Washington Wrap

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

Friday's Headlines

* Republicans Pushing for Reagan to Replace Hamilton on the $10 Bill

* Kerry Hoping to Visit Reagan Library on Tuesday

* Kerry Campaign Names New Staffers

* 527s For Democrats Only?

* Rep. Moran Faces Primary Test

* Feingold Takes Unusual Ad Approach

Reagan Headed for the $10 Bill?: Grover Norquist, the head of the conservative Americans for Tax Reform who launched the Regan Legacy Project in 1997, predicts that "more things will be named after the late President this year than in the past five years combined," according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Norquist has spearheaded the drive to name one significant landmark in every state and, eventually, something in every county after Reagan. Now, he has decided that the time is ripe to go for some currency. USA Today reports that the $10 bill looks like the best opportunity.

So what about Alexander Hamilton? "Hamilton was a nice guy and everything, but he wasn't president," says Norquist. "As a board member of the (National Rifle Association), I can also tell you that he was a bad shot."

A congressional vote would be required to make the change from Hamilton to Reagan and Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell says he'll sponsor the proposal when the time is right. Robert Stevenson, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist says, "there could be a head of steam" behind the idea, especially right after Reagan's death.

Norquist said that only U.S. Mint approval would be needed to change the dime, now occupied by Franklin D. Roosevelt. An Indiana congressman last year almost linked a measure to the Medicare reform bill that would have put Reagan on the coin, but failed amid criticism from, among others, Nancy Reagan. Norquist thinks that a compromise to put Reagan on half the dimes might be the solution.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher who was a Reagan speechwriter said he will introduce legislation today to replace former President Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill. Jackson is "not standing up to the scrutiny" of time, Rohrabacher said, according to the Long Beach Press Telegram. He "has no qualms about replacing America's seventh president." Tennessee Senator Bill Frist, however, isn't so sure about bumping another Tennessean.

Kerry Hoping to Visit Reagan Library to Pay Respects: Sen. John Kerry, in California for his daughter Alexandra's graduation on Wednesday from film school, is hoping to visit the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley to pay his respects to the late president. Reagan's body is lying in state there until Wednesday, when the coffin will be flown to Washington for a Capitol Hill viewing.

With lines stretching for miles and waits of up to ten hours the norm, a visit by the presumptive Democratic nominee could cause logistical nightmares beyond what the library already is experiencing.

Kerry cancelled his campaign events this week – including two $1 million fund-raisers – in the wake of Reagan's death on Saturday. He was in Washington on Monday, but flew to Los Angeles for his daughter's graduation on Tuesday from the American Film Institute . He plans to stay in Los Angeles on Wednesday for the graduation and be in Washington on Thursday and Friday, when he'll attend the National Cathedral service for Reagan.

Both the Kerry and Bush campaigns are running ads this week though both have announced they will suspend them on Friday. The Democraic Media Fund is beginning an ad today focusing "on Cheney's ties to Halliburton, no-bid U.S. Government contracts, price gouging"

Kerry Campaign Names New Staffers: Sen. John Kerry's campaign named several individuals to head up some of the state offices, according to the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call. To run the battleground states of Florida and Ohio Kerry has chosen Tom Shea and J.B. Poersch, respectively. Shea is chief of staff for Sen. Jon Corizine, D-N.J.; Poersch is chief of staff for Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I.

Shea and Poersch are particularly interesting appointments in that they increase the clout of former congressional staffers in the Kerry campaign. Mary Beth Cahill, Kerry's campaign manager, was the former chief of staff to Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., while deputy campaign manager Steve Elmendorf was the long-time chief of staff to Rep. Dick Gephardt, D-Mo.

The highest-profile appointment — at least to Washington insiders — is Tony Podesta, who will be Kerry's Pennsylvania director. Podesta, the older broyther of former Clinton chief of staff John Podesta, played a similar role in the 1996 campaign for President Clinton. He is currently a partner in the lobbying firm PodestaMattoon.

Running the Kerry campaign in Michigan will be Donnie Fowler. Fowler worked for the presidential campaign of Wesley Clark until he resigned in an internal struggle. He was national field director of Al Gore's 2000 presidential effort.

The other state director appointments include a broad array of Democratic operatives, seven of whom are minorities. They include Avis Lavelle for Illinois, Tony Wilson in Missouri, Rodney Capel in New York and Rodney Shelton in Arkansas. Also named were Sky Gallegos, the former national political director for John Edwards' presidential bid, to run California; and Moses Mercado, former Gephardt deputy chief of staff, for New Mexico. Sam Rodriguez will be in Oregon.

Also moving over to the Kerry campaign is DNC Communications Director Debra DeShong.

Republicans Find Hesitancy on the 527 Front: 527s, the political groups created in the wake of McCain-Feingold to enable the raising and spending of unlimited amounts of so-called soft money have enabled the Democrats to spend millions on ads to supplement the Kerry campaign. The GOP, which has a huge advantage in hard money, tried to get the FEC to close the loophole and then decided to fight fire with fire and create their own.

But, the Washington Post reports, "Republican operatives attempting to compete with Democratic groups for large sums of unregulated presidential campaign funds have run into a number of roadblocks, including reluctance on the part of many corporations to contribute to new independent groups."

And one of the first and most prominent Republican 527s, Progress for America, has failed to land as its chief James Francis Jr., a prominent Bush supporter and major GOP fundraiser. "Francis ran the Bush 2000 campaign's "Pioneer" program, which produced 246 men and women who each raised at least $100,000. PFA organizers sought out Francis because his close ties to the administration would have lent enormous clout and prestige. "It gets down to, 'What does it look like?' And it might not look like I was independent," Francis said, adding that he could have complied with laws requiring total separation from the Bush campaign, but critics would still have raised questions.

Pro-Democratic 527 organizations have raised at least $106.6 million, according to PoliticalMoneyLine, three times the $33.6 million raised by pro-Republican groups in this election cycle.

Last week, one of the Republican 527s, Leadership Forum, began promoting its ties to House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois and Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania. Both Hastert and Santorum are slated to appear at fundraising events for Leadership Forum, something that could be contradictory to a 2002 FEC ruling that warned lawmakers from working closely with 527s.

The Post reported that in November 2002, campaign finance watchdog groups filed complaints against the Leadership Forum and other 527s. The groups alleged that the Leadership Forum was created by the Republican House leadership and that its seed money was a $1 million gift from the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Still, a Hastert spokesman said his boss' participation was above board. "His participation in this event has been thoroughly vetted by our lawyers and is well within the law and the spirit of the law," John Feehery said.

Virginia Congressman Gets Verdict from Voters: Democratic Rep. Jim Moran is facing opposition in Virginia's 8th District primary for the first time in his congressional career. Moran's opponent, Andrew M. Rosenberg, an Alexandria lobbyist, has gained momentum in the polls in part because of a controversial accusation made against Moran by one of his own people. Alan Secrest, Moran's campaign pollster and strategist for nearly two decades, resigned in late May, accusing Moran of making an anti-Semitic remark three months ago during a campaign meeting.

The three other people in the meeting, including Howard Dean's former campaign manager, Joe Trippi, said that they did not hear Moran say anything objectionable. The story was first reported late last week and has dogged Moran in the final weekend of the campaign.

Said Secrest, "[Moran] should be ashamed of himself. This comment not only fit the pattern of his prior comments, it fits well within a pattern of increasingly erratic behavior," reports The New York Times. Secrest refused to tell reporters what he claims Moran said.

This is not the first time the congressman has come under fire for questionable behavior. Moran was accused of making anti-Semitic remarks last year at a public forum where he suggested that "the strong support of the Jewish community" was a main reason for America invading Iraq. A staunch opponent of the war, the congressman contends that comment was taken out of context and he has refuted Secrest's claims. During an argument on the House floor over Operation Desert Storm, Moran shoved Republican Randy Cunningham of California. When Marion Barry was mayor of Washington, D.C., Moran challenged the mayor to a boxing match for charity.

Moran told reporters during a campaign stop at a Metro station Monday afternoon, "I'm very much concerned about all this. ... It's probably cost me backing of 20 to 30 percent, conceivably. Maybe it's time to think about a defamation-of-character suit. The problem is, if I win the election, I don't have a strong enough case. If I lose, what difference does it make? ... At the age of 59, I never thought I'd feel naïve about politics. I've been hit with a lot of dirty tricks, but this is the worst ever."

Although Rosenberg has not directly addressed the controversy, his campaign manager, Rick Ally, did say that "this race is not about great differences in policy. ... This is about leadership and damaged goods and who can effectively lead this community," reports the Times.

The Times says Moran is still expected to win the Tuesday primary, after which he will face Republican Lisa Marie Cheney, a distant relative of Vice President Dick Cheney, in the November election.

Will Feingold's Ads Help Him Morph From Second Term To A Third?: Morphing has been used for a while in political ads by candidates who want to turn their opponents into unpopular figures. But, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., may be the first to use the technique on himself. This week, he begins an ad showing the senator transmogrifying in to three "average" Wisconsin voters during the middle of a committee hearing.

The ad is designed to show the senator, "acting as the vehicle through which Wisconsin's ideas are represented in the U.S. Senate." It depicts him transforming into a Wisconsin man urging the Senate to fight against unfair trade agreements, an African American mother concerned about health care costs and another man asking the committee to "protect our country, without sacrificing our rights."

Feingold is known for offbeat advertising, as when, in 1992, he claimed Elvis Presley's endorsement. Even so Feingold admits, "when I was first told I was going to 'morph' into people, I kind of looked at him," referring to longtime collaborator and advertising executive Steve Eichenbaum.

Of Feingold's Republican challengers, only car dealer Russ Darrow and construction executive Tim Michels have purchased any radio or television advertising. Darrow's campaign has produced an ad showing a shadowy image of Feingold distracted by the siren call of publicity for the well-known campaign finance legislation bearing his name.

Quote of the Day: "This slash-and-burn politics has gotten us to the point that it is causing gridlock in America." -- Florida Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson criticizing the statement of former VP Al Gore, who referred to the Democratic Miami Mayor Alex Penelas as "the single most treacherous and dishonest person I dealt with during the campaign anywhere in America." (AP)