POWER BEHIND THE THRONE
Howie Dean called Al Gore on
Sunday morning, and asked him for assistance in re-tooling the
foreign policy speech the former Vermont governor made on Monday in
California. The two men now speak at least once a day, and Gore
seems — at least to longtime Dean staffers and advisers — to have
taken on senior policy adviser status in the eyes of the
candidate.
“Gore really seems to have taken to the notion that he is
helping steer a successful campaign,” says a Dean adviser in
Washington. “He even made some suggestions about changing our
bumper-sticker and yard-sign designs. Maybe it’s a vicarious thing
or something.”
NADER REDUX
Democrats in Washington are once again getting nervous about a
threatened run for president by Green Party factotum Ralph
Nader. The consumer guru turned political hack cut into
Democrat Al Gore’s voting bloc last go-round, and
Nader appears ready to do the same in 2004.
Earlier this year, when Howie Dean was
struggling a bit in the polls, rumors had him willing to look at
the Green slot on state ballots as a way to keep his presidential
aspirations alive if he lost the Democratic nomination. And even
some Green Party folks seemed interested in the idea of taking a
viable national candidate on board their fledgling operation.
But Nader now appears to be the guy once again. While he has
declined to reveal his current leanings, he sounds receptive to
another run and not the least bit interested in helping the
Democratic Party. “We think a Nader run could actually help the
Democrats,” counters a Green Party activist in Georgia. “Look at
what happened in San Francisco. Our candidate pushed the Democrat
to be a better candidate, and increased turnout.”
Actually turnout in last week’s San Francisco mayoral runoff was
flat compared to other off-year elections, and you won’t find a
Democrat in his right mind who thinks a Green run is a good idea,
especially with a fellow like Dean on the top of the ticket.
While Nader refuses to admit that his 2000 candidacy affected
Gore’s chances, he did siphon off about 3 percent of a vote that
most likely would have gone to Gore, including thousands of votes
in Florida. But overlooked is that Dean’s campaign thinks it has
many traditional — if such a term fits — Green Party followers
already sewn up. “You look out west, up north, on college campuses,
we have those guys working for us, and giving up money,” says a
Washington-based Dean adviser. “With the governor’s antiwar
position, he was attracting those folks before Nader started
talking up his candidacy again.”
POST-BREAUX
While Republicans are enthusiastic at the prospects of picking up
another Southern Senate seat — this one vacated by Democrat
John Breaux, who is retiring — the Louisiana one
may well be the toughest for them to win. While North Carolina and
South Carolina would appear to be the easiest, with Florida
following in difficulty, the recent Louisiana election for governor
raised some warning flags for the GOP.
Already, the buzz in Washington is that former Bush
Administration member Bobby Jindal is in line to
run for Breaux’s seat, coming off his impressive showing in the
gubernatorial race. But Jindal, while polling well in some areas of
the state, despite media and pundit predictions that a non-white
candidate would fall flat, failed to perform well in parts of the
state traditionally rich in crossover Democratic votes for
conservative Republicans. Jindal’s ethnicity might have played into
it, as some GOP pollsters believe, but further research and polling
will have to firm up those views. In the meantime, Jindal is
thought to be the candidate, if he wants to try again.
Meanwhile, House Republican David Vitter has
indicated he would be open to running Breaux’s seat. As for Breaux,
there continue to be rumors that he will join with Republican Sen.
Don Nickles in setting up a lobbying and policy
shop in Washington.”
Finally in Florida, as predicted by the Prowler, former HUD
secretary Mel Martinez is gearing up for his
Senate run to fill the seat of retiring Sen. Bob
Graham. The RNC and state Republicans are looking for a
way to clear the field for Martinez, who has been lagging in
fundraising. The biggest name to lop off is former Rep.
Bill McCollum, but supporters have said he would
probably only step aside for a high profile Bush Administration
position in Washington.
