OH-EIGHT (D): FOND ’90S MEMORIES
BIDEN: Joe was fired up yesterday, NBC/NJ’s Carrie Dann notes. Speaking about what he said is the Bush Administration’s censorship of images of flag-draped coffins arriving from Iraq, Biden was incensed: “I’m the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, the fifth most senior member of the Senate,” he said. “How DARE the president tell me I can’t walk on to a military base!” What was noteworthy about his remarks yesterday wasn’t his passion against the war; rather it was that he delivered them to an audience mostly made up of medical students during a detailed health care policy rollout speech.
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Yesterday, Biden fleshed out the details of his health care plan, which he says differs most notably from his rivals’ because of its simplicity and its focus on catastrophic costs. But when asked to discuss the shortcomings of care for military veterans, Biden’s eyes alit and he strode up the center of the lecture hall, confounding cameramen who frantically swiveled to try to catch him on tape. “None of us in this room are making a sacrifice for a STUPID war that we shouldn’t be in the first place,” he said. “And they are. They are. We owe them.”
The Des Moines Register writes up Biden’s health-care plan, which falls short of universal coverage. “A key component is to have the federal government provide coverage for catastrophic medical costs, which he said would spread the burden for insuring those patients and help hold down premiums. Biden also would place more emphasis on disease prevention, take steps to insure all children and extend coverage to more adults. He would not require, however, that everyone have health insurance.” The paper puts the price tag at $80-$120 billion a year.
CLINTON: “Clinton has neutralized the political fallout from some of the most difficult moments of her eight years as first lady, with Democratic voters looking favorably on her failed effort to revamp healthcare and either supporting or having no opinion of her decision to remain loyal to an unfaithful husband, a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll shows. The positive impression of Clinton’s White House years — which is shared, though more faintly, among the broader public — is helping propel her to a formidable lead over her rivals” for the Dem nod, where she leads Obama 48-17% in the national primary.
More than 7 in 10 Democrats, and about half of all voters, said they would welcome a White House advisory role for Bill Clinton. “And 42% of Democrats agreed it was the ‘right thing’ for Hillary Clinton to stick with her husband after his affair with a White House intern, compared with 5% who said it was the wrong choice. At the same time, the former first lady remains a polarizing figure — viewed unfavorably by 44% of respondents. But a favorable rating of 48% is relatively high for Clinton.”
Also, Clinton tops Giuliani 47% to 41%, on the edge of the poll’s margin of error. She beats the other GOP candidates by larger margins in the hypothetical contests.
Bloomberg adds, “With the 2008 caucuses and primaries only 10 weeks away, Clinton and Giuliani have gotten consistently stronger throughout this year. Clinton’s commanding lead in the Democratic field is being fueled by strong backing among both men and women, as well as minorities. By more than a 2-to-1 margin, all voters think it’s a good thing that her husband, former President Bill Clinton, would be in a position to offer advice on issues in the White House; Democrats believe this by a margin of 71 percent to 5 percent.”
In an interview with the London Guardian, Clinton said she could give up certain presidential powers that have been acquired by the Bush Administration. “‘There were a lot of actions which they took that were clearly beyond any power the Congress would have granted, or that in my view that was inherent in the Constitution,’ Mrs. Clinton said.”
The New York Daily News writes up Clinton’s interview in Essence. “Long-stemmed roses? Perfume? Lingerie? How about a watch that looks like a set of pearly whites and a wooden giraffe from Africa. The latter are tokens of affection Bill Clinton has used to sweep Hillary off her feet. ‘Oh, he’s so romantic,’ Hillary said in an interview that appears in the November issue of Essence. ‘He’s always bringing me back things from his trips.’”
NBC/NJ’s Athena Jones reports that Clinton said yesterday she could not support a bill to reauthorize Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in its current form and would support a filibuster if changes were not made. “I am troubled by the concerns that have been raised by recent legislation reported out of the intelligence committee. I haven’t seen it, so I can’t express an opinion about it, but I don’t trust the Bush Administration with our civil rights and liberties, so I’m going to study it very hard and as matters stand now, I could not support it and I would support a filibuster absent additional information coming forth that would convince me differently,” she told reporters during a brief news conference after a rally in Denver.
READ MORE: http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/10/24/428030.aspx
