Washington Whispers
Church and State: A Cue From JFK
About two months before the heated 1960 election, John F. Kennedy tried to put to rest the whole debate over his Catholicism to beat Richard Nixon. It was in Houston on September 12 when he famously hit the issue head-on: "No public official either requests or accepts instructions on public policy from the pope." Now, 46 years later, Massachusetts has coughed up another presidential hopeful who belongs to what some see as a weird religion--the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And the candidate, Republican Gov. Mitt Romney, plans to copy, almost exactly, JFK's winning approach.
Romney says he'll give a similar address, in which he will pledge allegiance to the Constitution, not the Mormon church. It will be a simple approach: Explain the religion, maybe touch on the banned practice of polygamy, then ask voters to judge him on his years in business, as head of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, and as the Bay State's governor. All things being equal, he says, some voters will reject a Mormon. But "all things are not equal," an aide tells us, "and the most important consideration for Republicans is fielding a candidate who can beat Hillary Clinton." Mormonism has its limits, though. Asked if he'd consider former Utah Gov. Michael Leavitt, now health and human services secretary, as a running mate, Romney says: "Two Mormons? I don't think that'll work."
Another From '04 With an Eye on '08
First John Edwards, then Sen. John Kerry, and now 2004 hopeful Wes Clark is mulling a second presidential bid. Helping Democrats in the midterm elections is "the first step," he says. The next is the 2008 presidential election. And allies have been told to ready their boots and parkas for another trip to New Hampshire, home of the first primary.
Maybe 2008 Is the Third-Party Charm
GOP political guru Frank Luntz thinks 2008 could be the year for a third-party success, but only if the presidential candidate is a big name. The ideal guy: New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who isn't interested. Why Mike? Luntz says he's frugal with the city budget, socially liberal, and rich enough to buy the advertising it takes to win the election. Two others: Sen. John McCain and former Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Exporting Capital 'D' Democracy
Arab nations upset with President Bush's war on terrorism finally heard something they liked from Washington last month. The problem: It was former Democratic Party boss Terry McAuliffe, not a Bush administration official, delivering the news. Over 21 days, McAuliffe was on a speech-a-thon in nine nations, including Kuwait, Egypt, Dubai, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi, where he commiserated about concerns that the United States wasn't ready for a drawn-out war in Iraq. "They wanted to know where we were going," he tells us. "I told them we're headed back to the Democratic Party," he says, promising them that a Dem would win in 2008 and fix the problems in the war on terrorism.
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