The World Around You

1. General Clark got more pointed with his criticism of President Bush today at a campaign stop in New Mexico. He is not going to gain traxtion by sticking to criticizing only President Bush. He is suffering right now because of his inability to make himself distinct from the other candidates. Wes Clark has to articulate clearly and forcefully why he is the BEST candidate. Right now, everyone is co-opting everyone else’s message, so everyone sounds the same.

2. I’m not sure that going negative on Kerry on his statements about affirmative action is a winner, but it certainly doesn’t hurt at this point. He did make some statements that he tried to backpedal away from during the debate. I have little confidence that this issue is going to stick, though.

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I normally would not urge you to watch the Hoosiers, but this has the potential to be too much fun.

The IU-MSU game on ESPN on Saturday promises to be a whole lot of fun. When else will you get to see Dick Vitale wearing horn-rimmed glasses and a major college coach wearing a huge afro?

There will be vintage uniforms, old TV graphics and 1979 concession prices. Commentators Dan Shulman, Dick Vitale and Doris Burke will wear clothes from the era. Some may think Vitale won’t look any different, but the veteran broadcaster plans to wear a 1979-style blazer and horned-rimmed glasses.

IU fans may be in for a treat when it comes to their coach. Mike Davis said Thursday that he plans to wear a red sports coat, plaid pants, stacked heels — and an Afro.

*Cross-posted at Sportsblog

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1. Oklahoma still looks like a possible win for the General, but Kerry has closed the gap.

2. The State debate dartboard makes a good point about Clark from last night. Mention you’re a General at least once!

3. Wes broke out the Jesus card in Oklahoma yesterday. As long as he is selective with it, it can be a winner, but he ought to be careful.

ANALYSIS: The debate was a wash last night. The General handled his questions well, but I thought Sharpton really bounced back and was the clear winner last night. Clark needs to focus his resources in the states where he can compete best. Oklahoma is rapidly becoming a must-win. Just as people will question whether Edwards can win anywhere if he can’t win South Carolina, others will question where Clark can win, if not Oklahoma.

I thought the General gave the appropriate answer to the Ten Commandments question. His main fault was in not answering most of the questions directly, instead changing it into the question he really wanted to answer. However, he shares this fault with all the candidates on the stage.

I would expect someone is going to come out with an attack ad on Kerry soon. I hope it comes, but not from the Clark camp. You aren’t going to get points for going negative, but Kerry needs to be knocked down a peg or two.

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When do you tell the kids that their grandmother actually gave birth to them?

A woman aged 43 has given birth to her own grandchildren after “lending out” her womb to her daughter and son-in-law.

The test-tube twins, a boy and a girl, were born this week by caesarean section in Gujarat, India, where their grandmother lives.

*UPDATE: Submitted to OTB’s Traffic Jam

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Anyone who says the Governor is simply trying to punish citizens for voting no should hear loud and clear what he said yesterday, no new taxes.

Riley’s position is an about-face from last year, when he proposed a plan that would have raised state and local taxes by $1.2 billion a year if state voters had approved.

But they didn’t. They rejected his plan by a margin of 68 percent to 32 percent.

Riley said that result was a “very clear message” voters want a more-efficient government that’s more accountable to them, not higher taxes.

“They want us to change the system,” Riley said. “They want that change, that level of reform.”

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I just finished reading Robert Baer’s Sleeping with the Devil. It is a very good account of the US relationship with Saudi Arabia. There is not a great deal of new information, but Bob does a good job of pulling it all together and it was quite an enjoyable read.

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I was saddened to see the news of the death of Paula S. Moore, the executive editor of my local newspaper, the Montgomery Advertiser. Ms. Moore was an outstanding editor and a wonderful member of the community. She will be missed.

UPDATE: The Advertiser paid appropriate tribute this morning.

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Congrats to Steven on his 100,000th visitor at Poliblog.

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Congratulations to Pixar for finally severing ties with Disney. They’ve been trying to work out this deal for almost a year. Good for them. Pixar is the name that matters, Disney’s animation house is on its last legs.

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Well, if this doesn’t just take the cake. On welfare and need job training to help you find employment? Sorry, President Bush chose not to fund the program any more.

These kinds of things are just being swept under the rug. No one is really exposing what has happened under this administration. While we’re building indoor rainforests in Iowa, we’re stopping job training programs in their tracks. It is shameful.

*UPDATE: Submitted to OTB’s Beltway Traffic Jam

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ABC News is offering a running delegate count that you can check back with from time to time. As they point out in today’s Note, this is the only number that really matters.

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The editorial page of the Birmingham News points out Alabamians’s role in making Tennessee’s lottery a success.

The lottery sold more than $41 million in tickets; its operators noted that nine of the 10 biggest sales outlets were either at the Alabama line or just a short drive north. Four of the top 10 ticket sellers were in the Ardmore, Tenn., area alone - just across our border.

No surprises there.

Yes, Alabamians play the lottery. Of course, more Alabamians went to play Tennessee’s lottery than folks from Kentucky, Georgia and Virginia, which all have their own lotteries.

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There is little ink on Clark today, between Dean’s campaign shake-up and the stories of the White House gearing up for a fight against Kerry, there wasn’t much room on the newspaper pages today.

1. The Arizona Republic gives us the inside scoop on General Clark’s appearance in Phoenix yesterday.

2. The Arizona Daily Star tells us about the General’s visit to New Mexico.

ANALYSIS: The debate in South Carolina tonight is an important moment for General Clark. The stage may still be too crowded to really make headway, but he has to show better command of the issues and more ability to handle the tough questions tonight. I have faith we will see just that.

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The Mobile Register reports today,

Top lobbyists predicted Wednesday that Gov. Bob Riley will propose a plan that could raise the amounts Alabama’s public employees pay for health insurance by as much as $900 per person next year.

If they’re right, 140,000 active and retired teachers and other public school employees and 51,530 active and retired state agency workers could be asked to pay a total increase of $175.4 million for health insurance next year.

“We’ll oppose it with everything in our being,” said lobbyist Paul Hubbert, executive secretary of the Alabama Education Association teachers’ lobby. “It’s not fair.”

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Well, Howard Dean has put the final nail in his own coffin by forcing his campaign manager out and replacing him with the quintessential “Washington Insider”.

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Today is the 18th anniversary of the Challenger tragedy. That event had a profound effect on my life. One of the reasons it resonated with me was the most appropriate address I have heard in my lifetime, President Reagan’s speech to the nation (hear the audio here).

We remember today seven heroes:

Michael Smith
Dick Scobee
Judith Resnik
Ronald McNair
Ellison Onizuka
Gregory Jarvis
Christa McAuliffe.

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I was saddened to hear of this man’s death, but he should be remembered today as a great hero to those whose lives he saved.

Gene Douglas went into a burning mobile home early Tuesday to save a daughter and four grandchildren. The 60-year-old Oakville man got the two youngest grandchildren out safely, but he, the daughter and two other granddaughters died in the blaze.

“I don’t believe anybody will ever find a better man than him - ever,” said Marie Johnson, a niece of Douglas, as she stood near the charred remains of the mobile home on an unpaved rural road.

Killed in the blaze just before 12:30 a.m. Tuesday were Douglas, his 23-year-old daughter, Priscilla Douglas Norris, and granddaughters Leslie Norris, 7, and Stephanie Norris, 5.

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Well, one year later we have seen nothing but attempts at real reform from his administration. I’ll be the first to admit that not every idea has been wise or sound, but you cannot fault this administration for a lack of vision. Their greatest fault may be having too much vision for a state that has lacked it for so long. The pessimism and distrust of government in this state is at an all-time high. In that environment, it is little surprise that the Governor’s initial package of reforms and revenue generation failed.

Now is not the time to re-fight that battle, but the message sent was resounding, if not entirely clear. Some thought it was all a bluff and that no real consequences would result. Many wanted reform first, and then they might consider a tax increase. Some did not want to see their taxes increased no matter what the cost in government services.

There’s plenty of money in Montgomery if you just eliminate the waste, these doubters have said. So the Governor, with the reluctant assistance of the Legislature, cut over $400 million in government spending. For those of you keeping score, that’s about ten percent of the overall budget. All non-state agencies lost significant amounts of funding and are facing the prospect of no state funds in the next fiscal year. This included monies to provide services to abused children, mentally retarded citizens, seniors and victims of domestic violence. These were not easy cuts to make, but they were necessary to ensure that essential state services were delivered for another year.

As the Governor’s second year in office dawns the state faces another difficult financial situation, which will require significant action to resolve. Certainly, there are reforms that can be made, and this administration has been honest about what those reforms are, but enacting them is not a simple process.

The only way to bring real change is for new people to bring balance to the process. If the same people are making the policy, then change will never come. Elected officials have paid consequences for not supporting the most powerful interests in Montgomery. When was the last time an elected official was sent packing for supporting the few at the expense of the many? Until they are made to pay those consequences, we will never see real change. That is the challenge this administration faces, and it is the challenge we all must face the next time we enter that voting booth.

*UPDATE: Submitted to OTB’s Beltway Traffic Jam

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1. Here is the text of Clark’s remarks from last night.

2. Adam Nagourney talks about what’s next for the campaigns.

ANALYSIS: Well, if you had said (as I did) that the General would come in third last night, most of us would have been happy. Most of the stories being written this morning are about how this race will change as it goes national, and that’s the truth. General Clark has a chance to assert himself in South Carolina, Oklahoma (where he already is leading the polls), Arizona and North Dakota. If he can bring in a series of strong seconds and win at least one, he will make it to the next round. If Kerry can carry his momentum into these states and pick up a few more wins, Clark may be done.

Of course, we would have liked to do better, but at least we aren’t deluding ourselves like Sen. Lieberman (what was that about? “The people of New Hampshire have put me back in the ring.” No Joe, the people of New Hampshire said “Go back to Connecticut!”)

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1. General Clark won the early vote in Dixville Notch and Hart’s Location.

2. As Newsday reports, Clark is beginning to act as if New Hampshire doesn’t matter to his campaign,

Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, who has been sliding in most New Hampshire polls, showed some signs of looking past today’s primary to the southern and southwestern states that vote next week. Clark grew up in Arkansas.

“If he finishes behind those New England guys, it’s no shame on him,” said Rep. Bill Jefferson (D-La.), a Clark backer. “But he’s got to go South and we’ve got to win the South, and that is what this is all about.”

Clark embarked at daybreak on a 17-hour bus tour across the state, ending in tiny Dixville Notch, whose 10 voters traditionally gather at midnight to cast their ballots. But his crowds were sparse, and he betrayed some frustration as he sniped at the affluent backgrounds of Kerry and Dean.

3. Tom Curry at MSNBC offers the things to look for in today’s vote.

PREDICTION: I called the order yesterday. Now, I’ll give you some numbers.

Dean 32
Kerry 30
Clark 15
Edwards 14
Lieberman 7

**Steven offers his predictions

**UPDATE (6:58pm EST): Drudge is reporting a 4th place finish for General Clark.

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Birmingham Southern College is offering an interesting class during what they call Interim.

*UPDATE: Submitted to OTB’s Beltway Traffic Jam

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Governor Bob Riley revealed his accountability proposals for this legislative session yesterday. This presentation dealt mainly with changes in the ethics law,

“Alabama must become the state with the cleanest, most open and accountable state government in our nation. The people of Alabama demand it, and they deserve it,” Riley said.

Riley wants to end an exemption that allows lobbyists to spend up to $250 a day wining and dining legislators without reporting it.

He also is proposing a ban on transfers between political action committees that make campaign contributions hard to track. Riley said he also wants to expand lobbyist disclosure laws to include lobbyists who try to influence his office.

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1. Clark is in a tight race for third in the latest Zogby poll. This spells deep, deep trouble for him. If he comes in fourth, his candidacy is dead in the water.

2. There is still a lingering sense that the Clark team’s preparation is lacking. From this morning’s New York Times,

His performance on the stump is much improved, but his campaign’s preparation for events is uneven. Over the weekend, he drew hundreds of enthusiastic people into a packed gym in Derry, the Music Man Theater in Portsmouth and another crowded gym in Nashua. But on Friday, he held a poorly planned event that drew an anemic turnout.

MY NEW HAMPSHIRE PREDICTION: Dean wins, edging out Kerry, followed by Clark, Edwards and Lieberman. General Clark will stay alive, but barely.

(Submitted to OTB’s Beltway Traffic Jam)

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Well, it appears that a state lottery is back on the table in Montgomery, but many still doubt it can pass.

Rep. Thad McClammy, D-Montgomery, said he would vote for a proposed lottery, but said he doesn’t think discussions among lawmakers will bring enough progress to warrant a vote.

“There is potential for it being introduced, but I don’t think the commitment on the part of the citizenry has changed much and I don’t see overwhelming support for it,” he said.

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The Birmingham News lead editorial reveals a dream many of us have for addressing the funding situation in our education system.

Finally, a courageous court stands up to a lily-livered Legislature and steps in where lawmakers fear to tread. Finally, school systems will be funded fairly and adequately. Finally, children born in poor school districts will get a chance at the education they deserve.

In Arkansas.

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I am at this interesection once every couple of weeks and it will benefit greatly from a flyover,

U.S. 280 could well hold the state record for the highest number of traffic lights at a single interchange.

The state has put up 11 - count them - 11 red lights, two of which are strobes, over U.S. 280 eastbound. Seven are working right now.

The lights were erected where westbound traffic has to cross the eastbound lanes to get to the interstate - a problem that will be eliminated when a flyover is finished.

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Interesting tidbit in Washington Whispers this week,

Since pollster and MSNBC focus group guru Frank Luntz predicted for us Sen. John Kerry’s surge and Howard Dean’s plummet before the Iowa caucus, we return to him this week for tips on what to look for in New Hampshire’s Tuesday primary. Luntz, in New Hampshire to conduct focus group meetings, says two trends are emerging. First, Dean’s former fans are fleeing his candidacy so fast all he’s keeping are “fanatics.” And there are few undecided voters in the nation. In fact, Luntz says 90 percent of the country has already decided whom to vote for: President Bush or the eventual Democratic nominee.

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1. General Clark will be appearing on Meet the Press and This Week on Sunday. Take the time to check him out.

2. Clark got little play in Adam Nagourney’s NY Times piece for Sunday’s edition.

3. Kos and others write on the latest poll numbers which indicate Dean and Clark’s slides have stopped and begun heading the other way. This should be an extremely tight race.

4. The poll numbers out of Oklahoma have changed significantly, but Clark is still out in front.

5. Clark may have sunk his chances of coming in second on Sunday’s Meet the Press. James has a very appropriate analysis today. I love Wes Clark and I love Mike Moore, but the General should have distanced himself from the remark and not allowed Russert to continue to hammer him on it.

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1. The Guardian has a profile on Clark today.

2. I watched the debate last night. No candidate really separated themselves. It was admirable that they refrained from attacking each other for the most part. However, Sen. Edwards was right, they were not asked many questions about the real issues.

3. The General’s numbers seem to be on the downslope in New Hampshire, but there is still time to bounce back.

ANALYSIS: The General and those of us who support him will need to make a strong push over the weekend to grab those voters who have not yet made up their minds. The electability question is still a winner for us. The question last night from Peter Jennings to John Kerry about how he gets out from under the stigma of being joined at the hip to Sen. Kennedy and being Lt. Governor to Michael Dukakis was extremely pertinent. More than that, how much change is a person who has been in government for as long has Kerry has really going to bring? I have my doubts.

UPDATE: Submitted to the OTB Beltway Traffic Jam

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The Alabama House and Senate Democrats came out with their proposals to be bring greater accountability to state government. The suggestions are embarassing in their lack of understanding for what people really want and for their understanding of how state government works. The proposals included,

Require that all state contracts that are not bid be reported to the Secretary of State’s office.

_ Increase the time the Legislature’s Contract Review Committee can hold a contract from 45 to 120 days.

_ Require that agencies spend money as it was appropriated to be spent by the Legislature. The would prohibit the transfer of funds from one agency to another.

_ Reduce the number of justices on the Alabama Supreme Court from nine to seven.

_ Require that the salary for Alabama’s superintendent of education be no more than the national average.

_ Increase oversight of the awarding of grants by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs.

_ Prohibit political action committees from being able to transfer funds to another PAC.

_ Consolidate the state’s work force development efforts under the Department of Postsecondary Education.

_ Eliminate office of state auditor and transfer duties into the Office of the Examiner of Public Accounts.

The consolidation of workforce development efforts has been a high priority for Governor Riley since very early in his administration, the Democratic legislators are very late to the game on this one.

Increasing oversight of the awarding of ADECA grants is a disaster in the making. The grants awarded at ADECA are federal grants, that each have very specific criteria for how they are to be awarded. What the legislators have always wanted is to have greater influence in bringing grant funds to their communities. While this an understandable desire, it would put the funds the state receives in serious jeopardy if they were awarded in any way other than the current process.

Finally, how do delaying tactics like being able to stop a contract for 4 months help increase accountability? Especially when the legislative oversight committee has already prevented many necessary duties of state government from moving forward with 45 day delays. The most egregious example of a contract that was delayed was the background checks for teachers. Can you imagine what would have happened if the contract to conduct these background checks had been held for 4 months?

The Democratic party in this state needs to stop riding the Governor’s coattails. They have the majority, if they want to enact real reform, they could have done it for the last decade. Where has it been? I agree that Democrats can be reformers just as well as Republicans, but they cannot deny that it took a Republican Governor and a financial crisis of cosmic proportions to finally even bring to the table needed reforms.

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A sad story out of Mobile this morning,

The body of a man with a piece of cloth wrapped around his neck was found sitting up right inside a Mission of Hope drop box Thursday afternoon at a convenience store in west Mobile County, witnesses and authorities said.

Mark Barlow, Mobile County chief deputy, said at the scene that it had not been determined how the fully clothed man died, whether his death resulted from homicide, suicide or natural causes.

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Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) says he has not been informed that he is a target of a grand jury investigation,

Shelby denies ever knowingly compromising classified information and said he has cooperated with investigators, though he has not had any contact with them for “well over a year.” He said he does not know the status of the probe.

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Congratulations to the Hoover Coalition for a Drug-Free Community, who received praise at a national conference yesterday,

The percentage of ninth-graders in Hoover schools who reported marijuana use dropped from 27 percent in 1989 to 11.4 percent in 2001 and 12.4 percent in 2003, according to a school system study.

Dean later said in a statement that he mentioned McCollum and the Hoover coalition in his speech “because they are an outstanding example of the power of community coalitions.

“In addition, Mayor McCollum’s dedication to the Hoover coalition demonstrated how important it is for elected officials to be involved in coalitions,” Dean said. “Substance abuse is America’s number one health problem, and finding solutions requires dedicated leadership like Mayor McCollum’s leadership of the Hoover coalition.”

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For any non-state agency that was hoping they might get their funding back in this year’s budget, think again. Alabama Governor Bob Riley warned legislators that they should not consider restoring funding for any non-state agency in this tight budget year,

“We’ve got to resist that temptation,” Riley said, arguing that legislators are apt to defend many of the locally oriented, popular projects.

Some leading lawmakers, however, said the governor will see no such fight. Instead, one said, legislators are simply awaiting the governor’s proposed spending plans when they convene Feb. 3 amid talk of continued budget troubles and program cuts.

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The Prattville Police Officer who fired the shot that killed Officer Clint Walker has been put on administrative leave with pay.

Police Chief Alfred Wadsworth said Jones, a 30-year veteran of law enforcement, has been offered counseling and the community has rallied behind him.

“The public response and show of support during this time has just been unbelievable,” Wadsworth said. “Everyone I have spoken with wants the department to know they are behind us, and supporting us.”

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Assistant Superintendent of Schools Joe Morton will be named Alabama’s Interim Superintendent at a special board meeting today.

Richardson appointed Morton his deputy in 1995 shortly after the board selected Richardson over Morton for the top job. The two men have forged a close working relationship and Morton is expected to continue most of Richardson’s initiatives.

Board members are unsure at this point whether Morton will be a candidate for the permanent job. Some board members have expressed the view that whomever was selected interim might in a perfect world not be a candidate for the job permanently.

But board members said Wednesday that there is no consensus on that issue.

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The Washington Post and Boston Globe are reporting this morning that Senator Shelby has become a target in a grand jury investigation into the leaking of classified information about September 11.

A grand jury has been hearing information and has taken the testimony of at least two witnesses, including Shelby’s former press secretary, sources said. The investigation centers on the disclosure in 2002 that the National Security Agency had intercepted two messages on the eve of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks signaling that something was to happen the next day. The cryptic messages were not translated until Sept. 12.

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