ELECTION 2004 News:

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"But as McCain greets two breakfast-eating business partners, one from Stamford [Connecticut] and the other from Bridgeport [Connecticut], the topic turns to the presidential race. The two men tell the senator they support [Republican] President George W. Bush, and to that end, McCain says, "(Osama) Bin Laden may have just given us a little boost. Amazing, huh?".... " ... "The two men, who requested anonymity, nod their heads in agreement. Later, while riding with Shays on an RV to a rally at the Stamford Government Center, McCain further explains, "(The video) is helpful to President Bush because it puts the focus on the war on terrorism.""

John McCain - Marketing - Law - Politics - History - 2004 Election - 2008 Election - "McCain adviser ousted in conflict uproar." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain's campaign asked a prominent Republican consultant, Craig Shirley, to leave his official campaign role Thursday after a Politico inquiry about Shirley's dual role consulting for the campaign and for an independent "527" group opposing the Democratic presidential candidates." ... "Shirley, a conservative public relations veteran, doubled as a consultant to McCain and to the group Stop Her Now, a 527 group barred from coordinating its activities with presidential campaigns." ... "Shirley’s firm, Shirley & Bannister Associates, was paid more than $22,000 by McCain for work this February and March to win conservative support. Stop Her Now has paid the firm more than $155,000 since 2007 for public relations work." ... "He [Craig Shirley] was reportedly a member of the team that tarred [former Democratic Presidential Candidate] Michael Dukakis with the “Willie Horton” ads in 1988, and later he helped organize the first press conference with Paula Jones, who had sued [former Democratic President] Clinton for sexual harassment. In 2004, his company did public relations work for a mov[i]e attacking [former 2004 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] John Kerry for undermining the treatment of Vietnam Veterans, “Stolen Honor.”" -By Ben Smith -Politico.com

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Scott J Bloch - Lurita Alexis Doan - Illegal - Political - Government - Workers - Hatch Act - Computer - Censorship - 2004 Election - Travel - "FBI seizes Doan, Rice case files in raid of OSC chief's office." ... "About 20 FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] agents and administrative investigators executed search warrants Tuesday on the U.S. [United States] Office of Special Counsel in a daylong raid that appeared at least partly focused on finding information on the office's high-profile investigations into alleged illegal political activity by [Republican President] Bush administration officials." ... "Last year, the OPM IG's office began looking into Bloch's hiring of private computer technicians to remove files from his office computer and those of aides. The files had been sought by investigators, but Bloch has described the files as personal and not relevant to the probe." ... "But OSC employees said the grand jury subpoenas seek a wide range of information that goes beyond Bloch's deletion of computer files or treatment of agency employees." ... "Investigators have demanded all files on OSC's investigation last year into allegations of improper political activity by Lurita Doan, the former head of the General Services Administration, who was forced to resign last week by the White House." ... "OSC found that Doan, in a January 2007 meeting to discuss Republican congressional races with the agency's political appointees and a White House political operative, violated the Hatch Act, which bars federal employees from using government resources for partisan politics. But the finding generated criticism from House Republicans, who accused Bloch of leaking results of the Doan investigation to the news media." ... "During Tuesday's raid, investigators did not seek files from the wider Hatch Act probe, but they subpoenaed at least two OSC employees who are part of the unit looking into the suspected political activities. They also sought Bloch's expense and credit card records, information regarding his use of storage facilities or safety deposit boxes and material related to testimony he has delivered at congressional hearings." ... "In addition, investigators demanded documents related to OSC's investigation into allegations that Secretary of State Rice used federal resources to travel to campaign appearances supporting President Bush's re-election in 2004. Bloch's office closed the case, finding no violation by Rice." -By Dan Friedman -CongressDaily via -GovExec.com 

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John McCain - Media - Accounting - Politics - Arizona - Massachusetts - 2004 Election - 2008 Election - "Several media outlets advanced comparison between Cindy McCain's and Teresa Heinz Kerry's release of tax info, ignoring key distinction." ... "Summary: Several media outlets have reported that [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain's campaign justified refusing to release Cindy McCain's tax returns by citing [2004 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Massachusetts Senator] Sen. John Kerry and his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, as "precedent." But they did not report that, in contrast with Cindy McCain, Heinz Kerry did release a part of her 2003 income tax return that showed "total income," which enabled The New York Times to analyze how she benefited from the [Republican President] Bush tax cuts. Such an analysis of how the McCains have benefited from the tax cuts -- which Sen. McCain supports extending permanently -- is not possible, based on the information his campaign has released on Cindy McCain's income." ... "These media reports, therefore, have advanced the McCain campaign's comparison between Cindy McCain's limited release of financial information and Heinz Kerry's, and in doing so, ignored a key distinction in the information they released: Unlike Heinz Kerry, Cindy McCain did not release sufficient information for the public to determine the extent to which she benefited from the tax cuts her husband supports extending." -MediaMatters.org

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Corporate Money - Politics - Ads - 2008 Election - 2004 Election - Workers - Homes - John Edwards - Hillary Clinton - Barack Obama - Mike Huckabee - North Carolina - New York - Illinois - Arkansas - Iowa - US - Consumer - Litigation - Globalization - "Chamber of Commerce vows to punish anti-business candidates: The group indicates it will spend in excess of the approximately $60 million it put out in the last [2004 Election] presidential cycle." ... "Alarmed at the increasingly populist tone of the 2008 [Election] political campaign, the president of the U.S. [United States] Chamber of Commerce is set to issue a fiery promise to spend millions of dollars to defeat candidates deemed to be anti-business." ... ""We plan to build a grass-roots business organization so strong that when it bites you in the butt, you bleed," chamber President Tom Donohue said." ... "The warning from the nation's largest trade association came against a background of mounting popular concern over the condition of the economy. A weak record of job creation, the sub-prime mortgage crisis, declining home values and other problems have all helped make the economy a major campaign issue." ... "Presidential candidates in particular have responded to the public concern. Former [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Senator] Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina has been the bluntest populist voice, but other front-running Democrats, including [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Senator] Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Senator] Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, have also called for change on behalf of middle-class voters." ... "On the Republican side, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and] former Arkansas Gov. [Governor] Mike Huckabee -- emerging as an unexpected front-runner after winning the Iowa caucuses -- has used populist themes in his effort to woo independent voters, blasting bonus pay for corporate chief executives and the effect of unfettered globalization on workers." ... "Reacting to what it sees as a potentially hostile political climate, Donohue said, the chamber will seek to punish candidates who target business interests with their rhetoric or policy proposals, including congressional and state-level candidates." ... "In advance of today's news conference, Donohue told The Times of his plans to be active in 140 congressional districts this year, as well as the presidential contest." ... "At the state level, Donohue said his organization would be active in nearly four dozen contests for attorney general and state supreme courts. Both state courts and attorneys general are involved in decisions affecting business, including consumer protection and a wide range of litigation." ... "Under Donohue, the organization has also frequently aligned itself with GOP [Grand Old Party=Republican] priorities." ... "Under a system Donohue pioneered, corporations contribute money to the chamber, which then finances attack ads targeting individual candidates without revealing the name of the businesses involved in the ads." -By Tom Hamburger -LAtimes 

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John Edwards - Barack Obama - Politics - 2008 Election - 2004 Election - Iowa - New Hampshire - Working - People - Investment - Civil Rights - Lawyer - Drug - Oil - "Obama borrows from Edwards." ... "After beating [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] John Edwards in Iowa on Thursday, [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama has decided to join him -- repeatedly poaching his opponent's themes, language, and even jokes." ... ""We shouldn't just be respecting wealth in this country -- we should be respecting work," Obama told an overflow crowd in a [New Hampshire] high-school gym today." ... "Edwards's 2004 presidential campaign was centered around the idea that the [Republican President] Bush administration had launched a "war on work" through tax cuts that offer incentives for investment over labor. "Hard work should be valued in this country, so we're going to reward work, not just wealth," Edwards said in accepting his party’s vice-presidential nomination at the Democratic’ convention in Boston. In this campaign, he has sharpened his populist rhetoric, railing against greedy corporate CEOs who are waging war on working people and the middle class." ... "Since arriving in New Hampshire Friday, Obama has borrowed Edwards's favorite verb by bragging that he had "fought" as a community organizer and civil rights lawyer, and conceding that "insurance companies and drug companies will not give up their profits" -- which Edwards asserts repeatedly to ridicule Obama's talk of conciliation. Obama repeatedly invoked those interests, as well as "big oil and big insurance," common villains in Edwards speeches." -By Sasha Issenberg with contributions by Foon Rhee -Boston/Globe

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Barack Obama - Hillary Clinton - Iowa - 2008 Election - 2004 Election - History - "Obama: Gore, Kerry Alienated "Half the Country"." ... "In a speech this afternoon in central Iowa, [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama seems to have widened his criticism of the politics of the past to encompass not only [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Hillary Clinton but [former Presidential Candidates] John Kerry and Nobel Laureate Al Gore." ... "Making an argument for his electability, Obama said, "I don't want to go into the next election starting off with half the country already not wanting to vote for Democrats -- we've done that in 2004, 2000," according to a person at the event (rush transcript)." -By Glenn Thrush -Newsday.com 

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Money - Politics - Federal - Housing - Legislation - New Jersey - Georgia - California - Texas - Utah - Maryland - Nevada - Oregon - Washington - 2004 Election - US - Netherlands - "Lender Lobbying Blitz Abetted Mortgage Mess: Ameriquest Pressed For Changes in Laws; A Battle in New Jersey." ... "During the housing boom, the subprime industry succeeded at more than just writing mortgages. It also shot down efforts by some states to curtail risky lending to borrowers with spotty credit." ... "Ameriquest Mortgage Co. [ACC Capital Holdings], until recently one of the nation's largest subprime lenders, was at the center of those battles. Working with a husband-and-wife team of Washington lobbyists, it handed out more than $20 million in political donations and played a big role in persuading legislators in New Jersey and Georgia to relax tough new laws. Those victories, in turn, helped blunt efforts by other states to crack down on reckless lending, critics of the industry contend." ... "Home loans made by Ameriquest and other subprime lenders are defaulting now in large numbers, roiling global credit markets and sparking debate about whether regulators and lawmakers should have anticipated the mess and taken action. A close look at Ameriquest's lobbying and political donations shows how the subprime industry maneuvered to defeat legislation that might have contained some of the damage." ... "Data from federal and state campaign-finance records, Internal Revenue Service filings, and the National Institute on Money in State Politics show that from 2002 through 2006, Ameriquest, its executives and their spouses and business associates donated at least $20.5 million to state and federal political groups. In comparison, over the same time period, Countrywide Financial, another large subprime lender, gave about $2 million in campaign gifts, and spent an additional $6.7 million lobbying in Washington, records indicate." ... "Some of the giving by Ameriquest executives and associates was high-profile. [Republican] President Bush received more than $200,000 for his 2004 re-election campaign, and Ameriquest founder Roland Arnall and his wife, Dawn, contributed more than $5 million to political organizations that backed the president. Last year, [Republican] President Bush appointed Mr. Arnall ambassador to the Netherlands, and his wife took over as chairman of Ameriquest's parent company. California [Republican Governor] Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaigns received at least $1.4 million, along with stacks of tickets to a Rolling Stones concert that were used to lure big donors." ... "Last year, ACC Capital, its [Ameriquest Mortgage Company] parent company, agreed to pay $325 million to settle regulators' claims that it charged excessively high mortgage rates and didn't adequately disclose loan risks. Some of the state attorneys general who signed the settlement, including Greg Abbott of Texas, received campaign donations from the firm. Utah's attorney general, Mark Shurtleff, received a $1,000 contribution and Rolling Stones tickets." ... "Ameriquest also handed out Rolling Stones tickets to state legislators in Georgia, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and California, according to ethics records and local news accounts." ... "Federal lawmakers didn't pose much of a threat to the subprime industry in recent years. Members of Congress received at least $645,000 in donations from Ameriquest and large sums from other big subprime lenders, Federal Election Commission records indicate." ... "ACC Capital, Ameriquest's parent company, and its executives gave more than $350,000 to Texas politicians in 2006, including $100,000 to [Republican Governor] Gov. Rick Perry, according to state records." -By Glenn R. Simpson -WSJ.com 

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John Edwards - Wisconsin - Iowa - Poll - Union - 2004 Election - 2008 Election - "Edwards may be closer than he appears." ... "In 2004 [Election], when [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] John Edwards nearly beat John Kerry in Wisconsin, he declared, "Objects in your mirror may be closer than they appear."" ... "In 2008, he may be getting close again." ... "He has run in Iowa and knows the caucus system. He has worked rural counties, where a little-reported study revealed that last time it took only 22 caucus-goers to win a delegate, compared with 80 in urban counties." ... "According to a shrewd observer, a big chunk of Dick Gephardt's 2004 trade union support has gone to Edwards. Adding what he already had gives him a solid share of the 122,000 people who caucused last time." ... "[Iowa] Caucus-goers whose candidates don't get 15 percent at a given caucus can switch on a subsequent ballot to a "viable" candidate. A recent poll found Edwards is much more likely (42 percent) to be the second choice of those whose candidate didn't make the cut than Obama (31 percent) or Clinton (27 percent)." -By Dan Payne -BostonGlobe 

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Ron Paul - Mitt Romney - Politics - History - Online - 2008 Election - 2004 Election - "Ron Paul Supporters Make History with $6 Million Online Haul -- Updated." ... "[2008 Election] Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul made history Sunday by raising $6 million in online contributions in 24 hours, breaking the record for the most money raised by a national candidate in a single day, and potentially putting Paul on track to surpass the fourth quarter fund raising of all of his competitors in both parties." ... ""I just think it's extraordinary," says Anthony J. Corrado, a campaign finance expert and professor of government at Colby College in Maine. "In my view, I expect that Ron Paul will raise more money than any other candidate this quarter. At this point, his main competition will be [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] (Mitt) Romney's checkbook."" ... "The $6 million number beats the 2004 [Election] record set by Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, who raised $5.7 million after he gave his nomination speech." -By Sarah Lai Stirland -Wired 

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John Edwards - Des-Moines - Iowa - Economic - 2008 Election - 2004 Election - "The evolution of John Edwards." ... "At its core, Edwards' message of fairness is the same in his 2008 [Election] campaign it was in 2004 [Election], scholars and political observers say. However, it is sharper and more confrontational, reflecting the increased urgency felt by Democratic voters to reverse course, and the pressure on the candidate to remain relevant in an altered political environment." ... "But rather than targeting the [Republican President] Bush administration, he has trained his assault on corporate interests." ... ""Anybody who's really been watching for the whole time and is thinking about it would see there's a very clear pattern to this," Edwards said in a Des Moines Register interview. "If you were to sort of sum it up, what I would say is in 2004, I talked about two Americas. In 2008, I'm talking about taking on the fight and the substance necessary to create one America."" ... "Edwards is referring to the metaphor that fueled his late Iowa surge and second-place caucus finish in 2004. In a Des Moines [Iowa] speech in late December 2003, he condemned the notion of "one America that does the work and another that reaps the reward."" ... "But Edwards is more combative this time around. He is no longer content to talk about economic inequity - he prescribes an aggressive effort to root out special interests in Washington, D.C." ... ""It is time to give these entrenched interests, that are standing against America, hell," Edwards told thousands of Iowa Democrats this month at the state party's fall fundraiser in Des Moines. "That's the only way we're going to win this fight."" -By Thomas Beaumont -DesMoinesRegister

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Alberto Gonzales - Karl Rove - Randy "Duke" Cunningham - Criminal - US Attorneys - Politics - Government - Law - Hatch Act - Washington - 2004 Election - New Mexico - San Diego - California - "Gonzales could be prosecuted, McKay says." ... "The U.S. Inspector General may recommend criminal prosecution of [Republican President Bush's] departed Attorney General Alberto Gonzales at the conclusion of an investigation, possibly as early as next month, the fired former U.S. attorney for Western Washington told a Spokane audience Friday." ... "His refusal to open a federal criminal investigation into voter fraud allegations in Gov. Chris Gregoire’s razor-thin victory over Republican challenger Dino Rossi in 2004 [election] may be the reason he was fired, John McKay told the Federal Bar Association." ... "Appointed by President Bush in October 2001 to the top law enforcement job in western Washington, McKay said he believes he and seven other U.S. attorneys were fired last December by Gonzales for political reasons, perhaps with former White House chief of staff Karl Rove pulling strings." ... "Gonzales “lied about” reasons for the firings when questioned under oath in July by the Senate Judiciary Committee and now has hired a lawyer and is refusing to answer questions from the Inspector General, McKay said." ... "“There was a conspiracy to politicize the Justice Department,’’ the former U.S. attorney said, “and they did not get away with it.”" ... "[Former New Mexico U.S. Attorney David] Iglesias has filed a Hatch Act complaint, alleging Rove and other White House officials may have violated that federal law in his firing." ... "[Former San Diego, California U.S. Attorney Carol] Lam has said she believes her firing was tied her office’s aggressive investigation of Rep. [California Republican Representative] Randy “Duke” Cunningham, a Republican congressman who later pleaded guilty to conspiracy and tax evasion." -By Bill Morlin -SpokesmanReview.com 

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Karl Rove - Christopher Shays - Government - Money - Political - Media - Marketing - Employees - Hatch Act - Law - 2004 Election - 2006 Election - Connecticut - "How Rove Directed Federal Assets for GOP Gains: [Republican President] Bush Adviser's Effort to Promote the President and His Allies Was Unprecedented in Its Reach." ... "Thirteen months before President Bush was reelected [in the 2004 election], chief strategist Karl Rove summoned political appointees from around the government to the Old Executive Office Building. The subject of the Oct. 1, 2003, meeting was "asset deployment," and the message was clear:" ... "The staging of official announcements, high-visibility trips and declarations of federal grants had to be carefully coordinated with the White House political affairs office to ensure the maximum promotion of Bush's reelection agenda and the Republicans in Congress who supported him, according to documents and some of those involved in the effort." ... ""The White House determines which members need visits," said an internal e-mail about the previously undisclosed Rove "deployment" team, "and where we need to be strategically placing our assets."" ... "Under Rove's direction, this highly coordinated effort to leverage the government for political marketing started as soon as Bush took office in 2001 and continued through last year's congressional elections [2006 election], when it played out in its most quintessential form in the coastal Connecticut district of [Republican Representative] Rep. Christopher Shays, an endangered Republican incumbent. Seven times, senior administration officials visited Shays's district in the six months before the election -- once for an announcement as minor as a single $23 government weather alert radio presented to an elementary school. On Election Day, Shays was the only Republican House member in New England to survive the Democratic victory." ... "The U.S. Office of Special Counsel and the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee are investigating whether any of the meetings violated the Hatch Act, which prohibits government employees from using federal resources for election activities." (1, 2, 3) -By John Solomon, Alec MacGillis and Sarah Cohen -WashingtonPost 

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