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NEWS SUMMARY

"Status quo," "change," and "accountability" are always the Big Casino of any election, and we are in the midst of a week of big issues and themes that both parties see as defining the terms of battle for that one day in November that will determine who will govern, along with President Bush, for the last two years of his current term.

Republicans sorta know what they want to run on this year: status quo on the war, for one thing, and also the theme of safe, sensible change in their efforts to oust some Democratic incumbents and to try to retain certain governorships that they've held for eight years — long enough that they're justifiably worried about voters' possible, reflexive consideration of Democratic candidates for those seats.

Judging from what Senate Budget Committee chairman Conrad offered up yesterday, Democrats appear to be arguing in favor of less defense spending in the future and more money for debt reduction and health care. And we know that House Democrats, even though they put forth no budget of their own, are working Social Security hard.

The bad economy and Enronomics, once the source of so much Democratic hope, still could pop back up as part of a "people versus the powerful" thematic, but the White House is working pretty hard to head off both of those.

If Conrad's budget proposal is the Democrats' best big message, and we know it's hardly a consensus one, we have a tough time seeing how it can be a big winner when the White House surely will come down hard on them like a duck on a June bug, charging that they're weak on defense, secretly want to raise taxes, and aren't fiscally disciplined.

Those old GOP stand-bys, backed by a popular president, seem like pretty strong political moonshine to us, at least right now.

And Mitt Romney, for one, is a shining example of a Republican candidate who will try to convince people that he is for safe, sensible change. Romney will either be the next governor of Massachusetts, or we'll get to watch a Riordanian train wreck as his numbers collapse.

Romney arguably lost his best launch pad yesterday when his would-be GOP primary rival, acting Gov. Jane Swift (R), bowed out of the race. Romney was going to challenge Swift on the state's budget problems and her earlier ethical gaffes, using that race to hone a not too ideological, can-do, corporate exec-type image. He'll still play up those themes, but Swift's departure means he becomes Democrats' punching bag more than six months ahead of schedule.

As the Boston Herald put it, "Romney and his advisers, preparing for weeks to target and topple Swift, suddenly struggled with the prospect of taking on a swarm of hungry Democrats itching to end a 12-year banishment from the Corner Office." ( http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/romn03202002.htm )

The Boston Globe says, "Some analysts believe Swift's departure may hurt Romney politically, because he needed a primary win over the acting governor to gain momentum for a general election. In addition, he will now become the main target of state Democrats."
( http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/079/metro/
t_yields_to_Romney+.shtml )

Pretty big coverage of yesterday's expected Local 1199 health care workers union endorsement of New York Gov. George Pataki, but readers with a more national bent should note this quote from sage Pataki adviser Kieran Mahoney, who secretly revealed the Rove strategy for getting Bush re-elected: "This campaign will take place inside the Democrats' base. It's our Brezhnev Doctrine: What's mine is mine and what's yours, we will talk about."
( http://www.mostnewyork.com/2002-03-
News_and_Views/Beyond_the_City/a-144992.asp )

Playing right into our theme of the day — and no doubt unhappy in the knowledge that his words were captured on tape and shared with the Washington Post — is Karl Rove's motivational speech to the socially conservative Family Research Council last Thursday, occurring right about the same time, the Post notes, as the Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Judge Pickering.

"Rove was telling an influential Christian political action group that President Bush would continue to nominate conservatives as federal judges. 'We're not going to have a pleasant day today [in the Senate],' Rove told the Family Research Council at the Willard Hotel, according to a tape recording given to The Washington Post by an attendee … 'This is not about a good man, Charles Pickering. This is about the future. This is about the U.S. Supreme Court. And this is about sending George W. Bush a message that "You send us somebody that is a strong conservative, you're not going to get him."'" ( http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52938-2002Mar19.html )

"'Guess what?' Rove added. 'They sent the wrong message to the wrong guy.'"

"In addition to sounding a defiant note on judicial nominations, Rove's speech set out a broad agenda for cooperation between the administration and the Christian right."

"'There'll be some times you in this room and we over at the White House will find ourselves in agreement, and there'll be the occasion when we don't. But we will share a heck of a lot more in common than we don't. And we'll win if we work together far more often than the other side wants us to,' Rove told the group of about 250 Christian political activists from around the country."

"During the speech and subsequent question-and-answer session, Rove promised that the White House would push welfare reforms that encourage families and marriage. He also said the administration would try to find ways to support crisis pregnancy centers that counsel women against abortion. And he predicted a battle in the Senate over administration-backed proposals to ban human cloning."

"Rove referred to the Senate's action on Pickering's nomination as a 'judicial lynching' and said the blocking of such nominees 'needs to be the issue in every race around the country for the United States Senate.'"

The Washington Post 's Broder bemoans the partisanship that he says marked the Pickering vote and Daschle's refusal to send the nomination to the floor, and the White House's refusal to have Ridge testify before Congress. "Their actions invite retaliation, and as the sorry spectacle grows, public cynicism will increase." ( http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53124-2002Mar19.html )

"The White House yesterday offered to let lawmakers question Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge in formal but private sessions, but Democratic Senate leaders rejected the gesture as inadequate and renewed threats to issue subpoenas," the Washington Post 's Milbank reports.

Milbank gets Senate Governmental Affairs Committee chairman Lieberman on the record saying he is prepared to subpoena Ridge, and that "he wanted the issue resolved 'within a couple of weeks of when we get back from recess' in early April. Lieberman said Ridge could brief senators about classified information in private but other testimony should be public." ( http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52923-2002Mar19.html )

Senator Hillary Clinton is scheduled to meet with Ridge today in her Senate office.

Clearly of the belief that they will be alleviating public cynicism about government, the Senate today seems likely to pass McCain-Feingold. The Los Angeles Times reports, "by late Tuesday, most suspense over the bill's fate in the Senate was vanishing. The only remaining questions were how quickly debate on the bill would end and what its final margin of passage would be."
( http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/
la-000020379mar20.story )?coll=la%2Dnews%2Da%5Fsection ) )

The Boston Globe catches leading status quo advocate Mitch McConnell on the record criticizing President Bush. "[A]s the tide on Capitol Hill began turning in favor of campaign finance limits, Bush stayed conspicuously absent from the debate, a move [McConnell] said hampered his efforts to kill the legislation. 'If the president had indicated antipathy for the bill, it would have made it a lot easier to defeat it,' said a resigned McConnell, the chief opponent of the bill. 'It was clear to us we were going to have to deal with it … without the president's intervention.'"
( http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/079/nation/
Opponents_of_campaign_finance_limits_abandon_battle+.shtml )

"McConnell, who says the spending restrictions in the bill violate First Amendment free speech rights, said he would be a main plaintiff in a federal court case over the constitutionality of the bill. A legal decision could come before Nov. 6, when the new law would go into effect."
( http://www.usatoday.com/news/washdc/2002/03/19/campaign-finance.htm )

As the vote looms, today happens to be disclosure day for several of the national party campaign committees, including the Republican National Committee, its Senate campaign committee, the Democratic Senate campaign committee, and the "intake" ends of both parties' House campaign committees. We'll check to see, of course, where early season giving and spending has been most intense.

The AFL-CIO and other groups will use today's anniversary of the Bush Administration's ergonomics regulation repeal to remind its base that, in their view, the president is playing dangerous games with workers. "Ergonomics" is a mouth-twister; "worker safety" sounds much better.

From the ABCNEWS London Bureau: Unidentified gunmen attacked US and Afghan troops near the town of Khost in eastern Afghanistan late last night, sparking a firefight. The exchange lasted about one hour, during which one US soldier sustained a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to the arm … US soldiers are exploring the area looking for evidence as to who their attackers were.

At least seven people have been killed and more than 20 injured after a suicide bomber blew up a bus in northern Israel. Most passengers were Israeli Arabs on their way to work. The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad says it was behind the blast, which drew an angry response from the Israeli government. The Palestinian leadership also condemned the bombing, saying all attacks on civilians inside Israel must stop. This morning US special envoy Zinni met with Arafat at his West Bank headquarters in Ramallah before holding joint talks with senior Israeli and Palestinian security officials on the nuts and bolts of the Tenet plan

Budget Politics

Although none of these tiffs have yet to really fester and explode in a big, widely covered mess, sometimes House Republicans and the White House don't see eye to eye on budget and tax matters. Sometimes, certain House Republicans get a little too far ahead.

Blessings are counted daily at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue whenever a news cycle passes without a certain Gentleman from California causing the party a problem, but today is not such a day.

House Ways and Means Committee chairman Thomas told the Washington Times in an interview yesterday that the committee will "send a full range of tax-cut bills to the House floor to be voted on when individual income-tax returns come due next month," including "making last year's tax cut permanent, restructuring the alternative minimum tax and extending a host of other tax breaks that are due to expire soon."
( http://www.washtimes.com/national/20020320-26263746.htm )

"He said that if House Republicans do their job properly on taxes, they will be able to frame the issue to benefit their party in House and Senate elections this year — especially since 12 Democratic senators broke party ranks to support Mr. Bush's $1.35 trillion tax cut."

"The challenge for House Republicans, he said, will be to put together a legislative package that can survive the rules of the Senate, which requires 60 votes to bring up contentious legislation. But if they can, he said, 'We'll give [Missouri Senator Jean] Carnahan and several others an opportunity to determine whether they thought enough of those tax cuts to make them permanent. If we can arrange that vote, then it's going to be real interesting.'"

"Mr. Thomas said Republicans have no intention of backing away from Social Security reform this year and that his committee intended to 'examine all of the options' being proposed to let workers invest part of their payroll taxes in stocks and bonds … But he also said working out a politically viable plan is difficult, and that if the committee cannot complete work on all of the options, 'We'll bring it up next year' — a strategy that the White House prefers."

Maybe the Democrats' only hope is for the president to follow the supply-side advice of the The Wall Street Journal , who saw some promise, but ultimate disappointment, in Mr. Bush's Monday remarks: "Close but no cigar. We mean the perfectly lovely speech President Bush gave Monday in Missouri."

"Mr. Bush made many … points in Missouri, but he just didn't pull the political trigger. We suspect his reluctance has something to do with the congressional elections in November. He doesn't want Republicans to be vulnerable to Democratic attacks that income-tax rate cuts benefit 'the rich.' Well, the Democrats aren't about to give up their favorite mantra, no matter what Mr. Bush says about taxes. As long as he is locked and loaded, he might as well do the right thing and fire."

Campaign Finance

Mark Sandalow of the San Francisco Chronicle finds a good example of an ad that would be illegal under Shays-Meehan-McCain-Feingold: a radio spot by the ACLU imploring House Speaker Hastert to bring up ENDA — that's employment non-discrimination for gays and lesbians — to the House floor.

Why would it be illegal? Well, Hastert technically is up for re-election, and the ad ran right before yesterday's Illinois primary, and Hastert's name is mentioned in the ad. That's a no-no under the ad ban provisions of the legislation.
( http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2002/03/20/MN58014.dtl )

Sandalow's column is not your run-of-the-mill press analysis; it's rather clear he doesn't think much of the bill. (Maybe because he knows that money in politics probably will be tougher for the media to track under the new system.) That makes it a useful corrective against the promises made by the pro- side, who hope the severe restrictions on soft money and the ban on independent expenditures near election time will give candidates the ability to shape their own messages and somehow produce a better system.

It is somewhat true that in the nearly 10 years that campaign finance legislation has meandered through the Capitol, the rhetoric of the reformers has tempered. No longer will a soft money ban be a universal solvent that would dissolve the money nexus in politics. Rather, it's now portrayed as a minimal or first step toward fixing what ails federal elections.

We grow increasingly curious about how White House image-makers plan to handle the expected signing ceremony, since the biggest Republican dynamic, so far as we can tell, is consternation at the possibility that President Bush will a sign a bill he believes to be unconstitutional.

Coming close to the steel decision, the stomach acid might churn too high for the White House to handle. We wonder if the president, for instance, will thank Senators McCain and Feingold for their years of hard work on this "important" issue, and call them good men.

One last thing: the data-offering Common Cause and the Center for Responsive Politics are both excellent organizations, but do note both of them have an institutional stake in this bill.

ABC 2004: The Invisible Primary

Vermont Gov. Howard Dean is in Washington today to address the National Stonewall Democrats dinner.

Senator Joe Lieberman and his wife Hadassah will head to South Carolina this Friday for a long weekend — a little vacationing in Hilton Head, a little dinner with Gov. Jim Hodges (D) Sunday night, a little fundraising for Senate candidate Alex Sanders on Monday, a little lecturing on poly sci at the University of South Carolina, a little lunching with former Democratic National Committee chairman (and still DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee — read: '04 calendar-setting — member) Don Fowler. Lieberman also will meet with Rep. Jim Clyburn and state African-American leaders.

Here's another reason why Fowler is one of the gentlemen to see in South Carolina: Fowler "was elected chairman Monday night of the Richland County Democratic Party … County parties play a key role in organizing at the precinct level and turning out voters in an election. Richland is the largest and most consistently Democratic county in the state." Calling '04 primary voters … ( http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/politics/2897473.htm )

AP Politics Guy Will Lester looks at South Carolina Democrats trying to become like South Carolina Republicans in their place in the party's presidential nominating process.
( http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/bw-elect/2002/mar/19/031903395.html )

Here's the Democratic state chairman, doing his imitation of the departing Henry McMaster, his GOP counterpart: "The road to the White House now comes through South Carolina," said state Democratic Party Chairman Dick Harpootlian.

"'Everyone was quick to prognosticate that all 50 states would move up,' said Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Maria Cardona. 'There's been no mad dash.'" But enough other states continue to circle to leave the Iowa/New Hampshire hegemony still in the balance.

In what may be history's first explicit The Wall Street Journal editorial page reference to the ABC News Political Unit's Invisible Primary Ratings, Michael Medved attributes the high ranking of Senator John Edwards to his good looks. Funny: we don't even have a section on physical beauty (yet). And the dot drawing of the Senator makes him look no more handsome than Rep. Dennis Kucinich.

On the same page, a The Wall Street Journal editorial suggests Tom Daschle's presidential ambitions are a big part of why Democrats aren't jumping to raise the debt ceiling, and makes the awesome point that the world should be hearing from Every Democrat's Favorite Economic Adviser (Bob Rubin; sorry, Gene) in support of the administration's need to fix this problem, since Rubin once found himself in the same pickle.

Of course, Republicans are just as guilty of "whose-ox-is-being-gored" hypocrisy as Democrats are on this one, which, given how important it is, makes us awfully depressed, but no more cynical.

Legislative Agenda

We thought Democrats were planning to stay away from this issue, but apparently not: House Democrats will introduce their version of a bill to close the "gun show loophole" today. Several similar Senate bills already are circulating.

Politics

The Los Angeles Times ' Brownstein uses the Mitt peg (on the heels of the 2001 elections of Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Warner) for a column on how "this was supposed to be an election year when concern about public safety rewarded candidates with political experience. But a surprising number of business executives and entrepreneurs are challenging that assumption with strong campaigns for office, especially in governors' races. Candidates with backgrounds in business but no elected experience are seeking governorships in nine states--one-quarter of this year's gubernatorial contests."
( http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-
000020326mar20.story?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dfrontpage )

"Two other businessmen-turned-candidates--Republican Bill Simon Jr. in California and Democrat Tony Sanchez in Texas--have already won gubernatorial primaries. Several others have established themselves as favorites in their primary contests."

Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Leahy "is asking for [Justice Department and GAO] inquiries into whether Robert W. Ray, who resigned last week as independent counsel, began pursuing a political career while still investigating President Bill Clinton." Ray intends to run for the GOP nomination to face Senator Robert Torricelli (D). "Ray made get-acquainted calls to leading New Jersey Republicans while serving as independent counsel but he insisted that he did not engage in 'prohibited partisan activity.'"
( http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53198-2002Mar19.html )

"A spokeswoman for the GAO … said the agency must comply with requests from committee chairmen … Justice Department officials had no immediate comment."
( http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la
-000020380mar20.story?coll=la%2Dnews%2Da%5Fsection )

In other Federal Election Commission-related news, several liberal advocacy groups have sued the FEC, claiming it didn't properly enforce the law when investigating a complaint about Attorney General Aschroft's Senate campaign PAC. Last year, the groups, which include Common Cause, complained to the FEC about alleged illegal coordination and transfers between the PAC, Ashcroft's Spirit of America presidential campaign PAC, and Ashcroft's unsuccessful Senate re-election campaign. The FEC investigated at the time and didn't find wrongdoing. They declined comment on the suit filed yesterday.

Massachusetts

Are those Boston papers ever loaded today …

Both Boston papers report that state Democrats are threatening to wage an ad campaign slamming Romney right out of the gate. But while party officials may be talking tough, everything we've been quietly told by Democratic operatives in the state and in Washington is that the party is disorganized and has no dough.

State contribution limits of $5,000, including on party transfers (like, from the Democratic National Committee), could hinder an ad campaign. Unless the DNC (which has little money to spare) or, more likely, some labor or other interest group wants to undertake such a campaign on its own, we'd guess you are more likely to see an extensive earned media effort.

The state Democratic party "hit the phones yesterday in search of money for an anti-Mitt Romney television campaign, with labor and abortion rights groups among the first sources of cash."
( http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe
2/079/metro/Democrats_aim_at_a_new_target+.shtml )

"Insiders said that party-funded ads targeting Romney could be launched as soon as next week. Democrats will portray Romney as closely aligned with the more conservative national party and will bring particular attention to his positions on abortion rights and gun control. They're vowing to repeat charges aired in his 1994 Senate run concerning layoffs at Romney's former company."

The Globe reports what we were told yesterday, that when Romney "first told the White House" — meaning Mr. Rove and Mr. Card — that he "was serious about challenging Jane Swift," he got the cold shoulder.
( http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/079/metro/White_House_took_calls_from_Romney+.shtml )

"'Both times he heard, "Jane's the incumbent governor, and she's our friend,"' a Republican official said yesterday. 'It wasn't anti-Mitt. It was, "She's been there for us, and we're going to be there for her."'"

"In a White House that places a premium on loyalty, several advisers made a point of stressing that they were not in any way glad to see Swift go, even though her exit removes the potential of a bitter and damaging primary struggle."

"According to one GOP official, as Romney assessed his prospects he commissioned a poll by Arthur J. Finkelstein, a New York Republican known for his tough campaign tactics."

The Herald reports, "On the abortion issue that dogged his 1994 campaign, Romney insisted his position has been clear for the past eight years. 'I'll say the same thing that I've said since 1994 and probably before,' he said. 'That is, on a personal basis, I do not favor abortion. However, as governor of the commonwealth, I will protect the right of a woman to choose under the laws of the country and the laws of the commonwealth.'" ( http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/main03202002.htm )

Another Globe story reports on how Swift's chosen running mate, a 33-year-old, openly gay top aide, "will now fight to become Mitt Romney's lieutenant governor."
( http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2
/079/metro/Guerriero_won_t_drop_out+.shtml )

On the now more important than ever question of who becomes the Democratic nominee, "To the extent that Democratic voters look ahead along those lines, Senate President Thomas F. Birmingham and former national Democratic chairman Steve Grossman appear to be the most harmed by a Romney candidacy. Grossman's campaign pitch sounds similar to Romney's: a businessman ready to bring strong corporate management to the governor's office, minus the Olympic success." ( http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/079/
metro/Democrats_aim_at_a_new_target+.shtml )

"Birmingham bears the burden of the insider, and he's now the only candidate who will shape and be blamed for this year's budget. It's likely to include deep cuts and several new taxes; neither contributes to a particularly compelling campaign advertisement."

"State Treasurer Shannon P. O'Brien could get a boost from people interested in supporting a female candidate, since she's now the only woman in the race. But she, too, can be tarred as an insider by Romney."

"Former US labor secretary Robert Reich could represent the best matchup for the Democrats, though he remains an untested candidate."

"A side result of the lack of a Republican primary is that more independent voters will consider voting in the Democratic primary. That gives all of the Democrats a chance to court these voters, perhaps by shifting their positions to the right."

There are questions about the health of Romney's wife Ann, who was diagnosed with MS three years ago. ( http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/ann03202002.htm )

Still more Globe and Herald stories offer some tick tock on Swift's change of heart. ( http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/079/metro/In_a_few_short_hours_a_180_degree_turn+.shtml )

and

( http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/tick03202002.htm )

Illinois

Just to note: we and other members of the national media focused mainly on the Emanuel-Kaszak primary, but the Chicago media's coverage has a more local cast. The brewing governor's race between Rep. Rod Blagojevich (D) and state Attorney General Jim Ryan (R), for example, gives Democrats their first chance in 26 years to capture the state's top office. ( http://www.suntimes.com/output/elect/20governor.html )

Emanuel spent nearly $2 million dollars to defeat Kaszak. A late-in-the-race endorsement by Chicago Mayor Daley and a barrage of advertising helped him win by nearly 13 percentage points — not as close as local observers had predicted. ( http://www.suntimes.com/output/elect/cst-nws-cong20.html )

We predicted that two things would confound voters at the polls yesterday, and two things did: "Voters found their balloting complicated by new second-chance error-detection equipment aimed at preventing the type of problems that complicated the 2000 presidential contest in Florida. At the same time, redistricted congressional and legislative districts, redrawn to conform to population shifts in the 2000 census, produced some confusion among voters who didn't realize that political boundaries had been moved."
( http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/specials/elections/chi-0203200292mar20.story )

With somewhat ill timing, USA Today runs an editorial cartoon suggesting Clinton's support is the electoral kiss of death. ( http://www.usatoday.com/news/comment/nctoons.htm

Texas

The Houston Chronicle reports that retiring Senator Phil Gramm (R) is not among the finalists for the presidency of Texas A&M.
( http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/politics/1301467 )

Florida

Orlando is one of two Florida cities being looked at as a possible site of the 2004 Republican National Convention. ( http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl
-locconvention20032002mar20.story
?coll=orl%2Dhome%2Dheadlines )

California

Republican National Committee chairman Marc Racicot will campaign with gubernatorial nominee Bill Simon today, and the two will hold a joint media avail at the state GOP headquarters in Sacramento.

New York

With the charming headline, "Chucking Schumer," the New York Post suggests Junior Senator Clinton is assertively stepping out of the shadow of Senior Senator Schumer. The Vince Morris Page Three special doesn't quite elevate the brouhaha to Lautenberg-Torricelli Defcon levels, but it will certainly have delegation tongues wagging. ( http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/43991.htm )

You'll just love the facial expressions on the twin photos on Page Five of the New York Daily News of Bill Clinton dancing "cheek to cheek" with Monica … Gonzalez-Bunster in the Dominican Republic on Monday.

South Dakota

Democratic Senator Tim Johnson's campaign has a new fundraising pitch in Johnson's re-election battle against Republican Rep. John Thune, playing up Johnson's work on the Senate Appropriations Committee and touting a line President Bush uttered when he was in Iowa recently raising money for a GOP House candidate there: "President Bush recently remarked, 'It makes no sense to replace somebody on the Appropriations Committee with somebody who's not.' Even my opponent has called the Appropriations Committee the place 'where you can do the most good for your state.'"

New Hampshire

The state's Wild Irish Breakfast was as raucous as you'd expect in an election year. Here, for example, is a limerick that Senator Bob Smith wrote about his challenger for the Republican Senate nomination, Rep. John Sununu:

"There once was a Congressman Sununu. "Whose political plans, only he knew. "For 'twas it the lad, "Or was it the dad, "That behind all this was the guru?"
( http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/main.asp?FromHome=1&TypeID=1&ArticleID=52 (

And there are other Smith limericks included.

Bush Administration Strategy/Personality

Under the normal practice of having New York Times reporters' books reviewed by outside reviewers, historian Robert Dallek gives Frank Bruni's Bush tome a thumbs-up for style and a sideways arrow for lacking the detailed policy analysis Dallek seeks. Sounds like Dallek has at least a bit of Reba Shemansky in him (see this week's New Yorker "Talk of the Town" item if you don't know about what we speak.)
( http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/20/books/20DALL.html )

The Washington Post 's Allen reports that during his Latin American tour, startng tomorrow, Bush will announce that he "plans to direct $30 million to poor areas of Mexico over the next year in an effort to discourage illegal immigration by strengthening businesses there, administration officials said yesterday." Democrats are panning it as a way to appease conservatives. ( http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53020-2002Mar19.html )

The The Wall Street Journal looks at the Keystone Kops day at the White House yesterday, as the administration tried to get its act together on the question of the amount of foreign aide increase the president is proposing: "Confusion permeated the White House Tuesday, with some top officials convinced the smaller aid plan was the real one, while others insisted that the president always had the larger amount in mind. The uncertainty apparently extended all the way up to the president himself." Most interesting to us is another example of Dr. C. Rice of the National Security Council having picked up from her friend K. Hughes the spinning habit of declaring to reporters "the story is … ." in trying to divert media focus from what the press thinks "the story is … ."

The Washington Post 's Kamen reports that Karl Rove and Senate Majority Whip Harry Reid "were spotted with their spouses having dinner Friday night at Signatures, the hot, new and seriously expensive restaurant on Pennsylvania Avenue. Rove and Reid share some Nevada roots … but there's speculation this chat had more to do with dumping nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain than in birthplaces."
( http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53220-2002Mar19.html )

Enron

Public Citizen tells us that they're days away from a "blockbuster" white paper about the business dealings of Army Secretary White. They said the same thing last week, with the new excuse being that they want to make sure they've crossed every "t" and dotted every "i" before releasing it to select members of the press.