The American Spectator

Washington Prowler

Darkhorses to the Rescue

By The Prowler on 2.27.06 @ 12:10AM

IF NOT KATHERINE, WHO?
The plea agreement negotiated by Mitchell Wade, the founder of defense contractor MZM, Inc., presents more than additional embarrassing material in the case of disgraced former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who was the focus of the federal investigation. It now appears Wade's plea will also impact the Florida Senate race, though perhaps in a good way for Republicans.

In Wade's plea agreement, he admits to pressuring employees to donate campaign funds to two unnamed GOP House members in order to ensure that a provision worth millions of dollars to MZM would be inserted in an appropriations bill.

The two House members identified in press reports are Reps. Virgil Goode of Virginia and Katherine Harris of Florida. Hotline and the San Diego Union both identified the House staffers of the two Republicans as the possible conduit for the approps bill insertion, though neither Republican was aware that Wade had pressured employees to give to their campaigns.

There were good reasons for MZM to be focused on Goode and Harris. One of MZM's largest clients, the Army National Ground Intelligence Center, is based in Goode's district, where MZM also has a facility. Press reports had MZM looking to open a facility in Harris's district, even though its two clients in the area, the U.S. Central Command and the Special Operations Command, are actually in a neighboring congressional district.

Harris has probably collected more than $50,000 in MZM contributions, and seemingly aware of where this story was going announced that all of MZM's donations to her campaign were being handed over to charity.

That Harris has been drawn into the MZM scandal caps off what was a pretty bad week for the candidate who is seeking the Republican Senate nomination to take on Sen. Bill Nelson. Earlier in the week, she was running away from stories that both her finance chairman and campaign treasurer had resigned their positions.

It is at the point now where Democrats in the state are crowing about a Nelson landslide in the fall, with few prospects for Republicans to find someone to match up with Nelson this late in the game.

But some Republicans in Washington and down in Florida are talking about organizing a "Draft Jeb" campaign in the coming days. "The Governor is the only one who would be able to enter a race this late in the calendar and have a legitimate shot at knocking off Nelson," says a GOP political consultant, who does work throughout the South. "But getting Jeb to walk into this mess is probably a fantasy. A fantasy for Republicans, a nightmare of him."

For months, Republicans in Florida and Washington have been looking for some way to push Harris over the side. Now, with her ongoing campaign problems and the MZM scandal, which will dog her, some see an opening they hope they can talk advantage of.

FRIST AND TEN
Any questions about where Senate Majority Bill Frist sees himself in a few years is being answered very quietly both inside and outside the Beltway.

The two clearest examples were played out this past week, where according to Senate leadership sources, Frist engineered the new 45-day review timeline between the U.S government and Dubai Ports World to address security concerns as the UAE firm takes over major operations at five U.S. ports.

Part of the deal Frist fashioned requires that DP World create an American subsidiary that would function independently of executives in Dubai, and that during the 45 day waiting period an American citizen would serve as the chief security officer during that period, the company said.

Frist's leadership on the port issue takes yet another White House miscue out of the hands of Democrats, who have become increasingly eager to beat Republicans of all stripes over their respective heads with every communications failure coming out of 1600 Pennsylvania.

"At some point, someone in the White House has to look at the communications shop and just say, 'Enough is enough. We need professional help,'" says a former Bush White House staffer. "It wasn't great in the first term, and it's just gotten progressively worse. A number of us have pointed this out, but the folks at the top just don't get it."

Instead, the senior White House communications folks lash out even at folks who are helping them outside of the building, whether it be Frist or Boehner staff or former Administration types working behind the scenes.

Letter to the Editor

topics:
John McCain, Law, NATO