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Clinton Memoir May Suck Air Out Of Kerry Campaign
EFL:As Bill Clinton seeks to finish his memoirs, leading Democrats are voicing concern that the book could overshadow Senator John Kerry's presidential campaign, diverting attention to Mr. Clinton's outsize legacy of scandal and Many Democrats said they wanted the book published as far as possible before the election and, certainly, before the Democratic National Convention in late July. They fear that the book will embolden Mr. Clinton's foes to turn out and vote for President Bush.
Mr. Clinton, for his part, has increased the nervous speculation about the book in Democratic circles by making a habit of picking up the phone to regale friends with long passages and even chapters of his prose. Mixing boyish enthusiasm with a craving for approval, people who have received the calls said, he has proudly narrated excerpts about everything from college antics with his pals at Georgetown to his 1995 standoff with Republicans that led to a government shutdown. Some of Mr. Clinton's friends say he should hurry up. "It'll get a lot of air space and I think it's kind of imperative that happen in front of the convention," said John D. Podesta, a chief of staff in Mr. Clinton's White House. That way, he said, "Kerry's benefited by having a clear shot, clear air space, from the convention through November." A close associate of Mr. Kerry, offering a personal opinion, said: "If it comes out any time before the election, it's not particularly good for us because he takes up a lot of oxygen. It's less that he's a negative and more that he'll be out on his book tour and he'll be the story of the week rather than John Kerry."
"I wouldn't bet on it coming out during the campaign," said Dick Morris, who worked as Mr. Clinton's chief campaign strategist. "He takes a long time to finish things and he's never happy, and he fills up the wastebasket." "What I really believe is if he were to come out with it during the campaign it would be intended as a way of undercutting Kerry," he added. "It would turn the whole election into a debate about Clinton rather than Kerry."
But some party leaders and Kerry campaign officials argue that publication in the spring could, in the words of one, help in "pumping up the base." If Mr. Clinton gets it out in time, party officials said, they hoped to hold fund-raising events at stops on his book tour.
"The notion that once upon a time there was a president who actually thought about how you strengthen the middle class and did a good job steering the economy is not a bad thing," Mr. Podesta said. "It's a good thing."
Posted by: Steve 2004-04-13 |
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