THERE’S NO GETTING OVER HIM
Democratic leaders were fuming on Thursday after colleague Sen.
Patty Murray revisited her embarrassing
sympathetic comments about Osama bin Laden. Murray
stopped to speak to reporters after spending time with her 13
female Senate colleagues yesterday, and was asked about the Bin
Laden comments.
According to a Democratic Senate leadership staffer, Murray had
received advice from several colleagues to avoid returning to the
controversial topic, and to let the furor over her comments die
down. Instead, Murray walked head first into the bin Laden mess all
over again. She said that her comments had been twisted and
misconstrued. But she didn’t say they were also inaccurate.
Recall that on December 18, Murray spoke to a group of students
and was asked why bin Laden found support in many Middle Eastern
and African nations. Murray said of the terrorist, “He’s been out
in these countries for decades building schools, building roads,
building infrastructure, building day care facilities, building
health care facilities and people are extremely grateful. He’s made
their lives better. We have not done that.”
In fact, the United States has been the leading aid donor to
several of the countries where bin Laden’s following has grown in
the past few years.
“She’s already on thin ice with her performance on the
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee last year,” says a DSCC
staffer, noting that as leader of the committee she’d promised her
caucus would widen its majority control of the Senate. “And she’s
up for re-election this time around and already in trouble. People
up here are pulling their hair out over this.”
The Democratic concern is that Murray’s wet kiss to Osama will
continue to haunt her politically at home, where the White House is
hoping to lure either Rep. Jennifer Dunn or Rep.
George Nethercutt to challenge her in 2004. Dunn
is by far the more appealing of the two. Thus far she is said to
have been noncommittal to White House and RNC suggestions that she
make a play for the higher office.
Even before her gaffe, Murray was targeted by Republicans as
highly beatable in the next election cycle. “What bothers us is
that she seemed to understand how this thing could stick to her for
the next 18 or 20 months,” says the Democratic leadership staffer.
“All she had to do was keep her mouth closed. But with some of
these guys [and gals], they’re just incapable of doing that.”
ZELL OF A GOOD GUY
Republicans were doubly cheered by Democratic Sen. Zell
Miller’s decision to retire from the Senate in 2004. “Not
only do we have a better shot of picking up the seat,” said a
Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee staffer, “but Miller is a
free man now.”
Republicans think that Miller, unfettered by concerns about
re-election fundraising and the like, is more likely to be a more
vocal supporter of the Bush Administration agenda. “We need him on
the economic stimulus package, and this announcement may make it
possible for him to more readily support us if we can bring a
satisfactory package to the floor,” says a Senate Finance Committee
staffer.
Miller has long been a target of Republican attempts to jump
parties, but he has tamped down such talk. Instead, he has stayed
with the Democrats, crossing over to vote with the GOP on issues he
felt strongly about.
