Posted on 07/18/2002 7:00:10 AM PDT by Coop
House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) has told senior Democrats that the party could pick up as many as 40 House seats if the continuously unfolding corporate scandals can be kept on the political radar screen until November, according to sources. The figure far surpasses any that has been suggested previously - even privately - by Gephardt or any other top Democratic campaign official, all of whom have consistently indicated that the House will be won or lost by a slim margin.
"He said if this thing plays out right, we could pick up 30 to 40 seats," said one Democratic source who attended a recent meeting where Gephardt threw out the figures.
Gephardt's remarks, which were confirmed by a second source at the meeting, came on the heels of twin political developments that dovetailed with the unfolding scandals on Wall Street: revelations that the Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating accounting practices at Halliburton Co. when Vice President Cheney was at its helm; and re-emerging speculation about President Bush's stock trades as a board member at Harken Energy Co. more than a decade ago.
Neither new development - let alone the continuing revelations of questionable business activities in some of the country's top board rooms - has so far appeared to shift the political landscape on Capitol Hill.
But Gephardt's private remarks to colleagues would seem to underscore the political stakes Democrats see in an issue that is only beginning to set in among voters.
"As this unfolds day after day, I think there's a good chance the Republicans will be turned out [of power] and the Democrats will be given a chance to get at this cowboy mentality [in Corporate America]," said Rep. Max Sandlin (D-Texas), a chief deputy whip.
Asked whether he believes Democrats could do as well as Gephardt has suggested privately, Sandlin said, "I think there's certainly the possibility of [40 seats] as Corporate America unravels before our very eyes."
A similar outlook has taken hold across the Caucus. One top Democratic strategist, referring to only the latest accounting scandal on Wall Street, even went so far as to say, "I tell you [that if] you drop another WorldCom thing in September, the Republicans are really [screwed]."
Gephardt has certainly appeared confident that the issue of corporate ethics will ultimately play out to the Democrats' benefit.
Meeting with the top leadership Tuesday afternoon, Gephardt opened by advising Members to read a Paul Krugman column in that day's New York Times that accused President Bush of shady land dealings and cronyism in Texas. He also touted a similarly themed story in the New Yorker magazine.
"[Gephardt] said he thinks this is where the whole thing is headed," said one source who was in the room.
Republicans have suspected from the outset that Gephardt and the House Democrats would try to capitalize on the corporate scandals for political advantage - what White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer has called the "secret plan" to keep the issue alive through the elections.
Steve Schmidt, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, accused Gephardt of saying that he wants to restore confidence to the markets, while at the same time sowing anxiety among investors and "cheerleading for the market to decline" in order to gain politically.
"He's trying to talk down the market," Schmidt said. "If he's saying [the Democrats could make major gains], he is basically saying, 'I want to exploit this politically. I don't want to solve this.' "
Rejecting those criticisms, Gephardt has repeatedly pointed to his calls for quick House action on a package of reforms, put forward by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Paul Sarbanes (D-Md.), which passed that chamber 97-0.
In fact, Gephardt has accused Republican leaders of foot-dragging on reform, presumably in the interest of placating GOP benefactors in corporate America. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Gephardt cited reports that suggested strong resistance to the Sarbanes measure among key Republicans, particularly House Financial Services Chairman Mike Oxley (R-Ohio).
"It's always the same with them," Gephardt said. "It's like [they're] trying to get something done, but really [the plan is to] slow it down and water it down. That's their goal, that's their game plan, that's their strategy."
Gephardt spokesman Erik Smith said he had never heard Gephardt privately suggest the party could ride the corporate scandals to a landslide this November. He also suggested that 40 seats would be an unlikely prediction, since Gephardt has said only 40 districts are in play this year.
"I don't think he believes we could win all 40," Smith said.
But Smith added that Gephardt does believe that the political climate is now "better that at any other point this cycle," in large part because of revelations of wrongdoing in corporate board rooms.
"He said we're in an environment where winning the House is becoming more and more of a reality," Smith said. "He's bullish."
The upcoming one-year anniversary of Sept. 11 and the ongoing debate over the creation of a Department of Homeland Security have presented significant political hurdles, however.
Even before the corporate scandals began to unfold in earnest, Gephardt was privately expressing concern that GOP leaders would try to stretch out debate over the new department in order to draw attention away from issues the Democrats would want to raise in the home stretch before the elections.
Indeed, Republican leaders initially suggested that planning for the new department would take until the end of the year. Gephardt responded by putting forward an ambitious timetable yoked to the anniversary of the terrorist attacks, in hopes that the issue would be off the table before the campaign enters its most intense phase in the fall.
The Sept. 11 time frame has essentially been adopted. But no one yet knows what will transpire once the basic blueprint for the department, put together by a special committee of top House lawmakers, comes up against conflicting plans from powerful committee chairmen and ranking members, who have their own ideas about what should comprise the new department.
Already, Gephardt has faced strong resistance to quick action from institutionalists in the Caucus, such as Appropriations Committee ranking member David Obey (D-Wis.), who are devotees of Congressional prerogative. In the Senate, Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) has threatened to filibuster the legislation.
That's really, really good stuff! Now if we could just get you into the leadership of the RNC...sigh... ;-)
From where I sit, this just tells the Pubbies going against the media to hide unless they think they can win. Which generally means they always hide. EV, isn't that what's frustrating you to begin with?
He must have been hanging out with Michael Jackson too much...they're both starting to make about the same amount of sense. (ZERO)
Back with the urban myth again, I see. At least this time someone is blaming GOP leadership instead of President Bush. I'm still waiting for a poll that doesn't show the exact opposite of what is insinuated up above.
Right on! But this is the only way the democrats know how to play. I am convinced that they don't give a damn about how legislation effects US but how it effects THEM, and only in political terms.
I believe this corporate stuff will die down and I am hoping the GOP has a game plan for the fall. Remember, most people don't pay any attention to campaigns until after Labor Day.
Gephardt knows that a strike on Iraq obliterates Harken/Halliburton/Enron from the radar. He's getting in his jabs now, but it will be futile.
One thing needs to be said, however, and that is that the current GOP leadership in congress (both houses) sucks. They are losers, and they cannot count on a popular president or war forever.
We can fight back to a great degree if we have the will. If our leaders will pursue an aggressive strategy...put our best voices out on the front lines in the media...and finally, if the rest of us will fight the fight everywhere else...on the web, at our jobs, in the churches, in the coffee shops, etc.
One could consider the the Halliburton/Harken fest to be a tactical foundation for further media efforts. Of course the most effective ones will be those that occur closest to election day when there is no time to respond.
I agree.
But the whole thing is a two-edged sword, if we have the guts to slash away with the part that cuts our direction. The Daschle Democrats are firmly in the pockets of corporate interests.
Two examples: Mrs Tom Daschle has brought million$ into the Daschle family finances through her lobbying efforts. Mrs. Tom Harkin has done the same.
These guys need to be outed for their hypocrisy.
Name them.
They do. It doesn't take an economist to equate the "boom" with the cooked books now being revealed. Gephardt and the 'rats are, as per usual, banking on the Big Lie: say it enough and it will become the truth in the sheeple's minds. It worked on the "all about sex/private matter" mantra with the grifting 'Toon. They've got a long way to go on this one and they don't have the bully pulpit. Methinks as well that the market knows that the huge scandals have, or will soon, be all revealed. Then *poof* this issue is over. That this is all they've got is a very good sign. The strength of the economy will trump this pap and the 'rats will be left with nothing....
The Republicans are ready with their new Hispanic base.
That's a bit understated.
I live in a community with a lot of retirees. They are watching their IRA's being shredded. They are sick at heart, nervous, upset and angry and blaming the Republicans. They are the largest consistent voting bloc in the country.
Whether people who have been burned are right or wrong, stupid or ignorant, is not the issue. The Republican leadership and the President are not getting any coherent message out, and the Dems are taking full advantage of it.
Hasn't this been the problem for a long time? We can't seem to get through to the GOP party that because of their apathy, Gebhardt may turn out to be exactly right.
BTW, when's the last time anyone saw or heard the national chairman of the Republican Party publicly expound on ANYTHING?
Leni
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.