Cheney Defends Bush In a "Major" Way
— -- Dick Cheney is still defending George W. Bush’s use of a major-league vulgarity — and is accusing Al Gore of an oil-industry conflict of interest. That and more from ABCNEWS troops in the field.
ABCNEWS.comSept. 26
Sept. 26— Running mate Dick Cheney remains unashamed of GOP presidential candidate George W. Bush’s use of a vulgarity to describe a New York Times reporter.
Appearing on a radio show in Detroit this morning, Cheney defended the Labor Day incident in which Bush called Times reporter Adam Clymer a “major-league a------.” At the time, Cheney responded, “Oh yeah, big time.”
“We believe very much in a free press and they get to write whatever they want to write,” Cheney said. “But I think it’s not unexpected or shouldn’t be unexpected that those of us who are on the receiving end have strong feelings about what’s written sometimes, especially if it’s inaccurate, as it often was with Mr. Clymer.”
Cheney appeared to be referring to articles Clymer had written about Bush’s record as Texas governor. Cheney has also disputed a Clymer report about the extent of his charitable contributions.
“We express ourselves to one another in that vein,” Cheney said. ’It was not intended as a public comment, it was picked up by a boom mike from the press section. But the governor’s entitled to his views and I’m entitled to agree or disagree with him on that subject. I thought far more was made of it than it warranted.”
For the record, the comment in question was made into an open microphone on the podium where Bush was about to begin speaking.
— Eileen McMenamin, ABCNEWS
Daschle Lends Lieberman Support
Unlike some of his colleagues, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota said today he isn’t about to press Sen. Joseph Lieberman into giving up his Senate campaign.
Lieberman, the Democratic vice-presidential candidate, has elected to keep running for re-election in his home state of Connecticut in addition to being on the national ticket.
But while a few Democratic senators have suggested Lieberman consider abandoning his Connecticut campaign, Daschle said today he respects Liberman and will not try to change his mind.
Some Democrats are concerned that re-election for Lieberman, an overwhelming favorite to win, could cost them control of the Senate. If elected vice-president at the same time, he would be forced to give up his Senate seat, leaving Connecticut’s Republican governor to choose a temporary replacement.
Democrats now hold 46 of the 100 seats in the Senate.
—A.B. Stoddard, ABCNEWS
Pot, Meet Kettle
In what might best be described as a Jedi mind-trick, Dick Cheney has accused Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore of a “conflict of interest” regarding his family’s financial holdings in Occidental Petroleum.
“He should either recuse himself from any further participation in making decisions or policy, with respect to energy policy. Or, the alternative would be for the trust to divest itself of its holdings in Occidental Petroleum to resolve any conflict of interest,” Cheney said Monday after a visit to the Eagle Tool and Machine company in Springfield, Ohio.
After being chosen as Bush’s running mate on the Republican ticket, Cheney only reluctantly parted with shares in the Dallas-based Halliburton Co., the world’s biggest energy-services company, which Cheney headed until being tapped for the Republican ticket.
“The end of June, he [Gore] advocated the extension of a moratorium on paying royalties by companies drilling in the Gulf of Mexico,” said Cheney. “At the time that he did this, it was clear that perhaps the biggest beneficiary of that proposed extension of the moratorium was Occidental Petroleum.”
When asked if he was merely striking back because the Democrats have been accusing him of a conflict of interest for his positions on increased domestic oil production, Cheney said, “I’ve severed my ties with Halliburton. And I’m not a public official — he is.”
—Eileen McMenamin, ABCNEWS
Sign Language
Democratic nominee Al Gore’s new booklet, “Medicare: at the Crossroads,” does not incorporate the otherwise ubiquitous Gore campaign word “families” into its title.
Why not? It seems the Gore campaign staff is no longer using the word “families” in large signs since the introduction of his economic plan “Prosperity for America’s Families.”
At a campaign event where the vice president outlined his economic plan, one camera shot included Gore speaking while the frame captured only the last four letters of that title — “lies.”
Which brought to mind Gore’s education meeting in a library two weeks ago — under the library’s section label: “Fiction.”
—Dana Hill, ABCNEWS
The English Patient
George W. Bush’s struggles with the English language continued Monday, albeit in a lower key than on some past occasions.
Asked at a town hall meeting in Portland, Ore., whether he would forfeit U.S. sovereignty to the United Nations, if elected President, Bush promised he would not, explaining, “I view the U.N. as an opportunity for people to vent.”
After some rumblings of laughter, Bush explained, “I say that not facetiously. I mean it’s a chance for the world to come together and discuss and to dialogue.” He added that the United Nations can occasionally be useful for humanitarian and peacekeeping purposes.
Later, asked about the environment, Bush noted that landowners are the ones who are “making sure that land is pristine and functionable.”
Bush seems to have adopted the habit of adding the suffix “-able” to words instead of “-al.” Earlier this month, he denied that a pro-Bush TV ad contained a “subliminable” message.
And at a later event in Spokane, Wash., Bush seemed to inadvertently grant statehood to the District of Columbia. Talking about the environment, Bush said, “The people who care more about that land, are the hard-working farmers and ranchers of your part of the state of Washington, D.C.”
—John Berman, ABCNEWS