SACRAMENTO - Former vice president Al Gore and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will take part in a bipartisan presidential forum on energy and climate change next month in New Hampshire, just before the state's first-in-the-nation primary.
A spokesman for Schwarzenegger confirmed the forum after Senator John McCain of Arizona, a GOP presidential candidate, mentioned it yesterday during a news conference. Spokesman Adam Mendelsohn said the forum is still being planned, but candidates from both major parties are expected to attend.
Gore, who won the Nobel Peace Prize this year for his efforts on climate change and nearly won the presidency in 2000, will handle the Democratic candidates at the forum. Schwarzenegger, who has said he wants to play a role in the 2008 contest by drawing attention to issues of special interest, including global warming, will handle the Republicans.
Gore's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But Mendelsohn said the former vice president was involved in designing the forum.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
John Fund, a columnist for The Wall Street Journal, explored the possibility in a commentary posted yesterday on the Journal's website.
"Friends of Mr. Dobbs say he is seriously contemplating a race for the first time, although it's still unlikely," Fund reported. Those friends play out a scenario under which New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg enters the race as an independent, then Dobbs jumps in as a fourth-party candidate.
A candidacy would give an even bigger audience for Dobbs, who denounces illegal immigration and crusades against free trade on his nightly show and has become a high-profile author and speaker.
In 1992, Perot, a billionaire Texas oilman, ran against the Washington elite and won nearly 19 percent of the popular vote. That helped Bill Clinton win his first term and unseat the first President Bush even though he did not win a majority of the popular vote.
FOON RHEE
They faced a skeptical three-judge panel, who peppered both sides with questions about the case and asked repeatedly what the "drop dead" date was to make a decision in time for the election to occur. State officials said elections clerks need to begin mailing out absentee ballots to Michigan voters overseas with the military or for other reasons by Dec. 1 if the primary is held on Jan. 15.
The delay also is affecting the New Hampshire primary. Secretary of State Bill Gardner says he won't set the date of his state's presidential primary until it's clear what's going to happen with Michigan's election.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
His campaign yesterday unveiled a website that jabs his fellow Democrat's campaign for admitting that it planted a question with a college student at an Iowa event.
With tongue firmly in cheek, Edwards's camp calls PlantsforHillary.com a one-stop shop: "Potential plants can listen to testimonials from past plants, read the 'Top 10 Questions Plants Should Never Ask Hillary,' learn how to recognize other plants at Senator Clinton's events, submit suggestions for planted questions, and purchase the soon-to-be-released 'Questions are hard . . . so plant them' T-shirt."
The website also features a video, titled "The Politics of Planting," a sequel to "The Politics of Parsing" video that made fun of Clinton for her bobbing and weaving during the Oct. 30 debate.
FOON RHEE
Tancredo, a Colorado congressman, plans to pay $400 for a haircut today - a play on former North Carolina senator John Edwards's $400 cuts, which appeared on campaign spending reports in April.
Tancredo's $400 payment will be donated to the Autism Society of America, said David Holden, owner of the Hair Biz Salon in Concord, N.H., where the haircut will happen.
Holden's 12-year-old son, Costica, has autism, and offering the candidates $400 haircuts was a way to raise money, he said.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
US Representative Bart Gordon, a Tennessee Democrat, said he has sent a nomination packet to the Nobel Committee in honor of Richardson's diplomatic efforts with such countries as Sudan and North Korea.
"He's well-deserving," said Gordon, who served in Congress with Richardson. Gordon spokeswoman Julie Eubank said 11 other members of Congress signed the letter, including one Republican - Jim Ramstad of Minnesota.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
