FreeRepublic , LLC
PO BOX 9771
FRESNO, CA 93794
STOP BY AND BUMP THE FUNDRAISER THREAD
Posted on 06/14/2002 8:35:42 AM PDT by MEGoody
Red Faces in White House Over '02 Analysis By ELISABETH BUMILLER
WASHINGTON, June 13 — Who lost Karl Rove's slide show?
That was the mystery today at the White House, where an administration that prides itself on secrecy was in a minor uproar over an intern who apparently dropped a computer disk containing a confidential analysis of the coming 2002 elections in Lafayette Park. The disk was then picked up by an enterprising Democratic Senate staff member, who made sure that its most embarrassing points were made public.
Advertisement
For example, the White House analysis of campaigns for the Senate, where Democrats hold a one-vote margin, shows that there is a "strong chance" that two Republican incumbents, Tim Hutchinson of Arkansas and Bob Smith of New Hampshire, will lose to Democrats, a direr assessment than Republican officials have stated publicly.
In addition, it says, President Bush needs to "grow" his outreach to Latinos, suburban women, Roman Catholics and union members, but only "improve" his outreach to African-Americans, a group that was alienated during the 2000 election recount in Florida, where some blacks believe there was an organized Republican campaign to disenfranchise them.
The analysis was part of two Power Point presentations, one by Mr. Rove, Mr. Bush's chief political adviser, and the other by Ken Mehlman, the White House political director. White House officials said the disk containing the presentations had evidently been taken by an intern to the Hay Adams Hotel, just across Lafayette Park from the White House, on June 4. That was the day that Mr. Rove and Mr. Mehlman spoke about the 2002 campaign at the hotel to a group of Republicans visiting from California.
Although Mr. Mehlman already had his Power Point presentation on his laptop, the intern took the disk as a backup, but then apparently lost it while returning to the office. In short order, the plain-looking disk without White House markings was discovered in the park by the Senate aide, said Ed Henry of Roll Call, the twice-weekly Capitol Hill newspaper that first reported about the lost disk.
Mr. Henry, the senior editor of Roll Call, said today that the aide thought it was odd that the disk was in the park. "Later, they checked it out, and said, `Whoa — this is more than just a random disk.' " The aide then gave it to someone who gave it to Mr. Henry. By this afternoon, Roll Call had put both Power Point presentations up on its Web site for all to enjoy.
Mr. Mehlman spent his day digging out.
"The reality is, I think Tim Hutchinson is in a strong position to win re-election," Mr. Mehlman said this afternoon "He's run a good campaign, he's got a good record, he's got a lot of resources."
Mr. Hutchison, who is seeking a second term, is running against a popular Democrat, Attorney General Mark Pryor.
As for the Senate campaign in New Hampshire, where Mr. Smith is fighting off a primary challenge from Representative John E. Sununu, the son of the onetime White House chief of staff to Mr. Bush's father, Mr. Mehlman had warm words for both Republicans. The winner will face Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat.
"I'm confident that we will retain the Senate seat in New Hampshire for a number of reasons, including the fact that either of our candidates have a strong record," Mr. Mehlman said.
Mr. Hutchinson had questions of his own to answer in Arkansas, where the presentation on the disk caught the eye of reporters. Asked tonight if the White House presentation had been helpful to Mr. Hutchinson's campaign, his campaign spokesman, Anthony Hulen, said: "Are they concerned about it? Sure, they made it quite clear. But this is not going to change our strategy one bit. Our poll numbers show that we are running strong, and we know that the president stands with Tim."
We have this thing called "encryption." Look into it.
I wouldn't even call this pessimistic, just realistic. That makes me feel confident the White House and GOP are taking 2002 seriously. Hutchinson and Smith are both vulnerable - no doubt about it. Both seats can definitely be retained, however, if things go well. I do not feel Maine is at risk at all, nor NC very much. But TX? That's a seat that worries me.
What's not discussed here is how much more vulnerable the Dems are. MO, SD, MN, NJ, MT maybe IA, GA and IL.
Rove has a history of "losing" things.
LOL
On the other hand if this is real, we got ourselves a mole in the hole. time for the President to tar some a$$.
Anyway, intelligent people don't believe what's written in the times.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.