Ronald Kessler
Thursday, Feb. 8, 2007

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George Allen is thinking about running for governor of Virginia again when Democrat Tim Kaine's term is up in 2009.

Virginia governors cannot serve consecutive terms but can subsequently run for re-election.

"A lot of supporters are thinking about his running for governor as well," says a close friend. "He enjoyed being governor more than being senator. He was one of the best Virginia governors of the century."

"There's no one in the Republican base who wouldn't be excited about George Allen running for governor again," says Gary Marx, who worked as a local party chairman to get Allen elected senator in 2000. "Everybody still loves him."

Allen lost his race for re-election as senator by 9,000 votes largely over his "macaca" comment. Asked about running again, Allen told NewsMax, "I'm considering many good opportunities offered to me that can build upon my service as governor and senator while providing for my family."

The REAL McCain

A liberal activist company called Brave New Films has a grabby video on YouTube called "The REAL McCain." The video starts with McCain saying he promises to tell the truth about his intentions and beliefs as part of his "Straight Talk Express." The video then juxtaposes shots of McCain making conflicting statements on a range of issues.

On the war, the video shows McCain saying on CNN last August, "The American people . . . were led to believe that this would be some kind of a day at the beach which many of us, uh, fully understood from the very beginning would be a very, very difficult undertaking."

"I knew it was probably going to be long and hard and tough," McCain said on MSNBC on January 4 of this year. But back in September 2002, it was a different story: "I believe that success [in Iraq] will be fairly easy," McCain said then on CNN.

A few days later, he said on CNN, "I believe that we can win an overwhelming victory in a very short period of time."

"Straight talk," McCain says, as the video ends. The video is at http://therealmccain.com.

McCain's opponents would love to capture McCain's out-of-control temper on video. As described in a Jan. 7 NewsMax.com article, "Vanity Fair Tiptoes Around McCain's Explosive Temper," insiders who know him question whether McCain has the temperament to have his finger on the nuclear trigger.

Clinton: My Second Life

Bill and Hillary Clinton, the honorary chairs of the International Red Cross Ball in Palm Beach, did not attend the white tie event at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago because Hillary is running for president and Bill is finishing writing another book.

That was the explanation they gave William D. Rollnick, who was general co-chairman with his wife Nancy, for sending their regrets at the last minute. Rollnick told me at the ball that Bill said he is crashing to finish the book by his deadline of April.

Bill Clinton's "My Life" had the "hugest hardcover nonfiction opening in history," Publishers Weekly reported. At least "two million people were willing to buy a book that carried a list price of $35," the trade publication said. "That resulted in publisher revenues larger than the total annual sales of most small publishers." The book sold worldwide in 35 languages.

Clinton's publisher Knopf is obviously hoping for a repeat performance. Bob Barnett, Clinton's literary agent, declined to comment.

Baron Trump

Meanwhile, to give his 1-year-old son Baron more room to play, Donald has been spending more time with his wife Melania at Mar-a-Lago.

Who can blame him?

Around the pool, a recent Sunday brunch — open to club members and invited guests — offered rack of lamb and fresh lobster tail grilled to order over charcoal, caviar and blini, smoked salmon, sushi and sashimi, cocktail shrimp, stone crab claws, prime rib, ravioli, duck, and Donald's favorite — meat loaf with gravy.

Lockdown for Republicans

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Coming to power, the Democrats promised they would work with Republicans in a bipartisan manner to achieve results for the country.

"I accept this gavel in the spirit of partnership, not partisanship," a beaming Nancy Pelosi told her colleagues after her election as speaker. "In this House, we may belong to different parties, but we serve one country."

In fact, when it comes to cooperation across the aisle, Republicans say the Democrats have been far more intransigent than they were. When Dr. Paul S. Teller, deputy director of the House Republican Study Committee, e-mailed a staffer in the House Republican leadership to ask, "Any word on next week's schedule?" the staffer e-mailed back, "Hahahahaha."

While Republicans did not lay out a detailed agenda for Democrats when they were in power, they did give them a heads up on the issues most likely to come up during the week.

"They have us on total lock-down mode," said a senior GOP aide. "No amendments allowed. No advance notice of changes to bill text. Little advance distribution of bill text. We Republicans may not have been angels to the Democrats, but we never did this — and certainly not on legislation as big as the 100-hour agenda."

Ronald Kessler is chief Washington correspondent of NewsMax.com. View his previous reports and get his dispatches sent to you FREE via e-mail. Go Here Now.

© NewsMax 2007. All rights reserved.

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