The Fix - Chris Cillizza&#8217s politics blog on washingtonpost.com - March 5, 2006

Frist Wins, Romney Runs Strong Second

Frist won the Republican straw poll. (AP) Memphis, Tenn. -- Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist won a much-needed victory Saturday night in the Southern Republican Leadership Conference straw poll, a win that could begin to revive his 2008 presidential...

By Chris Cillizza | March 11, 2006; 10:03 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Eye on 2008
Save & Share:

Straw Poll Results

Memphis, Tenn. - Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist won the Southern Republican Leadership Conference straw poll with 37 percent of the vote. Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney took a surprisingly strong second place with 14 percent while Virginia Sen. George Allen...

By Chris Cillizza | March 11, 2006; 9:15 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Eye on 2008
Save & Share:

Frist's Uneven Address

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist struggled to ignite a home state crowd during his speech this afternoon at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference. The Tennessee Senator went through a litany of conservative causes celebres including the removal of "activist" federal...

By Chris Cillizza | March 11, 2006; 4:40 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Eye on 2008
Save & Share:

George Allen: Republican Cheerleader

Virginia Sen. George Allen hit all the partisan high notes in his speech to the Southern Republican Leadership Conference Saturday morning, repeatedly bringing the audience to its feet despite the early hour. Allen cast himself as an outsider to the...

By Chris Cillizza | March 11, 2006; 12:33 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Eye on 2008
Save & Share:

Major Shakeup in Romney's World

Trent Wisecup, the director of Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's Commonwealth political action committee, has quit his post. Reached Saturday morning, Wisecup confirmed his departure. "Governor Romney is a great governor," he said. "But I have decided to consider other options."...

By Chris Cillizza | March 11, 2006; 11:45 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Eye on 2008
Save & Share:

McCain: The Bush Heir?

Memphis, Tenn. -- Six years removed from a bitter primary fight against President George W. Bush, Arizona Sen. John McCain voiced agreement with the chief executive on nearly every pressing issue of the day in his speech to the Southern...

By Chris Cillizza | March 11, 2006; 9:44 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Eye on 2008
Save & Share:

Romney: Leading Off at the SRLC

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) got the distinction of being the first potential 2008 presidential candidate to address the Southern Republican Leadership Conference earlier this afternoon. Romney spoke to the SRLC gathering on Friday. (AP) Romney delivered...

By Chris Cillizza | March 10, 2006; 7:03 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Eye on 2008
Save & Share:

GOP Straw Poll: Over Before It Starts?

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) plans to urge attendees at this weekend's Southern Republican Leadership Conference gathering to write-in President George W. Bush's name in the Saturday straw poll, according to an excerpt of his remarks shown to...

By Chris Cillizza | March 10, 2006; 3:45 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Eye on 2008 , Republican Party
Save & Share:

Mehlman's Fiery Start to GOP Gathering

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- The Republican political world has descended on the Peabody Hotel in downtown Memphis for the start of the Southern Republican Leadership Conference -- the first time the majority of GOP candidates eyeing the 2008 presidential race will...

By Chris Cillizza | March 10, 2006; 2:57 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Eye on 2008 , Republican Party
Save & Share:

The Friday Line: GOP's Worrisome Senate Landscape

Democrats should be optimistic -- if not yet elated -- about their prospects for gaining Senate seats this fall as takeover opportunities for their party continue to dominate The Fix's Friday Line. Republican incumbents hold the top five slots this...

By Chris Cillizza | March 10, 2006; 8:32 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Senate , The Line
Save & Share:

Bayh Adds Another to Team

Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh (D) has hired Marc Farinella to run his All America political action committee, another move aimed at cementing his political team for a likely run for president in 2008. Farinella served as chief of staff to...

By Chris Cillizza | March 10, 2006; 8:30 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Eye on 2008
Save & Share:

Straw Poll Is First Test for GOP White House Hopefuls

The political world has had March 9-12 circled on its calendar for months. The Southern Republican Leadership Conference meeting in Memphis will feature all of the major candidates likely to seek the 2008 GOP nomination. Better yet, there will be...

By Chris Cillizza | March 9, 2006; 8:43 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (25)
Categories: Eye on 2008 , Republican Party
Save & Share:

Feingold Makes an Iowa Move

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.) has recruited veteran party operative Paul Tewes to help him begin the long process of courting Iowa voters. Tewes, who served as the political director at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee during the 2004 cycle, is...

By Chris Cillizza | March 8, 2006; 4:24 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Eye on 2008
Save & Share:

The Fix Talks Back About Pa., Howard Dean and Dems' Agenda

The Fix took questions in the Post Politics Hour Web chat earlier today. Read the transcript here. Below are my answers to a few questions that I didn't have time for during the chat. Boise, Idaho: Honestly, do you think...

By Chris Cillizza | March 8, 2006; 2:19 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Fix Notes
Save & Share:

Parsing the Polls: The Bush Burden?

As often happens at the start of a new month, almost every major media organization has released a national poll over the past week. And the surveys agree: President George W. Bush is not a very popular politician 8 months...

By Chris Cillizza | March 8, 2006; 7:30 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (51)
Categories: Governors , House , Parsing the Polls , Senate
Save & Share:

Texas Primary: DeLay Wins Primary, Bell to Challenge Gov. Perry

The Fix is open late tonight to give you the latest results from the Texas primaries. As we wrote in a post earlier today, there were four races worth watching -- the Democratic gubernatorial primary and primaries in the state's...

By Chris Cillizza | March 7, 2006; 11:32 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (28)
Categories: Governors , House
Save & Share:

Ohio: Parties Gear Up for Early Fight in 6th District

State Sen. Charlie Wilson's failure to qualify for the Democratic primary ballot in the race for Ohio's open 6th District seat has accelerated campaigning by both parties. On the Democratic side, Wilson is working to win the May 2 Democratic...

By Chris Cillizza | March 7, 2006; 3:37 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: House
Save & Share:

Allen and Frist: GOP Birthday Boys

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (Tenn.) should be feeling pretty pleased this morning. Just a few weeks after Frist's wife -- Karyn -- sent an e-mail to supporters of her husband...

By Chris Cillizza | March 7, 2006; 10:21 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (9)
Categories: Eye on 2008 , Senate
Save & Share:

Texas Primary Primer

Texas is the first state to hold 2006 primaries today, kicking off a series of intraparty contests between now and late September. While Rep. Tom DeLay's (R) legal troubles and battle for a 12th term have dominated the political landscape...

By Chris Cillizza | March 7, 2006; 8:25 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (22)
Categories: Governors , House
Save & Share:

House: More GOP Retirements on the Way?

On a practical level, today's retirement announcement by Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas (R) has little effect on the fight for the majority this November. Democrats aren't likely to pick up California Rep. Bill Thomas's decidedly conservative 22nd District....

By Chris Cillizza | March 6, 2006; 2:28 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (11)
Categories: House
Save & Share:

Network News

The Fix: March 5, 2006 - March 11, 2006