Richardson throws his cowboy hat into the race…

 

 

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson Announces Presidential Campaign Exploratory Committee

 

Richardson has unparalleled experience and proven record of success as a Congressman, UN Ambassador, Energy Secretary, and Governor

SANTA FE, NM–New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson today announced the formation of a Presidential campaign exploratory committee, with the clear intention of seeking the Democratic nomination for President in 2008.

“I am taking this step because we have to repair the damage that’s been done to our country over the last six years,” said Richardson. “Our reputation in the world is diminished, our economy has languished, and civility and common decency in government has perished.”

“The next president of the United States must get our troops out of Iraq without delay. Before I became Governor of New Mexico, I served as Ambassador to the United Nations and as Secretary of Energy. I know the Middle East well and it’s clear that our presence in Iraq isn’t helping any longer,” said Richardson.

“Our next President must be able to bring a country together that is divided and partisan,” said Richardson. “It is clear that Washington is broken and it’s going to take a return to bipartisanship and simple respect for each other’s views to get it fixed. Most public policy solutions these days are coming from Governors and state government. On issues like the environment, jobs, and health care, state governments are leading the way. And that’s because we can’t be partisan or we won’t get our jobs done. That’s a lesson I’ve learned as Governor and that’s what I’ll do as President.”

Bill Richardson to announce today??

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson intends to say today that he is taking the first step toward the Democratic presidential nomination, several officials with knowledge of his plans said Friday.

Senator McCain Announces New Media Team

ARLINGTON, VA – U.S. Senator John McCain’s exploratory committee today announced that Stuart Stevens and Russ Schriefer of the Stevens & Schriefer Group and Fred Davis of Strategic Perception will join Mark McKinnon and the firm of Stevens Reed Curcio & Potholm as media consultants to the Arizona Senator’s exploratory committee.

Russ Schriefer will oversee the day-to-day media operation and Davis will serve as the exploratory committee’s chief creative consultant.

Stuart Stevens has built his political career helping elect more governors and senators than any other Republican media consultant.

Brownback announces he will run…

TOPEKA, Kan. – U.S. Senator Sam Brownback today announced his candidacy for President of the United States. He delivered the following remarks from Heritage Hall in his hometown of Topeka, Kansas:

“I am declaring today my candidacy for President of the United States.

“Ours is a great nation and I make one pledge to you, to use our greatness for goodness.

“We are a great nation because our greatness is built on the foundation of fundamental goodness. If ever we lose our goodness, we will surely lose our greatness. Our purposes, from the time of our nation’s founding, have always been bigger than we are. They must be if we are to fulfill our destiny.

“But destinies are built on daily achievements. Inch by inch, step by step, we press on to our higher calling. Today I wish to state what I believe those next steps are, for our nation and for our people.

“Two hundred years ago this year, a little known British Parliamentarian by the name of William Wilberforce finally achieved success after a lifetime of effort to end the slave trade in the British Empire. A committed Christian who believed his faith should be a force for good in Britain and around the world, Wilberforce had two great passions: ending the slave trade and renewing the culture. Although his goals appeared impossibly lofty, both were achieved.

“He used Britain’s greatness for goodness.

“Our mandate today has a similar feel. If William Wilberforce were alive today, I believe he would be passionately fighting for the dignity of every human life everywhere, without regard to race, wealth, or status. He would also feel compelled to take up the vital cause of renewing the family and the culture.

Hillary’s In

 

Well it’s official. Sen. Hillary Clinton is a presidential candidate. She announced on her site. It’s not the best opening statement and it’s not the worst. It looked ‘middle ofthe road’ to me. She wants the ‘right’ end to the war, health insurance, energy independence, reduce the deficit, etc.

“I’m in,” she says in a statement on her new campaign Web site. “And I’m in to win.”

Mrs. Clinton, 59, called for “bold but practical changes” in foreign, domestic, and national security policy and said that she would focus on finding “a right end” to the Iraq war, expanding health insurance, pursuing greater energy independence and strengthening Social Security and Medicare

This will be a contentious campaign for Clinton as she had two easy elections in New York state. The first against Rick Lazio was a great example of the New York media treating her with kid gloves. The national media hopefully will not be so gentle.

Iowa Poll…

The latest Zogby poll on Iowa:

WH ‘08 Primary Election Matchup:
(GOPers only)                 (Dems only)
R. Giuliani 19%                    J. Edwards 27%
J. McCain 17                        B. Obama 17
N. Gingrich 13                     T. Vilsack 16
C. Rice 9                               H. Clinton  16
M. Romney 5                      J. Biden 3
T. Tancredo 2                     J. Kerry 3
C. Hagel 2                            Other/undec 18
S. Brownback 1
T. Thompson 1
M. Huckabee 1
Other/undec 31

President Obama?

As most of the world knows, Senator Barack Obama announced today that he is forming an exploratory committee — the first formal step in declaring his candidacy for President in 2008. I have been loosely following the Senator since his speech at the Democratic Convention in 2004. He is a fascinating phenomenon at the very least. There has been an enormous amount of commentary about him, especially in the last year as it became apparent that he was considering a run for president, with people trying to figure out who he is and what he stands for….I think we are about to find out.

The reason I enjoy listening to the Senator speak about anything is that he makes me feel good, about Americans and our country, about the future. There are a lot of people trying to compartmentalize him and categorize him and I don’t think it’s going to be that easy. He is obviously very intelligent, an excellent public speaker and charismatic. With the horrible, hateful state of politics in this country — after six years of divisive, wedge-issue politics — I think this man speaks to the best in all of us and that will be a very difficult effect to counter.

He says it’s the “smallness of our politics that most bothers him…our leaders in Washington seem incapable of working together in a practical, common-sense way. Politics has become so bitter and partisan and gummed up by money and influence that we can’t tackle the big problems that demand solutions, and that’s what we have to change.”

Check out his announcement video at www.barackobama.com.