from last night’s Anderson Cooper 360°:
McCain vs. NY Times: Talk about a bombshell. Even if none of it turns out to be true and/or “new” information. Allegations of favoritism towards lobbyist Vicki Iseman and her clients, on top of infidelity allegations, are beyond volatile. The McCain camp will be in ‘damage control’ mode well into next week, assuming that the initial analysis of this NY Times article is accurate and it’s basically a re-hash of concerns from 8 years ago and that there is no credible evidence to support it. But if there’s even a drop of figurative ‘blood’ that appears, the media sharks will attack in full force.
Dana Bash reported via phone, and the panel of David Gergen, Bay Buchanan, Jonathan Capehart (Washington Post) and Keli Goff provided further initial analysis (as the story was only a few hours old when AC 360° aired last night). DG opined that there probably more facts to be disclosed, BB was upset that this wasn’t published earlier (she’s a former Romney advisor), JC said the timing works to McCain’s advantage since he pretty much has the nomination sewn up, and KG added that McCain could have received greater damage had the NYT published the story this coming October instead of now.
Since this story has some significant ‘shelf life’ or ‘legs’, as the sayings go, I have only one question at this point – could this (perhaps) end up being the “something might happen” scenario that Mike Huckabee has kept referring to when asked why he is still in the race?
Campaign Updates: Candy Crowley had a candidate report: Obama is “rolling”, Clinton is “limping” and McCain is “getting into position” (pre-NYT story). She reported that even Bill Clinton stated yesterday that it was important for Hillary to win both Texas and Ohio. Candy also reported on the Teamsters endorsement of Barack Obama, with TU President Jams Hoffa stating that they weren’t ‘deserting’ the Clintons, but Obama “has momentum and can win in November”.
Deep in the Heart of Texas: Gary Tuchman reported on the Texas Latino vote from on location in San Antonio, and certainly surprised me with a few stats: there are 8 ½ million Texas Latinos, which is more than the entire population of 39 states! Wow – 39 states – really?? That’s what happens when you live in large states only – you sometimes forget that most of the country isn’t quite as crowded as New York and Los Angeles!! Also – 36% of Texas residents are of Latino heritage. No wonder there’s so much campaign emphasis on that population segment. Gary reported that immigration, Iraq, the economy and education are all important to Latinos, and while Hillary leads with Latinos nationally, Barack Obama is gaining support.
NIU update: There was a brief NIU shooting update, with Abbie Boudreau saying that she had spoken again with Jessica Baty about conflicting reports that she had altered her story about Steven Kazmierczak‘s medications. Anderson also talked with forensic psychologist Kris Mohandie, who stated that the drug cocktail of Ambein, Xanex and Prozac is common and that normally, a patient who stops taking Prozac shouldn’t acquire homicidal tendencies.
A direct hit: Jamie McIntyre reported that the US Navy was successful in using a missile launch to destroy a wayward satellite that was on course to crash land and potentially release highly toxic materials over hundreds of miles. There was only a limited ‘open window’ of time for this to be successful ‘hit’, and it was confirmed that the satellite had sustained a direct hit and that any remaining debris would burn up in the atmosphere before making land (or ocean) contact.
Other News and Notes:
Jon Stewart on Larry King Live: Perhaps for some, Jon’s brand of humor is an acquired taste, but for me, he once again proved why he is oh-so-charming and totally adorable!!
Thanks for visiting - upates posted as needed - have a terrific Thursday!
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