Washington Wrap

Dotty Lynch, Douglas Kiker, Beth Lester and Clothilde Ewing of the CBS News Political Unit have the latest from the nation's capital.

Thursday's Headlines

* The Kerry and Nader Dance

* Bush Heads to Capitol Hill to Assuage GOP Concerns

* Kerry's Abortion Flip-Flop-Flap

* McCain Just Can't Escape

* South Dakota: Thune's Off-Year Lobbying Might Have Been Illegal

* Debate Over Communion Continues

* Embattled Rowland Out as Bush-Cheney Campaign Chairman in CT

A Delicate Dance: John Kerry and Ralph Nader held their first meeting on Wednesday to discuss November's election. In the meeting, Nader reiterated that he does not plan on dropping out of the race and that his approach will be different than the one he took in 2000.

The Boston Globe reports, "Senator John F. Kerry tried to persuade presidential rival Ralph Nader to quit the race yesterday by pledging to fight for Nader's agenda, but Nader made clear he would continue to run and sought access to the candidates' debates this fall, according to Nader and aides to Kerry." Kerry didn't explicitly ask Nader to quit the race but talked about how much the two men have in common.

Kerry's approach seemed to work, as Nader was all praise for Kerry in a "chuckle filled interview" after the meeting, The New York Times reports. "For Mr. Nader, this represents a decidedly different strategy from the one he pursued in 2000 against Mr. Gore, whom he often ridiculed as symbolizing the corporatization that he said made the Democratic Party indistinguishable on many issues from the Republican Party.

"Mr. Nader acknowledged as much afterward. The difference between Mr. Kerry and Mr. Gore 'is the difference between a spruce tree and petrified wood, Mr. Nader said. 'Gore was petrified wood,' he said. 'He was stiff as a board, he didn't want to have these kinds of meetings. He didn't want to have meetings like this when he was vice president three years before the election. Kerry is much more open.'"

Meanwhile, Democrats who are not affiliated with the Kerry camp are planning their own campaign to woo Nader voters. The National Progress Fund has launched a new Web site aimed at progressive voters, called the "The Nader Factor," to bring liberals and past Nader supporters into the Kerry fold. Tricia Enright, a former spokeswoman for Howard Dean's presidential campaign, who is helping to develop the project, tells CBS News her group will not challenge Nader's spot on ballots but rather make the case to his supporters that beating Bush requires uniting behind Kerry. "Slept with Nader woke up with Bush in 2000?" is one of the slogans on the site. They are hoping to run TV ads made by Democratic consultant Saul Schorr in targeted states including Florida, New Hampshire, Iowa, New Mexico and Wisconsin.

The group includes former Gephardt fundraiser David Jones who raised money for the 527 group that ran ads against Howard Dean (also produced by Schorr) and John Hlinko, who led the Draft Wesley Clark Internet movement.

Bush Visits GOP Lawmakers: President Bush traveled to Capitol Hill on Thursday, where he met with Republican lawmakers from both chambers. The meeting comes following sinking poll numbers for Bush that have sparked concern among fellow Republicans about the president's prospects for November and grumbling from some high-profile conservatives about Bush's policies in Iraq and the economy. Bush was expected to push for passage of next year's budget and try to rally support for the war in Iraq.

The New York Times reports: "Despite the sunny public pronouncements from White House and Bush campaign officials about staying the course, Republicans in Congress and outside presidential advisers describe a gloom in the Republican Party - and serious concern in the White House political operation - about continuing crises that have helped drag the president's approval ratings ever closer to those of his father, who drove Saddam Hussein from Kuwait but then lost the election."

Bush's visit to the Hill – something he rarely does – comes "as many Republican lawmakers say they are frustrated by what they see as a normally aggressive White House on the defensive, continually reacting to bad news, with no splashy new programs to sell for November," The Times reports.

The Houston Chronicle reports: "Attempting to mend legislative relations and calm political nerves within his party, President Bush will meet privately today with Republicans on Capitol Hill. He faces two assignments: Rev up the GOP ranks amid growing doubts about the war strategy in Iraq and show his concern for their thoughts about issues such as the economy and the military. In the closed meeting will be Republican lawmakers who have voiced frustration with the fact that the once-unified GOP message has splintered."

Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska says Bush's visit was a political necessity. "I think the president needs to do more of this," said Hagel, "He needs to get exposed to what's going on. Any president becomes isolated, and I think this president is particularly isolated."

Kerry and Abortion: John Kerry waded into the extremely treacherous political waters of abortion on Wednesday. Kerry, who claims to be staunchly pro-choice, told the Associated Press, "I will not appoint somebody with a 5-4 Court who's about to undo Roe v. Wade … But that doesn't mean that if that's not the balance of the court I wouldn't be prepared ultimately to appoint somebody to some court who has a different point of view. I've already voted for people like that. I voted for Judge Scalia."

Kerry's seemingly vague pro-choice comments were immediately seized on as another flip-flop by the Bush-Cheney campaign. Spokesman Steve Schmidt released a statement saying, "John Kerry's reversal today on appointing pro-choice judges shows a startling lack of conviction on an issue that someone seeking the presidency should approach with principled clarity."

And early Thursday morning, the BC04 campaign provided reporters with a copy of a New York Post article containing the lines, "Democrats fretting over fumbles by John Kerry's campaign have something new to agonize over - his bizarre flip-flop yesterday on abortion rights" and "The bottom line seems to be that if the high court has a majority of five pro-choice justices, Kerry might name a right-to-lifer. So much for principle."

Sensing the situation was spinning into a story, Kerry's backers in the pro-choice world decided to rally back. NARAL Pro-Choice America sent reporters a press release affirming the group's commitment to Kerry and saying, "He is an unwavering supporter of a woman's right to choose as well as the privacy rights guaranteed in the Constitution." The group went on to tacitly recognize Kerry's gaffe explaining, "The future holds multiple vacancies on the Supreme Court. The only way we can prevent losing our fundamental rights is to make sure John Kerry is elected in November."

And just to underline the "clarity" of his position, Kerry issued a written late-statement to the Associated Press saying, "I want to make myself clear. I believe that a woman's right to choose is a constitutional right. I will not appoint anyone to the Supreme Court who will undo that right." With the general election's opening salvo on the question of abortion, it looks like the back and forth is set to continue.

McCain's Never Ending Battle: John McCain just can't convince people he doesn't want to be John Kerry's vice president. Despite several complete, categorical, unequivocal denials of interest in or desire for the position, McCain keeps getting asked if, just maybe, he's a closet Democrat.

On Wednesday, House Speaker Dennis Hastert "questioned whether McCain is really a member of Bush's party. 'A Republican?' Hastert said with feigned incredulity. He then criticized McCain's opposition to extending tax cuts in wartime," reports the Washington Post. Hastert then said, "If you want to see the sacrifice, John McCain ought to visit our young men and women at Walter Reed at Bethesda."

McCain shot back: "The speaker is correct in that nothing we are called upon to do comes close to matching the heroism of our troops. All we are called upon to do is to not spend our nation into bankruptcy while our soldiers risk their lives. I fondly remember a time when real Republicans stood for fiscal responsibility."

The Republican squabble prompted new questions about McCain's party bona fides. On the "Today Show" on Thursday morning, Matt Lauer asked McCain, "I don't mean to sound sarcastic with this, but you've got the leader of the Republicans in the House seemingly calling into question your loyalties to the Republican Party. Last Sunday you sat next to Senator Joe Biden, a Democrat, who said he'd like John Kerry to call you about being a vice presidential candidate. Do you get the feeling, Senator, you're playing for the wrong team?"

McCain responded, for the millionth time, "No, I don't. Not at all. I'm a loyal Republican. I'm supporting President Bush's re-election. But I'd like to see the Republican Party return to the principles of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan." McCain also took the opportunity to prove his Republican appeal saying, "in the last two election cycles, the Republicans in the House have sought me avidly to campaign for their candidates that are seeking election."

South Dakota Senate Race In Full Throttle: The Boston Globe reports that former Rep. John Thune, who is running against Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle in the South Dakota Senate race, "reported lobbying his former colleagues on Medicare last year, behavior that would have violated laws restricting the activities of former members of Congress."

Thune's campaign manager, Dick Wadhams, said the former congressman did nothing untoward or illegal and did not lobby the House in 2003.

Member of Congress are not allowed to lobby the House for a year after a leaving office, but the Globe reports, "Thune's lobbying firm filed with Congress clearly lists Thune as one of eight lobbyists who contacted the House, Senate, and Department of Health and Human Services on behalf of Laserscope Inc., a medical laser systems supplier, last year."

Harry Katrichis, who worked with Thune at the law firm/lobbying shop Arent, Fox, Kintner, Plotkin & Kahn, says Thune did not lobby any House or Senate members while working for the firm and said his listing on the federal disclosure form was a "clerical error."

"Wadhams said the disclosure form did not give Arent, Fox the opportunity to separate Thune from the list of other firm lobbyists who lawfully contacted the House and Senate. But all of the other lobbying disclosure reports Thune's firms filed with the Secretary of the Senate specifically list Thune as a lobbyist for executive branch agencies alone. Wadhams countered that the forms have separate pages for each issue and that it was not possible to distinguish Thune from others at the firm lobbying Congress and the executive branch on Medicare. But in a similar situation, the firm indeed separated out Thune's lobbying activities in its report. In a filing showing lobbying activity for the Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association, the words "executive branch only" are included after Thune's name to underscore that he did not contact the House or Senate.

Not surprisingly, Daschle's campaign spokesman Dan Pfeiffer jumped all over the story. "The revolving door of Washington lobbying has certainly helped fatten both John Thune's pockets and his campaign coffers," he told the Globe.

The report comes just a few days before Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee heads to South Dakota to campaign for Thune. Frist's trip has raised some eyebrows as it's unusual, although not unprecedented, for one Senate leader to actively campaign against the leader of the opposite party. In fact, Donald A. Ritchie, the associate Senate historian, told The New York Times that the closest parallel he could find was in 1900 when Sen. Mark Hanna of Ohio, then a national Republican power, got into a floor fight with another Republican, Sen. Richard Pettigrew of South Dakota. Mr. Ritchie said Mr. Hanna jumped on the train and headed to South Dakota to work against his colleague, who was defeated that year.

Most polls have shown Daschle with a big lead, but a poll of 800 likely voters conducted last week by KELOLAND-TV/Argus Leader showed 49 percent for Daschle and 47 percent for Thune.

Communion"Debate Continues: The debate over whether Catholic politicians who support abortion rights should be denied communion continues. In a letter to Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington, 48 Roman Catholic members of Congress warned that U.S. bishops will severely harm the church if they deny communion to politicians who support abortion rights, reports the Washington Post.

The Post reports: "In their letter, the Democratic House members said they 'firmly believe that it would be wrong for a bishop to deny the sacrament of Holy Communion to an individual on the basis of a voting record. We believe that such an action would be counter-productive and would bring great harm to the church.'

"The letter questioned how the bishops could limit the denial of Communion to abortion, noting that Pope John Paul II and many U.S. bishops have condemned the death penalty and the war in Iraq. 'All of us firmly believe that we can be good Congresspersons and Catholics and we respectfully submit that, while sometimes difficult, each of us has the responsibility and the right to balance public morality with private morality without pressure from certain bishops,' the letter said."

Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-Conn., and Rep. Nick Lampson, D-Texas, circulated the letter among the 73 Catholic Democrats in the House. They said that it was not circulated among Republicans because it arose from meetings that began last year among a small number of Catholic Democrats in the House who wanted to talk privately about faith and public service. "This was not about politics. It was about us and our church and our own faith," DeLauro said.

The letter's signers included at least three House members with strong anti-abortion records. The letter was sent to McCarrick because he heads a task force of U.S. bishops assigned to figuring whether, and how, the church should take action against politicians whose public positions are at odds with the Catholic doctrine. McCarrick personally opposes using communion as a sanction.

One pro-life Democrat, Rep Bart Stupak, said that he has been surprised by how partisan some bishops are. "I've had some threaten not to give Communion to me, even though they don't know my position, just because I'm a Democrat," he said. "I've had cardinals refuse to shake my hand because I'm a Democrat, and then somebody whispers to them that, 'No, no, he's a good guy.'"

Rowland's Troubles Continue: Connecticut Gov. John Rowland, "plagued by a federal corruption investigation and legislative impeachment inquiry, has been replaced as chairman of President Bush's re-election campaign in Connecticut and will not lead the state's delegation to the GOP convention," the AP reports.

Rowland is under state and federal investigation into improper gifts he may have received and alleged contract steering. He faces possible impeachment for allegedly receiving free labor and goods from contractors working on his weekend cottage.

His spokesman, John Wiltse, tells the Hartford Courant: ""He indicated to the committee that, based on time constraints, the start of the legislative session and obviously the rest of the issues that he has on his plate, it would be better served with another chairman or another co-chairman that could devote full attention to the Bush campaign."

Lt. Gov. Jodi Rell will assume Rowland's duties at the Republican convention. Two Greenwich Republicans - business executive Thomas Foley and former Ambassador Craig Stapleton - are serving as the co-chairmen of the Bush campaign in Connecticut.

The AP reports: "Rowland was state chairman of Bob Dole's presidential campaign in 1996 and of Bush's campaign in 2000. He led the Connecticut delegation to the GOP convention both years. The governor did not attend a fund-raiser for Bush in Greenwich in January, saying he did not want to distract attention from the president. On Wednesday, he did not attend Vice President Dick Cheney's speech at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy graduation or a White House reception for the University of Connecticut men's and women's basketball teams honoring their national championships."

Quote of the Day: "Jay, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." – First Lady Laura Bush, asked by Jay Leno about her campaign visit to Las Vegas on Tuesday. Leno asked, jokingly, if Mrs. Bush went to a Chippendales show.