Bubba bellies on up--to a brand-new salad bar
Talk about your bad luck. Right as former President Bill Clinton readied for heart bypass surgery last week, we got word he's fulfilling a dream: opening a restaurant that will serve all his fatty favorites, like fried chicken, meatloaf--even tollhouse cookies from Hillary's recipe file. Now when he visits Cafe 42, attached to his Little Rock library and museum opening in November, he'll have to stick to salads. In fact, changes are being made to include a very large salad, olive, and cheese bar for Bubba to belly up to. Friends describe the new eatery as a "hip" place that will serve entrees on dishes signed by Clinton. Aides say the world-famous eater wants his restaurant overlooking the Arkansas River to be a "destination," and to help it grow he won't charge a museum fee just to get a table; it will have a separate entrance. About the name: Clinton picked it himself. Seems he likes how former President George H. W. Bush and President Bush refer to each other by the presidential numbers, 41 and 43, and wants people to remember he was 42.
Getting pumped for the big fight
There'll be no more Nantucket windsurfing for John Kerry or Crawford chain-sawing for George Bush . It's time to prep for the next--and last--big fight, the televised election debates. "They'll be very important," says Kerry campaign chief Mary Beth Cahill. In Kerry's corner, the candidate will watch tapes of Bush's old debates with Al Gore and former Texas Gov. Ann Richards for tips. "Kerry," says an insider, "is convinced that Bush is a deceptively skillful debater, like none he's ever faced before." He'll be especially tuned into how Gore's eye-rolling and moans helped Bush. Kerry's no slouch, either. Aides say that when he ties on the gloves for the debates, Kerry morphs into an aggressive brawler. The Bush team has heard that, so they ordered up videos of Kerry's debates, like the famous matches with former Massachusetts guv William Weld. Bush's team has even quizzed Weld, who warned that Kerry will say anything to win. One trick to pump Bush up: Aides cut a highlight tape of Kerry's personal attacks on the president. Bush listens to them--for inspiration.
Heinz--not Kerry
It's still Teresa Heinz, not Heinz Kerry, when it comes to the Heinz Family Philanthropies. A spokesman reveals that the outfit "never changed" the letterhead or her signature when she decided to add "Kerry" during the primary campaigns. One letter dated July 29, 2004, is signed "Teresa Heinz." Campaign associates insist that she permanently changed her name and that the letter was a mistake. But a Heinz spokesman said the philanthropies are sticking with Heinz so that nobody gets confused about who she is.
The Bachelor's Pick
The Bachelor whom women seem to despise, Missouri banker and restaurateur Aaron Buerge, has made time in his busy dating life since the show ended to star at Barbara and Jenna Bush 's GOP bash in New York. After meeting with the Bush twins, we asked whom he'd rather date. "Barbara," he said without hesitation. "She's very warm, very friendly." He likes that she has "wild hair." What's wrong with Jenna, we asked the dater in chief? Nothing, he says; it's just that Barbara made time to talk to him and Jenna didn't. So it wasn't that he likes brunets over blonds? "It doesn't make a difference," he explains, adding that he's dated about "half and half."
A tiger in the tank
Hybrid makers Honda and Toyota have a message for the Environmental Protection Agency: Hit the road. Seems the EPA has admitted that its mileage tests give the company's electric-gas cars higher mileage than they really get. So the EPA has asked both to voluntarily lower their figures. The companies refused, suggesting that the EPA just fix the tests. Or ask carmakers to change the mileage ratings for all vehicles.
Is anybody home?
Seems the old 9/11 commission, which focused on how government agencies didn't talk to one another, has a communications problem of its own. Just reinvented as the nonprofit 9/11 Public Discourse Project, it encourages Americans to call in and open a "national conversation" about fixing the problems the commission found. The problem: The new office doesn't have a phone yet. Spokesman Al Felzenberg says it's a temporary situation. At least he hopes so, because in the meantime his cellphone is doubling as the project's main number.
The company he kept
A nominee to a key government procurement post has troubled some on Capitol Hill because of his ties to alleged Islamic extremists. Despite an April hearing on David Safavian 's appointment to an Office of Management and Budget job overseeing $300 billion in government contracts, the full Senate has not held a vote, in part because of lingering questions about his work for the former lobbying firm of White House ally Grover Norquist, now head of Americans for Tax Reform. Lobbying disclosure forms show Safavian worked for Abdurahman Alamoudi, who pleaded guilty this summer to aiding a Libyan plot to assassinate Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Abdullah and was accused by prosecutors of having ties to al Qaeda. Safavian, however, said he never lobbied for Alamoudi. The real client was a man named Jamal al Barzinji, but that's not much better. A 2002 federal affidavit names Barzinji as the leader of a group suspected of aiding terrorists. Safavian told the Senate his work was limited only to pitching the firm to Barzinji. The Senate vote is expected as early as this week.
The pedaling prez
President Bush doesn't need to spend $8,000 like Sen. John Kerry to get a cool bike. He's got friends. Specifically John Burke, president of Trek Bicycle Corp. Commerce Secretary Don Evans tells us that after Bush's gimpy knees drove him to bikes, Burke, who serves on the President's Physical Fitness Council, bragged about his bikes, and the president bit. Now the prez has a fleet of U.S.-made Treks at Camp David.
What's Up With Bo?
Sen. John Kerry wins the celebrity list with his team of Tinseltown backers, but President Bush isn't star-less. He's got Bo Derek. We chased down the lovely star of 10 during the GOP convention in NYC to ask why she's a Bushie. "My impression has always been that he does what's right, what he believes is right." As for the attacks saying he's all politics, no policy, she adds, "I don't find him terribly political."
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With Suzi Parker, Richard J. Newman, Samantha Levine and Julian E. Barnes
This story appears in the September 13, 2004 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.