By The Prowler on 10.23.06 @ 12:08AM
Nancy to select committee heads early. Also: Warner's successors.
HEAD START
Democrat Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi has
already been hearing from some of her caucus members that she has
to begin thinking about the leadership positions should she ascend
to the Speakership after November 7.
"The assumption is that [Minority Whip] Steny
[Hoyer] would be [majority] leader," says a House
leadership aide. "But now they are looking at committee
chairmanships, and we have issues there."
According to several leadership aides, Pelosi's advisers are
prepared to recommend that Rep. John Conyers, who
is in line to become House Judiciary chairman, not be given that
job, and instead that Pelosi emulate a Republican House policy of
not allowing seniority to be the sole determinant of leadership
positions for the majority.
In the past, House GOP leaders Newt Gingrich,
Dick Armey and Tom DeLay were
known to give committee chairmanship slots to loyalists rather than
simply to the most senior member on the committee.
Another senior Democrat House member in line for a chairmanship:
Rep. John Dingell. Most chairmanships would not be
slotted until well after the November 7 elections, but Pelosi
advisers are pressing her to have some decisions made quickly to
keep up the momentum from what they believe will be a pick up of
more than 20 seats across the country.
"We want the base to be engaged, and if we can trot out good
news to the troops week after week from November through January,
we'll be in a great position to make some political headway," says
another leadership adviser.
HILLARY MUST BE SHAKING IN HER BOOTS
Look for New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson some time
after Thanksgiving to formalize initial plans to run for
President.
Richardson has been playing a pivotal role in the Democrat
Governor's Association and fundraising on behalf of those Democrat
gubernatorial candidates for months. He has also been sticking his
nose consistently into foreign policy issues, particularly North
Korea's nuclear testing, a mess he helped create during his time
served in the Clinton Administration.
Richardson, along with Illinois Sen. Barack
Obama*, is expected to be the main beneficiary of former
Virginia Gov. Mark Warner's decision not to run in
2008.
*UPDATE: For more on Sen. B.O., check this entry,
on Monday's AmSpecBlog.
topics:
Foreign Policy, Nancy Pelosi, NATO
