Join the Christopher Ward Club, and Don't Be Sorry

By Mary Ann Akers And Paul Kane
Thursday, March 20, 2008

Last Thursday, the National Republican Congressional Committee accused its former treasurer, Christopher Ward, of diverting at least "several hundred thousand dollars" from its coffers into his personal accounts and of faking outside audits to help cover his tracks.

But on March 4, nine days before the NRCC dropped its bombshell, Christopher Ward filed an amended report with the Federal Election Commission that began with a note offering "apologies for this error in totals."

Clairvoyance? Getting out ahead of the posse?

Nope. The apologetic Ward is Christopher M. Ward, and he works for the San Diego Democratic Club. The accused Ward is Christopher J. Ward, and so far he hasn't apologized for anything or commented on the NRCC's charges.

Christopher M. Ward laughed at the long odds that he would file his financial report right before the NRCC announcement, but said his name is pretty common.

"My quick history is nothing as exciting as Christopher J. Ward's, though," Ward wrote in an e-mail.

A 2006 graduate of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, Christopher M. Ward said he has worked for environmental groups in Southern California and has helped with their political activities.

The world of political treasurers and compliance officers is so small that even officials at the Federal Election Commission mistook the California Ward's work for the allegedly fraudulent filings of the Ward here in Washington. Last week, FEC officials mistakenly forwarded to The Post committee filings that the California Ward worked on, suggesting that they might be part of the other Ward's web of committees.

The FEC also discovered another Ward namesake -- Christopher O. Ward-- who has been a treasurer for political committees in New York.

The partisan in Christopher M. Ward was not displeased to see the NRCC suffering from his namesake's alleged actions.

"They had it coming," he wrote. "And at a time where they are having trouble raising funds and nearly broke, as a Democrat, it makes the story even sweeter."

Vote-a-Rama Record?

Senators and staff are still recovering from the record-setting blizzard of votes held last Thursday as part of the annual tradition known as "vote-a-rama": the series of amendments on the budget resolution that are voted on consecutively.

When the last vote was held, at 1:40 a.m. Friday, the Senate had cast its 44th roll-call vote of that session. According to records dating back to 1964 that are maintained by the Senate Historical Office, that is the largest number of votes held in one session. It tops the 39 votes the Senate took on Oct. 27, 1995, to pass a budget reconciliation bill.

A more recent high-water mark came March 17, 2005, when the Senate celebrated St. Patrick's Day by casting 24 votes.

With Democrats numbering 51 to the Republicans' 49 and with two senators still campaigning for president, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) stacked every single budget amendment for Thursday, when Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) could be on hand.

By day's end, the Senate had cast more votes in one session than had been previously cast all year.

Clinton entered Thursday having cast three votes so far this year, for a 7 percent voting attendance record. Her voting attendance record now has skyrocketed to 52 percent.

Obama and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) had similarly poor attendance records before the big vote-a-rama. McCain made about half of Thursday's votes -- he skipped town for political events during part of the day in Philadelphia -- so his attendance jumped from 29 percent to 40 percent in one day. Obama's, however, increased from less than 30 percent to more than 63 percent in a single day's roll calls.

That tells you something about the pace of the Senate on most days.

Baby, You're Much 2 Fast

Attention, political and hot-rod junkies: Now's your once-in-a-lifetime chance to own a little, red Corvette once driven by the speaker of the House of Representatives.

That's right, former speaker Thomas S. Foley's 2001 shiny, red Corvette convertible is up for sale. Much to his chagrin.

Foley (D-Wash.), who is 79 and largely retired as a lobbyist with Akin Gump, is no longer driving. But it sounds as if he'll always have a soft spot for the car.

"He loves that red Corvette," says Foley's wife, Heather, who listed the car on the Big Lot used-car-sales Web site. "He always wanted a Corvette, all his life."

A 30-year incumbent until the GOP tidal wave of 1994 swept him and his party out of power, Foley served as ambassador to Japan from 1997 to 2001. Upon returning stateside, the septuagenarian bought the Corvette as he took up a private sector job.

The beloved 2001 convertible is listed for $30,000 "or best offer" and is described as having "approximately 15,000 miles" and "an 8 Cylinder engine with automatic transmission."

If the automatic transmission dissuades some purists -- Mrs. Foley "insisted" the hubby get an automatic when he bought it -- the good news is, she tells us, "it's in perfect condition."

Debbie Dubya?

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) is getting brutally walloped in the liberal blogosphere for refusing to endorse the Democratic challengers to three potentially vulnerable GOP incumbents in Florida.

Liberal bloggers are irate that Wasserman Schultz, who co-chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Red-to-Blue program, has declined to endorse the Democrats running to unseat Cuban American Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Lincoln Diaz-Balart and his brother, Mario Diaz-Balart.

Wasserman Schultz says she doesn't want to stab GOP members of her own delegation in the back. But liberal bloggers say she's killing her own while aiding and abetting the enemy.

The political blog Swing State Project has even given the congresswoman a nickname to reflect that unholy allegiance: Debbie Dubya.

The bloggers also are furious with Rep. Kendrick B. Meek (D-Fla.), who similarly refuses to endorse the Democratic challengers to the three Cuban American Republicans.

They are calling for Wasserman Schultz to step down from her leadership role at the DCCC. And they're not letting up, even after one Florida liberal blogger reported that the congresswoman seemed "frustrated" by the blogs and had asked to "please help get them off my back."

This prompted even harsher reaction from perhaps the most influential of the progressive political bloggers, Markos Moulitsas, a.k.a. Kos, founder of Daily Kos, who wrote on his blog Wednesday: "On so many fronts, the Republicans are standing in the way of progress, on Iraq, SCHIP, health care, fiscal responsibility, corruption, civil liberties, and so on. Those three south Florida Republicans are part of that problem. And she's going to be 'frustrated' that people demand she do her job?"

Defending herself against the attacks, Wasserman Schultz told us, "The blogosphere sometimes turns into a game of telephone." She said the bloggers are missing a key point: "I have not endorsed any of the three incumbents, and I don't support their reelection campaigns."

Wasserman Schultz said she supports electing Democrats to Congress but that she has to "balance" her political role at the DCCC with her role as a member of the Florida delegation. As for that unfortunate nickname, she said, "I don't have any comment to that."

Brian Wolff, executive director of the DCCC, says the bloggers are making "much ado about nothing," noting that it's "customary" for members to remain neutral in races involving GOP members of their respective congressional delegations.