Mullings A Political Cyber Column By Rich Galen

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Everybody's a Campaign Manager

Monday, May 29, 2000

The worst thing about falling behind in the polls is not that you are behind in the polls, it's that everyone in the nation thinks they know how to fix it.

When Bush was battling McCain, a New York developer told me he was going to be one of those "everyones" and call Austin to straighten them out. I said that was fine and, by the way, the Governor of Texas had asked me to tell the developer that the side of his new building facing 43rd Street needed to be redesigned.

"What does he know about building an office tower," the man asked? "Exactly," I answered.

However, when you are the sitting Vice President of these United States and the President of that very same country has decided to be the "Everyone-In-Chief," it can cause problems.

Clinton has become like a stalker in his inability to stay away from Hillary's and Al's campaigns. He said last week that he thought Gore should take a more positive stance and leave the Bush Bashing to the professionals like, well, like Bill Clinton.

The most recent Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll has George W. Bush extending to a 10-point lead, 49-39 over Al "I'm-A-Grown-Up-And-I-Can-Do-This-Myself" Gore. This is slightly higher than the seven and eight point leads which have been reported over the past couple of weeks. But the bigger problem for Gore is, he seems to be stuck in the high 30's.

Gore is said to have bristled at the notion that Clinton insists on giving advice which gets into the papers. To prove he is simply� not� going� to� listen� to� Bill�Clinton's� or� anyone� else's� stupid� suggestions, his speech to the graduates at West Point over the weekend was an attack on Bush's plan to decrease the number of nuclear warheads we are stockpiling while building a missile defense system.

Class assignment: Find recent examples where the Left has favored maintaining current levels of worldwide nuclear arsenals.

The Democrats also trotted Defense Secretary Bill Cohen out on Meet the Press to counter Bush's plan. Cohen is the person, we should remember, who not only permitted bombing raids on Baghdad on the day the House was voting on Impeachment, but in the middle of the proceedings agreed to come out and do a briefing so as to deflect attention from the votes.

Bill Cohen ought not be looking for a chapter in future updates of Profiles in Courage.

An Associated Press article by sportswriter Jack O'Connell has all-time home run champion Henry Aaron, a vice president of the Atlanta Braves' organization, complaining that the Braves are not doing enough to attract black fans.

Hello? Remember the John Rocker thing? Remember the swift, strong silence from the Braves - including owner Ted Turner who was not known as "Reticent Boy" when growing up - which followed? Do they think black baseball fans didn't notice? They are voting with the most powerful ballot they have - their entertainment dollars.

Youngest brother, Ron, got married over the weekend. During the photo op, while the photographer was reading his light meter someone said he looked like Dr. McCoy from Star Trek doing a medical scan. "Dammit, Jim," I said. "I'm a doctor, not a photographer." My mother gave me That Look which mothers have been giving their mal-behaved sons for 30,000 years. I responded to That Look excactly the way all sons have for 30,000 years: I stood quietly and behaved.

OK, quick rant. This was going to be the focus of this edition but the Standards and Practices Division of Mullings nixed it. This column was supposed to have been written from Baku, Azerbaijan where the International Republican Institute had asked me to go to do a couple of days of seminars.

The IRI (and its across-the-aisle counterpart the National Democratic Institute) have done truly extraordinary work in the past two decades bringing democratic principles to countries in Latin America, Eastern Europe, and South East Asia.

The IRI had only one requirement: That I not write about the trip in Mullings. The stated reason being they don't want to get a bunch of phone calls from people wanting to go on trips. No problem. I declined the trip.

So, this is how we slip this past Standards and Practices: If you are a Republican, don't - DO NOT - call the IRI at 202-408-9450 and ask what other trips and missions they may have planned. And if you are a Democrat, DO NOT call the NDI at 202-328-3136 to ask the same question. I mean it. I am not kidding about this. Seriously.

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Copyright © 2000 Richard A. Galen

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