POLITICS

Hotline Extra

by Maura O’Brien

Sat. Apr. 26, 2008


I Second That Emotion

Republican Ken Bennett announced this week that, for the second time, he has decided against launching a bid for the seat of Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz., raising new questions about the GOP’s ability to hold the district in November. “It was a tough decision,” said Bennett, a former state senator, adding that he was “humbled and touched” by those who had encouraged him to reconsider a race.

Bennett initially contemplated a congressional run last fall, when Renzi decided he would not seek re-election. Renzi has since been indicted on 35 counts of corruption, and earlier this month, Bennett agreed to give the race another look at the request of Reps. John Shadegg and Jeff Flake, both R-Ariz.; GOP donor Jim Click; and others.

In the end, however, Bennett decided he couldn’t walk away from his business interests, having been named CEO of GeoBio Energy, an alternative-fuel firm, just last month. “I could not bring myself to give up the one to go after the other,” he said. “A big part of my heart would love to have done it.”

Bennett is the latest in a string of prominent Republicans to consider running for Renzi’s seat, only to decide against it. “Ken Bennett is the eighth Arizona Republican to recognize that national Republicans don’t have the resources to compete in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District,” said Yoni Cohen, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

But Arizona GOP spokesman Tony Reinhard argued that much of the Democrats’ money advantage—the DCCC has $44.3 million in the bank, compared with just $7.1 for the National Republican Congressional Committee—will go toward defending seats won in 2006, including those of freshman Reps. Harry Mitchell and Gabrielle Giffords, both D-Ariz.

“Money helps, but money doesn’t win races,” Reinhard said. “It’s a conservative district. We’re incredibly confident that whoever our nominee is will go on to win the seat in November.” (Arizona Republic, Phoenix, 4/22)

Ted’s Excellent Adventure

Although Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, has held his seat for nearly 40 years, Democrats believe that the 2007 raid on his home by the FBI and Internal Revenue Service may have tarnished his legacy enough to make him vulnerable this fall. Federal authorities are reviewing the remodeling of Stevens’s residence in Girdwood, a resort town south of Anchorage. A former oil executive has testified in a federal corruption trial that he sent company employees to work on the house, but Stevens has not been charged.

Mark Begich, the Democratic mayor of Anchorage and son of the late Rep. Nick Begich, D-Alaska, announced this week that he would challenge Stevens in November, declaring that the state needs a senator who doesn’t answer to special interests. “We’ve seen here in Alaska the ultimate result of unfettered greed—grainy videotapes of state legislators in hotel rooms laughing at the citizens of our great state,” Begich said in his announcement speech. “And we’ve seen in Washington the ultimate result of special influence and legislative indifference.” (Anchorage Daily News, Alaska, 4/22)

Begich had been considering taking on Stevens since last fall, and he made several trips in recent months to Washington, where he was courted heavily by party heavyweights, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. (Associated Press, 4/21)

In a statement released on April 20, Stevens said, “I continue to call on Mark and all the other candidates for U.S. Senate to renounce the politics of personal attacks.” And in an April 21 interview, Stevens said he was too busy doing his job as senator to address Begich’s candidacy. “I’m not going to get in any debate with Mark Begich right now,” Stevens said. (Anchorage Daily News, Alaska, 4/22)

Young at Heart

In other potentially troubling developments for the Alaska delegation, old billing records from two of Jack Abramoff’s lobbying firms have surfaced, revealing that his team had more than 120 contacts with Republican Rep. Don Young’s personal and committee staffs over a period of 25 months, including at least 10 contacts with Young himself.

The available records cover a single Abramoff client, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, which Young oversaw as chairman of the House Resources Committee from 1995 to 2000. The documents show that at the time, one of the greatest concerns for Abramoff and his team was a bill introduced by then-Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, to reform labor and immigration practices feeding the Northern Marianas’ notorious Chinese-owned sweatshops. In 2000, the Senate passed Murkowski’s bill unanimously, but Young refused to hold a hearing in his committee, essentially stopping the legislation in its tracks.

Although Young has denied taking any action as a favor to Abramoff, the connections between the two men have deepened as more information has surfaced in the lobbying scandal. Among the most recent revelations was a private memo written by Abramoff to the governor of the Mariana Islands, expressing concern that term limits were forcing Young to give up his committee chairmanship in 2001. “The loss of Chairman Young’s authority cannot easily be measured—or replaced,” Abramoff wrote on January 4, 2001. “We have lost major institutional memory and friendship.” (Anchorage Daily News, Alaska, 4/20)

You Say You Want a Revolution

Although John McCain has clinched the Republican presidential nomination, someone may have forgotten to tell Ron Paul’s supporters—1,000 of whom gathered to hear him speak at the University of Montana on April 21.

“It sounds like the revolution is alive and well in Montana,” Paul said to raucous applause. “I’ve talked to a few people in the media, and they’ve asked me several times the same question: ‘What is it about the people of Montana that likes what you’ve been saying?’ Well, maybe they love liberty in Montana.” (Great Falls Tribune, Missoula, Mont., 4/22)

It appears that Montana isn’t the only state where the “Ron Paul Revolution” is alive and well. In Missouri’s 5th District last weekend, Paul supporters won all three available national convention seats. They are still expected to vote for McCain on the first ballot, but they expressed hope that they could force the national party to more closely reflect Paul’s libertarian views. (Kansas City Star, Mo., 4/19)

Meanwhile, in Oklahoma—a state in which Paul did not win a single primary delegate—his supporters have won five of the 15 national delegate spots already selected at the state’s congressional district conventions, according to Oklahoma GOP Chairman Gary Jones. Paul enthusiasts have also won several of the 15 alternate spots selected at the conventions. “They appear to be Ron Paul supporters,” Jones said. “[But] they haven’t publicly said they are.” (Daily Oklahoman, Oklahoma City, Okla., 4/20)

Quotables

“I’m going until we get Florida and Michigan resolved.” —Hillary Rodham Clinton, on staying in the Democratic presidential race (Larry King Live, CNN, 4/21)

“Hold on a second. Now, if anybody thinks that I’ll lose New York or California in the general election, there’s no chance of that happening.” —Barack Obama, when asked why he hasn’t been able to deliver the big, diverse states (Today, NBC, 4/22)

“Whatcha gonna do when John McCain and all his McCainiacs run wild on you?” —John McCain, borrowing Hulk Hogan’s favorite taunt in a message recorded for wrestling fans (Daily News, New York City, 4/22)

“Afterward, Bush said, ‘I like this show, because randomly pointing at boxes is how I make decisions, too.’ ” —comedian Conan O’Brien, on President Bush’s appearance on Deal or No Deal (Late Night, NBC, 4/21)

The author is a senior writer with The Hotline, National Journal Group’s daily briefing on politics.