Fantasy Politics USA

The Senate voted 75-23 today to pass Joe Biden’s amendment that he says will “bring an end to the civil war in Iraq and get our troops out safely.” His plan calls for a Federal system in Iraq divided along ethnic lines. It allows for regional autonomy within the Federal system which will be divided into three parts. Each part will be governed locally by its dominant ethnic and religious factions, the Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds. It calls for the support of the U.N. and Iraq’s neighbors to help sort this mess out. Biden spoke for over an hour on the Senate floor last week trying to drum up support for his amendment. Republican candidate Sam Brownback was a co-sponsor of the amendment. The Biden-Brownback amendment also calls for the launch of a major international diplomatic push in the Middle East by the White House. Hillary Clinton and Christopher Dodd voted for the measure. John McCain and Barack Obama did not vote. The amendment is non-binding on Iraq so it has more political worth than practical worth, but it does offer a different vision of the war in Iraq than from the one offered by the Bush administration.
Alan Cosgrove

The Democrats will debate tonight at at Dartmouth College, and the Republicans are scheduled to debate tomorrow night at Morgan State University in Baltimore. Eight of the Democrats are scheduled to appear at their forum, and it will be moderated by NBC’s Tim Russert. The Republican front runners have decided against attending their debate which is at a historically black college. They all have said they have scheduling issues. This is a bad excuse since they all already used it for a Spanish-language debate aimed at Hispanics that had to be canceled last month because only John McCain would commit. So far the top four candidates Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, John McCain and Fred Thompson all cited scheduling conflicts in skipping the event. Tom Tancredo backed out of the debate after it was learned that recently declared Republican candidate Alan Keyes would attend. If you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen. “I am puzzled by their decision. I think it’s a mistake and I wish they would change their minds,” Newt Gringrich said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” The Democrats have already attended a similar forum in Washington D.C. in June. The debates will be moderated by PBS host Tavis Smiley, and will be aired on PBS. The producer of the debate plans on having five empty podiums to represent the no shows, and it will likely be brought up. The black vote traditionally goes to the Democrats, but Republicans had been making some gains. Not showing up will set back all those gains in one quick stroke.
Alan Cosgrove

Abraham Sofaer, a supporter for Rudy Giuliani, is throwing a party to help raise funds for Giuliani in his Palo Alto home. According to the invitation, “$9.11 for Rudy” is an “independent, non-denominational grass-roots campaign to raise $10,000 in small increments to show how many individual, everyday Americans support ‘America’s Mayor.'” The party may be at his house, but Sofaer says he did not come up with the $9.11 theme. He claims some young people came up with it. I guess Sofaer just liked the idea and ran with it. According to a Giuliani spokesperson, “These are two volunteers who acted independently of and without the knowledge of the campaign. Their decision to ask individuals for that amount was an unfortunate choice.” Nothing like a good tragic event to exploit for political gain. Truthfully Giuliani’s actions before, during, and after 9/11 are nothing to brag about, and it is disgusting the way he has used 9/11 in his campaign.
Alan Cosgrove