• N.Y. Numbers
• Tough On Terrorism
• A Secure Convention Is A Happy Convention
• One More For Reform
• N.C. Gerrymander Fix Postponed

N.Y. Numbers

ALBANY, N.Y. (AllPolitics, July 31) -- A new poll shows President Bill Clinton with a 57-35 percent lead over Republican rival Bob Dole in New York state. The Mason-Dixon Political/Media Research poll found that while Clinton is virtually tied with Dole in heavily Republican upstate New York, the president has a 4-1 lead in far more Democratic New York City. According to the survey, if Texas billionaire Ross Perot were to enter the race as a third-party candidate, Clinton would get 56 percent of the vote, Dole 31 percent and Perot 9 percent. The survey interviewed 833 registered voters and has a margin of sampling error of =/- 3.5 percentage points.

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Tough On Terrorism

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, July 31) -- Though Republicans claim to be "tired of the narrow approach" that President Bill Clinton is taking towards terrorism, they hope to have an anti-terrorism package assembled and ready for a vote by the end of the week. House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.), who criticized the president in a letter Tuesday, also proposed a blue-ribbon commission to review the anti-terrorism policies. "We want to take whatever steps are effective in protecting Americans from terrorism, both overseas and here at home, and we're going to actively cooperate with the White House," Gingrich told CBS today. It is expected that any anti-terrorism measures will include an expansion of the government's wiretapping authority.

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A Secure Convention Is A Happy Convention

CHICAGO (AllPolitics, July 31) -- The security plan for the 1996 Democratic National Convention is, unsurprisingly, made up of a heavy security blanket designed to thwart terrorism. Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, Secret Service officials and police provided some details of the plan at a news conference Tuesday. "Sadly, the recent crash of TWA Flight 800 and the bombing at Olympic Centennial Park have underscored the importance of such a cautious, thorough process," Daley said. The city announced it will close off an eight-block area around the site to traffic, a move that the American Civil Liberties Union called unconstitutional. Many groups are upset that all demonstrations will be confined to a lot two blocks away from the hall. Daley is hoping to avert a repeat of the 1968 convention riots. "We hope no one is arrested here in Chicago during the convention," he said.

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One More For Reform

LINCOLN, Neb. (AllPolitics, July 31) -- Rosalie Shepherd, the Reform Party's Nebraska coordinator, has submitted more than 11,000 signatures, twice the number required by law, to get the party on the Nov. 5 ballot. "People told us every day that they are fed up with the stranglehold of the two-party system," Shepherd said. "People want another choice." Nebraska Secretary of State Scott Moore has ten days to determine if the party will qualify.

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N.C. Gerrymander Fix Postponed

RALEIGH (AllPolitics, July 31) -- Despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that one of the 12 congressional districts in North Carolina is unconstitutional, any redistricting will have to wait until after the November election, according to a federal court decision. The 12th District will have to be redrawn, because racial identity was the primary motivation for its snake-like shape. An Appeals Court voted 2-1 Tuesday that because congressional campaigns are already well underway, redrawing the boundaries will have to wait. Judge Richard Voorhees, the only Republican-appointed judge, dissented, saying that new districts should be drawn before the November balloting.