The Note: Solid As The Rock
WASHINGTON, Nov. 18, 2004 — -- 63 Days Until Inauguration Day
Little Rock, AR has on several occasions in the last 12 years momentarily become the center of the political universe.
We aren't necessarily predicting that when that happens again today it will be happening for the last time in our lifetimes, but there IS that possibility.
The library opening ceremony -- and the whole Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton (?) 41-44 sequencing -- is obviously the centerpiece, but last night's extracurricular festivities spilling out into the streets from the Peabody/Capital corridor down toward the riverfront library area were a prelude to what is going to be a wild day -- and night.
Which is more objectively exciting -- seeing Streisand, Bono, Robin Williams, John Podesta, and Mike McCurry by the same bank of elevators in the Peabody or listening to a sweet conversation with former DNC Party Chair David Wilhelm in which the joshing Notion of his making another bid for the post sounded less and less implausible as the talk went on?
We hear reliably that John Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry were to fly to Little Rock for the library opening with none other than the magical Michael Whouley.
Today's event begins with the dedication at noon ET, at which former President Clinton, Sen. Clinton, President Bush, and former Presidents Carter and Bush will speak. Bono and the Edge will provide musical entertainment, and Air Force F-16s will finish it off with a flyover. LINK
Al Gore (who is very well represented pictorially in the library) is also expected. The Presidents Bush, we would bet you dinner at Doe's, will be at least as gracious about 42 as 43 was at the portrait unveiling several months ago.
The expected crowd of as many as 30,000 has cloudy skies and a 55-degree temperature to look forward to. LINK
At this writing the sun, which was peeking out, has gone back behind the clouds, and it sure looks like it might rain any minute!!
AP's David Hammer has details of the day. LINK
But even that huge crowd, for all the festivities and deal-making, isn't going to get a chance to sit down with President Clinton and talk about the library and his legacy, or get a guided tour from him (though we suspect he'd be a willing tour guide for the masses). Which is why you should tune in tonight for Peter Jennings' exclusive interview with Mr. Clinton.
They discuss his legacy, the future, and his $165 million library, with its collection including 80 million pages of presidential records, 79,000 museum objects and almost two million photographs -- more material than any president has had to date. There is also some very fun stuff at the end.
Tune in to "World News Tonight with Peter Jennings" for a look at the interview, and later for and extended version on "Bill Clinton: A Place in History," a special edition of "Primetime Live," airing at 9:00 pm ET. (Check your local listings.)
Some excerpts from their conversation (LINK):
On Iraq:
"I think that even I underestimated the level of opposition, at least given the troop strength we had there. You know, my position on the Iraq War was different from almost everybody else's that I've heard talk. I supported giving the president the authority to take action against Saddam Hussein if he did not cooperate with the U.N. inspectors, or if he was found to have had weapons of mass destruction he wouldn't give up. I did believe that the administration made a mistake going to war when they did, and that's what alienated the world. Most Americans still haven't focused on this."
"We as America, we don't need to look like an occupying power. We don't need to be trying to rig the outcome. But if they're capable of both self-government and security, then I think, in the end, it could still be a net plus for the region. And that is what I think our goal ought to be. You know, I don't follow it on a day-to-day basis. I'm not there. I'm concerned about it."
On his attempts to capture Osama bin Laden:
"If you look at the 9/11 Commission's report about what we did, and how we prepared for, we had 9/11-style threats for the millennium. And the extent of our preparations, and the work we did, the number of terrorists we brought to justice, the 20 al Qaeda cells we broke up, if you look at all that, and the fact that we apparently still came closer to getting bin Laden than anybody has since, even though they have a lot more options -- military options -- than we had -- I wish that I had gotten him."
On his health after undergoing heart bypass surgery in September:
"As far as I know, I'm doing well. I'm walking a mile a day, uphill, vigorously. I still get tired easily, I haven't recovered my stamina. But everybody who's done this says I will. So I'm just waiting, and after the library dedication, Hillary and I are going to try to get a little rest between now and Thanksgiving, and try to get my strength back."
On his changed view of life:
"I was always working too hard and too long. And so, today, when I take these hourly walks that are part of my recovery, you know, and I walk past 40 trees, I can probably tell you what color 30 of them were. You know, I find birds that I used to know, I'm more alive to just the pace of daily life than I used to be, and I'm very grateful for things that are easy to take for granted."
With all the journalistic talent devoted to library coverage, there are sure to be a fair number of highs and lows over the course of the day beyond Mr. Jennings' interview.
But we do have an early winner -- or, at least, a leader.
While we always love to hear the sound of Hillary Clinton's musical laugh, kudos to CNN's Soledad O'Brien for respectfully (but firmly) suggesting to the Senator that a direct answer -- rather than her trademark chuckle -- would be more appropriate when she asked her about Tom DeLay.
But there is other good coverage too, including from the New York Times' Kit Seelye, who shows off her talents as tour guide on a walk through. She Notes the museum acknowledges "Mr. Clinton's relationship with Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern, much as his memoir did, as a personal lapse, and it casts the impeachment that resulted as a symptom of a power struggle with the Republicans in Congress." LINK
But Little Rock isn't the only game in politics today. The Republican Governors Association is holding their conference in New Orleans, and boldface names attending include Mitt Romney, Bill Owens, Mike Huckabee, Haley Barbour, and Mitch Daniels. No Schwarzenegger or Bush. (Either one of them.) Ken Mehlman leads a bragging (sorry, "discussion") session on the 2004 election during today's plenary. Tom Ridge is tentatively scheduled to speak Friday.
And on the Dem side . . .
As you probably know, the DNC has scheduled an executive committee meeting in Orlando piggybacking on the state chairs gathering the morning of Friday, Dec. 10.
The Association of State Democratic Chairs will begin its business on Friday afternoon and carry over into Saturday. First up on Friday will be an election analysis session. Pollsters (unnamed at this point) and NCEC representatives will be on hand to provide a "no spin candid assessment" of the 2004 election according to Mark Brewer, the chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, the ASDC's chief.
Also on Friday there will be a forum for DNC chair candidates to make a presentation and subject themselves to Q&A from the attendees. Every possible candidate that has contacted Brewer's office has been very careful to state that they are not yet a candidate for the job. Three potential candidates (or their staffers) have contacted Brewer's staff to reserve a slot. They are Gov. Vilsack, Gov. Dean, and Mayor Webb.
On Saturday there will be a session among the attendees to discuss what they learned from Friday's forum and to decide whether or not they would like to endorse a DNC chair candidate as a group.
Brewer pointed out that the state party chairs and vice-chairs make up about 25 percent of the DNC and if they decided to support one candidate en masse that could prove to be a pretty pivotal voting bloc.
All business is expected to conclude by Saturday at 5:00 pm ET.
The gathering will take place at the Wyndham Palace Resort & Spa in Orlando, FL.
Other nuggets:
-- One top Democratic insider claims that if Alexis Herman is serious about a DNC bid, the position is hers for the taking . . . even with the support of some of the party establishment having coalesced around Tom Vilsack. Another insider on the ground in Little Rock (OK, which party insider isn't in Little Rock?) has heard her name mentioned often in cocktail conversations, as the Ron Brown days are recalled.
--Leo Hindery made the rounds of the Hill yesterday . . . he's already met with Senate minority leader Harry Reid. We hear he is getting a respectful hearing . . . (By the way, and speaking of respectful, in yesterday's edition of The Note we incorrectly spelled Mr. Hindery's name. We regret the error.)
--And does young Donnie Fowler want to become a chief operating officer figure at the DNC? "No," he told The Note yesterday. But he doesn't rule out a bid for the chairmanship itself: "There are lots of us younger guys with a lot of ideas and a tremendous amount of experience about getting this party outside the conventional wisdom web and back to the states," he told us.
Sen. Tom Harkin told Iowa reporters -- among them Jane Norman of the Des Moines Register -- on Wednesday that Gov. Tom Vilsack is gaining support for the DNC chairmanship. LINK
And congrats to the DMR for one snazzy Web redesign!
The New York Times' Carl Hulse reports Hill Republicans delivered a very special two-month-early Valentine to Tom DeLay Wednesday by ditching a rule that required a member of their leadership to step out of the ranks if indicted. Hulse Notes, "The Republicans' old rule was adopted in August 1993 to put a spotlight on the legal troubles of prominent Democrats." But conviction is still a whole 'nother ball of wax. LINK
The Washington Post's Chuck Babington and Helen Dewar write that Republicans are feeling their oats in Congress with changes in House ethics rules, and changes to filibuster rules in the Senate. LINK
More from the Los Angeles Times' Richard Simon. LINK
The Washington Post's Helen Dewar and Dan Morgan keep the scorecard of the GOP's Senate leadership -- including the election of Sen. Elizabeth Dole as head of the NRSC. LINK
We guess the idea of two Brooklyn-bred Jews debating one another in a September 2006 Sunday show segment proved to good to be true.
Could be eating their own, could endanger the likelihood of a Kerry ally as DNC chairman, or could be a sign that the 2008 option for John Kerry might be tougher than some think. AP's Ron Fournier looks at how Democratic Party leaders are going asking why the Senator still had around $15 million in the bank when the campaign ended, instead of giving it to down-ballot Democrats. LINK
The handling of this in every particular (including the current press pushback) is a good metaphor/coda for the campaign, wethinks.
Despite Sen. Kerry's first post-election speech on the Senate floor, lawmakers voted Wednesday to raise the debt ceiling. LINK
All in all it was a busy day on the Hill. In addition, Congress set some goals for curbing spending by slowing growth in federal education and non-defense scientific research spending, reports David Rogers in the Wall Street Journal. LINK
In a story that sings to the tune of "Brother Can You Spare a Dime?," the New York Times' Edmund Andrews writes, "With no end in sight to the huge annual budget deficits, which hit a record of $412 billion this year, lawmakers predicted on Wednesday that the new ceiling would probably have to be raised again in about a year." LINK
The Los Angeles Times has a good look at the apparent theoretical underpinnings of the new Bush government. LINK
If you are a mid-level political appointee, dissatisfied with or generally feeling stagnant in your career -- yesterday's Cabinet appointment may have made it seem event MORE like really smart thing to have done in the '90s would have been to work for the Governor of Texas. Presidential advisor Margaret Spellings was named as a replacement for Rod Paige to head up the Department of Education Wednesday. Diane Jean Schemo's article appears along side a picture of the POTUS as he self-satisfactorily beams at his choice of appointing the smartest girl in school. LINK
But in addition to passing the Texas test, Spellings also scores high for playing nice with Democrats. USA Today profiles Spellings too. LINK
As does the Washington Post's Michael Dobbs. LINK
As for reports that the White House is interested in Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson (D) to become Secretary of Agriculture, according to one knowledgeable source, Nelson and Rove talked by phone last Friday and Rove asked him if he would be interested in the job.
There was not a straight-out offer.
Nelson asked for time to think about it.
They talked again "a couple of days ago" and they discussed it further. Nelson expressed reservations about it and they agreed to talk again.
Again: no offer has been made, we are told.
Sen. Chuck Grassley has his own favorite for the nomination. LINK
The Wall Street Journal's Kelly Rayburn commemorates the "first wave of post-Election Day litigation" challenging the ballot measures to ban same-sex marriage. "Lawsuits already have been filed in Kentucky, Georgia and Oklahoma to overturn antigay-marriage measures. States are bracing for what some lawyers expect will be a raft of additional suits over the extent to which the marriage bans restrict marriage-like benefits that companies and public agencies offer unmarried couples." LINK
The Wall Street Journal reports Washington voters will have to wait a full week to find out who their next governor is -- "a stunning scenario considering the experts never thought it would be this close. Ms. Gregoire was considered the favorite." In case you are wondering what's taking so long, Washington and Alaska allow voters to mail ballots on Election Day, it took a few days for all the votes to trickle in. LINK
USA Today Notes the President seems to "faire le bise" a lot more lately. LINK
Matt Cooper's subpoena stands for now. LINK