TOM FOOLERY
Democrats who have publicly stated their support for the nomination
of Bush appeals court nominee Miguel Estrada are
taking heavy heat from Senate Minority Leader Tom
Daschle and his leadership team.
Sens. John Breaux, Zell Miller
and Ben Nelson have said they support Estrada and
they’ve declined to support a full filibuster of his
nomination.
“They’ve been told that if they step too far out of line with
the party there will be recriminations,” says a Democratic
leadership staffer.
But on the face of it, there doesn’t appear to be much that
Daschle could do to any of them. There are no committee
chairmanships at stake, no rewards to hand out or withdraw.
“In the end, we just have to trust that they will support
Estrada when the time comes to vote,” says a Republican leadership
staffer. “There isn’t much Daschle can do to them, but they do have
party responsibilities. We’re counting on them, though. Estrada
needs their support.”
As a lameduck, Miller in particular is expected to stand tall
for Estrada.
NATO CRACKDOWN
With the announcement late last month that Britain’s Lord
Robertson is stepping down by the end of the year as the
political head of NATO, the United States (which generally provides
the supreme military commander, leaving the bureaucratic post to
rotating Europeans) is finding itself in a bind. Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld is already said to be putting down
his foot that not German or Frenchman will get the posting, and
there is talk that the U.S. might actually back one of the newer
members invited into NATO in the past three years.
“Ideally we’d like to see someone in that post who would give
the United States its due within the NATO apparatus,” says a
Defense Department staffer. “But there’s no way in hell the U.S.
would go along with a German or a Frenchman given their
behavior.”
That leaves a limited number of traditional, or old-line, member
states to draw on. The previous NATO secretary general was from
Spain, ruling out that country as a source for a replacement. The
U.S. would probably support an Italian or Dutch nominee. Another
possibility might be from Poland, which has expressed support for
the United States and its military positions over the past 18
months.
NETHERCUTT’S NEW LIMITS
Based on the poor performance of Washington Gov. Gary
Locke as the Democratic Party’s talking head after
President Bush’s State of the Union address, Republican Rep.
George Nethercutt is locked in on challenging him
in 2004.
Nethercutt, who was criticized for not sticking to his
self-imposed term limit when he ran for re-election to the House in
2000, was also mulling a run against Sen. Patty
Murray, who is considered to be one of the weaker
Democrats running for re-election.
But the White House has made it clear to Nethercutt that fellow
House member Jennifer Dunn is its first choice to
challenge Murray. Dunn hasn’t committed, but is thought to be
leaning toward a run. Nethercutt, though, isn’t taking any chances.
He has already begun fundraising for either race. Just in case.
