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The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC
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We're only 48 hours away from the Southern Republican Leadership Conference
(SRLC) in Memphis, Tenn. Hardball and MSNBC.com will be there all weekend for
live shows at 5 and 7 p.m. Eastern on Friday night, ongoing reports on
www.hardblogger.msnbc.com, and an exclusive web broadcast on Saturday night to
share the results of the presidential straw poll by National Journal's "The
Hotline." Who will win? Frontrunner John McCain? Hometown favorite Bill Frist?
Insiders' pick George Allen? Blue-stater Mitt Romney? Or will it be someone
else?
It's going to be a blast, and to get up to speed on all the action and fun, you
should check out these sites immediately:
--Hardball's coverage plans: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11699903/
--SRLC home page: http://www.srlc.org/
--Straw poll primer: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11699903/
But before we get to Memphis, there's much to talk about in D.C. Tonight on
Hardball, Chris will talk with an all-star panel about the developing showdown
over the Dubai ports deal, the brewing intra-party battles for both Republicans
and Democrats, and a look ahead to the big doings in Memphis. Washington Post
columnist Eugene Robinson, New York Times reporter Anne Kornblut, Philadelphia
radio talk show host Michael Smerconish, and Vanity Fair contributor
Christopher Hitchens will all join Chris.
For more on the Democratic and Republican inner turmoil, you should read two
things. First, the Washington Post reports on a new private donor database
being run by a supporter of Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) that rivals the DNC's
own effort. Read about it here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/07/AR2006030701860.html.
Second, House Republicans are moving to vote next week on a measure to kill
the Dubai deal, despite White House opposition. The New York Times has more on
that here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/07/AR2006030701860.html.
For more on the port problems, Chris will talk with Republican Reps. J.D.
Hayworth of Arizona and Dan Lungren of California tonight about the fight.
Hayworth wants to kill the deal and stop foreign control of U.S. ports. Lungren
thinks the 45-day review should go ahead as planned.
By the way, check out a brand-new feature on Hardball's website called
Tipster/Pixster! On Tipster, you can -- literally -- let us know when you see
your politicians and politicos out and about, whether it's around town in D.C.,
back home in the states, or somewhere you wouldn't expect them to be at all.
It's a forum for sharing color in a gray world of politics. Who'd you see? What
were they doing? What did they say? Pixster is Tipster's visual cousin. See
politicians or pundits somewhere? Snap a photo! Where were they? Who were they
with? Use your digital camera or your phone and send it to us and we'll post it
with your description of the scene and any other fun tidbits. It's all here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11698847/.
Here are some things you might not have read yet today:
--AP follows the president's Gulf Coast trip today
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11722885/
--NBC reports on today's word that the Alabama church fires started as "a joke"
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11726024/
--Vanity Fair previews their own Abramoff splash:
http://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/pressroom2/
--Chris vlogs about the pitch for a National Women's History Museum on
Hardblogger http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5445086/
--NBC's Mark Murray ponders the Dems' corruption culture theme for 2006
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11714390/
--NBC's First Read http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3626796/
--Doonesbury http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/dailydose/index.html
Brooke Brower compiled the "Hardball Briefing" in Washington, D.C.
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