Thumbs Up for '08 For the Kerry Clan
With Republicans scrounging around for an able successor to President Bush in the 2008 election, Washington's focus is fast turning to an escalating battle on the Democratic side between front-runner Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and 2004 nominee Sen. John Kerry . Whispers learns that Kerry is not just testing the waters: He's running . "His family wants him to run again," says one pal. Proof he's in: Kerry has added names to his E-mail list of 3 million, kept johnkerry.com alive and kicking, raised boatloads of cash for friendly Democrats, and moved to seize control of hot-button issues like kids' healthcare, the environment, and support for military families. The Kerry clan is also pushing the Clinton electability issue. "Donors and organized labor love Bill Clinton, " says one Kerry friend. "But they're telling everyone they're terrified that she'd get stomped."
Friends of Hillary, meanwhile, are touting her front-runner status and joining in the chorus of Democrats who think Kerry should crawl under a rock and go away. "He had his chance," mutters a Clinton ally. "It's over."
The bottom line: Pollster John Zogby says Clinton's out front in part because of her recent shift to the middle on partisan issues. That has prompted some haters to take a second look. "She can take the 'somewhat unfavorables,'" Zogby says, "and turn them into 'somewhat favorables.'"
Those Sunday Morning TV Wars
In TV, it's all about attracting the 25-to-54 age bracket, and new Nielsen ratings provided to Whispers show that Fox News Sunday and host Chris Wallace own that crowd, with a median viewership age of 52. Face the Nation comes in at 57; This Week draws a median age of 58; Meet the Press gets the oldest crowd, at 60.
The Man Who Paddled the Prez
During his Social Security sales trip to Texas last week, President Bush ran into history buff Noah McCullough backstage. McCullough, the 10-year-old spokesman for the pro-Social Security reform group Progress for America, is penning a book of presidential trivia and revealed former President George H. W. Bush 's interesting entry. "He's one of the only people in America who has spanked the sitting president of the United States."
Now They're Trying To Gag Lawmakers
It's one thing for the Bush team to keep foes out of presidential rallies, but stifling speeches by House and Senate members? Some on the Hill are huffing over a "gag order" demand from the Small Business Administration that blocked lawmakers from making political statements during last week's SBA Expo. But it's not as bad as it looks. Republicans had to sign the policy, too--so there. The rule was prompted last year when a Republican used his speech to push President Bush 's re-election, ruffling the feathers of Democratic speakers.
A Little Breakfast Nosh, a Little News
Only in Washington do you have to do something 200 times in a row to be noticed. But taking notice, they are, of David Cook , bureau chief of the Christian Science Monitor . Cook, who has taken over as host of the Monitor 's long-running series of newsmaker breakfasts from Godfrey Sperling , passed his 200 mark when Education Secretary Margaret Spellings showed up at the St. Regis Hotel last month for bacon, eggs, and talk with a couple of dozen scribes. Sperling held 3,240 breakfasts. Cook, who calls himself "Son of Sperling," says the eat-and-greets break through sound-bite journalism. "The breakfasts are one of the few places in Washington where newsmakers and journalists can have a civilized, in-depth conversation," he says, "despite the ungodly hour and the fattening food."
Big Changes for Bush's A.M. Brief
The all-important President's Daily Brief by the CIA is in for a big change now that President Bush 's intelligence shakeup has taken place. First, new intel czar John Negroponte is joining CIA Director Porter Goss for morning coffee in the Oval Office with the prez. What's more: The PDB, once the sole responsibility of CIA analysts, is getting input from other intelligence agencies. We hear the CIA crew is miffed about losing their grip on the supersecret document.
A Razorback Fat Foe Goes National
Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee 's war on fat will go national when he takes over the National Governors Association this summer. The guv, who tells how he lost more than 100 pounds in Quit Digging Your Grave With a Knife and Fork, wants to expand his "Healthy Arkansas" plan to encourage Americans to eat better and exercise more.
Budget Geeks: 'Born to Be Wild'
Don't be surprised if the next American Idol tryout session is held in the staid cubicles of the White House Office of Management and Budget. Behind those closed doors lurk budget writers with an itch to perform. We know because it happened last week, at the annual BE Day, a very off-the-record time when budget examiners use skits to lampoon their political bosses. This year, though, Budget Director Joshua Bolten , his top aides, and even White House Chief of Staff Andy Card played along. Bolten surprised the auditorium packed with OMB staff when he stepped out with his band, the "Deficit Attention Disorder," all dressed like the Blues Brothers. Backing up Bolten on bass guitar and Card on trumpet were the "Deficettes" on maracas: budget deputy Joel Kaplan and management deputy Clay Johnson. They rocked out to their own version of Born to Be Wild, rewritten as Born to Be Green , a reference to OMB's report card that gives grades in red, yellow, and green. "Like a true budget geek," they crooned, "I was born, born to be green. Gonna get so green, red and yellow can't be seen." One observer said Idol 's " Paula Abdul would have loved it, and I think even Simon Cowell would have begrudgingly muttered approval." Maybe you had to be there.
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With Suzi Parker and Kevin Whitelaw
This story appears in the May 9, 2005 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.