The Wall Street Journal-20080115-Politics -amp- Economics- Washington Wire - Insight and Analysis From WashWire-com
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Politics & Economics: Washington Wire / Insight and Analysis From WashWire.com
Edwards Camp Angles for Position
Top aides to John Edwards hammered their case that the race for the Democratic nomination was, is, and will remain a three-way contest all the way to the August convention.
"Despite what we see in the media, this is still a three-way race. That's just the facts," communications director Chris Kofinis told reporters on a conference call yesterday. The Edwards camp has lowered expectations since losing in Iowa and New Hampshire to Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. His aides said the former North Carolina senator and vice presidential nominee is running strong in Nevada and South Carolina, but they stopped short of predicting victory, saying they "feel good" about where they stand in both states.
More broadly, the Edwards campaign is preparing for the Super Tuesday contests Feb. 5, as well as assembling a staff to manage and track delegate support in preparation for a convention fight. The Edwards camp believes he will continue to build a core level of support among the delegates up for grabs in the upcoming contests to remain viable. Mr. Kofinis said that 45% of convention delegates still won't be decided Feb. 5, and the winning candidate will need "50% plus one" of delegates to secure the nomination. "This campaign is coming down to a race for delegates," he said.
-- Susan Davis
McCain Hedges
On Fair-Tax Plan
Sen. John McCain weighed in on Mike Huckabee's so-called fair-tax plan that would replace the federal income tax with a national sales tax.
In answering a question at a townhall meeting in Holland, Mich., the Arizona senator and Republican presidential hopeful said he'd sign a fair-tax bill if it "came across my desk." A national sales tax would be "better than the current tax system," he said, but added that he has "significant problems with it" and "can not support it in its present form." Mr. Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, has adopted the "fair tax" as the spine of his economic agenda.
Mr. McCain didn't mention his rival for the Republican nomination but said his main beefs are over whether the "fair tax" plan's 23% rate is high enough to create sufficient revenue. He also would want a national sales-tax law accompanied by the repeal of the Constitution's 16th Amendment, giving the federal government the power to collect income taxes. "What's your confidence that we enact a fair tax -- basically a sales tax -- and then the Congress needs money, and we put the income tax back on again . . . . I've seen too many things in too many years," the 24-year congressional veteran said.
His preferred tax solution is to let former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan figure it out. "We need a fairer, flatter tax," Mr. McCain said. To that end, he would create a tax overhaul commission headed by Mr. Greenspan similar to the commission that oversaw military base decommissioning.
-- Alex Frangos
