WASHINGTON, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- Capital Comment -- Daily news notes, political rumors, and important events that shape politics and public policy in Washington and the world from United Press International.
Bogus on the bayou -- Louisiana has a reputation for being a place where politics is a blood sport -- and the runoff election between incumbent Democrat Sen. Mary Landrieu and state Election Commissioner Suzy Terrell is no exception. Having fired all her consultants, Landrieu is now running her own campaign and is trying to give Terrell a pasting by making the campaign all about what she calls "Louisiana values."
According to Landrieu, since the Republicans already have control of the Senate, electing Terrell is not about giving George W. Bush a Senate majority he can work with -- rather than one that works against him, as it did for almost two years under South Dakota Democrat Tom Daschle's leadership. One value the state holds dear is life, particularly where abortion is concerned.
The Louisiana electorate tends to adhere to what politicians call "the pro-life stance" in statewide elections. The National Right to Life Committee gave the state's senior senator, Democrat John Breaux, a 100 percent rating for the 107th Congress, a 78 percent rating for the 106th Congress and a 67 percent rating for the 105th. Landrieu, on the other hand, has seen her rating steadily decline over the six years she has been in the senate. In the 105th Congress, Landrieu voted with the committee 27 percent of the time. In the 106th Congress, that dropped to 11 percent.
For the 107th Congress just concluded, Landrieu's score was "0."
Between the evangelical Protestants in the northern part of the state and the heavily Catholic regions in the south, the anti-abortion position is generally the winning one politically, yet it is the strongly anti-abortion Terrell who finds herself on the defensive.
Thanks to a whispering campaign based on a years-old fundraising invitation, Terrell finds herself being accused -- falsely -- of being secretly pro-abortion rights. This is just the kind of thing some in the conservative Christian and Catholic political communities are always eager to believe -- true or not. On the other hand, Landrieu's campaign is making much out of Terrell's opposition to abortion in the area around New Orleans -- Terrell's base and more moderate than the rest of Louisiana. Anti-Terrell forces are trying to cut the issue both ways, making both sides of the issue think Terrell takes the opposite position from theirs in order to depress the turnout in the Dec. 7 runoff election.
The future is now -- With President George W. Bush at the top of the ticket, Republicans hope that 2004 will also be another big year for them in the U.S. Senate. Names are already beginning to surface in some key states where senior Democrats may or may not be retiring. In Florida, Democratic Sen. Bob Graham must run for a 4th term but at age 68 and after a lifetime in public office, the thinking is, wishful though it may be, that he will retire. The field to replace him would be wide open in this increasingly Republican state, but one name that is being mention with increasing frequency is U.S. Housing Secretary Mel Martinez, a businessman and former Orange County, Fla., Commission chairman.
In South Carolina early betting is that Democrat Sen. Ernest "Fritz" Hollings, who has now achieved his ambition to be the state's senior senator after almost 40 years, may also retire. The GOP swept the state in 2002 and the electorate is much more Republican in presidential years. A number of names have surfaced on the GOP side as potential challengers if he does run, including former state Secretary of State Jim Miles and former state Attorney General Charlie Condon -- both of whom gave up their offices in unsuccessful bids for governor in 2002. The one name that seems to really excite some people is the 2nd Congressional District's Joe Wilson, who came to Congress in a 2001 special election as the replacement for legendary Republican Floyd Spence, who died after a long battle with cancer.
Where? You're kidding -- From the strange but true department, the Carrollton City, Texas, Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve banning the display of replica firearms in public places. Currently City Ordinance 130.11 prohibits the firing of a firearm within the corporate city limits of Carrollton, and the new ordinance defines "firearm" broadly to include BB guns, air rifles, bow or other devices capable of propelling bullets, shot, arrows or other solid or compact substance, whether propelled by powder, fire or other force or by combination of such forces.
All together now -- Over 250 state legislators and progressive advocates from 46 states will meet November 23-24 in Washington as part of the liberal Center for Policy Alternatives' annual Summit on the States. This meeting will focus on handling the fiscal crisis in the states: how legislators can maintain, or even expand, crucial social programs while balancing state budgets. The center has produced a "Progressive Agenda" policy handbook covering 50 crucial state issues that put forward what they call "low- or no-cost policy solutions," including 53 pieces of model legislation covering health, education, criminal justice, taxation and the environment. The meeting will be held at the Capital Hilton near the White House and will close with an address from former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich analyzing the nation's economic condition and offering a prescription for economic reform.
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