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The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC
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It's Presidents' Day and your Hardball team is working through the holiday on a
relatively quiet Capitol Hill to get ready for an exclusive interview. In his
first national television chat since abandoning his senate campaign, Paul
Hackett, the outspoken Iraq War veteran who previously had his sights set on
unseating Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH), will talk with Chris about why he quit the
race and where he thinks the Democratic Party is headed.
Hackett soared as a national star for Democrats when he narrowly lost a special
election for a House seat last August, so much so that his good showing
prompted what was expected to be a hot senate race focused on the war and
national security. Did Democrats in Washington abandon Hackett in favor of Rep.
Sherrod Brown (D-OH)? Was Hackett too much of a maverick for his fellow
Democrats? Will he seek elected office again?
Hackett has since become an advisor to the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of
America Political Action Committee (IAVA PAC). Find out more here:
http://www.iavapac.org/press/022006release.html.
Hardball's David Shuster will recap Hackett's odyssey over the last year. Check
out what Hackett had to say on Hardball back in July and November:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8756314/ and http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10186399/
Howard Fineman, chief political correspondent for Newsweek, and Chuck Todd,
editor-in-chief of The Hotline, will be here to talk about Hackett's decision
to get out and what that means for Democrats in Ohio and across the country.
They'll also discuss the impact of last week's shooting accident on the vice
president and his relationship with the president. In case you missed it, Time
reports that the president "had to lean on Cheney to talk publicly about the
gun accident." Here is a link to that article:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1161247,00.html.
Historian Douglas Brinkley will join Chris from New Orleans to share his
thoughts on President's Day and the current state of the Gulf Coast's recovery
from Hurricane Katrina. Find out more about Brinkley's latest book "Parish
Priest" on Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060776846/qid=1140464498/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-7951419-8567162?s=books&v=glance&n=283155.
And don't miss Chris' conversation with Paul Pillar, the former deputy chief of
counterterrorism at the CIA. Now retired, 28-year agency veteran Pillar accuses
the Bush Administration of selectively using intelligence to make the case for
the Iraq War. Learn more about him in a recent Washington Post piece:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/09/AR2006020902418.html.
By the way, hum "Hail to the Chief" and brush up on one through 43 here:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/.
Here are some things you might not have read yet today:
--AP navigates the port control argument in D.C.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11188272/
--Newsweek's Evan Thomas recaps Cheney's long week
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11436302/site/newsweek/
--Hardblogger (!) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5445086/
--Doonesbury http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/dailydose/index.html
Brooke Brower compiled the "Hardball Briefing" in Washington, D.C.
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