Inside Politics

Ads blocked

Federal election regulators refused to ease limits on political advertising yesterday, blocking an effort to let interest groups run radio and television ads mentioning elected officials within weeks of an election.

The Federal Election Commission voted 3-3 on a proposal that would have allowed such ads as long as they addressed public-policy issues and did not promote, support, oppose or attack a sitting member of Congress. Supporters of the change said they wanted to strike a balance between campaign-ad restrictions and constitutional free-speech guarantees, but the measure failed on the tie vote, the Associated Press reports.

With 70 days left before this year’s general election, the change could have let loose a wave of unrestricted ad spending in the weeks leading up to Election Day. The commission vote lets stand a provision in the 2002 campaign-finance law that requires independent groups to limit the contributions and to disclose the donors of money used to pay for ads that run within 30 days of a primary or 60 days of a general election.

Advocates of the change, ranging from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to unions to the ACLU, argued that the law not only restricted campaign advertising, but also prohibited interest groups from voicing their views on legislation before Congress.

Critics, including the congressional authors of the 2002 law, complained the change would create a loophole for secretly financed ad campaigns.

Inouye, too

Democratic Sen. Daniel K. Inouye said yesterday he is supporting Ned Lamont over Sen. Joe Lieberman because of the Connecticut lawmaker’s contention that the Democratic Party doesn’t stand for mainstream America.

Mr. Inouye, who campaigned in Connecticut for Mr. Lieberman prior to the Aug. 8 primary, issued a statement endorsing Mr. Lamont and citing Mr. Lieberman’s recent criticism of the party. Mr. Lamont upset Mr. Lieberman in the Democratic primary and the three-term senator is running as an independent in hopes of holding his seat.

“After the primary, Sen. Inouye was most disappointed and unhappy when Sen. Lieberman remarked that the Democratic Party no longer represented the mainstream of America, and that the Democratic Party had lost its values,” according to a statement released by the office of the eight-term senator from Hawaii.

Mr. Inouye is the latest prominent Democrat to rally behind Mr. Lamont, a political newcomer whose anti-Iraq war views helped him topple Mr. Lieberman, a staunch supporter of the war.

“Sen. Inouye tried his best to help ensure a victory by Sen. Lieberman in Connecticut’s Democratic primary,” the statement said, referring to the earlier campaign appearance. “Unfortunately, that did not happen.”

Joining Lieberman

Jack Kemp will hit the campaign trail with a fellow former vice presidential candidate from another party: Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman.

Mr. Lieberman said yesterday that Mr. Kemp, a former Republican congressman and Housing and Urban Development secretary, telephoned to offer support to his independent campaign, which the three-term senator began after losing the Democratic primary to Greenwich businessman Ned Lamont. No date for the visit has been set.

“We’ve worked together for years on some good projects that got done,” Mr. Lieberman told reporters while campaigning in New London.

Mr. Kemp was former Sen. Bob Dole’s running mate in 1996.

Mr. Lieberman, the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2000, has seen most Democratic leaders flock to Mr. Lamont since the Aug. 8 primary.

Profiling backed

Most Americans expect a terrorist attack on the United States in the next few months and support the screening of people who look “Middle Eastern” at airports and train stations, according to a poll released yesterday.

The Quinnipiac University Polling Institute said 62 percent of Americans were “very worried” or “somewhat worried” that terrorists would strike the nation in the next few months, while 37 percent were “not too worried” or “not worried at all.”

The poll of 1,080 voters, conducted Aug. 17-23, comes as many Americans are jittery after British authorities foiled a plot to blow up planes but is broadly in line with other surveys on expectations for another attack since September 11, 2001, the Reuters news agency reports.

By a 60 percent to 37 percent margin, respondents said authorities should single out people who look “Middle Eastern” for security screening at locations, such as airports and train stations.

Quinnipiac’s director of polling, Maurice Carroll, said he was surprised by the apparent public support for racial profiling. “What’s the motivation there — is it bigotry, or is it fear, or is it practicality?” he said.

Special election

Texas Gov. Rick Perry yesterday ordered a Nov. 7 special election to temporarily replace resigned Rep. Tom DeLay, a date that coincides with the general election, the Associated Press reported.

Mr. DeLay resigned in June, but his congressional term doesn’t expire until January. The winner of the special election will fill his seat until then.

In the general election, former Rep. Nick Lampson is the Democratic candidate. Republicans have thrown their support to Houston City Council member Shelley Sekula-Gibbs as a write-in candidate after the courts refused to remove Mr. DeLay’s name from the ballot. Her name will appear on a list of approved write-in candidates posted in voting booths.

For the special election, candidates have until 5 p.m. Friday to pay a $3,125 filing fee and submit the proper paperwork.

Senate debates

The Democratic and Republican nominees for Maryland’s open U.S. Senate seat will debate live on national television nine days before the November general election.

Either Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin or former Rep. Kweisi Mfume, the front-runners for Democratic nomination in the Sept. 12 primary, and Republican Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, who faces only nominal opposition in the Republican primary, will appear on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” the Associated Press reports.

The debate, to be moderated by Tim Russert, will air Oct. 29 from Washington, executive producer Betsy Fischer said.

It will be the last in a series of six debates to be aired during September and October that focus on closely contested Senate seats. Other states to be featured include Pennsylvania, where Democratic state Treasurer Bob Casey is challenging Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, and Virginia, where former Navy Secretary James H. Webb Jr., a Democrat, is attempting to unseat Republican Sen. George Allen.

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