2008 US Presidential Election.

Months after the governor called for cutting property taxes, in part by trimming bureaucracy and boosting rebates, lawmakers delivered increased tax breaks for homeowners.

They tied the rebates to caps on government spending and used a separate tax increase to help pay for it. Democrats declared victory for the people. Republicans howled that it was all an election-geared gimmick.

That was in 2004, and the governor was James E. McGreevey.

Two and a half years later, increased relief and 4 percent caps on property tax increases are the most tangible products Gov. Jon S. Corzine has to show so far after his call for “historic reforms” more than six months ago. Last year’s sales tax hike will pay for much of the latest rebate plan.

Courierpostonline

Just about a year-and-a-half ago, Sen. John McCain went to court to try to curtail the influence of a group to which A. Jerrold Perenchio gave $9 million, saying it was trying to “evade and violate” new campaign laws with voter ads ahead of the midterm elections.

As McCain launches his own presidential campaign, however, he is counting on Perenchio, the founder of the Univision Spanish-language media empire, to raise millions of dollars as co-chairman of the Arizona Republican’s national finance committee.

In his early efforts to secure the support of the Republican establishment he has frequently bucked, McCain has embraced some of the same political-money figures, forces and tactics he pilloried during a 15-year crusade to reduce the influence of big donors, fundraisers and lobbyists in elections. That includes enlisting the support of Washington lobbyists as well as key players in the fundraising machine that helped President Bush defeat McCain in the 2000 Republican primaries.

freeinternetpress

Presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee swooped into Myrtle Beach on Saturday to woo the area’s top Republicans.

Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas and a conservative Republican, said he wanted to tell the people gathered at the annual Horry County Republican Ball in Myrtle Beach to “remember that being a Republican is a good thing.”

Huckabee is among the presidential hopefuls making the rounds in South Carolina, which, because of its early 2008 Democratic and Republican primaries, is poised to play a larger role in choosing the next president.

Speaking to reporters before the event, he said the Republicans deserved to lose control of Congress and that the country needs a leader who can efficiently run the government.

myrtlebeachonline

WASHINGTON - It can be hard to keep track of everyone running for president, let alone those who are merely “exploring” it, “unofficially running,” “testing the waters” or “starting a conversation with the American people.”
This is the stutter-step season of the 2008 presidential campaign.

Candidates keep announcing that they are running or almost certainly running, then, a few days or weeks later, saying so again while the news media dutifully record each step.

Last week, for instance, former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, a Republican who last month announced formation of an “exploratory committee,” made more headlines by saying he would announce that he was going to run for president this week in Michigan. And former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York declared last week that “I’m in this to win” after filing something called a “statement of candidacy.”

The New York Times

This is what it’s come to. The local newspaper in my town in Virginia today ran an op-ed by rightwinger Cal Thomas attacking Hillary Clinton for her past support for the war. Thomas began by criticizing Clinton for pretending she had never supported the war, but the bulk of his column blamed her simply for supporting it and for falling for the lies that Bush had used to sell it:

“One wonders what took such a smart woman until January 2007 in Iowa to conclude that she had been duped. And, one wonders: If she can be misled by so many people in whom she has confidence, how will she be able to see clearly as president?”

Along with this column, the paper printed a cartoon from the San Antonio Express News that shows Hillary with a “Hillary 08″ button thinking “He’s not the only one I wish would go away.” She’s reading an article about Obama, and walking up behind her is another Hillary labeled “Pro-War Hillary.”

afterdowningstreet

Senator Barack Obama announced his bid to be America’s first black president by urging an end to the Iraq war and portraying himself as a fresh face capable of leading a new generation.

Obama, 45, the youngest contender among his fellow Democrats, told thousands shivering in the cold at the campaign’s launch in Springfield, Illinois: “Let us transform this nation.”

Although relatively new to national politics, Obama is already considered one of the top challengers in his party to front-runner Senator Hillary Clinton in the 2008 election.

IOL

AN EARLIER VOTE WOULD NOT GUARANTEE A DECISIVE ROLE IN CHOOSING PRESIDENT

By Philip J. Trounstine

California’s rush toward an early primary is swirling through the Legislature, and it looks like it will be a done deal within weeks. With support from both parties and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, it’s a near certainty that the state’s 2008 primary will be moved up from June, and that we’ll be voting Feb. 5 for presidential contenders next year.

That will put the contest for the largest bloc of delegates needed to win a party nomination at the front end of the nominating process, right after Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina — states that have conspired with the presidential contenders and party leaders to place themselves at the head of the calendar, defying all rationality.

Mercury News

They don’t have any cute, little children begging for more books.

No professors march to the Capitol to rally lawmakers for support in matching T-shirts.

And zealous parents have not organized an e-mail campaign to apply election-year pressure.

Lobbying the Legislature for more money has not been the strength of Mississippi’s eight universities in recent years - especially when compared to the advocates for kindergarten through 12th grade education.

hattiesburgamerican

BERLIN, N.H. (AP) - Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton faced tough questions Saturday from New Hampshire voters skeptical about her stand on the Iraq war, including one who demanded that she repudiate her 2002 Senate vote to send U.S. troops into battle.

In her first presidential campaign visit to the early voting state, Clinton sought to focus on her plans to revive struggling small-town economies, universal health care and making college more affordable. But at a crowded town hall meeting of some 350 people, Clinton was peppered with questions about Iraq.

Cantonrep

CONCORD, New Hampshire — Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton faced questions Saturday from New Hampshire voters skeptical about her stand on the Iraq war, including one who demanded that she repudiate her 2002 Senate vote to send U.S. troops into battle.

In her first presidential campaign visit to the early voting state, Clinton focused on her plans to revive struggling small-town economies, provide universal health care and make college more affordable. But at a town hall meeting in rural Berlin, New Hampshire, and at a boisterous gathering of some 3,000 people in the state capital, Concord, Ms. Clinton was peppered with …

online.wsj.com

CONCORD – Questions over her 2002 vote to authorize the Iraq war marked the first day of New Hampshire campaigning for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

The New York senator hosted two public events Saturday and both town hall-style forums ended with stiff questioning about her past voting record and present plans for Iraq.

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