Post Politics Hour

washingtonpost.com's Daily Politics Discussion

Don't want to miss out on the latest in politics? Start each day with The Post Politics Hour. Join in each weekday morning at 11 a.m. as a member of The Washington Post's team of White House and Congressional reporters answers questions about the latest in buzz in Washington and The Post's coverage of political news.

Washington Post congressional reporter Jonathan Weisman was online Friday, Oct. 27, at 11 a.m. ET to discuss the latest political news and The Post's coverage of politics.

Political analysis from Post reporters and interviews with top newsmakers. Listen live on Washington Post Radio or subscribe to a podcast of the show.

The transcript follows.

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Jonathan Weisman: Sorry I'm running late -- technical glitch. With just 12 days left, the mud is flying but the dye is probably caste. So let's go.

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Alexandria, Va.: The White House brought in conservative talk show hosts this week as part of the GOP strategy to "appeal to their base". Is it just me, or does it strike others that having these radio hosts using public airwaves for a strictly partisan purpose as not only unfair but against the the public interest? Shouldn't Democrats have an opportunity to respond?

Jonathan Weisman: Democrats could respond in kind, but their one radio network is in bankruptcy. Now THAT'S unfair! The fairness doctrine in broadcasting is pretty much dead, and in a political season, the White House does what it does. President Clinton spent the weeks before elections in non-stop political mode as well.

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London, UK: Wow, a picture now accompanies the chats. How grand. It's like your really here!

Jonathan Weisman: I've lost weight since then, but my hair is a tad grayer. (or greyer, on your side of the pond.)

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Baton Rouge, La.: Rumsfeld said yesterday that the press should "just back-off" with its scrutiny of the administration's Iraq policy. What is your reaction to that?

Jonathan Weisman: I wrote up that story yesterday. It was classic Rumsfeld -- he's smarter than us, remember? I don't think it did his party's candidates much good.

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Cincinnati, Ohio: Will the news of the excerpts from Jim Webb's fiction books really gain traction in VA? John McCain did write a endorsement on the back of one. Could this be the issue that will give the Allen campaign the boost it needs? Will it really come down to fiction vs non fiction?

Jonathan Weisman: Errr, no. It may lend a little credence to those attack ads running on TV right now about Webb statements of yore regarding women in combat. But remember those steamy passages from Lynn Cheney's fiction with lesbian overtones? Probably not -- because they didn't have much consequence either.

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Lewisburg, Pa.: Do you think this could be an election like 1994 where all the undecided voters break one way at the last minute (probably in the Dems favor)? If that happens do the Dems sweep all of the close Senate races and pick up at least 30 house seats?

Jonathan Weisman: If that happens, it will be a huge Democratic night. I'm not yet convinced. The states that usually break Democratic, eg-New Jersey, appear to be doing so. But states that usually break Republican -- Tennessee, Missouri -- may be sticking to the script as well.

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Chicago, Ill.: What do you think of the Green Party candidate for governor of Illinois polling over 15%?

Jonathan Weisman: It shows that there's real discomfort with your Democratic governor, but Illinois really has become a blue state.

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Mifflinburg, Pa.: I have read what the Dems plan to do in the first 100 hours, if they take back the House. After the 100 hours are up what do you think they will do next?

Jonathan Weisman: I think one of the first bills out of the chute will be a big tax cut, not a tax hike. They need to pass these business tax cut extensions, like the R&D tax credit, and they are likely to attach a big cut to the alternative minimum tax. The problem is, in the first 100 hours, they want to reinstate rules that say any tax cuts would have to be paid for with spending cuts or other tax increases. That will be the direst showdown between the Democrats' liberal wing and the very much fortified conservative-to-moderate group.

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Sewickley, Pa.: Will the press corps have another opportunity before the election to ask Secy Rumsfeld if Baghdad is safer than it was six months ago? I heard the question shouted as the Secy left the briefing room. Isn't that the "metric" that counts?

Jonathan Weisman: After yesterday's contentious press conference, I would not be surprised if the White House asks Rumsfeld to give his weekly meeting with the press a by week.

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Austin, Tex.: After the election, assuming a majority Dem in the House, which oversight committees will investigate administration handling of Iraq, Katrina, Abramoff, and Foley? Will there be any cooperation? Some of these problems are more than just partisan bickering. We need cooperation on Iraq and FEMA and probably a few other critical things like homeland security.

Jonathan Weisman: Henry Waxman's Government Reform Committee has been tasked with the biggest oversight role, and he wants to dive into Iraq and Katrina issues. He has the biggest investigative staff ready. But remember, when the Democrats ran the House, John Dingell's Commerce Committee was a power center, the real bully on the block. Nancy Pelosi would like to keep Dingell on a tighter leash, but he will be hard to hold back.

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New York, N.Y.: It seems to me that many of the House and Senate races are so close that any advantage the Democrats had going into election day will be wiped clean by the Republican GOTV efforts. Some have estimated that it could be worth up to 5% points. Any thoughts?

Jonathan Weisman: That's what the Republicans hope. It's very difficult to reconcile the general polls that show people overwhelmingly favoring the generic Democratic candidate over the Republican with the very close race-by-race polls. But pollsters would indicate mood will add 5% the other way.

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Minneapolis, Minn.: I was watching C-Span and one of the guests suggested that the first races you want to watch on Nov. 7 would be Indiana and Kentucky. (Apparently, they have earlier balloting or something.) Would that be your take on it as well?

Jonathan Weisman: I would watch suburban Philly. Indiana Republicans are in huge trouble, but that has as much to do with anger at Mitch Daniels, the Republican governor, as it does the national mood. But if Gerlach, Fitzpatrick and Weldon go down in Pennsylvania, it will mean the Republicans have lost control of the moderate suburbs.

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Arlington, Va.: In the recent Cardin-Steele debate, Steele mocked Cardin for not knowing where the terminus of the proposed Purple Line was. Yesterday, at a press conference, it came out that Steele didn't know either. The question is: how do these local issues play in Senate races where the officeholders vote on war and peace and broader issues?

Jonathan Weisman: They play bigger in House races than Senate ones. Steele's biggest problem is that he's in a state with such a huge Democratic advantage in a big Democratic year. The suburban DC voters that care about the Purple Line are very Democratic. Steele would certainly have to make in-roads there, especially in African American Prince Georges County, but he really needs to bring out Republicans and independents far from Washington.

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Minneapolis, Minn.: It seems like in the TV ads for the House and Senate races that the Republican candidates are attacking the Democrats, whereas the Democrats are mostly talking about what they would do differently. Is this typical in other states as well?

Jonathan Weisman: Democrats really don't have the killer instinct, do they? Republicans are attacking the Democratic candidate. Democrats, feeling like their best advantage is the national mood, are trying to elevate the debate. We'll see what works in 12 days.

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Hazlet, N.J.: Jonathan:

Stories about Diebold and the strange behind-the-scenes changes to electronic voting machines crop up in the news but it seems to me no one is putting the pieces together ( a la Woodward and Bernstein ) here. Stories out of Virginia should send shivers down Democrats spines - if they still have any. What say ye Jon? Or do you also bow down in obedience to more coup de jour and monkey business as usual at the ballot box ?

Jonathan Weisman: I bow, oh master, to the corporate titans that pull the chain around my neck! The Post has done many stories on the electronic voting machine issue, especially after the fiasco in Maryland's primaries. And if the results of the voting Nov. 7 diverge from expectations, a lot of attention will be paid to the voting issue. But I don't buy the conspiracy theory. After all, it was Maryland's REPUBLICAN governor that called for the machines to be closed down, and the DEMOCRATS in the state legislature that cried foul.

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Alexandria, Va.: I really hate to be petty but you say in your intro today -- "...but the dye is probably caste". The saying is actually "The die is cast".

Jonathan Weisman: I had a feeling I got that one wrong.

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Memphis, Tenn.: Why do reporters consistently try to frame things in a he said, she said way? I have read several reports (not including one in the Post today which was really good.) saying how both sides are going negative. The truth is one side is going beyond the pale.

Here in Tennessee I am bombarded with ads telling me Harold Ford is for gay marriage and wants to give school children abortions. It's not true and they know it, but they keep running it. What have the Democrats run that is not true? Nothing.

The fact is it's not he said, she said. It is the Republicans plan to smear Democrats in a desperate attempt hold on to their power... And we wonder why we end up with the leaders we have.

Jonathan Weisman: In the instance of ads, I think we have laid the blame pretty heavily on the Republicans, especially in the Tennessee Senate race. We do bend over backwards, sometimes to a fault, to reflect both sides, but the Republican efforts against Harold Ford are breathtaking.

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Rockville, Md.: " it came out that Steele didn't know either. "

Not so true. Several plans are north of the Beltway. Not much has been ruled out.

Jonathan Weisman: Thanks

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Arlington, Va.: Do you expect a flood of democratic staffers to return to Washington D.C. if they manage to retake the House? Does the landscape fundamentally change on the Hill?

Jonathan Weisman: Yes, and yes. A lot of Republican staffers would be out of work and a lot of openings would have to be filled on the Democratic side. Look to the Center for American Progress and the liberal-leaning think tank world to be gutted.

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Washington, D.C.: I see you are in chat competition with Michael Steele - was Ben Cardin also offered an opportunity to chat with Post readers?

Jonathan Weisman: I'm absolutely sure he was, and I'm sure he will have his moment.

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Arlington, Va.: There definitely seems to be a feeling of "throw the bums out" out here, and I love it, its long overdue. However, I'm curious if there are there any incumbents in the Congress who are enjoying unprecedented popularity and if so, what is the commonality between them?

Jonathan Weisman: There are certainly incumbents who are breezing to re-election. Look at Olympia Snowe, a moderate Senator in Blue Maine. But she is very much connected to her constituents and has stood against President Bush, not only in her votes but in dramatic actions. She singlehandedly thwarted tax cuts and was the reason why the Senate Intelligence Committee was able to release the Democrats' findings on the lack of connections between Zarqawi and Saddam Hussein.

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Baltimore, Md.: Hello,

In the chat yesterday, a question was asked about why Senator Obama is being paraded all over the media and congressional races. Do you think it's because it softens the Republican claims about Nancy Pelosi being a flaming liberal who will invite terrorists over for dinner while raising everyone's taxes to pay for the dinner?

Jonathan Weisman: In the halls of Congress, Obama is just another senator and not a particularly effective one. But on the stump, he is greeted like a rock star. He is just very good.

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Washington, D.C.: As a former Dem, I now consider myself an independent. I see a lot of Dems that participate in these sessions. The reason I became independent is the Dems have lost control of their party. When will they learn that as long as the fringe controls the party, they will loose middle America?

Jonathan Weisman: The moderate to conservative Blue Dog Democrats have 16 endorsed candidates. At least a dozen of them are likely to win. That would give the Blue Dogs more votes than the Congressional Black Caucus. I actually think the House Democratic Caucus will be considerably more conservative next year than you think.

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Claverack, N.Y.: "Democrats really don't have the killer instinct, do they?"

Sigh. I was just done getting mad at Mark Halperin of ABC for dismissively claiming Democrats are being just as sleazily negative as the GOP without citing any examples. Now here you are, acknowledging that the Dems aren't going negative, and saying it reflects their lack of manhood.

Why don't you just call us The Loser Party, since that's what all your stories end up saying anyway?

Jonathan Weisman: How come my e-mail in-box is so full of people telling me I'm too hard on the Democrats and even more people telling me I'm a lapdog of Howard Dean's? It's all sooooo confusing!

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Arlington, Va.: Please explain how Ken Mehlman can say the RNC has no responsibility for that distasteful anti-Harold Ford ad when the tag line at the end EXPLICITLY says "The Republican National Committee is responsible for the content of this ad"?

Jonathan Weisman: That's a good one, isn't it? Mehlman said the RNC paid for it but didn't produce it and didn't control the running schedule. Yet when the pressure got hot enough, it was pulled. Go figger.

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Canton, Ohio: Do you think the President's new Iraq strategy of setting benchmarks for the Iraqis will be more effective that the old stay the course strategy was?

Jonathan Weisman: I'm just glad I'm not him.

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Atlanta, Ga.: First, I'd like to say how handsome, intelligent and articulate this reporter is. Finally, I wanted to know how concerned Democrats should be about the famed last minute Republican get out the vote campaign.

Jonathan Weisman: Thanks, Mom. And they should be concerned.

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washingtonpost.com: Re: Washington, D.C.'s question regarding a current Live Online with Michael Steele , an invitation has also been extended to Rep. Ben Cardin to participate in a separate discussion.

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Bozeman, Mont.: Re: Rumsfeld's behavior yesterday. Is it possible that this administration has become so conditioned to not being accountable to the press through it's media representatives that it now considers the press to be a non-entity? The run-up to the war where the press simply went AWOL was a low point. I sorely recall such articles as the "studly Rumsfeld", etc.

Jonathan Weisman: Give me a break. I covered the Pentagon during the Afghan war -- at least the hottest phase. And Rumsfeld and the press have been jousting like that for years. So tell me, Bozeman, how do you think Montanans know so much about Jack Abramoff? Could it have something to do with the Pulitzer Prize hanging around my colleagues' necks?

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SW Pennsylvania: What is your assessment of the House Ethics Committee and its staff? Will it produce anything useful in the page/Foley mess?

Jonathan Weisman: Good question. Two nights ago, Ted Van Der Meid, Hastert's chief counsel, went before the committee around 5 p.m. and didn't come out until something like 1 a.m. Hastert was expected to make a pretty perfunctory appearance. Instead, he was in for nearly three hours. I don't know what's going on behind the closed doors, but they appear to be working very hard. That said, I doubt they will let us know their conclusions until after the election.

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Silver Spring, Md.: Your commenter from Rockville who said that there were several Purple Line plans that are outside the Beltway is absolutely wrong. These people (Steele, Cardin, and Rockville) don't know anything about the Purple Line. Not too surprising, really, but fairly embarrassing.

Jonathan Weisman: I have to tell you, I don't really know either.

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Washington, D.C.: Doesn't the blatant partisan marriage between the White House and Commercial Talk Radio blurs the lines between journalism, entertainment and propaganda?

What are the ethical implications for the broadcasters who willingly do the bidding of a political party?

Jonathan Weisman: I don't think those lines really are blurred. Talk radio is not journalism. Rush Limbaugh likes to call himself an entertainer. I don't think the talk show world uses the "fair and balanced" line. It is what it is.

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Vienna, Va.: Jonathan: I'm going to put you on the spot, since you're the only political reporter online today. Media people produce reams of stories about the lack of focus on issues in campaigns, and that voters seem to ignore issues when voting...and yet every media person covering or reviewing the campaign season seems to love Michael Steele's ads, which are slickly produced and say next to nothing. Isn't that more than a little hypocritical?

Jonathan Weisman: I don't think we have to do one or the other. If the ads are good, we can say that -- and we can lament that no one is reading the story next to it about, say, the military commissions bill.

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Munich, Germany: I think that the Bush administration can rightly claim that many of al Qaeda's top terrorists have been decommissioned (killed or apprehended), but I'm still quite skeptical about Cheney's torturous no-brainer statement.

A lot has gone into apprehending these top terrorists, including work by the NSA and cooperation with other secret services, but I've yet to hear conclusive proof that torture has provided real and reliable intelligence information. A while ago, the Post published the opinions of a few interrogators regarding torture or hard interrogation methods in the Outlook section, and the opinion was that torture provides unreliable information.

How then can dunking terrorism suspects in water during questioning be a no-brainer?

Jonathan Weisman: I don't think John McCain would call it a no-brainer. And Lindsey Graham insists -- not very convincingly at this point -- that the military commissions law outlaws water boarding.

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San Jose, Calif.: Why aren't the Democrats better at "get out the vote"?

Jonathan Weisman: I think they're getting better. And the last few elections, core Democratic voters have been pretty despondent. This year, it will be much easier for Democrats to charge up their base and Republicans will have the real test.

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Bel Air, Md.: I'll say this-- you and Steele may be conducting a chat at the same time, but you are blowing him out of the water in the number of questions you are answering!

Jonathan Weisman: Thanks, my four fingers can really fly.

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Washington, D.C.: Michael J. Fox done at least one ad for a Republican before - has anyone asked Sen. Specter if he is okay with these attacks? It would seem appropriate for Specter to defend Fox to return the favor Fox did in '04.

Jonathan Weisman: That's a good point. I'll have to ask him. Frankly, in the Fox-Limbaugh showdown, Fox won on a TKO. I think that debate is over.

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Democrats don't need attack ads: They have CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, MSNBC......

As you point out, their only radio outlet failed because people don't want to listen to left-wing rhetoric. They like their left-wing bias to take the form of "news" reports.

Jonathan Weisman: You should chat with Bozeman. He seems to think we're lapdogs to the right.

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Bethesda, Md.: You don't have much competition from Steele, he has only fielded 4 questions in 35 minutes. Do you think it will help him that he does not disclose that he is a Republican anywhere in his campaign advertising? Or is it sneaky or shows he is not proud of his party affiliation?

Jonathan Weisman: Since he is the Republican lieutenant governor of the state where he's running, I don't think he's fooling anybody.

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Chestertown, Md.: With regard to your comment about Barack Obama being, in the halls of Congress, "just another Senator and not a particularly effective one," could you point to one or two examples of individuals who were elected to the Senate without first serving in the House and regarded as "very effective" two years into their first term? Thanks.

Jonathan Weisman: Hillary Clinton.

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Rolla, Mo.: I hate to be cynical, but when have positive ads beaten negative ones? There is a reason they are used, they work.

Jonathan Weisman: True, but when the environment is this bad, angry voters may dismiss them out of hand for not addressing what they're angry about.

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Oxford, Ohio: Re: Your chagrin at the bankruptcy of Air America. It would be nice to have a fair debate with both sides represented on the airwaves, but they failed in the true marketplace of ideas, free radio. Their message did not resonate with enough listeners to keep the lights on. IMHO, it was the way they pitched their ideas, with more name-calling than substance. What do you think?

Jonathan Weisman: I have to admit, I never listened to Air America, but I never listen to Rush Limbaugh either. I think in both cases, they are appealing to a fairly narrow band of the voting population. Remember, until very recently, most people had never heard of Condi Rice.

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Westminster, Md.: I keep hearing that the Md. Senate race has tightened. How can that be? Ben Cardin had a double digit lead only a few weeks ago. His opponent, Steele, has not record of accomplishment but has some cute ads featuring puppy dogs. Is this true and if so, what do you attribute it to?

Jonathan Weisman: I'm not sure it is true. Cardin's numbers don't really seem to drop, but Steele may be firming up the Republican base. There was one poll that had it something like 41-38, but there are not that many undecided voters. It must not have pushed the leaners to take sides.

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Silver Spring, Md: Re the voting machines. I thought the conventional wisdom was Ehrlich was raising alarms about the voting machines because he calculates that low turnout works in his favor.

Jonathan Weisman: That is CW. But the left has been raising those alarm bells ever since 2004.

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Kansas City, Mo.: Didn't Halperin write a memo in 2004 where he said that ABC shouldn't hold the Bush and Kerry campaign 'equally' accountable regarding distortions as there were major differences in the goals of each campaign (i.e. it was the major goal of the Bush camp but a sidelight for the Kerry camp).

Did anyone agree with him or have complaints by both sides forced the media to do the he said/she said approach?

Jonathan Weisman: You remember correctly. It was a flash in the pan of a controversy, but in the end, the Republican Party didn't care that much. The reason the parties spend so much on ads is because they don't think press coverage of the races -- and certainly of the ads in the races -- sway the voters.

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San Jose, Calif.: The question no one is the press has been addressing is what should we should expect if the Republicans retain control of Congress. Will Bush clam another mandate like he did after squeaking buy in 2004? If bet they will retain control and he will ram through as much as he can, knowing that they're likely to lose in 2008.

Jonathan Weisman: If they retain control, the gloating will be insufferable. But they will lose seats. Democrats will be utterly despondent, but when they pull themselves off the mat, they will find that they will have significantly more power to slow the president's agenda, especially in the Senate.

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Poplar Bluff, Mo.: I know the discussion is about congressional elections. However, I saw Texas Gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman's ad on "Tucker" last night. It was the best ad out of a political season of ads that is basically scum. Have you seen the Friedman's commercial and do you think voters could be attracted to it instead of the mudslinging that has been going on?

Jonathan Weisman: If it's the one with the Kinky action figure, yes. Loved it.

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The get out the vote myth: I'd like to point out that in 2004, the Republicans managed to get out the vote to such an extreme that George Bush got a whopping 51% of the vote. Last time I checked, that's barely a majority.

Jonathan Weisman: But it was 3 percentage point better than John Kerry, and more importantly, if Kerry had won Ohio, he would be president.

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Rockville, Md.: I believe there are 435 seats up for re-election. If some of those seats change parties and the Dems take all the changes - what would that mean for all of the political pundits that have only centered on the 9 top races?

Jonathan Weisman: I think you have been asleep for awhile. That narrow field has been expanding and expanding, both in reality and in the press. There have been stories in recent days about the races in Idaho and Wyoming, obvious GOP strongholds. Today, the New York Times wrote about the Pombo and Doolittle races in California, two districts that are among the most Republican in the state. We can't even keep up with the number of seats now in play.

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Detroit, Mich.: There was/is a great article on Slate about how Rush Limbaugh new exactly what he was doing with the Fox thing in an attempt to lure 'liberals' to call him 'stupid' which would inevitably backfire against them (this is the gist of the story). Do you agree/disagree? Was it in any way planned do you think?

Jonathan Weisman: I'm sure he was goading the critics. He's done it before. But this time, he was on tape doing the shaking, mocking thing, and that tape could be run against the Fox ad itself. I don't think that worked too well.

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Speaking of the Military Commissions Bill: I really want to know if the president can under the provisions of this law designate me an enemy combatant and disappear me into Gitmo for the rest of my life? I am a U S citizen-- born in the midwest.

Jonathan Weisman: You know, this is a really big debate in Washington, and I can't say which one is right. That bill was signed in the middle of a political campaign, when our attention was drawn to politics. I think there are some real questions to be answered about just what the legislation does.

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Silicon Valley, Calif.: Why isn't there more coverage of the Bush family profiting from "No Child Left Behind"?

Jonathan Weisman: There have been a few stories, but not enough. For one thing, I don't think the profits have been huge. But really, we should be looking into that more.

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Eastern Shore: Given that it's a very tight contest going down to the wire, do you think the ruling out of the NJ Supreme Court yesterday on same-sex unions will tip the Senate race in favor of the Republican candidate?

Jonathan Weisman: No. The ruling didn't really do anybody much good politically. It didn't legalize gay marriage, It just said same-sex couples need to have the same legal rights as married couples. The coming debate in the New Jersey legislature over whether to call it marriage or civil union will be very contentious, but that will be after Nov. 7.

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Rockville, Md.: " he's smarter than us, remember? "

No, he is not and I doubt that he would agree either. But he may be as smart.

But he is smart enough to not agree when someone says "everything has failed..."

Why would anything agree to that characterization? Who do you want to win in Iraq?

Jonathan Weisman: I didn't ask the question, Rockville. And I seriously doubt there was a reporter in the room pulling for the insurgents and the sectarian death squads. But there is room for a reporter lodging a jarring question. We want to see if Rumsfeld really understands just how dire the war has become.

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Boca Raton, Fla.: Jonathan,

Great photo. You are hired!

"but Illinois really has become a blue state."

Haven't heard much how Maj. Tammy Duckworth is doing. I understand she is in red district (Rep Hyde's)but is the anti-Bush sentiment helping her?

Jonathan Weisman: A state and a district are two different things. Duckworth did get the endorsement of the Chicago Tribune, if I recall correctly, a coup with a conservative paper. The polls have her and Roskam neck and neck. That's a real bellwether race.

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Pittsburgh, Pa.: What do you see as the strongest issue for the Republicans? It appears when all else is failing the administration wants to talk about the economy but last month's job growth figure was the worst I've ever seen at 51,000. Gas prices are down but so is GDP and housing. Can the GOP convince voters that tax breaks for the wealthy and big corporations will filter down to the rest of us if we just hang on a little longer?

Jonathan Weisman: I still think their best issue is terrorism. But gas prices really did let some air out of the balloon.

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Austin, Tex.: Republicans are churning up the volume on their negative attacks. Their strategy seems to be to whip up the anger of their base to get them out to vote. But also, it seems like an attempt to divert attention from real issues like Iraq, corruption in Congress, Katrina missteps and deficit spending. Do you think these ads will succeed in taking voters' minds off real issues? Some of the ads are so outlandish, the ads themselves become topics of debate, which of course diverts attention from real issues.

Jonathan Weisman: The idea of these ads is to make the Democratic candidate simply unacceptable. They hope voters will hold their nose and vote for a candidate they don't really like -- the devil we know rather than the devil we don't.

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Jonathan Weisman: Lordy, there are still a lot of questions in the que, but I am out of time. Until next week, so long!

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