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Democrats favor Sam Nunn
as nominee for vice president
WASHINGTON —lnflu
ential Democrats in
Washington and in the South
are privately talking about for
mer Sen. Sam Nunn of
Georgia as vice presidential
nominee in 2004 no matter
who is picked for president.
Nunn, who served 24 years in the Senate
ending in 1997, is seen by the increasingly
small number of white southern Democrats in
Congress as a conservative ballast to any
national ticket that might coax Southerners
back to their ancestral party.
In addition, Nunn is viewed by his sup
porters as a Democratic version of Dick
Cheney.
He is an older hand (now 65 years old)
with no presidential ambitions who has strong
national security credentials (as Senate
Armed Services Committee chairman).
Gore acted alone
Veterans of Al Gore’s 2000 campaign see
a clear resemblance between his decision
making process in the Howard Dean endorse
ment and the way he prepared for his first
presidential debate with George W. Bush.
In each case, Gore kept his own counsel
and did not inform advisers (with the proba
ble exception of his daughter Karenna).
Critical 2000 campaign veterans contend that
this isolation led to faulty tactics in the debate
and to a questionable decision in the recent
endorsement.
Gore’s seclusion and desire for complete
secrecy led to the aspect of Dean’s endorse
ment that produced the most criticism in
Democratic Party circles: failure to give
advance notice to Sen. Joseph Lieberman,
Gore’s 2000 running mate, as well as Rep.
Richard Gephardt and Sen. John Kerry, both
of whom had vigorously supported Gore’s
contested presidential nomination.
The VP’s staff
Vice President Dick Cheney’s choice as
his new counselor of Kathleen Shanahan, now
leaving her post as Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s
chief of staff, “is foundering on a title” (in the
words of one Republican insider).
Veteran GOP operative Shanahan has
. demanded that, like departed Cheney aide
Mary Matalin, she receive the dual title of
special assistant to President Bush. Failure to
agree to this has stalled the hiring of
Shanahan, who was Cheney’s chief of staff
during the 2000 campaign.
' A footnote: Kevin Kellems has moved
b *
ft hi 01997
X ft Bucchino
Robert ’
Novak
MW " I
Becker all lack extensive cam
paign experience, confirming the belief that
Cheney is not looking ahead to a 2008 presi
dential run.
South Carolina comeback
David Beasley, who appeared dead in
Republican politics after his defeat for re
election as governor of South Carolina in
1998, has a chance to make a successful
comeback in the 2004 election for the U.S.
Senate seat relinquished by Democrat Ernest
F. Hollings.
Rep. Jim DeMint is no longer the White
House-anointed candidate, especially after his
vote against the Medicare-prescription drugs
bill pushed by President Bush. He now faces
a tough Republican primary against not only
former State Attorney General Charles
Condon but Beasley as well.
Beasley got himself in trouble in 1996 by
opposing gambling interests and trying to
take down the Confederate flag from the state
capitol dome.
His standing among South Carolina
Republicans was not helped when he won the
Kennedy family’s “Profile in Courage”
award.
Nevertheless, he starts ahead of both
DeMint and Condon in statewide name iden
tification.
Janklow fallout
The conviction of Republican Rep.
William Janklow for manslaughter could have
the effect of easing re-election difficulties in
South Dakota for Senate Democratic Leader
Thomas Daschle.
A reluctant former Rep. John Thune has
been pressed by national Republican leaders
to run against Daschle, and he had seemed to
be coming closer to that decision. However,
he may now run for the empty House seat in a
special election after Janklow’s resignation
from Congress Jan. 20.
Stephanie Herseth, who nearly defeated
the heavily favored Janklow in 2002, definite
ly will run in the special election. It may take
Thune to defeat Herseth and keep the seat
Republican.
Robert Novak is a nationally syndicated
columnist and a television commentator.
1 ' I
Saddam’s capture marks a beginning
Last week I told myself
that I would not write another
article on Iraq for a while.
But sometimes procrastina
tion brings unanticipated
results. The article, which
should have been finished last
Friday afternoon, was still in
progress when I woke up
Sunday morning to learn of
the capture of Saddam
Hussein.
The news was too spectac
ular to ignore, and this is the
result.
Probably like most
Americans, my first reaction
was a mixture of surprise,
relief and a sense of hope for
the future. The inability of the
coalition forces to apprehend
Saddam has been more than
just a major source of embar
rassment.
The fact that Saddam was
still free undoubtedly weak
ened the resolve of many
Iraqis to work for a better
future lest Saddam eventually
return. And it undermined
their confidence in the ability
of the coalition force, with
all its resources, to control
things.
Saddam was seen as a key
player in the ongoing resist
ance and the disruption that
has plagued Iraq since the
invasion.
From his hidden commu
nications centers, he provided
leadership and funds to stim
ulate resistance and maintain
an atmosphere of fear in the
country that he ruled so ruth-'
lessly for 24 years. And now
all this has come to an end!
But has it? There’s good
news and bad news, and even
more —a lot of uncertainty.
Let’s take a brief look at
some of each.
Obviously, the top of the
good news listing is that
Saddam is no longer on the
loose. An enormous manhunt
has achieved its objective.
The credibility of the coali
tion forces has moved up a
notch and the legends sur
rounding Saddam’s ghostly
whereabouts and activities
from the Pentagon to become
the vice president’s press sec
retary. and Brenda Becker is
about to leave the Commerce
Department to head Cheney’s
congressional liaison.
Shanahan, Kellems and
r„ cji
Copen <1
will haunt Iraq no more.
Probably the greatest
impact is that Iraqis need no
longer live in fear that he will
be back, wracking vengeance
on all who try to build a new
Iraq.
This may inspire more
Iraqis to actively suppress
current violence and sabo
tage, to withhold support and
cover for internal and exter
nal terrorists, and to work to
build a stable and more dem
ocratic nation. That can only
be good!
But there is also bad news.
Where the dictator was found,
his disheveled appearance
and the way it seems he has
been living in recent weeks
and months all suggest
that contrary to past beliefs,
he was not in control of any
thing that was going on in the
country.
Instead he seems to have
been a man on the run, cow
ering and fearing for his life,
possibly suffering from a
mental breakdown —a pitiful
creature. But if that is the
case, then who has been
behind all the disruption
and killing —a process that
appears better organized and
coordinated with each pass
ing day?
There are many questions
and uncertainties associated
with both the good and the
bad news. If a significant
portion of the current resist
ance came from Saddam sup
porters, even if not directed
by Saddam, will they now
fold up and rejoin society to
live more normal lives? Or
will the struggles intensify, as
others vie to replace Saddam
in their belief that their ongo
ing activities will soon force
the coalition forces to retreat?
Was Saddam ever a signif
icant part of this resistance,
Forsyth Count vNews
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FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Wednesday, December 17,2003
or was he just a convenient
symbol, whose name and
image was used to obscure
more sinister efforts by Al
Qaeda and other terrorists
groups as they carry on with
their objectives?
Will the removal of
Saddam embolden Iraqis to
build a new nation based
upon democratic principles,
or will it open the doors
(which Saddam had held
shut) to the emergence of a
radical Islamic state one
that may become a virulent
staging ground for nurturing
and exporting terrorism?
Even if democratic princi
ples take hold, will stability
provide an opportunity for the
once-repressed Shiite majori
ty to take control and exercise
the time-hardened value of
“revenge” that is so prevalent
in the region?
Possibly the greatest of
the uncertainties we face is
political how will
Washington react? The polit
ical ramifications of Iraq and
of Saddam’s capture, particu
larly in a major election year,
are significant. Much of the
nation has been frustrated
with both Iraq and the eco
nomic home front.
Washington appears to be in a
state of panic.
As the media has focused
on the mounting death toll,
the enormous sums of money
being poured into Iraq and
the inability of the coalition
forces to bring stability, the
objective appears to have
become disengagement as
soon as possible, or even
sooner.
Clearly, this latest event
will have a short-term impact
on popularity ratings for
President Bush and the
prospects for the Democratic
Party contenders. But will it
have a major impact on the
state of the world and on the
key issues of which Iraq is
only a part?
With the capture of
Saddam, will we now declare
victory’ in Iraq and conclude
that our task is done?
Relating to prospects for next
November’s elections, that is
likely to be a fairly tempting
position. But it does not
address the more fundamental
problems associated with
9/11, the ongoing chaos in the
Middle East, or the hatreds
that have been festering for
centuries. To the contrary, it
is likely to make them worje.
The easy way out provides
only short-term relief to a
chronic situation that is ga
ting worse with each passing
year.
We cannot leave Iraq
before resolving many of
these uncertainties. We ca’n
not leave until mechanisms
are in place to place that
nation on a path to political
and economic stability. Wfe
cannot leave without assuring
that people have been educat
ed to understand prospects for
the future and ways to
achieve them. >q
This is a time for trae
statesmanship among world
leaders. More than anything
else, the capture of Saddam
Hussein may provide a trig
ger-event that presents an
opportunity to think through
new ways to work together.
This is crucial to build eco
nomic and social systems that
undermine the causes of ter
rorism. It is needed to encour
age people to face the things
they fear and to take actions
that will create better livihg
conditions for all. - <
The capture of Saddam
should not be seen as an end.
It should be viewed as the
chance for a new beginning'.* 1
Dr. ’ Melvyn Copen of
Cumming is an educator and
businessman who has worked
and lived in many foreign coun
tries and provides consulting
services for businesses and
organizations throughout the
world. His column appears
every other Wednesday. Please
share your comments with him
via email at melcopen@hot
mail.com. 1
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