Clinton praises and knocks Bush on same day
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/01/16/art.billwslam0116.gi.jpg caption="Former President Clinton was joined by former President George W. Bush at the White House Saturday, the same day that the DNC launched an automated phone call where Clinton criticizes Bush's economic policies."]
Washington (CNN) – As President Clinton stood alongside his successor, President Bush, at the White House Saturday to announce a new fundraising effort for Haiti, 400-plus miles to the north the 42nd president was blasting Bush’s economic policies in a new automated telephone call designed to cast doubt on Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown’s Senate campaign.
Clinton recorded the telephone call for the Democratic National Committee, which is trying to energize voters to turn out Tuesday for Democrat Martha Coakley in the special election to fill the remaining three years of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy’s term.
Flanked by his two predecessors, President Obama announced Saturday that they will head up the “Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.”
“I'd like to thank President Bush for agreeing to do this, and for the concern he showed for Haiti,” Clinton said in brief remarks at the White House event.
In Massachusetts, on a different topic, Clinton was not so embracing of Bush.
State of the Union: Bill Clinton, George W. Bush join forces
Former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush have joined forces to help spearhead a private fundraising effort in support of earthquake-ravaged Haiti. Watch John King's interview with the two former presidents Sunday on CNN's State of the Union beginning at 9 a.m. ET. (Photo Credit: Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)
Related video: President Obama announces Clinton-Bush relief effort
GOP takes over Virginia governorship
Washington (CNN) – After eight years of Democratic rule, Republicans formally took back control of the Virginia governorship Saturday, one of two similar positions the GOP won in the November elections.
Bob McDonnell was sworn-in as the 71st chief executive of the Commonwealth after he defeated Democratic state Sen. Creigh Deeds late last year. McDonnell enters office as the nation continues to struggle with the economic crisis, and he pledged to take steps that he said were necessary to help put people back to work.
“We will reduce burdensome taxation and regulation that impede job creation,” McDonnell said.
McDonnell takes over from Tim Kaine, who under Virginia rules could serve only one term and was unable to seek re-election. Kaine will continue to serve as chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
The GOP also won New Jersey’s governorship in the November elections.
Ex-Red Sox star slams Democrat for Yankees quip
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/01/16/art.schilling0116.gi.jpg caption="Former Red Sox ace Curt Schilling blasted Martha Coakley Saturday after the Democrat told a Boston radio talk show host that Schilling, a Republican, is a Yankees fan."]
Washington (CNN) – Former Red Sox ace Curt Schilling blasted Martha Coakley Saturday after the Massachusetts Democratic Senate hopeful told a Boston radio talk show host that Schilling, a Republican, is a Yankees fan.
This is a serious charge in "Red Sox Nation": Schilling is a part of baseball lore as the pitcher who battled through pain with a bloody ankle in 2004 to defeat the Yankees in Game Six of the American League Championship Series.
"I've been called a LOT of things," Schilling wrote on his blog at 1:06 a.m. ET. "But never, and I mean never, could anyone ever make the mistake of calling me a Yankee fan. Well, check that, if you didn't know what the hell is going on in your own state maybe you could…."
Schilling, who considered running for the Senate seat, is backing GOP nominee Scott Brown in Tuesday's special election to replace the late Sen. Edward Kennedy.
Coakley quickly recanted her assertion after host Dan Rea challenged her on the statement in the Friday interview. A campaign spokesman told CNN that Coakley simply failed to deliver on the joke.
"Curt Schilling has been involved in a lot of strike outs over time," the spokesman said. "I guess Martha whiffed on that joke."
Follow Mark Preston on Twitter @prestoncnn
Hillary Clinton surveys damage and relief efforts in Haiti
Port-au-Prince, Haiti (CNN) – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has landed in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. She is the highest-ranking U.S. official to witness firsthand the devastation caused by this week's 7.0-magnitude earthquake.
Clinton will focus her trip on speeding the relief and recovery effort. She lands hours after President Obama announced Saturday that President George W. Bush and President Clinton have agreed to lead an effort to raise funds for Haiti.
Hillary Clinton has arrived in Haiti
Port-Au-Prince, Haiti (CNN) – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has landed in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Details of Obama’s campaign visit released
Washington (CNN) – President Obama’s much anticipated campaign event Sunday for embattled Democratic Senate hopeful Martha Coakley will take place at 3 p.m. ET on the campus of Northeastern University, the White House announced late Saturday morning.
Obama’s decision to head to Boston at the 11th hour is evidence that Democratic leaders are very concerned about losing the late Sen. Edward Kennedy’s seat to Republican Scott Brown. Coakley and Brown face off Tuesday in the Massachusetts special election.
Weekend schedules for Coakley and Brown
Follow Mark Preston on Twitter @prestoncnn
Presidents Clinton, Bush lead effort to raise funds for Haiti
Port-au-Prince, Haiti (CNN) - President Obama announced Saturday that President George W. Bush and President Clinton have agreed to lead an effort to raise funds for Haiti.
Clinton, who is the United Nations special envoy to Haiti, said he wants to accomplish a fundraising effort like the one he organized with President George H.W. Bush after the Asian tsunami in 2005.
"Right now, all we need to do is get food and medicine and water and a secure place for them to be," he said.
Congress readies bill to encourage Americans to donate to Haiti relief
Washington (CNN) - Congress is rushing to pass a bill that would allow Americans to write off donations for Haiti disaster relief on last year's tax returns, instead of waiting until next year to deduct their charitable contributions.
Lawmakers hope it will encourage more Americans to help fund aid efforts in the devastated nation. Republican and Democratic leadership aides in the House and Senate tell CNN they expect the bill will pass easily and quickly, possibly as soon as next week. House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-South Carolina; Rep. Charles Rangel, D-New York; and Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Virginia, introduced a bill Friday that would apply to donations that have already been made and to donations for Haiti relief that are made before March 1.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Montana, and Ranking Republican Charles Grassley of Iowa announced their intention Friday to introduce a similar bill once the Senate returns on Tuesday.
Congress passed similar legislation in 2005 to encourage charitable donations following the tsunami that devastated nations on the Indian Ocean in December 2004.
Kennedy widow teams up with Coakley
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/01/16/art.vkennedy0116.gi.jpg caption="Vicki Kennedy joined Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley to shake the hands of voters in Boston Saturday."]
(CNN) - The widow of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy teamed up Saturday morning with the Democratic candidate trying to serve the last three years of her husband's term.
Vicki Kennedy joined Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley to shake the hands of voters in Boston. Kennedy formally endorsed Coakley last week and appears in a campaign commercial for Coakley that began airing on television Friday.
The canvassing for voters with Kennedy was the first of nine campaign events for Coakley Saturday, as she picks up her get-out-the-vote efforts in advance of Tuesday’s special Senate election.
A Suffolk University Poll, released Thursday night, suggests that Coakley is locked in a dead heat with Republican state Sen. Scott Brown. A Boston Globe survey released last weekend indicated Coakley had a 15-point lead over Brown, but other recent polls, including several partisan surveys, suggested the race was much closer. Thursday, two well respected non-partisan national political analysts, Charlie Cook and Stuart Rothenberg, rated the race a toss-up. The race has dramatically tightened up from early December, when Coakley appeared to hold a large lead over Brown in a state that Democrats traditionally dominate.
Kennedy is just one of a string of high-profile Democrats to campaign with Coakley in the closing days of the campaign. Former President Bill Clinton teamed up with Coakley at rallies in Boston and Worcester on Friday. Sunday, President Barack Obama flies to Massachusetts to join Coakley at a get-out-the-vote rally.
Brown is on a campaign bus tour Saturday, with eight scheduled stops. Friday, he had help from his own high-profile surrogate, as former New York City Mayor and 2008 GOP presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani joined Brown to greet voters. Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, a fellow Republican, rides with Brown for a portion of Saturday's bus tour.
With recent polls indicating that Brown is winning the battle for independent voters, Democrats need to motivate their base to show up and cast ballots come Tuesday.
Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @psteinhausercnn
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