Daily News Roundup, 1/16/08: The Friendliest Prizefight In Vegas

Yesterday's Nevada Democratic debate and Michigan Republican primary has once again left the determination of the frontrunner in each party clear as mud.

Mitt Romney won the Michigan primary yesterday, making him the third Republican to win a major party primary and salvaging what was seen as a flagging campaign due to his inability to take first place in Iowa or New Hampshire after major investments there. This win was necessary for him before heading off to South Carolina, where McCain and Huckabee are duking it out for first.

His victory is largely attributed to the Michigan economy, which has been hurting of late. The conventional wisdom has it that Romney's business background played well in a state looking for some economic relief. I don't doubt that, but a quote from a Romney staffer caught my eye:

"The governor has been on a message for a while now that the key to this election is that Washington is broken, and it's got to be fixed," said Ron Kaufman, a senior adviser.

"Washington is broken, and it's got to be fixed." Recognize that from anywhere? Yes, that's right, that's straight from the message Edwards has been pushing for months. Seeing how Democrats and Republicans alike have been latching on to that populist mantle, it would seem that they are all seeing the same thing: the average American getting frustrated with what the government has been able to do for him and looking for change. The Democrats were once the party of the middle class, and the Republicans wrested that image from the Democrats in a number of places in the South and breadbasket states a few decades ago; we may be once again seeing a struggle to be defined as the party of the "silent majority." Like we needed any more reason to think that this year's election would be a historic one.

Much less prominent in the news was the Democratic presidential candidate debate in Las Vegas, Nevada. You can't really blame them — none of the candidates got up and punched another, so it's really just not exciting enough to run. (O, for the days when Mike Gravel was allowed on stage...)

Seriously, the debate was probably one of the least eventful we've seen. The moderators tried to throw fireworks regarding the race issue that has been so prominent in the news media lately, Clinton and Obama quickly found agreement on the it, both stating that Democrats were the party of civil rights and that they respected each other's commitment to racial and gender equality, and that they wouldn't engage in that sort of rhetoric that has been seen recently. The MSNBC piece states that the attempts at playing nice by Obama and Clinton gave Edwards an opportunity to get in some punches regarding energy issues and the Iraq conflict, but I think that, as much time as was spent early on by Clinton and Obama setting an amicable atmosphere and finding common ground in this debate, Edwards' attempts to differentiate himself may not have been as effective as they could've been.

Bush is coming back from his tour of the Middle East with little to show for it other than criticism. His calls for the lowering of oil prices (which Josh mentioned yesterday) were answered by "when the market calls for it," and attempts at aiding the peace process were seen as hypocritical:

"There is no credibility to his words after what the region saw during his presidency," said Mohamed Fayek, the Cairo, Egypt-based director of the nonprofit Arab Organization for Human Rights.

I'd make some joke about Republicans reaping what they sow, but when it's America having to make do with the harvest, it's not quite as funny.

And finally, in local news, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has voted to start allowing all military veterans to be able to get college tuition exemptions under the Hazlewood Act. Due to a prior ruling by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, those able to benefit from Hazlewood had been limited to those who were U.S. citizens when they entered the military, but legal residents were not, even if they had since become citizens. But due to a lawsuit and Abbott's reversal of his former ruling, a college education is now more accessible for all of our veterans who have sacrificed for the state and country. The ruling would become permanent once voted on in the upcoming board meeting this April.