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Walter Shapiro and Jodi Kantor

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Where Have You Gone, Norman Mailer?

By Walter Shapiro
Posted Wednesday, Aug. 4, 1999, at 12:45 PM ET

Dear Jodi,

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I'm beginning to think that the three most loathsome words in the English language are "the Clinton marriage." Regarding the conflict-of-interest potential in Lucinda Franks' marriage to Rudy- hater Bob Morganthau, all I can add is that you don't have to be the Manhattan DA's wife to get shivers over the thought of Senator Giuliani. If elected, he's a guy who's apt to send constituents to the slammer for griping about lost Social Security checks.

I've been doing impromptu Senate-race polls around dinner tables filled with liberal New York Democrats. And I've yet to talk to anyone who can muster any enthusiasm about the prospect of Hillary's Senate campaign. Even Al Gore arouses far more positive electricity. Only the most hard-core Rudy foes say they're planning to vote for Hillary. If there is a race that cries out for a New York version of Jesse Ventura (where is ex-mayoral candidate Norman Mailer when we need him?), it's this one.

I had missed the Washington Post analysis of the AARP's flawed poll in my quick scan of "Style." What I think is going on here with this obsession with new emphasis on sex is that the AARP has figured out that it will soon face a major membership crisis. Remember, this is an organization that loses members with the sureness of mortality tables. If they don't figure out a way to quickly appeal to aging boomers, they will cease to be a potent lobbying force in Washington. Any day now, I expect them to start an ad campaign that proclaims: "The AARP--not your father's senior-citizen organization."

Let's talk (no that's now Tina's word) ... er ... e-mail after lunch.

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