Archive - December 19, 2007 - The Page by Mark Halperin

The Page

Politics up to the Minute

"Trying to Hide Dolly Parton in a 32AA Bra"

New Republic exclusive busts out with press-bashing, funny, caustic letters from Huckabee to reporters in the 1990s. Permalink

NBC-WSJ National Poll: Giuliani, Romney Tied; Clinton Still Ahead

GOP: Giuliani 20, Romney 20, Huckabee 17, McCain 14, Thompson 11. Dems: Clinton 45, Obama 23, Edwards 13. Error Margin: 3.1 points To read more, including comparisons from last month's poll, click here. Permalink

ABC-WashPost Iowa GOP Poll: Huckabee Maintains Lead

GOP: Huckabee 35, Romney 27, Thompson 9, Giuliani 8, Paul 8, McCain 6. Error margin: 4.5 points To read more, including comparisons with last month, click here. Earlier Wed: Dems: Obama 33, Clinton 29, Edwards 20. Permalink

Huckabee Defends Record, Attacks Romney; Romney Defends Bush, Attacks Huckabee

Huckabee stands by his record on clemencies and lashes out at Romney for making clemency decisions as "someone who wants to run for future office". Meanwhile, Romney says Bush did "what was necessary" on domestic wiretapping, a continuation of his Foreign Affairs slam at Huckabee's criticism. Permalink

CBS News SC Poll: Huckabee on Top, Obama, Clinton Statistically Tied

GOP: Huckabee 28, Romney 20, Giuliani 12, McCain 11, Thompson 10. Error Margin: 5 points Dems: Obama 35, Clinton 34, Edwards 13. Error Margin: 4 points Read more on the poll here. Permalink

IA GOP Frontrunners Hold Dueling High-Voltage Wednesday Night Events in West Des Moines

Huckabee in media gangbang in parking lot outside a Dillard's. Says Romney is "ruthless." Romney draws 1,400 people to tasteful Sheraton holiday party. Says he doesn't know if he will win caucuses. Permalink

The Candidates' Holiday TV Ad Parade

Clinton, Edwards, Obama and Giuliani all release ads celebrating the holidays Wednesday. Check them all out here. Permalink

McCain on Trailing Huckabee: "Life's Not Fair"

Tackles Huckabee's rise, Clinton's war comments, TIME's Person of the Year and other topics in wide-ranging conference call. Permalink

Politico: "Fred Thompson: Lazy As Charged"

Waverly, IA stop not a model of hard-charging retail politics. Permalink

Rep. Kucinich's Brother Found Dead

Perry Kucinich, 52, found in his Cleveland home. No signs of violence, police say. Rep. Kucinich: "He was a genius. He had extraordinary insights." Read full statement. Permalink

Rove on Hannity: No More "Hillary"

Says on radio show that one way Republicans can counter Clinton is to stop addressing her by her first name. Listen to audio here. Permalink

Evening News Roundup

CBS: Bill Whitaker in SC covered new CBS poll. Noted "reverse gender gap," with most women backing Obama and men behind Clinton. African-American women, a large SC voting block, are strongly pro-Obama. Campaign Notebook covered spate of holiday ads, Romney ad about lost teen. "Primary Questions" tackled infidelity. Many candidates appeared flexible; Romney said it's appropriate for unhappy spouses to "find a new relationship." Obama again raised past drug use in discussing morality. Clinton said some great leaders had "challenges in their personal life." Giuliani again said he's made mistakes, some repeatedly. Read more from the candidates here. ABC: Gibson reported on new ABC/WashPost IA poll, holiday ads. NBC: Williams, Russert announced new NBC-WSJ national poll numbers. Package examined candidate holiday ads, including the alleged cross in Huckabee's Christmas spot. Permalink

Ed Schultz: "I'm Done With the Clintons"

Top progressive talk radio host goes on eight-minute on-air tirade, saying Clinton has snubbed show. Read transcript here. Clinton spokesman Phil Singer responds: "Sen. Clinton has been on three times this year, most recently in September." Permalink

TV Interview Potpourri

Giuliani passes up on slamming rivals (including Clinton). Also discusses waterboarding, foreign policy on CNN's "The Situation Room." Read full transcript here. McCain says confidently that he'll win NH, discusses torture, Iraq, goes lightly on rivals on MSNBC's "Hardball." Read full transcript here. Clinton talks about bringing daughter, mother on the trail, Obama kindergarten comment on ABC's "Nightline." Read excerpts here. Permalink