Dubya, Meet the Press
Issue 1 is the budget agreement. Issue 2 is the New York Senate race. Issue
3 is the GOP presidential race.
In his first weekend talk show appearance--on NBC's Meet the
Press --George W. Bush touches on foreign policy, health care, Social
Security, and sex education, among other issues. On foreign policy, he says
that the Somalia and Haiti invasions would not have happened under his watch.
When host Tim Russert reminds him that his father initiated the Somalia
intervention, W. simply reasserts that he will not intervene on humanitarian
grounds, except in rare circumstances. W. goes out of his way to emphasize the
need for a "theater anti-missile defense system"--both for the U.S. and Taiwan.
He downplays the importance of arms control, stressing instead the need for
non-proliferation, anti-missile systems, and the safe storage of existing
nuclear weapons. He pledges to increase military salaries and military R&D
budgets. Asked if the Clinton administration is too supportive of Russian
President Boris Yeltsin, Bush replies cryptically, "That's going to be an
interesting debate in the fall campaign if I'm the nominee, let me just put it
to you that way. We'll find out about Victor Chernomyrdin and the [U.S.] Vice
President and the relationship they have."
On health care, Bush supports allowing a patient to sue her HMO if an
independent review board has decided that she has a reasonable dispute. (This
position is more lawsuit-friendly than the House GOP leadership.) Asked about
Social Security, W. indicates a willingness to raise the current
benefit-receiving age. (Responding to Bush on CNN's Late
Edition , Steve Forbes advocates transforming Social Security into
"personal savings accounts," which would allow recipients to choose their own
retirement age.) When Russert reads a Naomi Wolf quote advocating that sex
education instructors promote fondling and mutual masturbation as an
alternative to sex, Bush says Wolf's advice is "pathetic," says condom
promotion hasn't decreased teen pregnancy rates, and advocates teaching
abstinence.
Many pundits--such as Tucker Carlson ( Late Edition ), Bob Novak
(CNN's Capital Gang ), and Mark Shields ( Capital
Gang )--think that the GOP caved to the Democrats on important budget
issues, like tax cuts and across-the-board spending cuts. Paul Gigot (PBS's
NewsHour With Jim Lehrer ) notes that spending in this
year's budget has grown at twice the rate of inflation since last year. But
some, such as Kate O'Beirne ( Capital Gang ) argue that Republicans
reined in the Clinton administration's spending requests, kept Social Security
funds intact, and prevented the subsidization of international abortion
providers through the United Nations.
Most pundits continue to be pessimistic about Hillary Clinton's chances
against New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Al Hunt ( Capital Gang ) says
her campaign needs a James Carville figure to rev things up, and Mark Shields
( Capital Gang ) says she has an uphill battle. George Stephanopoulos
(ABC's This Week ) says that focus groups show that the voters wish
there were different candidates running. Kate O'Beirne predicts Hillary will
drop out of the race and wonders how she'll ever be able to run for president
if she can't win New York. But several shows flash the results of a New York Post poll
showing
Clinton only seven points behind Giuliani; Bill Kristol ( This Week )
notes that seven points behind--one year before the election in a Democratic
state--is not exactly the kiss of death. On Fox News Sunday , Senator Robert Torricelli, D-N.J., says
Hillary has "raised more funds than any candidate for any office in the nation
other than president."
Both This Week and Late Edition review a new Bush campaign
commercial in which W. pledges to "restore dignity" to the presidency. Bill
Kristol notes that the message is not just anti-Clinton, but also aimed at
stealing some of John McCain's patriotic thunder. Steve Roberts ( Late
Edition ) thinks that Bush is alluding to his family's history of honorable
public service.
Department of Pseudo-Events
Television news conventions are already silly enough--the intrepid
correspondent shouting into the camera from underneath swaying trees during a
hurricane, the sober reporter standing in front of a coastline after a plane
crashes at sea, and so on. But location-specific reporting reached a new high
(or low) on Sunday's Late Edition . After mentioning George W.'s NBC
interview earlier that morning, Wolf Blitzer announces, "CNN White House
correspondent Kelly Wallace was watching the governor, and she joins us now."
Was Wallace hiding in the shadows of the governor's mansion, hoping that the
NBC crew wouldn't notice her intruding on their exclusive? Of course not. She,
like Blitzer and every other armchair pundit, watched the interview on
television. This "on-location" correspondent read her story about the Austin
interview from ... the White House briefing room. (The Late Edition
studios are also in Washington, D.C., but never mind.)
Last Word
Oh, probably not, [because] it would create a huge political scene. I am
someone who is a uniter, not a divider. I don't believe in group
thinking--pitting one group of people against another. All that does is create
a huge political nightmare for people.
--George W. Bush ( Meet the Press ), asked if he would follow in the
footsteps of John McCain and visit a GOP gay-rights group, the Log Cabin
Republicans
