June 2003

TeamGOP Home Daily News via Email Get TeamGOP.com news every day. Enter your email address in the field below. News Archive July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002 January 2002 December 2001 November 2001 October 2001 September 2001 August 2001 July 2001 June 2001 May 2001 April 2001 March 2001 February 2001 January 2001 December 2000 November 2000 October 2000 September 2000 August 2000 July 2000 June 2000 May 2000 April 2000 March 2000 February 2000 January 2000 December 1999 November 1999 October 1999 September 1999 August 1999 Questions? Feel free to email us with your questions, comments, and concerns.

Strom Thurmond Dead at 100 6/27/2003 9:59 AM Former South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond the nation's longest-serving senator, died Thursday in Edgefield, S.C. He was 100. Thurmond died at 9:45 p.m. after being in poor health in recent weeks, said his older son, Strom Thurmond Jr. Thurmond. Born Dec. 5, 1902, he had been living in a newly renovated wing of a hospital in his hometown of Edgefield since he returned to the state from Washington in early 2003. "Surrounded by family, my father was resting comfortably, without pain, and in total peace," Thurmond Jr. said in a statement released by the hospital. Read the article Terminator to Run for Governor, If State Needs Him 6/24/2003 10:54 PM Terminator 3 star Arnold Schwarzenegger says he'll run for governor if California needs him. "I've said it before and I'll say it again. Yes," he said emphatically, when Fox News asked if he would consider running for governor of California if the state needed him. Schwarzenegger, a staunch Republican who is married to NBC News correspondent Maria Shriver, part of the Democratic Kennedy clan, has been flirting with the idea of running for governor of his home state since Democratic Gov. Gray Davis was re-elected last November. Read the article At Fundraiser, Cheney Pledges to Carry Virginia 6/24/2003 9:39 AM Vice President Cheney began his 2004 fundraising chores today with a 13-minute speech in Virginia's mecca of political money, raising about $500,000 for the White House reelection effort. "We're all here today for the same reason, although I expect you paid a little more than I did to get in," Cheney quipped to an appreciative crowd of 300 who paid up to $1,000 each for a luncheon of halibut and spring vegetables. Major donors won a souvenir photo with Cheney beforehand. "With your help, the Bush-Cheney ticket in 2000 won big, and we're going to carry Virginia once again in 2004," Cheney said in his first fundraising trip for next year's race, before heading to Boston for a similar event. "Your early efforts and your generosity are laying the foundation for a strong and an effective campaign next year." Read the article Bush, Cheney add $5.65 Million to Campaign Fund 6/24/2003 9:30 AM President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday added nearly $6 million to their 2004 reelection campaign war chest, bringing the total for their first week's fund-raising to $11.9 million. "You're laying the foundation for what will be a national victory come November, 2004," Bush said at an event in predominantly Democratic New York, where he raised $4 million. Read the article Poll: Graham Trails Bush in Home State 6/23/2003 1:48 PM U.S. Sen. Bob Graham leads his rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination in Florida, but trails President Bush in a potential general-election showdown, a new poll indicates. Matched against Bush, the survey of 600 voters - Democrats, Republicans and independents who regularly vote in statewide elections - put the president ahead of Graham 53 percent to 40 percent, with 7 percent undecided. The poll, conducted for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, found high public-approval ratings for both Graham and Bush in Florida, the state that decided the 2000 presidential election. The president is the older brother of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Read the article GOP Aims for Dominance in '04 Race 6/22/2003 2:20 PM Republican strategists see the 2004 election as their best opportunity in a generation to construct a durable governing majority, and they have set in motion a systematic and coordinated strategy designed to leverage President Bush's popularity and break the impasse that has dominated the country's politics since the mid-1990s. The president himself established the ambitions behind the 2004 strategy earlier this year, when he authorized advisers to begin planning for a reelection campaign that began in earnest last week with a series of fundraising events. According to several GOP strategists, Bush told his team: Don't give me "a lonely victory." Said one top Bush adviser, "He said, 'I don't want what Nixon had. I don't want what Reagan had.' " Both President Richard M. Nixon in 1972 and President Ronald Reagan in 1984 won landslide reelection victories, but neither victory produced the lasting benefits to the party that Bush is seeking in 2004. "He [Bush] was explicit about that," a GOP official said. "He doesn't want to [win] with 55 percent and have a 51-49 Senate. He wants to expand the governing coalition." Read the article GOP Leaders Set Sights on Georgia Senate Seat 6/19/2003 9:12 PM Hoping to expand Republican control of the Senate, GOP leaders have their sights set on Georgia to widen their majority, but the legacy of the state's retiring Democratic senator may stand in their way. Republican leaders are eyeing a replacement to take over retiring Sen. Zell Miller's seat. Miller has enjoyed respect from both sides of the aisle, and is regarded as an independent voice on Capitol Hill. Read the article New York Democrats Help Fund GOP Convention 6/19/2003 9:10 PM Pride in the Big Apple has been the incentive for several deep-pocketed Democrats to cross party lines and promise millions to help stage the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York. The city's host committee has collected $60 million in pledges - $4 million short of its fund-raising target - 15 months before the political event. Wealthy executives, Republican and Democrat, are tapping their own bank accounts, companies and associates. Among those backing the convention is real estate mogul William C. Rudin, a Democrat who has donated to the campaigns of the party's lawmakers, including Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y. Read the article Nearly $60 Million Raised for GOP Convention 6/19/2003 2:24 PM Organizers of the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City say they have collected $60 million, nearly all of the amount they had agreed to raise, according to a newspaper report. After tapping some of the city's wealthiest residents, the New York City Host Committee is ahead of its fund-raising schedule and just $4 million short of its target, The New York Times reported in Thursday editions. The convention is expected to cost $91 million, and the host committee agreed to raise $64 million for construction, decorating, transportation and to rent Madison Square Garden, the Times said. Read the article VP Cheney Raises Money for Senator Specter 6/17/2003 1:21 AM Vice President Dick Cheney visited the Pennsylvania capital Monday to raise money for Arlen Specter's campaign for a fifth Senate term and tout the accomplishments of President Bush, who hopes to carry the state in his own re-election bid next year. About 300 luncheon guests contributed at least $500 each for a light meal and a chance to hear Cheney speak, and some paid $2,000 to also pose for a photograph with the vice president. Specter's aides said the event was expected to add between $150,000 and $200,000 to his $8 million war chest. Cheney praised Specter, a moderate who faces a primary challenge from conservative Rep. Patrick Toomey, as "one of the most experienced and devoted public servants in the country" and said leaders of the Republican Party are "absolutely united" behind Specter's re-election campaign. Read the article Bush Picks Campaign Chief, RNC Chairman 6/17/2003 1:18 AM President Bush named a corporate lawyer and a lobbyist as the public face of his political organization yesterday, making Marc F. Racicot chairman of his reelection campaign and Edward W. Gillespie chairman of the Republican National Committee. Both served Bush in the last campaign and through the Florida recount, and parlayed that experience into close relationships with senior White House aides. Administration officials said they were chosen because of the continuity they will bring to the operations. Racicot, 54, who was Montana governor for two terms ending in 2001, has been RNC chairman since January 2002 and is valued by Bush's aides for his calm manner on television. He plans to spend about half his time at his law firm, Bracewell & Patterson, then take a leave of absence next year to join the campaign full time. Gillespie, 41, was strategist for Elizabeth Dole's 2002 Senate campaign and was a senior communications adviser in Austin for Bush's first campaign. Read the article California Survey Shows Davis's Recall Vulnerability 6/15/2003 2:52 PM More bad news for California Gov. Gray Davis (D). For the first time, a poll clearly suggests that voters would take the extraordinary step of recalling him from office if given the chance in a special election. A survey just released by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California shows that if the recall movement erupting around the state reaches the ballot, 48 percent of voters are willing to dump Davis, while 41 percent would keep him in office. Among likely voters, the margin was 51 percent to 43 percent in favor of ousting the beleaguered governor, who was reelected to a second term last November but whose popularity has plummeted. Read the article Bush Set to Start 2004 Fund-Raising 6/15/2003 2:49 PM President Bush begins raising money in earnest this week for his 2004 re-election effort with a two-week, cross-country sprint expected to take in millions of dollars. First lady Laura Bush and the president's 2004 running mate, Vice President Dick Cheney, also will hit the fund-raising circuit. In all, the president is expected to raise $200 million or more for his primary campaign over the next several months, at least twice the record $100 million he collected for the 2000 primaries. Read the article Poll: Bush Has Substantial Edge Over Democrats 6/11/2003 2:26 PM President Bush holds a consistent double-digit lead over his Democratic rivals despite growing public concerns about his handling of the economy, new polls suggest. Bush's job approval was at 58 percent in a new Quinnipiac University national poll, while it remains in the low to mid 60s in other recent polls, including a bipartisan poll taken for National Public Radio and released Tuesday. When Bush is matched against an unnamed Democratic nominee or against several of the leading Democrats in the race, he holds a lead ranging from 13 points against Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman to 15 points against an unnamed Democrat to slightly more against Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt or Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry. Read the article GOP Looks to Narrow Louisiana Governor's Race Field 6/11/2003 2:25 PM A group of powerful state Republicans has met with some of the seven GOP candidates for governor in an effort to narrow the field and avoid a possible Democrat-only runoff. State Rep. Hunt Downer will soon receive the endorsement of the statewide group, one of his opponents said. A group led by Republican fundraiser and shipyard owner Donald "Boysie" Bollinger met with at least three of the seven GOP candidates, one by one, Monday in a hotel conference room near the New Orleans airport, Downer and others said. Read the article Cheney Stumps for Barbour in Mississippi 6/10/2003 2:10 PM Vice President Dick Cheney made his first political appearance for another candidate this election season, stumping for Haley Barbour in the Mississippi's governor's race. On Monday, Cheney spoke to about 1,700 people at a $100 a plate fund-raising lunch for Barbour, a Washington lobbyist and former Republican National Committee chairman. "He knows how to bring people together to get things done," Cheney said. The vice president called Barbour one of the most effective chairmen of the Republican National Committee. While Barbour held that position from 1993 to 1997, Cheney said, the number of Republican governors grew from 17 to 32. Read the article Former Treasury Secretary, White House Official Donald Regan Dies 6/10/2003 2:08 PM Donald T. Regan, who served Ronald Reagan as Treasury secretary and chief of staff before being forced from office in the Iran-Contra scandal, died Tuesday. He was 84. Regan, forced to resign from the administration in 1987, published a famous tell-all biography in 1988 which revealed that former first lady Nancy Reagan consulted frequently with an astrologer while her husband was president. Regan died of cancer at Williamsburg Community Hospital in Williamsburg, Va., where he had a retirement home. A hospital spokeswoman said that Regan had been admitted to the hospital on Sunday and died around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday. Read the article Move to Recall Governor Spins California Into Political Turmoil 6/10/2003 9:24 AM At first, the latest ballot campaign roiling California looked like nothing more than a sideshow. The Republican gadflies promoting it lacked cash and public support. Even many GOP leaders scoffed at their audacious goal. Recall the newly reelected Democratic governor in a state his party dominates? Dream on, they said. But then California's massive budget crisis grew more extreme, and public opinion polls showed Gov. Gray Davis (D) sinking to abysmal new lows. Then, a multimillionaire with his own ambitions of becoming governor stepped in and vowed to spend whatever it takes to get the measure on the ballot. Now, amid signs the recall movement is gaining momentum, Democratic and Republican leaders are bracing for a political earthquake in the nation's most populous state, one whose tremors could ripple all the way to the White House. Read the article Daniels Files Papers for Indiana Governor Bid 6/10/2003 9:20 AM Ending months of speculation, former White House budget director Mitch Daniels filed paperwork Monday to start raising money for a 2004 run for Indiana governor. The announcement outside the Statehouse came from state Sen. Murray Clark of Indianapolis, who said he was dropping his bid for the GOP nomination to head Daniels' campaign committee. "He is the right person at the right time," Clark said in his endorsement of Daniels, who did not attend the news conference so he could make calls for support. Supporters said Clark's withdrawal gave the official start of the Daniels campaign a tremendous boost of contacts and fund-raising strength. Clark was the running mate of gubernatorial nominee David McIntosh in 2000, when they lost to Gov. Frank O'Bannon and Lt. Gov. Joe Kernan. McIntosh is running again next year; O'Bannon is barred by term limits from seeking a third consecutive term. Read the article Most Oppose Allowing President Third Term 6/6/2003 2:00 PM George W. Bush would handily defeat Bill Clinton if they were the major party candidates in 2004. In a hypothetical matchup between the current president and his predecessor, 53 percent say they would vote for Bush while less than a third (32 percent) say they would vote for Clinton, with six percent saying "neither." Of course, these two candidates are only imaginary opponents as the U.S. Constitution restricts Clinton from running for a third term. But should the Constitution be changed? In a recent speech, former President Clinton commented that he thought the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution "should probably be modified" to allow an individual to serve more than two terms as president. In the latest FOX News poll, conducted June 3-4 by Opinion Dynamics Corporation, most Americans oppose making such a change to the Constitution. Read the article Rumors Fly, but Tauzin and Valenti Staying Put 6/4/2003 2:31 PM While Congress hightailed it out of Washington during the Memorial Day recess, lobbyists and staff not only took long lunches, left early and showed up late. Some also were busy floating a rumor that Rep. Billy Tauzin was slated to retire to become Hollywood's lobbyist in Washington. "That's fiction," the Republican Louisiana lawmaker told The Hill. "It started last November ... and has not stopped since. Some of it is spread by people with other ambitions and intentions. They survive on these rumors. You can't pass the bill, you spread a rumor." Ken Johnson, Tauzin's spokesman, added: "We were not in session, and people had nothing to talk about. If you could go to jail for spreading rumors, most lobbyists would be behind bars." Johnson added that Tauzin intends to stay on the job until 2004 and run for reelection, although he would not publicly declare his intentions at this early point. Tauzin, chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, has been rumored to replace Jack Valenti, a former top aide to Lyndon Johnson who has headed up the Motion Picture Association of America since 1966. Read the article Webster Eyeing Florida Senate Seat 6/4/2003 2:25 PM Florida State Sen. Daniel Webster appears poised to enter the Republican primary to challenge Democratic Sen. Bob Graham next year. Webster would join former Rep. Bill McCollum, who ran unsuccessfully for the Senate in 2000, and Rep. Mark Foley in the contest. Webster was not available for comment. Webster, 54, is regarded as a principled social conservative. First elected to the Florida Legislature from central Florida in 1980, Webster came to preside over the House as speaker in 1996 when the GOP recaptured the chamber after 122 years. In 1998, he ran unopposed for the state Senate. Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.) all but endorsed his candidacy after a private conversation last week. "Tom and Dan Webster have discussed has discussed the possibility of him running for the Senate," a Feeney spokesman said. "Mr. Feeney thinks Sen. Webster would make an outstanding U.S. senator," he added. Read the article Republicans Sign Up for Spanish Class 6/4/2003 2:12 PM With an eye toward the nation's fast-growing Hispanic community, Capitol Hill Republicans are turning to textbooks to win their support. Led by Illinois Rep. Jerry Weller, a group of 19 House Republicans and one Senate Republican have signed up to participate in a Spanish-language program run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Graduate School. It's the largest group of congressional lawmakers to participate in the language program that officials say initially began as a nonpartisan program in 1999 under the leadership of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and has had dozens of participants. Starting Thursday, about 50 House Republican staff will also begin participating in the 10-week program of once-a-week, two-hour conversational lessons. Read the article Senate Holds no Allure for Some House Reps 6/3/2003 4:12 PM Content with their status and influence in the House, some Republicans are citing frustration with the slow-moving ways of the upper chamber as a factor in deciding to forego Senate races next year. "I think there's a feeling over here that the Senate is rather dysfunctional," said Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), who has opted against running for the seat of retiring Republican Sen. Peter Fitzgerald. "When you go right down the list of major reforms that the country needs, the House moves at a pretty strong clip," he added. "Then, [to] go over to the Senate, where everything seems to require unanimous consent and therefore nothing happens, seems fairly frustrating." Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) has so far stayed out of another open-seat contest, created by Sen. Zell Miller's (D-Ga.) retirement next year for similar reasons. Read the article Former Governor Gilmore Still Carries Clout 6/3/2003 3:56 PM James S. Gilmore III has not been on the ballot for more than five years, but the former Virginia governor is still shaping the debate within the Republican Party and will play a key role in next month's primaries. At least three Senate Republican leaders, including John H. Chichester, of Fredericksburg, who disagreed with Mr. Gilmore's stand on fully repealing the car tax, now face challenges from some of the former governor's most avid supporters. Read the article