National Journal Rankings

The National Journal updated their 2008 Presidential rankings this week. Below is the list:

Republicans:
1) Sen. John McCain
2) Gov. Mitt Romney
3) Mayor Rudy Giuliani
4) Gov. Mike Huckabee
5) TBD= They would like to put Gov. George Pataki or New Gingrich in that spot, but decided to keep the space open.

Democrats:
1) Sen. Hillary Clinton
2) Sen. John Edwards
3) Gov. Mark Warner
4) Sen. Evan Bayh
5) Sen. Barack Obama

Interesting tidbits: Senator John Kerry and Rudy's stock has fallen. While Romney and Obama has seen been receiving great press. I'm waiting for Senator Obama's visit to the Granite State.

Give Us Your Smart, Prosperous Masses

Today at the annual NH GOP convention, Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney delivered the keynote address. In his speech he made the following comments: "There's only one condition on getting your Ph.D here in the U.S. and that is, you leave as soon as you get it. Let me tell you, you get a Ph.D here in one of our great institutions, I want you to stay..." Governor Romney also said that a prosperous China is beneficial to the United States because, "It means we can sell our goods and services to people who have been poor for a long time. And over a billion people are going to come out of poverty. It's wonderful, but it's a challenge as well." During his address he introduced his wife. However, it is unclear which wife he was talking about.

I Guess Gingrich skipped his American Government courses

Former House Speaker, and possible presidential candidate, New Gingrich said that Supreme Court decisions should be overridden by the other branches of government. Gingrich, "What I reject, out of hand, is the idea that by five to four, judges can rewrite the Constitution, but it takes two-thirds of the House, two-thirds of the Senate and three-fourths of the states to equal five judges." He made these comments while speaking at a Georgetown Law School conference. Those comments help demonstrate why Gingrich will never be president. My advice to Newt: stick to doing Fox News, writing books and generating interesting policy ideas.

Why Come Only Once

Delaware Senator Joe Biden will be back in New Hampshire on October 14th. Senator Biden will be speaking at Cheshire County Democrats Annual Spaghetti Dinner in Keene. Dinner starts at 6:30, so guests are being told not to expect to leave until about midnight.

Dodd's Getting Serious

It appears the Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd is getting serious about a presidential bid. He will be in New Hampshire twice in two weeks. On October 10th he will be the keynote speaker at the Hillsborough County Democrats spaghetti dinner in Nashua. Then on October 21st he will be speaking at the Rockingham County Eleanor Roosevelt Dinner in Epping.

September Top Ten

The Next Prez lists the Top Ten Presidential candidates and their efforts. The blog is here: http://thenextprez.blogspot.com/

Democrats:
1. Hillary Clinton (steady) -- Getting even more press than usual as her husband's presidency comes under new scrutiny for how he prepared for the terrorism threat, but any Bush-Clinton comparisons also have their advantages for the New York Senator.
2. John Edwards (steady) -- Not really gaining ground on Clinton, but none of the newer contenders has yet made a significant move toward second place.
3. Russ Feingold (steady) -- Polling even with Clinton in his home state of Wisconsin, and above everyone not named Edwards, Kerry, or Gore in several other states.
4. John Kerry (steady) -- A veteran campaigner with a well-organized national reach, but may have limited upside unless Clinton decides not to run.
5. Bill Richardson (rising) -- Trails the top candidates in national media exposure, but most stories that do appear mention his strong presidential resume.
6. Mark Warner (steady) -- Made a big splash last November in Virginia, but needs to regain the national spotlight.
7. Evan Bayh (steady) -- Could battle Edwards for the anti-Hillary vote, and has the edge in gubernatorial experience to counter his lower name recognition.
8. Wesley Clark (steady) -- Has seen much of the anti-war vote shift slowly to Feingold over the past year, and hasn't been able to replace it yet with new supporters.
9. Joe Biden (steady) -- Outpolls several of the candidates above him in this list, but can't gain as much new name recognition as they can.
10. Tom Vilsack (steady) -- Despite the changes to the campaign calendar, Iowa still goes first.

Republicans
1. Rudy Giuliani (steady) -- Not serving in the Senate has its advantages for a candidate needing freedom to reframe his positions on the issues.
2. John McCain (steady) -- Compromise with President Bush on the treatment of military prisoners hasn't helped much with conservatives, and may hurt with libertarian-leaning Republican voters.
3. Mitt Romney (rising) -- Troubles for McCain and Allen, and past troubles for Frist, mean good news for Romney, establishing himself as the major conservative alternative to Giuliani.
4. Newt Gingrich (steady) -- Reestablishing himself on the national scene, but like Kerry, Gingrich hopes voters won't insist on new faces in 2008.
5. Mike Huckabee (steady) -- Slowly gaining supporters nationally, but still unknown to many voters.
6. Bill Frist (steady) -- Look for Frist to enter the campaign in force early in 2007.
7. George Pataki (steady) -- Laying the groundwork for his 2008 nomination bid as he serves out his term as governor of New York.
8. George Allen (falling) -- Once mentioned as the insiders' pick for the 2008 Republican nomination, Allen now faces a fight for job survival in his Senate race this November.
9. Tom Tancredo (rising) -- Not actively campaigning for the job anymore, but still seen as a leader for anti-illegal immigration Republicans.
10. Sam Brownback (rising) -- With Allen falling, some conservatives may turn to the Kansas senator.

Romney: I swear that I am a social conservative

Apparently, Governor Mitt Romney is NOT a social conservative. A group out of Massachusetts, called MassResistance, will be handing out pamphlets tomorrow that criticize Governor Romney. The group argues:

"Gov. Romney has NOT used the Executive Office or “bully pulpit” to protect and promote pro-family, pro-life issues. He rejected the idea of removing the four “homosexual marriage” judges (through the means outlined in the Mass. Constitution). He allowed his Dept. of Education and Dept. of Public Health to promote a radical homosexual agenda in our public schools.

Gov. Romney says he will support “domestic partnerships” for homosexual couples if the new “VoteOnMarriage” amendment is passed in Massachusetts. In 2004, he voiced support for civil unions (according to the Boston Globe). In 2001, Citizen Romney did NOT endorse the first Massachusetts marriage amendment, was embarrassed that his family members had signed the petition, and said the amendment was “too extreme.” (Boston Globe)

More information on the group can be found at these two sites:
http://www.massresistance.com/
http://www.massresistance.blogspot.com/

Kerry Pays A Visit

"John Kerry's visit to the state on October 4 will include two appearances with Beth Roth, the Democratic nominee for state Sentae in the 22nd District, most likely in Salem and Pelham." (PoliticsNH) JFK, John Forbes Kerry, will also be the keynote speaker at the annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner on October 13th.

Add another possible candidate for President. This time it's Jesse Ventura. While campaigning with Kinky Friedman in Texas, the former Independent Governor of Minnesota said, "Let me debate them in 2008 and I'll be your next president. If I want it. If I can debate them I can beat them." If he goes for it, it would mean that two candidates have dressed in drag on several occasions.

Maybe He Should Just Move Here

According to the Hotline, Governor Romney, "On 10/1 will host a fundraiser at his vacation home in Wolfeboro for the Daniel Webster Boy Scouts Council and then attend a fundraiser in Portsmouth for Rep. Jeb Bradley." So Romney will be in New Hampshire on Saturday then again on Monday. Maybe he should finally resign from Governor of Massachusetts, announce his candidacy for President, then permanently move to New Hampshire. He already has a vacation home in Wolfeboro and is never in his home state anyways. Oh wait, Massachusetts is not his home state! In fact, speculation is that his national campaign office will be based out of Michigan, not Boston. Mitt "Carpetbagger" Romney??

Can A Doctor Really Be President?

Former Clinton advisor Dick Morris blasted Senate Majority Leader Bill this morning. Morris wrote, "Frist performed about as well as a heart surgeon with mittens on. He failed utterly to provide the leadership necessary and managed to so mangle the reputation of the legislative wing of the Republican Party in the process that it may take several elections, and perhaps a Hillary Clinton presidency, to recover." One has to wonder what would have happened if Frist decided to run for Governor of TN in 2002, rather than remain in the Senate. Perhaps, we would be talking about a future President Frist and not Senate Majority Leader Bill "I can't control the Senate" Frist.

Romney: At Least We're Not 48th

An op-ed in today's Boston Globe stated, "Although Romney talks about a commitment to higher education in the mold of great public universities in Ann Arbor, Mich., and Madison, Wis., the talk in his case has been exceptionally cheap. Under Romney's leadership, the state's per capita contribution to higher education slipped to 47th in the nation. Negotiated salary agreements were not honored. Capital projects, unfunded for a long time, yield rotting infrastructure, such as the parking garage at UMass/Boston." It's tragic to hear Governor Romney talk about his accomplishments on Beacon Hill, because most of them are mirages.

Pataki Does ManchVegas

New York Governor George Pataki has announced that he will open an office in downtown Manchester. To help open the office, the Governor will be in Manchester on Monday. His supporters include, "Ben Gamache, the 2005 Manchester Republican of the Year, state Rep. David Currier, R-Henniker, Thomas DeRosa, chair of the New Hampshire College Republicans, and Matt Mayberry, a longtime Dover city official and party activist."

Rudy: Can't We All Get Along?

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said that, "The idea of trying to cast blame on President Clinton is just wrong for many, many reasons, not the least of which is I don't think he deserves it. I don't think President Bush deserves it. The people who deserve blame for Sept. 11, I think we should remind ourselves, are the terrorists _ the Islamic fanatics _ who came here and killed us and want to come here again and do it." He made those comments while campaigning for the Republican nominee for Florida governor. Moreover, he also said that he is considering a run for the Oval Office.

Sent In The Wives!

Tomorrow, Thursday September 28th, Elizabeth Edwards, wife of former North Carolina Senator John Edwards will attend a fundraiser for Lou D'Allesandro. It's great to see that Mrs. Edwards has fully recovered from breast cancer. She recently wrote the book, Saving Graces: Finding Solace and Strength from Friends and Strangers.

Romney Scores

Governor Mitt Romney has scored two big Granite fish. Tom Rath and Bruce Keough. These are two of the major players in the party. Also, McCain scored the support of 6 County Sheriffes. These guys are critical because they run their own campaigns. Thus, they know the contacts of countless people in their county. Finally, this Saturday Governor Romney will be speaking to the NH GOP State Convention. There is no word yet whether he will highlight the $700 million increase in fees that he supported while governor of the Bay State. Who wants to make bets that he will talk about the Olympic flag and its connection to the shuttle disaster?

Romney: Running for President

While in New Hampshire this past weekend, Governor Mitt Romney told a group of kids, "come take a picture with the next President of the United States." He was attending the House PAC in Stratham.