Pure Horserace: Straight To Video
CBS News deputy political director Steve Chaggaris reports that the U.S. attorney flap is already making it into campaign politics for 2008:
Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., has barely had time to wipe the sweat from her brow after squeaking past her Democratic opponent by 841 votes last November.
With the scent of vulnerability still in the air, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is pouncing now — more than 19 months before the next election — and releasing the first ad of the 2008 congressional campaign in an attempt to tie Wilson to the current dustup involving ousted U.S. attorneys.
"A phone call is made ... a scandal begins," the radio ad begins before using testimony from former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias at a Senate hearing.
During the hearing — and in the ad — Iglesias says Wilson called him shortly before her re-election to ask about investigations he was working on regarding Democrats in New Mexico, which the DCCC is charging is an ethical no-no.
"Serious questions remain about Heather Wilson and violation of Congressional ethics rules," the ad says. The ad begins airing today in her New Mexico district; you can view it at the DCCC Web site here.
Wilson has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, both in a written statement and at an event over the weekend in Albuquerque. "My call to David Iglesias was entirely appropriate," she told reporters Saturday, according to The Associated Press. "I've been very clear about that, very consistent about that, all along. Nothing's changed."
Reaching For The Stars: Another week brings another small-time political scuffle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, or at least their campaigns. The latest spat involves an argument between top advisers to the Democratic front-runners at a Harvard University forum over Obama's opposition to the Iraq war.
Pundits will ruminate over this, just like they did the earlier David Geffen episode, to determine if Clinton or Obama "won" this latest round. But the person who has the most to gain (or lose) from this may be John Edwards, who inhabits his own place between the "rock star" tier of Clinton and Obama and the second tier of, well, everyone else.
A common hope of politicians running in third place — "John Edwards was in third with 11 percent" seems like a staple in poll stories these days — is that the top two will eat each other alive. Clinton and Obama are already nibbling with months to go until Iowa, where Edwards happens to be running strongest. But another theory claims that the attention lavished upon ultimately minor Clinton-Obama skirmishes shows that those campaigns are sucking up all the oxygen while Edwards struggles to get attention.
History might be on Edwards' side here. He and John Kerry were running third and fourth in Iowa in 2004 when Dick Gephardt and Howard Dean decided to tear into each other, pushing them both lower in the delegate count but allowing both members of the eventual Democratic ticket to come out on top. Plus, while Edwards is still struggling to get national media coverage, he doesn't face that problem at all in Iowa, and will likely have the money and organization to take advantage of an early win there or in New Hampshire.
Ill Winds Still Blowing For Katrina Pols: Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco has read the tea leaves — and the polls — and has announced she will not seek re-election this November. Recent public opinion surveys showed Blanco trailing the probable Republican nominee, Rep. Bobby Jindal, by more than 30 points — and Democrats in recent weeks had begun looking for a replacement.
Outside of President Bush, and federal officials like former FEMA director Michael Brown, no other politician was more harmed by the handling of Hurricane Katrina's devastation than Blanco. Her signature recovery program designed to help homeowners rebuild has been plagued by legal snags and delays, testing the patience of Louisiana voters.
Political junkies will now turn their eyes to former Sen. John Breaux, who has indicated an interest in running is Blanco bowed out. Now that that has happened, it's Breaux's move. Other potential candidates may look at getting in as well, but one thing is certain — this changes the dynamics of the campaign. The GOP can no longer depend on public disapproval of the governor as their main campaign strategy and face a run-off system in the state that helped Blanco defeat Jindal four years ago. Suddenly, this is a much more competitive race — one worth watching closely.
Big Apple Likely To Get Bite Of Mega-Primary: New York is closer to joining the Feb. 5 primary party after the state Senate approved the move today. If, as expected, the Assembly OK's the bill and Gov. Eliot Spitzer signs it, New York will join California — and many other states — in what is shaping up to be a near-national primary.
Editor's Note: Pure Horserace is a daily update of political news as interpreted by the political observers at CBSNews.com. Click here to sign up for the e-mail version, coming soon to an in-box near you.
By Vaughn Ververs