Free Republic

The Minnesota Vikings are on the verge of being sold in a deal that would transfer the franchise from Red McCombs to the NFL's first black owner, Arizona businessman Reggie Fowler, according to several media reports.

A week ago, South Carolina’s Donnie Fowler gave Howard Dean a scare. Since then, vying for the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee, Fowler has been trying to convince Democrats that it was something more than that. “It’s not over,” he told CNN anchor Judy Woodruff as recently as Friday afternoon. “Nobody’s cast a single vote yet.” Just hours later, though, Fowler took an informal vote count and, “it became clear that Howard Dean has the votes to become Democratic chairman.” So he stepped aside. A roller-coaster week ago, the executive committee of Democratic state party chairs picked 37-year-old...

Donnie Fowler Endorses Governor Dean Donnie Fowler has just endorsed Gov. Howard Dean to be Chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Donnie Fowler said, "Today it became clear that Howard Dean has the votes to become DNC chairman. "I got in the race because I wanted to see change in the Democratic Party. I know from experience that local people know better and that strong state parties and successful elected officials should teach the rest of the Party their best lessons. I want to see the DNC get back to its real mission: to help each candidate and...

LANSING, Mich. -- The Democratic National Committee and state party officials in Michigan are fighting over $8 million meant to help Sen. John Kerry's failed 2004 presidential bid in the state. The DNC has demanded an audit of the state party's books because its donors want to know where the money went. The request has been turned down, with Michigan Democratic Chairman Mark Brewer arguing that an audit is unnecessary. "We don't see a need for it. But we're happy to answer any questions that they may have," Brewer said. "There was nothing wrong that was done. That's why there...

..."There was no policy of abuse at Abu Ghraib," said a four-member commission headed by former Defense Secretary James Schlesinger. "Quite the contrary." ...But those heinous acts did not result from any "authorized interrogation" or — as some of the soldiers now under charges have alleged — officially sanctioned attempts at intelligence-gathering. In fact, the report says, they were "freelance activities of the night shift at Abu Ghraib" — a point underscored by the fact that no mistreatment took place on other shifts. Yet circumstances at Abu Ghraib were tailor-made for the abuse that followed. "There was chaos at Abu...

AP Exclusive: Former Gore field director to head Kerry's Michigan campaign By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN The Associated Press 6/4/2004, 9:54 a.m. ET LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Donnie Fowler, who ran Al Gore's 2000 field campaign and headed retired Gen. Wesley Clark's presidential campaign until quitting last fall, will be named state director of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's Michigan operation, the Kerry campaign confirmed Friday. Fowler is the son of former Democratic National Committee Chairman Donald Fowler. After leaving the Clark campaign, he worked briefly for U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt's presidential campaign in Iowa before Gephardt dropped out in late...

Wesley Clark's campaign manager quit Tuesday in a dispute over the direction of the Democratic presidential bid, exposing a rift between the former general's Washington-based advisers and his 3-week-old Arkansas campaign team. Donnie Fowler told associates he was leaving over widespread concerns that supporters who used the Internet to draft Clark into the race are not being taken seriously by top campaign advisers. Fowler also complained that the campaign's message and methods are focused too much on Washington, not key states, said two associates who spoke on condition of anonymity. Spokesmen for the campaign declined to comment. Fowler has been...

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The big question at this hour: Is the U.S. planning to invade Iraq sometime next year? While White House officials are downplaying a "New York Times" report that says the U.S. is considering a major air and ground assault for next year that could include as many as 250,000 American troops. Meanwhile, Saddam Hussein celebrated his 65th birthday over the weekend with the usual well-choreographed tributes from the Iraqi people. And, in Baghdad, tens of thousands of people marched as a show of support and defiance in the face of U.S. determination to topple Hussein. Ambassador...

<p>PORT ALLEN - Authorities scoured wooded areas and shared information with a task force hunting the Baton Rouge serial killer Friday as they continued their search for the kidnapped wife of an imprisoned former Louisiana elections commissioner.</p> <p>Crews on foot and all-terrain vehicles looked for clues like suspicious marks or tire tracks in the woods near the Port Allen sandwich shop where Mari Ann Fowler, 65, disappeared on Christmas Eve.</p>

Delays action on constitutional convention bill Senate committee delays action another week on Fowler bill By TOM SHARP Associated Press Writer NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- The Senate Finance Committee once again delayed action on Sen. David Fowler's budget bill, moving the Senate a week closer to the end of the fiscal year with no solution to the state's budget troubles. Fowler, R-Signal Mountain, said he was asked to delay the bill until he could consider removing the portion calling for an income tax. The bill seeks a referendum on the November ballot asking citizens whether they want a constitutional convention...

<p>Sen. David Fowler yesterday presented a new variation of his income tax/sales tax/constitutional convention plan to the Senate Finance Committee. He will seek a committee vote on it today.</p> <p>Fowler's plan consists of several steps, with some being contingent on the outcome of a vote on whether to call a constitutional convention on taxes.</p>

Nobody likes the DOGS budget The Associated Press NASHVILLE -- A budget that makes deep cuts in education, health care and eliminates the departments of tourism and economic development has a label at Legislative Plaza: the Downsizing Ongoing Government Services or DOGS budget. Some lawmakers say passing it would throw the state's future to the dogs. Nobody likes it. Department after department uses "devastating" when describing its potential effects. "It would not set this state back years, it would set us back generations," says House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh, who favors an income tax to raise revenue. But it remains a...

<p>With lawmakers still in a stalemate, a Republican senator has proposed having voters choose in November to approve a constitutional convention adopting a revised sales tax rate, or against a convention, resulting in an income tax.</p> <p>Under the plan submitted to the Senate Finance Committee yesterday by David Fowler, R-Signal Mountain, voters would voice a tax preference by voting for or against a referendum calling for a constitutional convention.</p>