A daily dose of online news from beyond the Beltway.

By Ryan Thornburg
Washingtonpost.com Staff
Friday, July 30, 1999

With 16 days remaining before the Iowa GOP straw poll that may determine the fate of candidates such as Lamar Alexander and Dan Quayle, Arizona Sen. John McCain opened his South Carolina campaign headquarters on Thursday. McCain, who was beamed in from Washington via satellite, told supporters his candidacy depended on winning the state's February primary.

"I cannot say that Steve Forbes is one of us. He is not an evangelical. He is not a conservative Christian." – Bobbie Gobel, the Iowa head of the Christian Coalition. (The Des Moines Register, July 30)

• McCain Pinning Hopes on S.C. GOP Primary (The State, Columbia, S.C., July 30)

Alan Keyes also made his first campaign trip to South Carolina on Thursday.
• GOP Presidential Candidate Calls for End to Income Taxes (The State, Columbia, S.C., July 30)

Most of the Republican candidates are focusing their attention on Iowa, where Laura Bush, wife of Texas Gov. George W. Bush, made her first solo campaign appearance. It comes at the end of a week during which Marilyn Quayle, Dan Quayle's wife, repeatedly criticized Bush's candidacy.
• Laura Bush Makes First Solo Iowa Appearance (Iowa Pulse, July 29)

Former Kasich Aide Will Seek His Congressional Seat
Ohio state Sen. Gene Watts, a former aide to Rep. John Kasich (R), announced his intentions Thursday to run for the seat from which Kasich is retiring, becoming the first Republican to do so. Republican state Rep. Patrick Tiberi is expected to announce his candidacy on Tuesday. Columbus City Council member Maryellen O'Shaughnessy (D) entered the race on Wednesday.
• GOP State Sen. Watts Wants to Succeed Kasich in Congress (The Plain Dealer, July 30)

Mississippi Sees Fairly Boring Campaign ...
Candidate stump speeches at the Neshoba County Fair in Philadelphia, Miss., usually focus the state's attention on the gubernatorial campaign. But nobody seems to care this year. Especially after nationally known Democrats such as Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy and tobacco-busting state Attorney General Michael Moore decided not to run.
• Voters Unsure Who to Support (The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss., July 30)

... And Washingtonians Want to Skip 2000
Well, it was a good try. Pend Oreille County (Wash.) Commissioner Joel Jacobsen declared that his rural county didn't want to take part in the 2000 presidential primary, an exercise that will cost the state $3 million and will take place after the nominations are already secured. He was scolded by the secretary of state.
• Rural Counties Question Worth of Presidential Primary (The Seattle Times, July 29)

Ryan Thornburg can be reached at ryan.thornburg@washingtonpost.com