Friday, June 16, 2006
Elsewhere in the Political World . . .
BUSH SHAKES THE MONEY TREE (Part I): President Bush visits with two Republican members of Congress today in their home districts and does what members of Congress think presidents of their own party do best: raise money for them. The stumper-in-chief first flies cross-country to Medina, Washington to headline a morning fundraiser for Rep. Dave Reichert and the state party. Then it's south to Albuquerque, New Mexico to extend the same courtesy to Rep. Heather Wilson. The president has raised more than $100 million for GOP candidates since his re-election. Reichert voted with President Bush 86 percent of the time in 2005, according to Congressional Quarterly; Wilson clocked in at 70 percent.
BUSH SHAKES THE MONEY TREE (Part II): Not to be outdone by her husband, First Lady Laura Bush also lends a hand to a Republican lawmaker today. She'll praise Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl at a Scottsdale luncheon. This is Mrs. Bush's third fundraiser this week. On Tuesday, she raised money for both Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and New Jersey Senate candidate Tom Kean, Jr.
MCCAIN ON THE TRAIL: Arizona Sen. John McCain (R) also gets into the act, fundraising for U.S. Senate hopeful Michael Steele tonight in Baltimore, Maryland. On Saturday, he's off to the Chafee Family Picnic in Exeter, Rhode Island to help his GOP colleague Lincoln Chafee, one of the most endangered Senate Republicans this cycle.
COURTING IOWA (Part I): It's a local affair at tonight's Iowa Democratic Party Hall of Fame Dinner in Des Moines. No big name out-of-state politicians will be on-hand tonight, but there will be one 2008 White House aspirant: Gov. Tom Vilsack. Of course, Vilsack is attending in his role as governor, not as a presidential hopeful. But after placing a distant fourth in a Des Moines Register poll earlier this week, some quality face time probably wouldn't hurt. He'll attend with fellow Hawkeye state officials Sen. Tom Harkin, Lt. Gov. Sally Pederson, and Rep. Leonard Boswell.
COURTING IOWA (Part II): Three Republican presidential hopefuls will be in Iowa this weekend courting state Republicans at their annual convention in Des Moines. New York Gov. George Pataki, who not-so-coincidentally announced his "Iowa Leadership Team" earlier this week, will headline tonight's "The GOParty Picnic." Bay State Gov. Mitt Romney will attend a breakfast with convention delegates on Saturday morning, and later that afternoon, Virginia Sen. George Allen will keynote a luncheon. Also on Saturday, there will be a reception with announced 2008 presidential candidate... John Cox? Yes, John Cox. He's running for president. He's from Illinois. Here's his website: http://www.cox2008.com/
COURTING NEW HAMPSHIRE: On schedule to woo New Hampshire Democrats today is Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware. The only 2008 presidential hopeful to freely admit that he's a 2008 presidential hopeful (that is, besides John Cox from the previous item) will attend a fundraiser for state senate candidate Betsi DeVries in Manchester. This evening, he'll chat with local reporters in Dover and then attend a town meeting with Strafford County Democrats.
WESTWARD ROMNEY: Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) again goes west to Avon, Colorado to talk health care policy with the American Enterprise Institute. Earlier this year, Romney signed a universal health care law for Bay State residents. Afterwards, he'll speak to the Idaho Republican state convention in Idaho Falls. The governor was also in the general area earlier this week, raising money for his Commonwealth PAC in Utah on Monday.
SHHHHHHHHHH!!!!: New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D) speaks this morning to the American Constitution Society in Washington, D.C. to deliver what her office bills as a "major policy address" on privacy. We'd tell you more, but her office politely declined our request for a preview. I guess that's what they mean by "privacy." Sen. Clinton's two previous "major policy addresses" were on the economy and energy.
Top Billing in Billings: Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman will address the Montana State Republican Convention tonight in Billings.
Democrats Want "New Direction": Congressional Democratic leaders Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Richard Durbin and Steny Hoyer will unveil their "New Direction for America" at a Friday morning presser in the Mansfield Room in the U.S. Capitol. The plan will address issues such as high gas prices, health care, college costs, and retirement security.
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