Jeff Dufour and Patrick Gavin cover people, power and politics in the beltway each weekday. Email them at yan@dcexaminer.com.


The ‘dot-com president’ hits ‘send’ for Hillary

He sent only two e-mails during his entire presidency, but former President Bill Clinton sent a big one yesterday.

With all the talk about what kind of role the former prez will play in 2008, Sen. Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign made it clear Wednesday that her husband will definitely be around. The campaign sent out the first e-mail from “Bill Clinton” in support of his wife’s White House run.

“Dear Friend,” the e-mail from Bill begins. “Am I enthusiastic about my wife’s campaign for president? You bet I am. I know her better than anybody on earth, and she’s got the best combination of mind and heart of everybody I’ve ever known.”

The e-mail also includes a touching photo of the former first couple embracing, but this time around it’s Hillary’s future that’s so bright she has to wear shades: Stealing a page from her husband’s playbook (remember when he donned the shades to play sax on “The Arsenio Hall Show” back in 1992?), Hillary, not Bill, sports the cool-looking sunglasses.

The choice to highlight the support of Hillary’s popular husband isn’t accidental: The e-mail blast is part of Hillary’s new campaign to raise $1 million in grassroots donations in one week. And, from the tone of the e-mail, it’s clear the money will be used to help defend Candidate Hillary from Republican attacks.

“During eight years in the White House, Hillary and I faced a constant barrage of attacks from Washington Republicans. No insult was off-limits. No tactic was too low. They threw everything they could at us — but we beat them time and time again. The attacks on Hillary haven’t stopped, and she hasn’t stopped winning. You know how they say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger? Well, Hillary is as strong as they come.”

For the duration of the campaign, expect additional e-mails from prominent FOH (Friends of Hillary).


Former Dole flack wonders ‘What if?’


Be careful what you say after a few drinks at the local pub: It could end up in a book.

Douglas MacKinnon, the former press secretary for Bob Dole, recalls a beer-soaked conversation he had with some Pentagon contractors at a local pub back in August 1992, when it looked like Bill Clinton’s election was all but assured.

The contractors feared they’d receive fewer government handouts under a Clinton administration. One asked, “What are we going to do about it?”

“We could kill him,” joked another.

MacKinnon took the comment as a joke, but it stuck with him all these years. And now, that very concept — powerful Americans who plot to assassinate a political candidate — serves as the basis of his latest book, “America’s Last Days.”

“It was the booze talking,” MacKinnon told Yeas & Nays. “But it also made me very nervous to think that you only need one or two powerful people thinking that way.”

Speaking of nervous, a few higher-ups were slightly edgy about what MacKinnon, who spent time in the Department of Defense, the Pentagon and the White House, might reveal in his book.

“A week before the book came out, I got a call from a high-level former government official,” he recalled. “He said, ‘Doug, we understand that the book is fiction, but a number of government folks wish it wasn’t out there and don’t want it to be a catalyst for that kind of thought.’” The Pentagon also asked him to remove a few paragraphs that “hit a bit too close to home.”


Chris Matthews and Tucker Carlson try acting on ‘30 Rock’ ... sort of

Tune into NBC’s sitcom “30 Rock” at 9:30 p.m. to see two local boys — MSNBC’s Chris Matthews and Tucker Carlson — try their hand at acting (although, to be fair, they’re just playing themselves on the show).

Interestingly enough, this episode — “Hard Ball” — is named after Matthews’ signature show on MSNBC, and when “30 Rock” character Jenna Maroney (played by Jane Krakowski) discovers she’s been misquoted in a popular magazine, she shows up on Matthews’ and Carlson’s talk shows to defend herself.

“30 Rock” is a workplace comedy that takes place at a “Saturday Night Live”-like show called “TGS” and features such stars as Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan and Tina Fey.

“I’m playing myself,’’ Carlson told Yeas & Nays, “which is the one role I’m confident I can carry off.”


If everybody had an ocean…

“The O.C.” ends its prime-time run tonight after four seasons. But what has been its effect on the real Orange County?

To find out, we asked Orange County’s own Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, known in some circles as the “surfing congressman.”

Through a spokeswoman, the Republican and SoCal native said the show was a “great thing” in that it publicized Orange County internationally.

But, he added, he’s “disappointed with the portrayal because it only focused on one aspect of Orange County — the affluent side” — and didn’t reflect its ethnic diversity or “particularly the laid-back, free-spirited beach culture.”

Rep. Loretta Sanchez agreed, saying the positives of the county’s national attention came with the show’s failure “to capture the different ethnic communities that make up Orange County, many of which reside in my district.”

Republican Rep. John Campbell, who represents Newport Beach, where “The O.C.” is set, said while he recognizes some residents lament that the show depicts everyone as “rich and dysfunctional,” he thinks it’s “been a good thing” on balance.

“We’re always lived in the shadow of Los Angeles,” he said. “It’s given exposure and identity to Orange County.” He adds that he and his family “like the show — we’re big fans.”

Grover Norquist goes bada-bing


When Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin stopped by Americans for Tax Reform Wednesday for the weekly meeting of conservative minds, lots of folks peppered Martin with questions about such titillating topics as net neutrality and interstate telecommunications.

But for one conservative, there was only one question that really mattered.

“I just want to know,” ATR President Grover Norquist asked, “can you make ‘The Sopranos’ come back for one more season?”