Thursday, Jan. 18, 2001 ! Volume 7, Number 23 Page 1 of 9 A retrospective on The Clinton and Indiana Howey !"#$%&#'()*#+(),)+,-%',(%'.)/,0#)1#"# “Bill Clinton is the best politician I’ve ever heard, seen or dreamed of....” - L. Keith Bulen Political * * * By BRIAN A. HOWEY in Indianapolis The quote you just read came a few months before Keith Bulen’s death in January 1999. It came in response to Report a question I asked - almost an after-thought at the end of my last interview with Bulen: “What do you think of President The Howey Political Report is published by NewsLink Clinton?” Inc. Founded in 1994, The Howey Political Report is What made Bulen’s quote so remarkable was that this an independent, non-partisan newsletter analyzing the was a guy who was a senior campaign official for the Great political process in Indiana. Communicator - President Ronald Reagan. Brian A. Howey, publisher President Bill Clinton passes from the presidency at Mark Schoeff Jr., Washington writer the end of this week and he will have left a deep shadow across the face of Indiana, despite the fact that this was a Jack E. Howey, editor state that resoundingly rejected him twice. It was a state The Howey Political Report Office: 317-254-1533 where the governing conservative Democrats never com- PO Box 40265 Fax: 317-466-0993 pletely warmed up to him in the good times, and had their Indianapolis, IN 46240-0265 Mobile: 317-506-0883 10-foot poles ready during the worst. [email protected] And even as Clinton leaves the White House, there is www.howeypolitics.com every indication that he won’t really pass at all. Bill Clinton Washington office: 202-775-3242; is poised to become the consumate, behind-the-scenes player Business Office: 317-254-0535. that may be more akin to Mark Hanna or the ultimate king- Subscriptions: $250 annually via e-mail or maker, the elder Mayor Richard Daley. fax. Call 317-254-1533. Clinton claimed two obvious Hoosier victims who bookended his presidency. The first was Vice President Dan © 2001, The Howey Political Report. All rights Quayle, a foe to whom Bill Clinton dealt his first electoral reserved. Photocopying, Internet forwarding, faxing or reproducing in any form, in whole or in part, is a viola- defeat in 1992. Eight years later, the victim was Democratic tion of federal law and is strictly prohibited without National Chairman Joe Andrew, who would vigorously consent of the publisher. Continued on page 2 “The president is relevant...” Ticker Tape: Bayh and taxes p. 2 Bob Lang: Clinton and Indiana p. 2 - President Bill Clinton, April 15, 1995. Columnists: Broder on Clinton p. 8 State of State: O’Bannon’s 5th p. 9 Covering the Golden Age of Indiana Politics Thursday, Jan. 18, 2001 Page 2 of 9 CLINTON’S APPROVAL: Gallup staked President Clinton’s final approval rat- ing at 65 percent, compared to 64 percent for President Ronald Reagan in 1989. BAYH TEPID ON BIG TAX CUTS: Just days before his inauguration, President- elect George W. Bush is fac- ing a significant hurdle in his attempt to reach across the aisle and convince mod- erate Democrats to help pass his $1.6 trillion tax cut. status, despite Clinton’s position as a Moderate, business-friendly Clinton, from page 1 "New Democrats" and fis- “New Democrat” with the potential to be cally conservative "Blue deny victimization even as word emerged more harmious with the conservative Dog" Democrats drew a line that a party led by Al Gore in 2001 would brand practiced in the Bayh II era. Despite in the sand last week, telling prefer Andrew maintaining the helm. the post-convention Clinton-Gore feel- Bush they oppose a tax cut Instead, President Bill and U.S. Sen. good bus foray across I-64 in Southern that does not include an Hillary Clinton have essentially seized Indiana, the vanquished G.H.W. Bush car- equal commitment to paying control of the Democratic National ried the state by a 43 to 37 percent mar- down the national debt. gin, with Ross Perot taking the 20 percent "I can support a tax cut, but Committee by maneuvering Terry that would have given the elder Bush an it needs to be balanced with McAuliffe into command. This will likely stimulating our economy have a huge historical impact on politics outright landslide. In fact, ‘92 represented and maintaining fiscal disci- both nationally and here in Indiana. the first instance of Clinton drag here. pline," Sen. Evan Bayh, the Just as Quayle would have been Going into that year, Indiana Democrats incoming chairman of the held an 8-2 margin in CDs. U.S. Rep. Jim waiting in the presidential wings had he Democratic Leadership Jontz, running in a freshly carved 5th CD won in 1992, the emerging Clintonian Council, the policy arm of designed by Democrats in the Indiana coup has an unalterable impact on the the New Democrats, said in General Assembly, lost to Steve Buyer by presidential designs of Sen. Evan Bayh. an interview (Roll Call). "A a 51-49 percent margin. Buyer ran a fiesty tax cut? Yes. But one that campaign dressed in military fatigues to threatens our fiscal respon- Early Clinton sibility? No." take advantage of the Gulf War and proba- Back in 1991, most Hoosiers bly benefitted from Quayle on the ticket. LAMOTHE CALLS US viewed Gov. Bill Clinton as a third-tier But there was quiet revulsion to the fre- CHAMBER ADS “DISGUST- presidential contender who won the nomi- quent Clinton bimbo eruptions, his draft ING”: Christopher LaMothe nation almost by default after party stal- status, and his perceived inhaling fib. of the Indiana Chamber of warts ranging from Mario Cuomo to Jay The Buyer victory served as only a Commerce called HPR to Rockefeller didn’t have the guts to take on premonition of disaster to overcome say he had no prior knowl- President George H.W. Bush following his Democrats seeking federal office here. edge to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s negative ads Gulf War victory. And yet, the so-called Clinton drag rarely The state never warmed up to him, moved beyond the 10 Congressional dis- Continued on page 3 in part because of Quayle’s favorite son tricts and ultimately bolstered the conserv- Page 3 of 9 Thursday, Jan. 18, 2001 ative Democrats that ran statewide and accountable. They want us to act. And the locally for the rest of the decade. pressure is on us. And that’s what the ‘94 election is all about.” Hamilton gives ‘em hell Hamilton counted nine speakers at The low point was obviously 1994. IDEA that day, including Evan Bayh, Clinton’s first mid-term election was pre- Frank O’Bannon and Joe Hogsett. “And ceded by the closing of two military bases not one of them said anything about Bill that ran against then- - Grissom AFB and Fort Benjamin Clinton or Al Gore. And then I got up, Attorney General Karen Freeman-Wilson last fall. “I Harrison - along with the gay service and I was just mad.” When Hamilton con- thought it was disgusting,” issue that found U.S. Sen. Dan Coats as a cluded, he simply sighed, “Oh my. It’s time to go....” LaMothe said of the TV ad national contrarian spokesman. There The lesson was ignored. By mid- campaign. Last October, the were Hillary Clinton’s health care fiasco, September, the Republicans had gathered U.S. Chamber spent close the controversial stimulus package, the to $500,000 against at the Capitol to sign the “Contract with proposed BTU tax, and President Freeman-Wilson, accusing America” and HPR moved the 4th and 8th Clinton’s ardent support of the Brady Bill her of hiring former drug CDs into the tossup zone on Sept. 29 - an that ignited 2nd Amendment fervor. dealers to work for her judi- early precursor to the developing Repub- Recognition of the rumblings was cial office in Gary. Indiana lican wave. The 4th CD move was based Democrats are currently perceived at different stages. U.S. Rep. in part by the HPR publisher glimpsing pursuing a complaint Phil Sharp recognized them early and for a split second an extremely worried against the U.S. Chamber bowed out of a 20-year career that winter. Jill Long heading to her Fort Wayne cam- through the Indiana Election Buyer’s challenger, the hero-sheriff of paign headquarters. Commission. LaMothe said the ad campaign “was all Howard County - J.D. Beatty - figured out By late October, David McIntosh the gun owner anger by early summer. independent. I had no idea it sprang a trap on Joe Hogsett in a debate in was coming. I wish I did. I The most astute among them, U.S. Anderson, goading the favored 2nd CD Rep. Lee Hamilton, knew it as early as would have told them that Democrat into trading “you pulled a Bill running a negative ad cam- any of them. When the Indiana Demo- Clinton” jabs. paign in Indiana doesn’t cratic Editorial Association convened dur- By the time it was over, President work. Since 1986, no ing the final week of a brutishly hot and Hillary Clinton watched several of Republican has won who August, Hamilton unleashed an emotional their “friends” - Hoosier Democrats - has gone negative.” Current diatribe upon his quaking Democratic become the first victims of the Gingrich Attorney General Steve brethren. Revolution on a terrible night ... Jill Long, Carter disavowed the ads when they ran. Asked if he In what still ranks as one of the Frank McCloskey, Joe Hogsett all defeat- most indelible moments in HPR history protested to the U.S.