Running for president

Sometimes, running for president literally involves running.

Just ask Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), who sprinted into the Senate chamber yesterday to make the cloture vote on Iraq.

It would not look good on a presidential résumé, especially for a Democrat, to miss the vote that begins debate on the withdrawal of U.S. troops. But Clinton was not the only senator who had to rush to make it.

Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) stuck his foot in the door of an elevator in order to get there on time.

When the elevator stopped on the first floor, and delayed Lott for another few seconds, he muttered, “Damn it!” and lamented the tightened time limits for votes in the upper chamber.

All ended well for Clinton and Lott. They both made the vote.

Cracking the Obey leak case

It’s been over a week since House Appropriations Committee Chairman Dave Obey (D-Wis.) dropped the bombshell that he purposely gave bad information to certain Democratic colleagues about his Iraq supplemental bill.

Obey said he did so to find out which members were leaking information to the media, saying, “I know the names of two members who will not be invited to further meetings.” But he wouldn’t say who he was talking about or which publications fingered the lawmakers who are now in his doghouse.

Under the Dome is on the case, and while we’re not ready to jump to any conclusions, we’ve rounded up some suspects.

Suspect #1: Rep. Marcy Kaptur (Ohio), who last week said that there’s nothing to leak because nothing was written at that point. Hmmm. Questionable excuse. And Kaptur has motive; she’s a member of the Out of Iraq Caucus and the highest-ranking appropriator who does not wield a gavel of an appropriations subcommittee. But there certainly is no smoking gun on her.

Suspect #2: Rep. Steve Israel (N.Y.), who provided information to the media about the Obey supplemental before Obey announced it. That usually doesn’t go over big with chairmen, but Israel spokeswoman Meghan Dubyak said that information was provided to the entire caucus, not from any private conversation. Damn!

Suspect #3: Rep. Jim Moran (Va.), who defied the Washington wisdom of “deny everything” and admitted to being a leaker. Yet, he told The Washington Post, “I don’t leak inaccurate information.”

If we could get Moran on the stand for cross-examination, we’d ask: How do you know it’s inaccurate? Moran’s alibi is not rock-solid, but neither is our evidence against him.

Caveats:

The two lawmakers that Obey has in mind may have spoken to the media on an anonymous basis, making our detective work quite difficult. Another caveat: Obey could be making this all up, hoping to strike fear among members of the Democratic Caucus.

Regardless, this case remains open. If you have any clues, tips, or wild theories on the hard-to-crack Obey case, leak them to Dome@digital-release.digital-release.thehill.com

Rep. José Serrano en fuego

Many lawmakers try to be funny during committee hearings. Few actually succeed.

But at a recent House Appropriations subcommittee hearing, Chairman José Serrano (D-N.Y.) was on fire. And he was facing a tough crowd; the witnesses were Supreme Court Justices Anthony Kennedy and Clarence Thomas.
When introducing the high court judges, Serrano noted that under committee rules, they were allowed to speak for only five minutes each.

“But heck,” Serrano added, “you guys are on the Supreme Court. You could do whatever you please. And we have no way of dealing with it.”

Delving into legal matters, Serrano later admitted that he is not a lawyer: “But I watch a lot of ‘Perry Mason,’” he quipped.

When Serrano noted that New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez makes more in one at-bat than Supreme Court officials make in a year, subcommittee member Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.) chimed in, “The Orioles don’t pay as much as the Yankees.”

“And it shows,” Serrano countered, adding, “If I wasn’t a Yankees fan, I’d be outraged at how they buy ballplayers.”

Listen up, Hollywood

Under the Dome last week floated Michael Douglas as a possibility for the role of former Ambassador Joe Wilson in the movie that is sure to come out of the Valerie Plame affair. But who will play Scooter Libby? Our readers weighed in with some smart picks.

Marc Johnson, a self-proclaimed moderate Democrat, sees Gene Hackman (pictured) as Libby, reasoning that “he’s played shady characters in the past.”

David Manley of the West Wind Farm Vineyard and Winery floated Gary Sinise. Another reader who didn’t want her name used (and we can’t have an item about Plame without using anonymous information) said Philip Seymour Hoffman should get the role, though she added, “Seymour would probably be better suited to play [Karl] Rove.”

I’m No. 36!!!

The NCAA basketball tournament and office pools around the country start humming today, with college teams and bracket experts dreaming of raising their index digit and proclaiming, “I’m No. 1!”

Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.), however, is ecstatic about being No. 36 in new power rankings of lawmakers on www.knowlegis.net.

His office put out a release this week, noting that the legislator jumped from 405th in 2006 (no press release last year!). The rankings have been criticized by more than a few on Capitol Hill. For example, Ruppersberger is ranked ahead of House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) and Rules Committee Chairwoman Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.).

But hey, lawmakers need something to brag about back home now that earmarks have become scarce. 

Obama’s ‘exodus’ entrances

Grammy Award-winning singer Wyclef Jean made no secret of his affection Tuesday night for presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) before his performance honoring icon Stevie Wonder during a concert sponsored by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers in the Cannon House Office Building.

Wyclef even offered advice on what song the contender should use during his entrances at campaign events.

“‘Exodus,’ by Bob Marley,” he said, humming a few bars. “Because anything can happen.”

— Jackie Kucinich and Klaus Marre contributed to this page.