7/22/02
They’re back!
Bruce Lindsey, former President Clinton’s closest confidante and trusted advisor, is headed back to Little Rock to rejoin the firm that bears his father’s name–Wright, Lindsey & Jennings. Lindsey will commute between Little Rock (he recently bought a house there) and the nation’s capital and will continue to act as a consultant to the Clinton presidential library. One Democratic insider says Lindsey also will be Clinton's eyes and ears in Arkansas political circles. Clintonites hope that Lindsey’s move will rejuvenate the state Democratic party, which they say has been in total disarray and lacking focus since Clinton moved to Washington with almost every key Arkansas Democrat in tow. One short-term goal: Dismantle the Governor Mike Huckabee power machine, which has only gained more steam since the Republicans won the White House. “Republicans should be scared,” says one Democratic insider.

7/18/02
Clinton still 'fundraiser-in-chief"
Bill Clinton returns to Little Rock next week for a series of fundraisers. About time, say some Arkansas Democrats. Still, they can't complain too much. His appearance at a fundraiser for Democratic gubernatorial nominee, and old Clinton pal, Jimmie Lou Fisher will net her close to $300,000 and edge her closer to competing with Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who has more than $1 million in the bank. He also appears at a fundraiser with the state's seven living governors to help renovate the Arkansas governor's mansion, where Clinton lived for 12 years. The last time he appeared with the governors in 1992, reports our Suzi Parker, he made sure he stood out. While they all wore dark suits, Clinton wore a tan one. Now some wonder if he'll do the same thing next week when donors pay $1,000 for a picture with the former guvs.

Fisher's Web site: http://www.jimmieloufisher.com/

Huckabee's Web site: http://www.huckabeeforarkansas.org/

Tour the Arkansas governor's mansion: http://www.accessarkansas.org/governor/

7/17/02
Mostly talk, little action for Hill interns
You might think in these days of Washington sex scandals that all interns fool around, but a new survey finds that it's mostly talk. In fact, while 70 percent of congressional interns say it's common for them to "hook up" with one another after a night of carousing, 69 percent of the interns polled say they've never done it. The poll, done for the Independent Women's Forum, also found that interoffice relationships are rare in Hill offices. Thirty-one percent of those polled said they had witnessed staffers flirting with interns.
• See the poll here: http://www.shethinks.org/articles/an00214.cfm

7/16/02
Nobody jerks the United States around
From the start, the Bush administration took a harder line on communist North Korea than the Clinton gang. It declared Pyongyang a founding member of the "axis of evil," and President Bush's foreign policy aides took their sweet time just to agree to restart security talks initiated under President Clinton. But the first serious effort to commence a high-level dialogue has failed, and diplomatic reporter Thomas Omestad has the story of why. It began last month when State Department officials approached North Korea though its United Nations mission in New York. Washington asked for good dates to have James Kelly, assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, visit. Pyongyang said come "anytime," says a source. State set a July 10 date, but North Korea never responded, annoying the Bush team. Then, on June 29, a North Korean naval boat fired on a South Korean patrol boat and killed four sailors. The U.S. called it "a provocation," and three days later nixed the Kelly visit. In fact, miffed at North Korea for ignoring Washington and inflaming relations with the attack, State said that U.S. officials didn't give an alternative date in the fall, saying instead that "we'll get back to you" on a future meeting. "We're not going to let them jerk us around," says a senior official. There are "no rewards for bad behavior."

7/11/02
One hardworking mom
Our old PR pal Kristi Hamrick sent an E-mail Wednesday pressing for a story about how conservative, antiabortion activist Gary Bauer was forming a pro-Israel coalition of religious leaders. Seems the former presidential candidate and head of American Values has organized a pro-Israel group of Jews and Christians. But to get more info, she suggested we call an aide for any follow-up because she was in labor and "it could happen" at any time. Talk about dedication. "There's pro-family and then there's PRO-FAMILY," she says. "I'm laughing on the inside." See Bauer's letter to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon here.

7/10/02
O'Neill hits inside traders–like Bush
One of the beauties of Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill is he says what's on his mind, even if the boss doesn't like it. Take earlier Wednesday. He was sipping black coffee with a handful of reporters when one asked about the controversy over President Bush's mishandling of paperwork from a 1990, $848,000 sale of stock in an oil firm he worked for. Seems he failed to file the required Form 4, which reports the transaction, in time. O'Neill, also a former corporate boss, essentially said Bush had no excuse. "No, it's not acceptable," he said, "but it does happen." Like when? He gave an example of an executive "traveling in China," which Bush wasn't doing at the time. Then O'Neill called it practically treason for any corporate bosses to sell stock in their company, something he never did as boss of Alcoa for 12 years. Reason: The best way to demonstrate faith in a company and an exec's vision is to stick with the stock. Or, in his words, have "his legs tied to the ship."

7/9/02
Activists hit Clinton PR offensive
It was really just the beginning of the crisis. But when Bill Clinton ran for office in 1992, he knew a good issue when he saw it so he seized on AIDS. He gave lots of promises, many of which he fulfilled. But it's the big ones he didn't handle right that will dog him as he tries to claim AIDS as his post-presidential issue. ACT UP, the Aids Coalition To Unleash Power, is calling on participants at the world AIDS conference in Barcelona, Spain, to boycott the former president's address. "You can send a strong message to current politicians and policy makers that real leadership matters," says Wayne Turner of the influential active Washington, D.C., chapter. In a memo to participants, he adds, "Please turn your back on Clinton. He hasn't earned the right to address an International AIDS Conference." Clinton supporters, however, note that he was the first president to take the issue seriously and claim that the politics of AIDS handcuffed efforts for stronger action. Turner lists several disappointments in his memo, reprinted here.

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