On the Prowl
ON THE PROWL We Have Liftoff Members of the Senate press gallery have noticed that minority leader Tom Daschle is no longer sporting the gray hairs that once adorned his head. At some point in the...
...John Engler and Wisconsin Gov...
...The Other George Republican consultants down in the dumps over heavy Senate losses on November 3 perked up a few days later 14 January 1999 • The American Spectator when former Virginia governor George Allen told several friends that he is now leaning toward running for the Senate in 2000...
...They also note he's gained stature, thanks to lifts that have added at least an inch and a half to his height...
...Regularly he can be seen trolling the magazine aisles at a Borders book store a few blocks from the Old Executive Office Building...
...At some point in the 1998 campaign, pressies believe, Daschle underwent a very good dye job...
...Alas for the Clinton economy, Blumenthal left the store without making a purchase...
...And he didn't want to take it from a group that he thinks he helped immensely this past Senate term...
...George W. Bush in late November...
...Nicholson has already told friends that if he isn't retained, Paxonshould be the party's pick...
...Going to New Orleans Senate majority leader Trent Lott traveled to New Orleans in November for the Republican Governors Association meeting expecting to face off against two of his harshest critics: Michigan Gov...
...On the day after Kenneth Starr's appearance before the House Judiciary Committee, all three could be seen out in front of the Palm, yukking it up as Jordan, a good foot or two taller than the diminutive Clinton apologists, told a joke—at Starr's expense, according to a passer-by...
...Bush got better treatment than the president has ever received over there, and the White House felt Netanyahu was trying to needle Mr...
...The city can hardly be called a Republican showcase...
...A friend of Rendell's who currently works for the AFL-CIO in Washington says that several union leaders made it clear they would not sanction the "anti-union" Republican Party in a union town...
...While Democratic mayor Ed Rendell put on a good show for the RNC site committee, it was the same show the Democratic National Committee took a pass on, and that has to make you wonder...
...He's looking to DeLay and Largent to represent the House Republicans before the public...
...Although his candidate for majority leader, Steve Largent, failed to win, DeLay isn't worried about what his relationship with fellow Texan Dick Armey will be like for the next two years...
...DeLay doesn't like it much, but the speaker owes Forbes a lot for helping him win the post...
...The real power is with Livingston, and we're right there with him...
...Michael Forbes, a longtime Gingrich critic...
...Allen hates Washington, and he loved being governor," says a consultant who has worked with Allen...
...Patrick Kennedy, will take him on...
...Tommy Thompson...
...Incumbent Democrat Chuck Robb is thought to be vulnerable, and even without Allen the race was expected to be hotly contested...
...They told Ed that they wouldn't be surprised if there were wildcat hotel and restaurant worker strikes in Philly for several weeks while the Republicans were in town," says the source...
...This contact occurred nearly three weeks before Attorney General Janet Reno, acting as Freeh expected she would, announced she will not appoint an independent counsel to investigate Gore...
...Chafee at the Bit Is Rhode Island Sen...
...Already he is being touted as a solid vice presidential nominee in z000...
...As it happens, Allen believes he may have a better shot at the presidency running from the Senate...
...Freehdom Fighting A former high-ranking FBI official has told associates that he was approached by FBI Director Louis Freeh and asked to help disseminate material collected by Freeh's staff and that of former prosecutor Charles La Bella in their investigations of Clinton-Gore campaign irregularities...
...But he knows he can't win on tax cuts...
...No more...
...Gephardt is graying, as is Lott...
...With Allen, it could become one of the safest Republican pickups in the country...
...He is going to thrive, thanks to the heavy behind-the-scenes lobbying he did on behalf of Bob Livingston...
...Jennifer Dunn acted like a woman scorned after failing to replace Dick Armey as House majority leader...
...This is a race Republicans can't afford to lose...
...Rendell remains a rising star in Democratic circles, and Philadelphia's supposed renaissance has little to do with GOP policies...
...He says he wants the job and would immediately move the convention from Philadelphia to San Antonio to show how interested the party is in attracting Hispanics to our ranks," says an RNC source...
...The majority leader basically is just hanging on until he can retire honorably...
...She wants a seat at the leadership table, but there's no room at the top for her...
...Clinton," a State Department source said...
...Behind closed doors, Lott promised governors an aggressive congressional push on Social Security reform—but not on taxes...
...But national party leaders are leery of giving him the job, o particularly when far less con? troversial former House g member Bill Paxon may ,Z„ want it for himself...
...House Democrats boosted Kennedy's chances by voting him into a leadership post as the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's chief fundraiser...
...14 The American Spectator • January 1999 15...
...Post-November 3 both men had called for changes in the Republican leadership, beginning with Lott...
...Livingston is not going to make any bones about the fact that he has to be a moderate speaker who has to work with all segments of the House," says a longtime Livingston associate...
...He can run on his record, and on the promise that he may take over the Senate Finance Committee from William Roth," says a worried Chafee staffer...
...Shalom Dunk President Clinton ordered his secretary of state to chide Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the swell welcome he gave to Texas Gov...
...They've taken it for granted much too long...
...Bush, on a rare overseas visit, was greeted by a ceremonial military guard and cheering Israelis waving little Texas state flags, and Netanyahu glowingly compared him to current world leaders...
...In fact, Robb may retire rather than face Allen...
...She was livid, especially because of the way Steve Largent and Armey portrayed her as a liberal in the days leading up to the vote," says the member...
...Armey is no longer a concern," says an aide in DeLay's office...
...Freeh doesn't want Gore to get off scot-free," says another former high-ranking FBI official, who helped select Freeh for his post...
...And if anyone knows how that goes, it's Livingston...
...Is Dunn Finished...
...No one believes him when he says he can't propose a tax cut," said the Lott staffer...
...During one recent lunch break, Blumenthal spent more than an hour perusing new issues of such faves as the New Yorker, the New Republic, the Weekly Standard, and...The American Spectator...
...This member says new speaker Bob Livingston made it one of his missions to ensure Dunn would not be part of his leadership team...
...Sources in both Livingston's and DeLay's offices say that the new speaker has told DeLay that he expects the whip to serve as a "voice for the conservatives" in the House...
...Delay of the Land House Whip Tom DeLay did more than survive the upheaval in the House...
...Though that's not what Engler and Thompson think, in the end they gave Lott a free pass, directing their ire at RNC head Jim Nicholson instead...
...But Gingrich is calling in chits within the RNC to position himself...
...After losing on the second ballot, one House member says, she threatened to announce she was going to jump parties in protest...
...Ever the public intellectual, Clinton staffer Sidney Blumenthal comports himself with greater dignity...
...Louis is just sick about the stonewalling, and if Reno won't do something, he's going to do to the White House what it's been doing to everyone else—leak like crazy...
...Washington Rep...
...But Rendell doesn't take the threats seriously...
...John Chafee a likely GOP loser in 2000...
...He did not want to take any more crap than he had already taken in Washington," says a Lott staffer...
...There are indications that Ted Kennedy's son, 32year-old Rep...
...In other words, he's afraid he'll get hammered by Clinton...
...Invited to the event before election day, Lott afterward told staffers he wasn't going to go...
...But that probably isn't enough against Kennedy...
...In fact, the management at some restaurants, such as the power lunch spot the Palm, noticed that frequent clients Paul Begala, Rahm Emanuel, and Vernon Jordan were downright skittish about being seen together in public...
...He hates her," the member said...
...He could run for governor again"—Virginia forbids consecutive gubernatorial terms "but he thinks his duty to the party is more important...
...He's a moderate and will help balance DeLay's tough talk," says the associate...
...Brotherly Love Former speaker Newt Gingrich would very much like to head the Republican National Committee, replacing the ineffectual Jim Nicholson...
...He thinks she'd move on him the second his back was turned...
...The moderate Chafee remains highly popular at home, but he will be a year shy of 8o when the campaign takes off...
...But that's not stopping him from looking to raise the profile of New York Rep...
...But the dye job was a bit surprising because it wasn't necessary...
...Some of us think he's always worn some kind of lift in his shoes," says a longtime Senate reporter...
...Public Nuisances After the release of the Starr report, some longtime friends of Bill Clinton tried to lower their profile...
...So it wasn't that he was looking that old...
...Speaking of Philly, many in the party may rue the day that the City of Brotherly Love was selected as the Republican site for the 2000 convention...
Vol. 32 • January 1999 • No. 1
