Strategy Memo: Over There
Happy Cinco de Mayo. Today, President Obama will meet with Democrats on the Energy and Commerce Committees as Congress continues to haggle over details of a comprehensive energy plan, and readies for a health care debate. Later, Obama meets with Israeli President Shimon Peres, the first in a series of meetings he'll hold focused on the Middle East Peace Process.
Meanwhile, Vice President Biden will speak at the AIPAC conference. The former chair of the Foreign Relations Committee will also hold his own meeting with Peres, and later host a dinner for Pakistan experts.
On Capitol Hill, the war spending bill requested by Obama is being scrutinized by both parties this week, and today House Republicans are holding an energy summit on the Democrat-written cap-and-trade legislation. The Senate continues consideration of the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, while the House votes on a dozen suspension bills.
And voters are voting! Detroit today holds a special election for mayor, to pick a full-time replacement for the disgraced Kwame Kilpatrick.
**President Obama
*Shimon Peres is the first Israeli leader to meet with Obama. He previewed his visit during a speech to AIPAC yesterday, with AFP saying he's "set to raise the concerns of new right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu." "I shall deliver to him (Obama) a strong message for a country yearning for peace. Today, there is a chance for real peace."
*AP reports that Inez Tenenbaum, 2004 Senate candidate and former South Carolina Insurance Commissioner, will lead an expanded Consumer Product Safety Commission, "an embattled agency that has been criticized by advocates for being too cozy with industry." Acting chair Nancy Nord "has been a lightning rod for Democrats in Congress and consumer advocates though defended by Republicans and manufacturers."
*Sen. Orrin Hatch says that Obama told him yesterday that he would not nominate a radical liberal to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter, Washington Times reports.
*Bloomberg reports that Obama's proposals to crack town on tax breaks for offshore companies "drew a skeptical response from fellow Democrats on Capitol Hill, indicating that his plan may face obstacles on its path through Congress."
*The New York Times profiles Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "One of the astonishing things about Mr. LaHood, 63, is how limited his transportation résumé is, how little excitement he exudes on the subject (other than about high-speed rail) and how little he seems to care who knows it. So why exactly did President Obama pick this former seven-term Republican congressman from Illinois to oversee everything that moves? Mr. LaHood posits a theory. "They picked me because of the bipartisan thing," he explained, "and the Congressional thing, and the friendship thing."
**Congress
*Washington Post gives front page coverage to more defense contracting connections for Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) -- this time, $4 million in non-competitive Pentagon work for Murtech, a suburban Maryland-based company owned by Murtha's nephew, Robert Murtha.
*War Supplemental: "House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) on Monday outlined a $94 billion war spending bill -- $9 billion more than President Barack Obama has requested -- without a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq or binding restrictions on the wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan," Roll Call reports. "The supplemental blueprint, which was endorsed Monday afternoon by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) through a spokesman, could present Democratic liberals with a quandary."
*Roll Call also takes a lighthearted look at the redistricting of space inside the Capitol as senators retire.
*The GOP is holding an energy summit today to highlight what they call a national energy tax, AP reports.
**Campaign Stuff
*FL Sen: Marco Rubio, a conservative former state House speaker, announced his candidacy for Senate yesterday, Politico's Kraushaar reports.
*NY Gov: Gov. David Paterson's numbers are now so bad that a majority of voters would rather see Eliot Spitzer in office, according to a new Marist poll.
*2012: "The Republican Party has a quite appealing presidential prospect for 2012: Creative ideas, articulate style, pleasant personality, and experience running an important swing state. There's just one problem with this guy. You guessed it, right? His last name is Bush," writes Politics Daily's Jill Lawrence.
*Sarah Palin will be attending this weekend's White House Correspondents' Dinner, as the guest of Fox News Channel.
*Specter Fallout: More threats for Pennsylvania's newest Democrat. The secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO said the union would likely not support the former Republican if he does not support card check. "If a candidate isn't good for workers, we won't be there. If they are good for workers, we will be there regardless of their party."
*And this from Rep. Joe Sestak, who met with SEIU's Andy Stern: "I cannot see the unions across the board supporting Specter if he cannot support EFCA. [Stern] let it be known that it's very much on the top of their agenda."
*A new Susquehanna Polling and Research survey shows Delaware Rep. Mike Castle leading Attorney General Beau Biden 55-34 in a hypothetical 2010 Senate matchup. Castle lead 55-28 among independents.
*Cillizza says the DGA is going on the air in Virginia with an ad hitting Bob McDonnell.
--Mike Memoli and Kyle Trygstad