Morning copy 11.10.2005

Al Qaeda in Iraq

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's group has claimed responsibility for the bombings in Jordan, CNN.

Baghdad restaurant bombing kills 30, Washington Post.

Elections 2004 + 1

Note the Washington Times lede and the on-the-record quote:

RICHMOND -- President Bush's sinking popularity helped seal Democrat Timothy M. Kaine's victory in Virginia's gubernatorial election Tuesday, politicians and pollsters said yesterday.

"We know that George Bush is just killing us," said Delegate David B. Albo, a Republican who narrowly defeated his Democratic challenger in Fairfax County. "His popularity just brought the ticket down. There's no other way to explain it."

Robert Novak has senior GOP operatives warning of trouble for GOP House members. In the Chicago Sun Times he writes:

Republicans in Congress envision their own doom.

The antidote to avoid that fate is to keep as far away from President Bush as possible, a lesson underlined by the president's failed election rescue mission for former Virginia state Attorney General Kilgore. The consequences may be profound. As his approval rating dipped, Bush increasingly has been treated in Congress as a lame duck. Tuesday's Virginia outcome increases the propensity of Republican senators and House members not only to avoid their president on the campaign trail but also to ignore his legislative proposals.

Dan Balz in the Washington Post has Ken Mehlman (RNC Chair) campaigning for Mark Warner (Gov., Dem) in 2008:

Kaine "did not say, 'I represent the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party,' " Mehlman said, referring to language Dean used in his own campaign. "He said, 'I represent the Mark Warner wing of the Democratic Party.' Quite the opposite. . . . The Potomac River divides a Democratic Party catering to the MoveOn wing versus a Democratic Party centered in the Mark Warner wing." Indeed, Kaine's success owed less to dissatisfaction with Bush and more to satisfaction with Warner's tenure as governor.

Ronald Brownstein in the Los Angeles Times has one Virginian on-the-record:

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), whose district includes much of Fairfax, said Kilgore's poor performance in the area should tell the White House and congressional Republicans that they need to repair their tattered image with independent voters.

"In our [meetings], all we hear is from guys in safe districts and all they say … is we have to keep the base happy," Davis said. "But you've got to start making independents happy or we won't be a majority."

Arnold Schwarzenegger's bad Tuesday is also analyzed in the Los Angeles Times.

Arctic drilling

The GOP has struck arctic drilling from budget cuts, Washington Post.

CIA Leaks

Senator Pat Roberts, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, advised party leaders that the Justice Department should take the lead on investigating the CIA Prison Leak, Washington Post.

The Hill has some WTF from Senators:

The leak appeared to pressure Hastert to sign the letter before he or Frist intended to. But then something happened that lawmakers and political observers surmised made Frist hesitant to sign it.

CNN reported earlier in the day that Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) had said a Republican senator may have leaked information about the so-called black sites to the Post. Lott told reporters yesterday that he had been talking about another Post article. He said he was not talking about the article about the detention and interrogation facilities.

The complex issue of a prison on foreign soil in the Christian Science Monitor.

Tony Blair

From the Guardian:

As the impact on the prime minister's authority sunk in, MPs then voted by 323 to 290 to support detention without charge for only 28 days, the position advocated by the Liberal Democrats and the Tories. The scale of the defeat rocked Labour whips, raising questions about Mr Blair's political judgment of late and suggesting that he now has a permanent cadre of irreconcilable backbenchers who neither listen to nor respect his views, leaving him in charge of an effective minority administration on controversial issues.

From the Independent:

Mr Blair's first Commons defeat since coming to power in 1997 was heavier than expected and provoked speculation at Westminster about how long he could remain Prime Minister. Some allies admitted privately his tenure could be shortened if Labour backbenchers inflict further defeats in the next few months over his planned reforms on education, health and incapacity benefit.

Iran

The AP reports that Europe and the U.S. are willing to compromise with Iran on uranium enrichment.

Judy Miller and the war

Howard Kurtz has a lengthy story in the Washington Post.

Ahmad Chalabi

Ahmad Chalabi tries to help his image in Iraq, New York Times.

Anyone sweating in the Vice President's office?

Acce$$

In the New York Times:

WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 - The lobbyist Jack Abramoff asked for $9 million in 2003 from the president of a West African nation to arrange a meeting with President Bush and directed his fees to a Maryland company now under federal scrutiny, according to newly disclosed documents.