THE END OF A BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP?
Rep. Richard Burr appears to be in the catbird
seat in his race for the Republican nomination to challenge Sen.
John Edwards — or whomever the Democrat may be
running for that seat — in 2004. But he shouldn’t get too cocky
too soon.
Burr was one of the Republicans in the House the White House
targeted during the close vote over Medicare “reform.” In the
waning hours of the debate last week, Burr was contacted several
times by senior White House officials, perhaps even the President,
though White House legislative aides declined to confirm that Bush
was one of the people who called him.
Given the amount of support the White House had given Burr in
his fundraising and in clearing the field of competition, you’d
think Burr would be more than open to voting for a bill that
President Bush wanted and needed badly. Instead Burr voted against
the new entitlement, angering his fellow Republicans, the House
leadership and the White House.
“It’s the White House’s fault,” says a Burr staffer. “They
waited until the very end and then tried to put on the full court
press. They knew we weren’t in love with this bill, and that we
couldn’t support it.”
Already, there is talk of putting Burr in his place. The
President, as well as the vice president, were both slated to
appear at Burr events in the next six months. Now those appearances
are in doubt. As well, the White House has discouraged — for now
— Sen. Elizabeth Dole from sharing some of her
donor lists from her 2002 campaign with the Burr camp.
HERE’S THE DEAL
Private Jessica Lynch may not remain a soldier
much longer. According to several government sources who handle
ethics issues for government employees (technically Lynch is such
an employee and must go through the Defense Department on
ethics-related matters), Lynch has already lined up a book deal,
but was told she could not profit from it or even work on it until
her service with the U.S. Army is complete.
Lynch is considering a number of media opportunities, including
TV interviews, magazine articles for which she would cooperate, and
the book deal. For her to profit from any of them, she would have
to receive a waiver from the Defense Department, request her
discharge due to her injuries or not re-enlist when her current
tour of duty is up. The Defense Department could cite her injuries
and grant her an honorable discharge or reassign her to duty more
conducive to her rehabilitation.
DASCHLE DEFORESTATION
How nervous is Sen. Tom Daschle about his upcoming
re-election bid (that is, if he doesn’t retire)? Enough to stab his
environmentalist supporters in the back.
Daschle very quietly introduced a bill last week that a number
of South Dakota and national environmentalist groups have opposed
in the past when similar legislation was introduced by Republicans.
The bill would allow and provide funding for the thinning of trees
in high-hazard forests across the country.
Daschle introduced the bill after seeing the amount of press
coverage given to recent wildfire outbreaks out west, and recalling
that the threat of wildfires was actually a campaign issue used by
former Rep. John Thune against Sen. Tim
Johnson in their Senate race last year. Daschle expects
Thune to challenge him in 2004.
“We’re disappointed to say the least,” says a volunteer staffer
for the Environmental Defense Fund in Washington, D.C. “Tom has
been a staunch ally of ours for years. It’s always sad to see
someone you trust sell out for nothing more than political
gain.”
On principle, thinning the forest isn’t something many
environmental groups have opposed, but lately, they have been
lobbying against it, in part out of concern that Republicans would
use such a bill to increase logging in federally protected
lands.
Daschle has opposed a number of timber-related bills in the
past, and has been one of the most vocal senators in the Democratic
caucus calling on his colleagues to excoriate the Bush
Administration for its positions on environmental issues.
AN OFFER HE COULDN’T REFUSE
It appears that Karl Rove and Indiana Republican
Party officials are thinning the competition for newly returned
Mitch Daniels. You’ll recall that Daniels has been
mulling a run for Indiana governor for some time, and stepped down
as President Bush’s director of the Office of Management and Budget
in order to get back home again for a clearer shot at the seat.
Now comes word that state senator Luke Kenley
has stepped out of the ring to give Daniels a clearer shot. Kenley
had been running for governor for almost two years.
