Miscellaneous Beltway News

By Evan Rothera

If Thompson Runs, NBC will pull Law and Order Episodes:

If former Senator Fred Thompson (R- TN) decides to run for president in 2008, some television stations will find themselves with a slight problem, they will have to “suspend reruns of the show if [Thompson] makes a bid for the White House.” This suspension would be due to the fact that “federal campaign law requires broadcasters to give all candidates equal time on the airwaves.” So, if Thompson does declare himself a candidate, fans will have to live without re-runs for some time, but can take comfort knowing that Sam Waterston’s character Jack McCoy will likely be becoming DA.

Clinton and Obama continue to spar, but is it a harbinger of something else:

With the continuance of sharp words between Hillary Clinton (D, NY) and Barack Obama (D, IL), many people seem to delight in the competition rather than the potential outcome. The fact of the matter is that two liberal senators have all but reduced the Democratic nomination to a contest between themselves, one (Clinton) is an experienced “establishment” candidate, where the other (Obama) is a relatively inexperienced “change/reform” candidate who has the power to woo the masses. The situation is a very strong parallel to the fight for the Democratic nomination between Senator John F. Kennedy and Senator Lyndon B. Johnson in 1960. If the parallel holds true, Obama will run for President, Clinton will take the V.P. nod, and they will beat their Republican opponent, to win the White House. This situation could be worth watching.

Romney and Huckabee Rock the Iowa Vote; Brownback loses heavily:

The victory of former Governor Romney (R, MA) in the Ames straw poll on August 11 th, was expected, but nevertheless a great boon to his candidacy. If Romney can convert this win into more momentum in New Hampshire, he could start to really win in the primaries and sweep McCain out of the water, and perhaps even beat Thompson (if he declares) and Giuliani. The fact that former Governor Huckabee (R, AK) won a decisive second place victory over Senator Sam Brownback, (R, KA), bodes well for Huckabee. Brownback outspent Huckabee by hundreds of thousands of dollars, but still did not secure a victory. Additionally, this means that Huckabee is garnering more support from Evangelical Christians than Brownback, not a good sign for the senator.

Diehard Clinton fans say Obama would be a negative on her ticket:

Salivating Hillary Clinton fans who are envisioning her heading the ticket in 2008 do not see a place for her main rival Barack Obama. They believe that he would not bring a lot to the ticket and show strong indications of recruiting a southerner to try to win the South. Time will tell if this approach is genius or lunacy.

There is a downside to being the next JFK/RFK:

Senator Obama, in my opinion, can only be described as a combination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy and his brother Robert Fitzgerald Kennedy. Whether the junior senator from Illinois will find my comparison flattering or not is beyond comprehension, but the sheer volume of adoring fans, the excitement, and the sense of youth and change he manages to generate are amazing, to say the least. However, the downside to this popularity is that the Senator is forced to turn down invitations to different forums and must restrict his participation in debates. How this will affect his candidacy remains to be seen, as it does have the potential to anger people due to the fact that he appears to be ignoring them. However, it could be a propaganda weapon for Obama as he would be demonstrating that the job the voters elected him to perform trumps speaking appearances.

People are looking to September when General Petraeus will report on Iraq:

With the recent upswing of good news concerning the war in Iraq and President Bush’s Surge Strategy, everyone is waiting for General Petraeus to issue his report in September concerning the situation in Iraq. If he reports good news, President Bush will be vindicated and Congressional Democrats may find themselves in some hot water. However, if he reports bad news, the situation could be reversed. It is widely agreed that if he reports bad news more Republicans will begin to move for troop withdrawals.