*CLINTON'S GENERAL: Retired Army Gen. Wesley K. Clark announced last week that he would seek the Democratic presidential nomination. Clark, an Arkansas native, was appointed Supreme Commander of NATO by President Bill Clinton, and served in that capacity during the Kosovo War-which Clinton initiated without seeking prior authorization from Congress.
*LIBERAL WAR HERO: Clark is a political liberal and a true war hero. He graduated first in his class from West Point and went to Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship. Severely wounded in combat in Vietnam, he earned the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart. He is pro-abortion, opposed the Bush tax cuts (although he says he favors "middle class" tax cuts), filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court defending the race-based admissions policies of the University of Michigan, supports the so-called federal "assault weapons" ban and would prevent drilling for oil in northern Alaska. He also was critical of the Iraq War.
*RANGEL'S MAN: Clark has lined up an interesting set of early supporters. Leading the way is Democratic Rep. Charlie Rangel of New York, a left-winger who is ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee. Closer to home, Clark is backed by Representatives Marion Berry and Mike Ross, both of whom are "moderate" Democrats from Arkansas. Also joining Clark's bandwagon are several prominent Clintonistas, including Eli J. Segal, chairman of Clinton's 1992 campaign; Bruce Lindsey, Clinton's deputy White House counsel; and Mickey Kantor, Clinton's one-time Commerce secretary.
*FOR VEEP? Many speculate that Clark's real aim is to secure the Democratic vice presidential nomination on a ticket led by former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean. Dean, who has emerged as the Democratic frontrunner, is viewed as weak on national security, and Clark, it is thought, might lessen Dean's vulnerability in that area.
*MY FLORIDA VACATION: Speaking of Dean and Clintonistas, George Stephanopoulos, late of the Clinton campaign, and now of ABC News, grilled the former Vermont governor in an interview aired last Sunday. Most amusing was Dean's attempt to obscure his elite Upper East Side upbringing by talking up his youthful summer vacations in Florida.
When Stephanopoulos asked Dean if the reason he never talked about his family is that "you come from Park Avenue and East Hampton," Dean said: "That may be true, but that's not why I don't do it. Where I come from is a lot different than where most people think I come from when people write that I come from Park Avenue or East Hampton or any of that kind of stuff. Well, they don't talk about the fact I worked on a ranch in the summer in Florida. . . ."
*SMALL-GOVERNMENT CONSERVATIVES: The most popular causes in California politics today are smaller government and Proposition 13, the 1978 ballot initiative that limited increases in state property taxes. The Los Angeles Times September 12 released a poll of 922 likely voters (margin of error +/-3%) in California's October 7 gubernatorial recall election. Lower taxes and smaller government out-polled every person named in the survey. When asked whether they favored "smaller" or "larger" government, 55% of California voters said "smaller" and 34% said "larger." When asked whether they "favored" or "opposed" amending Proposition 13 to allow increases in property taxes on commercial real estate, 55% of said they "opposed" it and 37% said they "favored" it.
*RECALL TIGHTENS: The Times poll was completed September 10, before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit issued its ruling to postpone the recall election. But the results showed that opinion on the recall itself was tightening. A mere 50% said they would vote to recall California Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, while 47% said they would vote against recalling Davis.
*CLOSE RACE: The poll, which included Peter Ueberroth (who dropped out in the midst of the survey), also showed a tightening race among those seeking to replace Gov. Davis. The results: Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustmante, 30%; Republican movie actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, 25%; Republican State Sen. Tom McClintock, 18%; businessman Peter Ueberroth, 8%; columnist Arianna Huffington, 3%; Green Party candidate Peter Camejo, 2%.
*HARD CEILING: Bustamante may have a very hard ceiling on his vote, with almost half the electorate seeing him as the problem not the solution. When the Times asked likely voters if they agreed or disagreed that "Cruz Bustamante has been too much a part of Gray Davis's administration to solve the problems in Sacramento," 46% agreed.
*LATINOS REJECT DAVIS: According to the Times, both white and Latino likely voters in California favor recalling Davis by larger margins than the general electorate. Among whites, the recall of Davis is favored 53% to 44%; among Latinos, the recall of Davis is favored 53% to 41%.
*NO LATINO BLOC: Almost unnoticed by the liberal press, Bustamante, a Mexican-American, has failed to win a majority of support among likely Latino voters. In the Times poll, the Latino vote breaks down as follows: Bustamante, 47%; Schwarzenegger, 29%; McClintock, 13%; Huffington, 4%; Ueberroth, 1%. The combined Latino support of the Republicans (Schwarzenegger and McClintock) and the one-time Republicans running as independents (Ueberroth and Huffington) is 47%, equaling Bustamante's number.
*THIRTEEN HEROES: Thirteen conservatives have signed a letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R.-Ill.) threatening to "vote no on the [senior citizens'] prescription drug bill out of conference" unless it includes four specific, and probably unachievable, reforms. The signers, all Republicans, are Pat Toomey (Pa.), Joseph R. Pitts (Pa.), David Vitter (La.), Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), Gresham Barrett (S.C.), Tom Feeney (Fla.), Jeb Hensarling (Tex.), Sue Myrick (N.C.), Trent Franks (Ariz.), Roscoe Bartlett (Md.), Scott Garrett (N.J.), John Carter (Tex.), and Joe Barton (Tex.).
