27, 2008 in Biden, Joe, Bush, George W., Dodd, Chris, Hunter, Duncan, Kucinich, Dennis, Palin, Sarah, Romney, Mitt, Tancredo, Tom, Thompson, Fred | Permalink | User Comments (76)

Obama Camp on Bill Clinton's Big Speech: What, Me Worry?

August 27, 2008 10:17 AM

ABC News' Sunlen Miller reports: One Clinton down, one to go. Barack Obama's campaign insists they're not concerned about former President Bill Clinton's Wednesday address to the Democratic National Convention.

"We're not nervous at all," Obama advisor Anita Dunn said on a conference call Wednesday morning. "We're excited about President Clinton's speech because we think it's going to be a really electric moment in the convention hall when he gets up to speak."

If the Obama camp can properly channel that electricity, as they and the Clinton forces seemed to do on Tuesday, the former president's speech could be a classic convention moment; if not, it could quickly turn into another sign of disunity in the fragile peace between the still-presumptive Democratic nominee and his defeated foe and her supporters.

Dunn says there is no concern on their part that the former president will get a negative greeting by some Obama supporters still healing their wounds from the primary campaign.

"We believe he will be warmly received and enthusiastically revived by the entire convention," Dunn said.

Clinton remains in an elite club -- he's one of only two living Democratic presidents and the only member of the party to win the White House twice since President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton did not give much of a preview of Clinton's speech but said, "(Clinton) knows the challenges and choices that face our chief executive. He'll talk about why Barack Obama is the right person to lead America right now, and why Sen. McCain's promises are more of the same and the wrong choice for America."

The week prior to the convention in Denver, Obama and Clinton had a phone conversation about his speech.

"I said, 'Mr. President, you can say whatever you'd like,'" Obama told reporters, recalling the phone conversation.

August 27, 2008 in Biden, Joe, Bush, George W., Hunter, Duncan, Kucinich, Dennis, Tancredo, Tom | Permalink | User Comments (84)

McCain Aide Mocks Obama's Columned Stage

August 26, 2008 11:10 PM

ABC News' David Chalian and Teddy Davis report:

When Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., moves the Democratic National Convention from the Pepsi Center to Invesco Field in Denver on Thursday, the freshman senator is planning to speak from a columned stage resembling an ancient Greek temple.

"Is this from the Onion?" quipped a McCain adviser.

The reference to the satirical newspaper came after Reuters reported that Obama is planning an elaborate rock concert setup complete with post-speech fireworks.

The national anthem will even have a touch of celebrity: Jennifer Hudson, the Oscar-winning actress and former "American Idol" castoff, will perform the honors at the onset of the evening.

Starting with a July ad which included footage of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, the McCain campaign has been airing a series of television ads which paint Obama as a celebrity lacking in substance.

The celebrity-like trappings of Obama's Thursday's speech may have given the Republicans new ammo.

August 26, 2008 in Hunter, Duncan, Kucinich, Dennis, Tancredo, Tom, Thompson, Fred | Permalink | User Comments (704)