Washington Wrap

Dotty Lynch, Douglas Kiker, Steve Chaggaris, Nicola Corless, Smita Kalokhe and Joanna Schubert of The CBS News Political Unit have the latest from the nation's capital. Sign Up for our daily Washington Wrap newsletter.

According to The State, Cheney, representing President Bush, will speak at the funeral from behind bulletproof glass at the First Baptist Church in Columbia. Traveling with him on Air Force Two will be native South Carolinian Tucker Eskew, who now heads the White House office of Global Communications.

Thurmond himself was involved in the planning for the funeral, which will include two horse drawn caissons and mournful music from a lone bagpiper, according to Robert Shellhouse, the owner of the Allen mortuary. "He's been talking about it for several years, things he would like to transpire," Shellhouse said.

Thurmond, who turned 100 in December 2002, was mourned by a stream of visitors who paid last respects at the South Carolina statehouse on Monday. "It's sad to me. I think I expected him to live forever," said Sharon Frizell, one of the mourners.

Texas Democrats Face the Music: The Texas legislature is back for a 30-day special session, with a massive congressional redistricting plan the top priority of both GOP-controlled houses. The special session, called by Republican Gov. Rick Perry, is being held in response to a move in May by a group of Democrats to stop the GOP-friendly redistricting plan by fleeing to Oklahoma for four days to prevent the legislature from having a quorum.

While the Democrats' stunt worked in May – both in terms of temporarily stopping the redistricting plan championed by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and generating national publicity about the GOP's plan to diverge from the traditional post-Census redistricting schedule – it could be trickier this time around, the Washington Post reports.

Republicans - who for the first time since Reconstruction control the state House, Senate and governorship - want to shift the state's congressional districts to make at least five, or possibly as many as eight, more of Texas' 32 congressional seats Republican. Currently, Republicans control 17 of the 32 seats. Republicans say that a redistricting plan drawn by federal judges in 2001 - after the legislature could not agree on a plan themselves -does not accurately reflect the politics of a state in which all statewide office-holders are Republicans.

In addition to DeLay's backing and encouragement, the plan has the approval of the White House political chief Karl Rove.

While Democrats concede skipping the border won't work this time around, they are hoping to pull off a legislative coup in the state Senate, where 11 of the 31 members could vote to block a redistricting bill from a vote. Democrats concede that GOP control of the House is too overwhelming to block a vote.

"It's going to be up to the Senate. If Tom DeLay gets his way, he'll pick up five or six or seven or eight seats, which will significantly solidify the Republican hold on the House of Representatives, perhaps for decades," said state Rep. Elliott Naishtat, D-Austin.

Blocking a Senate vote could be tough, the Post reports. While Democrats control 12 of the 31 seats, the GOP is dangling political carrots to many of those 12 that could sway them to vote for the redistricting plan.

For example, one Democratic fence sitter, Frank Madla of San Antonio, told the Post that he's "praying" to make the right call on the redistricting vote. But, previously Madla has said the bill before the Senate that matters most to him is one that would allow Texans to order wine online.

Another Democratic senator, Kenneth Armbrister, has said he might vote with the Republicans if certain health care and teacher funding is promised in return. Armbrister told reporters that two of the Democratic congressman whose districts are threatened called him over the weekend, but when a reporter asked if he'd returned the calls, Armbrister said: "I got other things to do."

Republicans could have their own maverick senators, the Post says. One, Bill Ratliff, said he would not automatically vote for the redistricting plan, particularly if it destroyed his east Texas district. His potential opposition was greeted with a phone call from Rove, who told him shifting Texas' congressional districts "could be important to the president."

Tyner and Goliath: According to The Hotline's Ad Spotlight, Mississippi attorney Mitchell Tyner is stressing his Mississippi roots in his first TV ad against Haley Barbour, the former RNC chair and Washington lobbyist in the Aug. 5 Mississippi gubernatorial Republican primary. Barbour has been on the air with television ads of his own since February.

"Some say this is a race between David and Goliath. Looking at the results, I'm OK with that," the Tyner ad says.

The spot, which was released in the Gulf Coast market last Wednesday and in Jackson on Thursday, features Tyner walking through his home stressing the difference between Barbour's Washington run campaign and his own, "run by hard-working Mississippians." After strategically sidestepping his children's toys he says, "Mississippi deserves a governor that hasn't lost touch with the people."

Tyner and Barbour are competing to replace Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, who faces little opposition in the Aug. 5 primary Democratic primary. The primary winners will face each other on Nov. 4.

Split: The union of two of the most influential Democratic families in the U.S. seems to be coming to an end, reports The New York Times. Kerry Kennedy Cuomo is seeking a divorce from her husband of 13 years, Andrew M. Cuomo.

Harriet Newman Cohen, the lawyer for Cuomo, told the New York Times, "Mr. Cuomo was betrayed and saddened by his wife's conduct during their marriage. Despite that, for the sake of their three daughters, Mr. Cuomo has been trying to keep their marriage together for some time. But he will try to accommodate Ms. Kennedy Cuomo's decision to leave the marriage. In the interest of the privacy of the party's children and the family, Mr. Cuomo will make no further comment."

The Times also reports that, "After a reporter contacted Ms. Cohen, Dan Klores, a public relations executive who represented Mr. Cuomo during his campaign, made an unsolicited call to say that Mr. Cuomo had nothing to say."

Ms. Kennedy Cuomo's lawyer, William D. Zabel, said, "Ms. Kennedy Cuomo hopes to settle all financial and related matters amicably and without litigation."

Andrew Cuomo ran unsuccessfully for governor of New York last year and some speculated that that was one of the reasons that Ms. Kennedy Cuomo has stayed with her husband so long. "She had contemplated leaving him before but wanted to help him at his run for governor."

Is There a Doctor in the House?: Dr. Ruth is not one to disappoint a friend, and on Monday she proved just that. Dr. Ruth Westheimer, a pronounced Democrat known for her sex therapy, crossed party lines to make an unlikely appearance at a Bush fundraiser according to the AP.

Event goers, who paid a pricy $2,000 per head, were happy to see the sex therapist, but not necessarily for advice. Attendees snagged pictures not only with the president, but also with Dr. Ruth. Mr. Bush himself hopped into line for a picture. Westheimer, who stands tall at a petite 4 feet 7 inches, laughed when the president got down on his knees for the snap shot.

Meanwhile in Vermont, Democratic presidential candidate had his hands full playing doctor while on the campaign trail. While going door-to-door on Sunday in Nashua, one of Dean's volunteers received an unfriendly welcome as she was bit on her rear-end by a dog. According to the AP, the volunteer later asked Dean, who likes to be called Doctor, about her wound. Dean advised the woman on treatments but did not examine her. Campaign spokeswoman Dorie Clark stated, "Considering where the bite was, it would not have been appropriate."

Why do we think the dog was a Kerry Blue Terrier … with a Bushy tail?

Quote of the Day: "He is not a touchy-feely guy. With John Edwards, John Kerry, even Joe Lieberman, you'll get the hug and kiss as a female reporter. You don't get that with Howard Dean." – New York Magazine's Meryl Gordon on Howard Dean's standoffish attitude toward reporters. (The Washington Post)