WASHINGTON - House of Representatives Republican Leader John Boehner says he has no plans to alter a new campaign slogan — “Change you deserve” — that has been widely mocked since the phrase is used to market the anti-depressant drug Effexor.

“I think it’s working out just fine,” a smiling Boehner told reporters when asked about the slogan that has become the butt of jokes on Capitol Hill.

The slogan is part of a new effort by House Republicans “to fix Washington,” outline plans to help Americans and raise their floundering election-year prospects of retaking control of the legislative body from Democrats.

“Democrats, not drugs, is what the American people need,” House Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer said in poking fun at the campaign and antidepressant slogan.

Some Republicans have also complained, saying privately that the slogan makes them look foolish.

Others, like Rep. Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican, say, “Another slogan doesn’t do much. People are more concerned about what we do.”

“We have to be bolder than this. If we don’t, we will get the change we deserve.” Flake said.

With polls showing voters favor Democrats on a host of issues, they are expected to increase their House majority in the November elections. This week, Democrats won their third straight special election to fill a vacant seat in a previously Republican district, raising their House majority to 236-199.

Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia, a former chairman of the House Republican campaign committee, wrote colleagues: “The loss of three straight special elections … are canaries in the coal mine, warning of far greater losses in the fall, if steps are not taken to remedy the current climate.”

Boehner said of the Davis memo: “I frankly thought it was well done, rather insightful, and really laid out the challenge that we face.” 

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- Photo credit: Reuters/Darren Staples (another anti-depressant medication.)

WASHINGTON - Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich is warning fellow Republicans in the U.S. Congress that they face a possible Election Day disaster this fall.

“Either congressional Republicans are going to chart a bold course of real change or they are going to suffer decisive losses this November,” Gingrich wrote on Tuesday in HumanEvents.com, a leading conservative voice.

Gingrich, who helped Republicans win control of the House for the first time in 40 years in 1994, is now a commentator who likes to give his party unsolicited advice.

Gingrich says the Republican loss in the special election in Louisiana’s sixth congressional district this past weekend should be “a sharp wake up call” for party members.

Gingrich noted President George W. Bush carried the district by 19 percentage points in winning reelection in 2004. In the end, Democratic State Rep. Donald Cazayoux defeated Republican Woody Jenkins. Republicans tried to cast Cazayoux a liberal by comparing him to Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, but voters didn’t seem to buy it.

The former Georgia lawmaker also pointed to polls that show Americans now favor Democrats on a host of issues, including taxes and the war on terrorism.

Gingrich said House Republicans should instruct their leader, John Boehner, to come up with a plan for “real change” within a few weeks. He made a number of suggestions, including repealing the gas tax this summer and paying for it by cutting federal spending.

In response, Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said his boss agrees that the party “can only succeed this year by being agents of change and reform.”

“In the coming weeks, we will be laying out Republican policies that embody the sort of changes we need,” Steel said.  

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- Photo credit: Reuters/Mark Avery (file photo)     

WASHINGTON - In a rare display of political harmony, Democrats and Republicans on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee came together on behalf of presidential candidate Sen. John McCain.

On a 19-0 vote on Thursday, they approved a sense of the Senate resolution that declares McCain is indeed a “natural born” U.S. citizen and thus eligible under the Constitution to be president.

Questions have been raised because McCain was born outside of the United States — to Americans parents on a military base in 1936 in the Panama Canal Zone, then under U.S. control.

McCain, a Republican, insists he meets the “natural born” requirement. Many Democrats and Republicans agree. But the Senate panel approved the resolution and sent it to the full Senate for a vote as a statement and precautionary move.

A sense of the Senate resolution is not binding. But if there is a court challenge of McCain’s eligibility, it could help influence the decision.

“The Senate should adopt this resolution and put to rest any question of Sen. McCain’s status as a ‘natural born citizen’,” said Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat and a chief sponsor of the resolution.

Senate backers include Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, who are competing for the Democratic presidential nomination and the right to face McCain in the November election. 

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- Photo credit: Reuters/Jose Gomez

WASHINGTON - Among those who serve with them in the U.S. Senate — an institution often referred to as “the world’s most deliberative body” — endorsements for White House rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are dead even.

Thirteen of their fellow Democratic senators back Obama, the first-term lawmaker from Illinois, while 13 support Clinton, the second-term lawmaker from New York.

Twenty-one other Democratic senators are uncommitted in the race for their party’s 2008 presidential nomination.

Obama’s Senate backers include: Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, Chris Dodd of Connecticut, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Tim Johnson of South Dakota, Edward Kennedy and John Kerry of Massachusetts, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Ben Nelson of Nebraska and John Rockefeller of West Virginia.

Clinton’s Senate backers include: Evan Bayh of Indiana, Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray of Washington, Dianne Feinstein of California, Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, Robert Menendez of New Jersey, Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, Bill Nelson of Florida, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Charles Schumer of New York, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.

The Senate split is reflective of a nationwide Gallup tracking poll of Democratic and Democratic leaning voters after last week’s debate. It found Obama at 47 percent and Clinton at 45 percent, within the margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Senators are among the 796 Democratic super delegates — members of Congress and other party leaders — who will have a vote at the Democratic presidential nominating convention in August. They will join delegates won by Obama and Clinton in state-nominating contests. 

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- Photo credit: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton

U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, 78, managed to crack a few jokes and talk about his faith on Wednesday as he vowed to fight a recurrence of cancer and seek reelection in 2010.

“I consider it another bump in the road,” the Pennsylvania Republican told a Capitol Hill news conference called to discuss a recurrence of Hodgkin’s disease. “I’ve had a lot of bumps, and I’ve got good shock absorbers.”

Specter, who successfully battled the illness in 2005, disclosed this week he had been diagnosed with a recurrence of the cancer. His doctor said he had an “excellent chance of achieving a complete remission.”

Specter told reporters he will begin chemotherapy later this month and is confident he will again be able to keep up with his Senate duties.

Asked what keeps him going, Specter said wryly: “Got a good job, yes, faith, family, questions from the news media.”

Specter said he intends to seek a sixth term in 2010 and expects Democrats to try to make his health and age a factor. Democrats ousted a more conservative Pennsylvania senator, Rick Santorum, in the 2006 election.

Then Specter resurrected a couple of quips he used on a visit to the popular cable TV program, “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.”

“He (Stewart) asked me how old I was, and I said, ‘I forget.’ And then I said I looked at my birth certificate recently and I decided not to let a little thing like that bother me because it happened so long ago.’” 

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- Photo credit: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst (Specter last September on Capitol Hill)

WASHINGTON - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid gushed on Tuesday that his Democratic Party has two “outstanding candidates” but fell silent about who he prefers for the presidential nomination.

Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois are battling for the nomination which could come down to who the Democratic superdelegates support — Reid is one of them so his backing could be crucial.

“I can’t hear a word you are saying. Okay?” Reid told reporters when asked the question, drawing laughter.

Reid is one of 796 superdelegates — members of Congress and other party leaders — who will have a vote at the Democratic presidential nominating convention this summer. Superdelegates will join the delegates won by Clinton and Obama in state contests nationwide.

If neither secure the 2,025 delegates needed to win the nomination by the time the convention convenes, superdelegates will end up deciding who is the party’s 2008 standard bearer.

Reid, who represents Nevada in the Senate, has remained neutral in the race. But his son, Rory Reid, a county commissioner in Nevada, helped Clinton win the state presidential contest earlier this year.

Reid brushed off a question if there would be risks to the party if the nomination race isn’t soon wrapped up.

“We have two outstanding candidates, Clinton and Obama,” Reid said. “When this is decided — I don’t know when it will be decided — but the other will step behind the other one and support them 100 percent.”

“I am totally satisfied with this process.  I think it’s been the best presidential election that I’ve been involved in,” Reid said.  

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- Photo credit: Reuters/Joshua Roberts (Reid speaks to reporters earlier this year.)
   

WASHINGTON - Tired of those seemingly endless U.S. presidential debates?

Well the leaders of one of the nation’s most unpopular institutions, the Democratic-led U.S. Congress (approval rating below 20 percent), plan to begin a series of election-year debates of their own on Monday.

However, don’t expect to see this evening clash of lawmakers on any network or commercial television station like the presidential debates. 

C-Span, the cable station devoted to covering Congress, says it will air the debate. But it was not immediately certain if it would do so live or on a delayed basis.

In a statement, organizers say the debates are aimed at fostering bipartisan discussion of “the most important issues facing the country.”

The first debate will focus on the seesawing economy, which has emerged as a top issue in this November’s congressional and presidential elections. Eight lawmakers will debate, including Rep. Rahm Emanuel, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, as well as Rep. Adam Putnam, head of the Republican Conference.

“Carried out in a genuine spirit of bipartisanship, dialogues such as these can help us to fix a broken Washington,” said Putnam of Florida. 

The first of these so-called “Congress Debates,” set to begin at 8 p.m. EST, is being hosted by the House Democratic Caucus and the House Republican Conference in cooperation with the Democratic Leadership Council and Congressional Institute. The event will be held in the nation’s capital at George Washington University. 

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- Photo credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

WASHINGTON - Democratic Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama interrupted their presidential campaigns on Wednesday to return to the U.S. Capitol where they shared a rare laugh together — at the expense of Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts.

Kennedy, the Democratic Party’s leading liberal and one of its most popular yet polarizing figures, endorsed Obama last month for their party’s presidential nomination.

Yet Clinton enjoyed sweet revenge in Super Tuesday’s nominating contests when she defeated Obama in Massachusetts.

“A big sigh of relief when he endorsed you,” a smiling Clinton told Obama, prompting Obama and Kennedy to join her in hearty laughter.

Just the fact that Clinton and Obama acknowledged each other sparked interest since they seemed to avoid each other last week when President George W. Bush delivered his final State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress.

Clinton and Obama returned to the Senate in a failed Democratic bid to pass an economic stimulus package somewhat bigger than the one approved last week by the House of Representatives.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the leading Republican presidential candidate, did not bother to return to Congress. Republican aides noted that a “nay” vote by McCain was not needed to defeat the Democratic measure.

His Senate office spokeswoman Melissa Shuffield did not explain why he missed the vote, despite his plane landing an hour before the vote began. “His absence would not have affected the outcome, as he would have opposed cloture,” she said.

Such a vote could draw criticism on the campaign trail since the Democratic measure would have expanded proposed tax rebates to include retirees and disabled veterans. And Clinton’s campaign wasted no time issuing a statement blasting him.

“By failing to stand up as the deciding vote, John McCain let our families down,” said her spokesman Phil Singer. 

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- Photo credit: Reuters/Joshua Roberts (Clinton leaving the Senate after the vote); Rick Wilking (McCain at a news conference earlier in Phoenix).

Vice President Dick Cheney received a sustained standing ovation from fellow conservatives on Wednesday, prompting the often-criticized vice president to joke about himself.

“A welcome like that, it’s almost enough to make me want to run for office again,” Cheney said, drawing laughter. “Almost, almost.”

Polls show most Americans disapprove of Cheney just as they do of his boss, President George W. Bush.

But Cheney was embraced at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank, where he urged Congress to pass a White House-backed surveillance bill. But first he subjected himself to some self-deprecating humor.

“I hold an office that has only one constitutional duty — presiding over the Senate and casting tie-breaking votes,” Cheney said.

“Before the Constitution was written, some, including Benjamin Franklin, believed that the vice presidency was entirely unnecessary.  He said that if the office were to be created, anyone who served as vice president should be addressed as ‘Your Superfluous Excellency.’”

“That’s better than some of the things I’ve been called,” Cheney said, drawing more laughter.

Yes, because outside a group of demonstrators chanted, “Fire the liar, impeach Cheney.”           

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she’s drawing heat from fellow Democratic lawmakers as well as people across the nation for refusing to move to impeach President George W. Bush or Vice President Dick Cheney.

“I go through airports, and people have buttons as if they knew I was coming,” Pelosi said with a smile, mimicking a protester pointing to an “Impeach” button on their chest.

But the California Democrat said she is sticking to her position that trying to remove Bush or Cheney would be divisive, and she added, most likely unsuccessful. If the House voted to impeach Bush and Cheney, a two-thirds vote would be needed in the closely divided Senate to oust them.

Many Democrats and civil liberties groups have accused the Bush administration of misleading the United States into the Iraq war and violating the rights of U.S. citizens with its warrantless surveillance program. The White House denies the charges.

In helping Democrats win back control of Congress in 2006 from Republicans, Pelosi said she would not push for impeachment despite a number of calls to do so.

Speaking with reporters, she recalled that she wanted to focus on unifying the nation, passing the Democrats’ legislative agenda — not picking an impeachment fight with the White House.

“It was my belief that an impeachment of the Vice President or the President … would be very divisive in our country, and that is what I believed then,” Pelosi said. “It should have come to no surprise when I became Speaker I said it again, and I continue to hold that view.”

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- Photo credits: Reuters/Jim Young (Bush and Cheney talking about the economy in the White House Roosevelt Room on Friday); Larry Downing (Pelosi takes control of the House as Speaker on Jan. 4, 2007)