Tuesday's Starting Lineup
Good Tuesday morning. The 2010 Tour de France will be Lance Armstrong's last, he announced in a tweet yesterday. Here's hoping he makes it 2 steps higher on the podium than he did last year.
Here's today's Starting Lineup, previewing the people who will make a difference in politics today:
REP. MARK KIRK: No one could have asked for a candidate that provides as many opportunities as Treas. Alexi Giannoulias (D) -- his family bank was seized by the FDIC and the GOP will play up alleged ties to mob figures and Tony Rezko, to oversimplify a long and complicated story. Kirk's opponent in the Nov. midterms looked just wounded enough to help the GOPer in a pretty blue state.
But then Kirk committed his own sins. His military service record came into question, and several teachers associated with a school he claimed to have worked at say he didn't do the job he's been bragging about. Kirk hasn't been caught with a smoking gun, but he's caught the attention of the press -- most notably by avoiding them by rushing through a hotel kitchen after a downtown Chicago appearance.
Today, Kirk holds an event in Northbrook that looks specifically aimed at addressing questions that have come up in the last few weeks. Kirk will take questions from the press-only crowd. If he can move past allegations he's been less than truthful about his record, Kirk will still be the strong candidate he's always been. But if these questions stick around to dog him, the flawed Giannoulias would come out looking a lot better by comparison.
GOV. JOE MANCHIN: The WV Dem faces the tall task of picking a replacement for the late Sen. Robert Byrd (D), one who will serve for 2 and a half years until the '12 general election takes place. State law allows for a special election during a regular filing period, which takes place in Jan. of an election year, Sec/State Natalie Tennant (D) said yesterday (And reported here first).
Manchin told the AP yesterday he will not appoint himself, though the worst-kept secret in the state is how much he himself wants the job. Instead, he'll tap a caretaker. The most floated names include state Senate Pres. Earl Ray Tomblin, state Dem chair Larry Puccio, ex-state Dem chair Nick Casey, former top Manchin aide Carte Goodwin and ex-state Supreme Court Justice Richard Neely.
That caretaker would step aside for Manchin in '12. Manchin is hugely popular, giving Dems a strong chance to keep the seat even as WV trends away from them at the presidential level. But GOPers aren't going to roll over and let Dems keep the seat they've held since Byrd beat then-Sen. Chapman Revercomb (R) in '58. If GOPers are lucky, they'll talk Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R) into making the race; Capito is the highest-ranking GOPer in the state, and the party has been itching to get her to run statewide for years. A Capito-Manchin race would be one of the marquee matchups of '12.
GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS: The CentCom chief will appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee today for confirmation hearings for his new post as the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan. Petraeus didn't ask for the job -- he was Pres. Obama's choice for the post once Gen. Stanley McChrystal was fired -- but if there's anyone who can turn the war around, Obama believed, Petraeus was the man to do it.
And he's well-known to members of Congress, many of whom venerate him as the reason for a turnaround in Iraq. Still, when he appears today, he will be a representative of the Obama admin, and of the war strategy Obama has chosen to pursue. Some Dems aren't happy with that direction, while some GOPers don't think it goes far enough.
Petraeus will be a proxy for both parties' worries about a July '11 draw-down date when today's hearings kick off. Anti-war Dems are starting to get the inkling that the deadline, first announced by Pres. Obama last year, isn't as firm as they once though. GOPers want assurances that there won't be a premature withdrawal. To both sides, Petraeus is the man with answers -- and they're going to assume it's not the one they want to hear.
Update: We've clarified some of the shots Kirk's campaign will take at Giannoulias.