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Washington Watch
Hatch: $$ for Clean Cities
Sen. Orrin Hatch joins Sen. Hillary Clinton "to fight for the Department of Energy's Clean Cities program, which promotes increased use of alternative fuels to reduce dependence on foreign oil and improve air quality. The two Senators worked together to collect the signatures of a bipartisan group of 18 Senators on their letter Thursday to the Senate Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, urging it to double the projected funding level for Clean Cities for Fiscal Year (FY) 2008" (see press release).
National Politics
Best Stories From . . .
-- Salon: In op-ed, Sen. Russ Feingold discusses a bill he and Sen. Harry Reid plan to introduce that "would require the president to begin safely redeploying U.S. troops out of Iraq in 120 days, with redeployment to be completed by March 31, 2008. After March, funding for the war in Iraq would be cut off, with three narrow exceptions -- targeted counterterrorism operations, protection of U.S. personnel and infrastructure, and training and equipping Iraqi forces. In other words, the current military mission in Iraq would be effectively ended. Sen. Reid has said he will work to make sure the Senate votes on our bill by the end of May."
-- Weekly Standard: Columnist William Kristol relates: "An experienced Republican operative of our acquaintance--normally a man of sanguine disposition -- said it all last week. After denouncing the amazing irresponsibility of the Democratic Congress, after lamenting the refusal of much of the media to report progress from Iraq, after noting the apparent incompetence of the attorney general, after wondering why the secretary of state seems to be making herself irrelevant -- he came as close as he ever does to exploding. 'But all this doesn't matter. It's really about Bush. Doesn't he understand he's walking around with a 'Kick Me' sign on his back?' … The Democrats in Congress are trying to destroy his presidency. They are trying to cripple his ability to govern for the rest of his term. And they are not far from succeeding. Will Bush fight back?"
-- RealClearPolitics: In interview, Steve Forbes discusses his endorsement last week of Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani, says Forbes, is the "real fiscal conservative" in the presidential race.
-- Chicago Sun-Times: Columnist Robert Novak says that Fred Thompson "has improbably transformed the contest for the Republican presidential nomination. It is not merely that he has come from nowhere to double digits in the national polls. He is the talk of GOP political circles, because he is filling the conservative void in the Republican field of candidates."
Today in Political History
April 3, 1948: President Harry S. Truman signs the Marshall Plan, allocating more than $5 billion in aid for 16 European countries recovering from World War II. (Source: NBC5)
April 3, 1961: Washington, D.C. residents are given the right to vote for President and VP by the enactment of the 23rd Amendment to the Constitution. (Source: perspicuity)
Wise Words
“Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other.”
-- Oscar Ameringer (Source: Quote Garden)
Communication Tip
Create a Media List
A good relationship with the news media begins with the media list. Take the time to research the local and regional media that your target audiences pay attention to, and identify the right reporters and editors. Here, accuracy is very important. Reporters and their editors want their sources to be familiar with their publications, their beats, even their names. A misspelled name can be as much of a turn off to a reporter as it can be to a client.
If you don’t know who covers the beats that are relevant to you, research past stories on the outlet’s website or call the publication’s editor and ask. It may take some hunting, but you’ll find the right person and be glad you did. (Newsroom staffs get reassigned frequently, so keeping the media list up to date is an ongoing job.)
Tip: when a new reporter is assigned to a beat, this is an opportunity to meet with the reporter to introduce him or her to your organization and offer assistance to get the reporter familiar with the new beat. (Source: Basic Media Relations Handbook compiled by Exoro Group)
Lighter Side
Yesterday’s Dilbert cartoon from the Washington Post.
Blog Watch
-- At WSJ's Washington Wire, Jess Bravin reports: "Sen. Orrin Hatch took to the airwaves Sunday to defend Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, praising him as 'a very bright guy,' a 'very honest man' who's 'done a very good job.' But even though Gonzales's future hangs in jeopardy over the dismissals of eight U.S. attorneys, the Utah Republican seemed shocked when NBC's 'Meet the Press' host Tim Russert suggested President Bush might ask Hatch to take over as attorney general. After insisting on the unlikely odds of such an event, Hatch said 'it's up to the president,' but if duty called, 'I would serve this country any way I could.' Sen. Patrick Leahy (D., Vt.), the Judiciary Committee chairman who would preside over confirmation hearings for a new attorney general, didn't seem to think it was so farfetched. 'The rumor on the Hill this week was that he was actively running for it,' Leahy told Russert. Replied Hatch: 'Oh, come on, Pat.'"
-- Rep. Craig Frank observes: "MAG (Mountainland Association of Governments) a policy and think tank group based in Orem, has estimated the current population of Utah County at about 450,000 residents and claims we'll see that number grow to 750,000 by 2025. This creates and interesting dynamic when it comes to political 'power shifting.' With Salt Lake County becoming more Democrat or Republican-moderate in their population, and with the increase in young conservative families populating Northern and Southern Utah County, the 2010 census should yield a number of seat shifts in the Utah State House of Representatives during the next decade."
-- At New West, Tracy Medley says of the controversy surrounding V.P. Dick Cheney's upcoming speech at BYU: "There is a danger in oversimplifying the complexities of our political and religious lives in such a polarized community. I say let the veep speak and let those who wish to, protest his speech. Can't we all just get along while we're not getting along?" (see also SLCSpin).
-- Dean Barnett says of Mitt Romney's fundraising success: "It turns out that [Romney], when it comes to the business side of operating a campaign, is more adept than his two rivals, one a career politician and the other a lawyer/politician. I know pols and their supporters have gotten addicted to low-balling in order to spin actual results to look better than they are, but I'll break with that pattern and be perfectly candid: If Mitt hadn't proven more skilled at running the 'sausage factory' part of politics than McCain and Giuliani, I would have been stunned. One of the main reasons I support him is because I think Romney's much more intelligent, insightful and creative than the typical politician. ... But let's be clear -- these numbers are strictly inside baseball stuff and of limited significance. All three of the top contenders on both sides raised enough money to run a first rate campaign. Whether they use that money to actually run a first-rate campaign is the question" (for more Romney-related posts, see Captain's Quarters, Rolling Stone National Affairs Daily, The Corner, UNCoRRELATED, God Is a Beer Drinker, and Out of Context). |
