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.
Arkansas Royalty: Huckabee or Times
Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a likely 2008 GOP presidential hopeful, has never been a fan of the Arkansas Times. And why should he be? "We have been very critical of him," says Editor Max Brantley. But now it's payback time. Brantley says the guv has stopped E-mailing releases and schedules to the popular tabloid. "A guy who has a hard time with a throwaway mag," says Brantley, "will have a heck of a time in the national spotlight. He ain't royalty." Right back at you, says Huckabee. "We don't have to hand-deliver information with a bow tie on it," he says. "That's special treatment." Anyway, most of the info is on his state website. "I guess he is too lazy to access it," says the guv. It won't end with name-calling--Brantley's considering suing.
Grudging Praise for a Russian Thorn
The Iran nuclear showdown returns this week to the United Nations Security Council, and that means we'll be hearing more from Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov. He has been leading the opposition--with China--to U.S. efforts to get tough on Iran's nuke program, bedeviling American diplomats who privately admire his diplo-smarts. "Lavrov is brilliant," allows one U.S. official.
ABC News Tries a 'Smooth' Approach
We used to hear New York-based ABC Radio hostess Daria Albinger on satellite radio. So when she popped up on a Washington radio station delivering local news, we called to say "hi," only to find out that she never moved. Instead, she's part of a new gig by ABC News to reach FM listeners who prefer tunes to talk. "We've got AM covered," says ABC's Andrew Kalb. "We want to find new FM listeners." An ABC study found that a short minute of hard and lifestyle news works well on FM. "ABC FM News" works this way: Via the Internet, Albinger from New York uploads to the stations a minute of local, national, and sports news. Her conversational broadcast sounds as if she's in their newsroom, though no local news staff is needed. Two Washington stations, Smooth Jazz 105.9 and Mix 107.3, get it now, but Kalb hopes to add many more.
The Questioner Behind the Decider
Pay attention to new CNN White House Correspondent Ed Henry. President Bush does. After just three weeks on the beat, the TV newbie--Henry recently celebrated two years in the biz--asked the question that resulted in the latest Bushism: "I'm the decider." And he's the reporter who pressed Robert Novak about publishing ex-CIA spy Valerie Plame's name, prompting the columnist to storm off the live-TV set and eventually quit CNN. Other reporters say they haven't seen such a fast start since CNN's Wolf Blitzer arrived to cover former President Bill Clinton. Still, we hear that Henry hasn't been on the beat long enough to earn a presidential nickname yet, though "decider" wouldn't be a bad start for Dubya.
With Rick Newman, Suzi Parker and Thomas Omestad
This story appears in the May 8, 2006 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.