Hotline: The Year In Politics

And you thought this would be a quiet year? Relive the memories, the heartbreak, the joys and the laughs. The Hotline's year-in-review:

1/2: Under media and Dem glare, House GOPers put the kibosh on a rule requiring caucus leaders to step down from their posts if indicted. The rule was nicknamed the "DeLay" rule.
1/2: Popular Rep.
Bob Matsui

Doris

1/6: Sen. Barbara Boxer challenges the '04 election results as the Electoral College "meets;" it triggers a Senate debate over election administration. Boxer bolsters her lefty creds.
1/11: MI Sec/State Candace Miller (R) says no to a MI Sen race.
1/18: House Ways and Means Chair Bill Thomas calls the Bush Social Security plan a "dead horse."
1/24: Nixon tapes erasure Sec. Rose Mary Woods dies.

Howard Dean

3/17: A House panel holds hearing into steroid use by baseball players. Several players refuse to say whether they juiced. Quoth Mark McGuire: "I'm not here to talk about my past."
3/3: Legendary Israeli spy Peter Malkin dies.
3/9: Dan Rather anchors his last CBS Evening News broadcast.
3/23: Terri Schiavo mania; Congress goes into emergency session to force a fed. court to consider an appeal of an FL judge's order; Dems are stunned into silence; Frist suggests Schiavo could recover; Santorum visits the hospital site near Tampa.
4/2: Pope John Paul II dies.
4/7: At LiveAid concert, Bono urges G8 govts to get serious about world poverty. Time names him Man of the Year in December.
4/19: Cardinal John Ratzinger elected Pope Benedict XVI.
4/20: DSCC announces it has $9.5M on hand, compared to the NRSC's 2.4M. The DS would continue to outraise the NR the entire year. Overall, the GOP continued to dominate party committee fundraising -- with the Senate committee excepted.
4/27: The House GOP reverses the DeLay rule.
4/29: A National Journal poll of GOP insiders debuts its first WH '08 poll and finds they think Sen. George Allen (R-VA) will win. A second poll in 12/05 also put Allen on top. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) was the overwhelming favorite of Dem insiders.
4/30: Vanity Fair reveals that Mark Felt was Deep Throat. Bob Woodward writes about it, reluctantly, two days later. It would not be the first story the Washington Post would supposedly have and yet get scooped on. Simply see all things Woodward.
5/6: Tony Blair's Labor party wins elections with a slimmed-down coalition; Blair begins third term as PM
5/9: Arianna Huffington launches HuffingtonPost website.
5/13: The BRAC releases its recs; Sen. John Thune (R-SD) puts his reputation on the line to save AFBs in SD. He's later successful but still decides to oppose Bush UN nominee Bolton out of spite and to send a message. His relationship with the admin. later improves.
5/15: Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) suggests that Gitmo has become a gulag. He semi-apologizes a few days later.
5/23: Seven GOPers and seven Dems form the "Gang of 14" and agree to not vote for either a filibuster or the nuke option; filibusters are discouraged except in undefined "extraordinary circumstances." Reid proclaims victory; Frist slumps his shoulders when reacting; conservative law prof/blogger Hugh Hewitt begins a campaign to withhold money from the NRSC.
5/26: State Sen. John Ford (D) and three others are arrested on federal bribery charges. Weeks later, Ford's nephew, TN Rep. Harold Ford Jr., announces a bid for Sen. Bill Frist's (R) soon-to-be open Senate seat.
5/30: Alabama teenager Natalie Holloway disappears in Aruba. Media maelstrom ensues. Rita Cosby and Greta Van Susteren gets "exclusives." AL Gov. Bob Riley (R) later seeks a boycott of the island.
6/1: Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman SCOTUS justice, announces she'll retire once her successor is confirmed.
6/2: San Diego Union-Tribune reports that Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA) sold his home to a benefactor, who later flipped it for a loss; the benefactor received millions in contracts from Cunningham's campaign. The "Duke Stir," a luxury boat, makes its first appearance on television; Cunningham proclaims innocence.
6/3: Judy Woodruff signs off CNN; CNN's Crossfire tapes its last show.
6/6: Dino Rossi ends his fight to be WA Gov after a judge upholds Christine Gregoire's '04 election victory.
6/7: Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL) announces bid for Senate.
6/14: CA Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger calls for a special election; all three of his signature proposals are later defeated.
6/15: IA Gov. Tom Vilsack (D) becomes president of the DLC.
6/20: Bush nominates John Roberts to fill O'Connor seat in a prime-time TV event.
6/30: After the SCOTUS refuses to overturn a ruling ordering Time to turn over Matt Cooper's notes to the prosecutor, Time complies.
6/30: Sen. Evan Bayh's All America PAC reports raising more in the first six months of the year than any other PAC associated with a Dem presidential candidate.
7/3: Admission: Rove talked to Cooper about Plame. Which contradicts his earlier testimony.
7/7: NYT's Judy Miller jailed for refusing to testify
7/1: Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) releases book "It Takes A Family."
7/12: Speaking to the NAACP, RNC Chair Ken Mehlman apologizes for his party's "Southern Strategy" in past cycles. Mehlman is later blasted by Rush Limbaugh for allegedly capitulating to political correctness.
7/15: NY Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) files FEC report showing her re-election campaign has $12.8M in the bank.
7/21: Dino Rossi (R) says he won't run against Sen. Maria Cantwell (D)
7/25: The two largest labor unions, the SEIU and the Teamsters, quit the AFL-CIO. They soon form, with several other unions, a new "Change To Win" coalition.
7/28: House passes CAFTA amid a successful summer for GOP-backed legislation; a major highway bill and Bush' energy bill also pass.
7/31: Senate Maj. Leader Bill Frist stuns colleagues and endorses the DeGette-Castle stem cell bill. Fellow Sens are angered that his announcement tramples positive coverage of the GOP's legislative accomplishments.
8/1: John Bolton given recess appointment to UN
8/2: Iraq war vet Paul Hackett (D) narrowly loses to Jean Schmidt in OH-2, a GOP stronghold.
8/3: Ex-Sen. David Karnes (R) ignores WH pleas and opts not to challenge Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE).
8/4: SCOTUS CJ William Rehnquist dies after a long illness. Bush nominates judge John Roberts to fill his place; O'Connor asked to sit tight for a little longer.
8/4: In response to egging from James Carville, Bob Novak says "bulls--t" on CNN's "Inside Politics" and storms off the set, the last time he appeared on CNN. In 12/05, CNN severs all ties with him; On the same day, he announces he's signed with Fox News Channel.
8/5: last "IP" broadcast.
8/6: Cindy Sheehan, mother of an Iraq war vet killed in action, begins protest outside Bush's Crawford ranch. Bush refuses to meet with her a second time. VA Sen. George Allen (R) says later he would have met with her a second time.
8/7: ABC News anchor Peter Jennings dies.
8/8: You're in the Situation Room. For the First Time. On CNN.
8/11: Jack Abramoff indicted on wire fraud and conspiracy charges in re: SunCruz casinos dealings in FL.
8/11: KS Board of Education votes to ax evolution from its science curriculum.
8/15: NM Gov. Bill Richardson (D) declares a border emergency and seeks fed. govt help for enforcing immig. rules. Two days later, AZ Gov. Janet Napolitano (D) does the same.
Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) calls for a full withdrawal of US troops from Iraq by the end of '06
8/29: Katrina makes landfall. LA Gov. Kathleen Blanco (D) deemed unprepared. Her staff worries about her clothing. Aaron Brown wonders if "we've lost a city." Water begins to rise in Orleans Parish. Mostly poor, black residents fill the city convention center and the Superdome.
8/30: New Orleans in crisis, as is evident on TV. Bush is in CA.
8/31: Bush flies over New Orleans en route to Washington (And WH decides to release a photo of Bush looking out AF1); Condi Rice sees a broadway play in NYC
9/1: Bush tells FEMA Dir. Michael Brown (aka "Brownie") that he's doing a "heck of a job"; but he comes under heavy fire for the fed. gov's response; the next day, he holds a Rose Garden news event to say he's not satisfied with the response. Flanking him are admin aides; It's later revealed Bush wanted to federalize the response but claimed LA officials would not let him. Brown resigned 9/3 but remained a FEMA consultant.
9/6: DeLay's TRMPAC indicted for using corporate funds illegally for campaign purposes.
9/16: Bush procurement chief David Safavian arrested on federal corruption charges.
9/28: Travis County DA Ronnie Earle convinces a TX grand jury to indict Tom DeLay; DeLay steps down from leadership post; a bid to replace him by Rep. David Dreier (D-CA) is slammed back by opposition from social conservatives; whip Roy Blunt (R-MO) becomes acting maj. leader
9/29: NYT's Judy Miller released from jail; soon, she testifies. She begins an awkward departure dance with the New York Times.
9/30: ND Gov. John Hoeven (R) announces he won't challenge Sen. Kent Conrad (D).
10/1: Rove calls Dr. James Dobson and hints that Harriet Miers might be nominated by Bush for O'Connor's seat. Rove tells Dobson that Miers is an evangelical Christian.
10/2: WH counselor/Cheney aide Steve Schmidt departs for three weeks in Iraq.
10/3: WH nominates Miers. A prominent poster on the pro-Bush ConfirmThem.com website tells Bush he can fight this one by himself.
10/4: WV Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R) says she won't challenge Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV).
Ex-Judge Roy Moore announces primary challenge to AL Gov. Bob Riley (R).
10/7: Columnist Charles Krauthammer advises the WH to withdraw the Miers nomination and use Senate document requests as a pretext.
10/10: The Senate passes legislation to reform to the nation's class action laws. It's a big GOP legislative victory. Bush signs it shortly thereafter.
10/11: RNC chair Ken Mehlman hosts a conf. call with conservative bloggers. It's eight days too late.
10/22: Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) threatens to resign if his expensive bridge to a small community in AK is cut from an approps bill; the Senate nearly takes him up on his offer. And the bridge is, in fact, later removed from the bill but the money stays.
10/23: SEC opens investigation in Frist's blind trust sale of HCA stock before the stock value declined.
10/28: Cheney CoS Scooter Libby indicted on five counts related to the Plame affair. He resigns. Rove is spared.
10/28: WH withdraws Miers nomination; Hotline editor sees Judge Sam Alito on the DC to NY shuttle flight but doesn't immediately recognize him.
10/30: "Presidential candidates" Matt Santos(D) and Arnold Vinick (R) debate live on NBC, complete with the "NBC News" logo in the corner.
10/31: Bush nominates Alito for SCOTUS
11/1: Senate Min. Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) stuns GOPers by taking the Senate into closed session to protest what he deems as GOP obstruction on a pre-war intel investigation. Frist is apoplectic. The GOP agrees to the Dems' demands in re: the investigation.
11/1: Coloradans vote to suspend their TABOR law; the fight split the state's GOP; nationally, even GOP strategists interpreted the vote as a sign that voters are more willing to accept potential tax increases in order to pay for needed services.
11/2: The ex-wife of Gov candidate/Sen. Jon Corzine (D-NJ) is quoted as saying her husband let her and her family down; he'll do the same to NJ.
11/3: Libby pleads not guilty.
11/5: Ex-Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD) addresses IA Dems at J-J dinner in Des Moines.
11/8: Dems retain VA and NJ Gov; Dem Tim Kaine soundly defeats GOPer Jerry Kilgore; Mark Warner boomlet begins; Arnold's inits fail in CA; Mike Bloomberg trounces Freddie Ferrer; Mayor Bob Baines ousted in NH
11/13: Ex-Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) writes in a Washington Post op-ed, "I was wrong" about voting to authorize war in Iraq.
11/21: Ex-Abramoff/DeLay aide Michael Scanlon indicted; agrees to cooperate; published reports say prosecutors looking at potential bribery charges against six members of Congress and 12 Hill aides.
11/22: Portrait of ex-CT Gov. John Rowland is unveiled in Hartford. It's crooked.
11/29: Rep. Duke Cunningham (R-CA) pleads guilty; later resigns from House
12/1: Worried by rising anti-immigration sentiment in his party, RNC chair Ken Mehlman urges caution and temperance, telling GOP activists that anti-immigrant prejudice is "wrong."
12/1: MA Gov. Mitt Romney elected RGA chair
12/6: DNC Chair Howard Dean says calls Iraq "unwinnable." ND Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D) tells him to "shut up."
Minuteman founder Jim Gilchrist takes 25 percent in the CA 48 special election but finishes a distant third. GOP candidate John Campbell wins.
12/8: Ex-SC Gov. Carroll Campbell dies.
12/9: DNC primary calendar commission formally recommends adding a caucus between IA and NH and adding one between NH and the end of the pre-window
12/9: In a little-noticed speech, GA LG candidate Ralph Reed expresses regret for using Abramoff money to fund an anti-gambling campaign that benefited Abramoff clients.
12/10: Civil rights icon/'68 Dem pres. candidate Eugene McCarthy dies
12/12: Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) celebrates 50 years in the House.
12/14: MA Gov. Mitt Romney (R) announces he won't run for re-election. He remains RGA chair.
12/15: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) convinces the WH to accept his language on a ban on cruel and unusual punishment for detainees.
12/15: 10M+ Iraqis, including large numbers of Sunnis, vote in parliamentary elections in Iraq.
12/16: New York Times reveals that Bush authorized the NSA to monitor international phone calls of domestic terror suspects without FISA approval.
12/20: A federal judge finds that the Dover, PA school board illegally tried to teach creationism in the public schools.

(Back to Contents)

Posted at 02:27 PM

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Evolving wisdom and original reporting from the staff of the Hotline

December 22, 2005

Hotline: The Year In Politics

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