INTERVIEW: TED KENNEDY ON VALUES AND WORKING WITH THE PRESIDENT
Now in his seventh term in the Senate, Ted Kennedy shows no signs of slowing down, writing legislation on issues from immigration reform to drug safety, playing a major role on the Judiciary, Armed Services and Health committees and leading Democratic attacks on Bush's foreign policy. On a recent day in his Washington office, which is full of paintings of boats and landscapes Kennedy does in his spare time, he took time between playing with his two Portuguese water dogs Splash and Sunny, writing a children's book and collecting congratulations on his 73rd birthday to talk to TIME:
On dealing with President Bush:
"We're in some areas of confrontation, but my own sense is that this president knows how to work with Democrats. He worked with Democrats in Texas. I worked with him on No Child Left Behind."
On Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's idea to change the chambers' rules to stop Democrats from filibustering judges, the so-called "nuclear option":
"The Founding Fathers addressed this issue at the Constitutional Convention and what they did was to indicate they wanted a shared power between the Senate and the executive. Some people believe the Senate should be a rubber stamp. That's not what the Founding Fathers wanted."
On Justices Antonin Scalia or Clarence Thomas ascending to chief justice:
"I have no way of knowing what's in the administration's minds, but I don't personally believe the selection of those individuals on the basis of ideology wouldn't be at least questioned in the Senate."
On the Democratic Party's trying to reclaim "values":
"I'm very, very hopeful and very bullish. I think we can win that battle. We value hard work and we value honesty. We think poverty in terms of the increased problems we're facing here is a moral issue. We'll win the battle on moral values."
On John Kerry's potential as a candidate in 2008:
"He's going to make up his own mind and I would support him."
GETTING AMERICA TO KNOW TOM DELAY
House Democrats have been gunning for Majority Leader Tom DeLay long before he really drew their ire by leading a redistricting effort in Texas that cost four Dems their seats in Congress. They took solace last month when House Republicans backed away from a plan that would have changed their rules on letting a member keep his leadership post if he was indicted on criminal charges, a deal that had been put in place specifically for DeLay, who is under investigation for alleged campaign finance law violations. But DeLay had his revenge when two Republican members and some key staffers on the House Ethics Committee who were believed to be hostile to him were replaced, a situation Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi last week dubbed "DeLaygate."
Democrats hope to take their case against DeLay to the public, much like they did with former Speaker Newt Gingrich in the late 1990s. The problem: Many Americans have no idea who DeLay is. Defining Gingrich as a sort of Republican boogey-man was easy because Gingrich was the defined leader of the Republicans, had made the cover of TIME Magazine and was at one point so powerful President Clinton had to declare he was still relevant. On the other hand, when asked last month about their views on DeLay in an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, 42% responded "don't know name" or "not sure." For those who did know him, DeLay was viewed positively by 17%, 21% neutral and 20% negative. DeLay, while holding major sway in the Republican Party, remains at most the fourth most important Republican in Washington after President Bush, House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Senate Leader Bill Frist. Hastert, of course, isn't a household name either; in a CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll, 25% had never heard of him and 31% had no opinion on him.
POPPING THE QUESTION
When Senator Clinton dialed in from Iraq on Sunday for a conference call with reporters, the big question was, well, when the question would come. Journalists on the call, most of them from the Senator's home state of New York, at first focused on questions pertaining to Clinton's trip, allowing her a chance to praise the hard work of all Americans serving in Iraq and talk about her meetings with Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, who is in charge of training Iraqi troops, Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and a lunch with ten marines from New York. And then came to the only query anyone was truly interested in: Hillary in 2008? "I'm very focused on doing my job as a senator, that's why I'm over here," Clinton responded. "But you wouldn't rule it out?" "I've said all I'm going to say on this," Clinton concluded. Earlier that day, Meet the Press host Tim Russert used a slightly more subtle approach, asking Clinton and John McCain, on the same Iraq trip, what each thought of the other running the country. "Senator Clinton would make a good president, "McCain said. I happen to be a Republican and would support, obviously, a Republican nominee, but I have no doubt that Senator Clinton would make a good president." Clinton simply said "absolutely" when asked if the Arizona Senator would make a good Commander in Chief.
"THE OTHER SENATOR"
Despite his kind words, McCain may not be Clinton's favorite Republican. That could be South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, who showed off the sweeter side of bipartisanship in a New York magazine piece on Clinton
last week. A few quotes: "She's got a great sense of humor." "She's intelligent, she's classy, and she's comfortable with who she is and what she believes." "I think she could win every state John Kerry won. And she'd probably be a better candidate in the swing states." Graham, who joined Maine Senator Susan Collins, Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold, McCain and Clinton in Iraq, has drawn some presidential buzz himself, although he admits he was not a star on that trip. "When you travel with Senator Clinton and McCain, you're 'the other senator,'" he joked. As one of the impeachment managers in the House in the late 1990's who tried to remove President Clinton from office, he's an unusual ally for Hillary. But Graham seems eager to capture the prize of most unpredictable Republican, usually held by McCain or Nebraska's Chuck Hagel. While much more conservative on social issues than those two, Graham has already demonstrated independence on other issues: earlier this year, he sharply questioned Alberto Gonzales during his confirmation hearing and he has proposed a Social Security plan that would raise the amount of income that can be taxed from $90,000 to $200,000. Struggling to get Republican support for a tax increase, he joked he was "an island of one." President Bush last week suggested he was not opposed to raising the cap, but House Republican leaders rejected the idea so quickly that Graham will likely remain alone on that island for a while.