MOORE V. DASCHLE: The Club for Growth, headed by HUMAN EVENTS Economics Correspondent Stephen Moore, is running a TV ad in South Dakota aimed squarely at Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle's (D.-S.D.) policies. Daschle is up for re-election in 2004. The ad notes Tom and wife Linda Daschle's new $1.8-million home in Washington, D.C., while criticizing his opposition to tax cuts. Featuring a parody of the song "Our House" by Crosby, Stills, and Nash, the ad has attracted the attention of lawyers for the over-the-hill rock stars, who have threatened legal action against the conservative group, apparently for an alleged copyright violation. Club for Growth says it will keep running the ad as is. BREAKING THE LAW? Daschle may oppose tax cuts for others but he has filed for the District of Columbia's $30,000 property tax homestead exemption - a deduction allowed only for primary residences, Talon News reported August 13. The problem is that South Dakota law requires the state's elected officials to be residents of South Dakota. For that reason, Daschle appears to be violating the law in either South Dakota or the District of Columbia. Moore told Talon: "The fact that he is claiming the District of Columbia homestead deduction further supports the idea that Daschle has become a creature of Washington, out of touch with the people of South Dakota." KEMPTHORNE SCORNED: Capitol Hill conservatives who follow environmental issues were taken by surprise last week when President Bush passed over Idaho GOP Gov. Dirk Kempthorne and instead picked Utah Gov. Michael Leavitt (R.) as new administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Kempthorne, a former senator with a long record of fighting for property rights, was the conservative favorite. Leavitt is deemed unlikely to do battle with left-wing environmentalists. Pols interpret Bush's choice of Leavitt as a sign he does not want any controversy on the environment before 2004. Fred Smith of the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute told the Washington Post he feared Leavitt "will be a Western Whitman" (referring to liberal former EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman). Kempthorne reacted coolly to Bush's snub. "We just needed a decision," he told the Idaho Falls Post Register. "I didn't call them. They called me." HOLDING STEADY: A Washington Post poll of 1,003 adults nationwide (margin of error: +/-3%) conducted August 7-11 showed that President Bush's approval rating is holding steady despite the increased pounding he has been taking from the nine Democratic presidential candidates and their partisans in the liberal media. In the Post's last poll, concluded July 11, 59% approved of the way Bush was handling his job. In this poll, 59% still approve of the way he is handling his job. SECURITY ISSUE: The President's edge, however, rests mainly on the public's perception that he and the Republican Party are doing a better job than the Democrats could be expected to do in handling the war on terrorism. Asked which party they trusted to do a better job in this area, 54% said the Republicans and a mere 25% said the Democrats. Fifty-six percent said they specifically approved of the way Bush is handling the situation in Iraq—down only two points (within the margin of error) from the 58% who approved of how he was handling the situation in Iraq a month ago. That's remarkable resilience for the President's job approval in this area given the steady drumbeat of negative liberal media coverage on Iraq. BUSH STAYS NEUTRAL: After President Bush told reporters that Arnold Schwarzenegger would make "a good governor," White House spokesman Ken Lisaius insisted to John Gizzi of HUMAN EVENTS that this was not an endorsement. President Bush, he said, "is not involved in the recall effort," and "at this point, there are no plans for him to be" when he visits California for two Bush-Cheney fund-raising events next week. Asked whether Bush feels that conservative Republican hopefuls Tom McClintock and Bill Simon would be good governors, Lisaius said, " I haven't asked him that yet." Meanwhile, at his Crawford, Texas, ranch on August 13, a reporter asked Bush if he was going to "plug" Schwarzenegger when he visits California. "Well," said Bush, "I think I've answered the question, and yes, he would be a good governor, as would others running for governor of California."
