On the Prowl
ON THE PROWL Hug a Lug President Clinton has always enjoyed playing the victim. So what about the people who have to sit through one of his fundraising speeches? At a recent fundraiser in the...
...Compared to other former presidents, Clinton's speaking fee is considered a bit high...
...A week before he arrived on Martha's Vineyard at least one private golf club there denied Clinton a tee time...
...All that outrage didn't stop guests from ponying up big dough for Clinton...
...But when attorney Bob Bennett was looking for a couple of traveling companions to see a boxing match in Las Vegas, were Geraldo Rivera and Don King the best he could do...
...That's because Clinton has pulled the rug out from under Breaux too many times...
...He's become the problem, not part of the solution...
...It's become a real sore point around here...
...He thought Clinton was just ducking out of something so he could do more fundraising of his own for Hillary," says a Gore campaign advance man...
...The Nantucket Golf Club, a relatively new, but just as staid private club, denied Clinton a tee time as well...
...Sue Kelly, whose district includes Chappaqua, was inundated with more than loo phone calls from constituents asking her to convey to the Clintons the community's desire not to have an ex-president of low moral repute in the area...
...Popular and moderate, Rendell would present Santorum with his toughest challenge...
...One wild card could be HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo, who could run Clinton's Senate race and Gore's New York operation on the side...
...In her mind the pickings are slim...
...She doesn't trust any of the consultants who operate exclu12 October 1999 - The American Spectator lively in New York, she told confidantes...
...He actually said that their love was enduring," says a woman who attended the event...
...Breaux voted for the Republican tax-cut proposal in July, but has stated that he probably won't support the bill down the road...
...Hillary is very capable of raising her own money...
...Despite what he says, Clinton wants a tax cut this year, not next," says the Breaux aide...
...We're trying to cut a deal, and then we have to deal with this...
...Ford, Carter, and Bush generally charge between $50,000 to S8o,000, with a chunk of that going to a speaker's bureau...
...The president has made it clear that he wants to remain at least part time in Washington...
...According to a fundraiser for the Democratic Leadership Council, Clinton has discussed the possibility of taking a high-profile, salaried role with the interest group...
...They're talking about a year-long speaking tour once he's out, at Sioo,000 a pop," says one White House aide...
...Burned Breaux The White House has asked Sen...
...Only after Sen...
...He ran his father's campaigns, and is looking to leave the cabinet post...
...For all the liberalism of that wealthy New York county, Chappaqua has been a Republican enclave for decades, albeit country club style...
...His staff is already making plans for him to split his time between Washington and Little Rock, where the federal government will be providing office space and housing for Clinton on the taxpayer's dime...
...Adding all this high-priced talent isn't solving the problems with the campaign," said a campaign aide...
...Roy Romer that she gets first crack at DNC money she helps to raise for her campaign...
...Watts Wrong With That...
...For the record, though," Kerry said, "the president definitely had low score of the group...
...Gore listens earnestly to all of them, and then doesn't put any of it into action...
...The White House then tried to make arrangements elsewhere...
...No one else in leadership, from [Speaker of the House Dennis] Hastert down has said anything of the sort," the House leader said...
...Watts hasn't done anything that any reasonable person could construe as being detrimental to the party or to the whip's office," the House leader says...
...She meant to tap Shrum as her campaign manager, after Harold Ickes told her that he can't run her Senate campaign full-time...
...He later told reporters that he had won low score, shooting an 84...
...He misled his moderate friend during the Lewinsky scandal, then promised Breaux full White House support on bipartisan Medicare and Social Security reform only to sabotage Breaux's proposals...
...Kerry disagreed, telling pool reporters that he thought Clinton had shot a 90...
...Clinton won't use a speaker's bureau because he doesn't want to lose that five to eight percent cut...
...Also known as a topflight speechwriter, Shrum joins Squire, Eskew, and Tony Coelho atop the Gore campaign, and some are wondering when the top-heavy crew is going to topple...
...Rendell's rejection of the state party came on the heels of news that Democrats are striking out in Ohio, where Mike DeWine was thought to be highly beatable...
...No other congressional candidate has ever 20 enjoyed such leeway...
...Within 24 hours of the Clintons' first visit, Rep...
...He's had enough," says a Breaux aide...
...He's going to use his own people to cut the deals...
...Watts from his post, but without success...
...At a recent fundraiser in the Hamptons, Clinton brought the festivities to a screeching halt when he spoke about his and Hillary's "young love" at Yale...
...He'd move past the out-stretched hand and just hug 'em, running his hand up and down their backs...
...He grabbed some women whose body language indicated they didn't want to be hugged...
...In part, that's due to Watts's popularity with his colleagues, but mostly because House Republicans are quickly growing tired of DeLay's antics...
...John Kerry interceded and promised to play in a foursome did Clinton get on the course...
...In recent months, according to this House leader, DeLay has made several attempts to force Republican Conference chairman J.C...
...Megan's Law Update At press time the Clintons had decided to buy a $1.6 million home in exclusive Chappaqua, a Westchester County bedroom community about 45 minutes from Manhattan...
...But so far, no strong Democratic candidate has stepped forward to oppose him...
...Coelho tells people he's in charge...
...Hillary Clinton has received assurances from DNC General Chairman Gov...
...This was after he hugged every attractive guest he could get his hands on, sometimes twice...
...Shrum and the Shrill Al Gore's key campaign consultants Bob Squire and Carter Eskew still aren't on speaking terms, so Gore decided to put a buffer between them: long-time Democratic consultant Bob Shrum...
...Over 18 holes Clinton took 38 mulligans, a better than two mulligan per-hole average...
...But rest assured Clinton will be pocketing some decent coin...
...Out of the Money o Presidential aides are telling friends that Clinton asked Vice President Al Gore to attend September's Asian-Pacific Economic Summit, telling the veep it would make him look presidential...
...We don't have the votes to pull off an extended continuing resolution...
...But Gore declined, citing the need to fundraise...
...We need the president raising money for us...
...While the DNC may see that money deposited into its accounts, it won't be there for long...
...Rick Santorum next year...
...Squire tells people he's in charge and Eskew does the same...
...He's been burned too many times by the president...
...They may be relieved to know that Bill Clinton isn't planning on spending much time in Westchester County anyway, at least not in his first year out of office...
...DNCers are claiming the Clintons may have raised as much as $5 million during their summer vacation...
...Philadelphia Story Senate Republicans breathed easier after Pennsylvania Democrats failed in another bid to get outgoing Philadelphia mayor Ed Rendell to challenge incumbent Sen...
...John Breaux to serve as a go-between to Republicans to discuss compromise tax cuts, but the Louisiana Democrat isn't cooperating...
...She wants a Beltway bandit who has worked for her husband...
...Instead, he intends to push his own tax-cut legislation—without White House input...
...It would give him a soapbox and a reason to be in Washington...
...Rough Stuff Golf remains a challenge for Our President, especially since many a course remains closed to him and his style of play...
...At any rate, Gore was hardly pleased by Clinton's seemingly thoughtful invitation...
...But we're not going to help him get it...
...He just counts differently from the rest of us...
...By contrast, DeLay on several occasions during the August recess said that no budget deal was in the offing, and that Republicans would pass a year-long continuing resolution rather than deal with Democrats...
...The American Spectator • October 1999 13...
...It just doesn't make sense...
...From there, it was all downhill...
...That's what one member of the House leadership has to say about whip Tom DeLay...
...Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, is less than thrilled that Gore hired Shrum...
...He's really pushing the envelope going after Watts...
...Boxed In The Prowler supposes that after representing the likes of Bill Clinton, spending time with almost anyone else would be preferable...
...Something has to give...
...Watts apparently raised DeLay's ire when he was overheard backing the idea that if Republicans worked over the August recess to shape and pass legislation voters would get the impression this Congress was actually doing something of substance...
Vol. 32 • October 1999 • No. 10
