Malaysia's nicest hotel wants Uncle Sam to pay up

Who'll Eat the Fruit Baskets?

President Clinton's decision to call off a trip to Malaysia left Kuala Lampur's "glitziest hotel with a dilemma: What to do with 89 rooms reserved for his entourage?" The "gleaming, five-star Renaissance Hotel wants the U.S. government to pay up," but the White House hopes "to wriggle out of its contract." Barely two years old, the Renaissance "drew envious looks from bigger hotels when it signed a contract to house the entire U.S. delegation in its 400 deluxe rooms." But with Clinton skipping, the Renaissance was "saddled with heaps of uneaten presidential fare" as well as the last-minute cancellations for 89 rooms.

"It's unfortunate he couldn't come," said executive chef Marc Cosyns. "We prepared large fruit baskets with local and imported fruits. We made sugar-coated displays, cookies and pastries. But no chocolates. The president is allergic to them." Cosyns added: "I was instructed that Vice President Al Gore loves food more than Bill Clinton. The vice president had fish curry and Malay fried rice for lunch. And he loves chocolate." (Associated Press, 11/16)

Bush Whacked

As other Republicans argue about their future, Texas Gov. George W. Bush looms as the leader to be reckoned with-and to tear down. His decisive re-election on Nov. 3 has him in the driver's seat for the 2000 presidential nomination and for shaping the party's national agenda. Religious conservative Gary L. Bauer, who is considering a presidential run, came out swinging on the Fox News Channel.

"We've all got a mystery here," Bauer said. "George W. Bush gets a lot of press, but we actually know very little about what he believes on a whole host of issues. His policy toward China, abortion, his tax cuts in Texas ended up being in many cases a tax increase. I'm assuming that if George W. runs, he will run as a Bush Republican. And if I run, I'm going to run as a Reagan Republican, and there is a difference between the two." (The Beltway Boys, 11/14)

After the election, the Dallas Morning News was among the first in the news media to raise questions about Bush's past, including his acknowledgment of troubles with alcohol when he was younger. "He drank. A lot," the newspaper reported. "He dated Richard Nixon's daughter. Once. . . . He refused to answer questions about possible illegal drug use, undiscovered run-ins with the law, or other behavior. . . . When he says 'young and irresponsible,' Mr. Bush doesn't say how young." Bush, however, said that "he's ready" for the probing of his past: "It's part of the big search. It's the game, and I understand it." (11/15)

Some potential Bush rivals for the 2000 presidential nomination avoided attacking him and instead pointed to him as a model of how they would govern. New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, on a trial-run visit to Iowa, noted that Bush is the type of "mainstream candidate" that the party should nominate, but hinted that his own ideology is worth considering. "I think people are interested in listening to politicians who solve problems, rather than some self-contained ideology," Giuliani said. "If you look at the way I deal with social issues, you'd probably call me a moderate. I don't believe you govern by ideology." (Associated Press, 11/14)

Smoking Out Ashcroft

Sen. John D. Ashcroft, R-Mo., who is mulling whether to run for president or seek re-election to the Senate in 2000, got a postelection surprise: Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan, a Democrat, filed to run for Ashcroft's Senate seat.

Jon Sawyer of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote that Carnahan says he plans to "expose" the "real John Ashcroft" in his bid. The Ashcroft "whom Carnahan paints is a study in contrasts: an `extremist' pandering to the Religious Right, a tax-cutting poseur who pressed repeatedly in Jefferson City for tax increases, a politician who talks the anti-government line who has spent virtually his entire career on public payrolls." Sawyer added: "For Ashcroft, [Carnahan is] trouble--not just to the Senate seat he's held since 1995, but to his campaign" for president.

Ashcroft did not directly respond to Carnahan's attacks. "It's very early for him to become a candidate, to start a campaign," Ashcroft said. "I've got a lot of effort to wage in pursuing my own responsibilities, and I don't choose to start a campaign in regard to Gov. Carnahan."

Saving Chairman Jim

While the postelection demise of House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., is what captured the news media's attention, another Republican leader is also under fire: Republican National Committee Chairman Jim Nicholson.

Some party leaders even hoped that Nicholson would follow Gingrich's lead and quit after the GOP's Election Day losses, rather than seek a second two-year term. "I thought Nicholson would voluntarily resign," RNC member Bettye Fine Collins of Alabama told The Washington Times. She added that although she supported Nicholson in 1997, she is looking for someone else to lead the RNC into 2000.

But Nicholson backers contend that he has plenty of support for the election for party chairman, which is scheduled for January. "He's been terrific in raising money and representing us," California committee member Tim Lambert said. "He has been a great source of financial support." (11/16)

Chicago Sun-Times columnist Robert Novak insists that Nicholson has cut a "secret deal" with a popular GOP governor to "save his job." Under this scenario, Michigan Gov. John M. Engler would serve as the RNC's general chairman, while Nicholson handles the backroom work.

"The governors have been very unhappy with Nicholson as national chairman," Novak explained. "And right after the election, [Pennsylvania] Gov. Tom Ridge came in, talked to [Engler], to Jim Nicholson, and Nicholson said he would be willing to stay on as national chairman if they put a general chairman over him. And the suggestion was that John Engler . . . would be the one to do it. . . . Now, what makes this funny is that Engler, right after the election, said Nicholson should be fired." (Inside Politics, CNN, 11/13)

One for Miss Manners

It looks like the White House might have gotten a little payback when President Clinton recently signed into law a bill that honors Teddy Roosevelt for leading the "Rough Riders" during the Spanish-American War. The bill was written by Rep. Paul McHale, D-Pa., who earlier this year called for Clinton to resign or be impeached over the Monica Lewinsky scandal. McHale was invited to the bill-signing ceremony, but only "75 minutes before the event started." When McHale received the invite, he was in Bethlehem, Pa., "making his attendance impossible," something that McHale "speculated was by design."

"I just think they realized it would be a long, awkward moment in the Oval Office," McHale said. "They wanted to meet the letter of the protocol without the real opportunity for me to attend." McHale added that even "if he had received the invitation in time to attend the event . . . he would have declined, to avoid any discomfort or embarrassment to the president or himself." (The [Allentown] Morning Call, 11/15)

Another One for Miss Manners

Conservative Rep.-elect Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., "has already fulfilled one campaign pledge," turning "down an invitation" to a reception with President Clinton at the White House. "I'm not going," insists Tancredo, a former state legislator. "I've been to the White House when we had a real president." If Tancredo needed an "excuse," he offered: "I'll be like [Denver Broncos quarterback] John Elway. I'll have something wrong with my knee." That's how Elway avoided a White House appearance earlier this year following the Broncos' Super Bowl victory. (Rocky Mountain News, 11/15)

Police Log

Forget high crimes, misdemeanors, and other impeachable offenses. What about the petty felonies of small-time politicians, and the thin blue line separating common candidates from common criminals? Here's a sampling of recent Hotline "Police Log" stories.

• Another Former Astronaut Jealous of John Glenn: Jon McBride, an ex-astronaut and ex-candidate for West Virginia governor, was arrested on domestic violence charges after his wife, Sharon, phoned in a complaint that he "came home intoxicated," argued with her, "then tried to pick her up and put her head in a ceiling fan." (West Virginia Gazette) McBride subsequently resigned his post as West Virginia's liaison to Washington, explaining to Gov. Cecil Underwood: "Unfortunately, recent events concerning Sharon and I have clearly overshadowed my ability to effectively conduct the public's business here and in Washington." (Charleston Daily Mail)
• Hello, Room Service: Former Richmond Mayor Leonidas Young was indicted on 14 federal counts of fraud, money-laundering and racketeering after being accused of illegally using an elderly church member's credit card to buy gifts and to rent hotel rooms for "extramarital liaisons." (Lexington Herald-Leader)
• Under the Influence: Michigan Jackson County Democratic Chair Ronald Fabian was arraigned on charges of third-degree criminal sexual conduct after two men, ages 18 and 19, told police that "Fabian used alcohol to take advantage of them" and that they were sexually assaulted against their will, one of them while asleep. (Associated Press)
• It Was the Q&A That Did It: Following a candidates' forum at a local library, South Bend, Ind., City Councilman Brad Allamong said he had two beers at a pub across the street, then "took a friend home and was on his way home himself when he went off a curve and struck a utility pole," totalling his car. (South Bend Tribune)