The Daily Troika: Your Home For 2008 Buzz
Gov. George Pataki (R-NY) announced "the latest editions" to his 21st Century Freedom PAC's state leadership team in NH. They include Alderman Mike Garrity of Manchester, Statham developer Renee Rydell, Hampton selectman Rick Griffin, St. Anselm college GOP chair Brian Lawson, activist Tammy Simmons, cong. staff member Rick Richardson, philanthropist Ben Gamache, NH College GOP chair Tom DeRosa, State Rep. David Currier, and Matt Mayberry, a BC04 county chair. Pataki: "November will be a significant election for us. We need to remind voters across the country that it is the Republican Party that has long fought for lower taxes, smaller government and a strong defense. These ideals represent what is great about America and it citizens (release, 10/12)
Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR) criticized the attorney general of OK, Drew Edmondson, for "playing politics" by "demonizing the poultry industry and setting unrealistic goals for reduced pollution levels in Oklahoma's rivers." Huckabee: "Unfortunately, your attorney general is not interested in resolving this situation. He's more interested in headlines. It's a great political platform for him." Huckabee was in Tulsa to campaign for GOP candidates. Edmondson contends that AR poultry companies' litter is "fouling Oklahoma waterways." Huckabee said Edmondson's proposed remedy "has no scientific basis of possibility." Edmondson called Huckabee "a poultry company apologist" (Juozapavicius, AP, 10/12).
Sen. John McCain's Straight Talk America announced this a.m. that state Sen. Billy O'Dell has signed on to be a co-chair in SC.
Ex-Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) hosted a panel 10/11 where experts said the US financial system "is trapping low-income workers" in a "cycle of debt." The panel, held at Edwards's poverty study center in Chapel Hill, NC, "focused on the financial hurdles faced by poor Americans." Edwards "levied criticism" at "federal lawmakers on issues such as bankruptcy laws and the minimum wage." Edwards: "The Congress -- as long as it's in the condition it's in today --- will not pass a raise in the minimum wage. Meanwhile, the American people think it's a moral embarrassment to have Americans working for $51.5 an hour and still living in poverty" (Baker, AP, 10/11).