On the Prowl
E 0 0 I 0 0 Groupers Cable network MSNBC, which has seen its ratings plummet in the wake of the end of impeachment, is desperately scrambling to keep its talking-head programming afloat. One...
...It was Gorton who pressed Lott to block live witnesses, and it was Gorton who negotiated the agreement with Democrats that allowed Minority Leader Tom Daschle an equal say in how the Senate trial would proceed...
...And he thinks the women at the functions love it...
...But no more...
...She's been living there since early February, and it's unclear if she will return to her Little Rock home anytime soon...
...We never got a lecture like we were back in Econ loi from Alfonse...
...NBC just didn't want to pay him a lot of money," says a McLaughlin aide...
...Needles and Pins Reporters on Air Force One returning from Mexico with the president were surprised to find Hillary parading up and down the press area showing off a heart-shaped pin she said the president gave her for Valentine's Day...
...He thinks he deserves a break," said a White House press aide...
...Mommy Dearest In the wake of the damaging interview Hillary Clinton's mother, Dorothy Rodham, gave to Vanity Fair writer Gail Sheehy, the Clintons have moved mom into a guest room at the White House...
...He doesn't link up the gift with the person...
...I think he's done," said a staffer recently...
...Sax-Deprived On his way out to pick up daughter Chelsea for a quick birthday get-together in Utah, the Clintons stopped off in San Francisco and Los Angeles for some Democratic Party fundraising...
...The president apologized to them, but he doesn't want to revisit the impeachment controversy for a while...
...Officially, the White House explained that there wasn't an instrument to be lent for him to play...
...Hyde Watch Impeachment hero Rep...
...That and the death threats have just weighed heavily on him...
...Nonetheless, at several subsequent public events at which the veep announced White House initiatives on education, tax credits, and the budget, Gore entered by himself to the tune of "Hail to the Chief," his musical entrance having been approved by his advance people...
...Normally when Bill goes fundraising he likes to bring along his saxophone in case there's a band performing that he can play along with...
...Rodham said that she hadn't spoken to her daughter about marital difficulties or other emotional matters...
...No word what will happen if People puts her on the cover...
...Hail to the Veep Vice President Al Gore's staff has ruffled the feathers of President Clinton's by allowing "Hail to the Chief" to be played on several recent occasions when Gore entered a room to speak...
...John Kasich's presidential campaign got off to a slow start when two Ohio fundraising events netted him less than S3oo,000 — after he'd predicted he'd take in $1 million...
...He thinks he raises more money at events where he plays," says a presidential press staffer...
...But NBC wasn't willing to pony up the dough to make the show worth McLaughlin's time...
...Gramm and Shelby met afterward to clear the air, and Gramm promised no more long-winded lectures...
...When D'Amato was chairman, we'd get printed schedules, memos—and staff pretty much mapped out the hearing and legislative schedules," says a Banking Committee policy analyst...
...In early February, Chief of Staff John Podesta reportedly sent a memo to Gore aides requesting that the song no longer be performed unless the president were entering with Gore...
...Shelby just wasn't going to sit there and listen for another minute...
...When the crowd in Los Angeles started chanting for Clinton to perform with the rockabilly swing band that was performing, Clinton simply smiled and declined...
...Gorton, considered one of the most liberal Republicans left in the Senate, was a top Lott lieutenant in putting up constant roadblocks before House impeachment managers during the Senate trial...
...Morris thought a 'moderate' adviser would help balance out the voices of conservatives like Nickles and Mack...
...Who'll Run the DNC...
...14 April 1999 • The American Spectator McAuliffe has close ties to organized labor, and was able to raise huge amounts for Clinton-Gore in 1996, as well as for the House Democrats in 1996 and 1998...
...He's got a better sense of humor than most interviewers and it would draw the conservatives to MSNBC in droves," said an NBC News producer...
...Henry Hyde is under 24-hour protection by the Secret Service after receiving death threats for his role in making the case against Clinton...
...The president always buys his presents in bulk, ten or twelve different things at one store, then he stashes them in his study," reports a longtime presidential assistant...
...If it's gift-giving time, he just pulls out what he thinks is appropriate...
...For Sale Rep...
...One savior appeared to arrive, John McLaughlin's "McLaughlin Special Report," which got better ratings than any other MSNBC show during the few weeks it aired...
...But with Gephardt out of the race, and Gore seeming to have locked up the nomination, McAulife is said to be gearing up to take over the DNC by June 1. "He's going to raise a ton of money," said one RNC fundraiser...
...It may be that he will raise more than we do for the first time in five years...
...We'll be fine, especially in Washington, where we're getting great responses from lobbyists with issues coming before the Budget Committee"—of which Kasich is chairman...
...Gramm is said to have lectured his colleagues for almost an hour on trends in financial services policy since the Bush administration, and committee members couldn't take any more of his droning...
...Now there is talk in the NBC halls of approaching Rush Limbaugh to do an hour-long interview show modeled on "Larry King Live...
...They got together on the suggestion of Dick Morris," says a Senate leadership source...
...Clean-up Committee Four members of the White House maintenance crews who were subpoenaed by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr have formally filed a request with the president and the White House counsel's office for repayment of about $50,000 in legal bills...
...The show, identical to the weekly roundtable, but with less-known commentators, was put together by McLaughlin as a favor to NBC News chief Andrew Lack, who reportedly begged him to pump up the ratings...
...The American Spectator • April 1999 15...
...Heartwarming though the news was, the Prowler somehow doubts the president told her that (as a Secret Service source reports) he bought that heart pin at the same Union Station shop where he bought the hat pin he gave to Monica Lewinsky...
...Meanwhile, let's see if Clinton pays back the Secret Service man who covered his $63 bookstore charge in Utah March 1, after the president's American Express card had ominously expired...
...Hillary, however, doesn't, and has locked the reed instrument away in some White House closet...
...He's conservative, and everyone knows where he's coming from, but people at 3o Rockefeller think he could easily get the politicians and commentators to come and talk and debate...
...Indications are that the janitors won't be compensated anytime soon...
...Republican Divisions Several Republican senators, including Richard Shelby, walked out of the first meeting of the Senate Banking Committee under new chairman Phil Gramm...
...Although he's been battling poor health the past few years, his staff assumed he would run for re-election in z000...
...President Clinton wanted McAuliffe to take over the DNC's operation after 1996, but McAullife held out in deference to Gephardt, who would have wanted him to chair his presidential campaign if he decided to run...
...Later the White House called it a "devotion heart" that symbolized the president's promise to remain faithful to his longtime mate...
...Watching his Republican colleagues in the Senate sell him down the river may have been the capper for him...
...In the February Vanity Fair Mrs...
...Slade the Dragon Doubts about Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott's loyalty to the conservative base continue to grow, especially after he recently sat down to dinner with longtime friend Connie Mack and new adviser Slade Gorton...
...The first lady was said to be horrified, and with press attention focused on her Senate possibilities, wants mom somewhere she can keep an eye on her...
...Brokaw has already told the powers that be that he'd support a Limbaugh show—anything over what's-his-name on CNBC...
...Unlike other White House staff members who had something potentially explosive or damaging to testify about, the janitors weren't provided with lawyers hand-picked by White House counsel Charles Ruff and Clinton private lawyer David Kendall...
...Now we get Gramm who wants to micromanage the committee...
...He will probably forward the request to the Justice Department sometime this summer...
...Republicans are concerned that the exit of Democratic National Committee Chairman Steven Grossman means longtime Gephardt and DNC fundraiser—and current chief fundraiser for Al Gore—Terrence McAuliffe is ready to take the post...
...He's just getting to know the big-money types in his state," says an adviser...
...Since he doesn't pay his cohorts much, you know it wasn't the overall budget...
...He's the best at it...
Vol. 32 • April 1999 • No. 4
