For the Record - progress of presidential campaign - Brief Article

National Review, Sept 25, 2000

In The Hotline's latest electoral scoreboard of state-by-state polls, George W. Bush leads Al Gore in 22 states worth 248 electoral votes, and Gore is on top in nine states worth 168 (270 are needed to win), with Bush showing strength in Michigan and Gore running well in Illinois and Washington State. . . . In seven election forecasts presented by computer modelers at American Political Science Association meeting, all predict Gore victory. . . . Of 103 million Americans expected to vote for president, about 5 million remain undecided, according to Bush and Gore strategists, reports New York Times. . . . "No clear favorite" in 19 House races, says Congressional Quarterly analysis. . . . Senate Republicans believe no net losses in November would be good outcome, and currently expect 54-seat majority to slip by one or two seats. . . . Of eleven gubernatorial races this fall, six are considered tossups: Delaware, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, and West Virginia. Republicans currently hold 30-18 lead in governorships.

In Arkansas disbarment proceedings, President Clinton files papers saying loss of legal license for perjury would be "excessively harsh, impermissibly punitive, and unprecedented in the circumstances of this case." . . . Clinton legal- defense fund receives $950,000 in first half of 2000, but remains $4 million short of paying off bills. . . . Hours after asking Monica Lewinsky to become corporate vice president, American Women Presidents, group urging election of woman as president or vice president, withdraws job offer amid backlash. . . . "I come from a place where barbecue is not food, it is a way of life," says Clinton on trip to New York. "It is a philosophy of human nature. I have rarely had any as good as this."

Bush proposes three debates with Gore, on prime-time versions of Meet the Press, Larry King Live, and in St. Louis. . . . FCC commissioner Michael Powell, son of Colin Powell, is most likely member of family to win Bush cabinet post, says Washingtonian. . . . New pro-Bush website: gorewillsayanything.com.

n In Wall Street Journal, Ira Stoll reports on Joseph Lieberman's 1970 book The Scorpion and the Tarantula, in which Lieberman endorses a historian's view that Cold War "is not fundamentally a case of the wicked against the virtuous. Fundamentally, it is like the case of the scorpion and the tarantula in the bottle, and we may properly feel sorry for both parties, caught as they are, in a situation of irreducible dilemma." Also compares Soviet domination of Eastern Europe to Monroe Doctrine. Lieberman now says book "does not reflect my thinking about foreign policy or our national security today." . . . Connecticut governor John Rowland (R.) promises not to appoint self to replace Lieberman if Democrats win in November, says that Rep. Nancy Johnson (R.) would "definitely be on the short list," according to Bristol Press. . . . Lieberman can drop out of own Senate race until Oct. 27 and have another Democrat run in place; leading candidate for this role is Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal.

As United Mine Workers of America holds off on Gore endorsement, president Cecil Roberts says, "We need to hear from Vice President Gore that there is a future for coal miners in the nation's energy policy." . . . United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America throw weight behind Ralph Nader. . . . Charlie Cook, on CNN: "The only way Al Gore wins this race is if Nader is at 1, 2, 3 percent." . . . Rep. Rick Lazio (R.) raises nearly $11 million in seven weeks, to pull within $3 million of Hillary Clinton in total campaign cash. . . . Geraldo Rivera says he may run for mayor of New York City. . . . Liz Abzug, daughter of Bella, ponders running for N.Y. lieutenant governor in 2002, reports Crain's Insider. . . . Primary- election turnout in 2000 was at second-lowest level in 40 years, according to Committee for the Study of the American Electorate, with frontloaded schedule named the culprit.

California's non-Hispanic white population sank to 49.9 percent last year, reports Census Bureau, making it majority-minority state, with Asian and Latino numbers growing by more than one-third since 1990. . . . Fastest-growing state in 1990s was Nevada. . . Temp workers may join company unions, says National Labor Relations Board. . . . New USDA regulations on meat processors raise beef prices and threaten school-lunch supplies, reports Washington Post. . . . IRS rules that parents of kidnapped children can't claim missing kids as deductions after they've been gone for more than one year.

Mexican president-elect Vicente Fox, on trip to Washington, D.C.: "We may be able to open the borders not just to capital or goods, but also to people." . . . Elian Gonzalez returns to school in Cuba, recites pledge: "Pioneers for Communism, we will be like Che!" . . . France proposes big tax cuts, following Germany's similar move several weeks earlier, and Italy plans to announce reductions in September. . . . Saddam Hussein has lymph cancer, reports Arab newspaper in London, and son would control Iraq if father dies. . . . Chinese family-planning officials in village of Caidian drown healthy baby in front of parents.