Washington Wrap

Dotty Lynch, Douglas Kiker, Steve Chaggaris, Clothilde Ewing, Nicola Corless, Smita Kalokhe and Joanna Schubert of The CBS News Political Unit have the latest from the nation's capital.

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After Howard Dean blasted his successful second quarter figures of $7.5 million the other campaigns have quietly admitted falling short of that figure. But staffers for the other campaigns were willing to leak "on the condition of anonymity" to the AP, how much they had in the bank, numbers which in many cases exceeded Dean's cash on hand.

A Kerry official says they have about $11 million in the bank, including $2.6 million from Kerry's Senate campaign account; an Edwards official says they have about $8.5 million on hand, none of which is from his Senate account; a Gephardt official says they have close to $7 million of disposable cash, $2.4 million from his congressional campaign account.

Dean, the Internet wonder-boy, has approximately $6 million cash on hand putting him in fourth place, with Lieberman and Graham picking up the rear with $4 million and $1.5 million in the bank, respectively.

Despite his fourth-place position, Dean's campaign manager says Dean is going to continue to ride the tide and will expand his campaign beyond Iowa and New Hampshire into Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma at least a month ahead of schedule, according to the Boston Globe.

We're Done: Leaders of the campaign to overthrow California Gov. Gray Davis claim they have 1.2 million signatures, a number they consider more than enough to force a historic recall election. Monday, organizers called an end to the signature drive in hopes of getting the petitions validated by state officials in time for a special election this fall, the Los Angeles Times reports.

"We're done," Dave Gilliard, director of the pro-recall group Rescue California. "Today we have been calling everyone in from the field." But, Democrats who have watched the recall groups report large numbers in the past wonder why the campaign leaders are so confident. "The fact that they're stopping is curious," Democratic consultant Darry Sragow told the Times. "This is a business where the count is very unforgiving and there can be endless legal challenges."

Rescue California says it plans to turn in 1.2 million signatures by Friday with an additional 200,000 from other anti-Davis groups. Then, the petitions will await validation by county officials. If they have the required 897,158 signatures, then Secretary of State Kevin Shelley will make sure the campaign meets all legal requirements. If the recall passes that test, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante will announce a recall election either in the fall or in March.

The recall effort is bucking historical tides since the 31 prior attempts to oust a California governor failed to reach the ballot. Out of the 117 attempts to recall a state lawmaker, seven have made it to the ballot, and only four succeeded. Even so, the recall has put some excitement into politics. Democrats are bemoaning the destabilizing effect of a recall but political reporters are chomping at the bit to get out to California. "One gets the gut feeling this could be more fun than, say, the Lieberman campaign," Mark Leibovich writes in the Washington Post, of a potential run by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Kucinich Wants To Keep His Day Job: In an announcement Monday, Rep. Dennis Kucinich declared that he would not relinquish his seat in the House. The AP reports that the Democratic presidential candidate intends to run for reelection and election at the same time as he seeks the Democratic nomination for President.

Kucinich told reporters that he expects to file the necessary papers to meet the Jan. 4 deadline for reelection. "At present, that's my plan," said the Ohio Congressman. Although he narrowly prevailed in 1996 to win the House seat, since then, Kucinich has gained strong support within his district. In three subsequent elections, he has won reelection with 30 percent to 50 percent margins over his Republican contenders.

Similar decisions are not so simple for other presidential candidates. Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., and Bob Graham, D-Fla., are still struggling with the re-election decision. Graham has told other Florida Democrats that they should look to get into the race but he has not been categorical about not running and Edwards is taking some heat for not making his intentions clear. The other senators in the race, John Kerry, D-Mass., and Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., are not up in 2004 and Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri announced in January that he would leave the House after this term.

Making More Time For Business: Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., has set an ambitious agenda before he and his colleagues leave for summer vacation in August. And while some may doubt he'll get all that work done in four weeks, Frist has promised to break tradition and make everyone work overtime to accomplish his goals.

Monday, Frist suggested he's going to schedule late-night sessions as well as return to a five-day work week on the floor. Senators should expect a "very, very busy legislative session" with "full days" Monday through Friday until they break the first week in August, reports CQ Today. In fact, Roll Call reports Frist has asked senators to keep their vacation plans flexible just in case they need to work the weekend prior to their Aug. 4 break.

According to Senate historian Donald Ritchie, Frist is putting together a much tougher schedule than his predecessors, who usually campaigned for the majority leader slot with promises of adjournment before dinner and four-day weekends. However, since Frist ascended to the position under different circumstances than most – in the wake of the Trent Lott resignation – he never made those kinds of promises.

Frist "has been reverting to a lot tougher standards," Ritchie said. "His motto is to get the agenda done."

Just because he's talking tough doesn't mean this will sit well with senators who enjoy those long weekends to fly home to their states and conduct business there. On top of that, some senators openly doubt whether Frist's agenda, which among other things, includes several appropriations bills, the energy bill, judicial nominations, medical malpractice and Medicare reform is even possible in the next four weeks.

Frist's predecessor as GOP leader has taken a look at all of this and is second-guessing him. "I've seen the list of items, and it's just not achievable," Lott, R-Miss, told Roll Call. "I told [Frist] he needs to be able to go ahead and tell somebody that he's not going to be able to do it all."

Quote of the Day: "It's all we talked about all week. How can we get to the people who are energized by Dean? How can we get them over to our site?" Debra DeShong, communications director at the Democratic National Committee (Washington Post)