Former Navy Secretary John Dalton made the finals in the Washington Tennis & Education Foundation’s Capital Tennis Challenge celebrity tournament at the FitzGerald Tennis Center, May 15. His on court maneuvers revealed a smart strategist. Other power competitors helping a worthy cause included the aggressive pundits Norman Ornstein and Morton Kondracke, former Senators Dan Coates and Larry Pressler, Reps. Ken Bentsen and Jane Harman, conservative columnist Ben Wattenberg, and White House Economic Advisor Gene Sperling. “After all,” says Jerry Jasinowski, a regular tennis partner of Sec. Dalton and National Association of Manufacturers lobbyist and president of the Washington Tennis Foundation, “tennis is one way to have a good time and establish relationships.” The annual event coincided with the Sprint PCS Champions where John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, John Lloyd, and Guillermo Vilas competed.
Former Illinois Senator Carol Mosely Braun isn’t too thrilled with her ambassadorial nomination to New Zealand. Privately some of her former colleagues in the Senate and members of the diplomatic corps are questioning the White House wisdom in the appointment. . . Former Democratic National Chairman Chuck Manatt certainly won’t find the Dominican Republic a hardship post.
The business community is strongly behind former Senator Bill Bradley’s presidential bid but wonder how to get the party loyalists to dump Al Gore. . . Longtime Republicans and George Bush devotees are getting the cold shoulder from George W’s campaign organization. It seems he wants to put his own people in key positions. Read: skew younger.
The Clintons may forgo a New England vacation this August for a New York state beach. So much better to campaign for that Senate seat Hillary has been eyeing. But the First Lady and daughter Chelsea will travel to Israel and Jordon first. That will be Mrs. Clinton’s 22nd solo trip abroad since they moved into the White House. Quite the world traveller, she’s visited 76 different countries.
President Clinton’s former Press Secretary Mike McCurry is adept at handling difficult situations. Now in the private sector, he’s advising the defense company, Lockheed Martin; Anheuser-Busch; and the Children’s Scholarship Foundation. During his White House years, McCurry fended off questions about Monica Lewinsky and his boss, and now he’s speaking out on behalf of his client that makes Budweiser beer and has been at odds with the Rev. Jerry Falwell for their recently unveiled gay-oriented ads.
Whoever said journalists don’t have a sense of humor? A notice posted on the White House press room bulletin board reads: “Kosovo vacation property. Available cheap! Contact: S. Milos Belgrade.”