For the Record - President Bush showing a better-than-expected approval rating - this and other items are discussed - Brief Article

National Review, June 11, 2001

President Bush's approval rating at 59 percent, in Fox News survey. . . . In Harris poll, 51 percent rate Bush performance better than expected. . . . Sen. Joe Biden (D., Del.) on Bush, in National Journal: "One of his obvious strengths goes unspoken very often. He appears not to want to be president badly. I think that's a great asset for a president. I sincerely mean that. I think it's one of the best things he had going for him when he was running. He appears not to be lusting after the office." . . . White House counsel Alberto Gonzales, on judicial nominations: "This may be the most important thing a president does. . . . A lot of the things that a president does can be undone by the next administration or the next Congress. This lasts a lifetime." . . . "The Bush administration has filled only 11 percent of its most senior government positions and is unlikely to get even half of its roughly 500 top policymakers in place before Labor Day," reports Washington Post.

Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.), in Rolling Stone: "If Bush had sat down and said, 'I need you as vice president in order to run the country,' of course I would have said yes." . . . More McCain: "I'm becoming more of an environmentalist." . . . Sen. Zell Miller (D., Ga.): "My Democrat friends need to be reminded and return to those days of yesteryear when they supported cutting tax rates, and did not engage in this endless class warfare that they have today become a Johnny-one-note on." . . . "I am not going to switch to the Republican party," insists Miller in TV interview, addressing rumors to contrary. "But neither am I going to march in lockstep with some of these Democratic senators up here blindly off a cliff, and that's where sometimes they try to lead me." . . . Former senator Bob Kerrey, to grad students who asked him to resign as head of New School University in wake of Vietnam controversy: "Look at my record. I don't think you will find that I am yellow-dog imperialist scum." . . . NBC's Tim Russert asks Sen. Ted Kennedy (D., Mass.) whether he will run for president in 2004: "No, no, I don't think so."

n Just as Sen. Hillary Clinton (D., N.Y.) campaigned with placards and bumper stickers reading only "Hillary," New York gubernatorial candidate Andrew Cuomo (D.) unveils buttons and signs saying merely "Andrew." . . . Former attorney general Janet Reno says she may run for governor of Florida. . . . As Chicago Tribune polls show only 20 percent of Illinois voters believing Gov. George Ryan (R.) deserves second term, pro-life Democrat Glenn Poshard considers another bid for office. . . . Former labor-secretary nominee Linda Chavez founds new group called Stop Union Political Abuse.

Justice Clarence Thomas on working at Supreme Court: "The job is not worth doing for what they pay. The job is not worth doing for the grief. But it is worth doing for the principle." . . . Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State criticizes attorney general John Ashcroft for holding private prayer meetings in office on weekday mornings, in Washington Post: "He's running the department like a church, complete with rituals and forbidden words." . . . In CBS News poll, 49 percent approve of building more nuclear plants to generate electricity, and 43 percent disapprove. . . . Teamsters president James P. Hoffa, on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: "The Teamsters union and several other international unions have endorsed this because it means jobs, and it also gives us a new supply of oil. I think anybody paying $2 a gallon wants cheaper gas. And if that's the one way we have to do it, let's do it." . . . Jimmy Carter, in Washington Post: "No energy crisis exists now that equates in any way with those we faced in 1973 and 1979." . . . In Newsweek poll, 68 percent say government investing Social Security assets in stock market is "bad idea," but 59 percent say letting individuals do it is "good idea." . . . Rep. Marge Roukema (R., N.J.) on HBO show The Sopranos, in Newark Star-Ledger: "This program is highly discriminatory. They do ethnic stereotyping, and it's Mafia, homicide, cheating, corruption, financial corruption, denigrating women and families; all of it."

General Services Administration report says departing Clinton staffers did not trash White House. . . . Clinton, after accepting teachers- union award in New York: "Maybe someday I'll run for something again." . . . Organizers of Clinton speech in Norway resort to giving away tickets in order to fill hall, and in Sweden ticket prices are cut 50 percent and only half are purchased. . . . California Democratic party chairman Art Torres on Al Gore, in San Francisco Chronicle: "The vice president hasn't called to thank me. Not one phone call, not one letter. . . . I'm insulted . . . considering what we did for him." . . . Al Sharpton weighs 2004 presidential run. . . . Rep. Robert Matsui (D., Calif.), in USA Today: "I have to admit I've been impressed with the campaign [death-tax foes] have waged."