Daily Briefing: 'A Lot of Girl Talk'
•'06 brings anxiety for Republican candidates about their prospects;Elizabeth Dolefaulted for weak performance as chairwoman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Analyst: "Is it poor recruiting or a bad environment? Probably both." [ WP , LAT ]
• SpecterquestionsMiers' qualifications;Bushsays she "has excelled at everything she has done." 27 GOP senators have expressed skepticism. [ WP , WSJ , NYT , LAT , WT ]
• Brownstein: "BushpickedMiersbecause he felt strong, not weak. . . Bush bypassed a long list of prominent federal judges who are known quantities to the conservative movement, but just names on a page to him. Instead, he picked someone who is a known quantity to him, but barely a name on the page to them. . . Bush simply overestimated their willingness to defer to him." [ LAT ]
•High-level single women in the administration have formed informal social network;Miershas "a lot of girl talk" withRice. [ NYT ]
•Republicans worry about a White House withoutRove. [ WSJ ]
• Bushcommits "initial contribution" of $50m to Pakistan following major earthquake. [ NYT ]
• Miers' record in private practice offers little insight into her character. [ NYT ]
• Louis FreehdisparagesRichard Clarkein new book: "If he was rushing around the executive branch trying to make a case that we were in imminent danger of a terrorist attack on our shores, he wasn't trying to make that case with me." [ NYT ]
•$300m ad campaign launched to educate seniors about new Medicare benefits. [ WP ]