Clinton era over? Democrats, led by Clinton's handpicked chairman, Terry McAuliffe, decided yesterday to take their 2004 national convention to Boston instead of New York

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DEMS BEAN BUBBA WITH BOSTON PICK By DEBORAH ORIN

November 14, 2002 -- LOOKS like the Bill Clinton era is over.

Democrats, led by Clinton's handpicked chairman, Terry McAuliffe, decided yesterday to take their 2004 national convention to Boston instead of New York - where Bill and Hillary Clinton could relive their 1992 glory days and be the stars of the show.

"There was a question of, ‘You don't want this to be about the Clintons. You want this to be about the future,' " says a site selection insider who insists the arguments in favor of Beantown weren't just bigger bucks.

President Bush likes to joke about getting misunderestimated. Bill Clinton's problem is that he misoverestimated himself this fall. He cast himself in a unique role as leader of the opposition against Bush - and helped lead the Democrats into an Election Day disaster.

"If you look at where Clinton campaigned this fall, he motivated their base more than ours - he backfired," says a Democratic strategist.

Consider the Republican-bashing memorial for Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) that badly backfired. One photo that ran everywhere showed Bill and Hillary Clinton yukking it up at the service.

Clinton's staff insists he was an asset to some Democrats this fall, but he sure isn't standing up for kudos. The attention-loving former president has been uncharacteristically mum since Election Day.

"This leaves him with no real role to play when he desperately wants a role to play," said presidential scholar Charles Jones. "Here he forces McAuliffe in as Democratic chairman as a way of keeping control of the Democratic Party and this guy was a disaster. Compare McAuliffe with [past Democratic chairmen] Chris Dodd and Ed Rendell - this guy knows nothing about politics."

Some New York Dems say blame Mayor Bloomberg for failing to land the convention because he didn't come up with enough money. Bloomberg says that's nonsense because New York could raise the money in a snap.

Besides, McAuliffe insisted Bloomberg reject the Republican convention if the Dems picked New York - a poison pill. Why should a Republican mayor diss a Republican president whose help he's going to need?

Now the question is whether Bloomberg can indeed lure Bush & Co. to come for the Republican 2004 convention.

Some sources say the city was a bit cocky in its formal presentation and several say there were tensions between the White House and Bloomberg's staff over 9/11 memorial events this fall that could affect convention hopes. The White House denies it.

Time will tell. GOP sources say both Tampa and New Orleans remain in contention. A decision is due by mid-December.

-- Anonymous, November 14, 2002


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