■ Bill Clinton tells Dan Rather, “I do not regard this impeachment vote as some great badge of shame. I do not. Because I do not believe it was warranted, and I don’t think it was right.” . . . Announcing his support for hate-crimes bill, Bill Clinton says Slobodan Milosevic should accept “deployment of an international security force to protect not only the Kosovar Albanians . . . but also the Serbian minority in Kosovo. Everybody. We’re not for anybody’s hate crimes.” . . . George W Bush opposes making violence against homosexuals a “hate crime,” while Gov. Tom Ridge (R., Pa.), often mentioned as possible Bush running mate, supports idea. . . . Meanwhile, New Hampshire House, in lopsided vote, repeals ban on gay adoptions.
■ John McCain wins media praise for (grudging and critical) support of Clinton on Kosovo. On CNN, Bob Novak asks him whether praise from left-wing journalists embarrasses him. Reply: “I’m so wounded when you criticize me, Bob, that it makes up for all the good feelings I have when they praise me.” . . . McCain wins support of House manager Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) …. John Kasich says Bush “is going to have the best driver in the bag, but he’s got to play all 18 holes. All I’ve got to do is go out and play my game.” . . . Ex-Pres. Bush on Dan Quayle: “He kept his chin up, and now it is a wonderful thing, because many of his critics who were all over his case when he talked about the values of our society . . . now recognize that he was right all along.” . . . Gore advisors worry as veep faces ridicule for statements on Internet, his history as a farmer. Among critics: Republican Leadership Council, usually known for attacks on “divisive” social conservatives, and RNC. . . . Gore on his 1992 book Earth in the Balance, widely derided for extremism: “There is not a single passage in that book that I disagree with, or would change.”
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