Monday, November 13, 2006
Hoyer confident in victory without Pelosi endorsement
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, told CNN Monday he is not surprised likely House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, endorsed Rep. Jack Murtha, D-Pennsylvania, in the race for majority leader, but Hoyer confidently predicted that he fully expects to win the contest.
"She gave me a heads up on this, said she was going to do this so this did not come as a surprise," Hoyer told Wolf Blitzer on 'The Situation Room.' "And very frankly I joined her in saying that I expect Jack Murtha to continue to be a leader on this very, very important issue of Iraq in the future. But I am going to be the majority leader. She has not been campaigning and my view is that no votes have been changed at this point in time, we're in good shape and we're going to win." Hoyer also said there is no animus between himself and Pelosi, despite the fact the two share a difference of opinion on many issues, including Iraq. "I think much is made of the conflict that frankly both Nancy and I say does not exist," Hoyer said. "Are the differences of opinion from time to time? Certainly, there are. But Nancy had differences with Dick Gephardt. She had a close, very effective working relationship with him and we'll continue that." -- CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney Giuliani forms presidential exploratory committee
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has taken the first
step toward a possible 2008 White House bid by forming a presidential exploratory committee. McCain to open up exploratory committee this week
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, will open up an exploratory committee this week to weigh a run for president, a McCain advisor tells CNN.
McCain, who failed to win the GOP nomination in 2000, is one of the early favorites to win his party's nod in 2008, according to public polls. Opening an exploratory committee is an initial step towards launching a full blown presidential campaign. Over the past year, McCain has worked aggressively to put a national organization in place, campaigning across the country and adding advisors from key states to his political action committee. On NBC's "Meet the Press," McCain acknowledged that he would be opening an exploratory committee, but said he was unclear when it would become active. The Arizona senator also said he would make a final decision on whether to run for president "early next year" after consulting with his family over the holidays. -- CNN Political Editor Mark Preston
Dem challenger's lead narrows to 66 votes in Connecticut
LEBANON, Conn. (AP) -- Democrat Joe Courtney's lead in the 2nd Congressional District dropped to 66 votes Monday after officials discovered he was mistakenly given 100 extra votes over Republican Rep. Rob Simmons, an election official said.
"It was human error," said Lebanon election moderator John Bendoraitis. "It was strictly misreading one number on one machine." The discovery significantly tightens one of the closest congressional races in the nation. Preliminary Election Day returns had Courtney winning by 167 votes out of nearly 250,000 ballots cast. It was one of 10 races across the nation that remained unresolved in the days after Election Day, and the only one in which a Democratic challenger had the lead. Rumsfeld cancels plan to join Bush at NATO summit
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has dropped plans to join President Bush at a NATO summit this month in Latvia, in light of his announced resignation, a Rumsfeld spokesman said Monday.
The Pentagon will instead be represented at the meeting by Eric Edelman, the undersecretary of defense for policy, according to Pentagon spokeswoman Lt. Col. Karen Finn. Other officials had said earlier Monday that Gordon England, the deputy secretary of defense, might fill in for Rumsfeld at the summit meeting. The NATO summit is Nov. 28-29 in the Latvian capital of Riga. Ahead on CNN
4 p.m. ET, The Situation Room
-Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, will discuss his bid for House majority leader and react to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's, D-California, endorsement of his opponent Rep. Jack Murtha, D-Pennsylvania. -Democratic strategist Paul Begala and Bay Buchanan, chairperson of Team America PAC, will weigh in on the majority leadership race between Hoyer and Murtha. 5 p.m. ET, The Situation Room -Former Defense Secretary William Cohen will discuss the upcoming release of the Iraq Study Group's report. 6 p.m. ET, Lou Dobbs Tonight -California GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter, chairman of the Armed Services Committee and 2008 GOP candidate for president, will discuss the new balance of power in Congress. -Rep. Charlie Rangel will discuss his views on trade policy. 10 p.m. ET, Anderson Cooper 360 -Ken Adelman, former director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, will discuss the situation in Iraq. Martinez to become new RNC chief
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. Mel Martinez, a Florida Republican elected in 2004, has accepted an offer by the White House to become the new chairman of the Republican National Committee, three sources tell CNN.
Under the arrangement, Martinez will remain in office and serve as the party's lead spokesman as well as take a major role in fundraising and political outreach, while RNC General Counsel Robert (Mike) Duncan will oversee the committee's day-to-day responsibilities. Duncan is serving his fourth term as a RNC committeeman from Kentucky and was also elected the committee's Treasurer in Jan. 2001. -- CNN Chief National Correspondent John King Freshmen lawmakers begin orientation
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A former NFL quarterback, a seven-fingered farmer and a '70's rocker who posed half-naked on an old album cover began learning Monday how to be members of Congress.
More than 50 incoming House freshmen spent the day in meetings focused not on big legislative items or the Iraq war but rather on office logistics -- everything from budgets to security to ethics. In the Senate, a 10-person freshman class of eight Democrats, one Republican and Democratic-leaning Independent Bernard Sanders of Vermont also began orientation. Sen.-elect Jon Tester of Montana looked a little overwhelmed on his first day. "It hasn't soaked in yet," he said. "Maybe it will never soak in." The Capitol police weren't quite ready for Tester, a farmer with a throwback flat top haircut and fingers missing on his left hand. They asked him to empty his pockets for inspection. "Just like at the airport, you put it all through?" Tester asked. The officer nodded, but quickly waived Tester through once he found out who the newcomer was. October budget deficit slightly higher than last year
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The federal government started out its new budget year with a slightly higher deficit than last year as revenues and spending for October both set records.
The Treasury Department reported that the deficit for October totaled $49.3 billion, up 4.3 percent from the $47.3 billion imbalance recorded a year ago. The budget deficit for the 2006 budget year, which ended on Sept. 30, dropped to a four-year low of $248.2 billion. However, the deficit for the current 2007 budget year is expected to resume rising. Bush says he looks forward to reading Iraq report
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Calling his meeting with the Iraq Study Group "a good discussion," President Bush said Monday he looks forward to reading the group's report that is expected to send shockwaves across Washington when it is released some time in December.
"I was pleased to meet with them," the President told reporters in the Oval Office with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at his side. "I was impressed by the quality of the - of their membership. I was impressed by the questions they asked. They want us to succeed in Iraq, just like I want to succeed and so we had a really good discussion. I'm not sure what the report is going to say, I'm looking forward to seeing it." The president's comments came after he and Olmert discussed conditions in the Middle East. Bush said the two are committed to prohibiting Iran from becoming a nuclear power. "If Iran has a nuclear weapon it will be incredibly destabilizing and obviously threatening to our strong ally," Bush said. "And so, my attitude is, let's work in concert to convince the government that it's not just the Israeli voices speaking, or the United States voices speaking, but there's a lot of other voices saying the exact same thing, and present them with a choice" -- CNN Ticker Producer Alex Mooney Senate women ready for their close-up
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- With the midterm elections over and a new congress set to take control, it's time for a slew of official congressional photo-ops.
Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Maryland, the so-called Dean of the women of the U.S. Senate, will pose on Tuesday with the 13 other incumbent women senators, as well with two new additions -- Senators-elect Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, and Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri. The 16 women make up the largest group of female senators in the history of the legislative body. The photo-op comes on the heels of one held Monday with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and seven incoming senate Democrats -- plus Independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont. With a pack of new lawmakers set to descend on Capitol Hill, more photo-ops are sure to come in the coming weeks. -- CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney Clinton outlines legislative priorities while deflecting 2008 talk
NEW YORK (AP) -- Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday outlined an ambitious agenda of legislative priorities while continuing to deflect questions about her presumed presidential ambitions.
"I will look at the possibilities, but I ...haven't really had the time to talk to people about it," Clinton told a breakfast gathering hosted by the Association for a Better New York. "It's been a busy election season that worked out well, so I will think about it. I'm open to thoughts." Clinton was returning to Washington on Monday to participate in a lame-duck session of Congress in which lawmakers will tackle several pieces of unfinished business before ceding control of both the Senate and House to Democrats early next year. Lawmakers look to January as lame-duck congress reconvenes
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Lawmakers and congressmen-to-be came to Washington Monday as triumphant Democrats and vanquished Republicans focused more on the upcoming change in power than on President Bush's wish list for the final few months of GOP rule.
Orientation meetings for more than 50 incoming House freshmen began at 8:45 a.m. EST. Dozens of wide-eyed rookie lawmakers were learning the ropes. They were scheduled to meet with President Bush later in the day at the White House. "From both parties, we all sort of have the same feeling: 'Wow! Is this really happening,"' said Michael Arcuri, D-New York. The main order of House business planned for Monday was consideration of a free-trade bill with Vietnam, ahead of Bush's scheduled visit there Friday. The Senate was to debate a funding bill for veterans programs. The real action, however, will be off the floor as the speaker-to-be, Nancy Pelosi, D-California, prepares to take the reins of the House and Harry Reid, D-Nevada, does the same in the Senate. Levin says he'll push for change of course in Iraq
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Michigan Sen. Carl Levin, the Democrat who is set to become chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee in January, said Monday his initial goal will be to pressure President Bush to change course in Iraq.
The senator's comments are a strong indication the Democrats plan to aggressively push for change in Iraq when they take control of both chambers of congress in January. "The first priority would be to find a way forward to change the course in Iraq. That's the message that came through so clearly and powerfully last Tuesday from the American people," Levin told reporters in a press conference. "Most Democrats share the view that we should pressure the White House to commence the phased redeployment of U.S. troops from Iraq in four to six months -- to begin that phased redeployment and thereby to make it clear to the Iraqis that our presence is not open-ended and that they must take and make the necessary political compromises to preserve Iraq as a nation." Levin also said the Iraqi's are responsible for the future of the war torn country. "We have given them the opportunity, at huge cost of blood and treasure, to have a nation, should they choose it," Levin said. "But it is up to them, not us, not our brave and valiant troops -- it's up to the Iraqi leadership: Do they want a civil war or do they want a nation?" -- CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney
109th Congress isn't done yet
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The 109th Congress may commence with a lame duck session Monday, but House Majority leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, has penned a busy agenda for its first week.
The House will convene at 2:00 p.m. Monday to consider 18 bills this week, including one that authorizes the extensions of normal trade relations with Vietnam, according to Boehner. All votes on Monday will be postponed until 6:30 p.m. The House is also slated to consider a continuing resolution, authorizing the last fiscal year's budget to remain in effect into the new year, Tuesday or Wednesday.GOP leadership elections for the next term are slated Friday. With House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Illinois, stepping aside, current House Majority leader John Boehner is vying for the minority leader position when his party cedes control to the Democrats in January. He faces challenges from Reps. Mike Pence of Indiana and Rep. Joe Barton of Texas. -- CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney
Ford rules out bid for DNC chair
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Rep. Harold Ford, Jr. declared Monday he has no interest in chairing the Democratic National Committee, tamping down speculation he would challenge current chairman Howard Dean for the post. "I have just finished a tough Senate election, and while I care about the future direction of my party, I am not interested in taking over the DNC," the Tennessee Democrat said in a statement released by his campaign. "We are now the majority party in the House and Senate, and it is time to move beyond the politics of the campaign and work towards bringing the country together around a common agenda that will strengthen us at home and abroad." Ford unsuccessfully sought retiring Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's, R-Tennessee, seat. He leaves office when the 110th Congress convenes early next year and has given no indication as to his future plans. "The attention of the world is upon us and it is time the Democratic Party take the country in a new direction," Ford stated. -- CNN Political Editor Mark Preston Bush honors Martin Luther King, Jr. monument
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A new monument honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will unite the civil rights leader's legacy with those of the other men whose monuments lie on the National Mall, President Bush said Monday.
"The King Memorial will span a piece of ground between the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials," Bush said Monday while speaking at the ground breaking ceremony. "And by its presence in this place, it will unite the men who declared the promise of America and defended the promise of America with the man who redeemed the promise of America." Former president Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Maya Angelou, and several civil rights leaders, joined the president at the ceremony. -- CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney
Dem leadership to meet with incoming freshmen
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, along with Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, will pose Monday with seven incoming freshman Democrats -- and one Independent -- whose election victories helped hand the party control of the chamber for the first time in over a decade.
Reid, Durbin, and Schumer will meet with Sens.-elect Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Ben Cardin of Maryland, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Jon Tester of Montana, Jim Webb of Virginia, and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. -- CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney Bush meets with panel on course of Iraq war
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush met Monday with a bipartisan group seeking consensus on a new approach for the war in Iraq amid widespread agreement that the administration's current efforts have not worked well enough or fast enough.
White House press secretary Tony Snow described the meeting as a conversation in which both sides shared views. "This is not a deposition," Snow said. Further, he said there was not a presentation of alternatives but rather an assessment of the situation on the ground now. The president talked in the Oval Office with members of the Iraq Study Group, headed by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Democratic congressman Lee Hamilton. The group is to release its findings before the end of the year. The study group was spending the day at the White House speaking with members of Bush's national security team, including Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, National Intelligence Director John Negroponte, CIA Director Michael Hayden, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalizad and Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq. Cheney, Hadley and chief of staff John Bolten took part in the meeting with Bush. Steele interested in heading RNC
BALTIMORE (AP) -- Republican Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, who lost his race for a Senate seat, expressed interest Sunday in becoming chairman of the Republican National Committee.
"I have not had any conversations directly with the White House yet on this," Steele told C-SPAN. Ken Mehlman, the current chairman, is stepping down when his two-year term ends in January. Mehlman made a point of emphasizing outreach to black voters and helped recruit Steele for the Maryland race. Steele, who lost to Democratic Rep. Benjamin Cardin by a margin of 55 percent to 44 percent of the vote, said he believed it was time for the GOP to rethink its views in wake of losing both chambers of Congress in last week's midterm elections, which he described as a "tsunami." Steele said the electorate "was very clear." "They expected the administration and the party to step up and speak to particular issues and, failing that, there would be heck to pay -- and we paid," Steele said. Two ex-presidents tour with well-honed act
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- They're separated by more than 20 years, they come from opposing political parties, and one evicted the other from the White House. But Bill Clinton and George Bush act like a team, a pair of touring comedians with a well-honed act.
The two former presidents even have their entrance down pat, striding in with arms aloft, music pounding, lights flashing, the crowd standing and going wild. The pair addressed more than 25,000 people attending the National Association of Realtors convention on Saturday, drawing at least six standing ovations and almost continuous applause. Bush and Clinton thanked the real estate agents for holding their convention in New Orleans. It's the biggest convention to come to the city since Hurricane Katrina hit Aug. 29, 2005, and the pair has raised $130 million to aid New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in recovering from the storm. Retirement has been good, Bush said, although he misses some of the perks of the presidency. One problem with retirement, Bush said, is that memories do not fail on certain topics. Yankee Republicans on last legs
PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island (AP) -- The classic New England Republican -- fiscally conservative, socially liberal -- is nearly extinct following a long and quiet decline that began more then a decade ago when the GOP nationally began its move to the right.
It is a political breed generations old. The Democratic tidal wave in Tuesday's elections claimed several victims in seats that had long been in Republican hands. Scholars say the losses may be the death knell for the traditional "rock-ribbed" New England Republican. Perhaps the best example is Sen. Lincoln Chafee, whose family has represented Rhode Island in the Senate for 30 years. Both of New Hampshire's seats in Congress switched parties. Six-term Rep. Charles Bass, also part of a political family whose father held the same seat in Congress and whose grandfather was a governor, lost to a Democrat, as did Rep. Jeb Bradley, who served 12 years in the state legislature before winning election to Congress in 2002. Yankee Republicans like Chafee's father, the late Sen. John Chafee, former Sen. Lowell Weicker of Connecticut, or even President Bush's father, former President George H.W. Bush, once were the base of the party. Not anymore. CNN Political Ticker AM
For the latest, breaking political news, check for updates throughout the day on the CNN Political Ticker. All politics, all the time.
Compiled by Stephen Bach CNN Washington Bureau Making news today... In a letter released by Murtha's office, Pelosi told the Pennsylvania congressman that his surprise call for the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq in 2005 "changed the national debate and helped make Iraq the central issue of this historic election." "Nancy told me some time ago that she would personally support Jack. I respect her decision as the two are very close. "I am grateful for the support I have from my colleagues, and have the majority of the caucus supporting me. I look forward to working with Speaker Pelosi as Majority Leader." MR. RUSSERT: Will you run for president in 2008? SEN. McCAIN: I'm going to sit down with my family over the holidays. I always said I would decide early next year, and I'll sit down over the holidays with my family and make that decision. Are we doing the things organizationally and legally that need to be done to prepare for it? Yes. President's Schedule: At 11:10 am ET, Bush meets with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in the Oval Office. Also on the Political Radar: "The panel will meet separately with Mr. Bush and members of his foreign policy team, including the secretaries of state and defense, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency and the director of national intelligence, and will then interview Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain by videoconference." ================================================================= Political Hot Topics (Today's top political stories from news organizations across the country) TOP DEMS' TOP PRIORITY IS "PHASED REDEPLOYMENT" OF TROOPS: Democratic leaders in the Senate vowed on Sunday to use their new Congressional majority to press for troop reductions in Iraq within a matter of months, stepping up pressure on the administration just as President Bush is to be interviewed by a bipartisan panel examining future strategy for the war. The Democrats - the incoming majority leader, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada; the incoming Armed Services Committee chairman, Senator Carl Levin of Michigan; and the incoming Foreign Relations Committee chairman, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware - said a phased redeployment of troops would be their top priority when the new Congress convenes in January, even before an investigation of the conduct of the war. New York Times: Democrats Push for Troop Cuts Within Months GATES WON'T BE "WIMPING OUT ON THE GLOBAL WAR" ON TERROR: Defense Secretary-designate Robert M. Gates is not expected to rein in the aggressive global war on al Qaeda started by predecessor Donald H. Rumsfeld or reverse the transformation of the Army, but instead focus on how to win in Iraq and get American troops home, current and former Pentagon officials say. "He definitely is not seen as someone wimping out on the global war," said a Pentagon adviser. "How he does it, and what tools, and who he entrusts with them, that's a whole different issue." Mr. Gates, once confirmed by what Republicans hope will be a December floor vote, will arrive at the Pentagon needing to replace a number of senior aides to Mr. Rumsfeld who set policy on intelligence, special operations and the war itself. Washington Times: Gates likely to sustain terror war BUSH TRIP HIGHLIGHTS VIETNAM-IRAQ COMPARISONS: President Bush travels this week to the site of an old military conflict casting a shadow over the United States and Iraq: Vietnam. Bush's trip, including stops in Singapore and Indonesia, is mainly to promote trade at a conference in Hanoi and discuss ways to combat terrorism in the region. But the eight-day journey also includes reminders of how the Vietnam War roiled U.S. politics and society and raises questions about whether the same thing is happening with Iraq. "The few similarities dwarf all the differences," said historian Robert Brigham, author of the book Is Iraq Another Vietnam? Among them, Brigham said: an inability to transform military strength into political influence in the region, a steady drain of public support for the war, and harsh lessons about the limits of U.S. power. USA Today: As Vietnam trip nears, Bush rejects Iraq link STILL A LOT TO DO FOR GOP-CONTROLLED CONGRESS: The Democrats won the midterm elections, but time has not run out on the Republican majority in Congress. Despite devastating losses at the polls, Republicans will control the post-election session that opens Monday as lawmakers return to try to finish 10 overdue spending bills and other legislation that stalled because of pre-election gamesmanship. Republican leaders have compiled an ambitious to-do list, hoping to dispose of energy legislation, a trade deal or two, a civilian nuclear treaty with India and other favored bills before turning over the keys to the House and Senate chambers to the Democrats in January. Democrats have some measures they want completed as well, most notably the spending bills, to save them the added work next year. New York Times: For Post-Election Congress, Extensive To-Do List Is Awaiting Action LAME-DUCK "POTENTIALLY A COMBUSTIBLE COCKTAIL": The lame-duck session mixes a dispirited Republican Party and a Democratic Party that knows it will soon have the upper hand in both chambers - a potentially combustible cocktail. At minimum, Congress must pass a temporary spending bill to keep the government running until the next Congress takes office. Getting much else accomplished could be difficult. "Democrats won't allow anything to pass they don't like, and Republicans have little interest in starting the Democratic reign early," said Thomas Mann, a congressional scholar at the centrist Brookings Institution think tank in Washington. "It could be a very short lame-duck session." Los Angeles Times: Congress returns for session's last lag PELOSI WILL SUPPORT MURTHA OVER HOYER FOR MAJORITY LEADER: Likely House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will back prominent Iraq war critic John Murtha over her current deputy for majority leader in the Democratic-led Congress, Murtha's office announced Sunday. In a letter released by Murtha's office, Pelosi told the Pennsylvania congressman that his surprise call for the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq in 2005 "changed the national debate and helped make Iraq the central issue of this historic election." "Your leadership gave so many Americans, including respected military leaders, the encouragement to voice their own disapproval at a failed policy that weakens our military and makes stability in that region even more difficult to achieve," she wrote. CNN: Pelosi supports Murtha for majority leader BEHIND THE SCENES OF RAHM'S VICTORY: During the past year, the [Chicago] Tribune had exclusive access to the strategy sessions, private fundraisers and other moments that shaped this victory. The newspaper agreed not to print any of the details until after the election. Now that the votes have been counted, the story of how Emanuel helped end an era of Republican rule can be told. He did it, in large measure, by remaking the Democratic Party in his own image. Democrats had never raised enough money. Emanuel, a savvy fundraiser who shaped those skills under Richard M. Daley and Bill Clinton, yelled at colleagues and threatened his candidates into generating an unprecedented amount of campaign cash. Democrats had a history of appeasing party constituencies. Emanuel tore up the old litmus tests on abortion, gun control and other issues. With techniques that would make a Big Ten football coach blush, he recruited candidates who could mount tough challenges in some of the reddest patches of America. Chicago Tribune: The House that Rahm Built DID REID BENEFIT FROM BRIDGE EARMARK? Incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid vows to make reform of congressional earmarks a priority of his tenure, arguing that members need to be more transparent when they load pet projects for their districts into federal spending bills. But last year's huge $286-billion federal transportation bill included a little-noticed slice of pork pushed by Reid that provided benefits not only for the casino town of Laughlin, Nev., but also, possibly, for the senator himself. Reid called funding for construction of a bridge over the Colorado River, among other projects, "incredibly good news for Nevada" in a news release after passage of the 2005 transportation bill. He didn't mention, though, that just across the river in Arizona, he owns 160 acres of land several miles from proposed bridge sites and that the bridge could add value to his real estate investment. Los Angeles Times: Will the pork stop here? BUSH CONTINUES TO BACK BOLTON: President Bush will not relent in his defense of John Bolton, his nominee for U.N. ambassador, despite unwavering opposition from Democrats who view Bolton as too combative for international diplomacy, aides said Sunday. Two of Bush's top advisers said the White House is not backing down from a fight to win Senate approval for Bolton to continue in the job. Bush gave Bolton the job temporarily in August 2005, while Congress was in recess. That appointment will expire when Congress adjourns, no later than January. White House counselor Dan Bartlett said Bolton has done a remarkable job. "He's proven the critics wrong on all the charges they've leveled against him," Bartlett said. "So let's have a conversation about it. We'll see." The White House resubmitted Bolton's nomination on Thursday, though it has languished in the Senate for more than a year. AP via Yahoo! News: Bush stands by his man for U.N. envoy STEELE EXPRESSES INTEREST IN TOP GOP JOB: Republican Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, who lost his race for a Senate seat, expressed interest Sunday in becoming chairman of the Republican National Committee. "I have not had any conversations directly with the White House yet on this," Steele told C-SPAN. Ken Mehlman, the current chairman, is stepping down when his two-year term ends in January. Mehlman made a point of emphasizing outreach to black voters and helped recruit Steele for the Maryland race... Steele said he wasn't sure when an announcement would be made on who will be the new committee chair. Steele was head of the Maryland Republican Party before being elected lieutenant governor in 2002 as the first black candidate elected statewide in Maryland. AP via Yahoo! News: Steele interested in heading RNC GOP IN CONGRESS NOW "EVEN MORE HOMOGENEOUS AND EVEN MORE CONSERVATIVE THAN BEFORE": The rout of Republicans in the midterm congressional elections may increase the influence of the party's self-styled conservatives at the expense of moderates, who bore the brunt of the voters' punishment. Almost 40 percent of the approximately 200 Republicans in the next House will come from the South, the most conservative part of the country, compared with 35 percent at present. There may be only one Republican House member left from New England, depending on the outcome of a recount in Connecticut. The elections make "the Republican Party in Congress even more homogeneous and even more conservative than before," said David Rohde, a political scientist at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Republicans lost at least 28 House seats, though final numbers won't be in until election officials finish tallying the results in a handful of disputed races. Bloomberg: Republican Conservatives May Emerge Stronger From Party Defeat EXTINCTION OF A POLITICAL BREED: The classic New England Republican - fiscally conservative, socially liberal - is near death, following a long and quiet decline that began more then a decade ago when the GOP nationally began its move to the right. It is a political breed generations old. The Democratic tidal wave in Tuesday's elections claimed several victims in seats that had long been in Republican hands. Scholars say the losses may be the death knell for the traditional "rock-ribbed" New England Republican. Perhaps the best example is Sen. Lincoln Chafee, whose family has represented Rhode Island in the Senate for 30 years. Both of New Hampshire's seats in Congress switched parties. Six-term Rep. Charles Bass, also part of a political family whose father held the same seat in Congress and whose grandfather was a governor, lost to a Democrat, as did Rep. Jeb Bradley (news, bio, voting record), who served 12 years in the state legislature before winning election to Congress in 2002. AP via Yahoo! News: Yankee Republicans on last legs FORMATION OF McCAIN '08 EXPLORATORY COMMITTEE "IMMINENT": Sen. John McCain of Arizona said he will form an exploratory committee as the first step toward a possible run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. The action had been widely expected from McCain, who lost a primary bid in 2000 to George W. Bush and who is the most popular prospective candidate for the nomination in 2008. McCain, appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press" yesterday, said that while he won't make a decision until talking with his family over the holidays, "Are we doing the things organizationally and legally that need to be done to prepare for it? Yes." McCain indicated that the formation of an exploratory committee is imminent. Washington Post: McCain to Form Committee To Explore White House Bid MEET THE PRESS TRANSCRIPT (via MSNBC.com) NO '08 RUN FOR FEINGOLD: Sen. Russ Feingold's decision not to run for president removes from the potential Democratic field the one candidate who voted against the use of force in Iraq... After mulling it over for more than a year, Feingold disclosed in an interview Saturday that he would not run, saying he was content to remain in the Senate, especially with the Democrats' return to power. The decision surprised some supporters but didn't shock others. By all accounts - including his own - Feingold faced a tall climb in winning the nomination, although insiders and analysts disagreed about his potential to be an "X-factor" in the race. Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Feingold alters the calculus in presidential race "LETTER FROM RUSS" (via Progressive Patriots Fund PAC) JUST A FEW YEARS IN SENATE MIGHT BE OBAMA'S ADVANTAGE: Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) might be well advised to stay in the Senate several more years before running for president, as many strategists have suggested. But there are at least 40 reasons to challenge that advice. That is the number of senators who have tried, and failed, to reach the White House since Sen. John F. Kennedy (D-Mass.) accomplished the feat in 1960. Nearly all of them had more Senate experience than Obama, underscoring the light regard that American voters show for senatorial longevity and expertise in presidential elections. If Obama's aim is to become a more respected and knowledgeable senator -- in the mold of, say, Robert J. Dole (18 years in the Senate before his 1996 presidential race), Henry "Scoop" Jackson (20 Senate years before his 1972 bid) or Richard G. Lugar (20 Senate years before his 1996 try) -- it may be a laudable goal. But it's a highly questionable presidential strategy. Washington Post: Time in Senate May Be Irrelevant if Obama Runs GERALD FORD HITS A MILESTONE: Gerald R. Ford has surpassed Ronald Reagan to become the longest-living U.S. president. Ford, who turned 93 on July 14, 2006, became the oldest president Sunday by living to 93 years and 121 days. The milestone is based on full days. "The length of one's days matters less than the love of one's family and friends," Ford said in a statement this week from the Rancho Mirage compound he shares with former first lady Betty Ford. AP via Yahoo! News: Gerald Ford becomes oldest president ONLY SENATOR WHO "KNOWS HOW TO BUTCHER A COW OR GREASE A COMBINE": When he joins the United States Senate in January, big Jon Tester - who is just under 300 pounds in his boots - will most likely be the only person in the world's most exclusive club who knows how to butcher a cow or grease a combine. All his life, Mr. Tester, 50, has lived no more than two hours from his farm, an infinity of flat on the windswept expanse of north-central Montana, hard by the Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation. For all the talk about the new Democrats swept into office on Tuesday, the senator-elect from Montana truly is your grandfather's Democrat - a pro-gun, anti-big-business prairie pragmatist whose life is defined by the treeless patch of hard Montana dirt that has been in the family since 1916. New York Times: Fresh Off the Farm in Montana, a Senator-to-Be |
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