Wednesday’s political round-up

June 8, 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:

* Rep. Katherine Harris (R-Fla.) announced yesterday that she will run the Senate next year, taking on incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson (D). If today’s news about her campaign is any indication, her role in “helping” Bush win the presidential election in 2000 will dominate the race.

* With Harris giving up her House seat, the race to replace her is on. Former Sarasota County Republican Chairman Tramm Hudson is getting some early support from GOP leaders.

* As expected, Democratic Sen. Jon Corzine and Republican businessman Doug Forrester won their respective primaries in the New Jersey governor’s race yesterday. Forrester ended up with 36%, beating former Jersey City Mayor Bret Schundler, who had 31%. Corzine faced miminal opposition and won 88% of the support of Dem primary voters.

* Arkansas Attorney General Mike Beebe (D) said yesterday that he will run for governor next year and will make a formal announcement during a statewide tour next week.

* Rumor has it that former Rep. Tim Roemer (D-Ind.), after high-profile stints on the 9/11 Commission and the DNC chairmanship’s race, is seriously considering a campaign against Sen. Richard Lugar (R) next year. Despite the fact that Lugar is considered one of Indiana’s most popular figures, Roemer has apparently seen an internal poll showing him within a couple of points in a hypothetical match-up.

* Baltimore Health Commissioner Dr. Peter Beilenson (D) announced this week that he’s planning to run for Congress in Rep. Ben Cardin’s (D) district. Cardin is running for the Senate.

* Speaking of filling House vacancies, John Hanson, Rep. Tom Osborne’s (R-Neb.) senior agricultural adviser and district director, has said he intends to run for his boss’ House seat next year, now that Osborne is running for governor. Hanson will likely face State Sen. Adrian Smith (R) in a GOP primary.

* And speaking of Nebraska, Omaha businessman Dave Nabity this week became the latest Republican to announce a run for governor. He faced an uphill climb — Nabity will face Rep. Tom Osborne and acting Gov. Dave Heineman in a Republican primary, where he’ll be expected to finish third.

As liberal and pro-Dem as I am, I can’t help but feel like losing Lugar would be a big blow to the foreign policy credentials of the Senate. He is one of the leading experts on intelligence, foreign policy, and national security issues, which is also where he focuses his time. A lot of the importance of an elected official is not what he believes on every issue very often, but what issues he/she chooses to focus on (also the difference between say Bush and McCain – both are pro-life, etc. but that would not be a central focus for McCain unless the politics forced him, but I digress). Roemer is not really any more liberal socially than Lugar and he has none of the gravitas of Lugar.

  • Joe,

    I couldn’t disagree more.

    First, to the claim that Roemer isn’t any more socially liberal than Lugar — that’s just plain ridiculous going off the simple facts. Roemer’s got a voting record. Lugar’s got a voting record. Compare their votes. There isn’t any substance to the claim you’ve made.

    Roemer is not socially liberal — he’s well within the mold of a moderate Democrat on social issues.

    As to your statement that the importance of a senator is what he focuses on, and so Lugar brings gravitas and a focus on foreign policy, intelligence, and national security — well, I think Roemer will bring the same focus. In the House, he was the RMM of the Intelligence Committee, and then then parlayed that into a position on the 9/11 Commission which focused on terrorism and foreign policy. As a would-be chairman on intelligence, he brings a lot there, and foreign policy has been important to Roemer in the House and after, on the Commission. Were Roemer to make a campaign, foreign policy and intelligence would clearly be his primary issues.

    So I don’t see your argument as valid. While I respect Lugar as a great institutional senator, that doesn’t mean that he should get a pass on a strategic basis.

  • Sorry Joe, I have to agree with jbryan.

    I would add that Lugar has shown NO inclination to publicly or substantively disagree with BushCo (of course, he is far from unique on that count). What good does it do the Senate as an institution, let alone America, when Lugar caves in on the stinker of a nomination that is Bolton? Or he caves in on the document requests to the Administration?

    Gravitas, if Lugar has any, is being used solely as lipstick on a pig when he toes the Rethug Party line when crunch time comes. The pig is still a pig, because Lugar refuses to call a spade a spade. Now, should the Republican Lugar challenge the Republican President as Goldwater and other Republicans challenged Nixon during Watergate, THEN Joe I might give more credence to your comments. Until then, Lugar, Hagel and all the rest are merely pretenders.

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