5/22/02
Scare-tactic smoking gun
Republican congressional leaders are warning Democrats that they plan to rat out political lies and attacks in the upcoming midterm elections. "This is not the good old says where you throw this all up and see what sticks," says Rep. Tom Davis, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. "If they yell and hit us below the belt, we'll hit them in the eye." For evidence, Davis on Wednesday released the copy of a Democratic E-mail revealed here Tuesday in which a staffer for Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur boasts of wrongly hyping an attack on President Bush's Social Security reform plan. The topic is a draft editorial on the Bush program about which legislative aide Julie Little writes, "not entirely accurate." Then she adds, "Talk about scaring seniors–this may be a little over the top. But it is sooo fun to bash Republicans." Little says that "it's highly unlikely" she wrote the inflammatory language. How did the Republicans get the March 26 E-mail? Davis says it was accidentally sent to a GOP staffer with the same last name as one of the Democratic staffers.

• Read the E-mail.

See what the Republicans say:
• National Republican Congressional Committee news bulletin
• NRCC supplemental memo

5/21/02
'Talk about scaring seniors'
You've seen it dozens of times: A sensitive E-mail gets sent to the wrong person, causing titters and embarrassment around the office. Well, the Republican leadership says it's got the goods on a Democratic attempt to inaccurately bash President Bush on taxes and Social Security. Whispers was provided an E-mail of a Democratic leadership draft editorial done in late March in which Bush is accused of jeopardizing Social Security. That's nothing new: Bush's plan to let Americans invest a tiny amount of the Social Security payroll tax in stocks has been accused of being dangerous by most of the leadership. What caught the Republicans' attention was the language a congressional staffer used to describe the editorial in her E-mail. Notably, the staffer, who reviewed the item for legislative accuracy, wrote "not entirely accurate." Then she added: "Talk about scaring seniors–this may be a little over the top. But it is sooo fun to bash Republicans."

Under the rules agreed to by Whispers, the staffers or lawmaker they work for can't be immediately identified. But when contacted, the staffer said that while her office was writing editorial drafts on Social Security in March, the time of the E-mail, "it's highly unlikely" that she wrote the inflammatory language.

How did the Republicans get the March 26 E-mail? We're told it was accidentally sent to a GOP staffer with the same last name as one of the Democratic staffers.

5/14/02
Friends worry about Lady Bird’s voice
It’s been nearly two weeks since former first lady Lady Bird Johnson suffered a stroke, but she remains unable to speak and now friends worry that she may never recover her voice. Former Lyndon Johnson aide and Lady Bird fan Jack Valenti says the first 48 hours are critical. He cited the recovery of his pal Kirk Douglas, who began speaking within two days after his stroke. “That has not happened to her,” says Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association. At a breakfast during which the fit and trim lobbyist munched on strawberries, Valenti became misty-eyed when recalling his days with Mrs. Johnson. “I am so biased,” he said. “She was never on stage ... there were no imperial airs.” He credits her with making LBJ strong. “She was an anchor for LBJ,” he said. “Without her he would have been crippled.”

See the LBJ Library at: http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/

5/9/02
Dan Quayle on Ozzy Osbourne
Uh-oh, here we go again: Dan Quayle taking on a pop culture TV show. Almost to the day of the 10-year anniversary of his famous speech criticizing the sitcom Murphy Brown, Quayle got a chance Thursday to take on the R-rated MTV hit, The Osbournes. But he didn’t say what you’d expect. Sure, it's raunchy and full of deleted expletives, he says, but the Ozzes are still a loving family. Or, said Quayle, choosing his words carefully, “an intact family ... involved with their children.” In fact, he said, “There are some positive things you can get out of this crazy family.” Such as: Ozzy has led a morally corrupt life, which he now wants his two kids to avoid–especially when it comes to using booze and drugs. And, unlike Murphy Brown, which Quayle had criticized for dismissing fatherhood by glorifying single motherhood, the Osbournes are still married. Nonetheless, he concedes that the Osbournes are “a little different from our household.” Quayle's comments came during a National Press Club appearance.

5/7/02
Bertha flies the coop
Bertha the Duck, Secretary of State Colin Powell's greeter, has flown the coop–with her eight little ones. Bertha is the mallard hen who laid her eggs in a cement planter used to keep likely car-bombers away from the department's diplomatic entrance. She was discovered two weeks ago by a bomb-sniffing dog who had its nose pecked when sniffing in the plants Bertha was using as camouflage. State officials had planned an elaborate ceremony for the time when Bertha's babies were born and pushed out of the nest to a nearby garden pool. But they hatched Sunday afternoon and only guards were around to watch the parade. Powell was informed of the event Monday. "What?" he said repeating a reporter's question. "The ducks are gone?" Then he pouted.

5/2/02
Lessons on selling prescription drugs
Class, today we get a lesson on just how the political sausage is made in Washington, D.C. Our teacher is GOP pollster and language tester Frank Luntz, who has just wrapped up work on his latest poll, this one on how to sell the Republican prescription drug plan. The bottom line in the memo he's sending around is DO SOMETHING. If Republicans sit around and gripe about the Democratic plan, he adds, the GOP and not Democrats will be blamed in the fall elections. But just as important is the language used to pitch the plan, and here Luntz has some suggestions. For example: What do you call the fund? He polled an unusually large group of 1,500 in several states where critical Senate races are occurring this fall. He tested four names and got these results: "Medicare Prescription Drug Fund" was the choice of 44 percent; "Prescription Drug Guaranteed Fund" was the pick of 23 percent; "Prescription Drug Reserve Fund" scored a miserable 6 percent; and "Prescription Drug Lockbox Fund" a worse 5 percent.

Read his memo here:
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