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: Fri, 6 Nov 92 11:28:29 EST Message-ID: \SE A;NATION;INSIDE THE BELTWAY \BY John McCaslin \CR THE WASHINGTON TIMES MO KNOWS There was at least one Republican celebrating Tuesday evening in the midst of our nation's capital, where earlier in the day voters had: (a) overwhelmingly returned to elected office a former mayor who less than three months earlier was restrained in a federal prison; (b) handily rejected, at the urging of Jesse Jackson, a congressional bid to reinstate capital punishment even though three men were killed in an Election Day shootout just one block from Mr. Jackson's Le Droit Park home; (c) seen the vandalizing of the cars of three candidates for school board in Wards 1 and 5, possibly over racial differences; (d) seen bricks thrown at the home of a school board candidate, possibly because she was of a certain race; and (e) turned out in record numbers to do all of the above. You wouldn't have found this jubilant Old Guard blowing a party horn at the Washington Hilton, site of the official GOP election-night "celebration." And rest assured this Bush supporter wasn't seen at the DNC victory party at the Omni Shoreham. Instead, Maureen Blum - who ran on the slogan "Mo Knows Government" - was surrounded by her Republican supporters at the Oxford Tavern on Connecticut Avenue, a k a the "Zoo Bar." Cheerful faces on an otherwise gloomy evening raised mugs of beer and ate meatballs in celebration of her victory as Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner 3C03. "I thought George Bush was riding on my coattails, but he wasn't," Mo pronounced. Then again, George Bush had two opponents. Mo ran unopposed. CUBAN RELATIONS Raul Fernandez, who up until Election Day directed the RNC's "Hispanic Victory '92" campaign, sat in his Bethesda office yesterday and stared at the numbers from Florida - President Bush 41 percent, Bill Clinton 40 percent, Ross Perot 19 percent. Of more interest to Mr. Fernandez, a Cuban-American and former congressional aide to Jack Kemp, was Florida's estimated Cuban-American vote - 75 percent Bush, 25 percent Clinton. "This is significant when you compare it to the fact that Dukakis got 5 percent. This is no doubt the largest vote for a Democrat that the Cuban-American community has given," he said. "But Clinton is smart. He made serious inroads in the Cuban community and had a game plan addressing very specific pieces of legislation that he knew the Cubans were interested in, especially trade legislation with regard to strengthening the embargo against Cuba. Clinton actually endorsed this legislation before Bush did," Mr. Fernandez said. And how has Havana reacted to all this? The Mexican government news agency, Notimex, in a dispatch from Havana, said Fidel Castro held out an olive branch to Bill Clinton yesterday and expressed hope that his administration would end U.S. hostility toward Cuba. But the British news agency Reuters quoted a senior Cuban official as saying that Mr. Clinton's victory offered no immediate hope for an improvement in hostile U.S.-Cuban relations. "We're not getting our hopes up. . . . There is nothing which allows us to be optimistic," National Assembly President Juan Escalona told reporters in Havana. THE PARTY'S OVER Look out, Washington. Look out, Mr. President-elect. Pat Buchanan, who once brought his Irish-Catholic-conservative views to fans and targets alike through his newspaper column, his television appearances and most recently on the campaign trail, is slowly getting back into his old routine, described before as "all-out war." "I'm rather proud that I'm controversial," Mr. Buchanan once said. "People who have been in government or politics or commentary for 10 years and are totally noncontroversial haven't said anything or done anything worth paying attention to." Those paying attention can see Mr. Buchanan this weekend in a special appearance on "The McLaughlin Group," a political affairs program he left to launch his unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination. Mr. Buchanan will rejoin moderator John McLaughlin and regulars Eleanor Clift, Jack Germond and Fred Barnes to offer his post-election analysis. "Pat Buchanan's campaign experience gives him a sharper insight into the political process," said Mr. McLaughlin. "I'll be curious to see what he has learned on the stump and what the next four years will be like." Show producer Allyson Kennedy said: "We are thrilled to have Pat back, but no decision has been made whether he will return full time. He's mulling over his options. There are several things he wants to do." And if that's not enough Buchanan for you, a spokesperson for Tribune Media Services in Orlando, distributor of Mr. Buchanan's newspaper column, said, "Now that the election is over, you will see it resume soon." Readers will find the column in this newspaper's award-winning Commentary section. As for the TV stuff, check local listings for time and station. MEDIA STONEWALL LaNell Sado, an Arlington reader, sent over a letter that reads in full: "If anyone has any doubts about the bias and arrogance of the media, that person should try to question their news judgment. This is apparently Holy Ground. In asking why various media organizations have not followed up on such stories as Clinton's activities in Moscow or the waste dump on the Gore property, I have been hung up on (Washington Post), told it's not worthy of national coverage (CBS), and asked why I don't put on a banner and run up and down the street if I think it's so important (AP wire service). "So much for their self-proclaimed concern for an informed electorate." 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