2008 and counting

Nomination fireworks alert

The vacancy at the top of the U.S. Agency for International Development, which popped up when chief Randall Tobias surfaced as a client of the “D.C. madam,” has the makings of a magnet for 2008 candidates who want to weigh in on diversity issues.

{mosads} Henrietta Holsman Fore, President Bush’s nominee to replace Tobias, ran into trouble with Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) during her 2005 confirmation as an undersecretary of state. Obama considered blocking Fore in light of a 1987 speech in which she said “blacks preferred pushing drugs to working in a factory,” according to a New York Times report from that year.

Obama ultimately declined to hold up Fore’s nomination after she promised to meet with the Congressional Black and Hispanic caucuses about diversity in hiring at the State Department. But Obama will get another chance to hold Fore’s feet to the fire in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where two of his Democratic White House rivals also sit.

Fore made her incendiary speech at Wellesley College, where she resigned a trusteeship soon afterward. A spokesman for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), another famous Wellesley alumna, did not return a request for comment on Clinton’s views on Fore.

— Elana Schor

Young Professionals seek cash for Mitt

Young Professionals for Mitt, a group comprised of many K Street insiders, is hosting a June 7 fundraiser for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) at the Sewall-Belmont House in Washington, D.C. A donation of $1,000 is sought for the “leadership reception” at 6:30 p.m., while a contribution of $100-$500 is the price tag to attend the general reception at 7 p.m.

Some of the lobbyists who are on the host committee include Stephanie Cathcart, Mark Isakowitz, Drew Maloney and Brett Shogren.

— Bob Cusack

Clinton’s Cabinet officials open wallets for Hillary

Several members of former President Clinton’s Cabinet have contributed to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) presidential war chest, including Madeleine Albright, Dan Glickman, Donna Shalala, Rodney Slater, and Togo West Jr.

William Daley, who served as secretary of the Department of Commerce under Clinton, has given $2,300 to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

— Alexander Harrison

No ringing endorsement

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) is a noted supporter of his junior colleague, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), in the heated presidential derby. So few were surprised when Durbin stopped short of endorsing Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), Appropriations Committee chairman, in their attempt to end the congressional authorization for the war in Iraq.

Durbin called Clinton and Byrd’s proposal a “valid constitutional and policy issue. … Having said that, do I believe there are 60 votes? No.” Durbin added that the de-authorizing concept could come to a vote on the defense appropriations or authorization bills later this year.

— Elana Schor

What are we, chopped liver?

Sen. James Inhofe (Okla.), senior Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee and a noted non-believer in global warming, sent a “fact of the day” through his press office this week with a tantalizing headline: “Clinton, Obama sign on to Boxer’s $4,500 climate tax on American families.”

The factoid appeared aimed at tying Democratic presidential candidates to environment panel Chairwoman Barbara Boxer’s (D-Calif.) climate-change legislation, which Inhofe strongly opposes. But wait — Sens. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) and Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) also back Boxer’s plan, and Dodd signed on months before any of his 2008 rivals. Could it be that Republicans are already resigned to a Clinton or Obama nomination?

— Elana Schor

Obama explains how he would have voted on  bill

After missing a key vote on a major health policy issue, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) took to the Senate floor on Tuesday to declare how he would have voted.

Obama would have cast his vote against an amendment sponsored by Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) that effectively nullified an effort by Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) to permit the importation of prescription drugs from abroad, he said.

“The fact that the Cochran amendment passed is unfortunate,” Obama said. The Senate voted 49-40 to adopt Cochran’s language, which was supported by the pharmaceutical industry. Three other senators vying for the White House also missed the vote: Joseph Biden (D-Del.), Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.).

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), Obama’s leading rival and the only presidential candidate present for the vote, opposed the Cochran amendment.

— Jeffrey Young