Word: grammes
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Like other Washington diarists, Bob Packwood no doubt wishes he had kept his thoughts to himself. And at the end of last week, so did his Senate Republican colleague Phil Gramm of Texas. A March 1992 entry by the Oregon Senator puts himself, Gramm--then head of the G.O.P. committee that finances Senate candidates--and two of their aides in a brief discussion about funneling an illegally large amount of national-party money to Packwood's re-election campaign. "And what was said in that room would be enough to convict us all of something," Packwood wrote to himself. "[Gramm...
Upon releasing the text of Packwood's diaries last week, Ethics Committee chairman Mitch McConnell and vice chairman Richard Bryan fired off a letter to Gramm asking him to explain the passage. Gramm replied that, yes, the National Republican Senate Committee did give the Oregon Republican Party $96,500 shortly after the Gramm-Packwood meeting took place. But Gramm insisted that the money was not used to support Packwood, to whom the N.R.S.C. could give only $17,500, but for legal party-building activities such as voter registration and getting out the vote. Moreover, he said...
Packwood says the diary entry was wrong, that if Gramm said what was on the transcript, it was in jest. Still, in 1993 Packwood seemed quite serious when he erased the passage from the audiotape into which he had dictated it. In its place, he said, "There was the usual argument--I suppose a more polite word for it would be discussion--of how much money the national committee or senatorial committee was going to give the state party." How did the actual words come to light? Packwood kept a copy of the original, which he never altered...
...endorses no candidate. Nor, apparently, do Boy Scouts. An attorney for the national scouting organization has sent Phil Gramm's campaign a letter asking the Texas Republican to stop using photos of the Boy Scouts in his presidential campaign literature. (A recent pamphlet shows Gramm with a saluting Boy Scout). Today, Boy Scout spokesman Richard Walker reminded all candidates that images of scouts are off-limits. The Gramm staff had no immediate comment...
...true that Gramm, who at this point is best described as a struggling candidate with lots of money, can cause his opponents fits. While Dole is often too sardonic for his own good, Gramm can be truly mean, so anything is possible from him, and his sizable bankroll means he could stay in the hunt till the end. But the story to watch right now is Dole's positioning and demeanor. Earlier this year, in an attempt to win the backing of far-right activists, Dole abandoned some moderate views on such hot-button issues as gun control and affirmative...