Afternoon Quick Hits

by Steve

2008 Campaign

The Post profiles Bill Clinton’s balancing act between being campaign spouse and former president, and seems surprised that he hasn’t become the campaign liability the mainstream media assumed he would be. Geez, I’m so sorry their narrative flamed out.

Bill Richardson cleverly slams Obama and Edwards today for going negative on Hillary and not sticking with the issues. For his part, Edwards decides to hit Hillary on integrity, and not their stance on the issues.

Are you surprised to find out that media coverage of Hillary and Rudy is more negative than positive, or that the media coverage so far has been overwhelmingly about tactics and the horse race instead of the issues, at a time when the public says overwhelmingly it wants more information about the candidates’ position on the issues?

Hillary: No On Mukasey

After Mukasey's newest letter to Congress says he doesn’t know whether or not water boarding is torture, and that he would have to study the matter, Hillary Clinton announced that she would oppose Michael Mukasey’s nomination to be AG.

Helping Iran Go Nuclear

If the Bush Administration knew back in 2003 that Dubai was a transfer point for Pakistan to ship nuclear centrifuges and other materials to Iran, and that Iran made its greatest strides in gaining nuclear program capabilities between 2002 and 2003, then why did Bush’s Treasury Department approve the Dubai Ports World deal in 2006?

Universal Health Care

After seeing the polls show a strong preference for Democratic universal health care proposals compared to the GOP “more of the same” tax breaks for the wealthy, the Bush Administration signals that it will study the successful Dutch and Swiss systems upon which Clinton and Edwards’ proposals are based. And as a sign the industry sees the writing on the wall, for the first time Democratic presidential candidates are taking in more money from the health care industry than their GOP counterparts.

SCHIP

Senate Democrats are working with House and Senate Republicans to craft an SCHIP compromise that meets Democratic demands but gives the GOP members the language tweaks they need to save face and vote against the president.

Consumer Products

The head of Bush’s Consumer Products Safety Commission is against congressional efforts to increase her budget and improved product safety, even after her staff fell asleep as China and other countries flooded our nation with dangerous products. Pelosi called for her head today. Bush’s expected veto of measures to improve consumer safety will only hand Democrats another issue to kill Republicans with in 2008.

Bad Economy?

Home prices fell again in August, and consumer confidence remained at its lowest level in two years.