Free Republic

In a little over 3½ years, the United States will have a new president. What will this mean for The Vision for Space Exploration? Of course, we won’t know the answer to this question until the time comes. However, we certainly can examine some of the variables that will come in to play over the next three years that might impact the Vision’s future after the end of the current administration. The first obvious step is to look at the people who are currently being promoted as possible presidential candidates for the 2008 election.

DAY 14 AFTER PRESIDENT ANNOUNCES SOCIAL SECURITY PROPOSAL; DEMOCRATS TO CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS: COME UP WITH A PLAN   "Two weeks after President Bush outlined a clear course to permanently strengthen Social Security for future generations, Democrats have yet to offer anything more than angry political attacks. It's disappointing Democrats still don't understand they are the minority party because of their failure to offer a positive agenda, and even former Democrat leaders agree that their party's obstructionism is not a substitute for real ideas.  If Democrats want to maintain any credibility, they need to stop saying 'no' and start coming to the negotiating...

<p>Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential front-runner, has asked supporters to stop suggesting that President Bush shirked his duty during the Vietnam War, but a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee says his group will not back off.</p> <p>At Sunday night's Democratic debate in Milwaukee, Mr. Kerry dismissed the charge by DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe that Mr. Bush was AWOL -- absent without leave -- when he was required to report to the Alabama Air National Guard in 1972.</p>

DFL sues over absentee-ballot plan; Hennepin County breaks with state officials BY RACHEL E. STASSEN-BERGER PIONEER PRESS ST. PAUL The Democratic Farmer-Labor party has filed a lawsuit with the Minnesota Supreme Court against the Minnesota secretary of state and Hennepin County over the way absentee ballots are being handled in the wake of U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone’s death. Already though, Hennepin County, the state’s largest county, has broken ranks with the advice of Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer and Attorney General Mike Hatch over the ballot issue. Patrick O’Connor, longtime auditor for the county, has decided -- contrary to the...