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December 8, 1999 4:05PM
McCAIN GETS ACHESON WRONG
Oops. John McCain scored points in Monday night's debate with a seemingly
knowing reference to Dean Acheson. After George W. Bush failed to show any
signs that he is actually reading James Chace's biography of the Truman
Secretary of State — as he claimed in the New Hampshire debate — McCain
piped up: "Let me talk about Dean Acheson a second. When Dean Acheson
walked into Harry Truman's office in June of 1950 and said, North Korea
has attacked South Korea, Harry Truman didn't take a poll."
The show-offy reference was cited in most press accounts as evidence that
McCain is more substantive and informed than the frontrunner Bush. The
problem is, McCain got it wrong. Acheson never walked into the Oval Office
to tell Truman the North had invaded South Korea.
Late on Saturday, June 24, 1950, Truman was in Independence, Missouri,
relaxing. According to the Chace biography, "The president had just
finished dinner and was sitting in his library in his home on North
Delaware Street when the telephone rang. 'Mr. President,' Truman heard
Acheson say, 'I have very serious news. The North Koreans have invaded
South Korea.'"
McCain at least was right about Truman not consulting the polls. According
to David McCullough's biography Truman, when the president arrived at
National Airport the next day he immediately told his aides, "By God, I'm
going to let them have it." McCain might want to include that in his next
riff, as the Republican wars over Dean Acheson continue.
McCain spokesman Howard Opinsky said it doesn't matter what Acheson did.
"Whether he made a phone call or walked into the office, the point is that
Truman didn't use polls, and neither would John McCain," he said. And was
McCain trying to show up his rival? "He was just passing along his views,"
explains Opinsky.
FORBES'S STEALTH CAMPAIGN?
On Tuesday's Crossfire, Robert Novak asked Steve Forbes about NR's
report that the likely reason he had dropped out of the Louisiana caucus
was because he was afraid he would lose to Gary Bauer. Forbes repeated the
campaign's line that he dropped out because George W. Bush and John McCain
would not be participating. But now it's not clear he's dropped out at
all.
The contest on January 15 picks three delegates to the Republican
convention from each of seven congressional districts. In each district,
exactly three delegates and three alternates who are pledged to Forbes
have filed. Bush, by contrast, has four delegates pledged to him in some
districts and none in others because he hasn't organized a campaign.
Ira Preuett, who would be a delegate pledged to Forbes from the fifth
district, told NR, "I understand he's back in the race." He said that an
official with the Forbes campaign in Louisiana contacted him "a couple
weeks ago" about filing. He adds that it's his understanding that he'll be
supported by a mail and phone effort. "I don't have time to campaign," he
says. Additional circumstantial evidence that something's afoot: Rhett
Davis, a Louisiana Republican operative who's been trying to keep the
primary going forward, works for the Forbes campaign.
Is Forbes pursuing a stealth strategy? If he loses, he can say it doesn't
matter because he wasn't contesting. If he wins, he can say it shows
incredible momentum since he wasn't even running.
Greg Mueller, a spokesman for the Forbes campaign, says that delegate
candidates are acting on their own. "We don't have any organized effort,"
he says, specifically ruling out working the phones and mail.
NEWSFLASH!
Headline in today's New York Times: "Deep Poverty and Illness Found Among
Homeless."
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Updated By:
Ramesh Ponnuru - Senior Editor
John J. Miller - National Political Reporter
Kate Dwyer - Editorial Associate
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