Clinton To Leave Senate Leadership Position

Hillary Rodham Clinton is stepping down from her Democratic leadership position in the Senate to clear the deck "for her ambitions outside the Senate". Clinton To Leave Senate Leadership Position

Hillary Has 12-Point Lead Among 2008 Democrats

Hillary Rodham Clinton is holding on to first place in the group of
prospective Democratic Party presidential contenders in the United
States, according to a poll by McLaughlin Associates. 31 per cent
of respondents would prefer to have the New York senator as the 2008
nominee.

Illinois senator Barack Obama is second on the list
with 19 per cent, followed by former vice-president Al Gore and 2004
presidential nominee John Kerry with 10 per cent each, and former North
Carolina senator John Edwards with six per cent.

Support is
lower for Delaware senator Joseph Biden, New Mexico governor Bill
Richardson, Indiana senator Evan Bayh, and Wisconsin senator Russ
Feingold. Hillary Has 12-Point Lead Among 2008 Democrats

Bush says immigrants can be held indefinitely, with no access to lawyers

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

No more. Open

Wesley Clark Whispers In New York

Wesley Clark, in support of Ms Gillibrand’s Congressional campaign, was accompanied by whispers to the effect that he is the man who will be Senator Clinton’s first choice for running mate...The Redness of Greene

Romney building Arizona 'network' for possible presidential bid

Romney building Arizona 'network' for possible presidential bid - The Business

Journal of Phoenix:: "Romney also said he doesn't support same-sex marriages or

civil unions and would only extend rights or benefits pertaining to hospital ...Romney building Arizona 'network' for possible presidential bid

Recount starts in the very suspicious 13th CD in Florida

Recount starts in the very suspicious 13th CD in Florida

She Survived Iraq -- Then Shot Herself at Home

She Survived Iraq -- Then Shot Herself at Home

Cheney may go, opening field for 2008

David Nason, New York correspondent

November 13, 2006

WHEN US Vice-President Dick Cheney fired a shotgun into the face of
his buddy Harry Whittington on a hunting trip earlier this year, The
New York Post carried a banner headline that read: "Cheney's got a gun".

The headline explained how the quail shoot had gone wrong, and captured
the sense of foreboding Cheney has always brought to US politics.

Even the revelatory tone seemed to speak to the excessive
secrecy that is a Cheney hallmark - and which was evident in the
attempted cover-up of Whittington's near-death experience.

The shooting was back in February, when Cheney's immense influence over the White House was at its peak.

It was a time when the Iraq policy he had conceived with defence
secretary and lifelong pal Donald Rumsfeld - the policy that has come
to define the careers of both men - was holding up well enough for the
Bush administration to be contemplating troop reductions.

At the White House, Cheney's personal influence was amplified by his
oversight of the cabinet process, a role that gave him a say in every
area of government policy.

Cheney even had the authority to classify documents, something none
of his predecessors could do. In short, Cheney made himself the most
powerful vice-president in US history.

How things have changed. As the dust clears on the mid-term
elections, Rumsfeld is gone, the Iraq strategy is in tatters, the
Democrats control both houses of Congress and the once impregnable
Cheney has been left isolated and discredited.

Rumsfeld's dumping aside - a move Cheney vigorously opposed -
nothing indicated the sidelining of the Vice-President more than George
W. Bush's White House meeting last week with senior house Democrat
leaders Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer. Cheney was present, but when Bush
spoke of the significance of the talks, he forgot to acknowledge the
Vice-President's involvement.

"All three of us recognise the importance of working together to get
things done," Bush told reporters. It was a slip, but a Freudian one.

If Cheney quits, Bush could appoint in his place one of the contenders for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008.

Previously, Mitt Romney and George Pataki, the retiring governors of
Massachusetts and New York respectively, have been mentioned as
possible replacements in the event of a Cheney resignation. So has
George Allen, the ambitious but now defeated senator from Virginia, and
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

But what if Bush were to ask one of the Republican frontrunners,
either John McCain or Rudy Giuliani, to take the job? Would they accept
on the basis that the vice-presidency is the best place from which to
launch a presidential run, or would they decline for fear of being
tainted by the Bush legacy?

And if Bush were turned down, would he go for someone who is certain
to accept - perhaps his young brother Jeb, the Governor of Florida,
whose term expires in January? Bush has already said his brother would
make a "great president", so why not a vice-president?

The possibilities are many, and the impact on the 2008 presidential
race could be profound, but in the end it all rides on what Cheney
decides to do. At this stage he seems intent on staying put for the
report by the Iraq Study Group chaired by former secretary of state
James Baker.

One thing is for sure: talk of the 2008 US presidential race being a
contest without a vice-president among the candidates is way premature. The Australian

Rumors That Cheney May Be Next To Resign

According to Washington insiders, there are moves afoot to dump Vice President Dick Cheney and replace him with either John McCain or Rudolph Giuliani prior to the 2008 presidential election. Whoever succeeds Cheney will be able to ... Cheney Next on the Chopping Block?

Bush Picks Martinez to Head RNC

Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL) "has accepted an offer by the White House to become the new chairman of the Republican National Committee," according to CNN.



"Under the arrangement, Martinez will remain in office and serve as the party's lead spokesman as well as take a major role in fundraising and political outreach, while RNC General Counsel Robert (Mike) Duncan will oversee the committee's day-to-day responsibilities. Duncan is serving his fourth term as a RNC committeeman from Kentucky and was also elected the committee's Treasurer in Jan. 2001."

Bush Picks Martinez to Head RNC

Minnesota Democrats Target Coleman in 2008

"With the wind at their backs, Minnesota
Democrats are quickly making" Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) "their next
target," reports the St. Paul Pioneer Press.




Comedian Al Franken "moved back to the state last year to work the
Democratic vineyards and test support for a run, which he sounds likely
to make." Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak has also said he's "not closing
any doors" on a Senate contest. Open