Day: February 14, 2007

By ANNE FLAHERTY

House Republicans are pulling out all the stops to win over GOP colleagues who may be wavering on whether to publicly rebuke President Bush’s decision to send more troops into Iraq.

In daylong debate Tuesday, Republicans used emotional pleas from former prisoners of war, political talking points on religious extremism and even Arab ambassadors to rail against a Democratic attempt to put Congress on record against the troop buildup.

By MARTIN SCHRAM

We’ve clearly headed into the homestretch of the 2008 presidential campaign, as America’s surge of 20,000 political journalists is analyzing at full-Gallup. And that is vital because we have only about two years before the first votes will be counted.

By PAUL C. CAMPOS

The most important issue in next year’s presidential election will be the Iraq war. Every candidate will have to answer the following question: Did you support the invasion of Iraq at the time, and, if you’ve changed your mind about the issue since, when did you do so and why?

By HEIDI CENEC

A political action organization named Christian Exodus is focusing its efforts on Anderson County in the next two years.

The group has focused on South Carolina for at least two years, but only recently has concentrated its efforts in Anderson County.

The organization’s goal is simple: have enough conservative Christian voters in the county to influence local politics.

By ROB CHRISTENSEN

Raleigh News & Observer

Mark Erwin has gotten the why-I’m-gonna-be-the-next-president-of-the-United-States sales pitch in person from Hillary Rodham Clinton, John Edwards and John McCain.

The Charlotte, N.C., businessman, a registered independent, ruled out contributing to McCain, a Republican senator from Arizona, on philosophical grounds. But he is torn between Edwards, the home boy and former senator, and Clinton, whose husband, an old golfing buddy, appointed him U.S. ambassador to several small islands in the Indian Ocean.

By ALLISON HOFFMAN

The CIA’s former No. 3 official was charged Tuesday with accepting lavish vacations, private jet flights and a job offer from his best friend, a defense contractor who in return is suspected of getting inside information that helped him win agency contracts.

A federal grand jury returned 11 counts of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering against Kyle “Dusty” Foggo, executive director of the CIA until he resigned in May, and San Diego defense contractor Brent Wilkes.

By JENNIFER TALHELM

To forgive is divine. To forget may be asking too much of religious conservatives when it comes to Sen. John McCain.

The Republican presidential hopeful is working hard to repair relations with conservative Christian activists, whose support could be critical to winning the GOP nomination. But they remain skeptical that he sincerely shares their values.

By MIKE BAKER

A second blogger working for Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards quit Tuesday under pressure from conservative critics who said her previous online messages were anti-Catholic.

Melissa McEwan wrote on her personal blog, Shakespeare’s Sister, that she left the campaign because she was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the level of attention focused on her and her family.

By MATT APUZZO

Former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby needs a new star witness.

Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, had been portrayed in court documents for months as his own best defense against perjury and obstruction charges in the CIA leak trial.

He was going to testify that he never lied to investigators. He would explain that he was so focused on national security issues, he simply forgot details about his conversations regarding CIA officer Valerie Plame.