Call Me (President) Al.
Last Tuesday, New York City's own Rev. Al Sharpton officially entered the race for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. Sen. Clinton, who has proven her willingness to pander to the reverend, said that Sharpton might really stir things up in the primary: "He may be ready for them. The question is, 'Are they ready for him?'" On Martin Luther King Day, many NYC elected officials went to Sharpton's annual commemoration of the slain civil rights leader, and Hillary was one of those in attendance. A New York political operative noted that while Hillary and other politicians ostensibly "went there to praise Dr. King and his vision. . . they also acknowledged that as far as they were concerned, Sharpton had transformed himself into a political force with a core of followers not to be ignored." On the day Sharpton announced, reporters asked if scandals in his past might hurt his chances, to which the reverend responded, "The next time anybody wants to know about Tawana Brawley, I'm going to ask them, 'Do you ask Teddy Kennedy about Chappaquiddick? Do you ask Hillary Clinton about her husband? Do you ask Clinton?'"
More HRC on Race.
At the Convent Avenue Baptist Church on the King holiday, Hillary announced that she has joined with her Democratic Senate colleagues in filing an amicus brief on behalf of Michigan University's racial admissions policy. Hillary told the audience that Michigan's policy of granting a whopping 20 points toward admission to minorities "has made a huge difference in bringing diversity to one of nation's most selective schools, and opened up the doors of higher education for millions of young people. Affirmative action works for Michigan. It works for hundreds of colleges and universities across the country, and it is constitutional." She went on to say that she supported "the President's commitment to diversity but do not believe replacing traditional affirmative action with 'race neutral' plans will fully accomplish our shared goal of promoting diversity throughout our institutions of higher education." At the same time that she joined her Senate colleagues, a group led by social activist Dick Gregory is seeking to strip the late Sen. Richard Russell's name from the Senate office building in which Hillary works. Georgia Democrat Russell often argued that the social order of the country would collapse if the Senate were to ever pass civil rights legislation and he argued vehemently for the preservation of segregation. When she was stopped in a hallway, Sen. Clinton said she was unaware of the movement to change the name of the Russell Building and couldn't comment on it.
A Dish Best Served Cold.
Sen. Clinton's new position on the Senate Armed Services Committee will enable her to sit in judgment of former Pennsylvania Rep. Paul McHale, who is famous for being the first Democrat to condemn President Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky affair. McHale was also one of only five Democrats to vote to impeach the disgraced President. Now President Clinton's wife will review McHale's recent nomination to a top-level Pentagon post. Although Hillary is one of the lowest members on the committee, she will still have the opportunity to question McHale under oath and to vote on whether to forward his nomination to the full Senate for confirmation. When Sen. Clinton was asked about McHale, she said she "knew of him" but wasn't aware that he had been nominated. And when the subject of McHale and impeachment was raised, she said, "I have no opinion of him or his appointment at this time. I look forward to learning more about the appointment as we go forward." For his part, McHale doesn't seem concerned. "I have every confidence that Sen. Clinton and all other members of the Armed Services Committee will weigh my credentials on the merits," he said recently. Perhaps no one told McHale about Sen. Clinton's lone "Nay" vote against Michael Chertoff's appointment to the Justice Department in 2001. Chertoff, as a Republican congressional counsel, also had a role in the impeachment process.
FEMA Fund Fight.
The New York Post reports that New York GOP Gov. George Pataki and Sen. Clinton are battling behind the scenes over how to spend the last precious dollars in terror aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Around $360 million of the $8.8 billion that FEMA earmarked for New York remains to be spent. Hillary is pressing Gov. Pataki to support using $90 million to track the long-term health of Ground Zero workers. "I don't think there is any higher priority than the health of those people who put themselves at risk on September 11," said Sen. Clinton. "Our first recourse is to go to FEMA." However, the governor said the state wants to use the remaining FEMA dollars for other purposes, although it supports the health program.
