The World is Talking. Global Politics

“The wealthy Democrats and giant organizations that spent $135 million to make John Kerry president in 2004 are reaching into their pockets for another round,” The Politico reports. The mega-donors “are hashing out the details of a planned independent effort that could finance tens of millions of dollars of television advertisements.”

“The donors will aim not to repeat what they see as the mistakes of the last presidential campaign. Unlike in 2004, the donors will probably put the field organizing in the hands of existing liberal groups, including environmental and labor organizations.”

KO reflects on the politics in Pakistan, commenting “American movie goers will be familiar with the feeling many Pakistan’s are going through. “

The American Research Group released new surveys of the presidential races in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

Among Democrats:

• Iowa: Clinton 32%, Obama 22%, Edwards 15%
• New Hampshire: Clinton 40%, Obama 22%, Edwards 10%
• South Carolina: Clinton 41%, Obama 19%, Edwards 18%

Analysis: “Barack Obama’s shift in strategy from the politics of hope to portraying Clinton as a Washington insider is evident in Iowa and New Hampshire where he leads Clinton among independent voters saying they will definitely participate in the caucus or vote in the primary (28% to 25% in Iowa, and 41% to 25% in New Hampshire). In South Carolina, Clinton leads Obama among Democrats and independents and she leads Obama among black voters 39% to 30%.”

Among Republicans:

• Iowa: Romney 27%, Huckabee 19%, Giuliani 16%, McCain 14%
• New Hampshire: Romney 30%, Giuliani 23%, McCain 17%
• South Carolina: Romney 29%, Giuliani 23%, McCain 13%, Thompson 10%

Analysis: “Mike Huckabee is in second place in Iowa. Rudy Giuliani is in second place in New Hampshire and South Carolina. Fred Thompson has dropped 8 percentage points in Iowa since September. Romney leads among men in all three states, and he leads among women in Iowa and South Carolina. Romney is tied with Rudy Giuliani among women in New Hampshire.”

New York Post: “Dick Cheney went hunting for pheasant in Dutchess County yesterday, trailed by an ambulance embedded in a 15-SUV entourage in case the vice president’s ticker — or trigger finger — went awry.”

A Lake Reseach (D) poll conducted for the U.S. Senate campaign of Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez (D) showed him narrowly beating Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) in a hypothetical Senate matchup, according to Roll Call.

The survey found Chavez edging Wilson, 41% to 40%, with 19% undecided.

Key finding for Democrats: “The poll found Chavez leading Wilson among independent voters 48% to 30%.”

Sen. Barack Obama “does not say much about his years in New York City. The time he spent as an undergraduate at Columbia College and then working in Manhattan in the early 1980s surfaces only fleetingly in his memoir,” the New York Times observes.

Obama “suggests in his book that his years in New York were a pivotal period… Yet he declined repeated requests to talk about his New York years, release his Columbia transcript or identify even a single fellow student, co-worker, roommate or friend from those years.”

“Obama has, of course, done plenty of remembering. His 1995 memoir, Dreams From My Father, weighs in at more than 450 pages. But he also exercised his writer’s prerogative to decide what to include or leave out. Now, as he presents himself to voters, a look at his years in New York — other people’s accounts and his own — suggests not only what he was like back then but how he chooses to be seen now.”

John Edwards “is trying to turn the Democratic presidential race into a referendum on honesty and integrity, areas where polling has shown that voters are divided” about Sen. Hillary Clinton, the AP reports.

“The argument marks a shift in a race where Edwards and Clinton’s other Democratic opponents have criticized her stance on policy but usually have avoided taking on her character directly.” In an interview Edwards said Clinton “is part of a corrupt Washington system.”

Said Edwards: “Good people are caught up in this system, and I’ve given some examples of the places that I think she’s caught up in it. And I also, secondly, think that she continues to defend it. And I don’t think you can bring up the change this country needs if you defend a corrupt system that doesn’t work.”

Meanwhile, Washington Wire notes Sen. Barack Obama “keeps focused on the issues, sort of.”

“We’re going to put Chuck Norris on their doorstep, and he’s going to
put his right heel on the right side of their faces if they don’t help
us in the caucuses. That’s our new strategy.”

– Mike Huckabee, quoted by the Kansas
City Star, on his presidential campaign’s endorsement from martial
arts star Chuck Norris.

Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) “has agreed to pay a $25,000 fine for
violating federal election laws during his campaign for the Senate in
2004,” the New
Orleans Times-Picayune reports.

“The Federal Election Commission found that Vitter’s campaign failed
to adequately disclose that it was bankrolling hundreds of phone calls
to voters in the weeks leading up to Election Day. He won in the
primary over two Democrats with 51 percent of the vote.

“Vitter struck a deal in July known as a “conciliation agreement” with
the FEC acknowledging that his campaign violated a provision of the
2002 McCain-Feingold campaign law that said all political ads must
carry a disclaimer explaining who paid for them. As part of the
agreement, Vitter agreed to pay an administrative fine.”

The Sacramento
Bee reports the U.S. Senate seat held by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) is
vulnerable to a challenge from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R). In a
Field Poll survey of registered voters, Schwarzenegger
had a one-point edge, 44% to 43%.

Boxer is up for re-election in 2010, the same year Schwarzenegger is
termed out of office.

When the same respondents were asked about Schwarzenegger running for
president, 63% said they were “not inclined” to support him.