his week, Al Gore has been making the rather peculiar claim that George W. Bush isn't as tough a crime-fighter as he is. It might be a good time, then, to review a remarkable episode in the career of Gore's campaign manager, Tony Coelho, ably summarized by Margaret Carlson in an article for the New Republic in 1989.

Eleven years ago, Coelho had the job Tom DeLay does now. He was also a friend — golfing buddy, co-investor — of John Mack, a top aide to then-Speaker Jim Wright. And Mack had a little p.r. problem. In 1973, Mack had been the manager of a discount store in Virginia. A college student named Pamela Small came into buy window blinds for her first apartment. Mack lured her into a storeroom and smashed her skull with a hammer five times. He then used a steak knife to stab her in the chest and shoulder and to slit her throat. He put her body in her car and went to see a movie.

But Small survived and went to the police. Mack first denied his guilt, then admitted to having "blown his cool." Luckily for Mack, his brother was married to Jim Wright's daughter. Wright wrote letters for Mack and promised to give him a job (even though he had neither Hill experience nor a college education). Mack served two years in jail and then went on to work his way up the Hill.

In 1989, though, Small came forward and the Post broke the story of his past "mistake" (as he put it). Coelho already knew of Mack's background. His reaction when the story broke? "John Mack owed his debt to society, not to this young woman." Besides, he added, Mack "worked to pass very caring bills." According to Carlson, "No other member [of Congress] was quite as ardent as Coelho in his support of Mack. . ."

Coelho, by the way, is under criminal investigation himself for his role as U.S. commissioner general to the 1998 World Exposition in Lisbon, Portugal [for more on this, see our 3/24 bulletin].

Tennessee Titans
The other day, a savvy Republican strategist suggested a possible veep candidate for Bush who hasn't been in the media mix: Lamar Alexander. (He made us promise not to laugh first.) The case for Alexander was fairly straightforward. Bush, he said, won't want to be seen as going to the right in his veep pick; a former university president and secretary of education would be helpful if Bush really is planning to contest the education issue; Alexander has been vetted and is a serious, intelligent politician who is unlikely to screw up in a big way; and Gore would be forced to put resources in Tennessee.

Well, maybe. Alexander, whose position on abortion has been somewhat protean, would need to share his current thinking on the subject with the rest of us first. And Bush appears to be doing a fairly good job on education all by himself. Our own sense is that health care, though it ranks lower than education in the polls, may actually move more votes. In which case, why not pick Tennessee senator — and doctor — Bill Frist?

On The Website
Be sure to check NR's website for lots of new material, including a new feature: an ongoing compilation of Vice President Gore's experiments with the truth.