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 money and politics reporter John Solomon was online Wednesday, May 2, at 11 a.m. ET to discuss the latest news in 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.

Archive: Post Politics Hour discussion transcripts

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Maryland: Can you please give your assessment of Fred Thompson's chances of winning the GOP nomination if he chooses to run?

John Solomon: Most of the political consultants I've talked with in recent weeks are intrigued by a Thompson presidential bid, both for what is already known about the state of the GOP race and the tantalizing unknowns about what Thompson might bring to it. There's a sense that many Republicans are complacent with the current field. One good sign of that is the large number of Bush pioneers and rangers staying on the sidelines so far. Consultants think Thompson could energize some on the sidelines. But there are some huge unknowns. Can he get a national fundraising machine going this late? What sort of national grassroots organization can he build? How would he handle the workload? Time will tell.

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Philadelphia: Are we being played by the Iraqi factions? Being used as pawns so they don't have to take responsibility for dealing with their problems, but get the benefits -- money, security (such that it is) and pork-barrel projects? Just a thought ... and as always, thanks for the chance to chat...

John Solomon: The administration and military are well aware of the factionalism in Iraq and the consequences. I don't think it is an issue of "being played" because we know and understand what is going on. Nonetheless, it is a fundamental complication of the current mission. If the goal is to create a united, democratic Iraq, then horse-trading, negotiating and cajoling of the various factions is an inevitable part of the process. The big question is whether the ethnic and religious divides are too great to close. The Saudis and others in the region increasingly believe that is the case and that Iraq will eventually be partitioned into three provinces: the Kurds, the Sunnis and the Shiites. The administration, however, clearly has not given up hope yet.

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New York: Why so little media interest in the Republican debate tomorrow? Contrasted to the attention given to the Democrats' debate last week, the Republican event seems to be largely ignored. Does the media anticipate a boring event, or have they already written off the GOP for 2008?

John Solomon: The Republican debate is an important story, as is Fred Thompson's speech in Orange County, Calif. on Friday night. It will get the coverage it deserves. This is the first chance we all get to see how the GOP contenders interact when face-to-face.

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Chicago: Mr. Solomon, has anyone pressed Sen. Specter on the actions of his former aide Brett Tolman? Today we see a second article about a provision that Tolman slipped into the Patriot Act for the benefit of the Justice Department, all while working for Specter. Specter seems to be grilling Gonzales et al hard on this U.S. Attorney scandal, but I'd like to see a reporter grill Specter about his role in facilitating this scandal, and what he is doing to prevent such things from happening in the future.

washingtonpost.com: Residency Clause Adds Fuel To Dispute Over U.S. Attorneys (Post, May 2)

John Solomon: It's a good question, and Dan's story this morning was fascinating. There are so many "rifle shot" provisions slipped into legislation and it is a valuable journalism exercise to help inform the readers about their true intentions and implications. I'm eager to hear what Specter has to say as well.

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Crestwood, N.Y.: Good morning John. What an interesting ruling by the DC Circuit yesterday in favor of John Boehner -- apparently the Courts are going to permit lawsuits between congressmen, because one of them has a duty to preserve information as a member of the ethics committee. Since when do Courts get involved in these things? Shouldn't the Congressman be disciplined by the institution itself, such as by censure or removal? Would the legislators of years ago have allowed the courts to intrude into this area?

washingtonpost.com: Penalty Stands in Congressmen's Battle Over Leaked Phone Call (Post, May 2)

John Solomon: The questions at hand in the court case doesn't seem to restrict the ethical regulation of Congress. Rather, it seems to be a much narrower question of whether Rep. McDermott can be penalized for releasing an illegally recorded conversation to the media. My reading of the court ruling is that the court believed McDermott could have continued to pursue the ethical issues the tape recording raised within the privacy of the ethics committee without facing penalty and that the only question is whether making the tape available to the media for publicity is punishable or protected First Amendment speech. A very divided appeals court ruled it was not protected by the First Amendment. Keep in mind, though, there's still a chance this one can go to the Supreme Court.

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Margate, N.J.: "Iraq will eventually be partitioned into three." Okay, so if we have a Shiastan with oil, a Sunnistan without it and a Kurdistan with oil that threatens Turkey's stability, we've got a pretty volatile area. This may well be the best we can get, but if it is, it's scary. Is there a rationale that might convince the Iraqis that they are stronger united than divided? Because if there isn't, I see no alternative to a three-part split.

John Solomon: I was at dinner the other night with some very senior former government officials and this was the $64,000 question that dominated our discussion. Is there a single issue or slate of issues powerful enough to set aside centuries of ethnic and religious strife and unify Iraqis? If so, it doesn't seem to have burbled to the forefront yet. But as one wise participant in the dinner noted, history sometimes has a way of producing events or circumstances that force national unity in ways negotiations and outsiders can't.

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New York: Love these chats. Thanks for doing them. Should Fred Thompson run for President, would that mean "Law & Order" reruns and whatever other media deals he has (I think he just signed on to do something similar to Paul Harvey) would be subject to the "equal time" rule?

John Solomon: My understanding is that television appearances that are purely or substantially entertainment in nature don't trigger any "equal time" provisions under broadcasting laws. So a Law & Order reun would be treated by regulators just like an old Ronald Reagan movie during his campaigns. Likewise, candidates going on Oprah, Jay Leno or David Letterman don't trigger the equal time provision either.

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Boston: I'm a political junkie and spent a lot of time at Vanderbilt in the late '90s, yet I cannot think of anything Fred Thompson accomplished in the Senate. Why is he such a hero to some Republicans and pundits? Is he another GOP blank slate candidate, a la W?

John Solomon: Thompson's biggest accomplishments in Congress have mostly been around the issues of ethics and good government, giving him some of the same political credentials and interests as John McCain. In his early days, he served on the Watergate committee in the 1970s as a Republican lawyer who helped bring down his own party's president. After being elected to the Senate in the 1990s, he led the congressional investigations into fund-raising abuses during the 1996 elections and China's efforts to use political money to influence American politics. He won accolades for not just focusing on the Clinton/Democratic Party foibles but also demanding answers from Republicans.

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Biloxi, Miss.: What role, if any, do you think oil has to do with Hillary's statements that U.S. troops will remain in Iraq for a long time to protect U.S. "interests." It seems to me that virtually nobody brings up oil and press is afraid to go near the discussion. Am I mistaken?

John Solomon: Oil is a very relevant discussion when it comes to Iraq but I would take exception to the idea that the media is hesitant to report on it. Many good stories have been done by news reporters, questioning how much benefit Americans have gotten from Iraqi oil, what happened to the money in the Iraqi government's oil accounts after the U.S. invasion and explaining why gas prices are still high today when Iraqi oil is now on the Western market. As for Mrs. Clinton's comments, oil certainly is one U.S. interest in the region. So too is protecting U.S. personnel on the ground in the region. Among the Democratic candidates, Mrs. Clinton has taken a more moderate, middle-of-the-road stance on troop withdrawal, a position likely to have been influenced by her husband's experience as president and the advice of such foreign policy advisers as Richard Holbrooke.

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John Solomon: Thanks again for all the good questions and I look forward to chatting again in the near future.

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