For Immediate Release
Jan 12, 2004

Week of January 12, 2004

Throwing red meat to his base

President Bush is considering spending at least $1.5 billion on an election-year initiative to promote marriage to low-income Americans. Bush plans to promote marriage in low-income, inner city neighborhoods to help increase marriage rates and boost his image as a "compassionate conservative." "The president loves to do that sort of thing in the inner city with black churches, and he's very good at it," a White House aide said (New York Times, 1/14). The White House says that Bush may use next week's State of the Union address to promote the plan. White House officials hope this will ease the pressure they're feeling from conservative groups who are eager for the President to defend traditional marriage as a response to Massachusetts' highest court ruling that gay couples could marry under the state's constitution.

PA-13: Primary battling begins

The Republican primary race in Pennsylvania's 13th congressional district is getting heated. Ophthalmologist and 2002 nominee Melissa Brown, who used some of her personal wealth to bankroll her previous campaign, challenged her primary opponent, state Rep. Ellen Bard, to a winner-take-all poll. Brown issued this challenge right after losing a key party endorsement to Bard. Bard called Brown's suggestion "bizarre" and a "mark of desperation" (Philadelphia Inquirer, 12/20). EMILY's List candidate Allyson Schwartz has her own battle to fight in the Democratic primary against her opponent Joe Torsella, a prodigious fundraiser. Schwartz will need strong support to beat Torsella in the April 27 primary and to run an aggressive general election campaign against the eventual Republican nominee.

SD-AL: One candidate, two candidates, three candidates, more

The race is on in South Dakota to fill the seat left open by Rep. Bill Janklow's resignation. While Democrats have lined up behind consensus candidate Stephanie Herseth, upwards of nine Republican candidates will duke it out in the dual June 1 special and primary election. At a forum over the weekend, Republican hopefuls beat up on Herseth instead of delivering their own campaign messages. Herseth ran a credible campaign in 2002 against Janklow, a four-term governor, and Democrats are hopeful about this opportunity to take over the Republican-held seat.

FL-Sen: Will she or won't she?

Rep. Katherine Harris, GOP poster girl from the 2000 presidential recount, is close to making a decision on entering the Florida open seat Senate race. Harris has yet to make her decision public, but supporters say she is leaning towards entering the race, noting that she spent time in Washington talking to political advisors over the holidays. It's doubtful that this will please the White House, who is wary about appearing on the same ticket as Harris and handpicked their own candidate, former HUD Secretary Mel Martinez. Recent polling in the race shows that EMILY's List candidate Betty Castor would beat Harris, 42 percent to 37 percent (Mason Dixon poll, 11/17-21/03; 625 registered voters; margin of error 4 points).

MO-Sen: Nancy Farmer pulls in key endorsements and money

With the campaign year now underway, Nancy Farmer can boast the endorsements of several key organizations in her bid to unseat Sen. Kit Bond (R). In addition to the EMILY's List endorsement, Farmer received the endorsement of the United Auto Workers; the Council for a Livable World, the nation's pre-eminent arms control organization; the National Women's Political Caucus; and Planned Parenthood. Farmer ushered in the New Year with a fundraiser headlined by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton that pulled in about $200,000 for her Senate campaign.

News from the POP Program: Kamala Harris wins in San Francisco

Another Political Opportunity Program (POP) victory came by way of San Francisco: Kamala Harris won a tight race to become the first African-American district attorney in the state of California. Harris defeated eight-year incumbent Terence Hallinan on December 9 and was sworn in January 8. She immediately pledged to crack down on sex criminals and announced the creation of a homicide court aimed at clearing a backlog of murder cases. The POP program offered strategic support and consulting to Harris in addition to a financial contribution.