Election Sneaking Up on GOP?

By Mary Ann Akers And Paul Kane
Thursday, August 23, 2007

Do Republicans have a counting problem? At the rate he's going, Tom Cole, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, might wind up a dollar short and a month late come Election Day.

Cole (Okla.) this week e-mailed a fundraising letter, laden with exclamation points, to GOP supporters asking them to join the NRCC's "Campaign for 16" -- named for, among other things, the number of seats needed to regain the majority and the number of months (he thought) until the election.

Cole explained that a donation of $16 a month would help target 16 Democrats who "have gone the extra mile for illegal immigrants" and who "voted against funding for a border fence!"

"We only need to win back 16 Congressional seats," Cole declared in his e-mail, and "we have only 16 months in which to make it happen!"

No, Mr. Cole, you don't have 16 months. Ya barely got 15! Sixteen months from the date you sent your letter, it'll be Dec. 21, and the ballots will have been cast and counted.

Cole's enemy combatants over at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee were delighted to intercept the NRCC chairman's arithmetic-challenged e-mail. "With the NRCC's new election math, it's no wonder veteran Republican members are retiring," DCCC spokeswoman Jennifer Crider said. "We wish Tom Cole and the NRCC luck in their December 21st election efforts."

NRCC spokesman Ken Spain gave Crider a run for her money in the snarky department: "We must have confused the number of months left until Election Day with the Democrats' approval rating."

(For the record, he said, it was 16 months to Election Day when the NRCC formulated its "Campaign for 16" strategy.)

The Wrong In-Box for This Feud

A nasty fight between Sens. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) over a controversial earmark has officially spiraled off the civility radar. Coburn has been critical of Nelson over his $7.5 million earmark request for an Omaha defense contractor, 21st Century Systems, which employs Nelson's son Patrick.

The anger of Coburn's staff bubbled to the surface this month when an aide sent an e-mail -- intended only for a few of his colleagues -- that included a news story about Coburn's request that the Defense Department's inspector general investigate the defense contractor. "This will shut that [expletive] up," Coburn spokesman John Hart wrote in the Aug. 1 e-mail. "Tomorrow we can announce the launch of the probe."

Coburn's legislative director, Roland Foster, replied, "Great article. How many weeks has this been in the press now? If we are shut down by the boss, you can just say we won't comment since the company is under investigation." Foster also said, referring to Nelson's signature thick hair, "We refer all questions to [Nelson's] hairdresser."

Hart then responded, "I can't wait to send an In Case You Missed It to Nebraska press that will be forwarded to . . . [expletive]." This article helped make our case with Coburn, he added.

Unfortunately for Hart, his e-mails accidentally were sent to an aide in the office of Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who all but loathes Coburn for, at every turn, trying to block Alaska pet projects, including the infamous "bridge to nowhere." And they ended up in the Hill, the Capitol Hill newspaper.

Hart, perhaps wearing a muzzle by this point, wasn't able to comment yesterday. Coburn's chief of staff, Michael Schwartz, defended his boss's tireless crusade against pork but also said the senator regretted his staff's behavior.

"One of Dr. Coburn's core missions is to unmask and eliminate examples of wasteful spending," Schwartz said. "However, he never intends to ridicule or embarrass individual senators. Our staff profoundly regrets their use of inappropriate language in this e-mail which suggests this was a personal battle, when that was never our intent."

Nelson spokesman David DiMartino said: "Every time Senator Coburn apologizes, his staff takes it further. First, they launched a political attack against Nelson; now they scheme to subvert their own boss. Clearly, Senator Coburn has no control over his staff's activities."

Any Comment, Rep. Filner?

Still total radio silence from Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif.).

The chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs flew off to Iraq this week without commenting on the misdemeanor assault and battery charges filed against him after a dispute over his luggage with a United Airlines employee Sunday night at Washington Dulles International Airport. His office yesterday gave us no clearer understanding of why Filner said the charges against him were "ridiculous" and that the news reports of the incident were "factually incorrect."

"I don't have a full statement yet," Filner spokeswoman Amy Pond said. She said Filner will issue a statement when he returns from Iraq.

Filner, who turns 65 on Sept. 4, is scheduled to appear in Loudoun General District Court on Oct. 2.

They Acted as if I Didn't Exist

Don't expect to see Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) making too many more appearances on ABC News. An apparently irate Kucinich sent a letter to supporters yesterday accusing the network of ignoring him in the presidential debate on Sunday's "This Week With George Stephanopoulos."

Among Kucinich's charges: He was "deliberately cropped out" of photos; after he took a "commanding lead" in ABC's online survey, the survey was mysteriously "dropped from prominence on the web site"; and "as every viewer of the nationally televised Sunday presidential forum is aware," Kucinich was not asked a question until 28 minutes into the program.

Asked for comment on the network's alleged conspiracy to ignore Kucinich, ABC News spokeswoman Andrea Jones had this to say:

About those allegedly cropped photos, she said: "There are 20 photos live on the ABC News Web site, Mr. Kucinich is in a number of them, and there is even one of him and his wife. . . . Clearly, nothing was cropped."

And what about not calling on Kucinich until 28 agonizing minutes into the debate? "He may not have been addressed in the first 28 minutes, but he was the only candidate questioned in his own segment on 'This Week With George Stephanopoulos,' two weeks in a row. That appearance is posted online, as well," Jones said.

Kucinich also said that ABC News did not respond to his concerns.

Jones pointed out that Kucinich had back-to-back appearances on Stephanopoulos's show, so "clearly their claim is not substantiated by the facts nor by the extensive coverage of his candidacy on the ABCNews.com Web site."

ABC said it planned to send all of these responses and more to Kucinich, thus officially ending its campaign to pretend he doesn't exist.

Akers writes The Sleuth, and Kane writes Capitol Briefing, both blogs on washingtonpost.com.