INSIDE REPORT

"KING CORRUPTION" REIGNS

WASHINGTON - Republicans returning to the House floor on Friday morning Aug. 3 after their walkout the night before were surprised to find as presiding officer the Democrat they call "King Corruption": Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, master of earmarks and backroom deals.

Rep. Ed Pastor, a 64-year-old eight-term Democrat from Phoenix, Ariz., who is affable and well-liked by Republicans, had been scheduled to preside. But Speaker Nancy Pelosi, fearing parliamentary tricks by Republicans, put her muscleman Murtha in the chair.

Murtha's performance as non-partisan presiding officer ran true to form. On a voice vote, Murtha ruled for Democrats when obviously more Republicans were on the House floor. He subsequently ordered a roll call vote, though members rising in support clearly fell short of the 44 required. After that ruling was challenged, Murtha declared: "The chair's decision is not subject to question."

HILLARY'S LEAD

Democratic insiders who are not neutral in the presidential race do not take seriously the USA Today/Gallup poll of Democratic voters showing Sen. Hillary Clinton 23 percentage points ahead of Sen. Barack Obama. They contend national surveys are meaningless because outcomes of the early state contests are still critical.

State polls show a virtual three-way tie among Clinton, Obama and former Sen. John Edwards in Iowa's early caucuses. Clinton has only a narrow lead over Obama in New Hampshire's opening primary. Obama has moved slightly ahead in the latest survey for South Carolina, the next primary state.

A footnote: Mitt Romney collects only 6 percent in the USA Today/Gallup national poll of Republicans but leads in Iowa and New Hampshire.

YOUTH FROM PEORIA

Aaron Schock, a conservative 26-year-old Illinois state legislator, is privately boosted by national Republican operatives as their choice in a contested GOP primary next year to replace retiring seven-term Rep. Ray LaHood from the Peoria, Ill., district.

Schock would represent a rightward shift in the centrist representation of the solidly Republican district by LaHood for 14 years and by his old boss, former House Minority Leader Bob Michel, for the preceding 38 years.

Michel spent 20 years in the House Republican leadership, but LaHood's ambitions to become a leader were frustrated by the post-Michel Republican caucus. LaHood considered but abandoned a run for governor of Illinois in 2006.

COPYRIGHT 2007 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.