2008 White House race

   A senior official in the campaign for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton wrote an internal memorandum to the campaign advising Clinton not to participate in the Iowa caucuses, arguing that she probably could not win them and that she would be better off spending her time and campaign money in places more hospitable to her campaign.

   There was no press conference involving Brad Schlozman after the ACORN indictments were handed up Nov. 1, 2006.

   Here's what we posted on the Buzz Blog that afternoon:

  The U.S. Attorney's office says a federal grand jury handed up indictments this afternoon against four people who, the indictments claim, worked for the community group ACORN to register voters.

   The four face two felony counts each: of providing false information to the KC Election board, and of filing a false voter application with the board.  Each carries a 5 year/$250,000 fine penalty.

  ACORN says it's happy the indictments were handed up -- they say they provided the names of three of the four indicted individuals, who, they say, no longer work for ACORN.

   Said U.S. attorney Bradley Schlozman, in a statement: "Those who commit fraud in the electoral process dilute the votes of their fellow citizens."

   More to come.

    Here's what the story said in The Star, the next day:

   A federal grand jury handed up indictments Wednesday against four people for allegedly submitting false voter registrations to the Kansas City election board.

    The indictments -- against Kwaim A. Stenson; Dale D. Franklin; Stephanie L. Davis, also known as Latisha Reed; and Brian Gardner -- include two felony counts against each, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

    All four defendants worked this year as voter registration recruiters for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, known as ACORN. They could not be reached for comment.

     ACORN officials said they no longer work for the group. And, they emphasized, ACORN turned in the names of three of the defendants to authorities last month after learning of the problem.

     "I think that our system is working because we caught these people," Andrew Ginsberg, head organizer for Kansas City ACORN, said in an interview. "Sometimes people cheat, whether they make eight dollars an hour or eight million an hour."

    Each charge of "knowingly and willingly" filing the false information carries a potential penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

    "Those who commit fraud in the electoral process dilute the votes of their fellow citizens," U.S. Attorney Bradley Schlozman said in a statement.

     The statement added: "This national investigation is very much ongoing."

    Claudie Harris, board president for Kansas City ACORN, said the indictments do not taint the 35,000 other voter registrations submitted by ACORN in Kansas City this year. "I think we’re doing a great job," she said.

     Kansas City’s Republican election director, Ray James, said the indictments could help maintain public trust in the election process.

      "I hate for anyone to be prosecuted and suffer," James said. "But I’ve long been concerned about the rights of the general public to a fair election."

      James and his Democratic counterpart, Sharon Turner Buie, have said that as many as 15,000 recently submitted voter registrations could be "questionable" -- which they define as duplicates, unreadable applications, or containing information that doesn’t match other existing records.

      Last week the board chairwoman, Melodie Powell, said the board had turned over the investigation of the questionable cards to local and federal authorities.

     ACORN has said that some of its applications may have contained honest mistakes. But it also says some of the problems may be political.

     "I think if we had registered 35,000 Republicans, none of this would have been in the news," Ginsberg said.

     Republicans were quick to respond. "This illegal assault on our election system should concern every voter in the state," party spokesman Paul Sloca said in a statement.

     Democratic party spokesman Jack Cardetti said, "We absolutely support the prosecution of anyone who turns in fraudulent registration cards."

     The Republican election director in St. Louis has criticized ACORN’s voter registration process in that city. Its board sent letters to 5,000 voters asking them to re-verify their registrations, an action some critics called illegal.

  Several bloggers, and people who have posted here, have asked to see the press release issued by Brad Schlozman when a grand jury indicted four former ACORN workers last November.

  We've checked our files, and can't find an official press release, which is perhaps why one can't be found on the DOJ website.  Instead, we were sent PDF copies of the indictments (one of which named the wrong person) along with this statement by Don Ledford, the office's PIO, reprinted here in its entirety

Attached are four separate indictments returned this afternoon by a federal grand jury in Kansas City. All of these defendants are KC residents who were employed by ACORN. US Attorney Bradley J. Schlozman is not available for interviews, but issues the following statement:

Those who commit fraud in the electoral process dilute the votes of their fellow citizens and undermine the integrity of our democratic system.  The Department of Justice will not allow such fraud to go unpunished.

This national investigation is very much ongoing.

   Schlozman did issue a formal release when one of the workers pleaded guilty last February.  The release is attached below. 

     Also, The House Judiciary Committee wants to take a look at unredacted documents related the removal of Todd Graves and his replacement with Schlozman.  The Senate Judiciary committee may issue a subpoena to Schlozman, since he failed to testify Tuesday.

  Read the story here.

  Time's Jay Carney asks if New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg will mount a run as an independent presidential candidate in 2008.

   So, should he or shouldn't he? What would be his strengths? His weaknesses? Who will be more upset? Democrats? Or Republicans?

   The lead on a Politico article:

   "As Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton campaigns for the Democratic presidential nomination, her biggest opposition may not come from primary rivals or Republican challengers, but rather from the leftist blog community that often views her as a political punching bag."

   Reactions?

    The Washington Post reports that Sen. Hillary Clinton’s camp was quick to dismiss comparisons between their candidate and Segolene Royal, who was defeated by a conservative man in France’s election this weekend.

    Clinton’s advisers said unlike Royal, who emphasized her charm and femininity rather than her strength on foreign policy, Clinton has proven her national security bona fides.

    They add that the French race shows that Clinton is running the right kind of campaign, a substantive one – even if it means she is sometimes accused of lacking charisma.

    Strategist Mark Penn: "Hillary Clinton offers a very different kind of choice than the French faced. Hillary Clinton is well regarded as strong, smart and a leader. Her experience says she is ready to see the country through changes with a steady, substantive and sure hand."

    The whole story is here.

    Reactions?

   New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg thinks so.

    If a Democrat is elected president, Rudy Giuliani said, he feared the country would "go back on defense, like it was in the pre-9/11 era." Here's a Nashua Telegraph story. And one from The Washington Post.

   Is he right or playing his trump card in the presidential race a little early?

   UPDATE: Democrat Barack Obama rebuked Giuliani today for suggesting the United States could face another major terrorist attack if a Democrat is elected in 2008. Obama said the man who served as New York mayor's during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks should not be making the serious threat that faces the country into ''the punchline of another political attack.''

    Sen. John McCain said that global warming is the real deal, not a "Hollywood myth."

   Another strike against him with conservatives?

In The Star:

   DeAnn Smith reports that Mayor-elect Mark Funkhouser is pushing a regional light-rail system.

   Tim Hoover writes up Missouri Auditor Susan Montee's suit against MoHELA contending that the agency is withholding documents.

   Karen Uhlenhuth has foes of the Red Bridge Road plan vowing to continue their fight despite council approval.

   Kit Wagar finds that what began as a modest business tax cut bill in Missouri keeps expanding.

Elsewhere: Selections from The Hotline's "Wake-Up Call," ABC's The Note and others.

   New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine suffered serious injuries last night in a highway crash while en route to host the Don Imus-Rutgers meeting. He is in "critical but stable condition," and, according to the doctor, "lucky to be alive,"  the Newark Star-Ledger reports.

   The Washington Post story on the missing e-mails is headlined: "Rove E-Mail Sought by Congress May Be Missing: RNC Took Away His Access to Delete Files in 2005."

   Florida state Rep. Don Brown, a Republican, is in in hot water after sending an e-mail saying: "Don't forget to pay your taxes ... 12 million illegal aliens are depending on you!"

   Rep. Sam Graves met with incoming Kansas City mayor Mark Funkhouser Tuesday, according to Graves' office, Prime Buzz reported Tuesday.

   The get-togther,  in Graves' Liberty office, lasted about 30 minutes. They talked about transportation issues: the airport, the Paseo bridge and funding for light rail, among other things.

   Graves is in the House Transportation committee.

   Both said they want to work together.

   Graves endorsed Becky Nace in the mayor's primary.  Kay Barnes, who might run against Graves, worked for Alvin Brooks, Funkhouser's opponent in the run-off.

   Rudy Giuliani will swing by Springfield Saturday to stump for Congressman Roy Blunt.

   Giuliani won't be there long. His Springfield stop is slated for 9 a.m. He is to speak in Des Moines that day at 12:15 p.m.

In The Star:

   Business reporter Jennifer Mann reports on the Imus fallout, in which MSNBC said it would drop its simulcast after advertisers — including Sprint Nextel Corp. — pulled ads.

   Dawn Bormann writes about the plan in Kansas City, Kan., to give every high school student a laptop.

   Jefferson City correspondent Kit Wagar covers the Missouri Senate's endorsement of a new approach to medical care for the poor.

   David Klepper, Topeka correspondent, was there when Gov. Kathleen Sebelius signed the gambling bill into law.

   Mark Morris acquaints readers with John Wood, the new U.S. attorney for western Missouri.

   Mike Rice writes of a proposed $13.5 million contract for the construction of an in-line baggage screening system at Kansas City International Airport.

   Jeff City correspondent Tim Hoover covers debate about a bill that would require sprinkler systems in all Missouri long-term care facilities.

   Another Hoover piece addresses the initial House approval of a bill that would require Missouri colleges to prove they allow diverse viewpoints in class.

    A top aide to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales abruptly quit Friday, almost two weeks after telling Congress she would not testify about her role in the firings of federal prosecutors.

    There was no immediate reason given, but Monica M. Goodling's refusal to face Congress had intensified a controversy that threatens Gonzales' job. The rest of the story is here.

   Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, jumping into the White House run, wants Iraqis to vote on whether to keep U.S. troops. If Iraqis vote no, they go.

   Illinois Sen. Barack Obama is scheduled to be in town May 14, Prime Buzz reported Wednesday.

   The early sensation of the 2008 race for the White House is to do a little fund-raising to add to the $20 million or so he brought in during this year's first quarter.

   One of Obama's political aides was making the rounds in Kansas City Wednesday, and he spread the word about Obama's upcoming trip.

   The last time he was here on Oct. 7, Obama pulled into an early morning Muehlebach Tower news conference toting his own suitcase.

   It was very cool.

   Democrat Barack Obama raked in $25 million for his presidential bid in the first three months of 2007, placing him on a par with front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton and dashing her image as the party’s inevitable nominee.

   The administration won one and lost one today in the Supreme Court: The court:

• Denied an appeal from the Gitmo detainees
• Said the EPA can control carbon dioxide emissions from cars 

    The Senate defeated an attempt to erase an American troop withdrawal date from an Iraq spending bill this afternoon after an emotional debate about the powers of the presidency and Congress and the well-being of front-line soldiers.

   By a vote of 50 to 48, the Senate allowed a withdrawal date of March 31, 2008, to remain in the $122 billion bill, which has yet to be acted upon. The majority defeated an amendment offered by Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi, the ranking Republican on the Appropriations Committee, that would have removed the date.

   The March 31, 2008, date is nonbinding, so the spending bill emerging from the Senate differs markedly from the version narrowly passed by the House last week that demanded a withdrawal by Sept. 1, 2008. Moreover, the margins in both chambers were far too narrow to override a veto promised by President Bush.

   A blogger points out that in a new Pew poll, the portion of Americans who believe the war is going “very well” or “fairly well” for the United States increased from the all-time low of 30 percent in February to 40 percent this month.