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See Hillary Run

Michael BrusPosted Monday, Nov. 29, 1999, at 3:51 AM ET

Issue 1 is the New York Senate race. Issue 2 is the GOP presidential campaign.

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Interviews: On Fox News Sunday, Newt Gingrich compliments current House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., for being a better dealmaker than he was. Gingrich says he prefers his current life on the lecture circuit to being speaker because lecturing better suits his idealistic temperament and doesn't require day-to-day detail work. Gingrich says the GOP should stick to five campaign themes in the 2000 election: 1) the rescue of Social Security through Personal Savings Accounts (a type of privatization); 2) the establishment of a "global missile defense"; 3) the limitation of taxes in peacetime to 25 percent of income; 4) the abolition of the inheritance tax; and 5) the securing of patients' rights through health-care reform. On CNN's Late Edition, Donald Trump says he would personally spend $100 million if he ran for president (in addition to spending the Reform Party's more than $12 million in federal funds).

Despite Hillary Clinton's pointed announcement last week that she "intends to run" for a New York Senate seat, several pundits--Fred Barnes (Fox) and Kate O'Beirne (CNN's Capital Gang)--and politicians--Donald Trump and Rep. Guy Molinari, R-N.Y. (both on Late Edition)--think she has left some wiggle room and may yet duck out at the 11th hour. Some Giuliani supporters point to Harold Ickes' remark in a new Gail Sheehy book that Clinton's Senate run will be about personal "redemption" (to buy Hillary's Choice, click here). Asked about this on Late Edition, Ickes doesn't own up to the statement, but he doesn't deny it either. Mark Shields (PBS's NewsHour With Jim Lehrer) notes that both Giuliani and Clinton have negative ratings topping 40 percent; only 8 percent to 9 percent of voters are undecided, an unusually low number with nearly a year until Election Day. Susan Page (Late Edition) says that a new Giuliani TV ad questioning Hillary's devotion to Israel is smart, because the Jews are one of the few swing votes left.

Several programs cite Friday's Time/CNN poll showing John McCain and George W. Bush in a statistical dead heat in New Hampshire--37 percent to 35 percent, respectively, with a 4.5 percent margin of error. (Tim Russert [NBC's Meet the Press], Cokie Roberts [ABC's This Week], and Wolf Blitzer [Late Edition] assert that McCain is ahead in the Granite State; only Bill Kristol [This Week] points out that McCain's two-point lead is statistically meaningless.) George F. Will (This Week) notes that even if McCain wins New Hampshire, Bush still leads by over 40 points in South Carolina. But Kristol points out that when Gary Hart beat Walter Mondale in New Hampshire in 1984, Hart's polls suddenly rose by 20 points nationally (left unspoken: Hart lost the nomination anyway). Tucker Carlson (Late Edition) argues that Steve Forbes' poor showing in the Time poll (8 percent), despite his millions of dollars, should give pause to advocates of campaign-finance reform. George Stephanopoulos (This Week) says that Forbes could still hurt Bush in Iowa, which would add to McCain's momentum should he win New Hampshire. But Steve Roberts (Late Edition) says that Bush's New Hampshire numbers will improve once he spends some time there, and Matthew Rees (NewsHour) thinks that McCain's New Hampshire numbers have peaked.

And You Thought Buchanan and Fulani Made an Odd Couple ...

On Late Edition, Reform Party hopeful Donald Trump ticks off members of his ideal presidential Cabinet:

Vice President: Oprah Winfrey
HUD: Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y.
State: Gen. Colin Powell (Ret.)
Defense: Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
Treasury: Jack Welch, outgoing General Electric CEO

Last Word

I think that it would be a very, very bad thing to have Bill Bradley as president. He's almost Marxist in his leanings.

[Hillary] stays in Trump Tower when she's in New York. ... At least she has great taste.

I do shake hands, [but] I think it's a terrible custom. ... It's almost barbaric in a certain way.

I don't take drugs--I've never had drugs in my life--I've never had a glass of alcohol, I've never had a cup of coffee, I've never had a cigarette. I do love women. But I'm single, [so] I'm allowed to do that, I guess. But I respect women, I admire women, and if that's supposed to be bad, then I'm guilty.

--Donald Trump (Late Edition)