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NZ Bear got his hands on the Senate version of the Democrats' emergency supplemental bill, and posted it here.

He also alerts us to this news: The Senate version of the bill has an even worse provision regarding mandatory withdrawal than the House one:

"The President shall commence the phased redeployment of United States forces from Iraq not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, with the goal of redeploying, by March 31, 2008, all United States combat forces from Iraq."

…Read it here.

Yesterday, John McCain went on Bill Bennett's show.

Today, he is scheduled to be on Michael Medved's show.

And here he is on Laura Ingraham's show ...

Yesterday, when I posted that first humorous McCain video from the bus trip, a few commenters wondered if we were ever going to get to anything substantive.  I hope that the videos we posted today (in honor of the 5 year anniversary of President Bush's signing BCRA), answer that question.  Clearly, McCain was willing to answer tough questions -- and we were more than happy to ask them.

I do have a few thoughts about what this all means ... about what I learned about McCain and the process.

1.  I think we've got to give McCain credit for being accessible to the press.  What is more, I think he deserves credit for treating bloggers the same way he would treat George Will or David Broder.  He truly gets the new media (McCain's blog-outreach guru -- Patrick Hynes -- deserves tremendous credit for this). 

2.  Clearly, John McCain has a strategy of focusing on conservative voters -- not conservative leaders.  The Politico's Jonathan Martin summed it up perfectly on March 12, when he wrote:

What is fascinating, though, about McCain's decision to go his own way on these events is that in some ways it recalls the Bush administration's approach to the media. The principle is the same: Why go through a filter that may put its own spin on things when one can now (almost) go straight to the consumer/voter? McCain's camp knows that, regardless of the senator's lifetime ACU score, they'll not get a fair shake from those "professional conservatives" who loathe both McCain the man and McCain the campaign finance reformer.

So they are taking their candidate straight to the beyond-the-beltway marketplace, banking that his more-consistent record on social issues and ardent support for the President's war policy and re-election will trump conservative suspicisons. It's their conviction -- and I've often said that the entire nomination could rest on this question -- that the disdain for McCain among conservative leaders doesn't trickle down to the grassroots.

3. Yesterday when I wrote that Granite Staters don't care about Campaign Finance Reform (at least the ones who attend town hall meetings, who are presumably the ones who vote in primaries), I was stating an observable fact. (Some commenters took this to mean that I don't think campaign finance reform is important  -- it is).  My real point was that no political analyst can honestly say that: "McCain can't win New Hampshire because of McCain/Feingold."

Yes -- the issue is vitally important, and No -- it won't hurt him in New Hampshire.  It should also be noted that it was President Bush -- not John McCain -- who signed Campaign Finance Reform into law.

As promised, we continue rolling out more McCain TV. In this clip, Soren Dayton asks McCain about the FEC vs. Wisconsin Right to Life case:

 Here he is asked about publicly funded candidates:

Here, Hotline's Marc Ambinder asks McCain about conservative antipathy for BCRA:

McCain on corruption and soft money:

Special thanks to Soren Dayton for his help on this. For more coverage on this issue, check out his blog: Eyeon08.com. You can read my column about the trip here. And view all the interiews here.

Here, I ask Sen. McCain about campaign finance reform.  As you'll see, he absolutely hates the influence of soft money on politics ... 

In contrast to the previous clips I've posted, I think you'll notice a change in body language and intensity, when this subject comes up ... 

Special thanks to Soren Dayton for his help on this. For more coverage on this issue, you can read my column about the trip here. And view all the interiews here.

Just added: Does BICRA hurt free speech?

I think this video shows his sense of humor -- and the relaxed atmosphere on the bus.  It also highlights the fact that McCain is more concerned about wooing conservatives from outside the Beltway (as opposed to national leaders) ...

What would a McCain Administration look like (Is he proposing a Robert McNamera strategy)?

As promised, we've got more from the trip to New Hampshire.  Here, I ask Sen. McCain why no Senator has been elected president since John F. Kennedy ...

Special thanks to Soren Dayton for his help on this. For more coverage on this issue, check out his blog: Eyeon08.com. You can read my column about the trip here. And view all the interiews here.

Tomorrow marks one year since the conservative movement mourned the loss of a truly great man, former Reagan communications director, Lyn Nofziger (he passed away on March 27, 2006).

Lyn Nofziger was the man who addressed the press – and kept Americans calm – after the assassination attempt on President Reagan (Reagan’s press secretary, James Brady, was shot in the attempt).

Lyn was a personal friend of mine.  He always went out of his way to mentor young conservatives. And, at the age of 81, he was a blogger.  Seriously, he maintained a blog for years (though he called it his “musings.”)

And while a lot of people don’t know this, Lyn Nofziger was one of the most important men responsible for starting the modern conservative movement (The Heritage Foundations Lee Edwards recounts the story here).

Though I learned a lot about life from Lyn, I also learned a lot about politics from him. Here are a few things he taught me:

1. On the press: "... anyone can lie to the press, but confusing them with the truth is an art I am proud to have mastered."

2. On hardball: "I don't know why, but an awful lot of Republicans look on politics as the British look on cricket -- as a gentleman's game. It ain't; it's more like mud wrestling."

3. On campaigning: The "Nofziger thesis" states that, "... winning an election does not mean catering to the press. Winning an election means doing the things and having your candidate do the things that he can do most effectively and that will influence the most votes."

Read More...

As promised, we're going to continue rolling out videos from our trip to New Hampshire, this weekend. 

Here, I asked Sen. McCain what Ronald Reagan would think of the current state of the conservative movement.  McCain immediately noted that Reagan would be "very upset because of the spending practices ..."

From The Fix:

Continuing his courtship of conservatives, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is running radio ads on the popular talk radio shows hosted by Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.

In politics, it is axiomatic that you want to under-promise and over-achieve. And when it comes to money, you want to lower expectations about your campaign -- and raise expectations about your opponents.

(Politico's Jonathan Martin has a great piece today about how all the campaigns are already spinning the upcoming financial reports.)

On the road in New Hampshire this weekend, when rumors started swirling that Mitt Romney would report $40 million this quarter, I wondered if they were true, or merely an attempt to raise expectations for Romney.

Here's what National Journal's Marc Ambinder had to say about this on Hotline's "On Call" blog:

When John McCain told reporters yesterday that his campaign's fundraising efforts had been hurt by a late start, was he artfully trying to lower expectations?

A Mitt Romney fundraiser with access to the campaign's daily fundraising tallies tells the Hotline that Romney won't raise more than $20 million -- much lower than the $30 to $35 million figure being floated about Washington by some of Romney's allies.

It appears to me that Romney will likely report more money than McCain -- but the $40 million figure is probably being intentionally inflated by his opponents.

At the end of the day, money is important, as it is a credibility test. Still, McCain's spokesman recently told David Brody: "We're confident of the organization that has been put in place. I wouldn't trade our position in the race with anyone."

Though the filing period ends March 31, reports aren't due until April 15. On that date, reporters will have a field day. Keep in mind, the story won't just be about who has raised the most money. Here are some possible headlines to come out of the story:

1. Romney/McCain/Rudy raise most, but spend most (remember, you can only spend NET money).

2. 50% of Romney's money comes from Utah/Nevada (you may not like this story, but it would be newsworthy).

3. Brownback/Gilmore/Hunter are dwarfed by the big three.

... It's hard to predict which of these headlines will be the one that sticks. We will have to wait until April 15.

He asked a good question at the town hall meeting:

Special thanks to Soren Dayton for his help on this. For more coverage on this issue, check out his blog: Eyeon08.com.  You can read my column about the trip here.  And view all the interiews here.