The Democrats' Health Care Proposals

Every candidate for the democratic nomination will have to have a health care proposal, and most have already developed something. The NH Primary Monitor has a breakdown of the options:

Edwards would spend $53 billion a year and cover 21 million uninsured Americans. He would build on programs like the Children's Health Insurance Program, which has enrolled 17,000 kids in New Hampshire. Parents would be required to insure their children; low-income families would receive tax credits or subsidies.

To help small businesses offer insurance to their employees, the Edwards plan would set up purchasing pools to lower costs through bulk purchases. His plan would also pressure insurance companies, drug companies, doctors and lawyers to keep costs low. Edwards stressed expensive advertising campaigns by drug companies and frivolous lawsuits as two examples of drains on the health care system.

U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri was the first candidate to offer a comprehensive health care program. At a cost of $212 billion a year, his plan would cover more than 30 million uninsured Americans. He would fund the plan by canceling all of President Bush's tax cuts.

Gephardt would require companies to insure their employees and offer large government subsidies to help with those costs. Companies already offering insurance would get a tax credit worth 60 percent of their share of the costs. Gephardt would also expand Medicare to cover the unemployed and expand the Children's Health Insurance Program to cover the parents of covered kids. Low-wage workers would get a 25 percent tax credit to help pay for premiums.

Former Vermont governor Howard Dean would insure every American under the age of 25 and with an income less than three times the poverty level, either through Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program. He would allow all Americans and small businesses to buy the same coverage offered to federal employees.

A former family physician, Dean would spend $9 billion a year to help lower premiums for small businesses and would remove restrictions on drug imports, as long as they had American-approved safeguards. He has priced his plan at $88 billion per year and would cover 31 million uninsured Americans. He has advocated repealing all of Bush's tax cuts to pay for his plan.

U.S. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts has proposed spending $72 billion per year, paid for by repealing the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, to insure 27 million uninsured Americans. He would create a federal "catastrophe" fund, which would reimburse employee health plans for health costs above $50,000.

Kerry would offer refundable tax credits for up to half the cost of coverage for small businesses. He has also proposed that the federal government would pay for the full cost of coverage for more than 20 million children now in Medicaid, in exchange for states agreeing to expand coverage for families earning up to 200 percent of the poverty level.

He would also let all Americans buy into the same insurance plan offered to all federal employees.

U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio favors a government-run, single-payer program, which he calls "Medicare-for-all." It would cover nearly all Americans. Kucinich would fund his plan through a 7.7 percent tax on employers, which he says will bring in almost $1 trillion a year.

Posted by Mike Van Winkle at 08:31 AM | Comments (18) | TrackBack

Kerry's Problem

With Dean's popularity rising the other candidates are feeling more pressure to be Dean-like. Chris Suellentrop writes at Slate.com:

At the two Kerry events I attended this past weekend, voters kept encouraging the Massachusetts senator, in effect, to be more like Howard Dean. After Friday's Kerry speech, a voter walked up to him and told him the Democrats must quit being passive. "Oh, I'm not passive," Kerry soothed. Today, he does something similar when an angry voter complains about the Leave No Child Behind bill. "Oh, I am so furious about it," Kerry says matter-of-factly. These are questions Dean wouldn't even be asked.

Edwards Anounces Health Care Plan

From the Des Moines Register:

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards proposed a health care plan Monday that would require health insurance coverage for every child, making tax credits available to help cover the cost.

Edwards, a U.S. senator from North Carolina, said he also would provide money so low-income and moderate-income adults could buy into state health insurance programs for children, and would mandate that insurance companies allow children to remain on their parents' policies until age 25.

...

Edwards' initiative would cover some 21 million Americans at an annual cost of $53 billion, so it's less comprehensive and expensive than proposals put forward by some of his opponents, such as Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri.

...

As is the case with his education plan, middle-class tax cuts and deficit-reduction plan, Edwards' health care plan would be paid for by closing corporate tax loopholes, reducing the size of federal bureaucracy outside the military and homeland security, and rolling back tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.

UPDATE: Some interesting commentary by Jonathan Cohn of TNR.

Clinton Gears Up for Election Bid ... Sort of

Just days after a poll showed Hillary Clinton in a statistical dead heat with Bush in a hypothetical election, she is launching a website called Friends of Hillary Clinton. The site will ostensibly serve as a fundraising tool for her 2006 re-election campaign, but will also be used for general Democratic outreach. No doubt the move will feed suspicions on the part of Republicans who believe, despite her repeated denials, that Clinton has not counted out a run in 2004.

Full Story at CNN All Politics

Lieberman Criticizes Bush not Iraq

On the "Today" show ... eh, today ... Lieberman maintained firm in his support for the Iraq War, but stepped up his criticism of the Bush administration's handling. Offering up a pretty good sound byte, the senator observed that Bush's intelligence failures risks giving "a bad name to what really was a just war."

(Full Story at the Primary Monitor)

Kerry Playing It Safe on WMD

Trying to avoid the high risk of criticizing the President on Iraq and WMD, presidential hopeful John Kerry is straddling the fence quite well, first by claiming that the existence of WMD was his primary motivation for supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom, second by withholding judgment as to whether or not he was deceived. The Des Moines Register quotes Kerry:

"Colin Powell told our committee the only reason we should go to war was weapons of mass destruction," said Kerry, a senator from Massachusetts and member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "Evidently they changed those parameters afterward, and we were certainly misled with respect to that component of the walk-up to the war."

...

"I don't know what I'll say until I know what the circumstances are, whether it was intentional, not intentional," Kerry said last week campaigning in eastern Iowa. "They may find weapons of mass destruction in a few weeks, they may find it tomorrow, today. I don't know."

(this link from MSNBC's First Read, an excellent Election 2004 resource)

Latest Polling Data: New Hampshire Dems.

The American Research Group has released their most recent New Hampshire Dem poll of likely Democratic primary voters. Top-line summary: Bad news for Lieberman, whose share dropped from 11% to 6% ... he's now running behind Gephardt, Dean, and Kerry. Speaking of Kerry, he still leads (25%), but loses to this interesting "undecided" candidate, who now has a 30% share. Go here for the gory details, and here's a screen-cap of the results:

Centrist Democrats Reserved Toward Dean

Dean's gained momentum, but can he win the Democratic center? This Yahoo / AP article questions that prospect. Witness Al From, head of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council:

"Dean has certainly created a lot of excitement and has hooked on to what is the hot button issue," ... "His anti-war stance has helped him an awful lot. The enthusiasm is real. But in the long run, the Democratic Party will not elect a president who has not crossed a security threshold."

AFL-CIO Endorsement of Democrat May Wait

This Yahoo / AP story reports that, given the large field, the AFL-CIO may wait on endorsing a Democratic candidate until after the nomination. This can't be good news for Gephardt, who has made a career of union affiliations. Note that individual member-unions are free to make associations as and when they choose.

Bush Blog Coming Soon?

WaPo has another account of the RNC meeting, which covers the underpromise / overdeliver tack Mehlman is taking (see the post below). Also noted, however, was this interesting tidbit:

The RNC's summer meeting in New York concluded with an exhortation from Mehlman and Bush campaign political director Terry Nelson to build what Nelson called "the best-organized presidential campaign in modern history."

The two campaign officials offered a preview of what they said could become a massive grass-roots organization, using everything from booths at county fairs to bloggers on the Internet, to register new Republican voters, identify strong supporters of the president and turn them out on Election Day 2004 with the help of an unprecedented number of volunteers.

Gephardt Misses Head Start Vote

CNN reports that Dick Gephardt missed a narrow vote on a Republican bill that will allow some Head Start programs to be controlled by their respective states. Gephardt's response is quoted :

"I try to make as many of the votes as I can, but the Republicans tend to produce as many votes as they need to win these things, unfortunately ... They are in control. They have enough votes to do that."

Bush Campaign Manager Warns GOP to Expect Drop in Bush Polls

It's called "Expectancy Theory," it's well researched in the social sciences, and you can see it at work in this Newsday story about Ken Mehlman and Bush polling data. In it, he says:

"These numbers will come down. We must prepare for an election every bit as close as the 2000 election."

It will be interesting to see how aggressive the Bush camp becomes in trying to actively manage expectations downward between now and 2004 ...

AP - Sharpton criticizes Bush for reluctance concerning Liberia

AP Reports:

"It seems this administration's foreign policy is different, absolutely different, when it comes to people of color," said Sharpton. "I can't imagine that there wouldn't be intervention in Europe if thousands were dying in war."

"Why are we dragging our feet?" Sharpton asked. "What was the meaning of Bush's trip (to Africa)?" Sharpton said he had hoped the trip indicated that Bush would make Africa a priority of his administration.

Sharpton, speaking in front of the Liberian U.N. Mission, said the mere presence of American troops as a peacekeepers would stop the killings on the streets of Monrovia, Liberia's refugee-choked capital city of 1 million.

"I do not believe in military invasion but I do believe in humanitarian outreach, especially when all factions are asking America to come in," Sharpton said.
Sharpton said he had met with all sides during the p

Lieberman to Revive US Manufacturing (or subsidize it at least)

David Lightman is discussing Lieberman's plans for reviving the economy today. It’s an expensive plan ($10 billion or more) including cuts in corporate welfare, and limiting non-military federal spending to the rate of inflation. Yet, free trade Dems are likely to take issue with the part that proposes the resuscitating the US Manufacturing sector.

It has 17 components for reversing the decline in American manufacturing. Some involve taxes, such as creating an American Manufacturing Tax Credit that the senator says would reward companies for the percentage of manufacturing production they keep in the United States.

He would also eliminate the capital gains tax for multiyear investments in small and mid size manufacturing companies and give a credit for new purchases of information technology.

Draft Traficant for President 2004

The latest sign of the Apocalypse? Penn Live / AP are reporting that:

A group called "Draft Traficant for President 2004" communicated with the imprisoned former Ohio congressman by mail and received permission to start a campaign. They filed a signed "Statement of Candidacy" form with the Federal Election Commission this week.

Giuliani: Bush Can Win New York in 2004

So says the former Mayor ... with his aspirations, it's a smart thing to say. Read the Yahoo / AP story here. One question: is this comment self-congratualtory?

"New Yorkers like strong leaders," said Giuliani, asserting that Bush fit that description. "The president has a very good chance of winning New York" next year.

Polling Data: Dems ... And Wait 'Til You See The Numbers

Good thing for Lieberman Hillary isn't running. Without her, he leads. With her, he loses by 37 POINTS. Not an amazing vote of confidence by the Democratic electorate in the current Dem field. See for yourself; PollingReport is the source.

Edwards to Propose $3B for More Nurses

Aaaaaannnnd we're back, after a few day's delay as I spent most of the time since Monday afternoon in, near, or over airports. My sincere apologies. Let's pick things up with this story from Yahoo and the AP, which details John Edward's prposal for a $3 billion, five-year program to add 100,000 nurses to the US healthcare job rolls.

Latest Polling Data: Democrats

The latest from CNN/Time. Note that Dean continues to climb, but appears to be stealing from the "unsure" and the other also-rans, rather than the heavy hitters. See the details at PollingReport.

Green Party Faction Wants McKinney For President In 2004

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting that Nader may have competition among the Greens in the person of former Democratic Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. Hmmm ... a controversy on the issues splitting the Green party vote and harming Nader. Wouldn't that be ironic?

Poll Shows Edwards Behind Bush In N.C.

Not, I am certain, what the Edwards camp hopes to hear ... their candidate trailing the President in the candidate's home state. Edwards is, however, gaining, and not losing, ground. Read the details in the Shelby Star (NC):

Bush would beat Edwards 54 percent to 40 percent in North Carolina if the general election were today, according to a telephone poll of 600 likely voters conducted by Research 2000 of Rockville, Md., for The News & Observer of Raleigh.

The 14-point gap is the smallest since The N&O started polling in January.

Democrats Rethink Strategy

Or so says the Boston Globe, which notes today that changes in the primary calendar, and "a combination of geographical advantages shared by several contenders," may make Iowa and New Hampshire much less important to the Democrats in the coming election cycle.

Bush Pushes Re-Election Funds Over $41M

That's an awfully big number, especially given that it's July, 2003. Read the details at ABC News. Also note that many, many news outlets reported this story with this headline, "Bush Fund-Raising Trip Nets $41.4 Million," which is clearly inaccurate. He did not, obviously, net $41 million on a single campaign trip.

Dean's For Real, But Can He Win?

That's the question posed this morning by my hometown Philadelphia Inquirer. Read the article here; it offers a decent Dean position summary. Here's a taste:

It's tough to pinpoint when Dean caught fire as a presidential candidate, but it may have been the February day in Washington when he served up red meat to a ballroom of Democrats who were sick of defeat and hungry for inspiration.

Wearing the smirk of a kid with a firecracker, he began by bellowing: "What I want to know is why so many Democrats in Washington aren't standing up against Bush's unilateral war against Iraq... . I'm Howard Dean, and I represent the Democratic wing of the Democratic party!"

The place exploded, like the Vet after a Jim Thome homer. Here was a candidate willing to frontally attack not only the President, but timid souls in his own party. The cheering, foot-stomping activists also knew perfectly well that "the Democratic wing" was a code phrase for liberalism.

And that's why so many Dean detractors are spooked.

Dean: Bush Owes U.S. Explanation on Iraq

A Dog Bites Man story from Yahoo and the AP. Nontheless, it's a bold attack:

"If we went there under false pretenses, then American soldiers died because we weren't given the right information," Dean, a staunch opponent of the U.S.-led conflict, told reporters at a news conference.

Rivals Target Gephardt's Strengths

By strengths they mean Gephardt's union support, which, with Gephardt's flagging financials, the other Dems are starting to target. Read more via Yahoo / AP.

Lieberman Pledges to Reverse Job Losses

First came the candidates, like so many locusts, and thence came the campaign promises, and together, anon, they lit upon the land. From Yahoo / AP:

Democrat Joe Lieberman, warning that America is "hemorrhaging manufacturing jobs," promises to reverse the trend as president with tax incentives and tougher trade policies.

Lieberman called President Bush's massive tax cuts a disaster for working Americans and accused some Democrats of dangerous protectionism.

"Rather than thinking we can build walls around our economy, as some Democrats would have us do, I want to build bridges to markets around the world for American-made goods," Lieberman said Friday in a speech to about 20 employees at a high-technology manufacturing company.

More Deansburyblogging

Today, from Garry Trudeau:

(Ed: Of course, this is further evidence that we've all jumped the shark.)

Latest Polling Data: General Election

The interesting finding here: while the President's "favorables" are down 9 points, his "unfavorables" have held steady. The movement is to those who say "depends." This traditionally reflects increasing uncertainty among former supporters ... draw your own conclusions if the war or economy has greater weight in the "depends" equation. Graphic courtesy PollingReport.com.

Bob Graham Eyes Potential Grounds For Bush Impeachment

Really. Turnabout, as they say, is fair play ... and it seems this election may be getting serious. From Yahoo / Reuters:

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bob Graham said on Thursday there were grounds to impeach President Bush if he was found to have led America to war under false pretenses.

While Graham did not call for Bush's impeachment, he said if the president lied about the reasons for going to war with Iraq it would be "more serious" than former President Bill Clinton's lie under oath about his sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky.

"If in fact we went to war under false pretenses that is a very serious charge," Graham, the senior U.S. senator from Florida, told reporters in New Hampshire.

"If the standard of impeachment is the one the House Republicans used against Bill Clinton, this clearly comes within that standard," he said.

Edwards Campaigns Town Hall Style

More local stumping coverage, this time from the Nashua Telegraph (NH), which is covering a series of 12 town hall meetings Edwards is holding in New Hampshire:

The crowd for the most part was enthusiastic and applauded frequently ... Applause was noticeably absent when Edwards defended his support for the war in Iraq.

He scarcely missed a chance during the evening to note that his father was a lifelong mill worker, and that despite his success as a lawyer, he knew what ordinary peoples' lives were like ...

... "I hope we still live in a country where we can believe the son of a mill worker can beat the son of a president," he said.

Democratic Candidates Apologize To NAACP

They came, they saw, they sucked up. From Yahoo / AP:

Three Democrats apologized to the NAACP convention Thursday for bypassing a presidential forum in a political act of contrition.

Joe Lieberman, Dick Gephardt and Dennis Kucinich rearranged their campaign schedules to appear before the NAACP gathering and say they were sorry. The three White House hopefuls had drawn the wrath of the nation's oldest civil rights group when then skipped Monday's forum, earning the description "persona non grata" from the NAACP leader.

Kucinich talked about his opposition to the war in Iraq and the nation's economic woes. Then the moderator goaded him into offering an official apology, saying: "We have heard the explanation, does the congressman need to say something else?"

Replied Kucinich: "I'm very sorry I wasn't able to be here, amazing grace, how sweet it is, once was lost, now I'm found."

Retired Ohio Senator Endorses Dean

Metzenbaum has endorsed Dean; read more in this Yahoo / AP article.

Lieberman Speaking Out On Bush, Rivals

Joey L is turning up the volume. From Yahoo / AP:

The mild-mannered Connecticut senator, his presidential campaign stalled in the Democratic Party's middling mass, is directing harsher salvos at President Bush and — most notably — his rivals.

He says Howard Dean probably can't get elected, accuses John Kerry of waffling on Iraq and calls Dick Gephardt's health care plan "big-government spending."

The most conservative of the field's nine candidates, Lieberman may finally be following the advice of frustrated advisers and even former President Clinton. Their counsel: Toughen your spine in a primary race dominated by liberal voters and angry partisans.

Strategists Hope Africa Trip Boosts Bush's Standing With Black Voters

Oh, come now ... the Africa trip may have had political objectives? From Yahoo / USAToday:

President Bush's five-nation trip to Africa last week was part of his subtle courtship of black Americans, a political constituency seldom wooed by Republican presidents ...

... The president's political strategists believe the trip will ease some of the mistrust black Americans have toward Bush. A USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll taken June 27-29 found 31% of blacks approve of the job Bush is doing.

Democratic Candidates Endorse Rights For Gay Couples

All nine endorsed legal recognition and partnership benefits for same-sex couples, but the top six refused to endorse the concept of ''gay marriage.'' Read the details here, courtesy Yahoo / USAToday.

'Wake-Up Call': Gephardt Fundraising Comes In Light

Trying to get some posts up as we deal with our database migration ... let's start with this Yahoo / USAToday article which reports less-than-delightful news for the Gephardt campaign:

Rep. Richard Gephardt, who raised millions of dollars for congressional candidates when he was the House Democratic leader, fell short in his presidential race Tuesday with fundraising totals that put him well below his $5 million goal and the top tier of the field.

Gephardt, of Missouri, raised $3.9 million in April, May and June. That put him fifth among the six major Democratic contenders. He was fourth in cash on hand, another key indicator, according to reports due today at the Federal Election Commission. He had $6.3 million as of June 30.

Blogging For President

I have to admit, I am intrigued by the decision of Governor Howard Dean to use a weblog to further his campaign for the Presidency, and I applaud him for doing so. I can think of no better way to bring blogging fully into the mainstream, and I hope that we will see more candidates blogging about their campaigns.

I am also quite intrigued by the decision Governor Dean made to guest-blog over at Larry Lessig's weblog. I have no idea what the relationship was/is between Dean and Lessig (the latter was one of my professors for a class I took as a graduate student at the University of Chicago), or how Dean decided to blog at Lessig's site, but I think that this will also further the blogging phenomenon.

I wish, however, that Dean would spend his time writing serious posts, and not posts like this one, which looks for all the world like the kind of thing that a staffer would write for a standard stump speech. I understand the need for candidates to have a stump speech and stick with it, but the attractive nature of blogs are that they get us past the kind of standard pablum that we read and hear from Big Media outlets. Unfortunately, Dean appears determined to treat blogging as yet another forum where we are treated to more of the same in terms of serious thought. There is no originality to his writing, nothing that makes a person take note and say "Aha! There is a candidate with a mind of his own!" What was the purpose for this exercise again?

My thoughts are summarized by the comments of "Factotum," who said the following in the comment section to the post I linked to above:

Increasingly, Dr. Dean, you are sounding like the nicely packaged candidate - “listening” - and repeating your “message” over and over again here and elsewhere. Is this what we are to come to expect from your campaign?

What made your campaign exciting and interesting was that you took a stand on many issues, not just the war - did intellectual property JUST appear on your desk? Haven’t you had at least several months to do more than “listen?” What is your position on labor, not just disjointed remarks - but a policy position people can point to? Give us something as concrete on THESE issues as you do on health insurance policy.

Blogging may seem cool in the press - but blog without substance and I begin to yawn. I feel like you are falling right back into that famililar old political models - even far before you might normally feel the pull (after the primaries.) Ugghh.

Indeed. I'm not going to vote for a candidate based on the blog that candidate might keep. But if a candidate is going to blog, would it be too much to ask that the message be as original and vibrant as the medium? Originality, originality. My kingdom for originality.

(This post can also be found on my blog.)

Dean On Lessig

Howard Dean is guest blogging at Lessig's Blog; you may read the first post here. Link via Glenn Reynolds.

A Different Kind Of Draft

Jack Beatty of the Atlantic Monthly believes Wesley Clark is The Ideal Candidate.

Of the two candidates who did not support the war, Howard Dean would lose to Bush —his supporters must face political reality. As for Bob Graham, vehement as he has been about the Administration's subversion of democracy, he is a U.S. senator, and in the last hundred years Americans have elected only two senators. To be sure, they have elected only one General during that time. But if you ask which candidate Bush would least like to run against, the answer has to be General Wesley Clark.

GOP Almost Completely Absent From NCLR

More on the Latino vote: News 8 Austin offers this report of the annual convention for the National Council of La Raza, the largest Hispanic organization in the nation. Summary: the Republican's were MIA (with the exception of Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-TX), and Dean lit em' up.

In a fiery speech, Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean hit right to the heart of the crowd.

"Immigrants built this country. We ought to respect them and stop racial profiling them and keeping them out of our universities and making it harder for them to get by," Dean said.

On The Latino Vote

The Christian Science Monitor offers an interesting analysis of the role of the Latino vote here. A sample:

Democrats have historically commanded a majority of the Latino vote, but not as resoundingly as they win the black vote, which is more than 90 percent Democratic. In 2000, Bush won more of the Hispanic vote (35 percent) than previous Republican presidential nominees. In that election, Hispanics represented 7 percent of voters and blacks 10 percent of voters. If noncitizen Hispanics in the US were to gain citizenship and register, the number of Hispanic voters would double, according to the Pew Hispanic Center in Washington. Hispanics - people of Latin American or Spanish descent - are America's fastest-growing demographic group. During the 1990s, their population grew 58 percent.

Nader Says He'll Decide On '04 Run By End Of Year

From the Baltimore Sun:

Dismissing criticism that his Green Party candidacy helped elect President Bush in 2000, Ralph Nader said yesterday that he is weighing a bid for the White House next year.

The veteran consumer activist, whose third-party presidential campaign drew 2.8 million votes in the last election, criticized Democrats for not aggressively challenging the Bush administration's economic policies and its handling of corporate fraud. The party's candidates, he said, have not shown that they are a sound alternative to Bush ...

... Speaking to reporters at a breakfast meeting, Nader said he would decide by year's end whether to launch another presidential campaign. If he does, Nader said he would run as an independent or as a Green Party candidate.

Gephardt Visits Clinton

The town, not the former President. If you've been reading this page with any frequency, you know I try to post local stump coverage, and here the Clinton, Iowa Clinton Herald offers a first-hand account of a recent visit by Gephardt.

"By 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999... things were going in the right direction," he said, adding that 23 million new jobs were created in seven years' time.

"In 24 months, he's turned everything on its head," Gephardt said of Bush.
Gephardt's major push is to extend health coverage to 97 percent of the uninsured. The plan maintains employer-based health insurance coverage that promotes efficiency through group health insurance coverage and directs the benefits of the stimulus package to America's working families, he said.

Kucinich Raises $1.54 Million

And it's primarily Internet-driven, which suggests that the Dean model is different, if only in effectiveness. From Yahoo / AP:

Democratic presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich said Monday that his campaign had raised $1.54 million during a three-month period, mostly from small Internet donations.

After spending about $527,000 from April to June, Kucinich has about $1.06 million on hand for his White House bid. Considered a long-shot candidate, Kucinich is slated to file financial reports with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday.

Moseley Braun's Presidential Bid Must Be Taken Seriously

So says the Chicago Sun Times, which outline's CMB's campaign, and long list of supporters, here.

Her campaign is about more than winning or losing. As the first woman in 16 years to explore a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun is promoting a just cause.

''I can win the Democratic nomination,'' Moseley Braun said recently, or, "I can make a showing and help advance the cause of women in higher office, pave the way for a woman president."

Kucinich Spices Up Democratic Race

Or so says MSNBC, which also notes that DK offers a "purer anti-Pentagon alternative to Howard Dean."

Dukakis: Why Bush Is Vulnerable

Dukakis makes this argument in BusinessWeek Online, and you may read it here. Oh, and he likes Kerry. For the impatient, here's a taste:

Q: But surely this will be an uphill struggle, won't it?

A: I don't mean Bush is easy pickings. He's going to be tough, and they're going to work like hell to stay in [office]. For one thing, he has 300 gazillion dollars. But all I can tell you is that a guy who was at 44% on reelect the week before he invaded Iraq -- assuming this Middle Eastern situation continues to be bogged down -- has problems and is beatable. But not by everybody. That's why I think John [Kerry] is so compelling.

No, Ralph, No

The Boulder Colorado Daily Camera hopes Nader will keep his hat out of the ring.

Humphrey Institute Fellow To Lead Bush’s Re-Election Campaign

The Bush campaign has named lobbyist and Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs fellow Vin Weber a regional leader for the election push. He will coordinate campaign efforts in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska, "monitoring public opinion, coordinating campaign efforts and organizing presidential election visits." From The Minnesota Daily, dontcha' know.

Dean, Kerry Showdown Looms

Now the Boston Globe has dean in the NH finals:

With the nation's leadoff primary a litttle more than six months away, Kerry and Dean have emerged as the leading choices among likely Democratic voters in New Hampshire, with the two New Englanders consistently outpolling the seven other candidates for the party's 2004 presidential nomination.

Kerry has led by as many as 12 percentage points, but Dean's recent success in outraising the field, with $7.5 million in the quarter that ended June 30, the Internet and grass-roots effort that propelled it, and the media attention it has attracted, have raised the stakes for Kerry. A near-favorite son candidate in New Hampshire, Kerry could be severely wounded by a loss -- or merely a close victory -- in the Jan. 27 primary, especially if Dean surpasses him eight days earlier in the kickoff Iowa caucuses.

Missing Democrat Candidates an "Affront to NAACP"

[Miami Herald]

The NAACP's top leadership lashed out Saturday at several of the major Democratic candidates for president, calling their intention to skip Monday's candidate forum an ''affront'' to the nation's oldest civil rights organization.

As many as four of the nine candidates have refused to participate in the forum, expressing reluctance to appear on stage with their rivals in a debate format, NAACP officials said.

Full story...

The Latest Polling Data

Polling Report has the stats for the Newsweek poll noted below. Here are the latest numbers:

Cause For Depression?

A July 8-9 CBS News Poll (go here for the details) asked this question:

"From what you have heard or read, can you name any of the candidates running for the 2004 Democratic nomination for president?" If "Yes": "Who is the first one who comes to mind?"

Oh ... and Dean and Kerry won the top-of-mind-recall question, with each getting 7%.

Dean's Surge Poses Challenges For Him, Others

The Stamford Advocate (CT) has picked up this AP story about the complications that arise from Dean's challenge ... some of the same we've been reading, but also some new insights.

Raising $7.5 million for his Internet-fueled campaign was the easy part. Now Democrat Howard Dean says he must urgently expand his presidential bid, broaden his message and soften the rough edges of his personality.

Lying In Wait For Dean

Newsweek has an analysis here of how the other Dems may - or may not - be accounting for the Dean campaign.

You'd think that Howard Dean's rivals would start attacking him-”big time”-now that his Internet-based fund-raising prowess has elevated him to what amounts to front-runner status in the Democratic presidential race. But each leading contender has his own strategic reason for laying off, at least until the fall, if not beyond - a scenario that could backfire by allowing Dean a free ride until it's too late to stop him.

The Latest Polling Data

The most recent poll, noted here by KFMB-TV:

Dick Gephardt had the backing of 14 percent of Democrats and those who lean Democratic in the Newsweek poll released Saturday. Joe Lieberman was at 13 percent, Howard Dean 12 percent and John Kerry 10 percent.

Apologies

Our apologies for the lack of posting the last two days ... we're having some database issues here at TCP, and have had to be careful of when we were posting as Sekimori works on the fix. Thanks for your patience.

What They're Worth

This graph comes courtesy The Center For Public Integrity's "Buying Of The Presidency" site. Note that John Kerry's net worth is primarily inhe