Siegelman to be Free: Clock Begins on Rove Prosecution

Written by Scott Horton
Saturday, 29 March 2008

Court of Appeals Sets Governor Siegelman Free As Congress Calls Siegelman to Testify in Continued Probe of Political Prosecutions
by Scott Horton

Today was a news double-header for former Alabama Governor Don E. Siegelman. In an order issued by the Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Siegelman’s request to be set free pending his appeal was granted.

The court noting that it had reviewed the decision of District Court Judge Mark Fuller for “clear error” and had considered legal issues de novo stated that:

"Siegelman has satisfied the criteria set out in the statute and has specifically met his burden of showing that his appeal raises substantial questions of law or fact."

Meanwhile in Washington, the House Judiciary Committee made clear that it was far from finished with its probe into allegations of prosecutorial misconduct in the Siegelman case....(Click here for remainder of article.)

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Obama is tops in N.C. cash

He outraises Clinton; McCain trails behind both Democrats

By Bertrand M. Gutierrez
JOURNAL REPORTER

Sen. Barack Obama has raised a total of $1.53 million from individual donors in North Carolina through February, pulling away from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who raised $1.09 million, according to campaign filings with the Federal Election Commission.

The totals highlight the fundraising gap between the two in what is now seen as a key primary. Both Democrats visited the Triad this week as the campaign intensifies for the May 6 primary.

The fundraising result also marks a significant shift in the way that individual donors statewide are investing campaign money since the Democratic primaries and caucuses started in January.

Before Obama, D-Ill., won the Iowa caucuses and other contests, he and Clinton, D-N.Y., had collected similar amounts of money in North Carolina. Each raised about $750,000 through Dec. 31, with Obama collecting slightly more.

But during January and February, when Obama extended his Iowa win to such states as South Carolina, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, he raised as much money in North Carolina as he had in the year leading up to those two months....(Click here for remainder of article.)

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Al Gore stays clear of Democrat spat

BY KENNETH R. BAZINET
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
Saturday, March 29th 2008, 4:00 AM

WASHINGTON - The uber-arbiter is withholding judgment.

Democratic icon Al Gore said he won't step in as broker or peacemaker in the venomous nomination battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

"I think it's going to resolve itself. But we'll see," Gore told The Associated Press, referring to the possibility of one candidate dropping out before the party convention in August.

Viewed by some as one of the few influential high priests of the party, Gore doesn't even have plans to make an endorsement - let alone play the role of referee.

Gore dismissed party worrywarts who say the Democratic infighting only helps Republican John McCain.

"What have we got, five months left?" he said when asked about his endorsement.

Meanwhile, Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean - who has become McCain's chief tormenter as the Clinton and Obama camps duke it out - insisted the nomination must be resolved within a month of the last primaries....(Click here for remainder of article.)

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Democratic squabbles could give McCain a boost

Carolyn Lochhead, Chronicle Washington Bureau
Saturday, March 29, 2008

(03-29) 04:00 PDT Washington - -- If ever the stars were aligned against a Republican winning the White House, 2008 is it.

There's war. And not just any war, but a war that a majority of the public firmly and consistently believes is not worth fighting and that has dragged on longer than World War II and cost more than Vietnam.

There's a likely recession. And not just an ordinary recession, but a financial crisis that involves millions of home foreclosures among the middle-class.

Then there's President Bush, a deeply unpopular Republican in his second term. Plus a fractured party that harbors profound suspicions about its nominee, Sen. John McCain. Money shortfalls. Disasters both natural, as in Hurricane Katrina, and man-made, as in corruption and sex scandals. Party enthusiasm as lukewarm as it is ferocious in the opposing camp. A flock of GOP retirements in Congress that reflect deep gloom about the party's prospects.

Add it all up, and the historical odds favor Democrats by a landslide.

But that's before one adds Democrats to the equation....(Click here for remainder of article.)

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Barack Bowl

By Michael Powell

Barack Obama spent Saturday evening in a close encounter with the fierce urgency of a gutter ball.

In search of game, a friendly crowd and really good photo ops, Senator Barack Obama and Senator Robert Casey rolled into Pleasant Valley Lanes in Altoona to cheers from patrons, report our faithful press pool reporters. Several bowlers ready to bite into French fries lathered with ketchup and American cheese—it’s a Pennsylvania thing; you wouldn’t understand — stopped mid-munch, put down their beers and watched a presidential candidate walk into their midst.

Mr. Obama takes no small pride in his athleticism but he was back-pedaling from the start. “I just want to point out that the last time I bowled was 30 years ago, when I was 16,” he cautioned the crowd gathering to ask for his autograph and a photo.

Whatever.

Roxanne Hart, a 43-year-old gal from Altoona, asked if he wanted to bowl with her. Mr. Obama and Mr. Casey shed dress shoes for bowling shoes—a blue and white Velcro number for Obama, size 13 ½ — and entered their names into the overhead monitor. It was BAR and BOB against ROX.

Rox won in a walk....(Click here for remainder of post.)

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Clinton rejects calls to quit Democratic race

[My opinion. Clinton will do anything for the power and getting elected. If she can't have it, her and her minions are going to destroy the other Democrat so they can't have it either.]

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INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (CNN) -- Sen. Hillary Clinton on Saturday rejected calls by supporters of rival candidate Barack Obama to quit the Democratic presidential race, and Obama said Clinton should remain in race "as long as she wants."

"The more people get a chance to vote, the better it is for our democracy," the New York senator and former first lady told supporters at a rally in Indiana, which holds a May 6 primary.

"There are some folks saying we ought to stop these elections," she said.

"I didn't think we believed that in America. I thought we of all people knew how important it was to give everyone a chance to have their voices heard and their votes counted."

Clinton has won primaries in the biggest states so far, but Obama has won more total contests and leads her in the race for delegates to the party's August convention in Denver -- where the Democratic nominee will be formally ratified.

Two of Obama's leading supporters, Sens. Christopher Dodd and Patrick Leahy, said Friday that Clinton should rethink her chances of overcoming that deficit and consider folding her campaign.

Leahy, of Vermont, said Clinton "has every right, but not a very good reason, to remain a candidate for as long as she wants to."

Speaking in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Obama said he did not discuss Leahy's call for Clinton to drop out with the Vermont senator, who serves as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee....(Click here for remainder of article.)

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Second Texas Democratic caucuses bring more chaos

By R.G. RATCLIFFE
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

AUSTIN — Traffic jams, long lines, crowds, confusion and chaos marked Texas Democratic regional conventions Saturday as an unprecedented number of political activists turned out to help elect presidential nominating delegates for Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.

There are 67 at-large delegates at stake, depending mostly on the results of the state senatorial district and county conventions.

Obama was the caucus winner on primary night, and an Associated Press delegate count showed he might be holding his ground.

Obama's campaign late Saturday said he would win, claiming he would receive 38 delegates to Clinton's 29. Clinton's campaign says Obama should wait for the official results before declaring victory.

If the Obama campaign prediction is accurate, that would give Obama a total five-delegate advantage over Clinton in the Texas primary/caucus contest.

Obama won all of the Houston-area conventions, except Senate District 6, a heavily Hispanic community that went for Clinton in the popular vote. That district's results were the subject of an ongoing dispute late Saturday.

The area conventions often were marked by exasperation as thousands of people who had never participated in the process before gathered to show support for their candidate and try to win a slot to attend the state party convention in June....(Click here for remainder of article.)

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