-
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Giuliani Continues to Lead Clinton, Gore
Rasmussen: Giuliani Continues to Lead Clinton, Gore
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) continues to hold a narrow lead over Senator Hillary Clinton (D) and former Vice President Al Gore (D) in early Election 2008 polling.
Giuliani leads Clinton 47% to 43% in the latest poll. That’s very similar to the 48% to 43% lead he enjoyed in late November. When matched against Gore, Giuliani now leads 46% to 43%. In November, he also enjoyed a three-point lead over the Democrats’ Election 2000 candidate.
Against either Democrat, Giuliani leads among men but trails among women. The two Democrats lead among voters under 30, but trail among other age groups.
Gore is now viewed favorably by 50% of Americans and unfavorably by 49%. That’s a bit better than in earlier surveys. For Clinton, the numbers are now 48% favorable and 50% unfavorable, a bit weaker than the last time we checked.
Neither Democrat comes close to Giuliani on the favorability scale. The man sometimes known as “America’s Mayor†is viewed favorably by seven out of ten Americans (71%).
Rudy leads in the Republican primary election polls as well.
So, onto New Hampshire for Mayor Giuliani:
New York Post: GIULIANI WILL HIT ROAD FOR NEW HAMPSHIRE
Rudy Giuliani will pay a visit to first-in-the-nation primary state New Hampshire at the end of next month, part of his initial foray as he mulls a run for the White House in 2008, officials told The Post.
The former mayor will address the New Hampshire Republican Party’s annual meeting in Manchester on Jan. 27. State party Executive Director Andy Leach said several hundred people attend the yearly event, making it a broad early platform within the party.
Full speed ahead for the Mayor’s campaign. After a successful fund-raising effort this week in New York, Giuliani is off to convert the cash into organization and votes.
Stay tuned……
Linked to Outside the Beltway
Cross-Posted to the Giuliani BlogÂ
Previous:
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Join Rudy 2008 Web Site Is Gold
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Giuliani the Un-Nominated?
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Giuliani to Be Keynote Speaker at California Republican Party Convention
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Giuliani Leads McCain and Hillary Clinton in 2008 Presidential Poll
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Giuliani Leads in Latest Fox News Poll
Rudy Giuliani Watch: California’s Model for 2008
Technorati Tags: RudyGiuliani
-
Michael Ramirez on “W” and the Iraq War
AP: Gates meets with Iraqis on military aid
Defense Secretary Robert Gates traded ideas with Iraqi leaders Thursday about boosting military assistance for the embattled government and warned Iraq’s neighbors that the U.S. will be a presence in the Persian Gulf for a long time.
But on the second day of a visit to the war zone, the new Pentagon chief would not answer the key question on the minds of many, including U.S. troops: Will he recommend a short-term increase in the number of American forces in Iraq?
Speaking to reporters after meetings with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other Iraqi officials, Gates said the talks were “mainly on the overall approach, including the possibility of some additional assistance.” He said no numbers of additional troops were discussed.
“We were really talking in broad terms,” said Gates, who is in his first week as defense secretary.
Gates’ visit comes as President Bush reassesses U.S. policy in the war, which is solidly opposed by the American public after 3 1/2 years of bloodshed. Among the president’s options is whether to quickly add thousands of U.S. troops to the 140,000 already in Iraq, in hopes of staunching the escalating violence in Baghdad and elsewhere.
And what direction will REHAB FOR IRAQ TAKE?
More troops, pacification and tightening of Iran, Syria borders would be welcome first steps…..
Technorati Tags: MichaelRamirez, Iraq, GeorgeWBush, RobertGates
-
Barack Obama Watch: Obama’s Toughest Sell for the White House?
U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks at a state Democratic election celebration party in Manchester, N.H., Dec. 10, 2006. New Hampshire voters take their presidential primary responsibilities very seriously, and while Democratic party activists were clearly excited about Obama’s first visit to the state Sunday night for a sold-out rally and standing-room only book signing, some made it clear that he’ll have to keep coming back for more intimate chats if he wants their support.
AFP: Obama’s toughest sell for White House bid may be to other blacks
US political darling Barack Obama has received enthusiastic support for a possible 2008 presidential bid — except from fellow African-Americans, a group many believed would be among his staunchest backers.
In contrast to the effusive reception Obama has received from white Americans, many US blacks so far have been cool, saying that while they may share skin color with Obama, they do not have a common culture or history.
“Obama did not — does not — share a heritage with the majority of black Americans, who are descendants of plantation slaves,” wrote African-American newspaper columnist Stanley Crouch last month in an article entitled “Barack Obama — Not Black Like Me.”
Radio host George Wilson, whose nationally-broadcast talk show tests the opinions of a cross-section of African-American listeners, said response to the Illinois senator so far has been “lukewarm.”
“He’s not getting as much of an enthusiastic send-off from black people as he is from whites,” Wilson said.
This is interesting racial politics, or is it?
Baldilocks warns the RIGHT: A Warning To The Right
I’m tired of the insinuations about Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) because his dead father was a Muslim. I’m tired of the insinuations about his middle name—Hussein—and the racist/bigoted insinuations that I’ve seen on the Right that flow from there. I’m even tired of the assertion that the senator isn’t even really a black American (whatever that means to a group of people who are demonstrably of mixed-race for the most part) because he has a white mother and a non-American black—i.e. African—father and, yes, since his father and my father were/are of the same tribe and nationality, I take that last bit of information quite personally.
Read it all…….
Political buttons supporting US Senator Barack Obama, D-IL, are seen in Manchester, New Hampshire on 10 December 2006.
Flap has never given the racial or religious heritage of Barack Obama much thought. He is a young and inexperienced LEFTY politician. Obama has been in the United States Senate for only two years.
Is this someone Americans want as Commander in Chief?
Flap would NOT even consider him a “SECOND FIDDLE” for Hillary.
When Flap votes for the President, he wants SUBSTANCE and with Obama there is just NO BEEF.
A supporter holds a sign backing Senator Barack Obama for president in 2008 at a Democratic party rally in New Hampshire. Obama has received enthusiastic support for a possible 2008 presidential bid — except from fellow African-Americans, a group many believed would be among his staunchest backers, but who say that while they may share skin color with Obama, they do not have a common culture or history.
Previous:
Michael Ramirez on Barack Obama “DAISY DUKEâ€
President 2008 Watch: John Edwards IN and Evan Bayh OUT
Technorati Tags: BarackObama
-
Iran Nuclear Watch: Ahmadinejad MOCKS the United States and EU
Under pressure from the United States, the UN Security Council edged toward a Friday vote on a compromise draft resolution mandating sanctions against Iran over its refusal to halt sensitive nuclear fuel work. Britain’s UN envoy Emyr Jones Parry, seen here in July 2006, predicted that the 15-member council would vote Friday morning on the watered-down text.
Reuters: Iran nuclear program an inspiration: Ahmadinejad
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday mocked the United States and its allies for trying to stop Iran’s nuclear program which he said had become a source of inspiration for other nations.
Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said on Wednesday he expected the
U.N. Security Council to vote this week on a resolution imposing sanctions on Iran for failing to heed calls it halt sensitive nuclear fuel production work.Iran says its nuclear program will only be used for peaceful aims, such as electricity generation, and not to make bombs as United States and its European allies fear.
Ahmadinejad said Western efforts to deflect Iran from its goal were fruitless.
“America and some European countries know well that they are incapable of doing anything against the Iranian nation,” he told crowds during a speech in western Iran.
“They think the Iranian nation will wait for their permission to make progress but they should know that the Iranian nation has chosen the path of greatness of honor,” the official IRNA news agency reported.
But, the hard-line rhetoric of Ahmadinejad is not playing well in the United Nations Security Council or back at home in Iran.
The United States should push for an Iranian sanctions vote this week. The resolution will be “watered down” but will place some pressure on Ahmadinejad and the declining Iranian economy.
CNN: Iran admits nuke spat hurts oil – report
Iran, the world’s fourth largest oil producer, admitted Thursday its nuclear spat with the West is beginning to hurt investment in its oil industry, according to a newspaper report Thursday.
“Currently, overseas banks and financiers have decreased their co-operation,” Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh, Iran’s oil minister, told the ministry’s news agency, according to the Financial Times.
Meanwhile, the Iranian people, including student protesters are NOT pleased with Ahmadinejad’s preoccupation with bashing the West while Iran’s economy falters with high unemployment.
Iranian former presidents Mohammad Khatami (L) and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani casts his ballot at a polling station in Tehran on December 15.
AP: Ahmadinejad opponents win elections
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s opponents won local council elections in Iran, final results showed Thursday, in an embarrassing blow to the hard-line leader that could force him to change his staunch anti-Western stance and focus more on domestic issues.
Last week’s elections for local councils in towns and cities across Iran were widely seen as a referendum on Ahmadinejad’s 18 months in office.
Since taking power, Ahmadinejad has escalated Iran’s confrontation with the United States and the West, drawing the threat of U.N. sanctions for pushing ahead with uranium enrichment in Iran’s nuclear program. He has also provoked international outrage for his comments against Israel and casting doubt on the Nazi Holocaust.
His hard-line stances are believed to have divided the conservatives who voted him into power last year, with some feeling Ahmadinejad has spent too much time confronting the West and has failed to deal with Iran’s struggling economy.
Moderate conservatives opposed to Ahmadinejad won a majority of the seats in Friday’s elections followed by reformists who were suppressed by hard-liners in 2004, according to final results announced by the Interior Ministry.
And……..to increase the pressure
The USS Enterprise and USS Dwight David Eisenhower
The United States Navy will be in and around the Gulf to assure timely and safe oil transport to the West.President Ahmadinejad BOASTS. But, the West is calling his BLUFF?
Michael Leeden (via Hugh Hewitt) asks What Does it Take to Get us to War? Really.
Stay tuned for action in the United Nations Security Council or NOT.
An Iranian student holds an anti-president placard, reading: “Fascist President, Polytechnich is not your placeâ€, as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, unseen, speaks at the Amir Kabir Technical University, in Tehran, Iran.
Previous:
Iran Nuclear Watch: British Prime Minister Tony Blair Issues Iran Warning
Iran Nuclear Watch: United States Considering Show Of Force Against Iran
Iran Nuclear Watch: A Military Option Redux
John Hinderaker: Mr. President, If I May Be So Bold…
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Expands Uranium Enrichment – AGAIN
The Natanz uranium enrichment complex in Natanz is pictured in this January 2, 2006 satellite image.
Technorati Tags: Iran, Ahmadinejad
-
Global War on Terror Watch: British Aide in Afghanistan Accused of Spying for Iran
British soldiers in Afghanistan. A military aide to the British commander of NATO troops in Afghanistan has been accused of passing secrets to Iran, press reports said.
AFP: British aide in Afghanistan accused of spying for Iran
A close aide to the British commander of NATO troops in Afghanistan has been accused of passing secrets about activities there to Iran, press reports said.
Thursday’s reports come as British-led forces struggle against fiercer than expected Taliban insurgents in the south of the country, invaded by US-led forces following the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.
Corporal Daniel James, an interpreter to Lieutenant General David Richards, the head of NATO’s more than 30,000-strong force in Afghanistan, has been charged under the Official Secrets Act with “prejudicing the safety of the state.”
Specifically he is accused of passing information “calculated to be directly or indirectly useful to the enemy” by communicating with a “foreign power”, believed to be Iran, said The Daily Telegraph and other newspapers.
James, 44, appeared at London’s City of Westminster magistrates’ court Wednesday but details of the case were not revealed as the judge ordered reporters out of court because of a “possible prejudice to national security”.
Just a reminder that the Global War on Terror is as broad and SERIOUS as the Cold War with the Soviet Union.
How many more Iranian spies will be discovered?
And people wondered and worried about interrogation tactics at Guantanamo?
Please…….
Lieutenant General David Richards, the British commander of NATO in Afghanistan , gestures as he addresses a press conference in Kabul, October 2006. A close aide to Richards has been accused of passing secrets about activities there to Iran.
The Telegraph reported that James, who lived in the southern English resort town of Brighton, was of Iranian descent and spoke fluent Pashtun, the main language in Afghanistan.
The specific charge against him alleges that on November 2, for a purpose prejudicial to the safety of the state, he “communicated to another person information calculated to be directly or indirectly useful to the enemy”.
James, who appeared in court dressed smartly in a quilted jacket and spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth, was remanded in custody until December 27. There was no application for bail.
The Times: British soldier ‘gave Army secrets to Iran’
Corporal James’s appearance before Senior District Judge Timothy Workman was surrounded by secrecy. The case was not on the court list and police refused to give the defendant’s name before the hearings.
One hearing was held in camera to hear argument about why large parts of the case should also be heard in secret. The judge decided that national security was involved, and only a few minutes of a session lasting nearly two hours were open to press and public.
Corporal James said nothing during the hearing other than “Yes, sirâ€, when confirming his name and date of birth and that he understood he would be remanded. After the closed hearing, the judge said: “I have been given certain information which leads me to the conclusion that it will be necessary to hear certain facts in camera as there is a possible prejudice to national security.†The prosecution, he said, was asking for a remand to obtain the Attorney-General’s consent for prosecution.
Corporal James stood at ease as the judge told him he would be remanded in custody until December 27. Four Special Branch officers were in court and the defendant sat in the dock with two guards. Martyn Fischer, Corporal James’s lawyer, would not comment.
Stay tuned…….
Technorati Tags: DavidRichards, DanielJames, Afghanistan, Iran
-
Day By Day by Chris Muir December 21, 2006
