WashTimes

Change of mind

"What a difference 10 months makes. Last November, I broke the unwritten rule that requires journalists to be neutral political observers when I got embroiled in the controversy over the presidential election and publicly supported Al Gore," Gerald Posner writes in the Wall Street Journal.

"It was not just with friends that I passionately argued the election had been stolen and that Mr. Gore would be the better president. I was one of the signatories to the pompously titled 'Emergency Committee of Concerned Citizens 2000,' which took full-page ads in the New York Times demanding a revote in Palm Beach County. I wrote op-eds for Salon.com and the New York Daily News. On television talk shows from MSNBC to Fox News' popular 'The O'Reilly Factor,' I made the case for Mr. Gore," Mr. Posner said.

"Of course, I did not know whether the election had gone for Mr. Gore or George W. Bush. As a partisan, I did not care. I was convinced that Mr. Gore was by far the best-qualified candidate and the man most fit to lead the U.S. Mr. Bush was not only untested nationally, but he seemed to me bereft of the character or intellect to become a real leader, and I feared that four years, and possibly eight, under Mr. Bush would set the country back.

"How wrong I was. Since the murderous terror attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, President Bush has come alive in a way I did not think possible. It was as though the attack on America — which he rightly called an 'act of war' from the start — gave him a focus and clarity I had not seen earlier."

Mr. Posner said he not only believes that the Bush administration is better fitted to conduct this war than a Gore administration likely would have been, but "I must sadly admit that Bill Clinton, for whom I voted twice, could not have delivered that clear speech [to a joint session of Congress] last Thursday."

-- Anonymous, September 26, 2001

Answers

WashTimes

Turn off the lights

Bill Clinton has gotten good marks for his actions after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks — for example, he was planning to take four commercial air flights this week to reassure the nation that air travel is safe (unlike California Gov. Gray Davis, who decided to lease a jet).

But the former president's love of the spotlight did cause some tension in an appearance with New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani last week, Los Angeles Times reporter Charles Ornstein writes.

"After one of Giuliani's news conferences, Clinton lingered for about 10 minutes to answer reporters' questions. Twice, a Giuliani spokeswoman shouted at reporters to end the questioning, but Clinton continued answering. At one point, Giuliani's spokeswoman told [Clinton aide Julia] Payne: 'My boss is waiting.'"

-- Anonymous, September 26, 2001

the clintons should take a hint from Carter.

-- Anonymous, September 26, 2001