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The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC
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On the eve of the widely anticipated new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll,
other news organizations have bad numbers news for President Bush. The USA
TODAY/CNN/Gallup poll shows just a 36% job approval rating for the president,
down three points since February. And with the third anniversary of the start
of the Iraq War just days away, a CBS News poll finds that just 25% believe the
Iraq War has been worth the cost, down 4 points since February.
So what can the president do? Can he recover in the public's minds? Is the
success or failure of Iraq the defining issue of his presidency? Tonight on
Hardball, Chris will talk about all of that with USA Today Washington Bureau
Chief Susan Page and Craig Crawford, MSNBC political analyst and Congressional
Quarterly columnist. Page had the cover story today with the headline "Conflict
will define Bush's role in history":
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-03-13-bush-iraq-cover_x.htm.
Crawford writes about the president on a variety of topics on his website:
http://crawfordslist.blogspot.com/.
Chris also will talk with Republican strategist Ed Rogers, a former White House
advisor for President George H.W. Bush, and Hardblogger All-Star and Democratic
strategist Hilary Rosen. Rogers and Rosen will break down what these bad polls
mean for 2006, 2008, and the rest of the Bush presidency.
MSNBC Chief Washington Correspondent Norah O'Donnell will be here tonight with
a report on the cost of the Iraq War. It has cost hundreds of billions of
dollars so far and the administration is asking for billions more. Gen. Bernard
Trainor (Ret.) and Michael Gordon, the co-authors of a new book called "Cobra
II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq," will join Chris
to talk about the political, diplomatic, financial, and military costs of the
war.
Also tonight, Jim Webb, former Navy secretary under President Reagan and author
of "Born Fighting," will be here to talk about his just-launched senate
campaign to unseat Sen. George Allen (R-VA).
Here are some things you might not have read yet today:
--AP reports on the court decisions today (including allowing the death
penalty) in the Moussaoui trial http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11823125/
--Rochester's WHAM reports on George W. meeting J-Mac
http://www.13wham.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=60B1BAE4-53A0-4758-829D-1B6EBAED26BC
--AP follows the president in upstate New York today
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11825588/
--Hardblogger (complete Memphis recap!) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5445086/
--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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