(posted Friday, Nov. 8)
In TNR's election wrap-up, an article titled "Golden Mean" contends that the election solidified the center-right's dominance over American politics. The argument, which appears more opaquely in Time and Newsweek (see below), promises to become the election's conventional wisdom. Michael Lewis writes his final "Campaign Journal," a sad and funny account of Election Day in Russell, Kan. Also, a new take on humanitarian aid: It can cause war. An article contends that aid to Hutu refugees so strengthened them that their Tutsi enemies in Rwanda invaded Zaire to crush them. Also, yet another feature on Germany--this time a 24-page survey that concludes it's still divided.
(posted Friday, Nov. 8)
The cover editorial urges Bill Clinton to tackle "unpalatable subjects"--inner-city decay, education reform, entitlement cuts--before he loses his victory glow. (Not that the Economist is optimistic: " 'Focus' and 'hard facts.' Neither has ever been his strong point.") The election analyses tread familiar ground: No Clinton mandate, congressional Republicans victorious but chastened, etc. An article explains why the $21 billion MCI-British Telecom deal is no big deal. A related editorial predicts a coming "global free-for-all" in telecommunications: Deregulation and new technology will slash prices and increase competition.
(posted Thursday, Nov. 7)
Both newsweeklies anchor their election special issues with a long, juicy, inside-the-presidential-campaign feature. Time, which put Dick Morris on its cover twice this fall, focuses on political consultants again: Its 20-page article follows Clinton's and Dole's pollsters and consultants from early 1995 to Election Day. Clinton is portrayed as a hostage to the masterful centrist strategy preached by Morris and pollster Mark Penn. (At one point, the consultants wouldn't let Clinton answer a question about his favorite fast-food--too frivolous, too Old Bill.) Time presents Dole as a lousy boss who couldn't manage a third-rate campaign staff.
Newsweek's 90-plus-page opus, "The Inside Story," serves scoops, revealing that Dole briefly considered Elizabeth for vice president; that Jack Kemp was nearly KO'd as the veep choice by rumors of a "recent personal indiscretion" (the indiscretion goes unspecified); and that Clinton planned to undermine Colin Powell's candidacy by painting him as a modern-day George McClellan, a general "disloyal" to his president.
Both magazines kick Dole when he's down, publicizing the fact that he had an extramarital affair. During the campaign, both Time and the Washington Post interviewed Meredith Roberts, an editor for a Washington trade association, who says she was Dole's mistress between 1968 and 1970. Time and Newsweek describe how the Dole campaign was paralyzed by the fear that the story would get out. (Wary of being asked about it, Dole didn't do long interviews for several weeks.) Newsweek's account is especially comprehensive, chronicling the campaign's plea to the Post not to run the story. Ultimately, the National Enquirer published the mistress story, and the Post mentioned it deep in an article about something else.
The special issues are also full of election-night post-mortems and second-term predictions. Both magazines conclude that Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr will haunt Clinton's second term; Time hints that an indictment of the first lady is possible. And they agree that the Republican Congress will be less ambitious and less confrontational (though not less conservative). Newsweek previews the 2000 GOP primary campaign: Bill Bennett, Colin Powell, Pete Wilson, Christine Todd Whitman, Fred Thompson, Dan Quayle, and George Bush Jr. top their list of contenders. Time polls celebrities for their advice to the president (singer Patti Smith suggests legalizing medicinal marijuana; Don Imus suggests reading the president his Miranda rights). Time runs a few articles about subjects unrelated to the election (Yeltsin, Pakistan, etc.); Newsweek doesn't.
(posted Thursday, Nov. 7)
"When AIDS Ends" is the magazine's second cover story in two months about gay men and AIDS. Andrew Sullivan considers the psychological impact of effective new AIDS treatments. Now that HIV is a mere illness, not a death sentence, the gay solidarity created by AIDS may vanish. More important, HIV-positive men who have contemplated death now must find a way to live again. Also, the strange saga of a Lebanese accountant turned Hezbollah bomber. And the biannual Sophisticated Traveler supplement: Warm places are favored.
(posted Thursday, Nov. 7)
A bad issue for moguls. Michael Ovitz takes a beating in a story about his tenure at Disney: The ex-superagent can't read a balance sheet, wastes his time on marginal projects, and is losing the confidence of boss Michael Eisner. Another article shreds Sony Music head Tommy Mottola Jr. (a k a Mr. Mariah Carey) for his thuggish business practices. And a long excerpt from a book about Rupert Murdoch dubs the tycoon the "Sun King" and recounts his abusive, predatory behavior. The author, former Murdoch editor Andrew Neil, acknowledges that Murdoch is a brilliant publisher and a devoted family man. George Clooney adorns the cover: He is, VF assures us, an adorable frat boy.
(posted Monday, Nov. 4)
A profile of Justice Anthony Kennedy calls the current Supreme Court "The Kennedy Court" because of the justice's swing vote in gay-rights, abortion, and free-speech cases. The article twits Kennedy's legal reasoning (calling his vision of liberty "too abstract" for anyone but himself to understand), but generally admires his independence: More than any other justice, Kennedy is willing to take stands that go against his own beliefs. Kennedy bucks recent Supreme Court tradition by speaking extensively on the record to the magazine. An article admires Bob Dole's close-of-campaign irritability, describing his candidacy as a "protest campaign ... against everything." Also, a creepy first-person account of being eaten (but not killed) by a hyena. And a satire of The Rules by Christopher Buckley.
(posted Monday, Nov. 4)
An uplifting cover story. " Invincible Kids" says that children can overcome even the worst family circumstances. The prerequisites: Attention from caring adults, structured activities like scouting and sports, and personal responsibility. A sidebar concludes that exposure to danger and distress can permanently warp kids' brain chemistry. A long article frets over the crisis in public housing (there's not enough of it) and investigates a possible scandal involving insider trading of HUD mortgages.
(posted Monday, Nov. 4)
An essay bemoans growing anti-Americanism among the religious right. Some Christian conservatives find America's immorality and libertinism so disturbing that they now call the American government an illegitimate "regime." They are, sniffs the Standard, no better than the '60s leftists who denounced the U.S. government. The cover story warns that the Panama Canal will fall into disrepair as soon as the United States leaves the isthmus in 1999. The article wonders whether the United States should abrogate the canal treaty and keep control over the passageway. Also, the Standard editorial blames the Richard Jewell fiasco (indirectly) on President Clinton.
(posted Monday, Nov. 4)
The cover story lays out a post-election progressive strategy. Borrowing from the Christian Coalition and other right-wing groups, the authors advocate local organizing: Progressives need to run for the thousands of low-level, nonpartisan offices that are the heart of local politics. This will ultimately lead to a "massive membership organization" that can sway national issues. Also, medical backlash: An article scorches Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp., the nation's largest hospital company, for favoring profits over patients. A book review regrets the rise of managed care.
--Compiled by David Plotz and the editors of S LATE.