For the record

National Review, Jan 26, 2004

"Last month she said she'd marry me, but now I'm being challenged in the primaries."

* In CBS News poll, President Bush earns 60 percent approval rating, up from 49 percent in November... . In CNN/USA Today poll, 62 percent say it was worth going to war in Iraq... . Bush on Libya's decision to disarm nuclear program: "Libya has begun the process of rejoining the community of nations... . Our understanding with Libya came about through quiet diplomacy. It is a result, however, of policies and principles declared to all." ... State Department plans to build its largest diplomatic mission in Baghdad, with staff of 3,000 people. Says Colin Powell in Washington Post: "As I build up that large embassy, I've got to also generate more international support, U.N. presence--get the U.N. back in there in force." ... In USA Today/CNN poll, Bush is most admired man and Sen. Hillary Clinton (D., N.Y.) is most admired woman... . Brian M. Riedl of Heritage Foundation, in New York Times: "President Bush is not focusing on his fiscal conservative base right now. He's trying to position himself in between conservatives in Congress and the Democratic party. It may be good politics, but it's bad policy, a lost opportunity to get runaway government spending under control."

* Howard Dean on Bush presidency: "not only a failure, but the most dangerous administration in my lifetime." ... More Dean, in Concord Monitor: "I still have this old-fashioned notion that even with people like Osama, who is very likely to be found guilty, we should do our best not to, in positions of executive power, not to prejudge jury trials." ... Sen. John Kerry (D., Mass.): "Democrats need to offer something stronger than what George Bush is offering. We need to offer something stronger than Howard Dean's comment that America is not safer with Saddam Hussein behind bars." ... Dean says Democrats should stop criticizing him, in New York Times: "If we had strong leadership in the Democratic party, they would be calling those other candidates and saying, 'Hey look, somebody's going to have to win here.'" ... As Dean promises to raise minimum wage to $7 per hour (from $5.15), Rep. Dick Gephardt (D., Mo.) proposes "international minimum wage." ... Gephardt also says federal contractors should hire more disabled people... . "He's not dumb," says Gephardt of Bush, in Washington Post, "but he is not informed and he's not experienced and he hasn't surrounded himself with the right people to give him the information and the experience that he doesn't have. And he worries me." ... Kerry raises mere $2 million in fourth quarter of 2003... . Ralph Nader says he won't run for president on Green party ticket... . Dean, in Boston Globe: "Dealing with race is about educating white folks."

* Hillary at Florida fundraiser, according to Associated Press: "I shouldn't take it personally. Because what [the Bush] administration was attempting to do was turn back the progress of the entire 20th century. They were not just after Bill Clinton--they wanted to undo Jimmy Carter, Lyndon Johnson, John Kennedy, Harry Truman, Franklin Roosevelt. ... They were on their way to Teddy Roosevelt." ... As NAFTA reaches tenth anniversary, Pew Research poll find 34 percent of Americans calling it a "good thing," 33 percent a "bad thing," and 33 percent not sure.

* As supporters of Ward Connerly's Michigan Civil Rights Initiative banning racial preferences plan to begin collecting signatures for ballot placement in January, EPIC/MRA poll shows 58 percent approval. ... In Texas, women seeking abortions must now wait 24 hours and be given information about abortion risks and fetal development... . National Endowment for the Arts awards $35,000 to subsidize musical about murder of fashion designer Gianni Versace... . Pope John Paul II on Mel Gibson's forthcoming film The Passion, according to Wall Street Journal: "It is as it was." ... NR accepting applications for a summer internship. Interested college students should apply to Internship, National Review, 215 Lexington Ave., New York, NY 10016.

* British prime minister Tony Blair makes surprise visit to Iraq. "This conflict here was a conflict of enormous importance because Iraq was a test case," he tells troops at Basra. "If we backed away from that, we would never be able to confront this threat in the other countries where it exists." ... U.N. nuclear-weapons inspector ElBaradei says Libya was probably three to seven years away from producing bomb... . Japan announces intention to buy U.S.-made missile-defense system... . In Burundi, rebels assassinate Vatican official, Archbishop Michael Courtney... . At event honoring Haiti's bicentennial, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide calls his country "the mother of liberty." ... Brazilian judge Julier Sebastiao da Silva on American plans to require fingerprints of Brazilians visiting U.S., quoted by Reuters: "I consider the act absolutely brutal, threatening human rights, violating human dignity, xenophobic and worthy of the worst horrors committed by the Nazis."