Posted on 06/13/2002 4:09:46 PM PDT by Exit 109
Got Plumbers? A computer disk containing a private analysis of the 2002 elections prepared by White House Political Director Ken Mehlman, who works in an administration that prides itself on being tight-lipped, somehow was left on a street corner a few blocks from the White House.
The disk, which also includes a more detailed Power Point presentation on the political climate for the 2002 and 2004 elections prepared by senior Bush aide Karl Rove, was picked up off the pavement by a Senate Democratic aide, who has been happily passing it on to others.
Mehlman’s private analysis is explosive because it suggests that the White House thinks that GOP Sens. Tim Hutchinson (Ark.) and Bob Smith (N.H.) are in even deeper trouble than Republican officials have publicly let on, leading to some grousing among GOP insiders. And the accidental leak is cheering the hearts of Democrats, who bitterly recall the glee that Republicans expressed in 1995 when an a senior Democratic aide left a sheaf of private political data at Neil’s Outrageous, a deli/liquor store on the Hill that has since closed.
“This ain’t bad for a White House that’s supposed to be leak-proof,” cracked one senior Democratic aide. The aide added, in reference to Rove: “Somebody better tell ‘Boy Wonder’ to get the hole in his suit jacket fixed.”
Rove did not return a call seeking comment. Mehlman told HOH yesterday that he’s baffled as to how the documents, which were part of the presentations that he and Rove separately delivered June 4 to a group of California Republican activists at the Hay Adams hotel just a block or so from the White House, leaked out.
“I have no idea how it leaked,” he said. “I’ve been trying to figure it out. I know I didn’t drop it. Mine was on my computer.”
Mehlman said he did not attach the presentation documents to any e-mails. He speculated that there may have been another copy in the possession of the person handling the audio-visual portion of the presentation who “may have forgotten to delete it.”
Pieces of Mehlman’s presentation first dribbled out Saturday, when The Washington Post ran a short item saying that Mehlman had told the activists that GOP candidates should focus on the war and the economy. The item also talked about which Senate seats Mehlman was concerned about, but there was no mention of how the presentation leaked.
Mehlman told HOH that he proactively called some of the Senate GOP campaigns to stress that his own 10-page presentation somehow did not reflect his own feelings about the races. At the meeting of activists, Mehlman showed a map that listed Arkansas and New Hampshire as sites of a “Strong Chance of D Pickup.”
GOP incumbents and candidates in Colorado, Maine, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas were also probably not thrilled to learn that Mehlman’s map lists their states as being “Possible D Pickup.”
“The word choice — it’s not a good word choice,” acknowledged Mehlman, who says that incumbents in all of these states have shored themselves up. “This is an old map. Those characterizations are not accurate.”
When asked why he did not make any changes to the map before the meeting, he replied, “That day I literally gave five speeches. I didn’t have time to update it.”
Mehlman added, “All of those races are races where our candidates are in a strong position to put these elections away.”
“I think Tim Hutchinson will win the race,” he said, adding that the five GOP challengers in Georgia, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and South Dakota “are in a much strong position than Mark Pryor,” the Democratic challenger in Arkansas. He added that New Hampshire will stay competitive because of the late primary.
As for the House, Mehlman is convinced that the GOP is poised to pick up seats. “Democrats would have to do more than run the table to win back the House,” he claimed.
HOH will publish an item about Rove’s rather interesting 17-page presentation — entitled “The Strategic Landscape” — in today’s edition of Roll Call Daily, along with verbatim copies of the Mehlman and Rove PowerPoint presentations.
Ari’s Happy Hour on the Hill. The Senate Republican Conference sent out an invitation this week for a happy hour with White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer in which a bipartisan group of press secretaries will be able to mingle with the former Congressional aide.
One small problem: The invite didn’t list which day the bash will occur, leading some invitees to wonder whether the Bush folks were being typically secretive in order to head off party crashers.
“Do you have to call to get the secret code so that they’ll let you know what night it is?” mused one Senate press secretary.
But Robert Traynham, spokesman for the Senate Republican Conference, told HOH that the missing date was an oversight. “It was not done on purpose,” he said. “It was a snafu.”
The party is being thrown from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. today by the bipartisan U.S. Senate Press Secretaries Association on the ninth floor of the Hart Senate Office Building. The invite suggests that Fleischer may even spill some secrets: “Join us for an evening of fun, relaxation, good cheer, and some fun White House stories.”
Reached at the White House yesterday, Fleischer cracked about the promise to provide juicy stories: “I am?”
“I’ll probably talk about the differences between being a White House press secretary and a Congressional press secretary, as well as the similarities because there are probably more similarities than people think,”he said.
Digital Divide Widens. Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), whose office was angry about a technical glitch that recently resulted in an e-mail press release (about his new broadband plan, ironically enough) being sent over and over to frustrated reporters, was a little too quick on the trigger with an electronic statement this week.
The Senate Governmental Affairs chairman’s staff fired off a press release Tuesday claiming that Lieberman and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) had sent a letter to Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Chairman Fritz Hollings (D-S.C.). Shortly thereafter, an electronic correction was sent out:
“Due to a miscommunication, a press release put out by Senator Lieberman’s office erroneously reported that Senators Lieberman and McCain had sent a letter to Commerce Committee Chairman Hollings calling for hearings on the Bush Administration’s recent climate change report. Senator McCain chose not to sign the letter because Senator [John] Kerry [D-Mass.], who chairs the Oceans and Fisheries Subcommittee, had already agreed to hold hearings on the matter, making it unnecessary to send the letter.”
Trying to put the best face on a tough situation, Lieberman spokesman Adam Kovacevich told HOH with a laugh, “We got the result we wanted before we even had to ask.”
And as an added bonus, Lieberman gets to praise Kerry — one of his potential opponents for the 2004 presidential nomination — on an issue important to Democratic primary voters.
Diamonds Are Voinovich’s Best Friend? Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio), call your office: Another Hollywood star is arriving on Capitol Hill today.
Voinovich, who boycotted an Environment and Public Works Committee hearing last week after Kevin Richardson of the band Backstreet Boys was asked to testify, will undoubtedly be thrilled to hear that actor Lou Diamond Phillips will be in the House today.
Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif.) invited Phillips, the star of “La Bamba” and “Courage Under Fire,”to testify on behalf of Filipino World War IIveterans who fought for the United States but do not receive veterans benefits.
Diamond, who is half Filipino, was born on a Naval Base in the Philippines. He was named after Gunnery Sgt. Lew Diamond, a Marine legend in the World War II Pacific theater. “Our Filipino veterans fought for us,” he said. “It’s time for us to fight for them.”
Voinovich spokesman Scott Milburn said his boss probably would not want to wade into a House matter. “We’ve got enough to keep us busy on the Senate side,” he said with a laugh. “But thanks for the offer to comment.”
Then, however, Milburn warmed to the idea that his boss might be considered the new ombudsman on these matters. “Someone should check to see if [Phillips has] ever been on ‘Fear Factor’ or the cover of the National Enquirer, as those might be credibility drags,” he cracked.
Shows Me the Money. Rep. Ronnie Shows (D-Miss.), who’s never been accused of understatement, inserted quite a statement into the Congressional Record on Tuesday.
Proud of Mississippi native Marcus Thames, who clubbed a homer on the first pitch he faced as a member of the New York Yankees, Shows got a little carried away with the description of Monday night’s game.
“And whom should he face on the pitchers’ mound?” asked Shows. “None other than Cy Young Award winner, World Series MVP and future Hall of Famer Randy Johnson, that’s who! All 6 feet, 10 inches of him!
“Did Marcus Thames, this proud Mississippian, crumble under the pressure of the moment? Did he let the sound of almost 50,000 cheering fans get to him? No, of course not, he’s from Mississippi. Marcus Thames slugged the first big league pitch he ever saw over the fence for a home run!”
Too bad he left out the funniest part of the story: During Thames’ live appearance on ESPN after the game, a teammate hit the rookie in the face with a towel full of shaving cream. Thames soldiered on with the interview, even though his entire face — including his eyes and mouth — was full of foam.
Hoop Dreams. Could Hill staffers Josh Penry, Mac Zimmerman and Roger Brown have a future in professional basketball?
Probably not, but the trio, along with Interior Department staffer Jon Hrobsky, succeeded in taking their team, Predominantly Orange, to the Sweet 16 round of the Seventh Annual Hoop Dreams 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament last weekend.
“For whatever reason we found inspiration that Saturday,” said Penry, who serves as staff director of the House Resources subcommittee on forests and forest health. Zimmerman serves as a legislative assistant to Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), and Roger Brown is a legislative assistant in Sen. Wayne Allard’s (R-Colo.) office.
The 128-team tournament benefited the Hoop Dreams Scholarship Fund, which provides scholarships and other services to D.C. public high school students. In 2001 the group awarded $650,000 in scholarships.
Jennifer Yachnin contributed to this report.
The entire Power Point presentation can be viewed here.
This is such a boring administration, eh? Just the way I like it.....
PS: Whomever 'mislaid' this document should be shot at dawn ... shades of the Goreski 'Tapegate'.
This is so obviously a lie I can't believe anyone on this board would believe it. The dems stole this disk, probably the AV person made a copy.
Just like the Georgia couple that "accidentally" tape recorded Newt Gingrich's phone call a few years back.
The disk was stolen, STOLEN, I tell you.
Sounds like the movie "The Man who Never Was", only it was about invading Sicily, not the D-Day landing. Was this movie based on a real incident?
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