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It's about spirituality, not sports
The X Games fulfill the human need to test limits and risk death at a time when technology has created the illusion that we're in control.
By Richard Rodriguez
[06/24/99]

The struggle for legitimacy
As the Kosovo Liberation Army works to earn NATO's acceptance, Kosovar Albanians herald the KLA as the liberator of the province.
By Laura Rozen
[06/24/99]

Is black politics dead in California?
The steep decline in the number of powerful black officeholders could be a sign of the community's political maturity -- or its demise.
By Anthony York
[06/23/99]

Jerry Brown shakes up Oakland's black political establishment
The hard-charging mayor challenges an entrenched bureaucracy -- and a racial spoils system.
By Joan Walsh
[06/23/99]

Lauryn Hill: Hoochie or hero?
The black community debates the singer's icon status in light of her unwed motherhood.
By Debra Dickerson
[06/22/99]

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At this stage the Clinton campaign is shaping up as "Primary Colors" II, with loyalists from her husband's 1992 presidential campaign forming the nucleus of her growing New York team.

Clinton is in constant touch with 1992 and 1996 veterans Harold Ickes and Mandy Grunwald, who do triple duty as Clinton loyalists, political knife fighters and New Yorkers. She's also counting on Clinton spinmeister/attack dog James Carville as well as fund-raiser Terence McAuliffe, the principal money-man for the 1996 campaign. All that's missing is Betsy Wright and her bimbo patrol, and Clinton loyalist turned critic George Stephanopolous, who severed the last of his tenuous ties to the Clintons with his self-serving memoir, "All Too Human: A Political Education."

Carville, of course, coined "It's the economy, stupid" as the Clinton 1992 campaign slogan. The Clinton 2000 mantra could be: "It's Buffalo, stupid."

Ever since she returned from her whirlwind trip through Europe and Northern Africa on Wednesday, the first first lady to run for elective office has been in non-stop strategy sessions to ramp-up for the New York race. The not-quite-campaign's first order of business is to hire a press secretary. A few weeks ago Clinton brought in Dick Riley to audition for the job, which he performed for former New York Mayor Ed Koch.

Reaching for more New York connections, Clinton is scheduled to meet Friday with Tony Bullock, chief of staff for retiring Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who she hopes to replace in 2000. Bullock, according to aides, could serve a variety of purposes on the emerging campaign team, from communications to campaign director.

Clinton has already assembled a team heavy with Empire State operatives and political veterans. For pollsters, the first lady is leaning toward Mark Penn and Doug Schoen, according to Harold Ickes. Penn's New York-based firm is the president's pollster in the state. New Yorker Gabrielle Fialkoff would oversee Hillary's fund-raising operation. New York venture capitalist Alan Patricof and his wife, Susan, will join former deputy treasury secretary Roger Altman to help reel in the $20 million it will take to finance the campaign.

Karen Adler, a board member of the United Jewish Appeal Federation, is said to be lined up to solidify Clinton's ties to the huge Jewish community. Bill DiBlasio, who ran Bill Clinton's New York operation in 1996, is a leading candidate to manage the first lady's campaign, according to the New York Daily News. Hank Morris, who advised Sen. Charles Schumer in 1998, also visited with Clinton in early June.

Next page | The sound of Rudy Giuliani self-destructing?