Entries for June 03, 2007

JOE CIARDIELLO FOR USN&WR

In his failure to beat President Bush in 2004, Sen. John Kerry was written off by many Democrats for bumbling his campaign and, when he mulled running again, was pummeled by strategists who said his time was over. Facing irrelevancy, he could have followed the path of another Massachusetts Democratic nominee, Michael Dukakis, and faded away. Instead Kerry — running for re-election — chose the road of his Senate pal Edward Kennedy, who's become the party's elder statesman despite his 1980 primary loss to unpopular President Carter.

Among his Senate moves, Kerry's taken a lead on pushing for troop withdrawal deadlines in Iraq, championed military pay hikes, promoted action on climate change, with his wife penned an environmental hit This Moment on Earth, and used his remarkable E-mail list of 3 million addresses to raise $100,000 in April alone for Democratic Senate candidates. It's not been perfect: Recall when he said kids could either work hard in school or "get stuck in Iraq"? Says a friend: "He's a work in progress."

Party strategist Chris Lehane thinks Kerry's comeback is akin to Al Gore's. "The last two nominees have created their own platforms to affect the type of change that they believe in," he says. Former Gore aide Donna Brazile sees a larger story at work: "I am willing to bet that some voters may like to see Kerry reappear on the national stage."

Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign is trying to figure out a way to feature former first daughter Chelsea on the campaign trail. "There have been lots of discussions," says an insider. Once protected from public scrutiny, the 27-year-old is seen as a "keen asset and symbol of family values," we're told. And, adds an adviser, a role is expected. "You always see the older kids. Gore, Kerry, Mondale all did it."

Nearly 5,600 "friends" have joined a MySpace site that aims to draft Robert F. Kennedy Jr. into the presidential race, the latest sign that not all voters are satisfied with the current Democratic crop. Now the site's host has another idea: Add Ron Reagan Jr. to the ticket. They call it the "nonpolitical ticket." Don't laugh: Draft movements brought Wesley Clark to the 2004 race and Fred Thompson is wowed by his.

Elaine Chao celebrated becoming the second longest serving labor secretary in a classy way. The day she passed his record of 6.3 years, she called former Johnson Labor Secretary Willard Wirtz to compare notes on the job. Wirtz, now 95, and Chao, a buff of labor history, talked about the good old days, and she even told him of hearing Wirtz talk about a steel strike on the Johnson White House tapes. "I didn't even know I was being recorded," Wirtz says. "We had a terrific chat," says Chao. "I hope that I can be as witty at 75 as he is at 95." For the record, the longest serving labor boss: Frances Perkinsduring FDR's four terms.

Ronald Reagan sure had a bright team of writers to draft his unique words, but now we've got proof that the Gipper was pretty good on his own when it came to tuning up those speeches. It's a rare hand-edited text of one of Reagan's most famous and memorable addresses: "The Great Communicator's" 1988 goodbye at the Republican National Convention. Our friend Bill Panagopulos of Alexander Autographs, the auction house of Americana and political memorabilia, says it's the first annotated Reagan speech he's ever seen, and he's including it in his June 16-17 live auction at alexautographs.com. The price could hit $8,000. It appears that some of Reagan's famous lines were among his edits, like why America is great: because it has 200 flavors of ice cream. The edits also reveal the beginnings of Reagan's Alzheimer's: misspellings, misplaced punctuation, and labored handwriting.

We probably didn't need a poll to tell us that the Simpsons, Will & Grace, and MTV aren't exactly morally inspiring. But it might be worse than you thought. The Media Research Center's Culture and Media Institute provided us with an extensive new poll that says those who watch four hours nightly volunteer less, are more likely to cheat on a restaurant tab, and accept less personal responsibility for things like retirement. They're cool with divorce, premarital sex, and skipping church. The reason: 73 percent say Hollywood hurts traditional moral values.

With Suzi Parker

"I dream of playing basketball."

"I feel like I've been attending my own funeral."

"The Mormonism thing is really suspect, but they'll take it at this point. I mean, who else do they have? Crazy [Rudy] Giuliani and [John] McCain, who's completely insane?"

"We've kept our marriage secret for over a decade now."

Sources: New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Herald, Wall Street Journal

Get ready for the comparisons between Nancy Reagan and likely GOP presidential candidate Fred Thompson's wife, Jeri."America fell in love with the Reagans and they'll do it with Fred and Jeri," says a pal. Like Nancy, Jeri is her husband's adoring, hand-holding top advise -- and even his driver. She's also elegant, like Nancy. So much so that in preparation for Thompson's early July entry into the race, Jeri suggested to friends that she might "frump it up," to which Fred barked a "Hell no."

JACK OHMAN / TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES / THE OREGONIAN

Poker players are dealing a straight flush for the lawmaker who's championing their fight to bring back legal Internet gambling: Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley of Vegas. "Shelley has been a longtime supporter of our rights as poker players and a strong voice in Washington, D.C., on our behalf," says Michael Bolcerek, president of the Poker Players Alliance. How good a friend of gamblers, you ask? So good that Bolcerek is hosting a June 9 poker tourney at Bally's Hotel and Casino to benefit her. The deal: The first 50 players to pony up $2,000-yes, that's $100,000 in all-get to play. The winner receives a $10,000 seat at the televised World Series of Poker, second place gets an official poker table, and third receives a private lesson with card legend Phil Gordon.