politics

Now There Are Two of Them?

January 30, 2004

We all know by now that President Bush doesn’t race right out to the stoop at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue before dawn to snag his copies of The Washington Post and The New York Times. Reading newspapers ranks on the presidential priority list somewhere down there with doing his own laundry. Turns out, he’s apparently not alone these days.

Mary Curtius of the Los Angeles Times today tells us that Bush’s predecessor in the White House confessed he hasn’t kept up with his daily media fix, either. Bill Clinton, who made his first visit to Capitol Hill since leaving office three years ago, met privately with Senate Democrats to discuss strategies for the coming year. Following the meeting, Clinton told reporters “I gave them a few little ideas. I don’t know if they are any good. I’m a little out of it.”

Clinton is slated to deliver the keynote address next week at the House Democrats’ strategy retreat, where party leaders hope he will offer a roadmap to return Democrats to power after November.

Thanks to that little nugget from Curtius, we know now that maybe he’d better spend the weekend reading a few Sunday papers before he steps forward to wax wise.

–S.Q.S.

Susan Q. Stranahan wrote for CJR.