Fantasy Politics USA

Nine of the Republican presidential candidates gathered together in Iowa for a fund raiser and banquet. 1000 people paid $75 each to hear the Republicans speak. There were two no shows, Duncan Hunter and Ron Paul. Everyone was given 6 minutes to get their message out, but none could do it that quickly turning it into a 4 hour stump speech. Among the guest appearing at the fund raiser was the Flip-flop Romney dolphin that was first spotted at the CPAC, and Mike Huckabee invited a Bill Clinton impersonator. Also in the crowd was a giant rabbit with a sign that read, “Varmints against Mitt.” Rudy used the moment to remind people that he was the mayor of New York during 9/11. “This country needs someone who is going to keep us on the offense in the war on terror,” said Giuliani. “Right now, what the Democrats are doing in Washington is just to me another indication how they have not properly learned the lesson of Sept. 11. No more defense. From now on we are on the offense in the war on terror.” John McCain told the audience that he supported the war in Iraq. Mitt Romney’s schedule was so tight he just flew in for the dinner. Mike Huckabee took a shot at the front runners saying, “Every single person who comes to this podium will tell you he’s a true conservative. You’ll have to sort out whether that’s true, but let me tell you the good news: At least it proves in our party it still matters to be a conservative and no one but a conservative has any hope of getting elected to the presidency from the Republican party in 2008.” Later on Huckabee’s band, Capital Offense, jammed at another location. Huckabee said, “If they really want to drive the crowd out, they crank us up.” “People ask why am I running for president,” Huckabee joked. “Well, my band didn’t make it on ‘American Idol.” Jim Gilmore used the played line saying, “Rudy McRomney is not a conservative and he knows he is not a conservative.” Another one of the back of the pack group, Tom Tancredo took a swipe at the lack of conservative credentials of the front runners. “We have many good men in this race. Many have even recently converted to our cause. They are welcome, of course, but my concern is that the conversions have occurred not on the road to Damascus but on the road here to Des Moines,” Tancredo told the crowd. Sam Brownback hit the front runners with, “We are a party based on principles, not personalities.” Clearly a shot at McCain and Giuliani. And Tommy Thompson gave hope to those that have not raised much money, “We got beat in the last election. We went to Washington to change Washington, and I think Washington changed us. We tried to spend money as foolishly and as fast and as ridiculously as the Democrats.”…… “If the voters are going to vote for a spender, they’ll always vote for the professional spenders, the Democrats,” he said. John Cox also spoke saying this, “We can get the principles of the Republican Party back in the Republican Party, and we will win if we stick to our principles.” Most of the candidates mentioned a yearning for the Reagan times, as opposed to continuing the Bush years. This was just a fund raiser, yet the differences are clear. There is a split in the Republican party, and they need a strong front runner to pull them back together.
Alan Cosgrove

Barack Obama has given back about $50,000 of his contributions because his campaign discovered it was from lobbyists. “I am concerned about the role of lobbyists and campaign donations generally in our politics,” Obama told an AP reporter “That’s part of the reason I don’t take PAC money and I’m not taking federal lobbyist money in this campaign.” They gave the money back to 49 donors that they discovered where lobbyists. The campaign said they where trying to stay true to the commitment not to take any lobbyist or PAC money. John Edwards also tries not to take any money from lobbyist of PACs. The campaign said the money may have come from lobbyist that where not familiar with Obama’s policies on accepting money. They also don’t accept money from spouses of lobbyists.
Obama was in South Carolina talking about his plans for education. “There is no issue any more important than the issue of education in this country,” Obama told the crowd. He has a plan that he will soon release about recruiting, training, and retraining teachers. He tied education into the big story of the day by talking about Imus. “I’ve got two young daughters, both of them tall, and I hope they get basketball scholarships. … I don’t need somebody on a radio station degrading that,” Obama said, “but I think it’s fair to say that there are a whole bunch of young rappers who look like us, who use the words that Don Imus does, who are on our radio stations. … That doesn’t inspire me.” Obama went on to say, “That does go back to education,” ……”Part of our best is instilling in our young people that you should be pursuing excellence and having high standards.” Obama continues his tour of the south by going into Florida on Sunday. He will be in Tampa, Florida speaking at the Cuban Club in Ybor City. The fee to see Obama speak there is only $25 Not much for a fund raiser, but he is also speaking at a private residence at a price of $2300 a head. If they included some chicken and yellow rice and some Flamingo dancers from Columbia’s at the Ybor visit it might be worth the $25.

The Democrats have decided on Denver for their convention, which has angered some of the unions usually involved in political conventions. Colorado is an unfriendly state to unions, and last month the Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter vetoed a bill making it easier to set up all-union workplaces. The Democrats really want this convention to go off looking good so Howard Dean is trying to negotiate some kind of settlement for the unions. If he doesn’t straighten this mess out the unions are promising picket lines. Teamsters President James Hoffa even threatened to “blow up” Denver with pickets and protests. The venue they are using, the Pepsi Center, is a non-union building. Dean is working on a deal to staff the Pepsi Center with union members, but the deal has yet to be sealed. What makes matters worse is the Republicans have chosen Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota which is a very union friendly place. Minnesota has more than twice the number of union members than Colorado. I know the Democrats didn’t cause this problem. Governor Ritter vetoed the bill two weeks after the Democrats picked Denver. That is what stirred most of this mess up, but Denver is not the most union friendly town in the first place. If Dean can negotiate the deals to get the unions involved in the political convention it will show the Democrats try to walk the talk. It will also assure them major endorsements from union leaders.
Alan Cosgrove

Fred Thompson says he has cancer, but is still healthy enough to run for President if he so decides to. He has a type of lymphoma that is very slow-growing and probably not life-threatening, and is in remission. “I know it’s not a big deal, as far as my health is concerned, as much as a person can know about things like that,” Thompson said. “But other people have the right to look at it and weigh in, and I have a need to factor that into my decision in terms of the reaction that I get about it,” he said. He said he would decide if he is entering the race in the next couple of days or weeks. Thompson was on Sean Hannity today and he criticized Pelosi for her trips abroad, and the Democrats for their vote on Iraq. Thompson also praised the medical system we have in America, saying the treatment he has received is far superior than anything he would have received with socialized medicine. I’m sure most millionaires like Thompson receive some really good medical attention, to bad millions of others in America don’t get anything close to that. He and Sean got along really good, and Thompson is comfortable talking to the masses. If trends continue he could be the first one voted off of Presidential Idol.