Posted on 05/14/2005 11:12:38 AM PDT by aculeus
WASHINGTON -- Members of the inner circle of high-ranking House Republicans privately agree that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York is an absolute lock for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination and will not be easy to defeat in the general election.
The same lawmakers believe the Republican race to oppose Clinton is wide open but regard Sen. George Allen of Virginia as having the edge over Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee. The consensus among them is that Allen is a better candidate than Frist and will the advantage over him in GOP primaries. The House members see little or no prospect for former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Sen. John McCain of Arizona or Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
The Clinton-vs.-Allen forecast by the leading House members duplicates the National Journal's poll of insiders from both parties.
LOTT'S DEAL
Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott's efforts to broker a compromise on judicial confirmations angered Majority Leader Bill Frist, but in fact he never was close to completing a deal with moderate Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson.
Lott was trying to show that every effort had been made to negotiate a settlement before Republicans attempted to use the "nuclear option" (a phrase coined by Lott) to force a majority vote on judicial confirmations. Nelson, who is up for re-election next year in conservative Nebraska, wants to separate himself from other Democrats.
Internal Senate Republican politics are at stake. With Frist not seeking re-election in 2006, Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell is heavily favored to succeed him as majority leader. However, Lott is a long shot to seek and regain his old leadership position.
AMBASSADOR TO EU
Veteran Washington lawyer and Republican activist C. Boyden Gray recently sat down with Howard Kohr, executive director of American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), in an effort to counteract Jewish opposition to Gray as U.S. ambassador to the European Union.
Neo-conservatives inside the administration have advised President Bush that Gray would be a poor selection to go to Brussels. According to sources close to the situation, White House national security aide Elliott Abrams has opposed Gray in writing.
Gray was White House counsel in the first George Bush administration and has led citizens' efforts for the confirmation of George W. Bush's judicial nominations.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE POLITICS
Diminishing Democratic support for efforts to curb unregulated campaign spending by "527" organizations are reflected in the withdrawal by co-sponsors of the bill that would close the loophole in the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform act.
Of the eight original Democratic co-sponsors of the loophole closer, four have withdrawn: Reps. Timothy Bishop and Michael McNulty of New York and Reps. Xavier Becerra and Barbara Lee of California. In a House floor statement, Becerra expressed a "growing discomfort" that the bill "may actually limit voices too dramatically without offering other alternatives." Three Republicans are co-sponsors.
Of more than $600 million in 2004 unregulated 527 contributions, a big majority of the money -- roughly two-to-one -- was spent supporting John Kerry and other Democratic candidates and trying to boost Democratic voter turnout.
CORRECTING BILL THOMAS
After the U.S. Capitol was evacuated last Wednesday, a Capitol police officer shouted, "Stay there!" to a portly lawmaker who was prematurely trying to return from a holding area to the abandoned building. It was Rep. Bill Thomas of California, the powerful chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.
The policeman's admonition caused consternation among lawmakers who witnessed it, because nobody speaks harshly to the hot-tempered, imperious Thomas. In this case, however, Thomas just smiled and followed directions.
Police gave Speaker Dennis Hastert a specially guided path out of the Capitol, but other House members -- including Thomas -- were on their own.
©2005 Creators Syndicate, Inc.
townhall.com
ping.
I believe George Allen is strong on the borders, but i will do more research. my enthusiasm for a candidate not blind and it's always subject to reversal should i learn things that would indicate i should reverse.
Can you cite the reference for that? And who did those governors cum senators lose to?
What I mean is that, historically speaking, most of our Presidents have been former Governors.
Yup. His father is in the NFL Hall of Fame--also coached the LA Rams.
btw, here is an article about George Allen and it's full of links re his dad, etc.:
Most important, she will finally have to face some tough questions.
Also, watch for this. One of the areas she is weak in is international foreign relations. Watch in the next few years how she starts to travel both for the experience and to avoid tough questions.
oh, goodness, "history" doesn't scare me. i mean, before G.W. Bush's re-election no president who's dad was also president won re-election (i think), and no president who lost the popular vote in the first election ever won re-election.
good grief, historical trends are not infallible guides, and those trends are subject to reversal...after all, every hisorical trend did not start out as the trend (or the norm).
enough about that trend stuff. hitlery would have a TOUGH time defeating George Allen.
…if the GOP chooses a RINO like McNut in 2008, then i/we will start a write-in campaign for George Allen--NO JOKE!
I agree, and I never meant to say that I wouldn't support Allen. It's just that the last Senator who won a Presidential election was JFK (albiet with 100,000 dead voters.) Also, many of our Presidents in the 20th century have been former Vice Presidents (Truman, Nixon, Ford, Bush 1.) 2008 will represent a break with that kind of continuity.
McLame will become President on the West Wing (Alan Alda's character is reportedly based on him) : )
I completely agree........but we need to get him re-elected in 2006 FIRST.
Well, we know that, and you said something quite distinct from that. You had me reading my almanac and googling the bios of the losing candidates!The place I was looking in the almanac only told me the names of the candidates for open presidential seats. I got tired and didn't finish the whole search, and now you tell me that you don't even stand by what you said!
Near as I can make out, the only guy to be a senator and a governor who ran for the presidency was Strom Thurmond. And he ran on a third-party ticket - you can't count that!
Besides, Allen's being from Virginia - which doesn't allow reelection of its governors - is a special case. How could you be considered presidential timber on the basis of a single election to the governship? So Allen's election to the Senate is a statewide electoral ratification of his tenure as governor, in lieu of reelection to a second term as governnor.
He would've kept the canal.
Point of clarification. You can be relelected as Governor. Just not for consecutive terms.
He would've kept the canal.
lololololololol :o)
i understand, but like i said, that paritcular kind of historical trend means nothing.
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