Today, Romney for President Campaign Manager Beth Myers issued the following statement regarding the outcome of West Virginia’s Republican Party convention:
“Unfortunately, this is what Senator McCain’s inside Washington ways look like: he cut a backroom deal with the tax-and-spend candidate he thought could best stop Governor Romney’s campaign of conservative change.
“Governor Romney had enough respect for the Republican voters of West Virginia to make an appeal to them about the future of the party based on issues. This is why he led on today’s first ballot. Sadly, Senator McCain cut a Washington backroom deal in a way that once again underscores his legacy of working against Republicans who are interested in championing conservative policies and rebuilding the party.”
FOX News and Rush Limbaugh were reporting on a deal earlier that McCain supporters were told to go toward Huckabee. My understanding is that this is how these caucus and convention systems work. If you don’t reach viability or don’t look like you are going to win, your supporters go somewhere else and you can make your preference known.
Mark Penn says Clinton would like to have one debate a week with Obama until March 4th including one on FOX News.
Penn said Clinton would like to see debates in Ohio, Texas, and Washington, and had already accepted three: One on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopolous, one CNN debate in Ohio February 27, and an MSNBC debate the next day hosted by Chris Matthews.
Wolfson also said Clinton has accepted a debate on Fox News, something Democrats shunned last year. That debate is scheduled for February 11, in Washington D.C., and would also air on the local Fox affiliate.
Early on much was made of Senator Hillary Clinton’s relationship with conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Last week much was also assumed by Murdoch’s paper The New York Post endorsing Barack Obama. Was it a sign of a breach in their relationship? Was it Murdoch’s personal belief that Republicans would have a better chance running against a perceived lightweight in Obama? Nobody really knows but there is plenty of speculation to go around.
David Carr at The New York Times looks over the complex and perhaps unknown relationship and Clinton’s sometimes half-hearted wooing of the paper and its owner.
As a senator, Mrs. Clinton did put time and effort into the care and feeding of the tabloid, making sure that Post reporters had access to news and expertise out of her office, along with the occasional scoop when it suited both parties. But she never once appeared before its editorial board — a customary act of tribute by local politicians — and her lack of deference was duly noted by the paper’s leadership.
Part of the cooling in the relationship, according to people involved on both sides, has to do with the realities of being a hometown paper. When Mrs. Clinton was serving and running as a senator, she had a relationship with the paper. But as her candidacy for president gathered momentum, The Post became just one more part of the media scrum, and the paper did not react well to the disregard.
When John Edwards announced that he would boycott the Fox News Channel debate last spring, Mrs. Clinton went along. Fox News and The Post are corporate siblings, although they’re not particularly close. Still, Mr. Murdoch certainly took note of the fact that the courtesies extended to Mrs. Clinton — a muted presence in the gossip columns of Page Six, more balance in the news pages — did not seem to be returned in kind.
On FOX News conservative author Ann Coulter told Sean Hannity that Hillary Clinton is more conservative than McCain, would do a better job fighting the war on terror and she would campaign for her over McCain. Coulter is known for making over the top statements but it is another interesting sign, see Michelle Malkin and Rush Limbaugh’s comments, of how conservative commentators are moving against McCain.
I was curious about this, according to Mediabistro Senator Clinton cancelled on the cable news networks at the last minute after the State of the Union. I was flipping around and both FOX & MSNBC were hyping Clinton’s appearance before the SOTU but it became apparent after Obama & McCain made their rounds that she wasn’t going to be on.
The report says Clinton’s camp gave no explanation.
Here are the latest results from a FOX/News Opinion Dynamics poll of 500 likely South Carolina Republican voters.
John McCain - 25%, Huckabee 18%, Romney 17%, Thompson 9%, Giuliani 5%, Paul 5%, Hunter 1%
Undecided or (Don’t Know( is at 19%
Margin of error +/- 4%
Of those who said they would vote for a candidate 58% say they are certain they vote for John McCain while 57% the same for Romney and 60% say the same for Huckabee. Meanwhile 20% of respondents named Huckabee as their second choice, 19% John McCain, 14% Romney, 13% Giuliani, 10% Thompson, 4% Paul and 1% Hunter. 17% did not know who their second choice would be.
The economy is the most important issue with 17%, Immigration and the Iraq war tied for second with 16% each, Homeland security was fourth with 15%, meanwhile health care and social issues tied for fifth with 10%.
The #1 most important quality SC surveyed said was important for a leader was “He stands up for what he believe in” with 47%. Next is “He is a true conservative” with only 21% of the vote.
McCain won out on “honest & trustworthy” with Huckabee second and Romney a distant third. McCain won out as as a “strong leader” with 35% with Romney a distant second at 20% and Huckabee won out as a “true conservative” with Romney coming in a close second.
Conressman Ron Paul, who was excluded from tonight’s Republican debate on FOX News, will be appearing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno show tomorrow night.
Also in a bit of counter-programming the Paul campaign is hosting their own LIVE Town Hall meeting at the campaign Web site. Sorry I did not get this up sooner.
Tonight FOX News will run a brand new debate between Republicans and to counter-program CNN will be re-running two previous debates. It is a move Wolf Blitzer just described as “unprecedented”.
If you think you can do a better job of reporting the news, maybe you should get your communications degree to become a broadcaster. Find an online college that has the right program for you, whether you want to be a television anchor or want to get your nursing degree.
I mentioned in an earlier blog post that Bill O’Reilly was nearby at a Clinton campaign stop. Turns out more was going on than the Associated Press noted. Clinton was speaking to an overflow crowd according to Marc Ambinder 500 people had RSVP’d to the Clinton event while over 1000 showed up. Clinton pleaded with the Fire Marshall to find ways to accomodate more of the crowd and told her daughter Chelsea to open up a barrier set by the secret service.
Clinton began taking questions from the crowd one of which mentioned FOX News commentator Bill O’Reilly was in house. Clinton said hello to O’Reilly who then was jeered by the crowd. “Oh no, no no — he gets at least some credit for being here” called out Clinton.
Meanwhile Lynn Sweet reports that O’Reilly also made his way to visit Barack Obama who had his own overflow crowd to deal with. Unlike the civil Clinton appearance though O’Reilly got himself into a scuffle with the Secret Service.
The incident was triggered when O’Reilly–with a Fox News crew shooting–was screaming at Obama National Trip Director Marvin Nicholson “Move” so he could get Obama’s attention, according to several eyewitnesses. “O’Reilly was yelling at him, yelling at his face,” a photographer shooting the scene said.
O’Reilly grabbed Nicholson’s arm and shoved him, another eyewitness said. Nicholson, who is 6′8, said O’Reilly called him “low class.”
“He grabbed me with both his hands here,” Nicholson said, gesturing to his left arm and O’Reilly “started shoving me.” Nicholson said, ” He was pretty upset. He was yelling at me.”
Secret Service agents who were nearby flanked O ‘Reilly after he pushed Nicholson. They told O’Reilly he needed to calm down and get behind the fence-like barricade that contained the press.
Obama had his back turned at this point and did not see any of this.
Make sure to check Sweet’s entire post for more information.
