The Express-Star (Chickasha, Okla.), Ed. 1 Friday, February 8, 2002 Page: 7 of 12
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spokesman for the party and a
loyal friend to President Bush.
WASHINGTON (AP) -
Republican National Commit-
tee Chairman Marc Racicot
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skills and popularity.
He hasn't shifted the GOP's
goals, which are shaped large-
ly by the White House politi-
cal operation. He wants to
recruit solid candidates, raise
money and expand the party's
base to include more women,
Asian-Americans, Hispanics,
blacks and other minorities.
The GOP could fare better
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7
Friday,
February 8, 2002
Bush’s war on
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President Bush’s declaration
of war against the "evil axis” of
Iraq. Iran and North Korea has
caused quaking among U.S.
allies, many Democrats and
much of the foreign policy
establishment. But it was a vital
act of world leadership.
The fact is. weapons of mass
destruction in hostile hands
pose a growing menace to the
civilized world that simply can’t
be left to polite diplomacy. Bush
deserves credit for sounding a
loud alarm and demanding
action to deal with the threat.
, It's reasonably clear from
Bush administration statements
since the State of the Union that
. • WAGREENSPANg
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Kaufman describes Racicot as
"a perfect fit.”
"The most important single
thing as chairman of the
RNC.” Kaufman said, "is to
have the confidence of the
White House.”
He replaced former chair-
man Jim Gilmore, who was
then governor of Virginia. The
GOP lost two governors' races
last year - Virginia was one -
and some say there was fric-
tion between Gilmore and the
White House.
Racicot said the job is a lit-
tle more manageable because
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thinks Washington is too
obsessed with partisan con-
flict, doesn't like the verbal
slugfest of the Sunday talk
shows and has faced criticism
for his link to Enron Corp.
Racicot associates, howev-
er, say the former Montana
governor is a solid fit to lead
the GOP into the 2002 elec-
tions: a shrewd strategist, a
:C, is
a may
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asha’s
Fred
t this
military attacks on the three those countries together was a
"axis" nations aren’t imminent, failed strategy if it was designed
but it's also clear that the United to make people take sides.
States is firmly set on a cam- She also said that now that
paign to change their regimes if the war in Afghanistan is nearly
WA N TODA V- 11 can’t change their policies. over, Bush “has to look like he $
WSloriliyu IViy lUU/iL Instead of pondering the fighting somewhere. If he does-
R.T _ A Ah) 1• 1 • prospect ofchemica biogica n t have a war, he can t justify 4
ew (O1 chairman brines a andnuclearweaponsbeingsed wareconomy.”
• against innocent civilians--and I ve heard other Democrats
low-key style to a contentious town SsSSS SSJES
House, picking off strategic wailing that the president was to keep his poll ratings high,
races in the Senate and work- acting irresponsibly by men- Al of the president s critics
ing for candidates at the state tioning it. need to stop now and read the
ing i ocandi dates at the state One analvst for [ ondon’s current issue of The Economist,
and local levels, one anaryst Tor Londons Which contains a rundown on
u • Financial Times wrote that it , contamns a rundown on
He was elected Montanas was -dangerously simplistic" to what S known about work in
attorney general after working "see the world as an axis of evil Iraq, Iran and North Korea on
therefor 16 years. He served fiehtine an alliance for eood ” weapons of mass destruction. ,
as governor from 1993 to SAGerman radio cmenta- r After the 1991 Persian
2001, then turned down tor said that "the U.S. president Gulf War, dictator Saddam Hus
. i . . . is nursnino a dancerirmiccion sein was discovered to be onl
requests last year that he run is pursuing a dangerous mission months awav from nrdcima
for ",e U.S. senate in « M
After the deadlocked pres.- byaowaveorsupponanhomeieA already donetestson a radiolog-
dential election. Racicot was a political impossibility: a holy ical dirty bomb. His program
key figure in the Florida warrior in the White House." was closed, but his pool of
recount battle, mapping out News reports from the World trained.sieni stsrmainsaand
legal and political strategy. Economic Forum in New York l-nvgn hyEarceardevice
GOP strategist Ed Gillespie were filled with tales of hand- When United Nations’
said. wringing, nm foreigners and weapons inspectors were ban,
Racicot then went to work some S observers about a ished three years ago. Th
with the Washington office of "tu said that' if ealism", after Economist continued, they were
Republican and a friend. “He goals, which are shaped large- the Texas law firm of country would deal with the convinced that Saddam had hid,
has a great style, he's very ly by the White House politi- Bracewell & Patterson, where threat of weapons of mass den an arsenalofyrerega
unassuming, very uncharac- cal operation. He wants to his work included represent- destruction on its own. cal ape.nts and toxms" 517
teristic of a typical politician.” recruit solid candidates, raise ing the interests of Enron, the The New York Times editori- _ irn: According to the Mon,
Racicot, 53, a Montana money and expand the party’s failed energy company. Crit- alized,. irrationally, that even if terey Center for Nonprolifera-
native of French-Canadian base to include more tvomen, ics seized on the connection, the axis governments could be tion Studies, Iran has an arsenal
descent, concedes his personal Asian-Americans, Hispanics, referring to Racicot as an 1 tange, thgre 1Sn, "az t of chemical weapons and;
style is not well-suited to the blacks and other minorities. "Enron lobbyist," a descrip- mU nat DaIKaianc according to the U.S. govern-
shouting matches that some- The GOP could fare better tion of his legal work he dis- original threats ” ment, has been secretly produc
times pass for political debate with those groups, he said, “if misses as inaccurate. Let’s see: For Bush to be ingtihi A gisan Weapon SiCteis
in the nation's capital, they have a chance to careful- The furious controversy denounced in the European par- ower and assistance on mis
“I've asked the (news) ly review our agenda and over the Houston-based com- liament would be worse than the siles from Russia and China, n
shows, 'Is this one of those experience the inspiration of pany drowned out any mes- consequences of Iran's handing North Korea: Caught in 1993
shows where you want to the president's leadership,” sage Racicot might have off a small nut-lear weapon ora producing more plutonium than
know something or do you But Republicans can’t offered at )he lime he took Hezbollah! dontthink onto toadmitted.tomaking. North
already know everything and assume anything about the over the GOP in mid-January. More surprising than objec- Aodsgnadannv4. stop
l m just here as a vehicle for elections based on the pres.- He was well received at a lions th™ Europeans and the Western ations help with les
your theatrical skills.’ Raci- dent s popularity, he said. recent conservative confer- Times editorial page is the reac- dangerous nuclear technology
cot said. “It probably does “We're swimming against ence after initial worries were lion from some defense-minded But it has blocked implementa-
cast a pall on the proceed- the tide of history," Racicot voiced that he might be too Democrats and even some tion of the agreement. North
ings." said, noting the party in power moderate. Republicans, including former Korea has large stocks of chem-
Racicot (pronounced Ross- in the White House usually Racicot continues to take a Matona * unt dvisesrent ical weapons and a well-devel-
koh) says he appears on the suffers congressional losses in salary and do some legal work Hagel, R-Neb " ‘ oped biological weapons pro-
news programs because it's an midterm elections. for other clients at Bracewell Scowcroft said that by Zie capable of S
important part of the GOP job Racicot says he will be & Patterson. But the experi- offending the allies. Bush might United States.
he accepted out of his close “very aggressive with the ence of recent weeks left a bit- hamper cooperation in the war It’s true, the three countries
friendship with Bush. Veteran travel schedule" as he works ter taste about the news 0,1 terrorism. Hagel said the don’t constitute a cooperative
Republican organizer Ron on keeping the majority in the media. President might have done bet- “axis” as Germany, Italy and
"Reoortim? seems more ter by following the Teddy Roo- Japan did in World War II. bq(
Kcpo tmg stems more sevelt dictum. "Speak softly and that’s a technicality
concerned with appearances carrv Li stek,» - —aaue:
.. ... . . P, . . carry a nig stick. There s no question that they
than with substance, he said. Scowcroft and Hagel were are "evil.” Just look at what
His frequent sparring part- attendees at last weekend’s these nations do to their own
ner on the talk shows. Democ- annual Munich defense policy people and the menace they rep
ratio National Chairman Terry summit along with several resent to humanity. If Bush
McAuliffe describes Racicot Democrats who also denounced could topple just one of the,
as "a classy guy. It's kind of like Bu^ formulation. three regimes - most likely
goingupagamnstomeofmylaw calEaPit-imckDssranetDrict wonlafugehavorbfdaingcn
schoo professors. lump all three countries togeth- as not, the others would be
Asked how he likes debating er." Will Marshall, president of scared into line.
the Democrat on television, the Progressive Policy Institute. (Morton Kondracke is exeej
Racicot grinned and said: "I'm told me it constituted "over- utive editor of Roll Call, the
going to provide adult supervi- reaching.
sion as best I can." - Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-
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Walters
gets back
in the game
, When I first heard the
news, it was hard for me to
believe. Why would David
Walters run for office again?
That’s like asking your ex-
wife if your new girlfriend is
pretty.
Walters was not exactly
given the red carpet treatment
by the state-wide press.
As governor, Walters was
caught receiving donations
from one donor above the
legal amount.
The donor tunneled money
to the Walters campaign
through friends.
He gave them money, and
they gave it,to the Walters
campaign. Walters says he
never knew about it.
The donor says Walters
never knew about it. It cer-
tainly wasn’t the first time it
had happened in Oklahoma.
But a Democratic governor
is not going to have indiscre-
tions overlooked by the Okla-
homa City media.
Walters took the blame
because it was, after all, his
campaign.
He was pulverized by
state-wide media outlets.
That was years ago. Wal-
ters has had a successful
career in private business
since leaving the governor's
mansioh. and he is no longer
in the crosshairs of the Daily
Oklahoman.
So why is he getting back
in the game?
In a meeting with this
newspaper's, editorial board,
Walters claimed that he felt
like he could do a better job
than incumbent Jim Inhofe in
the U.S Senate.
Walters said that national
political journals have placed
the race back on the map and
no longer consider it a slam
dunk for the Republican
incumbent.
He said in every poll he is
gaining ground on Inhofe and
thinks he has a chance at
catching him before Novem-
ber.
Does he have a chance?
In a word, yes.
Will he catch Inhofe?
Only if he can get his mes-
sage out and win a vast major-
ity of votes from Oklahoma’s
Democrats.
Walters’ campaign against
Inhofe will focus on a few
issues of career performance.
First he says Inhofe has
missed more than half of the
votes this year.
He also says that several of
Inhofe’s campaign contribu-
tions are being questioned by
the FEC and might have to be
refunded.
And his main argument
against Inhofe is that he is too
predictable to be effective.
Inhofe has a 100 percent
Republican voting record.
Walters says that this cre-
ates two problems.
One, the Democrats won’t
even approach Inhofe because
they know he won’t back a
non-Republican issue.
Two, the Republican lead-
ership won't approach him
because they know he is
already going to vote with
them.
So Inhofe is isolated and
thus has no ability to accom-
plish anything for the state he
represents.
Walters wants to challenge
voters to name one thing
Inhofe has done for the state.
He thinks he can run on his
record as governor against
Inhofe’s record as a senator.
He knows he has some
campaign baggage. But he
says he would take his nega-
tives over Inhofe’s anytime.
We’ll see if the voters
agree.
i e
John Rowland, a
but effective
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Bush, Kent. The Express-Star (Chickasha, Okla.), Ed. 1 Friday, February 8, 2002, newspaper, February 8, 2002; Chickasha, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1886088/m1/7/: accessed June 13, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.