Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Headline Article Date: Sun, 22 Nov 92 17:26:45 EST Message-ID: \SE A;NATION;INSIDE POLITICS TRANSITION SLOW DANCE Transition aides are saying President-elect Bill Clinton intends to limit the autonomy of his Cabinet and will retain some say in the naming of subcabinet personnel. This would ensure that lower administrative levels are loyal to the Clinton program and suggests authority is likely to be held at the White House rather than fully delegated to Cabinet members. Meantime, the Wall Street Journal said Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, Texas Democrat, appears to have pulled himself out of contention for Treasury secretary in a meeting last week with transition director Warren Christopher. To bolster his case for Defense secretary, fans of Rep. Les Aspin, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, are telling the transition team that Rep. Ron Dellums wouldn't be so bad. Mr. Dellums is a critic of the Pentagon and as matters now stand, the California Democrat would be the next head of the panel if Mr. Aspin departs for Defense. Next in line: Rep. Pat Schroeder, Colorado Democrat. THE WEEK'S QUOTES Barry Goldwater told ABC: "If he [Bush] had continued to campaign after the war in the Persian Gulf he would have won it. But he quit campaigning [and] he had a bunch of idiots in the White House advising him . . . It got to be a sort of dirty campaign. When you call a man a bozo - what the hell is a bozo? Rep. Dick Armey, Texas Republican, told CNN, "The first thing you've got to realize about Bill Clinton is he's very likely the best politician alive in America today. And like all politicians, he's on his own side first. He's going to protect his place in history to the best of his ability." New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, on the possibility Mr. Clinton would name him to the Supreme Court, told the New York Times, "If the offer were made, I would answer the question so swiftly that every one of you in the media, and especially talk-show hosts, would write, 'This, surely, is the most decisive man in America.' " Asked if the answer would be yes or no: "I don't know what the answer would be." Education Secretary Lamar Alexander observed in a speech, "Bill Clinton and Al Gore are smart and young and like to use power, and they're laying plans to be there for 16 years. We're going to have to be good [to] get back the presidency in four years." After tasting the special at a Chinese takeout in Washington, Mr. Clinton told an aide, "Hmmm. Put it in the car." A WARNING FROM JESSE Jesse Jackson told the Boston Globe the "alarm clock is ticking" for Mr. Clinton: "When people's expectations are raised, they fight to protect their hopes." The District's shadow senator added, "Under more progressive administrations, you have more demands, more action, because people believe something can happen. And so you will see major action this spring, demonstrations, fighting to put America back to work, fighting for national health care, fighting for D.C. statehood." Mr. Jackson called the Clinton campaign's approach toward him "annoying." He added, "Think of it as a burning house, and your children are in there. How you approach it would be quite different than if it were empty . . . "If I had spent a lot of time attacking him in a way that diminished [minority voting] numbers, we could have lost some congressmen we were trying to get . . . "Now the fire is out. Now our children are out of the house . . . When [Clinton] fights for the things we support, we support him. When he does not, we should challenge him." MOONBEAM OVER L.A.? Former California Gov. Jerry Brown says he wants to influence the race for mayor of Los Angeles, and he hasn't ruled out running himself - "but it is not something I'm inclined to do." He plans, in any case, to be a vocal observer. "What I'm really concerned about is that another group of political hacks will come to power and you will see Los Angeles continue to decline." "So I hope someone with some charisma and some independence will run a real grass-roots campaign," he said of the April 20 election to replace Democrat Tom Bradley who is retiring next year after 20 years as mayor. JERSEY'S COMING BATTLE New Jersey Republicans, fond of contemplating the vulnerability of Democratic Gov. Jim Florio, are manuevering for the gubernatorial nomination in next year's election. Christine Todd Whitman, who nearly defeated Democratic Sen. Bill Bradley two years ago, is expected to officially announce for governor in January. Her strategist is said to be Ed Rollins and if he takes over her campaign it may suggest a rapproachment of sorts between Mr. Rollins and some Republicans upset over his defection to Ross Perot in the late campaign. Another potential moderate GOP candidate is former Attorney General Cary Edwards. Among conservatives, speculation centers on Assembly Speaker Chuck Haytaian and William Gormley, head of the state senate judiciary committee. Mr. Florio, so far unopposed in the Democratic primary, has let it be known he will not go gently. He has hired the hottest campaign strategist of the moment - Mr. Clinton's James Carville. SCHISM IN TEXAS President Bush's adopted home town provides one of the latest manifestations of the turmoil in the Republican Party in the wake of his defeat. "Moderates" split with the religious right in Harris County (Houston) as Betsy Lake, who has Mr. Bush's old job as the head of the county party, formalized the break by forming a new group. She calls her Republican Federation of Harris County "an association of mainstream conservative Republicans, broad-minded enough to recognize that our party cannot survive as an exclusive, restrictive organization." The move also triggered a struggle in the traditional party organization. Conservative activist Dr. Steven Hotze said he'll be a candidate for the top post and former chairwoman Sherry Johnson is being urged to challenge him. GOP county secretary Iris Manes added, "At this time the party needs leadership that's conservative, certainly, but not known as 'religious right.' We need to welcome all people in the party," the Houston Chronicle reported. Observers noted Mr. Bush will soon be there to get this all straightened out. GAYS IN MILITARY Sen. Ted Stevens, Alaska Republican and ranking member of the Appropriations defense subcommittee, guesses the issue of homosexuals in the military will not interfere with the president-elect's early agenda. "The man is going to be savvy enough not to want that kind of fight with the Congress," the senator said after attending a bipartisan leadership luncheon with Mr. Clinton last week. "That's something I don't think is going to be on the front-burner." No one raised the issue in the luncheon, a signal that many in Congress are willing to wait for the new president's recommendations on abolishing the Pentagon ban on homosexuals. Mr. Stevens endorsed the idea of creating a commission to study the matter, as suggested by Sen. Sam Nunn, chairman of the Armed Services Committee. Mr. Stevens said he opposes any change in Pentagon policy but conceded Mr. Clinton will ultimately prevail. "It's a generational change," he said. GOTCHA, TURKEY The Central Florida Young Republican Club was pressured by the Secret Service into dropping its plans to use photos of Mr. Clinton as targets for a weekend turkey shoot. The Orlando Sentinel said two bucks would buy chance to shoot a shotgun at the president-elect. A turkey would go to closest shot. Said club vice president David Abrami, "This will be fun for the entire family. . . . We thought it would be a nice parody. We didn't mean any ill will by it." PUNDIT LENO NBC's Jay Leno on Mr. Clinton's use of former President Reagan as a transition model: "Clinton has a lot in common with Reagan when you think about it: Neither of them can remember the 1960s, both of them ignored George Bush after they got elected, and neither one of them is the real power in the family." After Mr. Clinton's refusal of Air Force One for the trip from Arkansas to Washington last week, Mr. Leno observed: "I can understand that. He wouldn't go in a military plane 23 years ago, he's not going to go in one now." With respect to Mr. Clinton's hair, Mr. Leno observed, "One day its gray. The next day it's kind of brown. Next day it looks silver. I'm not sure I like the idea of a president with mood hair." BUSHES FIND A HOUSE The president and his wife, Barbara, will live in a Houston house of an old friend after relinquishing the White House, but only until a new home is built for them nearby. Jack Fitch, who sold the Bushes a 5,280-square-foot lot near the city's Tanglewood area three years ago, said last week he is leasing his old home to the first couple come January. Mrs. Bush looked at houses in Houston but found nothing suitable, so the Bushes decided to build a retirement abode on the lot two doors from the Fitch home. When Mr. Fitch sold them the 33-foot-wide lot, he gave them an option to buy an additional 4,320 square feet, which they will do, he said. He described the house he will rent to the Bushes as "substantial," but just a "regular house." The two-bedroom, clapboard home has an appraised tax value of $367,200. ****BOX YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK? The Bureau of Indian Affairs spent about $17 million in fiscal year 1991 "to maintain five million square feet of underutilized excess school facility space." This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM