No More Gore.
When Al Gore announced he would not seek the presidency in 2004, many prominent Democrats rushed to eulogize him, including Hillary. "I have the greatest respect for Al Gore, for his many years of dedicated service to our nation, and for his decision, which I am sure was not an easy one." It remains to be seen how Gore’s decision will affect any ambition Hillary has for the White House. Will his absence propel Hillary to the top of Democratic presidential wannabes? One newspaper predicted that Sen. Clinton should expect to come under enormous pressure to run for the U.S. presidency in two years, even though she said only last month she would not run in 2004. However, if Hillary’s constituents have anything to say about her future, she might want to hold off on any plans to redecorate the Oval Office. A Marist College survey showed that New York Democrats want U.S. Senators Joseph Lieberman (Conn.) or John Kerry (Mass.), not their state’s junior senator, to be their party’s presidential nominee. A commanding 59% said they didn’t want the former First Lady to run for the nation’s highest office, while 37% supported her entrance. Of course, 57% of Democrats said they were more likely to vote for a presidential candidate who is endorsed by former President Bill Clinton, and there’s a distinct possibility that his wife could garner such an endorsement. Hillary could apparently also count on the support of her husband’s rival for the presidency in 1996, Bob Dole, who recently said that "if I lived in New York and I looked at what Hillary, how she’s conducted herself, I would give her a very high grade."
Rush Apologizes.
Rush Limbaugh revealed last Wednesday that he and Hillary met each other for the first time at a recent wedding for a mutual acquaintance. The King of talk radio was mingling at the reception when a woman asked if he’d like to meet the former First Lady. Rush was whisked off to another room and in marched Hillary with a few hangers-on. According to Limbaugh, the two mortal enemies exchanged banal pleasantries and quickly went their separate ways. Rush did reveal to his radio audience that he apologized to Mrs. Clinton for what he described as an unfortunate portrayal of Chelsea Clinton on his TV show during the early years of the Clinton presidency. Hillary accepted Rush’s apology. No word whether Hillary apologized for the "vast, right-wing conspiracy" remark.
Hill’s Two Cents.
Hillary wasted no time jumping on Sen. Trent Lott for his off-hand comment about Strom Thurmond’s 1948 presidential race. "This raises fundamental questions about his fitness to be majority leader,’ said Sen. Clinton. "I would not vote for someone to lead my caucus who made those offensive remarks, but the Republicans will need to decide if this is how they wish to be represented." She continued: "The Republican Party has a choice. Knowing all that they now know, they must decide whether Sen. Lott represents the views of the majority of Republicans in the Senate and in our country. . . . Our leaders should be bringing people together, not opening old wounds."
Hillary Housing Terrorists?
In Doha, west of Bethlehem, Israeli soldiers arrested fugitives Rifat Jawabra and Bakker Najer, who were suspected of engaging in terrorist activities. However, plans to demolish one of the homes in which they were hiding were halted after security officials were informed that the owners were not involved in terrorist activities and in fact have ties to U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton. Neighbors said the building was owned by Hussein Othman Issa, whose family runs the Hope Flowers school, which promotes Palestinian understanding of Israelis, teaches its students Hebrew and preaches coexistence. Mrs. Clinton and Israeli former foreign minister Shimon Peres are among the school’s backers. Family members said the ground floor of the house was rented out to Palestinian workers and they were unaware the tenants might have been engaged in any violent activity.
Hill’s SNL Connection.
Philippe Reines, Hillary’s spokesman and former aide to Al Gore, "thought up the hilarious sketch on last weekend’s ‘Saturday Night Live’ in which host Gore romanced potential running mates in a hot-tub spoof of ‘The Bachelor.’ Gore’s daughter Kristin and the ‘SNL’ staff helped with the writing . . . ,"according to the New York Daily News. Looks as if Reines may have a second career in showbiz as a scriptwriter, which should serve him well in a presidential campaign.
