SUNSHINE STATE PROVISIONER
Former Vice President Al Gore intends to travel to Florida within
the next month to stump and raise money for Democratic Rep.
Peter Deutsch. It’s one of his first forays into
the state that doomed his presidential bid. He has offered to help
other Florida Democrats in the Sunshine state, but Deutsch was the
only one to take up the offer … for now.
“They’ll want him down the road,” says a former Gore adviser.
“He’s too good a campaigner, and they’ll want him to remember them
if he makes a good showing in 2004.”
There’s one person Gore has told friends he won’t be campaigning
for: former colleague Janet Reno, who is seeking
Florida’s Democratic gubernatorial nomination. “[But] I wouldn’t
say it would never happen,” says the former adviser. “If Reno were
to ask, I could see him doing it, if only to show he’s a bigger man
than Clinton.”
FROST ON PELOSI’S PUMPKIN
As it become increasingly clear that House Minority Leader
Dick Gephardt will step aside from his leadership
position after the fall elections to seek the Democratic
presidential nomination, Democratic Caucus chairman Rep.
Martin Frost of Texas is trying to line up support
to challenge House Democratic Whip Rep. Nancy
Pelosi of California for the leadership job.
“Gephardt could try to hang on long enough to serve as Speaker
if the Democrats retake the House, but we’ve seen numbers that
indicate that isn’t going to happen,” says a Democratic Caucus
staffer. “Regardless of whether Gephardt assumes the speakership,
there is still the leader position and that’s between Frost and
Pelosi.”
Pelosi has been considered the frontrunner, in part because of
her liberal politics, which match up more favorably with the
sentiments of House Democrats. Indeed, she’s already the highest
ranking woman in House history.
But since becoming whip, Pelosi has made a number of missteps.
Over objections of key colleagues she initially endorsed Rep.
Gary Condit re-election bid. She disrespected
powerhouse Rep. John Dingell by backing
fellow-female Rep. Lynn Rivers after both Michigan
Democrats found themselves running in the same, newly partitioned
congressional district. At a party retreat early this year, she
alienated colleagues by lecturing them about how they’d win
elections more handily if they hired people like her California
political consultants — whom she allowed to speak at the event.
Her TV appearances on behalf of the party have been marred by
gaffes and miscues.
“You know the look a dog has when it’s paddling in water that’s
a little too deep for it, and it’s struggling to keep its head
above water?” asks a Democratic House member who supports Frost for
the leadership post. “That’s the look Pelosi seems to have all the
time now.”
While Pelosi backers say she continues to have a strong base of
support, they also say she has redoubled her fundraising efforts on
behalf of House colleagues who might go over to Frost if the two
face off.
Fundraising is the key reason why Frost is able to challenge
Pelosi at all. “He’s raised so much money for Democratic House
candidates over the years,” says the caucus staffer. “That still
means something, and he’s banking on it helping down the road.”
Frost has also made an effort to take more liberal positions
than he would have in prior congressional sessions. “Martin wants
that leadership slot pretty bad,” says the House member who’s
backing him. “It’s an uphill fight, but he’s fortunate his
competitor is someone like Pelosi and not someone like Gephardt.
That at least gives him a chance.”
