Politics Blog

Is Bob Graham weaselling out of his commitment not to run for the Senate if he runs for president?

His spokesman, Paul Anderson, on February 12:

“If he gets in the race for president, he will be running for president,” Anderson said. “He will not be hedging his bets, so to speak, on a Senate race or anything else. He will be fully committed to the presidential race.”

When asked what Graham might do if he loses out the presidential primaries, Anderson said, “If he runs for president, he runs for president. He

The biggest victim of European anti-Americanism is…. the tourist trade in Europe.

Senator Bob Graham (D-FL) has ceased vacillating and has finally thrown his hat into the ever-growing Democratic presidential field. Well, sort of.

Anyway, he’s quite clear about not running for re-election to the Senate in 2004, which is yet more good news for Republicans in an already rosy 2004 Senate outlook.

As for Graham’s chances, never mind the fact that he’s a left-wing loon who voted against the Iraq resolution. Never mind the fact that Graham’s obsessive journal-keeping will make him the butt of late-night jokes. One look at the photo below, from the CNN web site, should tell you that Graham has zero chance of becoming president. Sorry, Mr. Graham. There are plenty of ugly senators; but the last ugly man to be elected president in our TV-dominated age was Richard Nixon.

I hate Doonesbury’s endless liberal haranguing; but, sometimes, Garry Trudeau caricatures Democrats wonderfully. Here’s a strip that perfectly captures John Kerry’s position on Iraq:

It’s official. Congressman Pat Toomey will challenge Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) in a Republican primary for his seat.

Here’s a roundup of the latest 2004 Senate news:

1. The Seattle Times speculates on whether Republican Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn will challenge Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) in 2004. They have a good profile of Dunn.

2. Republican Congressman and Club For Growth protege Pat Toomey may launch a primary challenge to Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA). Specter deserves a challenge, or at least a good scare, because of his votes in the Senate. Specter helped “Bork” Rober Bork and voted against impeaching Bill Clinton because of “Scottish law.” More recently, he voted, along with John McCain, to trim the 2001 Bush tax cuts from $1.6 trillion to $1.2 trillion (a House-Senate conference brought it back up to $1.35 trillion.) Specter is on the judiciary committee and, if current Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch were to retire, Specter would take over. Think about that.

BTW, if you’re not a member of the Club For Growth, please consider joining. They’ve had a superb record electing conservative Republicans like Toomey and provide a great deal of bang for your buck.

3. Republican Congressman Jeff Flake is looking increasingly likely to challenge JohnMcCain for his Senate seat in 2004. Flake will be well-funded by Club For Growth donors like me, who’ve developed a loathing for McCain in the last two years. McCain has defied his party on just about every divisive issue - tax cuts, Campaign Finance “Reform", “global warming", even Homeland Security. McCain has an 85% approval rating among independents and a 60% approval rating among Democrats, but only a 40% approval rating among Republicans. Depending on the outcome of some lawsuits, Arizona’s Republican Primary could be a closed primary where only Republicans would vote. That would give McCain nightmares.

Again, if you’re not a member of the Club For Growth, do join. It’s a great way to make a huge difference with a little money.

4. California Republicans have been mentioning US Treasurer Rosario Marin as a possible challenger to Senator Barbara Boxer in 2004. Despite her name being on our currency, not many people have heard of Marin, including me. However, “US Treasurer” certainly sounds impressive and should help her close the stature gap with incumbent Boxer.

Oh, and Marin’s Hispanic.

5. Republicans are hoping for three cabinet members to challenge senators in their home states in 2004: HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson against Russ Feingold (D-WI), HUD Secretary Mel Martinez against Bob Graham (D-FL) and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice against Barbara Boxer (D-CA). Unfortunately, I doubt if any of them will do so.

Democratic unity on Miguel Estrada is cracking. 55 senators have now publicly said that they support his confirmation.

As I’ve noted in the past, Democrats may look tough when it comes to filibustering judges, but they simply don’t have the votes. Democratic senators will break ranks and vote for conservative judicial nominees because of their race, gender, the home state advantage or because their constituents are much more conservative than they are.

John Derbyshire says in NRO that Frog-bashing is an old and respected pastime and led to Shakespeare’s first successful play:

All this anti-French commentary these past few weeks has stirred warm feelings of nostalgia in my breast. This is my home territory; this is stuff I know. Frog-bashing is only an occasional and desultory pleasure for Americans, but growing up in England, I took in Francophobia with my mother’s milk.

…

A couple of lifetimes earlier, William Shakespeare had his first commercial success with the play we know as Henry VI Part I, one of the most anti-French works in all of English literature.

…

There are no good French people in this play at all. Every one of them is arrogant, or crafty, or duplicitous, or in league with “fiends.” One of the French principals bears the name “Bastard of Orleans.” All their victories are won by tricks, or by the use of unfair, un-gentlemanly weapons like cannon. Most scandalous of all to French sensibilities is Shakespeare’s portrayal of the French national heroine and saint, Joan of Arc. In Henry VI Part I Joan is a scheming slut who dabbles in the black arts. “Search out thy wit for secret policies, And we will make thee famous through the world,” hisses the Bastard to Joan after the loss of Rouen. She goes off to consult her “fiends.”

Some readers have been asking why, in my latest 2004 Senate analysis, I forgot to mention possible GOP pickups like Arkansas and Wisconsin.

Well,I’d already dealt with them in my November roundup and nothing much has changed since then. Back in November, I covered GOP opportunities in Arkansas, Wisconsin, New York (yes!) and North Dakota. If you haven’t read it already, you can read it here.

I wonder who The Note has been talking to about John Edwards. They have some very interesting information about him today:

In fact, the Edwards operatives we know say he has no intention of running for the Senate.