NEWS SUMMARY
Any Democrat running for president who raises $25 million will be considered a great fundraising success.
The central tension in The Note's life (beyond whether to pay FICA taxes on computer-savvy simians) is how to balance our rejection of the "expectations game" in presidential politics with the knowledge that we ignore said game at our peril.
Even if we could ship Leubsdorf, Page, Rothenberg, Yepsen, and Pindell off to Pluto through January of 2005, we couldn't end the suffocating, vice-like grip that the expectations game has on the politico-media superstructure's framework for talking about and covering nearly every aspect of the election.
Even real voters (ok: not REAL real voters, but the kind of activists that reporters talk to at political events these days) are hip to the expectations game, and say things such as "Gephardt has to win the caucuses, or he's dead," or "There are only three tickets out of Iowa," or "Lieberman had a disappointing first quarter."
While much is made about President Bush's long-standing ability to manage the (Great) expectations about his political place in the world, little can be, or has been, done to tamp down the notion that the re-election juggernaut will bank in excess of $200 million.
One week from tonight, the journey begins publicly, with the first of several monster June events at which checks (and names) will be taken, and it is safe to say that in the end, the president will raise more than the $100 million+ he took in last time.
The math is simple: individuals can now give $2,000 (as opposed to $1,000); the president is an incumbent (rather than an upstart [!] challenger); the president is running unopposed (rather than facing off with Ted Welch and whoever was raising money for Gary Bauer); and the list of those who gave $1,000 for '00 and don't give $2,000 for '04 will be required reading in the Rove household and in newsrooms around America.
The weak Bush-Cheney-Evans economy, which has clearly dampened Democratic fundraising, is not expected to be much of a drag on the Republican effort.
We don't know how much they have already raised with checks over the transom (the bare-bones website still doesn't have much on it, and the vaunted posting of contributors has yet to commence), but we do know that the president's team hasn't really been able to convince the expectation setters that anything less than $200 million will be successful or sufficient.
Of course, more money is always better (We learned that early in our careers … .), but major cash is not necessarily determinative — just ask the winner of the GOP primaries in Arizona and New Hampshire in 2000, or California's electoral votes.
With the profligate Joe Allbaugh no longer in charge of the disbursements, it's hard to see how the campaign can spend even $150 million before the Sheekey Bridge is built.
OK: just kidding; they'll find a way.
But the point is: even if the expectations about how much the president can/will raise have gotten a bit out of control, you will need at least a week to mentally prepare for just how staggering the discrepancy will be between how easily Bush-Cheney get people to write maxed-out checks, and how painstakingly difficult the same task is for the Big Six Democrats.
So start preparing now.
Let's see (Note all this Note exclusive stuff about to hit you in the face):
The host committee reception is slated to begin at 5:15 pm, with the reception to start at 6 (which means the president can be home reading, watching sports, and getting ready for bed well before Senator Clinton makes remarks at her suburban book party … .)
Envision Margaret and Marvin Bush and Doro and Bobby Koch, the honorary event chairs for the National Capital Area Host Committee, greeting everyone in their normal well-mannered manner, along with Event Chairs Julie Finley, Dick Hugg, Shelly Kamins, Jim Langdon, and Dwight Schar.
Imagine the Hilton ballroom, free of space-wasting tables.
Picture the venue filled with lobbyists galore, who want their country back, to have the taxes cut, and full access to the assistant secretaries of their choice.
Imagine Ken Starr taking his place among his fellow host co-chairs
You can almost hear the president's patented, implicit "I give my least political speeches at political fundraisers, for all the obvious reasons" remarks.
You can almost taste the pretzels and peanuts (Eat first or after; don't expect dinner.).
And if you are raising money for any of the Democrats running for the right to face Mr. Bush, you can only scrunch up your visage in the face of what is arguably the biggest mismatch in American presidential politics since Susan Estrich faced off against Lee Atwater (or Al Gore invoked Chris Petersen). LINK
PoliticsNH.com's James Pindell notes that fundraising time has blossomed while press-the-flesh time has dwindled, for the Democrats. LINK
What are the expectations for the Democrats in second-quarter fundraising (the end of which is less than three weeks away)?
Playing the game we decry, our sense is that, listed in descending order among the Big Six, this is how the candidates rank in terms of pressure to "meet expectations":
Lieberman, Gephardt, Graham, Edwards, Kerry, and Dean.
Each man carries his own expectations, based on what he raised first quarter, how much he has spent, and what some of his more aggressive supporters have put out on the public record about how they will do.
And, of course, rank order matters as much (or more) than the absolute dollar figure raised.
With one hand, we eschew expectations; with the other, The Note decrees that the over/under for the second-quarter is (a paltry) $6 million.
Five of the Big Six better raise that in the second quarter, or, well, questions will be asked.
Now, Howard Dean — he is playing by his own set of expectations.
Benefiting from lower standards and expectations than most of the others (still, for instance, being allowed to misspeak with impunity by the national and, ahem, Vermont press), Dean is also benefiting from a political community that wrongly casts him as having succeeded largely because of his anti-war stance.
Last night, the Good Doctor drew what his campaign says (and says and says and says) was a crowd of over 3,000 people in the little cow town of Austin, Texas.
The Austin American Statesman was very Dr. Dean-comes-to-Texas-ish, causing the reporter to bury the lead:LINK
"Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean hails from a state that's about as un-Texan as you can get."
"Vermont is tiny. Vermont is cold. Vermonters send a self-described socialist to Congress every two years and talk French along their border."
"But Dean swung through Austin on Monday to convince voters that the two states — and the whole country, for that matter — need many of the same things, such as fiscal responsibility and universal health coverage."
"Dean said he hoped to raise $50,000 during his half-day stop in Austin, which also included a private fund-raiser and a public rally at Plaza Saltillo in East Austin. The rally attracted about 3,000 people, according to organizers, which is unusually large for so early in the campaign."
UT's Daily Texan puts yesterday's take for the Dean campaign at $12,000. LINK
For the other members of the Big Six, 3,000 people and $12,000 would be considered a mostly failed trip.
By the math of the Dean campaign, it is a whopping success. And something the other candidates just can't do.
We've said it before, and we'll say it again: Howard Dean might win both Iowa and New Hampshire; Howard Dean is the only major candidate in the race who talks like both a governor AND a real person from outside Washington; Howard Dean is really using the Internet to fundraise and organize (It ain't just hype … .); Howard Dean connects regularly with Democratic audiences in a way that the others can do only sporadically; Howard Dean has a long record of policy thoughtfulness and a capacity to connect it to the real lives of real people that governors do best (and is, dare we say it, Clintonesque) ; and he evinces real anger at George Bush's polices.
The dirty little (not-so) secret of political strategists of both parties is how hard it is to get people interested in, and emotional about, politics. Howard Dean is doing that, and he is bringing new (and young) people into the process. In a crowded field, that is a good thing.
Will Saletan's, still picking pig out of his teeth from the Vilsack-Pederson picnic, makes these points … "Dean is far and away the most interesting player in the race. Not since Clinton have Democrats seen a talent like this … ." LINK
And Howard Dean doesn't have to raise $6 million this quarter to be considered to have Absolut Viability.
Dean now has a pretty big staff on the ground in key states (although our bet is that they are being paid less than the folks working for the other Big Six candidates … .), but Howard Dean is not a money candidate.
And, despite the huge take he is about to rake in, neither is George W. Bush — no matter what Terry McAuliffe says.
Dean leaves Houston today and has a house call event in Columbia, South Carolina.
As for the other people running for president:
Happy 50th birthday, Senator Edwards!
Today, Senator Graham participates in a Women's Campaign Reception at Stewart Mott House in DC, followed by a fundraiser in Bethesda.
Also today, Senator Lieberman has several public events in New Haven, Connecticut, while Hadassah Lieberman has four events in New Hampshire.
Also in New Hampshire, the SEIU releases a tantalizing Celinda Lake/Ed Goeas poll on health care and the presidential race.
Oh, what the heck. We couldn't wait either. So The Note went ahead and "obtained" the findings a bit early:
The survey concludes that Senator John Kerry and Governor Howard Dean are the Democrats most closely associated with health care; 41 percent of the sample's Democratic primary voters in New Hampshire know Dean has a "specific" health care plan, compared with 25 percent for Senator Kerry. Congressman Gephardt's proposals are on the radar screens of about 19 percent of Democratic primary voters.
Almost two thirds of Democratic primary voters in New Hampshire list health care as an issue that will help them choose their vote.
But only "a bare majority" of those voters "sa[y] they have seen, heard or read something about health care from the presidential candidates."
Other findings:
"Democratic primary voters rate quality, affordable health care for all the most important (8.6) [out of ten] principle, followed closely by care that is cost efficient and medically effective (8.4)."
"While most likely voters currently have health insurance coverage, nearly two-thirds (65%) know someone who has been without health care coverage in the last two years."
Another survey of Note, although we're a little weirded out by the way the Gallup folks write about the race as "still wide open" as if they somehow expected a highly contentious contest to be wrapped up half a year before the primaries and caucuses begin. LINK
In the CNN/ USA Today /Gallup sample, Lieberman received 20 percent, Kerry, 17 percent, Gephardt, 14 percent.
In fourth place? Rev. Al Sharpton, with 7 percent. He beats Senator Edwards, with 6 percent, and Governor Dean, with 5 percent.
Coinciding with a lull in next year's presidential primaries, a coalition of pro-choice groups plan a major advocacy march on the Mall in April of 2004 to focus the public's attention on their claim that the Bush Administration has proved disastrous for women's rights.
NOW, the Feminist Majority, NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood hope to mobilize an unspecified number of women to protest what they term the "devastating consequences" of "women losing their right to chose," according to a draft of a speech NARAL's Kate Michelman plans to give today.
Interest group activity often fills the gap between the end of the decisive early primaries and caucuses and the political convention. It's during that period when candidates tend to be struggling for attention and money, leaving them open to attack from their ideological opponents.
Perhaps this will aid the Democratic nominee and gin up the base. (It might also capture the imagination of pro-lifers, too).
And this on the heels of NARALP-CA announcing over the weekend that it plans to spend millions on pro-choice advertisements this year.
National security politics:
The Washington Post 's Dana Milbank has a careful and thorough review of Administration statements on WMD, especially the words of the POTUS, and then this:
"Although it remains possible that proscribed weapons will be found in Iraq, even some administration advisers have come to the conclusion that weapons will not be found in the quantities described by the administration or in as menacing a form. Still, at yesterday's Cabinet meeting, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld announced, 'I'm convinced we'll find WMD,' one participant said." LINK
The New York Times ' more dailyish version of the story by Stevenson and Risen is a model of understatement in saying that all of this "is becoming a foreign policy and political challenge for the White House." LINK
Paul Krugman demands accountability, and is reading those Brit papers more closely than The Note reads the Omaha World Herald (which is, obviously, awfully close). LINK
Bush-Cheney re-elect:
Bush-Cheney campaign staffers now have (703) phone numbers.
The AP's Brad Cain reports that campaign manager Ken Mehlman will be in Oregon "this week to discuss campaign strategy with the party faithful." LINK
"The Western States Republican Leadership Conference, a four-day event, begins Thursday in Portland and is expected to draw some of the country's top Republican strategists."
Here's how Jay Mathews, a senior education reporter for the Washington Post , contextualizes a story about how "John Wilhelmi … the principal of Marshall High School in Portland, Ore" is dealing with an exodus of students due to newly-earned flexibility under the president's No Child Left Behind act.
"Under the federal law, students in public schools such as Marshall, where academic achievement is below state benchmarks, can transfer to better-performing schools. Despite Marshall's modern brick building, experienced faculty and rising test scores, Wilhelmi says 111 of his incoming ninth-graders — more than a third of the class — have decided to shift to other schools, and that number could rise by fall." LINK
Many of students have transferred to "a nearby school with higher average test scores and a popular law and public service program."
The Washington Times reports that the head of a national teacher-college association undermined NCLB by circulating a copy of a confidential teacher certification exam on March 17 at a meeting hosted by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in Palo Alto, California.
"The breach forced the American Board to scuttle its initial field test being developed under a $5-million U.S. Education Department grant, said Kathleen Madigan, the American Board's president." LINK
We've already prepared our inboxes for an onslaught of EDF-EWG-NRDC-LCV-SC press releases in regards to this announcement:
"The Bush administration said Monday that it will exempt the nation's largest national forest from rules banning road construction, logging and other development." LINK
" … in addition to waiving the rules for the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, they will propose allowing governors to ask for exemptions from the conservation rule in other states. Rulemaking to implement the change would begin by early fall."
Media watchers should note the way the Washington Times chooses to lead their story: "The Bush administration upheld yesterday sweeping environmental restrictions on public lands imposed by the Clinton administration, but with the caveat that governors can opt out under certain conditions." LINK
We'll accept submissions as to which is more accurate.
ABC 2004: The Invisible Primary:
Dr. Altman is doing Monkeypox as a prelude to Dean, Edwards, Gephardt, Graham, Kerry, Kucinich, Lieberman, Moseley Braun, and Sharpton. LINK
LIEBERMAN
It's USA Today 's turn to do Lieberman and the Jews — and the headline and overall tone ain't that positive, coming as it does more in analysis than in pride.
"Lieberman is "running in a world beset by terrorism, Middle East violence, anti-Semitism and anti-American sentiment. The Israeli-Palestinian peace process sits at a delicate early stage. All that leads some Jews to wonder if it's the right time for a Jewish president." LINK
"Polls show 93% of Jews approve, but only half that percentage would vote for him in primary."
One Noteworthy item: "When Latino officials gather June 27-28 in Phoenix, he'll speak on Friday — a day otherwise reserved for Republicans."
David Lightman refuses to cede the "How is the Senator turned presidential candidate handling his day job?" beat to John Wagner. Senator Lieberman is tending to some business at home in New Haven today. LINK
"Since the beginning of this year, he has pushed efforts to fund historically black colleges that dot the southern states, urged the Pentagon to help the semiconductor industry, pressed the White House for details on a Texas political scandal and expressed outrage over land policies in Utah."
"Those efforts are largely for voters in key primary and caucus states and raise the question that every officeholder who seeks the presidency has to grapple with: Is he adequately representing the constituents who elected him?"
"He's trying, and he'll be in New Haven today for a rare Connecticut appearance aimed at rallying his political troops and reminding the home folks he still cares."
Mr. Lightman makes sure to include the RNC-friendly missed vote percentage and Senator Lieberman's race down I-35 to the airport to make sure he didn't miss the budget vote.
IOWA
The Boston Herald's Noelle Straub writes that, in Iowa, Dick Gephardt, John Kerry, and Howard Dean "appear to have jockeyed themselves into position as early favorites." LINK
Straub observes the caucuses will "significantly winnow" the field, cites Governor Vilsack's naming of Gephardt, Kerry, and Dean as the "'first-tier'" candidates, and allows that "the battle for Iowa's Democratic activists remains up for grabs."
Straub quotes Dennis Goldford ("chairman of the department of politics and international relations at Drake University in Des Moines") agreeing the above three are the front-runners with "the most active campaigns," with Lieberman and Edwards in the second tier, although Goldford says the race mostly remains "'below the radar screen'" of even those savvy Iowans.
Straub addresses Gephardt's high expectations situation, quoting his Des Moines press secretary Bill Burton: "'We have no control over expectations or polls. We can just do our best''' …
… And checks in to see how the others are keeping Belmont in mind:
Kerry has "recently hired 10 full-time paid staff in Iowa, for a total of 18 in the state," and John Norris had this to say: "'Given the limited number of days he's been here this year, I'm very pleased with the number of supporters we're collecting."
Dean's communication's director Sarah Leonard offers the old "'This campaign is a marathon and not a sprint,'" (so much for the Belmont analogy) and says Dean's staff was the first to visit all 99 Iowa counties.
Lieberman, with just four staffers, is looking for an opening; his state director Ted Osthelder asserts "'Lieberman's campaign got off to a later start, but we're catching up."
DEAN
Back East, we get names of married couples mixed up all the time; it's no big whoop.
But, apparently, in Los Angeles, these things are watched closely.
We aren't sure which Googling monkey it was that created an entry in our Dean section yesterday that had Rob Reiner married to someone named "Melanie."
But we do know that many of our readers, on both coasts told us about our error. (To quote the Dustin Hoffman character speaking to the Sidney Pollack character in "Tootsie," this is a coast too.) LINK
Anyway, Reiner adviser (and proud Arkansan, which is very fashionable now [and again]) Chad Griffin sent us this e-mail:
"If you only knew the calls i've rec'd today. . .'No, rob is still married to Michele. I don't know Melanie. I'm sure she's nice but Rob is happily married to Michele. They live in Brentwood with their three children. But, now that you've called can you please write a $2,000 check for Howard Dean? We will see you on the 18th.'"
GEPHARDT
Congressman Gephardt received the endorsement of a fourth international union yesterday — the Office and Professional Employees International Union in New York. LINK
Add to that the Bricklayers, the Railroad employees, and the Ironworkers.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch's William C. Lhotka reports, "Defeated Republican congressional candidate Bill Federer filed a suit Monday claiming that his rival in the 2000 election, U.S. Rep. Richard Gephardt, had conspired with two campaign aides to discredit him." LINK
"The suit, brought in St. Louis County Circuit Court, is the third court case resulting from an episode between Federer and an intern working for Gephardt, D-St. Louis County."
In case you missed Chrissy Gephardt on Good Morning America yesterday, here's a recap of the interview. LINK
The Boston Globe 's Red Sox Notebook (no relation) reports that Representative Gephardt will attend Thursday's Red Sox/Cardinals game, as he is a "diehard Cardinals fan." LINK
PoliticsNH.com's Pindell reports:
"Dick Gephardt's NH campaign hired three field staffers with diverse political backgrounds. Jason Fried and Nick Watt began today as regional field coordinators. In the last campaign Fried worked on the South Dakota coordinated campaign, especially for the U.S. Senate re-election of Tim Johnson. Watt did field work in Illinois for the Lt. Gov. campaign. Also Claire Wilker comes to New Hampshire from Gephardt's Effective Government PAC in Washington. Wilker started today as the intern/volunteer coordinator. As we announced last week, Gephardt's NH field director Anna Landmark starts her work in New Hampshire today as well." LINK
GRAHAM
According to The Hill's Sam Dealey, Senator Graham has reversed course and cut off access to those now famous Notebooks (no relation) of his.
LINK
"Senator Bob Graham of Florida, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, has done a U-turn and decided to keep the contents of thousands of controversial notebooks (sic) secret."
"Having said the notebooks (sic) would be made available to public and press, his campaign staff now refuses to release copies."
"The senator is 'not going to make any more [Notebooks] accessible to people,' said Paul Anderson, Graham's chief spokesman."
"Some journalists who reviewed the notebooks (sic) before the shutdown suggest that they reveal a striking eccentricity. The Washington Post recently wrote of the senator's 'bizarre habit of scribbling the dullest conceivable minutiae of his life.' The New York Times called them 'obsessive.'"
"Anderson said: 'After the senator did this interview with The New York Times , he basically said — and I think it's the view of the campaign, as well — that it's time to move on. He doesn't want to keep talking about the notebooks (sic). He feels the notebooks (sic) have been written about extensively … [and his] purposes for keeping [them] … have been fully explained.'"
What did Senator Graham know and when did he know it?LINK
KUCINICH
Congressman Kucinich is tying a fundraising solicitation to a "new e-mail brochure" listing 10 elements of Kucinich's "progressive vision." LINK
Big Casino budget politics, Medicare:
The best Medicare story of the day is found in your Wall Street Journal , in which Ms. Lueck and Mr. Rogers have most of the goods on the CBO, the Senate action, the House action, the White House posture, and substance substance substance on the real-world (likely) effects of all this.
The Washington Post 's Goldstein and Dewar have House Republican leaders agreeing to a Medicare prescription drug benefit along the lines of the Senate deal, but with some means testing. LINK
Meanwhile, the New York Times ' Robert Pear is able to lead the paper (again!) by making a big deal about the administration seeming to drop its objection to the Senate's universal drug benefit, even though it seems clear that the dropping is simply being done to move the process along (although the House opposition to a disparate benefit means that full, final dropping seems like only a matter of time). LINK
Big Casino budget politics, taxes:
The Wall Street Journal 's Hitt Notes the White House's (that is, Fleischer's) shift from denouncing the "transfer payment" of the child tax credit for those not paying income tax to urging the House not to get bogged down in passing it.
The New York Times ' David Firestone ignores the administration shift, but reminds the world of the similar 1999 dispute between the then-Governor and House Republicans over the "balance the budget on the backs of the poor" remark. LINK
Firestone suggests that Bill Thomas is mad at Senator Lincoln, and that House GOP leaders aren't too crazy about the pressure from the White House.
In the Los Angeles Times, Janet Hook reports that "President Bush wants to quickly sign legislation that would provide money for low-income families who otherwise wouldn't benefit from the new tax-cut law." LINK
CNBC's Alan Murray uses his Wall Street Journal column to say that "volatile" Bill Thomas has gotten angry at him before, but that the president should side with Grassley over Thomas on tax shelters and corporate loopholes.
Economy:
The New York Times ' David Leonhardt has the kind of longish look at the Mind of Alan Greenspan that used to clog the arteries of all our major papers on a regular basis. LINK
The Clintons of Chappaqua:
The junior Senator from New York was on the short end of an 88-to-1 vote on Michael Chertoff for the Third Circuit. LINK
It took two Los Angeles Times reporters, two researchers, and a trip to New York to discover the fact that Senator Clinton polarizes the electorate but is more complex than either her critics or admirers are willing to admit. LINK
(We kid the Times ; it's a fine article.)
Speaking of complexity, Times colleague Ron Brownstein is a reporter who revels in teasing it out. Here are some excerpts from his review of the book:
"Like almost all mid-career memoirs from public officials, it is as much a political as a literary document. It seems edited not only for style and pace, but with an eye toward how an opponent might use any word in it during a future campaign." LINK
"At times it suffers from the dutiful political positioning of a party platform: While Clinton strongly affirms her support for legalized abortion, for instance, she's quick to defend the rights of 'people of faith' to protest it by peaceful means. And while she identifies with the anti-Vietnam War movement, she makes sure to note (sic) that during her student years she helped put out a fire probably lighted by protesters at the Yale Law School library. You can almost see the political consultant looming over the author's shoulder as they position her: Activist, yes. Extremist, no."
"Above all, she emerges from the book as a complex, three-dimensional figure. She has doubts, uncertainties and regrets. (She nearly breaks into tears at her first meeting with her staff after the collapse of her health-care plan contributed to the Democratic loss of Congress in 1994.) She gets nervous before some appearances. She is awed and inspired by some of the world leaders she meets (Yitzhak Rabin, whom she suggests the former president saw as a father figure, and Nelson Mandela both hover as towering figures in the book)."
"At times inadvertently, she illuminates her weaknesses, particularly a reflex for political combat that compares unfavorably to her husband's brilliance for finding consensus. But she also demonstrates real strengths: shrewdness as a political strategist, commitment as a political activist, and tenacity as both a politician and a human being. Indeed, this self-portrait suggests that Hillary Clinton's greatest strength may be the same as her husband's: the simple ability to persevere through great adversity."
The New York Times ' Michiko Kakutani, naturally, reviews "Living History," referring to it right off the bat as a "wildly hyped new memoir" and maintaining a tone of withering dismissiveness throughout. LINK
Noting the "two leitmotifs" of the author's changing hair and "penchant for blaming enemies," Kakutani writes: "Overall the book has the overprocessed taste of a stump speech, the calculated polish of a string of anecdotes to be delivered on a television chat show."
Kakutani observes last week's Big Leak and Big Interview covered most of the Big Revelations, and sums up the rest with weary disdain:
"'Living History' is a mishmash of pious platitudes about policy (not unlike those found in the author's earlier book 'It Takes a Village'); robotic asides about her official duties in Washington (not unlike those found in her Martha Stewart-esque book 'An Invitation to the White House'); and by now familiar accounts of Hillary Rodham Clinton's metamorphosis over the years from Goldwater girl to liberal student activist to high-powered lawyer to first lady to senator from New York."
Kakutani also derides Clinton's "'sharing'" her way to victimhood, celebrity and redemption. She delivers piercing judgments ("Mrs. Clinton is fond of talking about herself in lofty terms as a symbolic figure") then backs them up with quotes from the book ("'While Bill talked about social change, I embodied it.'" )
Kakutani eventually allows that some of the "asides can be funny," and seems not to have utterly loathed the sections about Clinton's childhood, the "least self-conscious portions" of the book. She concludes, however, by trashing even the audio version as "stale."
Ah, well. Shall we offer up the notion of "critic proof?"
Jake Tapper speed read the book for his NPR listeners. LINK
The Washington Times looks at HRC's Starr bashing and her contention that "Filegate was a dry hole." LINK
The Manchester Union Leader's DiStaso asks friends of Clinton whether she'll pop in the 2004 race. LINK
Rudy Giuliani may be off in the wings plotting the once and future campaign against Hillary Rodham Clinton, but William D. Angel, Jr. isn't waiting. He's fearlessly going head to head with New York's junior senator. LINK
While on the lecture circuit, former Governor Ann Richards said if Hillary Clinton chooses to run for the White House, she would likely win. Governor Richards went on to denounce President Bush's tax cut and she still doesn't seem to be completely past her 1994 loss. LINK
"'When I came in as governor, we were $6 billion in the hole,' she said. 'When I left office, we were $2 billion in the black. If I'd have known I was going to lose to George Bush, I'd have spent every dime.'"
The State relays a Strom Thurmond anecdote from "Living History." At a dinner with the newly elected President Clinton and family, Thurmond debates with himself whether Mrs. Clinton or daughter Chelsea is prettier. LINK
The State's Lee Bandy reports that "No one camped out or stood in line Monday morning to purchase U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton's new book, 'Living History,' but sales were brisk at bookstores in Richland and Lexington counties." LINK
The New York Times ' James Barron covers Hillary Clinton's busy Barnes and Noble book-signing blitz, as she made time to sign and charm, after meeting with reporters at the St. Regis. LINK
Clinton spoke about Clinton ("'He has read it … and he's urging everyone to buy a copy'"); her presidential aspirations (she was coy, as usual); the writing process (longhand, as "'I cannot think on a computer'" ); her sense of herself as a "'private person'" (still intact, despite evidence to the contrary); her fidelity ("'You know … I have to say, the best answer was Rosalynn Carter in her memoir: 'If I hadn't been, I wouldn't tell you.'' ").
The New York tabloids showed a particular interest in the whole fidelity thing.
The New York Post 's Vincent Morris, Jennifer Gould, and Andy Geller joined up to report that Hillary Clinton signed books until her hand was tired, impressed the book-buying crowd, failed to match Howard Stern's 1993 autobiography throng, and, stated at a press conference, albeit in a roundabout way, that she herself remained faithful in the marriage. LINK
The New York Daily News' Joel Siegel also writes that Clinton attracted a large crowd (but not as large as the ones for the Howard Stern and Dennis Rodman signings), but thinks she "quickly answered, 'No'" to the infidelity question. LINK
The New York Times ' Alessandra Stanley thinks Hillary Clinton is a card shark (or is it card sharp?). LINK
The Washington Post 's Linton Weeks stakes out midnight memoir-buying. LINK
The Washington Post 's Lloyd Grove reports, via Mark Leibovich, that Sidney Blumenthal slipped into the Clinton book signing "'just trying to get close enough to wave to her'" but failing that, signed a copy of his own memoir. LINK
Grove also provides Blumenthal's own version of events, via email: "'I did not know Hillary would be there. I went to pick up a magazine that I heard was running a review of my book. . . . While I was talking to some of Hillary's staffers, an elderly couple came up to me, having bought my book in the store and asked me to sign it, which I did.'"
California recall:
The Washington Post 's Sanchez has a nice round-up story, semi-bullish on the recall's prospects. LINK
Politics:
Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post nudges the Westar story along with a tale of a lobbyist being kicked out of a fundraiser by a Member, and a potential source hanging up the phone on a reporter! LINK
And — oops — the key lobbyist source who Eilperin couldn't get on the phone is all over the AP's incremental advance on the record. LINK
The AP's Pete Yost reports, "Engaging in a public spat, Rep. Billy Tauzin, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Westar's former Washington lobbyist disagreed with each other's accounts Monday of how the GOP candidates ended up getting help from Topeka-based Westar Energy."
"On Monday, Tauzin, R-La., said he was unaware of the legislation being sought by Westar until news reports about it last week. Tauzin denied seeking donations from the Kansas utility, declaring through a spokesman that former Westar lobbyist Richard Bornemann made the initial contact with Tauzin's fund-raisers and asked for a schedule of fund-raising events."
"Bornemann, however, said he was simply responding to faxed invitations from the organizers of the eight Tauzin-Barton fund-raising events. Bornemann produced one of the faxed messages to back up his claim."
Meanwhile, the Washington Post ed board gives Tom Edsall a couple of plugs on the story, and urges the Department of Justice to doggedly investigate. LINK
Touting the Mississippi gubernatorial contest as the best of 2003's three, the New York Times ' David Rosenbaum goes to Biloxi for the dateline, to describe Ronnie Musgrove ("Tammy Wynette") versus Haley Barbour (Shelby Foote), with a focus on the latter's lobbying record. LINK
The Jackson Clarion-Ledger's Julie Goodman reports, "In his first campaign stop of the season, Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday pitched Haley Barbour as one of the Republican Party's most effective leaders and helped him score another $150,000 for his war chest." LINK
Goodman Notes that the Vice President "used much of his speech to promote President Bush's tax relief package, his push for civil justice reform and his drive to 'restore dignity and civility to the judicial confirmation process.'"
It's a go for Mitch Daniels and the Indiana gubernatorial race. LINK
The New York Times stays with the story about Senator Craig and the Air Force. LINK
"Preparing for next week's legislative showdown on medical malpractice, Gov. Jeb Bush listened as students at the University of Miami School of Medicine let him know that the high cost of liability insurance might force many of them to move elsewhere when their studies are finished," the Miami Herald reports. LINK
The New York Daily News' 411 tries to unravel Senator Chuck Schumer's raw Spanish and 2005 mayoral endorsement plans, given his comments about Fernando Ferrer at the Puerto Rican Day Parade. LINK
Crime continues to fall in Mayor Bloomberg's New York, writes the New York Times ' Jennifer Steinhauer. LINK
The Washington Post 's Lloyd Grove reports no botox for the lovely Torie Clarke; no dirty dancing for the "polite," of-age Bush twins. LINK
New York Times politics:
Rick Bragg's intern can't shut up. LINK
The New York Post 's Page Six uses the Jayson Blair saga to toss in a MoDo/AaSo reference, and details Blair's alleged, post-Kirtzman movements. LINK
The New York Daily News' Paul D. Colford offers an "exclusive" report that Bill Clinton may have contacted Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. to argue against the resignation of Howell Raines. LINK
Colford writes "When Howell Raines was editorial page editor of The New York Times , he notably did not call for Bill Clinton's resignation over the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Now, Clinton may have returned the favor."
Judicial confirmation battles:
The Wall Street Journal editorial page turns over about 3/5 of its real estate to let Boyden Gray and Douglas Kmiec write separate op-eds on the Senate Democrats filibuster efforts; a close read of both finds no evidence that either man has any knowledge of how Senate Republicans treated Bill Clinton's judicial nominees.
