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Palin Watch Continues: No Announcement In Iowa Speech By Robin Abcarian Los Angeles Times September 3, 2011 Reporting from Indianola, Iowa— Sarah Palin did not announce a presidential candidacy Saturday in her speech to the Tea Party of America. Instead, she hit the usual "tea party" high notes about the dangers of a second Obama term and the perilous financial situation the country faces. But in addition to those familiar themes, she also unleashed a high spirited attack on “corporate crony capitalism” and the “permanent political class.” It was not lost on the crowd of about 2,000 that a certain...

Barack Obama is, I believe, crafting a two-fold strategy to defeat Sarah Palin in the likely event that she secures the GOP nomination in 2012. Of course, his path to reelection would be made exponentially easier if she is not nominated, but it is becoming increasingly clear to him that she will be the nominee. Both components of his strategy hearken back to past campaigns, one rather distant and one quite recent. Both are, in my judgment, destined to fail. The first component of this strategy is his so-called move to the center, by which he hopes to replicate Bill...

In my story today, I take a look at Mayor Giuliani's recent comments on the Terri Schiavo controversy, where he states that he supported the congressional intervention — but also makes clear that he was completely unprepared to handle the question, despite the fact that he was not only in Florida, but in the very county from which Schiavo hailed. In the column, I report on Mr. Giuliani's response to a reporter's question and also on the responses of political observers who are puzzled by his lack of preparation. What I didn't have room for in the paper, however, is...

They held out things for him to sign: Political fliers. Books. A baseball. Yankees hats. NYPD hats. FDNY hats. A girl's crayon drawing of an American flag on looseleaf paper. One woman even held out her checkbook.They told him they loved him and wanted to vote for him and couldn't wait to see him in the White House.They snapped him with their digital cameras and camera phones, shoving their children into the frame.Moving through the aisles of the store on West Charleston Boulevard, Giuliani alternated a mock-serious survey of store shelves with posing for pictures, his rabbity, dimpled smile frozen...

Plenty of people and politicians have skeletons in their closets. In the case of Rudy Giuliani, that closet is a walk-in. Skeleton No. 1 his last police commissioner, Bernard Kerik, once nominated by President Bush to head the Department of Homeland Security. His close association with Giuliani became radioactive when Kerik pleaded guilty last June to a misdemeanor....accepting $165,000 in renovations on his Bronx apartment from a company attempting to land city contracts....He is still under investigation. Skeleton No. 2 Giuliani's first police commissioner, William Bratton, now LA's police chief..... Bratton's forced departure in 1996 began a debate that goes...

Former U.S. Rep. Bill Zeliff is joining Rudy Giuliani’s presidential campaign. A source in the campaign told UnionLeader.com that the former Jackson innkeeper “will help with federal and New Hampshire issues as an adviser and will help raise money in Washington, D.C.” Zeliff, a Republican, was first elected to New Hampshire’s 1st District U.S. House seat in 1990. He left the House after three terms and ran unsuccessfully for the GOP nomination for governor in 1996. Zeliff has been a Washington lobbyist for the past 10 years, currently employed by The Livingston Group, headed by former Republican Rep. Bob Livingston...

Conservative Evangelical Christian voters have come a long way in a short time. From their nearly unanimous condemnation of Bill Clinton for his extramarital affairs, a growing number of these "pro-family" voters appear ready to accept several Republican presidential candidates who do not share their ideal of marriage and faith. Among those seriously under consideration by these church-going folks is former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has been married three times and who had an affair with the woman now his wife when he was married to wife number two. The second wife, Donna Hanover, once recorded a political...

Mayor Giuliani Announces Theodore Olson as Chair of Justice Advisory Committee New York, Mar 1 - The Rudy Giuliani Presidential Exploratory Committee today announced that former Solicitor General Theodore Olson will chair the Mayor’s Justice Advisory Committee. In supporting the Mayor’s candidacy, Olson said Giuliani has the strength and conviction to lead the country. “I’ve known Rudy Giuliani for over 25 years and I trust his principles and his judgment. Since our days working together in the Reagan Administration, I’ve been able to see firsthand Rudy’s strength of character and demonstrated leadership. I am confident Mayor Giuliani is the proven...

February 27, 2007 -- IT is nearly impossible for the chattering classes - on all sides of the political divide - to comprehend the heat being generated by Rudy Giuliani's presidential bid. The fallback explanation is just to say "9/11" and be done with it. After all, how else can you explain a man with Giuliani's supposedly liberal social views possibly rise as high as he has - besting John McCain among Republicans by as many as 22 points in one poll? Many on the right profess amazement at the lead he's opened up among Republican primary voters, considering his...

When Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced that the administration was willing to join negotiations on Iran's nuclear program, she did not go to the drab State Department briefing room. Instead, in full view of the television cameras, she strolled about 50 feet to the microphones set up in the middle of the vast and ornate Benjamin Franklin Room, evoking a visual of the president walking through the White House to the East Room for a prime-time news conference. The setting of the Iran announcement at the end of May was no accident, but intended to demonstrate the seriousness of...

Caption the photo of Arizona Senator John McCain and his wife as they pass through sideboys and arrive as distinguished guests and hosts for the 21st Annual Coronado Salute to the Military Ball held at Hotel Del Coronado. The sideboys were comprised of 10 Sailors of the year for Coronado based commands.

(1010 WINS) (WASHINGTON) Rudolph Giuliani plans to return to politics, he said Wednesday, but argued it's too early to say if that will be for the 2008 presidential campaign. ``I think I'll return to politics,'' said Giuliani during a speech to credit card companies. Giuliani, dubbed ``America's Mayor,'' after his performance as New York City mayor during the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, has spent the years since working as a highly paid corporate executive and public speaker. The first question from audience members at a the gathering concerned his possible return to public office. Asked if he had any...

Original Caption Florida Gov. Jeb Bush responds to questions Monday, Feb. 14, 2005, in Tallahassee, Fla.