Wesley Clark reports for duty

It could have been the 2004 Democratic National Convention. American flags. Gold eagles sprawled across banners advertising REAL SECURITY. Uniformed personnel on stage. But instead of Senator John F. Kerry ''reporting for duty" at the microphone, a probable '08 rival was front and center: General Wesley K. Clark.

Last week's unveiling of the Democratic Party's ''Plan to Protect America" turned out to be a showcase for Clark -- and his diplomatic skills in helping get badly divided Democrats behind a single message.

Clark, who ran against Kerry in '04, stepped to the microphone to condemn President Bush's ''incompetent" leadership, while Kerry's 6-foot-4-inch frame was crammed in alongside dozens of other lawmakers standing on risers in the back; even Hillary Rodham Clinton, widely thought to be the 2008 frontrunner, was barely visible in the last row.

That Clark was the one presidential prospect allowed to speak owes much to his role alongside the Senate Democratic leader, Harry M. Reid of Nevada, and the House Democratic leader, Nancy P. Pelosi of California, in crafting the national security plank in which the party pledges to ''eliminate" Osama Bin Laden, better equip the US military, and ensure that 2006 ''is a year of significant transition to full Iraqi sovereignty."

Iraq was the most difficult point of agreement for party lawmakers. Over the past months, Clark spent hours on the phone and in meetings with lawmakers ranging from centrist to leftists. Last fall, he urged Representative John P. Murtha of Pennsylvania not to make his famed call for immediate withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. And while Clark calls the Iraq war a ''strategic blunder," he continues to disagree with such lawmakers as Kerry who propose specific reductions of troops.

''No Democratic should put numbers" on an exit by American troops, he told the Briefing.

Asked about his '08 plans, Clark was coy, saying that this year's midterm vote is ''the moment of decision," an election that deserves all-out focus. But doesn't the retired general's visit to New Hampshire last month suggest some presidential water-testing?

''I went up there to get my batteries recharged. The people in New Hampshire really know the issues," Clark said, , before pointedly mentioning that his two favorite sports teams are now the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots.

Abramoff praise falls on deaf ears

The Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory located between Hawaii and the Philippines, is at the heart of the Jack Abramoff scandal. During Abramoff's tenure as a lobbyist for the commonwealth, lawmakers condemned the island's sweatshop conditions and now investigators are probing Abramoff-sponsored trips to the tropics by lawmakers.

But the commonwealth's governor, Benigno R. Fitial, wanted Abramoff's sentencing judge in Florida last week to know that the lobbyist was an ''ardent advocate" for the islands.

''Jack strongly believed in the American free enterprise system and other Republican principles," Fitial wrote. ''He was a natural crusader and political activist, with great sympathy for our unrepresented commonwealth."

Fitial's letter was among some 260 submitted to the judge by Abramoff supporters pleading for leniency. Many of them argued that Abramoff, who was sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison, should be forced to do community service rather than serve time in jail.

''We're all sinners," said former California legislator Steve Baldwin, who was mentored by Abramoff at the College Republicans in the early 1980s. ''Why can't a sentence involve something creative such as undertaking some needed task for a poor community?"

Only one member of Congress wrote: California Republican Dana Rohrabacher, known for his surfing skills and anti-Communist passions, and who was tightly allied with so-called freedom fighters battling Soviet-supported movements in Latin America, Africa, and elsewhere during the 1980s.

''Jack was a selfless patriot for most of the time I knew him," Rohrabacher wrote. ''His first and foremost consideration was protecting America from its enemies."

Campaign finance on his agenda

With two incremental victories on the campaign finance front behind him last week, Representative Martin T. Meehan goes to the House floor next week with another attempt to regulate 527s, the issue advocacy groups that have become a favorite end-run around spending limits. Ironically though, the liberal Democrat from Lowell is relying on the Republican leadership to support the effort.

''We get a ton of fire from the Democrats," said Meehan's spokeswoman, Sandra Salstrom.

That's because liberal interest groups have the biggest and richest 527s, lending the Democratic Party some added heft against the GOP, which far outraises its rivals under most other forms of campaign finance.

Last week, a federal judge ruled that the Federal Election Commission must issue rules limiting 527s -- or come up with a better reason for why they don't need to be regulated. Also last week, Meehan managed to scuttle a bill that would have removed limits on political advertising on the Internet.