Ben Wattenberg
http://www.jewishworldreview.com -- "Suddenly this spring, the Clinton White House has found itself home not to one ambitious agenda but to three. And aides say that is making it a very complicated place to work.
Three powerful political personalities are striding across the political stage, each one supported by a coterie of advisers more loyal to their particular leader than the trio as a whole.." -- The Washington Post, May 30, 1999
Washington, D.C., June 4 -- In the wake of moderate Ehud Barak's election as
Israeli Prime Minister, senior administration officials are promising a
renewed push to jumpstart stalled Mideast peace negotiations.
A Clinton-brokered peace in the region "puts a foreign policy win on the boards" for a president focused on his place in history and battered by plunging public support for the U.S.-led air campaign against Yugoslavia, explained one official, adding, "It's the legacy, stupid."... "IT'S MY TURN!: Hills Bills, She's In!" (Headline, New York Post, July 5, 1999)
"FIRST STRIKE AT FIRST MATE: Hizzoner Questions Hil Support for 'PLO
State'" (Headline, New York Post, July 6,1999)
Washington, D.C., July 7 -- Singed by New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's
attack on first lady and New York Senate candidate Hillary Clinton for
supporting Palestinian statehood in a speech several years ago, aides to the
first lady are waging a quiet backstage campaign to ease U.S. pressure on
Israel to make territorial concessions in Mideast peace talks.
"It's the 'PLO State-gate' flap thing," explained a senior national security official. "Hillaryland is telling the legacy people to throttle back on Barak, which means the peace process loses momentum and worst-case, the Barak window closes."...
Washington, D.C., July 8 -- Amid reports of an emerging rift between a White
House "legacy wing" committed to rapid progress in Mideast peace talks and
advisers to New York Senate candidate Hillary Clinton, aides to Vice
President Al Gore wrestled with the political implications of the
internecine strife for his own campaign, as it struggles to gain traction.
"It's lose-lose," said a source familiar with Gore's dilemma. "He doesn't
want to seem disloyal to the president, but he can't hand New York to
Bradley on a platter. Al is slapping himself on both sides of the face, just
torn. You guys wonder why he can't relax?"...
Des Moines, July 9 -- In a speech last night to Story County Democrats,
Democratic dark-horse candidate Bill Bradley said that while it is "too
early" to offer specifics on Middle East peace negotiations, voters "want a
nominee -- whoever he is -- who is not afraid to be his own man."...
Washington, D.C. August 4 -- In a bid to overcome the lingering effects of
the accumulated Clinton scandals, Al Gore will deliver a series of addresses
on "Faith, Family and Character," aides to the vice president said today.
Calling the planned addresses a "serious intellectual exploration," a Gore
policy adviser said the candidate "hopes to outline his vision of a
forward-looking morality for the early third millennium firmly rooted in the
monotheistic faith-based systems of the early first millennium."
But there is an element of political calculation in the vice presidential "big think," a senior Gore campaign aide admitted. "It lets him dump some Clinton scandal baggage off the balloon and, two, engage (Texas Governor George) W (. Bush) in the 'compassion' arena," explained the campaign aide...
Washington, D.C., August 7 -- President Clinton and first lady Hillary
Clinton are "hurt and uncomprehending" according to a long-time friend
following press leaks implying that Vice President Al Gore is looking for
ways to distance himself from the first couple's ethics record...
Washington, D.C., August 10 -- Newspaper and network news editors are in a
quandary over how to handle publication by Internet magazine Salon of a
grainy and shadowed photograph of what appears to be a younger, less
inhibited Texas Governor George W. Bush.
Depicting the GOP presidential favorite atop what appears to be a bar performing what an accompanying article calls a "Risky Business dance," the unauthenticated photo...
Austin, Texas, August 11 -- A peeved George W. Bush today dismissed reports
of a compromising Internet photo as "just more dirt from the firm of
Clinton, Clinton, Flynton and Gore."
In his first comments about the grainy photo published by Internet magazine Salon, the GOP frontrunner told reporters, in a veiled jab at Gore, "In my monotheistic, faith-based system, we believe that people who live in glass houses..."
Washington, D.C., August 12 -- Stung by angry charges of collusion between
Gore campaign aides and Internet magazine Salon that have dredged up
unwelcome memories of the impeachment saga, Vice President Al Gore is
huddling with top campaign advisers for what one termed a "soup to nuts
strategic reassessment" of the Democratic frontrunner's troubled campaign.
"Everything is on the table," said the Gore aide. "Legacy vs. campaign politics, the national campaign vs. the New York race, loyalty vs. being his own man -- we are dissecting, I mean debugging this campaign. We will turn it around."
Another aide was less sanguine. "The tactical stuff we can tweak. But we're
left with the strategic problem: basically, you got three powerful political
personalities striding across the political stage, each one supported by a
coterie of advisers more loyal to their particular leader than the trio as a
Ben Wattenberg is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and is the moderator of PBS's "Think Tank."
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05/17/99: The contribution revolution
05/10/99: 'MacArthur' not wanted for Belgrade
05/03/99: Reality: home and abroad
04/26/99: John McCain: born leader
04/19/99: Gore in the balance
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04/05/99: Lessons of Vietnam, and Serbia
03/26/99: Politics as dog food
03/19/99: Bush-whacked Bush-whackers
03/08/99: Axioms for good politicians
02/26/99: L.A., D.C. try to get back to the past
02/23/99: The sprawl brawl
02/11/99: Celebrated lives writ short
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01/25/99: The Vast Right-wing conspiracy and Danny Williams: The last word (hopefully)
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11/25/98: Polling the Pilgrims
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9/24/98: American civic engagement thriving
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9/09/98: Draft Joe Lieberman!
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8/28/98: McGwire. Maris. Ruth. Clinton.
8/20/98: Is consuming a Big Mac eating?