First Daughter Chelsea Needs a Bit of Comfort after Her Failed Romance
While gobbling turkey at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland’s Catoctin Mountains, the tables are turned for the Clinton’s during the U.S. Thanksgiving. Now it’s First Daughter Chelsea, not her parents, in need of emotional support. Mourning a failed romance with Stanford University swimmer Matt Pierce, Chelsea flew east from California to join her parents and other relatives for “TLC.” Some reporters have dropped the hands-off policy toward the presidential daughter. News accounts say she sought counselling and have linked her with Matthew Wilsey, a political science major who is the son of a San Francisco margarine magnate. My sources say there’s more “friendship” than “romance” with this “Matt.”
When President Bill Clinton pulled the plug on Jim Blanchard’s dream of landing a cabinet post, the former Michigan governor got his pick of ambassadorships, a consolation prize of sorts for his efforts on behalf of Mr. Clinton’s election. The rest is history, the joys and demands of the job as U.S. ambassador to Canada which proved to be a rewarding challenge, chronicled in his new book, Behind The Embassy Door. Gov. Blanchard expressed surprise at the wide latitude that ambassadors have to shape a range of issues, and wrote the book in part to shatter “the myth that ambassadors are human fax machines or people who just pour champagne.” The U.S. State Department gave the book its stamp of approval. “I didn’t put in stuff I knew they’d take out,” says Gov. Blanchard who kept a journal for three years.
Scandal figure update: Linda Tripp was spotted after hours sneaking in and out of Weight Watchers near her home in Columbia, Md. Apparently her efforts have paid off with the measuring tape. Cutting a slimmer figure, she’s shed about 50 pounds. . . . Paula Jones’ first attorney, Joe Cammarata, still hasn’t received his share of the fee now that she’s settled her sexual harassment lawsuit against Mr. Clinton. When cornered at a Capitol Hill bistro and queried as to whether he’s been paid, he replied wistfully, “in progress.” Others have expressed surprise that Ms. Jones has been partying in New York with parking magnate and would-be deal-broker Abe Hirschfield. His million-dollar settlement offer was already “off the table” by the time Jones agreed to settle with the president