House Dems: Temporary Two-Month Iraq Spending Bill Likely
The Hill reports that Congressmen John Murtha (D-PA) and Jim Moran (D-VA) said a likely scenario for Iraq funding would involve a temporary, two-month funding bill to ensure that troops are funded after President Bush vetoes the current bill — which includes a timetable for withdrawal — and still ensure that the troops' needs are funded. "Six months is probably too long," Moran said. "One month — it takes longer than that to pass the thing."

Giuliani, Romney A Hit With South Carolina GOP — McCain Bashed For His Absence
The Associated Press reports that Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani received the warmest welcomes from conservative activists at the Greenville County Republican convention this morning, also attended by most of the other candidates. Meanwhile, John McCain's absence from the GOP grassroots event was not unnoticed. "I was appalled that McCain thumbed his nose at Greenville," said one attendee.

Biden Skeptical That Stronger Gun Laws Could Have Prevented Virginia Tech Massacre
Radio Iowa reports that Joe Biden is taking a novel position among Democratic candidates in the wake of the Virginia Tech massacre, expressing support for certian gun laws but opposing registration and expressing skepticism about the efficacy of the now-expired assault weapons ban: "But the truth of the matter is I can't make the assertion, nor can we in congress, that had that law been in place this wouldn't have happened."

Hillary Visits Rutgers — Excoriates Don Imus
The Associated Press reports that Hillary Clinton used her speech on leadership yesterday at Rutgers to speak out on the recent controversy involving Don Imus' insults against the Rutgers women's basketball team. "Will you be willing to speak up and say, 'Enough is enough,' when women or minorities or the powerless are marginalized or degraded?" Clinton said. "Will you say there's no place — if there ever was, there certainly isn't now — for disrespect or bigotry to be seen as funny?"

Romney: Gonazales Should Go — Maybe
The Associated Press reports that Mitt Romney said Alberto Gonzales should be removed from his position as Attorney General — but only if it can be shown he removed prosecutors in order to interfere with ongoing investigation, which Romney says has not been fully proven yet. "I wouldn't convict until I heard the witnesses and the evidence, and that's something which is an ongoing process," Romney said.

Democrats Looking To Earl Blumenauer For Senate In Oregon
The Oregonian reports that Democrats will now be attempting to recruit six-term Congressman Earl Blumenauer to run against GOP Senator Gordon Smith, now that Congressman Peter DeFazio has turned down efforts from Democratic activists to recruit him into the race. Blumenauer's campaign manager said the Congressman has not yet given the Senate race much thought. "In our opinion, there's plenty of time for him to make the decision," he said. Democratic activist Steve Novick has already announced his candidacy, but is not currently viewed as a strong candidate.

As we've griped far too many times, your pundits and commentators simply refuse to acknowledge their own role in shaping public perceptions of politicians. Case in point: Maureen Dowd, who devotes an entire column today to John Edwards' hair.

Noting that Edwards' $400 haircut is yet another sign of the alleged tendency of Dem male candidates to act like wussies (a storyline she's done as much as anyone else to create), Dowd writes:

John Kerry sank himself by windsurfing in spandex and ordering a cheese steak in Philly with Swiss instead of Cheez Whiz.

"Sank himself"? But, Maureen, you and your frivolous colleagues did at least as much as Kerry himself to sink him with the windsurfing non-story. Nexis says that Dowd pushed the windsurfing nonsense in three columns in 2004. Sure, candidates are responsible for their own campaign conduct, but the windsurfing and cheese steak "mistakes" shouldn't have gotten the attention that they did in a campaign to determine who gets to be, you know, the most powerful person in the world.

Now this is happening again. Dowd's column today has the obligatory mention of Edwards' expensive house and the old zinger that Pretty Boy Edwards is the "Breck girl." That coinage, incidentally, is now in our lexicon mainly because of...Dowd and The Times, both of whom quoted anonymous Bushies floating the slur in 2003.

Does Edwards bears some responsibility for the haircut gaffe? Yep, sure. But the point is, this Edwards column today is nothing but piling on -- it's a follow. It brings nothing whatsoever in the way of insight or new info to the dialogue. It isn't even funny. It's just more of the same old vacuous and inane crap. We watched this silly movie in 2004. No rerun, please. Can't we do better this time around? Please? Pretty please?

Update: Commenter Ben Franklin: "We also watched this silly movie in 2000!...You know as well as anyone else what these fops in elite media did during 2000!" Indeed. No question about it. Apologies for the glaring omission.

Hillary spoke today before Al Sharpton's National Action Network in Harlem, and during her speech she apparently adjusted her accent slightly. So reports The New York Times's political blog, The Caucus, in its rundown of the speech today, which offered an examination of her accent that was detailed enough to please a professor of linguistics:

At times today, Mrs. Clinton’s slight, flat Midwestern accent dissolved in a cadence-laden speaking style that is more associated with a Southern Baptist minister (or her husband) than with her. Sometimes it was the “g” at the end of a gerund that disappeared, like “runnin’” instead of running.

Does this mean that Hillary was pandering again, just as she did when she was trying to fool all those boobs in Selma, Alabama? Not according to Sharpton. Asked that question by The Times, he parried it rather deftly:

“No,” he said, “people kind of relate to audiences."

Why yes, they do, don't they. Yes, indeedy -- people speak differently to different people, and for some reason they try to make themselves appealing to their listeners, rather than off-putting to them. People are like that. Go figure.

check this out:

Here's a little Friday afternoon entertainment: A quiz to see if you can tell Senator Joe Lieberman's rhetoric on the Iraq War from that of the White House. Below are half a dozen statements on the war. Some are taken from a Lieberman statement (via Think Progress) rebutting Majority Leader Harry Reid's contention that we have lost in Iraq. Some are quotes from White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino in Reuters and Associated Press articles. Read after the jump to take the quiz.

Read more »

Here's another sign that suggests Al Gore may have decided to sit out the Presidential race: One of his longtime supporters has just given a campaign check to another Presidential candidate — apparently with the tacit approval of Gore himself.

The Boston Globe reports reports that Debby Butler, a key Gore backer from New Hampshire and a longtime activist in the state, has sent a check for $1,000 to Barack Obama. The kicker is that according to the Globe, Butler even got in touch with Gore's office and double-checked to see if he would be okay with her making donations to other candidates. The answer, obviously, was Yes.

Despite a DSCC-commissioned poll showing that Dem Rep. Peter DeFazio was running ahead of hyper-vulnerable GOP Senator Gordon Smith, DeFazio tells The Oregonian today that he won't make the race.

In another indication of Smith's vulnerability, the incumbent Senator was the only Republican in the Senate to vote for a Harry Reid-sponsored resolution on Iraq a few weeks back. But that and the DSCC poll weren't enough to persuade DeFazio to give up his slot on "a powerful House Transportation subcommittee responsible for doling out hundreds of billions of dollars of highway funding," the paper says.

"This was not an easy decision," DeFazio said. "You don't get a poll that shows you're ahead of an incumbent senator and generous offers of support from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and just blow it off. It was a long and serious deliberation on my part."

Yesterday came news that House Dem fundraisers had crushed their GOP counterparts in fundraising this quarter. The story now looks to be the same on the Senate side, too. From the DSCC's release out today:

DSCC 1st Quarter FEC Filing

Total Raised 1st Quarter: $13.7 million

Total Raised in March: $8.7 million

Cash on Hand: $9.5 million

The NRSC, by contrast, raised $7 million this quarter and has $3.5 million on hand. Being in the majority can be very lucrative.

Here's someone who shares Harry Reid's view that the Iraq war is "lost": Retired general Tony McPeak, who served on the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Gulf War.

Here's what McPeak had to say in the March 22 issue of Rolling Stone:

The war in Iraq isn't over yet, but -- surge or no surge -- the United States has already lost. That's the grim consensus of a panel of experts assembled by Rolling Stone to assess the future of Iraq. "Even if we had a million men to go in, it's too late now," says retired four-star Gen. Tony McPeak, who served on the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Gulf War. "Humpty Dumpty can't be put back together again."

McPeak also added: "It's not a question of whether we're going to leave Iraq -- it's a question of when." The whole Rolling Stone panel discussion is worth a read in light of Reid's remarks yesterday and the GOP's assault on them.

Side note to Michelle Malkin: Is Tony McPeak "treacherous"? (Of course, Malkin would probably say he's treacherous solely based on the fact that he opposed Bush's reelection in 2004.)

This is curious. Two press accounts this morning say that Nancy Pelosi has confided to colleagues that President Bush told her privately that didn't criticize her trip to Syria. As you all know, of course, the White House and its GOP allies blasted her for days on end over the trip.

Yet there's this in today's Washington Post:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told colleagues yesterday that she was incredulous after President Bush pulled her aside at the end of a meeting Wednesday and told her he did not criticize her recent trip to Syria.

...in a private meeting with Democratic lawmakers yesterday, Pelosi said Bush told her in an unsolicited comment that it was actually the State Department that criticized her.

And The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire adds this:

“I would rather not go into the details of the conversation,” the speaker said in an interview. But she confirmed that the president apparently drew a distinction between his criticizing her and rebukes delivered by his press office and others in the administration.

“He just said, ‘I didn’t criticize your trip to Syria,’” Pelosi said. “In the course of the conversation, he said, ‘I didn’t criticize your trip.’”

Asked if she was surprised, Pelosi laughed. “Surprised? I’m beyond surprise.”

In the Post version, the White House denies it ever happened; in the Journal one, the White House declines comment. As Kevin Drum notes, of course, the White House, Dick Cheney and even Bush himself did in fact hammer her over the trip. Stranger and stranger.

this: is bad:

House Approves D.C. Representation — Final Passage And Constitutionality Uncertain
The Washington Post reports that the House of Representatives voted yesterday to add full voting representation in the chamber for the District of Columbia, as well as creating a new, likely Republican seat for Utah. The measure still has a long way to go, however, as it must still make it through the Senate as well as face expected court challenges.

Richardson First Democrat On The Air In Iowa, New Hampshire
The Des Moines Register and The New Hampshire Union Leader report that Bill Richardson will be the first Democratic candidate running ads in the two early caucus and primary states, premiering 30-second and 60-second ad spots starting next week. The campaign did not divulge the full size of the ad buy.

Snowe Defects From GOP Line On Iraq Withdrawal
The Los Angeles Times reports that Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME), who previously voted against timetables to withdraw from Iraq, now says she would sponsor her own legislation that would require American commanders to plan a withdrawal unless the Iraqi government is able to meet a series of benchmarks. "The Iraq government needs to understand that our commitment is not infinite," said Snowe. Previously only two Republican Senators, Gordon Smith and Chuck Hagel, have voted for withdrawal timetables.

Law & Order Renewal Uncertain
CNN reports that renewal of Law & Order for another season is uncertain, with potential cost cuts or time slot changes in order to deal with its recently sinking ratings. If the show is canceled, that would put actor Fred Thompson out a job — and seemingly clinch a bid for the White House.

Nebraska Attorney General Considers GOP Primary Challenge Of Hagel
The Omaha World-Herald reports that Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning is considering a run against Senator Chuck Hagel in the Republican primary if Hagel seeks re-eletion. Bruning cited Hagel's actions and speeches against the Iraq War, including Hagel's vote for a timetable to exit Iraq and even his public allusions to impachment. "It's extremely counterproductive," Bruning said. "I'm very concerned about the morale of our troops and the potential comfort given to the enemy, who knows now that they can wait us out." Meanwhile, former Democratic Senator Bob Kerrey says he recently had some poll testing done for a comeback bid for the seat, but he is "99 percent certain I'm not going to do this."

Obama: Restrict The Mentally Ill From Buying Weapons
The Associated Press reports that Barack Obama has called for strengthened laws to prevent the mentally ill from buying guns. "If we know that he got mental health services, then there should be some way of preventing somebody like that from buying any kind of weapon," Obama said.

Hillary To Meet With Rutgers Basketball Players
The Associated Press reports that Hillary Clinton will be in New Jersery today, where she will speak at a Rutgers University forum on women and political leadership. Most notably, she will meet with the women's basketball team, who were at the center of the controversy involving Don Imus's firing for using racial slurs against them.

Edwards Reimburses Campaign For Haircuts
The Associated Press that John Edwards is reimbursing his campaign two haircuts that cost $400 each. The campaign says Edwards had always intended to pay for them himself, but the bills were sent to the campaign offices and accidentally paid by them.

Huckabee: Concealed Guns Could Have Helped At Virginia Tech
The Associated Press reports that Mike Huckabee said that concealed weapons might have minimized the damage done in the Virginia Tech shooting spree. "If somebody had been able to stop the shooter before he was able to kill that many people, there may not have been that many," Huckabee said.

"Please, I was talking to some of my old veterans friends. My response is, Lighten up and get a life."

That was quick. A day after John McCain was pilloried for singing about bombing Iran to the tune of a Beach Boys song, a new TV ad attacking him for the gaffe has already been cut and is ready to go up on the air.

The new ad -- which was paid for by MoveOn and will air next week in early GOP primary states -- shows video of McCain's song (McCain's Swan Song, perhaps?) and concludes: "We can't afford another reckless President."

We're trying to get a bit more info on the size of the buy and which states it's running in. We'll let you know what we find.

Update: According to a MoveOn spokesman, the ad will run in Iowa and New Hampshire, and perhaps other states, through the end of next week. The size of the ad buy is approximately $100,000.

So it looks as if Dems are discovering just how lucrative for fundraising being in the majority can be -- during their first quarter in the majority, they crushed their GOP counterparts in the money game. Roll Call has the numbers:

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee raised $19 million in the first three months of the year and ended March with more than a $7 million cash-on-hand advantage over its Republican counterpart, fundraising reports due to be filed on Friday will show...

The National Republican Congressional Committee raised $15.8 million in the quarter, a significantly smaller haul than the committee had in the first quarter of both 2005 and 2003, when the GOP still held the House majority.

The Dem Presidential candidates, of course, also collectively outraised their GOP counterparts by substantial sums this quarter. This makes the DCCC's haul of $19 million -- which Roll Call says is a record -- more remarkable, given that many Dem donors dug deep for the DCCC despite being aggressively shaken down for cash by the Presidential candidates at the same time.

A new poll finds that a substantial majority of Americans rejects the notion that withdrawal from Iraq is the equivalent of "surrender" — a line frequently pushed by the White House, the GOP, and their allies in the media.

Even better, the poll was done by Fox News, one of those selfsame allies in the media.

The Fox poll asks this question:

One Senator recently claimed that setting a date for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq is more accurately described as a date for surrender — do you think it is accurate to compare withdrawal with surrender?

	Yes	No	Don't Know
All	33%	61%	6%
Democrats	20%	76%	4%
Republicans	50%	45%	5%
Independents	34%	60%	6%

So not only do Americans reject the "surrender" idea by almost two to one, barely half of Republicans will even say "withdrawal equals surrender" to a friendly Fox News pollster.

Guess who's joining John Edwards campaign? The operative behind Howard Dean's 2004 insurgent campaign, Joe Trippi.

Trippi has just posted the following on the Edwards campaign blog:

A few weeks ago, John and Elizabeth Edwards made their decision to continue, not just John Edwards' campaign for President, but their work together to make a difference for their country.

And that made me realize that I wasn't done trying to make a difference either. Not by a long shot. So today I am joining the John Edwards campaign.

Too much is at stake. The war in Iraq continues, and more of our troops will lose their lives. Working Americans are losing ground. Poverty continues in the wealthiest nation on the planet. And nearly nothing is really being done to reduce global warming.

John Edwards is leading the way and making a difference on all of these issues. He's offering big ideas backed by real plans to change our country. And so his campaign is the place where I will work to make whatever difference I can.

And Edwards' bid to be the netroots' candidate continues.

Update: The press release describes Trippi's role as "key member of the media team and senior advisor."

Says Deputy Campaign Manager Jonathan Prince: "Joe is a true believer who has never been the kind of guy who sits around and waits for somebody else to bring about the change he believes we need. And that's what our campaign is about."

Wow. A new poll finds that Mitt Romney is getting badly trounced by Rudy Giuliani among GOP Primary voters — in Romney's home state of Massachusetts.

The new Suffolk University poll finds that Rudy is blowing Romney away in Massachusetts (where Romney was Governor for four years, from 2003 through this past January) by a startling 12 points, 33%-21%. John McCain comes in third with 18%, barely behind Romney.

In fairness to Romney, this may not matter as much as one might think at first glance. Even if Massachusetts moves their primary to February 5, as is being considered, the state's primary would still come after contests in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, where early successes could help him build momentum. Still, the symbolism inherent in these numbers is striking — and not in a good way.

In case you haven't seen it yet, here's the video of John McCain singing "Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb" about Iran to a Beach Boys tune:

As Ezra Klein notes, the very same John McCain was recently hailed by David Brooks for his seriousness and maturity about Middle East matters.

This story is passing relatively under the radar. But it could have a huge impact on the Presidential primaries by thrusting the issue of gay marriage onto the campaign agenda and placing the issue at the center of the Presidential debates in the all-important primary state of New Hampshire. From the Associated Press:

Gov. John Lynch told The Associated Press on Thursday he will sign legislation establishing civil unions in New Hampshire.

New Hampshire thus will become the fourth state to adopt civil unions and the first to do so without first having a court fight over denying gays the right to marry.

This could potentially ratchet up the pressure on the Democratic candidates, who might hear calls from New Hampshire's gay-rights activists to match on the national end the progressive policies being instituted locally, something that could complicate the Dems' campaigning in this key primary state. Meanwhile, the outrage coming from social conservatives about it could put pressure on the GOP candidates to turn up their anti-gay, pro-Federal Marriage Amendment rhetoric as they criss-cross New Hampshire in search of conservative votes.

And speaking of the polls proving the pundits wrong, check this out from a new CNN poll on whether Bill is an asset or liability to Hillary's Presidential campaign:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A majority of Americans think former President Bill Clinton would be an asset to Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-New York, should she win the race for the White House, according to a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll.

If Sen. Clinton wins the Democratic presidential nomination and goes on to win the general election in 2008, 60 percent of Americans believe her husband would have a positive effect on her administration, while 30 percent think it would be negative. President Clinton served two terms as commander-in-chief.

Dunno how many times we've heard now that Bill will drag her down, that ol' Big Dog is going on those romps of his again, memories of Lewinsky, Clinton fatigue, blah, blah, blah...

It was like a scene from the Borat movie.

Another interesting bunch of new numbers from the WaPo poll, this time concerning the Edwards' decision to plow ahead with the campaign despite Elizabeth's cancer recurrence:

Among Democrats, more than nine in 10 said Elizabeth Edwards's latest diagnosis would not affect their choice of a nominee. The couple's decision to continue Edwards's campaign for the nomination drew strong support: Three in four Democrats said that decision was the right thing to do.

Man, a lot of pundits got this one really wrong, didn't they?

The Associated Press and The New York Times today both confirm much of our account of the behind-the-scenes back and forth between President Bush and Congressional Dem leaders at their meeting yesterday over Iraq. And both news orgs add some more in the way of juicy details.

From The Times:

The Associated Press adds:

At one point, according to officials familiar with the meeting, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Democrats had no intention of leaving the troops without funds and noted that gives Bush enormous leverage to bend Congress to his will. He said he hoped some sort of accommodation could be worked out and gave the president an op-ed article making the case for requiring the Iraqi government to make political reforms.

Bush responded by saying he had invented so-called benchmarks for political reforms, one official said.

Of course, the issue is whether there will be consequences for the failure to reach said benchmarks. Anyway, all good stuff.

McCain: As President, I'll Hold Regular Public Briefings On Iraq
John McCain gave an intriguing campaign promise at a VFW hall in South Carolina, the Associated Press reports: To be more transparent about Iraq by holding biweekly public briefings. "I would tell them exactly what the battlefield scenario is," McCain said, in an obvious contrast with the opacity of the Bush Administration's approach these past few years.

Fred Thompson Gets Good Reception On Capitol Hill
The Tennessean reports that Fred Thompson received a great welcome in his visit to Washington yesterday, where he was praised by conservative House and Senate members from across the country and encouraged to run. "As he talked to us, he spoke as though he were a President, and it was very impressive to us," said Rep. Steve Buyer (R-IN). "I think he will do an excellent job as President." Thompson answered questions ranging from policy positions to his divorce from his first wife.

Poll Gives Hillary Large Lead Nationally — Rudy's Lead Narrows
A new ABC/Washington Post poll finds Hillary Clinton enjoying a comfortable lead of 37% to Barack Obama's 20%, Al Gore's 17% and John Edwards' 14%, different from other recent polls showing Hillary ahead of Obama by a low single-digit margin. On the GOP side, Rudy has a strong 33% support to John McCain's 21% — but nevertheless signficantly lower than his 23-point lead he enjoyed back in February. Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney are at 9% each. Interestingly, 54% of respondents say they would never support Mitt Romney, and 47% say so for John McCain — even worse than the usually polarizing Hillary Clinton's 45%.

McCain Camp Bussing Supporters To New Hampshire
The Boston Globe reports that John McCain's campaign has send an e-mail offering to bus supporters from Massachusetts into New Hampshire for a campaign kickoff event in Manchester next week — a potential sign of on-the-ground weakness inside New Hampshire. "The Senator enjoys tremendous support throughout New England, and we’re encouraging anyone who is interested in electing an experienced and consistent leader like John McCain to come to New Hampshire to help us kick off his campaign for President of the United States," said a McCain spokeswoman.

Obama, Ricardson And Biden To Miss Iowa Dem Dinner
The Des Moines Register reports that Barack Obama, Bill Richardson and Joe Biden will not be going to this summer's big state Democratic Party dinner, which will be attended by all the other candidates. By contrast, all the GOP candidates showed up this past weekend's GOP dinner except for Duncan Hunter, whose plane flight was canceled.

Poll: Rudy Beats All Dems In New Jersey
A new Quinnipiac poll finds New York candidates Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani dominating their respective primary fields in neighboring New Jersey. In addition, Giuliani beats the major three Democratic candidates by 7-10 point margins in the state, while the Dems all narrowly edge out John McCain.

Bloomberg Critical Of Corzine's Siren Usage
The New York Daily News reports that Mayor Mike Bloomberg is sharply critical of New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine's decision to speed and use his emergency lights and sirens to get to a photo op with Don Imus and the Rutger's women's basketball team, which led to his severe car accident. "I've certainly not had lights and sirens. I'm not a firefighter," Bloomberg said.

GOP Recruiting Self-Funders In New York Congressional Races
Roll Call reports that the GOP is recruiting two self-funders to take on freshman Democrats who beat incumbent Republicans last fall in New York state. In the 20th district, former state GOP chair Sandy Treadwell ha filed papers against Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, while GOP sources say they have persuaded fashion industry businessman Andrew Saul to take on John Hall in the 19th district.

Okay, here's some color from inside the meeting today at the White House between President Bush and Congressional leaders about what to do to resolve the impasse over Iraq.

A source familiar with the meeting -- at which no compromise of any kind was reached, though Speaker Nancy Pelosi said publicly today that it had been "productive" -- shares a few interesting tidbits. First, the source says, Bush bristled and was taken aback when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid compared the current situation to Vietnam; he also appeared irked by those who said the war couldn't be won.

Second, according to the source, Reid told Bush that he understood that the White House would come after Congressional Dems after the veto of the bill with everything they had; Reid vowed to respond every bit as aggressively.

"Reid talked about a recent conversation he had with a retired general where they talked about the similarities between the current situation and Vietnam," the source relates. "He talked about how the President and Secretary of Defense [during Vietnam] knew that the war was lost but continued to press on at the cost of thousands of additional lives lost."

"The analogy to Vietnam appeared to touch a nerve with the President. He appeared a little sensitive to it," the source continued. "And he clearly didn't like to hear people in the room say that the war couldn't be won militarily."

More: "Reid made it clear to the President that he understood that the President and Vice President after the veto would come after him and Speaker Pelosi with everything they have. Reid said that he and Pelosi would respond just as aggressively. He said he was convinced that they were on the right side of the issue."

Tough stuff. This isn't meant to be a comprehensive account; just a bit of color. And no doubt other sources will recall things differently. We're trying to get more -- if we do, you'll be the first to know.

senator reid there was unlike most of these meetings where prez spends maj time talking this meet was diferent actually was a good exchange of views between everyone in the room. wasn't just prez lecturing everyone as is usually case. sen reid began his opening statenemt saying, I need to be very clear. this war cannot be won mil, only pol talked about a recent conv he had with retired gen where they talked about sim betw curr and vietnam...

then president sec of defense knew that the war was lost but they cont to press on at cost of thous addit lives lost...

there wasn't

pres resp he doesnt agree that

pres didnt...appeared to touch a nerve...appeared little sensitive to it. not sure he liked the anal to vietn. and he didn't liek to here that people in the roon could be own milit...poeple pointed out to hi that his own general pointed out...he's not one for a lot of reflection ... senator reid made clear to pres that he und that pres and veep would after veto would coe after he and speak pel with everything they have. sen resp that he and pel would resp just as aggressively he said he was conv that he was on the right side of the issue...

"Secretary Gates, thank you for your honest assessment of what it takes to bring a new direction to Iraq."

-- Rahm Emanuel, commenting on Defense Secretary Robert Gates' assertion that the Dem Congress' push for withdrawal was exerting new pressure on the Iraqi government.

Hillary on the Supreme Court decision:

"This decision marks a dramatic departure from four decades of Supreme Court rulings that upheld a woman's right to choose and recognized the importance of women's health. Today's decision blatantly defies the Court's recent decision in 2000 striking down a state partial-birth abortion law because of its failure to provide an exception for the health of the mother. As the Supreme Court recognized in Roe v. Wade in 1973, this issue is complex and highly personal; the rights and lives of women must be taken into account. It is precisely this erosion of our constitutional rights that I warned against when I opposed the nominations of Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito."

John McCain gave an intriguing campaign promise at a VFW hall in South Carolina, the Associated Press reports: To be more transparent about Iraq by holding biweekly public briefings. "I would tell them exactly what the battlefield scenario is," McCain said, in an obvious contrast with the opacity of the Bush Administration's approach these past few years.

While openness in government is of course admirable, this still leaves two questions: At this point, will a Republican win over public opinion for his candidacy by pleding to talk about Iraq more? And furthermore, do these exact battlefield scenarios really include being able to take a stroll through a Baghdad neighborhood?

Okay, this is a good one. Barack Obama has just seized on a statement by Defense Secretary Robert Gates in a smart way -- suggesting that even Gates understands the value of the Dem Congress' efforts to impose withdrawal deadlines on the war.

As Kevin Drum, Think Progress and others have noted this morning, Defense Secretary Robert Gates was quoted in today's Washington Post saying that Congress' calls for withdrawal deadlines were helping exert pressure the Iraqi government. "The strong feelings expressed in the Congress about the timetable probably has had a positive impact...in terms of communicating to the Iraqis that this is not an open-ended commitment," Gates said.

Now Obama has fired off a statement responding to Gates' comments. Here it is:

"After the President has repeatedly ignored the will of Congress and the American people, his own Secretary of Defense now recognizes that the only way to pressure the Iraqi government toward a political settlement is to make clear that American troops will not be in Iraq forever. President Bush has had a long history of ignoring the advice of his commanders on the ground, but let’s hope that he follows the advice of his Defense Secretary so that we can finally begin the process of ending the war in Iraq in a responsible way.”

Not bad, eh? Let's see if this keeps this story alive.

Rudy's full statement on the Supreme Court's decision:

"The Supreme Court reached the correct conclusion in upholding the congressional ban on partial birth abortion. I agree with it."

Rudy isn't normally given to being so succinct about his views, but in this case it's understandable -- a product of his generally pro-choice views, obviously, as well as his apparent belief that it's time the GOP "get beyond issues" like abortion. Being the only candidate in either party who's not on the right side of his party on this key litmus test issue, he's forced to offer a comment containing no statement of values whatsoever on this extremely significant decision concerning one of the nation's hottest-button issues.

Relatedly, it's worth noting yet again that Rudy's current opposition to late term abortion is a new addition to his repertoire. Back when he was running for Senate against Hillary in 2000, he repeatedly expressed his opposition to such a ban on "partial birth" abortions.

People seem incapable of remembering this -- they insist on taking his current opposition to the procedure at face value -- but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. We'll see if these inconvenient facts make it into any of the press coverage carrying his statement.

"The Washington Post’s “Post Politics” chats sometimes reveal a treasure trove of information about how WaPo reporters actually think and reason."

That's TPM Reader LG's take, and he's right. Case in point: Today's reader chat with Post reporter John Solomon, who as you all know makes regular appearances here at TPM.

In today's chat, Solomon revealed that he thinks the Bush administration's offers to allow Harriet Miers and Karl Rove to testify with no transcripts doesn't amount to stonewalling, but rather represents a middle-ground compromise -- precisely the White House's position.

Solomon was asked by a reader if the Bush administration wouldn't be better served if it stonewalled every request made by Dems. From Solomon's answer:

refused every request by Dems and stonewalled

Arlington, Va.: Wouldn't the best strategy for the Bush administration be to stonewall every single request from the Democrats? They can keep things tied up in courts until well after the Bush presidency ends. Why would they choose to cooperate on even the smallest of matters?

John Solomon: The Bush administration folks I've talked with say they want to pick their battles carefully. They need to cooperate with Congress where they can in hopes of achieving some legislation accomplishments in its final two years. All-out stonewalling would run contrary to that goal. I expect the administration will continue to propose solutions somewhere in the middle -- like the one they offered to allow Congress to interview Karl Rove and Harriett Miers in private with no transcripts.

Solomon's opinion that an offer of testimony with no transcript is "somewhere in the middle," rather than further stonewalling, puts his view of the matter squarely in line with...that of the White House.

Here's how White House counsel Fred Fielding characterized the offer:

"The proposal reflects a series of balanced coompromises designed to respect and accommodate your interests in obtaining information while also protecting the institution of the Presidency."

Barack Obama on the Supreme Court decision:

“I strongly disagree with today’s Supreme Court ruling, which dramatically departs from previous precedents safeguarding the health of pregnant women. As Justice Ginsburg emphasized in her dissenting opinion, this ruling signals an alarming willingness on the part of the conservative majority to disregard its prior rulings respecting a woman’s medical concerns and the very personal decisions between a doctor and patient. I am extremely concerned that this ruling will embolden state legislatures to enact further measures to restrict a woman's right to choose, and that the conservative Supreme Court justices will look for other opportunities to erode Roe v. Wade, which is established federal law and a matter of equal rights for women.”

All the Dem Presidential candidates are trekking to Harlem this week to give speeches at the Reverend Al Sharpton's National Action Network headquarters. Here's the schedule:

Tonight: John Edwards

Tomorrow:
Bill Richardson
Joe Biden
Chris Dodd

Friday:
Hillary Clinton

Saturday:
Barack Obama

McCain's statement on the Supreme Court decision:

"Today's Supreme Court ruling is a victory for those who cherish the sanctity of life and integrity of the judiciary. The ruling ensures that an unacceptable and unjustifiable practice will not be carried out on our innocent children. It also clearly speaks to the importance of nominating and confirming strict constructionist judges who interpret the law as it is written, and do not usurp the authority of Congress and state legislatures. As we move forward, it is critically important that our party continues to stand on the side of life."

As Hotline notes, that last line is very clearly a message to Rudy -- or, at least, to those GOP primary voters who are considering the unthinkable, i.e., a vote for a pro-choice Republican Presidential candidate.

Edwards' statement on today's Supreme Court decision upholding the ban on late-term abortions:

"I could not disagree more strongly with today's Supreme Court decision. The ban upheld by the Court is an ill-considered and sweeping prohibition that does not even take account for serious threats to the health of individual women. This hard right turn is a stark reminder of why Democrats cannot afford t