Senate Vets Bucked Up Kerrey; Now Batting ... at Treasury ...; Tricky Terry; Russ for Prez; Chipping Away; Homesick; Man for All Seasons; PB&J on AF 1; Gone Fishing; Divided We Stand
Man for all seasons; PB&J on AF 1; Gone fishing; Divided we stand
Russ for Prez
Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold is the latest wannabe pondering a presidential run in 2004. A progressive reformer who is the other half of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform package, he has already visited New Hampshire, home of the first primary, and is building a staff of campaign advisers. He's also picking the brain of Sen. John McCain about his short-lived but popular reformist bid against George W. Bush.
Chipping away
They've done a good job so far sticking to policy differences, but Democrats are now whispering catty comments about President Bush. One potential Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. John Edwards, tells us how Bush hates to talk policy, switching to sports instead. Dems even make fun of Bush's rejecting former President Clinton's practice of making regular press statements. He's still "feeling his way in the presidency," says Edwards.
Homesick
Guess Attorney General John Ashcroft didn't get the memo requiring early starts and long days. Insiders say Ashcroft is working banker's hours, normally 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Others say he can't shake his old Senate schedule and think he dreams of running against his replacement, Sen. Jean Carnahan, in the upcoming 2002 election. Another example of apparent trouble settling in: Ashcroft continues to chafe at the security protecting him from bad guys. For example, he rides to work in his wife's car, forcing his security detail to tag along in a separate limo.
Man for all seasons
It's the little things that have State Department workers cooing over their boss, Colin Powell. Their latest brag: Powell does his own photocopying and gets on his hands and knees to fix the machine when it jams. But he's so active that aides are pressing him to commit to taking the last two weeks in August off, more for their rest than his.
PB&J on AF1
The most amazing product, peanut butter and jelly packaged in cellophane like cheese slices, is headed to the White House and maybe even Air Force One. Knowing President Bush is a PB&J fiend, an outfit called PJ Squares has shipped off a case of its strawberry and grape offerings. "Who knows, a quick slice before turning in for the night or placed upon Air Force One could be in both our futures," wrote firm president John Codilis in a letter to Bush.
Gone fishing
The parade of White House reporters who left when the new Bush administration came in are glorying in their decision now that President Bush's team is eyeing a three-week summer vacation in hot and dusty Crawford, Texas. It's a far cry from recent summer White House destinations--Kennebunkport or Martha's Vineyard. And when leaked, some reporters on the White House beat started scheduling their vacations to coincide with the Bush trip, hopeful that editors will give them the OK and send a flunky to do Bush watch in the nearby Waco Motel 6.
Divided we stand
With the crush of daily journalism over, we're starting to get juicy nuggets from the 2000 presidential campaign. This week we're shamelessly plugging our guy Roger Simon's latest, Divided We Stand, which reveals that Al Gore really thought he would win in the Supreme Court, expecting Republican Sandra Day O'Connor to join the liberals. Simon's a regular on the campaign book circuit and really gets the pols to open up. Gore campaign boss Bill Daley, for example, reveals that ex-President Clinton and Gore grew distant, and not just because of the Lewinsky lies. That just widened the divide opened in the 1996 fundraising scandal when Gore felt betrayed by Clinton. On the Bush side, when Simon asked a top aide what Americans thought of when they considered the Texan's qualifications, he was told, "adequacy."
Daily Washington Whispers at www.usnews.com/whispers
IN QUOTES
"Because rich, yuppie environmentalists are slowly but surely shutting this country down economically."
Rep. John Duncan Jr.,
Tennessee GOP-er, issuing blame for high gas prices
"I asked him the most important question . . . if he had ever seen Caddyshack."
Jesse Ventura,
Minnesota governor, on meeting the Dalai Lama
"Gay people are raising their eyebrows and winking right along with the ad."
Cathy Renna,
of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, on new Minute Maid ads showing foes Bluto and Popeye as oddly close pals
"Bryant, when you were on the Today show you weren't as fat as you are now."
Rosie O'Donnell,
to CBS Early Show cohost Bryant Gumbel
With Chitra Ragavan and Kevin J. Whitelaw
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