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Rabbit, Retire
Monday, January 31, 2000
From Merrimack, New Hampshire
The yin and yang of life in Washington yesterday. My weekend started with a retirement ceremony for Rear Admiral Ron "Rabbit" Christensen after 30 years - 30 YEARS - in the Navy. I think I've only had one job that lasted over 30 MONTHS. The honors, bells, and whistles made me feel like I was in the middle of a Patrick O'Brian novel.
The moving ceremony took place in the Indian Treaty Room at the Old Executive Office Building right next to the White house. The reception was held in the Senate Commerce Committee Hearing room which is owned by its Chairman, Senator John McCain.
Bill Bradley finally gave up on the four-corner offense he's been running up here and took the ball to the hoop by going after Gore on abortion. Gore responded the way he always does when he gets caught: First he denies what he's accused of; then he apologizes to anyone who may have been offended or harmed by misunderstanding what his opponent (or the press) has accused him of doing; finally he says we need to focus on the future and not be small minded and petty by looking at the past.
Then Al "Let's-Let-Bygones-Be-Bygones" Gore attacks his opponent with all the fury of a broadside from a battleship for his or her support of some subsection of a major bill in which a semicolon was included that no one knew about until years later.
It is interesting that abortion has become a principal issue between the DEMOCRATIC candidates.
The general buzz among reporters here is Bush is gaining fast on McCain and may have passed him. Real reporting follows: A source close to the McCain campaign indicated that internal polling showed McCain sliding late in the week as Bush got a bump out of his win in Iowa, but may have been recovering ground as they moved into this last weekend.
The weather here may be deteriorating which cannot be helpful to McCain's chances. One of the things we have learned in the course of our careers in politics is this: moderates and independents tend to under-perform their polling numbers. That means bad weather may make it less likely that McCain's independent voters will turn out.
At a Bush Superbowl rally last night, the band played "Hail to the Victors" which is the fight song of the University of Michigan when the Governor of Texas rolled into the hanger. I considered this odd until I realized that the people of New Hampshire might have been confused had the band played, "I've Been Working on the Railroad."
An ugly situation occurred on Sunday afternoon. Retiring Senator Bob Kerrey, a Bradley supporter, showed up at a Gore event. According to reporters who attended, Kerrey was surrounded by bussed-in union thugs who shoved Gore signs between Kerrey and the reporters he was trying to talk to, kicked mud and slush on him, and called him a quitter.
Forget about the fact that Kerrey is a sitting United States Senator. Bob Kerrey won a Congressional Medal of Honor but lost a leg while serving in Viet Nam. This is the man the Gore supporters called a quitter. Gore's staff, when informed of the incident, refused to apologize.
Remember that scene in Iowa last week when Kerrey arrived with Bradley to do an event in Ames just as Bush was getting ready to leave? Kerrey went over to shake hands and say hello to Bush. Bush thanked him and told Kerrey he thought Kerrey was making a mistake by leaving the Senate.
Does this tell us anything at all about what the fall campaign will be like?
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