Capitol Hill this morning was quite a scene with all three presidential candidates in residence. Campaign reporters hovered over the desks of their congressional counterparts. There was John McCain and Lindsey Graham chatting up Dennis Kucinich by the Ohio Clock. Were they seeking an endorsement? “No,” laughed Kucinich, who is still in talks with both Clinton and Obama. “We’re just old friends.”
And here was Barack Obama emerging with his entourage from Dick Durbin’s offices looking none-too-happy. The reason was likely what brought all three candidates to the Hill: the earmarks legislation. Both Clinton and Obama have endorsed the measure much to the displeasure of the Senate leaders. Durbin, the senior senator from Illinois and one of Obama’s strongest backers, went so far as to publicly express disappointment in his junior counterpart. The earmarks debate could leave the Senate leadership in the awkward position of passing legislation that they are mostly against but much of the GOP and the Dem presidential candidates support.
Rumors swirled that Harry Reid might even be so vindictive as to hold the votes open until 3am, though that was shot down by Senate staffers who guessed the vote would come earlier despite a dispute over whether it had even been filed yet. Meanwhile, other senators were having some fun at the candidates’ expense, well, at least Obama’s expense. GOP Senator Wayne Allard introduced a budget amendment that would implement all of Obama’s campaign pledges costing hundreds of billions of dollars – a common campaign-year trick so get ready McCain and Clinton for similar bills.