Kelly Wallace reviews the week in politics

Kelly Wallace

CNN Moderator: Welcome, Kelly Wallace, to our weekly review of politics!

Kelly Wallace: Hello and Happy Friday. I just returned from the U.S. Naval Academy, where the President addressed the graduating midshipmen. The highlight seemed to be the way the graduates greeted the President. The so-called anchor of the class, the person with the lowest GPA, embraced the President in a giant bear hug that seemed to take Mr. Bush by surprise. The President, in keeping with tradition, presented that officer with a gift -- a signed golf ball. A light way for the President to end what has been a tough week for his administration.

Question from the chat room: When were the very first inklings that Jeffords, or any other Republican might jump ship? Seems I heard rumors several months ago.

ALSO Jeffords denies party switch was based on ambitions     MESSAGE BOARD Congressional divide Allpolitics

Kelly Wallace: The White House says it first learned that this was a possibility Monday night, when Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), one of Jeffords' closest friends, called Andy Card, the President's chief of staff and left an urgent message. Card talked with Snowe on Tuesday morning, and then arranged for the vice President and the President to meet with Jeffords.

There had been rumblings about this for weeks. In fact, CNN's Jon Karl reported the possibility Friday, and reported that Democrats were trying to convince Jeffords to make a switch. The administration says though it didn't know anything about it. Senior aides don't seem to be saying they dropped the ball. Instead, they believe Jeffords pretty much kept this to himself and that is why their political people in the White House and Republicans on Capitol Hill did not know anything about it.

Question from the chat room: Any feeling about how the White House staff is now feeling after the recent events?

Kelly Wallace: The White House staff is trying to remain upbeat, and is putting forward the sense that it is "business as usual" in the West Wing. Privately, aides admit this is disappointing and a setback for the President's agenda. They say they are going to have to work a lot harder and take a different approach in some cases. Aides know that it will be a tougher challenge when it comes to getting the President's nominations for the federal judiciary confirmed, achieving support for the Bush energy plan, and convincing lawmakers to back the President's ideas for a patients' bill of rights and prescription drug coverage for seniors.

Senior officials say the President's agenda won't change though, they just will have to chart a new strategic plan, and that includes reaching out more to Democrats. The President talked with the soon to be majority leader of the Senate, Tom Daschle, Thursday. My colleague John King reports that there is talk in the White House now of arranging a private meeting soon between Bush and Daschle.

Question from the chat room: Kelly, since Jeffords abandoned the GOP and McCain supported him while denouncing conservatives, do Congressmen expect McCain to bolt the GOP next?

Kelly Wallace: You raise a very interesting point. Senator McCain's office, I believe, has said that he has no interest in leaving the Republican Party, but McCain did issue a scathing statement basically accusing Republican "party" activists of pushing Jeffords away.

What we are now likely to see from the White House, following the Jeffords defection, is more reaching out to senators like McCain, a man who has had definite differences with the President. Also look to see more attention focused on the moderate Republicans in the Senate -- Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island and Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine. President Bush can't afford to lose another Republican in the Senate, and although it doesn't appear any of the above senators would defect, these lawmakers do appear to be saying they want more attention from the West Wing and they expect to get it.

Question from the chat room: Ms. Wallace, are there any feelings in the White House that they may have indeed tilted too far to the right, and now have to move more to the center?

Kelly Wallace: Publicly and privately, aides would say that the administration has not tilted too far to the right. They continue to point out the bipartisan victories in the House and Senate this week on education and taxes. But clearly, moderates like Sen. Jeffords believe the White House needs to move more to the center. In fact, Jeffords told President Bush, during their Oval Office meeting, that he would be a one-term President if he didn't start governing more from the center.

So while the administration says it will continue doing what it has been doing, I think you will see this White House reaching out more to the moderates, and in the end, finding agreement with Democrats on an agenda that is much more to the center, than the agenda the President is pushing right now.

Question from the chat room: Do you expect any kind of "retribution" from the Republican Party?

Kelly Wallace: We are already seeing White House officials expressing their belief that Sen. Jeffords did this more for personal reasons. The accusation is that he was interested in maintaining his chairmanship of a Senate committee, or that he is laying the groundwork to run for governor. Jeffords dismissed those notions in a statement Friday, saying such "spinning" is wrong and should end. Still, this seems to be one way the White House and the Republicans are making Jeffords pay a bit, by expressing what they believe to be true, that Jeffords did not do this for principles, but for his own political future. Beyond that, I don't believe you'll see much retribution.

The administration and the Republicans have been widely criticized for how they handled Jeffords, and how they may have snubbed in. What this administration and the GOP in the Senate need to do know is move forward from this. Retaliating against Jeffords would likely hurt the President and his agenda as much as it might hurt the Vermont Senator.

Question from the chat room: Are there any potential Democratic Senators that may switch to the Republican Party?

Kelly Wallace: There was talk that Georgia Senator Zell Miller might switch from the Democratic Party to the GOP. Apparently, the White House and Republicans had been reaching out to him, after it was learned Jeffords could defect. But Miller issued a statement, putting the notion to rest, saying he knows he will be voting with President Bush from time to time, but that he is remaining a Democrat. He did put the Democrats on notice though, saying the partisan fighting should come to an end, and that it was time to get things done. Beyond Miller, I haven't heard any other Democrats mentioned as possible party switchers.

CNN Moderator: What is the significance of the Powell trip to Africa with respect to the U.S.'s role in Africa?

Kelly Wallace: This trip is very significant, as Colin Powell, the first African-American Secretary of State, visits Africa. My colleague David Ensor is travelling with Powell, and reported that the secretary was quite emotional when he first arrived on the continent.

Powell's main focus, during the trip, is to discuss the AIDS pandemic in Africa. The numbers are astonishing -- at least 2 million people died in Africa last year alone from HIV/AIDS. Powell will be talking about a new global fund to fight the disease. Critics say the U.S. should be doing much more, and worry the Bush administration won't make Africa a priority. Part of the purpose of this trip is for the White House to try to get the message out that Africa will be a priority, and Powell appears to be the official in the administration who will be spending the most time on issues related to the continent.

CNN Moderator: What are the President's plans for Memorial Day?

Kelly Wallace: The President, in keeping with tradition, will be at Arlington Cemetery, laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns. Earlier in the day, he will host a breakfast at the White House. The administration is being somewhat tight-lipped about just who will be there. Then, the President heads to Arizona for another Memorial Day event, before making his first visit as President to California. That should be an interesting trip, since it will include a meeting between Bush and California's Governor Gray Davis, who has been bashing the White House for not doing enough to help the nation's largest state deal with an energy crisis.

CNN Moderator: Thank you for joining us this evening. Do you have any parting thoughts for us?

Kelly Wallace: Great to be with you at the end of a week which dramatically changed the political landscape in Washington. Issues to look for next week -- more maneuvering following the Jeffords defection, more discussion on energy during the President's California trip, and maybe more money in your pockets. The President wants to have a tax bill on his desk by Memorial Day, and it looks like he just might get one.

CNN Moderator: Thanks again for joining us this evening, Kelly Wallace!

Kelly Wallace: Thanks for the great questions.

Kelly Wallace joined the CNN.com chat from Washington, D.C. and typed for herself. The above is an edited transcript of the chat held on May 25, 2001.

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Jeffords gives official notice; Republicans try to regroup
May 25, 2001

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