Who's Who - political figures and happenings in America - Brief Article

Washington Monthly, July, 2000 by Susan Threadgill

"[Al Gore] tries too hard to be perfect," writes Gail Sheehy in a recent New York Times op-ed. Apparently, his mother, Pauline, once feared he would not try hard enough. Speaking of Donna Armistead, who became Gore's Carthage girlfriend when he was 13 and she was 16, and whom the family doctor remembers as a "good-looking girl running around the house," Mrs. Gore once exclaimed, "Ohmigod, she's going to get pregnant, I know it," reveals Melinda Henneberger in another Times article.

Only one member of Ronald Reagan's cabinet served the entire eight years of his administration. The last president before Reagan to serve two full terms was Dwight Eisenhower, and only one member of his cabinet stuck it out. By contrast, four of Bill Clinton's cabinet are on track to make it to January 20: Bruce Babbitt, Janet Reno, Richard Riley, and Donna Shalala.

A few years ago, Rick Lazio's "looks got him named most attractive House member by a group of gay congressional staff," according to The Washington Post's John F. Harris and Juliet Eilperin.

Lest anyone think Lazio coveted this honor, we hasten to add this explanation of why Lazio was one of the first men to enter formerly all-female Vassar, given by a high school friend to Greg Sargent and Josh Benson of the New York Observer: "It was all women. This guy was always a step ahead."

Tom Ridge, the Roman Catholic governor of Pennsylvania who favors abortion rights, ranks high on George W. Bush's list of potential vice presidents, according to many informed observers. He is a former union member--he joined the hod-carriers when he worked in construction during college--and he is a combat veteran of Vietnam. "In two elections, Mr. Ridge has shown considerable crossover attraction among Democratic voters," writes Frances X. Clines of The New York Times. "He has the power to garner up to 30 percent of them, according to polls." The knock on him, according to Pennsylvania Democrats, is that his recent tax cut "favored big business at the expense of needy families."

But a bigger knock in W.'s eyes may be the fact that Ridge is bigger. At a powerfully built 6'3" he would dwarf Bush on the platform. Just the mental picture of Michael Dukakis standing next to Lloyd Bentsen may be enough to doom Ridge's chances.

Have you heard what Rep. J. C. Watts once said when he introduced George W. Bush? "You don't have to be smart to be president."

But there's good news for W. in a recent observation by the New York Post's Deborah Orin: "Worth noting: It's a well-established fact that most reporters vote Democratic. So one of the most intriguing side points of the 2000 campaign is that the political press corps now seems to be tilted toward Bush." For further evidence to support Orin, see Robert Parry's article in our April issue.

NIMBY is not only dividing neighbors and communities, it is driving a wedge between formerly strong political allies. From mid-1998 to Bill Clinton's victory in last year's impeachment trial, Greg Craig and Charles Ruff were united in their dedicated defense of the president. What has torn these pals asunder? Craig moved Elian Gonzalez into an estate in Ruff's neighborhood. According to The Washington Post's Lloyd Grove, Sue Ruff, the wife of guess who, "started canvassing the 'hood yesterday after barricades appeared on the estate--which receives a D.C. tax break in return for permitting public access--and prevented her from walking her dog on the grounds."

Speaking of Cuba, "Tom DeLay, who championed the China free trade bill, is drawing fire from Republican colleagues, as well as Democrats, for his efforts to thwart a vote on lifting sanctions on Cuba." Thus reports The Hill's Allison Stevens who also notes that the effort, opposed by DeLay, to lift the food and medicine sanctions on Cuba is led by George Nethercutt in the House and by Byron Dorgan, John Ashcroft, and Slade Gorton in the Senate.

Bad news for Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Condoleezza Rice, George W.'s chief foreign affairs advisor, describes herself as "Europeanist? Her first love was Russian history. Her first book was on the Czechoslovakian army. And her most notable book was on German reunification.

Bad news for Al Gore. According to pollsters Peter Hart and Molly O'Rourke, voter confidence in a candidate's ability to keep the economy strong and growing, which you would expect to be a plus for the vice president, is stronger for George W. Bush--31 to 27 per cent. It has declined for both men since December when Bush led 43 to 36 percent.

The good news for Gore is that he is not behind in the general voter preference polls as much as was Daddy Bush in 1988 or was Ronald Reagan in 1980 at a comparable point in their ultimately victorious campaigns against Michael Dukakis and Jimmy Carter.

If Al Gore loses, he will have the consolation of knowing that his future is financially secure. He will have a pension, based on his service in the Senate and House and as vice president, that will be at least $90,000 a year and, like other federal pensions, will increase with inflation. He also owns real estate and other assets worth more than $1 million. And as Ron Insana of Money magazine reminds us, "he's the only surviving child of a widowed mother with a multimillion-dollar estate."