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Washington Monthly, Oct, 1999 by Susan Threadgill

The big wheels in the George W. Bush campaign are Karl Rove, Joe Allbaugh, and Karen Hughes. Rove is described as "the real genius of the operation" and also as "a control freak." "[O]n a personal basis Hughes is probably closest to the governor of the three," writes Dan Balz of The Washington Post, "and they say Bush always seems more confident and relaxed when she is around" Veteran observers note that her relationship with Bush reminds them of Margaret Tutwiler's with James Baker when they both worked for Ronald Reagan and George W.'s father at the State Department and White House. Allbaugh is said to be "the calming force between Rove and Hughes" The three were powerful enough to quickly dispose of David Beckwith, the former Dan Quayle aide who threatened Hughes' power as press spokesperson.

Joan Braden, who died last month, was a Washington legend. Not only was she the mother of the "Eight is Enough" family described by her husband Tom in his book and subsequent television series, she was also a public official (director of consumer affairs at the State Department), a famed Washington hostess, and perhaps the most successful extra-marital virgin of the modern era. By her own account, she innocently shared a shower with Nelson Rockefeller, a bed with Robert Kennedy, and various hotel rooms with Robert McNamara. She also described herself as an immaculate intimate of Henry Kissinger, the man who gave her the government job.

Speaking of George W., he recently made a pilgrimage to Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Not a customary stop on the campaign trail, you say. The explanation is that Rush Limbaugh's mother lives there and Rush was in town to visit her.

And speaking of Dan Quayle, when he was recently asked about former staffer and now Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol's comment that the Quayle campaign was about to call it quits, the former vice president replied, "If he was still working for me, he would not make any kind of statements like that"

Fourteen years ago in these pages Steven Waldman described Norman Ornstein as the king of quotes, a tribute to the journalistic professions reliance on Ornstein's observations about matters political. Since then some rivals have come along to threaten Ornstein's supremacy, according to The Hill's Albert Eisele. They include Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia, Stephen Hess of Brookings, and his colleague Thomas Mann, who appears to be the new king.

You probably heard the bad news for Al Gore in last month's poll of New Hampshire voters by The Boston Globe-WBZ-TV--he was only 4 percentage points ahead of Bill Bradley. But there was even worse news for Steve Forbes. At 7 percent, he trails not only George W. (44 percent) but Elizabeth Dole (14 percent) and John McCain (12 percent).

In August, House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert raised $500,000 from casino bosses and won a pledge for $1 million more from Mirage Resorts chairman Steve Wynn, according to Dave Boyer of The Washington Times. Hastert called gambling "a great industry" and offered assurance that the Republicans stand for lower taxes and a policy of federal "hands off" the gambling business.

If you've wondered how Independent Counsels are selected, it seems that being a Republican helps. You know about Ken Starr, of course. Now comes the revelation that the counsel picked to investigate Henry Cisneros, the former HUD secretary, is David Barrett, a long-time GOP activist, who himself has been involved in questionable dealings with HUD. Guess who appointed Barrett? The same judge who appointed Ken Starr -- David Sentelle. Hillary, how could we have doubted you about the grand conspiracy! Barrett's objectivity is suggested by this description of his career by The Washington Post's Dan Morgan: "After brief stints as an assistant U.S. Attorney in Washington and county attorney in Indiana, he made a failed bid for a U.S. House seat from Indiana in 1968. Barrett subsequently labored as a GOP fundraiser, organizer and activist, volunteering for Lawyers for Reagan in 1980. The group's chairman, Edward L. Weidenfeld, remembers that Barrett was `politically seasoned and seemed to know a lot of people.'" Subsequently, "Barrett spent much of his career as a commercial lawyer with an eye for business opportunities involving HUD. When appointed, Barrett was a registered lobbyist for a large manufactured-housing lobby."

TV crews who accompanied Hillary Clinton to Morocco this spring were angered at being shut out of the First Lady's camel ride. Why were they deprived of such a good shot for the evening news? Talk's Lucinda Franks got the answer. Hillary "feared she would be unable to mount the camel gracefully."

Rep. Dan Burton, whose indignation at the ethical lapses of the Clinton-Gore administration has been so manifest, finds himself in hot water these days. After accepting campaign contributions from AT&T, not to mention a free trip to the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am golf tournament, he has, according to The Hill's Andrew Rice, intervened with the General Services Administration to get a rule change to benefit the telecom giant. What makes this more than a tad unseemly is that Burtons Government Reform Committee oversees the GSA.