1. McCain Teases Crowd About 2008 Candidacy
Sen. John McCain became an announced candidate for the U.S. presidency in 2008 – for all of a few seconds.
While he was speaking at a breakfast at the high-end French restaurant La Colline in Washington, McCain was asked if he wanted to use the occasion to make big news by announcing his candidacy, according to the publication The Hill, which sponsored the gathering.
"Yes, I'm going to do it right here in La Colline, this place of the people," he replied.
But he quickly made it clear that he was joking: "I really am not going to consider it until after the 2006 elections, and I would consider it – that's all."
McCain has said he "absolutely" wants to be president, and most political observers expect him to seek the Republican nomination, as he did in 2000.
But McCain stressed that he has no campaign organization helping him prepare for a run.
"I'm not laying the groundwork," he said, before adding: "Thank you for asking."
At the breakfast – which took place just before President Bush nominated John Roberts for the Supreme Court -- McCain said his own choice for a nominee would be Fred Thompson, the former Republican senator from Tennessee who now has a role on TV's "Law & Order" and is helping to expedite Bush's nominee.
"I've always said he's a great senator and a lousy actor," McCain quipped, joking that Thompson's roles in "The Hunt for Red October" and "Baby's Day Out" would make the public "know and trust him," The Hill reported.
For his part, McCain recently made his cinematic debut in the bawdy romantic comedy "Wedding Crashers."
The Los Angeles Times opined that the role in an R-rated movie is "perhaps not the most predictable showcase for the film debut of a former presidential candidate who five years ago conducted Senate hearings in which he personally took Hollywood to task for the preponderance of R-rated films."
McCain's communications director claimed that when he accepted the role he believed the movie would be rated PG-13.
2. John Kerry's Brother Eying Run
Don't look now but there could be another Kerry running for office – John Kerry's brother Cameron, who was once arrested for a Watergate-like break-in.
Cameron, the 54-year-old younger brother and close political adviser to Sen. Kerry, is laying the groundwork to run for the 2006 Democratic nomination for secretary of state in Massachusetts.
Kerry has met with Secretary of State William F. Galvin to inform him of his plans, but told him he would seek the nomination only if Galvin decides to leave office and run for governor, a move he is seriously considering, the Boston Globe reports.
Kerry, a Boston lawyer, told the Globe he is setting up an official political account to collect donations and has put together a team including several of his brother's top presidential fund-raisers.
"I need to get a head start to level the playing field," he said. "I am not an incumbent with a war chest built up over the years. I want to be ready."
Asked if his brother would endorse him, he told a reporter: "John will be helpful and be as nice to me as I have been nice to him," but added: "I need to get started on my own."
Sen. Kerry told the Globe: "I'm 100 percent supportive of whatever he decides to do. I know he has the tenacity and passion to fight for the issues he cares about so deeply."
Cameron Kerry, a Harvard graduate, converted from Catholicism to Judaism 20 years ago and is now a partner in a Boston law firm, focusing on civil litigation, environmental issues and communications regulations. Kerry's paternal grandfather was Jewish and had converted to Catholicism when he arrived as a immigrant to Boston.
Cameron first got involved in a political campaign in 1972, when his brother ran for a congressional seat – and became embroiled in an embarrassing Watergate-like incident.
Cameron Kerry and another campaign worker were arrested for "breaking into the headquarters of a Kerry opponent," the New York Times reported at the time.
The two men were charged with breaking into the basement of the building housing the campaign headquarters of both Kerry and his opponent.
John Kerry characterized the break-in as a preemptive strike and told the Times the two men had received an anonymous telephone threat that the telephones lines at his headquarters, which were located in the basement, were to be sabotaged.
Funny, didn't some of the Nixon plumbers operation offer the same sort of excuse about their burglary of the DNC headquarters at the Watergate?
Kerry's plumbers pleaded not guilty to charges of "breaking and entering with the intent to commit grand larceny." A year later the charges were dropped.
John Kerry won the primary but lost the general election.
Said the would-be secretary of state about the "Watergate" incident: "When I was young and irresponsible, I was young and irresponsible."
Too bad the press didn't buy that one from Nixon and friends.
3. NewsMax Predicted Roberts' Nomination
President Bush's nomination of John Roberts for the Supreme Court came as no surprise to readers of NewsMax Magazine.
Our March issue featured a special report, "War for the Supreme Court," which spotlighted the anticipated battle between conservatives and liberals over the makeup of the court when Bush seeks to fill one or more vacancies.
The report included profiles of several men and women considered to be strong candidates for appointment to the court – and John Roberts was prominent among them.
NewsMax Magazine disclosed: "Judge John Roberts Jr. was confirmed in 2003 for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Before he became a judge, Roberts was a top appellate lawyer and prominent advocate before the Supreme Court. He is thought of as one of the best lawyers ever to argue before the Supreme Court."
The magazine also reported that Sandra Day O'Connor, whose departure from the court opened the door for Roberts, was "ripe for retirement."
On so many issues NewsMax and NewsMax Magazine is ahead of the curve.
Check out our special report on the "War for the Court" -- Go Here Now
4. Armstrong Williams Making a Comeback
Nearly seven months after a flap over government contracts almost destroyed his career, conservative pundit Armstrong Williams is making a comeback with a new book and radio program.
Williams, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' former press secretary, is now hosting a 3-hour afternoon drive-time radio show on WWRL in New York.
And his book "The New Racists: How Liberal Democrats Have Betrayed Minority Americans," comes out in the fall.
Last January, Armstrong was hosting a syndicated TV show, writing a syndicated column and running a Washington-based public relations firm when it came to light that the Bush administration had paid him $240,000 to promote the president's education reform law on his TV show.
The liberal press jumped all over him for not disclosing that his PR firm had received the payment.
"Media experts predicted that Williams could not recover from such a fiasco," the publication The Hill reports.
Williams has admitted that he should have disclosed the Education Department contracts. But he's still bitter about the way he was treated by the press – and fellow conservatives.
"I had put everything on the line, defending the right, supporting the right," he told The Hill. "None of the conservative [groups] came to my rescue. I was alone."
Hmmmm. I guess he forgot to mention NewsMax which published a number of items detailing the press' hypocrisy in attacking Armstrong.
At the time of the Williams' flap, NewsMax noted that there was no disclosure on any major networks that frequent interviews of movie and TV stars on major networks of paid advertising from the movie production firms.
We also noted that CBS's "60 Minutes" promoted several anti-Bush authors and books, including Richard Clarke's "Against All Enemies" - without disclosing that the publisher was Simon Schuster, a division of Viacom which also owns CBS.
And what's more worrisome, Armstrong Williams - acting as public relations agent, a fact he never hid - or the inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars for public broadcasting programs that serve as pure political propaganda, such as PBS' "Now" program?
A repentant Williams, who does his New York radio show from his office in Washington, said he'll no longer hold fund-raisers for Republican candidates. But despite his bitterness, he made one thing clear: "I'm a conservative, no question. My ideals have not changed."
5. Internship Opportunities in Journalism
The National Journalism Center (NJC) is now accepting intern applicants for its fall 2005 internship session, from September 12 to December 2.
The NJC was founded by conservative icon M. Stanton Evans and is now run by the Young America's Foundation.
The NJC has provided free 12-week internships with Washington-area media outlets for 28 years. Aside from an opportunity to apprentice with established Washington journalists, these internships include weekly seminars with speakers, many of whom are NJC alumni, supervision and instruction by NJC editors, a Computer Assisted Research and Reporting (CARR) "boot camp," and job bank placement assistance with a network of media contacts upon completion of the internship, and throughout a participant's career.
There is also a $500 per month scholarship available for accepted applicants.
To apply for an NJC internship, fill out and submit the online application at www.NJC.YAF.org. If you have any questions, please contact Alex X. Mooney or Mark LaRochelle at 800-872-1776.
