October 22, 2000

Bush, Gore Vie for ‘Little Mo’ in Lackluster Campaign

Sure enough, the unforeseen "X factor" -- that often livens the closing days of a presidential campaign – did occur on schedule.  

The event, of course, was the sudden outburst of violence in Israel.  

Unlike previous X factors, this one had a partner – a terrorist bombing of the U.S.S. Cole. The guided-missile destroyer was refueling at the harbor of Aden in Yemen.

Gov. Bush and Vice-president Gore avoided talking about foreign policy in deference to casualties. Invoked was the supposed tradition of stopping criticism at our "water’s edge" of American involvement in foreign, military crises.

Apparently, two X factors neutralize each other.

The other last-minute upsetting incidents – known among the cognoscenti as "October surprises" – affect individual candidates. A couple of humdingers surfaced last week.

The New York Times – a sucker for "leaks" offered – momentarily suspended its liberal bias last week to reveal a 1995 "secret pact" between Gore and Russian Prime Minister Chernomyrdin.

It allowed Russia to sell high-tech and nuclear weapons to Iran without fear of sanctions being imposed by the 1992 Iran-Iraq Nonproliferation Act.

In this case there was a controlling legal authority – a law sponsored by then-Senator Gore and Sen. John McCain.

Upon election as vice-president, Gore in 1993 was appointed by President Clinton to chair a so-called Gore-Chernomyrdin Commission. The sole mission of this executive task force was to persuade bankrupt Russia from selling advanced weapons to Iran. That country then – and still today – boasts it will close the Persian Gulf  (read this, oil) to the "Great Satan" when able to do so.

In a cutesy "aide-memoire," Gore agreed the U.S. administration would not invoke Gore-McCain sanctions against weapon sales by Russia to Iran for five years ending Dec. 31, 1999.

That deadline expired long ago, and still Russia is shipping its super-quiet submarines to Iran. An alarmed U.S. military officer leaked the secret pact and ongoing violation to the Times – presumably in a darkened parking garage.

The key paragraph, by Chernomyrdin, reads: "The information we are passing on to you is not to be conveyed to third partiers, including the U.S. Congress."

Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and Sen. Jesse Helms, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, are "concerned." They want to know why Gore and Clinton kept the pact, and its violations, secret in contradiction of law. Two Senate investigations have been scheduled for next week.

Two other October Surprises involve both Clintons.

Independent Counsel Robert W. Ray last Thursday dropped the seven-year investigation of Hillary Clinton. She had been charged with summarily firing the White House travel office employees to make room for her friends.

There was no question of the legality of the firings. They were appointees of the previous administration. Ray said she played a key part in the firings and made "factually inaccurate" statements to investigators. However, he reported he could not prove to a jury that Clinton either knowingly lied or obstructed justice.

Two weeks earlier, Ray dropped the Madison Guaranty scandal. He reported he was unable to prove beyond a doubt that the Clintons were intimately involved in the Whitewater embezzlement. Twelve others were found guilty of fraud and did prison time.

Nonetheless, Ray convened a new grand jury to determine if Bill Clinton committed perjury in several sexual abuse investigations while in office. Ominously, he scheduled a decision for "early next year" when Bill Clinton will be out of office.

The October surprises seemed strangely to have fizzled also.

The presidential candidates continue to duel with puffballs. Gore says Bush is a "mumbler." Bush says his opponent "exaggerates."  This is thin soup for undecided voters who yearn for red meat.

At the last so-called debate Tuesday, Gore adopted a new persona he described as "Goldy Locks – not to hot, not to cold, but just right."

Some folks disagree. He charged about the stage like a bull with an attitude, reeled off mind-numbing statistics and jumped outside the rules to interrupt with the last word.

At one point, Gore strode to Bush and stared in his face as the governor answered a question. This alpha male maneuver was declared a no-no when New York senate candidate Rick Lazio "invaded the personal space" of candidate Hillary Clinton.

Bush deflected the high school debate trick with a nod and smile to a glowering Gore. Yet, W was strangely subdued in the final debate. His strongest jab was that Gore was guilty of "fuzzy math."  

TV’s talking heads agreed Bush was "sleepy." They were flabbergasted when post-debate polls bumped Bush a couple of points ahead of Gore.

Follow-up reaction groups of supposed "undecideds" were still undecided. Neither candidate has "big mo" – uncatchable momentum.

 Next president of the United States will need just a little mo than his opponent.

By Lindsey Williams, columnist for Sun Coast Media Group newspapers