Presidential Scuttlebutt.
A new Quinnipiac University presidential poll found that President Bush is currently beating his rivals by at least ten points or more. His closest opponent is, of course, Hillary, over whom he is enjoying a 52%-to-42% advantage. The poll, however, was taken before Gen.Wesley Clark entered the race. Rumor had it that the only person Clark would even consider running as Vice President with was Hillary, but now it may be the other way around-with Hillary as Gen. Clark’s running mate. A cover story in New York Magazine this week touts Clark and Sen. Clinton as a Democratic Dream Team. In the meantime, Bill Clinton continues to stoke speculation that his wife will run for President next year. When he was asked by his former chief of staff, Leon Panetta, whether there was "a chance" that Mrs. Clinton would run for President next year, Mr. Clinton left the door open by saying only, "That’s really a decision for her to make." The former President also said he believed many New Yorkers would have no objection to her breaking her pledge to serve a full six years in the Senate. "I was impressed at the state fair in New York, which is in Republican country upstate, at how many New Yorkers came up and said they would release her from her commitment if she wanted to do it."
In the Army Now.
Hillary made her first official visit to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on Monday, September 15. (She had visited twice before she was a senator.) While there, she was careful to downplay her criticism of the Commander-in-Chief and her own future political plans. When she was asked to comment on President Bush’s request for another $87 billion to fund the war in Iraq, Sen. Clinton pretty much avoided the question and said instead that she favors providing support to the troops and increasing international involvement in rebuilding the country. She also criticized the process for awarding the rebuilding contracts and questioned where the war funds will come from. "If you have no-bid totally-closed contracting for which nobody understands what the requirements are, how do we know whether it’s working according to schedule?"
She also used the occasion to say that she favors repealing income tax cuts for people who make more than $330,000 annually as a way to help pay for our efforts in Iraq.
When she was asked whether she would enter the 2004 presidential race, she did not answer either yes or no: "I’ve talked about this for so long, and I’ve said the same thing over and over again, and I think I’ll just leave it there."
Hillary was accompanied during her visit by Gen. John M. Keane, the army’s vice chief of staff, and she met with the academy’s superintendent, Lt. Gen. William J. Lennox Jr. She also met with dozens of cadets, especially those whom she had personally nominated to attend West Point.
Hillary, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, received an enthusiastic greeting from cheering, plate-waving cadets in the dining room.
Womyn’s Hall.
Hillary used the occasion of the 80th anniversary of women’s winning the right to vote to visit the National Women’s Hall of Fame, where she stressed the importance of the first national organization dedicated to recognizing and celebrating the achievements of "great" American women from all walks of life.
Looking at the list of women included in the Hall, however, might lead one to think that these girls are only from the radical left walk of life.
Members include Bella Abzug, Maya Angelou, Gloria Steinem, Gerry Ferraro, Betty Freidan, Madeleine Albright, Janet Reno, Margaret Sanger and Patsy Schroeder. Conspicuously missing from the list are women such as Betsy Ross, Clare Boothe Luce, Jeane Kirkpatrick and Phyllis Shlafly.
Money-Making Machine.
Hillary has begun earning royalties above the $8-million advance she was paid for her memoir Living History. Last week, hardcover sales of the book surpassed the 1,365,000-copies mark necessary to earn out the $8-million advance paid by Simon & Schuster. From now on, Hillary stands to make about $4.20 on every book sold.
A spokesman for Simon & Schuster predicts that hardcover sales will eventually surpass 1.5 million copies, meaning that Hillary should pocket at least another half-million dollars.
