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Fred Thompson Watch: Thompson Takes Bites Out of Rudy and Mitt
The New York Sun: Thompson Takes Bites Out of Giuliani, Romney.
The latest USA Today/Gallup poll, conducted Friday through Sunday, on the presidential race is out, and it’s a humdinger. It’s hard to say what the headline even is. Here are a few tries, though:
* Romney’s support drops to within the margin of error of not existing (that’s 3% support in a poll where the margin of error is 3%).
* Giuliani’s support drops 13 percentage points since the last USA Today/ Gallup poll, March 2-4 (that’s gotta hurt).
* Fred Thompson (not running, by the way) is now the No. 3 in the GOP field, at 12%.
Emphasis Cox & ForkumCBS News: Possible Fred Thompson Candidacy Animates Conservatives.
The possibility that former Senator Fred Thompson of Tennessee might run for president has animated many conservative leaders who are unhappy with the GOP choices that exist now.They consider Thompson a strong conservative with stellar communications skills and an interesting resume that includes success and fame as a movie and TV actor. All this reminds many of Ronald Reagan, an icon of the right.
“Fred says he might run and he would be a real threat for the Republican nomination,” says a prominent conservative who is neutral in the presidential race so far. The problem: Is Thompson willing to devote the time and energy needed for a run?
So, has Rudy maxed out, Romney died and McCain stopped the bleeding?
Will the conservative White Knight of Fred Thompson move into the arena?
Possibly
A most probable analysis except – Can Thompson beat Hillary?
Technorati Tags: FredThompson
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Giuliani Notes: Web Site Flaw Fixed on JoinRudy2008.Com
The Join Rudy Web site at 6:18 PM PDT
AP: Giuliani campaign fixes Web site flaw
Republican presidential front-runner Rudy Giuliani’s campaign hurriedly fixed its official Web site late Monday to remove a dangerous design flaw that could have allowed hackers to expose personal information submitted by volunteers.
The vulnerability affecting Giuliani’s site, http://www.JoinRudy2008.com, could have exposed confidential information stored in the campaign’s databases. The Web site failed to block commands that can instruct it to improperly display sensitive information, a popular hacking technique known as “structured query language injection.”
The campaign fixed the Web site hours after The Associated Press notified it about the problem. No personal information was compromised, spokeswoman Maria Comella said.
“The site has multiple levels of security to detect intrusions and ensure no user’s identity was put at risk,” Comella said.
Oops……but it seems the site has not been put back together.
Remember this is not the first time the Giuliani campaign has had a breach of campaign security.
And with the FLAP that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger underwent when candid tape recordings were poached from his government web site, one would think that the site designers would be especially viligant in protecting the donor database.
The campaign launched its new site last week. Giuliani described it in e-mails as “the place where any American can go to learn about my record and join our campaign” and urged supporters to tell their friends about the site.
Its privacy policy reassures Internet visitors that the Giuliani campaign “considers your privacy paramount, and we are dedicated to protecting your privacy on the Internet.”
SQL injection vulnerabilities have been implicated in large-scale Web break-ins. The technique is among the most-critical Internet security vulnerabilities compiled by the SANS Institute, a cybersecurity research organization, and is the subject of warnings by the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team, part of the
Homeland Security Department.“Anybody who knows anything about security could have found these problems in two seconds,” said Marc Maiffret of eEye Digital Security Inc., a researcher who examined Giuliani’s Web site at AP’s request.
The Original Web Site
Well, somebody in the Giuliani campaign is reworking the site.
How about a redesign too while you are at it?
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Technorati Tags: RudyGiuliani
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Michael Ramirez on Iran Taking British Hostages
Iran Watch: Captured Brits – Show Trial or Bluff?
Iran Watch: Iran May Charge British Sailors
Iran Watch: Iran to Try Brits for Spying?
Iran Watch: British Troops Transported To Tehran
Iran Watch: Are Seized British Troops Hostages?
Iran Nuclear Watch: Ahmadinejad Cancels United Nations Appearance
Iran Watch: Iran Seizes British Sailors in Iraq Waters
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Technorati Tags: MichaelRamirez, Iran, Iraq, Britain, UnitedKingdom
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Giuliani Notes: Rudy 31 McCain 22 Thompson 12 Gingrich 8
On the Republican side, former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson shook up the field with his announcement that he would consider getting into the presidential race. Thompson is familiar as the actor who plays District Attorney Arthur Branch on NBC’s Law and Order.
Chosen by 12% of Republican and Republican-leaning voters, Thompson is third in the Republican field. He trails former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, at 31%, and Arizona Sen. John McCain, at 22%. Former House speaker Newt Gingrich is at 8%.
Thompson’s support seems to come largely from voters who had supported Giuliani. In the USA TODAY poll taken March 2-4, Giuliani’s standing had been 13 percentage points higher, at 44%. McCain’s support had been 2 points lower then.
Backing for former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, widely considered a leading contender, has dropped. He was chosen by 3%, the same as Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback. Romney’s support in early March had been 8%.
Rudy is declining, McCain is going nowhere, Romney appears dead in the water and Fred Thompson gets 12% without even declaring for President.
This is the second set of polls that show that Thompson erodes Rudy’s voter appeal.
How will the field compete against a non-candidate?
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Technorati Tags: RudyGiuliani
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Iran Watch: Captured Brits – Show Trial or Bluff?
British hostages paraded in Iran on TV in 2004
Iranians interrogate captured Royal Marines
The 15 Royal Marines and sailors captured by Iran are being “interrogated”, officials in Tehran said today.
Amid fears that the 14 men and one woman face a show trial, Iranian television reported that the country did not want to exchange the Britons for five Iranians arrested in northern Iraq two months ago.
How do you spell “BARGAINING CHIP?”
British marines patrolling aboard an inflatable off Basra
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Iran Watch: Iran May Charge British Sailors
Iran Watch: Iran to Try Brits for Spying?
Iran Watch: British Troops Transported To Tehran
Iran Watch: Are Seized British Troops Hostages?
Iran Nuclear Watch: Ahmadinejad Cancels United Nations Appearance
Iran Watch: Iran Seizes British Sailors in Iraq Waters
Technorati Tags: Iran, Iraq, Britain, UnitedKingdomYahyaRahimSafavi
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John McCain Watch: Blogger Access
A very smart move by the McCain campaign.
You can read about the New Hampshire coverage here, here and here.
How about Rudy and Mitt?
Open up your fundraisers, schedule more public events and don’t play favorites with certain bloggers.
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John McCain Watch: McCain Won’t Meet Fundraising Goals
John McCain Watch: The ANSWER ? to McCain Blames Club for Growth for Loss of Senate Majority
John McCain Watch: McCain Blames Club for Growth for Loss of Senate Majority
John McCain Watch: Age and Health Questions Plague McCain
John McCain Watch: I’ll Close GITMO
Technorati Tags: JohnMcCain, RudyGiuliani, MittRomney
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President 2008 Watch: South Carolina Moving to 2007 GOP Primary?
U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., steps off his campaign bus after arriving at the Iowa Statehouse before speaking to Iowa legislators in Des Moines, Iowa in this March 15, 2007 file photo. Aboard his campaign bus, the Arizona Republican entertains reporters with stories, answers their questions and heckles bloggers. But the level of exposure comes with a risk, McCain acknowledges, and plenty of apprehension for aides who at times have to cue him to stop. He doesn’t always listen.
The S.C. GOP has set a tentative date of Saturday, Feb. 2, for its presidential primary early next year. But that could change.
With the crush of candidates and early start to the 2008 presidential campaign, South Carolina has no choice but to leapfrog over everyone else to preserve the state’s traditional role in selecting the next Republican presidential nominee.
Under state law, political parties have the authority and flexibility to pick a primary date. The deadline for submitting a plan to the Republican National Committee is Sept. 4.
“We will change our date as often as we have to to remain the first-in-the-South primary,†vowed state Republican Party chairman Katon Dawson.
“We have a proud eight-year history when it comes to selecting our nominee,†Dawson said. “We’re determined to protect it,†even if that means pushing the primary up to October.
“That’ll be our trick-or-treat,†Dawson quipped.
Wow, an October 2007 Presidential primary election? This may change the dynamic of the race.
Advantage: McCain
Technorati Tags: SouthCarolinaGOP, JohnMcCain
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Giuliani Notes: National Journal Insider’s Poll
The Democrats are no longer sweating a fading McCain but foresee geographic problems with a Giuliani GOP nomination.
Like Flap said the first time.
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Technorati Tags: RudyGiuliani
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Iran Watch: Iran May Charge British Sailors
Update:
Iran says it is now interrogating the British sailors.
AP: Iran may charge British sailors
Iran warned that 15 British sailors and marines could face charges for allegedly entering Iranian waters and rejected British requests to meet with the servicemen detained off the coast of Iraq.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki threatened unspecified consequences for the Royal Navy crew in comments to reporters in New York on Sunday, describing the charge against them as “illegal entrance into Iranian waters.”
“In terms of legal issues, it’s under investigation,” Mottaki said.
Iraq’s foreign minister demanded that Iran release the servicemen who were captured Friday, saying they had been detained in Iraqi waters and were operating with government consent, a statement from his office said Monday.
Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari discussed the issue with Mottaki on Sunday and “called for their release and for addressing their issue legally and wisely,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, Iranian state television on Monday quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Mehzi Mostafavi as saying that Iran was not aiming to swap the British servicemen for five Iranians who were arrested in northern Iraq.
The Brits cannot be too happy with this turn of events. Prime Minister Tony Blair has already vehemently protested, warning Iran that its seizure was “unjustified and wrongâ€, insisting the sailors and marines were taken from Iraqi waters.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki speaks during a news conference in New York March 25, 2007. Iran is considering charging 15 British sailors with illegally entering its waters and may grant Britain access to its navy personnel when Tehran’s investigation is complete, Mottaki said on Sunday.
In comments read out by a newscaster, Mostafavi did not say what Iran plans to do with the British servicemen, but he said they were being interrogated.
“Iran has enough evidence to prove that the British Forces personnel were detained in Iranian waters,” he said. He added that the British government was accountable for their actions.
The capture and detention of the British service personnel increased tensions between Iran and the West that already were high over Tehran’s nuclear program and allegations that Iran is interfering with the U.S.-led war in Iraq.
And this is not the first time that British sailors have been captured by the Iranians. In 2004 six British marines and two sailors were captured, then paraded blindfolded on Iranian television. They admitted they had entered Iranian waters illegally but were released unharmed after three days.
The area will remain a “FLASH POINT” for potential escalation until the Brits are released.
Will the British people now swing to majority support of Tony Blair’s policies in the region?
Stay tuned……
British soliders patrol the waterways close to an oil terminal near the Iraqi city of Basra in 2005. British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Sunday called Iran’s seizure of 15 British naval personnel “unjustified and wrong” as international pressure grew on Iran over the new diplomatic crisis.
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Iran Watch: Iran to Try Brits for Spying?
Iran Watch: British Troops Transported To Tehran
Iran Watch: Are Seized British Troops Hostages?
Iran Nuclear Watch: Ahmadinejad Cancels United Nations Appearance
Iran Watch: Iran Seizes British Sailors in Iraq Waters
Technorati Tags: Iran, Iraq, Britain, UnitedKingdomYahyaRahimSafavi
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Day By Day by Chris Muir March 26, 2007