WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 (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.
Doings on the Delta ...
Things are looking up for the GOP in Mississippi. On Monday Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck, elected to office as a Democrat, changed her party registration and became a Republican. Rumors are now running rampant in Jackson, the state capital, that several members of the state senate may be ready to follow Tuck across the aisle. The Republicans need just a handful of senators to take over the chamber. Most analysts believe they cannot get there on party switchers alone but that the movement of even a few Democrats across the aisle will set them up for big gains in 2003. Former Republican National Committee Chairman Haley Barbour, who hails from Yazoo City, is widely expected to be the party's nominee for governor and will, together with Tuck, present the strongest top of the ticket the GOP has ever fielded in Mississippi.
The naked truth...
Rebecca Ramos, Playboy's January 2003 Playmate of the Month is, at age 35, the oldest and probably best politically connected woman to ever pose for the magazine's centerfold. Ramos, a resident of Texas, is the granddaughter of one congressman and the niece of another.
Her grandfather, Henry B. Gonzalez, D-Texas, was first Mexican-American ever elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Gonzalez served in the House from 1961 until he retired in 1997, rising to become chairman of the powerful House Banking Committee. Her uncle, Charlie Gonzalez, D-Texas, won his father's seat in a 1998 special election and currently represents parts of San Antonio.
Tee'd off...
Seven out of 10 Americans support the right of the Augusta National Country Club to make its own decisions about who should and who should not be permitted to join according to a new national survey. The poll of more than 1,000 adults by Wirthlin Worldwide found that 72 percent of respondents said Augusta should not change its membership policy due to pressure from outside organizations. While a majority of those women surveyed do not like Augusta National's male-only policy, 69 percent of women say the club should nevertheless be allowed to set its own rules. "Our survey shows that a majority of Americans -- including women -- do not support Martha Burk's campaign of intimidation," Renee Giachino, the general counsel for the Center for Individual Freedom, which sponsored the poll, said.
Welfare watch...
One item atop the congressional agenda for 2003 is welfare reform. Efforts to revise and extend the 1996 landmark welfare reform act came to naught during the 107th Congress -- a bill passed the House but died in the Senate. Pressure is building for the issue to take center stage in early January but there are concerns that some Republicans may not be completely on board with efforts to toughen the work standards in the bill, and would also like to make it easy for people to substitute education efforts for work while remaining eligible for welfare. The administration reportedly wants to have the whole thing wrapped up by late spring 2003.
Illini seeing red...
The grumbling is getting louder from Illinois conservatives over the selection of Treasurer Judy Barr-Topinka as the state GOP chairman. Barr-Topinka is the only Republican to have campaigned successfully for statewide office in 2002 -- a result that is a far cry from 1994 when the GOP swept every statewide office and took control of the legislature. Supporters and detractors alike admire Barr-Topinka for her energy and her outgoing nature and it is expected that she will put her considerable talents into the job of rebuilding the party. She is, however, also somewhat to the left of most party regulars on a number of important social issues like abortion and guns. The wing of the state party that has been, for years, spoiling for a fight with the Lake Shore Drive-types may find they've got it.
A journey of a thousand miles...
A group of religious leaders from across the United States is scheduled to depart for Iraq on Dec. 8 for a private peace mission. The group, which is sponsored by the liberal Pax Christi USA, a Catholic lay organization, is seeking a nonviolent solution to the latest crisis in the gulf. The Iraq Peace Journey is scheduled to depart on the same day the United Nations has set as a deadline for Saddam Hussein to disclose his suspected weapons of mass destruction. Those traveling on the peace mission include David Robinson, Pax Christi's national director; Sister Kathy Thornton of NETWORK, a National Catholic Social Justice Lobby; and the Rev. Roy Bourgeois, the national coordinator of the School of the Americas Watch.
Correction.
Due to an editing error, an item in the Nov. 27 edition of Capital Comment concerning the retirement of Florida GOP Chairman Al Cardenas incorrectly included a line indicating current RNC Chairman Marc Racicot had chosen not to seek re-election. The item should have said that Cardenas was considered a potential successor to Racicot should he choose not to seek re-election to another term.
Personnel notes -- Barry Jackson, current head of the Office of Strategic Initiatives inside the White House has been moved up in rank, becoming a top deputy to presidential counselor Karl Rove. Jackson, who once ran the House Republican Conference for Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, is replacing Chris Henick ... Pete Wehner, a former aide to conservative guru William Bennett, takes over Jackson's former post ... Ralph J. Moden, a 28-year veteran of the U.S. Postal Service, has been named senior vice president for government relations. Moden replaces Deborah Willhite, who resigned in October after it was alleged she used her position to shift postal service resources in ways that would hurt the re-election chances of one Republican U.S. senator and to the benefit of an embattled Democrat incumbent. Willhite denied the allegations.
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