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Bradley Ain't Got Game

Michael BrusPosted Monday, Jan. 17, 2000, at 3:21 AM ET

Issue 1 is the Democratic presidential race. Issue 2 is the political tug-of-war over Cuban boy Elián González.

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The pundits become skeptical of Bill Bradley's chances to upset Al Gore. Most programs take note of the new polls showing him more than 10 points behind Gore in Iowa. (He was beating Gore just last month.) Tucker Carlson (CNN's Late Edition) notes that Bradley has been spending nearly twice as much as Gore in Des Moines, and it doesn't seem to help. Many commentators--such as Brit Hume (Fox News Sunday), Mara Liasson (FNS), George Stephanopoulos (ABC's This Week), and Steve Roberts (LE)--call Bradley a hypocrite for abandoning his "above-politics" pose with his allegation that Gore had created the Willie Horton race-baiting tactic during the 1988 Democratic primaries. (To read Slate's "Chatterbox" on Bradley's charges, click here.) Ceci Connolly (CBS's Face the Nation) attributes Gore's Iowa surge to his attacks on Bradley's wishy-washy farm-assistance record. Both Susan Page (LE) and Bob Schieffer (FTN) predict a sweeping Gore victory in Iowa.

In New Hampshire, where the two Democrats are running neck-and-neck, pundits note a general lack of enthusiasm for either candidate. ("If it were possible for both of them to lose the [New Hampshire] primary, then I think that would be conceivable," Steve Roberts says on LE.) But Kate O'Beirne (CNN's Capital Gang) argues that new national polls--which show a narrower race between George W. Bush and Gore--are bound to make Gore look like presidential material to primary voters. And George Stephanopoulos (TW) predicts that the State of the Union address--which falls between the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary--will give Gore a boost for the same reason. However, Connolly (FTN) points out that with his large cash flow, Bradley will not drop out of the race any time soon.

The pundits splinter over the Clinton administration's attempt to return boy-refugee Elián González to his father in Cuba. Some, such as John McLaughlin (PBS's McLaughlin Group), George Stephanopoulos (TW), and Mark Shields (CG), think that the boy's father has his son's interests at heart when he requests the boy's return. But others, such as Geoge F. Will (TW), Kate O'Beirne (CG), and Michael Barone (MG), think that the deceased mother's clear intent was for her son to grow up in the United States. (Barone compares Cuba to Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia, and O'Beirne calls Cuban-Americans an oppressed ethnic minority.) A third group, including Cokie Roberts (TW) and Robert Novak (CG), think that the INS should require the boy's father to visit the United States first, to ensure that his decision to raise his son in Cuba is his own rather than Castro's.

Spinning the Stars and Bars

The South Carolina Confederate-flag controversy rears its head during interviews with both George W. Bush and John McCain. On LE, Bush repeats his mantra that the feds should let South Carolina decide whether it wants to fly the Confederate flag over its Capitol building; when interviewer Wolf Blitzer asks him what he feels about the flag personally, Bush talks about education policy. Mary Matalin--in one of her flirtatious political duels with husband James Carville on NBC's Meet the Press--repeats Bush's states'-rights stance. Carville then asks his better half why Bush didn't stay silent on Vermont's recent gay-partnership court decision. Earlier on MTP, McCain reiterated his revised stance on the Confederate flag--that it is a symbol of both Southern heritage and racist oppression. (Last week, on FTN, he did not mention Southern heritage; see Slate's "Ballot Box" for more on McCain's flag backtrack.)

Hillary Thaws Self, Pundits

After months of political missteps, Hillary Clinton has finally pleased the commentariat. How? By joking around on David Letterman. Although a few talking heads complain that she had pre-screened Letterman's "pop quiz" on state trivia, most find her warm and engaging. This includes conservatives such as Tucker Carlson (LE) and John McLaughlin (MG), who pronounces Hillary "a hit. ... at ease much of the time, and funny." To Brit Hume (FNS), the appearance proves that when Hillary "applies herself and is not standing on a platform and being preachy or whatever, [she] can be an engaging and charming woman."

Last Word

I think his application [of loyalty] is sometimes misguided, but when it's applied to me and his kids and his family and, on occasion, the truth, I appreciate it.

--Mary Matalin, commenting on husband James Carville's new book, Stickin': The Case for Loyalty (MTP)