By: Mike Allen
Jun 17, 2007 03:57 PM EST
<snip>
White House loyalists have begun arguing that clemency for I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby -- either a pardon or a commuted sentence -- would be a way for an embattled President Bush to reassert himself, particularly among conservatives.
The White House has not ruled out a pardon for Libby, sources say. But several Republicans, who sense a movement in Libby’s favor, said a more likely possibility might be a presidential commutation -- a reduction or elimination of Libby's 2½-year federal prison sentence. Such a move, they said, would be less divisive for the country.
A well-connected Republican whose views have reached Bush’s inner circle said that if Libby goes to prison, “It would be seen by the religious and policy conservatives as the president abandoning his loyalty virtue for the hedonistic pleasure of political expediency.”
If Paris goes, Scooter goes
Several prominent Republicans, however, remain pessimistic about the chances of a pardon, acknowledging that Bush -- buffeted by the war in Iraq and a bruising immigration debate at home that has enraged much of the GOP base -- can ill afford another major controversy.
And Democrats are poised to pounce if Bush gives Libby a break. Dave “Mudcat” Saunders, an adviser to Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, said the brouhaha over heiress Paris Hilton would make it easier to get traction for charges that Libby was getting special privileges.
“Scooter Libby is in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Saunders said. “If Paris had to go to the slammer, Scooter should get his pajammers.”
And...
The lobbying is subtle, according to participants. They say that making the case directly to the president or his top aides would be insulting and could backfire.
Instead, friends of Bush and Libby have been quietly working cocktail parties and other venues, laying out their logic for a pardon.
When these people do talk to presidential aides, they confine their remarks to what they consider safe ground -- how hard the ordeal has been on Libby and his family.<snip>
Link:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0607/4517.htmlI think we need to start tapping\bugging Washington D.C. cocktail parties. Seems like that's the only place anything gets done in that town.
:wtf: