Posted on 06/29/2002 1:48:40 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
W A S H I N G T O N, June 28 —It's common to deride Aaron Brown's "as I was driving in to work today, thinking about writing the page I'm reading to you now..." style as a little bit too navel-gazing and self-referential.
It is also common for the Note, when it's stuck for a lead — either because there's too much big news out there, or too little — to steal stuff from our journalistic heroes such as the aforementioned Mr. Brown.
So: as we were sitting here this morning trying to come up with our lead for today … well, we basically felt we had five choices:
1) The Supreme Court decision on vouchers which, if it were an issue championed by the Democrats and the left, would be treated by the media and the academy as the great civil rights issue of our generation.
2) The swirl of legislative and judicial activity — prescription drugs, the debt ceiling, defense spending, fast track, homeland security, the pledge, judicial nominees, potential US Supreme Court retirements — all of which double as both substantive issues AND potential midterm election hot-buttons which may determine control of the next Congress (when all of this will be considered again).
3) The continuing fallout from corporate scandals, with Xerox's apparently overstated profits piling on today, threatening to overwhelm everything in #1 and #2 above — exacerbated by a new Pew poll showing only about one-third of the public thinking President Bush is doing everything he can on the economy.
4) A busy busy day for the man who is focused like a laser beam on the 2002 elections (and who sometimes, just maybe, takes a peek at 2004): Al Gore, who just closed on a new house in Nashville, held a rockin' fundraiser in Manhattan, and whose previously reluctant-seeming wife is now pretty much urging him to run for president
5) A story which we are inserting this high in the summary because otherwise some of you would consider us to be burying the lead: an exclusive Washington Post report on the current president's daughters' — definitely entitled to their privacy as private citizens, except, in the view of some, when they allegedly engage in illegal behavior.
To meld a popular turn of phrase with a hypothetical, if the Bush daughters break the law, and law enforcement isn't around, does anything happen to them and is anyone in the family held accountable for it? (As if we would ever know.) Apparently the twins were out drinking at a popular DC bar Wednesday night, though they don't turn 21 till November.
We never write about the First Daughters lightly or with enthusiasm, because they didn't ask to be in public life, and we believe the Note has a responsibility (along with the Clintons and the Bushes) to try to restore some of the privacy rights of political offspring. And the White House is sure to try to use its usually deflecting answer in not engaging on the facts of this one.
But still: there is the front-and-center issue of potential law-breaking involved here, and the less front-and-center (and surely personal but maybe also substantive and maybe political) issue of parental responsibility.
Some of you are going to go right for the "dessert" (in Bush Administration, at bottom), but at the food court that is the Note, you need to have your bowl of hot-and-sour soup, your side of steamed broccoli, and your beef burrito first.
President Bush himself has just one public event on his schedule today, so we're not likely to get any comment from him on any of this smorgasbord. Bush will appear at a fundraiser for endangered GOP Rep. Connie Morella in DC today, while Clinton White House communications director Ann Lewis leads a protest over prescription drug reform, and anti-war demonstrators rally, all outside the hotel.
We don't have our arms around how the voucher story might effect the 2002 or 2004 elections yet, but we do know that for the conservative movement, it was a grand and glorious day, reflected in the exuberant quotes, soundbites, op-eds, and editorials from long-time supporters of this emotional issue.
There surely will be more on this over the weekend, as pro-voucher strategists figure out how to take advantage of the momentum supplied by the Court's ruling.
Taking a muscular front-page stab at all of this, the New York Times ' Adam Nagourney makes his debut as the paper's chief political correspondent (also known to some of you as "the new Rick Berke") with a news analysis piece on the political implications of the school voucher decision. LINK
The end of the piece has Clintonite (and John Edwards pal) Bruce Reed and conservative activist Clint Bolick agreeing that the decision puts pressure on the president to push the issue harder.
The New York Times has a mega must-read on how WorldCom et al are likely to force legislative and political action. There is so much in this story, we can't even really excerpt all the good stuff and do the piece justice.
This might be the most important graph: "Mr. Bush's poll numbers on his handling of the economy have been weakening in recent weeks, in part as the strength of the recovery from last year's recession has been called into question. The crumbling of confidence among investors in the United States and around the world is already showing signs of further dampening the recovery, potentially increasing the pressure on Mr. Bush." LINK
But this stuff is key, too: "Republican strategists said Karl Rove, Mr. Bush's chief political adviser, and other White House officials have also been tracking the issue closely and have no doubt influenced Mr. Bush's response."
"They said the White House had been noting signs that corporate wrongdoing could be one factor in more voters seeing the country as being on the wrong track and in contributing to a general loss of faith in institutions ranging from government to the Catholic church."
"'Intellectually, that's where Karl's concerns are,' a Republican strategist said."
Here's what it says about the speech expected from POTUS sometime in July: "White House officials said the president's speech next month would stress the need for companies and their top executives to provide investors with clear, accurate financial information and would offer what one Republican strategist close to the White House characterized as a 'very strongly worded, tough-minded set of proposals' for improving corporate disclosure."
"'What they're concerned about is people losing faith in their institutions,' the strategist said, adding that the business scandals could touch the same public chord as have troubles in agencies like the F.B.I. and the C.I.A."
"White House officials and Republican advisers said there were clear pitfalls for Mr. Bush, especially if the stock market continues to fall — or the administration is seen as out of touch with popular disgust at corporate fraud and mismanagement and the associated job losses."
Close your eyes and imagine this said on camera by the always-quotable Boy from Brooklyn: "'They've got to be careful that these corporate misdeeds like Enron and WorldCom don't become a latter-day Pac-Man,' said Kenneth M. Duberstein, who was chief of staff in the Reagan White House. 'It's chomp, chomp, chomp at approval ratings as a result of falling confidence in the economy and the markets. The presidential bully pulpit has to come into play here.'"
(Note to young TV off air reporters: it would be on the border of permissibility, if your desk sends you out today with a camera crew to interview Mr. Duberstein, to say, "Do these scandals threaten to become a latter-day Pac-Man?")
And has everyone noticed yet that Democrats are using this opportunity to bring Newt Gingrich's name back up, for all the obvious "we want to party like it's 1998!" reasons? Read GOP Rep. Tom Davis' strong push back in this story.
"Bush advisers acknowledge that the economic bad news could eventually be damaging to the president," the Washington Post 's Milbank notes. "'Obviously, if events in the economy and the stock market don't improve and there are not a lot of barometers of victory in the war on terrorism, those can have a cumulative effect,' said Matthew Dowd, polling coordinator for the Republican National Committee. 'In the long term, things like that will have an effect.'" LINK
"The flurry of action contrasts with the government's delayed response to Enron Corp.'s accounting debacle, with the SEC and Justice Department yet to act against the company's officials after more than six months of investigation," the Washington Times notes. LINK
The Des Moines Register ed board yesterday prodded the POTUS: "The president should put forward a credible plan for restoring the budget to surplus, and he should lead a crusade to restore honesty to the highest reaches of American business. Both things need to happen if the economy is going to get back on track." LINK
A note on prescription drugs: is the GOP CYA effort working? Arguably, as long as they get leads like this one in the Los Angeles Times : "The Republican-controlled House early today approved long-awaited legislation to help senior citizens meet the soaring costs of prescription drugs--a pressing concern that has become an important issue in this year's midterm elections." LINK
Of course, Ms. Hook's story does goes on to note the infighting and Democratic opposition that has marked this tortured debate …
Shifting to the busy, busy Gore front, with the family preparing to host big donors and other supporters at a retreat in Memphis the weekend, the Memphis Commercial Appeal's Woody Brosnan single-handedly — well, with the help of Mrs. Gore — dispels with the prevailing notion amongst DC insiders that Tipper is/was reluctant to see her husband run for president again: "'If Al Gore decided today to run for president again in 2004, his wife would say: 'Let's get going right now.'" LINK
"Tipper Gore plans to tell Gore donors gathering at The Peabody in Memphis this weekend that she would 'love to see my husband run again,' in part because of her dismay over Bush administration policies at home and abroad."
"'I know it's a huge undertaking, but I think it could be very exciting,' Mrs. Gore said in an interview with The Commercial Appeal."
"'I think we'd have the opportunity to really begin fresh with our own organization and way of doing things, which is very appealing to me in many ways. I'm certainly motivated by reading the paper and reading the Net and seeing what this administration is doing.'" (We assume that includes the Note.)
ABCNEWS has confirmed that the Gores recently purchased a house in Nashville for $2.3 million. "The home, at 312 Lynwood Blvd., is a white frame home in a colonial style that sits on 2.09 acres filled with magnolia trees," per The Tennesseean. "The deed was signed on June 17. The home had been owned by the Bear Family Trust and sold in 1999 for $1.15 million, according to Metro property records." LINK
From the ABCNEWS London Bureau: At least 10 people are reported to have been killed and many injured in a series of explosions at a weapons depot in southern Afghanistan. The initial blast occurred overnight near the border town of Spin Boldak, about 300 miles southwest of Kabul. The cause of the blast is still unclear, but residents said explosions continued through the morning as fires continued to set off live ammunition, sending fireballs into the sky. Local officials said about 20 buildings were destroyed and 50 people were still missing. A local commander said 15 Afghan soldiers were in and around the depot last night. The bodies of eight soldiers have been recovered so far.
An Israeli army bulldozer began destroying a side wall in Hebron this morning on the fourth day of the city's siege, as the Israelis demanded the surrender of gunmen inside. The Palestinian leadership issued a statement condemning the Israeli incursions into Palestinian areas as "an attempt to sabotage peace efforts."
The G-8 concluded its two-day summit yesterday by endorsing the New Partnership for Africa's Development, or NEPAD, as part of a plan that offers billions of dollars in new aid. The exact amount has not yet been determined. African leaders have welcomed the plan promising aid, debt relief, medical help and military intervention from the world's richest nations. But aid agencies denounced the summit as being long on advice and lacking in real help
Inevitably, some politicians are getting rid of their WorldCom contributions, sending them to charity, or trying to get them to displaced workers. LINK
But the party committees are still holding firm as far as we know, playing the now-routine game of give-back chicken.
The Dallas Morning News' Slater reports, "Amid fraud charges against WorldCom Inc., Republican Senate candidate John Cornyn has abandoned plans for a Texas fund-raiser hosted by the company's chief operating officer." LINK
"The July 13 fund-raiser was to have been hosted by Ron Beaumont and his wife, Linda, at Beaumont Ranch near Grandview. The invitation lists Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott as a special guest."
"They will not be hosting it,' David Beckwith, a Cornyn spokesman, said Thursday after a reporter inquired about the event … . The Cornyn campaign's decision to move its fund-raiser came on the same day he announced an investigation to protect the state treasury and state investment funds against losses from the WorldCom scandal."
Paul Krugman uses some simple analogies in his New York Times ' column to explain Enron, Dynegy, Adelphia, and WorldCom from the point of view of a mythical ice cream shop, which is handy for those of you (read: us) who haven't paid the closest of attention to the details. LINK
And be very scared if you are a corporate CEO or a Republican campaign consultant, if Krugman's closing graph is accurate: "Six months ago, in a widely denounced column, I suggested that in the end the Enron scandal would mark a bigger turning point for America's perception of itself than Sept. 11 did. Does that sound so implausible today?"
The Wall Street Journal has a must-read about the quiet Bush Administration search to replace Alan Greenspan, if the chairman decides to leave, or leaves without deciding to. White House personnel czars, Wall Street bankers, and hedge funders will read every word with ferocious intensity. Note the little shot at Larry Lindsey.
David Rogers in the Wall Street Journal heralds the House's narrow passage of the debt ceiling increase, with lots of boffo analysis of where that leaves the budget wars: "Having signed a costly election-year farm bill this spring, the White House is desperate now to regain the mantle of fiscal responsibility. To do this it must focus on domestic spending, where the dollar differences are often quite small and frequently divide the president's own party."
Check out these two awesome graphs that only Rogers could write: "Beyond politics, personalities are also a factor. White House Budget Director Mitchell Daniels Jr. has a largely e-mail relationship with Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, the Senate Appropriations Committee's ranking Republican, and he rarely talks directly to the panel's chairman, Senator Robert Byrd. At the same time, Mr. Byrd, a strong-willed West Virginia Democrat, has surprised some of his oldest allies by abruptly changing course. On the eve of Thursday's markup of the natural-resources budget, he suddenly chose to cut $344 million from its original draft."
"It may have been a crafty decision: The senator knows the White House would relish a showdown with him, but the bill now will be harder to veto, since it costs less than what House Republicans have proposed. But the move adds to the uncertainty and relentless gamesmanship that permeate the budget debate."
This Washington Post quote pretty much sums up our sentiments: former Atwater aide and "Republican lobbyist Edward M. Rogers Jr. reluctantly concurred. 'Everyone is on the lookout for a Democrat who's in favor of this, but so far they aren't going to let us outpledge them,' he said … 'Gone are the days,' Rogers said wistfully, "when the Democrats would walk into a swinging door on something like this.'" LINK
Ed Rogers, meet the New York Post . LINK
The Washington Times ' Z. Hallow, among others, looks at GOP efforts to leverage this into faster judicial confirmations and a midterm election issue, "In an election year where Democrats' one-vote control of the Senate is at stake, Republicans immediately seized on Wednesday's ruling as leverage against the embargo on Mr. Bush's bench appointees." LINK
"One Democrat ridiculed the idea that Republicans would use the decision to raise money. 'What is their fund-raising appeal going to say? "Elect more Republicans so we can have more Republican judges like the crazed Republican judge who wrote this opinion on the Pledge of Allegiance"?' asked Jennifer Palmieri, spokesman for Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe."
Don't be shocked if Vice President Cheney tries to stoke this issue today in his Southern appearances.
Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, who is up for re-election this year, is launching a campaign ad today which features Collins in a classroom reciting the Pledge of Allegiance with students. The ad will air statewide through the Fourth of July. In it, Collins says, "We always treat the flag with respect," and there's a message "For a very special Fourth."
Note that this ad was taped several weeks ago with the intention of launching it just before the Fourth, per a campaign spokesperson, but the whole pledge blow-up gives it even more resonance. (The context is that Collins has made a practice of getting flags flown over the US Capitol for schools all over Maine; the flag she and the kids are saluting in the ad is one of those flags.)
In the California governor's race, Republican nominee Bill Simon charged that Gov. Gray Davis didn't file any legal briefs on the case because he was too busy raising money. LINK
"Even as a court ruled that it is illegal for schoolchildren to recite a Pledge of Allegiance that mentions God … [s]tarting Monday, every Virginia school will be required to hang a poster with the words 'In God We Trust, the National Motto, enacted by Congress in 1956,' in accordance with a law signed by Gov. Mark R. Warner (D) in May." LINK
The Wall Street Journal 's Washington Wire is packed with items about problems with the president's homeland security plans, including this: "Some Bush officials worry about the cost and effectiveness of bomb-detection equipment at airports. Despite administration vows to meet Congress's year-end deadline for deploying the machines, a senior official acknowledges talks with lawmakers about extending the law's 'arbitrary' timetables."
ABC 2004: The Invisible Primary
For political reporters, there is no more intense pain than hearing the same jokes told over and over by the politicians they cover.
Unlike political spouses, we don't have the (apparent) capacity to enjoy listening to the same shtick, told with the same timing, night after night. (Paradigmatic Laura Bush seems to be reborn in laughter every time the president tells his story about walking the dogs each morning. And if you don't know which joke we mean, you aren't a White House reporter.)
We always shake our head in amazement that the (presumably savvy) people who attend political fundraisers seem not to watch enough C-SPAN to have heard all the jokes before, since they laugh and laugh at material older than Steven Wright's, or the Seinfeld socks-in-the-dryer riff.
We bring this up because the best received part of Al Gore's speech at his rowdy Lot 61 PAC fundraiser seemed to our personal applause meters to be his jokes — about Shoney's, and being the first laid off in the Bush recession, etc., etc., etc.
Beyond that, here are the highlights: Gore publicly called for the ouster of the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (something he has apparently been doing in private); the assembled press corps (VH1, Fox, CNN, Washington Post , New York Times , New York Post , NY1, New York Daily News , and ABC News) was divided on whether Gore's derogatory reference to a "millionaire" was about President Bush (a Gore spokesperson denies that); and Gene Simmons showed up after Gore left.
Most important of all, Gore's speech, a shorter follow-on to the completely undercovered version he gave in Wisconsin (sorry, Mr. Zeleny), and probably like the one he will give Saturday night in Memphis, was built around a pretty strong message, with an invocation of WorldCom and other indictments of the Bush-Cheney economic and environmental record.
And Gore mentioned his good friend Bill Clinton no fewer than three times; let's see if he does THAT when campaigning in South Carolina.
Now, was the strong message delivered in a cohesive, clear, inspirational manner? Even some Gore supporters in the crowd didn't think so — yet.
The New York Daily News did the only write-up of the event we could find. LINK
More from Woody B.'s story: "Many Gore supporters blame the conduct of his boss, President Clinton, for the defeat. But Mrs. Gore said she and Al 'get along perfectly fine' with the Clintons."
"We touch base every now and then. They're busy with their lives, we're busy with our lives,' she said."
"They also have a 'total understanding' with the 2000 vice presidential nominee, Senator Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), who has said he will not run if Gore does, but is organizing for a bid nonetheless. She said her husband told Lieberman, 'Go ahead and do what you need to do if you want to consider a race. If I don't run, you'll be in a good position.'"
"But it's evident when Gore talks about President Bush that she would like her husband to have another chance."
Senator John Edwards, of course, also has a big retreat planned for this weekend, too.
"Much is being made of U.S. Senator John Edwards' schmoozefest with supporters on St. Simons Island this weekend, but another gathering in Georgia next month may be just as pivotal for his presidential prospects," the Raleigh News & Observer's Wagner reports . LINK
"The North Carolina Democrat is scheduled to appear in Atlanta on July 21 at the annual convention of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. He'll be addressing a luncheon gathering of the group's well-heeled political action committee."
Edwards' "advisers get almost giddy when talking about the potential for turning ATLA contributors into Edwards presidential donors next year, when White House fund raising gets under way in earnest."
"Also booked to appear at the five-day conference is House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, another Democrat eyeing the 2004 presidential nomination."
Wagner adds this: "Neither North Carolina senator received WorldCom campaign donations, but Edwards held somewhere between $1,000 and $15,000 in company stock last year, according to his latest personal disclosure statement."
"Mike Briggs, Edward's press secretary, said the stock has since been transferred into a blind trust. At this point, Edwards doesn't know how much WorldCom stock he owns, if any, Briggs said."
Senator John Kerry has sent out an 11th-hour fundraising e-mail solicitation. Remember: Sunday brings the end of the campaign finance quarter, and the start of leaks of wannabe leadership PAC fundraising totals. We suspect we won't see the same sandbox fights we saw at the end of the last quarter.
Kerry heads to Iowa this weekend. On Saturday, he'll campaign for House candidates John Norris and Julie Thomas, as well as headline a couple of fundraisers for Democrats' state legislators.
Every little bit helps: making progress on his "I am NOT Bob Dole II" project, House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt shows some two-fisted intensity in a front-page New York Times photo the size of a Pop Tart
, denouncing the GOP's prescription drug plan. LINK
Edwards will spend the Fourth of July on a Bill Bradley-like beach walk — that's just to help you get a visual; Edwards has done these before — at Wrightsville Beach in the Outer Banks (yes, that's in North Carolina).
Senator Joe Biden gets an op-ed on Afghanistan in the Boston Globe . LINK
The Southern Republican Leadership Conference, an annual gathering of Republican leaders, operatives, and would-be operatives from 14 Southern states, kicks off tonight in Charlotte, NC. Vice President Cheney is expected to speak this afternoon. On Saturday night, former GOP presidential nominee Bob Dole will speak at 8:30 p.m.. Elizabeth. Dole will speak Sunday morning to wrap up the conference.
The Republican National Committee's Mindy Tucker and the Democratic National Committee's Jennifer Palmieri try to shoot down each other's messages, take aim together at Martha Stewart, talk about movies setting a mood, and work out why the movie is called "Minority Report" — all on Here's the Point with Mark Halperin this weekend. Check it out starting Sunday at: LINK
"Vice President Dick Cheney will visit Raleigh today to help raise money for the Senate campaign of Elizabeth Dole, providing another example of the Bush administration's involvement in North Carolina's GOP primary," notes the Raleigh News & Observer's Christensen. LINK
"A couple hundred people are expected to attend a fund-raising lunch at the Entertainment and Sports Arena to hear Cheney and Dole speak. The Dole campaign said it did not know how much it would raise, but said the ticket cost would range from $500 to $2,000 per person."
"Earlier this year, President Bush attended a fund-raiser for Dole in Charlotte. He also made appearances with Dole at his side in Winston-Salem and in Fayetteville."
David Rosenbaum of the New York Times writes up an all-process/all-personality version of E. Dole versus E. Bowles, with nary a word about their position on issues or what kind of Senators they might be. LINK
Note Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chief Jim Jordan's very precise prediction (46 percent) on his party's chances of taking the seat.
And note that Rosenbaum got interviews with the candidates.
The state GOP chairman yesterday "announced that President Bush would visit the state in July to raise money for the party. A date has not been set. The party has a debt of about $144,000." LINK
Senator Thurmond was warmly welcomed yesterday when he attended his Senate Judiciary Committee gathering in quite awhile. LINK
The Sarasota Herald-Tribune just fired its managing editor for sending a reader an e-mail — blending, in our view, certain degrees of pragmatism, realism, guts and just plain "huh?" — defending a lengthy profile of Secretary of State and House candidate Katherine Harris that ran in the paper. The reader had written in to complain that the paper was not giving nearly as much space to the Democrats in the race.
The e-mail read, 'Katharine Harris is an international figure, like her or not. She's going to be the next congresswoman from this area, like it or not … As to the space devoted to the piece, I'm sorry that offends you but she is an extraordinary citizen of our area. No, I have no intentions of covering each of the Democratic candidates to the same extent. I have no intentions of doing profiles on them, in fact, until after qualifying day because we are so unsure all of them will survive as candidates after that point … I am personally sorry about that. I do not intend to vote for Harris, for example. But I don't blame the media for the situation. I blame the Democrats for not finding a better candidate and getting him or her funded and I blame our culture for craving as its public figures, women like Katherine who are very pretty, hard-working and without original ideas that I can find."
A key move for political insiders in Tallahassee, as the costs of two Democratic-driven ballot measures on education have been estimated in the billions (with a "b") and millions (with an "m"). LINK
Uniter-not-divider Earl Hilliard said the following in an interview with the AP: "Alabama Rep. Earl Hilliard predicts a long conflict between American blacks and Jews will arise from his defeat in a Democratic runoff dominated by the Palestinian-Israeli dispute."
"In addition, he suggested black lawmakers get little return for their membership in a Democratic congressional fund-raising group and hinted that a run for mayor of Birmingham was something he hadn't ruled out."
We could understand why Commerce Secretary Evans might see a non-political need to be in Texas today, but apparently Secretaries Chao and Martinez are there, as well; we're asking around about seemingly likely political activity.
As interesting as the gubernatorial race is here now that real-guy Tim Penny has joined the fray as an independent candidate, don't lose sight of the marquee nature of the Senate race, the pair of which together gives the state a Missouri-2000-like feel.
And in that Senate race, we got ourselves a new poll: "After months of aggressive campaigning in one of the nation's most-watched U.S. Senate races, incumbent Paul Wellstone, a Democrat, and Republican challenger Norm Coleman have virtually equal support among Minnesota voters, according to the latest Star Tribune Minnesota Poll." LINK
"Wellstone is favored by 47 percent of likely voters, while 43 percent favor Coleman, a gap that falls within the poll's margin of sampling error."
Senate campaign committee staffers of both parties will be poring over the crosstabs of this one all day.
"Republican Mitt Romney is launching TV ads promoting his turnaround of the Salt Lake Winter Olympics and his pledge to do the same as Massachusetts governor." LINK
We do wonder whether the message of the ad — in which Romney says, 'I'm running for governor because I'm as sick and tired of the waste, patronage, and mismanagement as you are' — won't somehow remind voters that Republicans have held the governorship for the last decade-plus.
But the Boston Herald analysis goes, "The Democrats' ill-fated attempt to bump Mitt Romney off the ballot has done something not even Romney's handlers could pull off — transforming the wealthy businessman into a populist underdog." LINK
"Romney's residency victory — affirmed by a state ballot commission yesterday — left gubernatorial front-runner Shannon P. O'Brien and other Democrats stumbling over each other to distance themselves from the backlash."
Mr. Cuomo and Mr. McCall "have agreed to a one-night ceasefire to focus on their common enemy, Gov. Pataki. The pair will headline an unusual gala in Manhattan on July 22 to raise cash for their party's coordinated campaign against the Republican governor, Democratic leaders said yesterday. The campaign will include a radio ad blitz beginning next week bashing Pataki in his political base upstate." LINK
Chuck Schumer, to us, looks more natural than Matt Damon does, standing next to Ben Affleck in a photo on page 18 of the New York Daily News , as they come out together against nuclear terror.
Bush Administration Strategy/Personality
Per the Wall Street Journal : "Bush may join July Fourth parade in Ripley, W.Va., later watch fireworks from White House."
The local paper confirms the West Virginia trip. LINK
USA Today 's Biskupic stirs the Rehnquist retirement pot a little by retrospecting the Chief's tenure. LINK
Charles Blahous, an assistant to the president for economic policy, has a letter in the New York Times taking after Paul Krugman over Social Security. LINK
Tom Brokaw interviewed Karen Hughes on Today today, pegged to her departure from the White House.
Airing just after 8:00 p.m., the Eric Wishnie-produced taped segment (to be reprised on "Nightly" apparently) was heavy on Brokaw-Hughes walk-and-talk, and included Suskindian camera access to the Hughes home.
The Hughes solo staged walking shot along the South Lawn was painful to watch. Overall, no news was committed, but Mr. Brokaw ended his live, in-studio cross talk with Ms. Couric with this insight: "A lot of people think Karl Rove's power will expand, and they are going to be watching that carefully."
Let Michael Isikoff and others have at it: what White House hardware will Hughes take with her? And to what ethics disclosure requirements will she continue to adhere?
OK, we're going to run Mr. Grove's item almost in its entirety.
"We hope those fun-loving first twins, Jenna and Barbara Bush, had a good time Wednesday night at Stetson's, the Texas-themed Washington saloon where they were spotted by multiple witnesses sucking down Budweisers and chain-smoking cigarettes with a group of friends till well past midnight." LINK
"But we suspect that as a result of this item, President Bush's 20-year-old daughters — who've had embarrassing scrapes in the past over their under-age drinking in public places — won't be consuming much more alcohol in the nation's capital, at least not until they reach the legal age of 21 on Nov. 25."
"On the other hand, we hear they did enjoy themselves. Four Stetson's patrons, who told us they were sitting with members of a softball league at the next table on the bar's second floor, gave us a fill on condition of anonymity … "
"Yesterday our sources — who expressed concerns that going public about the Bush girls would be bad for their careers — said one of the twins got down on the floor to help an inebriated young man perform a party trick in which he seemed to rotate his wrist 360 degrees. In the general haze, it wasn't clear if the helper was Jenna or Barbara."
"'I have to admit I was pretty drunk,' said the party trick performer, who initially told us we could use his name, but then had second thoughts. 'My friend and I were at the bar, and he told me there were the Bush daughters at the table. I went up to them and asked them, "What's your name?" And they laughed and said something like, "Slayton." So then I started performing some of my magic tricks. And I have this one trick where it's like I'm double-jointed and I move my hand around in the joint. When I asked for help, one of the girls — I think it was the light-haired one — volunteered. She got down on her knees next to me and helped twist my hand. I think the trick really shocked her.'"
"Witnesses said Jenna and Barbara, who were with half a dozen friends, had no visible security, and a source sympathetic to them told us it's understandable why they'd want to down beers in a bar … "
"Stetson's owner Rob Deisroth — who initially responded with an 'Oh Lord!' when we called for comment yesterday — said he wasn't on the premises when the Bush girls were spotted, and added that his waiters and bartenders didn't recognize them. It wasn't clear yesterday how the girls obtained the beers, or whether they were asked for identification."
"Under-age drinking is a misdemeanor in D.C., and if a fake I.D. is used, the penalty can be up to a year in jail and a $300 fine. Unlike in Texas — where authorities merely cited the Bush girls when they caught them drinking in Austin — D.C. law requires the police to arrest an offender and take them to jail."
"Even if the offender has Secret Service protection?"
"'Absolutely,' said Police Lt. Patrick Burke, who oversees enforcement of the drinking laws. 'We never have an issue with them. We understand that the Secret Service has a job to do, and they understand that we do, too.'"
"Noelia Rodriguez, press secretary to First Lady Laura Bush, said: 'All I can tell you is that the daughters are private citizens and we don't comment on their personal lives.'"
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