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The thinker
Bill Bradley may have "big ideas," but as a notoriously cautious senator he sat out the big political fights.
By Joshua Micah Marshall
[08/06/99]

Pulling a Clinton?
George W. Bush is locked in a legal battle to keep him off the witness stand in a growing influence-peddling scandal.
By Robert Bryce
[08/05/99]

Texas attorney general helps Bush try to kill subpoena
In a signed affidavit, Bush claims he knew nothing about events in the so-called "funeral-gate" scandal, and appeals to a Texas court to keep him off the witness stand.
By Robert Bryce
[08/05/99]

Bedlam by the Bay
S.F. Mayor Willie Brown has a 30-percent approval rating. But can anyone knock him out of office?
By Anthony York
[08/05/99]

Fanatics of the far right
Ex-GOP Sen. Bob Smith is thinking about joining the U.S. Taxpayers Party. He should think again.
By Jake Tapper
[08/04/99]

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Kerrey says the trip was pivotal in his decision to become one of only two senators to endorse Bradley for the Democratic presidential nomination against Vice President (and heavy favorite) Al Gore.

"I was impressed," Kerrey said in his July 5 speech, "because he had taken the time and made the effort to get beneath the easy sloganeering that dominated the American political debate ... I was impressed with Bill Bradley's ideas and with the way [he talked] with people on the street to hear their views and opinions. I liked the way he struggled against the controlling restraint of the State Department and others for whom a side trip was a scheduling inconvenience. And I liked his self-deprecating sense of humor, his interest in art, and his knowledge of history."

"I want Bill Bradley to be the next president of the United States of America. He has the intelligence, the experience, the humility, the dignity and the leadership skills needed for this most important elective office."

Kerrey could prove that Bradley leaps tall buildings in a single bound, and it still would be a fairly risky political move to buck clear front-runner Gore to endorse a man whom, much like Kerrey himself, the Democratic establishment sometimes regards as a maverick pain in the ass.

Few, including Kerrey, are under the impression that Bradley has much of a chance. But it bears pointing out that Kerrey, while generally supportive of the Clinton administration, unsuccessfully challenged Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination in '92. And the Medal of Honor winner who lost a leg in Vietnam as a Navy SEAL has never been entirely comfortable with the way Clinton evaded the wartime draft.

We caught up with Kerrey a few weeks after his announcement for a quick interview to try to get to the bottom of why he endorsed Bradley.

So you're going to tell me that this isn't about Gore's weaknesses, it's about Bill Bradley's strengths.

That's exactly right; this decision was entirely about who Bill Bradley is, and his strengths.

But, at least on paper, Gore seems to have this thing pretty clinched. And I don't know if any incumbent vice president has ever lost his party's nomination to succeed his boss. So why would you endorse Bradley?

The most important thing for me, as a citizen, for who I want to be president -- almost more than his opinions on the issues -- is how does he make decisions. I've watched [Bradley] make decisions. I watched him in 1992. He's extremely smart. He listened to experts and researched and read all about the region. He listened to people in Russia and people here and he would reach his own conclusions. It caused him sometimes to be disliked because the decision he would reach would not necessarily be the decision that others would reach.

Next page | "The two big issues are Russia and race"