Running Mates Walk the Hallways on Capitol Hill

The battle for the White House echoed in the halls of Congress on Tuesday as the two would-be vice presidents tried to rally their political bases for the stretch drive of the legal and political fight between Al Gore and George W. Bush.

Dick Cheney, Bush’s running mate, was careful not to present himself as vice president-presumptive but spent most of his time with GOP lawmakers talking about assembling a Cabinet. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) tried not to look like he was flogging a lost cause but spent his time urging Democrats to stick by the ticket he shares with Vice President Gore in what he admitted is an uphill fight.

Despite Lieberman’s efforts, the growing expectation that Texas Gov. Bush is going to be the next president already is having an effect on Congress’ handling of holdover business. Emboldened by the prospect of controlling both the White House and Capitol Hill next year, some Republicans are pushing to scale back proposed spending increases for education in year-end budget talks with President Clinton.

Republicans also said that there is a growing consensus that pending legislation to cut taxes by some $245 billion over five years--coupled with an increase in the minimum wage--is dead for this year, with many lawmakers arguing instead to seek a bigger tax cut when a Bush administration is in place.

But most lawmakers remain wary of concluding that the presidential race is settled. Although many Democrats are girding for Gore’s defeat, GOP lawmakers remained hesitant to treat Cheney’s visit as a victory lap. “It ain’t over till it’s over,” said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Bush’s former rival for the GOP presidential nomination. Republicans “are optimistic, but they have seen too many twists and turns in this thing.”

Cheney’s Status as House Insider on View

Cheney’s visit with House Republicans was something of a walk down memory lane: He was a House member representing Wyoming from 1979-89 and served in the chamber’s GOP leadership.

His qualifications as a congressional insider were apparent at Tuesday’s meeting. He played to House members’ traditional animosity toward the haughtiness of the Senate, where Cheney formally would preside as vice president.

“As a former member of the House of Representatives, it will give me great joy to preside over the Senate,” Cheney said to laughter and applause, according to sources in the closed-door meeting.

Cheney talked to House Republicans--and later in the day to Senate Republicans--about the transition-planning Bush is doing while awaiting the formal conclusion of the contested presidential election. Confident of the outcome, the lawmakers asked Cheney for advice on how to get administration posts for people they know.

“He gave us some good hints,” said Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.).

Meanwhile, Lieberman hopscotched around the Capitol, moving from closed-door meetings with Democrats to camera-packed sessions with the press.

He thanked Democrats for sticking with the presidential ticket as the legal fight proceeds over Florida’s electoral votes and reiterated his belief that he and Gore could yet prevail. But Democrats who met with Lieberman said he was realistic about Gore’s long odds.

Democratic Party Unity ‘Remarkable’

Most congressional Democrats are doubtful that Gore will succeed in his legal effort to overturn the recent certification of a Bush victory in Florida, but none pushed for him to quit.

“The vice president has as much time as he needs to ensure a full and fair recount,” said Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), the minority leader.

The party unity is striking even to stalwarts. “I thought it was remarkable that in a room of several hundred people, no one stood up and said, ‘You really shouldn’t do this; you should cave,’ ” said Rep. Robert E. Andrews (D-N.J.).

Against the backdrop of the disputed presidential election, congressional leaders grappled with how to wrap up the remaining issues in a lame-duck session. Among the unfinished business: the budget for education and other social programs and a bill that combined a modest package of tax cuts, an increase in the minimum wage and an infusion of money for hospitals and other health care providers under Medicare.

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) has indicated a willingness to cut a budget deal with Clinton, based on a tentative agreement reached before the election that provided a 20% increase in education funding. But Republicans are divided over that accord. House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas) and other conservatives want to scale back the proposed education increase or postpone a decision on this and several other issues until after the new president is sworn in.

Conservatives also seem inclined to put off the tax cuts until next year, when they expect a Bush administration will be more hospitable to more sweeping tax reductions. Sen. Frank H. Murkowski (R-Alaska) said after a meeting of Senate Republicans that, while some lawmakers still want to keep pushing the tax cut--which would include an increase in the limit on contributions to individual retirement accounts--the consensus was to drop it.

Eric Ueland, a top aide to Senate Assistant Majority Leader Don Nickles (R-Okla.), said after the meeting that GOP senators seemed inclined for now to push only the Medicare funding measure. “They are carving gravestones for the other things”--tax cuts and the minimum wage hike, Ueland said.