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The answer would seem to be "yes," and as the week closes, we'll take one of our semi-regular looks at how the soon-to-be-in-Gotham President is faring under the Ed "How'm I doing?" Koch standard.
( http://www.aetc.randolph.af.mil/pa/AETCNS/Jul2001/01-137.htm

Given the never-show-weakness posture of this Administration, the president has chosen to publicly scale back only one of his core priorities. Facing a recession, war, and national emergency, the president has pursued his spending and tax-cutting priorities only by creating a deficit and dipping into the Social Security and Medicare lockboxes.

As President, Mr. Bush has claimed he said "repeatedly" during the campaign that his balanced budget and lockbox pledges would be null and void in the event of any of the Big Three conditions, let alone all of them.

We still have a 1,000 monkeys at 1,000 Nexis terminals looking for those repeated citations, but it would appear that Democrats will fail, for the foreseeable future at least, to score any political points off of the president for the way he is dealing with the Big Casino budget situation.

Forget about the fact that the president was in deep budget peril before September 11, or that he over-promised on what he could afford in terms of tax cuts (scored non-dynamically) and new spending. The war has erased all of that, even if Begala and Carville are basing a whole TV show on it.

Beyond the Big Casino of the macro budget, many of the president's other core promises are in the news today, so let us bullet them out for you:

Most front and center is the virtual collapse of a meaningful change in energy policy, with the defeat of ANWR in the Senate. After making drilling in Alaska such a big deal for so long, it will be hard for the president to claim a major achievement and that America now has "a REAL energy policy" when and if he signs a bill into law.

The fact that the administration ramped up the national security dimension of the argument (along with the economic side) only emphasizes the failure, both politically and substantively.

And as the Washington Post notes, President Bush suffered a double-edged loss in the Senate yesterday: "Lawmakers for the first time delivered a stinging rebuke to a core item in his domestic agenda, and his defeat was engineered by three of his potential Democratic challengers in 2004."
( http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11882-2002Apr18.html )

The president's tax cut, of course, passed last year, but the fight to make it permanent, well beyond the president's term, is positioned to become THE issue of the 2002 cycle.

With Republican strategists at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue (we love that cliché too much to ever give it up) planning to make tax-cutting orthodoxy the centerpiece of a lot of campaigns this fall, yesterday's House vote to permanentize the president's tax cuts after he is back living in that one-story house in Crawford was a big moment.

It means that House candidates can run on tax-cutting again and still, while Democrats try to run on the "tax cuts versus Social Security" jujitsu.

Even though Senate Majority Leader Daschle says he will never allow a vote on the measure in his upper chamber, the New York Times suggests that certain key Democratic Senators are going to be a bit on the defensive after the House action, particularly with a lot of Republican House members running for Senate this year: "Of the 50 Senate Democrats, 12 voted for the (original) tax cut, and 6 of those are up for re-election. Among them are Senator Max S. Baucus of Montana, chairman of the Finance Committee, and Senator Tim Johnson, Mr. Daschle's fellow South Dakotan." ( http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/19/politics/19TAX.html )

"Mr. Baucus, his spokesman said, does not think the Senate is likely to pass a tax cut extension but would support the bill if it came to a vote."

"Mr. Johnson believes the economy has deteriorated since he supported the tax cut last year, and though he has not ruled out voting to make it permanent, he would not be inclined to, his spokesman said."

But, for all the talk about tax cuts being a big issue in the November elections, the Washington Post makes the point that "the two sides were arguing over a problem that won't materialize for eight years, while sidestepping flaws in the tax code that will force congressional action much sooner. The tax cut is so new that its economic impact over the next decade is difficult to assess. Democrats say it will hurt economic growth; Republicans say it will boost the economy."
( http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9627-2002Apr18.html )

On a Bush "priority" that was added during the campaign under intense political pressure, The Wall Street Journal turns a blind eye toward the cynicism over which neither party has a monopoly and reports:
"To blunt Democrats' attacks, the House GOP drafts a prescription-drugs plan costing $350 billion over 10 years for drug benefits and Medicare changes — about twice what Bush proposes to spend. 'Taking the prescription-drug issue off the board for Democrats … is the last missing piece' to ensure a strong Republican showing in fall elections, GOP pollster Bill McInturff says."

One has to ask: how many members of the GOP conference in the House really think that the federal government should play a role in creating a prescription drug entitlement, and how many of them have been convinced by polling data that it is an important issue to defuse? One could ask the same question about some of the leading economic policy figures in this Administration. And will the White House embrace this level of spending, even though they haven't budgeted for it?

On another one of Bush's domestic priorities, welfare reform, the Washington Post documents that it is slowly making its way through the House, but it's not off to a pretty start. ( http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11937-2002Apr18.html )

The re-making of the military through more spending is of course underway, with a strong post-September 11 push; the president's heartfelt remarks yesterday on faith-based efforts to improve the lives of Americans were representative of the diligence and determination he consistently exhibits in pushing this cause; and he already signed a "major" education bill that is getting increasingly trashed by both the left and the right.

Social Security and Medicare reform are on the back burner, and, after a week of Notes dominated by foreign policy, we'll just say today that the president's efforts to reshape how America sees the world in terms of diplomacy and national security is a work in progress.

On his remaining domestic agenda list, what is stopping almost all of the president's efforts is Tom Daschle from Washington's lone Democratic power base, the US Senate.

The Wall Street Journal 's lead editorial features an adorable photo of a grimacing Daschle in front of a "STOP" sign, and the headline "The Do-Nothing Senate." Tax cuts, judicial nominations, ANWR, debt limit, trade promotion authority — all are being stopped by Daschle, the paper argues, and the White House should make this THE issue of the campaign.

No need to press the issue, Mr. Gigot: that is already the plan.

Vice President Cheney stumps and raises campaign moolah for Rep. Pat Toomey, who is running against a steelworker Democrat, in Allentown, PA. ( http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-cheneyapr19.story?coll=all%2Dnews%2Dhed )

The Republican National Lawyers Conference meets today in Washington. The highlights: (all open press at the National Press Club): White House counsel Albert Gonzales speaks at 10:00 am. Matt Schlapp, deputy political director at the White House, gives a 2002 election preview at 10:30 am. Senate Judiciary ranking member Orrin Hatch speaks at 11:00 am.

Also today: the Log Cabin Republicans continue their convention, with executive director Rich Tafel scheduled to give members (not the press) a strategic briefing at 1:30 p.m. at Jurys Hotel. The Log Cabins met yesterday with officials at the White House, and attended a briefing by Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill.

As you plan for early next week: President Bush will be in New York Monday, for Earth Day. He'll appear with Governor Pataki, EPA Administrator Whitman, and others.
( http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/41682.htm )

That will contrast with Al Gore's Monday speech on the environment in Nashville, details TBD. Apparently Gore is looking to capitalize on his Lake Buena Vista momentum, though whether he's getting back into the enviro game a little bit late for some of that crowd, after Senators Kerry and Lieberman championed ANWR, remains to be seen. ( http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11913-2002Apr18.html )

And both Bush and Gore will be sharing the stage with 42: Former President Clinton will be highly visible on behalf of his party and some favorite causes all next week in the greater New York area. On Monday, he will speak at a NARAL luncheon in the city, then head to Connecticut to keynote the state party's Jefferson-Jackson dinner, appearing alongside Senators Lieberman and Dodd.

And on Wednesday, Clinton will share the marquee at the Democratic National Committee's $2 million fundraiser at the Apollo Theatre with Michael Jackson and k. d. lang. The FPOTUS may also take part in some Democratic voter registration efforts that day. And later in the week, he will take part in some good-neighbor events in Harlem.

From the ABCNEWS London Bureau: The Israeli army says it is has left the West Bank town of Jenin and its refugee camp, but will continue to surround them to prevent more terrorist attacks. The withdrawal from Jenin began on Thursday, as a UN envoy visiting the camp described the situation there as "horrific beyond belief." Israeli forces also are reported to have made more incursions in the West Bank overnight.

In Gaza, a Palestinian suicide bomber exploded his car near the entrance to the Israeli settlement block of Gush Katif in the Gaza Strip, killing himself and injuring a soldier. Israeli troops staged an incursion into an area round the southern Gaza village of Al Qarara following the attack. Israeli troops also were reported to have killed two Palestinian men during an overnight incursion into the Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza strip. Palestinian officials said the soldiers opened fire as tanks and armored vehicles moved into the camp.

Italian investigators continue to search for clues as to why a light aircraft flew into Milan's largest skyscraper yesterday, killing three people including the pilot. The authorities ruled out a terror attack, saying the crash was an accident, but it is still a mystery why the pilot would have hit one of the few tall buildings in the area. The inquiry will probe why an emergency runway at the city's Linate airport was not available, forcing the pilot to seek an alternative landing when he got into difficulties. The head of the regional Lombardy government said the pilot may have willfully crashed the plane to commit suicide.

The Middle East

Was the president slanting toward Israel in his comments yesterday?

David Sanger's nuanced New York Times piece suggests as much: "[E]ven some members of Mr. Bush's administration seemed confused today about whether Mr. Bush had simply misspoken, or whether he was returning to the kind of statements he made at his Texas ranch over Easter weekend, which Israel took as a green light to press ahead with its military action …
" ( http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/19/international/middleeast/19PREX.html )

"[S]ome officials were conceding that Mr. Bush was, in the words of one, 'changing tactics.'"

Bush's remarks yesterday at the White House with Powell demonstrated yet again how he is feeling cross-pressured by the need to avoid ticking off either side and the need to assuage a strong pro-Israel sentiment at home, as well as the push-pull between what Bush says and what Ari and other Administration players suggest.

"White House officials later insisted that Bush did not intend to tip the scales for Israel. A senior adviser said the president continues to insist that Israelis and Palestinians alike must take steps to end the conflict," the Washington Post reports. ( http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12206-2002Apr18.html )

"But with Israeli tanks and troops continuing to enforce a tight cordon around the West Bank's major cities, the president's remarks risked further inflaming Arab opinion a week before he entertains Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah at Bush's Crawford, Tex., ranch."

At the same time, the scrutinizing media is ready to jump on every rhetorical difference between Bush and his top foreign policy advisers. "Powell, unlike the president, also maintained the continued Israeli military campaign was causing problems and said the Israelis should speed up their exit from occupied lands."

And while all of this was taking place, Deputy Secretary of State Armitage was up on the Hill telling a House committee that the administration wants to pledge US funds to help rebuild the Palestinian infrastructure. ( http://www.washtimes.com/world/20020419-521214.htm )

The Wall Street Journal reports, "At a private dinner, Jewish donors ask House Democratic leader Gephardt about cracks in black lawmakers' support for Israel. He says diversity is a party strength. At a meeting, black-caucus members divide over Israel's use of force. Caucus head Rep. Johnson notes 'there have been three times as many Palestinians killed.'"

"The White House tries to tame GOP conservatives, who oppose its pressure on Israel. Bush has a brief Oval Office meeting with House GOP leader DeLay, a vocal critic. DeLay also protested at a Capitol meeting of Cheney and conservatives."

Budget Politics

Sayeth the The Wall Street Journal 's Washington Wire: "But without a (budget) plan, Democrats concede they ring hollow bashing Bush and the GOP House for red-ink budgets tapping Social Security. Both parties say appropriators will spend more; the Bush team sees political gains in coming spending fights. 'It'll be the White House versus Byrd,' says a GOP adviser, naming the Democratic Appropriations chairman, and, 'the White House always wins.'"

Paul Krugman wants the fight to be about tax cuts versus health care, too. "Given that we face a major new demand on the budget, shouldn't we reconsider a tax cut proposed in more peaceful times? (Instead, the administration wants to make the tax cut permanent.) Don't taxes normally go up in wartime, as a matter of shared sacrifice? And isn't it a little strange, given all the martial rhetoric, that the administration's recent 10-year budget proposal allocated more money to a second round of tax cuts ($665 billion) than it did to new defense spending ($625 billion)?"

"But as the cartoonist Tom Tomorrow has explained, the answer to all such questions is, 'Why do you hate America?' A patriotic public is in no mood to question its leader's policies … "

"So there is intense pressure within the administration to dress up the fiscal picture by underestimating future spending — health-care spending in particular."

ABC 2004: The Invisible Primary

Today, Senator John Kerry will give a speech at Suffolk Law School, then keynote the Cape Cod Democrats' Jefferson-Jackson dinner.

Tomorrow, Senate Majority Leader Daschle will headline the South Dakota Democrats' Jefferson-Jackson dinner (with DNC Chairman McAuliffe also firin' 'em up), and Senator John Edwards will address a Kentucky Democrats' fundraising dinner in Lexington, KY.

On Sunday night, see Mariel Hemingway as Tipper Gore on a VH1 movie called "Warning: Parental Advisery." The erstwhile Senator is described as "a prominent senator's wife (who) gets an earful of her kids' latest record collection and she doesn't like what she hears. Tipper leads the Washington Wives on the warpath to ban 'porn rock.'" ( http://www.vh1.com/shows/series/movies_
that_rock/warning/cast_and_crew.jhtml )

Variety's review says actor Jim Beatty plays Al Gore in a "stereotypically stuffy" manner, while they find Ms. Hemingway's perf to be both "unassuming" and "convincing."

Senator Joe Lieberman is the big Democratic voice in the New York Times ANWR story, although Senator Kerry gets the "write your own caption" photo, pictured in odd minuet with a flailing Senator Paul Wellstone. ( http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/19/politics/19ENER.html )

While, will wonders never cease, the Boston Globe plays the ANWR vote as a huge win for Kerry.
( http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/109/
nation/Senators_block_Arctic_drilling_plan+.shtml )

Senator John Edwards skillfully "mocked" Labor Department Lawyer Eugene Scalia and the administration's voluntary work-place safety rules at a deeply partisan hearing yesterday. ( http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/19/politics/19LABO.html )

If the Invisible Primary were composed entirely of congressional hearings, Senator Edwards could start figuring out where his summer White House would be, and Tom Donilon could start thinking about giving up all that Fannie Mae cash to be, say, Secretary of State. ( http://www.fanniemae.com/aboutfm/executives/donilon.jhtml )

The perfect-pitch Mr. Barnes in today's National Journal looks at how McCain-Feingold might affect the public financing system of presidential elections, and, boy, does John Edwards seem interested in that, at least as a theoretical matter: "Bush didn't draw much criticism for not taking matching funds. But it might be controversial if one or more Democratic hopefuls declined public funding in the primaries and, thus, escaped the spending limits. Yet, some Democrats think their candidates must at least consider that option. 'We have to rethink everything we do,' contends Steve Jarding, a senior political adviser to North Carolina Senator John Edwards, a potential 2004 Democratic contender."

When Senate Spouse Clinton isn't ordering in Chinese food delivery (see Lloyd Grove), he's talking to some of the Men Who Want to Be President. Scarcely a week goes by without him chatting these fellas up, and they usually initiate the calls, recognizing, as they do, the supple mind of his party's premiere political strategist. In the last week alone, he's said to have talked with Gore, Daschle, Kerry, and Edwards, and he'll see Lieberman and Dodd in Connecticut on Monday. Don't worry: he apparently talked to Gephardt a few weeks ago, too.

Politics

Today kicks off a two-day forum on political targeting and the Latino vote in Houston. And there's an oh-so-relevant The Wall Street Journal story on a deeply related matter: "Spurred by census data showing fast Latino demographic growth, advertising aimed at U.S. Hispanics has outpaced overall advertising growth. But despite the increase, major corporations' ad spending targeted at Hispanics remains woefully low, according to a new report … "

"But the Latino agencies note that despite the increase, Hispanic advertising budgets still fall well short of what is needed to reach the 40 million Latinos, who together account for about 13% of the U.S. population and have aggregate disposable income of more than $600 billion."

"'There is still a lack of understanding of the Hispanic market among U.S. advertisers, and they fear it because they don't understand it,' said Aida Levitan, chief executive of Publicis, Sanchez & Levitan, a unit of France's Publicis Groupe dedicated to U.S. Hispanic marketing. 'But if a brand wants to stay alive in the long term it must advertise to Hispanics.'"

Texas

Wait till this charge hits the ads:

"Democratic gubernatorial nominee Tony Sanchez said Thursday that Gov. Rick Perry is 'not known as a truthful person,' implying he thinks Perry lied about his profit on an Austin land sale. Sanchez said he doesn't believe Perry's explanation that his trustee's sale of the property for a $235,000 profit in May 1999 occurred only coincidentally after then-Gov. George W. Bush signed a law that raised land values in the area."
( http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/politics/1373565 )

California

Another day of defensiveness from Bill Simon's campaign for governor. We would quote from his press release pushing back on his unwillingness to release his tax returns, but we choose instead to give the guy a break from the cycle of pain being inflicted by the steel-nerved political killer who also happens to be the governor of California.

American Original Ward Connerly is expected to turn in signatures on his racial privacy ballot initiative in Sacramento today. If passed by voters in November, it would prohibit the state from collecting data based on racial, ethnic or gender categories.

The Sacramento Bee 's Dan Smith looks at the soft money donations fueling the signature drive.
( http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/2260437p-2665398c.html )

New Hampshire

The Union-Leader's DiStaso covers embattled GOP Senator Bob Smith's vote against drilling in ANWR as Smith "keeping his promise," but "[h]ow it affects his tough reelection effort in New Hampshire is anyone's guess." ( http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_show.html?article=10507 )

Republican Senators Santorum, Bond, and Stevens all attended Minority Leader Lott's $500-per-person fundraiser for Rep. John Sununu yesterday on Capitol Hill, per the Union Leader.

Florida

The Herald's Wallsteen reports that the state Republican party will go on the air next week with pro-Jeb TV ads (positive, biographical, leadership spots, we presume). ( http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/3093842.htm )

Tomorrow, Senator Fred Thompson (R) will campaign for Secretary of State Katherine Harris.

Anti-smoking groups claim they've collected enough signatures to put a California-style smoking ban on public places on the November ballot.
( http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/custom/science/orl
-asecsmoke19041902apr19.story?coll=orl%2Dhome%2Dheadlines )

Save some time for Sunday, when a New York Times Magazine cover story is running at the "old" length of New York Times Magazine cover stories (with multiple jumps), about how Florida is the "new California." Jeb (Bush) 'n' Janet (Reno) are the recurring characters in a piece whose tone is reflected in this paragraph: "Oh, Florida — fabled land of shady real-estate deals and unclad hotties (the fine MTV youth of America!) bumping and grinding on spring break, of endangered manatees and Miami nightclubs, the ghost of Meyer Lanskey and retirees sidling across white-sugar beaches at sunset … .and how to forget O.J. Simpson, tucked away in his golf-green haven? Hasn't this always been a place where exiles and fugitives, ex-dictators and ex-astronauts — ex-everyones — come to erase the past and make themselves new again?"

North Carolina

Slight problem for Democratic primary frontrunner Erskine Bowles? Harvey Gantt, the African American former mayor of Charlotte who challenged Senator Jesse Helms in 1990 and 1996, yesterday endorsed Dan Blue to replace him.
( http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/3094667.htm )

Connecticut

The logistics here are almost too complicated for us to sort out this early in the morning, but suffice it to say that the Connecticut Democratic party is going up on the air today with a low-level radio ad buy attacking GOP Gov. John Rowland related to a failed $220 million deal between the state's resources authority and Enron. And in our opinion, if we don't get it, the distracted voters of the Nutmeg State might be confused also.

Missouri

When Republicans control the White House and the US House, it's safe for gun-rights advocates to devote their energy to local concerns.

In Missouri, pro-gun folks are pushing for a new concealed-carry law, using a mix of old rhetoric (anti-communism) and new tactics (adopting the slogan "gun nut" for their own). Missouri has technically considered such a measure for more than a decade. During that time, 17 states have enacted laws allowing gun owners to conceal weapons on their person.
( http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/politics/3084888.htm )

Attention Michael Barone-cultural-divide theorists: when the measure was put to a vote in 1999, Missouri's counties voted overwhelmingly in favor concealed carry permits, while cities voted against it. (The cities won.)
( http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/69C9A98B30781
40686256BA0000A7E73?OpenDocument&Headline=Proposal%20
could%20mean%20another%20vote%20here%20on
%20concealed%20weapons%20 )

Hawaii

What do you call a tax-cutting woman Republican with a cat named Snooze, who used to be a journalist, who worked for the Teamsters, who narrowly lost Hawaii's governorship four years ago, and who has a strong chance to break the Democrats' 40-plus-year-old hold on the office this November, in a year when even optimistic Republicans think they will lose some major state races?

You can call her one of the White House's favorite candidates, or you can call her Linda Lingle.

That's what ABC News Political Director Mark Halperin calls her on this week's "Here's the Point," where, once again "Singing in the Rain" is a leitmotif.

Read some now; listen starting tonight on the web. )

New York

Ouch. The New York Times ed board makes it pretty unambiguously clear what it thinks of Andrew Cuomo's attempt to make Governor Pataki and September 11 leadership an issue: "When voters elect a leader, they are looking for a whole panoply of useful qualities. One of them is an ability to sense when an occasion is about something greater than yourself. Mr. Pataki demonstrated that part of leadership on Sept. 11. Mr. Cuomo has yet to demonstrate it during this campaign." ( http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/19/opinion/_19FRI2.html )

The New York Post summarizes the anti-Andrew Cuomo epithets:

"Cuomo was branded as "dishonest," "disgusting," "despicable" and even a "dark prince" for telling reporters on Wednesday that Mayor Giuliani was the only political "hero" of 9/11." ( http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/41681.htm )

Cuomo stills slams Carl McCall in the statewide polls, two of which were released yesterday. Pataki comfortably takes care of them both for now. ( http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/41682.htm )

New Jersey

Ah, poetry. The Republican frontrunner for the Senate nomination to face hyper-investigated incumbent Robert Torricelli might well be innocent of any wrongdoing, and we assume as much, but having FBI and IRS agents raid his office and home 47 days before the primary could have an impact, as the New York Times says in its own understated manner: "But politicians and political analysts said that any suggestion of wrongdoing by the eventual Republican candidate in the race against Democratic Senator Robert G. Torricelli would rob the party of its most powerful political weapon against him."
( http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/19/politics/19TREF.html )

Pennsylvania

Their primary was May 21 — was May 21, and now, it's, well, we're not sure, and either are they. The two Democrats running for Pennsylvania governor like to hear themselves speak, and both fashion themselves as primo politicians, so the lack of a definitive primary date means that all bets are off, in terms of strategy, message, and spending.

"The competing themes of the race (Rendell is untrustworthy; Casey is untested) could fade as time goes on without the expensive saturation television advertising that has hammered those messages home and brought the contest to an apparent dead heat in the polls, analysts say. And the costs of advertising will actually jump in the short term, since the campaigns were benefiting from a federal rule that requires TV stations to sell them time at the cheapest rates within 42 days of an election."
( http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/politics/3096193.htm )

Campaign Finance

The The Wall Street Journal has some bizarro fascination with the Massachusetts Clean Elections law — they write about it all the time. Today's story, though, we'll concede, is well worth it, avec this lead: "Proponents of a Massachusetts campaign-finance initiative, armed with a court order, seized two state vehicles Thursday as part of efforts to raise public campaign funds that so far state lawmakers have refused to appropriate."

Bush Administration Strategy/Personality

Will Lester of the AP checks in on the meta-meaning of the Bush poll numbers.
( http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=536&ncid=703&e=3&u=
/ap/20020419/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_polls_2 )

Michael Kinsley feels like he's been lied to by all three of the most recent presidents, and uses that as his lead in looking at what happened with Venezuela. "The characteristic Bush II form of dishonesty is to construct an alternative reality on some topic, and to regard anyone who objects to it as a sniveling dweeb obsessed with 'nuance.' You can just see Bush rolling his eyes at the fuss — small as it is — over his administration's role in the recent military coup in Venezuela. It is unclear what exactly Bush administration officials said to the coup planners in meetings over the past few months. Conflicting anonymous quotations mean there is some lying of the conventional sort going on. But a simple 'just don't do it: The United States believes in democracy' was obviously not the message or the coup would not have gone ahead." ( http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13130-2002Apr19.html )

The president had the good sense and judgment at his National Fire & Emergency Services Dinner event last night to call moderator Hal Bruno "one of the finest names in TV journalism."

Republican Rep. Tom Tancredo, a leading critic of the Bush Administration's approach to immigration, told the Washington Times in an interview that Bush's immigration policies are a threat to national security. ( http://www.washtimes.com/national/20020419-578216384.htm

The Washington Times writes up the GAO report on damage to the White House done by the departing administration of 42.
( http://www.washtimes.com/national/20020419-803782.htm )

The release of new government data yesterday showing a drop in the number of US food poisoning cases wound up setting off a debate about the Bush Administration's approach to food safety because, critics charge, the administration isn't for continuing some of the regulations that helped bring this about.
( http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12164-2002Apr18.html )

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