Archive for the ‘"Meet the Press"’ Category

Former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich, shorn of his top layer of key aides, this morning will send an e-mail to loyalists who remain, telling them that he’ll run a “citizen-driven” campaign focused on the economy. From Alexander Burns and Politico.com:

Republican presidential hopeful and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and wife Callista tour C&M Machine Products in Hudson, N.H., on Wednesday. AP/Cheryl Senter

“When I announced my candidacy for President of the United States on May 11, I set out to run a substantive, solutions-oriented campaign built upon an alternative idea. To make Washington smaller, we as citizens must become bigger,” Gingrich writes in an as-yet-unreleased message.

“Because the renewal of America can only begin with you, this will be your campaign. As someone who has been in public life for nearly forty years, I know full well the rigors of campaigning for public office. I will endure them.”

Clearly in charge of his own messaging now …

Continue reading Newt Gingrich vows to continue with a ‘citizen-driven’ campaign »

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed this Sunday will make his second appearance of the year on NBC’s “Meet the Press” – another sign that he’s being groomed for a larger role in Barack Obama’s re-election campaign.

Reed last appeared in February, for a discussion of problems facing urban centers during the recession. Based on the make-up of the four-member panel, this Sunday’s discussion (third segment) looks like it might focus more closely on the economy and Obama’s prospects.

Other participants: Mike Murphy, Republican strategist; Kim Strassel, Wall Street Journal columnist; and Richard Wolffe, author of “Revival 2.0: How the Obama White House is Making its Political Comeback.”

GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania will get face time during the second segment.

- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider

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Continue reading Kasim Reed returns to ‘Meet the Press’ »

Gov. Nathan Deal, left, and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed at this month’s announcement by Porsche Cars North America that the company would move its offices to the old Ford plant site in Hapeville. Bob Andres, bandres@ajc.com

It shouldn’t be unusual, but it is. The Republican governor of Georgia has invited the Democratic mayor of Atlanta to join him Wednesday on a high-powered, one-day swing through Washington, D.C.

The agenda includes a strategy session with Georgia members of Congress, to update them on the state’s pursuit of $500 million in federal funds for the dredging of the Port of Savannah. There will be a meeting with U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who has been critical of our state’s laissez-faire approach to road and rail infrastructure.

But Deal served nine terms in Congress. He knows where the bathrooms are in the U.S. Capitol, and needs no tour guide. Moreover, LaHood is an old Republican friend. No, the spokesman for the governor was very upfront …

Continue reading Nathan Deal and Kasim Reed’s wonderful Washington adventure »

Important Republicans continue to wonder whether Newt Gingrich may have snapped a foreleg as he left the gate on Sunday.

The same Wall Street Journal editorial page that last week pilloried former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney as fatally compromised — because of his efforts at health care reform while governor of Massachusetts – today takes aim at the former Georgia congressman:

Asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday about Paul Ryan’s reform plan, Mr. Gingrich chose to throw his former allies in the GOP House not so much under the bus as off the Grand Canyon rim….

Our guess is that a politician as experienced as Mr. Gingrich knew exactly what he was doing and that as he runs for President, he wants to appear to be more moderate than he has sounded over the last, oh, 20 years, by suddenly triangulating against the GOP House he once led.

Nikki Haley, governor of South Carolina, has expressed skepticism of Newt Gingrich’s presidential run before. But has given her …

Continue reading Nikki Haley, others stew over Newt Gingrich’s health care remarks »

And you were wondering why — unlike you — certain Georgia lawmakers have a smile on their faces when headed to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

Delta Air Lines has given upgrades to some of the more powerful people in the state Capitol. From Richard Belcher and Channel 2 Action News:

Delta valued the gold medallions at just under $1,600 and gave them to Rep. Jay Roberts, chairman of the House Transportation Committee; Sen. Ronnie Chance, chairman of the Economic Development Committee; and House Majority Leader Larry O’Neal.

Receiving platinum medallions valued at just under $2,400 were Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle; House Speaker pro tem Jan Jones; Senate President pro tem Tommie Williams; and former House majority leader Jerry Keen, who got his medallion after deciding not to run last year.

It was a campaign contribution to someone without a campaign.

Last month, state lawmakers extended a fuel tax break for Delta that will save the company $30 million over two years. The …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: Delta gives upgrades to Casey Cagle, state lawmakers »

Over the weekend, the New York Times described the split between Barack Obama and his secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, over U.S. reaction to the Egyptian revolution:

A president who himself is often torn between idealism and pragmatism was navigating the counsel of a traditional foreign policy establishment led by Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Biden and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, against that of a next-generation White House staff who worried that the American preoccupation with stability could put a historic president on the wrong side of history.

Former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich in Iowa on Saturday. AP/The Hawk Eye

But Republicans, too, have been all over the map. On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, was asked what he thought of the Obama administration’s handling of the matter. Said Boehner:

”I think they’ve handled what is a very difficult situation about as well as it could be handled.”

Yet on his second trip to Iowa this …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: Like White House, Republicans in disarray over Egypt »

Unless Hosni Mubarak has just rewritten the guest list, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed has landed his first appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

In Atlanta, that’s 10 a.m. Sunday.

The topic is federal spending cuts, and their impact on big cities. Reed will be on a roundtable that includes Rep. Bobby Schilling, R- Ill., a tea party-supported freshman; Dee Dee Myers, former Clinton White House press secretary; David Brooks, columnist for the New York Times; and Mark Halperin of Time magazine.

- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider

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Continue reading Kasim Reed on Sunday’s ‘Meet the Press’ »

Last night, Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert took up the overdue issue of whether the Washington elites who spout on Sunday news shows should have their facts checked:

The Colbert Report
Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Continue reading On whether ‘Meet the Press’ should meet the facts »