Politics Today: Obama Heads to Copenhagen
Politics Today is CBSNews.com's inside look at the key stories driving the day in politics, written by CBS News Political Director Steve Chaggaris:
** The president makes an Olympic bid...
** Conflicting opinions on Afghanistan...
** Tim Pawlenty gets a PAC...
First lady Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey are already in Denmark and the Chicago Tribune's Philip Hersh and Kathy Bergen report that Mrs. Obama "wasted no time in captivating some of the International Olympic Committee members who will decide a 2016 Summer Olympic host-city race considered too close to call.
"As she passed through the lobby of the Copenhagen Marriott, where the IOC members are staying, she gave two thumbs up and a hug to one of the first members she encountered, Nicole Hoevertsz of Aruba.
"Not only that, Hoevertsz said later, but the first lady congratulated her on having been named Tuesday as secretary to Aruba's council of ministers.
"It is that sort of preparation and attention to detail as much as the case she makes for her city that the Chicago 2016 bid committee hopes will make her a key player in Copenhagen. The second big name to arrive Wednesday, Oprah Winfrey, also hopes to influence the IOC's voting, which she called 'a decision that could be a landmark in Chicago history.'" On Friday, the IOC will choose Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo or Madrid."
"Republicans criticized the president's trip, saying he is setting aside national issues for parochial interests," adds Bloomberg News' John McCormick. "'It's a great idea to promote Chicago,' House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio said. 'But he's the president of the United States, not the mayor of Chicago.'
"The White House challenged that notion by saying the Obamas are representing the nation's bid, not just the city's.
"'The president will approach this in selling the American bid as he's tried to sell America around the world,' White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said today in Washington."
5354080AFGHANISTAN: "The president, vice president and an array of cabinet secretaries, intelligence chiefs, generals, diplomats and advisers gathered in a windowless basement room of the White House for three hours on Wednesday to chart a new course in Afghanistan," write the New York Times' Peter Baker and Eric Schmitt. "The one thing everyone could agree on: None of the choices is easy.
"Just six months after President Obama adopted what he called a 'stronger, smarter and comprehensive strategy' for Afghanistan and Pakistan, he is back at the same table starting from scratch. The choices available to him are both disparate and not particularly palatable.
"He could stick with his March strategy, but his commander wants as many as 40,000 more troops to make it work. He could go radically in the other direction and embrace Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s idea of using fewer troops, focused more on hunting down leaders of Al Qaeda, but risk the collapse of the Afghan government. Or he could search for some middle-ground option that avoids the risks of the other two, but potentially find himself in a quagmire."
"In an interview Wednesday, a senior defense official said that Defense Secretary Robert Gates now worries that counterinsurgency might no longer be a viable approach for countering the Taliban violence roiling once-stable parts of north and west Afghanistan," reports the Wall Street Journal's Yochi J. Dreazen.
"Mr. Gates, a Bush administration holdover, has emerged as one of Mr. Obama's most trusted advisers, so his views carry significant weight in the deliberations.
"'Even 40,000 more troops don't give you enough boots on the ground to protect the Afghans if the north and west continue to deteriorate,' the official said. 'That may argue for a different approach.'
"A shift in Mr. Gates's thinking would be particularly striking because he has long been a major advocate of counterinsurgency, which is credited with helping to sharply reduce Iraq's once-unrelenting violence."
"With much of his party largely opposed to expanding military operations in Afghanistan, President Obama could be forced into the awkward political position of turning to congressional Republicans for support if he follows the recommendations of the commanding U.S. general there," adds the Washington Post's Scott Wilson.
"Congressional Democrats have begun promoting a compromise package of additional resources for Afghanistan that would emphasize training for Afghan security forces but deny Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal the additional combat troops he has indicated he needs to regain the initiative against the Taliban insurgency. The emerging Democratic consensus is likely to constrain the president as he considers how best to proceed with an increasingly unpopular war. ...
"The emerging Democratic position could compel Obama, whose domestic agenda is facing stiff Republican criticism in Congress, to rely on those same opposition lawmakers for support if he decides to send more combat troops to Afghanistan."
McClatchy Newspapers' Hal Bernton, "U.S. troops call Afghan region 'Vietnam without napalm'": "The men of Bravo Company have a bitter description for the irrigated swath of land along the Arghandab River where 10 members of their battalion have been killed and 30 have been wounded since the beginning of August. 'Like Vietnam without the napalm,' said Spc. Nicholas Gojekian, 21, of Katy, Texas."
"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Wednesday the Senate debate could begin the week of Columbus Day, Oct. 12, even though lawmakers are scheduled to be on vacation at the time.
"Democratic aides said the House was working on roughly the same timetable, although after months of missed deadlines, neither House Speaker Nancy Pelosi nor Reid would provide a detailed schedule.
Debate in the Senate could take weeks, compared with mere days in the House.
"But even now, two weeks before the projected start of debate, key decisions are yet to be made about elements of the bills. Reid must decide, for example, whether to include an option for the government to sell insurance in competition with private industry, a provision sought by liberals who argue it would subject private insurers to much-needed competition."
Meantime, "Democrats on a key Senate panel backed off a plan to impose billions of dollars in new taxes on senior citizens with catastrophic medical expenses Wednesday and defeated Republican amendments on abortion, immigration and other divisive issues, aiming to bring a comprehensive health-care overhaul before the full Senate within two weeks," report the Washington Post's Lori Montgomery and Ceci Connolly.
"On the sixth day of a marathon debate in the Senate Finance Committee, Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) declared that his panel has the votes to approve a package of reforms that would extend coverage to more than 30 million Americans who lack insurance. He and Sen. Charles E. Grassley (Iowa), the ranking Republican on the panel, said they expect to finish the bill by Friday."
5215995Los Angeles Times' Noam N. Levey, "Abortion language heats up healthcare battle": "As the Senate Finance Committee continued to debate its version of a healthcare overhaul bill Wednesday, Democrats and Republicans clashed over abortion -- potentially complicating President Obama's drive for action this fall.
"At issue is how far healthcare legislation should go to prevent insurance companies from offering abortion services to the millions of women who could get taxpayer subsidies to help them pay premiums.
"Federal funding of abortion has been prohibited since 1976, when an amendment by Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.) banned Medicaid from paying for the procedure except in cases of rape, incest or medical necessity.
"The bill now before the committee contains provisions that Democrats say would keep federal subsidy dollars from going to cover abortions. Republicans, however, say that the provisions are not strong enough. But an attempt to toughen them went down to defeat, and the confrontation threatened to further inflame debate over the issue."
McClatchy Newspapers' David Lightman, "80 percent agreement on health care? No way that's true": "President Barack Obama has said this repeatedly: Members of Congress agree on 'about 80 percent of what needs to be done' to overhaul America's health care system. Democratic congressional leaders have echoed that claim, using it to underscore that overhauling America's health care system is within their grasp. No one, however, can offer specifics about what that 80 percent entails, other than to say that everyone agrees on key principles. A lot of lawmakers scoff at the figure, particularly since Democrats disagree sharply on two central elements: Whether to create a government-run health-insurance plan, and how to pay for all the changes under discussion."
New York Times' Jackie Calmes, "House Leaders Trying to Give All Democrats a Say": "The Senate poses the main hurdle to President Obama's effort to overhaul the health care system. But passing so far-reaching a bill in the House is not going to be easy either. Few Democrats doubt that ultimately the House will approve its version of a program to expand insurance coverage and restrain long-term health care spending, given the party's sizable majority. But first Democratic leaders must bridge some big cracks in their ranks, especially over taxes and abortion, to keep their defections to a minimum."
Washington Post's Keith B. Richburg, "What Makes a Health Plan a 'Cadillac'?": "[A]s the competing proposals are debated on Capitol Hill, a fundamental challenge has emerged: Few people agree on exactly what constitutes a Cadillac plan."
CBSNews.com's Brian Montopoli, "Alan Grayson: People Like a Democrat with Guts": "Democratic Representative Alan Grayson of Florida, who has come under fire from Republicans for suggesting on the House floor Tuesday night that 'Republicans want you to die quickly if you get sick,' said in an interview with CBSNews.com Wednesday that the response to his comments has been 'overwhelmingly positive.'
"'People are calling us from all over the country to congratulate us for telling the truth,' he said. 'People are happy to see a Democrat with guts.'"
"Thursday's meeting between Iran and the five members of the United Nations Security Council, plus Germany and the European Union will mark the beginning of an 'extraordinarily difficult process' and further meetings are likely, a senior American official said. Washington would still like to begin bilateral talks with Iran on a broader relationship, including trade and Tehran's support for Palestinian, Lebanese and Iraqi insurgent and terrorist groups, from Hezbollah to Islamic Jihad.
"But after new disclosures of a hidden Iranian enrichment facility dug deep into a guarded mountain near Qum, the negotiations 'cannot be an open-ended process, or talks just for the sake of talks, especially in light of the revelations about Qum,' said the official, who briefed reporters Wednesday on condition of anonymity."
"U.S. officials signaled Wednesday that they will seek a rare bilateral meeting with Iranian diplomats during the discussions," adds the Washington Post's Glenn Kessler. "The talks between Iran and major powers, expected to last through the day, have been structured to allow for both group meetings and informal, bilateral sessions with Iran; a senior administration official said the latter would be 'an opportunity to reinforce the main concerns we will be emphasizing in the meeting.' He spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the diplomatic sensitivity ahead of the talks...
"The senior administration official said Wednesday that 'we are committed to meaningful negotiations to resolve what are growing international concerns about Iran's nuclear problem.' But, he added, 'this cannot be an open-ended process, more talks for the sake of talks,' especially after the revelation last week that Iran has a second uranium-enrichment plant under construction. 'We need to see practical steps and measurable results, and we need to see them starting quickly.'
"Until Wednesday, U.S. officials had said they had not decided whether a bilateral meeting with Iran was desirable. Wednesday's comments marked a distinct shift in tone, with the official emphasizing how the schedule provides the 'opportunity' and 'possibility' of such a meeting."
Heading the PAC will be William Strong, the vice chairman of Morgan Stanley, and former Rep. Vin Weber, R-Minn., who notably was a strong supporter in 2008 of another potential 2012 candidate, Mitt Romney.
Also to be announced today is the PAC's political team, which includes former McCain campaign manager and Bush-Cheney 2004 political director Terry Nelson, former Bush 43 White House political director Sara Taylor, former Republican Governors Association executive director Phil Musser and former Republican National Committee spokesman and senior adviser Alex Conant. Also, former Federal Election Commission chairman and McCain campaign counsel Michael Toner will be the PAC's counsel.
Politico's Jonathan Martin, "Pawlenty preps 2012 campaign team": "Pawlenty, under the radar of D.C.'s political community, has locked up some of the key operatives who engineered then-President George W. Bush's reelection campaign — a significant feat for a little-known Midwestern politician. The moves underscore, and will lend credence to, the emerging belief among many establishment Republicans that Pawlenty is becoming the sole viable alternative to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a potential Republican primary rival. The Minnesota governor has even gone so far as to contact some of Romney's former supporters."
2009 NJ GOVERNOR: Newark Star-Ledger's Claire Heininger, "Gov. Corzine, Daggett, Christie try to woo N.J. group on eve of first debate": "Fighting for thousands of potential votes, the three leading candidates for governor appeared today at the annual conference of the Black Ministers Council of New Jersey, wooing the audience with pledges on education, crime and the economy. A day before they are scheduled to face off in their first debate, Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine, Republican Chris Christie and independent Chris Daggett appeared separately before the group, which does not formally endorse. But the support of several of its leaders -- including executive director Rev. Reginald T. Jackson -- can help turn out scores of voters on election day."
2009 VA GOVERNOR: Richmond Times-Dispatch's Tyler Whitley, "McDonnell takes swipe at Kaine": "Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell had harsh words yesterday for Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, criticizing him for supporting transportation plans that involved raising taxes and for being absent from the state in his role as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. 'I will be a full-time governor,' McDonnell said during an interview conducted by the News & Messenger ... 'I had a good working relationship with him for three years until his job came to be to beat the tar out of me,' McDonnell said."
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