Washington Wrap
Dotty Lynch, Douglas Kiker, Steve Chaggaris and Clothilde Ewing of The CBS News Political Unit have the latest from the nation's capital.
Raising The Bar: Once again, Howard Dean's campaign in upping the ante and acting like the frontrunner. After raising an impressive $7.6 million in the second quarter, which ended June 30, the Dean campaign says it never lost momentum and has continued to come up with fundraising tactics and activities that just might pay off.
According to the AP, Dean's campaign manager Joe Trippi is confident they can blow the second-quarter figures out of the water. "Based on what's coming in at events and online, we now believe we're on pace to set a goal of $10.3 million," he said.
The campaign is also ready to shed out around $1 million on television ads slated to run in Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Washington State and Wisconsin on Friday. The ad, set to run for two weeks, will take aim at President Bush's tax cut, the invasion of Iraq and, true to Dean's combative style, the Democrats who supported it.
"I opposed the war with Iraq when too many Democrats supported it because I want a foreign policy consistent with American values," Dean says in the ad.
Recent polls show Dean leading in Iowa and New Hampshire, sites of the first primary and caucuses, but the front-loaded nomination process for 2004 won't
allow candidates to ignore states such as New Mexico, which voted June 6 in 2000, but will vote on Feb. 3 this time around. South Carolina, Arizona and Oklahoma will also hold primaries on Feb.3, while Washington State holds caucuses Feb. 7 and Wisconsin has its primary on Feb. 17.
The Torch Burns On: The New York Times reports that 11 months after he was forced to drop his re-election bid for the U.S. Senate, Bob Torricelli has emerged as a "significant behind-the-scenes player in New Jersey politics with influence in major government contracts, the governor's office and multi-million dollar business deals."
The Times says Torricelli has been assigned – by a federal judge who owes his job to a recommendation from the Torch - as special master of an environmental cleanup site in Jersey City. The gig pays Torricelli an estimated $500,000 a year. In addition, New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey's staff is jam-packed with former Torricelli aides, with whom the former senator is in close contact.
In addition, Torricelli has been involved in a variety of business deals important to the state, including pushing Sen. Jon Corzine's bid to buy the New Jersey Nets. Torricelli also has been involved in several real estate deals since leaving office and is an adviser to large companies, including insurance giant Cigna and development companies Matrix and Mills Corp., on the ins and outs of Jersey politics.
Torricelli was forced to drop his re-election bid last fall after the Senate Ethics Committee "severely admonished" him for accepting illegal gratuities from supporters.
"Bob is back," former New Jersey Democratic Party Executive Director Richard Thigpen told The Times. "His name is coming up frequently, and most people recognize that Bob once again has considerable influence on politics in New Jersey. There are still some issues he brings with him regarding his departure from the Senate, but he has a track record in terms of being a power player, and he knows where the money is in New Jersey."
McGreevey's staff directory looks remarkably like Torricelli's Senate staff directory. The Times reports that the governor's chief of staff, James Fox, worked for Torch for 20 years. The governor's counselor, Eric Shuffler, was Torricelli's longtime chief of staff. The powerful head of the Port Authority, Turnpike Authority and 40 other quasi-government agencies, Paul Fader, is Torricelli's former driver.
Perhaps most remarkable about Torricelli's influence in McGreevey's office is the fact that Torricelli tried to challenge McGreevey for his job three years ago, an effort that was blocked by county leaders, many of whom are still livid about the intra-party spat.
McGreevey's office says Torricelli – despite bragging to a newspaper this summer that he speaks to someone from the governor's top staff every day – has no special influence.
Torricelli's political resurrection shouldn't shock anyone, says the University of Virginia's Larry Sabato.
"In New Jersey, there's so much political corruption that the culture is very tolerant. In Oregon, Torricelli would be finished. But in New Jersey, there's no telling where he might end up."
That might explain why, as The Times reports, Torch has even been discussing running for office again someday.
Pie, Nomar And John Kerry: You gotta love the Web! This presidential season, the Democratic candidates are relying heavily on the interactivity of the Internet to get folks from Iowa and New Hampshire involved in their campaigns.
For instance, Rep. Dick Gephardt has announced "The Great Gephardt Iowa Pie Challenge," in which he's calling "on Iowans to help him find the tastiest, flakiest, fruitiest, creamiest, most scrumptious slices of pie in Iowa."
Head to his Web site and you can follow along with Gephardt's "Pie Chart" showing where the candidate has eaten pie around Iowa. You can also "join the fun" by telling "Dick where you think he should go for his next slice of pie." Other ways to take part include sending in pie recipes or even volunteering for the Gephardt campaign and having some pie. Seriously.
Sen. Joe Lieberman is challenging New Hampshire residents to "See Joe's Car & Go See Nomar!"
The campaign sending two JoeMobiles (a red, white and blue "Joe 2004" PT Cruiser and Dodge Intrepid) around the state between August 25 and 30 "to spread the good word about Joe in every corner of the state." Any Granite Stater who sees one of the cars can enter to win two tickets to see Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra and his team play the Chicago White Sox at Fenway Park in Boston on Sept. 14. The campaign is asking entrants to e-mail the campaign or call Lieberman's N.H. headquarters and say, "I saw the car and love Nomar" (or as most residents of New Hampshire would say: "I saw the cahhh and love Nomahhh.")
Meantime, Sen. John Kerry's campaign Web site is offering "a day of campaigning" with the candidate. The contest description is a bit short on details but it does say the lucky winner will get to spend a day in Iowa or New Hampshire with Kerry and will receive "roundtrip transportation, food and accommodations." But beware to all of those who don't participate in the political process: "Participants must be registered voters in order to play."
Quote of the Day: "It's like one newspaper pointed out, Bustamante is Gray Davis with a receding hairline and a mustache. It's the same person. Same philosophy." – Arnold Schwarzenegger on the Democratic side of the gubernatorial fight. (San Jose Mercury News)