Where's the beef? Try God, says political guru
Democratic big shot Bob Beckel is not your usual faceless born-again. A lovable tough guy who racked up wins until his campaign to put Walter Mondale in the White House with the famous "Where's the beef?" quip failed, Beckel had convinced everyone that he was the best in the biz. He turned that into a multimillion-dollar career as a consultant and TV pundit and lived "a 25-year-long party." Life was good--except in reality he was a drunk who would say anything to duck trouble or have people like him. "I wore a mask," he says, conceding that luck was his partner. "I lived a lie." You can figure out the rest: His life tanked and eventually he was plowing cornfields to make ends meet. That's when Fox News Channel called to ask that he debate conservative pundit Cal Thomas on air in early 2002. After a year of shying away from TV, he said yes, for some reason. Afterward, Thomas ever so slightly counseled God. The chance meeting, Beckel says, "was the greatest gift I ever had." Now he's back on TV and penning a political column. "I don't even know where those old masks are."
Bush Style: Crystal and Barbecue
After the 2000 election, one of the first calls Laura Bush made was to her mother-in-law, former first lady Barbara Bush. The question: What the heck do you bring to the White House? "She told me," recalls the current first lady, "there were already so many lovely and comfortable furnishings in the White House that we would need to bring very little." So she didn't. Instead, Bush set to work putting the new family's stamp on the White House living quarters, and what she has created is "a warm, relaxing place to come [to] at the end of the day." In the newest edition of The Living White House, the White House Historical Association paperback updated by every first lady since Lady Bird Johnson, Bush describes a crystal and country style in the president's house. Family time includes bowling, movies, and reading. Official time means big meals or intimate affairs in the Blue Room. Her style is dressing up rooms like the Lincoln and Queen's bedrooms in period style and hosting small fried-chicken-and-deviled-egg parties for her husband. "We enjoy hosting formal state dinners as well as barbecues," she says.
The Atkins Pyramid
The continuing debate over whether Robert Atkins was or was not a role model for his eponymous high-protein, low-carb diet at the time of his death hasn't slowed his supporters. Last week, Atkins reps chewed the fat with a senior adviser to Ann Veneman, the agriculture secretary, who will weigh in on changes to the current food pyramid. The "Atkins Lifestyle Food Guide Pyramid" all but turns the triangle upside down, with meat and other proteins forming the large base instead of whole grains. Will Atkins win? Insiders say the chances are, well, slim.
Veterans Brigade
Sen. John Kerry, the Vietnam War hero turned protester, isn't about to stand still while GOP opponents call him "Hanoi John" for attending an antiwar rally with Jane Fonda. He's striking back with a "Veterans Brigade" manned by former backers of ex-NATO Gen. Wesley Clark. Insiders say Kerry's foot soldiers will counter GOP claims he's a foe of the military, allowing him to "stay above the fray." Pollster Frank Luntz says Kerry is winning the Vietnam vote but could lose it if the GOP successfully portrays him as a war foe.
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