Team Clinton: The Starting Line-up of the Pro-Clinton Press Corps

tcclifEleanor Clift
Contributing Editor to 
Newsweek and former White 
House reporter; panelist on the
McLaughlin Group

"[Bush] is about to make matters worse by hauling out Ronald Reagan at the Republican convention. Reagan has become a symbol of what went wrong in the '80s. It's like bringing the Music Man back to River City, a big mistake."
-- On The McLaughlin Group, July 31, 1992.

"Newt Gingrich teaching manners is like Charles Manson teaching non-violence."
-- November 18, 1995 McLaughlin Group.

"First of all, he's [Clinton] the first President to seriously go after and reduce the deficit. And second, the federal government is now the smallest it's been since the 1960s."
-- On CNN's Crossfire, January 27, 1995.

"I must say I was struck by the expanse of their chests. They may have to put out their stats."
-- On Clinton and Gore, July 10, 1992 Inside Politics.

"I must say, looking at some of that footage, it looks like the all-beefcake ticket."
-- On Clinton and Gore, July 12, 1992 McLaughlin Group.

"They got more positive coverage on this bus tour than the Beatles got on their first tour of America. More reporters were oohing and aahing. It was almost embarrassing. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to do it until now."
-- Talking about the Clinton-Gore bus tour, July 25, 1992 McLaughlin Group.

"There is no evidence that Bill Clinton has lied. He's done nothing illegal. He has what I would call the politician's disease. He has tailored the truth to adapt to the reality of running in a conservative southern state."
-- McLaughlin Group, September 12, 1992.

"Clinton is much craftier than George Bush in avoiding the kind of `Read My Lips' vow that allows no maneuvering room. He can rewrite his promises to adjust to reality. That opens him to `Slick Willie' catcalls. It also leaves him the option to do the right thing."
-- In Newsweek, February 8, 1993 issue.