Let’s follow up on yesterday’s and the day before yesterday’s posts about Clinton and Maureen Dowd. When I asked Clinton spokesperson Julia Payne whether the inauguration day exchange between James Baker and Bill Clinton had actually taken place, she responded: “The former president did not say anything of the sort to Jim Baker.”
I followed up with Maureen Dowd too. Her assistant, Marc Santora, responded on her behalf: “Maureen says it is an anecdote with impeccable sourcing but she never discusses sources.”
Is an ‘anecdote’ different from a quote? And anyway aren’t there video tapes of the whole inauguration ceremony that would let us see if they chatted? Let’s go to the tapes!
