WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- Capital Comment -- News notes, political rumors, and important events that shape politics and public policy in Washington and the world from United Press International.
Rerun -- As Capital Comment predicted, former South Dakota Republican Sen. Larry Pressler has announced his candidacy for the state's lone congressional seat. It is territory Pressler knows well, having first been elected to Congress in 1974. In 1978, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, serving until 1996, when Democrat Tim Johnson defeated him. Johnson now faces a tough fight for his own re-election against the current congressman, Republican John Thune. Pressler, who likely has the best name recognition of any candidate in the race, joins a growing and hotly competitive GOP field.
Getting it across -- Peggy Noonan, the former presidential speechwriter-turned-best-selling author, will likely see her next book -- When Character Was King, A Story of Ronald Reagan -- rocket to the top of the best seller lists thanks to inside stories, one of which is now making the rounds. It involves the current president.
George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin "looked into each other's souls" over talk of a Christian cross that the Russian had blessed in the Holy Land. Putin explained to Bush during their first meeting that he has taken to wearing the cross that had been given him by his mother after he feared the cross was lost in a fire.
In Noonan's account, the Russian leader gestured toward Bush as he acted out the story of how, as he was greatly upset by the loss, a worker searching through the rubble found it, walked up to him and put out his hand, "And the cross was there." The former KGB operative told Bush: "It was as if something meant for me to have the cross." Bush, in sharing the story with Noonan, said, "President Putin, that's what it's all about -- that's THE story of the cross."
Getting Red Cross -- After having two high-profile Republican women in the top job at the American Red Cross, the group may be ready to cross the aisle. A source says that one name at or near the top of the list of replacements for the recently resigned Bernadine Healy is former Gen. Claudia Kennedy, the recently retired Army three-star who briefly explored a run for the U.S. Senate as a Democrat against Virginia Republican Sen. John Warner.
The forecast is cloudy -- The presence of former Weather Underground radical Bernadine Dohrn on the campus of Northwestern University is creating a stink. Dozens of alumni are complaining to the school about her position as part of the law school faculty, some going so far as to threaten to withhold future donations as long as she remains employed there. This comes at the same time as her former ally in terror, the SLA's Sara Jane Olson, is creating a stir over her plea before a California court in connection with two bombings in 1975. Olson pled guilty and then renounced the plea outside the courtroom, saying she did so only because she felt she could not get a fair trail in the aftermath of Sept. 11, with anti-terrorist sentiments running high.
Top job -- Gen. James Jones, the highly decorated commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, may be tapped to lead as supreme commander of the war on terror. According to a source, rather than use the present chain of different commanders from theater to theater, the idea of a unified commander has greater appeal to the politicos making war strategy. The same source points out that, among all the service chiefs, he is the one who puts the most emphasis on anti-terrorist training in his branch.
And the award goes to... -- Human Rights Watch, a group monitoring the status of human rights around the world, will be giving its highest honor Wednesday to five human rights activists from Guatemala, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sudan, and Uzbekistan around the world at their Human Rights Watch Annual Dinners in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The honorees are: Rosa Isabel García, a domestic worker from Guatemala; Abdul Rahman Yacob, a leading human rights lawyer from Aceh, Indonesia; Ismail Adylov, a recently released political prisoner from Uzbekistan; Afrasiab Khattak, head of Pakistan's leading human rights group; and Dr. Haruun Ruun, a Sudanese minister working to end slavery and Sudan's 18-year civil war.
Personnel note -- David W. Liddle, formerly of the public relations firms Nichols-Dezenhall Communications Management Group and Hill & Knowlton International Public Relations/Public Affairs, has joined The Financial Services Roundtable as director of communications and media relations...
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