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Exposed Passport Files: 'Imprudent Curiosity'

Those few incidents [of accessing passport data] were likely "imprudent curiosity," [McCormack, State Department spokesman] said.

"I don't have exact numbers for you, but every single year there's probably a handful of cases where you have unauthorized access to passport data," McCormack told a news briefing.

The issue of exposed passport files came to light during the past two days as the State Department revealed the files of the three presidential contenders, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-New York, and Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, had been accessed without authorization.

A State Department source said passport files contain scanned images of passport applications, birth date and basic biographical information, records of passport renewal and possibly citizenship information.

McCormack called the incidents "inexplicable" and "over the line."

He said whatever the circumstances, those responsible had ample warning to stay out of the files.

"Every single time they access a computer there's a reminder that comes up that says: The information you are about to access has Privacy Act restrictions on it and you are acknowledging that you have a need to know in order to do your job to access this file; and that if you are accessing it in an unauthorized manner, then there are potential penalties."

McCormack said the files of politicians and celebrities are flagged for extra attention on unauthorized access, but "the same kind of vigilance applies to every other passport application that we handle."

Clinton's file was accessed in a training situation as the passport office handled a "surge" of applications last summer, McCormack said, when a trainee was "encouraged to enter a family member's name, just for training purposes."

"This person chose Sen. Clinton's name. It was immediately recognized, they were immediately admonished. And it didn't happen again," he said.

The circumstances of the Obama and McCain incidents were under investigation.

In each instance, a computer-monitoring system, triggered when employees access the file of a high-profile person, caught the breaches, McCormack said, emphasizing the department's system "worked."

Who Or What Is A Friend In Washington: John McCain and Iseman

In response to reporters, McCain referred to the lobbyist Vicki Iseman as his "friend." But what, exactly, is a friend in Washington? Journalists are friends with their sources to get them to leak information. Politicians are friends with journalists to spin them. Lobbyists are friends with politicians to get them to support legislation that helps clients. Politicians are friends with lobbyists to get campaign contributions. "If you want a real friend in Washington," goes the old saying, "get a dog."

It's often more complicated than that. Iseman, who was a 32-year-old, attractive, single woman when she began lobbying McCain in 1999, may have enjoyed flirting with a war hero who is fun to be around. If McCain, a married man who was 63 at the time, wasn't a little flattered by the attention, he would be unusual. But that doesn't mean they were sleeping together or that he was performing legislative favors for her.

Still, The New York Times implied as much. In a front-page article reviewing McCain's long history with lobbyists, but zeroing in on Iseman's ties to the Arizona senator when he was preparing to run for president in 1999, the Times wrote: "Convinced the relationship had become romantic, some of his top advisers intervened to protect the candidate from himself—instructing staff members to block the woman's access, privately warning her away and repeatedly confronting him, several people involved in the campaign said on the condition of anonymity."

Lobbyists on McCain's Campaign Team Honorable

Sen. John McCain said Friday that while lobbyists serve as close advisers to his presidential campaign, they are honorable and he is not influenced by corruption in the system.

McCain, who has styled himself as an enemy of special interests, defended having lobbyists working for his campaign. He is the expected Republican presidential nominee.

"These people have honorable records, and they're honorable people, and I'm proud to have them as part of my team," McCain told reporters following a town hall meeting in Indianapolis.

The issue of lobbying and influence has arisen in published reports, first in The New York Times and then in The Washington Post, suggesting that McCain had an inappropriate relationship with a female lobbyist and advanced the interests of her clients. McCain on Thursday emphatically denied the reports.

Siding with McCain, the White House accused the Times of repeatedly trying to "drop a bombshell" on Republican presidential nominees to undermine their candidacies.

The Appearance of Corruption: John McCain, Paxson, and Iseman

While McCain said "I don't recall" if he ever directly spoke to the firm's lobbyist about the issue—an apparent reference to Iseman, though she is not named—"I'm sure I spoke to [Paxson]." McCain agreed that his letters on behalf of Paxson, a campaign contributor, could "possibly be an appearance of corruption"—even though McCain denied doing anything improper.

John McCain Subtly or Not So Subtly Attacked By the NEW YORK TIMES

photo credit: Stephen Boitano, Getty Images

McCain and Clinton Attack Obama

McCain Takes Wisconsin; Obama Beating Clinton

Deep Concern for John McCain: Failure to Win Conservatives

Howard Fineman writes:

Looking closely at the NBC exit polls from Virginia, I see numbers that will make delightful reading for the Barack Obama campaign--and a cause for deep concern in John McCain's camp. Obama, the figures show, is expanding the demographic reach of his surging Democratic candidacy, while McCain is hemmed in by his increasingly glaring failure to win over conservatives and evangelical Christians.

Despite the Tough Talk

On the Republican side, Mr. McCain hit a unsettling bump in the road to his near-certain nomination. The victories by Mr. Huckabee, a populist ordained Southern Baptist minister, raised questions about Mr. McCain's ability to bring religious conservative voters to his side for the general election. Turnout was low among Republicans, and many of those who did show up were party-faithful religious conservatives. The wins give Mr. Huckabee renewed energy going into Tuesday's primaries, which had been seen to favor Mr. McCain.

With 100% of precincts reporting, Mr. Huckabee won the Kansas caucus with 60% of the vote to Mr. McCain's 20%. Texas congressman Ron Paul received 11%. In Louisiana, the vote was tight. Mr. Huckabee had 43% to Mr. McCain's 42%, with 99% reporting.

"It was an important victory, especially after the pundits spent the past few days saying this campaign is over," said Huckabee campaign manager Chip Saltsman after the victory in Kansas. Despite the tough talk, it's mathematically unlikely that Mr. Huckabee could catch Mr. McCain. After Mr. Huckabee's Kansas win he had a total of 234 delegates, compared with Mr. McCain's 719, according to the Associated Press. A candidate needs 1,191 delegates to secure the Republican nomination.

Political Deal Making in West Virginia

Representatives of McCain’s and Paul’s campaigns urged their supporters to put their votes behind Huckabee. McCain’s goal was to stop Romney, his closest competitor in the national polls, from picking up momentum; Paul’s goal soon became clear.

As the Huckabee and Paul campaigns huddled, they reached an arrangement: Paul would throw his support to Huckabee in exchange for three of the 18 national delegates that Huckabee could claim with the victory.

“We struck a deal with the Huckabee people,” Edward Burgess, a spokesman for Paul’s campaign, told NBC affiliate WSAZ-TV of Huntington.

“They came to us and dealt with us honorably and with respect. And so we told them that if Dr. Paul didn’t make it through the first round, that we would go for their man,” Burgess said. “They pledged us three delegates to the Republican National Convention.”

McCain staffers, meanwhile, began parading around the hall carrying signs telling their delegates to vote for Huckabee.

Sticking Around for the Long Haul: Mike Huckabee

LIZ SIDOTI writes:

WASHINGTON - Mike Huckabee hasn't won a Republican presidential contest in a month. The result: money is tighter, his staff is smaller and he can't seem to get the attention he once did.

Still, he says he's sticking around for the long haul — well past Tuesday's coast-to-coast primaries and caucuses if need be.

"I'll stay in until someone has 1,191 delegates," the former Arkansas governor insisted Sunday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press from Kennessaw, Ga. He was referring to the number of convention delegates needed to win the party nod. "A year ago, nobody said I'd still be here. Look who's still on his feet."

With 21 states holding contests Tuesday and offering more than 1,000 delegates, Huckabee's continued presence could be a major factor in what essentially has become a two-man race between Republican front-runner John McCain and Mitt Romney.

Ahead Nationally: John McCain and Hillary Clinton

Mark Murray, Deputy political director of NBC News reports:

BOCA RATON, Fla. - Republican Mitt Romney and Democrat Barack Obama are leading in their respective parties' upcoming primaries, according to two new state surveys (in Florida).

But a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows that their rivals — John McCain and Hillary Clinton — are ahead nationally, with Clinton leading Obama by 15 points and with McCain moving from fourth to first in one month.

Mike Huckabee: "The Momentum Is Back"

APRIL CASTRO writes:

NAVASOTA, Texas - After a disappointing second place showing in the South Carolina Republican primary, Mike Huckabee hoped a fundraiser at the ranch of television star Chuck Norris Sunday would be the start of a momentum shift in his favor.

"Starting today, we reset the clock," Huckabee said. "I woke up this morning and I thought 'the momentum is back.'"

Huckabee needed to win South Carolina to validate his win in the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3. Instead, he came in second to John McCain, who solidified a shaky GOP front-runner status that he first claimed after winning the New Hampshire primary Jan. 8.

As the first Southern primary, South Carolina was supposed to be friendly territory for Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor and Baptist minister.

"We obviously wanted to win and we really thought we would win," he said. "The fact of Fred Thompson's being in the race took some votes that we would have most likely had."

Huckabee also blamed late snowfall in parts of upstate South Carolina.

"The snow not only froze the streets of the Greenville-Spartanburg area, the votes kinda stopped once it started snowing," he said. "That was an area we were looking forward to having a significant vote margin."

Mike Huckabee's Concession Speech in Columbia, South Carolina

The Republican Party Presidential Race: A Kaleidoscope

Glen Johnson writes:

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The Republican presidential race, it appears, has taken on the qualities of a kaleidoscope.

Every primary or caucus, the winner looks inside and sees something else, underscoring the volatile nature of a 2008 nominating contest that is still moving toward clarity.

Leading contenders are emerging, hangers-on are dropping away and in less than 10 days, the viability of Rudy Giuliani's unconventional political strategy will be judged in plain view.

The 57 delegates at stake in Florida, the virtual dead heat at the start of the campaign's final act and the momentum the winner could gain heading into the 20-plus contests being held Feb. 5 have the potential to turn Florida's Jan. 29 primary into the make-or-break contest of the race.

John McCain glided in, following up his win in the New Hampshire primary with another big-ticket victory Saturday in the South Carolina primary. To the Arizona senator, it was sweet justice, for it was South Carolina where George W. Bush pummeled him into submission in 2000 after McCain had similarly won the New Hampshire primary.

"It took us awhile, but what's eight years among friends?" McCain joked at his victory party.

John McCain Takes South Carolina: The First in the South Primary

A close race between John McCain and Mike Huckabee, with McCain taking the low country and Huckabee taking the upstate...During his speech tonight, McCain asked, "What's 8 years between friends?"

South Carolina Republican Primary Results with 65% Reporting

John McCain 98,585 34.0%
Mike Huckabee 84,576 29.1%
Fred D. Thompson 45,269 15.6%
Mitt Romney 44,422 15.3%
Ron Paul 10,409 3.6%
Rudolph W. Giuliani 6,213 2.1%
Duncan Hunter 663 0.2%
Tom Tancredo 60 0.0%
Others 117 0.0%
65% reporting | Updated 9:02 PM ET NY Times

Will South Carolina Eliminate Any Republican Candidates?

In FIRST READ, MSNBC Mark Murray writes:

...As for South Carolina, the question is whether this GOP primary actually eliminates any contenders? We thought so a week ago -- but we aren't so sure now. If McCain, Huckabee, and Thompson are a close 1, 2, 3, what's the incentive for any to get out? The only one is if money dries up. For McCain and Thompson, that's a real possibility; for Huckabee, not so much -- he can live off the land a bit easier than the other two. Weather could be a HUGE factor with snow hurting Huckabee. Of course, the good news for Huckabee is that his voters are the most fervent and may not be intimidated by the weather. No one needs this victory more than McCain. He has to prove to skeptics that he can win a GOP primary that is dominated by actual Republicans (of course, the exit polls in New Hampshire did show McCain slightly beating Romney among GOP voters)...

I, for one, do not think the weather (raining right now in the low country of South Carolina) will keep Huckabee supporters away from the voting locations. One thing that might add confusion is a recent "consolidation" of voting sites as reported in the Summerville Journal Scene. I am not sure why voting precincts had to be consolidated, but I am happy to say I discovered this change.

South Carolina: A Key Republican Primary

The Voice of America is among the world’s most trusted sources of news and information.

Republican leaders in South Carolina say Saturday's vote is a key step in the process to select the party's presidential candidate for the November elections. Since former President Ronald Reagan won the South Carolina primary on his way to victory in the 1980 general election, no Republican candidate has captured the White House without winning the state's primary.

Recent opinion polls show the top two candidates are Senator John McCain and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee. Both held numerous campaign events across the state ahead of the vote.