FoleyCacaSwingVoter, And The Veep Shoots A Guy In The Face
Now, the highlights of your year in politics:
1/2: Carole Keeton Strayhorn, mother of WH press sec. Scott McClellan, decides to run for TX GOV as an independent. Later, Kinky Friedman announces an independent bid. The two, along with Dem Chris Bell, keep incumbent Rick Perry under 40% in November.
1/3: Jack Abramoff and the DoJ reach a deal. Abramoff heads to prison in September.
1/4: The RNC reports raising $100M in '05, twice the DNC's total of $51M.
1/4: CA Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger hires BC04/WH aide Steve Schmidt to run his campaign.
1/4: Ex-VP Al Gore stops by Grover Norquist's Wednesday Meeting to discuss Global Warming.
1/7:Rep. Tom DeLay relinquishes his maj. lead post triggering a slate of leadership elections.
1/9: Alito confirmation hearings begin.
1/11: Tough questioning of Alito causes Alito's wife to break down in tears and leave the hearing room.
1/12: Judy Wade becomes exec. dir of the Democracy Alliance, a consortium of rich liberal donors.
1/15: Under investigation, Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) steps down from House Admin Cmte
1/20: Karl Rove tells an audience in DC that the Dem Party is "ossified, drained of energy" and pessimistic.
1/24: Ex-NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani addresses evangelicals at the Global Pastors Network's "Billion Souls Pastors Conference" in Orlando.
1/31: During his State of the Union address, Pres. Bush says America is "addicted to oil."
2/2: Rep. John Boehner (OH) wins the House majority leader's race; Maj. Whip Roy Blunt keeps his post.
2/3: Fed judge Reggie Walton sets ex-VP CoS Lewis "Scooter" Libby's trial date for 1/8/07.
2/4, 2/5: Two-thirds of GA GOP state sens collectively urge LG candidate Ralph Reed to quit the race, saying his Abramoff ties could hurt Gov. Sonny Perdue 's re-election chances. Reed dismisses the suggestion.
2/9: Pres. Bush's principal domestic policy advisor, Claude Allen, resigns.
2/14: VP Dick Cheney accidentally shoots pal while hunting.
2/15: Cheney: "I'm the guy who pulled the trigger and shot my friend. It's a day I'll never forget."
2/21: Pres. Bush threatens to make his first veto if anyone tries to prevent a Dubai-based co. from operating ports.
3/08: Jack Abramoff acknowledges guilt "that he stepped over ethical lines."
3/10: Mystery of Claude Allen's resignation's potentially solved. Slate reports Allen was arrested and charged 3/9 in a felony theft scheme.
3/15: Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-CA) says he will not campaign for re-election, citing a "a medical issue that is yet to be resolved."
3/18: Team McCain brings senior Bush-Cheney campaign official Terry Nelson on board Straight Talk America.
3/21: Bush, at a presser, on the possibility of Defense Sec. Rumsfeld's resignation: "I don't believe he should resign and I believe he's done a fine job of conducting two battles but also transforming our military. Every war plan looks good on paper until you meet the enemy."
3/28: WH CoS Andy Card resigns. OMB Dir. Josh Bolten will take over as the top WH aide.
3/28: Two Republican giants of American politics and government, Nofziger and Weinberger, die.
4/07: The feds investigate Rep. Alan Mollohan's (D-WV 01) finances, and why they grew from $565K in '00 to at least $6.3M in '04.
4/07: For the first time in years, the WH/RNC outreach to major labor unions.
4/17: Ex-IL Gov. George Ryan and lobbyist Larry Warner are found guilty by an IL jury on all 22 counts of corruption-related charges.
4/19: WH press. sec. Scott McClellan resigns.
4/21: Rep. Alan Mollohan, questioned about his personal financial dealings, will step aside as ranking member of the House ethics cmte. Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA) will take Mollohan's place.
4/27: Union College reports Rep. John Sweeney (NY-27) visited the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity house, already (allegedly) inebriated.
5/1: Charlie Wilson (D) wins write-in campaign to appear on OH 06 ballot. He's elected to the House in Nov.
5/5: Spook-in-chief Porter Goss resigns from CIA.
5/8: Ex-NSA chief Michael Hayden named to lead CIA.
5/9: The AFL-CIO and the Change to Win coalition agree to coordinate on labor's political activities for '06.
5/10: Incumbent Gov. Dave Heineman (R-NE) survives primary challenge from legendary coach Tom Osborne; Cory Booker elected mayor of Newark.
5/11: FL House Speaker Allan Bense (R) declines to enter the SEN (R) primary, leaving Katherine Harris (R) to face Sen. Bill Nelson (D).
5/11: GOP insiders and leading GOP members of Congress surveyed by National Journal say McCain has the best chance to be the party's '08 nominee.
5/12: Tony Snow formally starts work as WH press sec.
5/21: New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin wins re-election.
5/15: Bush addresses the country on immigration reform.
5/17: PA voters, in primary, oust GOP state sen, maj. leader and pro-temp.
5/23: The FBI raids the Cong. offices of Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA), setting off a constitutional struggle.
6/1: Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" documentary is released.
6/11: Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) makes known his desire to run for maj. leader should Dems win in November.
6/11: John Edwards leads Hillary Clinton in the first significant poll of IA Dem caucus goers. Tom Vilsack is fourth in the Des Moines Register survey.
6/13: Jim Webb (D) wins VA SEN primary; in SC, incumbent Gov. Sanford (R) survives strong challenge from Lovelace, demonstrating base discontent.
6/13: Giuliani's Solutions America PAC holds its first fundraiser of the year; takes in $2M.
6/15: Frank Page, a pastor from SC, elected Pres. of the Southern Baptist Convention.
6/21: Sen. Rick Santorum (R) begins continuous statewide ad buy in PA.
6/22: A court decision ends a protracted CO GOV (R) primary, but not without bruising nominee Bob Beauprez.
6/22: A DNC committee votes to add one caucus and one primary to its nomination calendar in '08. NV and SC would eventually get those slots.
6/22: Montgomery Co. exec. Doug Duncan (D) cites depression, withdraws from MD GOV primary against Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Mally.
6/22: Ex-Sen. John Edwards (D) proposes to eliminate poverty within 30 years.
6/27: Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT) survives a tough primary fought over immigration.
6/28: SCOTUS orders a remap of TX 23 but upholds principle of politically-based mid-decade redistricting. In Dec., Henry Bonilla would lose the new TX 23 seat to Dem Ciro Rodruiguez.
6/29: SCOTUS rules Bush's military war crimes trials at Gitmo are illegal
7/3: Sen. Joe Lieberman says he will circulate a petititon to run as an independent if he doesn't win the 8/8 Dem primary.
7/5: Oil prices close at record high of $75.19 a barrel.
7/6: A federal judge rules that DeLay must stay on the TX 22 ballot. DeLay would later lose his appeal.
7/17: The Senate approves embryonic stem cell research
7/18: Ralph Reed loses his bid to be GA LG to Casey Cagle.
8/1: Fidel Castro falls ill.
8/3: HRC grills Rumsfeld on Iraq; all three cable nets cover live.
8/8: Ned Lamont defeats Lieberman in the CT SEN Dem primary; incumbents McKinney (D-GA) and Schwarz (R-MI) ousted.
8/10: Plot to blow up airplanes over the U.S. foiled in London.
8/11: Sen. George Allen (R-VA) is caught on tape calling S.R. Sidarth "Macaca." His campaign never recovers.
8/14: Macaca is everywhere.
8/19: DNC adds NV between IA and NH on '08 calendar.
8/23: G. Allen apologizes to S.R. "Macaca" Sidarth.
8/31: Ex-VA Gov. Mark Warner appears as an avatar in The Second Life.
9/5: Charlie Crist (R) and Jim Davis (D) win FL GOV primary.
9/11: Pres. Bush gives a "non-political" political speech about Iraq and terrorism.
9/13: Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R) defeats Steve Laffey in RI SEN primary.
9/15: Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) agrees to plead guilty to felony charges stemming from his interaction with Abramoff.
9/18: To rock star press, Sen. Barack Obama visits IA.
9/19: Deval Patrick (D) nominated in MA GOV.
9/24: Ex-Pres. Clinton blasts Fox News' Wallace as unfair in FNC interview.
9/26: WH releases Nat'l Intel. Estimate saying that Iraq has become the "cause celebre" for jihadists.
9/29 Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) resigns after ABC News promises to broadcast sexually explicit IMs he sent to a former page.
10/3: Ex-Rep. Foley says he was abused by a member of the clergy at age 13.
10/4: Former Foley CoS Kirk Fordham resigns.
10/5: House Speaker Dennis Hastert apologizes for not responding sooner to the Foley scandal: "I'm deeply sorry this happened. We're taking responsibility because ultimately, the buck stops here."
10/6: Mary Jo Kilroy (D), running in OH 15, is the first Dem to invoke the Foley scandal against GOPers in campaign ads. She eventually loses to Deb Pryce.
10/11: AP reports Senate Min. Leader Harry Reid "collected a $1.1 million windfall" on a land sale, "even though he hadn't personally owned the property for three years."
10/12: Ex-VA Gov. Mark Warner says he will not make an '08 WH bid.
10/16: FBI agents raid the home of Rep. Curt Weldon's (R-PA) daughter and his longtime friend Charlie Sexton.
10/25: NJ Supreme Court rules to allow same-sex unions.
10/30: Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) makes a joke about Iraq, which later haunts him. Kerry: "You know education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. And if you don't you get stuck in Iraq."
11/3: Rep. Ney resigns.
11/7: Election Day.
11/8: Dems win the House, pick up at least 6 GOV seats, recount/runoff races declared to decide SEN control.
11/9: Gov. Tom Vilsack (D-IA) files documents with the FEC, allowing him to make a WH '08 bid.
11/9: Sen. George Allen (R-VA) concedes the VA SEN race to Jim Webb (D).
11/9: Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) concedes the MT SEN race to Jon Tester (D), officially giving the Senate to the Dems.
11/13: Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi announces her support for Rep. Murtha's Maj Leader campaign.
11/15: Ex-Senate Maj. Leader Trent Lott wins the Senate min whip election.
11/16: McCain launches his '08 exploratory cmte.
11/17: Dems elect Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) Maj Leader. GOPers elect Boehner Maj. Leader, Blunt Min. whip, Rep. Adam Putnam (R-FL) conference chair and Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) NRCC chair.
11/17: NBC announces it will call the conflict in Iraq a "civil war."
11/30: Vilsack announces his WH '08 bid.
12/1: Pelosi taps Texan Silvestre Reyes to chair the House Intel Cmte.
12/4: Pres. Bush accepts UN Amb. John Bolton's resignation.
12/4: Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) files documents with the FEC, allowing him to create an '08 WH exploratory cmte.
12/6: Iraq Study Group report comes out.
12/6: NH GOP Chair Wayne Semprini resigns.
12/7: FEC Chair Michael Toner resigns.
12/12: Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) announces his WH '08 bid.
12/13: Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD) suffers stroke-like symptoms before undergoing brain surgery.
12/16: Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) says he will no longer make a WH '08 bid.
12/20: Pres. Bush tells the Washington Post the U.S. is "not winning" and "not losing" the war in Iraq.
