Tuesday’s political round-up

June 28, 2005

Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers:

* Just a couple of weeks after Rep. Katherine Harris (R-Fla.) announced her Senate campaign, GOP officials seem to be underwhelmed — and looking for an alternative. State House Speaker Allan Bense (R) was in DC yesterday to meet with top Republican leaders, many of whom are anxious to recruit Bense into the race. Bense met with White House deputy of chief of staff Karl Rove and National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairwoman Elizabeth Dole (N.C.), among others. What’s more, an NRSC spokesman would not rule out the possibility that the committee could take sides in the Florida primary.

* Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack (D), whose second term ends next year, will become chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council next month. Vilsack will succeed Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh, who has been chairman since 2001. Hillary Clinton will reportedly take on a key policy-making role at the DLC after Vilsack takes the reigns.

* Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) explained her decision to run for re-election to the Senate, instead of running for governor, yesterday, noting that she believes she could have beaten Gov. Rick Perry in a GOP primary, but preferred to stay where she is. Hutchison is in line to rise to the No. 3 position in the GOP Senate leadership after next year’s elections. She had previously promised voters she’d only serve two terms, but said yesterday that she no longer believes that pledge was in Texas’ interests.

* With Dino Rossi (R) insisting that he will not challenge freshman Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) next year, three would-be Republican Senate candidates are testing the waters in Washington state. Among those eyeing the race are Safeco chief executive Mike McGavick, former Rep. Rick White, and National Republican Committeewoman Diane Tebelius

* Vermont Senate President Pro Tem Peter Welch (D) will announce today that he will seek the U.S. House seat being vacated by Rep. Bernie Sanders (I), who is running for the Senate. State Sen. Matt Dunne (D), who had already started campaigning, said he will leave the race, in deference to Welch. Former Vermont Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin (D), however, will take on Welch in what he calls a “spirited primary.”

I may be proved wrong in the future, but at the moment Dino Rossi seems to have no credibility with anyone. He went into the election with a great of credibility, especially in comparison with the nutcases the Republicans have come up over the last decade (the state party was basically taken over by religious whackos). But he lost it with his haughty post-election demands that Gregoire concede (the law required a maachine recount, and she had a perfect legal right to demand a subsequent hand recount), then the silly court fights resulting when he refused to concede her narrow victory – silly because his chief argument rested on the assumption that all the illegal felons’ votes went to Gregoire (who is both a woman and a former prosecutor).

  • As a Democrat, Hutchinson scares me on the national ticket. Anyone else feel that way?

  • …Hutchinson scares me on the national ticket. Anyone else feel that way?

    It’s funny you should mention that. There are all kinds of rumors that Hutchison is letting establishment types know that she wants to be strongly considered for ’08 VP.

    I agree; she’d be a serious player.

  • It’s funny you should mention that. There are all kinds of rumors that Hutchison is letting establishment types know that she wants to be strongly considered for ’08 VP.

    a) wouldn’t a stint as Governor be better for a VP slot?

    b) the only way the GOP will put a women on the ticket in ’08 is if the Dems have a woman on the ticket.

    Sadly, we are just not there yet as a society. It’s actually quite astonishing to me that we handicap ourselves so in this regard.

  • Hutchison may be a serious player, but not because she’s a serious individual. Vapid, in a word– but that’s never stopped the Republicans when it comes to VP choices.

  • A short note about VT State Senator Matt Dunne: I went to college with him and have watched his career from afar with growing admiration. Matt was recruited as basically a sacrificial candidate against a seeming Republican lifer in the Vermont House, soon after he graduated in 1992. Through incredibly hard work and his personal appeal, he beat the Republican, and later moved on to increasing prominence in the VT State Senate. I suppose it’s a smart play for him to step aside in the U.S. House race for a more senior colleague, but Matt is exactly the kind of guy we Democrats need to start sending to Washington: young, energetic, empathetic, funny and policy-knowledgeable. Given the small number of high-profile positions in Vermont, I don’t know where he’ll look to make his mark, but for now, Vermont’s gain is the loss of national Democrats.

  • A short note about VT State Senator Matt Dunne…

    Let me second jeffstoned’s praise for Dunne. I’ve had the chance to meet Dunne a couple of times and found him to be genuine, personable, and bright. The guy’s a natural. Talk of him being a “rising star” is well deserved.

    2006 may not be Dunne’s cycle, but I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see him replace Welch as the Dem leader in the State Senate, which could position him nicely for a run for governor — which in Vermont, happens every other year.

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