The American Spectator

RUSSELL MANIA br> Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina may be flavor of the moment for Democrats hopeful of taking back the White House in 2004, but another second-tier senator is looking to steal some of Edwards’ thunder. According to several of his staffers, Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin has set up an ambitious national speaking tour before Democratic grass roots groups that began last month in Florida. With the Enron dustup touching on his pet issue: campaign finance and election reform, he’s become that much more popular on the circuit and has plans to travel to Iowa, New Hampshire, and California in the coming weeks. “He’s done some polling and his name recognition is zilch,” says a DNC fundraiser. “But he’s talking about things that are topical and he makes a good presentation. The little old ladies love him.” /p>

A Feingold aide says his boss hasn’t discussed what his future plans are. “He’s young enough and ambitious enough that he might make a run at Bush in 2004 even if it appears hopeless. Remember, that is what Clinton was thinking back in ‘92, run just to lay the groundwork for the future. And look what happened there. Senator Feingold could find himself in a similar situation. Better him than Edwards.”

p> SUPREME MATTERS br> The White House is telling senior Republican Senate staffers that they expect two Supreme Court retirements this summer. “They are saying John Paul Stevens and Sandra Day O’Connor ,” says a Senate staffer. Stevens, a Ford appointee, is 81; O’Connor, the first female justice and a Reagan appointee, is 71. Both names have appeared on any number of possible Court retirement stories in the past year. Other rumored Supremes looking to jump include Chief Justice William Rehnquist (exhaustion, bad back, wants a life), Antonin Scalia (wants to make more money) and Ruth Bader Ginsburg (health). /p>

“I don’t think the Justice is interested in retiring,” says a former O’Connor clerk. “Her health problems are largely behind her and she’s enjoyed the past year immensely, what with the book she has written and some of the cases the court is handling.” While no one in the White House has spoken with any of the justices about their future plans, one Senate aide says that White House strategists have spoken of wanting O’Connor or another “conservative” judge to retire first, so that Democrats would in some small way have to give Bush a nod toward his first appointment to the court. “If it were Stevens, Democrats would put up a huge fight to block any conservative,” says a Judiciary Committee staffer. “With O’Connor or Scalia going, placing a conservative in that slot would be a slightly easier fight.”

p> DIRTY POOL br> But will it feature a nudist beach? Former President Bill Clinton has been crowing to friends and associates about one of the greatest honors bestowed on him. Israel is naming a reservoir in the Negev the “Clinton.” Apparently, the construction costs were covered by private funds Clinton helped steer Israel’s way, not to mention plenty of U.S. aid. br> /p>