Let me be upfront: I'm probably the least knowledgable person around here about the 911 Commission and the ongoing saga...so I've got nothing very sage to say about things. However, I've been nervous about what would happen when Clinton and Gore testified to the panel because the media coverage could easily turn toward a negative portrayal of of last Democratic Admin's role in fighting terror, thus letting Bush off the hook to some degree and helping him paint Kerry as a Clinton-loving terror-wuss.
Well...Clinton testified yesterday. And Gore testified today...and the meetings have gone pretty much under the radar with the (deserved) brouhaha over Condi. But the verdicts so far are pretty happy.
Here's a sampling of what I did find in the press:
(Sorry no links; I pulled this stuff off Nexis -- one of the perks of being a grad student)
From CNN:
On Friday, the commission met in private with former Vice President Al Gore. In a statement after the three-hour session, the commission said he was "candid and forthcoming," and it thanked him for his "continued cooperation."
Former President Clinton met in private with the commission Thursday.
Kean described Clinton's testimony, as reported in the NYT:
"But a lot of what we talked to him about was actually the inner workings of presidency as well as many of the classified briefings we've been able to read," Mr. Kean said in an appearance on Thursday evening on "Newshour" with Jim Lehrer. "We asked him some pretty detailed questions on those. And he was just totally frank -- totally frank, totally honest, and forthcoming."
True to form, the Times pieces was a little snarky and involved a few less flattering comments from a "former Clinton associate speaking on condition of anonymity". But nothing at all damning.
Also, according to the AP, the anti-Clinton Bob Kerrey, had this, I think surprisingly, mild rebuke (he was much tougher on Condi and Bush as we all know):
Bob Kerrey, a former Democratic senator from Nebraska and now a member of the commission, said Friday on ABC's "Good Morning America" he believes Clinton should have been more aggressive in going after al-Qaida following the ship attack.
"I think he did have enough proof to take action," Kerrey said. "That's a difference of opinion."
And, more good news:
The panel said it didn't plan to release details of the meeting, saying much of it involved classified information.
Commissioners said that Clinton addressed big-picture policy issues.
"He was adamant about trying to work in a bipartisan way to fix the problems," said Democratic commissioner Timothy Roemer, a former U.S. representative from Indiana. "He was quite honest and frank."
John Lehman, a former Navy secretary under President Reagan, agreed.
"He did very well," Lehman told CNN. "He gave us a lot of very helpful insights into things that happened, policy approaches."
Another AP report had this to say about Gore's testimony:
The commission held a private session with former Vice President Al Gore on Friday. The three-hour session was described by the panel as "candid and forthcoming."
"He answered all our questions. We talked a lot about airline safety and security, the Cole, and the Clinton White House attitude toward terrorism," said Republican commissioner James R. Thompson, a former Illinois governor. He declined to give specifics.
A preliminary report on airline security that the panel released in January noted Gore had chaired a 1996 presidential Commission on Aviation Safety and Security that focused on the danger of explosives on aircraft rather than potential foreign hijackings.
"It's too soon to be making assessments at this point," Thompson said.
This could bode well for Gore (and the Clinton admin; his recommendations on airline security were shot down by the Republican Congress and the airline industry in the end.) Even Marty over at TNR relaxed his current disgust with his former protege to suggest so in a column last week.
And of course, following the four- and three- hour interviews by our former Dem leaders, all the reports point out that:
President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney also will meet privately with the full panel in a joint session in coming weeks. They initially restricted the interview to one hour with two panel members, but under mounting public pressure agreed last week to a joint session without time constraints.
All in all, unless the current tone belies the panel's final report, it looks like a PR win for the Democrats which I think bodes extremely well for Kerry in November.