December 2002

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Supreme Court Vacancy In The Offing? 12/29/2002 10:14 PM White House officials believe at least one member of the Supreme Court will step down by the end of the current term in early summer, the New York Times reports. White House counsel Alberto Gonzales, a longtime friend of President Bush, is being mentioned as a possible high court nominee. Gonzales would be the first Hispanic to sit on the Supreme Court. Such an appointment would boost Mr. Bush's ongoing effort to court Latino voters. Another key figure is said to be J. Harvie Wilkinson -- the chief judge of the appeals court based in Richmond, Virginia. The Times reported that White House officials believe Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, both Republicans, are most likely to leave the high court. Read the article Bush Limits the Glitz at White House 12/29/2002 10:10 PM Less Hollywood glitz. Rare formal state dinners. Fewer playings of "Hail to the Chief." It's the barely-any-frills White House. With changes big and small, President Bush has sought to shape White House life in a way that suits him, his preferences and his political agenda. The buttoned-down Bush administration says the result is a more honorable and respectable White House. "It comes down to the personal views and personal styles of each president," Bush deputy press secretary Scott McClellan said. "He believes it is important to give the highest elected office in the land the respect it commands." Read the article Poll Shows Terrell Ahead In Gubernatorial Race 12/26/2002 7:54 PM The sting of state Election Commissioner Suzanne Haik Terrell's (R) narrow loss to Sen. Mary Landrieu (D) in the Dec. 7 runoff may be eased somewhat by her strong showing in recent gubernatorial polling. Terrell led the field with 25 percent to Lt. Gov. Kathleen Blanco's (D) 21 percent. In a poll conducted Dec. 2-3 by The Marketing Research Institute. The gubernatorial election in Louisiana takes place next year, and Gov. Mike Foster(R) is term-limited. Terrell came from virtual obscurity to force a runoff againstLandrieu. The freshmanSenator beat back the challenge 52 percent to 48 percent. Read the article The Chosen? Passed Over for Dole This Year, Burr Is the White House Favorite 12/26/2002 7:52 PM The ripples from former Vice President Al Gore's decision not to run for president in 2004 have already extended to the North Carolina Senate race. The race has drawn perhaps more attention than any other 2004 Congressional contest due to Sen. John Edwards' (N.C.) continued contemplation of a run for the Democratic presidential nomination. Sensing weakness,national Republicans have focused on the race with a laserlike intensity in the hope of forcing Edwards to show his hand about whether he will run for re-election, the presidency or both. Rep. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), considered the strongest Republican candidate for the Senate seat, said that the Gore announcement "accelerates candidates' processes around the country." Read the article Fund Raising for GOP Pays Off for Frist 12/26/2002 7:47 PM As fund-raiser-in-chief for Republican Senate candidates, Tennessee Sen. Bill Frist helped generate record amounts for colleagues who in January will address him as "Mr. Majority Leader." During his two years at the helm of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Frist helped raise $124 million, money that fueled the GOP's takeover of the Senate last month. The 50-year-old heart surgeon turned politician also gave Republicans hundreds of thousands of dollars from his own political action committee. Frist is also proud of his party's get-out-the-vote drive last month. "Normally, it is the Democrats who are so good at turning out the vote," he says on the NRSC's Web site. "But this year we had a plan in place and we executed it with surgical precision." Senate Republicans on Monday chose the second-term senator to replace Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi as the head of their caucus when Congress reconvenes Jan. 7, the GOP holding an effective 51-49 majority. Read the article Congressman Hulshof Struggles with Family Concerns while Considering Bid for Governor 12/26/2002 7:45 PM U.S. Rep. Kenny Hulshof has been mulling a race for Missouri governor in 2004, but the death of his father and the birth of his second child have complicated his decision. Republicans are itching to take on Democratic Gov. Bob Holden, who has had a rocky first two years. Besides Hulshof, the most likely GOP contender is Missouri Secretary of State Matt Blunt. The race is nearly two years away, but candidates for statewide office generally use that much time to raise money and build a network of support, which means setting up a campaign operation early in 2003. Under normal circumstances, Hulshof would be spending the holidays thinking about running for governor and talking it over with family and friends. "There are others out there testing the waters, and that's appropriate, but right now, my focus has been on what we need to do as a family first, to huddle together to help us through this emotional time, and then at the same time to make sure we can continue to hang onto this farm that my father spent his life to build," he said. Read the article Pundits Speculate on ’08 Rice-Clinton Race 12/9/2002 3:24 PM Could it be? An all-female presidential contest in 2008? That's what some political junkies are predicting that should Vice President Cheney not be President Bush's running mate in 2004, he might turn to National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. Then Rice and Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) could square off four years later. That's the scenario, far-fetched as it sounds, being concocted by such people as GOP insiders Tony Blankley and Bill Kristol, according to Johanna Neuman of the Los Angeles Times. Blankley, once the spokesman for then-Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and now editorial page editor of the Washington Times, says he's convinced Cheney will be forced off the ticket, either because of health reasons or because party elders want somebody else to be groomed as Bush's successor. Read the article Thurmond Reaches Century Mark 12/6/2002 4:02 PM Strom Thurmond made history Thursday when he turned 100 while still a member of the U.S. Senate. The retiring senior senator from South Carolina is going out with a bang as he celebrates his birthday on Capitol Hill. He's leaving Washington after eight terms in the chamber and a long and prosperous career as a politician who dedicated 70 years of his life to public service. Joined by several hundred people, including friends, family and Washington's elite, Thurmond entered his party in a Senate office building by wheelchair, waving to the crowd as his two sons and daughter walked alongside him. "His first group of interns are now getting into Social Security,'' said Rep. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who last month was elected to succeed Thurmond in the Senate. Read the article Blunt's Pick of Cantor Marks Historic Move 12/4/2002 4:48 PM In choosing Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) as the next chief deputy whip, incoming Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) signaled his need to work with a competent deputy who brings ample political skills to the table. Blunt reached deep into the Republican's whip operation to find someone who can count votes, try to move them and accurately predict outcomes. In recent years, the position has been a launching pad to senior House leadership posts. Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (Ill.) served for four years as chief deputy whip to then-Majority Whip Tom DeLay (Texas). Blunt, who was elected last month as the majority whip, had served under DeLay in the same role since 1999. Blunt's choice may have been surprising, but it was generally considered a savvy move, given Cantor's unique status in the Republican Caucus. Cantor, a lawyer, is the first Jewish lawmaker to serve in the House Republican leadership since the Republicans seized control of the chamber in 1995. Read the article Wall Street Journal: What Does 'GOP' Stand For? 12/4/2002 1:25 PM The elephant - symbol of the Republican Party since 1874 - remembers that GOP stands for "Grand Old Party," but increasingly, the elephant is standing alone. At least that's the thinking at The Wall Street Journal, which has decided to stop using the acronym to refer to the 148-year-old political party. In an internal memo issued to staffers last week, Journal higher-ups said the term GOP will be dropped because not all readers know what the letters mean, and some may not realize that they are a reference to the Republican Party. Read the article GOP Windfall Lands on Davis' Turf 12/4/2002 1:21 PM Rep. Thomas M. Davis III donated $300,000 last month to two Republican Party committees in his 11th Congressional District, allowing them to obtain office space and computers while leaving other GOP groups in Virginia empty-handed. The disbursements by the National Republican Congressional Committee, which Davis chairs, were made as the committee faced a deadline, imposed by this year's campaign finance law, to disburse "soft money" contributions. The national committee wrote checks of at least $250,000 to the Fairfax County Republican Committee and $50,000 to its Prince William County counterpart, GOP officials said. Read the article Bush Goes for 'Icing' in Louisiana 12/4/2002 1:20 PM Republican cash, ads and officials are deluging Louisiana for a postscript to the midterm elections that one party official is audaciously calling "Operation Icing on the Cake." Republicans, riding on President Bush's popularity, won back control of the Senate last month, but one Senate race still remains unresolved. In Louisiana, Republicans are spending more than $5 million to test Bush's momentum by trying to unseat freshman Sen. Mary Landrieu (D) in a runoff election Saturday. A day after his father campaigned in the state, the president appeared twice today with state elections commissioner Suzanne Haik Terrell, whose victory would make her the first Republican senator to serve from Louisiana since 1883. Terrell pulled even in polls this week, and Bush hailed her as "the kind of person with whom I can work to get something done for Louisiana." Read the article Will Bush Magic Work In Louisiana? 12/2/2002 10:18 PM Polls show Republican Suzanne Haik Terrell is trailing Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., in their battle for the only Senate seat still up for grabs. But President Bush came to Louisiana on Tuesday to campaign for Terrell, and that's making Democrats uneasy. Mr. Bush's vigorous campaigning is credited with swinging several close Senate races to the GOP column last month. As a result, the Republicans again control Congress. A Terrell win would help solidify the Republicans' grip on the Senate, where the party holds a 51 to 48 margin over the Democrats, with one independent. The election is Saturday. Read the article Bush Honors NASCAR Champ 12/2/2002 10:09 PM President Bush is honoring NASCAR champion and auto racing's reigning bad boy Tony Stewart, adding a sport with a prized voter profile to the list of winners who get his White House treatment. Last year's NASCAR champ, Jeff Gordon, got no presidential honors. But "NASCAR dads" became the demographic du jour in the last election. They are white, working-class men who admire President Bush but who can often be persuaded to vote Democratic if the issues are right. NASCAR is particularly popular in the South and Midwest, two regions that generally favored the president in his 2000 election and that he must protect for his re-election. Read the article Murkowski's Swearing-In as Governor Sets Stage for Senate Succession 12/2/2002 10:07 PM Republican Sen. Frank H. Murkowski was sworn in Monday as Alaska's governor, creating a Senate vacancy he plans to fill early next week. The 69-year-old Murkowski, who is giving up the Senate seat he first won in 1980, is required by state law to wait until at least five days after his Senate resignation to appoint his successor. The law was passed last year by the Republican-controlled state Legislature with Murkowski's bid in mind, and enacted over the veto of term-limited Democratic Gov. Tony Knowles. The law was aimed at preventing Knowles from appointing a Democrat to fill out the final two years of Murkowski's unexpired term. Read the article Cornyn Takes Oath to Replace Senator Gramm 12/2/2002 10:06 PM Republican John Cornyn became the newest U.S. senator for Texas in an informal ceremony Monday, replacing outgoing Sen. Phil Gramm. Senate financial clerk Tim Wineman administered the oath to the former Texas attorney general as Cornyn's wife, Sandy, looked on. Also present were a pair of aides Cornyn is retaining from Gramm's staff. "It doesn't feel all that different yet," Cornyn said afterward. Cornyn plans to participate in the more formal swearing-in ceremony in January, when all other freshmen senators will be sworn in. But by taking the oath early he assumed all the powers of a senator and would be able to vote were the president to call for an emergency session. Read the article Hawaii's First Woman Governor Sworn In 12/2/2002 10:05 PM Cheers filled the Capitol Rotunda on Monday as Linda Lingle was sworn in as Hawaii's sixth governor and the first woman to hold the state's highest office. In a multi-cultural ceremony that combined Hawaiian tradition with Lingle's Jewish faith, Lingle also became Hawaii's first Republican governor in 40 years. Standing with her father, Richard Cutter, Lingle placed her hand on a Hebrew-English Tanakh and was sworn in by Chief Justice Ronald Moon. Read the article Fitzgerald Vulnerable: Democrats and Even Some in GOP Ponder Senate Challenge 12/2/2002 10:04 PM With Sen. Peter Fitzgerald considered the most vulnerable Senate incumbent up for re-election in 2004, an energetic handful of Democrats began laying the groundwork to take on the Illinois Republican even before this year's votes were tallied. The Senate race in the Land of Lincoln is among those expected to share top billing in the upcoming cycle, and the Democratic field so far includes four candidates, either announced or expected to announce, and three wild cards. Former Chicago school board President Gery Chico (D), the only candidate who has formally announced he's running, is on target to have at least $1 million in the bank by the end of the year. Read the article Pollsters' Problems Proliferate 12/1/2002 5:41 PM Pollsters face a growing number of obstacles while doing their work - such as the rapid growth of cell phone use, caller-ID technology and answering machines, combined with the public's growing resistance to opinion surveys. Most agree, however, that those forces have not yet crippled telephone polls. And the industry is unlikely to abandon phone surveys without something more reliable to take their place. They are closely watching federal and state laws concerning telemarketing to make sure research and polling remain exempt. Read the article New Faces To Watch In The House 12/1/2002 5:40 PM Being the brother, sister, child or former aide of one of the 435 members of the House of Representatives would normally give that person a leg up on adjusting to their new surroundings in the U.S. Capitol. And while all of the above are represented in the new House, of the 51 freshmen, there are a few with even higher profiles who are already receiving the attention usually reserved for House veterans. Topping the list of notable newcomers is Florida Republican Katherine Harris, known better as the secretary of state who oversaw the Sunshine State's 2002 presidential recount. One new face is definitely better known for his experience than his notoriety, however. Republican Bill Janklow served four terms as governor of South Dakota, as well as one term as the state's attorney general. While it may seem strange that a governor would move "downward" to a House seat, it's not unprecedented. History was made on Election Day when Democrat Linda Sanchez won her race for a House seat in southern California. Sanchez won the neighboring seat to her sister, four-term Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez. They'll be the first sisters in American history to serve together in Congress. Another sibling combo was formed on Election Day. Although they're not the first brothers to serve at the same time, six-term GOP Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., will be joined by his newly elected brother, Mario, who won a nearby district. Read the article GOP Governor to End 40-Year Era in Hawaii 12/1/2002 5:05 PM Linda Lingle had little time to dismantle 40 years of Democratic power in the Hawaii governor's office -- a quick 26 days from Election Day. On Monday, when she becomes Hawaii's first Republican governor since 1962, she will end a transition matched in brevity only by Alaska's. With the state reeling from the deftness with which she dispatched the heir to that Democratic legacy, Lingle, 49, has scrambled to assemble her administration, managing to appoint a few trusted advisers before her inauguration. In the same time span, she attended two governors conferences on the mainland, met with Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge about Hawaii's vulnerability to terrorism, squeezed in a visit to her parents in California and endured a worrisome biopsy for breast cancer. She cheerily told reporters last week the results were negative. Read the article