------------------------------------------------------
The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC
------------------------------------------------------
"Soft-landing scenario"...That's the buzz phrase I'm picking up today to explain what
GOP senators in Washington are hoping for in the Lott situation...This soft landing
scenario would "encourage Lott to step down under face-saving conditions, which could
include another prestigious Senate office."
I'll remember that when I have to dismiss my first underling: "Buddy, don't think of
it as a getting fired, think of it as a soft landing scenario"...Geez, you gotta love
the obfuscation of language...
Here's a hot little development you need to be aware of....Just how involved behind
the scenes The White House is on the Lott situation is a big angle to track
today....Ari's on the hot seat in his briefing now over the matter...
"The signal is being sent from the White House: 'Get us a new guy,'" said a top GOP
congressional source....A Bush source said the President has indicated his choice for
a replacement would be the moderate Frist. (NY Daily News)
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/story/44491p-41916c.html
Lott Reax....
"There seems to be some things that are seeping out that have not been helpful," Lott
told reporters after a speech to the Chamber of Commerce in Biloxi, Miss. "I
understand how that happens because you've got a lot of people who work there that
have different points of view,"
"I'm telling you here this morning, I'm hanging in there," Lott told the Biloxi
Chamber of Commerce. "I'm going to find a way for myself, my family, my friends, you
the people of Mississippi and America to benefit from this experience."
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=512&ncid=703&e=3&u=/ap/20021218/ap_on_go_co/lott
The other angle is the jockeying for a post-Lott regime...
Top Four Contenders for Lott's Leadership Post
Tennessee Senator and The White House's pick, Bill Frist http://frist.senate.gov/
Oklahoma Whip Don Nickles (Lott's #2 and the first GOP Senator to publicly call for
Lott's ouster) http://nickles.senate.gov/
Pennsylvania's Rick Santorum (GOP Conference Chairman and 3rd in command...Said last
night he supports Lott) http://santorum.senate.gov/
Incoming Majority Whip and the "Darth Vader" of Campaign Finance...Kentucky's Mitch
McConnell (Lott backer) http://mcconnell.senate.gov/
Pat just hand delivered this to me...He's back in the game: Trent Lott: Victim of a
hate crime http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=30051
Meanwhile: Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln Chafee said Wednesday that Mississippi Sen. Trent
Lott should not continue as Senate Republican leader. "It's time for a change." (AP)
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=512&ncid=703&e=2&u=/ap/20021218/ap_on_go_co/lott
Chafee's office disputes the story...developing hot....
Btw, tonight we'll air an encore presentation of the College Tour at the Air Force
Academy http://www.msnbc.com/news/831599.asp?0cb=-e1i105844 And yes guys, Norah will
be there too...
A housekeeping note...Are you an Iraq junkie? Want the latest news on Iraq delivered
to your mailbox?? Dig our new newsletter...
Learn more about the Showdown with Saddam: sign up for the Countdown: Iraq newsletter,
premiering today... your on-air and online guide to the unfolding conflict.
http://www.msnbc.com/tools/newstools/e/emailextra.asp?nfeature=31
Dominic Bellone wrote, compiled and edited The Briefing from Washington, DC...
Food item: Brownies for Everyone...No gift is more universally appreciated than this
fudgy, moist, dark treat. (Wash Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1233-2002Dec17.html
The official media swooning has begun over Frist: Frist Suggested for Leadership
Post....The stock of Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) soared in his party after he helped
engineer last month's midterm victories as chairman of the Senate Republicans'
campaign committee. Now some Republicans think he should replace Trent Lott (R-Miss.)
as Senate Republican leader (The Washington Post)
http://msnbc.com/news/848995.asp?0sl=-13
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, brother of President Bush and a Republican who has actively
campaigned for black votes, said Tuesday that the uproar over Sen. Trent Lott's
remarks supporting a 1948 presidential candidacy based on a segregationist platform is
politically damaging the GOP. (Miami Herald)
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/4762398.htm
Grove: Oklahoma Sen. Don Nickles -- a longtime Trent Lott rival who has called on
fellow Republicans to consider ousting the embattled Mississippian as the Senate's GOP
leader -- might have some explaining of his own to do about his membership in the
men-only Burning Tree Club.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3882-2002Dec17.html
Lott vows to fight for leadership job...Senator says he has the votes; MSNBC finds
video where Lott praises Thurmond's presidential bid
http://www.msnbc.com/news/845511.asp
Santorum 'confident' Lott will survive...A key member of the Senate leadership
insisted yesterday that incoming Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott will keep his job.
(The Washington Times) http://washingtontimes.com/national/20021218-32792676.htm
MA Dem Senator John Kerry on Iraq: ``The Iraqi army is in such bad shape, even the
Italians could kick their butts.''
Kerry on Weld: ``A guy who takes more vacations than people on welfare.''
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/fitz12182002.htm
GOP Likens Byrd's Comment to Lott's... Republicans urge censure of Democratic
colleague for his use of an epithet last year. Liberals say there is no valid
comparison (LA Times)
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-byrd18dec18011425,0,1843112.story?coll=la%2Dnews%2Da%5Fsection
Byrd silent over Lott comments...West Virginia senator is former KKK member (World Net
Daily) http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=30046
While no one has openly declared his candidacy, there's a list of eager potential
successors if Trent Lott, the most powerful Republican in the Senate, does not survive
the fallout from endorsing a 54-year old segregationist run for the presidency. (AP)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=512&ncid=703&e=4&u=/ap/20021218/ap_on_go_co/lott_successors
For Lott, Some Key Endorsements...Stevens, Santorum Among Republican Senators Who
Offer Backing (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4112-2002Dec17.html
Black lawmaker defends Lott...A black Democratic congressman has emerged as an
unlikely defender of embattled Sen. Trent Lott in the lawmaker's effort to remain
Republican leader (AP) http://washingtontimes.com/national/20021218-39660244.htm
Projection on Fall Of Hussein Disputed...With war possible soon in Iraq, the chiefs of
the two U.S. ground forces are challenging the belief of some senior Pentagon
civilians that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein will fall almost immediately if
attacked, Defense Department officials said. (The Washington Post)
http://msnbc.com/news/848757.asp
U.S. set to declare Iraq in violation...President Bush is likely this week to declare
Iraq in violation of a U.N. disarmament order, but is not expected to cite the
indictment as an immediate trigger for war, U.S. officials said early Wednesday.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/842500.asp
The document, which one official involved in the talks called "an incredible joke,"
was required under the U.S.-backed United Nations resolution. (AP)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2002/12/17/national0029EST0405.DTL
WashPost: Americans support nuke retaliation...Most Americans favor using nuclear
weapons against Iraq if Saddam Hussein attacks U.S. military forces with chemical or
biological weapons in a war that the public believes is virtually inevitable,
according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/848755.asp
Missile Defense to Start in 2004...Bush Commits U.S. to Initial System (The Washington
Post) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4129-2002Dec17.html?referer=email
Milbank: Bush Aides Split on Bias Case At U-Mich....Administration Weighs Taking Stand
on Issue http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4137-2002Dec17.html
U.S. Sen. John Edwards today will pointedly accuse the Bush administration of doing
too little to protect the country against future terrorist attacks and outline a
series of initiatives that he says would reduce the risk. (Raleigh News & Observer)
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/nc/story/2029545p-1959988c.html
Over the past few years, without much fanfare, Senator John F. Kerry has shifted his
stance on one of the most radioactive issues in politics: the death penalty. (The
Boston Globe)
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/352/nation/Kerry_traces_his_shift_on_the_death_penalty-.shtml
Nine months after coaching American to the brink of the NCAA tournament, Jeff Jones
was rewarded with a seven-year contract extension. (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64458-2002Dec16.html
If Ventura could meet Bin Laden . . .(AP)
http://www.startribune.com/stories/1384/3539202.html
Page Six: Bill Clinton took pity on his former vice president Monday night. At a
private Christmas party at Man Ray for his White House staffers, Clinton urged the
faithful http://pagesix.com/pagesix/27296.htm
Shocking: Clooney's a Liberal: GQ describes the star as "a liberal's liberal who
believes Mario Cuomo should be our president, and he keeps a photo of Jimmy Carter's
'ER' set visit on display in his bathroom." Clooney also likens Newt Gingrich to a
"dinosaur," laughing, "The man has no arms." (Page Six)
http://pagesix.com/pagesix/pagesix.htm
Kurtz: The Thurmond Exemption...No Reason for Press to Play Along With Unspoken Pact
to Overlook Racist Past
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5938-2002Dec18.html
Opinion/Editorial
Saletan: Nothing but Contrition...Trent Lott's failure to explain himself.
http://slate.msn.com/default.aspx?id=2075482
Steele: Of Race and Imagination...How far will Trent Lott set back conservative
principles? http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110002787
Missing in action...Where's Otto Reich, the official who once set the Bush
administration's course in Latin America? Not only is Reich's future in limbo, so is
Washington's foreign policy in that region. By Richard Wolffe in Newsweek.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/848787.asp
Fresh Face John Edwards: Wrong Job For the FBI
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4377-2002Dec17.html
Ilana Mercer: Saddam's sibling rivalry...Publicly available CIA reports offer no fresh
incriminating evidence against Iraq, but a lot of innovative variations on the Bush
Bafflegab http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=30054
Chicago Sun Times: Clinging Lott is taking his party down
http://www.suntimes.com/output/commentary/cst-edt-edits18.html
Doonesbury http://www.ucomics.com/doonesbury/
Mallard http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/fun/mallard.asp
=========================================
This email is never sent unsolicited. You have received
The Hardball Briefing Newsletter because you subscribed to it or,
someone forwarded it to you.
To remove yourself from the list (or to add yourself to the list if this
message was forwarded to you) simply go to
http://www.msnbc.com/tools/newstools/e/emailextra.asp?nfeature=19
