Inside Politics

Pelosi’s squad

With the fall elections little more than two months away, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi yesterday announced the formation of what she called a “Truth Squad,” manned by some of her party’s most partisan House members.

The Democrats’ “Waste, Fraud and Abuse Truth Squad” will be chaired by California Reps. Henry A. Waxman and Dennis Cardoza. Mrs. Pelosi said the Truth Squad will focus on the Bush administration’s mishandling of taxpayer dollars, which, she added, contributed to budget deficits.

“The alarming amount of waste, fraud and abuse by the Bush administration and the rubber-stamp Republican Congress is egregious,” Mrs. Pelosi said. “Democrats are committed to a new direction in the way our government does business so taxpayers’ money is handled responsibly.”

The group immediately released a report on what it called wasteful procurement spending in response to Hurricane Katrina. Other members of the Truth Squad are David R. Obey of Wisconsin, John Tanner of Tennessee, D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, and John F. Tierney of Massachusetts.

Not forced out

David Wallace says Republican officials did not force him to end his write-in candidacy for the open 22nd District House seat vacated by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

“There is no way that two write-in candidates could win. It would be very difficult and divisive to the Republican Party,” said Mr. Wallace, the mayor of Sugar Land, a Houston suburb.

Last week, local Republican leaders voted to support Houston City Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs as a write-in candidate. Mr. Wallace said that the national Republican Party was willing to commit $3 million to the race for Mr. DeLay’s old seat, but only if there was one Republican write-in candidate, the Associated Press reports.

’A silly thing’

The head of the Senate Republican campaign committee shrugged off the flap over Montana Sen. Conrad Burns’ comments about immigration as “a silly thing” and argued that he deserves another term.

“Most people who know him understand that he’s a guy who has a sense of humor and sometimes that can be mistaken,” North Carolina Sen. Elizabeth Dole said. “He’ll say himself that he has misspoken. But the bottom line is that he is such a fighter for his state … he absolutely focuses on the state of Montana.”

Mr. Burns, whose re-election campaign is pressing for tighter immigration controls, referred to his house painter as “a nice little Guatemalan man” and suggested that worker as well as employees of a roofing company he hired might be in the country illegally.

“The other day, the little fella who does our maintenance work around the house, he’s from Guatemala, and I said, ’Could I see your green card?’” Mr. Burns said at a June meeting recorded by Democrats. “And Hugo says, ’No.’ I said, ’Oh, gosh.’”

The campaign of Mr. Burns’ rival, Jon Tester, released the video this week. The Burns campaign said the worker is a legal citizen and the senator never doubted that. They also said the worker, Hugo Reyes, is small in stature.

Campaigning in Montana on Wednesday, Mrs. Dole defended Mr. Burns and said voting him out of office after three terms would be a disaster. Asked about the criticism of his comments, she said in a telephone interview with the Associated Press, “It’s a silly thing.”

Charges dismissed

A judge in Kentucky dismissed corruption charges against Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher yesterday after he acknowledged failing to respect the state’s merit hiring laws in a plea agreement.

Mr. Fletcher, the first Republican to lead the state in 30 years, was indicted in May on three misdemeanor charges related to the illegal hiring of Republicans for state jobs that are protected by law from political interference.

“We’ve said all along that some of the things that went on shouldn’t have,” Mr. Fletcher said.

In dismissing the charges, Special Judge David Melcher wrote that Mr. Fletcher had accepted responsibility for his administration’s failure to respect the state’s hiring laws, Reuters news agency reports.

“This sincere expression of ultimate responsibility, however, is not an admission in any way of any criminal wrongdoing by the governor, nor directly on behalf of the governor,” Judge Melcher wrote.

Gets no respect

Alan Schlesinger, Connecticut’s unloved and lonely Republican Senate candidate, said yesterday his election would be “a slam dunk” if only state and national Republican Party campaign officials would get behind him instead of shunning him like the plague.

“How can I make them realize that this election is so viable and all they have to do is spend a little money and give me a fair chance and they would pick up a good conservative Republican seat,” the former Derby, Conn. mayor said in a telephone interview with reporter Donald Lambro of The Washington Times.

After anti-war candidate Ned Lamont beat Sen. Joe Lieberman for the Democratic nomination and Mr. Lieberman decided to run as an independent, the Republican Party’s leadership, from President Bush down, agreed to stay out of the race in the belief the senator, an Iraq war booster, will benefit from his combined Democrat and Republican support.

“I’m where I am [at 4 percent in the polls] because of what the news media and the White House have done. They think it’s a wasted vote and 75 percent of the voters don’t even know there is a Republican candidate,” Mr. Schlesinger said.

Tightening race

Democrat Bob Casey maintained a slight lead over Republican Sen. Rick Santorum in Pennsylvania, but more voters say they have a poor opinion of the challenger, according to an independent poll released yesterday.

In a three-way contest, the new Keystone Poll found Mr. Casey leading Mr. Santorum 44 percent to 39 percent among registered voters. Green Party candidate Carl Romanelli had 4 percent. Thirteen percent were undecided in the poll, which was conducted by Franklin & Marshall College Aug. 16-21. Twenty percent said they had an unfavorable opinion of Mr. Casey, a seven-point increase.

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