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COPYRIGHT 2001 Texas Monthly, Inc.
HOW'S PRESIDENT BUSH DOING SO FAR? WE PUT THE QUESTION TO AUSTINE MARK McKINNON, HIS SOMETIME MEDIA ADVISER, AND HOUSTON NATIVE PAUL BEGALA, FORMERLY A CAMPAIGN STRATEGIST FOR DEMOCRATS LIKE BILL CLINTON. THOUGH THEY'RE OLD FRIENDS, IT TOOK ALMOST NO TIME FOR THE GLOVES TO COME OFF.
PABLO,
Yesterday, as I was running around the placid waters of Town Lake, a warm March wind blew against my skin, and I thought of the days we ran the same route together, talking big talk. Alas, we're now running in different circles.
You're the smartest guy I know in Democratic politics, buddy, so you've gotta be feeling some pain these days. Your man Clinton had to be yanked of the stage, but not before Hillary had already grabbed the china and he had smacked the hell out of the pardon pinata. I noticed that even you, the lone Shiite soldier through the Monica mess, had to admit finally that the Big Guy had gone too far. At a recent movie screening I attended at ten o'clock, Miramax's Harvey Weinstein allowed how it was a good thing that President Bush wasn't invited, because he'd already be in bed. But since Clinton's pardon abuses were attributed in part to the fact that he hadn't gotten enough sleep, shouldn't we be glad to have a president who gets a little shut-eye before going to work in the morning and negotiating on behalf of the free world?
Please, please, please keep underestimating President Bush. Continue to question his intelligence. As our communist columnist friend at the Washington Post, E. J. Dionne, observed: "You're encouraging the heartland to think you're a bunch of elitists." Even partisans admit that the president has had a phenomenal debut: great appointments and a focused agenda reflecting the priorities established during the campaign. And what of the Democrats? Well, once again, don't take it from me. Take it from another liberal columnist, Frank Rich of the New York Times: "The party that won the popular vote on November 7 stands for little and has no evident leaders."
This whole scenario reminds me of early 1992, when the Republicans were running around whining that Clinton had stolen all their issues. You better start looking for Moses, amigo, 'cause you guys are in the desert.
Carry on-regardless,
McKINNON
BIG MAC,
We're not only running in different circles but also in opposite directions. As I train for the Boston Marathon up here in Washington, D.C., my heart longs to be with you on the shores of our beloved Town Lake. But no setting, no matter how idyllic, can pretty up what your man Bush is doing to the land we love.
As that wind caresses your skin, think about the higher levels of [CO.sub.2] that will be in the air because Junior broke his campaign promise to crack down on those global-warming emissions. The power generators who spew that crap gave W. and his fellow Republicans $12.4 million. They know the real deal: Bush has the office, but the polluters have...
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