By Mary Ann Akers And Paul Kane
Thursday, September 6, 2007

The Senate is full of pomp and circumstance at the slightest historical moment, so it was a stunning oversight on Aug. 3 when not a bit of attention was given to Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), with a 45-year career in the chamber, as he cast his 15,000th vote.

No laudatory speeches that night, no commemoration, no pause to recognize an achievement reached by only two other senators: the late Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), who cast 16,348 votes; and Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.), who was sitting on 18,081 roll calls as of the start of this week.

Just how upset was Kennedy at the slight? Not the least bit -- because he had no clue of his accomplishment.

After some cajoling from On the Hill yesterday, Kennedy offered a confession about his momentous vote: He had "absolutely no idea" that he had reached the threshold when voting "nay" on President Bush's preferred plan to expand domestic surveillance of alleged terrorists through courts overseen by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

In fact, no one in the chamber or on Kennedy's legendarily loyal staff was aware of the importance of the moment until aides realized the historic nature of the vote "about three or four days ago," said Kennedy, who was vacationing at Hyannis Port when he recognized just how big a deal -- personally and politically -- the FISA vote was. "They called me at the Cape," said Kennedy, 75, laughing at the oversight.

So, after recognizing the slip-up, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) tried to pay proper respect to the senatorial lion, opening the chamber Tuesday with a tribute to Kennedy's milestone and noting that it occurred during the frantic final day of the summer session, during which the chamber passed a flurry of bills and everyone was in a hurry to bolt for the four-week August recess.

Kennedy confessed that the tributes from Reid, Byrd and others on Tuesday were more touching than he expected. He recalled his first campaign, in 1962, trying to take the seat his brother John F. Kennedy had held before moving to the White House. Teddy Kennedy, 30 years old at the time, was told by his critics that his problems were "youth and inexperience."

"And I said," Kennedy recalled yesterday, "that can be overcome with time."

Talk about going the extra mile for your boss.

Phil Singer, a veteran congressional aide who is now spokesman for Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign, is raising money for the Marine Corps Marathon, which he plans to run for the worthy cause of -- get this -- Hillary Clinton for President.

In the previous two marathons he ran, back when he worked for the senior senator from New York, Chuck Schumer, and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Singer raised beaucoup bucks to fight Parkinson's disease, cancer and tuberous sclerosis. This time, he's raising money to fight Barack Obama and John Edwards.

"Running a marathon is hard. So is running for president," Singer wrote in a recent e-mail solicitation. "That's why I'm dedicating my marathon effort to helping my boss -- Hillary Clinton -- raise money for her marathon effort to become the next President of the United States."

Kindly providing a link to a contribution page on Clinton's campaign Web site, Singer wrote, "I'm hoping you'll help me do that by clicking here and giving $26.20 (think marathon!) to the Hillary Clinton campaign. What better way to help me run 26.2 miles :-) And in keeping with the theme of the marathon, I'm also hoping that you'll forward this email to 26.2 of your friends and urge them to give to our campaign."

Rest assured, a good percentage of Singer's 26.2 friends are giving him grief about his uncanny ability to suck up to the boss. He told us one of his colleagues wrote back saying, "Running a marathon is hard but not as hard as the amount of [ribbing] you're going to get for sending out that email!"

Some historical context: Singer crossed the finish line of the 2003 New York City Marathon with Sean "Diddy" Combs. (Singer beat Combs across the line, finishing in 4 hours 5 minutes; he ran last year's Marine Corps Marathon in 3 hours 37 minutes but with no celebrity sightings.) As for switching his marathon effort from helping cancer patients to helping Hillary, Singer joked, "I guess you can say the Clinton campaign is literally running for change."

Larry Craig's expected exit from the Senate -- assuming he really does resign Sept. 30 -- has set off behind-the-scenes maneuvering to see which Senate Republicans will be the indirect beneficiaries of the Idaho Republican's demise. The most plum assignment Craig would leave behind is a seat on the Appropriations Committee, which doles out more than $900 billion a year in federal spending. Senators were mum about who are the top candidates for the slot, which will be filled by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.).

If McConnell uses seniority as his measuring stick, the classes of 1996 and 1998 are in line for the Appropriations slot. Senators are allowed to hold only one "Super A" committee post, so the most senior members already are on premier panels and won't give up those spots to become junior members on Appropriations. Attention will focus on Susan Collins (Maine) and Mike Enzi (Wyo.).

Even if Craig does return, GOP leaders have already stripped him of his posts as the top Republican on one committee and two subcommittees, so some shuffling there is in order.

At the Veterans' Affairs Committee, Richard Burr (N.C.) is in line to become the ranking Republican. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) is slated to become the number two Republican on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

One subcommittee leadership post of Craig's might not be so sought-after: top Republican on the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on the interior. As one of our tipsters points out, "It's official: Being the top Republican on Interior Appropriations is a death sentence."

The past three top Republicans on that panel have taken a spill. Before Craig, the top Republican on the panel (and the chairman) was Conrad Burns of Montana, who lost his reelection bid last fall. Burns was preceded by Slade Gorton (Wash.), who lost his 2000 reelection race.

Prime suspects to replace Craig there are Sam Brownback (Kansas), Wayne Allard (Colo.) or Lamar Alexander (Tenn.). Our money's on Allard, since he has announced his intention to retire next year.