Terror Funding.
The Senate voted against the effort to get more funding for cities at high risk of terror attack, which has been Hillary's pet project over the last couple of years. During recent debate over a spending bill, Sen. Clinton offered an amendment that would shift $625 million to a fund for urban areas considered at high risk of attack, but the Senate rejected it by a 50-43 vote. "We're once again fighting for the obvious, the common sense prudent approach to security funding, which is once again running into pork barrel politics," said Hill. She slammed the Bush Administration's claims that it supports a similar shift in funding, saying that if that were true the president could make it happen very quickly. "This is nothing but a shell game," she complained. "It's outrageous."
President of New York.
With President Bush's re-election numbers looking better every day, the possibility that John Kerry will lose in November is also increasing. Of course, Kerry's loss would be Hillary's gain, as she would vault to the top of Democratic contenders in 2008. However, a recent poll conducted by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute indicates that she wouldn't even be the favorite presidential candidate among New York voters. The poll had former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani beating Hillary handily, 50% to 43%. It wasn't all bad news for Mrs. Clinton, though, as the survey also showed her topping New York Gov. George Pataki, 51% to 41%, in another potential matchup of New York White House aspirants.
Bill's Broken Heart.
Bill Clinton has returned to his Chappaqua home after successful open-heart surgery, but his wife says it's "way to soon" to say if the former President will hit the campaign trail this fall. "It's going to be up to his doctors," Hillary said, "and I think it's way too soon to even consider that. Everyone says that this is at the very minimum, a six-week, eight-week recovery period-more likely a three-month recovery period." This time frame would make any participation in the November 2 election out of the question. She continued on about Bill's health: "We got him home this weekend, as you know, and his recovery is proceeding exactly as the doctors told us it would. He's able to walk a little bit everyday-not much yet. But he is very grateful for the care that he received and the countless messages of goodwill and support that have flooded in from New York, America and indeed the world." When she was asked whether her husband was giving up junk food, she said that everyone at risk should make an appointment for a checkup. "Take care of yourself," she said. "I would add that as a message to all of us."
Shooting From Her Lip.
Sen. Clinton has been quite vocal in calling on President Bush to keep his (ill advised) promise and push for the renewal of the assault weapons ban, which expired on September 13. "In 2000, then presidential candidate George W. Bush pledged that he would work for the renewal of the assault weapons ban," said Hillary. "[I]t is clear that he intends to break that promise. He has broken his promise to all of us, but most importantly, he has broken his promise to the hundreds of thousands of law enforcement personnel across the country, who work to protect us every day." The cheap shots continued unabated: "And while the President has decided to abandon the assault weapons ban and permit these dangerous weapons to flood our streets, he has also cut funding for the COPS program that has put thousands of additional police officers on patrol. President Bush should explain to the American people why he thinks we are better off with fewer police officers on our streets but more assault weapons that have the potential to wind up in the hands of terrorists and other dangerous individuals." Surprisingly, she did not claim that President Bush's inaction will lead to the deaths of thousands of kids and elderly.
High-Profile Position.
Hillary has been named to a bipartisan working group of senators in charge of coming up with better ways for the Senate to oversee the nation's intelligence and homeland security communities. This group will begin work immediately and give a report to Senate leaders Bill Frist and Tom Daschle as soon as possible. The addition of Sen. Clinton to the group may seem a bit askance, considering she doesn't sit on any of the Senate committees that focus mainly on intelligence, law enforcement, homeland security or government reform, and she has the least seniority of any senator in the group. But she does sit on the Armed Services Committee, which is relevant to the ongoing war on terror, and represents New York, target of the 9/11 attacks. Most important, it will give her a bully pulpit from which to criticize President Bush and to command attention for Democrats and for herself.
