Inside Politics

The latest numbers

President Bush’s approval rating hovers at an all-time low, but if the election were held today, more Americans still would vote for Mr. Bush than for his Democratic rival, Sen. John Kerry, according to a poll published yesterday.

The nationwide poll by Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn., found that Mr. Bush’s lead over the Massachusetts senator had narrowed, but Mr. Kerry had not gained ground, Reuters news agency reports.

If the Nov. 2 election were held today, 43 percent of the registered voters surveyed April 26-May 3 said they would vote for Mr. Bush, 40 percent for Mr. Kerry and 6 percent for independent Ralph Nader. Mr. Bush had a 6-point lead over Mr. Kerry in the previous Quinnipiac poll published March 25 — 46 percent to 40 percent.

The poll found 46 percent of registered voters approve of the job Mr. Bush is doing, and 47 percent disapprove. A CBS/New York Times survey released a week ago found the same result, which was down 5 points from early March and well below his 67 percent approval rating immediately after the fall of Baghdad a year ago.

“President Bush and his team are going down in their approval ratings, but Sen. Kerry is going nowhere,” Maurice Carroll, director of the university’s polling institute said in a statement. “Bush has lost 3 points in the three-way matchup, but those 3 points did not go to Kerry.”

The Quinnipiac survey of 2,016 registered voters nationwide had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.

McGreevey’s choice

New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey, at odds with the Roman Catholic Church over his support for abortion, said yesterday he will honor the wishes of the Newark archbishop and not receive Communion.

Archbishop John J. Myers said in a statement that abortion supporters should not seek Communion when they attend Mass. Archbishop Myers stopped short of saying that priests would refuse to serve it to Catholics who disagree with the church’s position.

“With abortion, there can be no legitimate diversity of opinion,” Archbishop Myers wrote in yesterday’s Catholic Advocate newspaper. “The direct killing of the innocent is always a grave injustice.”

Although some church officials have challenged Mr. McGreevey and other Catholic politicians, including presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, over their support for abortion, Archbishop Myers’ statement did not name any officials, the Associated Press reports.

At a press conference yesterday, Mr. McGreevey said he respectfully disagrees with the archbishop, but will honor his request and not receive Communion.

The governor said he is committed to both his Catholic faith and his pro-choice stance on abortion and believes strongly in the separation of church and state.

Kerry and blacks

Sen. John Kerry needs to move fast to allay concerns that he is slighting blacks in the choice of his top presidential campaign advisers, USA Today columnist DeWayne Wickham writes.

“It’s time for Kerry to speak up. It’s time for him to seek a high-profile, public forum to quiet the bad talk about his campaign’s lack of diversity,” Mr. Wickham said.

“He should go on BET or TV One — the nation’s two leading black cable-television networks — to talk about his vision for America.

“Kerry should make the rounds of black talk radio, seek a meeting with black newspaper publishers and meet with a broad cross section of black leaders and activists to personally address the concerns that have been raised about his campaign. He can’t leave this heavy lifting to the members of his team, who have, thus far, failed to put out this fire. This isn’t the work of surrogates.”

Roy’s rumbles

Roy Moore, the former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, has denied plans for a third-party presidential run, but he’s “acting more and more like a candidate,” reports the left-leaning Salon Web site (www.salon.com).

Known as “the Ten Commandments judge” for his defiance of a federal court order that cost him his job, Mr. Moore “is keeping his finger to the wind and everyone at the edge of their seats,” Fred Clarkson writes.

“The possibility that Roy Moore could challenge President Bush in November may not be costing Karl Rove any sleep — yet. But the chance that the popular conservative judge could do to Bush what Ralph Nader did to Al Gore in 2000 — split his ideological base and cost him the presidency — has analysts crunching numbers and weighing Moore’s chances. …

“Meanwhile, the 57-year-old Moore is acting more and more like a candidate as he crisscrosses the country, speaking at gatherings of Christian rightists, home-schoolers and state conventions of the far-right Constitution Party, which was on 41 state ballots in the 2000 election and is courting Moore to head its ticket. If he ran on the Constitution Party ticket, he would probably be on more state ballots than Nader this year. …

“The deadline for Moore to declare himself is the June 22-26 Constitution Party national convention, in Valley Forge, Pa.,” Mr. Clarkson writes, adding, “In recent weeks, Moore has spoken to Constitution Party state conventions in Oregon, Montana, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Ohio. And a Moore for President Web site [www.formoore.com] has popped up.”

Legal advice

Iraqi judges and two U.S. Supreme Court justices said the rule of law can be established in postwar Iraq as they met yesterday in the Netherlands to discuss a future constitution and the role of a supreme court.

The U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority organized the two-day talks at Scheveningen near The Hague for Iraqi judges to meet international legal experts as they mull a new constitution, Reuters news agency reports.

U.S. Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Anthony M. Kennedy discussed the rule of law and the principles of federalism and separation of powers with 28 Iraqi judges.

“In all the former constitutions of Iraq, there are mentions of basic rights. But the problem is how to take these words and use it in practical life,” Zuher Al-Maliki, a senior Iraqi criminal court judge, told a press conference after the meeting.

“It was a great help today,” he said. “We are still discussing different models, and we are trying to reach our own model in order to be acceptable in our own society.”

Justice Kennedy — who along with Justice O’Connor has helped advise other countries in transition, such as South Africa and states of the former Soviet Union — said he was impressed by the Iraqis.

“They are 100 percent committed and 100 percent confident that they can establish the rule of law under a constitution,” he said.

Bill’s book

When Bill Clinton’s memoirs arrive in bookstores at the end of June, Sen. John Kerry “will not be able to get a word in edgewise,” Dick Morris writes in the New York Post.

“All the stories will be about Clinton, just as the Democratic candidate for president is trying to define his themes and get out his message.”

• Greg Pierce can be reached at 202/636-3285 or gpierce@washingtontimes.com.