Rove was
listed for such a money-raising reception Friday (Oct. 14) in
New York City, the same day he was to testify for the fourth time
to a federal grand jury. Rove was scheduled for an RNC fund-raiser
Monday (Oct. 17) in Greenwich, Conn. Earlier, he appeared at such
events in Lexington, Ky., and Indianapolis on Sept. 26.
A footnote:
President Bush is scheduled to raise money at a reception and
dinner in Los Angeles Thursday (Oct. 20). That ignores the request
by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that the president stay out of California
prior to the Nov. 8 election on several propositions favored by
the governor.
Starr's
Choice
In choosing
Kenneth Starr to vouch for the social conservative credentials
of Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers, Dr. James Dobson picked
a man who 24 years ago as a Justice Department official did the
same for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
Former Whitewater
prosecutor Starr, now law school dean of Pepperdine University,
appeared on conservative activist Dobson's radio program Wednesday.
Starr called Miers "a very, very strong Christian [who] should
be a source of great comfort and assistance to people in the households
of faith around the country." In 1981, Starr advised President
Ronald Reagan of O'Connor's pro-life stance and ignored her pro-choice
record in the Arizona Senate.
The talk
with Starr on Wednesday's program was overshadowed by a long segment
in which Dobson denied receiving inside information from the White
House about where Miers stands on Roe v. Wade.
McCain's
Influence
The 90 to
9 Senate vote Oct. 5 adopting Sen. John McCain's amendment prohibiting
harsh treatment of captured enemy combatants followed a closed-door
conference of Republican senators who heard emotional pleas for
the defeat of the administration-opposed proposal.
Sen. Ted
Stevens, president pro tem of the Senate and a longtime supporter
of the military, delivered an impassioned address against the
McCain amendment. He was followed by Sen. Pat Roberts, chairman
of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and several other senators
making the same points.
Later that
day, however, the Senate voted overwhelmingly for the McCain amendment,
with all members of the Republican leadership in support. That
reinforced a growing belief that McCain today is the most influential
senator.
Republican
Switchers
House rules
have officially shielded the identity of several House Republicans
who switched their positions to permit passage of the energy bill
Oct. 7 after a prolonged delay in announcing the vote total.
Republican
leaders kept open the voting for around 45 minutes to pass the
bill by a single vote against blanket Democratic opposition, but
it was technically a "five-minute" vote. That meant
members could use their electronic badges to change their vote
without it being recorded in the congressional record.
House Democratic
Whip Steny Hoyer later identified two of the secret switchers
as Wayne Gilchrest of Maryland and Jim Gerlach of Pennsylvania.
Also named as switching was Bill Young of Florida, former Appropriations
Committee chairman.
Vulnerable
in Virginia
An internal
memo by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) staff
suggests that Sen. George Allen, a leading 2008 Republican presidential
prospect, would have been vulnerable for next year's Senate re-election
from Virginia if Democratic Gov. Mark Warner had run against him.
The memo
defends the widely criticized recruitment of Senate candidates
for the current cycle by Sen. Elizabeth Dole as NRSC chairman,
calling her performance "superb." Citing "the Democrats'
miss in Virginia," it asks: "Is that not as big as our
miss in North Dakota?"
Dole failed
in an aggressive effort to get North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven to
run for the Senate as the only realistic chance to defeat Democratic
Sen. Kent Conrad.
