Pure Horserace: Renzi Feels The Heat
In the past two weeks, five House Republicans have become entangled in ethical controversies. On Friday, rumors started swirling that one of them, Arizona Rep. Rick Renzi, might be the first casualty.
On April 19, the FBI raided Renzi's wife's business. He has also been the subject of an investigation into a 2005 land deal, and he's now entangled in the scandal surrounding the firings of eight U.S. attorneys — his chief of staff has acknowledged calling Arizona's prosecutor's office to discuss the matter.
Renzi denied Friday that he would resign after initial reports suggested he could step down as early as today, according to The Associated Press. Still, he has given up his seat on three committees and withdrawn himself from party fundraising activities, effectively reducing his power to being one of 435 votes on the House floor.
While Renzi may not step down, at least not yet, giving up all his committee seats and his statements suggest this term will be his last — he referred explicitly to representing his constituents for two years. The end result is a race that's instantly at the top of the list of '08 House contests. Both Democrats and Republicans are already eyeing the seat. Renzi will either be an embattled incumbent or a lame duck, or the seat could go empty before then; no matter what happens, it gives political junkies tired of the presidential race something to follow. — David Miller
Gravel Gets His 15 Minutes: Let's face it, last night's Democratic debate wasn't exactly Lincoln-Douglas (having four times as many participants didn't help). But at least those watching got some solid entertainment from former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel. Say what you will about his responses — almost all of which were delivered loudly, with hand gestures to match — but Gravel didn't dance around questions and said what he thought, even if that included comparing himself to a potted plant or making the war in Iraq a felony (an idea that just might run afoul of the separation of powers).
Plus, he'll probably be in the race a while. Gravel's candidacy is founded mostly on advocating a plan to legislate through public referendum. Such campaigns need little money and face no pressure to actually perform well in the polls and, thus, no pressure to bow out.
While the front-runners may want a stage all to themselves, they could actually benefit from having a candidate like Gravel involved. Barack Obama seemed hesitant and reserved for much of the evening, but came alive during an exchange with Gravel and fellow bottom-tier candidate Dennis Kucinich on the use of nuclear weapons.
The moment was the only time during the debate that the candidates actually spoke to each other. If that's what having Mike Gravel in the race means, let's hope he keeps up his quixotic quest.
A few of our favorite Gravel lines from Thursday night:
• On Iraq: "We need to find another way. I really would like to sit down with Pelosi and with Reid, and I would hope the other senators would focus on, how do you get out? You pass the law, not a resolution, a law making it a felony to stay there."
• On being a candidate for president: "It's like going into the Senate. You know, the first time you get there, you're all excited, 'My God, how did I ever get here?' Then, about six months later, you say, 'How the hell did the rest of them get here?' And I got to tell you, after standing up with them, some of these people frighten me — they frighten me."
• On Delaware Sen. Joe Biden: "You have a certain arrogance. You want to — you want to tell the Iraqis how to run their country." —David Miller
Brevity Still Isn't His Strong Suit: Biden got good reviews for his debate performance, particularly for his one word answer — "Yes" — when asked if he would be able to represent the country on the global stage given his penchant for verbosity and the occasional bout of foot-in-mouth disease.
But that doesn't mean Biden was content with being held to 60-second responses. Today, he's proposed another 90-minute debate, this time on Iraq and nothing else. "This debate will allow all the candidates to give complete answers and allow all voters to understand exactly where each candidate stands on the most important issue in this race," said Luis Navarro, Biden's campaign manager.
Biden even launched an online petition to build support for the debate, but don't expect it to become a reality. The front-runners have already been working to cap the number of debates, and they won't want to participate in one exclusively on foreign policy, which is Biden's area of expertise. For now, he'll have to make due with sound bites. —David Miller
Being A Long Shot Has Its Ups And Downs: When you're a presidential front-runner, every little flub — like, say, John Edwards' $400 haircuts — gets a lot of media attention. But that's not the case when you're well behind the leaders. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, struggling in his bid for the Republican nomination, learned that this week. His son, David, was arrested on Thursday at a Little Rock airport after security x-rays detected a loaded pistol in his carry-on luggage, the Arkansas Democrat Gazette reports.
If one of John McCain's children were caught doing the same thing, the media (us included) would have been all over it. But this incident, which David Huckabee called a "silly mistake," made hardly any waves at all.
While a lack of media attention is a blessing in the case of your child breaking the law, it's definitely a curse when it comes to an announcement speech. In an event that garnered little notice amid Thursday's debate hype, former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore officially launched his Republican bid with a speech delivered in Des Moines and broadcast over the Web.
With very little campaign cash and few supporters, Gilmore's going to have to get a lot louder if he wants attention in this race. Just ask Mike Gravel.
— David Miller
Editor's Note: Pure Horserace is a daily update of political news as interpreted by the political observers at CBSNews.com. Click here to sign up for the e-mail version.
By David Miller