Inside the Beltway

NEWS AND OPINION:

OPENING THE ’GATE’

Forget that convenient phrase, “BP is Obama’s Katrina.” The term “Oilgate” has bubbled to the surface now that partisan ramifications of the Gulf oil spill could supercede ecological concerns. Indeed, President Obama must now confront a murky, malodorous, sticky political landscape as well as a murky, malodorous, sticky oil slick. “Oilgate” - used in the British press to describe a 2004 political scandal in South Africa - has much potential for American journalists. It has appeared in the Radio Patriot, a blog by Florida talk-radio host Andrea Shea King. The Hill also flirted with the term last week. Oddly enough, it was showcased Monday by the Hindu - India’s national newspaper - which asked: “Will Oilgate stain the Obama presidency?”

But Mr. Obama has a “gate” or two already in progress. So far, Fox News, Redstate.com, Pajamas Media founder Roger L. Simon, Op-Ed writers Pat Buchanan and Jeffrey T. Kuhner, plus Rep. Darrell Issa, California Republican, are among the many who used “Obama’s Watergate” to frame Rep. Joe Sestak’s claims that he was offered a job in the Obama administration if he would drop out of the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania.

But wait. Rep. Steve King, Iowa Republican, called White House ties with ACORN “bigger than the Watergate scandal” And that was five months ago.

ARIZONA LITMUS

Many states are keenly interested in the trajectory of Arizona’s new immigration law, which could become a litmus test for politicians whose turf is troubled by immigration issues and racial divides. Ninety percent of California voters, for example, say they’re closely following Arizona’s legislation, which has sparked vigorous “anti-S.B. 1070” rallies and prompted Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer to ask the White House to send unmanned drones for border patrol. A majority of Californians side with her get-tough tactics: 50 percent favor the law, and 43 percent oppose it, says a University of Southern California poll of 1,506 registered voters conducted May 19 through 26 and released Monday.

There’s a partisan divide: 60 percent of Democrats oppose the law, while 77 percent of Republicans favor it. Meanwhile, 71 percent of Hispanic voters and 57 percent of Asian voters are in opposition. Black voters are evenly divided: 44 percent in favor and 44 percent opposed. Among whites, six in 10 favor the law and 35 percent are opposed.

“Opponents of the law seem much more emotionally engaged than supporters: our poll shows that a candidate’s position on this issue is more likely to motivate an opponent of the new law to change their vote than a supporter,” says Dan Schnur, a former Republican strategist and now a political communications professor on the campus.

GREAT BARRIER RIFF

“Fences are built by people who want to keep their privacy or keep out the sight of their neighbors’ unsightly yards. So the call from NBC’s ’Today,’ quickly followed by a similar call from ABC News, seemed curious … . Maybe we’re out of step here, but the unanimous consensus of the newsroom is that we don’t really care if the Palins want some privacy from what they worry might be prying eyes.

“Fences have been known to make good neighbors, and everybody knows we could use a lot more of those around here. So if the fence keeps McGinnis on one side and the Palins content, why would the ’Today’ show or ABC care? Finally, those who are fond of Joe McGinnis might remind him (if he doesn’t already know) that Alaska has a law that allows the use of deadly force in protection of life and property.”

From an editorial in the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman in Wasilla, Alaska, regarding Sarah Palin’s decision to place a 14-foot privacy fence between her home and an adjacent property rented by Mr. McGinnis, an investigative journalist at work on a book about her.

WILL OF STEEL

In World War II, a pinup picture of Betty Grable was an effective way to “show the troops what they’re fighting for.” These days, a big hunk of steel also helps, particularly if it is a 9-foot, 950-pound I-beam that once bolstered the World Trade Center. Just such a reminder now stands at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, unveiled Monday by Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, commander of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force.

As a tribute to the Sept. 11 steel, soldiers of the 612th Quarter Master Detachment loaded the beam and an American flag aboard a CH-47 Chinook helicopter and gave it an honor flight around the base. The steel was donated to the installation by Breezy Point, a small neighborhood in the borough of Queens that lost 30 residents during the terrorist attacks and was given several of the hallowed steel beams in remembrance by the city of New York. The residents also donated a beam to Fort Benning, Ga. and the USS Nimitz.

“Once the steel provided structure to a building so that life could be lived inside of it,” Gen McChrystal told his audience of 200 soldiers. “Now it will continue to provide structure in the mindset of troops.”

POLL DU JOUR

c 28 percent of Americans say the country would be “better off” if Republicans controlled Congress, 27 percent prefer a Democrat-controlled Congress.

c 44 percent say things would be “the same” in Congress no matter who controlled it.

c 47 percent would vote for a challenger in the 2010 elections, 30 percent would favor an incumbent.

c 44 percent say they are more likely to vote for a candidate with “tea party” support, 41 percent would vote for a candidate the movement opposes.

c 43 percent say they’re more likely to support a candidate President Obama also supports, 43 percent would vote for a candidate the president opposes.

Source: A CNN/Opinion Research survey of 1,023 adults conducted May 21 to 23.

c Tips, quips, radar blips to jharper @washingtontimes .com