For the Record

As would-be GOP opponents maneuver, Bill Clinton’s woes deepen. Spoiling his New Year’s announcement he would run again in ’96 was AP leak of report by House and Senate Banking Committee Democrats that blisters Administration (in possible hint to Prez he shouldn’t run) over Whitewater lies. Johns Hopkins political scientist Benjamin Ginsburg says Clinton’s ’94 was a year “without precedent” for a modern President, “with the possible exception of Richard Nixon’s last year.” Ginsburg adds that “the advisors dropping off, the darkness coming ever closer to the White House,” has “the feel of Watergate to it.” Former Democratic presidential candidate Paul Tsongas also attacked the “cynical, poll-driven pandering of our current leadership.” . . . Sen. Phil Gramm (R., Tex.), trying to grab early momentum in race for ’96 GOP presidential nod, has made visits to campaign organizers in more than 20 cities since November election and plans huge Dallas fundraiser in February. . . . Meanwhile, ace GOP fundraiser Larry Bathgate has reportedly agreed to serve as finance chairman for Jack Kemp campaign. According to one close Kemp associate, former HUD secretary spent vacation in Colorado prepping for ’96 run; look for announcement of his campaign committee “in the next few months.” . . . Wall Street Journal reports that Sen. Robert Dole (R., Kan.) likely to announce campaign committee in January; former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander will do same in February. And despite recent hospital visit, former VP Dan Quayle will hit hustings again in early primary state of South Carolina.

Some in Capitol Hill press corps disgruntled that House GOP is making room to accommodate talk-radio hosts anxious to cover opening week of Congress. . . . New GOP Senate won’t rewrite last year’s “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays-in-military. But Washington Times’s Rowan Scarborough reports that both Armed Services Committee Chairman Strom Thurmond (R., S.C.) and manpower subcommittee chairman Dan Coats (R., Ind.) may hold hearings to see that Pentagon and Justice Dept, enforce ban on gays in uniform who admit to homosexuality. If courts strike down ban, Coats promises “an immediate response” from Congress. . . . FDA Chief David Kessler (who now talks about himself in third person, according to report by James Bovard in American Spectator) is not intimidated by GOP Congress’s criticism of his health-scare tactics and regulatory obsessions. Some Kessler staffers say he is considering run for Senate or even Presidency. . . . Sen. James M. Inhofe (R., Okla.) said in GOP response to Clinton radio talk: “For the first time in our adult lives, big-government liberalism will no longer be the dominant moving force in the legislative branch.” . . . N.Y. Times story saying Clinton passed up chance to visit troops in Haiti in order to attend his beloved Renaissance Weekend gabfest at Hilton Head resort in South Carolina has more surprising item: conservative direct-mail expert Richard Viguerie is “a fixture” at yearly event. Less surprising news in quote from one Democratic attendee: “I would say Richard Viguerie is a lot happier this year.”

Featured Tags

Presidential Election

As would-be GOP opponents maneuver, Bill Clinton’s woes deepen. Spoiling his New Year’s announcement he would run again in ’96 was AP leak of report by House and Senate Banking Committee Democrats that blisters Administration (in possible hint to Prez he shouldn’t run) over Whitewater lies. Johns Hopkins political scientist Benjamin Ginsburg says Clinton’s ’94 was a year “without precedent” for a modern President, “with the possible exception of Richard Nixon’s last year.” Ginsburg adds that “the advisors dropping off, the darkness coming ever closer to the White House,” has “the feel of Watergate to it.” Former Democratic presidential candidate Paul Tsongas also attacked the “cynical, poll-driven pandering of our current leadership.” . . . Sen. Phil Gramm (R., Tex.), trying to grab early momentum in race for ’96 GOP presidential nod, has made visits to campaign organizers in more than 20 cities since November election and plans huge Dallas fundraiser in February. . . . Meanwhile, ace GOP fundraiser Larry Bathgate has reportedly agreed to serve as finance chairman for Jack Kemp campaign. According to one close Kemp associate, former HUD secretary spent vacation in Colorado prepping for ’96 run; look for announcement of his campaign committee “in the next few months.” . . . Wall Street Journal reports that Sen. Robert Dole (R., Kan.) likely to announce campaign committee in January; former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander will do same in February. And despite recent hospital visit, former VP Dan Quayle will hit hustings again in early primary state of South Carolina.

Some in Capitol Hill press corps disgruntled that House GOP is making room to accommodate talk-radio hosts anxious to cover opening week of Congress. . . . New GOP Senate won’t rewrite last year’s “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays-in-military. But Washington Times’s Rowan Scarborough reports that both Armed Services Committee Chairman Strom Thurmond (R., S.C.) and manpower subcommittee chairman Dan Coats (R., Ind.) may hold hearings to see that Pentagon and Justice Dept, enforce ban on gays in uniform who admit to homosexuality. If courts strike down ban, Coats promises “an immediate response” from Congress. . . . FDA Chief David Kessler (who now talks about himself in third person, according to report by James Bovard in American Spectator) is not intimidated by GOP Congress’s criticism of his health-scare tactics and regulatory obsessions. Some Kessler staffers say he is considering run for Senate or even Presidency. . . . Sen. James M. Inhofe (R., Okla.) said in GOP response to Clinton radio talk: “For the first time in our adult lives, big-government liberalism will no longer be the dominant moving force in the legislative branch.” . . . N.Y. Times story saying Clinton passed up chance to visit troops in Haiti in order to attend his beloved Renaissance Weekend gabfest at Hilton Head resort in South Carolina has more surprising item: conservative direct-mail expert Richard Viguerie is “a fixture” at yearly event. Less surprising news in quote from one Democratic attendee: “I would say Richard Viguerie is a lot happier this year.”