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In the latest stop in his undeclared presidential exploration, New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg yesterday appeared on traditionally Democratic turf -- a conference of the National Urban League -- to discuss the failure of America's education system to improve the performance of minority children. "Today, black and Latino 12th-graders, who should be reading college catalogs, are reading at the same level as white eighth-graders," the mayor told the group's convention in St. Louis, according to prepared remarks. Bloomberg cast the education problems as part of a larger crisis resulting from Washington's ineffectiveness, a message he has repeatedly offered over the last month since abandoning the Republican Party to become an independent -- a move that fueled speculation about his 2008 plans. Bloomberg directly rebuked several Democratic candidates who have criticized the federal No Child Left Behind law for inadequate spending. And he laid out an agenda that includes several items opposed by teachers' unions, a major backer of Democrats, including making it easier to fire ineffective teachers, offering bonus pay for teachers and principals whose students perform well on tests, and even denying tenure to teachers whose students do not do well. -- Perry Bacon Jr. OBAMA ON THE AIRWAVES Campaign Begins Round Of Radio Ads in S.C. Three declared Democratic candidates -- Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.) and former senator John Edwards (N.C.) will also be speaking at the Urban League conference, looking to woo influential African Americans. But the most important blacks in the 2008 presidential process live in South Carolina. And that's who Obama's campaign is targeting with a series of ads that started yesterday and will air on 36 black and gospel radio stations in the state. The 60-second spot, called "It's Time," features an announcer uttering that phrase, then includes excerpts from Obama's speeches. In them, he makes explicit racial references, such as "we have more work to do when the black incidences of HIV/AIDS and diabetes and every other illness is multiple times higher than the rest of the population," and "we have more work to do when more young black men languish in prison than attend colleges and universities across America." About half of South Carolina's Democratic primary voters are black, making it the first major test of Obama's appeal among African Americans. Polls in the state have differed on the exact state of the contest there, but observers say Clinton and Obama are running about even. -- Perry Bacon Jr. THOMPSON SHAKEUP, WAKEUP So Who's Really in Charge Of the (Non)campaign? Officially, day-to-day operations in the still unofficial Fred D. Thompson campaign will be run by Randy Enwright, the former political director. But in fact, according to several people close to Thompson, the true powerhouse is his wife, Jeri. A lawyer and former spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, she has become the de facto manager of her husband's nascent White House bid, say several people who requested anonymity so that they could discuss internal deliberations. "Approving direct-mail copy, setting the date for the announcement, deciding how to travel," said one person familiar with the operation. "She signs off on car manifests, you name it -- anything." Sources said Jeri Thompson had lost confidence in Tom Collamore, who has officially been given "senior adviser" status but is "gone," according to one campaign adviser. Also departed is J.T. Mastranadi, the operation's research director. Linda Rozett, Thompson's new communications director, described the staff changes as adding to an already strong staff. She would not discuss Jeri Thompson's role. Two sources said Thompson's fundraising has dropped off significantly since the early excitement that surrounded an apparently imminent entry into the race. "We wanted to raise enough money to conduct a thorough testing of the waters, and we are pleased," Rozett said. "That is going very well on all fronts." -- Michael D. Shear TWO MORE FOR THE ROAD Veteran GOP Media Advisers Latest to Leave McCain Sen. John McCain yesterday lost the powerhouse advertising team that helped elect George W. Bush to the White House. Media advisers Russ Schriefer and Stuart Stevens resigned from the troubled campaign. Schriefer and Stevens had been part of the highly paid team of top GOP operatives that McCain assembled last year. But that team unraveled two weeks ago, when McCain fired his campaign manager amid financial crisis. "We'd really like to refer anything about this to the campaign," Schriefer said. "We did leave amicably and have the greatest respect for the senator." The departure of McCain's media team, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, is a fresh blow to a campaign reeling from bad news and money and staff shortages. There was no official reaction from the McCain campaign spokeswoman -- and no word about his other media consultant, Mark McKinnon, who is also a veteran of the Bush ad-making effort. -- Michael D. Shear UNION LARGESS SEIU Outpaces Teamsters, AFL-CIO in Fundraising The Service Employees International Union has stockpiled a huge amount of political cash to spend in 2008. SEIU's Committee on Political Education finished the first half of this year with $23.9 million, leaving it in unprecedented position to run extensive issue advertising, organize get-out-the-vote efforts and make donations aimed at influencing the 2008 election. "We see this election as a monumental one, and we are committed to doing everything we can to elect a pro-worker president, not only for our members but for all workers," said SEIU spokeswoman Stephanie Mueller. SEIU's bankroll far outpaces that of the other big union political action committees. The Teamsters DRIVE committee finished the first half of the year with $588,236 in cash on hand; the AFL-CIO's reported about $90,000. -- John Solomon |
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