Party Leaders

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Kweisi Mfume was fielding questions on WBAL radio when the leading Republican contender phoned in. But instead of a scrap, what ensued was a cross-party love feast. Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele, the GOP's likely nominee for Senate, said he wanted WBAL listeners to know just how fond he was of Mfume. Steele spoke glowingly about a recent speech on economics and development given by Mfume, a former congressman and national president and chief executive officer of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

WASHINGTON -- Some members of the Congressional Black Caucus have raised the bloody shirt of racism in defense of their embattled colleague Rep. William J. Jefferson of Louisiana. I appreciate their sense of loyalty to a friend, but Mr. Jefferson hasn't given them much to work with. Mr. Jefferson's friends say he deserves the presumption of innocence. But the court of public opinion, in which all politics operates, is quite another matter. There is, for example, the embarrassing little question of the alleged bribery money that the FBI found in Mr. Jefferson's freezer.

Democratic state Sen. Philip C. Jimeno's surprise decision not to seek re-election to his District 31 seat has politicians from both parties taking a fresh look at the race. Del. Donald H. Dwyer Jr., a conservative Republican from Glen Burnie, became yesterday the first candidate to step forward since Jimeno announced his retirement last month. Republicans had labeled the five-term incumbent's seat as vulnerable. Now party leaders predict the open seat might attract more GOP candidates to run in the district that represents the Marley Neck Peninsula, Pasadena, Gibson Island and Glen Burnie.

WASHINGTON -- The continuing shake-up at the White House is the clearest acknowledgment yet that President Bush has scaled back his once-lofty priorities in favor of what strategists call a less visionary - but just as crucial - goal: helping Republicans keep control of Congress. It is a familiar theme for a president who, along with longtime strategist Karl Rove, has viewed a lasting Republican majority as a key part of his legacy. Bush's decision to relieve Rove of an official policy post was interpreted by many party strategists not as a downgrading of his influential aide's role but as a public statement that Republican victories in the 2006 elections now top his wish list.

The Maryland Democratic Party is raising and spending money earlier and faster than ever, new campaign finance records show, a sign that party leaders believe a coordinated attack is the only way to stave off - and perhaps reverse - Republican gains in legislative seats and local offices around the state. The Republican Party has often raised more money than the Democrats, and last year was no exception, according to the records. Republican leaders say they are busy recruiting candidates to take on Democratic senators and delegates from conservative districts - and the party has nearly eight times more cash saved to help its candidates than Democrats do. In the past, Democrats have been able to rely on incumbent governors to help usher their down-ballot candidates into office.

WASHINGTON -- In the wee hours of Friday morning -- a few minutes into a close vote on a critical bill on the House floor -- Maryland Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest decided to play a little joke on Republican Party leaders. Earlier, he had assured them that he would support a $50 billion package of spending cuts. But when he strode onto the House floor, he cast his vote against it. Party leaders, who had carefully counted their votes before bringing the bill to the floor, gaped at Gilchrest. Nobody was amused.

Leaders of three Sunni political parties joined together yesterday to compete in the Dec. 15 parliamentary elections, a sign that the country's embittered Sunni Arab minority might play a more active role in the democratic process. The alliance, the Iraqi Concord Front, will field candidates in the elections for a new National Assembly and work as a bloc to advance Sunni interests, said leaders of the three groups involved: the Iraqi Islamic Party, the National Dialogue Council and the Iraqi People's Gathering.

State House Speaker Michael E. Busch, an Annapolis Democrat and one of several legislators being targeted for defeat by the Republican Party, is asking party leaders to raise money to help vulnerable incumbents and the party's newcomers. Busch has asked House committee chairmen to raise money for a campaign committee known as a slate - a type of multicandidate account used for years by Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, and more recently by General Assembly Republicans looking to make gains.

WASHINGTON - When Howard Dean was chosen to head their party, Democrats looked forward to the benefits of his bristling energy and zest for political combat. But at a private meeting on Capitol Hill yesterday, a number of worried Senate Democrats warned Dean that he had been going overboard and needed to choose his words more carefully. The former Vermont governor and unsuccessful presidential candidate sparked controversy in recent days by referring to the GOP as "pretty much a white, Christian party," and declaring that a lot of Republicans have "never made an honest living in their lives."

SUGAR LAND, Texas -- Local Republican leaders insist that all is well here amid the new million-dollar homes, upscale shopping malls and glistening megachurches that have come to characterize the suburban prosperity and bedrock conservatism of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's home district. But beneath the well-manicured lawns and pristine artificial lakes in planned communities that make up much of DeLay's district, rumbles of discontent are being heard in this area south of Houston as turmoil grows in Washington over the majority leader's alleged ethical lapses.