*SPOILS OF VICTORY: Federal courts drew the current congressional districts in Colorado and Texas after the 2000 census when legislatures in those states deadlocked over gerrymandering. In the 2002 elections, however, Republicans gained complete control of the legislatures in both states, and they plan to exercise their legislative prerogative with a new round of redistricting. This could lead to a bigger GOP House majority in 2005.
In Colorado, Republicans hope to shore up the district of Rep. Bob Beauprez (R.), who won last November by fewer than 200 votes. But in Texas, where Democrats hold a 17-to-15 advantage in the state’s congressional delegation, Republicans are pondering a plan that could win as many as 23 seats for the GOP. One big obstacle: Republicans need the support of some Democrats in the state senate to bring the issue to a vote. They hope to lure some Hispanic Democrats to their side by agreeing to carve out some Latino-dominated districts.
*GRANITE STATE STATUS: A survey of likely voters conducted April 27 to May 1, found former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry in a dead heat in the race for New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation Democratic presidential primary.
The poll put support for Dean and Kerry at 23%. They were followed by Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, 9% and Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt, 8%. Florida Sen. Bob Graham, former Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun, North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich all polled 1%. The Rev. Al Sharpton trailed the field with the support of 0% of New Hampshire Democrats.
*NO FAVORITE SON: In an interview with WRAL TV May 1, former Sen. Jesse Helms (R.-N.C.) surprised no one by indicating he would not support the presidential bid of Democratic Sen. John Edwards, a fellow North Carolinian. "Well, the funny papers have a lot of jokes in it. Maybe this will be one of them one of these days," conservative stalwart Helms said of the Edwards campaign. "He’s got about as much chance of being President as he does having the full respect of the people of North Carolina."
*MORE MONEY TROUBLE: Meanwhile, The Hill newspaper in Washington, reports that trial lawyer Edwards’ "presidential campaign finance documents show a pattern of giving by low-level employees at law firms, a number of whom appear to have limited financial resources and no prior record of political donations." Edwards returned contributions from employees of an Arkansas law firm after the Washington Post reported that a receptionist at the firm said she expected to be reimbursed by her boss for her contribution. It is illegal to reimburse someone for making a contribution to a federal election campaign.
*A GREEN HAWK? At the first Democratic presidential debate, held in South Carolina on May 3, Lieberman tried to pose as a hawk on defense and foreign policy issues. But just two days before, Lieberman had pandered to environmentalists by coming out against a Pentagon request for relief from environmental laws that restrict military training (see HUMAN EVENTS, May 5 and Feb. 24). "All who care about public health and our water, air, and land should stand against this offensive effort to leave our environment defenseless," said Lieberman, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "We should reject this effort to dress up a dangerous environmental rollback in national security camouflage."
*GEPHARDT’S GAS: Having first announced a radical nationalized health care plan that would force all employers to buy health insurance for their workers-and would be paid for, in part, by repealing the 2001 tax cut-Gephardt is now promising to meet the nation’s growing energy demands by forcing Americans to use "renewable" energy sources.
"I oppose both the House and Senate energy bills because I believe we can achieve true energy independence without reversing 30 years of progress in protecting our environment," Gephardt said May 7. "President Bush and the Republican Party believe they can simply drill their way out of our energy crisis," he said. "As President, I will launch an ‘Apollo Project’ to develop environmentally smart, renewable energy solutions to make our nation energy independent by the end of the decade. I want to create incentives to shift automobile production in this country from gasoline-powered cars to hybrid vehicles and those powered by hydrogen fuel cells."
*GO NUCLEAR: Senate Republicans are considering what they call "the nuclear option" to stop the Democratic filibustering of federal judicial nominations. As Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R.-Tenn.) confirmed on the Sean Hannity Show last week, the Senate could determine by a simple majority that nominations are not "legislative" items and therefore are not subject to filibusters under Senate parliamentary rules. Senate insiders say the GOP is only worried about one potential defector on the parliamentary vote: liberal Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R.-R.I.).
*EDDIE READY: Betting was strong last week that Republican National Committee Chairman Marc Racicot would soon leave that job to begin organizing President Bush’s re-election campaign. Although some have long suspected that Deputy Chairman Jack Oliver, a Karl Rove intimate, would inherit Racicot’s job, speculation now focuses on another Rove-man: lobbyist Ed Gillespie, a former Bush campaign operative and longtime top aide to former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R.-Tex.).
*FAMILY AFFAIR? Although there was some talk that EPA Director Christine Todd Whitman would be given the vacant ambassadorship to Hungary, State Department watchers are now betting that post will go to someone even closer to President Bush: his cousin, St. Louis businessman George Herbert Walker. In 1992, Walker, a moderate Republican, sought a Republican U.S. House nomination with campaign assistance from George W., but he lost the primary to Jim Talent, who was elected to the House, and who is now the junior senator from Missouri.
