September 2000

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Gore Lead Vanishes after Gaffes 9/28/2000 10:47 PM Al Gore's top campaign officials yesterday insisted they are still confident about his chances to win the presidency, despite his loss of a double-digit lead in the polls with just 40 days to go in the contest. The campaign's euphoria comes despite new polls that show Mr. Gore has lost the 17-point lead —and then some — he enjoyed in the polls just weeks ago. Mr. Bush now leads Mr. Gore 48 percent to 42 percent, according to a poll the Los Angeles Times released yesterday. In the nightly CNN-Gallup-USA Today tracking poll conducted Sept. 23 to Sept. 25, the Texas governor leads 46 percent to 44 percent. Read the article Message Takes A Back Seat To the 'Mole' 9/28/2000 10:36 PM In a presidential race where rats infested a Republican commercial and Vice President Gore's dog was drawn into a debate over the price of prescriptions, both campaigns suddenly are in the grip of a mole hunt. Even many of the central participants confess they are unsure which side is the victim and which is the perpetrator. Another possibility is that an impulsive action by a random outsider is being painted as a grand conspiracy in an effort to score political yardage. Read the article Missouri Heavyweights Slug it Out in Heated Senate Race 9/28/2000 10:32 PM During a recent visit to an ice cream parlor in St. Louis, Missouri, Republican Sen. John Ashcroft served up his favorite flavor to patrons -- politics. Ashcroft is locked in a tough battle to keep his Senate seat from falling into the hands of another popular Missouri politician -- Democratic Governor Mel Carnahan. A recent poll conducted by the St. Louis Post Dispatch revealed a deadlocked race. Read the article Graves, Farmer Battle in Low-key Treasurer Race 9/28/2000 10:29 PM The race for the job as Missouri's top financial officer has been a low-key affair between Democrat Nancy Farmer and Republican Todd Graves despite the significance of the position. The treasurer manages Missouri's $17 billion in annual revenues, oversees where the state invests its money and signs state checks. Bob Holden, the Democrat who currently holds the office, is constitutionally barred from running for a third, four-year term, leaving his former deputy, Farmer, and Platte County Prosecutor Graves to battle it out along with a handful of third party candidates. Read the article Bush Dismisses Gore Claims 9/27/2000 10:06 PM Rejecting attempts to portray him as a champion of the wealthy, George W. Bush visited an inner-city school Wednesday to call for safer classrooms and increased spending on character lessons. "The classrooms need to be safe havens," Bush said. He proposed a law to shield teachers from being sued for enforcing disciplinary rules. And he pledged to triple federal "character education" funds that flow to schools. Read the article Bush Adjusts Message, Heads East 9/27/2000 10:04 PM It was 70 degrees as George W. Bush campaigned in California on Wednesday, focusing on education. It was barely in the 50s in Wisconsin where he'll be on Thursday, talking about fuel prices. With prices high and winter in sight in the upper Midwest, Bush also scheduled an energy policy speech for Saginaw, Mich., on Friday -- exactly one week after the Clinton administration said it would tap the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve to stabilize prices. Read the article Joint Chiefs Chairman to Warn of Defense Dilemma 9/27/2000 9:53 PM The Pentagon's top brass will testify on Capitol Hill today that the next president should either adopt a less ambitious view of the U.S. military's role in the world or endorse huge increases in defense spending, according to officials familiar with the testimony. Gen. Henry H. Shelton, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, argues in prepared testimony already circulating in Congress and the White House that front-line fighting units are no longer declining in readiness, thanks to recent budget increases. But Shelton warns that vastly higher spending will be necessary over the next several years to maintain current capabilities. Read the article Gilmore Thrives as a Political Role Model 9/26/2000 11:46 PM Indiana's Republican candidate for governor wanted help raising money this summer from his state's high-technology businesses. So he asked Gov. James S. Gilmore III, already presiding over a "Digital Dominion" in Virginia, to fly to Indianapolis to rally the techies and pass the hat. The day's work raised $200,000. In North Carolina, Republicans have turned to their neighbor to the north for campaign advice on Internet taxation issues and education. The Virginia governor is planning a three-city fly-around in the Tar Heel state on Oct. 4, his second trip this year, before traveling to Missouri -- again -- to help another GOP nominee. Read the article Bush Plans to Outline Energy Policy 9/26/2000 11:44 PM Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush, sensing political gains in the recent spike in oil prices, plans to outline his own energy policy later this week while brushing aside Democratic attacks that his long ties to the oil industry give him little credibility on energy matters. Read the article Homing In on a Campaign 'Mole'? 9/26/2000 11:44 PM Texas Gov. George W. Bush said today that someone is "sweating bullets" as the FBI closes in on a possible double agent in the presidential campaigns, and Bush's aides called on investigators to seize computers from Vice President Gore as part of its investigation. The FBI is trying to determine how a debate coach for Gore came to receive a videotape of one of Bush's practice sessions for the presidential debates, which begin Tuesday in Boston. The coach, former representative Tom Downey, immediately turned the package over to his lawyer, who gave it to the FBI. Read the article Bush To Phone Voters on Medicare 9/26/2000 11:42 PM George W. Bush's campaign will begin telephoning voters in key states this week, making a personal pitch for his Medicare plan and criticizing his rival's alternative as the presidential race moves into the increasingly sophisticated ground war. The phone calls will echo the Republican presidential candidate's message in TV commercials, charging that under rival Al Gore's Medicare plan seniors will wind up in a government-run HMO. Read the article Cheney: Gore's Oil Concerns Clash 9/25/2000 10:49 PM Dick Cheney said Monday that Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore has an oil-related conflict of interest because of a family trust that holds stock in Occidental Petroleum Corp. Cheney said that last June Gore had advocated extending a moratorium on royalties U.S. companies would have to pay to drill for natural gas in the Gulf of Mexico. Read the article In Florida, Not Where Bush Wanted to Be 9/25/2000 10:47 PM The rally had all the markings of a big success. Some 5,000 Floridians turned out on a sultry Friday to cheer the arrival of the blue-and-white 757 with "Bush-Cheney" in giant letters on the side. Texas Gov. George W. Bush was in peak form, whipping up the crowd with his promise that the Democrats "don't know what's about to happen to them." But in one respect, it was a troubling moment for the GOP nominee. Sarasota County is just about the last place Bush wanted to be, fewer than 50 days before the election -- an overwhelmingly Republican area in a state that was supposed to be locked up by now. Read the article Bush Says Education in 'Recession' 9/25/2000 10:45 PM Texas Gov. George W. Bush struck today at Vice President Gore's greatest strength, Americans' perception of blessed times, invoking the word "recession" for the state of education and pointing to troubling omens on the economic horizon. Bush cited a stagnant farm economy and rising energy prices, but said the most significant warning sign of all is "the achievement gap in our public schools -- a gap between rich and poor, and Anglo and minority." Read the article Media Experts Agree - Bush Is Back! 9/25/2000 10:44 PM The standing committee of journalistic experts has reached agreement. "It's been a good week for the Bush campaign," says Cokie Roberts. "Bush's bounce comes after a highly successful week of campaigning," says Newsweek, with a new poll giving Gore only a 46 to 43 percent edge. Read the article E-mail: Gore Temple Visit Was a Fund-Raiser 9/24/2000 11:17 PM Vice President Al Gore's staff described an event he attended at a Buddhist temple as a fund-raiser, and an e-mail suggested he bring $20 as ''an offering,'' according to reconstructed White House computer messages belatedly turned over to Congress on Friday. The long-missing messages, provided to the House Government Reform Committee, chaired by Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., also show that Gore's office was informed of an offer from a businessman to raise $250,000 if a White House coffee were arranged with President Clinton. Read the article Presidential Polls Show Tight Race 9/24/2000 11:16 PM Al Gore and George W. Bush are locked in a close race in a national tracking poll out Saturday and several states thought to be swinging Gore's direction reflected an overall tightening of the race. The CNN-USA Today-Gallup tracking poll out Saturday had Gore at 48 percent and Bush at 45 percent, within the poll's 4 percentage point error margin. A Newsweek poll out Saturday also showed the race within the margins, at 47 percent for Gore to 45 percent for Bush. Read the article Man Backs Bush After Death 9/24/2000 11:15 PM An obituary for a 71-year-old man encouraged those who wanted to pay tribute to him to simply do what he cannot in November: Vote for George W. Bush for president. The last line of James E. Fete Sr.'s obituary in Wednesday's Canton Repository read: "In lieu of flowers, vote Bush." Fete, of Canton, died Tuesday. The retiree was a Korean War veteran. Read the article Cheney Says Oil Tap Is Political 9/24/2000 11:13 PM President Clinton's decision to tap the nation's emergency oil reserves drew fire Sunday from the GOP vice presidential nominee as a political move to aid Democrat Al Gore. The action amounted to nothing more than "tweaking prices six weeks before the election," Dick Cheney said, noting that the vice president proposed the drawdown just before the Clinton administration's announcement Friday. Read the article Are the Media Tilting to Gore? 9/24/2000 11:12 PM It is the elephant in the room, the talk of the radio airwaves, the shadow that some believe is hovering over the presidential race. These days, at least, no subject is more likely to cause teeth-gnashing on the right, waves of e-mail complaints and defensive-sounding explanations by journalists. Over the past month, many conservatives, Republican voters and even some journalists themselves have concluded that the mainstream media are tilting heavily toward Vice President Gore. Read the article Bush Camp Suspects Gore Team of Spying 9/24/2000 11:11 PM A top spokesman for Texas Gov. George W. Bush accused Vice President Gore's campaign today of possibly planting a spy at Bush headquarters. The spokesman, Ari Fleischer, said it "defies credibility" that a staff member suspended by the Gore campaign over the weekend is the only official at the Democratic campaign who would know about a possible infiltration of Bush headquarters. Read the article Graves, Danner Battle for Missouri's 6th District U.S. House Seat 9/24/2000 11:09 PM Steve Danner and Sam Graves both were raised on farms. Both have served in the two branches of the Missouri General Assembly. And both want to be the next 6th District congressman. Voters on Nov. 7 will choose either Danner, a Smithville Democrat, or Graves, a Tarkio Republican. The winner will replace Pat Danner, who is not seeking re-election. She is Steve Danner's mother. Read the article In rural Missouri, Republicans Have Sent Democrats Packing 9/24/2000 11:04 PM Sam Graves' grandfather was a strong Democrat, serving for decades as a county commissioner in northwest Missouri. Now, Graves and his brother are among the fastest-rising stars in the Missouri Republican Party. Todd Graves, the Platte County prosecutor, is running for state treasurer. Sam Graves - from Tarkio, Mo., and the youngest member of the Missouri Senate - is running for Congress. Their family story offers an up-close perspective on the political shifts in rural Missouri, as Republicans have taken over once-solid Democratic strongholds. Sam Graves' contest, in the 6th Congressional District, is just the GOP's latest target. Read the article Cheney Showcases Contrasts With Gore 9/21/2000 11:11 PM Tuesday in California it was Al Gore's hypocrisy on Hollywood. Wednesday in New Mexico it was how the vice president and his boss have damaged the military. Thursday in Missouri was the day to blame Gore's energy policy for higher gas prices. For GOP vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney, it's been a week of campaigning through swing states and picking away at Gore, the Democratic presidential nominee. Read the article Bennett Accuses Lieberman of 'Sellout' 9/21/2000 11:08 PM William J. Bennett, the former secretary of education and author of "The Book of Virtues," yesterday broke with his longtime ally in the culture wars, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, for "selling out" to Hollywood and for failing to condemn a joke, mocking faith in Christ, at a Democratic fund-raiser. Mr. Bennett, together with several other conservative Christian leaders, had stoutly defended the Connecticut senator for six weeks after Vice President Al Gore selected him as his running mate. But after reading news accounts yesterday that Mr. Lieberman had assured entertainment executives on Monday that he would merely "nudge" them away from marketing sex and violence to children, Mr. Bennett withdrew his support. Read the article Bush Continues TV Talk With Regis 9/21/2000 11:05 PM For the second time this week, George W. Bush settled into a TV talk show's guest chair, this time on "Live With Regis," in pursuit of female voters who lean more toward Democratic presidential rival Al Gore. Bush strode onstage Thursday morning, wearing a dark-on-dark suit, shirt and tie made popular by host Regis Philbin. The outfit prompted the host to say, "He gave Oprah a kiss, but he wore my shirt and tie." Read the article Bush: Gore Softer on Hollywood 9/20/2000 9:36 PM Big contributions seem to have helped soften Al Gore's criticism of entertainment violence aimed at kids, George W. Bush asserted Wednesday. "It seems like he must be auditioning for a Broadway play because he keeps changing his tune," said the Republican presidential candidate. A day after his appearance on Oprah Winfrey's TV talk show, Bush also tried some auditioning of his own -- a looser, more informal campaign style that included his wife, Laura. Read the article Lazio to Hillary: Ban Soft Cash 9/20/2000 9:34 PM Rep. Rick Lazio issued a campaign finance challenge to Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday, saying more than a dozen groups have agreed to stop advertising against her if she agrees to ban so-called soft money from their Senate race. Clinton had said the agreements were required before she would call for a ban of unregulated donations from the race. She has already collected millions of dollars in such funds. "Mrs. Clinton should today put her soft money where her mouth is and follow through on her commitment to eradicate the poison of dirty money from this Senate race," the Republican congressman from Long Island told the New York State Associated Press Association meeting. Read the article Bush in Tight Race in Arizona 9/20/2000 9:34 PM The booming economy combined with Al Gore's support among women and older voters have propelled the Democratic presidential nominee into a competitive race with George W. Bush in Arizona, a Republican-leaning state. Read the article Bush Picks up Fraternal Order of Police Support 9/20/2000 9:33 PM Texas Gov. George W. Bush's presidential campaign Wednesday pressed a two-pronged attack on Vice President Al Gore as the GOP nominee picked up a major police organization's support. At a rally in the Philadelphia suburb of Media, Bush told the Fraternal Order of Police he would be the candidate of "tough love." Read the article Rising Fuel Prices May Hurt Gore 9/20/2000 9:25 PM There's news today from Britain that might offer a sliver of cheer to George W. Bush's campaign, and a moment of worry to Vice President Gore's. It's a reminder of how quickly the public can grow angry at government officials over high fuel prices. U.S. fuel supplies and prices, of course, have suffered nowhere near the turmoil of those in Europe. But rising U.S. gasoline prices briefly ignited voter anger in June, and it could flare up again in October if consumers are troubled by higher home heating fuel costs just as the weather turns chilly. Should that happen, Republicans will do their best to steer the blame toward the vice president, arguing that the Clinton-Gore administration did too little to stabilize prices. All of this may offer Bush merely a thin reed of opportunity. But in a tight contest where the Democrat is touting the status quo, any bump in the economy or consumer confidence could give the Republican outsider a new opening. Read the article GOP Governors Campaign For Bush 9/19/2000 10:09 PM When George W. Bush's sister visited a New Jersey senior citizens center this week, his campaign planned to have her shake a few hands and leave. "No. I don't think so," objected Gov. Christie Whitman, who added a speaking engagement. It is the latest example of Republican governors taking more control of the presidential campaigns in their states, partly due to frustration with the Bush headquarters in Texas. Calling the governors a major asset, Bush advisers say they had planned all along to turn state leaders loose in September. Read the article Bush's Personal Non-Digital Assistant 9/19/2000 1:50 PM It would be easy not to notice him. He's cut from the Michael J. Fox mold and is not in the front-and-center business. In his line of work, the motto is: Essential but anonymous. Wherever George W. Bush happens to be on the campaign trail, Logan Walters is never far away. "I think the most important thing is for me to be within earshot and out of the camera shot," says the Texas governor's personal aide. Read the article Poised Bush Flashes Charm, Humor on 'Oprah' 9/19/2000 1:45 PM Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush used a nationally syndicated television talk show Tuesday to outline why his candidacy for the White House warrants serious consideration, saying his record as governor of Texas gives him a leg up on Vice President Al Gore. Appearing on Tuesday's edition of "Oprah," Bush said he felt he had been called to run for the presidency, even if there have been points throughout his lengthy campaign when he longed to return to his Texas ranch with his wife, Laura. Read the article Upset on Long Island Increases Republican Chances in House 9/19/2000 12:12 AM The surprising defeat of a New York Republican-turned-Democrat has raised the ante on the number of congressional seats Democrats must win if they are to recapture the House in November. The surprising upset of three-term Rep. Michael P. Forbes in last Tuesday's party primary by a little-known, 71-year-old former librarian means that this reliably Republican 1st Congressional District is likely to remain in GOP hands. Republicans have a 2-to-1 voter registration in the district. Read the article Republican Ohio Could Swing to Gore 9/19/2000 12:05 AM Of all the major states, none is more Republican in its makeup than Ohio. Every constitutional office, both Senate seats and both houses of the legislature are firmly in the hands of the GOP. The state Democratic Party is short of cash, of candidates and of confidence. All of which makes it amazing that Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush should have to worry whether he can win Ohio's 21 electoral votes. But no less an authority than the state's governor, Bob Taft, said: "It is an extremely tight race. It could go either way." Read the article Bush Begins to Stress Differences With Gore 9/19/2000 12:04 AM Texas Gov. George W. Bush sought to rally middle-class voters to his campaign today, contending that he would do far more than Vice President Gore to help families succeed and accusing his rival of offering a tax plan that is "so targeted it misses the target." Beginning what he described as "an important week in the campaign" in which he hopes to make up ground lost to Gore since the Democratic convention, Bush said the vice president's tax plan is so filled with fine print that it would disqualify 50 million Americans from receiving any benefits. "If you pay taxes you ought to get tax relief, and meaningful tax relief," Bush told a friendly audience here this afternoon. Read the article Missouri Voters Aren't Showing Their Hands Yet 9/19/2000 12:03 AM As goes Sheila Schroeder, so goes the nation. True? We don't have much time to find out. Right now Sheila is going briskly past the Lane Bryant store at the Crestwood Plaza mall. Late for an appointment. She certainly has all the markings of the elusive Swing Voter in this very close election year. She's from Missouri, which has picked the winner in 23 of the past 25 presidential contests. From the St. Louis suburbs, to be exact, which are the swing precincts in this swing state, according to polls in both parties. She's a middle-class woman nearing retirement age--the crucial demographic, experts believe. Read the article Hillary Subdued after Debate with Senate Foe Lazio 9/17/2000 8:51 PM An hour after Wednesday's Senate debate with opponent Rep. Rick A. Lazio, first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton was holding court with her staff at the TGI Friday's restaurant in the downtown Radisson hotel. It wasn't pretty. Her subdued dinner table betrayed what pundits are calling a draw but what others said was a launching pad for Mr. Lazio, the four-term congressman from Long Island and former assistant district attorney. Read the article Bush Fights for California 9/17/2000 8:45 PM George W. Bush promised California Republicans an all-out effort to win the nation's largest state, saying Saturday that Democratic rival Al Gore is taking the election here for granted. "California is a battleground state," Bush told several hundred activists in an address beamed by satellite into the California Republican Party convention. "My opponent has made the mistake of already counting the votes of California %u2013 but we are going to earn them," he said. Read the article Bush To Target Women Voters 9/17/2000 8:44 PM George W. Bush, struggling to stem Al Gore's steady advance in the polls, will spend this week in battleground states promoting his domestic agenda, with an emphasis on issues deemed important to women, a campaign spokesman said Sunday. "We think women ... are going to come back to Governor Bush," spokesman Ari Fleischer said Sunday, conceding that they have been migrating to Gore. Read the article McCain Leery of Gore's Proposal to Sanction Entertainment Industry 9/17/2000 8:40 PM Sen. John McCain said Sunday he's leery of a proposal by Vice President Al Gore to impose sanctions on the entertainment industry for marketing violent movies to kids. ``Before we embark on censorship,'' said the man leading congressional hearings on the issue, ``we'd better make very sure where this all leads.'' McCain, R-Ariz., is chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, which heard testimony last week on a Federal Trade Commission report alleging the entertainment industry has been peddling adult material to underage audiences. McCain has pledged follow-up hearings. Read the article State Plans to Sell Acres Left in Tribute to Man's Mother 9/17/2000 8:39 PM The relatives of a man who donated 80 acres to the Missouri Department of Conservation say the state is breaking a promise to keep the land as an untouched monument to the man's mother. The state, however, said its contract allows the land to be sold, and state funds and services could be better used elsewhere. In 1973, Roy Mansfield, then 80, sold the 80 acres on Turkey Bend near Osage Beach to the state for $1, in memory of his mother. His relatives say he believed state residents would have access to the area forever. Read the article Geraldine Osborn, Still a Democrat, is Backing Bush for President 9/17/2000 8:37 PM Just months after retiring as a Democratic institution at City Hall, former Alderman Geraldine Osborn is returning to politics - as a supporter of Texas Gov. George W. Bush. Her husband, former mayoral aide Bob Osborn, has volunteered at a couple of Bush's most recent events here. Geri Osborn plans to do "grunt work, licking envelopes" - as soon as she finishes unpacking. The couple moved a month ago to a new house outside Wentzville, after 41 years on Juniata Avenue. Read the article Ex-Military Brass To Endorse Bush 9/14/2000 11:38 PM Several retired military commanders, including some nominated to top posts by President Clinton, plan to endorse Republican George W. Bush for the presidency, the Bush campaign said Thursday. They include just-retired Persian Gulf commander Gen. Anthony Zinni; Adm. Jay Johnson, who retired as head of the Navy this summer; Gen. Ronald R. Fogleman, who resigned as Air Force Chief in 1997; former Air Force chief Gen. Merrill McPeak; and former Marine Commandant Gen. Carl Mundy, said Mindy Tucker, speaking for Bush. Read the article N.Y. Senate Race Roars Back Into Spotlight 9/14/2000 11:35 PM Hillary being asked about Monica? Hillary having to defend her character in a televised faceoff? The presidential sniping suddenly took a back seat to that battle-of-the-century New York Senate race, which had been rather dull of late but came roaring back under the klieg lights last night. The first televised debate between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Rick Lazio was irresistible for the media -- both more compelling than Al and George arguing the details of prescription drug plans and a chance once again to wallow in the Lewinsky waters that so obsessed the press for one tabloid-tinged year. And tough questions from moderator Tim Russert clearly fueled the tense encounter. Read the article Gore, Bush Agree on 3 Presidential Debates 9/14/2000 11:33 PM After a week of long-distance sparring, representatives of Vice President Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush met for the first time yesterday and agreed to a series of three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate, beginning early next month in Boston. Gore campaign chairman William Daley and Bush chairman Donald Evans announced the deal after four hours of meetings with officials from the Commission on Presidential Debates, which will sponsor the forums. The four debates will last 90 minutes each and will be broadcast on major television networks beginning at 9 p.m. EDT. Read the article Forbes Seat Likely to Turn Republican, Again 9/13/2000 10:16 PM A 71-year-old former librarian who spent a paltry $40,000 on her campaign battled Republican-turned-Democrat Rep. Michael Forbes to a dead heat in the primary. Unofficial returns Wednesday showed Regina "Reggie" Seltzer leading by 39 votes out of more than 11,000 cast a day earlier. Election officials estimate 600 absentee ballots were sent out, and the ones that are returned won't be counted before next Tuesday's deadline. A full recount also is planned. Read the article Cheney Rails Against Reporters 9/13/2000 10:15 PM Republican vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney lashed out at news reporters Wednesday, saying they focus too much on "absolutely trivial issues" during election campaigns. Cheney, speaking to a business club during a campaign swing through western Michigan, said intense competition among news outlets apparently has changed the way that campaigns are covered, even when compared with election coverage done only a few years ago. Read the article Bush Pledges to Restore National Parks 9/13/2000 10:13 PM Against the backdrop of a picturesque river where salmon thrive, Texas Gov. George W. Bush promised today to foster local conservation efforts and to spend $5 billion over the next five years to restore what he described as the nation's crumbling national park system. Read the article Gore Confidant Turns Bush Tape Over to FBI 9/13/2000 10:10 PM A videotape and other materials relating to Texas Gov. George W. Bush's preparation for debates with Vice President Gore were delivered today to Tom Downey, a close friend of the vice president and the man tapped to play the role of Bush in Gore's debate training. Downey briefly viewed the videotape and, after determining that it involved Bush's debate preparation, turned the material over to his lawyer Marc Miller, who was in the process of giving the tape and documents to the FBI to determine whether it had been obtained illegally. Read the article Ashcroft, Carnahan Wage Vicious Television Ad War 9/13/2000 10:05 PM The presidential candidates may have been hogging the headlines, but that hasn't curbed the battles - on-screen and off - between Missouri's two candidates for the U.S. Senate. Sen. John Ashcroft, R-Mo., and his Democratic rival, Gov. Mel Carnahan, are waging a vicious ad war on television. After weeks of unanswered attacks by Ashcroft's ads, Carnahan has hit back in two ads that began airing this week. Read the article Government Wasted Billions of Dollars 9/12/2000 11:51 PM A dozen of the largest federal agencies reported squandering $20.7 billion last year, with improper Medicare payments accounting for more than half of that money, according to a General Accounting Office study released Tuesday. ''It's astounding that more than $20 billion of taxpayer money was wasted by just a handful of federal programs, and that's just a drop in the bucket,'' said Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., who ordered the study by Congress' investigative branch. Read the article GOP Aiming To Renew Medical Savings 9/12/2000 11:08 PM Congressional Republicans will attempt to expand and make permanent a law creating limited medical savings accounts, which allow people to make tax-deductible contributions for health costs. Rep. Bill Archer, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said Monday the provisions would be a key GOP negotiating point as Congress and the White House attempt to reach accord on a bill granting people new rights in dealing with health maintenance organizations, including a possible right to sue. Read the article Bush is Forced to Fight for Votes in Florida 9/12/2000 11:02 PM It wasn't supposed to be like this. When George W. Bush plotted his election strategy months ago, he plugged Florida into his sure-win category. After all, his brother Jeb was governor. Now, two months before Election Day, he's fighting for the state's 25 electoral votes. "I'm going to carry Florida," Bush declared Monday, knowing he probably can't win the presidency without the state. Read the article NY Party Chiefs Fear Primary May Snare Hillary Clinton 9/11/2000 11:09 PM In her juggernaut toward the final weeks of her Senate campaign, Hillary Rodham Clinton has neglected one thing: She's not the Democratic candidate just yet. There's a primary tomorrow, and she faces an opponent. Turnout is certain to be extremely low - very few people know a primary is happening - but that is precisely the danger. Read the article Federal Panel Says State Cannot Limit Contributions 9/11/2000 10:40 PM Missouri cannot limit the amount of money a political party gives to its candidates, a federal appeals court panel ruled Monday. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis said in a 2-1 decision that the 1994 law capping cash and in-kind donations was unconstitutional. Read the article Bush: I Would Have Avoided Handshake 9/11/2000 10:36 PM George W. Bush says he would have tried to avoid a handshake with Cuban President Fidel Castro, unlike President Clinton at a United Nations summit last week. "It broke a long tradition of signaling opposition to Castro. It's just a tradition," the Republican presidential candidate said at a round-table Monday with Florida reporters. Read the article Hollywood Hit with Damning Report 9/11/2000 10:28 PM Hollywood has some explaining to do after a federal inquiry revealed Monday that the entertainment industry intentionally markets violent content to children. Nearly two-thirds of the R-rated movies surveyed had marketing plans explicitly aimed at children, the Federal Trade Commission found. The top presidential contenders quickly weighed in, with Democrat Al Gore saying tougher laws might be needed, and Republican George W. Bush in turn accusing Gore of lacking credibility on the issue. Read the article Bush Heads For Florida 9/11/2000 12:19 PM George W. Bush is using appearances in Florida, a state that Republican strategists once believed was firmly in his column, to promote his health care and prescription drug proposals. Rival Al Gore's recent surge in the polls has made the GOP presidential nominee's grasp on Florida, with its prize of 25 electoral votes, less certain. Bush's brother Jeb is governor of Florida, but that may not be enough to offset a spirited challenge by Gore and running mate Sen. Joseph Lieberman. Read the article Proposition B Campaign Pits Democratic Activists Against Big Business 9/11/2000 11:04 AM In the past six years, two Missouri lawmakers made nine attempts to limit the influence of big-money contributors by using tax funds to finance state political campaigns. Three bills were defeated in House committees; six others had so little support that the committees didn't even bother to vote. Read the article Bush, Gore Covet State 9/10/2000 10:07 PM In the tight race between Vice President Al Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush, Missouri has become a coveted prize. The state has always been the site of battles for the presidency. But this election, with the polls showing the race a dead heat, Missouri's 11 electoral votes have become even more important for victory, political analysts say. Read the article Bush, RNC Rift Intensifies? 9/10/2000 9:59 PM As George W. Bush gives his campaign a facelift to try to halt his slide in the polls, there's one thing he hasn't changed: any of the faces. No staff shakeup. No calls to the bullpen. No relocation of headquarters. Remarkably, the same close-knit Texas band that was with Bush two years ago -- long before the first GOP primary -- is still steering his campaign today. Read the article Bush Aims for Debate Resolution 9/10/2000 7:55 PM George W. Bush's campaign, urged by congressional Republicans to take the offensive in the presidential race, expressed eagerness Sunday to work out debating details and go head to head with Al Gore. Foreshadowing difficult negotiations this week, the Bush camp voiced a continuing preference for TV debates with an informal style, not necessarily the formats proposed by a nonpartisan commission and endorsed by Gore. Read the article Tough Day for Politics in Nebraska 9/9/2000 11:53 PM Tom Osborne the congressional candidate walked quickly toward the side of the street where a parade watcher pressed a hand radio against his ear. "What's the score?" Osborne yelled Saturday as he paused from waving at the dozens of onlookers sitting on lawn chairs along the parade route. "Its still zero-zero in the first quarter," the man shouted, barely pulling the radio away from his ear to respond to the famed former Nebraska football coach. Read the article Russian Comic Gives Lesson in Democracy at Missouri Bush Rally 9/9/2000 11:50 PM Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush was upstaged at his own rally Friday by Russian comedian Yakov Smirnoff, who joked about his homeland and gave the crowd a short lesson in democracy. Before the Texas governor's plane landed, Smirnoff told a sad tale about growing up under Soviet rule and sharing a one-room house with his parents until he was 26. His family would stand in long lines, he said, waiting hours for crusty bread and small portions of meat. "In America, you can go right through the fast-food windows and get the same thing," he joked in his thick Russian accent, adding his signature line: "What a country!" Read the article Ashcroft, Carnahan are in Dad Heat so Far in Contest for Senate Seat 9/9/2000 11:48 PM After more than $5 million in campaign spending, little has changed. Missouri voters remain split between Sen. John Ashcroft, R-Mo., and his Democratic rival, Gov. Mel Carnahan. And the contest for governor, between Republican Jim Talent and Democrat Bob Holden, remains too close to call. Read the article Bush Switches to Less Formal Style 9/9/2000 1:18 AM George W. Bush yesterday directed his advisers to begin negotiations with Al Gore's campaign over a series of fall presidential debates, largely abandoning his effort to circumvent the presidential debates commission on a day when he also unveiled a new slogan and style on the campaign trail designed to reconnect with the voters. Read the article Republicans Set with New Ad on Gore: 'Can I Believe Him' 9/8/2000 3:30 PM Trying to help George W. Bush regain his footing, the Republican Party plans to air a new TV ad questioning Democrat Al Gore's credibility, GOP officials said Friday. "Can I believe him?" asks a female narrator in the ad that raises the vice president's fund-raising troubles in 1996 and criticizes his education proposals. Read the article Holden Pulls Ahead of Talent in Missouri Governor's Race 9/8/2000 3:26 PM More Missouri voters are beginning to take a closer look at the two major candidates for governor and are now leaning toward Democrat Bob Holden over Republican Jim Talent, a new Kansas City Star survey indicates. The poll, conducted Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, found that Holden was favored by 43 percent of the respondents, compared with 40 percent for Talent. Read the article Carnahan Gets Labor Donation Two Days After Ordering Changes in State Personnel Policy 9/8/2000 3:24 PM The Missouri Democratic Party received $110,000 from a public-workers' union two days after Democratic Gov. Mel Carnahan directed state personnel policy changes that critics said boosted organized labor's influence. Carnahan's June 19 policy orders to state agency heads weren't publicly disclosed until four groups backing the re-election of Republican Sen. John Ashcroft -- whom Carnahan is challenging -- issued a joint statement Wednesday criticizing the moves. The Missouri Chamber of Commerce, Missouri Farm Bureau, the Missouri Merchants and Manufacturers Association and Associated Builders and Contractors said the changes moved the state closer to collective bargaining with public workers. Read the article Attorney General Candidates Debate at Lincoln University 9/7/2000 11:45 PM Two candidates for the Missouri attorney general's office confidently gave their stance on issues in a Wednesday debate sponsored by Lincoln University's Student Government Association. Republican Sam Jones, Mt. Vernon, and Libertarian Mitch Moore, Columbia, challenged each other on various issues, including the death penalty and meth labs. The candidates are seeking to unseat Democratic incumbent Jay Nixon, who did not attend the debate. In answering a panelist's question of how to put people above politics, Jones said: "We need to have an attitude of serving the people of Missouri, not building a base for the U.S. Senate." Read the article Bush Acknowledges GOP Discontent 9/7/2000 11:42 PM Pelted with unsolicited advice from worried Republicans, George W. Bush promised Thursday to retool his White House campaign. It included a new slogan, "Real plans for real people," and far more interaction with voters. The shift came as his team searched for ways to stem an advance that has allowed Democrat Al Gore to erase Bush's once-formidable lead and even pull ahead in some polls. "I am the underdog," Bush said, as Republican leaders urged him to go on the offensive, stop talking about campaign tactics and polish the way he presents issues to the public. Read the article Bush's Military Themes: Readiness and Reform 9/7/2000 11:39 PM Straddling his two defense themes, Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush again attacked President Clinton's stewardship of the military today and vowed to transform the way the armed forces operate and fight. Focusing on military issues for the second straight day, Bush appeared to broaden his approach to the defense issue, talking not only about current readiness but also about how he would urge the military to use information technology to transform itself to handle future threats. "We have a fantastic opportunity to redefine how war is fought and won," he told an audience of veterans here at Wright State University. Read the article Bush Revising Campaign Strategy 9/7/2000 11:39 PM George W. Bush embarked today on an effort to retool his campaign by showing new willingness to compromise on the presidential debate schedule and indicating that he will work more aggressively to connect with voters. Bush told reporters that he would negotiate with Al Gore over the debate schedule -- a stark reversal of his earlier effort to impose a plan that the vice president deemed unacceptable. He said he would begin conducting the town hall meetings he abandoned at the end of the primary season and suggested he would borrow a tactic from Gore, visiting the homes of voters who would benefit from his tax cut proposal. Read the article Farm Bureau Straw Poll Shows GOP in Lead 9/6/2000 9:37 PM Republicans swept the presidential, U.S. Senate and gubernatorial races in the Missouri Farm Bureau's unscientific straw poll last month at the Missouri State Fair. Meanwhile, the secretary of state's office said it did not know when it would release the results of a separate straw poll it conducted during the fair. Read the article Cheney's Advice Against Carter 9/6/2000 9:33 PM As chief aide to President Ford, Dick Cheney helped craft a battle plan to defeat Jimmy Carter that questioned whether he was ready for the White House, memos show. Challenge him to debates, then try to get him to come across as "fuzzy and indecisive" on issues such as domestic affairs, the economy, national defense and foreign policy, Cheney advised. The strategies were captured in a post-1976 election essay Cheney wrote that is on file here at Ford's presidential library. Read the article Bush Presses Attack on Gore 9/6/2000 9:31 PM George W. Bush stepped up his attack on Al Gore's credibility on Wednesday on the stump and in a new campaign commercial, ridiculing his rival's refusal to debate him next week on a TV talk show. "If we can't trust Al Gore on debates, why should we trust him on anything?" asks a narrator in the ad. Read the article Arkansas' Dickey Backed by Democratic Colleague 9/6/2000 9:30 PM Four-term Republican Rep. Jay Dickey and his Democratic challenger, state Sen. Mike Ross, have some assets in common in their heated battle for Arkansas' 4th District seat. Both have been raking in massive amounts of campaign money. Both have the ardent support of their parties' establishments, which have targeted the 4th District race. But Dickey just acquired something Ross does not have - a congressional endorsement from the other side of the aisle. Read the article Poll: Bush, Gore in Dead Heat in Missouri 9/6/2000 9:28 PM Vice President Al Gore and Texas Gov. George Bush are in a dead heat in Missouri in the race to become the next U.S. president, according to a recent poll. The poll, which was published in Wednesday's edition of The Kansas City Star, was good news for Gore, who jumped from an 11 point deficit in early July to an apparent four-point lead over Bush in the battleground state of Missouri. The poll has a margin of error of 4 percent, which puts Bush and Gore in a technical dead heat. Read the article Blunt, Gaw Kick off Debates at Lincoln 9/6/2000 9:27 PM Two candidates for Missouri secretary of state stressed their leadership abilities at a Tuesday debate sponsored by Lincoln University's Student Government Association. Republican Matt Blunt, who is serving his first term as a state representative from the Springfield area, countered by citing his leadership experience as a naval officer. Blunt served as an engineering officer and navigator aboard ship. Blunt also is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. Read the article Bond Accuses HUD of Playing Politics 9/6/2000 9:25 PM Federal housing officials had no grounds for bypassing New York agencies in distributing millions of dollars for homeless people, according to a congressional report ordered by a GOP senator. The tussle over homeless funds first arose in the heat of the New York Senate contest between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who later abandoned the race. Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo, a Clinton supporter, said he yanked the money because a federal judge ruled the city improperly withheld it from one of the mayor's critics, a group called Housing Works. Read the article Campaign in Full Swing 9/5/2000 11:23 PM Texas Gov. George W. Bush opened his post-Labor Day campaign for the presidency yesterday in Midwest battleground states and accused Vice President Al Gore of going back on his word to debate him any time, anywhere. Read the article Va. Senate Race Takes to TV 9/5/2000 11:21 PM U.S. Sen. Charles S. Robb (D) begins the nine-week sprint to Nov. 7 playing catch-up to Republican challenger George Allen and hoping to shift the Virginia election debate off taxes and onto other big issues such as education. All summer long, Allen "has had the television field and the mailbox largely to himself," said James F. Mulhall, Robb's campaign manager. "That is coming to an end." Read the article Bush's Off-Mike Crack Could Cut Both Ways 9/5/2000 11:21 PM Among the questions reverberating across the country in the wake of George W. Bush's withering verbal assault on a New York Times reporter: Could he actually win votes by calling a journalist a major-league butthead? Read the article Bush Details Medicare Plan 9/5/2000 11:20 PM Texas Gov. George W. Bush today proposed spending $198 billion to enhance Medicare over the next 10 years, including covering the full cost of prescription drugs for seniors with low incomes. Filling in the details of a crucial element of his domestic agenda, Bush said his plan to strengthen Medicare would be the second bill he sent to Congress as president, after his plan for school standards and accountability. Read the article McNary's Challenge of Election Results Relies on a Paper Trail 9/5/2000 3:58 PM If Gene McNary's legal bid to overturn the 2nd District Republican congressional primary gets very far, expect to hear a lot about "chad." Chad is that little bit of paper that falls out when a voter punches in his or her choice on the ballot. Make that supposed to fall off. "I don't ever look at the back of my ballot to see if it's clean of chad," McNary said Friday. Read the article Bush Proposes Network Debates 9/4/2000 11:09 PM George W. Bush yesterday challenged Vice President Al Gore to three televised presidential debates -- one to take place on CNN's "Larry King Live" and another Sept. 12 on a special prime-time edition of NBC's "Meet the Press." "Let the debate begin," the Texas governor said at a news conference in Austin. Read the article New Polls Find Race is Virtual Dead Heat 9/4/2000 11:07 PM George W. Bush is holding his electoral lead across most of the West and the South, but Al Gore has edged ahead slightly in some Midwest battlegrounds, a state-by-state survey by The Washington Times showed yesterday. As the two presidential rivals formally kicked off their general election campaigns in a burst of Labor Day weekend rallies and parades, national polls showed Mr. Gore's big post-convention bounce has faded and the race for the White House has turned into a dead heat. Read the article GOP Ticket Starting Campaign Tour 9/4/2000 11:03 PM George W. Bush handed a dollar to an outstretched hand at a rally and promised a trillion dollars in tax cuts "to go back to the people who pay the bills." At a Labor Day rally in suburban Chicago, the Republican presidential candidate told a crowd of hundreds Monday that he would "put that money in your pocket." Bush and running mate Dick Cheney used the rally before a holiday parade on friendly Republican turf to kick off a weeklong tour and their fall campaign for the White House. Read the article