Post Politics Hour

washingtonpost.com's Daily Politics Discussion

Don't want to miss out on the latest in politics? Start each day with The Post Politics Hour. Join in each weekday morning at 11 a.m. as a member of The Washington Post's team of White House and Congressional reporters answers questions about the latest in buzz in Washington and The Post's coverage of political news.

Washington Post chief political reporter Dan Balz was online Monday, June 26, at 11 a.m. ET .

Political analysis from Post reporters and interviews with top newsmakers. Listen live on Washington Post Radio or subscribe to a podcast of the show.

The transcript follows.

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Dan Balz: Good morning to everyone. We're drying out here in Washington after a tremendous storm overnight. Much to talk about. Thanks for joining.

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Philadelphia, Pa.: According to today's Post it seems that the Dems and the military are on the same page when it comes to troop re-deployment. I guess the Republicans are going to have a debate about the cowardice and "cut and run" mentality of Gen. Casey, right?

Dan Balz: Lots of questions on this topic this morning, so we'll begin with this as a representative view from the Democratic side of the aisle.

The timing of the New York Times story on Gen. Casey's thinking about drawing down troops in Iraq has certainly affected the aftermath of the congressional debate. It's been clear for some time that the administration would like to begin bringing home some troops before the end of the year. In some ways what Gen. Casey is talking about runs parallel to the non-binding resolution from Sens. Levin and Reed, although not in every detail or in scope. It's another reminder that politicians are hostage to events in Iraq.

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Charlottesville, Va.: Do you think the implication of Grover Norquist and Ralph Reed in the Abramoff crimes will re-energize the House and Senate ethics reforms?

Dan Balz: I think the more important question is how all of this affects the criminal investigation that is ongoing.

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Berrien Springs, Mich.: According to a CNN Poll last week when asked if voters would vote for Senator Hillary Clinton in 2008, a clear 47 percent said they definitely would not vote for her. Senator Clinton also has tried to either move to the middle or to triangulate her positions on many issues recently to improve her electability. Do you believe the apex of her coming 2008 presidential campaign may very well be the very day she announces her candidacy for president and other more viable candidates specifically Senator Joe Biden of Delaware, Former Governor Mark Warner of Virginia, and Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana will largely benefit?

Dan Balz: Sen. Clinton is a polarizing politician, so there will always be a significant percentage of Americans who say they will not vote for her. But she also has assets that some of her rivals will have trouble matching, including star power, resources and a large network of people around the country. Her challenge, if she decides to run, will be to persuade Democrats that she can win the general election. Her first step will be to try to demonstrate great vote-getting appeal in Republican areas of New York in her reelection campaign. But she will obviously have to do more than that if she becomes a candidate for president.

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Bethesda, Md.: Any word on what the ABC/Post poll is going to show at 5 p.m.?

Dan Balz: Stay tuned.

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Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.: Even before the recent Rolling Stone article, I've been extremely bothered by the idea that our elections have been fraudulent. The RS article was heavily cited, so we have facts pointing to dishonest and illegal actions taken. Have other reporters checked these facts and can we begin hearings and hopefully prosecute the folks who are in the wrong? I understand the idea of things like this being underreported due to lack of interest. That said, are folks in the media interested in this and would they report on it more if there were greater interest from the public? It's very sad that things like gay marriage and flag burning get more press and significantly more time in congress when this is an issue that goes to the heart of our democracy. Thanks.

Dan Balz: The piece in Rolling Stone attracted quite a lot of attention, but Ohio newspapers, whom I believe have looked at this as closely as anyone, did not believe the article proved the case. The Democratic National Committee looked into this a year ago and found irregularities but no credible evidence of Republican manipulation. There have been some sharp critiques of the Rolling Stone piece, particularly statements about the validity of exit polls versus the eventual outcome, including a lengthy analysis on the Mystery Pollster Web site (www.mysterypollster.com). That said, there are more steps needed to assure the integrity of elections.

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Hartford, Conn.: I have no problems with Lieberman running as an independent, as long as he does it NOW. If he loses the primary, then decides to go as an indy, he won't have my support. What do you think his plans are?

Dan Balz: I don't know what his plans are but in an interview with the Post's David Broder recently, Lieberman said he wants his entire record (meaning not just his position on the war) put before the entire electorate. That sounds like someone who would seriously consider running as an independent if he loses the primary to Ned Lamont.

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Boonsboro, Md.: I am having trouble understanding why the politicos are so upset about amnesty for Iraqis who fought us. Didn't we do the same thing after WWII with Germans and Japanese? Plus there is that whole "With malice towards none, and charity towards all" thing. Is this just more grandstanding?

Dan Balz: I think one difference is that the Germans and the Japanese ceased hostilities and surrendered. No such situation exists in Iraq.

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Rockville, Md.: "Who Do You Want to Win?"

Should the New York Times be concerned with our security or just print what ever will make money? Or should we consider any spy program that is lax enough for the Times to discover to "flunk" its security test and disband it. I mean, if the reporters can discover it, perhaps it has bad security.

Dan Balz: This has been a topic of debate ever since the NY Times and the LA Times published stories last week about the program to look at banking transactions. What do others out there think about the issue of national security versus publication?

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San Francisco, Calif.: Good morning, Dan, and thanks for taking my question today. I really enjoy your chats. How will the White House handle General Casey's newly-leaked plan for a timetable for troop withdrawals? Will Republican Senators have to take back all that "cut-and-run" rhetoric they threw at Democrats last week?

Dan Balz: Don't look for the Republicans to take back what they said or for the White House to embrace the Democrats' claim that the Casey plan is the same as what they offered last week.

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Philadelphia, Pa.: Dan...as chief political reporter for The Post don't you see the arrests of the "Miami 7" as a chief political ploy? The whole story sounds ludicrous that our FBI would really think that these men could have planned or carried out an attack. It sounds like entrapment to me and blatant politics. Why isn't the press calling this what it was...playing politics.

Dan Balz: Thanks for posting.

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Boca Raton, Fla.: Why should we the people not believe the media is biased when the latest leak which by all accounts is legal being splashed on the front pages of the papers? When reporters have been caught in lies and making up stories (Jason Blair/NYT) why should you guys be allowed special protection when there is no way of verifying information when you site anonymous sources.

Dan Balz: I believe the press has attempted to police itself with regard to the Jason Blairs or (many years ago) the Janet Cooks in our business. Every news organization has moved toward more transparency in its sourcing, reducing for example the use of blind quotes in stories. But in some areas of reporting -- defense, national security in particular -- it is sometimes essential to offer protection to sources in order to get to the truth.

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El Paso, Texas: I have been hanging around on a discussion forum in a different paper for about a year. Thought I'd explore this one and see how it works. I know I can contribute to topics relating to southern border issues.

Let me just throw this up to see how interactive it becomes, then perhaps read awhile to get the flavor of the site. Thank you very much!

Dan Balz: Welcome.

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Grand Rapids, Mich.: As Congress and the WH throw mud at each other and the military plans yet another pre-election "drawdown" in Iraq, is there any sense of alarm or urgency from lawmakers that Afghanistan -- where the 9/11 attack was planned and initiated -- is teetering again toward failure? Considering its history regarding nurturing and exporting terrorism and heroin, it seems like it might get someone's attention.

Dan Balz: It has been getting some attention, though not nearly the same as Iraq. We've been reporting on it regularly and have another excellent, front-page piece today by Pam Constable pointing out that President Hamid Karzai is losing support among some Afghans and some foreign backers because the insurgency has gained strength there.

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Alpharetta, Ga.: I believe that you did the joint interview with Chris Cillizza on Feingold -- I know the transcript and audio are there, but did he come off as forthcoming, candid, etc.? People have compared Feingold to Howard Dean, but some also note similarities with campaign finance author Sen. McCain. Both Dean and McCain had a media strategy largely based on being straightforward. Does it seem like Feingold would pursue that kind of an approach too?

Dan Balz: Senator Feingold was very straightforward during the interview that Chris and I conducted recently. He has some of McCain's maverick style and some of Dean's outspoken style on Iraq and on civil liberties. As Dean demonstrated, there is an audience within the Democratic Party for that style and those views, although with the moves by Senator Kerry and to some extent Senator Edwards, the left side of the spectrum won't be Feingold's alone.

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Atlanta, Ga.: I think the NY Times was absolutely right to print the stories. We do expect the government to be spying on al Qaeda and tracking their finances. The danger comes when there is no oversight. This makes it ripe for abuse! Telling four senators and saying you can't even tell your staff , is not oversight. How do we know they are only following terrorist finances and not those of political opponents? We don't. This is why oversight is so important. Trust but verify.

Dan Balz: Thanks for posting.

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Louisville, Ky.: I don't get it. Many of the Post staffers who host these chats seem to be kind of dismissive of the 2004 election irregularities. Voters missing from rolls, last-minute proof of identity requirements, longer lines and broken machinery in cities, and major exit poll discrepancies all add up to something that should not be ignored inasmuch as it has.

Why haven't The Post or the Times or anyone been more aggressive in looking back at the 2004 election? Are your papers scared of the potential fallout?

Dan Balz: We're not dismissive of these issues but there is a difference between allegations and proof. For example, Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell deserves criticism for acting as the state's chief elections officer at the same time he was the Bush-Cheney chairman (or co-chairman) in the state. But the decisions about where to put voting machines in Ohio are handled locally and by a bipartisan committee, not by Blackwell. As I mentioned, the belief that exit polls are absolutely correct is incorrect. They are a guide but not always a perfect guide. The voting system in this country may be inadequate and Congress has taken some steps to fix it. More are needed, as other panels have suggested in the past year. We're not indifferent to that.

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New York, N.Y.: Maybe it's because I live in the NE, but I never hear much about E. Dole. Is she a behind the scenes type Senator? I never see her on Sunday shows, quotes in articles, etc. Just curious.

Dan Balz: Senator Dole has her hands full trying to keep the Senate in Republican hands. She is chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

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Rockville, Md.: "It sounds like entrapment to me and blatant politics."

Had we arrested the 9/11 crowd before their operation, many might have had the same reaction or dismissed them even more. Who would have believed it, before it happened?

It is easy to dismiss a threat before the damage has been done.

Dan Balz: Thanks for posting.

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Oxford, Ohio: You asked for a take on Sen. Lieberman, so here is one from the Midwest, if you believe Ohio is part of the Midwest.

I would like to see him run, even if taken out in the Democratic primary. He is a rare politician who speaks his mind and at least tries to keep politics secondary. When he was the Veep candidate, he did some flip-flopping to appease the liberals of the party (Hollywood types anyway), but I still believe he is a sincere, decent patriot at a time when we focus too much on whether your blue or red. We should be Americans first, even the media, an intentional dig at the NYT and LAT disclosures Friday.

Thanks for listening.

Dan Balz: Thanks for your posting.

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Washington, D.C.: What were your impressions of Senator Edwards and his new agenda/stump speech last week?

Dan Balz: Senator Edwards unveiled his anti-poverty agenda last week here in Washington. He is passionate about this issue and was even before Hurricane Katrina put it back in the spotlight. We talked to him afterwards and he said he's learned some lessons from his first run for president and one of them is that character and conviction are often more important than positions on issues when people evaluate presidential candidates. Judging from the recent poll of Iowa activists, who put Edwards on top of the field there, he still has a following in that state.

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Dayton, Ohio: I think your answer to the question regarding the Rolling Stone article by Kennedy is the perfect response. Living in a solidly blue spot in Ohio, there were no significant irregularities in an area where surely there would have been an effort to suppress the blue vote (you hunt for them where they are in the urban parts of the state, not the also solidly red rural counties of Ohio). The article was over-wrought and took way too many liberties with inferences and suspect polling. The Dayton Daily News, a liberal rag in the classic tradition, didn't find anything. Case closed.

Dan Balz: Thanks for posting.

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New York, N.Y.: For years, Grover Norquist has been the go-to guy for reporters for quotes on the Republican position. Is there any record of any national reporters ever questioning his operation in any way? I've always wondered why a guy who was elected by nobody had such outsized influence.

Dan Balz: I refer you to an excellent book that was published a few years ago by Nina Easton, now the Washington bureau chief for Fortune magazine. It's called "Gang of Five" and looks at a number of the then-younger conservatives who were at the heart of the rise of the GOP in the 1990s. Norquist was among them.

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To El Paso: Tell El Paso to check back to the Web site for not only these chats, but the immigration/border security chats I see every so often on the schedule.

washingtonpost.com: Live Online's Weekly Schedule

Dan Balz: For El Paso. And others.

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Bethesda, Md.: Why is it that the White House's plans for troops in Iraq don't seem to match up with the military's plans? Did Casey not articulate his ideas to the White House or do they disagree? If they disagree then that's seems to be a pretty huge story.

Dan Balz: White House officials said yesterday that President Bush met with Gen. Casey on Friday to discuss future plans and the new Iraqi government. They also said there was "no formal plan presented or signed off on" with respect to troops. In the long runup to the Iraq war, they often said there was no war plan on the president's desk, but we know now that the president was constantly reviewing invasion plans.

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Henly, Texas: Months ago the grammarians were telling us that an "Afghan" is a blanket and an "Afghani" is a citizen of Afghanistan. Now it seems the common usage is to call people "Afghans". Is this an effort to throw a wet Afghan on reporting from this troubled country?

Dan Balz: We will take this up with the style police on our copy desks. Thanks;.

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Richmond, Va.: In a Post article this morning about Casey's plan to drawn down troops in Iran, it said the Democrats are angry that they were attacked by the Republicans last week for suggesting the same thing. But I'll tell you what makes me angry -- it is the Democrats' inability to recognize and then cope with the Bush administration's ability to control events for their political advantage.

Dan Balz: Thanks for posting. I suspect you have company.

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Rockville, Md.: "about amnesty for Iraqis who fought us.."

Was common in Vietnam and called the "Chieu Hoi" program. It saved many of our forces. It also cut the popular support for the VC to the point that they were never an effective element in the post war government.

Dan Balz: Interesting historical analogy. Thanks.

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Arlington, Va.: FYI, I knew about the Abramoff/Norquist/Reed troika months ago -- by reading Josh Marshall's "Talking Points Memo," who has been all over this mess from the start. Why haven't you given any credit to Marshall's reporting? Are you totally biased against liberal leaning blogs?

Dan Balz: The Post has been in the forefront of the Abramoff story for two years and three of our reporters won the Pulitzer Prize this spring for their work on this story.

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Dan Balz: Thanks to everyone who participated this morning. Check in every day at 11 for more from my colleagues. Have a good day.

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