Word: gramm
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Should we read more into Phil Gramm's decision to retire from the Senate? The Texas Republican announced Tuesday that he'll call it quits in 2002 after spending 18 years in the Senate and six years in the House. He's the third senior Republican senator who's decided not to seek re-election. Ninety-eight-year-old Strom Thurmond of South Carolina won't run again and North Carolina's Jesse Helms, who's in poor health, announced last month that this would be his last term. Gramm, who's 59, came to his decision after "a long...
...Gramm may have decided to retire not just because he's done everything he wanted to do in Washington, but also because he won't be able to do much more. With Sen. Jim Jeffords' defection last spring, Democrats now have a one-seat majority in the Senate. Republican leaders adamantly deny it, but GOP senators I talk to tell me that the feeling is running strong in their ranks that Democrats will control that chamber for a while. The place won't be fun for a lot of Republicans who liked being in control...
...Republicans have 21 seats up for grabs while the Democrats have only 14. The Republican leadership claims those numbers aren't as bad as they look because they believe that more Democratic incumbents will face serious challenges. Gramm's seat, for example, will likely stay in the GOP column, as will Helms' and Thurmond's. Even so, Republicans are making very private predictions that their party could suffer a net loss of four more Senate seats. "We may not be returning to the majority for a long time," says one seasoned GOP senator...
...South Carolina's Democratic governor would almost surely name someone from his party to fill the vacancy, giving Democrats a leg up in that race. What's more, Republican senators tell me at least three other GOP incumbents - Fred Thompson of Tennessee, Pete Domenici of New Mexico, and Phil Gramm of Texas - are considering leaving when their terms are up in 2002 because they're fed up with the chamber and realize their party won't recapture it for a while...
...believe the rumors, say other GOP operatives. Yes, Thompson, who has only $544,000 in his campaign bank, hasn't yet announced whether he'll seek reelection. But Gramm and Domenici insist they're not bowing out. Gramm has $4.4 million on hand. Domenici, who has about $1.9 million, had George Bush in his state last week for a fundraiser. Republicans also say the overall numbers aren't as bleak as they first appear. They have more seats up for grabs, but Democrats are seriously challenging no more than three of them, GOP officials claim. Republicans, meanwhile, are mounting serious...