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For some reason, we're having trouble shaking the image of a toreador, el toro and a little pas de deux.
While John McCain was focusing on businesswomen in Wisconsin today, Barack Obama made energy the theme in a talk before about 1,300 people at the Stivers School for the Arts in Dayton, Ohio, with our colleague Louise Roug in atten dance.
There wasn't much new in Obama's rhetoric on the subject, but there was one moment that jumped out, and reminded us of earlier speeches in which Obama used the same tactic. It points up a problem facing McCain, who has nurtured an image as a maverick despite spending the last quarter-century -- longer than his military service -- in Congress, first in the House and now in the Senate.
Obama's tactic is to wait for McCain to throw a rock at how Washington works, and the failed policies, and then chain McCain to his own political history. This is how it played out this morning: "Now, a few days ago, Sen. McCain said, and I'm quoting, 'Our dangerous dependence on foreign oil has been 30 years in the making, and was caused by the failure of politicians in Washington to think long-term about the future of the country.' I couldn't agree more. John McCain is exactly right. The only problem is that out of those 30 years of inaction, John McCain was one of the most powerful [men] in Washington for twenty-six of them. And in that time he has achieved little to help reduce our dependence on foreign oil. He voted against raising our fuel mileage standards when it could have made such a difference over the last decades and joined George Bush in opposing legislation twice in the last year that included tax credits for more efficient cars.'
McCain, Obama said, also "voted against alternative sources of energy. Against clean biofuels. Against solar power. Against wind power. Against an energy bill that represented the largest investment in renewable sources of energy in the history of this country."
You get the idea. Obama slides into the rhythm that sets him up for the insertion of the rhetorical blade (which may be what got us conjuring up images of a bullfight): "When John McCain talks about the failure of politicians in Washington to do anything about our energy crisis, understand that John McCain should look in the mirror because he has been a part of that failure."
As we've pointed out before, having a relatively limited voting record can be a good thing in the presidential bullring.
(UPDATE: No campaign utterance comes without pushback, in this case somewhat tangential to the point of the post, Obama's tactic of using McCain's statements to propel a counter-offensive. From McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds: "Barack Obama is the quintessential definition of what's wrong with Washington. Today Barack Obama claimed to be for change, while touting his own vote for the Bush-Cheney energy bill, that's just the type of Washington-style spin and empty rhetoric that John McCain has fought against his whole career.")
-- Scott Martelle
Photo by Cesar Rangel / AFP-Getty Images
This weekend, just a few minutes from where Barack Obama lives, a new challenger will emerge to his White House bid (as well as John McCain's).
The Green Party -- which with Ralph Nader as its standard-bearer played a major role in the 2000  election (and then, with little-known David Cobb as its candidate, had virtually no impact on the 2004 vote) -- opened its national convention today at the ornate Palmer House Hilton in downtown Chicago. On Saturday afternoon, it will choose its nominee for this year's presidential race (with the acceptance speech to follow).
The odds-on favorite to claim the nod is Cynthia McKinney, who represented a Georgia House district for five terms, surprisingly got knocked off in the 2002 primary, reclaimed the seat in 2004 and then lost the primary two years later -- in part because of the furor over a scuffle she had with a Capitol policeman.
If she triumphs in the delegate balloting over three rivals, McKinney would be the first black and the first woman picked for president by the Greens. That's not quite as impressive as what Obama is in line to achieve and what Hillary Clinton came close to -- the party, dedicated to environmentalism and nonviolence, only began running a national ticket in 1996 (with Nader heading it).
In his consequential 2000 showing, Nader won almost 2.9 million votes nationwide and -- Democrats forever will be convinced -- cost Al Gore the White House by siphoning enough support to keep him from carrying Florida and New Hampshire (carrying with one would have won Gore the presidency).
Cobb won all of 119,859 votes four years ago ... and did not affect the outcome in a single state.
Given that McKinney has a degree of national name recognition, she ought to be able to surpass Cobb's total vote. But as of now, it's hard to imagine she'll sway the outcome in a particular state.
-- Don Frederick
Photo credit: Associated Press
Jesse Jackson should have long ago learned the dangers of speaking too bluntly with the media anywhere in sight (or, in the controversy that erupted today, a microphone anywhere near).
Jackson, before this year, laid claim to running the most noteworthy campaigns an African American  had waged for the White House. In the 1988, in fact, he was a major factor in the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination -- he won 11 primaries and caucuses, briefly led in the delegate count in the early spring and was the last challenger standing against the eventual nominee, then-Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis.
The groundwork for this strong showing had been laid by his candidacy four years earlier. But his 1984 campaign remains best remembered for the flap over disparaging comments he made about Jews and New York City.
As recounted in this post on Washingtonpost.com, Jackson "referred to Jews as 'Hymies' and to New York City as 'Hymietown' in January 1984 during a conversation with a black Washington Post reporter, Milton Coleman.
Jackson had assumed the references would not be printed because of his racial bond with Coleman. But several weeks later Coleman permitted the slurs to be included far down in an article by another Post reporter on Jackson's rocky relations with American Jews. A storm of protest erupted ..."
A "storm" of protest hasn't yet greeted the revelation that Jackson -- ostensibly a Barack Obama supporter -- used crude language a few days ago as he waited to appear on Fox News Channel and, in a whispered aside to another guest, expressed his view that the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee has been "talking down to black people."
One very strong protest, however, was issued this evening by Jackson's son, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. of Illinois. The congressman's office e-mailed this statement (complete with three sentences boldfaced): "I'm deeply outraged and disappointed in Reverend Jackson's reckless statements about Senator Barack Obama. His divisive and demeaning comments about the presumptive Democratic nominee -- and I believe the next president of the United States -- contradict his inspiring and courageous career.
"Instead of tearing others down, Barack Obama wants to build the country up and bring people together so that we can move forward, together -- as one nation. The remarks like those uttered on Fox by Revered [sic] Jackson do not advance the campaign's cause of building a more perfect Union.
"Revered [sic] Jackson is my dad and I'll always love him. He should know how hard that I've worked for the last year and a half as a national co-chair of Barack Obama's presidential campaign. So, I thoroughly reject and repudiate his ugly rhetoric. He should keep hope alive and any personal attacks and insults to himself."
On a lighter note, to check out what our friends at The Swamp aptly refer to as a "now-prescient Saturday Night Live cartoon" on an imagined Obama-Jackson-Al Sharpton dynamic, go here.
-- Don Frederick 
Read more Jesse Jackson, embroiled in a new furor, has been here before »
Good thing America's dissatisfied voters took control of Congress away from that other crowd two years ago. Because since the new party took over, congressional approval ratings have plummeted to tie a historical low.
Say what?
Weren't the outs supposed to fix things on Capitol Hill once they became the ins? And controlled all the investigations? And the agenda? And the committees?
A new poll shows that the percentage of voters  who say Congress is doing an excellent or good job has fallen to single digits for the first time in the tracking history of Rasmussen Reports.
Nine percent say that.
Which is down from 11% in May.
Only 3% of independents say Congress is doing a good or excellent job, half the previous month's rating.
A majority of Americans (52%) say House and Senate members are doing a poor job, which ties the record high for that dubious rating.
A whopping 72% believe members of Congress are more interested in furthering their own careers than doing public good. And only 14 of every 100 Americans think senators or representatives are genuinely interested in helping real people.
Not exactly a ringing endorsement of their public service.
The big unanswered question:
If such an overwhelming percentage of voters are so dissatisfied with the congressional work of a Democratic majority they elected just two years ago, a worse rating than even the scandal-plagued Republicans had in 2006, what does this do to the conventional wisdom that 2008 is a year for substantial gains by Democrats in both houses?
Will voters buy the argument that the 2006 majority led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid didn't work. So maybe another one will?
Do GOP members appear so dispirited they don't present a realistic alternative?
Or will dissatisfied voters, for once, turn on incumbents from both parties?
What do you think?
--Andrew Malcolm
By all expectations, Rep. David Dreier shouldn't have a political care in the world. Even in this tough year for Republicans.
First elected in 1980, the GOP congressman has used the power of congressional incumbency to amass a campaign account bulging with $1.85 million. His Democratic foe, Russ Warner, has barely $104,000.
Dreier’s district, which covers parts of Los Angeles Cou nty out to San Bernardino County, was tailor-made to ensure Republican victory.
But a California-based independent campaign group, Courage Campaign, is targeting Dreier, seeking to tie him to President George W. Bush. An ad intended for cable TV, but so far only on the Internet, calls him a “Bush rubber stamp.”
Rick Jacobs, the group’s founder, is seeking to undermine Dreier’s reputation as a political moderate. Convinced that Dreier could lose, he said: “This is going to be a huge change year.”
In an interview Dreier spokeswoman Jo Maney called the ad an “amateurish smear job.”
Political consultant Allan Hoffenblum, who tracks California campaigns in his Target Book, said Dreier should have little to fear: “If Republicans start losing seats like Dreier’s, they’re in deep trouble.”
As of its last report, Courage Campaign had $36,000 in the bank. But its backers include major Democratic donors. Silicon Valley entrepreneur Mark Gorenberg, and Pacific Palisades investor Thomas Unterman each gave him $5,000.
In recent months, Courage Campaign has mounted a vocal campaign to block a training facility in San Diego County developed by Blackwater, the private security firm, and has also criticized Sen. Dianne Feinstein over some of her votes.
--Dan Morain
Photo credit: Office of Rep. David Dreier
Some real sharp arrows in the Republican quiver there in Washington.
GOP members of the House of Representatives, worried over a growing fundraising gap with Democratic members of Congress, commissioned a study to figure out why they had unexpectedly lost three recent special House elections, including the suburban Chicago seat held so long by former speaker R. Dennis Hastert.
One reason: The Democratic candidates got more votes. Check.
A second reason: Customary Republican campaign themes did not resonate with local voters this time. Check.
And third: The candidates could not overcome "the negative perception of the national party" in the three special elections in once-safe Republican districts in Illinois, Mississippi and Louisiana. Ouch.
The report suggested Republican candidates this fall demonstrate "deep empathy towards the voters" and rely more on local issues than national ones. Imagine that, local voters more concerned about local issues than national ones far away.
According to the report by Associated Press Special Correspondent David Espo, GOP members are also worried over fundraising numbers, which show the National Republican Congressional Committee has $6.7 million in the bank, compared to $47.2 million for the Democrats.
Other than that, a historically unpopular president, the continuing Iraq war, excitement generated by the long Democratic presidential primary struggle, millions of new voters, high gas prices, a sagging economy and declining numbers admitting to be Republican, things look really pretty good for the party of Lincoln come Nov. 4.
--Andrew Malcolm
And for vice president? House Speaker Nancy Pelosi continues to tout Edwards.
"I've always tried to encourage Mr. Edwards to run for leadership or something," Pelos i told reporters Thursday. "I think he's an extraordinarily talented person."
Wait a moment. Didn't former Sen. John Edwards run for leadership or something four years ago? When he sought the Democratic nomination for president and ended up the vice presidential nominee with John Kerry? And again, earlier this year, when Edwards tried again for his own nomination?
"We're talking about Chet Edwards, a member of Congress from Texas, who represents Waco," Pelosi clarified.
In fact, the nine-term Democrat also represents Crawford, which makes him President Bush's congressman. Pelosi sent reporters a-Googling earlier this week when she mentioned the Texan as a possible running mate for Barack Obama. She was asked about the choice again during her weekly news conference.
"He is really one of the finest people I've ever served with, and he demands the respect of his colleagues, I could say, on both sides of the aisle," she said.
Matthew Hay Brown has the rest of this intriguing tale over at the Swamp.
-- Andrew Malcolm
Photo credit: Office of Rep. Chet Edwards
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer today defended a California Democrat facing ethics questions over her personal finances, while appearing to downplay his involvement in a fundraiser for her this week.
Rep. Laura Richardson's Sacramento house was sold in a foreclosure last month, according to news reports, and she has gon e into default on properties in San Pedro and Long Beach. She still owed $9,000 in county taxes on the Sacramento house.
The Long Beach Press-Telegram reports that in 1995 Richardson stiffed a local mechanic on a $735 bill to repair her heavily damaged BMW, and then had it towed to another body shop and abandoned it. Then a member of the Long Beach City Council, she began using a city-owned car, according to the Press-Telegram, which she continued to drive for five days after joining the California State Assembly.
The watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has called on the House Ethics Committee to investigate.
Hoyer, known in political circles as a prodigious fundraiser, is hosting a Capitol Hill event on Wednesday to help Richardson retire her campaign debt. Matthew Hay Brown has the rest of the story over at the Swamp.
-- Andrew Malcolm
ABC's "This Week": John McCain supporter Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas); Barack Obama supporter Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.); Red Cavaney, American Petroleum Institute; and Jeffrey Sachs, the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Panel: Donna Brazile, Matthew Dowd, Cokie Roberts, Sam Donaldson.
CBS' "Face the Nation": McCain advisor Carly Fiorina; Obama supporter Gov. Bill Richardson (D-N.M.); John Harris, Politico.
CNN's "Late Edition": The economy: Obama supporter Gov. Richardson and McCain supporter Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-Minn.). Offshore oil, the economy: Obama supporter Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.) and McCain supporter Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.). The economy: Obama advisor former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich and McCain advisor Douglas Holtz-Eakin. The hunt for Osama Bin Laden; Iraq: Pakistani journalist-author Ahmed Rashid ("Descent Into Chaos") and Peter Bergen. Panel: Gloria Borger, Amy Walter, Ed Henry.
"Fox News Sunday": Obama advisor former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and McCain supporter former Gov. Tom Ridge (R-Pa.). Kathleen Rogers, Earth Day Foundation. Panel: Brit Hume, Nina Easton, Bill Kristol, Juan Williams.
"Meet the Press": Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.). Panel: John Harwood, Andrea Mitchell. Moderator: Brian Williams.
--Andrew Malcolm
Photo credit: Babson College
Our co-blogger over on the Technology blog, Jim Puzzanghera, has dug up an interesting new device in Washington -- yes, there are some. Or can be.
It seems the Sunlight Foundation, which seeks to explain the workings of Congress -- good luck with that one, too -- has come up with some way to pore through all of the blather uttered on the floors of the Senate and House every day.
And then their magic program distills it all down into one word each day.
We'd have some nominees here on The Ticket, but we're not allowed to publish those. Tuesday's Sunlight Foundation distilled word was, for instance, "health."
Jim explains how this works and provides links over here.
--Andrew Malcolm
Father's Day may have come early for John McCain, but in the Boren family of Oklahoma, they may just want to let it pass without notice.
Rep. Dan Boren, a two-term Democrat, made a splash earlier this week with his announcement that although he would be voting for his party's presumptive presidential nominee, he was not endorsing Barack Obama.
The Boren formulation struck many as odd ... including, it turns out, his father, a legendary political figure in the Sooner State who is president of the University of Oklahoma.
David Boren, a former governor and U.S. senator who chatted Friday with Chicago-based talk radio host Roland Martin, had this to say about his 34-year-old son: "I have to say I’m puzzled about how much thinking he put into that before he said it. I think he’ll probably be saying some other things."
The elder Boren, 67, continued: “He did say he was going to vote for Barack Obama. He just made the puzzling statement he wasn’t gong to endorse him. Well, when you say publicly you’re voting for somebody I think that means you’re supporting them."
A classic case of father knowing best.
The full interview can be heard here.
The younger Boren is not alone on Capitol Hill feeling a bit betwixt and between about the general election presidential matchup. Following the burst of attention David Boren got for his pronouncement, The Hill reported that at least 14 Republican members of Congress "have refused to endorse or publicly support" McCain.
That includes at least one whom the presumptive GOP nominee would want to steer clear of anyway -- Rep. John Doolittle, the House member from Northern California who is giving up his seat under an ethical cloud.
Then there's Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado, McCain's erstwhile presidential rival, who's adopted Boren's stance -- he's disinclined ...
Read more David Boren on his son: a 'puzzling' Barack Obama stance* »
(UPDATE: Though Ron Paul stopped short of telling supporters in Texas Thursday night that he was quitting, his campaign website posted a statement overnight that he is indeed packing it in. "It is time now to take the energy this campaign has awakened and channel it into long-term efforts to take back our country," Paul said.)
Throughout yesterday afternoon and evening news reports flashed all over the Internet that Republican Rep. Ron Paul was going to officially end his hopeless presidential campaign.
ABC News said the campaign, "a pugnacious, ideological crusade against big government and interventionist leani ngs in the Republican party, will officially end Thursday at a rally outside the Texas GOP's convention."
A European wire service that we won't identify (we'll call it AFP) said: "Maverick Republican White House candidate Ron Paul, a rival to his party's presumptive nominee John McCain, announced late Thursday he is dropping out of the U.S. presidential race."
A certain Washington blog about the campaign Trail reported last night: "Texas Rep. Ron Paul is officially ending his presidential campaign." Even keen observer and enthusiastic Ron Paul supporter Lew Rockwell appeared to give up hope.
But just you wait one Texas minute! We know better than that here at The Ticket.
Once before, three months ago, Paul put out a video message to his hundreds of thousands of supporters saying he was "winding down" his campaign. And we fell for that one, hook, line and libertarian sinker. We wrote that the 72-year-old, 10-term congressman "appears to be....
Read more UPDATE: Hold on! Ron Paul did NOT quit the GOP presidential race »
On this, the first anniversary of our Top of the Ticket blog, we are reminded of the mercurial, unpredictable nature of U.S. politics -- part of what makes what we do so fascinating.
Our goal -- one of us on the East Coast and the other on the far more important or at least less humid West Coast -- was to write about Campaign '08 virtually around the clock.
Our second-ever posting, 12 months ago today, previewed an upcoming L.A. Times/Bloomberg Poll; later in the day, we detailed the results of the nationwide survey. The findings were in line with other polls of the time.
In the Republican presidential race, which then seemed the most likely to last deep into the primary season, Rudy Giuliani was perched in first place. His lead wasn't overwhelming, but it was strong enough that he appeared certain to remain a major contender.
His liberal record on social issues loomed as an obvious liability within his party, but his tough-on-terrorism message was attracting substantial support from moderates and GOP-leaning independents.
His major headache among rivals last June was an as-yet-undeclared candidate who was riding a wave as the great conservative hope -- Fred Thompson. He ran a strong second in the poll.
Lagging far behind were John McCain and Mitt Romney, each barely with double-digit support. In our preview posting, we were especially scornful of McCain, noting sarcastically (and foolishly, as it turned out) that in the poll, he found himself "in heated competition with the 'Don't Know' category."
Meriting no mention from us was Mike Huckabee, one of several back-of-the-pack candidates barely earning any support across the country.
The Democratic race, at that point, seemed so much more cut-and-dried.
Hillary Clinton was the clear front-runner; Barack Obama was just as clearly ...
Read more Top of the Ticket, the start of Year Two »
This is a kind of political non-endorsement. And we're publishing it for all four of our readers in Oklahoma. Or maybe there's more. It's hard to tell some days.
Rep. Dan Boren is a Democrat (yes, there are a few in that state). In fact, he's the lone and loneliest Democrat in the state's congressional delegation. He represents a heavily rural district in eastern Oklahoma. So today the Democratic House member announced that  he will not be endorsing Sen. Barack Obama for president.
He did say he would vote for Obama at the Democratic National Convention and he would vote for him on Nov. 4. But he's not publicly for him by endorsing him, you understand. How's that for splitting political hairs for the sake of your own third term?
Boren is one of those questionable Oklahomans who actually went to Texas for his college education (Texas Christian), but he did salvage his reputation by returning to his father's university for his MBA. Boren's grandfather, Lyle, represented southeastern Oklahoma in the House for 10 years back in the FDR era.
Calling himself a centrist and Obama "the most liberal senator," Dan Boren told the Associated Press today he's bound to represent the wishes of his district's voters, who went 2-to-1 for Sen. Hillary Clinton in the state's February primary. He said that while Obama claimed to work in a bipartisan fashion, he doesn't really.
Rep. Boren's father, David, is the former Oklahoma governor, senator and presently president of the University of Oklahoma, who has endorsed Obama. Which one do you think will get asked to those White House dinners?
For some late-breaking political news shockers, click on the Read more line below.
--Andrew Malcolm
Photo credit: Office of U.S. Rep. Dan Boren
Read more Okla. Rep. is for Barack Obama, just not the way you'd expect »
Scott McClellan, the president's former chief spokesman who wrote a tell-all book about the White House's "culture of deception" and how it hung him out to dry, will testify next week before a House committee about the leak of CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity.
McClellan will testify under oath about what happened during the Plame affair and whether Vice President Dick Cheney told him to mislead the public about how Plame's identity was leaked to several journalists.
The hearing is scheduled for June 20 before the House Judiciary Committee.
"I'll tell them what I know," McClellan said Monday night on MSNBC's "Countdown" with Keith Olbermann, as they discussed McClellan's book, "What Happened."
For more on the story, click here. And watch the MSNBC video below.
-- Andrew Malcolm
Photo: Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan will testify next week before a House committee about the leak of CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity. Credit: Associated Press
Rep. Tim Mahoney of Florida knows his election to the House in 2006 was a fluke. He's the Democrat who happened to be on the ballot when a late-breaking sex scandal sunk the career of the seemingly entrenched Republican incumbent, Mark Foley. And even with that, Mahoney barely won his seat.
So as Mahoney seeks reelection in a Palm Beach-area district where Republicans are in the majority, what's his attitude toward his party's presidential race? About as hands off as he can get away with.
Mahoney, a superdelegate to the Democratic convention by virtue of his office, didn't make a pick when Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were battling each other. Now that Obama has triumphed, Mahoney still plans to remain uncommitted. And, he told the Palm Beach Post, he may just skip the party confab in Denver this summer.
"I wasn't elected to be a role model as to how people should vote," Mahoney told his hometown newspaper. "People in my district are smart enough to decide."
And probably smart enough to recognize a politician ducking for cover.
-- Don Frederick
Mark Friday on your calendars -- a politician freely acknowledged allowing provincial interests rather than the greater good to guide him.
The admission came from U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), and it occurred as he was trying to carry some water for presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain.
 McCain, campaigning Thursday in the Sunshine State, was asked why -- despite his professed support for using federal money to help restore the Everglades -- he last year voted against a bill that authorized such spending.
The problem, McCain said in Ft. Lauderdale, was that the bill also authorized spending for hundreds of other water-related projects. Thus, by his lights, it was one of those dreaded "pork-barrel" measures.
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama voted for the bill, and, predictably, his campaign got into it with McCain. Aside from disputing the negative characterization of the other projects, Obama aides noted that Florida Republicans were among the lawmakers who backed the legislation.
That latter point brought Diaz-Balart into the back-and-forth. Part of a conference call for reporters set up by the McCain campaign, he was asked to attack Obama for backing a bill that he also voted for.
Not an enviable position.
The Times' Terry McDermott listened to the call and relates that Diaz-Balart had this to say: "It’s important to note that out of $23 billion in the water bill -- a bill that I supported, having to hold my nose because of the issues that Sen. McCain correctly points out -- only $2 billion was for Everglades restoration.
"I voted for it because I was being parochial. I represent the entirety of the Everglades. Sen. McCain, thankfully, doesn’t play that game."
We can't help but wonder if Diaz-Balart wanted to so candidly concede that he does.
The water-projects bill, by the way, overwhelmingly cleared Congress last fall, becoming law despite President Bush's veto.
McCain, for his part, visited the Everglades on Friday. (Above is a shot of him and his entourage; he's in the front row, wearing a cap.)
-- Don Frederick
Photo credit: Getty Images
This just in: The Ron Paul 2008 campaign store is closed indefinitely. Apparently this week's special "End of Primary Season Blowout" sale decimated the inventory.
The special offer was $25 for a Ron Paul T-shirt plus an unspecified collection of Ron Paul buttons, Ron Paul stickers, Ron Paul key chains, Ron Paul magnets, Ron Paul wristbands, Ron Paul hats and Ron Paul mouse pads.
It looked like a campaign close-out.
But with his $5-million remaining political kitty, the 72-year-old, 10-term Republican representative from Texas continues to make his combination political-book signing rounds of the country and speaking to crowds of his determined followers, many of them new to the political process.
Paul will have ample time to do that this year because he's running for his 11th House term unopposed. There simply is no Democrat in southeast Texas stupid enough to take on the old man who inserts bounteous spending earmarks for his home district into legislation certain to pass and then votes against the bills so he can maintain his anti-spending reputation.
Paul didn't do all that badly in the meaningless Republican primary votes this week, if you deal in percentages. Paul captured ...
Read more Ron Paul's campaign may be out of T-shirts but not dedication »
The theatrics of Hillary Clinton's exit from the Democratic presidential race has proved nettlesome, exemplified by the scheduling of her concession speech. On Wednesday evening, her camp announced it would take place Friday in Washington; then, in quick order, it was changed to Saturday.
The reason, according to a statement, was "to accommodate more of Sen. Clinton's supporters who want to attend."
Turns out, though, the shift to Saturday has inconvenienced a group of bedrock Clinton backers -- House members from her homestate of New York.
Newsday's Glenn Thrush reports that "the vast majority" of the lawmakers "will be skipping her Saturday drop-out announcement in Washington –- citing reasons ranging from town halls back in their districts to campaign obligations to the observation of the Jewish sabbath."
To compensate, several of the New Yorkers gathered for a new conference earlier today outside the Capitol to discuss the final act in the Democratic battle; Thrush's posting on it can be read here. Also available is video of the inimitable Charles Rangel, a veteran congressman from Harlem, presiding at the event (and periodically kvetching about the heat).
-- Don Frederick
The breaks keep going the Democrats' way in the developing battle for Capitol Hill.
Already reveling in results of special House races that would seem to portend November gains for them in that chamber, national Democratic leaders quietly cheered Tuesday's outcome in New Mexico's Republican Senate primary.
In the battle to replace venerable GOP incumbent Pete Domenici, who is retiring for health reasons, the more conservative of two contenders triumphed -- which should increase the odds that Democratic Rep. Tom Udall will capture the seat in the general election.
The GOP race was close, as expected. Rep. Steve Pearce, who hails from the state's southeast corner, edged out Albuquerque-area Rep. Heather Wilson, 51% to 49%.
Wilson's more moderate brand of Republicanism had been essential to her political survival in a swing House district in New Mexico's most populated area. But it proved her undoing in the statewide primary. And Democrats were left pleased that Wilson -- with her track record of attracting the votes of suburban independents -- won't be Udall's rival.
-- Don Frederick
While Democratic honchos sought today to untangle the problems caused by the rogue Florida and Michigan primaries, the party was in danger of losing a high-profile vote -- that of Tony Rodham Hugh Rodham, the brother of Hillary Clinton.
[UPDATE: Correction from the original post; our reporter got it right, but we wrote Hugh when we meant Tony. Many, many apologies. And our thanks to readers who caught our error].
The Times' Faye Fiore found Rodham sitting in an Irish-themed bar across the street from the Washington hotel where the Democratic rules committee was grappling with the mess. He was drinking a pint ... and fuming.
“I’m just here to make sure Americans are represented by one vote for every person," he said, parroting the Clinton line that the results in the two states should be reflected in their totality at the Democratic convention.
With the Democratic National Committee likely to settle on, at some unknown point, a different solution that results in fewer delegates for Clinton, Rodham opined: "What the DNC and (Chairman) Howard Dean are doing is an absolute disgrace.”
The upshot?
Rodham, a self-described “yellow dog Democrat all my life,” is unsure who he would support in November if Clinton is not the party's standard bearer.
"If my sister doesn’t end up with the nomination, I gotta take a look at who I’m gonna vote for,” he said.
Horrors.
Does that mean, Fiore asked, Rodham would vote for Republican John McCain?
“I didn’t say that. It could be Bob Barr,” he said, referring to the Libertarian presidential candidate who, as a House member from Georgia, was a prime player in the impeachment of Rodham's brother-in-law, Bill Clinton).
With that, Rodham paid his check and gathered his family: his son (the grandson of California Sen. Barbara Boxer, whose daughter, Nicole, was once married to Rodham), his baby by his second marriage, asleep in a stroller, and his pregnant wife. They headed back ...
Read more Hillary Clinton's brother is one unhappy camper »
When President Bush was popular and his remaining time in office was long, congressional Republicans were quick to jump to his defense. Now, they are hugging their seats.
Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan's book has come out, and the president's putative Republican allies have been mostly silent. OK, so Congress is in recess. But when Bush was high in the polls, GOP lawmakers would rush to TV studios and send out mass e-mails to defend the president.
Democrats in Congress, of course, have been ready to pounce. Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said he had instructed his staff to begin discussions with McClellan to determine whether the committee should hold a hearing on revelations in the book about alleged attempts to cover-up the Valerie Plame leak.
Finally, a Republican has piped up. Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the panel's top Republican, said: “While I’m sure Mr. McClellan's publishers would want nothing more than some free publicity from Judiciary Committee Democrats, we have more important things to do on this committee than investigate the unfounded allegations of a disgruntled former employee. . . . It should not take a congressional hearing to determine that Mr. McClellan's statements are not credible.”
No mention of what's his name? Bush?
— Richard Simon
Among the 34 Democrats in California's House delegation, the number undeclared in their party's presidential race was reduced to 6 Friday when Rep. Jim Costa announced his support for Barack Obama.
The working number actually should be considered 5 since Nancy Pelosi, as House speaker, can be expected to remain on the sidelines -- publicly, at least -- until an unambiguous choice finally emerges.
Also Friday, the once large margin Hillary Clinton enjoyed over Obama within the delegation narrowed even further when Rep. Dennis Cardoza switched his allegiance from him to her her to him. In a statement, Cardoza said, "While I continue to greatly respect and admire Senator Clinton and feel she has made history with her campaign, I believe that Senator Obama will inevitably be our party's nominee for president."
That's the attitude the Obama campaign has been seeking to exude -- and hoping superdelegates would bow to. While the candidate and his aide no doubt are pleased by Cardoza's decision, what would really thrill them at this moment is if some of the women in the delegation still standing by Clinton would cross over.
Here's the latest breakdown among the Californians:
UNDECLARED (6)
Pelosi (District 8, San Francisco); Jerry McNerney (District 11, Pleasanton); Mike Honda, (District 15, San Jose); Sam Farr (District 17, Carmel); Bob Filner (District 51, Chula Vista); Susan Davis (District 53, San Diego).
CLINTON BACKERS (15)
Mike Thompson (District 1, St. Helena); Doris Matsui (District 5, Sacramento); Lynn Woolsey (District 6, Petaluma); Ellen Tausher (District 10, Alamo); Jackie Speier (District 12, Burlingame); Brad Sherman (District 27, Sherman Oaks); Hilda Solis (District 32, El Monte); Diane Watson (District 33, Los Angeles); Lucille Roybal-Allard (District 34, East Los Angeles); Maxine Waters (District 35, Los Angeles); Jane Harman (District 36, Venice); Laura Richardson (District 37, Long Beach); Grace Napolitano (District 38, Norwalk); Joe Baca (District 43, Rialto); Loretta Sanchez (District 47, Garden Grove).
OBAMA BACKERS (13)
George Miller (District 7, Martinez); Barbara Lee (District 9, Oakland); Stark (District 13, Fremont); Anna Eshoo (District 14, Menlo Park); Zoe Lofgren (District 16, San Jose); Cardoza (District 18, Atwater); Costa (District 20, Fresno); Lois Capps (District 23, Santa Barbara); Howard Berman (District 28, Valley Village); Adam Schiff (District 29, Burbank); Henry Waxman (District 30, Los Angeles); Xavier Becerra (District 31, Los Angeles); Linda Sanchez (District 39, Lakewood).
-- Don Frederick
As promised, here's The Ticket's Sunday morning TV guest list, posted every Saturday at noon Pacific time (3 p.m. EDT).
ABC's "This Week": Karl Rove and Barack Obama senior advisor David Axelrod; round table with Vanity Fair's Dee Dee Myers, Washington Post's E.J. Dionne, ABC News' Matthew Dowd and George Will.
 Bloomberg's Political Capital with Al Hunt: Mitt Romney and Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.).
CBS' "Face the Nation": Hillary Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson, John McCain supporter Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Obama supporter Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.).
CNN's "Late Edition": Major Gen. Mark Hertling, Commander, Multi-National Division-North; Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice); Rep. David Dreier (R-San Dimas); Obama supporter Robert Reich; Clinton economic advisor Gene Sperling; McCain economic advisor Douglas Holtz-Eakin; Mary Tillman, mother of Pat Tillman and author of a book about her son; CNN's Bill Schneider, Suzanne Malveaux and Gloria Borger.
C-SPAN's "Newsmakers": Major Gen. William Etter, National Guard Bureau, Acting Director of Joint Staff.
"Fox News Sunday": Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe; Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee; Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), chairman of Democratic National Campaign Committee; Col. Michael Colburn, director of the U.S. Marine Band; panel with Fox's Brit Hume, Nina Easton, William Kristol and Juan Williams.
NBC's "Chris Matthews Show": David Brooks of the New York Times, Andrea Mitchell of NBC News, Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post and Katty Kay of the BBC.
NBC's Meet the Press: CBN's David Brody, the New York Times' Maureen Dowd, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, the Washington Post's Ruth Marcus, Newsweek's Jon Meacham and NPR's Michele Norris.
-- Don Frederick
Photo: Sen. Lindsey Graham; Credit: EPA
While Republican potentials are tromping out to the desert this weekend for chats with John McCain about the Republican No. 2 slot, Barack Obama has already begun a quieter search for his own running mate.
And Obama has reverted to something of a Democratic tradition -- asking former Fannie Mae head Jim Johnson to head up the efforts. Though he's got to be hoping the third time's the charm -- Johnson played similar roles for Walter Mondale and John Kerry.
The delicate issue for Obama, of course is Hillary Clinton. There's a lot of pressure from Democrats that, if the math holds and Obama becomes the nominee, he pick the former first lady (assuming she'd take it). But that could weaken Obama's carefully crafted image as the guy from outside Washington.
The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder, who first ferreted out news of Obama's quiet efforts, offers a list of potential contenders, beyond Clinton. Feel free to add your own in the comments section.
Sens. Joe Biden, Bob Casey, Chris Dodd, Chuck Hagel and Jim Webb; former Sens. Tom Daschle, John Edwards and Sam Nunn; Govs.Tim Kaine, Janet Napolitano, Bill Richardson, Kathleen Sebelius and Ted Strickland; and former Rep. Tim Roemer.
-- Scott Martelle
While the world of politics waits around for Sen. Barack Obama to finally get the message and give up his hopeless chase of the Democratic nomination for president because he lost yet another heartland state to Hillary Clinton, Texas Rep. Ron Paul continues to creep up on the once-presumptive Republican nominee, S en. John McCain.
Overlooked in all the hoopla about the big Portland, Ore., music rally that Obama piggybacked onto and his winning the Forever Cloudy State in Tuesday's voting was the fact that the 72-year-old libertarian-like Republican rebel snagged two of Oregon's 27 GOP delegates.
Sure McCain got the other 25. But depending on whose count you go by, this gives Paul a total of either 21 or 28 delegates to the September Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn. Maybe even a few more.
That puts Paul only about 1,245 delegates behind McCain, who weeks ago captured the necessary 1,191 delegates to guarantee him the nomination.
And as The Ticket reported Wednesday morning, Paul is careful with the dollars his loyal followers have donated. Since early 2007, these dedicated bands of imaginative fund-raisers have donated nearly $35 million and Paul still has almost $5 million of that left. Recently, he's been advertising a lot on radio. And unlike most candidates, he lives with no political debt.
So by September it may come down to mano a mano between two 72-year-olds to see who goes up against the 60-year-old New Yorker or the Illinois kid who'll be 60 in about 13 years.
--Andrew Malcolm
Rep. Ron Paul, the rebel Republican who's defying his party, its nominee and common political sense, is still campaigning, not so much for his party's nomination, which Sen. John McCain has locked up, but to change the direc tion of the party from within and to organize for future reform of the GOP, which has gone soft on him.
According to new campaign finance reports filed Tuesday by Paul forces and pored over by Times campaign finance expert Dan Morain, the strict constitutionalist Paul continues to campaign and spend. He spent $406,836 last month, about half of it ($207,000) on radio advertisements.
Tapping his loyalists for another $70,293 in contributions, Paul ended April with $4.71 million in the bank, his filed campaign finance report shows.
He has raised about $34.9 million during his 14-month presidential quest. The 72-year-old Texas representative, who's even older than McCain, spent $30.2 million on his GOP presidential effort. And, true to conservative form, he maintains absolutely zero campaign debt. Contrast that with Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton who, The Ticket misreported earlier today, raised $21 million last month and now still has almost $31 million in debt. (Her debt is actually closer to $21 million.)
CNN pegs Paul’s delegate count at 26.
One-time Republican presidential front-runner Rudolph Giuliani spent $65.3 million on his campaign and won only one single delegate, who has since been released.
Giuliani tapped himself last month, using $500,000 of his own money to help pay off his presidential campaign bills. He still owes $3.628 million. Among Giuliani’s lingering debts is $118,744 to AT&T; $295,093 to Verizon Wireless; and $451,736 to a New York charter air carrier. He continues to owe two of his companies a combined $217,000 for rent and security services.
-- Andrew Malcolm
Rep. Ron Paul is a presidential candidate who supports a return to the gold standard, among many other things. Although he's got no sympathy for Burma's cyclone victims.
Now, we know that Paul puts his personal money where his personal mouth, and public policy, are -- in precious metals.
Paul complied with federal law by filing his personal public financial disclosure statement with the Federal Election Commission by the deadline the other day. The Times' conscientious Dan Morain pored over it.
Turns out, the old doctor (he's even older than Sen. John McCain) is a millionaire, a few times over.
An Air Force veteran and ob-gyn who often champions the cause of the little guy, Paul disclosed 41 separate financial holdings that have a combined value of between $2.29 million and $5.3 million. The disclosure statements require officeholders and candidates to disclose a range of values for their holdings.
The 72-year-old Texas Republican, who leans libertarian, wants to abolish the Federal Reserve and issues warnings about....
Read more Ron Paul, the little guy's champion, turns out to be a millionaire »
Before we get into all the deep political discussions and spun talking points on all the talk shows on this serious Sunday morning, here's a thoughtful new video that explores a pressing issue that has been bothering more and more people who follow events in the nation's capital.
The burning issue is: Are legislators letting lobbyists down by not delivering on their paid promises?
It's an important point because corporations spend hundreds of millions of dollars to buy influence and obtain legislation favorable to them or their industry. And if the legislators are letting them down, maybe the country needs some new legislators.
--Andrew Malcolm
With recent Congressional wins for the Democrats, the number of superdelegates has  changed and it will now take 2,026 instead of 2,025 delegates to win the nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August (details will be here eventually; at last check it still had the April numbers)
So reset your calculators. And be ready to reset them again depending on what the DNC rules committee decides in a couple of weeks. And you serious junkies can always spend a little time on the delegate tracker. It's not as cool as that interactive map that John King plays with on CNN, but it will let you play analyst from the comfort of your own home -- or work cubicle. And we have to wonder -- on nights when Barack Obama can't sleep, do you think he dozes off by counting delegates?
-- Scott Martelle
For aficionados of California politics, here's the to-the-minute breakdown of the allegiances among the state's 34 House Democrats -- superdelegates all -- in their party's presidential race, now that Reps. Henry Waxman and Howard Berman have announced their endorsements of Barack Obama:
[UPDATE -- On Friday, a day after this originally posted, Rep. Pete Stark, who had been undeclared, also announced for Obama.]
UNDECLARED (7)
Nancy Pelosi (District 8, San Francisco); Jerry McNerney (District 11, Pleasanton); Mike Honda, (District 15, San Jose); Sam Farr (District 17, Carmel); Jim Costa (District 20, Fresno); Bob Filner (District 51, Chula Vista); Susan Davis (District 53, San Diego).
CLINTON BACKERS (16)
Mike Thompson (District 1, St. Helena); Doris Matsui (District 5, Sacramento); Lynn Woolsey (District 6, Petaluma); Ellen Tausher (District 10, Alamo); Tom Lantos* Jackie Speier (District 12, Burlingame); Dennis Cardoza (District 18, Atwater); Brad Sherman (District 27, Sherman Oaks); Hilda Solis (District 32, El Monte); Diane Watson (District 33, Los Angeles); Lucille Roybal-Allard (District 34, East Los Angeles); Maxine Waters (District 35, Los Angeles); Jane Harman (District 36, Venice); Laura Richardson (District 37, Long Beach); Grace Napolitano (District 38, Norwalk); Joe Baca (District 43, Rialto); Loretta Sanchez (District 47, Garden Grove).
* [UPDATE]: Lantos passed away on Feb. 11; Speier won a special election to replace him.
OBAMA BACKERS (11)
George Miller (District 7, Martinez); Barbara Lee (District 9, Oakland); Stark (District 13, Fremont); Anna Eshoo (District 14, Menlo Park); Zoe Lofgren (District 16, San Jose); Lois Capps (District 23, Santa Barbara); Howard Berman (District 28, Valley Village); Adam Schiff (District 29, Burbank); Henry Waxman (District 30, Los Angeles); Xavier Becerra (District 31, Los Angeles); Linda Sanchez (District 39, Lakewood).
Since we first started periodic postings of this list on the eve of California's Feb. 5 primary, the only change in the numbers has resulted from the movement by four lawmakers -- Capps, Berman, Waxman and Stark -- from undeclared into the Obama camp.
-- Don Frederick
It once was a ubiquitous term in California politics: The Berman-Waxman machine.
It often was spoken of reverentially -- or fearfully, among those who found themselves on the opposing side of an apparatus that, starting in the 1970s and extending into the early 1990s, came to absolutely  dominate politics on Los Angeles' Westside (down to the judgeship level) and was a force in parts of the central city and the San Fernando Valley, as well as the state Legislature.
For a variety of reasons, those days are gone. But Reps. Howard Berman, left, of Valley Village and Henry Waxman, below, of Los Angeles -- who first begin acting in concert when they became friends decades ago at UCLA -- marched in lockstep again today. They jointly joined the steady parade of Democratic superdelegates now lining up behind Barack Obama's quest for the party's presidential nomination.
Waxman, 68, is one of the House's senior members in service -- he was part of the "Watergate class" first elected in 1974. Berman, 67, won his seat in 1982, after a stint as a state assemblyman. 
The Democratic takeover of the House in the 2006 election elevated both to powerful positions: Berman chairs the chamber's foreign affairs panel; Waxman heads the committee on oversight and government reform (where he has reveled in probing the workings of the Bush administration at every opportunity).
The real importance of their endorsement, however, is noted in the second sentence of the release from the Obama campaign announcing their endorsement: "Both are respected leaders in the American Jewish community..." | |
