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5/27/05
Reform? What reform?
Former Sen. Chuck Robb is making the rounds as he finishes up as cochair of the White House's Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction. You'll recall that the group's March report called Washington's assessment of Iraq WMD "dead wrong" on almost everything. As he tells it, though, it looks like the commission's reforms aren't moving forward very fast. His anecdotal evidence comes from a recent talk with some senior-level staffers at the CIA. Robb says he asked how many agreed with the criticisms in the commission's 695-page report. Robb said virtually every hand went up, reports our David E. Kaplan. He then asked how many of them work in departments that are taking action to address those problems. "One hand went up," Robb said.
Read the Commission's final statement
5/25/05
Hillary's not scared
Sorry, all you Hillary haters, but the Democrats aren't shaking today because former President Nixon's son-in-law Ed Cox has formed an exploratory committee for a 2006 run for the Senate from New York. "She'll run very strong," said a key Democrat. Cox made the announcement today in Albany. Fans of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, however, said that his likely candidacy won't change her plans to campaign for re-election in all parts of the state, including deeply Republican counties. National Republicans also don't see a Clinton defeat. They are looking at her campaign, and nationwide re-election fundraising efforts, as a model for an expected 2008 presidential bid. Some Democrats joked about Cox. "I don't want to handicap the candidates," said New York Sen. Charles Schumer, head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, "but...as DSCC chair, if I could shake hands with the devil and say Ed Cox is the candidate against her, I'd do it right now."
5/18/05
GOP podcasting
The Republican National Committee doesn't think Apple's iPod is just for kids eager to carry their tunes around. The GOP is betting that a lot of voters, maybe even older Americans, are getting down with the latest pop culture hit. As a result, the RNC has started a podcast operation geared to MP3 devices that allows users to download information right off its website. "It's just another vehicle to get our stuff out," says a party official. The operation began recently when the RNC conducted an interview with former Sen. Bob Dole about his latest book, One Soldier's Story. This week, it plans to add another author's interview, that of former Democratic Sen. Zell Miller. Users, says the official, can download the chats and later listen to them in the car or gym or wherever. The party also plans to upload its "Off the Record" Web interviews with Republican officials. Look for the Democrats and maybe even the White House to follow suit.
Check out the GOP podcasting site: GOP podcasting site
5/16/05
Playboy's Mayor
Bill Clinton, eat your heart out. Not only is Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman hanging out with a 27-year-old naked Playboy model, but he and Hef's magazine are heralding it. "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas–unless you're the mayor," said the mag in releasing pictures Goodman took of Russian-born Playmate Irina Voronina as part of Playboy.com's Celebrity Guest Photographer. Playboy says Goodman is the first politician to click the camera, and there's lots of proof on the website: www.playboy.com.
In its write-up of the event, Playboy says Goodman ran into only one glitch during his photo shoot last Friday: His glasses fogged up. Playboy spokeswoman Jay Jay Nesheim told us that the mag normally doesn't reach out to politicans to play guest photog but might if Goodman's is well received. "We'll see how this goes," she said.
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