White House Vigilance.
U.S. News & World Report’s "Washington Whispers" claims that "The silence from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s office is driving the White House nuts." Whispers says that administration insiders are beginning to worry about the possibility of Hillary’s jumping into the 2004 presidential fray. "She’s been awfully quiet," says one source. According to this item, the main worry is whether she will "make an 11th-hour jump into the Democratic presidential primaries." Although Hillary has repeatedly denied any intention of running next year, "skeptical Bushies say they’ll be watching how much of a boost Clinton gets during her upcoming book tour as a way of gauging the strength of her threat to the president."
Give Credit, It’s Due.
The "Drudge Report" recently revealed that in her new book, Living History, Hillary acknowledges in the opening pages three women for their assistance and contribution to the project. She thanks author Maryanne Vollers, former Clinton speechwriter Lissa Muscatine and writer Ruby Shamir. This is noteworthy because in 1996 First Lady Clinton caused a stir when she failed to acknowledge a single person in her bestseller It Takes a Village-not even ghostwriter Barbara Feinman. Drudge said that Hillary claimed she wrote the book entirely on her own, which prompted ghostwriter Feinman to retaliate by telling Bob Woodward about Mrs. Clinton’s "s??©ances" with Eleanor Roosevelt.
Commencement Madness.
Hillary headed a procession at SUNY Morrisville, a small university, and gave the commencement speech for the class of 2003. Following the senator in the procession were two students dressed as knights mounted on horses and the Syracuse Scottish Pipe Band. Before Sen. Clinton made her way to the stage, she was introduced to Hillary’s Hope, the 3-month-old standard bred horse the college named for her. When Hillary (the senator, not the horse) was introduced, the audience gave her a 30-second standing ovation. It was Hillary’s second commencement speech of the day, She had spoken earlier in the morning at SUNY Cortland. She told the young graduates, "I hope that, in addition to all the other responsibilities you will discharge, you will also take seriously your obligation to vote." Sen. Clinton also claimed that she had never spoken at a more beautifully situated commencement. "Not only do you have the springtime exercise of commencement, but a baseball game, a mare and her foal. I mean, it doesn’t get any better than this," she said. After mentioning the $178,100 Rural Business Enterprise Grant that her office secured for the college from the USDA, Hillary announced the awarding to SUNY Morrisville of a $10,000 grant from the Sallie Mae Fund. Finally, Hillary stayed on the stage for a short while after her speech to shake hands with graduates as they were called to get their diplomas.
Upstate Woes.
Hillary felt forced to vote against a measure in the Senate that would have helped rural hospitals in upstate New York. She joined her New York Democratic colleague, Sen. Chuck Schumer, in voting against extra funding for upstate hospitals in order to protect city hospitals from losing aid. Although both New York senators voted against the measure, the amendment helping rural hospitals by increasing their Medicare reimbursement easily passed. Ironically, the vote by Hillary against upstate hospitals ended up being moot anyway, as the rural funding provision was later yanked from the final version. Hillary tried to explain that upstate New Yorkers "know that I’m on their side," and that "I was against it because I was holding out for a better deal."
More Memoirs.
Hillary promises her memoirs will include a painful flashback about the impeachment of her husband, former President Bill Clinton, stemming from the Monica Lewinsky affair. "The impeachment? Oh, absolutely I wrote about it. Absolutely," she told the N.Y. Daily News. Meanwhile, sources say Simon & Schuster is close to an agreement to sell the first and second serial rights to Living History to Time Inc. for an estimated $100,000. Excerpts from her book are scheduled to appear in the June 9 issue. Time magazine and People magazine will also contain excerpts in their June 13 issue.
