Inside Politics

Gingrich’s advice

“The Republican loss in the special election for Louisiana’s [6th] Congressional District last Saturday should be a sharp wake-up call for Republicans: Either Congressional Republicans are going to chart a bold course of real change, or they are going to suffer decisive losses this November,” former House Speaker Newt Gingrich writes at www.human events.com.

“The facts are clear and compelling,” said Mr. Gingrich, Georgia Republican.

“Saturday’s loss was in a district that President Bush carried by 19 percentage points in 2004 and that the Republicans have held since 1975.

“This defeat follows on the loss of [former House Speaker J. Dennis] Hastert’s seat in Illinois. That seat had been held by a Republican for 76 years with the single exception of the 1974 Watergate election when the Democrats held it for one term. That same seat had been carried by President Bush 55-44 percent in 2004. …

“Faced with these election results, the House Republicans should hold an emergency members-only meeting. At the meeting, they should pose this stark choice: Real change or certain defeat.

“If a majority of the House Republicans vote for real change, they should instruct Republican Leader John Boehner and his team to come back with a new plan by the Wednesday before the Memorial Day recess. This plan should involve real change in legislative, communications, and campaign strategy and involve immediate, real action, including a complete overhaul of the Congressional Campaign Committee. The House Republican Conference would then vote for the plan or insist on its revision.”

Parlor game

“Now no longer the center ring for the traveling Democratic presidential nomination circus, Pennsylvania’s inventive political community has discovered a new favorite political parlor game to while away the brisk springtime evenings: will Chris Matthews, the irrepressible host of MSNBC’s ’Hardball,’ step down from his pundits perch to run for the U.S. Senate against Arlen Specter in 2010? To a remarkable degree, speculation abounds over this possibility in the Keystone State,” G. Terry Madonna and Michael Young write at www.realclear politics.com.

“The indications that Matthews will run are abundant. His MSNBC contract runs out next summer, and both he and the network show signs they might be ready for a break from each other. In addition, journalists are reporting that Matthews has been seeking advice privately from key Democrats across the state about his chances against Specter. Reportedly these contacts have included discussion with Governor Rendell concerning campaign resources,” the writers said.

“Publicly, Matthews has done little to disguise his interest in the race. Asked if he was running on a recent Colbert cable show, Matthews said this: ’Did you ever want to be something your whole life … ? When you grow up, some kids want to be a fireman. I want to be a senator.’ ”

Knocking Pelosi

U.S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab yesterday condemned House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her scuttling of a trade pact with Colombia, saying she is hurting U.S. workers over nothing more than partisan politics.

“Delaying the vote on the Colombia [Free Trade Agreement] does not create one American job, it does not put one more dollar in anyone’s pocket, does not save one life, does not help one union to organize, or protect one endangered species,” Mrs. Schwab said, during remarks at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

“I talk to dozens of our trading partners around the world, and they cannot fathom why Congress appears to be abandoning key allies,” she said.

Mrs. Schwab denounced politicians who “demagogue and prey on anxieties and fear,” in a knock not only at Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, but also at the Democratic presidential candidates, who have both said they might withdraw the U.S. from the North American Free Trade Agreement.

“We do a disservice to the American people by pretending that somehow trade is the culprit of our economic problems and anxieties,” she said.

Nearly one year after the Bush administration reached an agreement with the Democrat-led Congress to move forward trade agreements with Peru, Colombia, South Korea and Panama, only the Peru deal has been passed.

Last month, Mrs. Pelosi changed congressional rules requiring a vote on trade pacts within 60 days of their submission by the president.

“The promise of May 10 remains unfulfilled,” Mrs. Schwab said.

Howard Rosen, with the Trade Adjustment Assistance Coalition, faulted the Bush administration, and the Labor Department specifically, for dragging their feet on talks to help workers who lose their jobs as a result of free trade.

“[President Bush’s] rhetoric has not translated into action,” Mr. Rosen said.

But Mrs. Schwab defended the administration, blaming congressional Democrats for failing to negotiate.

“The House has yet to seriously engage with us, despite our repeated requests. So again, we wait,” Mrs. Schwab said.

’National farce’

“Nearly halfway to choosing the next president, voters are witnessing an amazing spectacle in addition to the Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton scrum. All three of the contenders are avowed believers in ever more restrictive and convoluted campaign-finance laws. They are also proving, with their every decision, why those laws have become a national farce,” the Wall Street Journal says in an editorial.

“With his fund raising headed for the stratosphere, Mr. Obama has transformed himself from earnest reformer to Senator Moneybags willing to renege on his pledge to accept public financing. Mrs. Clinton flirted initially with another donor scandal, and now her big givers are maxed out, so even she has to scramble for cash for the later primaries. And John McCain, the caped crusader of reform for more than a decade, has taken to bending rules so he can remain competitive: His campaign pledged his eligibility for federal matching funds as collateral for a bank loan, then declined public funding and its spending limits for the primary season,” the newspaper said.

“If you don’t like how this looks, send your complaints to the three candidates. They were all proponents of fund-raising rules sold as a way to ’cleanse’ the system. Send your complaints as well to the good-government types who pledge allegiance to the idea that money is the root of political evil. They have had their way since the Watergate era, passing reform after reform.”

c Greg Pierce can be reached at 202/636-3285 or gpierce@washingtontimes .com.