Mullings A Political Cyber Column By Rich Galen

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Thank Goodness. A Poll!

Wednesday, February 14, 2001

After months of looking at polls which were being published almost hourly, we have had to go weeks and weeks and weeks without any news numbers. Happily, the CNN/USA Today/Gallup consortium has leaped into the breach.

The poll, which was in the field February 9-11, shows President Bush is doing just fine, thank you very much. Even with about half the Democrats polled carrying a grudge over the results of the election, Bush still posted a 57 percent job approval and a 65 percent personal approval.

According to Gallup's analysis, "Ninety-one percent of Republicans, 63% of independents and 40% of Democrats say they approve of Bush as a person." And, "Bush also enjoys positive evaluations on a number of character dimensions rated in the new poll, particularly as someone who is 'tough enough for the job,' and 'honest and trustworthy.'"

On the Clinton front, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing into the Marc Rich pardon today. Two interesting points:

One: Orrin Hatch (R-UT) is the regular chairman of the committee, but is allowing Arlen "Impeachable-You" Specter (R-PA) to run this hearing. According to CNN, Hatch "was content to let Specter run forward with the proceedings."

Is this a tip-off that Hatch is protecting his left flank should he be nominated to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court?

Two. Senator John Edwards (D-NC), told CNN he does not understand why Clinton issued the Rich pardon and suggested he should provide an explanation. "It would be awfully helpful to �the American people to hear the president say why he did what he did," Edwards said, according to CNN.

Edwards is reportedly making a foray into - ta-da! - Iowa in the near future, a mere 45 months ahead of the next Presidential Election.

Clinton is, as you know, moving to an office in Harlem. What you don't probably know is that he ALWAYS meant to move there. Clinton said yesterday, "It's a lot of what I want to do in my post-presidential years - bringing economic opportunity to people and places who don't have it here at home and around the world, and bringing people of different races and religions and backgrounds together."

Apparently that $800,000-a-year place downtown among the rich, white folks, was a staff error. Like the furniture. And the gifts. And the pardons.

Health Beat. Reuters has this warning as you stand under that sprig of brown, dried, mistletoe today waiting for someone to take pity on you: "Kissing can spread the bacteria that cause cavities, according to a California dentist."

And dentists wonder why they have image problems.

Here's another. Ron Winslow in a Wall Street Journal piece this week wrote, "A new study suggests that a significant number of patients undergoing coronary-artery bypass surgery suffer sustained memory loss and other cognitive problems as a result of the operation."

That's nonsense. As someone who had bypass surgery about three years ago, ^t%hg>3@'+]T-<(*&$. !@p#$%^dg&*({":L<. And let that put an end to it.

Seriously, although Winslow didn't put it in his piece, a bit of disorientation - especially in terms of dealing with numbers - is so prevalent in post-operative patients who have been on a heart-lung machine there is a hospital phrase for it: Pump Head.

This is true: The National Theater, two blocks from the White House in Your Nation's Capitol has been dark since the end of last year. It has announced its next production: "The best Little Whorehouse in Texas."

If Gore had won what would they have done, produced something by Tennessee Williams?

The other night I was a guest at the annual dinner in favor of the Claremont Institute, of California. With the side ripping hilarity typical of conservative gatherings, one speaker introduced the next - a portly gentleman - as someone who might favor us with a song.

The second man said he was glad the first fellow didn't compare him to Kate Smith.

A young person sitting near me leaned over to ask, "Who is Kate Smith?"

"Yanni's first girl friend," I answered. "She died."

Mullings is off to Roswell, New Mexico for a Lincoln Day speech there on Friday evening. Promise me something. If I'm not back by, oh, February 18, 2510 send help.
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Copyright © 2001 Richard A. Galen

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