WASHINGTON, March 13 (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.
The cost of opposition ...
A New Models survey by The Winston Group suggests some Democrats may pay a price for keeping the nomination of Miguel Estrada from coming to a vote. Estrada, whom President George W. Bush nominated to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, has been the subject of a pitched battle inside the Senate. More than 50 senators have said they would vote to confirm him, but most of the Senate Democrats are engaged in a filibuster to prevent him from being confirmed.
In the Winston survey, 1,000 registered voters across the nation were asked if the filibuster made them view "U.S. Senate Democratic candidates" in a more or less favorable light; 42 percent of respondents chose less favorable.
Pollster David Winston, described in the company's Web site as a veteran Republican strategist, says the numbers, particularly among the subgroups, could be problematic for those Democrats running for the Senate in 2004. The favorable/unfavorable split among "Generic Undecided Voters," The Winston Group says, is 22 percent to 42 percent. Among Catholics, who are possibly the single most important swing vote in American politics, the rating is 29 percent to 43 percent.
"The groups reacting most negatively to the filibuster are also the key swing groups that anyone running for office needs to have behind them in a winning campaign," Winston said. "The Estrada filibuster, while keeping the Democrat's base happy, is alienating the swing voters they have to have to win the White House and control of the Senate in 2004. It may end up hurting them more than it helped them."
Moran may get "Byrne'd" over comments ...
A source in the Virginia legislature says that former U.S. Rep. Leslie Byrne, currently a member of the state Senate, is being urged to enter the 2004 primary against U.S. Rep. Jim Moran, a fellow Democrat. Byrne served one term in the U.S. House between 1992 and 1994 and has been redistricted out of her state Senate seat, meaning she is free to run.
Somewhat more liberal than Moran on many issues, Byrne could likely count on strong support from local and national Jewish organizations after Moran's widely publicized remarks suggesting American Jews were a major impetus behind the possible war against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Byrne could also likely count on many of the groups that support abortion rights, an important part of Moran's political base within the party.
On Wednesday six of Moran's colleagues, U.S. Reps. Henry Waxman and Tom Lantos of California, Martin Frost of Texas, Sander M. Levin of Michigan, Benjamin Cardin of Maryland and Nita M. Lowey of New York, all Democrats, sent a letter to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., saying Moran should not stand for another term and that, if he did, they would not support him. Lowey and Frost are former chairmen of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the party organization charged with assuring the re-election of incumbent House members.
Cyber-secure ...
The Information Technology Association of America, a trade group of IT companies, has released The Long Campaign: Information Security in the Age of Cyberterror. The book is a compilation of articles written by experts on information security technology and policy. Senior U.S. government authors featured include FBI Director Robert Mueller, U.S. Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., Federal Trade Commissioner Orson Swindle, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and U.S. Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah.
The information technology community envisions what ITAA President Harris Miller said is "a long campaign" when it comes to safeguarding the Internet and other critical infrastructures from cyber attack. ITAA says the publication will be widely circulated to policy makers and IT decision makers inside the U.S. government.
Put me in coach ...
J.C. Watts, former four-term U.S. representative from Oklahoma, is getting back on the political field. Watts retired from Congress in 2002 after four terms, the last of which were spent as the House Republican Conference chairman, the number four GOP leadership post. On Wednesday GOPAC, the Republican candidate training group founded by former Delaware Gov. Pete du Pont and made famous as the principal political vehicle behind former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's rise to power, announced that Watts was coming aboard as chairman.
The committee, which had been largely moribund since Gingrich left the Congress, is relying on Watts to restore it to its former glory. While continuing its candidate training efforts, sources close to the new chairman say that it may also focus on building support for the GOP agenda among voters who are not traditionally Republican -- including blacks, Latinos and in urban areas.
Take that ...
The news that Libya, a nation listed by the U.S. government as an sponsor of state-backed terror, would be assuming the chair of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, had many people and policymakers in the United States up in arms. The purpose of the commission, headquartered in Geneva, is to examine, monitor and publicly report either on human rights situations in specific countries -- something some people in Washington believe Libya is not qualified to lead on.
Rather than withdraw from the UNHCR, the Bush administration may have found a more creative way to register its displeasure and ensure that the annual meeting -- beginning next week and lasting almost two months -- is conducted honestly and does not become a forum for bashing the United States on the eve of a possible war with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
Sources in Washington says that former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Jeane Kirkpatrick is being considered to head the U.S. delegation attending the meeting. Kirkpatrick, now an eminence grise of U.S. foreign policy, played a key role in Reagan administration policy. She took no prisoners while in the U.N. General Assembly and the meetings of the Security Council, fighting back against the anti-U.S. rhetoric promulgated by the Soviets and by many of the dictatorships belonging to the world body. It is expected that Kirkpatrick, who has lost none of her fire in the intervening years, is ready to do the same in Geneva if necessary.
Got an item for Capital Comment? E-mail it to [email protected].
