Politics Today: Obama Hits the Campaign Trail
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:
** Raising money and getting out the vote...
** The public option lives on to fight another day...
** An announcement from Afghanistan's Karzai...
Today's fundraising trip kicks off a series of campaign-related events for the president: tomorrow he's in New Jersey to help Gov. Jon Corzine, D-N.J., who's fighting a close re-election battle. Friday, Mr. Obama heads to Boston to raise money for his friend, Gov. Deval Patrick, D-Mass., who's up for re-election next year. Next week, the president is in Florida on Monday to raise money for the state's Democrats and on Tuesday, Oct. 27, he'll campaign in Virginia with Democrat Creigh Deeds, who's trailing in his race for governor there.
"The concentrated push... is shaping up, at least to some degree, as a gauge on Obama's political influence," writes the Associated Press' Ben Feller.
"Several factors beyond Obama's control will shape next month's races, but he puts his political standing on the line by investing his own time, and the White House is carefully calculating when he can afford to spare it.
"Obama plans a final burst on behalf of candidates right before the Nov. 3 election."
Meantime, reports the New York Times' David D. Kirkpatrick, "The Wall Street giants that received a financial lifeline from Washington may have no compunction about paying big bonuses to their dealmakers and traders. But their willingness to deliver 'thank you' gifts to President Obama and the Democrats is another question altogether.
"Mr. Obama will fly to New York on Tuesday for a lavish Democratic Party fund-raising dinner at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel for about 200 big donors. Each donor is paying the legal maximum of $30,400 and is allowed to take a date. Four of the seven 'co-chairs' listed on the invitation work in finance, and Democratic Party organizers say they expect that about a third of the attendees will come from the industry.
"But from the financial giants like Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup that received federal bailout money — and whose bankers raised millions of dollars for Mr. Obama's election — only a half-dozen or fewer are expected to attend (estimated total contribution: $91,200).
"Part of the reason, several Democratic fund-raisers and executives said, is a fear of getting caught in the public rage over the perception that Wall Street titans profiting from their government bailout may use their winnings to give back to Washington in return. And the timing of the event, as the industry lobbies against proposals for tighter regulations to address the underlying causes of last year's meltdown on Wall Street, has only added to the worry over public appearances."
"Biden, speaking to a cheering crowd of hundreds in a gymnasium at Middlesex County College, said the governor will fight for better health care and a stronger economy. 'Jon has said he's governed in hard times," Biden said. "Let's give the man a chance to govern in good times.' ...
"In addition to Biden, Democrats President Obama and former President Bill Clinton are expected to come to New Jersey this week to boost Corzine's campaign as the hotly contested gubernatorial race nears its final two weeks."
Meantime, a new poll out in New Jersey shows what recent polls have consistently revealed: the governor's race is a dead heat.
The poll by Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey shows Corzine tied with Republican Chris Christie at 39 percent among likely voters. Independent Chris Daggett polls at 14 percent.
New York Times' David M. Halbfinger, "Christie May Have Gotten Improper Aid": "When news broke in August that the former United States attorney, Christopher J. Christie, had lent $46,000 to a top aide in the federal prosecutor's office, he said he was merely helping a friend in need. He also said the aide, Michele Brown, had done nothing to help his gubernatorial campaign.
"But interviews with federal law enforcement officials suggest that Ms. Brown used her position in two significant and possibly improper ways to try to aid Mr. Christie in his run for governor."
In Virginia, "Democrat R. Creigh Deeds is making a final push ... that aims to do what he has been unable to accomplish so far: awaken loyal Democrats who voted in droves for President Obama a year ago but are unexcited about Deeds," writes the Washington Post's Amy Gardner and Rosalind S. Helderman.
"After a weekend campaigning before enthusiastic crowds of immigrants in Northern Virginia and African Americans in Richmond churches, the state senator from rural Bath County will appear Tuesday in Tysons Corner with former president Bill Clinton. The group Black Women for Obama for Change will launch phone banks in seven cities. Virginia first lady Anne Holton will begin a three-city school bus ride promoting Deeds's plans to protect public schools and colleges. Next week, Obama will join the campaign for a day, an appearance Democrats see as crucial to rallying support.
"Deeds's heavy focus on core Democrats represents a gamble that he doesn't need more Republicans and independents to win -- that a state Obama won by more than 230,000 votes, many of them cast by newly registered Democrats, now boasts enough to carry him through."
"[T]he picture, in Virginia as in the nation, is not pretty for Democrats," writes the Associated Press' Liz Sidoti and Bob Lewis. "Republicans are far more fired up than Democrats, and independents who leaned left just a year ago are tilting away. Frustration over the status quo, fear of the country's direction, and disillusionment about political leaders span the ideological spectrum. ...
"The outcomes won't predict next year's midterm results. So much could change. Jobs could return. Health care overhaul could pass. War in Afghanistan could be winding down. People could feel better about where the country is heading.
"But given Virginia's newfound swing-voting behavior, the McDonnell-Deeds outcome will be a key measure of how America feels and, perhaps more importantly, how independent voters are acting ahead of the 2010 elections. Independents will be critical as Democrats try to protect their majorities in Congress and pick up governorships in a number of states."
"Beyond the topic, all the public and private meetings will have one other thing in common: White House involvement.
"President Obama will speak from New York City by video hookup to hundreds of small gatherings sponsored by Organizing for America, a spinoff of his 2008 campaign. Top White House aides will attend the regular strategy session of the Common Purpose Project, a coalition headed by former Obama campaign officials to advance his agenda. And when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gather committee leaders to write the legislation, Obama's chief of staff and other aides are at the table."
"The idea of creating a government-run health-insurance plan, once on life support in the Senate, is making a recovery among Democrats writing health-care legislation," report the Wall Street Journal's Greg Hitt and Janet Adamy.
"So far, no one is talking about a nationwide Medicare-like plan of the sort sought by many liberals, but several variations short of a national plan are being considered.
"One would establish a national plan only if other proposals in the Democrat-led health overhaul fail to expand insurance coverage. Another would create a government plan, but allow states to opt out. Still another would allow states to opt in to a government plan, or experiment with their own plans. Prospects are growing that one of these variations -- or a blend of them -- will make it into the final Senate bill."
"A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that support for a government-run health-care plan to compete with private insurers has rebounded from its summertime lows and wins clear majority support from the public," add the Washington Post's Dan Balz and Jon Cohen.
"Americans remain sharply divided about the overall packages moving closer to votes in Congress and President Obama's leadership on the issue, reflecting the partisan battle that has raged for months over the administration's top legislative priority. But sizable majorities back two key and controversial provisions: both the so-called public option and a new mandate that would require all Americans to carry health insurance.
"Independents and senior citizens, two groups crucial to the debate, have warmed to the idea of a public option, and are particularly supportive if it would be administered by the states and limited to those without access to affordable private coverage."
5339106The Hill's Jeffrey Young, "How the two Senate bills measure up"
New York Times' Robert Pear, "Basic Medicare Premium to Rise 15% Next Year": "The increase means that monthly premiums would top $100 for the first time, a stark indication of the rise in medical costs that is driving the debate in Congress about a broad overhaul of the health care system.
"About 12 million people, or 27 percent of Medicare beneficiaries, will have to pay higher premiums or have the additional amounts paid on their behalf. The other 73 percent will be shielded from the increase because, under federal law, their Medicare premiums cannot go up more than the increase in their Social Security benefits, and Social Security officials announced last week that there would be no increase in benefits in 2010 because inflation had been extremely low."
Los Angeles Times' Kim Geiger, "Bill would halt reductions of Medicare payments to doctors": "In an effort to reconcile a nearly $250-billion difference between the House and Senate approaches to overhauling healthcare, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is pushing a bill to halt scheduled reductions in Medicare payments to physicians.
The measure, introduced last week by Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), would end the cuts and set Medicare payment rates at current levels. Doing so would allow Democrats to maintain the American Medical Assn.'s support for an overhaul without having to absorb the cost of higher doctor payments in the final healthcare bill. ...
"While there is consensus in Congress that the payment system should be fixed, Republicans and some conservative Senate Democrats have said they won't support a bill that adds to the nation's red ink. The proposed change would cost about $245 billion."
USA Today's Richard Wolf, "Medicaid, S-CHIP expansion plan could hurt states' budgets"
Politico's Chris Frates, "Tax on high-end plans is a concern"
Bloomberg News' Brian Faler, "Reid Leads Democrats In Carving Out Favors for States on Health"
5392854AFGHANISTAN: McClatchy Newspapers' Hal Bernton, Jonathan S. Landay and Warren P. Strobel, "Afghan President President Hamid Karzai was expected to announce Tuesday his acceptance of a U.N.-backed fraud audit reducing his vote in the August election to less than 50 percent, but it wasn't clear if he'd consent to a deal with his chief rival to forge a national unity government and forgo a second-round runoff, U.S. officials said Monday.
"Karzai was expected to make his announcement at a Kabul news conference with Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass, who's been involved in an intense U.S.-led effort to pressure Karzai into dropping his objections to the United Nations-sponsored Electoral Complaints Commission's fraud audit.
"As part of the full-court diplomatic press, the White House said it wouldn't consider a request by U.S. military commanders for as many as 80,000 additional troops for Afghanistan until it was convinced that Afghanistan had a credible government."
Washington Post's Karen DeYoung and Joshua Partlow, "Karzai expected to agree to runoff"
"Only nine months ago, the Pentagon pronounced itself reassured by the early steps of a new commander in chief. President Obama was moving slowly on an American withdrawal from Iraq, had retained former President George W. Bush's defense secretary and, in a gesture much noticed, had executed his first military salute with crisp precision," reports the New York Times' Elisabeth Bumiller.
"But now, after nearly a month of deliberations by Mr. Obama over whether to send more American troops to Afghanistan, frustrations and anxiety are on the rise within the military.
"A number of active duty and retired senior officers say there is concern that the president is moving too slowly, is revisiting a war strategy he announced in March and is unduly influenced by political advisers in the Situation Room. ...
"Mr. Obama's civilian advisers on national security say the president is appropriately reviewing his policy options from all sides. They said it would be reckless to rush a decision on whether to send as many as 40,000 more American men and women to war, particularly when the unresolved Afghan election had left the United States without a clear partner in Kabul."
According to the Wisconsin Right to Life's Web site, Palin will be the featured speaker at a $30 per person event on Friday, Nov. 6, at the Wisconsin Exposition Center in Milwaukee.
Also, reports the News-Leader in Springfield, Mo., "Palin will speak on patriotism, citizenship and civic engagement at College of the Ozarks at 7 p.m. Dec. 2 in the Keeter Gymnasium, a college news release said. The prelude to the Leonard B. and Edith Gittinger Community Convocation featuring Palin will begin at 6:30 p.m. The convocation is free and open to the public, but tickets are required."
ALSO:
Bloomberg News' Julianna Goldman, "Obama Aides Fault Bank Opposition to New Regulations"
LA Times' Josh Meyer, "U.S. backs off medical marijuana policy"
Washington Post's Michael D. Shear, "Rift Between Obama and Chamber of Commerce Widening"
Politico's Jonathan Allen, "U.S. Chamber: $34.7 million in lobbying"