Daily News Round-Up for May 29, 2009

NPR (USA)
Senator John Cornyn (TX), head of the NRSC, says that while he will question nominee Sonia Sotomayor during the Supreme Court confirmation process, other GOPers calling her "racist" for a comment she once made is "troubling".

Business Week (USA)
Arizona Sen. John McCain wants Meg Whitman to be California's next governor.

Washington Post (Washington, DC)
Former presidential candidate Ralph Nader went public Thursday with an allegation that Virginia gubernatorial hopeful Terry McAuliffe offered his campaign money to stay off the ballot in key states during the 2004 elections -- a disclosure timed to raise questions about McAuliffe's fitness for public office.

Daily Record (Morris County, NJ)
Gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie raised nearly twice as much as his main Republican rival and has more than seven times cash on hand heading into the weekend before the primary.

News Round-Up for April 30, 2009

CNN (USA)

Senator John McCain (AZ) is launching a new initiative called the National Council for a New America to help rebuild the Republican Party. Unfortunately the tentative list of participants does not include any moderates or women.

Providence Journal (Providence, RI)

Former Republican Senator and Independent gubernatorial candidate Lincoln Chafee said that he "got a little ahead of himself" and had not intended to make an announcement for his candidacy this week.

The Hill (Washington, DC)

Some Senate Democrats are angry that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (NV) has let Senator Arlen Specter (PA) keep his seniority after he switched parties this week.

New York Times (New York, NY)

In last nights prime time address President Obama warned about the growing crisis in Pakistan, reflected on his first 100 days in office and reminded Americans to wash their hands to stop the spread of swine flu.

Daily News Round-Up For April 22, 2009

The Detroit News ( Detroit , MI )

Rumblings of change are beginning to be heard from deep inside the Republican Party from the moderate base.

Arizona Republic ( Phoenix , AZ )

Sen. John McCain blasted President Barack Obama's global-warming plan Tuesday, saying it would hurt an already battered economy by raising energy costs for consumers and costing U.S. companies billions.

Providence Journal ( Providence , RI )

After weeks of delay by a handful of Republican opponents, the Senate voted handily on Tuesday to confirm Christopher R. Hill's nomination to be ambassador to Iraq .

Giuliani, McCain to Skip Iowa Straw Poll

In an announcement made on Wednesday, presidential hopeful Senator John McCain declared he will skip the August 11th Iowa straw poll after it was reported former Mayor Rudy Giuliani would skip the poll.In the past the straw poll has been a strong indicator of who the Party's nominee would be and all candidates worked to win the poll. However, with 2 of the leading candidates not participating, the influence of the straw poll is diminished.Why are McCain and Giuliani opting to skip the poll? How will the straw poll affect the caucus/primary process in 2008?
Click here for more.

3rd GOP Debate, Tonight, June 5th

This evening, St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire will host the 3rd GOP debate of the presidential election season.
As the home of the nation's first primary, all eyes will be on New Hampshire and this debate. We will see the re-appearance of the 10 candidates from the previous 2 debates. These candidates are: Senator John McCain (AZ), Senator Sam Brownback (KS), former Mayor Rudy Giuliani (NY), former Governor Mitt Romney (MA), Congressman Ron Paul (TX), former Governor Jim Gilmore (VA), Congressman Duncan Hunter (CA), former Governor Mike Huckabee (AR), Congressman Tom Tancredo (CO) and former Governor Tommy Thompson (WI).
Notably missing from the debate will be former TN Senator Fred Thompson who last week all but threw his hat in the ring by announcing he would set up a 'testing the waters' committee. Thompson will appear, however, on the Fox News Channel for post-debate commentary.

New USA Today/Gallup Poll Showcases Giuliani's Solid Lead

In a survey conducted over the weekend, a new USA Today/Gallup poll shows Giuliani leading McCain 34%-20%. Fred Thompson, who is not (at least yet) a candidate, finished third with 13%.
This poll is only one in a series that Giuliani has held a consistent and strong lead. With Election Day still 18 months away, it is still too soon to tell what, if anything, these polls actually mean.

Click here to see the poll on USA Today's website.

GOP Candidates Debate Top Issues of the Day

With First Lady Nancy Reagan and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in the front row of the audience last night, 10 Presidential hopefuls participated in the first GOP debate of the 2008 election.
Topics ranged from taxes, to immigration, to war, to abortion and stem cell research and much more. Governor Mitt Romney was forced to defend his often-changing positions, particularly on abortion. McCain was the only candidate to forthrightly state his support of the advancement of embryonic stem cell research.
All of the candidates cited President Reagan at some point and stated why they were the candidate who would successfully emulate his legacy. Despite what some claimed during the debate and what they will continue to claim in the future, their records speak for themselves. The GOP needs a candidate that all Americans can embrace and that will support a 'big tent' Republican Party.
What did you think of last night's debate??

Candidates File with the FEC

All first quarter reports for the 2008 presidential race have been submitted to FEC. A true test of a campaign is often the measure of its cash on hand, rather than the actual amount of money raised in a given period.
In the first quarter, John McCain raised $13.1 million, yet ended with $4.7 million on hand-- spending at a rate of 61.4%, an extremely high rate.
Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani each ended the quarter with more than $10 million on hand and now have an advantage over McCain heading into the second quarter.

Click here to read a story on the reports from the Washington Times.

First Quarter Fundraising Numbers Released

The first quarter of the year closed on Saturday, March 31st. Though the official reports are not due to the FEC until April 15th, most campaigns have released their numbers. Here they are below in order of most funds raised.

Mitt Romney
•Raised $20.63 M in primary contributions
•Total receipts are $23M; includes $2.35M loan from Romney and a $20,000 transfer from his 1994 Senate campaign

Rudy Giuliani
•$15 M raised during the first quarter; $2 M raised prior to January 1, 2007
•$11 M cash on hand
•Stated most of these funds were for primary

John McCain
•Raised approximately $12.5M
•Last week he lowered expectations, which had reached as high as $30 M, saying he got a late start and doesn’t like raising money

Tom Tancredo
•His campaign will report about $1.3M raisedMike Huckabee
•Stated had met his goal of $500K for the Q and would report roughly $300K CoH

These numbers differ drastically from what all the polls show-- Giuliani has consistently come in first in all major polls, with McCain second and Romney trailing much further behind, often behind GOPers who have not even formed exploratory committees such as Fred Thompson.

The question remains, how will these fundraising tallies affect public opinion polls? Will we see a shift in the coming weeks?

McCain Bashes Club for Growth

Senator and presidential candidate John McCain bashed the Club for Growth on the Christian Broadcasting Network for its involvement in the midterm elections. He stated that he believes it was the Club's fault that the GOP lost major races, including that of former Rhode Island Senator Lincoln Chafee. McCain expressed his support for a 'big tent' Party and questioned what he and the Club for Growth had in common. Perhaps McCain is hearing the cry of the real Republican majority?

Click here for the clip.

McCain's Campaign Collapsing?

Interesting story on the possible collapse of McCain's presidential campaign. His poll numbers already dropping, this is evidence that pandering to the extreme right will only get you so far.

Click here to read Dick Morris' article from NewsMax.com.

McCain Moves to the Right

Senator and Presidential Candidate John McCain showed his true colors earlier this week when he blatantly stated his disregard for personal privacy and freedom, saying that Roe v. Wade should be overturned.
Please check out our pander alert for more information on his statement.

Collins and Snowe to Head McCain Maine Committee

Senators Snowe and Collins have agreed to Co-Chair McCain's Presidential Exploratory Committee in Maine.